Welcome to Reads for Radicals

We needed a brief interlude from elections so this edition is an election-free zone.

Australia's leaders don't even try to understand the working poor
Instead they continue to believe that money measures worth and moral character – with the Covid income supplements a particularly telling demonstration of this.

How Sky News quietly became Australia’s biggest news channel on social media
It’s time to stop laughing about how few people watch Sky After Dark. It’s a digital juggernaut with a huge – and very engaged - online audience.

Pro-Woman, Anti-Worker
On union-busting in the reproductive and gender justice space.

Australia's biggest companies are being run by a 'directors' club'
Study confirms the boys club is alive and well with more than a third of vacancies on top 300 listed company boards filled by directors of other companies.

Journalism Serves Democracy. That’s Us.
A challenge (from a journalist) for journalists and media outlets to embrace and empathise with their audiences in order to better hold the powerful to account.

What is AI?
The answer is a little more complicated than you may think so the MIT Technology Review has drawn you a flowchart to work it out.

Nazi Hippies: When the New Age and Far Right Overlap
The odd overlap between the Far Right and the New Age around the 'plandemic' is not a new phenomenon.

Slowdown in productivity growth compounded by COVID-19
The pandemic is compounding the slowdown, with profound implications for development outcomes. A comprehensive broad-based approach is necessary to rekindle productivity.

THE EIGHTIES ARE BACK BABY! (OR ARE THEY?)

Are we in Accord?
In a week when various sensible centrist types got very excited about the prospect of some meetings between the unions, government and employers, there were some very bad pieces published. This from ANU’s Frank Bongiorno, is excellent on why we are in “Accord 2.0” territory. 

Assessing the Accord and Labour’s Role in Neoliberalism
*Warning self-promotion!* Coincidentally, this week saw the release of the Roundtable Edition Of the Journal of Labour History on Dr Elizabeth Humphrys’ book How Labour Built Neoliberalism: Australia’s Accord, the Labour Movement and the Neoliberal Project. It includes an essay by Tim responding to Liz’s work. Full journal (paywall) here. 

OTHER

Universal Basic Income seems to improve employment and well-being
A study of Finland’s two year pilot of a UBI involving 2,000 unemployed people has concluded that it boosts recipients’ mental and financial well-being, as well as modestly improving employment. 

The powerful case for a participation income
Uni of Queensland Professor John Quiggin writes on the need to take JobSeeker and JobKeeper to their logical conclusion now that the pandemic has demonstrated the dead end of "workplace reform."

Don’t join, Organise: On the limits of employment law
As “any trade union activist will tell you, a law, or even a union card, is not always much protection without collective power.” 

Covid Life and the Asset Economy
Many Covid frontline essential workers are amongst the lowest paid in Anglo-capitalist societies. Before the pandemic, these workers’ jobs were a means of survival. Now, these pay-cheque to pay-cheque survival jobs are also sites of danger. Piece explores how relationships to assets, and especially to residential property, are central in shaping how Covid lives can and are being lived. 

“We Should Be Prepared for Incredible Waves of Mass Protest”
Longtime social movements scholar Frances Fox Piven on organising the unemployed under coronavirus, and why breaking rules and disrupting business as usual are central to making social change. 

Economic dignity and financial capabilities
Brotherhood of St Laurence paper develops the concept of economic dignity as a guiding principle which can be used to understand financialisaton is impacting the economic, social, and political context which people must navigate. 

Is the Pandemic China’s Sputnik Moment?
When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite, in October 1957, Washington finally understood that the Soviet Union was a formidable also a technological and military rival. The COVID-19 pandemic may be China’s unlikely Sputnik moment. 

Antitrust-Plus: Evaluating Additional Policies to Tackle Labor Monopsony
Labor market monopsony exists when firms can wield outsized power to offer lower wages. US Roosevelt Institute paper catalogues and evaluate the labour interventions policymakers could pursue to deal with it. 

Online to Offline Organising Course - new dates
In partnership with United for Respect, Reveille is running another Online to Offline Organising training for progressive organisers and campaigners. This is a modified version of the UNITED for RESPECT Online to Offline war room trainings we have been running for the past two years, with great participant engagement and satisfaction.

These 8 non-union worker organisations are quietly leading the new labour movement
While the analysis is pretty superficial, this article is interesting for a couple of reasons – one of which being that it appears on the Australian Business Insiders website. (TB)

The Chicago Teachers Strike Was a Lesson in 21st-Century Organizing

Despite the Janus decision and years of labor losses, the Chicago Teachers Union has figured out how to organize—and win. (TL)

Finding Workers Where They Are: A New Business Model to Rebuild the Labor Movement
Some interesting content, but driven as if the question we are trying to answer is not "how do we get more working people to win", but more "how do we get more working people to give us money?” (TB)

What kind of labour organisations do US workers want?
Using marketing methodology to try to figure out what a union is. Depressingly and regrettably resonant of some current Australian thinking. (TB)

Making Waves
A much more inspiring perspective on the path forward. Favourite line: “The quickest way to change someone’s opinion on unions is to drop them into a bargaining session with the boss to see exactly how the sausage is made; much like Soylent Green, the main ingredient is people.” (TB)

No, a ‘complex’ system is not to blame for corporate wage theft

An excellent response to the corporate spin on wage theft. (TL)

Belligerent unions are a sign of economic health

“Strikes are neither a bad omen nor entirely unwelcome.” We couldn’t agree more. (TL)

Please, no more projections. What we need are predictions, and they’re harder

On the analysis and expert evidence we actually need. (TL)

New Organising Manual from Blueprints for Change

A collaborative warehouse of tools, techniques and methodology for mobilising and campaign management. (TB)

Progressive and collective social struggle is the path out of neoliberalim

Great piece from John Falzon on collective action as the only real driver of progressive social change. (TL)
 

The new dot com bubble is here: it’s called online advertising

Why the tech giants may not be as all-knowing as we think – and the implications for online advertising. (MH)

The 2020s are set to be an economic turning point, says global banking giant
One of the biggest banks in the world is predicting a decade of change and the reversal of trends including ‘peak inequality’ and ‘peak globalisation’. (MH)

The SoftBank Effect: How $100 Billion Left Workers in a Hole

How the biggest venture capital fund in history has upended the lives of workers all over the world. (TL)

Beyond the Waterfront
Excellent review of a new book examining the comparative histories of two groups of dockworkers in the US and South Africa with insights as to how workers can continue to build on their power.
 

There’s an obvious reason wages aren’t growing, but you won’t hear it from Treasury or the Reserve Bank
No prize for guessing the answer here. 

Ask Labor Jane: How Can We Build Industrial Unionism in Education and Health Care?

Jane McAlevey argues against craft unions in favour of a united approach to organising workers with different roles and classifications in common worksites. 

Minimum Wage Impacts along the New York-Pennsylvania Border
Yet more evidence of the positive impact of raising the minimum wage. 

GM strike articles
50,000 GM workers across the US are on strike and there are a bunch of interesting articles on the situation: 

• Arrests, Presidential Candidates, and Electric Vehicles: Updates on the GM Strike
• GM Strike Highlights Labor’s Hesitation Towards Green Tech
• US Labor Laws Put Automobile Workers at a Disadvantage

Holocaust Capitalism
Richard Hunsinger argues that migrant detention centres represent a descent into fascist barbarism and are related to the inherent tendencies of capitalism. 

California Bill Makes App-Based Companies Treat Workers as Employees
At least one million California workers must be designated as employees instead of contractors from Jan 1 with more states likely to follow. 

Norway Is Far More Socialist Than Venezuela

A side by side comparison from earlier this year. 

Agitators and organisers: untold histories of Chinese migrant workers in Australia
Osmond Chiu on the history of Chinese workers in Australia which is far more complex than the cultivated image of compliance and exploitation. (TL)
 

Workers Seize the Shipyard That Built the Titanic, Plan to Make Renewable Energy There
Shipbuilders in Belfast are occupying their workplace and calling for nationalisation to prevent the last shipbuilding yard in the city from closure. (MH) 

Peaceful march was change of strategy for Hong Kong protesters
Interesting article on the strategy decisions behind the Hong Kong protests and how the protest movement is bridging the differences in tactics between its different parts. Hat tip to Amanda Tattersall and the @ChangeMakersPodcast for thoughtful coverage and commentary on the protests. (MH) 

SEIU has an ambitious new plan for workers’ rights. Democratic candidates should take notice.
Central tenants include industry bargaining and government procurement. And Democratic candidates aren’t going to get SEIU support unless they sign on to the plan. It appears Bernie Sanders is listening… (MH)
 

Bernie Sanders Unveils Sweeping Labor Plan With Sectorwide Bargaining
Sanders this week unveiled his plan to overhaul U.S. labor law by expanding workers’ rights to organise and strike and establishing a new system of sectorwide bargaining. (TL)
 

Labor’s Bill of Rights (US)
Long piece from 2017 on US labor laws and the need to move on from the National Labor Relations Act to a Labor Bill of Rights. (TL)
 

Rising capital share and transmission into higher interpersonal inequality

This paper argues that policies to share income from capital more equally would decrease overall inequality. We have the tools to do this, but policymakers lack the political will. Wonky. (TL)

The YouTubers Union is demanding change. That's nothing new for Google

Old dog tries new tricks. (TB)

How Germany closed its coal industry without sacking a single miner

A look at how Germany shut down its black coal industry while investing in former coal-mining towns and retraining and redeploying its workforce. (MH)

The Fight for $15 has created a road map for change

Hat tip to Karma Lord for this analysis of how the Fight for $15 (and a union) has gone from fringe idea to reality for many US workers.

How poverty in modern Britain echoes the past
With 4 million British workers living in poverty, this analysis finds that the extent and causes of poverty are much the same now as in 1900. (TL)

A Nobel Prize-winning economist thinks we’re asking all the wrong questions about inequality
Interesting – unfairness or inequality? (KC)

NDWA and Sen. Kamala Harris Introduce Bill To Protect Domestic Workers

The excellent National Domestic Workers Alliance has teamed up with Democrat representatives to introduce a Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights in Congress which would give US domestic workers basic labour protections for the first time ever including a guaranteed minimum wage. (MH)

Dissecting Australian media's Trump moment
Interesting analysis of how the media got it so wrong in the lead up to the 2019 Federal Election. (TL)

Onward! Another #GoogleWalkout Goodbye
Really interesting post by one of the organisers of the Google Walkout. (TL)

The Catholic Case for Communism
What Catholics (still) don’t understand about communism. (TL)

101 Notes on the LA Tenants Union
You can’t do politics alone. (TL)

Amazing ‘Prime Day’ brings out wave of protests and activism against Amazon
Demonstrations happened in Minnesota, New York, Seattle and San Francisco, as well as across Europe. (TB)

Adani’s silent partners
Inside Story on what is happening with Adani a month after it received final approvals for the Carmichael mine. (TL)

Temporary skilled migration has not undercut Australian jobs or conditions

CEDA report finds that temporary skilled working visas, have not had a negative impact on either the wages or participation rates of Australian-born workers. Full report is available here. (MH)

Competition Winner
First, the result of our web poll on best Hot Take about the Federal election result. The winner was Frank Bongiorno for Inside Story for the piece “Clearing the Scrub – Labor’s next leader faces the job of rebuilding the party in a low-growth world.” The pieces by Shaun Ratcliff, Godfrey Moase and Eleanor Glenn deserve notable mentions.

Say My Name: On the Importance of Taking Up Space and Making Noise
Thanks to Chanda Parmar Bonta for this article on being an Asian American woman.

UK Union Membership is Rising.
The Resolution Foundation paper asks if the trend will last. (TL)

Surprise! Trump’s Tax Cut Didn’t Help the Economy
A devastating analysis of the tax cut by the Congressional Research Service shows it’s done virtually no economic good. Full paper here. (TL)

The shock of the financial crisis is still being felt
Poor children have poor outcomes — but income is only half the story. (TL)

There is still social mobility, it’s just that most of it is downward.
In the UK, the post-war decades saw a remarkable degree of upward social mobility, with large numbers of people getting higher-status jobs than their parents. Not anymore. (TL)

Brahmin Left vs Merchant Right: Polical Allegiance and Inequality
Fascinating paper by Thomas Pikkety. Using post-electoral surveys from France, Britain and the US, the paper documents a striking long-run evolution in the structure of political cleavages – in particular the rise of left voting by educated elites. (TL)

I work in the environmental movement. I don’t care if you recycle.
Keep cups are fine but individual choices aren't going to fix this. Stop obsessing over your environmental sins. Fight the companies responsible instead. (MH)

Tesla Suppressing Workplace Complaints
Blind is an anonymous social network that has been used by tech workers to speak freely about grievances related to the workplace, among other concerns. Thousands of Tesla employees have signed up for the service, but now the company is trying to suppress its workers from joining the network. (TL)

Moving Matters
Briefing Note from the Resolution Foundation in the UK on housing costs and labour market mobility. (TL)

Fair Work Ombudsman Says Uber Drivers not Employees
Unlike courts overseas, the Fair Work Ombudsman has found the Uber drivers are contractors. FWO saying employment means "obligation for an employee to perform work when it is demanded by the employer" is odd given their own website notes that "a casual employee also does not commit to all work an employer might offer." (MH / TL)

Monopsony in the UK
The growing prominence of giant companies in advanced economies has raised concerns about the increase in monopoly power when selling. But it’s also a factor when they buy labour. Wonky. (TL)

Women’s Soccer Inequality
The US women’s soccer team’s fight for equal pay. (MH)

Better Schools Won’t Fix America
Many well-off people think educational investment could heal the (US’s) ills. But fighting inequality must come first. (TL)

Why Truth Doesn’t Change People’s Minds (and What Does)
An interesting poke around in the psychological imperatives of group think. Anti-intellectualism, fake news, and how to actually change your mind. (TB)

Why the UAW lost again in Tennessee
For anyone interested in distracting themselves from sifting through the ashes of our own recent efforts, here's a hot take on who is to blame for a symbolic, depressing defeat from somewhere else. (TB)

Red and Green Coalition
How unions and climate organisers learned to work together in New York. (TB)

The Bright Side of Unionization: The Case of Stock Price Crash Risk
Study examines whether and how labor unionisation influences stock price crash risk. Finds that unions constrain managerial resource diversion and over-investment, demand less risk-taking, and facilitate transparent information flow, which in turn reduces crash risk. Wonky. (TL)

How the 'rebel women' of Broken Hill helped shape the early union movement
From leading marches on horseback, to insulting police officers and starting their own hospitals, 'rebel women' in Broken Hill helped shape the mining town and the union movement in Australia. (TL)

Uber drivers strike and the future of labor: 4 essential reads
A handy little collection and exec summary of four recent future of union think pieces. (TB)

Federal Election Primer, Part 2: Enterprise Bargaining

This is the second in a series of postsdiscussing the major aspects of workplace relations policy in the lead-up to the election. (TL)

If Labor wins the 2019 federal election, what role will unions play?

Part of an election serieson wages, industrial relations, Labor and the union movement ahead of the 2019 federal election. (TL)
 

The Dutch East India Company was richer than Apple, Google and Facebook combined
How rich was the Dutch East India Company? This old Dutch company was the first ever to do business in a modern way and get filthy rich with it. (TL)

The impact of precarious employment on mental health: The case of Italy
Large study investigating the link between precarious employment and mental health. TL;DR precarious work significantly increases the probability of mental health problems. (TL)

Building Tech for Progressive Power, Not Profit

Action Network’s partner-driven not for profit tech model is creating powerful organising tools for progressives. (TB)

How railways aided early democratic social movements
Rail transport enabled the movement of individuals and the ideas they carry. (TL)

Financial crisis 'scarred' younger workers

A generation has been left scarredby joining the workforce just as the financial crisis hit. (TL)

Samuel Brittan (1980): Hayek, the New Right, and the Crisis of Social Democracy: Weekend Reading
This—written forty years ago—is still the best short summary of left-neoliberalism. (TL)

This river in New Zealand is a legal person. How will it use its voice?
Probably a bit of an abstract point- but I love the idea that a more holistic approach to our views can bring justice and opportunities for stronger community. (KC)

Discrimination in hiring based on presence of children or perceived “risk” of pregnancy
Not surprising but disappointing nonetheless. (TL)

Tennessee Governor Leads Anti-Union Captive Audience Meeting at VW
When the Governor gets directly involved in VW's union-busting. (TL)

Our ‘culture of underpayment’ must be eradicated
Law Professor Anthony Forsyth argues for a zero tolerance approach to wage theft. Forsyth also has a terrific blog on labour law here. (TL)

From the Union Hall to the Church

A slightly terrifying analysis of Brazilian political context. Bolsonaro's election marked the decline of trade unions as the primary site of working-class organization; and the rise of Evangelical churches in their place. (TB)

Worker exploitation a core issue for super funds

Katie Hepworth and the NUW’s Tim Kennedy on why workers' rights need to be core business for super funds. (MH)

The Effect of Minimum Wages on Low-Wage Jobs

What do minimum wages do? *Wonk warning* New paper quantifying the overall effect of US minimum wages on low-wage jobs. TL;DR increasing minimum wages does not cost jobs. (TL)

After the Supreme Court Said Unions Can’t Force Non-Members to Pay Dues, Almost All of Them Stopped

A hostile, anti-union take on the impact of the Janus decision on SEIU and AFSCME. Commentary is interesting in understanding counter arguments, and figures are interesting in and of themselves. (TB)

Red is the new black: Support for and attitudes towards socialism in Australia and the United States
Socialism is back. Comparison of attitudes to socialism by age groups and between the US and Australia. (TL) 

Prostitution Law and the Death of Whores

An amazing essay on sex work that is really about class and race as well. (TL)

How the French rose up against a huge Amazon logistics centre

The yellow vest protestors turn their attention to Amazon… and get results with the French Government announcing a new tax on tech companies. (MH)

Climate Chaos Is Coming — and the Pinkertons Are Ready
The firm that once protected stage coaches in the American West is ready to capitalise on climate chaos and lawlessness. (TL)

Before we ossify: on forgetting, radical histories and the Anthropocene
Challenging piece on the need to remobilise ‘radical histories’ in order to generate the grieving and hope necessary for survival in the face of climate change. (TL)

The Highlander Idea

For decades, the Highlander School in the South of the US has nurtured some of the most important radical movements by pushing a simple idea: ordinary people can act as agents of change. This idea continues to threaten the Right. (TL)

New trade union targets overworked junior lawyers

A new trade union branch for legal sector workers in the UK has been launched and wants solicitors and barristers in training to sign up and help fight oppression and inequality. (TB)

Longer working hours do not mean higher profits, say economists
As campaigns in the UK and US push for shorter working hours, economists agree that working people to the bone is bad for business as well as workers. (TL) 

Your income tax questions answered in three easy charts
Labor and Coalition proposals side by side. (TL)

Models of Worker Owned Enterprises
Policy paper with proposals for new ways to support worker owned enterprises. Includes polling showing very high levels of public support for workers having first right of refusal to take control of a firm / site slated for closure. (TL)
 

Superannuation and ESG Issues
Debates in Australia about superannuation funds raising labour practices at BHP are 15 years behind much of the world. (TL)