Paul Prescod
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Articles by Paul Prescod
Philadelphia Orchestra Musicians Protect Their Hearing and Their Craft
Philadelphia Orchestra musicians have won first-in-the-nation protections against hearing loss. The groundbreaking provisions, which could serve as a model for other orchestras, are part of a contract just ratified by Musicians (AFM) Local 77-274. They also secured a raise of almost 13 percent over three years, which will help keep pace with inflation and attract high-quality artists. But for the musicians, the most important gains related to their working conditions and artistic integrity.
Why Black Socialists Opposed Marcus Garvey
Why Black Socialists Opposed Marcus Garvey Published September 23, 2026 Africa loomed large in the vision of Marcus Garvey and his followers. In May 1920, the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) Executive Council decided to send a delegation to Liberia to explore the prospects for settlement and development. UNIA Resident Secretary in Liberia Elie Garcia wrote to President Charles D. B.
Why Black Socialists Opposed Marcus Garvey Original
Africa loomed large in the vision of Marcus Garvey and his followers. In May 1920, the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) Executive Council decided to send a delegation to Liberia to explore the prospects for settlement and development. UNIA Resident Secretary in Liberia Elie Garcia wrote to President Charles D. B.
Jackson Transit Workers Win Strike, Save Saturday Service
Above photo: Strikers in Jackson, Mississippi, held out for five weeks, getting raises and preventing a two tier wage structure. Printiss Glover. Eighty public transit workers in Jackson, Mississippi, have won a tentative agreement with MV Transportation, after agrueling five-week strike. The transit workers represented by ATU Local 1208 garnered public support and were able to win most of their major demands.
Jackson Transit Workers Win Strike, Save Saturday Service
Eighty public transit workers in Jackson, Mississippi, have won a tentative agreement with MV Transportation, after a grueling five-week strike. The transit workers represented by ATU Local 1208 garnered public support and were able to win most of their major demands. One of their most important victories was that they fought off a proposal for microtransit, a form of private on-call transit service that would have brought in drivers without a commercial driver’s license at a lower-tier wage.
Mississippi Transit Workers Strike for Better Protections and Service
Mississippi has the highest poverty rate in the U.S., and is a “right-to-work” state with only 4 percent of its workers in unions. But since July 13, Highway 80 near Jackson has been lined by chanting picketers. They’re on strike at JTRAN, the city’s public transit system. Around 1,000 people rely on JTRAN’s services daily, and Transit (ATU) Local 1208 represents its 80 bus operators, mechanics, cleaners, and customer service representatives.
Mississippi Transit Workers Strike For Better Protections And Service
Above photo: Local 1208 has built support from the public and worked to build pressure on the city council, which manages the contract with MV Transportation. Printiss Glover. Mississippi has the highest poverty rate in the U.S., and is a “right-to-work” state with only 4 percent of its workers in unions. But since July 13, Highway 80 near Jackson has been lined by chanting picketers. They’re on strike at JTRAN, the city’s public transit system.
Mississippi Transit Workers Strike for Better Protections and Service
Mississippi has the highest poverty rate in the U.S., and is a “right-to-work” state with only 4 percent of its workers in unions. But since July 13, Highway 80 near Jackson has been lined by chanting picketers. They’re on strike at JTRAN, the city’s public transit system. Around 1,000 people rely on JTRAN’s services daily, and Transit (ATU) Local 1208 represents its 80 bus operators, mechanics, cleaners, and customer service representatives.
Garfield Sobers, a Hero of Cricket’s Golden Age
C. L. R. James wrote that, in the West Indies, test cricket players were “not a personage remote, to be read about in papers and worshiped from afar. They were all over the place, ready to play in any match, ready to talk.” This was true of even the best cricket player to ever live, Sir Garfield Sobers. In one of my earliest, foggy childhood memories, I was with my father in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Workers in World Cup Host Cities Strike (or Retain Right to) Over ICE and Wages
Did you know that Truthout is a nonprofit and independently funded by readers like you? If you value what we do, please support our work with a donation. In a World Cup-fueled union win, concessions workers at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles have won the right to walk off the job, should ICE pose a threat to their safety. The stadium’s 2,000 cooks, bartenders, dishwashers, servers, and attendants had a major piece of leverage this summer: eight scheduled World Cup matches.
LA Stadium Workers Won the Right to Strike Over ICE
In a World Cup–fueled union win, concessions workers at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles have won the right to walk off the job, should Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) pose a threat to their safety. The stadium’s two thousand cooks, bartenders, dishwashers, servers, and attendants had a major piece of leverage this summer: eight scheduled World Cup matches. Their victory came days after a 96 percent vote to authorize a strike.
California Stadium Workers Win The Right To Strike Over ICE
Above photo: UNITE HERE Local 8 members at the Hilton Embassy Suites have been on strike since June 18. UNITE HERE Local 8. World Cup Leverage. In a World Cup-fueled union win, concessions workers at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles have won the right to walk off the job, should ICE pose a threat to their safety. The stadium’s 2,000 cooks, bartenders, dishwashers, servers, and attendants had a major piece of leverage this summer: eight scheduled World Cup matches.
World Cup Leverage: California Stadium Workers Win the Right to Strike Over ICE
In a World Cup-fueled union win, concessions workers at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles have won the right to walk off the job, should ICE pose a threat to their safety. The stadium’s 2,000 cooks, bartenders, dishwashers, servers, and attendants had a major piece of leverage this summer: eight scheduled World Cup matches. Their victory came days after a 96 percent vote to authorize a strike. Their next contract will expire at the end of April 2028, weeks before the Los Angeles Summer Olympics.
Can Transit Workers Escape The Death Spiral?
Above photo: Rhode Island bus drivers have been passing out flyers to passengers about proposed route cuts and asked them to attend state hearings. Save RIPTA. Public transit has been in a deep crisis since the Covid pandemic. Transit systems weren’t adequately funded to begin with. Then, as remote work increased, ridership declined. Now, emergency relief and infrastructure funds passed during the Biden administration have dried up. When transit systems make cuts, service quality declines.
Can Transit Workers Escape the Death Spiral?
Public transit has been in a deep crisis since the Covid pandemic. Transit systems weren’t adequately funded to begin with. Then, as remote work increased, ridership declined. Now, emergency relief and infrastructure funds passed during the Biden administration have dried up. When transit systems make cuts, service quality declines. As public transit gets dirtier, more dangerous, and less reliable, the public responds by using it less.
How Rhode Island’s Labor Movement Made Its Weight Felt in Politics
Over the last decade Rhode Island has been a hotbed of progressive, pro-worker legislation. But it wasn’t always this way. It took years of proactive organizing by the labor movement on legislative and electoral campaigns. This “blue” New England state was led by Republican Governor Donald Carcieri from 2003 to 2011.
Hugh Mulzac’s Journey From Black Nationalism to the New Deal
On September 29, 1942, a large vessel set sail to support wartime logistics for the United States military. It was one of many such ships — but this occasion was filled with powerful symbolic and political importance. Singer Marian Anderson christened the ship, and Mary McLeod Bethune, famed member of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Black Cabinet,” gave a welcoming address. The SS Booker T. Washington was about to set sail for the first time.
Building Trades Unions Rally Against Trump’s Attacks on Wind
Donald Trump’s obsessive hatred of wind energy has reared its ugly head again. On Monday, December 22, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced that all construction on offshore wind projects would be halted due to “national security concerns.” This will affect five offshore wind projects on the East Coast, some of which are already mostly completed.
Building Trades Unions Rally Against Trump’s Attacks on Wind
Donald Trump’s obsessive hatred of wind energy has reared its ugly head again. On Monday, December 22, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced that all construction on offshore wind projects would be halted due to “national security concerns.” This will affect five offshore wind projects on the East Coast, some of which are already mostly completed.
100 Years Ago, Brotherhood Of Sleeping Car Porters Changed Black Politics
Above photo:These images by photographer Jack Delano are dated March 1942. Some or all were taken aboard the “Capital Limited” bound for Chicago, and the man in the middle photo is identified as Alfred MacMillan. Photos: Library of Congress (1,2,3). The fact that the meeting was even happening was enough to produce an air of subversive excitement. One hundred years ago on August 25, 1925, Black sleeping car porters, hoping to form a union at the Pullman company, packed the Elks Hall in Harlem.
How One Black Labor Union Changed American History
The fact that the meeting was even happening was enough to produce an air of subversive excitement. On August 25, 1925, a century ago this year, black sleeping car porters hoping to form a union at the Pullman Company packed the room at the Elks Hall in Harlem. Though we’ll never know how many, Pullman company spies were undoubtedly among the audience. In fact, to combat the presence of these spies, no porters even spoke during the meeting. Instead, A.
How One Black Labor Union Changed American History
The fact that the meeting was even happening was enough to produce an air of subversive excitement. On August 25, 1925, a century ago this year, black sleeping car porters hoping to form a union at the Pullman Company packed the room at the Elks Hall in Harlem. Though we’ll never know how many, Pullman company spies were undoubtedly among the audience. In fact, to combat the presence of these spies, no porters even spoke during the meeting. Instead, A.
How One Black Labor Union Changed American History
The fact that the meeting was even happening was enough to produce an air of subversive excitement. On August 25, 1925, a century ago this year, black sleeping car porters hoping to form a union at the Pullman Company packed the room at the Elks Hall in Harlem. Though we’ll never know how many, Pullman company spies were undoubtedly among the audience. In fact, to combat the presence of these spies, no porters even spoke during the meeting. Instead, A.
New England Unions Lead the Way on Offshore Wind
New England Unions Lead the Way on Offshore Wind Published October 12, 2025 At a panel during the recent Climate Week in New York City, Rhode Island AFL-CIO President Patrick Crowley delivered some much-needed good news. He announced that building trades unions in Rhode Island and Massachusetts signed a Labor Peace Agreement with SouthCoast Wind to ensure union work on its massive planned offshore wind project. The scale of the project and the potential for job creation are significant.
New England Unions Lead the Way on Offshore Wind
At a panel during the recent Climate Week in New York City, Rhode Island AFL-CIO President Patrick Crowley delivered some much-needed good news. He announced that building trades unions in Rhode Island and Massachusetts signed a Labor Peace Agreement with SouthCoast Wind to ensure union work on its massive planned offshore wind project. The scale of the project and the potential for job creation are significant.
The UAW Has a Vision for Green Industrial Policy in California
A consensus is emerging across the political spectrum around the need for industrial policy. Whether in the form of the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act under Joe Biden in 2022 or the haphazard tariff policy of Donald Trump implemented earlier this year, political leaders on both sides of the aisle are clearly searching for answers regarding how to revive the United States’s flagging manufacturing base.
Philadelphia Municipal Workers Strike Before July 4 Celebrations
Nine thousand blue-collar workers who make Philadelphia run went on strike July 1. After sacrificing through the pandemic and years of bruising inflation, they say they’re on strike so they can afford to live in the city they serve. Already, uncollected garbage is piling up as the workers, members of AFSCME District Council 33, defend their strike lines.
Philadelphia Municipal Workers Strike Before July 4 Celebrations
2 days ago It’s June, which means a similar scene is playing out at tens of thousands of Jewish houses across the continent. Duffel bags dug up from basements. Toiletries laid out on carpeted floors, emergency trips to the drug store for one final item. Last-minute clothing decisions. Bags of carefully curated candy. Tearful midnight goodbyes to school friends. For so many of us Jewish North Americans, the summers of our younger years mean one thing: sleepover camp.
Philadelphia Municipal Workers Strike Before July 4 Celebrations
Nine thousand blue-collar workers who make Philadelphia run went on strike July 1. After sacrificing through the pandemic and years of bruising inflation, they say they’re on strike so they can afford to live in the city they serve. Already, uncollected garbage is piling up as the workers, members of AFSCME District Council 33, defend their strike lines.
Philadelphia’s Blue-Collar Municipal Workforce Is on Strike
The COVID-19 pandemic brought the term “essential worker” into widespread use, highlighting the work and workers necessary to keep society functioning. But many workers experienced a gap between how they were talked about and how they were treated. They were called essential, but regarded as disposable.
The Building Trades Want To Save the IRA
The Building Trades Want To Save the IRA Published May 25, 2025 It’s unfathomable to us. Unfathomable. In the history of our union hall, 134 years, we’ve never even come close to these numbers.” Trent Mauk, a training specialist at the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA) in Michigan, said these words to Washington Post reporter Jeff Stein just over a year ago.
Can Unions Build Clean Jobs Under Trump?
State and local governments have begun taking concrete steps toward a clean energy economy, and for now, even under Donald Trump, green union jobs are increasing. Meanwhile, unions have partnered with climate activists to win legislation for more such jobs. Six states have passed “climate jobs” bills to expand renewable energy and raise labor standards for that construction. Four more have union coalitions advocating for such legislation. Will the green surge continue?
Construction Unions Grab Hold Of Clean Energy Jobs
Above photo: Workers in Denver, Colorado, install solar photovoltaic panels on the roof of an elementary school. Even though the Trump administration is trying to throttle them, green jobs are increasing. Jim West / jimwestphoto.com. State and local governments have begun taking concrete steps towards a clean energy economy, and for now, even under Trump, green union jobs are increasing. Meanwhile, unions have partnered with climate activists to win legislation for more such jobs.
Construction Unions Grab Hold of Clean Energy Jobs
State and local governments have begun taking concrete steps towards a clean energy economy, and for now, even under Trump, green union jobs are increasing. Meanwhile, unions have partnered with climate activists to win legislation for more such jobs. Six states have passed “climate jobs” bills to expand renewable energy and raise labor standards for that construction. Four more have union coalitions advocating for such legislation. Will the green surge continue?
The Building Trades Want to Save the IRA
“It’s unfathomable to us. Unfathomable. In the history of our union hall, 134 years, we’ve never even come close to these numbers.” Trent Mauk, a training specialist at the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA) in Michigan, said these words to Washington Post reporter Jeff Stein just over a year ago. Mauk was referring to the massive growth in membership the union experienced thanks to the construction of two new electric vehicle battery plants.
WellsFargo’s Plan to Privatize the Post Office
by Paul Prescod [Excerpts] https://jacobin.com/2025/03/wells-fargo-usps-privatization-trump Fueled by Trump’s billionaire cabinet and Musk’s DOGE crusade, privatizers are on the prowl. Trump 2.0 has been a bonanza of unabashed scamming and self-dealing by the country’s wealthy elite. The admin has sent a clear signal to profiteers: now’s your chance to get in on the action. For decades, the Right has drooled at the thought of privatizing the US Postal Service (USPS).
The Big Bank Plotting to Privatize the Post Office Under Trump
Fueled by Donald Trump’s billionaire cabinet and the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) anti-government crusade, privatizers are on the prowl. The first month of Trump 2.0 has been a bonanza of unabashed scamming and self-dealing by the country’s wealthy elite. The administration has sent a clear signal to profiteers: now’s your chance to get in on the action. For decades, the Right has drooled at the thought of privatizing the United States Postal Service (USPS).
The Big Bank Plotting to Privatize the Post Office Under Trump
2 hours ago Donald Trump signs executive order pushing proof of citizenship to vote WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that looks to force sweeping changes on how elections are conducted across the nation including establishing new federal voter identification requirements to prove U.S. citizenship to register to vote.
Wells Fargo Is Plotting to Privatize the Post Office
A newly released memo from the banking giant Wells Fargo outlines a predatory scheme to dismantle the USPS: sell off profitable parts, slash union jobs, and raise prices by up to 140 percent. Fueled by Donald Trump’s billionaire cabinet and the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) anti-government crusade, privatizers are on the prowl. The first month of Trump 2.0 has been a bonanza of unabashed scamming and self-dealing by the country’s wealthy elite.
Wells Fargo Is Plotting To Privatize the Post Office
Wells Fargo Is Plotting To Privatize the Post Office Published March 22, 2025 Fueled by Donald Trump’s billionaire cabinet and the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) anti-government crusade, privatizers are on the prowl. The first month of Trump 2.0 has been a bonanza of unabashed scamming and self-dealing by the country’s wealthy elite. The administration has sent a clear signal to profiteers: now’s your chance to get in on the action.
Wells Fargo Is Plotting to Privatize the Post Office
Fueled by Donald Trump’s billionaire cabinet and the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) anti-government crusade, privatizers are on the prowl. The first month of Trump 2.0 has been a bonanza of unabashed scamming and self-dealing by the country’s wealthy elite. The administration has sent a clear signal to profiteers: now’s your chance to get in on the action. For decades, the Right has drooled at the thought of privatizing the United States Postal Service (USPS).
Black Workers Need Public Employment, Not Black Capitalism
In late January, civil rights activist Al Sharpton led one hundred members of his National Action Network in a “buy-in” at a Costco store. Their aim was to demonstrate support for the corporation’s continuation of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, which had come under broad attack by the incoming Trump administration. It was jarring to see shopping at a major corporation portrayed as a progressive political act.
Going Beyond the Politics of Institutional Racism
“Institutional racism” is now mainstream. Or at least talking about it is. What was once a term heard mostly in academic lecture halls is now commonly uttered by anyone with a daytime talk show or social media account. While the phrase seems to add intellectual heft to an argument, in reality it usually acts as a placeholder for a variety of interpretations that obfuscate the root causes of contemporary racial inequality, while also lending credibility to neoliberal policy agendas.
Ernest Calloway Fused Civil Rights and Class Struggle
On August 6, 1957, St Louis mayor Raymond R. Tucker, the quintessential technocrat, sourly watched the votes get tallied. His initiative, backed by the city’s business elite, to amend the city charter in order to blunt the power of local aldermen and unions went down in defeat. An unlikely coalition of forces including the NAACP, the Teamsters, black ward leaders, and small business interests voted down the measure by a three-to-two margin.
CEOs Inflated Their Paychecks - and Our Prices
Stunning political events have taken place over the past month. A major presidential candidate who seemed poised to win survived an attempted assassination, after which the other major candidate dropped out, and his replacement precipitated a wild swing in momentum — all in only a few weeks’ time. These events have accented an election that already involved important issues framed in existential terms, from the future of reproductive rights to the very continuation of our democracy.
How Union Reformers Passed the PRO Act in Vermont
If you’re a fan of unions, there’s been a lot to get excited about lately. and militancy are up, public support for labor is peaking, and the prospects for new organizing are better than they’ve been in decades. Unfortunately, even with all this good news, labor’s legislative fortunes remain dim. If passed, the Protect the Right to Organize (PRO) Act would arguably represent the most comprehensive labor law reform since the 1940s.
How Union Reformers Passed the PRO Act in Vermont
If you’re a fan of unions, there’s been a lot to get excited about lately. Strikes and militancy are up, public support for labor is peaking, and the prospects for new organizing are better than they’ve been in decades. Unfortunately, even with all this good news, labor’s legislative fortunes remain dim. If passed, the Protect the Right to Organize (PRO) Act would arguably represent the most comprehensive labor law reform since the 1940s.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Workers Want a Raise
When building trades workers take action against anti-union contractors, the labor mascot Scabby the Rat often makes an appearance on their picket lines. But for the last week, Scabby has accompanied workers wielding ballpoint pens, not wrenches, as federal employees picket outside the office of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) director Rohit Chopra.
Wall Street’s War on Workers Can Be Stopped
Democratic Party elites have accepted the loss of vital working-class jobs and written off white workers as bigots. But a new book by Les Leopold shows how we can build a broad working-class movement to fight for the right to a good job. Across the political spectrum, it seems as if the right to decent employment has disappeared from the agenda. Wars, natural disasters, and Donald Trump’s antics grab headlines while the closing of a major factory doesn’t register a blip.
Wall Street’s War on Workers Can Be Stopped
Across the political spectrum, it seems as if the right to decent employment has disappeared from the agenda. Wars, natural disasters, and Donald Trump’s antics grab headlines while the closing of a major factory doesn’t register a blip. Even on the Left, a fatalistic acceptance of layoffs has numbed us to the human misery caused by contemporary capitalism’s widespread job insecurity.
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