When Uber Came to Town
Many urban governments have outsourced public services to private entities. In Washington, D.C., Uber enlisted the city for its own goals.
Spring 2025
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Belabored: Washington Retreats from a Just Transition, with Joe Uehlein
As hopes for ambitious climate policy fade, Joe Uehlein, Founding President of the Labor Network for Sustainability, talks about why we must decarbonize the economy while protecting workers.
Belabored: Back to Work
If you’re nervous about going back to work, you’re not the only one. Workers and labor advocates discuss what the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions might mean for workplace safety and labor rights.
Belabored: General Strike in Palestine
Political economy researcher Riya Al-Sanah joins us from Haifa to talk about this week’s historic general strike.
The Workers Who Sued Uber and Won
The UK Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Uber drivers, declaring them workers and not independent contractors. But to beat the platform capitalists, it is urgent that we start to treat digital rights as worker rights.
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.
Belabored: Stopping the Spread of Prop 22
California’s Proposition 22 locked in a second-tier status for gig economy workers. In the state and around the country, they’re still organizing for something better.
Gig Workers Need Antitrust Reform
Instead of attempting to create an economists’ utopia of “perfect competition,” policymakers should reform antitrust to democratize power in the economy.
Belabored: Labor at the Ballot Box
While the presidential race ended with a narrow victory for the Democrats, the electorate revealed how sharply divided it is—what does it all mean for labor?
A Blow for Labor Rights in California
Gig workers were barely scraping by even before companies like Uber spent $200 million on the successful campaign to pass Proposition 22. Now, two paths lie ahead: one paved by corporate cash, and the other blazed by the workers behind the wheel.
Belabored: Trump’s Broken Promises
Trump and Pence claim that industrial jobs are “booming” under their leadership. In Lordstown and Indianapolis, local labor organizers tell a different story.
Digital Piecework
Homework and piece pay in the garment industry were largely abolished by the global labor struggles that preceded the New Deal. Silicon Valley capitalists have brought the model back.
Construction Workers and the Gig Economy
Misclassification is a business model that depends on tax, insurance, and payroll fraud. It is an assault on a century of hard-won workers’ rights.
Belabored Stories: Locked out of Unemployment Insurance
States like California have yet to roll out a system to process gig workers’ unemployment-assistance applications. Rideshare drivers are running on fumes.
Belabored Stories: “How Can We Bounce Back From This?”
Taxi and rideshare drivers were struggling before the pandemic hit. Now, faced with plummeting ridership and high personal risk, they are demanding comprehensive aid.
