by Mansa Musa | Jan 20, 2026 | Economy, labor, Politics and Movements: US, Prison Industrial Complex, prison reform, Prisons and Policing, Rattling the Bars, video
Returning citizens are being funneled into exploitative temp jobs that pay poverty wages, deny them basic labor protections, and deepen the state’s control over their lives long after they’ve served their time. This week, Mansa Musa speaks with Katherine Passley and Maya Ragsdale, co-executive directors of Beyond the Bars, about how Florida’s temp industry traps the most vulnerable workers and operates as a profitable and punishing extension of the prison system.Guests:
Maya Ragsdale is the founder and co-executive director of Beyond the Bars, a worker center in South Florida building the social and economic power of workers with criminal records and their families.
Katherine Passley is co-executive director of Beyond the Bars. Passley was named the 2025 Labor Organizer of the Year by In These Times magazine.
Additional links/info:
Beyond the Bars website, Substack, and Instagram
Beyond the Bars, The Temp Trap Report
Credits:
Producer / Videographer / Post-Production: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Mansa Musa:
Returning citizens are routinely pushed out of permanent jobs and instead pushed into temporary work often for the same role. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, 27% of formerly incarcerated individuals are unemployed, a rate higher than the Great Depression. Temp agencies often circumvent anti-discrimination laws and workforce protections, fueling exploitation and instability for vulnerable workers. A new report, The Temp Trap by Beyond the Bar’s co-director Maya Ragsdale and Katherine Passley argues that the state supervision and workforce discrimination keeps returning citizens trapped. The authors say it’s as if returning citizens are still doing time. Maya and Katherine joins us today to discuss their finding from two years of research. Welcome to
by Maximillian Alvarez | Jan 13, 2026 | baltimore, Economy, Economy and Inequality, Politics and Movements: US, video
As the unaffordability crisis deepens across the US, poor and working-class residents are struggling to pay for rent and food along with exorbitant monthly utility bills charged by gas and electric monopolies that control local power grids. In Baltimore, MD, local residents’ inability to pay skyrocketing utility bills from energy giant Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE) has sparked a grassroots “public power” campaign to establish a publicly owned energy alternative. In this on-the-ground report, TRNN takes you to the front lines of a Dec. 20 Public Power rally held in downtown Baltimore.
Additional links/info:
Baltimore Public Power campaign Instagram
Aaron Wright, Baltimore Beat, “BGE and DPW rate increases create financial woes for city residents”
Credits:
Production: Maximillian Alvarez
Post-Production: Maximillian Alvarez, David Hebden
Transparency disclaimer: Maximillian Alvarez’s spouse is a volunteer participant in the Baltimore Public Power campaign.
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Rev. Annie Chambers: Last week I went into a home and a lady had an infant that we had to get out of her house because her utilities was cut off and she had no way to keep that baby warm. Along with four other children.
Mark Conway: We had folks who were deciding between their rent and their energy bill. We had folks who were deciding between their medication and their energy bill. We had a senior roll her oxygen tank up and tell us that she was unable to refill her oxygen tank because of her energy bill.
Bobby LaPin: Last night, more than 250,000 Maryland children went to bed freezing and this morning they woke up freezing. But BG&E, but BG&E, they made $2.4 billion last year.
Taylor Smith-Hams:
by Chris Walker | Jan 13, 2026 | Donald Trump, Economy, News, Tariffs, Trump tariffs
President Donald Trump has promised numerous times that he would use some of the funds raised from his controversial tariffs to distribute a $2,000 “dividend” to American households — but in a recent interview with The New York Times, he appeared to have forgotten that pledge altogether. In an interview published this week, Trump appeared confused when a reporter asked when Americans could…
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by Brad Reed | Jan 12, 2026 | Article, doj, Economy, Economy and Inequality, Politics and Movements: US, Reprint, Trump
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Jan. 12, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
The US Department of Justice’s decision to open a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has ignited a major backlash that even has some Republican senators drawing a line in the sand.
Shortly after Powell released a video on Sunday accusing the Department of Justice (DOJ) of waging an “intimidation” campaign against him on behalf of President Donald Trump, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) blasted the administration, accusing them of trying to compromise the independence of America’s central bank.
“If there were any remaining doubt whether advisers within the Trump administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should now be none,” said Tillis, who further vowed to “oppose the confirmation of any nominee for the Fed—including the upcoming Fed chair vacancy—until this legal matter is fully resolved.”
On Monday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) backed up Tillis’ pledge to oppose any nominees for the Federal Reserve until the criminal probe of Powell, whose term as Fed chair is due to end in May, has been resolved.
Murkowski also revealed that she spoke with Powell and determined that “it’s clear the administration’s investigation is nothing more than an attempt at coercion” aimed at affecting his decisions on US monetary policy.
“The stakes are too high to look the other way,” Murkowski emphasized. “If the Federal Reserve loses its independence, the stability of our markets and the broader economy will suffer.”
Trump can only afford to lose the support of four Republican senators in a vote for a new Fed chair, which means Tillis and Murkowski’s vows not to support any nominee until the case
by Brad Reed | Jan 12, 2026 | Article, Economy, Economy and Inequality, labor, Politics and Movements: US, Reprint, Unions
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Jan. 12, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
Thousands of nurses are hitting the picket lines in what will be the largest nurses strike in the history of New York City.
The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) on Monday announced that nearly 15,000 nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, Montefiore, and NewYork-Presbyterian are going on strike after “greedy hospital management at these wealthy private hospitals have given frontline nurses no other choice.”
The NYSNA posted a long list of sticking points on contract negotiations, including “safe staffing for our patients, protections from workplace violence, and healthcare for frontline nurses.”
NYSNA president Nancy Hagans said that any patients in need of care at these hospitals should enter them, emphasizing that “going into the hospital to get the care you need is not crossing our strike line.” She also encouraged patients to join the picket line with the nurses after receiving care.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani spoke out in solidarity with the striking nurses, while also emphasizing the importance of “ensuring New Yorkers have the care they need… especially during flu season.”
“No New Yorker should have to fear losing access to healthcare,” Mamdani wrote in a social media post. “And no nurse should be asked to accept less pay, fewer benefits, or less dignity for doing lifesaving work. Our nurses have kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also expressed support for the striking nurses, while denouncing “NewYork-Presbyterian, Montefiore, and Mount Sinai hospitals for being willing to spend millions on replacement nurses rather than bargain for a fair contract.”
The NYSNA also got a boost from
by Truthout | Jan 9, 2026 | Bureau of Labor Statistics, Donald Trump, Economy, Jobs, Jobs Report, News, Tariffs, Trump economy
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the jobs report for December on Friday, showing an unusual slowdown in growth for a month where consumer spending typically generates much higher numbers. Job growth increased by around 50,000, the report noted. Unemployment remained relatively unchanged from November, going from 4.5 percent in that month to 4.4 percent in December.
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