Beef prices have hit record highs this Labor Day Weekend — in part thanks to Trump's tariffs. Remember when Trump said he would bring down the cost of groceries? https://youtu.be/9EXi6xyOXSk?feature=shared
Berkeley professor, former Secretary of Labor. Co-founder of @inequalitymedia.bsky.social and @imcivicaction.bsky.social. Substack: http://robertreich.substack.com Buy my new book: https://sites.prh.com/reich Visit my website: https://rbreich.com/
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Beef prices have hit record highs this Labor Day Weekend — in part thanks to Trump's tariffs. Remember when Trump said he would bring down the cost of groceries? https://youtu.be/9EXi6xyOXSk?feature=shared
Remember that we can always find power, solidarity, and hope in the labor movement. [Artwork by Ricardo Levins Morales]
Wages of unionized workers are 13% higher than their nonunion counterparts. But unions also set a higher pay standard that all workers enjoy. In high-union-density states, median household income is $12,000 higher than in low-union-density states. This is why unions are vital.
Robert Reich shouldn't apologize that his new book "Coming Up Short" is #1 on the New York Times Non-Fiction Bestseller list. "Essential reading for understanding this moment in American history.” - Molly Jong-Fast
I purchased a new book by Robert Reich at RJ Julia Booksellers last Monday and it’s called “Coming Up Short.”! I’m thinking of reading that book all Autumn/Fall starting next month during and after my 12 flashback Unified Basketball season with the Seaside Saybrook Blazers.
Thank you to the unions and fairness fighters that gained the workers' rights most of us in the U.S. take for granted. Enjoying the new book by @rbreich.bsky.social on this Labor Day weekend.
Friends, I urge you to join a Workers Over Billionaires protest this Labor Day. Let’s honor the roots of this holiday by standing together to protest the exploitation and oppression of our tinpot dictator. bit.ly/4lMgKaR
Trump isn’t just axing the Constitution. He’s axing something we all love. Watch. https://youtu.be/HS7IJaB5NDc?feature=shared
Why has Trump been attacking unions and workers’ rights? He wants working people to feel helpless and divided. Trump and his billionaire backers realize that the collective power of a unified labor movement outweighs their own power. Know this: Workers outnumber the oligarchs.
“Jobs disappear and the markets cheer.” On Labor Day 30 years ago, I issued a warning the growing divide between workers and the super-rich. Watch. youtu.be/8rW1kkAV-gw
Look at this graph. The share of national income going to the richest 10 percent was lowest (and share to lower 90 percent highest) when union membership was at its highest. As unions have weakened, inequality has widened. This is why we must build back union power.
Medicare for all, paid leave, universal childcare. Busting up big corporations and tackling Wall Street’s greed. Getting big money out of politics. Supporting unions and fighting for higher wages. If Dems want to win back working people, this is the agenda they must support.
Rest assured. The seeds of Trump’s destruction have already been sown. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/sunday-thought-263
This Labor Day, I urge you to join a Workers Over Billionaires protest. We must continue standing together to show Trump that we, the people, have the power – not his billionaire buddies and corporate cronies. bit.ly/4lMgKaR
Why do you appreciate unions? I’ll start: Weekends off Paid vacations Work breaks Sick leave Paid holidays No child labor Safer working conditions Health care and retirement benefits
For decades, Republicans in Washington have told us that tax cuts would trickle down to workers. Instead, wealth and power have accumulated in the hands of the richest 1% at the expense of the rest of us. Trickle-down economics was never supposed to work. It was a hoax.
Labor has always been on the frontlines in the fight against fascism – and today is no different. Unions are fighting Trump’s cruel agenda in the courts and in the streets, and workers across industries are standing up for each other. There’s courage – and hope – in solidarity.
I hope you find my new book helpful for understanding the time we’re in, how we combat the bullies, and why I believe so passionately that we will succeed. Here's a bit more on why I wrote it.
As we resist Trump’s tyranny, America gains solidarity. As we gain solidarity, we feel more courageous. As we feel courageous and stand up to Trump, we weaken him and his regime. As we weaken Trump and his regime, we have less to fear.
Corporate America’s playbook: 1) Exploit workers to maximize profits 2) Use profits to buy Congress 3) Use Congress to pass union-busting laws 4) Use these laws to further exploit workers 5) Repeat Let's break the cycle and keep building back a powerful labor movement.
On a special Labor Day weekend Coffee Klatch, I reflect on what I’ve witnessed during my time in politics and how it connects to our struggle today. We also discuss Trump’s continued occupation, not just of American cities, but the American economy. https://youtu.be/v5mmLwI_KmA
Our national parks generated $56 billion in visitor spending and supported 415,000 jobs in 2023. The entire National Park Service budget was just $3.6 billion. That’s some return on investment — so why is Donald Trump taking an axe to our parks?
Living a moral life in an age of bullies requires collective action; it cannot be done alone. Each of us must organize and participate in a vast network of moral resistance. From this solidarity we will grow stronger. This is what our current moment requires.
DOGE isn't fighting fraud — it's potentially exposing Americans to more of it. And now a Social Security Administration whistleblower is resigning after apparently being punished for trying to warn the public. Nothing about this fake government agency is "efficient."
The NRA buys off Congress. No action on guns. The oil industry buys off Congress. No action on climate. Insurance companies buy off Congress. No action on health care. The list goes on and on. Money in politics is the root of our dysfunction.
Trump's approval ratings are tanking. He hasn't done squat to help working people. The Epstein scandal haunts him. He's a tyrant with his back against the wall, so he and his cronies are rigging elections in Texas. Understand what's going on here.
The CDC is gutting a program that monitors foodborne illnesses. The program will now only track infections caused by two pathogens, rather than eight. Hello? How does this “Make America Healthy Again”?
A federal judge has ordered Florida to shut down "Alligator Alcatraz," after the state spent a staggering $218M to build the now-vacant detention camp. Closing it will run taxpayers another $20M. An utterly cruel and costly waste.
Nearly 70% of Americans support labor unions. Why? Because more and more people know that unions ensure workers get higher paychecks, safer working conditions, and a real voice in both the workplace and our democracy. It's what every worker deserves.
I miss the old brand #CDC
“I don’t have any choice” says the kidnapper.
As Trump ramps up his attacks on our nation’s capital, a gathering of hope and resilience took place at the historic Avalon Theatre.
Trump is 10 days older than I am. If he can cause as much mayhem as he does every day, the least I can do is make a bit of good trouble every day. Some thoughts... https://robertreich.substack.com/p/why-i-cant-retire
Federal agents detained two firefighters in Washington state... ...while the firefighters were in the middle of fighting one of the largest wildfires in the country. Under Trump’s regime, cruelty takes precedence over everything else.
Trump is trying to push more government agencies to end collective bargaining agreements with federal worker unions. Why? Organized labor is standing up to Trump's authoritarian power grab. Tyrants will do anything to crush dissent. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/u...
The next days and months and years will demand from all of us great courage — and solidarity. Be prepared.
The IRS wants Americans to weigh in on Direct File, the agency's free tax filing program. We already know Direct File has been widely popular and successful. The program could save Americans billions annually between filing fees and time costs. www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs...
No one voted for this.
This Labor Day, I urge you to join a Workers Over Billionaires protest. We must continue standing together to show Trump that we, the people, have the power – not his billionaire buddies and corporate cronies. bit.ly/4lMgKaR
How to respond to Trump's lies about a "crime wave" https://robertreich.substack.com/p/how-to-respond-to-trumps-lies-about
There’s a reason Dr. King's historic 1963 rally was called “The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” As he warned the nation, "We all too often have socialism for the rich and rugged free market capitalism for the poor." Real freedom requires economic freedom for all.
Thousands of Mike Johnson's own constituents are at risk of losing Medicaid coverage following the passage of a budget bill he pushed for. And it’s all so he could help bankroll more tax cuts for corporations and the super-rich. Don’t let him forget.
Meanwhile, Trump is pushing for more private-sector usage of AI and fast tracking permits for more data centers after Big Tech companies donated huge amounts to his inauguration. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/14/b...
Rialto Cinemas Elmwood in Berkeley, CA is offering $10 tickets for showings of "The Last Class" to all UC Berkeley students. Celebrate Labor Day weekend by seeing the former Secretary of Labor and longtime professor reflect on his true calling — teaching. Buy tickets now: http://bit.ly/45Hg0Py
Trump’s "state capitalism" has nothing whatever to do with public ownership, socialism, helping the working class, or improving national security. There is no real industrial policy. It’s all about centralizing ever more control over America in the Oval Office.
The Department of Homeland Security is reportedly barring states and organizations that receive government funds from helping undocumented immigrants. This will make it harder for the most vulnerable people to get help in the aftermath of disasters. It was always about cruelty.
Pushing out top officials. Firing hundreds of lifelong public health experts. Trying to slash the CDC’s budget by billions. How is this “Making America Healthy Again”?
www.cbsnews.com/news/income-...
Just a random reminder that trickle-down economics was invented by conservatives in the 1980s to justify massive tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. It’s been nothing short of a disaster.
The richest 400 Americans paid a lower average effective tax rate than all other U.S. taxpayers from 2018 to 2020. And thanks to Trump and Republicans’ big, ugly bill, they’ll keep paying less. Is it any wonder so many think the game is rigged?
Pushing out top officials. Firing hundreds of lifelong public health experts. Trying to slash the CDC’s budget by billions. How is this “Making America Healthy Again”?
If someone tells you there's nothing we can do about gun violence beyond thoughts and prayers, remind them: —Gun laws in other countries have prevented mass shootings —More guns don't make us safer —A majority of Americans want gun reform We don't have to live like this.
The National Park Service just celebrated its 109th birthday. How is Donald Trump marking the occasion? By taking an axe to it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS7IJaB5NDc
FEMA employees were just placed on leave after criticizing the Trump regime in open letter. Their letter was meant to "sound the alarm" about inexperienced appointees and drastic cuts to agency programs. Like all tyrants in history, Trump wants to squelch dissent.
Starbucks’ CEO made 6,666x more than the company's median employee in 2024. This was the widest CEO-to-Worker pay gap in the entire S&P 500. Remember this before you order your next pumpkin spice latte.
The irony of Trump trying to usurp control over the BLS, Federal Reserve, the tariff power of Congress, and even private corporations is that he'll have no one else to blame when the economy crumbles. His hubris will be his undoing.
Trump just hung a giant portrait of himself over the Department of Labor building, claiming he puts "American Workers First." Take it from a former Secretary of Labor: Donald Trump doesn't give a shit about working people. https://youtu.be/ARL5VvYJUe8?feature=shared
Never before in our history has one man exercised such unbridled discretion affecting the lives of so many of us, while simultaneously preventing others — Congress, the courts, the American people — from having a say or even knowing what he’s going to do next. This is what dictatorship looks like.
Trump’s attempt to remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook is illegal and politically motivated. It threatens Fed independence—and the economy. The courts must block this. Here's my full statement—it explains exactly how this will hurt the economy in a (hopefully) accessible way: www.epi.org/press/trumps...
For Trump's ultra-wealthy donors, fascism is just good business. zeteo.com/p/ice-no-bid...
Schools Theaters Concerts Malls Churches Synagogues Mosques Parks Nightclubs Offices Festivals Stores Military Bases Bars Post Offices Yoga Studios Super Bowl parades Nowhere is safe from the scourge of gun violence in America. You can't tell me we must simply accept it.
“Epsteingate” has all the hallmarks of a cover-up. Will it bring Trump down? Here are three likely scenarios... https://robertreich.substack.com/p/office-hours-will-jeffrey-epstein
Kudos to Catelin Drey on her victory in Iowa. This is a district that Trump won easily last November. It's one special election, yes. But it's a sign of hope and another reminder that every election is important. Democracy is not a spectator sport.
The fundamental choice has not been as stark since World War II: democracy and freedom, or dictatorship and tyranny. Trump and his sycophants are siding with the latter. The rest of us must loudly, proudly, and boldly proclaim our allegiance to the former.
Cash bail creates a two-tiered system of justice where the wealthy can buy their way out of jail. Cashless bail lets judges detain people based on flight risk and community threat, rather than financial means, and does not raise crime rates. Don't fall for Trump's lies.
Constituent: You need to take your head out of Trump’s ass.
There are too many Democrats who are afraid to bite the corporate hands that feed them. It's time for the party to reject Big Money.
Cost of Trump's D.C. Occupation: $1.1M per day. Cost to operate public housing for D.C.'s entire homeless population: $169,226 per day. It's not about what this country can or can’t afford. It’s about priorities.
And the so-called "party of small government" sits idly by... Hello?
Trump's termination of federal grants for universities has jeopardized lifesaving research breakthroughs at Harvard Medical School — including treatments for cancer and developmental disorders. His attacks on higher education will hurt us all.
The 19th Amendment was ratified on this day in 1920, barring voting discrimination based on sex. But for women of color, the right to vote wasn’t fully realized until the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 105 years later, we're still fighting for equal ballot access for all.
President Trump balked when asked whether he would send National Guard troops to Republican-led cities with high crime rates: “Sure, but there aren’t that many of them." Of the 30 U.S. cities with the highest number of violent crimes, more than half were in certifiably red states. trib.al/WEcfqPk
Had to stop by this sign outside the Moshannon Valley Detention Center. The GEO Group donated $1M+ to Trump’s campaign. Now they’re profiting off of locking up kids using our taxpayer dollars. The corruption is clear. Thank you to the local residents, clergy, & advocates for standing against this.
Attempting to rig elections on his behalf. Turning the military on citizens. Toying with the idea of declaring martial law. Attacking political enemies and punishing those who speak out against his regime. If this were happening in another country, what would you call it?
Just after SCOTUS granted it access to Social Security, DOGE uploaded a database containing the private information of hundreds of millions of Americans to an unsecure cloud. DOGE isn't fighting fraud — it's potentially exposing Americans to more of it. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/u...
17 democratic senators voted to confirm this woman as labor secretary
DOGE staff at Social Security have put the sensitive data of hundreds of millions is at "high risk," which could have “catastrophic impact,” according to internal SSA docs. This was not only foreseeable, but widely predicted. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/u...
One Show Only Wednesday! THE LAST CLASS follows Robert Reich as he teaches for the final time and reflects on a world out of balance. Tickets: www.theavalon.org/films/the-la...
Under Trump, FEMA: -Lacks a Senate-confirmed leader -Has seen drastic cuts to mitigation, disaster recovery, and training programs -Is unable to make quick decisions under a new expense approval policy Its own staff are warning this could lead to a Katrina-level disaster.
The new order being imposed on American industry doesn’t come from a vast authoritarian bureaucracy. It’s personal and arbitrary. A single so-called “strongman” is beginning to control everything. Some thoughts... https://robertreich.substack.com/p/whatss-fascist-capitalism-and-which
Americans love their national parks. There’s a reason why they were once described as “America’s best idea.” So why are Trump and Republicans taking an axe to the National Park Service’s budget? Follow the money. youtu.be/HS7IJaB5NDc?...
We now have an economy subject to the whims and desires of one person, unaccountable to anyone else. Call it what it is: a dictatorship.
A number of protests against President Donald Trump are set to take place across the country on Labor Day.
Every dictator in history has claimed that they’ll only use their powers to go after the worst of the worst. Every dictator in history has lied. Donald Trump is no different.
Illinois Gov. Pritzker vows to pursue Trump officials who participate in an illegal National Guard deployment to Chicago: "If you hurt my people, nothing will stop me - not time or political circumstance - from making sure that you face justice under our constitutional rule of law."
The battle of our day is no longer about Democrats versus Republicans or left versus right. The choice right now is democracy or dictatorship. And we're sliding faster than I ever thought possible into the latter. Everyone must choose which side they’re on.
Why Trump built a staff of incompetent sycophants My latest for The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/25/trump-staff-incompetent-sycophants
I’m going LIVE on Substack w/ Robert Reich at 4:00pm ET today. Subscribe now to get notified: substack.davidpakman.com If you cannot make it or are seeing this after the live, don't worry - the full recording will be available on our Substack after the event.
Trump's troops are making federal cases out of low-level arrests — such as possession of an open container — in DC. Meanwhile, his administration has rolled back enforcement actions against 165 lawbreaking corporations since January. "Tough on crime."
Political parties have control over the terms of primary elections. The DNC has the power to ban Super PAC spending. If Democrats really want to become the party of working people and fight the forces that brought us Trump, they must disavow Big Money.
Sending troops into US cities against their will. Strong-arming corporations and extracting gifts in exchange for tariff exemptions. Calling on state governments to gerrymander in his favor. Trump is the "big government" nightmare conservatives have always warned us about.
From time to time I come across a personal story about life in Trump’s America that’s so powerful that I want to share it with you. This is an op-ed titled "My Family Lives in the Shadow of the American Dream." I encourage you to read it. robertreich.substack.com/p/life-in-th...
Trump has attacked and undermined vital nonpartisan data, including: -BLS monthly jobs numbers -DC crime statistics -EPA emissions database -NOAA & National Weather Service forecasting Like every dictator, Trump knows the major enemy of tyrants is an educated public.
I follow Robert Reich on Substack and I've been so inspired by him! Today I saw The Last Class and was more encouraged. Leaders are not born. Don't give in to cynicism. Find a showing near you at TheLastClassFilm.com
"True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.” —FDR, 1944
Over a quarter of all homes sold in the first three months of 2025 were bought by real estate investors. If we want to make housing affordable again, we must get Wall Street out of our homes. https://youtu.be/q9TOGxDJ0TE?feature=shared
ICYMI: Trump says his administration won't approve any wind or solar power projects. Reminder that Big Oil spent nearly $100M to get Trump elected in 2024. It's a huge payoff for his corporate donors at the expense of a livable planet.
CEO pay is up 1,085% since 1978, while typical worker pay is up just 24%. Why do we always hear "we can't afford to pay our workers more" but never "we can't afford to pay our CEO more"?
Sunday thought: Is there a silver lining to these darkening clouds? https://robertreich.substack.com/p/sunday-thought-the-silver-lining