Kari Lydersen

Making Health Care Reform Work: A Perspective from California Doctors

LOS ANGELES—At a conference convened by the organization Reporting on Health at the University of Southern California this week, doctors and health care experts shed light on labor-related aspects of the health care field as the sweeping health care reform legislation is set to take effect after being upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. They …

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‘We Don’t Go to Work to Be Touched’: Sexual Harassment in the Warehouse

“We don’t go to work to be touched, to be talked down to, to be told what our bodies look like. We know what our bodies look like when we put on our clothes in the morning,” Uylonda Dickerson said. But constant remarks about their bodies, and unwanted touching, advances, mean-spirited “pranks” and other forms …

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Getting on the BRT Bus: U.S. Cities Eye Mexico Program That Benefits Workers

MEXICO CITY—Almost any time of day on Avenida de los Insurgentes, one of Mexico City’s busiest streets, people crowd onto the constant parade of shiny red buses that pull up to platforms every few seconds, whisking passengers to different neighborhoods in the city of 22 million. This is the Metrobus system, one of the bus …

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Another Victory for Southern Calif. ‘Carwasheros’

Immigrant “carwasheros,” who often earn below minimum wage with no benefits, scored an historic victory this week by unionizing two Los Angeles car washes, Vermont Car Wash and Nava’s Car Wash. They were the first in the city limits to unionize. The workers are now members of the United Steelworkers, with the move likely gaining …

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Not So Sweet: The Intricacies of Big and Little Sugar

The lede on a story by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) attacking import limits and other government protections for the U.S. sugar industry was an attention-grabber: “That Valentine’s Day hand on your back pocket billfold is not your sweetheart’s, it’s the sugar lobby’s.” There are plenty of reasons for less-than-sweet feelings about the sugar industry, …

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Closing Time at Chicago Libraries Hits Women and Minorities Hard

Budget austerity trims library staff and hours, as Mayor Emanuel and AFSCME trade accusations Sara Doe was hired as a page at a Chicago library in 2007, and immediately fell in love with the job. Earning $11.18 an hour without benefits for shelving books, directing customers and other basic tasks might not be glamorous work, …

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‘Get a Job’? Not So Easy for Teens, as Adults Snap Up Openings

Teen employment rate of 26 percent is lowest since World War II—and much worse for African Americans Even as the economy slowly picks up, finding a job is harder than ever for teenagers, according to a national study released on Tuesday. That’s likely because the jobs that are being “created” in recent months are being …

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Wal-Mart and Women: Skeptics Question New Initiatives

Last week, Wal-Mart announced the latest component of its relatively successful campaign to shift its image from corporate villain to socially responsible role model. The company promised that it would double its business with women-owned contractors and suppliers in the U.S. and internationally, and educate and train hundreds of thousands of women through its nonprofit Wal-Mart …

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Hyatt Hotel Puts the Heat on Striking Workers—Literally

CHICAGO—The Hyatt hotel chain turned up the heat on striking and picketing workers—literally—here Thursday, as 10 hanging heat lamps normally used in winter were turned on workers picketing outside the downtown Park Hyatt. This occurred on one of the year’s hottest days—with a heat index well above 100 degrees and the temperature over 80 degrees, …

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Madeline Messa

Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.