Belabored: Changing a Culture of Harassment

Belabored: Changing a Culture of Harassment

Rita Pasarell, former Albany legislative staffer and co-founder of the Sexual Harassment Working Group, discusses recent accusations against Andrew Cuomo.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks during a COVID-19 briefing on July 6, 2020 in New York City in front of a representation of the case numbers (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been known as a bully for years, particularly by his political opponents. This past week, as investigations into his withholding of data on nursing home deaths linked to COVID-19 heated up, three women came forward with allegations that the governor had sexually harassed them. This week on Belabored, we talk about sexual harassment in Albany and beyond. We also talk about what is being done at the state and federal levels to protect workers from harassment on the job with Rita Pasarell, a former Albany legislative staffer and co-founder of the Sexual Harassment Working Group, a collective of workers who experienced harassment on the job.

We also look at strikes against the coup in Myanmar with organizer Andrew Tillet-Saks, a collective bargaining agreement in tech, the UK Supreme Court’s decision that Uber drivers are workers, not self-employed, and the potential for U.S. gig work to go in the other direction as scholars and activists speak out against a possible deal with Uber and Lyft. For Argh, we consider the history of organizing in the South as the Bessemer union drive continues, and look at Biden’s not-so-great personnel choices.

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News

Myanmar’s civil servant strikes start to bite (Channel News Asia)

Myanmar Workers and Unions on the Front Lines in Fight Against Coup  (Labor Notes)

Strike fund for Myanmar workers

Sectoral Bargaining: Principles for Reform

Uber drivers are workers not self-employed, Supreme Court rules (BBC)

The Gig Economy Is Coming for Millions of American Jobs (Bloomberg)

How to Win (Dissent)

Glitch workers sign tech’s first collective bargaining agreement (Verge)


Conversation

“It’s The Cuomo Way”: Former Staffers Describe Toxic Workplace Under Governor’s Relentless Thumb (Gothamist)

#HarassmentFreeNY

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Faces Sexual Harassment Accusations (NPR)

Crude Cuomo’s No Trailblazer, but Just Another Abusive Creep (DARVO Dudes) (Daily Beast

‘Hard to see the path out’: Cuomo besieged as crises grow (Politico

The Sexism at the Heart of Cuomo’s Boss State (The New Republic)


Argh, I wish I’d written that!

Michelle: Jamelle Bouie, The Deep South Has a Rich History of Resistance, as Amazon Is Learning (The New York Times)

Sarah: Edward Ongweso, Jr., Biden’s Top Labor Advisor Helped Uber Gut Workers’ Rights (Vice)


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