Derek Seidman
@derekseidman.bsky.social
writer + researcher • labor, corporate power, militarism, climate • contributor: truthout + littlesis • buffalo ny partisan
Pinned
As Electricity Bills Rise, Activists Are Demanding Public Control of Utilities
“Public power” organizers are pushing for democratized control and truly public ownership of our energy system.
truthout.org
"Public power is a way to actually improve the lives of working-class people. Electric bills are absurd. People are racking up debt... We’re reaching a crisis point."
New @truthout.org roundtable w/ organizers from Tucson + DC on the rising left movement for public ownership of utilities.
New @truthout.org roundtable w/ organizers from Tucson + DC on the rising left movement for public ownership of utilities.
Reposted by Derek Seidman
Avelo Airlines’ decision to drop its ICE contract shows that immigration enforcement isn’t inevitable; when communities organize, target corporate complicity, and refuse to normalize deportations, even powerful agencies can be forced to back down.
Here’s How We Pressured an Airline to End Its Contract With ICE
ICE is not invulnerable. The Avelo Airlines win proves what happens when we refuse inevitability and fight together.
buff.ly
January 14, 2026 at 9:40 PM
Avelo Airlines’ decision to drop its ICE contract shows that immigration enforcement isn’t inevitable; when communities organize, target corporate complicity, and refuse to normalize deportations, even powerful agencies can be forced to back down.
"The Trump administration’s barefaced imperial grab for Venezuela’s oil... is looking to corporate allies like Chevron, which could stand to benefit handsomely from his administration’s action — though this is far from guaranteed."
For @truthout.org.
For @truthout.org.
Oil Companies Are Key Partners in Trump’s Imperial Plans for Latin America
Stocks in ExxonMobil, Halliburton, and ConocoPhillips surged the day after Trump’s illegal attack on Venezuela.
truthout.org
January 8, 2026 at 11:02 PM
"The Trump administration’s barefaced imperial grab for Venezuela’s oil... is looking to corporate allies like Chevron, which could stand to benefit handsomely from his administration’s action — though this is far from guaranteed."
For @truthout.org.
For @truthout.org.
Reposted by Derek Seidman
Big Oil companies are governed by boards of directors from major corporations.
We mapped out some of the current and recent past corporate ties of board directors at Chevron.
We mapped out some of the current and recent past corporate ties of board directors at Chevron.
January 7, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Big Oil companies are governed by boards of directors from major corporations.
We mapped out some of the current and recent past corporate ties of board directors at Chevron.
We mapped out some of the current and recent past corporate ties of board directors at Chevron.
Reposted by Derek Seidman
"Public power is a way to actually improve the lives of working-class people. Electric bills are absurd. People are racking up debt. This is a chance to show people that socialism can work."
Love to wake up and read @leemzee.bsky.social in @truthout.org with @derekseidman.bsky.social
Love to wake up and read @leemzee.bsky.social in @truthout.org with @derekseidman.bsky.social
As Electricity Bills Rise, Activists Are Demanding Public Control of Utilities
“Public power” organizers are pushing for democratized control and truly public ownership of our energy system.
truthout.org
January 7, 2026 at 5:47 PM
"Public power is a way to actually improve the lives of working-class people. Electric bills are absurd. People are racking up debt. This is a chance to show people that socialism can work."
Love to wake up and read @leemzee.bsky.social in @truthout.org with @derekseidman.bsky.social
Love to wake up and read @leemzee.bsky.social in @truthout.org with @derekseidman.bsky.social
Fracking companies are salivating over the data center boom.
"The demand for power and for AI is like nothing I’ve ever seen.” --Halliburton CEO.
I wrote about it for @truthout.org.
"The demand for power and for AI is like nothing I’ve ever seen.” --Halliburton CEO.
I wrote about it for @truthout.org.
Fracking Industry Executives Are Salivating Over the AI Data Center Boom
Data centers are driving a surge in the construction of power generation facilities involving fracked gas.
truthout.org
January 7, 2026 at 4:47 PM
Fracking companies are salivating over the data center boom.
"The demand for power and for AI is like nothing I’ve ever seen.” --Halliburton CEO.
I wrote about it for @truthout.org.
"The demand for power and for AI is like nothing I’ve ever seen.” --Halliburton CEO.
I wrote about it for @truthout.org.
Reposted by Derek Seidman
Thank you @truthout.org for including us in this roundtable conversation about the need for Public Power!
truthout.org/articles/as-...
truthout.org/articles/as-...
As Electricity Bills Rise, Activists Are Demanding Public Control of Utilities
“Public power” organizers are pushing for democratized control and truly public ownership of our energy system.
truthout.org
January 5, 2026 at 4:45 PM
Thank you @truthout.org for including us in this roundtable conversation about the need for Public Power!
truthout.org/articles/as-...
truthout.org/articles/as-...
"Public power is a way to actually improve the lives of working-class people. Electric bills are absurd. People are racking up debt... We’re reaching a crisis point."
New @truthout.org roundtable w/ organizers from Tucson + DC on the rising left movement for public ownership of utilities.
New @truthout.org roundtable w/ organizers from Tucson + DC on the rising left movement for public ownership of utilities.
As Electricity Bills Rise, Activists Are Demanding Public Control of Utilities
“Public power” organizers are pushing for democratized control and truly public ownership of our energy system.
truthout.org
January 5, 2026 at 3:53 PM
"Public power is a way to actually improve the lives of working-class people. Electric bills are absurd. People are racking up debt... We’re reaching a crisis point."
New @truthout.org roundtable w/ organizers from Tucson + DC on the rising left movement for public ownership of utilities.
New @truthout.org roundtable w/ organizers from Tucson + DC on the rising left movement for public ownership of utilities.
I went on FAIR's Counterspin show (one of my favs!) to talk about powermapping Starbucks execs and board directors -- including the close ties between SBUX and Walmart -- amid the ongoing @sbworkersunited.org strike.
Listen here: fair.org/home/derek-s...
Listen here: fair.org/home/derek-s...
Derek Seidman on Starbucks Strike, Mitch Jones on AI vs. Environment
Even Forbes has to acknowledge that even as the Starbucks strike “drags” into a second month, “global support grows.”
fair.org
December 19, 2025 at 8:06 PM
I went on FAIR's Counterspin show (one of my favs!) to talk about powermapping Starbucks execs and board directors -- including the close ties between SBUX and Walmart -- amid the ongoing @sbworkersunited.org strike.
Listen here: fair.org/home/derek-s...
Listen here: fair.org/home/derek-s...
Reposted by Derek Seidman
Do you know who your local billionaires are?
We made this research guide to help you get started.
littlesis.org/reports/ever...
We made this research guide to help you get started.
littlesis.org/reports/ever...
![The front cover of the everybody vs. billionaires guide is pictured in the center of the graphic. A bubble of text reads, “Find resources to help you… identify the billionaires in your backyard, map billionaire influence and networks.” Below that there is a link: bit.ly/EverybodyvsBillionaires [capital e and b]. The LittleSis logo is pictured on the lower right corner in white. The background is mustard yellow, and there is a picture of black and white money stacks.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:eymmxnashedpt6yjtnqj6bju/bafkreibvjsypcpjf3iwe75vocfm4cj724humrf2fdx63i6fl2q4sl4pi6a@jpeg)
December 17, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Do you know who your local billionaires are?
We made this research guide to help you get started.
littlesis.org/reports/ever...
We made this research guide to help you get started.
littlesis.org/reports/ever...
Shocked this appeared in a Jeff Bezos-owned newspaper.
December 11, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Shocked this appeared in a Jeff Bezos-owned newspaper.
Here's a map I made of the corporate (and some other) ties and interlocks on Starbucks' board of directors.
I wrote about it all here: truthout.org/articles/why...
I wrote about it all here: truthout.org/articles/why...
December 11, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Here's a map I made of the corporate (and some other) ties and interlocks on Starbucks' board of directors.
I wrote about it all here: truthout.org/articles/why...
I wrote about it all here: truthout.org/articles/why...
Reposted by Derek Seidman
"Starbucks’s leadership has a close alliance with another anti-union retail powerhouse: Walmart."
truthout.org/articles/why...
truthout.org/articles/why...
Why Walmart Wants to See the Starbucks Barista Strike Fail
Corporations far beyond Starbucks want to keep baristas out of unions.
truthout.org
December 10, 2025 at 3:45 AM
"Starbucks’s leadership has a close alliance with another anti-union retail powerhouse: Walmart."
truthout.org/articles/why...
truthout.org/articles/why...
Starbucks fashions itself as progressive on climate. But a longtime board director of Chevron recently joined Starbucks' board. She owns over $2M of stock in the Big Oil giant.
Climate activists + striking @sbworkersunited.org baristas have common opponents.
Read more: truthout.org/articles/why...
Climate activists + striking @sbworkersunited.org baristas have common opponents.
Read more: truthout.org/articles/why...
December 10, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Starbucks fashions itself as progressive on climate. But a longtime board director of Chevron recently joined Starbucks' board. She owns over $2M of stock in the Big Oil giant.
Climate activists + striking @sbworkersunited.org baristas have common opponents.
Read more: truthout.org/articles/why...
Climate activists + striking @sbworkersunited.org baristas have common opponents.
Read more: truthout.org/articles/why...
NEW: "Striking baristas are not merely up against the executives of a coffee store behemoth, but a broader constellation of corporate power fully networked into Starbucks’s top leadership."
On the corporate interlocks + alliances at the heights of SBUX's management + governance.
For @truthout.org.
On the corporate interlocks + alliances at the heights of SBUX's management + governance.
For @truthout.org.
Why Walmart Wants to See the Starbucks Barista Strike Fail
Corporations far beyond Starbucks want to keep baristas out of unions.
truthout.org
December 9, 2025 at 3:44 PM
NEW: "Striking baristas are not merely up against the executives of a coffee store behemoth, but a broader constellation of corporate power fully networked into Starbucks’s top leadership."
On the corporate interlocks + alliances at the heights of SBUX's management + governance.
For @truthout.org.
On the corporate interlocks + alliances at the heights of SBUX's management + governance.
For @truthout.org.
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is also a board director of Walmart.
Another SBUX board member is also a Walmart director.
+ other close ties btwn the two anti-union behemoths.
Wrote about this + more for @truthout.org: truthout.org/articles/why...
(Map made w @mapthepower.bsky.social oligrapher)
Another SBUX board member is also a Walmart director.
+ other close ties btwn the two anti-union behemoths.
Wrote about this + more for @truthout.org: truthout.org/articles/why...
(Map made w @mapthepower.bsky.social oligrapher)
December 8, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is also a board director of Walmart.
Another SBUX board member is also a Walmart director.
+ other close ties btwn the two anti-union behemoths.
Wrote about this + more for @truthout.org: truthout.org/articles/why...
(Map made w @mapthepower.bsky.social oligrapher)
Another SBUX board member is also a Walmart director.
+ other close ties btwn the two anti-union behemoths.
Wrote about this + more for @truthout.org: truthout.org/articles/why...
(Map made w @mapthepower.bsky.social oligrapher)
Reposted by Derek Seidman
The rise of Starbucks Workers United has energized the labor movement, as the struggle to unionize the mega-chain represents far more than baristas pitted against managers: Starbucks is a global powerhouse. Current fights at places like Starbucks will shape the labor movement for decades to come.
Why Walmart Wants to See the Starbucks Barista Strike Fail
Corporations far beyond Starbucks want to keep baristas out of unions.
truthout.org
December 8, 2025 at 10:11 PM
The rise of Starbucks Workers United has energized the labor movement, as the struggle to unionize the mega-chain represents far more than baristas pitted against managers: Starbucks is a global powerhouse. Current fights at places like Starbucks will shape the labor movement for decades to come.
Reposted by Derek Seidman
Big Tech and Wall Street barons have changed their tune and toned down criticism as they seek to cash in on the artificial intelligence boom.
Trump’s Second Term Dispels Any Notion of CEOs Saving Us From Climate Crisis
Corporate actors have shed any pretense of climate action and now openly back Trump’s doubling down on fossil fuels.
buff.ly
November 28, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Big Tech and Wall Street barons have changed their tune and toned down criticism as they seek to cash in on the artificial intelligence boom.
Moog's new quarterly earnings report shows record sales driven by its military business.
Buffalo/WNY's top war profiteer.
www.moog.com/content/dam/...
Buffalo/WNY's top war profiteer.
www.moog.com/content/dam/...
November 24, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Moog's new quarterly earnings report shows record sales driven by its military business.
Buffalo/WNY's top war profiteer.
www.moog.com/content/dam/...
Buffalo/WNY's top war profiteer.
www.moog.com/content/dam/...
James Carville a few months ago: "Roll over and play dead."
James Carville now: "The Democratic Party must now run on the most populist economic platform since the Great Depression."
Genius! If only someone had thought of this before!
James Carville now: "The Democratic Party must now run on the most populist economic platform since the Great Depression."
Genius! If only someone had thought of this before!
Opinion | James Carville: Out With Woke. In With Rage.
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:52 PM
James Carville a few months ago: "Roll over and play dead."
James Carville now: "The Democratic Party must now run on the most populist economic platform since the Great Depression."
Genius! If only someone had thought of this before!
James Carville now: "The Democratic Party must now run on the most populist economic platform since the Great Depression."
Genius! If only someone had thought of this before!
Private equity giants like BlackRock and Apollo are gobbling up and bundling local roofing companies and cutting wages, and of course it's bad for everyone except private equity.
How Private Equity’s Vision for a Roofing Conglomerate Went Bust
www.nytimes.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Private equity giants like BlackRock and Apollo are gobbling up and bundling local roofing companies and cutting wages, and of course it's bad for everyone except private equity.
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol raked in over $95 million last year.
content.edgar-online.com/ExternalLink...
content.edgar-online.com/ExternalLink...
November 13, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol raked in over $95 million last year.
content.edgar-online.com/ExternalLink...
content.edgar-online.com/ExternalLink...
Reposted by Derek Seidman
"The seizure of public utilities for the sake of profit may lead to a disaster for consumers — and the planet." ✍️ @derekseidman.bsky.social for @truthout.org
truthout.org/articles/dat...
truthout.org/articles/dat...
Data Centers Devour Electricity. Private Equity Is Buying Utilities to Cash In.
The seizure of public utilities for the sake of profit may lead to a disaster for consumers — and the planet.
truthout.org
November 12, 2025 at 4:49 PM
"The seizure of public utilities for the sake of profit may lead to a disaster for consumers — and the planet." ✍️ @derekseidman.bsky.social for @truthout.org
truthout.org/articles/dat...
truthout.org/articles/dat...
Asset management and private equity giants like BlackRock and Blackstone buying up our utilities to - among other things - cash in on the data center boom. What could go wrong?
My latest, for @truthout.org.
My latest, for @truthout.org.
Data Centers Devour Electricity. Private Equity Is Buying Utilities to Cash In.
The seizure of public utilities for the sake of profit may lead to a disaster for consumers — and the planet.
truthout.org
November 11, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Asset management and private equity giants like BlackRock and Blackstone buying up our utilities to - among other things - cash in on the data center boom. What could go wrong?
My latest, for @truthout.org.
My latest, for @truthout.org.
Reposted by Derek Seidman
Many of the corporate donors to Trump's ballroom have direct business interests that his administrations decisions will impact. Currently, the donors benefit from at least $279 billion in federal contracts.
Trump’s White House Ballroom Is Being Bankrolled by Genocide and ICE Profiteers
The ballroom donor list also includes Wall Street and cryptocurrency firms that benefit from the president’s agenda.
truthout.org
November 6, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Many of the corporate donors to Trump's ballroom have direct business interests that his administrations decisions will impact. Currently, the donors benefit from at least $279 billion in federal contracts.
ICE profiteers, genocide enablers, Wall Street oligarchs: the bankrollers of Trump's White House ballroom.
My latest for @truthout.org.
My latest for @truthout.org.
Trump’s White House Ballroom Is Being Bankrolled by Genocide and ICE Profiteers
The ballroom donor list also includes Wall Street and cryptocurrency firms that benefit from the president’s agenda.
truthout.org
November 6, 2025 at 8:07 PM
ICE profiteers, genocide enablers, Wall Street oligarchs: the bankrollers of Trump's White House ballroom.
My latest for @truthout.org.
My latest for @truthout.org.