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Friday

As these farmworkers' children seek a different future, farms look for workers abroad

Paola Mendoza, the daughter of farmworkers, says her parents didn't want her to join them in the fields. She's now in college, studying to be a teacher. Mike Kane for NPR hide caption

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Mike Kane for NPR

Stories of Change From America's Farms

As these farmworkers' children seek a different future, farms look for workers abroad

U.S. farms have faced worker shortages for years. Now compounding the problem: The children of farmworkers are leaving the fields, forcing farm owners to look to other countries for labor.

As these farmworkers' children seek a different future, farms look for workers abroad

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Thursday

America's farms are desperate for labor. Foreign workers bring relief and controversy

A worker harvests cherries in the early hours of the morning on a farm near Sunnyside, Wash., on June 14. Mike Kane for NPR hide caption

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Mike Kane for NPR

Stories of Change From America's Farms

America's farms are desperate for labor. Foreign workers bring relief and controversy

The number of H-2A visas for seasonal farmworkers issued each year has more than quadrupled over the past decade. The growth has alarmed labor advocates. Farmers don't love the program, either.

America's farms are desperate for labor. Foreign workers bring relief and controversy

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Thursday

REI fostered a progressive reputation. Then its workers began to unionize

A pedestrian walks by REI's flagship store in New York, where last year workers formed the company's first union. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption

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Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Business

REI fostered a progressive reputation. Then its workers began to unionize

REI, the shopping mecca for outdoor enthusiasts, has balked at recognizing its newly unionized workers. They accuse the retailer of breaking labor laws, which the company denies.

REI fostered a progressive reputation. Then its workers began to unionize

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Saturday

L.A. school district workers have approved a labor deal following a 3-day strike

Union leaders address thousands of Los Angeles Unified School District teachers and Service Employees International Union 99 members during a rally outside the LAUSD headquarters in Los Angeles on March 21, 2023. Damian Dovarganes/AP hide caption

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Damian Dovarganes/AP

Education

L.A. school district workers have approved a labor deal following a 3-day strike

The agreement would increase wages by 30% for workers who are paid an average of $25,000 a year, SEIU Local 99 said. The contract still needs approval from the school district's Board of Education.

Tuesday

Wednesday

Farmworkers brace for more time in the shadows after latest effort fails in Congress

Farm laborers working with an H-2A visa harvest romaine lettuce on a machine with heavy plastic dividers that separate workers from each other on April 27, 2020, in Greenfield, Calif. Brent Stirton/Getty Images hide caption

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Brent Stirton/Getty Images

Politics

Farmworkers brace for more time in the shadows after latest effort fails in Congress

A legalization path for farmworkers failed to pass this month and faces an even steeper climb in a Republican-controlled House in the next Congress.

Thursday

On Red Cup Day, thousands of Starbucks workers go on strike

Starbucks Workers United members hope to win over customers who might not be thrilled with the strike by offering an even more exclusive commemorative item: A union-designed red cup with the Starbucks Workers United logo on the front. Starbucks Workers United hide caption

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Starbucks Workers United

Business

On Red Cup Day, thousands of Starbucks workers go on strike

Hardcore Starbucks fans eagerly await the day the coffee company gives out limited-edition holiday cups. The union organizing Starbucks workers hope those same customers will help support their cause.

On Red Cup Day, thousands of Starbucks workers go on strike

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Thursday

Wednesday

Support for labor unions in the U.S. is at a 57-year high

Employees of HarperCollins Publisher participate in a one-day strike outside the publishing houses offices in Manhattan on July 20, 2022 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption

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Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Business

Support for labor unions in the U.S. is at a 57-year high

A new poll from Gallup shows that support for unions is the highest it's been since 1965. This comes as workers at companies like Starbucks, Amazon and Chipotle have lately launched union drives.

Monday

Why teachers from one of Ohio's largest school districts are on strike

Members of the Columbus Education Association rally earlier this summer ahead of their vote this past Sunday night to officially strike this week. Columbus Education Association/Facebook hide caption

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Columbus Education Association/Facebook

Education

Why teachers from one of Ohio's largest school districts are on strike

Children in the Columbus, Ohio, school system will likely begin their first day online because 4,500 teachers are striking after negotiations over a new contract with the district went nowhere.

Thursday

Starbucks notches legal win in battle against union organizers

A federal judge in Arizona ruled that Starbucks did not have to reinstate or give accommodations to three workers who claimed they were retaliated against for union organizing. Matt Rourke/AP hide caption

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Matt Rourke/AP

Business

Starbucks notches legal win in battle against union organizers

A federal judge in Arizona ruled that Starbucks did not have to reinstate or give accommodations to three employees who claim they were retaliated against for organizing a union.

Sunday

Albanese elected Australia's leader in complex poll result

Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese speaks to supporters at a Labor Party event in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, May 22, 2022, after Prime Minister Scott Morrison conceding defeat to Albanese in a federal election. Rick Rycroft/AP hide caption

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Rick Rycroft/AP

World

Albanese elected Australia's leader in complex poll result

Australians awoke on Sunday to a new prime minister in Anthony Albanese, the center-left Labor Party leader, though it remains unclear whether his party can form a majority government.

Tuesday

Raising kids is hard work. The way we think about it can shift how we value mothering
Simone Martin-Newberry for NPR

Life Kit

Raising kids is hard work. The way we think about it can shift how we value mothering

Raising kids is among the most essential work humans do, and yet it's rarely valued as skilled labor. Angela Garbes, author of Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change, guides us through a shift in mindset to help give mothering the value it deserves.

Raising kids is hard work. The way we think about it can shift how we value mothering

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Thursday

There Are No Utopias

Robin D. G. Kelley Simon & Schuster hide caption

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Simon & Schuster

Perspective

Throughline

There Are No Utopias

It may seem bleak, but Robin D.G Kelley's view of the world says there is no promise of liberation, only struggle. Kelley has spent his career bringing to life the stories of the Black labor organizers and anti-capitalists who are often left out of history books, from radical farmers in the South to Black unions during the Gilded Age. And he's come to a provocative conclusion: that the secret to capitalism's survival is racism. His scholarship uses historical connections between race and labor to directly challenge the premise that there can be any justice within America's current economic system — and to ask what that means for the people who seek it. This week on Throughline, a view of Black history you don't often hear in February.

There Are No Utopias

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Wednesday

Wages Are Going Up — And So Is Inflation. Consumer Prices Have Hit A 13-Year High

A server delivers food to customers dining at a restaurant in Los Angeles on Aug. 7. Restaurants are boosting pay to attract workers, and that could have an impact on already-high inflation. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

Help Wanted: Where Are The Workers?

Wages Are Going Up — And So Is Inflation. Consumer Prices Have Hit A 13-Year High

Consumer prices rose 5.4% in July, compared to a year ago. Here's one thing to watch going forward: How rising wages impacts inflation.

Wages Are Going Up — And So Is Inflation. Consumer Prices Have Hit A 13-Year High

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