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I recently attended my first Labor Notes Conference in Chicago, IL. This year’s conference was far larger than the last one hosted in 2018, with more than 4,000 people in attendance. A friend of mine and veteran conference attendee attributed the increased number of participants to a buildup due to the COVID-induced pause, as well as the growth of unionized and/or union-curious education workers over the past four years. Demographics on conference attendees would be helpful. What unions were present at the event, and was there an increase in membership attendance from previous years? How many attendees were part of a union and how many were “unorganized” (like myself)? How many were gig, part-time, or otherwise precariously employed? Were the unemployed sections of the working class represented? The mood of the conference was lively and positive. There were many young people present, especially those involved in Starbucks and Amazon unionizing. There was a strong sense of community and...

One week has passed since a massive 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Central Mexico on September 19, destroying building and taking lives in the states of Puebla and Morelos, and parts of Mexico City. At publication, the New York Times cites at least 326 people killed – 186 in Mexico City – and some 50 collapsed buildings. Two weeks earlier, parts of southern Mexico and Guatemala were hit by an 8.2 magnitude quake - the largest in over a century. Cellphone footage from the 19th shows the unfolding disaster, as office workers rush out of buildings and into crowded city streets, while buildings sway, small fires catch, and waves rock tourist-packed gondolas at the Floating Gardens of Xochimilco. Incredibly, this latest quake happened 32 years to the day of the infamous 1985 Mexico City earthquake - a massive 8.0 magnitude tremor that, along with several aftershocks in the proceeding days, killed some 10,000 people and ruined nearly one third of all the city’s buildings. Sinc...