Valerie Braman
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vmbraman.bsky.social
Valerie Braman
@vmbraman.bsky.social
Labor educator. Philadelphian. Brunonian. Once and future English Teacher. (she/her)
Reposted by Valerie Braman
Behind almost every AI is exploited workers pretending to be AI
“The work was emotionally exhausting, with chat users confiding intimate details about their real-life relationships, as well as their own emotional trauma, falsely believing they were talking to an unfeeling AI chatbot.”
AI "Companion Bots" Actually Run by Exploited Kenyans, Worker Claims
A new testimony from a remote worker in Kenya details the grueling and exploitative work behind romantic AI chatbots.
futurism.com
December 12, 2025 at 6:24 PM
“Penn State faculty are filing for a union election to bring transparency to their workplace, to bring job security to their workplace, to have the opportunity to have a greater voice at their workplace, to have some economic security at their workplace.”
December 10, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
The Penn State Faculty Alliance is going to win a union and I'm proud as hell that it's with our local SEIU 668.

It's been a long, beautiful fight for union democracy and we're here -- one of, if not the, biggest public sector union election in Pennsylvania in 50 years.
December 10, 2025 at 1:19 AM
💜💜 solidarity!! 💜💜
Today I got to witness the culmination of nearly 5 years of organizing. The Penn State Faculty Alliance has officially filed for unionization!

The gratitude I have for everyone who has worked towards this moment is immeasurable.
December 9, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
SEIU, who are organizing the Penn State faculty into a union, are holding a rally in the rotunda.
December 9, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
Crying. Screaming. Throwing up. 😭💔
***and now 95 percent of Bluesky is disconsolate. please check in with the birds fan in your virtual life.
November 24, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
As of this morning, Starbucks workers across the country are officially ON STRIKE. And we're prepared for this to become the biggest and longest ULP strike in Starbucks history.

Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
November 13, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
New York Times killed Weinstein and Epstein stories but just asked Ms Rachel if she was funded by Hamas.
November 12, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
Today is a good day to remember, and to say, that the #MeToo movement was right, and was righteous, and has been vindicated over and over again. There was no overreach. There was no excess. There was no they-went-too-far.

So much work remains to be done.
November 12, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
"Solidarity is not a matter of sentiment but a fact, delicious and sliced as the meat foundations of a sandwich." Eugene V. Debs
November 6, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
12 Hangry Men.
BREAKING EXCLUSIVE MUST CREDIT: Lunch for jurors in the “sandwich guy” trial are a variety of sandwiches, according to a source familiar with lunch.
November 6, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
November 6, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
Beshear: Let me be clear. The president has both the funding and the authority to fund snap during a shutdown. In fact, every other president in every other shutdown has done so. People going hungry in this instance is a choice that this president has made.
November 5, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
I'm pro-union because I think workers should organize to balance the power that business owners have in various negotiations. It's true that unions have been weakened, but it's not because of multiculturalism. I would argue, it's because people seek to exploit divisions for their material interests.
October 30, 2025 at 8:07 AM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
You in fact can't talk about the history of the labor movement without talking about multi-ethnic coalitions. The International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union was initially composed of Jewish and Italian immigrants, but later grew to Black, Puerto Rican, Chinese, and Filipino workers.
October 30, 2025 at 8:07 AM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
I'm going to have a lot more to say about this total bullshit claim by JD Vance, but just for now:

The state with the highest union density in the US is Hawaii, where multiracial unionism is a deep and abiding tradition.
JD Vance claims that diversity weakens unions, as people end up distrusting each other and not organizing.

Let me tell you two menswear stories related to this claim. 🧵
October 30, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
There must be some mistake, I read 50 Atlantic articles about how RFK Jr just wants to help Americans eat more vegetables
They continue to eviscerate the public health machinery that has quietly kept Americans, and others around the world, safe and healthy for decades.
October 11, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
Wow. Greg Bovino admits on camera that his agents can detain people if you look scared, change your demeanor, or grip a steering wheel too tight.

As his unmasked agents walk around with large guns to scare you, they may arrest you just for that — even if you're a U.S. citizen.
October 8, 2025 at 4:36 AM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
NO LOYALTY OATHS IN HIGHER ED!

Trump's attacks on our universities are an attempt to consolidate power. This loyalty oath directly undermines our right to academic freedom & goes against every democratic principle our country should uphold.

Please click below, sign, & share.

#DefendHigherEd
University Administrations: Reject Trump's "Loyalty Oath" Compacts
The Trump administration is trying to blackmail schools to let him and his unqualified bureaucrats run our schools. They want to dictate what schools teach, who they admit and hire, what researchers s...
actionnetwork.org
October 7, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
"This is not OK," Johnson said. "We are standing here with a plea that somebody please step up and please help us to figure out how we can remain in our jobs and keep our families and clients safe."

Council did not comment on Johnson's remarks."

Union workers at @seiulocal668.bsky.social
October 3, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
What a dark day for press freedom in the United States
Mario Guevara, an Emmy-award winning reporter, was deported to El Salvador — a nation he fled more than two decades ago. He was arrested while covering a protest of the Trump administration in a case that has alarmed free speech groups.
U.S. deports journalist Mario Guevara to El Salvador, family says
Mario Guevara, an independent journalist, was arrested while covering a protest of the Trump administration in a case that has alarmed free speech groups.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 3, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
Well, well, well. Jack Posobiec, the loudest voting-fraud conspiracy theorist, lives in Maryland.
He votes in Pennsylvania.
slate.com/news-and-pol... By @jsweetli.bsky.social & @marisakabas.bsky.social on @slate.com
MAGA’s “Voter Fraud” Watchdog Votes in a Swing State. He Doesn’t Live There.
A long paper trail shows that Jack Posobiec casts a ballot in one state and lives in another.
slate.com
October 3, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
BLS PLANS NOT TO RELEASE ECONOMIC DATA DURING GOVT SHUTDOWN
September 29, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
I think the Trump admin assumed no one would try to find out who the people on the boats they blew up really were
September 29, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Valerie Braman
Trump just signed an illegal executive order designed to target his political opposition by designating them terrorists and using the DOJ, IRS, FBI, and the JTTF to investigate and charge liberal organizations, funders, members, and protesters.

www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence
NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM/NSPM-7 MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE                THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
www.whitehouse.gov
September 25, 2025 at 9:41 PM