Jail Inmates Worked for a $16 Billion Company Without Pay. Now They Want Their Wages.
The Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, CaliforniaSalwan Georges/Washington Post/Getty The last time Bert Davis was booked into Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, California, he was assigned to Housing Unit 31, the pod for inmate workers, and promptly sent to work in the facility’s industrial kitchen. This was routine for Davis, who had cycled in and…
Heroes of the 2010s: Kshama Sawant, the Socialist Who Beat Amazon
Mother Jones illustration; Jason Redmond/Getty The staff of Mother Jones is rounding up the decade’s heroes and monsters. Find them all here. In 2013, an actual Trotskyist named Kshama Sawant was elected to the Seattle City Council. A Trotskyist is a kind of communist—not in the sense that Republicans call Democrats communists, but in the sense that communists…
Heroes of the 2010s: Kain Colter, Jock Revolutionary
John Mersits/Cal Sport Media/ZUMA The staff of Mother Jones is rounding up the decade’s heroes and monsters. Find them all here. By June 2013, when I wrapped up my time at Northwestern, I knew Kain Colter as the school’s star quarterback, wide receiver, and team captain. He’d led the Wildcats to a Gator Bowl victory, the school’s first…
Heroes of the 2010s: Angelica From the Dunkin’ Donuts in West Haven, Connecticut
Getty The staff of Mother Jones is rounding up the decade’s heroes and monsters. Find them all here. Let’s set the scene. It’s March 3, 2013. Angelica (she does not provide her last name) is working the drive-through window at a Dunkin’ Donuts in West Haven, Connecticut. At 11:06 p.m., according to the local NBC affiliate, a man…
How California’s Uber Law Became an Excuse to Fire Freelance Journalists
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, speaks at a rally about her measure to limit how companies labeling workers as independent contractors.Rich Pedroncelli/AP On Monday, the sports blog SB Nation, owned by Vox Media, announced it was reorganizing its model in California and would be laying off most of its staff of two hundred freelance writers…
How Much Are Your Favorite Companies Spending on Union-Busting Consultants?
Housekeepers, cooks and bartenders rally outside Donald Trump’s hotel to draw attention to their efforts to unionize workers at the property just off the Las Vegas Strip.Steve Marcus/AP Employers will pay a lot to ensure they don’t have to actually pay the people who work for them. This morning, the Economic Policy Institute dropped a…