Get the latest tech news

Has Online Shopping Left Warehouse Workers WIthout Political Power?


A writer for the New York Times editorial board argues we don't yet fully understand the impact of warehouses. "Thanks to the rise of online shopping and the proximity to so many American doorsteps, warehouses have become a major source of blue-collar employment," both in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania an...

Despite their large numbers, their importance to the economy, and their presence in Northampton — a swing county in a crucial battleground state — warehouse workers don't form an influential voting bloc in the way that steelworkers did... Back when thousands of workers streamed out of the gates of Bethlehem Steel at quitting time, "politicians would come out to shake our hands," Jerry Green, retired president of United Steelworkers Local 2599, told me. Women and working-class men won the right to vote in the United States, Western Europe and much of East Asia after about a quarter of those populations were employed in factories, according to recent research by Sam van Noort, a lecturer at Princeton.

Get the Android app

Or read this on Slashdot

Read more on:

Photo of online shopping

online shopping

Photo of warehouse workers

warehouse workers

Photo of political power

political power

Related news:

News photo

Mastercard Wants to Get Rid of Card Numbers for Online Shopping

News photo

On one Prime Day, Amazon warehouse workers endured '45% injury rate'

News photo

Online Shopping Has Become a Giant Fake Product Machine