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Reporters at Politico announced that they have submitted a letter with signatures to the National Labor Relations Board in an effort to form a union.
Matthew Kaminski, the editor of the political magazine, told staffers that management from Axel Springer, the German publisher that recently purchased the company, has been in touch with the NewsGuild to “discuss an agreement to voluntarily recognize the union,” according to The New York Times. (See “POLITICO’S NOT JOURNALISM, IT’S A PRESSTITUTE PUBLICATION.”)
The new unit will be called the PEN Guild and will represent the more than 250 reporters at the news outlet, plus an environmental publication that was purchased by Politico in 2020, the Times reported.
“The PEN Guild seeks equitable pay, a diverse and inclusive workplace and job protections for everyone—which we believe will make the newsrooms of Politico and E&E places where we are able to do our best work possible,” the letter to the National Labor Relations Board, read, according to the paper. Employee leaders say about 80 percent of the workers have signed on.
Trends Journal has been reporting on the post-COVID shift in the country where workers in various industries are beginning to feel emboldened and demanding better pay and quality of life. (See “SPOTLIGHT: WORKERS ON DEMAND.”)
We’ve also pointed out that one of the results of the outbreak was that the rich got richer and the poor got poorer; 37.2 million Americans are living in poverty in the U.S., which marks a 3.3 million jump since 2019. The report pointed out that married families had the lowest level of poverty at 4.7 percent.
Most Americans are stuck in their menial jobs making minimum wage with no career advancement. (See “DOLLAR GENERAL EMPLOYEES: PLANTATION WORKERS OF SLAVELANDIA.”)
TRENDPOST: When the government pays people as much to stay home as they would actually make working, why should anyone be surprised that so many decide work is just “not working for them”? And for many, that attitude persists even when the benefits stop; see “END OF FEDERAL JOBLESS BENEFIT WON’T BRING MANY BACK TO WORK” (28 Sep 2021).
TREND FORECAST: It is a clear supply and demand issue: The higher demand, the lower the supply… the higher the price paid for the commodity, be it a product or service. With a severe worker shortage and high demand for skilled labor, unions, which have been in long decline in the United States, will be gaining strength. Thus, the stronger the unions grow, the greater their demands will rise… and so too will labor strikes.