According to preliminary returns, workers in the Volkswagen manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee voted overwhelmingly on April 17, 18, and 19 to be represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) in a historic election result with important implications for those workers and their families, the city of Chattanooga, the state of Tennessee, the labor movement, and the auto industry.  Early returns suggest the union won the election by a roughly 3-to-1 margin. The UAW claimed victory after 11PM ET. Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris offered his commentary on the union election results just a few hours after voting ended in the Chattanooga Volkswagen plant.  

This webinar was hosted by the International Labour Organization on April 9, 2024 and was republished with permission.  In this International Labour Organizaton webinar, economists Janine Berg and Pawel Gmyrek present the findings of their report "Generative AI and jobs: A global analysis of potential effects on job quantity and quality." Listen to these experts discuss the impact of artificial intelligence on worker power, explore how tools like GPT-4 can be responsibly integrated into the workplace, and respond to questions from a live audience. To access the report, click here. To access the policy brief, click here.  Subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to the Power At Work Blog. Follow us on social media: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ Janine Berg is a Senior Economist and she received her Ph.D. from the New School for Social Research in New York, USA. Since 2002 she has worked at Inclusive Labour Markets, Labour Relations and Working Conditions Branch (INWORK) of the International Labour Organization (ILO). She has conducted research on the economic effects of labour laws as well as provided technical assistance to ILO constituents on policies for generating jobs and improving working conditions. Pawel Gmyrek is a Senior Researcher in the Effective Labour Institutions unit of ILO’s Research Department. His current work is focused on the impact of generative AI on employment and occupational structures and the use of generative AI tools and large unstructured datasets for research purposes. He has been a staff member of the International Labour Office since 2008 and published on topics related to multilateral funding, aid effectiveness, human rights and technology and jobs.

In this blogcast, Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Terri Gerstein, Director of the NYU Wagner Labor Initiative at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service; and Alí Bustamante, deputy director of the Worker Power and Economic Security program at Roosevelt University. Listen to their conversation on sectoral bargaining, the importance of protecting workers and children from exploitation, and the implications of organizing in the South. You don't want to miss this edition of the Power Hour! Subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to the Power At Work Blog. Follow us on social media: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ Terri Gerstein is the Director of the newly created NYU Wagner Labor Initiative, at the NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Previously, she directed the Project on State and Local Enforcement at the Harvard Law School Center for Labor and a Just Economy and was a Senior Fellow at the Economic Policy Institute. Alí R. Bustamante is the deputy director of the Worker Power and Economic Security program at Roosevelt, where he specializes on how public policy can structure markets around both economic and social value and empower Americans through the provision of public goods and stronger labor protections.

In this blogcast, Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Tim Rowden, editor of the St. Louis/Central Illinois Labor Tribune, and Don McIntosh, editor of the Northwest Labor Press to talk about how national headlines are impacting their regions, what they're hearing from workers on the ground, and the uncertain future of labor journalism. You don't want to miss the latest Power At Work blogcast! You can view Northwest Labor Press' website here. You can view St. Louis Labor Tribune's website here. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Overcast. Tim Rowden is the editor of the St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune, and a former reporter and bureau chief for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Don McIntosh is the editor of the Northwest Labor Press.

Join the Power at Work Blog, the Burnes Center for Social Change, and the Massachusetts State House Employee Union for a conversation with acclaimed labor reporter Hamilton Nolan about his new book The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor. This conversation was recorded live on March 27. The conversation was moderated by Seth Harris, former top Biden White House labor advisor, former Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor, and a Senior Fellow at the Burnes Center for Social Change at Northeastern University; and Thomas Pelkey, an organizer with the Massachusetts State House Employee Union. 

Listen to Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris’s conversation about worker power, the labor movement, social justice, and podcasting with Jamala Rogers and Bianca Cunningham, co-hosts of Convergence Magazine's Black Work Talk, and Adam Keller and Jacob Morrison, co-hosts of The Valley Labor Report. Our guests discuss how they coordinate their podcasts and their other jobs, what workers in their communities are currently talking about, and how unions can build power among workers in the South. You don't want to miss the latest Power At Work blogcast! Listen to The Valley Labor Report here. Listen to Black Work Talk here. Subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to the Power At Work Blog. Follow us on social media: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ Jamala Rogers has held and currently holds leadership and membership in organizations that share her vision for a more just and peaceful world. Jamala is an unapologetic feminist and is deeply involved in the development of women and increasing their full participation in social movements. Jamala is a featured columnist for the award-winning St. Louis American newspaper, St. Louis’ largest black weekly. Her columns also appear in the Capital City Hues (Madison, WI) and the LA Progressive. Jamala is the author of The Best of the Way I See It, a compilation of her political writings over a 20-year period. She is also the author of Ferguson is America: Roots of Rebellion.  She is host of Voices from the Battlefield, a weekly radio program on Black Radio Hall of Fame. Jamala is co-host of Black Work Talk, a production of Convergence Magazine. She also does a weekly podcast of short takes called Just Expressin’ Myself on Black World Media Network. Bianca Cunningham is Campaign Director for Bargaining for the Common Good at Action Center for Race and the Economy. A former Verizon Wireless worker, she led her coworkers in seven stores across Brooklyn, NY to join CWA in 2014, making them the first unionized retail workers in the company. She later led a 49-day strike to secure a first contract. Bianca co-founded the DSA’s AfroSocialists and Socialists of Color caucus, a caucus for Black Indigenous and people of color within the organization. She most recently was on staff at Labor Notes where she sometimes wrote and more often facilitated training on Race and Labor. Adam Keller is the co-host of The Valley Labor Report, Alabama’s only union talk radio show, a union stagehand with the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 900, and a union activist. Keller is currently organizing with Alabama Arise, a non-profit advocacy group focused on supporting low-income people suffering from poor policy decisions. Jacob Morrison is the co-host of The Valley Labor Report, Alabama’s only union talk radio show and President of the North Alabama Area Labor Council. Morrison is a member of his local union the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) 1858. Ignited by a passion to serve working people, as soon as he joined his union he put himself to work on a mission to invigorate the labor movement in his area. He made connections with other unions in his area to begin to pick up the pieces of the inactive North Alabama Labor Council culminating in the council being newly chartered in 2020. He is also sometimes a freelance labor reporter.

In this blogcast, Northeastern University students from Huskies Organizing with Labor, or HOWL, take over the Power At Work blog for a discussion about how to get involved on university campuses, use your leverage as a student, and organize alongside workers. Abigail Thomas, August Escandon, and Amelia (Mimi) Yu share HOWL's top five tenets for undergraduate organizing and tell stories from their previous campaigns. You don't want to miss this special Power At Work blogcast! Subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠ to the Power At Work Blog. Follow us on social media: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ Mimi Yu (she/they) is a third year computer science and political science major. They became involved with Huskies Organizing With Labor (HOWL) during their first year at the beginning of the dining hall worker campaign. During their time with HOWL, they have helped grow the coalition and foster student-worker solidarity and relationships. One of the most memorable moments of their time with HOWL was seeing a collective of over 500 students, workers, and allies show up to march on campus to voice their support for the dining hall worker union. Since then, they have been involved with the Graduate Employees of Northeastern University campaign with HOWL and the Feminist Student Organization.  Abigail Thomas is a second year biology major and art minor at Northeastern. They joined HOWL during September 2022, right after the 2022 dining hall contract was won. During the 22-23 school year, they were involved in maintaining student worker solidarity through events, student coalition maintenance, and early support for the graduate workers union. Since 2023, Abigail has been involved in supporting Northeastern graduate workers through their unionization campaign win. They are also involved in NEUCovidResponse, a mutual aid project supplying resources for COVID prevention, providing education to students and faculty, and fighting the ongoing pandemic. They are also a student athlete. August Escandon is a recent Northeastern graduate from Albuquerque, New Mexico. His areas of studies include health communications, social movement organization, and supply chain infrastructure. He was an organizer in Huskies Organizing With Labor beginning in May 2022, and supported Northeastern Dining Workers’ bargaining campaign and the Graduate Employees of Northeastern Union election campaign. He is currently trying to find his way in building collective power and community outside of Northeastern University’s own miniverse!

In this blogcast, Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Sarah Bright, Organizing Director at SEIU 925; Juan Eldridge, Assistant Organizing Director at IAMAW; and Indira Mohan, Associate Director of Organizing at AFL-CIO/AFSCME DC 37 to talk about how to become a union organizer, why union activism is increasing, and how to confront employer opposition to worker organizing. You don't want to miss the latest Power At Work blogcast! Subscribe⁠⁠⁠ to the Power At Work Blog. Follow us on social media: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ Juan Eldridge is an Assistant Director of Organizing for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). Juan comes out of the Aerospace industry where he was an aircraft mechanic for Cessna Aircraft Textron Aviation for thirteen years. During his tenure there he was elected to numerous different Union positions and roles within Local Lodge 774 including steward, trustee, negotiator, and Assistant Plant Chair. Juan went on to become a District Representative and Organizer at District 70 where he remained for three years and continued working internal and external organizing. In 2015 Juan was promoted by IAM International and became a Special Representative in the Organizing Department. In 2018 Juan became a Grand Lodge Representative and on January 1st of 2024 Juan was appointed Assistant Director of the Organizing Department by the IAM International President. Born and raised in New York City, Indira Mohan comes from a proud union family where she was exposed to the power of a union at a very young age. Following in her father's footsteps, Indira has spent the last twenty-two years working in labor. After being promoted to a Union Representative at DC 1707 where she enforced and negotiated collective bargaining agreements, Indira took her skills to the federal sector, where she worked for the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) as a National Organizer. She eventually had the opportunity to return to DC 1707 to lead their Organizing Department and soon thereafter they unified with their sister union District Council 37, AFSCME where she is currently the Associate Director of Organizing. Indira is a graduate of Penn State University where in 2021 she received both her Bachelor's of Science in Labor and Employment Relations and her Masters of Professional Study in Human Resources and Employment Relations. Her greatest accomplishments include navigating life with her wonderful husband and being a mother to her amazing son and daughter, who are enthusiastically embracing the negotiating phase of their childhood. Sarah Bright is the Organizing Director at SEIU Local 925 in Seattle WA. She comes to organizing from rank and file union membership, has been a union member since 1992, and has been privileged to organize with workers as union staff for 20 years. SEIU Local 925 is an education union, representing workers who are educators at all levels, from early learning professionals, to non-instructional K-12 workers, to higher ed staff and faculty, non-profit and local government workers as well. Sarah's main focus as a director is ensuring that 925's growth campaigns are worker-centered and led, and is currently gearing up for a forthcoming fight to fund structural solutions to the childcare crisis, starting with winning living wages and health care benefits for ALL early learning and childcare professionals. 

Alicia Modestino, Associate Professor at Northeastern University, hosts this month's Workers by the Numbers Blogcast. Listen to her in conversation with Elise Gould and Teresa Ghilarducci as they discuss the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ jobs, wages, and unemployment report for February 2024. This conversation was recorded live on March 8, 2024. You don't want to miss this Numbers Day blogcast!

In this special blogcast, Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by film and labor experts to reveal the results of the blog's #LaborOscars2024 and discuss the importance of supporting worker power in media. This conversation features Andrea Lyman, actor and New England Local President of SAG-AFTRA; Harold Phillips, actor, host of "Labor Week," co-coordinator of the Labor Radio Podcast Network, and SAG-AFTRA member; and Jennifer Merin, journalist, film critic, and co-founder and President of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. Watch now to hear our experts' takes on our nominees and find out which films will take home "The Worker!" You don't want to miss this star-studded awards ceremony!  Subscribe⁠⁠ to the Power At Work Blog. Follow us on social media: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ Andrea Lyman is the NE Local President of SAG-AFTRA and an actor, singer, voiceover artist who has also written and produced several short films with AAA Actor Team and other production companies. She is a member of RoxFilm Festival Board, Co-director of Actors Forum of Secret Society Of Black Creatives and a member of the Executive Board of the Greater Boston Labor Council. Jennifer Merin is the film critic for Women's eNews and is the President of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. Merin worked as a film reviewer for The New York Press and SoHo News as well as a columnist for The Associated Press. Harold Phillips is an actor, voice artist and podcast host based in the Pacific Northwest. Harold has worked in theatre, film and television for over 30 years, and is an active member of SAG-AFTRA (the union for actors, broadcasters and other media professionals). He’s also the host of two podcasts: Working To Live In Southwest Washington and Labor Week.