Essays & Commentary
Award-winning independent journalist, Mel Buer
Reflections on industry recognition, journalism, and if it matters in the first place.
Mel Buer
Mel Buer is an independent multimedia journalist based in Los Angeles.
Original Reporting
VIDEO: Caravan Travels to SoCal ICE Facility in Support of Hunger Strikers
A coalition group of advocates and allies rallied in solidarity outside the Adelanto ICE Processing Facility just outside Victorville, CA.
Original Reporting
Hospital workers allege retaliation in struggle over outsourcing of union jobs
More than 50 longtime union workers employed at Dameron Hospital in Stockton, CA are fighting to keep their jobs after they were served notice of termination in February.
The Union Bug
The Union Bug: Ep. 006
Boycotting as a Tactic: The REI Boycott w/Ashley Hamilton
Original Reporting
Writer's Guild Staff Union reaches tentative agreement with WGA
The new TA, if ratified, will bring to a close a nearly 3 month long strike
Original Reporting
PHOTO/VIDEO: A Tale of Two May Days
Federal agents and LAPD crashed multiple May Day protests in DTLA on May 1, 2026.
The Union Bug
The Union Bug: Ep. 005
In the New Age of Robber Barons: The UP-NS Merger w/Ron Kaminkow
The Union Bug
The Union Bug: Ep. 004
Lessons in Solidarity from an Amazon Organizer
The Worker's Wire
The Worker's Wire #1
Welcome to the relaunch of my regular labor digest.
The Union Bug
The Union Bug: Ep. 003
In conversation with Daniel Gross about his forthcoming book, "Unions of Our Own: 8 Building Blocks to Change Work...and the World"
Original Reporting
They organized mutual aid in the same place for nearly a decade. Now they're being forced to move.
After nearly ten years at Bernie's Coffee Shop on Wilshire and Fairfax, the organizers with LA's Community Solidarity Project have to move—and are asking for the public's help.
creator journalism
Let's keep this thing running, shall we?
A GoFundMe, and a SubDrive. For funsies. Of course.