Papa Louie: A Reflection of Labor Exploitation

It’s 2014. You sit in front of a boxy beige computer. The air smells like EXPO markers as you listen to the chatter around you. You don’t partake in the conversation—you have a job to do. With your eyes intently glued to your computer screen, you produce taco after taco, perfecting every detail from the […]

No More Lies: The Truth About Raising the Minimum Wage

“I budget and budget, and I still can’t really buy no food,” explained Carolyn Allen, a 58-year-old minimum wage worker at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. She dreams of paying her medical bill and still being able to afford Pine-Sol or bleach to clean her house. Other minimum wage workers, like Laugudria Screven Jr., resort to […]

Skyrocketing Unemployment Presents Need for a One Fair Wage

As unemployment skyrocketed during the first few months of the Covid-19 lockdown, one group of workers stood at a particular disadvantage. Tipped service workers in 43 states did not get sufficient unemployment benefits because they are paid a subminimum wage. These wages are as low as $2.13 in states such as South Carolina, so most […]

2016: ‘The Spectacular Year’

Liberal triumph or anomaly? In the summer of 2016, the United States Congress adjourned for an unusual 7-week recess, leading to ferocious criticism from critics—often left-leaning—that Congress perpetuated its own reputation for gridlock and ineffectiveness. But while the Senate and House chambers in Washington were closed, 2,700 miles away in Sacramento, the California state capitol […]

2014 Midterms Recap: What You Need to Know

Though one of the biggest stories from the midterm election results on Tuesday was the Republicans gaining control of the Senate, there were other significant stories as well. Not only were pollsters incorrect in predicting how close certain Senate races would be, many of the gubernatorial races went the way of the Republicans as well […]

The Labor Rollercoaster of a Lifetime

What began as a factory fire months ago has turned into turmoil through Bangladesh. In April of 2013, Rana Plaza in Bangladesh toppled down, killing 1,129 people and injuring 1,900. This was the deadliest factory accident in all of history, topping the eight-story Spectrum factory collapse (also in Bangladesh) eight years earlier. As a result […]