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**DECEMBER 10, 2021**

Kuttner on TAP

A Good Day for Labor

As the EU provides rules for gig workers, young people foul up
Kellogg's strikebreaking plans.

The certification of one Starbucks out of the thousands in the U.S. is
getting an appropriate amount of attention-the journey of a thousand
miles begins with a single latte. My colleague Harold Meyerson has
further thoughts

on how to organize fed-up workers who haven't been reached before. But
that wasn't the only interesting development in worker organizing this
week.

After 1,400 striking workers at four Kellogg plants rejected the latest
contract offer
,
the company made plans to hire replacement scabs. There was just one
problem: organized discontent. A poster on the popular Reddit community
r/antiwork, which has 1.3 million members, got members to surge fake
applications

to the online hiring portal. Then a young TikTok user created a code

to automatically fill out fake applications for the jobs perpetually.
Kellogg may find it impossible to distinguish the real applications from
the bogus ones. The kids are all right.

Meanwhile, in Brussels, the EU has proposed regulations that will give
gig workers, an estimated four million in the 27-nation federation, most
of the same rights as payroll workers. That would include minimum-wage
protections, vacation pay, unemployment benefits, and protections
against misclassification.

If it can happen there, it can happen here. Biden's Labor Department
has begun a major offensive against employers who try to classify
regular workers as contractors to deny them benefits and the right to
unionize. And if the platform model of exploiting workers can be shown
to be vulnerable in Europe, that makes it easier to restore worker
rights here.

Europe, incidentally, is not experiencing a Great Resignation
,
because workers there are treated better to begin with. Credit the
pandemic or credit a shift in consciousness, but we are seeing definite
gains to worker power on both sides of the Atlantic.

~ ROBERT KUTTNER

Follow Robert Kuttner on Twitter

Robert Kuttner's latest book is
The Stakes: 2020 and the Survival of American Democracy
.

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Just How Exceptional Are the Buffalo Baristas?

They've unionized one Starbucks. They symbolize a fed-up proletariat.
But does their victory portend anything further? BY HAROLD MEYERSON

The Danger of Discussing 'Maker and Taker' States

When Democrats talk about 'moocher' red states receiving more
federal benefits than they give in federal taxes, they reveal their
elitism and reinforce 'welfare queen' rhetoric. BY JUSTIN H.
VASSALLO

Altercation: Understanding Tucker Carlson

The only plausible explanation for his descent into racism and
absurdity is that he plans to run for president. BY ERIC ALTERMAN

Greetings From Meta

The born-again tech giant would like a word. BY FRANCESCA
FIORENTINI

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