Workers
The Great Neoliberal Burden Shift (Part II)- How Corporate America Offset Liability Onto Its Workers
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The past and present of corporate deflection of responsibility.
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The past and present of corporate deflection of responsibility.
This episode was produced by Citations Needed, in collaboration with Workday Magazine. “Choose the product best suited for baby,” Nestlé urged in a 1970s baby formula ad. “What size is your carbon footprint?” wondered oil giant BP in 2003. “Texting, music listening put distracted pedestrians at risk,” USA Today announced in 2012. These headlines and ad copy all offer a glimpse into a longstanding strategy among corporations: place the burdens of safety, health, and wellbeing on individuals, in order to deflect responsibility and regulation.
How grocery store workers in Greater Minnesota fighting for better pay and working conditions are sticking together and transforming their union.
Catina Taylor has worked as a special educational assistant for the past 25 years in Minneapolis Public Schools. She’s a member of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers 59 (MFT 59) and President of the Education Support Professionals (ESPs). In 2022, Minneapolis teachers went on strike for three weeks. Taylor was on the picket line—she remembers not being able to feel her feet in the cold. Although she looks back fondly on the “historic” strike, she adds that it was a financially difficult time for many members.
Going on strike is one of the most powerful tools workers have, but can be a difficult choice for workers to forgo weeks of pay in the hopes of making greater gains for the long term.
The mines of the Mesabi Iron Range gleam red under the light covering of snow that remains after a historically warm winter in northern Minnesota. Hibbing, a mining town of around 16 thousand people, bustles with industry. And in any town with working people, you’ll find the working people who make all other industries possible: the childcare workers.
Iron Range Tykes, a small childcare center in Mountain Iron, Minn., sits on a small hill just off Minnesota State Highway 33. There’s a fenced-in playground and a full parking lot. Amanda Maass, 34, a long-time childcare worker, has worked there for the past three years.
Minnesota workers and community groups have worked toward this moment for over a decade. It’s paying off.
Brenda Johnson de la Federación de Maestros de Minneapolis Local 59 y Eva López de SEIU Local 26 en una reunión en octubre de 2023 donde muchos de los grupos comunitarios y sindicatos alineados alrededor de la fecha límite de hoy del 2 de marzo elaboraron estrategias sobre la mejor manera de aprovechar su poder colectivo. (PHOTO CREDIT: CORTESIA DE GEOFF DITTBERNER, SEIU MINNESOTA)
A strategic alignment of major networks of unions and community groups in Minnesota have worked together for more than a decade to leverage their collective power.
ATU 1005 members discuss pay, staffing, safety as TA is reached.
The NLRB recently reinstated six workers at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Workers say the museum is still breaking labor law and failing to bargain in good faith.