What’s Going on in the Workforce
The men of Major League Soccer are getting ready to strike.
Remember when that self-driving Uber killed a pedestrian in Arizona? Turns out the company didn’t program cars to recognize that pedestrians jaywalk. Meanwhile, the Taxi Workers Alliance are suing Uber for wage theft in NYC. And ousted Uber founder Travis Kalanick is back with a new venture—this time, he’s building ghost kitchens to maximize productivity in the food delivery space.
Hollywood assistants are speaking out about low-wages and punishing conditions in the film and tv industry.
An interesting look at how the gig economy is penetrating the grocery industry, and other retail stores. Hint: it’s not just about delivery. (h/t to reader Thomas Beckett for sending me this one.)
From Partners
Next 100’s Phela Townsend takes a look at how worker organizations are using digital tools to build power.
Sharing, Solidarity & Sustainability
“Nearly a fifth of Americans hold jobs with nonstandard or variable hours.” What’s that doing to our social relationships?
Food delivery workers in Japan and Norway have formed the first unions in that industry, in Uber Eats and Foodora, respectively. Meanwhile, US Instacart workers are striking over changes to the app design that lowered their pay.
This is more on the anti-solidarity side—but private prisons have created a new attack group, acknowledging the damage that has been done to their business model by migration rights and anti-incarceration activists.
Shout out to my daughter, Alina, who sent this one my way—Microsoft’s test of a four-day workweek in Japan was a success—and will be repeated next summer.
Organizing Theory
Who among us hasn’t groaned when being assigned to run the icebreaker section of a meeting? If you need a quick idea, here are 25.
Check out this Call to Action worksheet put out by Mob Lab—to help you figure out how to describe the actions you’re asking supporters to take.
And finally, here’s a beautiful interview by Civic Hall’s Micah Sifry, about how Color of Change embraced the concept of Black Joy, as a way to both move from online to offline organizing, and build long-term relationships with and between members.