How do you form a union? There are four steps, one for each of my paws.

April 11, 2023 2:58 PM

An interview with Jorts the Cat on the role of love in the labor movement and how “the softest paw can be a claw.”

If a worker (Jorts) has a disability or just a different strength (stompy snuggler instead of supportive listener), adapting to those needs actually makes the workplace better. This is a silly cat story, but it’s an example that solidarity and accessibility should not seem radical: they’re just common sense.

posted by spamandkimchi (9 comments total)

I know Jorts is doing great work on Twitter, but I wish he and Jean would come to the fediverse... I miss them.
posted by humbug at 4:00 PM on April 11, 2023 [14 favorites]

I know Jorts is doing great work on Twitter, but I wish he and Jean would come to the fediverse... I miss them.

I’m surprised they’re not there already! Have you invited them to come over? The Fediverse is EXACTLY a Jorts and Jean kinda place.
posted by Silvery Fish at 4:09 PM on April 11, 2023 [3 favorites]

Jorts is the kind of hard-working cat we need right now.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:14 PM on April 11, 2023 [7 favorites]

... in mastodon search box ... [ jorts]

[UNOFFICIAL] Jorts (and Jean) Bot
@[e-mail]

Note
UNOFFICIAL mirror of https://twitter.com/JortsTheCat, who is now officially on Mastodon at
https://mastodon.social/@JortsTheCat

Jorts the cat. Jean helps me. [e-mail]

I'm going to follow and see.
posted by Richard Upton Pickman at 4:36 PM on April 11, 2023 [5 favorites]

Last post was https://mastodon.social/@jortsthecat/109322632477373301 on November the 11th so it's not very much alive.
posted by Richard Upton Pickman at 4:38 PM on April 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

I love Jorts. I know he and Jean are doing Important Work but I especially enjoy it when he live-tweets movies. Also, the alt texts on his Twitter posts are usually wonderful.
Jorts and Jean forever!
posted by bookmammal at 4:48 PM on April 11, 2023 [8 favorites]

I can't remember if it was Mastodon specific but there was some sort of negativity about Jorts officially landing on Mastodon. I know a few high-volume birbsite accounts started on smaller Mastodon instances and caused unforeseen traffic spikes or if it was something else entirely. Not sure if that was coincidental or something they'd said on Twitter or if people didn't like the mirrored content. Or if someone was just trying to out their human assistant online and there was some back-wash. Navigating social-media as a 'celeb' must be challenging.

Regardless any Jorts (and Jean) is great as far as I'm concerned. Would be awesome to see more Fediverse posts - not sure if any Labour/Union orgs have joined-up and/or made the move.
posted by phigmov at 7:07 PM on April 11, 2023

Thank you, this was lovely.
posted by k3ninho at 4:00 PM on April 12, 2023

I have just now finally read the original Jean/Jorts Reddit post and mefi thread.

My orange cat Oscar can open a lot of doors. Our front door has a lever on the inside which he can operate. The outside has a thumb latch. He climbs the door jamb and hammers on the latch (there are scratches on the jamb going up about 4 feet and I replace the board every couple of years). We have to keep that door locked at all times.

We have a flap going on to our deck (which is on our upper level). Our gray tabby Boo will go out through the flap but won't come back in through it. He will meow to be let in. Have tried and tried to train him to come back in through the flap without success. If he goes out when we're not home he's stuck out there til we get back.
posted by neuron at 10:19 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]