Recently a group of more than a thousand produce market workers in New York went on strike for higher wages. Banding together and organizing into labor unions can give workers more power to advocate for their rights. Especially during the pandemic, when providing essential services often means risking their own health, more workers are joining with others to demand the pay and working conditions they feel they deserve. Listen to learn more about why workers are organizing and what gives them more, or less, bargaining power.
Story Length: 5:26
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April 10, 2020
4:43
Workers at big companies are demanding paid leave, among other protections, as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread. Amazon workers in New York, where some employees have COVID-19, want their warehouse to be deep cleaned while they continue to be paid. Instacart workers, contractors who do not receive benefits, are asking for paid leave if they get sick or are exposed to illness. Workers at both companies say these benefits are necessary and fair, given the risks they are facing, though the companies do not normally offer extended paid leave. Listen to learn more about the workers’ demands and then debate: Should companies offer paid leave during the pandemic?
Read MoreMay 20, 2019
3:58
Since November, a group of French citizens known as the “yellow vests” have been protesting economic inequality across France. They are called “yellow vests” because they wear yellow safety vests to create roadblocks and draw attention to their protests. After the recent fire at Notre Dame Cathedral, conflict escalated around the yellow vest demonstrations in the streets of Paris. Listen to this story to learn more about why the yellow vest protestors are angry and how the country is responding to them.
Read MoreMarch 4, 2019
4:09
Teachers across the country have been striking this year, asking for support in the form of smaller class sizes, more school nurses and counselors, and pay raises. While their specific demands differ somewhat across school districts, there are common themes. In addition to asking for higher pay for the work that they do, teachers are asking for improvements that would better meet the needs of students. In some cases, they are protesting policies that they believe are not helping students. Listen to this story to learn more about the recent national trend of organized teacher protests.
Read MoreDecember 23, 2016
3:02
The Department of Labor has guidelines for companies that want to use unpaid interns. Essentially, unpaid interns have to be treated like students and shouldn't do the work of paid employees. But those rules don’t apply to government internships. There are hundreds of interns that work for free in government agencies, and one former intern is trying to change that because he says it favors students who come from wealthy families who can afford to support the students during the internship. Listen to this story and debate whether government interns should be paid.
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