Working Conditions

Employees demostrate sleeping “pods” in a corporate office.

The Nap Room Didn’t Love Me Back The Nap Room Didn’t Love Me Back

I left academia for a tech job that offered me the promise of stability. What happens when corporate employers become our most reliable caregivers?

Mar 28, 2026 / Elizabeth Burns Dyer

Representatives from the Hotel and Gaming Trade Council attend the celebration of mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's primary victory in New York City, on July 2, 2025.

Tourists See a Luxury Hotel. We See Labor History and a City That Protects Workers. Tourists See a Luxury Hotel. We See Labor History and a City That Protects Workers.

New York’s hotel industry was built on labor struggles—and today’s protections show how worker rights and world-class hospitality go hand in hand.

Mar 26, 2026 / Samuel A.A. Levine and Rich Maroko

Jupiter Jetson, right, and Molly Wylder, pose for a photo in front of Sheri's Ranch, In Pahrump, Nevada, on Thursday, February 12, 2026.

How Brothel Workers in Nevada Just Made Labor History How Brothel Workers in Nevada Just Made Labor History

The courtesans at Sheri’s Ranch were staring down a horrifying new contract. So they did what workers everywhere do: They got organized.

Feb 26, 2026 / Kim Kelly

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks at a press conference at Deno’s Wonder Wheel on Coney Island in New York City on February 15, 2026.

Zohran Mamdani Is Putting Corporate Sick-Leave Cheats on Notice Zohran Mamdani Is Putting Corporate Sick-Leave Cheats on Notice

The mayor announced that the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection will investigate employers where more than half their workers take no paid time off in a given year.

Feb 24, 2026 / Prajwal Bhat

The Ghosts of Colonialism Haunt Our Batteries

The Ghosts of Colonialism Haunt Our Batteries The Ghosts of Colonialism Haunt Our Batteries

With its cobalt and lithium mines, Congo is powering an energy revolution. It contains both the worst horrors of modern metal extraction—and the seeds of a more moral economics.

Feb 13, 2026 / Feature / Nicolas Niarchos

Workers harvest asparagus at Yakama Nation Farms in Harrah, Washington, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025.

The Trump Administration Wants to Make It Easier Than Ever to Exploit Farmworkers The Trump Administration Wants to Make It Easier Than Ever to Exploit Farmworkers

What is being described as “reform” in Washington will only make the abuse and wage theft that plague the program even worse.

Feb 12, 2026 / Teresa Cotsirilos

Striking nurses listen to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders on the picket line at Mount Sinai West on January 20, 2026, in New York City.

Nurses Dig In Against New York’s Hospital Giants Nurses Dig In Against New York’s Hospital Giants

As nearly 15,000 nurses’ strike, New York’s biggest hospital systems are trying to roll back hard-won staffing rules and health benefits—even as executive pay soars.

Jan 23, 2026 / Prajwal Bhat

Andrea Lucas, now chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, testifies at her confirmation hearing in front of the Senate HELP Committee, in June 2025.

The EEOC Is on the Verge of Making It Harder for Workers to Fight Harassment The EEOC Is on the Verge of Making It Harder for Workers to Fight Harassment

The agency is planning to delete a document that provides up-to-date guidance on the protections workers have in this complex and rapidly changing area of law.

Jan 20, 2026 / Bryce Covert

Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York City, steps up to a podium during a news conference in Brooklyn borough of New York on January 15, 2026.

Zohran Mamdani Takes on the Gig Economy’s Wage Thieves Zohran Mamdani Takes on the Gig Economy’s Wage Thieves

New York City is suing a delivery app for stealing workers’ pay—signaling that under Mamdani, gig companies can no longer break the law with impunity.

Jan 19, 2026 / Prajwal Bhat

Workers with SEIU Local 26 and UNITE HERE Local 17 marched and rallied at the Minneapolis–St. Paul airport alongside community members on December 3, 2026. They were for an end to deportation flights conducted by private companies such as Signature Aviation.

How Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Chills Organizing and Erodes Conditions for All Workers How Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Chills Organizing and Erodes Conditions for All Workers

When one group of workers is terrorized or disappeared, it threatens all workers’ ability to fight for their labor rights.

Jan 15, 2026 / Sarah Lazare

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