Popular socialist streamer Hasan Piker did a cool thing earlier this week: He launched a new line of merchandise designed to support workers. In addition to clothing made by union shops, a portion of the profits will also go to strike funds to support worker-friendly causes across the country. The store also stocks a tie-back shirt by Bernie Sanders, which is extremely metal.
“I’ve been working on it for a year now,” tweeted Piker on Monday. “All clothing is made in the US by unions – all profits from the unionized t-shirt go to strike funds!” Called “Ideology,” the lineup includes three t-shirts and three hoodies, both of which feature union-themed slogans such as Wear “no value without work” and “negotiate together, beg divided”. Meanwhile, the hoodies are adorned with Pepes and other memes, as well as Piker cosplaying as video game characters like Link von The legend of Zelda.
All merchandise items are pre-ordered and some are already sold out. By yesterday afternoon, the unionized t-shirts had reportedly raised $ 126,000 for striking workers. When workers strike, they often lose wages and benefits and rely on strike money to survive long and difficult negotiations.
While it fits perfectly with Piker’s main audience of left-wing, very online zoomers and millennials, there also comes a time when the news is filled with high profile work actions. John Deere employees has been on strike for weeks, and turned down not one but two new treaty proposals as they fight for better pay and protection. Amazon workers are in New York currently organizing to unionize several camps there. Baristas at two Starbucks locations in Buffalo will also hold a union formation vote this week.
G / O Media can receive a commission
$ 13 discount
New Pokémon Snap – Nintendo Switch
The adorable sequel we never thought we’d see
20 years later, we finally have more content to explore and 171 more Pokémon to snap cute little pictures of as they dance around and eat apples.
This may seem like little potatoes, but the company is so afraid that a successful vote could encourage employees of other stores that it sent former long-time CEO Howard Schultz, who is so rich he spent over $ 100 million on a presidential campaign for Vanity spent without blinking an eye. trying to talk them down. At a meeting with the Schultz staff compared them to those on trains in Nazi Germany going to Holocaust camps, and also said the company is working on a new cold brew station to make their lives easier, as “50-60 percent of our customers are into cold brew.”
Even the tech and video game industries are starting to challenge their bosses. Employee at Google Established a union earlier this year. Employees at Netflix went out in protest about the recent transphobic Chappelle stand-up train wreck. And developer at two of the largest gaming publishers, Activision Blizzard and Ubisoft, started organizing and demanding changes amid the ongoing aftermath of allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination in these companies.
All of this means that Piker’s new pro-laboratory merch line comes at just the right time to grab people’s attention and excitement. It’s also a fascinating development how influencers use their star power from the start. Most Twitch streamers don’t earn any money with it. Very, very few get rich with it. Many of those who can make a living from it can owe merchandising offers, among other things. While the audience and the services they monetize remain extremely capricious, selling real things persists as a reliable way to turn fame into money. In Piker’s case, it’s nice to see this being used to promote skilled workers. Hopefully more and more streamers will start using their merch for other purposes as well.
.
