Month: October 2017
“…we can’t retweet ourselves out of our most serious problems.”
Organizing Theory
“…we can’t retweet ourselves out of our most serious problems.” Great piece by Shaun King on what the Movement for Black Lives needs—a plan that everyone knows.
Sharing, Solidarity & Sustainability
The City of Stockton, CA is going to run one of the first basic income experiments in the United States. Check out their FAQ here.
A new CA law, aimed at eradicating the gender wage gap, makes it illegal for employers to ask applicants about their prior salary history.
Great piece by Nithin Coca about how platform cooperatives are developing sources of funding—and the challenges they face in competing with venture capital-backed, for-profit ventures.
Reputation, reputation, reputation
What will happen when your employer-provided smart watch starts to be able to read your mood?
An effort that would let immigrants use their credit history in their country of origin to develop a credit score in the US is picking up steam.
What’s Going on in the Workforce
American banks are shuttering call centers and blaming automation for the loss of jobs—but are they actually just offshoring them?
“Everyone is born with some labor, but not everyone is born with capital.” The New Yorker, on automation*.
“Uber is charging drivers to work”
This blog is more often concerned with the work impact of software engineers than it is with their work values & hopes. Here’s an interesting look at those, from the folks at Hacker News.
Geeking Out
Last week, Amazon offered elected officials around the country an unprecedented chance to kneel to capitalism. Digg looks at some of the worst videos produced by cities who were making an Amazon HQ2 bid.
*Thanks to all my HTU friends who sent me a picture of this New Yorker cover…apparently, my brand is strong!
Do these fries come with extra oil, for my robot waiter?
What’s Going on in the Workforce
CBS MoneyWatch covers the pending automation disruption—including a look at what kinds of white collar workers are most at-risk—and Martin Ford gives a pitch for UBI. Relatedly, Danny Meyer (guy who got rid of tipping in his restaurants) is now experimenting with automation in Shake Shack ordering.
ADP’s purchase of a digital payments company means more workers may soon be getting paid through fee-laden cash cards.
Sharing, Solidarity & Sustainability
Want to support a group of homecare workers who are getting a coop off the ground next year? Contribute here.
I’m pretty proud that I had a small piece of helping the Our Neighborhoods, Our Future put out this Open Letter to Jeff Bezos, regarding Amazon’s race-to-the-bottom RFP for a second HQ.
WA state rep Monica Stonier has a new piece out, announcing her intention to introduce portable benefits legislation in that state.
Reputation, reputation, reputation
Do you know how to protect yourself from doxxing?
Organizing Theory
If you didn’t watch this Mobiliisation Lab Live web discussion last week, on “How Social Ties Scale Modern Advocacy Campaigns,” go watch it now.
Thinking about scaling up voter registration for 2018? Read about this interesting experiment, run by vote.org.
Lots of us are moving to have more meetings via video, with people around the country or in other countries. Here’s a great post on how to make virtual meetings more effective.
From Partners
This is a fascinating paper by the UK Trade Union Congress on how unions should approach automation. If it’s tl/dr, start with Section 5—“What can we expect to happen to work…”
Geeking Out
I’m curious if I know anyone who is working (either for money or love) in an organization that uses Colony. And if it works, does it have to be a big organization? Kinda sounds like it, from this.
Events
Want to learn how implicit bias may be impacting your hiring? Check out this free webinar on November 8th.
“OK, but we’re buying the factory and keeping our jobs here.”

Sharing, Solidarity & Sustainability
“Want to move production to Thailand? OK, but we’re buying the factory and keeping our jobs here.” Provocative piece about how unions could be better at partnering with the cooperative movement.
“We only cary things that people like and buy.” A new grocery delivery startup thinks it can outsmart Instacart & Amazon (but only in the Bay Area, apparently). Meanwhile, Instacart rolls out a new partnership with Costco, so you can get your lifetime supply of paper towels delivered, instead of needing to borrow a truck.
It’s not just Bill Gates—the UK Labour Party is thinking about a robot tax, too.
A new app helps low-wage workers save for emergencies—and take out low-interest loans, instead of needing payday loan sharks.
Organizing Theory
Want to move your state towards a better system of online voter registration? Check out this how-to guide, from Pennsylvania Voice.
Geeking Out
Can you survive as an Uber driver? (spoiler alert—there are no mortgages in SF for $1,000/month). Check this amazing game by the Financial Times, of all places.
What’s Going on in the Workforce
Amazon is testing a new last-mile delivery service that has FedEx and UPS worried.
Most of us would agree that rehab is better than jail, for addicts. But when rehab is a forced labor camp, and there’s no workers’ comp? It’s not better.
Uber has problems with driver retention, and the FT is ON IT. (I guess that’s why they made that game?)
Why all workers should have the same rights…
Events
The Aspen Institute is hosting a discussion of Race, Work and Opportunity in America, on October 25th. Livestreaming, if you’re not in DC.
Jobs
The Freelancers’ Union is hiring a part-time social media strategist.
“I definitely do not fit into the normal box”
What’s Going on in the Workforce
“I definitely do not fit into the normal box…” I’m strangely excited to read this paper on people who have multiple work identities, and how they achieve authenticity.
Uber has decided to shut down its car-leasing program, because it was costing the company too much money (not, apparently, because it was costing drivers too much money—although it was definitely doing that).
The New York local of TWU is partnering with worker-coop advocates to push the city to create a worker-owned school bus company.
Reputation, reputation, reputation
The next time you’re rude to your Uber driver (but seriously, why are you still using Uber?) you might get a ding on your OWN reputation.
Organizing Theory
Before you discount it, think about it. Entrepreneur & former VC Kanyi Maqubela on why Y Combinator Core might be a union (b/c, aggregating labor).
Sharing, Solidarity & Sustainability
I don’t have a good umlaut joke when I really need one, but Ikea just bought Task Rabbit.
In yet another blow to Uber’s international operations, the company is threatening to pull out of Montreal/Quebec rather than comply with new government regulations that require them to provide the same number of training hours that taxi drivers must receive. On the plus side, Uber just introduced a function to teach hearing riders some basic sign language, when they pull a driver who is deaf.
A new company offers to help better connect gig workers to platform-based gigs, regardless of industry sector.
The Economic Security Project has announced their new grantees around universal basic income projects.