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Joseph A. McCartin

@josephamccartin.bsky.social
3.1K followers 718 following 92 posts

Labor historian; Founding Director Emeritus, Georgetown University's Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor & the Working Poor; past president, Labor & Working Class History Assn (LAWCHA)

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Reposted by Joseph A. McCartin
LAWCHA: Labor and Working-Class History Association @lawcha.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Joe McCartin joined the Valley Labor Report to talk about the way we approach the history of the United States this July 4. Interview begins at the 44 minute mark. #america250 @georgetownkilwp.bsky.social @josephamccartin.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo-U...
youtube.com
Talking to a Lawyer About SCOTUS Decisions Affecting Working People - TVLR 7/4/26
YouTube video by The Valley Labor Report
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Toby Higbie @thigbie.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Winning elections in 2026 and 2028 isn't enough, say @stephenlerner.bsky.social and @josephamccartin.bsky.social. Corporate power backing Trump will simply regroup behind newly empowered Dems. They call on unions to lead expansive coalitions to take the fight beyond the ballot box
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
I was happy to offer a comment for this important, under-repored story. Since this measure was first taken in 1947, workers have never taken home a smaller share of the wealth they produce than they did in 2026 Q1 ... and the AI wave hadn't even hit yet. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/u-s-wor...
talkingpointsmemo.com
U.S. Workers Are Getting Record-Low Compensation Based on Their Productivity
The widening rift between the haves and the have-nots continues to be...
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Thanks for circulating this @jacobinmag.bsky.social friends. jacobin.com/2026/04/trum...
jacobin.com
The Fight Against Trumpism Can Reinvigorate Labor
The danger posed by Donald Trump’s authoritarianism means that unions can’t afford to remain in a defensive crouch. And history suggests that fighting to defend and revive democracy at moments of maxi...
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Bright D Limm 임대중 @bdlimm.myatproto.social · 05/04/2026
"[A] specter haunts the labor movement at this crucial juncture: the magical thinking that if unions can just survive the Trump era they can help restore a kind of pre-Trump normalcy after he leaves office." @stephenlerner.bsky.social @josephamccartin.bsky.social's strategy has 3 key elements (👇).
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 04/04/2026
"...a specter haunts the labor movement at this crucial juncture: the magical thinking that if unions can just survive the Trump era they can help restore a kind of pre-Trump normalcy after he leaves office." @stephenlerner.bsky.social & @josephamccartin.bsky.social on expanding labor’s power.
inthesetimes.com
Resisting Trumpism Can Revive the U.S. Labor Movement
The array of attacks on democracy and workers’ rights present an opportunity to expand labor’s power—if unions are willing to seize it.
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
In this the master organizer and strategist @stephenlerner.bsky.social and I argue that the deepening crisis we face also offers an opportunity -- if we seize it -- to not only turn back encroaching authoritarianism, but to build a stronger and larger-visioned union movement.
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Thanks to @billfletcherjr.bsky.social for this incisive analysis and call to action. znetwork.org/znetarticle/...
znetwork.org
Demonstrations and Demographics
In the aftermath of the “No Kings Day” demonstrations of March 28th, there has been renewed interest—and concern—that in many cities the participation of
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Reposted by Joseph A. McCartin
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
tl;dr: more people should watch this gentleman's speech and think seriously about what he is saying bsky.app/profile/slcl...
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Toby Higbie @thigbie.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
“America’s labor movement has been going through a transition over the last decade that is far more layered and nuanced — and that holds more potential for future growth — than the BLS annual membership survey reveals.” New leaders & organizational forms having an impact— @lanewindham.bsky.social
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
Looking below the recent union membership numbers @lanewindham.bsky.social finds signs of hope for a union movement that is battling considerable headwinds. inthesetimes.com/article/unio...
inthesetimes.com
Five Things the New BLS Union Membership Statistics Don’t Tell You
Union membership is slightly on the rise—but the hope for U.S. labor’s future is far brighter than the numbers alone suggest.
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Activist & historian Bob Bussel on his 102yr old father, who fought Hitler, saw his B-17 crew mates killed, & ended up in a POW camp, & how the children, grandchildren & great grandchildren of those who fought fascism in the 1940s are carrying on the fight today. eugeneweekly.com/2026/02/05/m...
eugeneweekly.com
‘My Father Fought Fascism. Now I Have To.’
By Bob Bussel During the many protests I have attended since Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, I have noticed one sign that especially resonates with me. The sign typically reads: “My father…
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
It was a labor of love to collaborate with my friend Bob Bussel the former director of U of Oregon's Labor Education and Research Center (LERC) on this remembrance of Nick Salvatore, Eugene Debs's biographer, and a mentor and dear friend to us both. Nick's story has special meaning in this time.
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Kalmanovitz Initiative @georgetownkilwp.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
What we're seeing from the people of Minnesota didn't come from nowhere - it comes from an organized/empowered working class supported by unions and community orgs sharing goals for the common good! Check out the KI's report on the recent history of labor/community in MN! #minneapolis #minnesota
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Higher Education Labor United (HELU) @higheredlabor.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Let’s support workers in MN! Contribute $20+ to Unite HERE Local 17 Solidarity Fund to support mutual aid for MN union members. Send us a copy of your receipt and we'll mail you a special HELU postcard & sticker! workingpartnerships.betterworld.org/campaigns/un... #ICEOUT #ICEOUTMN #ICEOutofMN
"Support Minnesota and we'll send you a postcard and sticker"

With image of sticker with HELU logo and motto "wall-to-wall and coast-to-coast"
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Nurses like Alex Pretti at the MN VA Hospital were represented by AFGE Local 3669. What is AFGE going to do about the blatantly false statement about Pretti issued today by its affiliate union, the National Border Patrol Council? If the NBPC won't disavow those lies, AFGE should disaffiliate them.
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
To understand the deep roots of the heroic resistance unfolding in Minnesota today, read this: georgetown.app.box.com/s/kxsmj8lkmp...
georgetown.app.box.com
Aligning for Power A Case Study of Bargaining for The Common Good in Minnesota.pdf | Powered by Box
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Reposted by Joseph A. McCartin
Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 23/01/2026
As clergy pray, arrests begin
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
To understand the deep roots of the heroic resistance unfolding in Minnesota today, read this: georgetown.app.box.com/s/kxsmj8lkmp...
georgetown.app.box.com
Aligning for Power A Case Study of Bargaining for The Common Good in Minnesota.pdf | Powered by Box
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
On this Martin Luther King Day I'm proud to join former AFL-CIO general counsel and National Labor Relations Board member Craig Becker on this article calling out Trump's actions harming Black federal workers & claiming exemption from anti-discrimination law contrarian.substack.com/p/trumps-ass...
contrarian.substack.com
Trump’s Assertion of Power Threatens Black Workers
Supreme Court precedent dating back to the 1880s holds that Congress can restrict the president’s authority to fire federal employees.
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More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
Zohran: "I mean, think about when you fly.  We have made it such a difficult experience to go through TSA that there's now a financial incentive to sign up for a separate program that can move you through it quicker. We have monetized the dysfunction."
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 12/12/2025
i want to be clear about this: worker’s rights also includes the right to be free from racist or sexist or gendered abuse at your job.
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Here @anandwrites.bsky.social brilliantly explains what email reveals about the "Epstein class," showing how the mores of today's version of what C.Wright Mills once called the power elite suggest that their "highest commitment is to their own permanence" as an elite. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | How the Elite Behave When No One Is Watching: Inside the Epstein Emails
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Toby Higbie @thigbie.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
Universities spend gazillions on EdTech software that doesn’t serve faculty or student interests and often doesn’t work well. But what if we got off that path and leveraged internal resources to produce non-profit systems? Here’s a proposal to leverage the CUNY systems platforms.
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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Tapper: Angus King said standing up to Donald Trump didn't work. Sanders: Maybe Angus didn't notice the elections on Tuesday. I thought that they worked pretty well.
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Jewish Currents @jewishcurrents.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
It was predictable that many liberal Zionists would oppose anti-Zionism’s “political normalization” in the NYC mayoral race. The more surprising story of the campaign is not liberal Zionist opposition to Mamdani, but their support, @peterbeinart.bsky.social writes. jewishcurrents.org/mamdani-crea...
jewishcurrents.org
Mamdani Created a Left-Liberal Coalition on Israel/Palestine
The surprising story of the New York mayoral campaign is not liberal Zionist opposition to Mamdani’s campaign, but their support.
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Frank Pasquale @frankpasquale.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
“The 21st-century algorithmic gaze dissolves both patient and doctor alike into never-ending streams of automated data.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
theguardian.com
What we lose when we surrender care to algorithms | Eric Reinhart
A dangerous faith in AI is sweeping American healthcare – with consequences for the basis of society itself
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Edward T. O'Donnell, Historian-at-Large @inthepastlane.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
NYC electing Mamdani, a democratic socialist, is a reminder that 1) Socialism has a long history in the US and 2) Americans actually LOVE socialism. #ushistory #americanhistory #Mamdani #socialism #eugenedebs www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8DVac7w/
tiktok.com
NYC electing Mamdani, a democratic socialist, is a reminder that 1) Socialism has a long history in the US and 2) Americans actually LOVE socialism. #ushistory #Mamdani #socialism #eugenedebs #History...
TikTok video by Edward T. O’Donnell
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Amnesty Business & Human Rights @amnestybhr.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Ogoni Nine who were executed by the Nigerian military government in November 1995 after campaigning against widespread oil pollution in the Niger Delta. @amnesty.org calls for the Ogoni Nine to be fully exonerated. www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...
amnesty.org
Nigeria: Government must clear names of executed activists Ogoni Nine
Marking 30 years since the Nigerian government’s brutal execution of nine leading environmental activists – the Ogoni Nine – for fighting to protect the Niger Delta from oil giant Shell, Amnesty Inter...
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
“Democrats are uncomfortable exercising power and because they lack a coherent or compelling vision for their party or how it would run the country.”
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Senator Bernie Sanders @sanders.senate.gov · 10/11/2025
Tonight was a very bad night.
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Jordan Barab @jbarab.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Because who's more qualified to direct air traffic? A "true patriot", or a trained air traffic controller? Are Laura Loomer or Hershel Walker going to be directing aircraft over New York? There will be no need to limit air travel if that happens. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
politico.com
‘REPORT TO WORK IMMEDIATELY’: Trump threatens to replace absent air traffic controllers with ‘true Patriots’
The president “wouldn’t last five minutes as an air traffic controller,” Biden-era Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg responded.
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
More Trump madness as he urges any controllers who took sick time during the shutdown to quit. Imagine the impact that would have on a system that is already having to reduce traffic this week. Fortunately, very few people take anything this man says seriously. www.newsweek.com/faa-flight-d...
newsweek.com
Trump threatens air traffic controllers, offers "patriots" $10K bonus
Thousands of flights have been canceled as a consequence of the federal government shutdown.
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Ed Markey @edmarkey.bsky.social · 08/11/2025
Trump would rather let 42 million Americans go hungry than admit he broke the law.
Screenshot of headline reading: Trump administration asks Supreme Court to halt order providing full SNAP payments for November
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
An important study with very encouraging results. Cities and states should pay attention to these findings and give workers a break.
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Upjohn Institute @upjohninstitute.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
New research from @aaronsojourner.org (Upjohn Inst.) and Joseph Pickens (USNA) finds that NYC’s Fair Workweek Law gave fast-food workers more predictable schedules without costing jobs. #LaborLaws #NYC #FairWorkWeek #EconSKy
upjohn.org
Do fair workweek laws affect labor markets?
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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
The Treasury Department instructed employees not to share to share photos of the demolition of parts of the White House’s East Wing
wsj.com
Exclusive | Treasury Tells Employees Not to Share Photos of White House Ballroom Construction
Images of the demolition of parts of the East Wing went viral on Monday, and Treasury’s headquarters next door to the White House has a front-row seat.
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SUNY UFS President Bruce Simon @sunyufspresident.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
NJ #MADC is here! Will definitely be sharing and discussing with my CUNY and SUNY partners…. senate.rutgers.edu/wp-content/u...
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Toby Higbie @thigbie.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Big #NoKings turnout in downtown Los Angeles. Marched with my UCLA Faculty Association colleagues and thousands of others. Groups from unions, churches, and schools marching together. Civil society waking up. @uclafa.bsky.social @aaup.org
Group picture of members of UCLA Faculty Association at Los Angeles No Kings march, October 18, 2025.
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Not content with the pace at which he’s destroying the country, Trump shifted into a higher gear at the White House today, beginning physical demolition. Sadly, the other things he’s breaking will be even harder to restore than this historic house.
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Kent Wong was a unique figure: scholar, organizer, educator, and leader. The entire community of those who care about workers, immigrants, and people struggling for rights is bereft at his loss. May his memory and example long inspire us. @lawcha.bsky.social and its members celebrate Kent's legacy.
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ራስ ባሪያው Rass Bariaw @rassbariaw.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
#BlackSky
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LAWCHA: Labor and Working-Class History Association @lawcha.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
LAWCHA President @josephamccartin.bsky.social shared more reflections on last week's Unmasking Union Antisemitism hearing on the Labor History Today Podcast. laborhistorytoday.podbean.com
laborhistorytoday.podbean.com
Labor History Today | laborhistorytoday
Gripping stories of the historic battles for worker rights and how they fuel today’s struggles. Part of the Labor Radio/Podcast Network: #LaborRadioPod
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Zinn Education Project @zinnedproject.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
#tdih 1858, 18-yr-old John Price was arrested by a federal marshal in Oberlin, Ohio under Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Group of local residents (Black & white) stormed hotel, found Price, & took him to freedom in Canada. Abolitionists were arrested. Read ⬇️ www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/ob...
zinnedproject.org
Sept. 13, 1858: Oberlin Wellington Rescue
Eighteen-year-old John Price was arrested by a federal marshal in Oberlin, Ohio under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
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Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
“The trend in recent years has been for the great majority of extremist-related murders to be connected to some form of right-wing extremism. That is also true for 2024: for the third year in a row, all the murders identified were tied to right-wing extremism.” www.adl.org/resources/re...
adl.org
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
Merely raising the name of AFT president @rweingarten.bsky.social triggered the "ire" of Rep Tim Walberg (R-MI) to such an extent that he couldn't resist making the malicious and obviously dishonest statement that she "has not said anything, anything, about antisemitism." Her response is priceless.
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
It was an honor to join KALW's Rose Aguilar and Johanna Miyaki, John Logan of SF State, and Victor Narro of UCLA for a discussion of the enormous rollback of union rights that's been instituted by the Trump administration and its frightening implications for all working people. tinyurl.com/hy3zarhj
kalw.org
Trump's order is "most aggressive act of union busting in US history"
More than a million federal workers have lost their collective bargaining and union protections. Trump has also cut wages and made working conditions worse.
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Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 20/07/2025
I debated 20 far-far-far-right conservatives (racists? fascists?) on Jubilee's 'Surrounded.' Here are some of the highlights of them unable to answer my basic questions or rebut the simplest of points. Not sure whether to laugh or cry. Here's the full 'debate': www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S-W...
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NPR @npr.org · 19/07/2025
Congress eliminated public media funding. At a time of deep division, public media brings us together. Help keep it strong. Join our monthly donors today: n.pr/458sOhq
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Joseph A. McCartin @josephamccartin.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
Veteran labor organizer/scholar Bob Bussel explains why we need to put efforts at labor law reform aside to focus on what unions themselves can do to revive the labor movement. nwlaborpress.org/2025/07/unha...
nwlaborpress.org
Unhappy anniversary: National Labor Relations Act at 90 - NW Labor Press
This July marks the 90th anniversary of the National Labor Relations Act. It’s a timely opportunity to reflect on the law's mixed legacy.
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