Over the past century, South Africa’s gold mining industry has amassed immense wealth and global recognition, fueling the nation’s economy. . Yet, beneath the glittering surface lies a grim reality: a legacy of chronic illness, poverty, and death. The gold mining industry is built on the systematic exploitation of indigenous laborers from neighboring countries, shaped […]
Tag: labor rights
Monkeys Go Bananas: Enough Animal Exploitation, Not Enough Action
Animals play an indispensable role in the lives of humans, shaping our psychological development, supporting livelihoods, and driving global economic systems. Indeed, a child’s early cognitive education is scientifically incomplete without learning about animals. Humane aquatic farming provides 500 million people in developing countries enough money to live another day. Animal pollination services contribute upwards […]
The UAW is Redefining What It Means to be a Blue Collar Worker
What does it mean to be a worker in America? This is the fundamental question at the heart of the United Auto Workers’ strike. On September 15 the UAW made history by simultaneously striking each of the Big Three auto manufacturers: Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. The move comes off the back of Shawn Fain […]
How Modern-Day Capitalism Paralyzed Hollywood
This summer, Hollywood came to a standstill. For the first time in 63 years, writers and actors went on strike together as both the Writers Guild of America (WGA), representing 11,500 writers, and SAG-AFTRA, a 160,000-strong coalition of actors and media professionals, failed to settle contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television […]
How Surface Level Social Liberalism Hides Hollywood’s Deeply Exploitative Labor Practices
When we think of Hollywood’s politics, we often remember recent Oscars acceptance speeches with topics ranging from recognizing the accomplishments of immigrants to the condemnation of drinking cow’s milk. It feels as if every year, moments like these become more and more common, a seemingly odd trend in the entertainment industry. However, this trend is […]
The Precarious Balance of Closing California Prisons
California: the golden land of opportunity and new beginnings. But for whom? Those idyllic visions of gold and success are out of reach for the around 115,000 inmates currently incarcerated in the California prison system, filling 137.5% of the design capacity for 35 state-operated prisons. This number might seem low, given how many people live […]
A New Lochner Era
On February 22nd, 1975, members of Cesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers (UFW) began a 110 mile walk from San Francisco to Modesto, protesting the poor working conditions of the Gallo Winery. Only a few hundred joined Chavez at first, and he didn’t expect many more. By the time he reached the Central Valley, however, the […]
Farmworkers: Victims of COVID-19 and Climate Change
Farmworkers are a crucial sector of the labor force who often go without praise. Despite the harsh working conditions, low wages and the increasing threat of climate change, farmworkers are putting their lives even more at risk during the global pandemic. Farmworkers serve an essential purpose in our society as the backbone of our food […]
Modern Day Indentured Servitude
Lakshmi Senthilnathan has spent most of her adult life working in the country of Oman as the sole breadwinner of her family. While telling her story, she breezes past several accounts of physical and sexual abuse, claiming they are not out of the ordinary. Lakshmi persuades the interviewer that she was fortunate, for some of […]
The Silent Plea of America’s New Mothers
In the U.S., the fight for women’s rights in the workplace has come a long way. In 1963, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act, protecting women’s rights to be paid equal wages as men. In 1978, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was passed, banning workplace discrimination based on pregnancy. In 2015, King v. Burwell upheld the […]