Did Donald Trump really make major inroads with union households? Sociologists Jake Rosenfeld and Patrick Denice take a look at the (imperfect) data and conclude that the story is more complicated than the headlines have made it out to be.
On the one hand, “In 2016 the partisan split among union households was smaller than at any time since Ronald Reagan’s re-election in 1984.” But there’s a but, and it centers on third-party candidates:
Trump did outdo Mitt Romney’s performance among union household voters – but by only 3 points. Much more significantly, between 2012 and 2016 the share of the union household vote going to the Democrat in the race shrank from 58% to 51%, with the share of union household members saying that they voted for neither the Democrat nor the Republican in the race tripling, from 2% to 6%.
This isn’t great news, but it’s a lot better than if union households had gone all in for Trump. And it’s much better if we understand where the union vote really (as far as the data allow us to know) went than if we assume it was all about Trump.
● That four-star rating you left could cost your Uber driver her job.
● Working-class people don’t get a lot of attention in popular culture, but Jack Metzgar uncovers some important moments in The Working Class at the Oscars.
● Steve Greenhouse writes about The unions that like Trump (and the ones that don’t).
● Two federal lawsuits could spell big trouble for Uber. (What can I say—a lot of Uber links this week.)
● Defying their bosses' threats, journalists at DNAinfo, Gothamist say yes to a union.
● This story about a low-income woman who returned to Uber driving six days after a C-section is just heartbreaking. This country so badly needs paid family leave—and while we’re at it, a few laws that keep Uber from exploiting its drivers so badly. This article gave Maya Warren the basis for a pretty successful GoFundMe, so she’ll be okay for a while … but a lot of women with the same struggles don’t get noticed. GoFundMe should not be America’s safety net.
● A win for workers at the University of Toronto, members of UNITE HERE.
● Another installation of Sarah Jaffe’s Interviews for Resistance: IBM workers tell company to practice what it preaches.
● Workers Independent News week in review: