Research and education supporting unions, movements, and working people’s organizations in the United States.
Joined October 2021
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OUT NOW: “Renewing Labor and Winning at Amazon”
Amazon’s operations are changing the very nature of work regimes, communities, and industries. They are transforming businesses and are a direct threat to unionized workers across numerous fields.
What can labor do about it?
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Ghilarducci for @ProSyn: “While 55% of Americans say their financial situation is deteriorating, the wealth of the top 1% is reaching record highs. Against this backdrop, defending billionaires from 'oppressive' taxation is politically convenient nonsense”
project-syndicate.org/commen…
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“Employers everywhere are seeking to imitate the behemoth’s labor model of exploitation, job instability, and — terrifyingly — the deployment of AI technologies to discipline and disempower workers.”
– Jonathan Rosenblum, CWD Visiting Scholar
Amazon is using AI in terrifying ways to disempower workers. We must fight back.
truthout.org/articles/amazon…
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OUT NOW: “Renewing Labor and Winning at Amazon”
Amazon’s operations are changing the very nature of work regimes, communities, and industries. They are transforming businesses and are a direct threat to unionized workers across numerous fields.
What can labor do about it?
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In a new strategy paper, McQuarrie, Rosenblum, and Fong make the case for a CIO-style organizing campaign at Amazon. To organize Amazon, they argue, the labor movement will have to fundamentally change the way it prioritizes and undertakes campaigns.
drive.google.com/file/d/16RN…
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Poor conditions at Amazon matter not just to Amazon workers, but to workers everywhere. Our report argues that unions must go all-in to organize worker power at Amazon "if the labor movement wants to sustain itself as a voice for working Americans."
drive.google.com/file/d/16RN…
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22 Dec 2025
The CWD’s own Ben Fong just announced a new monthly newsletter, “Labor and Logistics” for @phenomenalworld !
Check it out here: phenomenalworld.org/series/l…
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In this month’s “Labor and Logistics” in @phenomenalworld , Fong gets real about why the U.S.P.S. is a true marvel and why its privatization would be an utter disaster. Check it out:
phenomenalworld.org/analysis…
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Fong’s back for @phenomenalworld :
“In a tight labor market in a structurally shifting [trucking] industry, that leverage is bound to have more impact today than at any point in the last few decades.”
Are we prepared to take advantage?
phenomenalworld.org/analysis…
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Center for Work and Democracy at ASU retweeted
Does your union Executive Board look like this? Nearly 300 rank-and-file healthcare workers who are directly involved in the leadership of SEIU-UHW, from budget decisions to long-term strategy. This is what a member-led workers' organization looks like!
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25 Mar 2025
Need a primer on Prime? The folks at On the Seams have you covered on all things Amazon. Check out some of their posts surrounding the online retail giant, its facilities, and their history of union-busting in the thread below:
ontheseams.substack.com/p/wh…
ontheseams.substack.com/p/pr…
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Unsurprisingly, Amazon continues to make moves against other logistics giants like the USPS, UPS, and Fedex.
Learn more in On the Seams:
ontheseams.substack.com/p/am…
ontheseams.substack.com/p/am…
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Few understand Amazon’s logistics network like Ben Fong.
In his primer update and numbers listing for OTS, he dives into the specifics of what people and facilities power the corporate behemoth.
ontheseams.substack.com/p/a-…
ontheseams.substack.com/p/am…
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Pride is more than a celebration, it’s a movement. LGBTQIA workers have always helped lead the fight for justice on the job and in our communities. This #PrideMonth, we honor the trailblazers and organize for a future where everyone is protected, respected, and paid.
Happy Pride from America’s unions! We’re wishing the LGBTQIA community a joyful and safe Pride Month.
Unions are for everyone, and the labor movement will keep fighting to make sure everyone can be their true selves, on and off the job 🏳️🌈✊
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"The deeper issue is not whether individuals should buy homes. It is that the [US] has built a wealth system that relies on housing as its primary savings vehicle for the middle class... If we want broad-based wealth, we need institutions that build it directly..." -Ghilarducci
Teresa Ghilarducci lays out the reality of mortgages and homeownership in her two-part series for @Forbes .
Read it here:
forbes.com/sites/teresaghila…
forbes.com/sites/teresaghila…
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20 Nov 2024
CWD AD Ben Fong and former Activist-in-Residence Scott Jenkins have teamed up to produce a Substack newsletter all about labor and logistics called “On the Seams.” You can check out their page here and read about some of their work in the thread below: 🧵
ontheseams.substack.com/
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In his latest post for On the Seams, Ben Fong looks to 2025 NLRB election data to see what it can tell us about union growth in 2025. Unsurprisingly, with an NLRB lacking quorum for most of the year, the story isn’t a particularly pretty one. Read it here:
ontheseams.substack.com/p/20…
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“the Teamsters have contracts at a full 40% of Martin Brower distribution centers, Martin Brower being the primary logistical partner of McDonald’s.”
In OTS, Fong explores the distribution network of fast food giant, McDonald’s. Check it out:
ontheseams.substack.com/p/a-…
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“Employers are not choosing workplace control over the maximization of profits, but seeking to maintain workplace control as the means for maximizing profits” – Vivek Chibber
A new study reveals that employers are spending big to maintain their dictatorial control over the workplace and crush unions.
It’s a daunting amount of money, but it’s not impossible to overcome if workers can act with clarity, unity, and strategy. jacobin.com/2026/05/union-bu…
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Center for Work and Democracy at ASU retweeted
May 26
Massachusetts is now the first state to certify a rideshare driver union after granting Lyft and Uber drivers' collective bargaining rights.
This is the largest new private-sector union in over 85 years.
70,000 workers are now represented by the App Drivers Union.
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Center for Work and Democracy at ASU retweeted
🚨 Calling all ASU students! 🚨
We are currently hiring new Undergraduate Research Aides! If you have a passion for research and for social and economic justice, consider applying for the position here: myworkday.com/asu/d/inst/15$…
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In her new article for @Forbes , Ghilarducci features “Harry,” a 62-year-old man with a 401k but no retirement savings due to low wages, insurance costs, and more. His story, she writes, is not unusual. Read it here:
forbes.com/sites/teresaghila…
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A new study reveals that employers are spending big to maintain their dictatorial control over the workplace and crush unions.
It’s a daunting amount of money, but it’s not impossible to overcome if workers can act with clarity, unity, and strategy. jacobin.com/2026/05/union-bu…
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As always, it was fantastic to get the whole team together to discuss the Center for Work and Democracy’s strategy for the upcoming academic year. We have some really exciting projects and events planned, and we can’t wait to share them with you all.
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The CWD’s Chris Brooks interviewed the outgoing president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association:
“If we care about what happens inside public schools and colleges, then we better care about the lives of students and families outside of them.” –Max Page
Outgoing Massachusetts Teachers Association president Max Page reflects on a decade of rank-and-file reformers turning a cautious, staff-driven union into a militant, member-led force by striking, winning stronger contracts, and pushing to tax the rich.jacobin.com/2026/05/page-mas…
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