Predictive Dialing For Dollars: Phoning at the Cutting Edge of Technology
In response to the release Boots Riley's film Sorry to Bother You in 2018, I wrote this piece about my own experience working in a call center -- and how it took place against the backdrop of my own political radicalization. I post it today in honor of Juneteenth, where my former union, ILWU, will shut down all 29 ports on the U.S. West Coast as part of protests against racism and police violence.
San Francisco dockers call strike to confront white nationalist rally
The Hilo massacre, 1938
1946: The Great Hawai'i' Sugar Strike
1949: Hawaii Longshoreman Strike
The CIO's left-led unions, edited by Steve Rosswurm
Durruti was a revolutionary unionist (and don't you forget it!)
ILWU locked-out on West Coast for 2 days
With contract negotiations dragging on since July 1, 2014, the collective of port managers in the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) at 29 West Coast intermodal container ports have locked out the International Longshore & Warehouse Union for the weekend of February 7-8, 2015. Despite PMA conceding and agreeing to pay 100% of longshore workers' health care costs, in addition to covering the "Cadillac Tax" under Obamacare and raising base wages 5% (and guaranteeing pensions of up to $88,800 a year), the union still has unmet demands; with port congestion reaching a crisis point, PMA is playing a game of brinksmanship by locking out the union at all West Coast ports.
- 1 of 4
- ››