Stories and links that are of interest or relevance to union leaders, strategists, campaigners and organisers.
Unions and union growth
Five lessons on leadership for union digital change
“I’d like to outline five thoughts which have driven my own thinking about leadership and digital, and the way leaders have to approach tech in our unions.”
Can Democrats Be ‘People-First’ If Their Campaigns Value People Last?
Veteran organizer Marshall Ganz on the dehumanizing effects of the ‘relentless nightmare of marketing in texting, in repetitive ads, [and] mind-numbing email driven ersatz urgency.’
Workers’ rights
With chants of ‘Jimmy! Jimmy! Jimmy!’ and an inside-out shirt, illegally fired union barista returns to Starbucks
James Greene arrived about an hour early for his 5:30 p.m. Monday shift at the Penn Center East Starbucks store in Wilkins. A dozen fellow unionized baristas, union organizers and supporters joined him, and for a while everyone gathered around an outside table and wrote pro-union messages on sticky…
‘There’s only so much I can take’: England’s doctors on the picket line
Low rates of pay and ‘dangerous’ staffing levels lead to first joint strike for junior doctors and consultants
Data and worker privacy
How to Quickly Get to the Important Truth Inside Any Privacy Policy
An investigative data journalist and a former tech lawyer teach you how to spot tricks and hidden disclosures within these interminable documents—and even how to claw back some privacy
If You’ve Got a New Car, It’s a Data Privacy Nightmare
Bad news: your car is a spy. Every major car brand failed a recent privacy and security test from Mozilla. You’re probably driving around in a “privacy nightmare” that may collect information as sensitive as your race, health status, and sexual activity.
AI and the future of work
Artificial intelligence is making the union movement’s case–and even ChatGPT knows it
Actors and writers are not fighting to ban A.I.–they want ‘a piece of the machine.’
Campaigning, organising and digital/social media
Ten major trends in news consumption publishers need to be thinking about
Ten news trends for 2023 and how publishers can tackle them: Nic Newman from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journnalism.
Society, media, news and culture
What the Climate Movement’s Debate about Disruption Gets Wrong
The recent debate about whether climate activists should employ disruptive tactics tends to conflate all forms of disruption. The debate typically focuses on the public’s reaction to protesters, yet the more important question is whether a given tactic imposes disruption on elite decision makers.