Matthew Cunnington-Cook

A hotel workers strike in California exposes anti-Black hiring practices, and the predation of the "gig" economy. Originally published in Labor Notes. When Thomas Bradley showed up for his third shift at Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort and Spa in Dana Point, California, on July 2 he encountered something new: a picket line. The picket was part of a wave of strikes at Los Angeles-area hotels by members of UNITE HERE Local 11. Their contracts at 62 hotels expired June 30.

For the past 30 years, no matter which party has been in power, the US economy has produced more and more “bad” jobs – because the Race to the Bottom is ruling class policy. Originally published in Black Agenda Report. A Brookings Institution study  shows 44 percent of all American workers toil in “low-wage” jobs, with median earnings of $18,000 a year.

A 1969 interview with a founder of Detroit’s League of Revolutionary Black Workers reminds us of the radical genius and hope of Black labor. The League of Revolutionary Black Workers was founded in Detroit, Michigan in 1969. It emerged from a desire to unify the revolutionary unions that had been formed at a number of Detroit auto plants, as well as by UPS workers, health workers, and workers at the Detroit News.