Will Stronge

Mexico to increase minimum wage and shorten work week The 2026 minimum wage increase will bring the accumulated rise in salaries to 154 percent since 2018

Good news from Mexico:

The government will: "incrementally trim the working week from 48 hours a week to 40 hours per week by 2030. If passed, the official working week limit would be reduced two hours a year starting in 2027"

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

1852: morning prayers, no talking, working hours reduced though!

Employer: we are going to need one heck of a productivity boost "to compensate for these utopian conditions".

CADA - a STEM research network for change CADA is a network for STEM practitioners to build real world impact.

The paper looks at decades of council expenditure data from London councils: how far as Big Con deepened our local authorities' dependencies on their services, and how much does it cost us all?

To sign up to CADA to join our next projects go here:

autonomy.work/cada/

This report is coming out very soon.

It was pursued and led by our CADA Network of scientists, tech workers and other STEM-related practitioners.

It was inspired by 'The Big Con' book by
@rosiecollington.bsky.social &
@mazzucatom.bsky.social.

It's a fantastic piece of work!

👏 cool to see you back in the writing saddle mate.

this is incredibly lucid and valuable research.

NEW RESEARCH: Givers and takers - to what extent do private companies benefit when they donate to political parties?

The findings are stark.

Link to study here:

autonomy.work/portfolio/gi...

Guardian:

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Explainer:

Yeah I'm already a subscriber: thanks for the link to the paper!

Finished this little book from 2017 by @nafeez.bsky.social and it's really insightful.

I'd love to read an updated version, or another book on EROI's relationship to political volatility in 2025.

Mr Blobby patriotism Over recent weeks I have found myself thinking about the country we live in, what it feels like and what I like, and love, about it. I guess I found myself thinking about this because of the summer w...

At a time when patriotism can feel as as contested as ever, this is a bloody lovely ode to so much of what we love about Britain from @sofiejenkinson.bsky.social in @renewaljournal.bsky.social.

Well worth a read 👉 renewal.org.uk/blog/mr-blob...

Our new #UBSHub podcast series exploring 'Public Luxury' has launched ⏳

Here's a taster of an upcoming episode with Hugh Smith from Camden Council talking about their approach to #UBS at the municipal level👇

Listen to the first episode: buff.ly/AWMYSVo

Almost half of all Scottish workers — 1.3 million jobs — could shift to a #4DayWeek in the next decade 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Our latest report, commissioned by Scottish Government, analyses the potential to reduce working time across the country 👇

buff.ly/BScxBf7

BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen has confirmed that the entire Al Jazeera team in Gaza City has been killed.

Major hikes in food prices are baked in. What should we do about it?

Quick explainer:

This is tonight in London!

What reform does the UK need around:

Media
Big Tech
Democracy

A LOT to cover. Free wine and soft drinks as standard.

Reserve a spot here: actionnetwork.org/events/forum...

Forum 2029 keeps on developing!

Onto the next one: in person in Bethnal Green on the 16th!

Labour could find the money it wants without raising taxes. This is austerity by amnesia | Randeep Ramesh Starmer and Reeves need a fresh approach to enact their vision, and I have a plan for that, says Randeep Ramesh, the Guardian’s chief leader writer

Labour could find the money it wants without raising taxes. This is austerity by amnesia | Randeep Ramesh

As far as real-world final bosses go....

2) Media, Tech and Democratic Reform

This will will be IN-PERSON in London and has an incredible panel of speakers.

@jemgilbert.bsky.social

Natalie Fenton (Goldsmiths)
Lena Swedlow (Compass)
Adam Cantwell-Corn ( TUC)

Not to be missed! Reserve a spot:
actionnetwork.org/ticketed_eve...

TWO new upcoming Forum 2029 events:

1) Public services: ending austerity logics

Ft.

Anna Coote (New Economics Foundation),
Jamie Driscoll (Majority),
Luke Fletcher MS (Plaid Cymru),
Abby Jitendra (Joseph Rowntree Foundation)

actionnetwork.org/events/forum...

Did Not Happen of the Year Awards have never usually been cleaned up by a single post, however...

In 3rd place: tin of instant coffee

In 2nd place: Cabbie who is also sociologist of HNW individuals

And in 1st place, drumroll please, the seat on the tube "no man" confrontation

🚨BREAKING

HMRC missed out on around £47bn in taxes — from errors, avoidance and evasion— according to its annual "Tax Gap" report, released today.

Here's why that is likely an underestimate, and why the real gap is likely to keep on growing...
🧵1/8

Age and heat: examining the interlocking pressures of the next two decades Read Autonomy's paper on the trajectory of ageing populations and rising temperatures across the next two decades.

Risks to the workforce:
autonomy.work/portfolio/le...

Risks to older people:
autonomy.work/portfolio/ag...

"With every fraction of a degree of warming, the UK will experience hotter, more dangerous heatwaves. That means more heat deaths, more pressure on the NHS, more transport disruptions, and tougher work conditions."

We published 2 papers on exactly this, back in 2023...

Calls to implement legal maximum temperature that Brits shouldn't work above A report by the Autonomy Institute warns that two-thirds of the UK work force could find themselves working in heat waves above 35C by the end of the decade

NEW REPORT: 'The New Deal for Working People: Extreme Heat' 🌡️

Two-thirds of the UK workforce could find themselves working in heat waves above 35C by the end of the decade❗

Coverage in the Daily Mirror👇

buff.ly/t53m0hr

NEW REPORT:

remembering the few times the extractors broke at one restaurant i cheffed at, and the owner wouldn’t close despite it being over 40 degrees in the kitchen

Report here:

autonomy.work/wp-content/u...