Tag: RLS Decade Project

A public place featuring a wheelchair user, someone pushing a pushchair, and other people. A public place featuring a wheelchair user, someone pushing a pushchair, and other people.
‘Tired From the Heart’: Voices From the Care Sector
Care work faces a constant struggle for recognition, leaving some workers 'tired from the heart'. What would it mean to advance an alternative vision of the sector? Sophie Hemery, Craig Gent and James Butler find out.
A woman reading to a child. A woman reading to a child.
Opinion: Why Scrapping Hostile Environment Policies Would Benefit Kids, Parents and Childcare Workers
This year many families have scrambled for childcare solutions - often in the form of informal childcare. Against a renewed push for regularisation from some parts of the sector, Miranda Hall and Veronica Deutsch argue our sights ought to be set on the anti-migrant policies which force people to work invisibly.
A black and white photograph of people sitting at a bank of computers A black and white photograph of people sitting at a bank of computers
Analysis: Automation Will Create More Jobs, But Most Will Be Shit
The much-prophesied “jobs apocalypse” of the fourth industrial revolution will likely never materialise. Yet that isn't to say new technologies aren't degrading work, warns Matthew Cole.
Courier riders stacking delivery containers. Courier riders stacking delivery containers.
Analysis: The Frontline of the Struggle Against Platform Capitalism Lies in São Paulo
Angry food delivery workers in São Paulo are at the heart of new intra-continental solidarity networks in Latin America. But despite pulling off one of the biggest ever strikes against platform capitalism, familiar barriers to organising still need to be overcome, writes Callum Cant.
An IWGB demonstration. An IWGB demonstration.
Opinion: Big Unions Aren’t Up to the Job Anymore
Unions have a crucial role to play in determining who benefits from changes to the nature of work. But many established unions are already struggling to keep up, writes Lydia Hughes, leaving smaller, newer unions to try to meet the changing needs of modern workers.
Opinion: How Laughter Is Building Solidarity Between Care Home Residents and Workers
After almost a decade working in eldercare, Pope Lonergan concluded that the bond between carers and those receiving care was at an all-time low. His solution was unusual: a comedy tour of care homes.
Tomatoes as far as the eye can see. Tomatoes as far as the eye can see.
Work All Day, Work All Night: ‘Sacrificing Your Life’ for the Food Supply Chain
Workers in the food supply chain call it 'sacrificing your life' to feed the rest of us. Can it last? Sophie Hemery, Craig Gent and James Butler find out.
Analysis: A Regime of ‘Flexible Despotism’ Reigns Over Retail Work – Can It Last?
Ever had to beg your boss for suitable shifts? Alex Wood explains how 'flexible discipline' - whereby managers discipline workers by altering their schedule - has become prevalent in retail work, and how it may yet fuel workers' sense of injustice.
Residents and their families in an elderly care home. Residents and their families in an elderly care home.
Analysis: Money Alone Won’t Fix the Care Crisis – We Need a Radical Rethink
Perma-austerity and the persistent devaluation of care work have left social care in a deficit of millions. But throwing money at the problem won’t make it go away. What we need is a radical rethink, writes Emma Dowling - one that puts care workers and the communities they serve at the helm.
12 Books for Understanding the Future of Work
To accompany our focus series on the Future of Work, we asked some of our friends to share their top reading recommendations for understanding changes to the organisation of work and our working lives.
A shopper carrying a supermarket basket. A shopper carrying a supermarket basket.
Analysis: Organising in Supermarkets Means Overcoming Barriers in the Sector – and in the Trade Unions
The future of supermarkets is both the future of a socially necessary service and the future of around 1m workers in the UK today. But overcoming the barriers to organising in the sector means getting to grips with its complexities - and accounting for the failures of unions like Usdaw. Max O'Donnell Savage writes.
An Amazon worker picking items. An Amazon worker picking items.
Analysis: ‘Capitalism’s Wet Dream’: Amazon’s Patents Signal the Future It Hopes to Achieve
By filing hundreds of patents a year, Amazon publishes its ideas for new technologies and ways of managing workers. As part of our focus on the future of work, Alessandro Delfanti explores some of the technological futures Amazon has in mind.
The author being moved in a hoist by a personal assistant. The author being moved in a hoist by a personal assistant.
Analysis: Disabled People and Care Workers Must Build Common Cause in the Fight for Better Conditions
Organising carers against disabled people would do nothing to leverage power against the only people who can affect the real terms and conditions of the industry, writes Jamie Hale. The left must instead work to build solidarity between care workers and the disabled people who rely on them to ensure that neither is exploited.
two care home workers wearing ppe two care home workers wearing ppe
Analysis: Our Financialised Care System is Built on a House of Cards – We Urgently Need to Rebuild It

Care homes in the UK, like much of the care sector, are highly financialised - but there are signs the model is faltering. If we’re going to improve care quality as well as wages and conditions in the sector, we need to build both worker and user-led power, argue Annie Quick and Alice Martin.
Two people sat facing shuttered high street shops. Two people sat facing shuttered high street shops.
Analysis: Why the Decline of High Street Retail Could Have Troubling Consequences for Our Freedom

Coronavirus is killing the high street, further accelerating us into a world of big data and algorithm-mediated shopping. Alan Bradshaw argues the shift could have dangerous political implications, allowing corporations to structure and rationalise our lives in previously unimagined ways.

A supermarket worker wearing a face mask. A supermarket worker wearing a face mask.
Analysis: Supermarket Workers Have Power – It’s Time They Got Organised

Supermarket workers hold significant collective power over the economy - a power only compounded by the pandemic. Despite a history of underorganisation, Jessica Thorne and Seth Wheeler argue that mobilising the sector is now a matter of strategic necessity.

We are always working to improve this website for our users. To do this we use usage data facilitated by cookies and external services. For more information read our Privacy Policy

Accept