Salon.com > working class

How will the Boston shutdown affect workers?

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 15:00:00 +0000

As Boston became a ghost town Friday, most of the city's residents stayed home from work and got a unexpected day off. Most, but not all. While Starbucks and Subways shuttered, select Dunkin’ Donuts stayed open at the requests of law enforcement, earning deserved praise for the Boston-based chain. But while the chain was "encouraging our guests to stay home today," somebody had to come in to make the Dunkaccinos for the police officers, namely the low-wage workers who staff the stores.

And while they may have been happy to do come in despite the potential danger, eager to play whatever small part they could in the manhunt for someone who terrorized Boston, labor leaders say the case highlights how the bombing and its aftermath has affected workers in the Boston area this week.

"Most low wage workers can't afford to lose a day's pay, and there's no doubt this lockdown will adversely impact the city's working poor," said Jessica Kutch, a labor activist who co-founded the organizing site coworker.org, in an email to Salon. "I'd really like to see employers state on the record that their hourly workers will be paid for the time they were scheduled to work today -- but I suspect that most employers will place the burden of this shutdown squarely on the backs of people who can least afford it."

Bring back shushing librarians

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 01:00:00 +0000

Librarians hate to be depicted as bun- and glasses-wearing shushers, hellbent on silencing any and all noisy activities within their sacred domain. Fair enough: Librarians are highly skilled, well-educated and socially aware as a rule, and should not be reduced to a cultural stereotype ranking only a notch or two above a church lady on the hipness scale.

Nevertheless, there's a lot to be said for that shushing. I've long believed that one of the most precious resources libraries offer their patrons is simple quiet. Alas, for too long I've been forced to confine this sentiment to bar-stool rants because for all I knew I was being hopelessly retrograde. Libraries are constantly talking up the new — and often clamorous — services and activities they have added or plan to add in order to "better serve a diverse community" (and by extension, justify their continued funding in the eyes of public officials who like to appear forward-thinking). But take heart, seekers of serenity, for now we have data!

Robots are coming (for your job)

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:00:00 +0000

During this year’s political campaigns, politicians of both parties have neglected one increasingly important constituency of American workers. I refer, of course, to robots.

The complaint “It’s the twenty-first century, so where are the robots?” is receiving an answer. Robots are being used in advanced manufacturing. Support is building for allowing drones, developed in warfare, to be used for commercial purposes inside the U.S. Google’s robocars have logged more than 300,000 miles on American roads and Las Vegas has legalized self-driving vehicles. Robot vacuum cleaners chase dust bunnies across the floors of many homes.

Oh, and phones can now talk back.

Beyond guns and God

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 11:45:00 +0000

What is "the white working class," that much discussed, often criticized demographic group that many say will decide this election? You know them: They're "bitter" and "cling" to "guns and religion," in the (otherwise sympathetic) words of 2008 candidate Barack Obama. Many are members of "the 47 percent" of Americans dependent on government derided by Mitt Romney, who the Republican insists will vote for Obama – except many don't know they're in that moocher class, and plan to vote for Romney.

Just in time comes a study by the Public Religion Research Institute, which confounds most stereotypes of the white working class, while confirming a couple. It may force us to give up our caricature of the last group of Americans it's still politically safe to caricature. They're less conservative than most political analysts give them credit for – if you leave out the South.