Independent journalist. New book: Chasing the Harvest, an oral history collection from California's fields. Story ideas? thompson.gabriel@gmail.com
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Articles by Gabriel Thompson
AI hasn’t replaced these interpreters — but it has degraded their working conditions Employees at Monterey-based LanguageLine Solutions report heavier workloads, erratic schedules and burnout since the $1.1B company shifted to AI-powered workforce softwar
FEATURED STORY | By Gabriel Thompson This article was produced by Capital & Main. It is republished here with permission. When Sara Ramirez started as an interpreter for Monterey-based LanguageLine Solutions in October 2020, she saw it as “a regular company.” She worked part-time as a Spanish-language interpreter from her home in El Paso, Texas, translating by phone for clients that included the Federal Emergency Management Agency, banks and hospitals.
Why Governance Structure Matters
The recent leadership drama at OpenAI has exposed fundamental questions about how AI organizations should be structured and governed. As Sam Altman returns to his position after a brief but chaotic removal, I believe this moment offers critical insights into the growing pains of the AI industry’s most influential organizations. Watching the OpenAI saga unfold, I’m struck by how quickly a governance crisis can threaten even the most innovative companies.
PPP aid flooded fast food outlets facing labor complaints
click to enlarge The McDonald's where Kenia Campeando was working when she tested positive for COVID-19. Sebastián Hidalgo for Reveal Last October, as coronavirus cases began to slowly climb throughout Chicago, Kenia Campeano arrived at a brick McDonald’s on the southwest side, where the 31-year-old had worked for nearly two years as a cook.
Burn After Reading
William Powell, the author of The Anarchist Cookbook, in 1971 © JP Laffont/Sygma/Corbis On September 10, 1976, during an evening flight from New York to Chicago, a bearded passenger handed a sealed envelope to an attendant. The note began: “One, this plane is hijacked.” In the rest of the letter, the passenger, a Croatian nationalist named Zvonko Busic, explained that five bombs had been smuggled onboard, and that a sixth had been placed in locker 5713 at Grand Central Station in Manhattan.
They Were Warned Not to Take Sick Days — Then Six Workers at Their Warehouse Died of Coronavirus
At least six people who worked in a Long Island, New York, warehouse leased by Broadridge Financial Solutions have died of Covid-19, according to their family members and news reports. Earlier this month, The Intercept and Type Investigations reported that employees of TMG Mail Solutions, a Broadridge contractor that prints and mails financial documents, had been pressured to work during the Covid-19 pandemic even as some of their co-workers tested positive for the virus.
They Were Warned Not to Take Sick Days — Then Six Workers at Their Warehouse Died of Coronavirus - Type Investigations
At least six people who worked in a Long Island, New York, warehouse leased by Broadridge Financial Solutions have died of Covid-19, according to their family members and news reports. Earlier this month, The Intercept and Type Investigations reported that employees of TMG Mail Solutions, a Broadridge contractor that prints and mails financial documents, had been pressured to work during the Covid-19 pandemic even as some of their co-workers tested positive for the virus.
As Coronavirus Spread, Financial Services Contractor Told Warehouse Workers They Aren’t Allowed to Get Sick
M. was midway through her 12-hour shift in late March, sorting financial documents in a cavernous Long Island warehouse, when a supervisor stopped by and handed her a flyer. Several days earlier, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had signed an executive order shutting down most businesses, but M.’s warehouse had remained open because its purpose — mailing and shipping — was defined as essential.
As Coronavirus Spread, Financial Services Contractor Told Warehouse Workers They Aren't Allowed to Get Sick
M. was midway through her 12-hour shift in late March, sorting financial documents in a cavernous Long Island warehouse, when a supervisor stopped by and handed her a flyer. Several days earlier, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had signed an executive order shutting down most businesses, but M.’s warehouse had remained open because its purpose — mailing and shipping — was defined as essential.
I Worked Concessions at the Super Bowl. Now I’m Suing for Wage Theft.
Workers wait in line for shuttles after Super Bowl 50. Gabriel Thompson On Wednesday, in the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, California, attorney Caren P. Sencer of Weinberg, Roger & Rosenfeld filed a lawsuit against Centerplate, the company that provides food and beverage service at Levi’s Stadium, recent host of Super Bowl 50.
Following Exposé of Labor Violations, Centerplate Agrees to $5.45m Settlement
On Wednesday, Centerplate, a multinational food and beverage concessionaire, filed a joint motion in Northern California District Court asking a federal judge to approve a $5.45 million settlement to resolve wage and hour complaints brought by the company’s employees in California. The lawsuit, Raquedan et al v.
Who Burns for the Perfection of Paper by Martín Espada
At sixteen, I worked after high school hours at a printing plant that manufactured legal pads: Yellow paper stacked seven feet high and leaning as I slipped cardboard between the pages, then brushed red glue up and down the stack. No gloves: fingertips required for the perfection of paper, smoothing the exact rectangle. Sluggish by 9 PM, the hands would slide along suddenly sharp paper, and gather slits thinner than the crevices of the skin, hidden.
Work More Days. Carve More Turkeys. Don’t Get Hurt. The Harsh Conditions for Poultry Workers Just Before Thanksgiving.
The Grind Work more days. Carve more turkeys. Don’t get hurt. What poultry workers endure in the frenzied weeks before Thanksgiving. The humans who prepared your Thanksgiving turkey may have gone 50 days without a day off from work. Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters This article was reported in partnership with the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute. On the debone line, the birds come at you fast. That was Lisandro Vega’s first lesson.
My Brother, the White Nationalist
Feature stories, read aloud: Download the Audm app for your iPhone. On a Saturday evening in April of 2017, Josh Damigo was home in Oxnard, California, about 50 miles up the coast from Los Angeles, when he received a text message from a friend. "Are you OK?" she asked. "Kinda," he texted back. "Why do you ask?" "Um, your brother is all over Twitter right now." Josh went online. "Oh shit," he wrote back.
I Was a Super Bowl Concession Worker - The Investigative Fund
Most of what we covered over the next two hours was boilerplate service-industry stuff — smile, be courteous, wash your hands — but our instructor broke up the blur of PowerPoint slides with juicy digressions. He warned us against “sampling alcohol,” describing a recent game where he stumbled upon a cook sprawled out, unconscious, in the taproom.
Book review: Welcome to the world of the paranoid, conspiratorial and unhinged
Book review: Welcome to the world of the paranoid, conspiratorial and unhinged Before Alex Jones, there was John Trochmann. With an impressive white beard that softened his hawkish face, Trochmann ran a group in the 1990s that encouraged people to form militias to resist what he promised was an imminent attack from the New World Order. Mostly, though, he spent his time spreading conspiracies through a mail-order catalog from his home in Montana.
Book review: Welcome to the world of the paranoid, conspiratorial and unhinged
Book review: Welcome to the world of the paranoid, conspiratorial and unhinged Before Alex Jones, there was John Trochmann. With an impressive white beard that softened his hawkish face, Trochmann ran a group in the 1990s that encouraged people to form militias to resist what he promised was an imminent attack from the New World Order. Mostly, though, he spent his time spreading conspiracies through a mail-order catalog from his home in Montana.
‘All They Will Call You,’ by Tim Z. Hernandez
‘All They Will Call You,’ by Tim Z. Hernandez On a clear January morning in 1948, a plane carrying 32 passengers departed from the Oakland Municipal Airport, destined for El Centro, a city near the U.S.-Mexico border. As the Douglas DC-3 soared above the Los Gatos Canyon, some 60 miles southwest of Fresno, the left engine caught fire and exploded. The left wing detached and plummeted to the ground, followed shortly by the plane itself. It was a spectacular crash.
Work More Days. Carve More Turkeys. Don’t Get Hurt. The Harsh Conditions for Poultry Workers Just Before Thanksgiving.
During his third “fresh” in October 2015, the ache in Vega’s hands was superseded by shooting pains in his back. While moving a heavy container of turkey carcasses with a pallet jack, he slipped and fell, throwing out his back. He struggled to get up and hobbled over to the nurse’s station. For several days, he returned to the station during breaks, where his back was iced and rubbed down with Icy Hot by a nurse.
The Investigative Fund
On the debone line, the birds come at you fast. That was Lisandro Vega’s first lesson. The former prison guard in Puerto Rico had moved to the town of Huntsville, Arkansas, in 2013, following relatives who found work at a Butterball turkey plant. There, he was given a knife and gloves and told to stand at a station, where 47 dead and defeathered turkeys rushed past each minute. He was responsible for every second bird. Sometimes he cut out the hip joints; other times the breasts and livers.
The Grind
“Leo Would Not Have Died That Day If He Had Been With Me” Paid family leave doesn’t just support gender equity in the workplace. It may also prevent babies’ deaths.
‘Strangers in Their Own Land’ review: Arlie Russell Hochschild listens to the voices of the American right
For 15 years, Lee Sherman worked as a pipe fitter in a petrochemical plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana. It was a hazardous job done in one of the country’s most polluted regions. After a chemical leak, his boss advised him to leave the plant; 30 minutes later, the plant exploded, killing 15 workers. Another time he was doused with chemicals that burned his skin and ate through his pants, shoes and shirt.
The “hot goods” provision allows the Labor Department to stop wage theft. It’s needed to help farmworkers more.
From the road, the pace looks moderate, almost leisurely. Heads bob up and down, people amble down the furrows, and a Spanish-language tune can be heard over the din of the passing cars. But as I get closer, my eyes are drawn to Vasquez’s hands. They move through the green bushes at a furious speed, plucking ripe strawberries and stacking them into his tray. He moves as if he is frantically treading water: After a few minutes, the tray is full.
A war in Spain against Hitler and Mussolini
A war in Spain against Hitler and Mussolini It’s a question with new relevance: What would you do to stop the rise of fascism? In the summer of 1936, the newest fascist threat was represented by Gen. Francisco Franco, who was leading an attempt to overthrow Spain’s young democracy. In response, some 2,800 Americans boarded ships to France and hiked clandestinely through the treacherous Pyrenees into Spain; more than 200 died in the crossing.
I'm suing Centerplate, the food-service company of Super Bowl 50.
On Wednesday, in the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, California, attorney Caren P. Sencer of Weinberg, Roger & Rosenfeld filed a lawsuit against Centerplate, the company that provides food and beverage service at Levi’s Stadium, recent host of Super Bowl 50. Among the allegations in the complaint is that Centerplate did not pay employees for all hours worked, failed to grant rest breaks as required by California law, and engaged in unfair business practices.
I Made Less Than $13 an Hour to Serve $13 Bud Lights at the Super Bowl
At first it isn’t. When the doors open at 11 a.m., only a few customers trickle in. With six of us on duty in the front-most section of the stand—three expeditors and three cashiers, working in pairs—the Chrome Grill feels crowded and overstaffed. Today my cashier partner is Bisrat Nussur, a fortysomething Eritrean refugee who speaks seven languages and hopes to someday work as a court translator. My first job is to relay orders from her register to the three cooks, who stand behind a nearby grill.
I Made Less Than $13 an Hour to Serve $13 Bud Lights at the Super Bowl
The Grind What it’s like making less than $13 an hour to serve $13 beers at one of the biggest games on Earth. Workers trying to leave Levi’s Stadium after Super Bowl 50. Gabriel Thompson This article was reported in partnership with the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute. On Super Bowl Sunday, a few minutes before 7 a.m., I park in a crowded dirt lot behind Avaya Stadium, home to the San Jose Earthquakes soccer team.
Burn After Reading
On September 10, 1976, during an evening flight from New York to Chicago, a bearded passenger handed a sealed envelope to an attendant. The note began: “One, this plane is hijacked.” In the rest of the letter, the passenger, a Croatian nationalist named Zvonko Busic, explained that five bombs had been smuggled onboard, and that a sixth had been placed in locker 5713 at Grand Central Station in Manhattan.
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