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Iranian women's group empowers amid pandemic by making masks

Vahid Salemi

December 29, 2020 |

Associated Press |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Iran, Tehran

An organization in Tehran, Iran is helping women "looking for work to make handicrafts" by allowing them to use donated sewing machines as a means of becoming self-sufficient despite high rates of unemployment. When the coronavirus pandemic impacted the market, however, they shifted to making masks. Specific sales figures for the masks aren't available, but participants say they are grateful to be able to learn a new skill for free.

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A Better Option For the Gig Economy

Juliet B. Schor

November 05, 2020 |

Yes! Magazine |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Canada

Platform co-ops are providing a third option to the gig economy and traditional employment. Stocksy United is a photography cooperative which is owned by the independent contractors who are members of the platform coop. All major decisions are made through voting by photographers and each member benefits from the flexibility of being a contractor without the uncertainty typically associated with gig work.

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How Essential Food Workers Are Fighting Back

Nadra Nittle

July 31, 2020 |

Civil Eats |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Nevada

Meatpacking workers protested Covid-19 safety concerns and a coalition of advocacy groups filed a civil rights complaint with the government accusing Tyson and JBS USA of racial discrimination during the pandemic because the safety issues disproportionately impact line workers, who are largely people of color. Nevada’s Culinary Union also sued Las Vegas Strip casinos for unsafe working conditions. Two casinos have been dropped from the suit after deciding to negotiate privately with the union and Tyson has since instituted some safety measures, but broader impacts of the complaints remain to be seen.

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Renters are rising up to unionise and take on dodgy landlords

Andrew Kersley

July 09, 2020 |

Wired |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

Renters' unions in the United Kingdom have provided more aide recently because the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated problems facing renters. The Association of Community Organisations for Reform Now is one of the largest renters’ unions in the UK and has been helping members fight illegal evictions and stop landlords from breaking lockdown rules. The group fears a “glut of evictions” when the government lifts restrictions. There are many renters’ unions in the UK, which might dilute their effectiveness, and the combined membership in the thousands is just a small fraction of Britain’s 4.5 million renters.

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‘When Someone Hires Me, They Get the Boss Herself'

Michaela Haas

July 07, 2020 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

A new model for cooperatives guarantees a living wage for house cleaners, removing the uncertainty and exploitation typically associated with the gig economy. Up & Go is an app that brings entrepreneurs together as owners of the cooperative - sharing offices and customer service representatives. Wages for their work have almost doubled in comparison to the jobs they found through fliers. Training has also given workers the knowledge to stay safe in addition to keeping their clients from exposure during the pandemic.

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Feed the people: Helping communities, hospitality workers, and families

Keiko Hiromi

June 29, 2020 |

DigBoston |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Restaurants and labor unions have formed a partnership through Project Restore Us, or PRU, to benefit union members as well as restaurants during the pandemic. Restaurants utilize their access to discounted, bulk grocery items to create grocery boxes for union members. The profit goes to the restaurant and its employees, simultaneously helping those who are unemployed and dealing with food insecurity as well as the hard-hit restaurant industry.

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Organizing for Help in a Pandemic

Madeline St. Amour

June 16, 2020 |

Inside Higher Ed |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Graduate students at several major universities organized to secure benefits during the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, the University of Illinois Graduate Employees Organization fought for and won the expansion of mental health services and summer health care coverage, as well as free summer housing for international graduate students who cannot return home due to travel restrictions. After graduate students at the University of Texas Austin demonstrated and 1,400 signed a petition, the dean granted expanded funding opportunities and a commitment to finding a healthcare plan that ensures no coverage gap.

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The City that Really Did Abolish the Police

Katherine Landergan

June 12, 2020 |

Politico |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Camden, New Jersey

A decade after Camden crime and police relations hit bottom, and five years after President Obama lauded its new police department as a model for reform, the city's successful reboot of its police force offers both encouragement and cautionary notes for a radical makeover of a police department. Excessive force rates and homicides have both dropped. A toothless disciplinary system has been replaced. But, while residents agree conditions have improved, they point to a number of changes still needed after the entire department was replaced.

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How design-build coops are creating a new economy in New England

Chad Small

February 29, 2020 |

Co-operative News |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Massachusetts

Design-build coops are employee-owned businesses operated under a democratic business model that "considers people, planet, then profit." These coops have steadily increased in New England resulting in workplaces that have a smaller pay-gap between the highest and lowest paid employees of a company, motivates employees who are invested in the long-term success of a company, result in companies better equipped to weather recessions and in turn, allow for more focus on green design models.

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From trash to treasure: the South African community taking ownership of waste

Imani Dlamini

January 24, 2020 |

Pioneers Post |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: South Africa, Melkhoutfontein

A community in South Africa tackles waste management and unemployment at the same time by hiring workers to find new uses for waste that would otherwise be burned or dumped in a landfill. Some workers - most of whom are local women - make mosaics and other art out of plastics; others make hangers, stools, and more out of discarded materials.

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