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Southern Worker Assembly
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Oct 24, 2025
Dark Work: Precarious Labor and the Southern Economy
Across the South, working-class Black and Brown workers are pushed into the most dangerous, unstable corners of the labor market, temp jobs, day labor, domestic work, and other forms of contingent employment. This session will explore how Southern labor and racial regimes intersect to produce and exploit “dark work,” and how workers are organizing at that intersection to demand dignity, safety, and power.
The Guardian
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Nov 18, 2025
Florida workers with criminal records trapped by temp agencies, report finds
The Guardian covers Beyond the Bars’ Temp Trap report and its central finding: workers with records are systematically funneled into the most dangerous and unstable jobs—driving down wages and standards across the labor market.
The Real News Network
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Dec 1, 2025
How prisons and temp agencies exploit the most vulnerable workers
“Historically, temp workers and prison labor… [have] been used to bust union strikes,” Katherine Passley of Beyond the Bars says. “Well, what would it look like if we were to bring those people into the union so that they can’t bust these union efforts?”
The Orlando Weekly
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Dec 3, 2025
Advocates urge Disney to investigate alleged use of prison labor to make character balloons
That $45 jumbo Mickey Mouse balloon you bought for your kid may have been produced by prison labor for pennies on the dollar.