Why Target Stopped Asking Job Applicants If They’ve Been Convicted of a Crime
More than 60 counties, cities, and states—and some corporations—are reducing discrimination against former offenders by removing one small box from job applications.
Jobs
Seattle Wins $15 Minimum Wage—Will Your Town Be Next?
Activists built support for the ordinance by demonstrating that it would reduce poverty in the city.
That Book About Inequality That’s Sold Out of Bookstores? Here’s What It Means for 2016
The popularity of a new book by French economist Thomas Piketty should be a wake-up call for politicians. If inequality sells in the stores, it will sell at the polls as well.
The Coal Workers You Didn’t Know Existed—And Why They May Be At Risk
Thousands of workers may be at risk of chronic disease from the chemicals used to process coal—including MCHM, which recently contaminated the drinking water of nearly 300,000 West Virginia residents.
A New Source of Jobs for India’s Rural Women? (Hint: It’s in Your Shampoo)
The business in chemicals extracted from seaweed—predicted to be worth $7 billion by 2018—is emerging as a source of employment for rural women.
Only 4 Percent of the Lowest-Wage Workers Get Paid Family Leave: Could a New Law Change This?
Many small businesses do want to give their workers paid time off to care for new babies and sick family members, but lack the means. How a new bill could make it possible.
How Domestic Workers Won Their Rights: Five Big Lessons
After decades of exclusion, home care workers are finally covered by federal minimum wage laws. Anyone who works for social change can learn from how they did it.
White House Makes History by Granting Minimum Wage to Home Care Workers
The Obama administration makes good on its promise to give direct care workers the same rights as nearly everyone else—and to top it all off, California follows suit.
Less than 2 Percent of Carpenters Are Women—Meet the Master Builder Working to Change That
Maria Klemperer-Johnson is getting women ready for a growing and high-paying field by teaching them to build eco-friendly tiny homes.
Escape from an L.A. Sweatshop: How Modern-Day Slaves Become Lobbyists
Lured from Mexico into forced labor at an American factory, Flor Molina’s human trafficking story was typical. What’s remarkable is what she did next.
For Safer Factories, CEOs Are Listening to Workers on the Frontlines
The future of corporate responsibility means hearing firsthand from factory workers about their conditions.
Putting Workers on TV: MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Bringing Labor to Prime Time
While the days when every city paper had a labor beat may be gone, Hayes is finding new ways to get the issues facing workers into the national conversation.
No Time for Volunteering? 4 Policies that Can Help
To truly encourage widespread volunteerism, we’d need to make sure that everyone (not just the well-to-do) have the time to do it.
Striking Fast Food Workers: “We Can’t Survive on $7.25”
A movement to improve pay and work conditions in America’s fast food restaurants appears to be gathering steam.
Infographic: Your Stuff’s Not As Cheap As You Think It Is
What do we really trade for all of the cheap stuff we buy?
What the US Can Learn From Africa’s Booming Economy
Seven out of the ten fastest-growing economies are in Africa. Behind that is a surge in healthy young people and an emphasis on local markets.
A Caring Economy Requires Building Bridges—Not Burning Them
Traditional organizing makes opponents into “enemies,” but a new crop of activists is using love and empathy to create new alliances and possibilities.
Should There Be a Maximum Wage?
Countries like Egypt and Switzerland have placed regulations on how much executives can earn. Here’s why the U.S. should consider doing the same.
A New Deal for Appalachia’s Forests: Growing Biofuels?
The mine-ravaged communities of Eastern Kentucky have been increasingly abandoned by the coal economy. Could growing biofuels jump-start a new local jobs market—and renew the land in the process?
Not Your Father’s Union Movement: NYC’s Young Workers Committee
The Young Workers Committee of New York’s transit union was out on the streets in a vibrant march. This video shows the group rallying, taking over an official’s office, and using the Occupy-style “people’s mic.”
From Housing to Health Care, 7 Co-ops That Are Changing Our Economy
How manufacturers, retailers, restaurants, and others are doing business the cooperative way.
Labor Dept. Deputy: It’s Time to Raise the Minimum Wage
Before joining the Department of Labor, Mary Beth Maxwell was a top organizer for the workers’ rights organization Jobs With Justice. Here, she speaks with Amy Dean about the lives of workers who make minimum wage and why the time has come to raise it.
To Build a Community Economy, Start With Solidarity
How residents who can’t afford to buy in still get the benefits of co-op work and housing.
6 Ways to Fuel the Cooperative Takeover
From now on, the global mantra for filling market gaps is going to be, “There’s a co-op for that.” But co-ops need customers, money, and training. How do we shift from business as usual to the work of cooperation?
Credit Unions Put Your Money to Work—Right Where You Live
What if your bank’s first priority was to do good? Vancouver’s Vancity leads the way in putting dollars back into the community.
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