Economy

One-day strikes are in: Why unions are keeping it short on the picket line

Strikes can be a double-edged sword. Keeping them short can help workers gain leverage while minimizing the pain for those who don’t have it.

The price America paid for its first big immigration crackdown

The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first significant crackdown on immigration in American history. We explore the factors that led to the Act and examine what happened to the economy after it passed.

America’s first major immigration crackdown and the making and breaking of the West

Chinese immigrants sacrificed to create America's first transcontinental railroad. Its completion may have contributed to a backlash that led to the first major immigration clampdown in U.S. history.

Fed up with high prices? Here’s where things stand with inflation

Inflation remains substantially lower than it did during its 2022 peak — but Americans are still frustrated with high prices.

Why high prices toppled Democrats — and other governments around the world

Voters really don't like inflation. In fact, whenever there's a sustained jump in the cost of living, the party in power often pays a price.

Here are 3 questions to ask before panic buying during a supply chain breakdown

The dock worker strike in October led to some shoppers panic buying the wrong items. Here are tips for how to prep the right way, according to experts.

It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time in McCalla: Smuckers opens biggest Uncrustables factory in the country

The facility represents a more than $1 billion capital investment from Smuckers and is predicted to bring in 750 jobs to the community.

Amazon workers in Alabama will have third labor union vote after judge finds illegal influence

Administrative law judge Michael Silverstein on Tuesday ordered the third vote for Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama after determining that Amazon committed six violations leading up to the second election in March 2022.

‘Five Points South is so much more than that’: residents reflect one month after mass shooting

How is the neighborhood holding up in the weeks since a mass shooting left four people dead and 17 wounded.

1 reason people don’t evacuate for hurricanes? Rising costs, and they’re getting pricier

One researcher estimates evacuations can cost residents more than five times the amount they did 20 years ago.

Lilly Ledbetter, an icon of the fight for equal pay, has died at 86

Ledbetter had worked a Goodyear Tire & Rubber plant in Gadsden, Alabama, for 19 years when she received an anonymous note saying she was being paid significantly less than three male colleagues.

Alabama’s construction industry is in dire need of workers. Here’s how companies are responding

Nationally and in Alabama, a construction-workforce shortage has stretched for decades. Now, as increased demand after the pandemic shows no signs of slowing and as billions of dollars in federal funding for infrastructure and manufacturing projects flows to states, the problem is growing.

How Alabama food banks are keeping rural communities fed

As the November election approaches, food insecurity is one issue that’s top of mind for residents in Alabama’s newly redrawn District 2.

‘A dream come true’: Alabama ‘grandfamilies’ are set to receive opioid settlement funds

The new state program— the first of its kind in the U.S. — will give $280,000 from opioid settlement funding to grandparents raising their grandchildren.

A plan to fix Jackson’s water system could cost all of Mississippi its food stamps

The DOJ and USDA said using a SNAP recipient’s information to distribute JXN Water’s roughly $30 discount to low-income customers would violate privacy.

Q&A: A New Orleans Dollar General employee discusses $12M settlement, store closures, more

Dollar General stocker and advocate David Williams hopes the complaint and settlement will lead to positive changes for employees.

Nissan workers in Mississippi consider another union campaign: VW ‘proved it can be done’

Pro-union workers at the Canton, Mississippi, plant say Volkswagen proved the UAW can win in the South, but other factors are in play — like the 2024 election.

What’s unique about this Gadsden restaurant? It’s more than the food

Beautiful Rainbow Café is unusual. Students with significant cognitive disabilities staff the café, and it’s one of few vegetarian-only restaurants in Alabama.

The UAW’s union dreams seemed unstoppable. Then came the realities of the South

After a historic victory in Tennessee, the United Auto Workers southern campaign is still recovering from a big rejection in Alabama. How will it recover?

Thousands of Dollar General stores now sell fresh produce. Could it improve rural food access?

The discount store chain has added fresh fruits and vegetables at more than 5,400 stores. Grocery store advocates say the move could hurt mom-and-pop grocers.

As dollar stores continue rural expansion, a Louisiana parish found a new way to push back

Tangipahoa Parish blocked a new Dollar General from opening in a case that could set a precedent for other communities looking to keep discount retailers out.

4 takeaways from a year of investigating nightmare utility bills

GSN reporters reflect on a year of the Utility Bill of the Month series investigating missing, expensive and just wrong water and power bills in the region.

After decisive loss at Alabama Mercedes plants, powerful auto union vows to return and win

Newly elected UAW President Shawn Fain said the union will return to Mercedes and will press on with efforts to organize about 150,000 workers at more than a dozen auto factories across the nation.

Workers at Alabama’s Mercedes plants vote against joining a union

The workers voted 56% against the union, according to tallies released by the National Labor Relations Board, which ran the election.

The United Auto Workers faces a key test in the South with upcoming vote at Alabama Mercedes plant

The United Auto Workers is aiming for a key victory at Mercedes-Benz in Alabama. More than 5,000 workers at the facility in Vance and nearby battery plant will vote this week on whether to join the UAW.

Alabama to begin working with a consulting company that’s under criminal investigation 

McKinsey & Company, an international consulting business, will help the state of Alabama develop a new strategic economic growth plan. The company is undertaking that project, while also dealing with a probe into whether it engaged in a criminal conspiracy.

A New Orleans garden paid hundreds of dollars in fees for a sewer that doesn’t exist

Galvez Garden owner Lissie Stewart has been fighting the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board over inaccurate billing for years.

How food stamps could play a key role in fixing Jackson’s broken water system

JXN Water's affordability plan aims to raise much-needed revenue while offering discounts to customers in need, but it is currently tied up in court.

Crawfish prices are finally dropping, but farmers and fishers are still struggling

Last year’s devastating drought in Louisiana killed off large crops of crawfish, leading to a tough season for farmers, fishers and seafood lovers.

Q&A: A bad deal made Jackson’s water problems worse. It wasn’t the only Mississippi city harmed

Reporter Sarah Fowler talks about her investigation that found at least eight Mississippi cities were harmed by deals over faulty smart water meters.

A ‘gassy’ Alabama coal mine was expanding under a home. After an explosion, two were left critically injured

Oak Grove Mine has a long history of safety violations. In 2006, federal officials evacuated its workers because of dangerous levels of methane, a flammable gas.

Some Jackson residents still face water billing issues despite new systems in place

In trying to rectify decades of billing chaos and draw new revenue, another issue has emerged for JXN Water: How much should customers be on the hook for?