Working People

Who's afraid of Chris Smalls?

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 18:44:00 +0000

At a live event hosted at Red Emma's Cooperative Bookstore and Coffeehouse in Baltimore, Maryland, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez got to sit down for a deep and wide-ranging conversation with Chris Smalls, co-founder and former president of the Amazon Labor Union. Alvarez and Smalls discuss Smalls' new book, When the Revolution Comes: A Fight for the Future of the Working Class; they recount the incredible story of the formation of the Amazon Labor Union and the unionization of the first Amazon warehouse in the US; and they talk about Smalls' journey from warehouse worker and labor organizer to becoming an internationally recognized public figure and a human rights activist who has sailed with humanitarian flotilla missions to Gaza and Cuba.

Additional links/info:

Chris Smalls X page and Instagram
Chris Smalls, Penguin Random House, When the Revolution Comes: A Fight for the Future of the Working Class
Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, "Chris Smalls: Sabotage attempts and death threats won't stop Gaza Freedom Flotilla"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

'They were going after everyone': Baltimore security officers fired and removed from schedules after lawful strike

Wed, 27 May 2026 16:45:00 +0000

Nearly a year after workers voted to authorize a strike, non-union city and commercially contracted security officers in Baltimore, MD, walked off the job on April 9 on an Unfair Labor Practice strike against their employers, Abacus Corporation, Metropolitan Protective Services, and Urban Development Solutions. Now, Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) say that workers have been retaliated against by Metropolitan Protective Services (MPS), alleging that the city contractor "fired and harassed workers following [the] lawful strike." MPS denies these allegations and claims "that no employees have been terminated due to union involvement." In this episode of Working People, we speak with Victoria Cox, a former MPS employee who worked to reach the rank of sergeant, and Daril Riley, a former MPS employee who reached the rank of corporal. Both Cox and Riley have had their shifts taken off the schedule—and, essentially, their jobs taken away—and both have been put under investigation by MPS since the strike in April.

Additional links/info:

Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "Underpaid, uninsured, held at gunpoint: Baltimore security guards strike for a union"
SEIU Local 32BJ website, Facebook page, and Instagram
Katherine Wilson, Baltimore Sun, "Baltimore contract security officers at city properties prepare to strike"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Statement from Derrick Parks, CEO and President of Metropolitan Protective Services (5/26/26):

Metropolitan Protective Services, Inc. (MPSI) maintains that no employees have been terminated due to union involvement. We fully support our employees' right to choose whether or not to join a union.

The individuals recently removed from the schedule were terminated for failing to maintain the current Maryland guard license required by the Maryland State Police. Regarding Sergeant Cox, she was removed from the schedule at the specific request of the client following multiple advisements regarding violations of client policy and insubordination.

Of our 175 employees, only six have been removed from the schedule or terminated, all due to licensing issues or performance concerns. We find these allegations to be without merit and believe they are being used by the union to exert pressure on the company.

Furthermore, we have received reports of union representatives harassing employees who chose not to join, including unauthorized site visits and the use of derogatory language. MPSI is currently considering filing a cease and desist order and a harassment lawsuit to protect the rights of our staff. Our priority remains protecting all employees, regardless of their union status.

Kim Kelly: Coal miners are dying, and Trump betrayed them

Wed, 20 May 2026 14:47:00 +0000

Since the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump and his acolytes, rightwing media, and coal industry barons and lobbyists have obsessively painted the picture of Trump as a friend to coal miners and the so-called "undisputed champion of beautiful clean coal." But as labor journalist Kim Kelly reports at In These Times, "the simpering 'Trump digs coal' image the administration seeks to project is vastly at odds with the actions it's taken to limit miner protections, endanger their health, and exacerbate the black lung crisis consuming Central Appalachia." In this episode of Working People, we speak with Kelly about the Trump administration's latest betrayal of coal miners and their families and its underreported attack on the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission and abrupt, unprecedented firing of FMSHRC Commissioner Moshe Z. Marvit.

Additional links/info:

Kim Kelly website, X/Twitter page, TikTok, Bluesky page, and Instagram
Kim Kelly, In These Times, "Trump's latest target: Coal miners' safety"
Jordan Barab, Confined Space, "Friday night massacre at Mine Safety Review Commission"
Kim Kelly, In These Times, "The Trump administration ramps up its war on coal miners"
Kim Kelly, In These Times, "Trump to coal miners: Drop dead"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Over 4,000 UAW members on strike at Harvard University

Tue, 12 May 2026 15:44:00 +0000

After 14 months of fruitless contract negotiations with the Harvard University administration, over 4,000 workers represented by the Harvard Graduate Students Union (HGSU-UAW Local 5118) walked off the job on an indefinite strike on April 21. According to the union, "Graduate student workers will suspend teaching and research labor until Harvard's bargaining team takes substantive action in addressing the union's key issues: pay that keeps pace with the rising cost of living, recourse for harassment and discrimination, support for non-citizen students, protections for academic freedom, and 'fair share fees' to equitably distribute the expenses of union representation, among others." In this episode of Working People, we speak with three striking graduate student workers about the issues at the center of this strike, and about what it's like to live, work, and strike at the country's richest university amid political attacks from the federal government, scandals connecting high-ranking Harvard officials to Jeffrey Epstein, and a nationwide cost-of-living crisis.

Panelists include: Sara Speller, a fifth-year PhD student in the Music Department at Harvard and president of the Harvard Graduate Students Union; Zoë Feder, a seventh-year PhD student in the program in Biological & Biomedical Sciences at Harvard Medical School and a research assistant in the Microbiology Department; and Jacob Wolf, a third-year PhD student and Teaching Fellow in the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Additional links/info:

Harvard Graduate Students Union (HGSU-UAW Local 5118) website, Facebook page, X/Twitter page, TikTok, and Instagram
Harvard Graduate Students Union Strike Update/FAQ Zine
Lydialyle Gibson, Harvard Magazine, "Harvard graduate student workers strike"
Noah A. Ferris, The Harvard Crimson, "Grad students rally outside Garber's home as strike enters third week"
Hugo C. Chiasson & Elise A. Spenner, The Harvard Crimson, "Harvard promised a 'full' review of its Epstein ties. Its own files reveal what it left out"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Meet the new Pittsburgh Post-Gazette bosses, same as the old bosses

Thu, 07 May 2026 02:26:00 +0000

After members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh won their strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in late 2025, which had lasted for over 3 years, they were notified in January that the paper's wealthy owners, the Block family and Block Communications Inc., were shutting down operations. Then, in a stunning turn of events, the Post-Gazette was purchased in April by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, which also owns The Banner in Baltimore, MD. While Post-Gazette workers were cautiously optimistic about the news, the union learned last week that the Venetoulis Institute is cutting at least 40 percent of its staff, including 80 percent of the union workers who participated in the recently ended strike.

In this episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of union members and former Post-Gazette employees about what will happen to them and their coworkers, to the Post-Gazette itself, and to journalism in the Steel City. Panelists include: Andrew Goldstein, a now-former Post-Gazette education reporter and still-acting president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh; Helen Fallon, a longtime copyeditor for the Post-Gazette and professor emerita at Point Park University in Pittsburgh; and Erin Hebert, a now-former copyeditor and designer for the Post-Gazette and First Vice President of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh.

Additional links/info:

Pittsburgh Alliance for People-Empowered Reporting (PAPER) website
Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh website, Facebook page, and Instagram
Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh: "Incoming Post-Gazette ownership slashes staff, purges former strikers"
Riddhi Setty, Columbia Journalism Review, "The Venetoulis Institute goes to Pittsburgh"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "They won their strike fair and square. Now their rich bosses are closing up shop"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "The longest-running strike in the US is over—and the workers won"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Alec Baldwin backs union drive at Starbucks

Fri, 01 May 2026 15:50:00 +0000

After decades of decline, the organized labor movement in the US has seen a resurgence in rank-and-file militancy over the last decade, with increased strike actions and union drives in industries across the economy. And in the story of this recent revival of labor in America, the movement led by predominantly young baristas to unionize coffee giant Starbucks has played a pivotal role. The new documentary Baristas vs. Billionaires takes viewers on a journey through the last five years of the epic, ongoing struggle to unionize Starbucks, told by some of the workers and organizers at the center of that struggle. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with director of Baristas vs. Billionaires and Academy Award nominee Mark Mori, and with legendary actor and Academy award nominee Alec Baldwin, who is a producer on the film.

Additional links/info:

Baristas vs. Billionaires website
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "'Starbucks is the largest labor violator in modern history': Starbucks workers prepare for indefinite national strike"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "How union organizing can change your life and the world: A conversation with Jaz Brisack"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "Want to unionize your workplace? These worker-organizers have some advice"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Studio Production / Post-Production: David Hebden
Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

May 1: A Nationwide 'Economic Blackout' Against Billionaires and Authoritarianism

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:10:00 +0000

Inspired by January's mass strike against ICE terror in Minnesota, a vast coalition of labor unions, democratic organizations, and community groups are organizing a nationwide economic blackout on Friday, May 1, International Workers Day. "May Day Strong events are being planned across the US," Michael Sainato reports at The Guardian, "with organizers calling for 'no school, no work, no shopping,' in protest of government policies they say put billionaires' needs above those of workers."

In this episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of guests who are all involved in organizing May Day events this week from Philadelphia to Chicago to Iowa. Panelists include: Jana Korn, who currently serves as the chief of staff for the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO, and also serves on the board of Philadelphia Jobs with Justice; Jeff Kurtz, a retired locomotive engineer and union officer who also served as a state representative in the Iowa House of Representatives; and John Emiliano, a healthcare worker and organizer in Chicago with the Tahanan Center and Tanggol Migrante, a grassroots Filipino migrant defense network.

Additional links/info:

May Day Strong coalition website
Workers Over Billionaires 2026 - Philadelphia Linktree
Workers Over Billionaires 2026 - Chicago details
Lee County (Iowa) Labor Chapter Facebook page and May Day 2026 details
Tahanan Filipino Center Instagram
Tanggol Migrante website
Latino Union of Chicago website
Michael Sainato, The Guardian, "US activists plan May Day economic blackout: 'No school, no work, no shopping'"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

'The rain was black': A plant explosion set off a toxic bomb in this Louisiana town

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 10:00:00 +0000

On Aug. 22, 2025, the small-town lives of residents living near the Smitty's Supply facility in Roseland, LA, changed forever when an explosion occurred at the automotive lubricant plant. The explosion and ensuing fire, which burned for days, triggered evacuations across the area, blanketing homes and businesses with smoke, soot, and oily residue, while spilling petroleum products from the plant into area waterways, including several adjacent ponds and the Tangipahoa River. While the Environmental Protection Agency claims that the area is safe, according to the agency's own chemical monitoring, residents say they've been left behind and kept in the dark as they develop negative health symptoms and their homes remain covered in toxic substances. In this episode, we speak with Arlene Bankston, a farmer and resident of Roseland, and Allie Ponvelle, who lives one town over in Amite, about the slow-moving nightmare they've been living in ever since the massive explosion and chemical fire at Smitty's Supply.

Additional links/info:

Alene Bankston's Facebook page
Allie Ponvelle's Facebook page
Petition to Close Roseland Montessori School Due to Toxic Contamination
Chemically Impacted Communities Coalition (CICC) website
Wesley Muller, Louisiana Illuminator, "Smitty's Supply neighbors still wary of fire fallout despite assurances from Landry, EPA"
Whitney Miller, WWL Louisiana, "What was in the air and water after the Smitty's Supply fire? Testing under new scrutiny"
"Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, "America's toxic future looks like East Palestine, Ohio, today"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Baltimore security guards strike for respect, healthcare, and a union

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 21:29:00 +0000

Nearly a year after workers voted to authorize a strike, non-union city and commercially contracted security officers in Baltimore, MD, will walk off the job on April 9 in an Unfair Labor Practice strike against their employer, Abacus Corporation. In their yearslong effort to unionize and secure more job security, better pay, accessible healthcare, and safer working conditions, workers at Abacus have reported rampant union busting and violations of their labor rights. In this episode, we speak with Laura Dixon, a veteran security officer and Abacus employee, and Jaimie Contreras, executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ.

Additional links/info:

SEIU Local 32BJ website, Facebook page, and Instagram
Katherine Wilson, Baltimore Sun, "Baltimore contract security officers at city properties prepare to strike"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

US postal workers side with communities over collaboration with ICE: "Don't be a snitch"

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 17:46:00 +0000

While facing decades-long political efforts to throttle and privatize the United States Postal Service (USPS), and while US Postmaster General David Steiner ominously warns that the USPS will "run out of money" within a year, postal workers continue to deliver the mail and serve communities across the country. But that job has gotten harder, more dangerous, and more complicated in recent years. From increases in targeted violence against letter carriers to the Trump administration's attacks on mail-in voting, to ICE and Border Patrol agents invading communities on their mail routes, USPS workers are confronting many daily hazards on the job that the public doesn't see. In this episode, we speak with Connor Mauche, a letter carrier in New York and a shop steward for Branch 3 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, about what it's like to be a postal worker in America in 2026.

Additional links/info:

National Association of Letter Carriers - Branch 3 website
Ann DeStefano Sutherland, The Revolt of the Good Guys (a documentary about the Great Postal Strike of 1970)
Derek Dolbeare, Labor Notes, "Dispatch: Letter carriers are gearing up for another contract fight"
Sara Braun, The Guardian, "Nearly blind refugee abandoned by US border patrol found dead in Buffalo"
Monique Morrissey, Economic Policy Institute, "Why is President Trump attacking the Postal Service?"
Susan Haigh, AP, "US Postal Service expects to run out of cash in a year without help from Congress, postmaster says"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Immigrant workers launch largest US meatpacking strike in 40 years

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 17:20:00 +0000

3,800 workers and Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7 members at the massive JBS beef processing plant in Greeley, CO walked off the job on an unfair labor practice strike on March 16. This is the first strike ever at the Greeley plant—one of the largest in the country—and it's the biggest meatpacking strike in the US since the 1985-86 strike at the Hormel plant in Austin, MN. As Caitlyn Clark and Lisa Xu report in Labor Notes, "Strikers say JBS has been increasing the speed of the production line while cutting work hours from 40 a week to 35, squeezing out more work for less money… Workers are also demanding that the company stop charging them out-of-pocket costs for personal protective equipment like mesh vests and arm guards—essential because they work with knives, saws, and other sharp, dangerous equipment." In this episode, we speak with Clark and Xu, who report from the JBS picket line and break down why this strike is so significant and what it will take for workers to win this fight against the largest beef processor in the US.

Guests:

Caitlyn Clark is a national organizer at Essential Workers for Democracy, an organization dedicated to rank-and-file member education and empowerment for UFCW members in grocery, meatpacking, and retail.
Lisa Xu is a staff writer and organizer at Labor Notes.

Additional links/info:

Caitlyn Clark & Lisa Xu, Labor Notes, "In 57 languages, meatpackers strike for the first time in 40 Years"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Fourth-generation fisherwoman Diane Wilson goes on hunger strike against Dow Chemical

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 17:26:00 +0000

Diane Wilson is a fourth-generation fisherwoman and a lifelong resident of Seadrift, Texas. Wilson has become a global folk hero over the course of her epic, decades-long journey from shrimp boat captain and mother of five to social and ecological justice warrior who took on a multibillion dollar corporation polluting the bays along her beloved Texas Gulf Coast. But the fight to save her home from industrial pollution is far from over. On March 2, Wilson began a hunger strike outside the Dow Chemical Company / Union Carbide plant in Seadrift. "I have a tent and am camping out 24 hours, 7 days a week," Wilson wrote in a letter to Dow CEO Jim Fitterling, "to impress upon Dow/Union Carbide our intense dislike and frustration of decades of plastic pollution being discharged into our bays and waterways." In this urgent episode, we speak with Wilson as her hunger strike enters its third week.

Guest:

Diane Wilson is a fourth-generation shrimper, boat captain, mother of five, author, and an environmental, peace, and social justice advocate. During the last 30 years, she has launched legislative campaigns, demonstrations, hunger strikes, sunk boats, and even climbed chemical towers in her fight to protect her Gulf Coast bay. She is a co-founder of CODEPINK, the women's anti-war group based in Washington, DC, and co-founder of the Texas Jail Project, which advocates for inmates' rights in Texas county jails. Since 2012, Wilson has been executive director and waterkeeper of San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper (SABEW) on the Texas Gulf Coast. Wilson is the author of numerous books, including: An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas; and Diary of an Eco-Outlaw: An Unreasonable Woman Breaks the Law for Mother Earth.

Additional links/info:

Follow updates on Diane's hunger strike here
Diane Wilson website
Diane Wilson, "Letter to DOW CEO Jim Fitterling"
San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper (SAWBE) website, Facebook page, TikTok, and Instagram
Plastic Pollution Coalition, "Diane Wilson launches hunger strike after Dow requests legalization of microplastics discharge in Texas"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

"ICE got me": The urgent fight to free Ludovic Mbock

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 04:17:00 +0000

38-year-old regional video gaming champion Ludovic Mbock, who came to the US legally from Cameroon, was snatched by ICE while applying for his yearly work permit—as he's done for 20 years. He has since been detained for three weeks and moved to facilities in Louisiana and Georgia, and his freedom depends on a critical bond hearing this week. In this urgent episode of Working People, we speak with Diane Sohna, Ludovic's sister, and Nikhil Delahaye, a close friend of Ludovic's and a fellow gamer.

Additional links/info:

Ludovic Mbock Instagram
GoFundMe: Support Ludovic's Legal Defense
Antonio Planas & Rondez Green, The Baltimore Banner, "He thought it was a routine ICE check-in. Now his family fears he'll be deported"
Heidi Kemps, GameSpot, "The fighting game community bands together in solidarity to help free player from ICE"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Sean O'Brien sold workers and unions out to Trump—these Teamsters are running to oust him

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 14:47:00 +0000

As general president of the union, Sean O'Brien has operated with a "Teamsters vs. Everybody" mentality, especially when it comes to dealing with President Trump and embracing the MAGA right. But now, 14 months into the second Trump administration, the labor movement and the entire working class—Teamsters members included—is under attack. In this episode of Working People, we speak with veteran Teamsters Richard Hooker Jr. and John Palmer, who are running to oust O'Brien from leadership in the upcoming union election.

Guests:

Richard Hooker Jr. has dedicated 26 years to the Teamsters, spending 20 of those years at UPS and the last six in leadership roles. He is the Secretary-Treasurer and Principal Officer of Teamsters Local 623 in Philadelphia, and he is now running on the Fearless Slate to unseat Sean O'Brien as a candidate for general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
John Palmer has 38 years of experience in the Teamsters and is currently serving as a vice president at large of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He is running on the Fearless Slate as a candidate to be the union's general secretary-treasurer.

Additional links/info:

Teamsters Fearless Slate website
Hank Kennedy, Current Affairs, "Sean O'Brien sold labor to Trump, and got nothing"
Michael Sainato, The Guardian, "Labor activist takes on Teamsters leader allying with Trump: 'He doesn't represent the workers'"
Joe Allen, CounterPunch, "Why are the Teamsters endorsing Greg Abbott?"
Peter Eavis, The New York Times, "UPS says it is cutting up to 30,000 jobs"
Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, "Everybody hates Sean"
Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, "We asked 8 different Teamsters what they thought of Sean O'Brien's speech—their responses may surprise you"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Tech workers protest Microsoft's ties to ICE terror and Israel's war crimes

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 16:59:00 +0000

In just six months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) more than tripled the amount of data stored on Microsoft's Azure cloud platform,The Guardian reports, "at the same time that its arsenal of surveillance technology ballooned." This week, tech workers with the No Azure for Apartheid (NOAA) campaign staged a protest and informational picket at Microsoft's global headquarters in Redmond, WA, demanding that Microsoft cancel all contracts that provide technological support for Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and ICE's campaign of terror in the US. We speak with Ibtihal, a former software engineer at Microsoft and an organizer with the NOAA campaign.

Additional links/info:

No Azure for Apartheid Instagram and Linktree
Harry Davies & Yuval Abraham, The Guardian, "ICE reliance on Microsoft technology surged amid immigration crackdown, documents show"
Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, "'Microsoft workers refuse to be complicit in the genocide'"
Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, "Microsoft cancels Israeli spy unit access after tech worker revolt"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "The biggest labor story in the US right now is happening at Microsoft"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

They won their strike fair and square. Now their rich bosses are closing up shop.

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 11:00:00 +0000

On Nov. 24, 2025, in a major and hardwon victory, Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh members finally returned to work at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after more than three years on strike. Then, on Jan. 7, 2026, workers were notified that Block Communications Inc.—the company that owns the Post-Gazette as well as the Toledo Blade, the Buckeye Sports Network, and a number of TV stations in Ohio and Kentucky—said that it will be ceasing operations at the Post-Gazette on May 3 of this year. We speak with Steve Mellon, a veteran photographer and writer who was on strike for over three years at the Post-Gazette, about how workers are processing this devastating news, and about their push to launch a new news source by and for working people.

Additional links/info:

Pittsburgh Alliance for People-Empowered Reporting (PAPER) website
Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh website, Facebook page, and Instagram
Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette owners couldn't bust the union, so they shut down the paper"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "The longest-running strike in the US is over—and the workers won"
Kris B. Mamula, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Post-Gazette to publish final edition and cease operations on May 3"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits: Audio Post-Production:

Jules Taylor

NO DEAL: Nurses at NY-Presbyterian overwhelmingly vote to stay on strike

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 19:16:00 +0000

The longest-running nurses strike in New York City history has come to an end—for some. Nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, however, overwhelmingly voted this week to reject a tentative agreement and to stay on strike until their demands for safer staffing and more job security are met. In this unscheduled strike update episode, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Beth Loudin, a neonatal nurse and member of the executive committee of the New York State Nurses Association at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

Additional links/info:

New York State Nurses Association website, Facebook page, Bluesky page, and Instagram
Claudia Irizarry Aponte & Ben Fractenberg, The City, "NewYork-Presbyterian nurses reject contract by overwhelming margin"
Luis Feliz Leon, Sarah Hughes, & Danielle Smith, Labor Notes, "Fifteen thousand New York City nurses strike"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Massive strike at Kaiser Permanente enters third week

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 22:35:00 +0000

An estimated 31,000 health care workers in California and Hawaii walked off the job on Jan. 26 in their ongoing battle with healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente to address workers' demands for safe staffing, more manageable workloads, and a livable wage. The United Nurses Associations of California / Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) strike is now in its third week, and more than 3,000 pharmacy technicians, pharmacy assistants, and clinical laboratory professionals represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers. In this urgent strike update episode, we speak with a panel of UNAC/UHCP members who are all currently on strike at Kaiser Permanente.

Guests:

Sanayo Kondo is a physical therapist at Kaiser Permanente - Redwood City in Northern California, and she is also on the bargaining team for her UNAC/UHCP group.
Kadi Gonzalez is an outpatient Registered Nurse at Kaiser Permanente who works in OB/Gyn care and is on the board of directors for UNAC/UHCP.
Lucky Longoria is a Registered Nurse who works in pediatrics at Kaiser Permanente - Downey in Southern California and previously worked as a travel nurse.

Additional links/info:

United Nurses Associations of California / Union of Health Care Professionals website, Facebook page, and Instagram
UNAC/UHCP Press Release: "Massive Kaiser strike enters third week"
Kaiser Permanente, "Our statement on the UNAC/UHCP strike (Jan. 25, 2026)"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

America's toxic future looks like East Palestine, OH, today

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 20:34:00 +0000

Feb. 3, 2026 marked the three-year anniversary of the Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical disaster in East Palestine, OH—one of the worst industrial disasters in US history. Over the last three years, residents have been exploited and abandoned by Norfolk Southern, the government, opportunistic politicians, sensationalist media outlets, and self-serving attorneys, but we have not forgotten them. On the three-year anniversary of the day that changed their small-town lives forever, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez was on the ground in East Palestine speaking with residents about their lives and needs today. Here is what they said...

Additional links/info:

Ohio Valley Derailment Mutual Aid Facebook page and fundraiser
Chemically Impacted Communities Coalition (CICC) website
Golomb Research Group (UCSD) website and East Palestine Health Effects Study website
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "America's toxic future looks like East Palestine, Ohio, today" (click for a full list of all of Max's East Palestine reporting for TRNN over the last three years)

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

"A hero": Nurses, federal workers honor Alex Pretti

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 20:35:00 +0000

Hundreds of union nurses, federal workers, and local residents gathered outside the Veterans Affairs central office building in Washington, DC, on Jan. 28, to hold a vigil for Alex Pretti and all who have been killed by ICE. The vigil was one of many events organized or co-sponsored by National Nurses United, the nation's largest union and professional association of registered nurses, which has forcefully called for ICE to be abolished in the wake of Pretti's killing. We speak with attendees of the vigil in this on-the-ground edition of Working People.

Additional links/info:

Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'A hero': Nurses, federal workers honor Alex Pretti (Documentary Report)"
Maximillian Alvarez Working People / The Real News Network, "Largest nurses union calls to abolish ICE after Alex Pretti killing: 'They messed with the wrong profession'"
National Nurses United: "Week of action in honor of Alex Pretti, RN and all others killed by ICE"
National Nurses United press release (1/24/26): "National Nurses United outraged by murder of VA registered nurse by immigration agents, demand abolition of ICE"
National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Largest nurses union calls to abolish ICE after Alex Pretti killing

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000

On Friday, Jan. 23, around 50,000 people in Minneapolis, MN, engaged in a historic mass strike and day of protest to demand an end to ICE terror and President Trump's federal siege of Minnesota. Then, on Saturday, Jan. 24, an ICE agent shot and killed Alex Pretti, volunteer ICE observer and a registered union nurse who worked for the Veterans Health Administration. In this episode, we speak with Mary C. Turner, a registered nurse inn Minnesota and a member of the Council of Presidents of National Nurses United, the largest nurses union in the US, which is now forcefully calling for the abolition of ICE.

Additional links/info:

National Nurses United: "Week of action in honor of Alex Pretti, RN and all others killed by ICE"
National Nurses United press release (1/24/26): "National Nurses United outraged by murder of VA registered nurse by immigration agents, demand abolition of ICE"
National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram
Devon Lum & Haley Willis, The New York Times, "Videos show moments in which agents killed a man in Minneapolis"
Thomas Birmingham & Ari Bloomekatz, In These Times, "A staggering number of Minnesotans took to the streets Friday to demand ICE leave. The next day, ICE responded by killing another resident"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "Trump plans massive military parade while cutting veteran jobs, benefits, & healthcare"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "Trump cuts leave VA hospital nurses and veteran patients in a crisis"

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

"Shut everything down": Minnesota calls for mass strike on Jan. 23

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 23:50:00 +0000

The state of Minnesota is under siege by our own federal government, and residents—immigrant and US-born alike—are living in fear. With the deployment of over 3,000 federal agents to Minnesota in recent weeks, this is the Trump administration's largest and most violent so-called "immigration enforcement" operation yet—and with President Trump threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota in response to protests over ICE's terror campaign, the situation on the ground is extremely volatile. Amid this federal invasion, unions, community organizations, faith leaders, and small businesses in Minnesota are calling for a statewide day of "no work (except for emergency services), no school, and no shopping" on January 23.

In this urgent episode, we speak with three union members and organizers in the Twin Cities—Daniel Troccoli, Douglas Williams, and Janette Corcelius—about the situation on the ground in Minnesota, and about the proposed mass strike this Friday.

Additional links/info:

1/23: ICE OUT OF MN call to action and Facebook event page
1/23 ICE OUT OF MN Org Sign Up
Sarah Lazare & Amie Stager, In These Times, "'We are facing a tsunami of hate': Amid ICE crackdown, unions and community groups call for Minnesota shutdown in 10 Days"
Luis Feliz Leon, Labor Notes, "Will ICE ignite a mass strike in Minnesota?"
Suzanne Gamboa, Shaquille Brewster, & Colin Sheeley, NBC News, "Immigration officers around Minneapolis are approaching people and demanding proof that they're U.S. citizens"
Rachel Leingang & Maanvi Singh, The Guardian, "'Make no mistake, this is an occupation': ICE's deadly presence casts long shadow over Minneapolis"
Joseph Cox, 404 Media, "Inside ICE's tool to monitor phones in entire neighborhoods"
John Hamilton, Democracy Now!, "ICE vs. People of Minnesota: A special report on community resistance to Trump's militarized crackdown"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

The longest-running strike in the US is over—and the workers won

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 20:06:00 +0000

On Monday, Nov. 24, after more than 1,100 days on strike, Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh members were cheered on by supporters at a rally in downtown Pittsburgh before returning to work at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Even though strikers have returned to work, however, many issues at the center of the strike are still in legal limbo—and their fight for a fair contract is not over. In this episode of Working People, we speak with three Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh members—Bob Batz. Jr, Natalie Duleba, and Steve Mellon—about where things stand now, how their lives have changed since returning to work, and what it takes to hold the picket line for over three years.

Additional links/info:

Pittsburgh Union Progress website
Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh website, Facebook page, and Instagram
Bob Batz Jr. & Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Union Progress, "Pittsburgh journalists vote to end country's longest strike and notify the PG they are returning to work"
Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, "Post-Gazette strikers send company return to work offer"
Sara Scire, Nieman Lab, "What newsroom organizers learned from the years-long strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich

What does it mean to be a union member in these dark times?

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 15:42:00 +0000

Making ends meet in today's economy is difficult enough, but with so many societal crises affecting working people's lives on and off the shop floor—from mass layoffs to untenable costs of living, from an authoritarian federal government to AI and the climate crisis—it can feel all but impossible. What does it mean to have a union job, to be a union member, and to be part of the labor movement in these overwhelming times? What role do unions and other labor organizations have to play, not just in the fight for economic justice, but in the fight for democracy, civil rights, the rule of law, and a livable planet? We posed these questions to a range of emerging labor leaders from different unions and worker centers enrolled in the 2025-26 Minnesota Union Leadership Program (MULP). Here's what they told us…

Additional links/info:

Minnesota Union Leadership Program website
Workday Magazine website
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "What good is a union in Hell?"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich

'We're done': Starbucks workers launch indefinite national strike

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 16:30:00 +0000

Four years after the first Starbucks store in the US unionized in 2021, workers across the country are still facing rampant union busting and still fighting for a first contract with the coffee giant. That is why a supermajority of unionized baristas with Starbucks Workers United recently voted to authorize an Unfair Labor Practice strike, which is set to begin on Thursday, Nov. 13, on "Red Cup Day," in over 25 cities around the US. "Union baristas mean business and are ready to do whatever it takes to win a fair contract and end Starbucks' unfair labor practices," says Michelle Eisen, Starbucks Workers United spokesperson and 15-year veteran barista. "If Starbucks keeps stonewalling, they should expect to see their business grind to a halt. The ball is in Starbucks' court." In this urgent episode, we speak with Eisen about the impending strike and the state of the yearslong union struggle at Starbucks.

Additional links/info:

"No Contract, No Coffee!" website
Starbucks Workers United website, Facebook page, Bluesky page, Instagram, and TikTok
Starbucks Workers United press release: "With 92% 'Yes' vote, union Starbucks baristas overwhelmingly authorize ULP strike"
Dee-Ann Durbin, Associated Press, "Starbucks' union workers plan strike next week unless company agrees to a contract"
Alina Selyukh, NPR, "Starbucks is closing more stores and laying off 900 workers"
Michael Sainato, The Guardian, "A year under CEO Niccol: Starbucks workers' long fight for a union contract"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Campus life is unrecognizable in the Trump era: 'There's so many cops everywhere'

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 20:26:00 +0000

Life on college campuses has changed dramatically in the last 10 months. While institutions of higher education continue to reel from the Trump administration's top-down attacks and scramble to adjust, workers on campus say that their universities are simultaneously expanding their own internal repression and surveillance apparatuses to squash dissent. In this episode, we speak with a panel of graduate student workers and union members from Columbia University and the University of Michigan about the chilling new reality on their campuses and what it's like to live, learn, and work there today.

Panelists include; Vayne, a PhD candidate in history at Columbia University and a member of the bargaining committee for Student Workers of Columbia; Conlan Olson, a PhD student in computer science at Columbia University and a member of the bargaining committee for Student Workers of Columbia; Jared Eno, a grad worker in sociology and public policy at the University of Michigan and a rank-and-file member of the Graduate Employees Organization.

Additional links/info:

Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) website, Instagram, Facebook page, and X page
Student Workers of Columbia-UAW Local 2710 website, Instagram, Facebook page, and X page
Email zap info: "Reject UMPD's attack on anti-genocide activists!"
Glenn Hedin & Barrett Dolata, The Michigan Daily, "Three pro-Palestine activists arrested for protesting speech given by former Israeli soldiers"
Student Workers of Columbia press release: "Columbia threatens discipline for union picket, extends repression to labor action"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'The raids happened Wednesday, finals started Thursday': FBI agents raid homes of pro-Palestine students at University of Michigan"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'Worse' than McCarthyism: Trump's war on higher education, free speech, and political dissent"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'A tremendous chilling effect': Columbia students describe dystopian reality on campus amid Trump attacks"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'People are hiding in their apartments': Inside Trump's assault on universities"

Credits:

Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song
Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Life after genocide: A Gazan's message to the world about the ceasefire

Sat, 01 Nov 2025 18:26:00 +0000

In September, before the current ceasefire deal was announced, we spoke with two Palestinians in Gaza—Mohamed Abu Tawila (a former English teacher) and his nephew Abdul Rahman (a would-be college student)—about surviving 700 days of genocidal destruction at the hands of Israel's military and with the full backing of the United States. In this critical follow-up episode, we speak once again with Mohamed Abu Tawila from Gaza to get an on-the-ground account of life for Palestinians after the shaky implementation of the ceasefire began on Oct. 10.

Additional links/info:

Mohamed's Instagram account
Living Water Mutual Aid in Gaza Chuffed fundraiser page and Instagram account
GoFundMe campaign to support Mohamed's water delivery operation and his family
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'Hearts are crying and bodies are bleeding': Gazans describe their daily struggle to survive"
Tareq S. Hajjaj, Mondoweiss, "Israel's repeated ceasefire violations are part of its strategy to keep waging war on Gaza"
DropSite News, "Israel kills over 100 Palestinians in overnight bombardment of Gaza; thousands killed in Sudan's El-Fasher"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich

Workers replaced by AI have a dire warning for the world

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 18:47:00 +0000

In this special crossover edition of Working People and The Marc Steiner Show, hosts Maximillian Alvarez and Marc Steiner examine how the "artificial intelligence" (AI) boom is shaping the economy and the impact it is already having—and will continue to have—on working people's lives, livelihoods, and jobs. Alvarez and Steiner speak with two members of a new mutual aid and advocacy group called Stop Gen AI, which formed this year out of the critical need to provide material support for creatives, knowledge workers, and anyone else impacted by generative AI.

Guests:

Kim Crawley is a former cybersecurity professor and co-author of The Pentester Blueprint. She founded Stop Gen AI in May 2025 in response to the immense socioeconomic harm generative AI has done to her and her peers, and to the vast environmental, cultural, scientific, psychological, and economic harm it does to the world. Stop Gen AI is unique for its anticapitalist focus and commitment to raising survival funds for people who are struggling.
Emmi is an information security expert with experience across many niches of the industry, including application security across a number of verticals, and she is a specialist in insider threat and cyber threat intelligence. She joined the efforts of Stop Gen AI in 2025 due to the overwhelming amount of friends she has seen lose their entire lives and careers due to the out-of-control AI bubble. She also has nearly two decades of experience with boots-on-the-ground union organizing, protesting, and activism.

Additional links/info:

Stop Gen AI website and Mastodon page
Stop Gen AI Twitch Fest information
Khiree Stewart, WBALTV 11, "'Just holding a Doritos bag': Student handcuffed after AI system mistook bag of chips for weapon"
Marc Steiner & Maximillian Alvarez, The Marc Steiner Show, "Trump and Silicon Valley's plan to rule the world with AI weapons"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song
Stephen Frank, Marc Steiner Show Theme Song

Credits:

Studio Production: David Hebden
Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich

This government shutdown is not like the others: Furloughed federal workers explain

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 20:33:00 +0000

The federal government shutdown is now in its fourth week. Over 700,000 federal employees have been furloughed, with nearly as many continuing to work without pay, yet there are still no signs that an end to the shutdown is near. "Unlike past presidents, Mr. Trump appears to feel little urgency to strike a deal to reopen the government," Luke Broadwater writes at The New York Times. "Instead, he has used the shutdown, which began Oct. 1, as an opportunity to further remake the federal bureaucracy and jettison programs he does not like, seizing on unorthodox budgetary maneuvers that some have called illegal." In this episode, we speak with three furloughed federal employees about the harm government shutdowns cause working people, and we discuss why this shutdown is different.

Guests:

Adam is a furloughed federal employee who works in recreation for the US Forest Service, managing hiking, biking, and equestrian trails in central Idaho. He serves as chapter president of National Federation of Federal Employees Local 1753, and he is an organizer with the Federal Unionists Network.
Ellen is a furloughed federal employee who works in SNAP oversight and administration at the USDA Food and Nutrition Service. She serves as chapter president of National Treasury Employees Union Local 255, representing FNS employees at the Northeast regional office, and she is an organizer with the Federal Unionists Network in Boston.
April is a furloughed federal employee who works in the office of Head Start at the Administration for Children and Families HQ in Washington, DC. She serves as chapter president of the National Treasury Employees Union Local 250.

Additional links/info:

Federal Unionists Network website, BlueSky, and Instagram
Federal Unionists Network: "Join Us To Defend Public Services!"
Luke Broadwater, The New York Times, "The Shutdown Is Stretching On. Trump Doesn't Seem to Mind."
Democracy Now!, "Shadow president: Project 2025 architect Russell Vought is using shutdown to gut federal agencies"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

Featured music: Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song
Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich

Will Texas State University fire a tenured professor based on a Nazi apologist's doctored video?

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 20:24:00 +0000

"In Texas, a socialist professor is now in the fight of his life against MAGA's New McCarthyism," scholar and author Bill V. Mullen writes in Jacobin. "Tom Alter, a labor historian and tenured professor of history at Texas State University, was fired from his job on September 10 after a far-right troll doctored a videotape of Alter speaking at a virtual Revolutionary Socialism conference. After viewing the video, university president Kelly Damphousse fired Alter on September 10 with what Alter and his supporters say was no due process." While Alter was provisionally reinstated on Sept. 26, he and his family remain in limbo as they wait for a final decision from Texas State University regarding his firing. In this urgent episode of Working People, we speak with Professor Alter himself about the sequence of events that have made his case a flashpoint in the MAGA right's all-out assault on free speech, higher education, and the people who live, work, and study there.

Editor's Note (10/14/25): On Monday, Oct. 13, Professor Tom Alter was notified by Texas State University President Kelly Damphousse that "his employment at Texas State University is terminated, effective immediately." "I stand in opposition to Texas State University's attack on democratic rights that are protected by the Texas and United States Constitutions as well as the academic freedom that was once the hallmark of Texas higher education," Professor Alter said in a public statement. "To be clear, my termination is part of a broader political attack being carried out by the authoritarian far-right to crush democracy and democratic institutions in the United States in general and Texas in particular. But the charges leveled against me by the Texas State University administration do not stand up to the facts; I have truth on my side and I look forward to my day in court."

Additional links/info:

Texas State Employees Union - CWA Local 6186: "Reinstate Dr. Tom Alter | Defend Free Speech"
Bill V. Mullen, Jacobin, "MAGA McCarthyism comes to Texas State"
Russell Payne, Salon, "Fox News "expert" says Hitler went to heaven"
Full video of Professor Alter's Revolutionary Socialism conference speech
Edward Helmore, The Guardian, "US anti-fascism expert leaves country day after being blocked from flying to Spain"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Microsoft cancels Israeli spy unit access after tech worker revolt

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 16:50:00 +0000

In a stunning and massive development, tech giant Microsoft has announced that it is terminating parts of the Israeli military's access to proprietary technology that it was using to conduct mass surveillance and targeting of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. "Microsoft told Israeli officials late last week that Unit 8200, the military's elite spy agency, had violated the company's terms of service by storing the vast trove of surveillance data in its Azure cloud platform," the Guardian reports. "The termination is the first known case of a US technology company withdrawing services provided to the Israeli military since the beginning of its war on Gaza." This major development would not have happened without the joint-investigative work of reporters at The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call exposing Microsoft's complicity with Unit 8200's mass-surveillance campaign, but it also would not have happened without the disruptive protests by tech workers within Microsoft. In this panel discussion, we speak with three fired Microsoft tech workers and members of the "No Azure for Apartheid" campaign—Nisreen Jaradat, Julius Shan, and Anna Hattle—about the role workers have played in pressuring Microsoft to end its complicity in Israel's war crimes.

Additional Links/Info:

No Azure for Apartheid Instagram and Linktree
Maximillian Alvarez, The Nation, "How Microsoft workers helped halt a major contract with the Israeli military"
Harry Davies & Yuval Abraham, The Guardian, "Microsoft blocks Israel's use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "The biggest labor story in the US right now is happening at Microsoft"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'Microsoft is an active partner in the genocide!': Inside the tech worker revolt for Palestine"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Cops violently dismantle Palestine encampment at Microsoft HQ, arrest protestors"
Harry Davies & Yuval Abraham, The Guardian, "'A million calls an hour': Israel relying on Microsoft cloud for expansive surveillance of Palestinians"

Credits:

Studio Production: David Hebden
Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Federal whistleblowers illegally fired after exposing 'chaos' at Trump's HUD

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 04:25:00 +0000

Last week, The Real News Network published a bombshell interview with two federal whistleblowers working in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Max spoke with Paul Osadebe and Palmer Heenan, two attorneys in HUD's Office of Fair Housing, about the "chaos" that has upended HUD under the new Trump administration, and the vulnerable Americans who are being systematically abandoned as a result. Then, on Monday, Sept. 29, exactly one week after going public, Osadebe and Heenan were fired in what the Federal Unionist Network describes as "a stunning act of illegal retaliation." In this urgent followup interview, we speak once again with Osadebe and Heenan about the conditions of their firing, and what this attack on whistleblowers means for the future of government transparency and the future of HUD itself.

Guests:

Paul Osadebe is a shop steward for the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) – Local 476, a member of the Federal Unionists Network, and, until recently, an attorney working in the federal government. Osadebe is one of the four employees within HUD who have filed formal whistleblower complaints through the office of Senator Elizabeth Warren (D – Massachusetts). Osadebe was fired for his whistleblowing on Sept. 29.
Palmer Heenan is a rank-and-file member of AFGE – Local 476, a member of the Federal Unionists Network, and, until recently, an attorney working in the federal government. Heenan is one of the four employees within the Department of Housing and Urban Development who have filed formal whistleblower complaints through the office of Senator Elizabeth Warren (D – Massachusetts). Heenan was fired for his whistleblowing on Sept. 29.

Additional resources:

Debra Kamin, The New York Times, "Trump appointees roll back enforcement of Fair Housing laws"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "EXCLUSIVE: Federal whistleblowers expose how Trump's HUD is abandoning vulnerable Americans"
Federal Unionists Network: "BREAKING: HUD whistleblowers fired after exposing civil rights violations"
Federal Unionists Network website, BlueSky, and Instagram
AFGE – Local 476 website

Credits:

Studio Production / Post-Production: Cameron Granadino

Federal whistleblowers expose how Trump's HUD is abandoning vulnerable Americans

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 20:44:00 +0000

Federal whistleblowers are going public with an emergency message from within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). According to their formal complaint, under President Trump's administration, "HUD leadership has already violated the law" and taken actions that "will result in legal violations, gross mismanagement, gross waste of funds, and present a specific danger to public health and safety." The complaints were filed by four attorneys and staff workers at HUD'S Office of General Counsel and Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. In their first on-air appearance since going public with their allegations, Max speaks with attorneys and federal employees Paul Osadebe and Palmer Heenan about their whistleblower complaints and the "chaos" at Trump's HUD.

Guests:

Paul Osadebe is an attorney working in the federal government, a shop steward for the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) – Local 476, and a member of the Federal Unionists Network. Osadebe is one of the four employees within the Department of Housing and Urban Development who have filed formal whistleblower complaints through the office of Senator Elizabeth Warren (D – Massachusetts).
Palmer Heenan is an attorney working in the federal government, a rank-and-file member of AFGE – Local 476, and a member of the Federal Unionists Network. Heenan is one of the four employees within the Department of Housing and Urban Development who have filed formal whistleblower complaints through the office of Senator Elizabeth Warren (D – Massachusetts).

Additional resources:

Debra Kamin, The New York Times, "Trump appointees roll back enforcement of Fair Housing laws"
Federal Unionists Network website, BlueSky, and Instagram
AFGE – Local 476 website
Federal Unionists Network: HUD Whistleblowers Sound Alarm on Civil Rights (Report)
Federal Unionists Network: Join Us To Defend Public Services!

Credits

Studio Production: David Hebden
Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

The biggest labor story in the US right now is happening at Microsoft

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 17:51:00 +0000

Current and former tech workers with the No Azure for Apartheid coalition continue to disrupt business as usual at Microsoft's global headquarters in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide, and in protest of Microsoft's contracts with the Israeli military to provide tech that Israel uses to surveil, kill, and retroactively justify the killing of Palestinians. In this episode of Working People, which is a critical follow-up to our last episode, we speak with a panel of five tech workers and No Azure for Apartheid coalition members who have all been fired by Microsoft in the past year in response to their protest actions: Anna Hattle, Joe Lopez, Hossam Nasr, Nisreen Jaradat, and Riki. Even after losing their jobs, however, these workers have vowed not to stop organizing and protesting until Microsoft meets their demands to "fully and perpetually divests from Israel's economy of occupation, apartheid, and genocide."

Additional links/info:

No Azure for Apartheid Instagram and Linktree
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'Microsoft is an active partner in the genocide!': Inside the tech worker revolt for Palestine"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Cops violently dismantle Palestine encampment at Microsoft HQ, arrest protestors"
Tom Warren, The Verge, "Microsoft locks down a building after protesters get inside president's office"
Microsoft: Brad Smith press conference on Aug. 26, 2025
Harry Davies & Yuval Abraham, The Guardian, "'A million calls an hour': Israel relying on Microsoft cloud for expansive surveillance of Palestinians"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

'Microsoft is an active partner in the genocide!': Inside the tech worker revolt for Palestine

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 03:39:00 +0000

Tech workers at the heart of Microsoft are waging one of the most significant and under-covered labor battles in the US right now. For the last two weeks, members of the No Azure for Apartheid coalition, including current and former tech workers at Microsoft and community allies, have been taking bold, continuing, and escalating actions to disrupt business as usual in solidarity with Palestinians facing genocide and in protest of Microsoft's contracts with the Israeli military to provide tech that Israel uses to surveil, kill, and retroactively justify the killing of Palestinians. Those actions have included establishing a "liberated zone" encampment and even occupying executives' offices at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, WA. In this on-the-ground episode of Working People, recorded at Microsoft headquarters on Aug. 19-20, we take you to the front lines of the No Azure for Apartheid struggle.Additional links/info:

No Azure for Apartheid Instagram and Linktree
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Cops violently dismantle Palestine encampment at Microsoft HQ, arrest protestors"
Tom Warren, The Verge, "Microsoft employee arrested at headquarters while protesting Israel contracts"
Tom Warren, The Verge, "Microsoft locks down a building after protesters get inside president's office"
Harry Davies & Yuval Abraham, The Guardian, "'A million calls an hour': Israel relying on Microsoft cloud for expansive surveillance of Palestinians"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez
Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

'We want life": Palestinians in Gaza describe their daily struggle to survive

Wed, 03 Sep 2025 20:34:00 +0000

Right now, Israel's military is invading and obliterating what remains of Gaza City. After 700 days of genocidal bombing, shooting, forced starvation, and the systematic destruction of schools, hospitals, farms, refugee camps, roads, houses, and the entire infrastructure of civilian life, the Palestinians clinging to life in Gaza City are being exterminated, while others run or limp for their lives with nowhere safe to go. Amid the horrors of Israel's military onslaught, with starvation and illness spreading, Mohamed Abu Tawila, a former English teacher, and his nephew Abdul Rahman, a would-be college student, have been raising money online and risking their lives and safety to secure and transport clean water to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In this urgent episode, we speak with Mohamed and Abdul Rahman from Gaza about their daily struggle to live in the midst of genocide.

Additional links/info:

Mohamed's Instagram account
Abdul Rahman's Instagram account
GoFundMe campaign to support Mohamed's water delivery operation and his family
GoFundMe campaign to support Abdul Rahman's family
Ruwaida Amer, The Real News Network, "Gaza journalist's URGENT MESSAGE: 'We need to eat! We need this war to stop!'"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Unions face extinction under Trump. What the hell is labor doing to fight back? (w/ David Huerta & Everett Kelley)

Sat, 30 Aug 2025 20:49:00 +0000

Every single one of us who considers ourselves part of the labor movement has some real deep, serious, and urgent soul searching to do this Labor Day. After already falling to historically low levels of union density, public and private-sector unions are facing an extinction-level event under the new Trump administration. That is not hyperbole; that is a fact. So the real question is: What the hell are workers, unions, and the labor movement doing to fight back?

These are the essential questions at the center of both of the interviews we are sharing in this special Labor Day episode, which were recorded at the Netroots conference in New Orleans, LA, in early August. In the first interview, Max speaks with Everett Kelley, national President of the American Federation of Government Employees, about the Trump administration's elimination of collective bargaining rights for federal unions. In the second interview, his first public interview since he was arrested by federal agents observing an ICE raid in Los Angeles in June, David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union – United Service Workers (West), speaks with Max about the status of his case and about the roles unions must play in the fight against fascism.

Speakers:

Everett Kelley is the national President of the American Federation of Government Employees, which is the largest union representing federal and DC government employees. He began his first term of service as national President in February 2020, was elected to another term during the 42nd National Convention in June 2022, and was reelected during the 43rd National Convention in August 2024. Kelley has been a member of AFGE since 1981. He worked at Anniston Army Depot and retired from there after 30 years of service.
David Huerta is a longtime labor leader, born and raised in Los Angeles County, CA, who currently serves as president of the Service Employees International Union – United Service Workers (West) (SEIU-USWW).

Additional links/info:

American Federation of Government Employees website, Facebook page, and Instagram
Hamilton Nolan, How Things Work, "Fragile movements crumble"
Michael Sainato, The Guardian, "White House cancels union contracts for hundreds of thousands of federal workers"
SEIU, "STATEMENT: SEIU President April Verrett on David Huerta's release from federal custody"
Luis Feliz Leon, In These Times, "Trump has put a target on SEIU, and the labor movement is fighting back"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "EXCLUSIVE: Union leader beaten & arrested at ICE raid SPEAKS OUT" (Video version of interview with David Huerta)
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Unions face extinction under Trump. Is labor fighting back?" (Video version of interview with Everett Kelley)

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Railroad workers explain why Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific mega-merger will be a 'disaster'

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 19:54:00 +0000

Railroad workers are sounding the alarm about the potentially catastrophic consequences of the proposed mega-merger of two of the nation's Class 1 freight rail companies. "Union Pacific said it would buy smaller rival Norfolk Southern in an $85-billion deal to create the country's first coast-to-coast freight rail operator," Reuters reported in July. "If approved, the deal would be the largest-ever buyout in the sector." If this giant merger goes through, what will it mean for railroad workers, customers, and for the general public? In this episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of six veteran railroaders and members of Railroad Workers United to get a workers' eye view of the proposed mega-merger and what it will mean for rail labor, the US supply chain, and for the public writ large.

Speakers:

Ron Kaminkow is a member of Railroad Workers United, currently serving as a trustee, and he is also a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), Division 51 in Reno, Nevada. Kaminkow recently retired from Amtrak; prior to working in passenger rail, he worked on the freight rail system for Norfolk Southern and Conrail.
Jeff Kurtz was a railroad engineer and union member for 40 years and is a member of Railroad Workers United. He served as a union officer most of his career, including eight years as president of BLET Local 391 and chairman of the BLET Iowa State Legislative Board, where he oversaw safety and legislative matters for the union in the state for four railroads for 10 years. He retired in 2014 and served as state representative for one term in the Iowa House after winning the 2018 election in his House district.
Derek Masters is a member of Railroad Workers United and works as a conductor for a major Class 1 railroad, primarily in the Northeast. He is a member of SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD).
Matt Parker is a member of Railroad Workers United who works as a rank-and-file locomotive engineer, based in Nevada, with over 20 years of experience.
Matt Weaver is a founding member of Railroad Workers United and has been a member of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees (Teamsters) for 30 years. He serves as the BMWED legislative director for the state of Ohio.
Nick Wurst currently serves as general secretary of Railroad Workers United who works as a freight conductor and locomotive engineer, based in Massachusetts. Wurst started working for the railroad in 2019 as an intermodal worker and member of the Transportation Communication Union (TCU/IAM) and is currently a member of SMART-TD.

Additional links/info:

Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and X page
Railroad Workers United press release: "Railroad worker group opposes Class One rail mergers"
Michael Sainato, The Guardian, "Greater risk of toxic derailments if $85bn railroad merger is approved, warn unions"
Sabrina Valle, Shivansh Tiwary, & David French, Reuters, "Union Pacific to reshape US freight rail with $85 billion deal for Norfolk"
CNBC, "Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena & Norfolk Southern CEO Mark George on merger: Deal is 'great for America'"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

These 'neighbors from the hood' saw ICE terrorizing their community—and banded together to fight back

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 17:36:00 +0000

After seeing friends and neighbors in their community of Pasadena, CA, being terrorized, assaulted, and abducted by masked federal agents, Daniela Navin and Jeannette De la Riva joined together with other neighbors in their area to form Grupo Auto Defensa and fight back. From chasing ICE cars out of town with bullhorns to setting up security brigades so terrified residents can walk outside and go to the grocery store, from providing know-your-rights information to reclaiming public space, protecting each other, and rebelliously refusing to live in fear, the members of Grupo Auto Defensa are defending their community when no one else will. In this crossover episode of Working People, recorded with Professor David Palumbo-Liu and the Speaking Out of Place podcast, TRNN editor-in-chief Maximillian Alvarez joins Daniela Navin and Jeannette De la Riva to discuss the origins of Grupo Auto Defensa and the power of grassroots resistance in the face of the Trump administration's authoritarian assault on immigrant communities and the rule of law.

Guests:

Daniela Navin is a resident of Pasadena, CA, and a founding member of Grupo Auto Defensa.
Jeannette De la Riva is a lifelong resident of Pasadena, CA, and a founding member of Grupo Auto Defensa.

Additional links/info:

Grupo Auto Defensa Instagram
Speaking Out of Place website and Instagram
The Real News Network, "'ICE out of Dena!': CA community FIGHTS BACK against ICE terror"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "He's worked in the US for 30 years—then masked ICE agents beat and kidnapped him in broad daylight"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Corporations and the government are turning the USA into one giant 'sacrifice zone'

Fri, 08 Aug 2025 20:22:00 +0000

The Real News Network is honored to be one of the 2025 recipients of the prestigious Izzy Award for our on-the-ground documentary report, "Trainwreck in 'Trump Country': Partisan politics hasn't helped East Palestine, OH." "While corporate media covered the catastrophe in East Palestine, Ohio, with aerial views of ruined train cars and plumes of smoke likening the horrific crash to a disaster film," The Park Center for Independent Media (PCIM) states in their award announcement, "Steve Mellon of the Pittsburgh Union Progress and Maximillian Alvarez of The Real News Network were on the ground telling the stories of people in the communities devastated by the deadly toxins released into their neighborhoods long after major media outlets left them behind." With permission from the PCIM, we are sharing the audio recording of the award acceptance speeches delivered by Alvarez and Mellon in Ithaca, NY, on April 30, 2025.

Speakers:

Eleanor Goldfield is an independent filmmaker and creator of the documentary Hard Road of Hope, which details the history and contemporary struggles of West Virginians living and dying in coal country. Currently, Goldfield is the co-host and associate producer of the Project Censored Show, and co-host of the podcast Common Censored along with Lee Camp.
Maximillian Alvarez is the editor-in-chief and co-executive director of The Real News Network.
Steve Mellon is a photojournalist and writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he is currently on strike and working as co-editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress.

Additional links/info:

Maximillian Alvarez, Steve Mellon, & Mike Balonek, The Real News Network, "Trainwreck in 'Trump Country': Partisan politics hasn't helped East Palestine, OH"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

Production: Park Center for Independent Media; Park Productions at Ithaca College
Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

What good is a union in Hell?

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 14:14:00 +0000

On Sunday, July 20, 2025, Working People host and TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez delivered the keynote speech at the national convention of the National Organization of Legal Services Workers (NOLSW), UAW Local 2320. "I am here to report back to you from the front lines of struggle, without hesitation or hyperbole, that we are at risk of losing everything," Alvarez told the crowd of union members. "And so I am here not to extol the virtues of your union or the value of unions in general, but to ask you bluntly: What good is a union in Hell? How much can an organization of the dawned do in a future no one wants to live in? What good does a collective bargaining agreement serve when the world as we know it is dying?"

Additional links/info:

NOLSW-UAW Local 2320 website, X page, Facebook page, and Instagram

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

How union organizing can change your life and the world w/Jaz Brisack | Working People

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 17:22:00 +0000

After getting a job as a barista at the Elmwood Starbucks in Buffalo, New York, Jaz Brisack became a founding member of Starbucks Workers United and helped organize the first unionized Starbucks in the US in December of 2021. In their new book, Get on the Job and Organize, Brisack details the hardwon lessons they and their coworkers have learned from building one of the most significant and paradigm-shifting worker organizing campaigns in modern history. In this extended episode of Working People, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian speaks with Brisack about their book, the facts and fictions characterizing today's "new labor movement," and why union organizing is essential for saving democracy and the world.Guests:

Jaz Brisack is a union organizer and cofounder of the Inside Organizer School, which trains workers to unionize. After spending one year at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, Jaz got a job as a barista at the Elmwood Starbucks in Buffalo, New York, becoming a founding member of Starbucks Workers United and helping organize the first unionized Starbucks in the United States in December of 2021. As the organizing director for Workers United Upstate New York & Vermont, they also worked with organizing committees at companies ranging from Ben & Jerry's to Tesla.

Additional links/info:

Jaz Brisack, One Signal Publishers, Get on the Job and Organize: Standing Up for a Better Workplace and a Better World
Jaz Brisack, Teen Vogue, "Starbucks Workers United grew out of Jaz Brisack's undercover organizing. Here's how"
Starbucks Workers United website, Facebook page, X page, and Instagram
Inside Organizer School website

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

"These cuts are death sentences": Trump's "Big, Disastrous Betrayal Bill"

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 13:36:00 +0000

Dozens of peaceful protesters, including disabled people in wheelchairs, were arrested last Wednesday in Washington, DC, while protesting President Trump's massive spending and tax bill, which will dramatically slash taxes, restructure the student loan and debt system, and make devastating cuts to vital, popular programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). With Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote, Senate Republicans voted Tuesday to advance Donald Trump's so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, which will now go back to the House of Representatives for final approval. In this urgent episode of Working People, we speak with Lorraine Chavez and Chrstine Rodriguez, who were among the dozens arrested for their peaceful act of civil disobedience on June 25, about what's in this bill, what it will mean for working people, and how working people are fighting back.

Editor's Note (7/1/25): Before the US Senate voted to advance President Trump's spending and tax bill, the provision to bar states from issuing new regulations on artificial intelligence for 10 years was removed from the legislation.

Guests:

Lorraine Chavez is an educator, researcher, and community leader based in Chicago. She is also a student debtor and traveled to the Washington DC protest with the Debt Collective.
Chrstine Rodriguez is a legal assistant and student debtor from Pasadena, California, who also traveled to the Washington DC protest with the Debt Collective.

Additional links/info:

The Debt Collective website, X page, Facebook page, and Instagram
Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams, "Medicaid defenders in wheelchairs arrested ahead of Senate vote on 'betrayal of a bill'"
Chris Stein, The Guardian, "What's in Trump's big, beautiful bill? Tax cuts, deportations and more"
Chris Stein, The Guardian, "Senate Republicans pass Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill, clearing major hurdle"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

What's really happening in Los Angeles vs. what you're hearing online

Mon, 23 Jun 2025 22:32:00 +0000

In Los Angeles, CA, armed, masked agents of the state are snatching and disappearing immigrants off the street, peaceful protestors and journalists are being attacked with tear gas and rubber bullets, National Guard troops and active-duty Marines have been deployed to police and intimidate American citizens. Fear and uncertainty have gripped America's second largest city as a barrage of misinformation obscures the reality on the ground; nevertheless, Angelinos continue to defy the Trump administration's attacks on immigrant communities and authoritarian crackdown on civil rights. In this episode of Working People, we take you to the streets of LA and speak with multiple on-the-ground eyewitnesses to the events of the past two weeks to help you better understand what's actually happening and where this is all heading.Guests:

Sonali Kolhatkar is an award winning journalist, broadcaster, writer, and author; she is the founder, host, and executive director of Rising Up with Sonali. She is the author of Talking About Abolition: A Police-Free World is Possible and Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice.
Javier Cabral is the editor-in-chief of the award-winning, independent outlet L.A. Taco
Michael Nigro is an award-winning filmmaker and multimedia journalist who is among the numerous journalists to have been assaulted by police while reporting on assignment in LA.

Additional links/info:

Tim Javier Cabral, L.A. Taco, "A ride-along with Union Del Barrio, L.A.'s leading community patrol against ICE"
David Folkenflick, NPR, "Press group sues L.A., alleging police abuse of reporters at ICE rallies"
Luis Feliz Leon, In These Times, "Trump has put a target on SEIU, and the labor movement is fighting back"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:
Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Trump plans massive military parade while cutting veteran jobs, benefits, & healthcare

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 19:30:00 +0000

On June 6, thousands of veterans, union members, VA hospital nurses, elected officials, and more gathered on the National Mall in Washington D.C. at the "Unite for Veterans, Unite for America rally" to protest the Trump administration's attacks on veteran jobs, benefits, and healthcare. In this on-the-ground edition of Working People, we report from Friday's rally and speak with veterans and VA nurses about how Trump's policies are affecting them now and how to fix the longstanding issues with the VA.

Speakers:

Peter Pocock, Vietnam War veteran (Navy) and retired union organizer
Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees
Terri Henry, Air Force veteran
Ellen Barfield, Army veteran and national vice president of Veterans for Peace
Lindsay Church, executive director and co-founder of Minority Veterans of America
Lelaina Brandt, veteran (National Guard), 2SLGBTQIA+ advocate, and part-time illustrator and graphic designer.
Eric Farmer, Navy submarine veteran
Irma Westmoreland, registered VA nurse in Augusta, GA, secretary-treasurer of National Nurses United, chair of National Nurses United Organizing Committee/NNU-VA
Andrea Johnson, registered VA nurse in San Diego, CA, medical surgical unit and the NNOC/NNU director of VA Medical Center- San Diego
Justin Wooden, registered VA nurse in the intensive care unit (ICU) at James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa, FL
Cecil E. Roberts, Vietnam War veteran (Army) and president of the United Mine Workers of America

Additional links/info:

Tim Balk & Helene Cooper, The New York Times, "Military parade in Capital on Trump's birthday could cost $45 million, officials say"
Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press, "Transgender troops face a deadline and a difficult decision: Stay or go?"
Eric Umansky & Vernal Coleman, ProPublica, "Internal VA emails reveal how Trump cuts jeopardize veterans' care, including to 'life-saving cancer trials'"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "Trump cuts leave VA hospital nurses and veteran patients in a crisis"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Trump cuts leave VA hospital nurses and veteran patients in a crisis

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 21:25:00 +0000

Already burdened by years of funding cuts and understaffing, registered nurses who work at Veterans Health Administration (VA) facilities across the country are facing a crisis as the impact of the Trump administration's cuts to the federal workforce take effect. In this episode of Working People, Maximillian Alvarez speaks with VA nurses and union representatives for National Nurses United about how these cuts, coupled with Trump's attempt to strip over one million federal workers of their collective bargaining rights, are hurting VA workers, the quality of care they've been trained to provide, and the veterans they serve.Guest(s):

Irma Westmoreland, a registered VA nurse in Augusta, Georgia, who currently serves as secretary-treasurer of National Nurses United and chair of the National Nurses United Organizing Committee/NNU-VA
Sharda Fornnarino, a navy veteran who has worked as a VA nurse for 25 years, and who currently serves as the National Nurses United director of the Denver VA.

Additional links/info:

National Nurses United website, Facebook page, X page, and Instagram
National Nurses United - Veterans Affairs website
NNU Press Release: National Nurses United RNs join Unite for Veterans, Unite for America rally in Washington, DC
NNU statement on executive order seeking to strip federal employees of their protected union rights
Eric Umansky & Vernal Coleman, ProPublica, "Internal VA emails reveal how Trump cuts jeopardize veterans' care, including to 'life-saving cancer trials'"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "What's really behind Trump's war on federal unions?"

Featured Music:

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

An update on the longest ongoing strike in the US: 'Some things don't change at the Post-Gazette'

Fri, 30 May 2025 02:54:00 +0000

In the latest episode of Working People, we go back to the picket line to get a critical update on the longest ongoing strike in the United States. In October 2022, over 100 workers represented by five labor unions—including production, distribution, advertising, and accounts receivable staff—walked off the job on an unfair labor practice strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PPG). The strike began after the newspaper's management, Block Communications, which is owned by the Block family, cut off health insurance for employees on Oct. 1 of that year. After more than 2.5 years on strike, with other unions reaching contracts or taking buyouts and dissolving their units, workers represented by the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh are the last remaining strikers holding the line. We speak with a panel of union officers for the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh about how they've managed to stay on strike so long and about recent legal updates that have given them hope that an acceptable end to the strike may be on the horizon.

Panelists include: Ed Blazina, striking transportation writer at the PPG and one of the Vice Presidents of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh; Erin Hebert, also one of the Vice Presidents of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh and a striking copy-editor and page designer at PPG; Emily Matthews, photographer on strike and treasurer for the Post-Gazette Unit of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh.

Additional links/info:

Pittsburgh Union Progress website, Facebook page, X page, and Instagram
Donate to Support Striking Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Workers
Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh website
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "TRNN wins 2025 Izzy Award for coverage of East Palestine, OH, trainwreck & chemical disaster"
Bob Batz Jr., Pittsburgh Union Progress, "The strike is over for 3 Pittsburgh news production unions, but the journalists' strike continues"
Ian Karbal, Pennsylvania Capital Star, "The strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is now the longest in the nation. And it's not over"
Mel Buer, Working People / The Real News Network, "Two years into a strike, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette workers aren't ready to give up"
Bob Batz Jr. & Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Union Progress, "A start to the end of the strike? Feds file for temporary injunction to return Pittsburgh news unions to work"
Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams / The Real News Network, "'AI will not scab us': Post-Gazette newsroom decries use of artificial intelligence"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "(Livestream) After months of striking, media workers aren't backing down"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "(Livestream) Strikes at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, University of Michigan, and more"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's half-year strike"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

"It is our moral imperative": Oregon students hunger strike for Gaza

Thu, 22 May 2025 19:43:00 +0000

At this very moment, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who have managed to survive Israel's scorched-earth siege and bombing are being deliberately starved to death as a result of Israel's 11-week blockade preventing food and aid from entering Gaza. As Jem Bartholemew writes at The Guardian, "The UN's humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, told the BBC [Tuesday] morning that 14,000 babies could die in Gaza in 48 hours if aid did not reach them in time. Five aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday but Fletcher described this as a "drop in the ocean" and totally inadequate for the population's needs." In response to this dire humanitarian crisis, students at multiple university campuses in the US have launched hunger strikes in solidarity with the starving people of Gaza. In this urgent episode, we speak with four hunger strikers at the University of Oregon (UO), including: Cole, Sadie, and Efron, three undergraduate students who are all members of Jewish Voice for Peace - UO and who just completed a 60-hour solidarity hunger strike; and Phia, a Palestinian-American undergraduate student who has organized with JVP-UO on the hunger strike and who currently remains on hunger strike herself.Additional links/info:

UO Gaza Hunger Strike Instagram and TikTok
UO Gaza Hunger Strike: Community Calls to Action!
Press Release: University of Oregon Students, Faculty, and Staff Launch "UO Gaza Hunger Strike" Campaign Protesting Mass Starvation and Genocide
Jewish Voice for Peace - UO Instagram
Nathan Wilk, KLCC, "University of Oregon protesters begin hunger strike for Gaza"
Michael Arria, Mondoweiss, "Students across the U.S. are going on hunger strike as Israeli-engineered famine takes hold in Gaza"
Syma Mohammed, Middle East Eye, "US: UCLA student hospitalised during hunger strike for Gaza"
Jem Bartholemew, The Guardian, "First Thing: UN says 14,000 babies could die in Gaza in next 48 hours under Israeli aid blockade"
Ronen Bergman & Natan Odenheimer, The New York Times, "In private, some Israeli officers admit that Gaza is on the brink of starvation"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'The raids happened Wednesday, finals started Thursday': FBI agents raid homes of pro-Palestine students at University of Michigan"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'A tremendous chilling effect': Columbia students describe dystopian reality on campus amid Trump attacks"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'People are hiding in their apartments': Inside Trump's assault on universities"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'Worse' than McCarthyism: Trump's war on higher education, free speech, and political dissent"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

'Like being tortured': Texas residents living next to bitcoin mine are getting sick and being ignored

Wed, 07 May 2025 22:33:00 +0000

While state officials and legislators have positioned Texas to be "the bitcoin mining capital of the world," in small towns like Granbury, working-class residents living next to giant, loud, environmentally destructive data centers are the ones paying the price for Texas's crypto boom. "None of us are sleeping," Cheryl Shadden, a Granbury resident who lives across the street from a 300-megawatt bitcoin mining data center owned by Marathon Digital, tells TRNN. "We can't get rid of this alien invasion in our homes…This is like being a prisoner of war. It's like being tortured with loud sounds and bright lights and being sleep deprived."In this episode of Working People, we dive deeper into the reality of living next to crypto mining data centers like the one in Granbury, the unseen threats they pose to human and nonhuman life, and what residents in Granbury are doing to fight back. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with: Cheryl Shadden, a registered nurse anesthetist and resident of Granbury, who lives right next to the site of the Marathon bitcoin mining operation; Dr. Shannon Wolf, Precinct Chair in Hood County, who lives about 3 miles from the bitcoin mine; and Nannette Samuelson, County Commissioner for Precinct 2 in Hood County.Additional links/info:

Protect Hood County website
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "A bitcoin mine in Texas is "killing us slowly," local residents say"
Andrew R. Chow, TIME, "'We're living in a nightmare:' Inside the health crisis of a Texas bitcoin town"
Andrew R. Chow, TIME, "Noisy neighbor: Bitcoin's hidden health cost" (Video Report)
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "TRNN wins 2025 Izzy Award for coverage of East Palestine, OH, trainwreck & chemical disaster"
Keaton Peters, Inside Climate News, "Texas leaders worry that bitcoin mines threaten to crash the state power grid"
NBC News, "Inside the Texas bitcoin mine reportedly making residents sick"
James Pollard, The Texas Tribune, "Texas Republicans want to make the state the center of the cryptocurrency universe"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

FBI agents raid homes of pro-Palestine students at University of Michigan

Tue, 06 May 2025 18:30:00 +0000

The Trump administration continues to escalate its authoritarian assault on higher education, free speech, and political dissent—and university administrators and state government officials are willingly aiding that assault. On the morning of April 23, at the direction of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, law enforcement officers, including FBI agents, raided the homes of multiple student organizers connected to Palestine solidarity protests at the University of Michigan. "According to the group Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), agents seized the students' electronics and a number of personal items," Michael Arria reports at Mondoweiss. "Four individuals were detained, but eventually released." In this urgent episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of graduate student workers from the University of Michigan and Columbia University about how they and their unions are fighting back against ICE abductions, FBI raids, and top-down political repression, all while trying to carry on with their day-to-day work.

Panelists include: Lavinia, a PhD student at the University of Michigan School of Information and an officer in the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO); Ember McCoy, a PhD candidate in the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan and a rank-and-file member of GEO and the TAHRIR Coalition; Jessie Rubin, a PhD student in the School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University and a rank-and-file member of Student Workers of Columbia (SWC); and Conlan Olson, a PhD student in Computer Science at Columbia and a member of the SWC bargaining committee.

Additional links/info:

Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), University of Michigan website, Instagram, Facebook page, and X page
Student Workers of Columbia-UAW Local 2710 website, Instagram, Facebook page, and X page
TAHRIR Coalition UMich X page
Legal Fund of Michigan Students for Palestine
GEO Worker Solidarity Fund
GEO Press Release: FBI and police raid homes of pro-Palestine activists, including a GEO member
Mahmoud Khalil statement from ICE detention: "My name is Mahmoud Khalil and I am a political prisoner"
Allie Wong, The Intercept, "This is not about antisemitism, Palestine, or Columbia. It's Trump dismantling the American dream"
Grant Miner, The Nation, "Columbia expelled me for my palestine activism, but I won't be silenced"
Michael Arria, Mondoweiss, "FBI and police raid homes of Palestine activists in Michigan"
Alvin Powell, The Harvard Gazette, "Harvard files lawsuit against Trump administration"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'Worse' than McCarthyism: Trump's war on higher education, free speech, and political dissent"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'A tremendous chilling effect': Columbia students describe dystopian reality on campus amid Trump attacks"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'People are hiding in their apartments': Inside Trump's assault on universities"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

A bitcoin mine in Texas is "killing us slowly," local residents say

Wed, 23 Apr 2025 21:36:00 +0000

I would like to see Texas become the center of the universe for bitcoin and crypto," US Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said in 2021. In 2024, Republican Governor Greg Abbott said Texas "wears the crown as the bitcoin mining capital of the world." But in small towns like Granbury, TX, about an hour southwest of Fort Worth, residents are the ones paying the price for Texas' crypto boom. Granbury's 300-megawatt bitcoin mine, which is owned by Marathon Digital, a Florida-based cryptocurrency company, uses a mix of liquid immersion and industrial fans to prevent over 20,000 computers from overheating. Many residents say that it's the constant sound from those fans that has made life increasingly unbearable in their small town—and that their concerns are going ignored by the company and government officials. In this episode of Working People, we speak with four residents of Granbury living near the Marathon bitcoin mine: Danny Lakey, Karen Pearson, Nick Browning, and Virginia Browning.

Additional links/info:

Protect Hood County website
Andrew R. Chow, TIME, "'We're living in a nightmare:' Inside the health crisis of a Texas bitcoin town"
Andrew R. Chow, TIME, "Noisy neighbor: Bitcoin's hidden health cost" (Video Report)
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "TRNN wins 2025 Izzy Award for coverage of East Palestine, OH, trainwreck & chemical disaster"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'I had to move away from everything that I ever had': Chemically exposed residents of East Palestine, OH, and Conyers, GA, have been left behind"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'This is murder!': Industrially poisoned South Baltimore residents march on state capitol, demand help from Gov. Moore"
Maximillian Alvarez, Steve Mellon, & Mike Balonek, The Real News Network, "Trainwreck in 'Trump Country': Partisan politics hasn't helped East Palestine, OH (DOCUMENTARY)"
Keaton Peters, Inside Climate News, "Texas leaders worry that bitcoin mines threaten to crash the state power grid"
NBC News, "Inside the Texas bitcoin mine reportedly making residents sick"
James Pollard, The Texas Tribune, "Texas Republicans want to make the state the center of the cryptocurrency universe"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

'A tremendous chilling effect': Columbia students describe dystopian reality on campus amid Trump attacks

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 01:47:00 +0000

One year ago, Columbia University became ground zero for the student-led Gaza solidarity encampment movement that spread to campuses across the country and around the world. Now, Columbia has become ground zero for the Trump administration's authoritarian assault on higher education, academic freedom, and the right to free speech and free assembly—all under the McCarthyist guise of rooting out "anti-semitism." From Trump's threats to cancel $400 million in federal grants and contracts with Columbia to the abduction of international students like Mahmoud Khalil by ICE agents, to the university's firing and expulsion of Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers union president Grant Miner, "a tremendous chilling effect" has gripped Columbia's campus community. In this urgent episode of Working People, we speak with: Caitlin Liss, a PhD candidate in history at Columbia University and a member of Student Workers of Columbia-UAW (SWC); and Allie Wong, a PhD student at the Columbia Journalism School and a SWC member who was arrested and beaten by police during the second raid on the Gaza solidarity protests at Columbia on April 30, 2024.

Additional links/info:

Student Workers of Columbia-UAW Local 2710 website
April 17: Day of Action to Defend Higher Ed website
Mahmoud Khalil statement from ICE detention: "My name is Mahmoud Khalil and I am a political prisoner"
Allie Wong, The Intercept, "This is not about antisemitism, Palestine, or Columbia. It's Trump dismantling the American dream"
Grant Miner, The Nation, "Columbia expelled me for my palestine activism, but I won't be silenced"
Jonah E. Bromwich & Hamed Aleaziz, The New York Times, "Columbia student hunted by ICE sues to prevent deportation"
AAUP letter to college and university legal offices: "Institutions Should Not Provide Student and Faculty Info To Enable Deportations"
Alan Blinder, The New York Times, "Trump Has Targeted These Universities. Why?"
Oliver Laughland, The Guardian, "'Detention Alley': inside the Ice centres in the US south where foreign students and undocumented migrants languish"
Alice Speri, The Guardian, "'A huge cudgel': alarm as Trump's war on universities could target accreditors"
Annie Ma, Makiya Seminera, & Christopher L. Keller, Associated Press, "Visa cancellations sow panic for international students, with hundreds fearing deportation"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'People are hiding in their apartments': Inside Trump's assault on universities"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'Kill these cuts before they kill us': Federally funded researchers warn DOGE cuts will be fatal"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
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The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

'People are hiding in their apartments': Inside Trump's assault on universities

Sat, 12 Apr 2025 23:35:00 +0000

International students are being abducted and disappeared by ICE in broad daylight. Life-saving research projects across the academy are being halted or thrown into disarray by seismic cuts to federal grants. Dozens of universities are under federal investigation for their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, their allowance of trans athletes to compete in college sports, and their tolerance of constitutionally protected Palestine solidarity protests. In today's urgent episode of Working People, we get a harrowing, on-the-ground view of the Trump administration's all-out assault on institutions of higher education and the people who live, learn, and work there. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Todd Wolfson, President of the American Association of University Professors, Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University, and co-director of the Media, Inequality and Change Center; and Chenjerai Kumanyika, Assistant Professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, AAUP Council Member, and Peabody-award winning host of Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD.

Additional links/info:

April 17: Day of Action to Defend Higher Ed website
American Association of University Professors (AAUP) website
Federal Unionists Network website
AAUP letter to college and university legal offices: "Institutions Should Not Provide Student and Faculty Info To Enable Deportations"
Alan Blinder, The New York Times, "Trump Has Targeted These Universities. Why?"
Oliver Laughland, The Guardian, "'Detention Alley': inside the Ice centres in the US south where foreign students and undocumented migrants languish"
Alice Speri, The Guardian, "'A huge cudgel': alarm as Trump's war on universities could target accreditors"
Joy Connolly, Chronicle Review, "Colleges must stand together to resist Trump"
Collin Binkley, Associated Press, "More than 50 universities face federal investigations as part of Trump's anti-DEI campaign"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'Kill these cuts before they kill us': Federally funded researchers warn DOGE cuts will be fatal"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

"Kill the Cuts": Federally funded researchers warn DOGE cuts will be fatal

Fri, 11 Apr 2025 01:33:00 +0000

On Tuesday, April 8, unions, unionized federal workers, and their supporters around the country mobilized for a national "Kill the Cuts" day of action to protest the Trump administration's cuts to life-saving research, healthcare, and education programs. As organizers stated on the Kill The Cuts website, "By cutting funds to lifesaving research and medical care, the Trump administration is abandoning families who are suffering and costing taxpayers billions of dollars. These cuts are dangerous to our health, and dangerous to our economy. On Tuesday, April 8th, 2025 workers across the country are standing up and demanding NO cuts to education and life-saving research." In this on-the-ground edition of Working People, we take you to the front lines of the Kill the Cuts rally that took place in Washington DC, and we speak with workers and union representatives whose lives and work have already been affected by these cuts.Speakers include: Margaret Cook, Vice President of the Public, Healthcare, and Education Workers sector of the Communications Workers of America (CWA); Matt Brown, Recording Secretary of NIH Fellows United (United Auto Workers Local 2750); Rakshita Balaji, a post-baccalaureate researcher at the National Institutes of Health (NIH); and Amanda Dykema, shop steward for American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1072 at the University of Maryland, College Park.Additional links/info:

Kill the Cuts website
NIH Fellows United website
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "What's really behind Trump's war on federal unions?"
Jocelyn Kaiser, Science, "NIH under orders to cancel $2.6 billion in contracts"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Trump escalates the war on federal unions

Fri, 04 Apr 2025 01:01:00 +0000

Last week, President Trump escalated his administration's war on the federal workforce and workers' rights when he signed an executive order to end collective bargaining with federal labor unions across the government. The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents 150,000 government employees, has sued the Trump administration over the executive order.In response to these intensifying assaults on federal workers, agencies, and critical programs like Social Security, unions, social justice and community organizations, veterans groups, and people of conscience will be participating in protest actions in locales across the US on Saturday, April 5. In this episode, we speak with James Jones, a maintenance mechanic with the National Park Service, a veteran, and a member of the Federal Unionists Network, to get a firsthand account of the Trump administration's attacks on federal workers, agencies, and the people who depend on their services.Additional links/info:

Federal Unionists Network website
Indivisible website
"Hands Off!" National Day of Action (April 5) website
Joe DeManuelle-Hall, Labor Notes, "Trump Goes Nuclear on the Federal Workforce"
Tyler Pager, The New York Times, "Trump Moves to End Union Protections Across Broad Swath of Government"
Daniel Weissner, Reuters, "Union Sues to Block Trump from Ending Collective Bargaining for Many federal workers"
Anjeanette Damon, ProPublica, "Curious How Trump's Cost Cutting Could Affect Your National Park Visit? You Might Not Get a Straight Answer"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'It's not Elon versus government, it's Elon versus everyone': A dire warning from fired federal workers"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and the Uprising of the 20,000

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 18:09:00 +0000

As we've mentioned many times before on the show, movements today are a part of a legacy of extraordinary actions taken by ordinary people. Tapping into our own labor history provides us with a blueprint for action in today's turbulent world.

On March 25th, 1911, a fire began in the scrap bins under a cutter's table on the 8th floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. Within minutes, the entire floor was engulfed in flames, spreading to the ninth floor and 10th floors–where 200+ workers were just finishing up to go home for the night. By the time workers were alerted to the conflagration, options for escaping the fire were few. By the time the fire was brought under control, 146 workers were dead. New York City saw sweeping reforms in the aftermath of the fire, catapulting some pro-reform lobbyists like Francis Perkins all the way to the highest halls of government with the introduction of the New Deal 20 years later.

Near the 114th anniversary of this tragedy, Mel sat down with labor historian Dr. Erik Loomis, professor at the University of Rhode Island and author of his forthcoming book, "Organizing America: Stories of Americans Who Fought for Justice" to talk about the struggle for better working conditions in the garment industry in New York City, the fire itself and the reforms enacted afterwards, and why it's important to learn from our own labor history in this current moment.

Additional links/info:

Cornell University - ILR School: Remembering the 1911 Triangle Factory Fire
Dr. Erik Loomis on Bluesky
More information about Dr. Loomis's forthcoming book, "Organizing America"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Mel Buer
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Privatize USPS? Mail carriers are fighting for a better idea

Mon, 24 Mar 2025 19:01:00 +0000

This week, we're taking a more national focus, and checking in with the National Association of Letter Carriers, who have been embroiled in a years-long contract negotiation with the US Postal Service.

In our episode today, I'm sitting down with Melissa Rakestraw, member of the National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 825 in Chicago, IL, to discuss the state of negotiations with our nation's letter carriers, the unprecedented rejection of the recent Tentative Agreement and what happens next, and what would happen if the US Postal Service was privatized.

As a short editorial note before we begin, the interest arbitration process between USPS and the Letter Carriers began on March 17th, with Dennis R. Nolan set as the neutral arbitrator. This episode was recorded at the end of February, before those dates had been set.

Postal workers are also set to hit the streets this weekend–"Fight Like Hell!" rallies are scheduled for March 23 across the country to protest the proposed privatization of the US Postal Service.

Additional links/info:

March 13, 2025: NALC statement on DeJoy's agreement with DOGE
"Fight like hell! Say 'Hell No!' to a privatized USPS!" - Find a Rally Near You
Joe Demanuelle-Hall: "Federal Workers Organize Against Billionaire Power Grab"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Mel Buer
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Show us the ropes: How Touchstone Climbing Gym workers unionized five locations

Sat, 15 Mar 2025 12:48:00 +0000

This week, we're staying in Southern California, where the workers of Touchstone Climbing Gym in Los Angeles have been negotiating their first contract with their employer. Touchstone Climbing, a regional climbing gym with over a dozen locations in California, experienced a wave of unionization in its Los Angeles locations early last year. The successful campaign with Workers United created a wall-to-wall union at each of the company's five locations in the Los Angeles area. Members of the LA-based gym are often themselves union members, and the response from the climbing community has been overwhelmingly positive.

However, workers have been navigating a frustrating negotiation in order to reach an agreement on a first contract. Chief among workers' demands is better communications, higher safety standards, and better pay.

With me today to discuss their unionization, and their negotiations are Ryan Barkauskas, PT desk staff at The Post in Pasadena and Jess Kim, Former Desk Staff at the Post in Pasadena, now FT Workers United organizer.

Additional links/info:

Touchstone Workers United Instagram
Climbing Business Journal - "Touchstone Workers United Win Union Election - First Southern California Climbing Gyms to Unionize"
Eaton Fire Gofundme for Sam, 10+ year Yoga Instructor
Eaton Fire Gofundme for Martell, Front Desk Worker at The Post in Pasadena

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Mel Buer
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

'It's Elon versus everyone': A dire warning from fired federal workers (w/ Cat Farman, Jasmine McAllister, & Will Munger)

Wed, 05 Mar 2025 03:08:00 +0000

In this urgent episode of Working People, we focus on the Trump-Musk administration's all-out assault on federal workers and its takeover and reordering of our entire system of government. "At least 20,000 federal workers have so far been fired by the Trump administration," Ed Pilkington and Chris Stein report in The Guardian, "most of them recent hires on probationary periods who lack employment protections. In addition, the White House claims that more than 75,000 employees have accepted its offer of deferred resignations. The purge has prompted speculation that Trump is engaging in one of the biggest job cutting rounds in US history, which could have a powerful knock-on effect on the American economy." In today's episode, we take you to the front lines of struggle and hear directly from three federal workers about what is happening inside the federal government, why it concerns all of us, and how federal workers and concerned citizens of all stripes are fighting back. Panelists include: Cat Farman, president of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Union, Local 335 of the National Treasury Employees Union; Jasmine McAllister, a rank-and-file CFPB Union member and data scientist who was illegally fired two weeks ago; and Will Munger, a rangeland scientist who works across the intermountain west and who, until this month, served as a postdoctoral researcher with the USDA Agricultural Research Service.

Additional links/info:

CFPB Union website,
Federal Unionists Network website, Bluesky page, and Instagram
5Calls.Org website
Ed Pilkington & Chris Stein, The Guardian, "US personnel office walks back email ultimatum from Musk to workers"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Elon Musk is making technofascism a reality before our eyes"
Democracy Now!, "'Grand Theft Government': Federal workers send SOS over Musk's DOGE, mass firings & service cuts"
Emily Anthes & Apoorva Mandavilli, The New York Times, "Mass federal firings may imperil crops, cattle and pets"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Chemically exposed residents of East Palestine, OH, and Conyers, GA, have been left behind (w/ Ashley McCollom, Hannah Loyd, & Kristina Baehr)

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 00:46:00 +0000

We kick off the new season of Working People with another crucial installment of our ongoing series where we speak with the people living, working, and fighting for justice in America's "sacrifice zones." In this episode, cohost Maximillian Alvarez speaks with a panel of guests about the ongoing public health crises in East Palestine, OH, where a Norfolk Southern train derailment in Feb. 2023 changed residents' lives forever, and in Conyers, GA, where residents continue to deal with the toxic fallout of a chemical fire that broke out in Sept. 2024 at a facility owned by pool chemical company BioLab. Panelists include: Ashley McCollom, a displaced resident of East Palestine; Hannah Loyd, a displaced resident of Conyers; and Kristina Baehr, a community safety lawyer with Just Well Law.

Additional links/info:

Ashley's Facebook page
Ashley's GoFundMe page
Hannah's Facebook page
Just Well Law website
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'Everytime we come back, we all get sick': GA residents affected by September BioLab fire are still going through hell"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "Trainwreck in 'Trump Country': Partisan politics hasn't helped East Palestine, OH (DOCUMENTARY)"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "One year later, East Palestine residents want Norfolk-Southern held accountable"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, ""Let's unite!": Poisoned residents of America's sacrifice zones are banding together"
Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Union Progress, "Vance visit on derailment's second anniversary leaves residents wondering, 'Who has our backs?'"
Grace Gibson, The Georgetown Environmental Law Review, "Hawaiʻi's Red Hill Water Crisis Isn't Over"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: David Hebden
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Democracy dies, first, in the workplace (w/ Hamilton Nolan & Sara Nelson)

Thu, 09 Jan 2025 08:13:00 +0000

"I did not start out as a writer interested in organized labor," Hamilton Nolan writes in The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor; "I started out as a writer interested in why America was so fucked up. Why did we have such gargantuan levels of inequality? Why were thousands of homeless people living in the streets of cities where billionaires frolicked in penthouses? Why was it that certain classes of people worked hard their entire lives and stayed poor, just as their parents had been, and just as their children seemed doomed to be? Even while labor unions had fallen almost completely out of the public mind, it turned out that they were central to all our most fundamental problems." In this live episode of Working People, recorded at Red Emma's cooperative bookstore, cafe, and community events space in Baltimore on Dec. 6, 2024, Max speaks with Nolan about his new book, what the ongoing war on workers' rights and unions tells us about the "fucked up" society we're living in, and what lessons labor can teach us now about how to fight and win, even in the darkest of times. Sara Nelson, International President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL–CIO, also makes a special guest appearance in the second half of the episode.

Additional links/info below…

Hamilton's website, Facebook page, and X page
Hamilton Nolan, Hachette Books, The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor
Red Emma's website, Facebook page, and Instagram
David Dayen, In These Times, "Meet the militant flight attendant leader who threatened a strike—and helped stop Trump's shutdown"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Max Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Sick Georgia residents have been abandoned after toxic BioLab fire (w/ Hannah Loyd, Christina O'Connor, & Jeramie Julian)

Sat, 14 Dec 2024 23:03:00 +0000

"In late September," Timothy Pratt writes in Capital & Main, "a massive billow of smoke from a chemical fire spread over metro Atlanta, lingering for weeks and prompting national news coverage. The smoke has cleared, but the anger has not dissipated in Conyers, the city of 20,000 where the fire occurred, and in surrounding areas... Smoke from the blaze left some residents with breathing difficulties, headaches, dizziness and skin rashes in the days that followed, along with a deepening worry about their community's safety... The fire was pool-chemical company BioLab's fourth in the last two decades, a track record that has created what one observer described as "generational rage" among residents." In this installment of our ongoing series Sacrificed—where we speak to people living, working, and fighting for justice in America's "sacrifice zones"—we speak with Hannah Loyd, Christina O'Connor, and Jeramie Julian: three residents who live near, and have been directly affected by, the September fire at the Conyers BioLab facility.

Additional links/info below…

Christina's Facebook page and TikTok
Hannah's Facebook page
Conyers, GA, Facebook group: Helping Our Health
Timothy Pratt, Capital & Main, "Chemical fire at Atlanta-area plant sparks local movement against BioLab"
Holly Yan, CNN, "Weeks after a chemical plant inferno, nearby residents say they're suffering prolonged illnesses and financial upheaval"
Status Coup News, "POISONED Georgians DEMAND toxic chemical plant close after chlorine gas inferno"
Joi Dukes, FOX 5 Atlanta, "EPA whistleblower on BioLab debris testing: 'You can't find what you don't look for'"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, ""Let's unite!": Poisoned residents of America's sacrifice zones are banding together"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Trainwreck in 'Trump Country': Partisan politics hasn't helped East Palestine, OH (DOCUMENTARY)"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'Towns are gone': In Helene-devastated Asheville, NC, volunteers battle misinformation and 'apocalyptic' wreckage"
Maximillian Alvarez, In These Times / The Real News Network, "Scenes from a sacrifice zone: South Baltimore residents fight back against industrial pollution"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

What working people's struggles to survive the Great Depression can teach us today (w/ Dana Frank)

Fri, 06 Dec 2024 21:51:00 +0000

"During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the US economy almost completely collapsed," historian Dana Frank writes in her new book, What Can We Learn from the Great Depression? "By 1933 a third of all those who'd had jobs were unemployed; another third were scraping by with lesser work. Racism, far from collapsing, festered and metastasized as insecurity rippled through the country, pushing people of color even further downward... As we face our own crises today—a precarious economy, outrageous inequality and poverty, growing racism, climate change—and lie awake at night, facing our own fears, these stories from the Great Depression offer us new and often surprising insights into our own time, our own choices." In this live episode of Working People, recorded at Red Emma's cooperative bookstore, cafe, and community events space in Baltimore, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Frank about her new book and what taking a fresh look at poor and working people's struggles in the dark 1930s can teach us about navigating our own perilous moment in history.

Additional links/info below…

Dana Frank, Beacon Press, What Can We Learn from the Great Depression?: Stories of Ordinary People & Collective Action in Hard Times
Dana Frank website
Red Emma's website, Facebook page, and Instagram
Dana Frank, The Los Angeles Times, "Trump Says He'll Expel a Million Immigrants. Believe Him–It Happened Before"
Dana Frank, History News Network, "Ohio's Little-Known Fascist Member of Congress"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Max Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Judy Gearhart and the Labor Link Podcast - What can a can of tuna teach us about International Worker Solidarity

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 07:19:00 +0000

Longtime Working People listeners will be familiar with Max and Mel's extended work discussing the supply chain, the workers who keep that system running day in and day out, and the dangerous and exploitative working conditions that many workers labor under. Our global economy relies on these workers to stay running–and bosses around the world use this pressure as a cudgel against the workers.

For today's episode of Working People, we're zooming out and taking a look at the global supply chain with Judy Gearhart, research professor with the Accountability Research Center at American University and host of the Labor Link Podcast, a podcast about "the brave individuals organizing the workers who make our stuff." With decades of experience collaborating with organizers and rights advocates supporting worker struggles in the Global South, Judy is uniquely positioned to bring the stories of these workers forth to her listeners.

Additional links/info below…

Check out the Labor Link podcast here.
Labor Link Podcast, "S2E4 - Hariyanto Suwarno (Indonesian Migrant Workers' Union) and Charli Fritzner (Greenpeace USA)"
Mel Buer, "Corporate billionaires are wrecking the supply chain. Just look at the railroads."
Teddy Ostrow and Ruby Walsh, "UPS and the Logistics Revolution"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Mel Buer
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Catholic nurses at Ascension call on Bishops to help with contract fight (w/ Gideon Eziama & Lisa Watson)

Thu, 21 Nov 2024 07:53:00 +0000

On November 12, unionized nurses at Ascension St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore held a rally in front of the Marriott Hotel downtown, where the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) was holding a meeting. St. Agnes nurses rallied with supporters from around the city, and they were even joined by fellow Ascension nurses who traveled from Wichita, Kansas, and Austin, Texas.

According to a press release from National Nurses Organizing Committee / National Nurses United (NNOC-NNU), the purpose of the rally was to "highlight how Ascension has failed to follow USCCB directives to Catholic health care organizations to both serve and advocate for patients 'at the margins of society' and 'treat its employees respectfully and justly.'... Baltimore nurses have been in negotiations since Feb. 2024, following a successful union election in November 2023. Ascension has failed to bargain in good faith with Saint Agnes nurses on language that would improve safe staffing and protect patients from cuts to services, lawsuits for billing disputes, and surprise billing or excess charges." In this on-the-ground episode, you'll hear speeches and chants from the Nov. 12 rally, and we speak with Gideon Eziama, a registered nurse with over 20 years of experience who has worked at Ascension St. Agnes for the last six years, and Lisa Watson, a registered nurse at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis Hospital in Wichita, who traveled to Baltimore to stand in solidarity with her coworkers at Ascension St. Agnes.

Additional links/info below…

National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram
NNOC/NNU Press Release: "Ascension nurses call on US bishops to hold Catholic hospital chain accountable to church directives"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Baltimore nurses at largest Catholic health network in US fight on for first contract"
Aleja Hertzler-McCain, Religion News Service, "Ascension nurses receive tepid response from Catholic bishops after rally"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Max Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

"Let's unite!": Poisoned residents of America's sacrifice zones are banding together (w/ Hilary Flint, Melanie Meade, Elise Keaton Wade, & Angela Shaneyfelt)

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 22:14:00 +0000

Sacrifice zones are areas where people have been left to live in conditions that threaten life itself, from toxic industrial pollution to the deadly, intensifying effects of man-made climate change. In a more just and less cruel society, the very concept of a "sacrifice zone" wouldn't exist. And yet, in America, after decades of deregulation and public disinvestment, more working-class communities are becoming sacrifice zones, and more of us are being set up for sacrifice at the altars of corporate greed and government abandonment.

America's sacrifice zones are no longer extreme outliers; they are, in fact, a harrowing model of the future that lies in store for most of us if the corporate monsters, corporate politicians, and Wall Street vampires destroying our communities aren't stopped. And residents of different sacrifice zones across the country, fellow workers on the frontlines of all this reckless and preventable destruction, are connecting with each other, learning from one another, and working together to fight back. In this Working People liveshow, recorded on Oct. 19 at Red Emma's worker cooperative bookstore, cafe, and community events space in Baltimore, we speak with a special panel of residents from four different sacrifice zones in the US about how the situations they're facing in their own communities and their struggles for justice and accountability are connected.

Panelists include: Hilary Flint, communications director of Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community and a former resident of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, a few miles from the site of the Feb 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical disaster in East Palestine, Ohio; Melanie Meade, a community organizer, educator, and life-long resident of Clairton, Pennsylvania, the site of US Steel's Clairton Coke Works, which was named the most toxic air polluter in Allegheny County in a 2021 report by PennEnvironment; Elise Keaton Wade, a real estate attorney by trade, longtime environmental justice activist, and a native of Southern West Virginia; Angela "Angie" Shaneyfelt, a resident of Curtis Bay in South Baltimore, who lives just blocks away from an open air coal terminal owned and operated by rail giant CSX Transportation, which has been polluting her community for generations.

Special thanks to Dr. Nicole Fabricant and the South Baltimore Community Land Trust for organizing this live show.

Additional links/info below…

Coal-Free Curtis Bay Facebook page and Instagram
South Baltimore Community Land Trust website, Twitter/X page, Facebook page, and Instagram
Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community website, Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter/X page
Hilary's Instagram
Nicole Fabricant's Instagram
Melanie's Facebook page
Angela's Facebook page
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "South Baltimore residents on the toxic reality of living in a 'sacrifice zone'"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine residents demand fully-funded healthcare"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "One year later, East Palestine residents want Norfolk-Southern held accountable"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'Towns are gone': In Helene-devastated Asheville, NC, volunteers battle misinformation and 'apocalyptic' wreckage"
Maximillian Alvarez, In These Times / The Real News Network, "Scenes from a sacrifice zone: South Baltimore residents fight back against industrial pollution"
Maximillian Alvarez & Molly Crabapple, In These Times, "Wasteland warriors"
Laura Gottesdiener, The Nation, "You can wipe out coal, but you can't bring the mountains back"
Nicole Fabricant, University of California Press, Fighting to Breathe: Race, Toxicity, and the Rise of Youth Activism in Baltimore
Nicole Fabricant, The Real News Network, "Opinion | CSX explosion in Curtis Bay should alarm Baltimore City and accelerate real change"
Adam Willis, The Baltimore Banner, "A state-backed report found coal dust across Curtis Bay. CSX isn't convinced"
Melanie Meade, PublicSource, "Family history, loss and hopes for a bright future fuel my fight for clean air in Clairton"
Daniel Shailer, PublicSource, "The Mon Valley holds its breath as the latest U.S. Steel settlement promises a fresh approach"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Max Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

How will railroad workers vote after Biden and Congress blocked their strike? (w/ Hugh Sawyer, Mark Burrows, & Ron Kaminkow)

Sat, 02 Nov 2024 20:12:00 +0000

Two years ago, the US was on the cusp of seeing its first national rail strike in decades. Then, President Joe Biden, at the urging of the rail companies, and with the help of both parties in Congress, preemptively blocked railroad workers from striking in December of 2022. Workers were forced to accept a contract that did not address the vast majority of issues that have been putting them, our communities, and our supply chain at hazard. How has this all shaped railroad workers' attitudes and approaches to the upcoming elections? In this urgent panel discussion, we pose this question directly to three veteran railroaders, and we have an honest discussion about how working people should act strategically within and outside the electoral system to advance their interests.

Panelists include: Hugh Sawyer, a veteran locomotive engineer with 36 years of experience, a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Division 316, and a founding member and acting treasurer of Railroad Workers United; Mark Burrows, a retired locomotive engineer with 37 of experience, who has served as co-chair and organizer for Railroad Workers United, where he still edits RWU's quarterly newsletter "The Highball"; Ron Kaminkow, a recently retired former brakeman, conductor, and engineer who worked for many years in freight rail before working 20 years as a passenger engineer at Amtrak, a founding member of RWU and delegate in the Northern Nevada Central Labor Council.

Additional links/info below…

Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and Twitter/X page
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Railroad workers speak out after Congress and Biden block rail strike"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Why do railroad workers keep dying on the job?"
Maximillian Alvarez & Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Labor militancy can't be stopped: Palestine and Labor Notes 2024"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "US freight workers say it's time to nationalize the railroads"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, ""This was preventable": Railroad workers explain how Wall St caused the East Palestine derailment"
Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Corporate billionaires are wrecking the supply chain. Just look at the railroads"
Adam Johnson, Nima Shirazi, Maximillian Alvarez, & Mel Buer, Citations Needed / The Real News Network, "Biden and Congressional Dems partner with GOP and corporate media to discipline railroad workers"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Railroad workers are being ground to dust. Who will help them?"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

SpoOoOoky Special 2024: The Movie that Traumatized Us All

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 00:21:00 +0000

Last year, we summoned all the Alvarez siblings from the ether to record our annual Halloween episode. Sadly, we were not able to record a new Halloween episode in 2024, but to celebrate the holiday and give listeners a break from all the heavy news, we are publicly releasing last year's spooky special. Jesse, Zak, Max, and MacKenna break down THE defining horror movie of our childhood, the movie that scarred us all: John Carpenter's The Thing. From the whole Alvarez family, we're wishing everyone out there a Happy Halloween!

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Workers take on Kaiser Again, Strike for a Fair Contract in SoCal

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 22:12:00 +0000

On Monday, Oct 21, 2400 behavior health workers at Kaiser Permanente's Southern California locations walked off the job in their ongoing struggle for a fair contract. Over the summer, negotiations between the health system and the bargaining committee, represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), failed to close the gap between their proposals, opening the door for a strike. The workers are now well into their second week on strike.

The healthcare giant refuses to bargain seriously with the workers, offering paltry raises instead of agreeing to the workers' demands for better pay, pensions, and safer staffing levels at the Kaiser mental health clinics in and around Southern California. These gains, the union believes, would allow Kaiser to compete with other health systems, drastically improve patient care quality, and solve many of the scheduling issues that have plagued the health system since before the start of the pandemic.

The union hopes that by striking, they can show management that they are serious about securing a fair contract for their members. Last week, on the first day of the strike, Mel sat down with Chris Reeves and Lisa Caroll, two behavioral health workers who work in Los Angeles and San Diego, respectively, to talk about the state of negotiations, what workers are demanding, and how it feels to be out on the picket line in the struggle for a fair contract.

Note: This episode was recorded on Oct 21, 2024, on the first day of the strike.

Additional links/info below…

NUHW's Strike Announcement Release
Donate to the NUHW Mental Health Workers' Strike Fund
Stay up-to-date on the strike here
Check out TRNN's previous coverage of Kaiser workers striking in the east coast

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Max Alvarez

After two years of striking, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette workers aren't ready to give up

Fri, 18 Oct 2024 22:06:00 +0000

We're coming up on a pretty mind-blowing anniversary in the news labor world–Two years ago, in October 2022, after the newspaper unilaterally cut off insurance benefits to production workers and newsroom workers filed ULPs for bad-faith bargaining, the workers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette walked off the job on strike.

The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh has been in negotiations for a contract with Post Gazette management for SEVEN years - since 2017 - and have battled bad faith bargaining, illegal and unilaterally imposed changes to working conditions, and loss of vacation time and insurance benefits. In October 2022, newsroom workers voted to go on strike, and strike they did.

Now, two years later, the workers of the Post Gazette are still on strike–and despite the NLRB upholding their Unfair Labor Practice charges against the company, still have a long way to go to total victory.

Today, we've brought some of the striking workers onto the show to talk about the last two years of striking, the welcome updates from the NLRB, and what's next for the workers as their battle continues.

Additional links/info below…

Steve Mellon, 'This has to stop': Pittsburgh news workers mark 2 years on strike with billboard truck that names names
The Pittsburgh Union Progress website
Donate to the strike fund here

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Max Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Look for the Helpers: Organizing Relief Aid in Asheville, NC, After "Apocalyptic" Hurricane Helene (w/ Byron Ballard & Lori Freshwater)

Mon, 14 Oct 2024 18:51:00 +0000

Over the past two weeks, people around the country have watched in horror as our neighbors and fellow workers have been battered by the successive disasters of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. "After making landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Sept. 26 and tearing through the Gulf Coast of Florida," Adeel Hassan and Isabelle Taft write in The New York Times, "Helene plowed north through Georgia and walloped the Blue Ridge Mountains, washing out roads, causing landslides and knocking out power and cell service for millions of people. Across western North Carolina, towns were destroyed, water and fuel supplies were disrupted, and residents were in a communications black hole, scrambling for Wi-Fi to try to reach friends and family... As of Oct. 6, there were more than 230 confirmed deaths from the storm." The hurricanes have passed, but the devastation and dire need they left in their wake remain. In this urgent mini-cast, we speak with two guests who are on the ground in Asheville, NC, providing relief and mutual aid to their community: Byon Ballard, a cofounder of the Mother Grove Goddess Temple in Asheville, where she serves as Senior Priestess, and Lori Freshwater, a journalist and relief aid volunteer who is originally from North Carolina.

Additional links/info below…

Mother Grove Goddess Temple website, Facebook page, and Instagram
Mother Grove Goddess Temple volunteer and donation information page
Beloved Asheville website, Facebook page, and Instagram
Adeel Hassan & Isabelle Taft, The New York Times, "What we know about Hurricane Helene's destruction so far"
Dharna Noor, The Guardian, "Double punch of hurricanes could become common due to climate crisis"
Oliver Milman, The Guardian, "'It's mindblowing': US meteorologists face death threats as hurricane conspiracies surge"
Oliver Milman & Jonathan Watts, The Guardian, "Global heating makes hurricanes like Helene twice as likely, data shows"
Lauren Aratani, The Guardian, "Insurance is failing hurricane survivors: 'People thought they were covered'"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Max Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Cornell's Crackdown on Palestine Solidarity Protests Could Force Grad Student-Worker to Leave US (w/ Jawuanna McAllister & Jenna Marvin)

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 06:40:00 +0000

The student encampment movement last school year turned institutions of higher education into flashpoints of struggle over Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, US support for it, and the right to speak out against it. This year, college and university campuses have become laboratories of repression where different administrative efforts to silence Palestine solidarity and antiwar demonstrators are being deployed. And that is playing out right now at Cornell University.

As Aaron Fernando writes at The Nation, "Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, has taken disciplinary action against an international student that will likely force him to leave the country, and could have a chilling effect on other international students participating in political protests.

Momodou Taal is a PhD candidate in Africana studies and a graduate student worker, attending Cornell under the F-1 visa program. In the last academic year, Taal joined student-led actions demanding that Cornell divest from industries complicit in Israel's attacks on civilians in Gaza."

The Cornell grad worker union, Cornell Graduate Students United-UE, released a statement condemning the university's disciplinary actions against Taal, and is demanding the administration bargain with the union "over the effects of the discipline administered to Taal." "CGSU-UE condemns Taal's suspension, which represents a disturbing pattern of discriminatory discipline against marginalized graduate workers. The union is still fighting for just cause protections in discipline and discharge, due process for academic evaluations, strong academic freedom, and nondiscrimination protections inclusive of political affiliation and action, religious practice, and caste." In this urgent episode, Max speaks about Cornell's actions against Taal with two members of the CGSU-UE bargaining committee: Jenna Marvin, a third-year PhD student in the History of Art & Visual Studies at Cornell; and Jawuanna McAllister, a sixth-year PhD candidate in Molecular Biology and Genetics at Cornell.

Additional links/info below…

Cornell Graduate Students United-UE website and Instagram
Petition: "UE Local 300 Member Facing Firing and Deportation for Exercising Free Speech"
Call for other grad unions to sign "Solidarity Statement of Support for Momodou Taal"
Aaron Fernando, The Nation, "A Cornell graduate student faces deportation after a pro-Palestine action"
Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, "Cornell grad student who attended pro-Palestine protest could be forced to leave U.S."

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Max Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Microsoft AI Data Center Comes for Drought-Battered Mexican Town's Water (w/ Diana Baptista)

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 06:36:00 +0000

As the climate crisis intensifies, billions of poor and working people around the world are suffering from lack of regular (or any) access to clean water, but the dawn of "AI" is about to make the problem much worse. In their recent report for Context, "Forget jobs—AI is coming for your water," Diana Baptista and Fintan McDonnell write, "Artificial intelligence lives on power and water, fed to it in vast quantities by data centres around the world. And those centres are increasingly located in the global south." In Colón, a municipality in Central Mexico that is home to Microsoft's first hyperscale data center campus in the country, working people are already bearing the environmental costs of man-made climate change, and they will be the ones to bear the costs of AI and Big Tech. "The town of 67,000 is suffering extreme drought. Its two dams have nearly dried up, farmers are struggling with dead crops, and families are relying on trucked and bottled water to fulfill their daily needs." In the latest installment of our ongoing series, Sacrificed, Max speaks with Diana Baptista, a data journalist at the Thomson Reuters Foundation based in Mexico City, about Mexico's ongoing water crisis and about the human and environmental costs of AI and cloud computing.

Additional links/info below…

Diana's Context author page and X page
Fintan McDonnell & Diana Baptista, Context, "Forget jobs. AI is coming for your water (Video Report)"
Fintan McDonnell & Diana Baptista, Context, "Thirsty data centres spring up in water-poor Mexican town (Text Report)"
David Berreby, Yale Environment 360, "As use of A.I. soars, so does the energy and water it requires"
Tamara Pearson, The Real News Network, "Indigenous Mexicans risk their lives to defend the environment from organized crime and 'insatiable, predatory' transnational corporations"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "In Brazil, the climate crisis is already turning working people into climate refugees"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "East Palestine residents have been left behind—and they're running out of water"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Max Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Alec Plant

Mon, 23 Sep 2024 05:12:00 +0000

Two years ago, workers from several different Trader Joe's grocery stores joined the wave of unionization efforts spreading across the country. Workers in Hadley, Massachusetts, made history in 2022 by not only becoming the first Trader Joe's store to vote to unionize but also by opting to form an independent union, Trader Joe's United (TJU). However, like with Starbucks, Amazon, Medieval Times, and other companies where workers have been exercising their right to organize in recent years, rampant union busting has been part of the Trader Joe's story from the beginning. What's worse, as Alex Press writes in Jacobin, rather than be compelled to follow the law and play by the rules, the supposedly progressive grocery chain has joined Elon Musk's SpaceX in attacking the very constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board. What is the current state of the union drive at Trader Joe's? What issues are employees ("crew members") still dealing with on the job, and what can supporters do to help? In this episode, Max speaks with Alec Plant, a worker organizer at the Lincoln and Grace Trader Joe's in Chicago and a member of Trader Joe's United.

Additional links/info below…

Trader Joe's United website, Twitter/X page, and Instagram
Lauren Kaori Gurley, The Washington Post, "As Chicago Trader Joe's votes on unionizing, grocer fights other efforts"
Alex Press, Jacobin, "Trader Joe's rejects the New Deal"
Dave Jameison, HuffPost, "Trader Joe's threatened workers ahead of union vote, feds allege"
Talia Soglin, Chicago Tribune, "Workers at North Center Trader Joe's are first in Chicago to file for union election"
Steven Greenhouse, The New Republic, "How corporations crush new unions"
Steven Greenhouse, The Guardian, "Major US corporations threaten to return labor to 'law of the jungle'"
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "Want to unionize your workplace? These worker-organizers have some advice"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Max Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

When Work Inspires Art: Labor Poet George Fish

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 00:33:00 +0000

While Max was inside the Labor Notes conference this past April, attending panels and sharing space with intelligent, hard working organizers, Mel was wandering the conference grounds outside, meeting folks and talking about the joy of being a member of the working class as they sat in the grass and ate their lunches and talked with friends, old and new. There's something to be said about the people you meet when you're sharing cigarettes outside a conference center–one such person was today's guest, adorned in UFCW buttons and sharing his poetry with Mel while they smoked together on a bench near the conference.

On this week's episode of Working People, Mel sat down with labor poet and union grocer George Fish, a wonderful man full of stories about his life and work, his experiences growing up and ultimately leaving the Catholic Church, his politics–honed through decades of life experience–and his relationship to his writing and poetry.

Additional links/info below…

To hear more about our time at LN 2024 - check out our Dispatches from Labor Notes episode

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Seven unions demand end to US military aid to Israel (w/ George Waksmunski & Brandon Mancilla)

Wed, 28 Aug 2024 02:19:00 +0000

The death toll in Gaza continues to climb, with conservative estimates putting the numbers of dead around 40,000, but a recent report in the British medical journal The Lancet estimates the actual death toll could be 186,000 or even higher—that's roughly 8% of Gaza's population. And with each passing day, the humanitarian crises unfolding in Gaza and the West Bank gets orders of magnitude worse. Seeing the dire situation in Palestine, seven major US labor unions collectively drafted, signed, and sent a letter to President Biden demanding that US military aid to Israel stop immediately. The letter reads, in part: "Large numbers of Palestinian civilians, many of them children, continue to be killed, reportedly often with US-manufactured bombs. Rising tensions in the region threaten to ensnare even more innocent civilians in a wider war. And the humanitarian crisis deepens by the day, with famine, mass displacement, and destruction of basic infrastructure including schools and hospitals. We have spoken directly to leaders of Palestinian trade unions who told us heart-wrenching stories of the conditions faced by working people in Gaza." In this episode, Max and Mel speak with George Waksmunski, president of the United Electrical, Radio, & Machine Workers of America (UE), Eastern Region, and Brandon Mancilla, Region 9A Director for the United Auto Workers, about why their unions signed onto this call for an end to US aid to Israel and what organized labor can do to end the genocide in Gaza.

Additional links/info below…

UAW website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram
UE website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram
Michael Sainato, The Guardian, "Seven major US labor unions call on Biden to 'shut off military aid to Israel'"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "UAW endorses Harris, but won't stop fighting for ceasefire in Gaza"
Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Organized labor shows up for Palestine"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Labor organizers explain why they're marching on DC for Palestine"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Tortured Palestinian activist describes military and settler carnage in the West Bank"

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Max Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

300 Episodes of 'Working People'! Announcements, reflections, & what comes next...

Mon, 12 Aug 2024 15:09:00 +0000

In 2024, Working People officially crossed the 300 episode mark! Since we published our first episode back in 2018, the show has grown in ways we never could have imagined, and the world itself has changed in radical, hopeful, terrifying ways, the labor movement has undergone incredible changes, and we've done our best to document that change and this moment in history through the conversations we've had with workers across industries, from all walks of life, about their lives, jobs, dreams, and struggles.

Over the past seven seasons of the show, we've interviewed working people, young, old, and middle-aged, union and non-union, worker-owners at worker cooperatives, workers who were just laid off, workers on strike, workers unionizing, families of workers who were killed by their jobs, Indigenous workers living on reservations, workers whose children were murdered in a school shooting, sex workers, academic workers, manufacturing workers, railroad and airline workers, educators, yoga instructors and professional massage therapists, social workers, baristas, journalists, healthcare workers, service workers, construction workers, coal miners, lumberjacks, Amazon workers. We've spoken with working people in Cuba, Canada, Brazil, Slovenia, Turkey, Myanmar, the UK, France, and more. In this special episode commemorating 300 episodes of Working People, Max and new cohost Mel Buer reflect on how far the show has come and where we're going next.

To all of our listeners and supporters, to those who have been with us since the beginning and to those who found the show at some point over the past 7 seasons, to everyone who has ever listened to the show, shared our episodes, donated to our Patreon, to everyone who ever reached out to remind us that someone was listening and encouraged us to keep going, to everyone who has supported us , THANK YOU. We love you, and we wouldn't be here without you. We hope to keep making you and all our fellow workers proud with this show, and it's an honor to be in this struggle with you.

Additional links/info below…

Maximillian Alvarez, Current Affairs, "Can the Working Class Speak?"
Working People, "Jesus Alvarez" (the first episode)
Mel Buer's TRNN Author Page and Twitter/X profile
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

What it Means to 'Walk the Walk': the NEA Staff Lockout (w/ Rowena Shurn and Ambereen Khan-Baker)

Thu, 08 Aug 2024 05:03:00 +0000

Today we have an urgent and important conversation with members of the NEA Staff Organization, the union of staffers at the National Education Association, who have been locked out of their workplace by NEA management for the past four weeks. The NEA, representing over 3 million members, is the largest union in the country. Staffers working for the NEA have been bargaining for higher wages and fairer treatment by the union, and have instead been locked out of their workplace after a 3-day ULP strike a month ago. We've brought on former educator Rowena Shurn and national board-certified teacher Ambereen Khan-Baker, both of whom are NEASO members and Senior Policy Program Analysts at the NEA, to talk about the lockout, what it means for a union to engage in union-busting tactics with their own staff, and how NEASO members are keeping each other's spirits up on the picket line.

Additional links/info below…

Permanent links below…

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Studio Production: Mel Buer
Post-Production: Jules Taylor

From the East Palestine Derailment Disaster to the Toledo Water Crisis (w/ Mike Balonek & Chris Albright)

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 03:01:00 +0000

From East Palestine, Ohio, to South Baltimore and beyond, we've been connecting you with residents living in the toxic wastelands left by private and government-run industry—ordinary working people who have been thrust into extraordinary fights for their lives. In the latest installment of our ongoing Sacrificed series, we go to Toledo, Ohio, a city that, in 2014, lost access to its water supply for three days straight due to a massive, toxic algal bloom caused by runoff from industrial animal farming.

We speak with filmmaker Mike Balonek and welcome back Chris Albright, a resident of East Palestine, to discuss the connections between the Norfolk Southern train derailment disaster and the Toledo Water Crisis. We also talk about an upcoming conference in Toledo on Saturday, August 3, hosted by the Justice for East Palestine Residents & Workers coalition: "Is your community a sacrifice zone? A conference on corporate-caused disasters." The conference will focus on the Toledo Water Crisis, the derailment in East Palestine and the need for better railroad safety, and the radioactive poisoning of residents living near the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Pike County, Ohio. The conference will also feature the world premiere of filmmaker Mike Balonek's new documentary The Big Problem In The Great Lakes, a film about the Toledo Water Crisis of 2014.

Additional links/info below…

Toledo conference details: Saturday, Aug. 3, 9:30AM
Mike Balonek, The Big Problem In The Great Lakes
WTOL 11, "Timeline | Looking back at the 2014 Toledo water crisis"
Maximillian Alvarez, Cameron Granadino, & Hannah Faris, The Real News Network, "Factory farms pose an 'existential threat' for rural Wisconsin communities"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Before East Palestine, there was Portsmouth"
Stephanie Elverd, The Pakersburg News & Sentinel, "East Palestine residents express frustration with settlement from train derailment"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Teamsters Members React to Sean O'Brien's RNC Speech (w/ Amber Mathwig, Tony, Chantelle, Rick Smith, Zoey Moretti Niebuhr, Jess Leigh, Kat, & Robert Conklin)

Mon, 22 Jul 2024 15:18:00 +0000

On Monday, July 15, on Day 1 of the Republican National Convention, Sean O'Brien, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, became the first Teamsters president ever to address the RNC. Invited by former president Trump, who is now officially the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election, O'Brien's speech was no ordinary RNC filler. And to anyone watching, or anyone paying attention to the political reality in this country, this was no ordinary RNC either. O'brien's very presence on the RNC stage, and the contents of his speech, which lasted for 17 minutes, have sparked a firestorm of intense reactions and furious debates within the labor movement and the Republican and Democratic parties alike. Everyone is talking about this speech and what it all means for workers, but workers themselves need to be driving that conversation. In this special episode, cohosted by Max and Mel Buer, we bring together a diverse panel of Teamster members from across the country to have a spirited, fair, and productive discussion about O'Brien's speech, the 2024 elections, and the future of the labor movement.

Speakers include: Amber Mathwig, a UPS warehouse worker and member of Teamsters Local 638 in Minnesota; Tony, a UPS worker, member of Teamsters Local 174 in Seattle, and a member of Teamsters Mobilize; Chantelle, a part-time UPS worker and member of Teamsters Local 177 in New Jersey; Rick Smith, a 35-year Teamster working in the freight industry and host of The Rick Smith Show; Zoey Moretti Niebuhr, a UPS worker, third-generation Teamster, member of Teamsters Local 391 in North Carolina, and president of Pride at Work—North Carolina; Jess Leigh, a UPS worker, shop steward for Teamsters Local 728 in Atlanta, and a member of the Teamsters LBGTQ Caucus and Teamsters Mobilize; Kat, a part-time UPS worker and shop steward for Teamsters Local 70 in Oakland; and Robert Conklin, a third-generation Teamster and member of Teamsters Local 665 in San Francisco.

Additional links/info below…

PBS NewsHour, "WATCH: Teamsters President Sean O'Brien speaks at Republican National Convention | 2024 RNC Night 1"
Sean O'Brien post on X about Sen. Josh Hawley
Ryan Bort, Rolling Stone, "Union Twitter account goes rogue after president speaks at RNC"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Everybody hates Sean"
The Rick Smith Show website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram
Teamsters Mobilize website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram
Teamsters LGBTQ Caucus website
Pride at Work—North Carolina Instagram
Maximillian Alvarez & Teddy Ostrow, The Real News Network, "UPS and Teamsters reach tentative agreement, but is a strike still possible?"
Teddy Ostrow, The Upsurge / The Real News Network, "The UPS Teamsters contract has been ratified. What now?"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Dispatch from Labor Notes & Railroad Workers United Conferences (Chicago, 2024)

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 00:13:00 +0000

Two months ago, from April 17-21, workers and labor organizers of all stripes convened in Chicago for the bi-annual Labor Notes conference, which overlapped with the Railroad Workers United convention. As the registration website rightly noted, "Labor Notes Conferences are the biggest gatherings of grassroots labor activists, union reformers, and all-around troublemakers out there." This is not a buttoned up convention of union officials; this is a real grassroots gathering of people on the frontlines of struggle, talking openly, honestly, and strategically about their struggles, victories, and defeats, about what we can all learn from one another as fellow workers and fighters, and about how we can all contribute to growing the labor movement as fellow members of that movement. In this on-the-ground episode, cohosted by Max and Mel Buer, we speak with attendees at the RWU convention, Labor Notes, and participants in the Labor for Palestine protest that took place outside of Labor Notes on April 19.

Speakers include: Johnny Walker, a railroad worker and member of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers—Transportation Division (SMART-TD) Local 610 in Baltimore; Matt Weaver, who has worked on the railroad since 1994, is a member of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees (BMWED-IBT) Local 2624, where he also serves as legislative director for his state; Marcie Pedraza, an electrician at Ford Chicago Assembly Plant and member of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 551; Jacob Morrison, a member of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), president of the North Alabama Labor Council, and cohost of The Valley Labor Report; Leticia Zavala, legendary farm labor organizer working with farm workers in Mexico and the United States, and a member of El Futuro Es Nuestro (It's Our Future), a farmworker caucus within the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC, AFL-CIO); Colin Smalley, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 777 in Chicago; Berenice Navarrete-Perez, vice president of the Association of Legislative Employees (ALE); Annie Shields, former journalist and union organizer with the NewsGuild of New York; and Axel Persson, a locomotive engineer in France and general secretary of the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) Railway Workers Union in Trappes.

Additional links/info below…

Labor Notes website, Facebook page, and Twitter/X page
Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
El Futuro Es Nuestro – It's Our Future website and Facebook page
Labor for Palestine website
The Valley Labor Report YouTube channel, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Patreon
Duncan Freeman, The Chief Leader: "At Labor Notes conference, a sense of mission and solidarity"
Axel Persson, ML Today, "CGT leader speaks to Labor Notes conference"
Martha Grevatt, Workers World, "Militant pro-Palestine demonstration during Labor Notes conference takes the street"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

"Safe Staffing Now!": Baltimore Nurses at Largest Catholic Health Network in US Fight On for First Contract (w/ Nicki Horvat)

Tue, 02 Jul 2024 15:12:00 +0000

On the morning of Thursday, June 20, unionized nurses at Ascension St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore held a rally outside the hospital to raise awareness of their efforts to secure a first contract and to show management that they're not backing down from their core demands for safe staffing and an operational model that puts patients and patient care first. "St. Agnes nurses are calling on Ascension to accept their proposals to improve safe staffing and, subsequently, nurse retention," a press release from National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) stated. "Nearly 20 percent of nurses at St. Agnes began employment at the hospital after January 1 of this year. Meanwhile, just over a third of nurses have more than four years of experience at the hospital... The Catholic hospital system is one of the largest in the country with 140 hospitals in 19 states and also one of the wealthiest, with cash reserves, an investment company, and a private equity operation worth billions of dollars—and, because of its nonprofit status, is exempt from paying federal taxes." In this on-the-ground episode, we take you to the NNOC/NNU picket line and speak with Nicki Horvat, an RN in the Neonatal Intensive Care unit at Ascension St. Agnes and member of the bargaining team, about what she and her coworkers are fighting for.

Additional links/info below…

National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram
NNOC/NNU Press Release: "Ascension Saint Agnes nurses demand hospital accept 'Patients First,' staffing enforcement policies"
Angela Roberts, The Baltimore Sun, "Saint Agnes nurses rally for better pay, more patient protections"
Gino Canella, The Real News Network, "An oral history of the 10-month St. Vincent Hospital strike"
Gino Canella, The Real News Network, "Striking nurses hold the line against investor-owned healthcare giant"
Robert Glatter, Peter Papadakos, & Yash Shah, Time Magazine, "American health care faces a staffing crisis and it's affecting care"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Kaiser workers win big after largest healthcare strike in US history"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

In Brazil, the Climate Crisis Is Already Turning Working People into Climate Refugees (w/ Michael Fox)

Mon, 24 Jun 2024 16:37:00 +0000

"Southern Brazil is facing its worst climate tragedy ever," Latin-America-based journalist Mike Fox wrote from Brazil for the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) in early May. "Unprecedented floods have impacted 1.4 million people and forced more than 160,000 people from their homes... The images are shocking. Downtown Porto Alegre, the capital of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, is underwater... On May 2, a dam collapsed, unleashing an over 6-foot-high wave and worsening flooding in the area... Although the tragedy is a natural disaster, experts have pointed out that the lack of preparedness on the part of state and local officials may have contributed to the devastation. According to one report, Porto Alegre slashed funds for flooding prevention over the last three years and didn't spend a cent on it in 2023." In this episode, we talk with Mike about his reporting trip to Southern Brazil, the devastation he witnessed firsthand, and the conversations he had with poor and working-class people who have borne the worst impacts of the floods and who continue to bear the greatest costs of man-made climate chaos.

Additional links/info below…

Michael Fox, The Real News Network/NACLA, Under the Shadow (podcast series)
Michael Fox Patreon page
Michael Fox, NACLA, ""They're making it up as they go": Inside the response to Brazil's deadly floods"
Michael Fox, Al Jazeera, "'The future is dark': Brazilian businesses shattered by floods"
Michael Fox, Truthout, "Climate refugees are occupying abandoned buildings in Southern Brazil"
Bianca Graulau, The Real News Network, "The Puerto Ricans illegally occupying land to resist displacement"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'CSX has got to go!' Industrially polluted South Baltimore residents want rail giant out of their community"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "South Baltimore residents on the toxic reality of living in a 'sacrifice zone'"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

"CSX has got to go!" Industrially Polluted South Baltimore Residents March to "Evict" Rail Giant from Their Community

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 04:57:00 +0000

On June 10, in the working-class community of Curtis Bay in South Baltimore, over 50 residents, activists, and supporters from around the city marched through the streets of Curtis Bay to hold CSX Transportation accountable for polluting their community, homes, and bodies with toxic coal dust. Even after an expansive scientific study co-sponsored by the Community of Curtis Bay Association, the South Baltimore Community Land Trust, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, and the Maryland Department of Environment confirmed the presence of coal dust in the air of the South Baltimore community of Curtis Bay, CSX has denied culpability and called the study "materially flawed." Residents say they're fed up with the company refusing to take responsibility for the coal dust, and with the city government for ignoring their cries for help for years, and they're not going to stay quiet.

"We got to stand together for Curtis Bay, for South Baltimore," one resident and youth leader, Carlos Sanchez, told the crowd. "We have to remove CSX for the health of our communities." With other locals watching from their porches, sidewalks, and storefronts, the crowd marched from the Curtis Bay Rec Center all the way up to the gates of the CSX terminal. There, they signed and delivered a giant "Eviction Notice" to CSX, a company that recorded over $10 billion in gross profits last year. In this on-the-ground edition of Working People, Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Curtis Bay residents on the day of the march and takes you to the heart of the action.

Speakers in this episode (in order of appearance) include: Shashawnda Campbell of Baltimore Community Land Trust; David Jones, a resident who has lived in Curtis Bay for over 35 years; Angie Shaneyfelt, a resident who has lived in Curtis Bay for 17 years; Angela Smothers, a lifelong resident of Mt. Winans in South Baltimore; Carlos Sanchez, a youth leader born and raised in Lakeland, South Baltimore; Roma Gutierrez, a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, South Baltimore, and an environmental organizer and youth leader with South Baltimore Community Land Trust; an unnamed representative of Malaya Movement Baltimore; and Maria Urbina, a South Baltimore resident.

Additional links/info below…

Coal-Free Curtis Bay Facebook page and Instagram
South Baltimore Community Land Trust website, Twitter/X page, Facebook page, and Instagram
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "South Baltimore residents on the toxic reality of living in a 'sacrifice zone'"
Aman Azhar, InsideClimate News, "South Baltimore communities press city, state regulators for stricter pollution controls on coal export operations"
Nicole Fabricant, University of California Press, Fighting to Breathe: Race, Toxicity, and the Rise of Youth Activism in Baltimore
Nicole Fabricant, The Real News Network, "Opinion | CSX explosion in Curtis Bay should alarm Baltimore City and accelerate real change"
Michael Middleton & Dr. Sacoby Wilson, Maryland Matters, "Commentary: Maryland deserves a better environmental justice bill"
Chloe Ahmann, Baltimore Sun, "Curtis Bay residents deserve a coal-free future"
Christine Condon & Dillon Mullan, Baltimore Sun, "Curtis Bay residents ask state to shut down South Baltimore CSX facility after study documents toll of coal dust"
Maryland Department of Environment, "New scientific study confirms airborne coal dust in Curtis Bay community"
Adam Willis, The Baltimore Banner, "A state-backed report found coal dust across Curtis Bay. CSX isn't convinced"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Liz Oliva Fernández

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 03:35:00 +0000

For the past six years on this show, we've talked to working people from across the United States, from virtually every walk of life, about their lives, jobs, dreams, and struggles. But today, we're going to talk about what it's like to live and work in a country that has been designated a political enemy of US empire, a country that sits only 90 miles away from the US, a country that American politicians have resolved to strangle into oblivion for the past 60 years. In this episode, we speak with Liz Oliva Fernández from Cuba. Liz is an award-winning Cuban journalist with Belly of the Beast, an independent outlet covering Cuba and US-Cuba relations, and she is the presenter of two new documentaries, Hardliner on the Hudson and Uphill on the Hill. In addition to exposing the sinister interests behind, and the devastating real-world impacts of, the Cold War Cuban policy of Joe Biden's administration, pushed by powerful hardliners like Senator Bob Menendez, former Chair of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the films also document Liz's experience as a Black journalist from the Global South coming to the US to confront the predominantly white politicians and interests waging economic war on her country. We talk about Liz's new films, and we talk about growing up in Cuba, becoming a journalist, and life for woking people in Cuba under the US-imposed blockade and designation of Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism .

Additional links/info below…

Belly of the Beast website, Facebook page, Instagram, and YouTube channel
Belly of the Beast, Hardliner on the Hudson
Belly of the Beast, Uphill on the Hill
Andrew Buncombe, The Guardian, "Two Cuban documentaries show effects of US sanctions on island nation"
Ju-Hyun Park, The Real News Network, "Cuba's protests and the long crisis of US intervention"

Permanent links below…

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

A Veteran Longshoreman's View of the Baltimore Bridge Disaster (w/ John Blom & Marc Steiner)

Thu, 23 May 2024 03:27:00 +0000

Nearly two months have passed since the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, and the city is still reeling from the disaster. The bridge collapse immediately rendered the Port of Baltimore inoperable, threatening hundreds of thousands of jobs, and billions in wages, business revenue, and state taxes. While channels into the port have begun to open back up slowly, workers on the waterfront have been deeply affected, and the road to recovery will be long. As questions linger about the root causes of the Key Bridge collapse and what sort of future Baltimore can salvage for itself, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez and Marc Steiner, host of The Marc Steiner Show, team up to speak with John Blom, a veteran longshoreman who worked in the Port of Baltimore for over 30 years, to get a workers' history of the port and its meaning to the city it nurtured.

Additional links/info below…

Kari Lydersen, In These Times, "Making waves: Baltimore longshoremen fight for democracy within union"
Dominick Phillippe-August, WMAR, "Nearly 140,000 jobs could be impacted by Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse"
Dan Belson, Baltimore Sun, "Largest channel so far opens for 24/7 vessel traffic into Port of Baltimore after Key Bridge collapse"
Michael Sainato, The Guardian, "Maryland lawmakers draft emergency bill to help Baltimore port workers"

Permanent links below…

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music…

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

"South Baltimore is a sacrifice zone" (w/ David Jones, Angela Smothers, Carlos Sanchez, & Tiffany Thompson)

Thu, 09 May 2024 21:28:00 +0000

"South Baltimore is a sacrifice zone," Michael Middleton and Dr. Sacoby Wilson wrote in a guest commentary published in Maryland Matters this February. "The six communities that make up South Baltimore—Cherry Hill, Westport, Mt. Winans, Lakeland, Brooklyn, and Curtis Bay—rank in the top 3% of the state for environmental burden using a Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) screening tool. Curtis Bay, the highest in the state, is Maryland's poster child for environmental injustice. Industrial areas near Curtis Bay house oil tanks, a wastewater treatment plant, chemical plants, landfills, the country's largest medical waste incinerator, and more. Heavy diesel trucks frequent residential streets. The Wagner's Point and Fairfield communities that were once Curtis Bay's neighbors to the east are gone. Those residents accepted buyouts to leave between the 1980s and 2011 after a series of chemical spills and accidents." In this episode, we continue our "Sacrificed" series by focusing on communities in South Baltimore and a story that quite literally hits close to home, less than half an hour from where Max lives. We speak with a panel of residents of South Baltimore about how they have seen their communities change over the years, what it feels like to be "sacrificed" by industry and their government, how they and their neighbors are fighting for change, fighting for justice, and what others in Baltimore and beyond can do to help. Panelists include: David Jones, who has lived in Curtis Bay for over 35 years; Angela Smothers, a lifelong resident of Mt. Winans; Carlos Sanchez, a youth leader born and raised in Lakeland; and Tiffany Thompson, who was born and raised in Cherry Hill and has lived in Curtis Bay for the past three years.

Additional links/info below…

Coal-Free Curtis Bay Facebook page
Nicole Fabricant, University of California Press, Fighting to Breathe: Race, Toxicity, and the Rise of Youth Activism in Baltimore
Nicole Fabricant, The Real News Network, "Opinion | CSX explosion in Curtis Bay should alarm Baltimore City and accelerate real change"
Michael Middleton & Dr. Sacoby Wilson, Maryland Matters, "Commentary: Maryland deserves a better environmental justice bill"
Chloe Ahmann, Baltimore Sun, "Curtis Bay residents deserve a coal-free future"
Christine Condon & Dillon Mullan, Baltimore Sun, "Curtis Bay residents ask state to shut down South Baltimore CSX facility after study documents toll of coal dust"
Aman Azhar, InsideClimate News, "On a 'Toxic Tour' of Curtis Bay in South Baltimore, Visiting Academics and Activists See a Hidden Part of the City"
Christian Olaniran, Adam Thompson, Caroline Foreback, CBS News, "Residents meet after air quality study reveals presence of coal dust in Curtis Bay"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Vina Colley

Wed, 24 Apr 2024 23:20:00 +0000

"Vina Colley was Erin Brockovich before Erin Brockovich," Kevin Williams wrote in a 2020 Belt Magazine article titled, "The Poisonous Legacy of Portsmouth's Gaseous Diffusion Plant." Williams continues, "Colley has become an unlikely citizen-scientist, spending a lifetime researching and documenting PORTS and its sins... Colley was hired as an electrician at the facility in 1980 and worked there for three years. 'I was exposed to everything. We were cleaning off radioactive equipment that we did not know was radioactive. They never told us,' Colley told me. Then, she said, her hair started falling out, she developed rashes, and 'I got really sick and went to the hospital, not knowing that it was my job causing me all these problems. I had big tumors.' In the four decades since, she's faced a range of health problems, including chronic bronchitis, tumors, and pulmonary edema." In this episode, we sit down with Colley herself to talk about growing up in Ohio during America's Cold War atomic age, her experience working as an electrician at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, and her decades-long fight to hold the plant and the government accountable for what they've done to her, her coworkers, and her community, and to get them the compensation they deserve.

Additional links/info below…

Vina's Facebook page
DOL Energy Advisory Board Information: Comments for the Record, "My name is Vina Colley and I am a sick worker from the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion plant in Piketon, Ohio..."
Kevin Williams, Belt Magazine, "The Poisonous Legacy of Portsmouth's Gaseous Diffusion Plant"
Erin Gottsacker, The Ohio Newsroom, "Piketon stopped enriching uranium twenty years ago. Now the nuclear industry is coming back"
Scioto Valley Guardian, "Residents in Pike County closer to justice and compensation for radioactive contaminants"
Sen. Sherrod Brown, Press Release: "Brown secures commitment to work to add Pike, Scioto county residents to radiation exposure compensation program"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine residents demand fully-funded healthcare"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Working People Deserve Bread and Roses—and Musicals (w/ Gene Bruskin)

Mon, 22 Apr 2024 02:47:00 +0000

Gene Bruskin was born to a Jewish working-class family in South Philadelphia and has been a life-long social justice activist, union organizer, poet, and playwright. Since retiring from the labor movement, Gene wrote his first play in 2016, a musical comedy for and about work and workers called Pray For the Dead: A Musical Tale of Morgues, Moguls and Mutiny. In this mini-cast we talk to Bruskin about his life in the the labor movement, the role of art and imagination in revolutionary politics, and about Bruskin's new musical, The Return of John Brown, which is premiering this month in Baltimore, Washington, DC, and the John Brown Raid Headquarters in Maryland. "In a staged reading of this new musical, John Brown, who in 1859 became the first person in the nation executed for treason, climbs out of his grave where he was hanged, into the present, only to be rearrested and threatened with another hanging."

Additional links/info below…

The Return of John Brown (musical,) website
Cosmopod, "Gene Bruskin: A Life in the Labor Movement"
Christina L. Perez, Labor Notes, "Labor Musical Brings Morgue Workers' Struggle to Life"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Justice for East Palestine Residents & Workers Conference in East Palestine

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 07:21:00 +0000

On March 23, 2024, a coalition of around 80 people convened at the East Palestine Country Club at the first gathering called by the newly formed Justice for East Palestine Residents & Workers Coalition. Those in attendance included: East Palestine residents; railroad workers; residents of other "sacrifice zones" in Ohio, Maryland, California, and West Virginia; concerned citizens living near other rail lines; labor activists and labor union representatives; representatives of environmental justice organizations; (striking) journalists; socialists, Trump voters, non-voters, etc.; and more. As journalist Steve Mellon reported, "The newly formed coalition, dubbed Justice for East Palestine Residents & Workers, determined they will travel to Washington, D.C., on Oct. 8 to further their demand that the federal government step in and make sure those affected by the derailment are provided with fully funded health care. They plan to involve union members, including those who represent workers at railroad companies, as well as environmentalists and members of other communities damaged by chemical contamination. The coalition also determined to schedule a second conference in Iowa — the cause has been embraced by union organizers there; several traveled by bus to East Palestine to attend Saturday's event — and to seek a meeting with the president of the AFL-CIO. Organizers want the federation of unions representing more than 12 million workers to support the coalition's demand."

In this extended episode, you will hear a compilation of speakers from the March 23 conference in East Palestine. Speakers include: Lauri Harmon, East Palestine resident; Chris Albright, East Palestine resident; Jami Rae Wallace, East Palestine resident, president of East Palestine Unity Council; Christina Siceloff, East Palestine resident; Rob Two-Hawks, East Palestine resident; Daren Gamble, East Palestine resident; John Palmer, longtime organizer and officer with the Teamsters, but not speaking on behalf of the Teamsters; Andrew Sandberg, International Association of Machinists (IAM); George Waksmunski, United Electrical Workers (UE); Chris Silvera, Teamsters Local 808 Executive Secretary; Steve Mellon, journalist for the Pittsburgh Union Progress, on strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for 18 months; Vina Colley, Portsmouth-Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety & Security; Steve Zeltzer, WorkWeek; David Pfister, Food & Water Watch; Nicole Fabricant, activist, academic, and author of Fighting to Breathe: Race, Toxicity, and the Rise of Youth Activism in Baltimore; Hilary Flint, Clean Air Action; Penny Logsdon, Lee County, Iowa, Labor Chapter; Jeff Kurtz, Lee County, Iowa, Labor Chapter; Carrie Duncan, Lee County, Iowa, Labor Chapter; Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network; Mike Stout, Musician.

Additional links/info below…

Justice for East Palestine Residents & Workers website
Mike Stout, "Stand Up for East Palestine" music video
Steve Zeltzer, The Labor Video Project YouTube channel
Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Union Progress, "'If I don't talk no one's going to know': Stories of pain from East Palestine move coalition members to action"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song
Jules Taylor, "E.P. Theme for W.P."

From Baltimore to East Palestine, This Is Unacceptable (w/ The Valley Labor Report & Maximillian Alvarez)

Wed, 03 Apr 2024 07:38:00 +0000

24 hours after Max returned to Baltimore from East Palestine, Ohio, the shipping vessel Dali slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, collapsing it into the Patapsco River. The catastrophic collision and collapse of the bridge claimed the lives of six immigrant, non-union construction workers who were working the night shift at the time, filling potholes on the bridge. In this interview on The Valley Labor Report, Alabama's only weekly union talk show, hosts Jacob Morrison and Adam Keller speak with Max about The Real News Network's coverage of the bridge collapse, the connections between Baltimore and East Palestine, and about the conspiracists and "anti-woke" grifters who are trying to capitalize on this tragedy for their own gain.

Additional links/info below…

Baltimore Immigrant Community Fund Key Bridge Emergency Response
The Valley Labor Report YouTube channel, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Patreon
The Valley Labor Report, "The Toll of Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse in Baltimore on Working People - TVLR 3/30/24"
Democracy Now!, "Baltimore Key Bridge Collapses, Killing Six Immigrant Workers Who Had No Access to Emergency Warnings"
America's Workforce Radio, "Union Solidarity Is the Key to Getting East Palestine Residents Help"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Missing, Presumed Dead Workers from Key Bridge Weren't Informed of Mayday Call"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Nation, "Echoes of East Palestine in the Key Bridge Collapse"
Breaking Points, "Construction Workers ABANDONED in Baltimore Bridge Collapse"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song
Jules Taylor, "TVLR Theme Song / Florence Reece Remix"

Labor, Community, & Environmental Organizations Are Mobilizing to Get East Palestine Healthcare (w/ Justice for East Palestine Residents & Workers)

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 04:41:00 +0000

This Saturday, March 23, unionists and labor leaders, environmental justice groups, community organizers, community members from other "sacrifice zones," and supporters from around the country are coming to East Palestine to join residents as part of the newly formed Justice for East Palestine Residents and Workers coalition. The coalition has come together in recent months and mobilized around the core objective of pressuring President Biden to invoke the Stafford Act and issue a major disaster declaration for East Palestine. If Biden does this, organizers say, it will immediately unlock a whole suite of federal resources that residents desperately need and have been demanding for a year, and it will also immediately guarantee every resident emergency healthcare. For residents like Chris Albright—a former pipeline worker and LIUNA member who has been disabled by the toxic fallout from the derailment, is now experiencing severe heart failure, can't work, and has subsequently lost his health benefits—this is a matter of life and death, and we are racing against the clock.

This episode is a compilation of voices from across the growing Justice for East Palestine Residents and Workers coalition. Speeches in the first half are from a panel cohosted by Steve Zeltzer and Penny Logsdon and recorded by the Labor Video Project on Feb. 3, 2024, the one-year anniversary of the derailment; speeches in the second half are from another panel cohosted by Steve Zeltzer and Penny Logsdon and recorded by the Labor Video Project on March 9, 2024. Speakers include: Steve Zeltzer (Labortech); Penny Logsdon (Lee County Labor Chapter); Chris Albright (East Palestine resident, LIUNA member); Jami Wallace (East Palestine Unity Council); Steve Mellon (Pittsburgh Union Progress); Jeff Kurtz (Lee County Labor Chapter); Maximillian Alvarez (The Real News Network); Mike Stout (protest musician); Charlie Wishman (Iowa AFL-CIO); John Palmer (Teamsters, San Antonio); Bob Anspach (BLET-IBT 391); Vina Colley (Portsmouth Pikeston Residents for Environmental Justice).

From the Justice for East Palestine Residents and Workers organizing committee: "We will be hosting a National Conference for the people of East Palestine along with supporters in Ohio and throughout the country to build this campaign for healthcare on Saturday, March 23, 2024, where we will bring community members, labor, environmentalist and allies together in our urgent campaign. This Conference will be held from 12-5pm ET at the East Palestine Park. To contact the Justice for East Palestine Residents and Workers organizing committee, reach out to

Steve Zeltzer: labormedia[at]gmail[dot]com

Penny Logsdon: onecent7921[at]gmail[dot]com

In solidarity."

Additional links/info below…

Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Union Progress, "'Where are you, President Biden?' Union organizers, residents demand health care for East Palestine"
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "East Palestine DEMANDS Biden Visit More Than 'PHOTO OP'"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Brett Cross, Uzi's Dad

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 12:00:00 +0000

Brett Cross is a small-town kid who grew up in Western Texas, among the oil fields, near Odessa. He worked in the oil fields, worked his way up to doing pipeline work, eventually moving to green energy work. He even became a foreman, working hard to provide for his family. And Brett was at work when he got the call from his wife Nikki that changed their lives forever. It was May 24, 2022, Nikki was at their sons' school, Robb Elementary, in Uvalde, Texas. "This is not a fucking joke," she said, "there's a shooter at the boys' school." We talk to Brett about his life before, about living in a small town, working and making your own fun, we talk about some of the family memories he cherishes most. We remember Brett and Nikki's son Uziyah "Uzi" Garcia, we talk about the day Uzi was taken from them, along with 18 of his classmates and two of his teachers, and we talk about the unimaginable fight for justice and real change that Brett and Nikki have been fighting ever since.

C/W: This episode discusses school shootings and the murdering of children.

Additional links/info below…

Brett's Twitter/X page
Sneha Dey, Erin Douglas, Andrew Zhang, Brooke Park, & Jessica Priest, The Texas Tribune / ProPublica, "21 Lives Lost: Uvalde Victims Were a Cross-Section of a Small, Mostly Latino Town in South Texas"
Edgar Sandoval, The New York Times, "A Year After the Uvalde Massacre: Did Anything Change?"
Gus Bova, Texas Observer, "The Uvalde Parents Won't Back Down"
Elissa Jorgensen, American Statesman, "'There Are no Good Days': Uziyah's Family Won't Stop Fighting Until Gun Laws Change"
Danielle Campoamor, Today, "A Father's Fury: Uvalde Dad Brett Cross Is Mad as Hell and Wants You to Know It"
Kayla Padilla, Texas Public Radio, "Arrested Uvalde Father Says Police More Upset With Him Using Expletive Than Children Dying"
Yvette Benavides, David Martin Davies, & Julián Aguilar, Texas Public Radio, "'We Did It!' — Uvalde's Entire School Police Department Suspended Following Activism from Families"
Lomi Kriel, Alejandro Serrano, & Lexi Churchill, The Texas Tribune / ProPublica, "'Cascading Failures': Justice Department Blasts Law Enforcement's Botched Response to Uvalde School Shooting"
John Woodrow Cox, Steven Rich, Linda Chong, Lucas Trevor, John Muyskens, & Monica Ulmanu, The Washington Post, "More Than 360,000 Students Have Experienced Gun Violence at School Since Columbine"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song
Jules Taylor, "John L. Handcox Remix"
Follow Jules on Twitter and Facebook

'The Upsurge' is Dead. Long Live 'The Upsurge'! (w/ Teddy Ostrow)

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 15:07:00 +0000

This is an excerpt from our most recent bonus episode featuring Teddy Ostrow. To access the entire conversation, and numerous bonus episodes we have released throughout seven seasons of Working People, please visit our Patreon to unlock this content.

The Upsurge was an invaluable show that documented two of the most pivotal labor union struggles in recent years as they were happening: the 2023 Teamsters contract fight at UPS, and the UAW's 2023 stand-up strike at the Big Three automakers. Even though The Upsurge has closed shop and Teddy Ostrow, Ruby Walsh, and the gang are moving on to new projects, we sat down with Teddy to take a moment to celebrate what they accomplished and talk about what we've learned from the last year in worker struggle.

Additional links/info below…

The Upsurge podcast
Teddy Ostrow Twitter/X profile
Teddy Ostrow, The Real News Network, "New York's Tenant Unions Are Playing the Long Game"
Mel Buer & Teddy Ostrow, The Real News Network, "The UAW Won Big in 2023—And They're Not Done Yet"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Why Do Railroad Workers Keep Dying on the Job? (w/ Nick Wurst, Matt Weaver, Mark Burrows, & Ross Grooters)

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 00:38:00 +0000

"Last Wednesday, a fellow rail worker was gravely injured on the job and lost his life," a Feb 6 email from Railroad Workers United reads. "Our brother Chris Wilson, who worked for Norfolk Southern, was critically injured in its Decatur rail yard Wednesday and died Thursday at Huntsville Hospital." Another email from Feb. 9 reads, "On January 15th, a fellow rail worker was killed on the job in Ohio." Then, on Feb 17, another email: "On February 13th, a fellow rail worker was killed on the job in North Carolina. Brother Randall M. Howell, 41, of Allied Federation Lodge 563, died following a road crossing incident in Roanoke Rapids, N.C." Why are railroad workers all over the country dying on the job? And what can be done to stop these needless deaths? We talk with four railroad workers and members of Railroad Workers United (RWU).

Panelists include: Nick Wurst, a freight conductor in Massachusetts, legislative rep for his union local, and currently serving on the RWU international steering committee; Matt Weaver, a member of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division-International Brotherhood of Teamsters (BMWED-IBT) for nearly 30 years, legislative director for his union in Ohio, and a founding member of RWU: Mark Burrows, a retired locomotive engineer with 37 years in the industry, and the editor of "The Highball," RWU's quarterly newsletter: and Ross Grooters, RWU co-chair, member of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), also serving on the BLET-IBT Iowa state legislative board, with over 20 years in the industry.

Additional links/info below…

Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Ross's Twitter page
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "They Were Just Another East Palestine Family—Until Norfolk Southern Set Off a Bomb in Their Lives"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine Residents Still Need Help—the Labor Movement Should Be an Ally"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "He Tried to Raise the Alarm about Railroad Safety. Then He Got Fired"
Mike L, The Real News Network, "A Carman's Perspective on the East Palestine Derailment and the Railroad Industry as a Whole"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "US Freight Workers Say It's Time to Nationalize the Railroads"
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Rail Worker EXPOSES Ohio Disaster COVERUP"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, ""This Was Preventable": Railroad Workers Explain How Wall St Caused the East Palestine Derailment"
Working People, "East Palestine, Ohio: A Hell of Wall Street's Making (w/ Matt Weaver)"
Kari Lydersen, In These Times, "The Case for Nationalizing the Railroads"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song
Jules Taylor, "John L. Handcox Remix"
Jules Taylor, "Her Water"

"Shut It Down!": On the Ground at Johns Hopkins Grad Union's Practice Picket

Wed, 21 Feb 2024 07:40:00 +0000

One year ago, graduate student-workers at Johns Hopkins University overwhelmingly voted to unionize under the banner of Teachers and Researchers United (TRU-UE), which is affiliated with United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers. While workers had much to celebrate with their historic union election victory, bargaining a first contract with the university administration has been another story. On February 20, fed up with what workers say have been disrespectful and insufficient offers from the university administration, TRU-UE members held practice pickets on campus to show the administration what's in store if more progress is not made at the bargaining table soon. In this on-the-ground episode, we take you straight to the picket line to hear from worker-organizers about what they're fighting for and what they're asking supporters to do to help.

Additional links/info below…

Teachers and Researchers United (TRU-UE) website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Now or never: Grad Student-Workers at Johns Hopkins Mobilize Ahead of Union Election"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "These Workers Are Making Baltimore a Union Town Again"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Johns Hopkins University Graduate Students Are Organizing for a Living Wage"
Ryan Quinn, Inside Higher Ed, "Johns Hopkins Grad Students Successfully Unionize"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song
Jules Taylor, "John L. Handcox Remix"

Baltimore's Co-Ops Show There's Another Way to Work (at the Baltimore Museum of Industry)

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 09:22:00 +0000

Baltimore has become what many consider to be ground zero in the emerging "solidarity economy" and the formation of worker-owned, cooperatively run businesses. There's something important going on here, and there's a lot that we can all learn from our fellow workers who are in the cooperative space—people who are living, breathing proof that there's another way to run a business, that there's another way to run our economy, and that there are other ways we can treat work and workers. At a recent event hosted by the Baltimore Museum of Industry titled "Work Matters: Building a Worker-Owned Co-op," Max moderated a panel including workers and representatives from Common Ground Bakery Café, Taharka Bros Ice Cream, A Few Cool Hardware Stores, and the Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy (BRED). He talked to them about how they came to work at these different co-ops, how their businesses transitioned to more cooperative models, and they dig into the nitty gritty of what working at a co-op looks like, what it takes for workers to democratically run a business, and the real challenges, limitations, and rewards that come with this kind of work. Panelists include: Vince Green (Taharka Bros Ice Cream); David Evans (A Few Cool Hardware Stores); Craig Smith (A Few Cool Hardware Stores); Sierra Allen (Common Ground Bakery Café); Christa Daring (BRED).

Additional links/info below…

Baltimore Museum of Industry website, Facebook page, and Instagram
Jaisal Noor, The Real News Network, "Worker Co-ops vs. COVID"
Jaisal Noor, The Real News Network, "Taharka Bros: Ice Cream with a Side of Worker Ownership"
Working People, "Your Job Doesn't Have to Suck (w/ Jaisal Noor)"
Lisa Elaine Held, The Washington Post, "Amid Food-Industry Upheaval, Baltimore Businesses Are Handing Workers the Keys"
Rebekah Kirkman, The Real News Network, "After Beloved Baltimore Coffee Shop Abruptly Closed, Workers Reopen as Co-op"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song
Jules Taylor, "Working People Live Show" Theme Song
Jules Taylor, "John L. Handcox I Live On Remix"
Follow Jules Taylor on Twitter and Facebook

Homegrown Sandwich Shop Workers Hit 100 Days on Strike (w/ Sydney Lankford & Perry)

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 15:24:00 +0000

Workers at Homegrown Sustainable Sandwiches in the Seattle area voted overwhelmingly to unionize with UNITE HERE LOCAL 8 in late 2022, and they have been fighting for a first contract ever since. In fact, workers from two Homegrown stores have been on strike since late last fall in protest of the unfair termination of union leader Sydney Lankford, who was fired after speaking up at a union delegation. By the time you hear this, workers at the Redmond Homegrown location will have been on strike for over 100 days. We talk with Sydney Lankford and Perry, two members of the Homegrown workers union who are currently on strike.

Additional links/info below…

Homegrown workers union Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X page
Homegrown Sustainable Sandwiches Contact Us page
PETITION: Tell Homegrown to #Bring Syd Back!
STRIKE FUND: Support Striking Homegrown Workers! #BringSydBack
Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) website
Renata Geraldo, Seattle Times, "Seattle's Homegrown Cafe Workers Vote to Unionize"
KIRO 7, "Workers at Redmond's Homegrown Sandwich Shop Strike Over 'Unfair' Firing of Union Leader"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song
Jules Taylor, "Homegrown outro music"

East Palestine—1 Year After the Derailment

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 08:31:00 +0000

Feb. 3, 2024, marks the one-year anniversary of the Norfolk Southern train derailment that changed life forever for the residents of East Palestine, Ohio, and the surrounding area. The derailment of 38 rail cars and the subsequent "controlled release" and burnoff of toxic vinyl chloride was one of the most catastrophic industrial accidents in our country's history—and a catastrophe of equal or greater proportion could happen again tomorrow, because we have done little to substantively address the issues that caused it.

While the media and most of the country have forgotten about them, for the people still living in and around East Palestine, life will never be what it was on Feb 2, 2023. "At the one year mark," warns Christa, a resident who has lived in the area her whole life, "I want everybody across the country and across the world to know that this could happen to you... We were an invisible town, an invisible region, and we liked it that way. None of us ever wanted to be on the news... We were very happy being invisible, and then they poisoned our town, and it has changed everything forever."

To commemorate the anniversary of the East Palestine disaster, we begin Season 7 of Working People with this special compilation episode featuring firsthand testimonies of five East Palestine residents: Christa, Chris Albright, Jessica Albright, Stella Gamble, and Daren Gamble.

Additional links/info below…

Jami Wallace, The Inquirer, "One Year Ago, a Train Derailment Upended My Town. I'll Spend the Rest of My Life Worrying"
Last Week Tonight, "Freight Trains: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)"
Emily Baumgaertner, The New York Times, "One Family's Toxic Train Wreck Ordeal: Illness, Exile and Debt"
Working People, "12-HR LIVESTREAM: Let's help East Palestine families have a good Christmas!"
Savage Joy Marie Mann, "EAST PALESTINE OHIO MUTUAL AID FUNDRAISER"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "They Were Just Another East Palestine Family—Until Norfolk Southern Set Off a Bomb in Their Lives"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "The US Government Has Abandoned East Palestine"
Maximillian Alvarez, "East Palestine Residents Still Need Help—the Labor Movement Should Be an Ally"
Savage Joy Marie Mann, "My Full Recording of Meeting with Mark Durno of the East Palestine EPA"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine Residents Still Need Help—the Labor Movement Should Be an Ally"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine, 100 Days Later"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine Residents Have Been Left Behind—and They're Running Out of Water"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine, Ohio: A Hell of Wall Street's Making"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'This Was Preventable': Railroad Workers Explain How Wall St. Caused the East Palestine Derailment"
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Rail Worker EXPOSES Ohio Disaster COVERUP"
Mike L., The Real News Network, "A Carman's Perspective on the East Palestine Derailment and the Railroad Industry as a Whole"
Al Jazeera English, "What's Behind Train Derailments in the US? | Fault Lines Documentary"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song
Dark and Synthy music for this episode also by Jules Taylor

After Waging the Largest Healthcare Worker Strike in US History, Kaiser Workers Win Big (w/ Meg Niemi & Audrey Cardenas)

Sat, 23 Dec 2023 05:38:00 +0000

From October 4-6 of this year, the US experienced the largest healthcare worker strike in our history, when over 75,000 workers with the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions went on a three-day strike against the healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente. Then, on October 13, after warning that more strikes could be coming if a deal wasn't reached at the bargaining table, healthcare workers scored a major victory and reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser, which the union membership, accounting for over 85,000 Kaiser Permanente workers across the country, voted to ratify in early November. As the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions stated in a press release upon the contract ratification, "In a historic victory for frontline healthcare workers, more than 85,000 Kaiser Permanente workers have overwhelmingly voted to ratify a new contract that will bolster patient safety, make critical investments in the healthcare workforce, and set a higher standard for the healthcare industry nationwide. Approved by a margin of 98.5%, the four-year contract is in effect from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2027, at hundreds of Kaiser facilities across California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia." In this mini-cast, we speak with Meg Niemi, President of SEIU Local 49, and Audrey Cardenas, a benefits support specialist at a Kaiser dental office in Oregon, about how Kaiser healthcare workers took on the bosses and won this new contract, and what that is going to mean for workers and patients alike moving forward.

Additional links/info below…

SEIU Local 49 website, Facebook page, and Twitter/X page
SEIU United Healthcare Workers West website, Facebook page, and Twitter/X page
Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions website and Twitter/X page
Meg's Twitter/X page
SEIU-UHW Press Release: "More than 85,000 Kaiser Permanente Workers Ratify Landmark New Contract"
Michael Sainato, The Guardian, "Kaiser Permanente and Unions Reach Deal after Healthcare Workers' Strike"
Reuters, "Kaiser Healthcare Workers Ratify New Contract"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "35,000 Kaiser Permanente Workers Are Set to Strike, and the Future of US Healthcare Is at Stake (from 2021)"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Brazil's Radical Plan to Fight Slave-Like Working Conditions (w/ Marcos, John, & Vitor Filgueiras)

Mon, 11 Dec 2023 09:01:00 +0000

Brazil's Radical Plan to Fight Slave-Like Working Conditions (w/ Marcos, John, & Vitor Filgueiras)

In this special international episode, we get the chance to talk to folks in Brazil about the farmworkers who are being trapped in slave-like conditions, and about a truly radical new government program that is trying to break the cycle of enslavement and exploitation. As Vitor Filgueiras, Professor of Economics at the Federal University of Bahia, writes, "Between 1995 and mid-2020, more than 55,000 workers were removed from conditions analogous to slavery by the Brazilian State, without any indication that there has been a reduction in this type of criminal exploitation of labour in the country. On the contrary, many workers are repeated victims of extreme exploitation." As we discuss with Filgueiras himself in the second half of this episode, there have been numerous past efforts to liberate farmworkers from these slave-like conditions, but if workers don't have other means or opportunities to economically sustain themselves, they are at high risk of falling right back into this exploitative system to make ends meet. And that is why the project "Vida Pós Resgate" (Life After Rescue) was created in 2017 through a partnership between the Federal University of Bahia's Faculty of Economics and the Federal Labor Prosecution Office for the 23rd Region. The program is designed to take the fines that employers are forced to pay for violating workers rights and use that money to buy land, tools, seed, and other necessities for rescued farmworkers to develop self-sufficient farms that they own and operate themselves. While the program is still in its early stages, if it is successful, it could have wide-ranging implications for working people in Brazil and beyond.

In the first half of this episode, with Vitor Filgueiras translating, we speak with Marcos and John, two farmworkers who were rescued from slave-like conditions and are now among the Life After Rescue program's first participants. In the second half, we speak with Filgueiras about where this policy came from, what it will take to make it work, and about the fight to return the land and the means of production to the people. Special thanks to Mike Fox for editing assistance.

Additional links/info below…

Vitor's Twitter/X profile

Vitor Filgueiras, Delta 8.7, "Slave-Like Labour in Brazil and the Vida Pós Resgate Project"Reuters, "Brazil Rescues Hundreds Held in Modern-Day Slave Conditions"Dom Phillips, The Guardian, "'Fewer People Will Be Freed': Brazil Accused of Easing Anti-Slavery Rules"Matt Sandy, Al Jazeera, "Heartache and Suffering: Slavery in Brazil" Working People YouTube channel

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Chris & Jessica Albright

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:07:00 +0000

It's been nearly 10 months since the derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train and the subsequent "controlled release" and burnoff of toxic vinyl chloride changed life forever for the residents of East Palestine, Ohio. While the media, politicians, and the public have largely moved on, people living in and around East Palestine have been abandoned by Norfolk Southern, by their state and federal governments, and left to rot in the toxic fallout. We cannot forget about them.

In September of this year, Max was invited to the Harvard Law School to participate in an all-day event titled "Storytelling for Justice—East Palestine," where he conducted a live Working People interview with Chris and Jessica Albright, two residents of East Palestine whose lives have been turned upside down by the derailment. After recording and publishing that live show, we've kept in touch with the Albrights as they and their family continue to do whatever they can to pick up the pieces after Norfolk Southern shattered the life they knew before Feb. 3. In this episode, we talk once again with Chris and Jessica about their lives before the derailment, and about the hell they've been living through ever since.

Additional links/info below…

GoFundMe: Help Albright Family Recover from Train Disaster
Emily Baumgaertner, The New York Times, "One Family's Toxic Train Wreck Ordeal: Illness, Exile and Debt"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "The US Government Has Abandoned East Palestine"
Maximillian Alvarez, "East Palestine Residents Still Need Help—the Labor Movement Should Be an Ally"
Savage Joy Marie Mann, "My Full Recording of Meeting with Mark Durno of the East Palestine EPA"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine Residents Still Need Help—the Labor Movement Should Be an Ally"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine, 100 Days Later"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine Residents Have Been Left Behind—and They're Running Out of Water"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine, Ohio: A Hell of Wall Street's Making"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'This Was Preventable': Railroad Workers Explain How Wall St. Caused the East Palestine Derailment"
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Rail Worker EXPOSES Ohio Disaster COVERUP"
Mike L., The Real News Network, "A Carman's Perspective on the East Palestine Derailment and the Railroad Industry as a Whole"
Al Jazeera English, "What's Behind Train Derailments in the US? | Fault Lines Documentary"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

"This Is McCarthyism All Over Again": Suppressing Unions' Free Speech Rights over Gaza (w/ Allie Goodman, Michael Letwin, & Dany Greene)

Tue, 21 Nov 2023 00:48:00 +0000

With each passing day, more Israeli bombs are falling on Gaza, more bodies are being blown apart and buried under the rubble, over a million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes. Over the past month and a half, the world has borne witness to a genocidal military campaign to clear out Gaza once and for all, and every day, every hour, it feels like the chance to stop one of humanity's most inhumane crimes is slipping through our fingers, and the powers that be have shown no interest whatsoever in listening to the thundering calls for a ceasefire coming from governments and mass demonstrations around the world, particularly the Biden administration in the US, the increasingly fascistic Netanyahu government in Israel, and the arms manufacturers and war profiteers who are raking in billions from manufacturing mass death. This is prompting people of conscience around the world, including unions and worker-led groups, to speak out and take action to try to stop the slaughter.

One of those unions is the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys – UAW Local 2325 (ALAA), whose members include legal aid workers at over 25 organizations, including the Bronx Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, Neighborhood Defender Service, and the Legal Aid Society of New York City. Last week, ALAA members were preparing to hold a vote on whether or not to approve the union publicly issuing a "Resolution Calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza, an End to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, and Support for Workers' Political Speech." In the lead-up to the vote, union members at different legal aid offices reported strong opposition from management. "These statements call for the elimination of the state of Israel and the annihilation of the Jewish people," Twyla Carter, Chief Executive Officer of the Legal Aid Society, reportedly told staff, expressing concern that certain donors would pull funding from the Legal Aid Society if the union passed the resolution. Then, on Thursday, Nov 16, as Akela Lacy reports at The Intercept, "attorneys at the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County sued in New York State Supreme Court to stop the vote, saying it posed an ethical dilemma for attorneys that would make it "impossible for them to properly do their job as Public Defenders." Those four attorneys were ALAA bargaining unit members. "On Friday," Lacy continues, "the court granted a temporary restraining order enjoining the vote. Voting had gotten underway at 9 a.m. and only 15 minutes were left on the clock when the injunction was issued. The tally never got underway."

In this urgent mini-cast, we speak about this unprecedented attack on union democracy and workers' free speech rights with three ALAA members: Allie Goodman, an attorney in the Family Defense Practice at Bronx Defenders; Michael Letwin, a former public defender at Legal Aid in Brooklyn for 37 years who also served as president of ALAA – UAW Local 2325 for 13 years; and Dany Greene, who has worked as a public defender for six years, four of which were spent at Bronx Defenders, where they helped found and organize the BXD Union, and who now works at an appellate office focusing on criminal appeals.

Additional links/info below…

Labor for Palestine website and Twitter/X page
Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, United Auto Workers Local 2325, "Resolution Calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza, an End to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, and Support for Workers' Political Speech"
Akela Lacy, The Intercept, "Public Defenders Get Restraining Order to Block Their Own Union from Voting on Gaza Statement"
Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, "Bar Association Urged to Fight Censorship of Pro-Palestinian Voices"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Stuck in Legal Limbo while Fighting to Hold Amazon Accountable (w/ Matt Littrell)

Mon, 20 Nov 2023 02:21:00 +0000

Back in August of 2022, we spoke with Matt Littrell, a picker at the Amazon warehouse in Campbellsville, Kentucky, and one of the lead organizers in an effort to unionize Amazon facilities in Kentucky. When we spoke with Matt, Amazon had just fired him in suspected retaliation for his organizing activities, citing "performance" issues. Since then, Matt has been dragged through a Kafka-esque legal process to hold Amazon, the second largest private employer in the US, accountable for violating workers' rights. In this mini-cast, we check back in with Matt and discuss recent developments in that process, including reaching a settlement with Amazon, which the National Labor Relations Board is now challenging, leaving Matt in legal limbo.

Additional links/info below…

Matt's Twitter/X page and LinkTree
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network / Working People, "Amazon Fires Another Organizer to Allegedly Stop Kentucky Facilities Unionizing"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

A Three-Minute Message from Gaza (w/ Mohamed el Saife)

Sat, 11 Nov 2023 21:38:00 +0000

More than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's retaliatory assault on Gaza in the past month, including thousands of women, children, and elderly, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The real number is likely much higher… we don't know how many people, dead and alive, are under the rubble right now. But we do know that the bombs continue to fall, every day, at rates unseen in this century. This is an absolute nightmare.

For the past month, we have been trying every single day to make contact with Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, to get their stories on the show so people could hear directly from them. But, for obvious reasons, that has proven to be extremely difficult. Every single time we connected with someone and set up an interview, something would happen, we'd lose touch with them, their phone would stop working, and we'd have no idea if they safe, if they were alive. One of those people was Mohamed el Saife. Mohamed is an independent video journalist in Gaza, and the last message he sent us on October 15 said, "I am now on the ground, between life and death." After that, we lost touch with Mohamed for over two weeks, and we feared the worst. Then, on November 9, we got another message. With the tiny amount of internet he was able to use, Mohamed sent us a three-minute voice message from Gaza.

Additional links/info below…

Mohamed's PayPal account
Mohamed's Twitter/X page and YouTube channel
Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Reuters, "Gaza Death Toll Tops 10,000; UN Calls It a Children's Graveyard"
Rob Picheta, Kareem Khadder, Teele Rebane, & Zohair Zabadne, CNN, "Gaza Hospital 'Surrounded by Tanks' as Other Healthcare Facilities Say They've Been Damaged by Israeli Strikes"
Marc Steiner, The Real News Network, "Chris Hedges: Israel's Endgame Is 'Destruction of the Idea of Palestine'"
Bethank McKernan, The Guardian, "'A New Nakba': Settler Violence Forces Palestinians Out of West Bank Villages"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Livestream: UK Workers Demand Ceasefire & an End to Israel's Occupation of Palestine"
Marc Steiner, The Real News Network, "'The American Government Is the Only One That Can Stop This': Ending the Genocide in Gaza"
Marc Steiner, The Real News Network, "'Something Is Different This Time' Israel's War in Gaza Continues"
Chris Hedges, The Real News Network, "'No Sanctuary': Israel's Long War on Gaza"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

The Teamsters Picket Amazon's BWI5 Warehouse in Baltimore (w/ Deion Anthony Steppes, Cristina Duncan Evans, Taylor Boren, & Mike McGuire)

Sat, 11 Nov 2023 21:36:00 +0000

On the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 8, members of the Teamsters union led a picket line march outside of Amazon's BWI5 warehouse in Baltimore. Dozens of other union workers and members of the Baltimore community joined the demonstration, which was an extension of the ongoing Unfair Labor Practice strike by unionized Amazon drivers and dispatchers at the DAX8 delivery station in Palmdale, CA. "In April, the 84 workers in Palmdale organized with the Teamsters, becoming the first union of Amazon drivers in the country," the Teamsters stated in a press release. "As members of Local 396, they bargained a contract with Amazon's Delivery Service Partner (DSP), Battle-Tested Strategies (BTS). Despite the absolute control it wields over BTS and workers' terms and conditions of employment, Amazon refuses to recognize and honor the union contract. Instead, Amazon has engaged in dozens of unfair labor practices in violation of federal labor law, including terminating the entire unit of newly organized workers…. The Amazon drivers and dispatchers began their unfair labor practice strike on June 24. They have picketed over 20 Amazon warehouses around the country, including warehouses in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Michigan, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey."

Max was on the ground at the Amazon picket on Nov. 8 and spoke to: Deion Anthony Steppes, one of the striking Amazon drivers from Palmdale, CA, and a member of Teamsters Local 396; Cristina Duncan Evans, a Baltimore City educator and member of the Baltimore Teachers Union; Taylor Boren, an art teacher for Baltimore Public Schools and a member of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County; and Mike McGuire, a plumber and community member in Baltimore.

Additional links/info below…

Amazon Teamsters website and Twitter/X page
Donate to the Amazon Driver Worker Solidarity Fund!
International Brotherhood of Teamsters website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Teamsters, "Amazon Teamsters Strike Spreads to Two Baltimore Warehouses"
Dave Jamieson, HuffPost, "Amazon Delivery Drivers In California Join Teamsters"
Wes Davis, The Verge, "Amazon Insists Striking Delivery Drivers Don't Really Work for Amazon"
Luis Feliz Leon, Labor Notes, "Amazon Teamsters' Rolling Pickets Hit Facilities Nationwide"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

"Soldiers Are Everywhere, Settlers Are Everywhere, People Are Afraid to Leave Their Homes" (w/ Issa Amro)

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 03:03:00 +0000

Every day the Palestinian civilian death toll is rising dramatically as Israel continues with its genocidal bombing and ground invasion of Gaza, and as settler and military violence towards Palestinians in the West Bank intensifies. "It's a closure, it's a curfew, in many places in the West Bank," Issa Amro says. "It's not normal life these days. Soldiers are everywhere, settlers are everywhere, people are afraid to leave their homes, they don't go to work, they don't go to school, they don't go to universities." After losing touch with Issa during the day because he was escaping from settlers who were chasing him in Hebron, we managed to reconnect over the phone and record a nine minute conversation about the hell working people in Palestine are going through right now and what their fellow workers in the US and Canada can do to stop the slaughter. Issa Amro is a Palestinian human rights defender living in Hebron, in the Occupied West Bank. He is the co-founder and former coordinator of the grassroots group Youth Against Settlements. Days prior to this recording, Issa was evicted from his home in Hebron and tortured by Israeli troops.

A note about the audio: After hours of silence and failed phone calls, Issa contacted Max to inform him that he was temporarily safe and had 10 minutes to speak over the phone. Dropping everything he was doing, Max quickly opened his computer, began a QuickTime recording, and called Issa on speakerphone. We apologize for the sub-par audio quality.

Additional links/info below…

Issa's Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram
Youth Against Settlements website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram
Danya Al-Saleh, Mondoweiss, "We Are Millions, We Are Billions, We are all Palestinians: Stand with Palestine in DC on November 4th"
Amy Teibel, AP, "Palestinian Activist Is Expelled by Israeli Forces from His Home in a Volatile West Bank City"
Wafaa Shurafa, Jack Jeffery, & Lee Keath, AP, "Israeli Troops Advance Toward Gaza City as the Palestinian Death Toll Rises Above 9,000"
Bethank McKernan, The Guardian, "'A New Nakba': Settler Violence Forces Palestinians Out of West Bank Villages"
Taj Ali, Tribune, "Organising Against Apartheid: Why Union Solidarity With Palestine Matters"
Ahmad Al-Bazz, Nadia Péridot, & Ross Domoney, The Real News Network, "Israel's West Bank Checkpoints, from the Eyes of Palestinian Workers"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Livestream: UK Workers Demand Ceasefire & an End to Israel's Occupation of Palestine"
Marc Steiner, The Real News Network, "'The American Government Is the Only One That Can Stop This': Ending the Genocide in Gaza"
Marc Steiner, The Real News Network, "'Something Is Different This Time' Israel's War in Gaza Continues"
Chris Hedges, The Real News Network, "'No Sanctuary': Israel's Long War on Gaza"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Sherry Cothren (w/ Jeremiah Cothren)

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 05:22:00 +0000

Over the past month, United Auto Workers have continued to ramp up their strike at the Big 3 auto companies, calling workers at more plants to hit the picket line. As Keith Brower Brown recently reported at Labor Notes, "Every Friday for the past four weeks, Big 3 CEOs have waited fearfully for UAW President Shawn Fain to announce which plants will strike next. But without warning on Wednesday [October 11], the union threw a haymaker: within 10 minutes the UAW would be shutting down the vast Kentucky Truck Plant. This plant, on 500 acres outside Louisville, is one of Ford's most profitable—cranking out full-size SUVs and the Superduty line of commercial trucks… These 8,700 strikers join the 25,000 already walking the lines at assembly plants and parts distribution centers across the country in the union's escalating Stand-Up Strike." While we are waiting every day for more updates on the UAW strike as it unfolds in real time, it's important to remember that the issues within the auto industry—and the economy writ large—that led this historic moment of struggle have been brewing for decades. In this episode, we talk with Sherry Cothren, who worked for 30 years at Ford Motor Company and retired just before her plant in Toledo, Ohio, closed in 2007. We also speak with Sherry's son, Jeremiah, an architect turned visual journalist and producer whose primary focus captures vivid histories of human rights, social justice and migration.

Additional links/info below…

United Auto Workers website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD) Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
Keith Brower Brown, Labor Notes, "Auto Workers Escalate: Surprise Strike at Massive Kentucky Ford Truck Plant"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'We're All Workers': Striking UAW and SAG-AFTRA Members Won't Be Pitted Against Each Other"
Teddy Ostrow & Ruby Walsh, The Upsurge / The Real News Network, "With Concessions Already Won, the UAW Strike Escalates"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Live Show: Storytelling for Justice—East Palestine (w/ Chris & Jessica Albright)

Thu, 19 Oct 2023 02:56:00 +0000

The derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train in East Palestine , Ohio, on Feb. 3 of this year, and the subsequent "controlled release" and burnoff of toxic vinyl chloride, is one of the most catastrophic and devastating industrial accidents in our country's history, and a catastrophe of equal or greater proportion could literally happen again tomorrow. Why? Because no serious steps have been taken on the industry or the government side to substantively address the issues that led to the derailment and its toxic fallout. Meanwhile, for the people still living in and around East Palestine, there is no going back to normal… life will go on, but it will never be the same, it will never again be what it was on Feb. 2. We cannot forget about East Palestine, and we cannot give up on the people there, who have been largely abandoned by their government, by Norfolk Southern, and by the media. As part of a new series of Systemic Justice Teach Ins hosted by the Harvard Law School, Max was invited to Harvard on Sept. 23 to participate in an all-day event titled "Storytelling for Justice—East Palestine," where he conducted a live Working People interview with Chris and Jessica Albright, two residents of East Palestine whose lives have been turned upside down by the derailment. With permission from the organizers, we are sharing the audio of this interview with our audience.

Special thanks to Professor Jon Hanson, Simone Unwalla, Haley Florsheim, Samantha Perri, Jessenia Class, Chris Albright, and Jessica Albright.

Additional links/info below…

GoFundMe: Help Albright Family Recover from Train Disaster
Systemic Justice Teach Ins 2023 website
Emily Baumgaertner, The New York Times, "One Family's Toxic Train Wreck Ordeal: Illness, Exile and Debt"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine Residents Still Need Help—the Labor Movement Should Be an Ally"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine, 100 Days Later"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine Residents Have Been Left Behind—and They're Running Out of Water"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine, Ohio: A Hell of Wall Street's Making"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'This Was Preventable': Railroad Workers Explain How Wall St. Caused the East Palestine Derailment"
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Rail Worker EXPOSES Ohio Disaster COVERUP"
Mike L., The Real News Network, "A Carman's Perspective on the East Palestine Derailment and the Railroad Industry as a Whole"
Al Jazeera English, "What's Behind Train Derailments in the US? | Fault Lines Documentary"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

UNLOCKED BONUS EPISODE - I Was in The House When the House Burned Down (w/ Vincent Bevins)

Mon, 09 Oct 2023 06:54:00 +0000

The decade from 2010 to 2020 was one that saw more people around the world participating in protests than at any other point in human history. And yet, looking back, the results of so many of these mass protests, the societal changes that followed, were the opposite of what protestors were demanding. In his new book, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution, award-winning journalist and foreign correspondent Vincent Bevins asks: Why? In this special episode, recorded at The Real News Network studio in Baltimore, we talk to Bevins about his new book and about his own working life as a journalist covering people's uprisings around the world.

Additional links/info below...

Vincent's website and Twitter/X page
Vincent Bevins, Public Affairs, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution
Vincent Bevins, Public Affairs, The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our World

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

What Happens to the NLRB If the Government Shuts Down? (w/ Michael Bilik & Colton Puckett)

Thu, 28 Sep 2023 05:09:00 +0000

It is looking increasingly likely that Congressional Republicans will bring the federal government to a shutdown starting this weekend. "U.S. government services would be disrupted and hundreds of thousands of federal workers would be furloughed without pay if Congress fails to provide funding for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1," Reuters reports. "Workers deemed essential would remain on the job, but without pay." Among the many agencies that will be furloughing workers in the event of a shutdown is the National Labor Relations Board. Not only will unionized staff workers at the NLRB itself be hurt by the government shutdown—after years of enduring chronic and politically motivated underfunding and understaffing—but so, too, will working people around the country who depend on the NLRB to enforce labor law, investigate Unfair Labor Practice charges, manage union elections, etc. In this urgent mini-cast, we talk with Michael Bilik and Colton Puckett, legislative co-chairs of the National Labor Relations Board Union and full-time NLRB staff workers, about the daily work NLRB staff do, the role that work plays in the broader labor movement, and what it will mean for workers if the government shuts down and nearly all of NLRB staff are furloughed.

Additional links/info below…

National Labor Relations Board Union website, Twitter/X page, and Instagram
Jacob Bogage, Marianna Sotomayor, & Jeff Stein, The Washington Post, "Shutdown Looks More Likely, as House GOP Leaders reject Senate Plan"
Reuters, "US Government Shutdown: What Is It and Who Would Be Affected?"
Gay Semel, Labor Notes, "Viewpoint: The NLRB is Underfunded and Understaffed—And That's a Big Threat to the Current Organizing Wave"
Li Zhou, Vox, "The Republican vs. Republican Feud behind the Government Shutdown Fight, Explained"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Congressional Staffers Are Demanding the Senate Let Them Unionize"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

UAW Strike Update: More Auto Plants to Join 'Stand-Up' Strike (TRNN livestream w/ Martha Grevatt & Auston Gore)

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 04:46:00 +0000

The United Auto Workers are striking against all of the Big Three automakers at once for the first time in the union's history. The UAW is employing a novel "stand-up strike" strategy: rather than having over 140,000 auto workers hit the picket line at once, UAW members at three strategically targeted plants were called to strike first last Thursday, and union president Shawn Fain has announced that more plants will be called to strike by the end of this week. What are the key demands auto workers are striking over? What's happening on the picket lines? How are active and retired members feeling about the union's new, more militant strategy? And what role do we all have to play in ensuring they win the contract they deserve? On this worker solidarity livestream, hosted by The Real News Network, Max speaks with Martha Grevatt, a retired auto worker and UAW Local 869 member, and Auston Gore, an assembly line worker and UAW Local 12 member who is currently on strike at the Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex. With permission from TRNN, we are sharing the audio of this livestream, recorded on Sept 20, 2023, on our podcast feed.

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

The UAW Is Ready to Fight (w/ Marcelina Pedraza, Torice Sawyer, & Nick Livick)

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 21:17:00 +0000

After the high-stakes contract fight between the Teamsters and UPS, the eyes of labor are now on the contract negotiations currently taking place between the United Auto Workers and the Big Three automakers: Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler). The UAW's master agreement with the Big Three covers around 150,000 autoworkers, and the current contract expires on September 14. If a tentative agreement is not reached by then, the auto industry could be the next to be rocked by a major strike, and UAW president Shawn Fain has stated clearly that the union is prepared to strike at all three automakers if necessary. What brought us to this point, and what's at stake in this contract fight (for autoworkers, for the UAW, and for the labor movement writ large)? What are workers demanding, and what role do we all have to play in ensuring they get the contract they deserve? In this panel discussion, we talk with three rank-and-file workers and UAW members from each of the Big Three automakers: Marcelina Pedraza, a Ford electrician in Chicago and member of UAW Local 551; Torice Sawyer, a Stellantis plant worker at the Detroit Assembly Complex–Jefferson and member of UAW Local 7; Nicholas Livick, a General Motors autoworker and rank-and-file member of UAW Local 31 in Kansas City.

Additional links/info below…

United Auto Workers website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD) Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
Dan DiMaggio & Keith Brower Brown, Labor Notes, "Auto Workers Have Big Demands for the Big 3"
Luis Feliz Leon, Labor Notes, "Kentucky Auto Workers at Ford Are Preparing for a Strike"
Luis Feliz Leon, The American Prospect, "As Auto Workers Contract Talks Heat Up, Stellantis Threatens to Move South"
Teddy Ostrow & Ruby Walsh, The Upsurge / The Real News Network, "Auto Workers May Strike Next Week—What Electric Vehicles Have to Do With It"
Teddy Ostrow & Ruby Walsh, The Upsurge / The Real News Network, "United Auto Workers Could Strike Next After Teamsters"
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "UAW Worker SPEAKS OUT As Union Prepares For Historic Strike"
Working People, "Justin Mayhugh"
Michael Wayland, CNBC, "Second UAW President Sentenced to 28 Months in Prison in Union Corruption Probe"
Jonah Furman, The Real News Network / Labor Notes, "A Once-in-a_Generation Chance to Revive the UAW Is Coming"
Jonah Furman, The Real News Network / Labor Notes, "Auto Workers Win Direct Democracy in Referendum"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

One Fair Wage (w/ Tabina Gipson)

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 05:42:00 +0000

At the federal level today, the subminimum wage for tipped workers is still just $2.13 an hour. That is, frankly, a disgrace. "A direct legacy of slavery," the One Fair Wage campaign notes, "the subminimum wage affects a workforce of nearly 5 million tipped workers that is 70 percent women and 43 percent people of color." In this mini-cast, we talk about the fight to end the subminimum wage with Tabina Gipson, a tipped worker in Chicago who's worked in the food industry for over 10 years, a mother of five, and an organizer with One Fair Wage.

One Fair Wage is a national organization of nearly 300,000 service workers, over 2000 restaurant employers, and dozens of organizations nationwide all working together to end all subminimum wages in the United States and improve wages and working conditions in the service sector in particular. One Fair Wage policy would require all employers to pay the full minimum wage with fair, non-discriminatory tips on top, thus lifting millions of tipped and subminimum wage workers nationally out of poverty.

Additional links/info below…

One Fair Wage's website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
One Fair Wage Factsheet: The Key to Saving the Restaurant Industry Post-COVID-19
David A. Fahrenthold & Talmon Joseph Smith, The New York Times, "How Restaurant Workers Help Pay for Lobbying to Keep Their Wages Low"
Kim Kelly, Teen Vogue, "The Subminimum Wage for Workers With Disabilities Is a Disgrace"
Bryce Covert, The New Republic, "Restaurant Workers Who Love Tips Are Learning to Love the Minimum Wage Too"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Labor & the Long Road to Reunification in Korea (w/ Ju-Hyun Park) PATREON EXCLUSIVE

Mon, 28 Aug 2023 05:35:00 +0000

Within the past two years, South Korea has seen major labor actions, including a general strike in October of 2021, and major crackdowns on organized labor, including the national intelligence agency raiding the offices of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions in January of this year. In that same time, military and geopolitical tensions in the region have been rapidly intensifying. What is going on? What is the state of organized labor in South Korea, and how have imperialist and capitalist pressures, especially from the US, shaped the terrain upon which working people across the Korean Peninsula are struggling to live and work with dignity? We talk about all of this and more with Ju-Hyun Park, author, organizer, and Engagement Editor at The Real News Network.

Additional links/info below...

Ju-Hyun's Twitter page
Nodutdol Twitter page
Jia Hong & Ju-Hyun Park, Truthout / The Real News Network, "Half a Million South Korean Workers Walk Off Jobs in General Strike"
Dongmin Yang, The Real News Network, "'The President Forced Our Comrade to Die'—South Korea's Workers Confront Yoon Seok Yeol's Labor Crackdown"
Joonseok, Left Voice, "South Korea: Building a Powerful General Strike Is Urgent to Fight Against the Right-Wing Government's Attacks"
Tim Shorrock, The Shorrock Files / The Real News Network, "
South Korea's Yoon Launches Vicious Attack on Unions, Peace Groups"
Ju-Hyun Park, The Real News Network, "Biden Needs to Accept That the US Can't Intimidate North Korea"
Kap Seol, Labor Notes, "South Korea: Intelligence Agency Raids Top Union Confederation"
Sam Yang, The Real News Network, "Squid Game and the Long Shadow of American Empire"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Save WVU (w/ Leslie Wilber, Morgan King, & Jessie Wilkerson)

Sun, 20 Aug 2023 04:31:00 +0000

The world of higher education has been in shock this past week after West Virginia University President E. Gordon Gee announced plans to dramatically cut academic programs and jobs in the coming year. "West Virginia University, a crucial institution in one of the nation's most impoverished states, is poised to jettison all of its faculty dedicated to teaching Spanish, French, Chinese and other foreign languages," Nick Anderson reports at The Washington Post. "The state's largest public university also is moving toward elimination of a master's degree program in creative writing and a doctoral program in mathematics, among other proposed cuts, in response to declining enrollment and what university officials call a 'structural' budget deficit of $45 million. In all, 32 of the university's 338 majors on its Morgantown campus would be discontinued and 7 percent of its faculty eliminated under a plan made public last week." If WVU proceeds with the proposed cuts, the impact on campus workers—student employees, grad workers, faculty, staff, facilities workers—and the local economy will be massive. What brought WVU to this crisis point? And what can be done to fight back? In this urgent episode, we talk with: Leslie Wilber, an organizer with West Virginia Campus Workers who graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree from WVU earlier this year; Morgan King, a recent graduate of WVU, a Fulbright Scholar, and a Marshall Scholar; Dr. Jessie Wilkerson, associate professor and Joyce and Stuart Robbins Chair of History at WVU, a member of the West Virginia Campus Workers union, and the author of To Live Here, You Have to Fight: How Women Led Appalachian Movements for Social Justice.

Additional links/info below…

Leslie's Twitter page
Morgan's Twitter page
Jessie's Twitter page
West Virginia Campus Workers website and Twitter page
West Virginia United Student Union Twitter page
WVCW: "Stop the Cuts at WVU" page
CALL TO ACTION: Save WVU – An Open Letter from Alumni
Mya Helm, Slate, "Everyone at West Virginia University Knew Something Was Up. I Hate That We Were Right"
Nick Anderson, The Washington Post, "WVU's Plan to Cut Foreign Languages, Other Programs Draws Disbelief"
Emma Pettit, The Chronicle of Higher Education, "Scholars See Dangerous Precedent in West Virginia U.'s Plan to Cut Foreign Languages"
Jessie Wilkerson, University of Illinois Press, To Live Here, You Have to Fight: How Women Led Appalachian Movements for Social Justice
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Big Pharma Leaves 1,400 Workers in the Dust with West Virginia Plant Closure"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Duke University's Ploy to Ban Graduate Student Unions at All Private Universities"
Working People, "**Jessie Wilkerson** (Bonus episode)"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Ana Jakopič

Fri, 11 Aug 2023 01:03:00 +0000

Ana Jakopič is a lawyer, organizer, and trade union leader in Slovenia. We talk to Ana about the different kinds of workers she organizes with on a daily basis, the struggles working people across Slovenia are facing, and how connected/disconnected those struggles currently feel to the strikes taking place in Europe and beyond. But we also talk about Ana's life and her winding path into the labor movement; we talk about growing up in the post-Yugoslavian world, and about the impacts the Russo-Ukrainian War is having on Slovenians' lives today.

Additional links/info below...

Ana's Twitter page
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "'We Need ESCALATION': More STRIKES Coming In UK And France"
The Real News Network, Workers of the World (series)
AFP, "Thousands of Nurses Strike over Wages and Poor Working Conditions in Slovenia"
People's Health Dispatch, "Health Workers in Slovenia Go on Strike"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Khali Jama

Sat, 05 Aug 2023 10:53:00 +0000

"I've never been an organizer," Khali Jama says, "but I've always fought." As a single mother, a Muslim, and a Somali-American worker living in Minnesota, Jama has always had to fight for the life she, her family, and her fellow workers deserve. And earlier this year, after bringing that fight to the Minnesota state legislature, Khali and her coworkers achieved a major victory. "On May 16," Lisa Kwon reports in PRISM, "Minnesota lawmakers passed the nation's strongest Amazon warehouse worker protection legislation with the Warehouse Worker Protection Act, which ensures that workers can take breaks during the workday and have access to relevant quota and performance standards and data on how fast they're working. The bill's passage marks a significant victory for migrant workers — especially Minnesota's Somali immigrant population, of which the state has the largest in the country. For Khali Jama, a former worker in Amazon's fulfillment center in Shakopee, Minnesota, the new bill offers reprieve and protections that she worked to mobilize. As a Somali and a Muslim, Jama said the Warehouse Worker Protection Act ensures some equity in Minnesota's facilities." In this episode, we sit down and talk with Jama about moving to the midwest as a child, about her path to working in healthcare and at Amazon, and about the incredible story of how Khali, her coworkers, and the team at the Awood Center, which organizes in Minnesota's East African communities, fought to pass the Warehouse Worker Protection Act.
Additional links/info below...

Khali's Twitter page
Awood Center website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Isabela Escalona, WorkDay Magazine, "High Injury Rates Push Minnesota's Amazon Workers to Organize for Safety"
Lisa Kwon, PRISM, "Warehouse Worker Protection Act Grants Migrant Workers in Minnesota Landmark Safety Protections"
Matt Furber, Sahan Journal, "Amazon's Shakopee Workers Rally for Better Pay, Criticize Company for Not Giving Muslim Employees Vacation on Eid"
Abdirahman Muse, Emma Greenman, & Erin Murphy, The Nation, "Minnesota Enacts Landmark Protections for Amazon Warehouse Workers"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

What—and Who—Caused the Train Derailment in East Palestine? (w/ Jason Cox)

Sun, 30 Jul 2023 00:12:00 +0000

The Norfolk Southern train derailment and "controlled release" of toxic vinyl chloride in East Palestine, Ohio, was an avoidable catastrophe. Long before the train cars crashed on Feb. 3 and residents' lives were turned completely upside down, railroad workers had been warning anyone who would listen that the relentless cost-cutting and profit-maximizing practices implemented on the freight rail system by greedy rail executives and their Wall Street shareholders would endanger workers and the public, and they were right. In recent hearings held in East Palestine by the National Travel Safety Board (NTSB), testimonies by representatives from rail labor and even Norfolk Southern itself have revealed what workers already knew: a combination of reckless business practices by the rail carriers, including yearly staff cuts to rail maintenance workers and the outsourcing of vital safety functions to unregulated machines, and lax federal regulation of the railroads has created the conditions for catastrophes like East Palestine to happen with greater frequency. But it is not too late to reverse course and build a safer, greener, more efficient, more humane rail system. In this episode, we discuss the latest revelations to come out of the ongoing investigations into the East Palestine disaster with Jason Cox, national representative for the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, who testified at the NTSB hearings in East Palestine in June.

Additional links/info below...

KDKA News, "Union Official Says Safety of Railroads Has Been Compromised by Job Cuts and Time Constraints"
Aria Bendix, NBC News, "High Levels of a Hazardous Chemical Polluted the Air Weeks After the Ohio Train Derailment, an Analysis Shows"
ABC 6, "East Palestine Residents Rally for Disaster Declaration at Ohio Statehouse"
Mike L., The Real News Network, "A Carman's Perspective on the East Palestine Derailment and the Railroad Industry as a Whole"
Al Jazeera English, "What's Behind Train Derailments in the US? | Fault Lines Documentary"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine, 100 Days Later"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine Residents Have Been Left Behind—and They're Running Out of Water"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine, Ohio: A Hell of Wall Street's Making"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'This Was Preventable': Railroad Workers Explain How Wall St. Caused the East Palestine Derailment"
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Rail Worker EXPOSES Ohio Disaster COVERUP"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

The Showdown at UPS (w/ Rikki Schreiner & Amber Mathwig)

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 04:04:00 +0000

We are less than two weeks away from what could be the largest single-employer strike in US history. As of this recording, contract negotiations between United Parcel Services (UPS) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have reportedly "collapsed"—and the clock is ticking until the current contract expires on July 31. If a deal is not reached and a strike occurs, what will it look like for 340,000 Teamster UPSers to walk off the job? What are the key issues that workers are prepared to strike over? And what can we all do to support them, whether a strike occurs or not? In this episode, we continue our coverage of the historic UPS contract fight by talking to Rikki Schreiner, a shop steward for Teamsters Local 638 in Minnesota who has worked for UPS since 1999, and Amber Mathwig, a part-time UPS warehouse worker and member of Teamsters Local 638.

Additional links/info below...

M4M4ALL fundraiser for East Palestine residents
Savage Joy-Marie's Twitter page, Rokfin channel, YouTube channel, and Patreon
Amber's Twitter page
Teamsters Local 638 website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
International Brotherhood of Teamsters website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Upsurge podcast Spotify page, Twitter page, and Patreon
Teddy Ostrow & Ruby Walsh, The Real News Network, "For Women Workers at UPS, Fighting the Bosses Means Fighting the Patriarchy"
Citations Needed, "News Brief: As UPS Strike "Looms," Media Frames Working-Class Revolt as "Threat" to "The Economy""
Teddy Ostrow, Jacobin, "Part-Time UPS Workers Say Their Jobs Are Brutal"
Teamsters for a Democratic Union website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Sean Orr & Elliot Lewis, Jacobin, "UPS Teamsters Are Ready to Strike"
Working People, "Sean Orr"
Working People, "Teamsters in Boston Have a Message for UPS (w/ Thomas Mari, Jane Fallon, Rob Atkinson, JJ Rodriguez, Fred Zuckerman, Julie, & Sean M. O'Brien)"
Working People, ""If You Can't Stand the Heat, Keep Working" (w/ Zakk, Gabriela, & Steve)"
Alex Press, Jacobin, "Inside the Teamsters' Preparations for a UPS Strike"
J.J. McCorvey, Adiel Kaplan, & Annie Probert, NBC News, "UPS Drivers on Track to Get Air-Conditioned Trucks for the First Time"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Michael Paul Lindsey II

Thu, 13 Jul 2023 04:49:00 +0000

When we hear the term "whistleblower," we tend to think of names like Daniel Ellsberg, Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, Julian Assange—people who have risked their freedom, even their lives, to expose government lies, abuses of power, and state secrets that the public needs to know about. But there are a range of federal statutes designed to protect those who blow the whistle on their employers, too, especially when those employers are breaking the law and/or endangering their workers and the public.

Michael Paul Lindsey II is a military veteran who has worked for Union Pacific as a trained locomotive conductor and engineer for the past 17 years, and he has maintained good standing as an employee throughout that time. Over the course of his career on the rails, however, Paul has seen and experienced firsthand how corporate greed has destroyed the railroad industry, damaged our supply chain, run workers into the ground, and put the public in danger. Even though he knew it could put his career at risk, Paul has been outspoken on these issues, using his popular TikTok channel, writing op-eds, and giving interviews in which he has exposed, with a veteran railroader's insight, the destructive business and labor practices of Union Pacific and the other Class 1 rail carriers, and how those practices have contributed to catastrophes like the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Then the company came for him. In suspected retaliation for his whistleblowing, Paul has officially been fired from Union Pacific. In this urgent and exclusive interview, we talk with Paul about his career on the rails, the changes he's seen take hold of the industry he loves, and the dubious circumstances that led to his firing.

Additional links/info below...

Paul's TikTok channel
Paul's TikTok video about East Palestine derailment
OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program
Michael Paul Lindsey II, Railway Age, "The Game Has Changed"
Michael Paul Lindsey II, Railway Age, "'Dear National Carriers Conference Committee and AAR'"
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Railway Companies Engage In 'CORPORATE TERRORISM' Ahead of Strike"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, ""This Was Preventable": Railroad Workers Explain How Wall St Caused the East Palestine Derailment"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine, 100 Days Later"
Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "What Union Pacific and the Media Aren't Telling You About the Baker, CA, Train Derailment"
Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Corporate Billionaires Are Wrecking the Supply Chain. Just Look at the Railroads"
Useful Idiots, "'Union Joe' Biden Sells Out Rail Workers"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Live Show: Organizing on a Mass Scale (w/ Josh Thole & Sarah Beth Ryther)

Sat, 08 Jul 2023 06:46:00 +0000

We hosted another Working People live show, in collaboration with the Action Builder / Action Network team, on May 8 at the 30th Constitutional Convention of the Canadian Labour Congress in Montréal. In this panel discussion, Max speaks with Sarah Beth Ryther, employee-organizer with Trader Joe's United in Minneapolis, and Josh Thole, former Major League Baseball player and current Minor League Special Assistant for the MLB Players Association, about what union organizing from the ground up looks like, and about how we can scale up our local organizing efforts and build the infrastructure to sustain nationwide campaigns.

Additional links/info below...

Major League Baseball Players Association website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Trader Joe's United website, Twitter page, and Instagram
Trader Joe's United Solidarity Fund
Action Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Action Builder website
Jeff Schuhrke & Sarah Beth Ryther, Jacobin, "Trader Joe's Workers Have Won Their First Unions in America"
Working People, "Alex P."
Evan Drellich, The Athletic, "'Hit the Go Button': The Six Years that Made Baseball's Minor League Union"
Tipping Pitches, "The Gang Forms a Union (feat. Trevor Hildenberger)"
Working People, "2023 Canadian Labour Congress, Part 1 (w/ Emily Leedham, Guy Smith, Mary Newman, James Russwurm, & Liz Ha)"
Working People, "2023 Canadian Labour Congress, Part 2 (w/ Nora Loreto, Meg Davis, Larry Rousseau, & Nicholas Marcus Thompson)"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Pride and Labor's Duty to Fight for All (w/ Jessica Gonzalez & Fae Weichsel)

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 04:46:00 +0000

From legislative attacks on the rights of trans people, drag performers, and queer people spreading to statehouses around the country like wildfire, to rightwing media relentlessly spewing fascistic anti-LGBTQ+ messages, to far-right groups ramping up their intimidation tactics and violent assaults to force LGBTQ+ people back into the closet, Pride month feels different in 2023. And yet, the rebellious, liberatory spirit of Pride persists, and the struggle for equality, acceptance, and the right to pursue what makes us happy continues—and the labor movement must be a source of strength in that struggle. How far has the labor movement come in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights? How far do we still have to go? And what role can and should labor play in the broader, necessary fight for LGBTQ+ liberation and against the fascist attacks on our fellow workers, our neighbors, and our loved ones? We talk to Fae Weichsel, a first assistant cameraperson and member of IATSE Local 600, where they also serve on the National Executive Board and co-chair the Young Workers Committee, and Jessica Gonzalez, who has worked in the video game industry for the past decade, is currently a lead technical test analyst for a video game company, and is a founder of A Better ABK (Activision-Blizzard-King Workers Alliance) and the Game Workers Alliance.

Additional links/info below...

Fae's Twitter page and Bluesky page
Jessica's Twitter page and Linktree
IATSE Local 600 website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
ABetterABK website and Twitter page
Game Workers Alliance website and Twitter page
Human Rights Campaign, "LGBTQ+ Americans Under Attack: A Report and Reflection on the 2023 State Legislative Session"
Amelia Hansford, PinkNews, "Trans Journalist Erin Reed on Fighting Anti-LGBTQ+ Hate and Working at the Coalface of Transphobia"
Tess Owens, Vice News, "The Far Right Has Made Security a Huge Issue For Pride"
William Phelps, Tag24, "Jessica Gonzalez, Former Activision Blizzard Employee, Is a Champion of Game Workers' Rights"
Kellen Browning, The New York Times, "A Vote by Activision Workers Could Give Unions a Foothold in Gaming"
Kellen Browning & Mike Isaac, The New York Times, "Activision, Facing Internal Turmoil, Grapples With #MeToo Reckoning"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "The New 'Lavender Scare' Is an Attack on the Working Class"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Entertainment Workers Discuss the Dark Side of Hollywood and Historic IATSE Strike Vote"
Julian Mark & Jaclyn Peiser, The Washington Post, "Starbucks Workers at 150 Stores Launch Strike Over Pride Decor"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Sean Orr

Thu, 15 Jun 2023 06:02:00 +0000

The largest private sector labor contract in the US is set to expire at midnight on July 31; as negotiations continue to play out, we will soon see whether or not the 350,000 Teamsters working for United Parcel Services (UPS) will hit the picket line and wage one of the largest strikes in US history. As Sean Orr, a UPS package-car driver and elected shop steward for Teamsters Local 705 in Chicago, and Elliot Lewis, a UPS package-car driver and alternate shop steward for Teamsters Local 804 in New York City, recently wrote in Jacobin, "This contract fight is about two visions of work in the twenty-first century. One is promoted by workers: equal pay for equal work, dignity and autonomy on the job, and a stable work-life balance. The other is promoted by Wall Street: hypersurveillance, low pay, subcontracting, gig work, and 'flexible' scheduling practices that hurt workers and benefit bosses." In this episode, we talk to Sean Orr about growing up in a de-industrializing Milwaukee, his path to becoming a Teamster and working for UPS, why the current contract fight is such a pivotal moment for the Teamsters and the labor movement, and what we can all do to stand in solidarity with all UPS workers.

Additional links/info below...

Sean's Twitter page
International Brotherhood of Teamsters website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Teamsters for a Democratic Union website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Sean Orr & Elliot Lewis, Jacobin, "UPS Teamsters Are Ready to Strike"
Sean Orr & Elliot Lewis, Labor Notes, "UPS Teamsters Start Strike Authorization Vote"
Working People, "Teamsters in Boston Have a Message for UPS (w/ Thomas Mari, Jane Fallon, Rob Atkinson, JJ Rodriguez, Fred Zuckerman, Julie, & Sean M. O'Brien)"
Working People, ""If You Can't Stand the Heat, Keep Working" (w/ Zakk, Gabriela, & Steve)"
The Upsurge podcast Spotify page, Twitter page, and Patreon
Alex Press, Jacobin, "Inside the Teamsters' Preparations for a UPS Strike"
J.J. McCorvey, Adiel Kaplan, & Annie Probert, NBC News, "UPS Drivers on Track to Get Air-Conditioned Trucks for the First Time"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

2023 Canadian Labour Congress, Part 2 (w/ Nora Loreto, Meg Davis, Larry Rousseau, & Nicholas Marcus Thompson)

Thu, 08 Jun 2023 03:35:00 +0000

From May 8-12, the 30th Constitutional Convention of the Canadian Labour Congress took place in Montréal. Reporting for Working People and The Real News Network, Max attended the convention and spoke with a number of rank-and-file workers, organizers, and union officers about the state of the labor movement in Canada. In Part 2 of our two-part dispatch from the CLC, we talk to: Nora Loreto, writer, editor, organizer, podcaster, co-host of Sandy and Nora Talk Politics with Sandy Hudson, and author of numerous books, including Spin Doctors: How Media and Politicians Misdiagnosed the COVID-19 Pandemic, and Take Back The Fight: Organizing Feminism for the Digital Age; Meg Davis, brand director, illustrator, and former member of the organizing committee at Point Blank Creative ad agency, where workers unionized with UFCW Local 1518; Larry Rousseau, current Executive Vice President of the Canadian Labour Congress; and Nicholas Marcus Thompson, Trinidadian-Canadian social justice advocate, union leader, and Executive Director of the Black Class Action Secretariat.

Additional links/info below...

Canadian Labour Congress website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Nora's website and Twitter page
Nora Loreto, Fernwood Publishers, Spin Doctors: How Media and Politicians Misdiagnosed the COVID-19 Pandemic
Nora Loreto, Fernwood Publishers, Take Back The Fight: Organizing Feminism for the Digital Age
Meg's website
Larry's CLC profile page and Twitter page
Nicholas's website and Twitter page
Black Class Action website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Yes—Canada Has Anti-Black Racism, Too"
Justin Crann, Strategy, "Inside Point Blank's Efforts to Unionize"
Gabriela Calugay-Casuga, rabble.ca, "The Black Class Action Secretariat Needs All of Labour to Step Up"
Gabriela Calugay-Casuga, rabble.ca, "'Team Unite' re-elected to lead Canadian Labour Congress"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

2023 Canadian Labour Congress, Part 1 (w/ Emily Leedham, Guy Smith, Mary Newman, James Russwurm, & Liz Ha)

Sat, 03 Jun 2023 08:04:00 +0000

From May 8-12, the 30th Constitutional Convention of the Canadian Labour Congress took place in Montréal. Reporting for Working People and The Real News Network, Max attended the convention and spoke with a number of rank-and-file workers, organizers, and union officers about the state of the labor movement in Canada. In Part 1 of our two-part dispatch from the CLC, we talk to: Emily Leedham, the Prairie Reporter for PressProgress and editor of Shift Work, PressProgress' weekly national labour newsletter; Guy Smith, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees; Mary Newman, a journalist and producer for the Canadian Broadcast Corporation and member of the Canadian Media Guild; James Russwurm, a quality assurance tester for Keywords Studios, where workers formed the first union in the video gaming industry and affiliated with UFCW Local 401; Liz Ha, 1st Vice President of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 154, chair of the OPSEU provincial human rights committee, and vice-chair of the OPSEU Coalition of Racialized Workers.

Additional links/info below...

Canadian Labour Congress website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Emily's Twitter page and newsletter
PressProgress's website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Guy's AUPE profile page
Alberta Union of Provincial Employees website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Mary's Twitter page
UFCW Local 401 website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Liz's Twitter page
OPSEU Local 154 Facebook page
OPSEU Coalition of Racialized Workers website
Emily Leedham, PressProgress, "Public Servants Forced Federal Government to Improve Deal By Going on Strike, Labour Experts Say"
Aminah Sheikh, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, "The Right Wing is Organizing in Canada. Can The Left Learn to Stop Them?"
CBC Radio, "Canada's Video Games Industry Is Getting Its 1st Union. Organizers Hope It's Not the Last"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Labor Must Join the Fight to Stop Cop City (w/ Kamau Franklin & Mariah Parker)

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 04:42:00 +0000

The 2020 protests that took place in the immediate wake of Minneapolis police murdering George Floyd were a historic call for America to reckon with its racist, oppressive system of state-sanctioned police violence. Three years later, rather than a reckoning, that same system, along with the political and business elites propping it up, are giving us "Cop City" (ie, the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, the Atlanta Police Foundation's 85-acre, $90-million police militarization and training complex where law enforcement from around the US and beyond will, among other things, train for urban warfare scenarios). Plans to build Cop City have been mired in controversy and civil rights violations from the beginning—from the city government's attempts to ignore residents' and activists' objections and force through the construction of Cop City in Atlanta's ecologically vital Weelaunee Forest, to police raiding an encampment of peaceful protestors and murdering one of them, Manuel ("Tortuguita") Esteban Paez Terán, who was shot 57 times, to the truly Orwellian crackdown on protestors and advocates, dozens of whom are being arrested and charged with "domestic terrorism."

As Micah Herskind writes, "The struggle to Stop Cop City is not just a battle over the creation of a $90 million police urban warfare center. It's not just a fight to protect the 381 acres of forest land, known as one of the "four lungs" of Atlanta, currently under threat of destruction. It's not just a conflict over how the city invests the over $30 million it has pledged to the project, to be supplemented by at least $60 million in private funding. The movement is all of those things. But even more fundamentally, the struggle to Stop Cop City is a battle for the future of Atlanta. It's a struggle over who the city is for: the city's corporate and state ruling class actors who have demanded that Cop City be built, or the people of Atlanta who have consistently voiced their opposition and demanded a different vision for the city." Make no mistake, though, the fight to Stop Cop City is all of our fight, and that very much includes the labor movement. In this mini-cast, we speak with Kamau Franklin and Mariah Parker about Cop City, the fight to stop it, and why labor needs to get off the sidelines and join that fight.

Kamau Franklin has been a dedicated community organizer for over thirty years, beginning in New York City and now based in Atlanta. He is also a lawyer, writer, and the founder of Community Movement Builders, Inc. Mariah Parker is labor and community organizer, a rapper (known by the stage name Linqua Franqa), and recently served as District 2 County Commissioner for Athens-Clarke County in Athens, Georgia, from 2018 - 2022.

Additional links/info below...

Kamau's Twitter page
Community Movement Builders website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
Mariah's Twitter page and LinkTree
Stop Cop City
Micah Herskind, Scalawag, "This is the Atlanta Way: A Primer on Cop City"
Candace Bernd, Truthout, "Cop City Protesters Face Felonies for Flyering as Police Repress Student Sit-Ins"
Candace Bernd, Truthout, "Atlanta Was a Constitution-Free Zone During "Stop Cop City" Week of Action"
Stephen Janis & Taya Graham, The Real News Network, "Atlanta's 'Cop City' Is a Blueprint for America's Future"
Frances Madeson, Truthout, "Domestic Terrorism Charges Against Cop City Demonstrators Spur Further Protests"
Natasha Lennard, The Intercept, "Atlanta Police Arrest Organizers of Bail Fund for Cop City Protestors"
Natasha Lennard, The Intercept, "Police Shot Atlanta Cop City Protestor 57 Times, Autopsy Finds"
Fair Fight Action Releases Statement Condemning Anti-Democratic Criminalization of Legal Aid Group Ahead of Vote on 'Cop City' Funding
Jimmy Williams (General President of IUPAT) statement on Cop City
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Three Years Later, George Floyd's Family Members Are Still Fighting for Justice"
Morgan Simon, Forbes, "The Corporations Funding Cop City In Atlanta"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Live Show: Making Baltimore a Union Town (w/ Rebekah Kirkman, Dever Cunningham, Martin Yepes, Leila Grothe, Andre Elkridge, & Rachel Leeds)

Fri, 26 May 2023 23:25:00 +0000

We hosted a Working People live show at The Real News Network studio in Baltimore on May 18. In this panel discussion, co-hosted by Max and Baltimore writer and editor Rebekah Kirkman, we speak with a diverse panel of worker-organizers from around the city about their respective struggles to unionize their workplaces, what being in a union means to them and their coworkers, and what all of us can do to support one another and grow the labor movement in our town. Panelists include: Dever Cunningham, MOM's Workers United (Teamsters); Martin Yepes, Teachers & Researchers United (United Electrical Workers) at Johns Hopkins University; Leila Grothe, Baltimore Museum of Art Union (AFSCME); Andre Elkridge, UNITE HERE Local 7; Rachel Leeds, Walters Workers United Museum of Art.

Additional links/info below...

Watch the video version of this live show
Rebekah's website and Twitter page
Mom's Workers United Twitter page
Teachers & Researchers United website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
Baltimore Museum of Art Union Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
UNITE HERE Local 7 website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Walters Workers United website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
Rebekah Kirkman, The Real News Network, "Walters Art Museum Sends Public Labor Day Email Criticizing Staff for Not Nnionizing Quickly, Yet Refuses to Recognize Union"
Rebekah Kirkman, The Real News Network,"MOM's Organic Market Workers Vote to Unionize Baltimore-Area Store"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Baltimore Museum Workers Are Fighting for a 'Wall-to-Wall' Union"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Now or Never: Grad Student-Workers at Johns Hopkins Mobilize Ahead of Union Election"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Workers at Maryland's First Unionized Starbucks Describe Their Fight for Workplace Democracy"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library Workers Move to Unionize"
Jaisal Noor, The Real News Network, "Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel Workers Say Managers Pocket Half Their Tips"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

East Palestine, 100 Days Later (w/ Ashley McCollum, Kayla Miller, & Christina Siceloff)

Sat, 20 May 2023 02:40:00 +0000

It's been over 100 days since the catastrophic derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying over 100,000 gallons of toxic materials occurred in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb 3. Since then, residents of East Palestine and the surrounding area in Ohio and Pennsylvania have had their lives turned completely upside down. Entire families have been uprooted from their homes, with many having to live in hotels or wherever they can find shelter, unable to return home out of fear of exposure to chemicals that were spilled into the water and soil from the derailment and spewed into the air from Norfolk Southern's "controlled burn" of the vinyl chloride contained within multiple derailed train cars. Even though government and company officials have claimed the air is safe to breathe and the water is safe to drink, residents have continuously reported negative health effects from skin rashes, headaches, and dizzy spells to nausea, diarrhea, shortness of breath, and mouth numbness. Farm animals, pets, and crops have been contaminated, property values have plummeted, local businesses have shuttered or are barely surviving—all the while, frustrated residents report feeling lied to, misled, disregarded, and abandoned by Norfolk Southern and by their state and federal governments, and their ongoing nightmare has been gradually forgotten by the national media. In this urgent episode, we speak with Ashley McCollum, Kayla Miller, and Christina Siceloff—three residents of East Palestine and the surrounding area in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and members of the East Palestine Unity Council—about what they, their families, and their communities are going through, how they are banding together to provide mutual aid for one another, and what we can all do to help.

Additional links/info below...

Ashley's Twitter page and GoFundMe
Christina's TikTok and CashApp: $safekeeper115
Kayla's TikTok and GoFundMe
GoFundMe: East Palestine Off The Rails!
Unity Council for EP Train Derailment Facebook group
Soup Mama Official
The Unity Council Presents: Community Demands Created by Community Members of Ohio and Pennsylvania Affected by the Norfolk Southern Train Derailment in East Palestine, Ohio
Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Union Progress, "East Palestine Residents Plead: 'By the Grace of God, Please Get Our People Out of Here'"
Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Union Progress, "Seven Weeks After Rail Disaster, Residents Struggle with the Unknown"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine, Ohio: A Hell of Wall Street's Making"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'This Was Preventable': Railroad Workers Explain How Wall St. Caused the East Palestine Derailment"
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Rail Worker EXPOSES Ohio Disaster COVERUP"
Mike L., The Real News Network, "A Carman's Perspective on the East Palestine Derailment and the Railroad Industry as a Whole"
Matt Berg, Politico, "DOJ Sues Norfolk Southern over East Palestine Derailment"
Campbell Robertson & Emily Cochrane, The New York Times, "In Ohio Town Where Train Derailed, Anxiety and Distrust Are Running Deep"
Hiroko Tabuchi, The New York Times, "Texas to New Jersey: Tracking the Toxic Chemicals in the Ohio Train Inferno"
Status Coup News, "CHRONIC EXPOSURE to Cancer-Causing Vinyl Chloride Found in East Palestine Residents' Urine Tests"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Hollywood Writers Strike to Save the Entertainment Industry from Further Corporate Destruction (w/ Sasha Stewart)

Sun, 07 May 2023 01:40:00 +0000

Hollywood writers represented by the Writers Guild of America, East, and the Writers Guild of America, West, are on strike for the first time since 2007-08. As Alex Press writes in Jacobin, "The WGA (West and East) called the strike just before midnight on May 1, with its leadership unanimously voting for a work stoppage after six weeks of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) over a new three-year contract that covers some 11,500 film and television writers. Announcing its decision, the union said that the bargaining table responses of the AMPTP, which consists of Amazon, Apple, Discovery-Warner, Disney, NBC Universal, Netflix, Paramount, and Sony, had 'been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing.'" Even though overall production budgets have risen in the past decade, writer pay has declined, and the rise of streaming services has translated to lower residuals for writers, shorter paid work periods and more precarious employment, etc., with studios even threatening to replace more essential creative labor with AI software.

In this mini-cast, we speak about what led to the writers' strike, and get an update from the picket line, with Sasha Stewart, a WGA-East council member and Writers Guild Award nominated TV writer, producer, and creator. With a background in improv and sketch comedy, Sasha has written for, among other productions, The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore (Comedy Central) and The Fix with Jimmy Carr (Netflix), and she contributes to McSweeney's and The New Yorker. She was also the Head Writer on the YA political thriller podcast Daughters of DC (iHeartRadio).

Additional links/info below...

Sasha's website and Twitter page
WGA-East website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
WGA-West website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
Entertainment Community Fund
Josh Gondelman, The Nation, "Writers Like Me Have Shut Down Hollywood. Here's Why"
Alex Press, Jacobin, "TV Writers Say They're Striking to Stop the Destruction of Their Profession"
Mandalit del Barco & Becky Sullivan, NPR, "The Best Picket Signs of the Hollywood Writers' Strike"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Hollywood Studios Are Making Billions Off Underpaid Animators"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Entertainment Workers Discuss the Dark Side of Hollywood and Historic IATSE Strike Vote"
Matt Pearce, The Los Angeles Times, "AI Deepfakes of Anthony Bourdain's Voice Are Only a Taste of What's Coming"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Live Show: Workers in the South Are Rising Up (w/ Chris Daniel, Melanie Barron, & Mo Haskins)

Sat, 06 May 2023 05:55:00 +0000

Announcement: Our next live show will be on Monday, May 8, from 5-7pm EST at the Canadian Labour Congress' 30th Constitutional Convention in Montreal!

We took Working People on the road and hosted another live show on March 21 in Atlanta, Georgia, in collaboration with the Action Builder / Action Network team. In this panel discussion, Max speaks with local organizers about the specific challenges workers in the South face in their workplaces and in their efforts to organize—and how they are finding creative ways to overcome those challenges today. Panelists include: Chris Daniel of the Georgia AFL-CIO; Melanie Barron of the Communications Workers of America / United Campus Workers; and Maurice "Mo" Haskins of the Union of Southern Service Workers.

Additional links/info below...

Melanie's Twitter page
Communications Workers of America website, Twitter page, Facebook page, and Instagram
United Campus Workers website and Twitter page
Georgia AFL-CIO website, Twitter page, and Facebook page
The Union of Southern Service Workers website, Twitter page, Facebook page, and Instagram
Action Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Action Builder website
Kim Kelly, Teen Vogue, "Union of Southern Service Workers Is Organizing Low-Wage Workers Across Industries"
Saurav Sarkar, The Real News Network, "Punjabi Workers in Toronto Are Fighting Wage Theft—and They're Winning"
Jimmy Williams (General President of IUPAT) statement on Cop City
Working People, "A "Do or Die" Moment for the Academic Labor Movement (w/ Matt Thomas, Kristina Mensik, Bryan Sacks, & Todd Wolfson)"
Chris Kromm, Facing South, "A New Day for Labor in the South?"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

May Day Reminds Us That Labor's Fight & the Fight Against Mass Incarceration Are Connected (w/ Mansa Musa)

Wed, 03 May 2023 06:37:00 +0000

Max and Jules want to wish everyone out there a happy May Day (ie International Workers Day)! To commemorate this most sacred of holidays, we are sharing with our audience the audio of a special holiday crossover edition of Rattling the Bars, The Real News Network's weekly YouTube show about the violence and victims of the prison-industrial complex—and how we can fight against it. In this episode, Max sits down with Rattling the Bars host Mansa Musa, a former political prisoner who was locked up for 48 years, to talk about the history and spirit of May Day, and about how this day reminds us that the labor movement and the movement to end the brutal system of mass incarceration are fundamentally intertwined.

Additional links/info below...

Rattling the Bars series page
Working People, "(Unlocked) BONUS EPISODE: Mansa Musa"
Working People, "The Srsly Wrong MAY DAY Crossover Special (w/ Working People, Rebel Steps, & Doomer V. Bloomer)"
Raechel Anne Jolie, In These Times, "Why May Day Continues to Capture the Hearts and Imaginations of Workers"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Striking UMich Grads Hold the Line While Facing Cops, Docked Pay, and Out-of-Touch Administrators (w/ Alejo Stark)

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 05:16:00 +0000

Graduate student-workers at the University of Michigan are still on strike after hitting the picket line for the second time in three years at the end of March. In the time between the Fall 2020 and Winter 2023 strikes, according to the union, the gap between graduate workers' average pay and the cost of living in Ann Arbor has tripled. Facing a cost-of-living crisis and fighting for a slate of core demands—from a living wage and affordable childcare to better protections for international students, access to gender-affirming healthcare, and the creation of an unarmed, non-police emergency response unit on campus—graduate workers are not backing down. Meanwhile, University of Michigan President Santa Ono and the upper-level administration have continued with their attempts to break the strike through the courts and even had the cops called on striking graduates when they confronted Ono about UM's handling of the strike. In this mini-cast, a follow-up to our March 31 report at the beginning of the strike, we are joined once again by Alejo Stark, a grad worker and rank-and-file member of GEO, to give listeners an update on where things currently stand and how you can help.

Disclaimer: Max is a former GEO member and earned his PhDs from the University of Michigan.

Additional links/info below...

GEO website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
GEO Strike Fund
Working People, "University of Michigan Grads Strike for a Living Wage (w/ Alejo Stark)"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Worker Solidarity Livestream: Strikes at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, University of Michigan, and More"
Miles Anderson, The Michigan Daily, "UMich Planning to Withhold Pay from Striking GSIs"
Tweet thread from UM alumnus Dr. Jennifer Rubin

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Kayla Denker

Thu, 20 Apr 2023 07:05:00 +0000

Kayla Denker is a military veteran and a trained archaeologist who has worked in the private sector and for the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. She is also a trans woman living in America, and every day she navigates the difficult and increasingly dangerous terrain of living her life as an out trans person—estrangement from unaccepting family, hostile encounters in public, and a growing right-wing political crusade hellbent on scapegoating LGBTQ+ people as the ultimate evil and the source of society's ills, stripping them of their rights, and outwardly calling for the elimination of trans people from society.

Until recently, Kayla was working for the Forest Service, doing a job she loved. On March 5, however, after conservative commentator Michael Knowles openly proclaimed at the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 4 that "transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely," Kayla posted a short video online featuring herself loading an assault rifle she legally owns accompanied by the following text: "While advocating just for trans people to 'arm ourselves' is not any kind of solution to the genocide we are facing, I do want to say that if you transphobes do try to come for me I'm taking a few of you with me." Then, weeks later, on March 27, Aiden Hale, who identified as a transgender man, murdered three children and three adults in a mass school shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, where Aiden had been a student. In the wake of the Nashville shooting, rightwing and tabloid media outlets and prominent social media accounts began to furiously recirculate Kayla's video, lying about the origins of the video and, instead, painting a fabricated, fear-mongering narrative that connected her and Hale to a supposed network of violent and "militant transgender activists." Immediately, Kayla's life was turned upside down—she has been flooded with death threats and, last week, she was fired from the Forest Service. In this episode, we talk with Kayla about her life and work, the events of the past two months, and the reality of being a trans person in the US today.

Additional links/info below...

GoFundMe: Help Kayla with Legal Fees and Survival
Kayla's Twitter page (public), TikTok, and YouTube channel
Trans Legislation Tracker
Peter Wade & Patrick Reis, Rolling Stone, "CPAC Speaker Calls for Eradication of 'Transgenderism'—and Somehow Claims He's Not Calling for Elimination of Transgender People"
Adam M. Rhodes, The Appeal, "Anti-Trans Bills Flood States in 'Centrally Coordinated' Attack on Transgender Existence"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "The New Lavender Scare is an Attack on the Working Class"
Lexi McMenamin, Teen Vogue, "How to Stay Safe as a Trans Student in School"
France 24 ENG, "Activist Erin Reed on the 'Sustained fear Campaign' Behind US Anti-Transgender Laws"
Death Panel podcast, "The Gray Lady vs. Trans Life w/ Vicky Osterweil"
Fenit Nirappil, The Washington Post, "The Right Exploits Nashville Shooting to Escalate Anti-Trans Rhetoric"
Madison Pauly, Mother Jones, "Inside the Secret Working Group That Helped Push Anti-Trans Laws Across the Country"
Thaddeus Morgan, History, "The NRA Supported Gun Control When the Black Panthers Had the Weapons"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Bryan Mack

Sat, 15 Apr 2023 06:24:00 +0000

Bryan Mack is a second-generation railroad worker from Florence, South Carolina, with a Masters in Music Performance. Both Bryan and his father worked for CSX Transportation, each hiring out at times when there were statistically few Black employees or employees of color working on the railroads. For 17 years, Bryan has worked as a conductor for CSX; in that time, he has seen and experienced firsthand the worsening conditions as the industry has been taken over by greedy executives and upper-level managers hellbent on cutting costs and maximizing profits for their shareholders at the expense of workers, customers, and the public at large. As part of our continuing coverage of the crisis on the nation's railroad system, we talk with Bryan about his life and work on the railroads, and about the good, bad, and ugly parts of the industry that outsiders may not see, including the discriminatory treatment that Bryan and other workers of color have faced on the job—up to CSX's recent decision to fire him under dubious circumstances.

Additional links/info below...

US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: "Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal"
Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Eric Arnesen, Harvard University Press, Brotherhoods of Color: Black Railroad Workers and the Struggle for Equality
Mike L., The Real News Network, "A Carman's Perspective on the East Palestine Derailment and the Railroad Industry as a Whole"
Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "What Union Pacific and the Media Aren't Telling You About the Baker, CA, Train Derailment"
Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Corporate Billionaires Are Wrecking the Supply Chain. Just Look at the Railroads"
Working People, "Rail Workers of the World, Unite! (w/ Ross Grooters, Cat Cray, Clayton Clive, & Matthieu Bolle-Reddat)"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Teamsters in Boston Have a Message for UPS (w/ Thomas Mari, Jane Fallon, Rob Atkinson, JJ Rodriguez, Fred Zuckerman, Julie, & Sean M. O'Brien)

Sat, 08 Apr 2023 00:21:00 +0000

Under the new leadership team led by General President Sean M. O'Brien, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters are re-introducing themselves to the bosses and to the world as a fighting union, and they are gearing up for their biggest test yet: the impending negotiations of the IBT's contract with United Parcel Service (UPS). With UPS employing over 350,000 Teamster members around the country, theirs is the largest collective bargaining agreement in North America—and the current contract is set to expire on July 31. With national negotiations set to begin this month, Teamsters leaders are traveling to union locals around the country, mobilizing their members, and preparing UPS workers for a strike if a new contract is not reached on time. We attended an April 2 rally at Teamsters Local 25 in Boston (O'Brien's old local) and spoke with folks on the ground about this new era for the Teamsters and what's at stake in the UPS contract fight.

Episode includes interviews with and speeches from: Thomas Mari (Teamsters), Jane Fallon (Teamsters), Rob Atkinson (Teamsters), JJ Rodriguez (Teamsters), Fred Zuckerman (Teamsters), Julie (Workers United), and Sean M. O'Brien (Teamsters).

Additional links/info below...

International Brotherhood of Teamsters website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Teamsters for a Democratic Union website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Working People, ""If You Can't Stand the Heat, Keep Working" (w/ Zakk, Gabriela, & Steve)"
Working People, "(Unlocked) BONUS EPISODE - A Pivotal Moment for the Teamsters (w/ Indigo Olivier)"
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "The Coming UPS WORKER REVOLT Over Heat Exhaustion"
Alex Press, Jacobin, "Inside the Teamsters' Preparations for a UPS Strike"
Elliot Lewis & Matt Leichenger, Labor Notes, "UPS Says No to Air Conditioning, But Here's a Surveillance Camera"
Justin Alo, Labor Notes, "'Strike Force': Building the UPS Contract Campaign, One Breakfast at a Time"
The Upsurge: A podcast about UPS, the Teamsters & the future of the American labor movement
Thomas Black, Bloomberg, "UPS Faces Rising Labor Costs, Strike Risk in Upcoming Union Fight"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

University of Michigan Grads Strike for a Living Wage (w/ Alejo Stark)

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 07:09:00 +0000

Graduate student-workers at the University of Michigan are on strike for the second time in three years, officially hitting the picket line this week. Speaking to The Michigan Daily, Amir Fleischmann, chair of the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) Contracts Committee, said, "Grad workers are very frustrated. They're struggling to pay rent. They're struggling to afford childcare. They lack access to gender-affirming care. And I think we're saying enough is enough. The University needs to give us a fair contract now." On top of that, the University of Michigan administration is once again seeking to weaponize the courts to end the strike, filing an Unfair Labor Practice Charge against the union, claiming that the strike violates the university's existing contract with the union. In this urgent mini-cast, we talk with Alejo Stark, a grad worker and rank-and-file member of GEO, to get an update on the strike, the response from the administration, and what listeners can do to show support for GEO and its members.

Disclaimer: Max is a former GEO member and earned his PhDs from the University of Michigan.

Additional links/info below...

GEO website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
GEO Strike Fund
Miles Anderson & Matthew Shanbom, The Michigan Daily, "GEO Commences Strike Against UMich at 10:24 a.m."
Meredith Bruckner, Click On Detroit, "University of Michigan Files Unfair Labor Practice Charge Against Striking Student Workers"
Leah Graham, Barbara Collins, Emma Stein, & Liat Weinstein, The Michigan Daily, "University of Michigan Asks Court to Issue Injunction to Halt Graduate Student Strike"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Teaching in Ron DeSantis's Florida (w/ Philip Belcastro & Brennen Pickett)

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 04:37:00 +0000

Things are getting very dark in Florida, and educators at all levels have found themselves on the frontlines of a reactionary political crusade led by Republican governor Ron DeSantis. "As the new semester began," Florida-based journalist Michael Sainato recently reported, "teachers throughout Florida were faced with new state laws strictly limiting curricula—prompting schools to remove droves of books from their classrooms and libraries for fear of being in violation of the draconian but opaque new laws. An already-chilling reality gripping the third most populous state is getting even chillier in the wake of controversial legislation such as the "Don't Say Gay" bill and the Stop Woke Act, which both went into effect in July 2022." What is it like teaching in DeSantis's Florida today? For those who haven't already fled the state or left the profession altogether, what do these sweeping, draconian policy changes translate to on the day-to-day level for educators, and how can we stand in solidarity with them? In this episode, we talk with Philip Belcastro and Brennen Pickett, two public high school English teachers and union members in St. Petersburg, Florida, and the hosts of the PCTA FYRE podcast.

Additional links/info below...

PCTA FYRE podcast (listen and subscribe)
Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
Kerry Sheridan, WUSF, "Tallahassee Isn't Asking What Teachers Think. So They Started a Podcast"
Michael Sainato, The Real News Network, "'It's Disrupted All of My Lesson Plans': Florida Ramps Up Book Bans, Censorship"
Michael Sainato, The Real News Network, "Florida's Racist and Anti-LGBTQ Bills Are Already Having a Chilling Effect"
McKenna Schueler, Orlando Weekly, "All the Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws Being Proposed in Florida — And How You Can Fight Back"
McKenna Schueler, Orlando Weekly, "'This Is Our Future': UCF Students Join Statewide Student Protest of DeSantis' 'Dystopian' Education Policies"
Ariel Schiller, WTXL Tallahassee, "Senate Bill 256 Would Change Florida's Unions"
Fabiola Cineas, Vox, "Ron DeSantis's War on "Woke" in Florida Schools, Explained"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

A "Do or Die" Moment for the Academic Labor Movement (w/ Matt Thomas, Kristina Mensik, Bryan Sacks, & Todd Wolfson)

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 07:41:00 +0000

At colleges and universities across the country, a heated battle is playing out right now over workers' right to organize and have a say over how the institutions they keep afloat with their labor are run. From graduate student-worker unionization efforts and strikes at Temple University, the University of California, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern University, Northeastern University, the University of Chicago, and Indiana University, to faculty strikes (and near-strikes) at the University of Illinois at Chicago, The New School, Howard University, etc., to workers across the higher ed sector striking in the UK, the academic labor movement is one of the most explosive sites of labor struggle right now. Meanwhile, the administrative class is working overtime to not only slow down this movement, but to squash it altogether. As we speak, full-time and adjunct faculty at Rutgers University are prepared to strike for the first time in school history after months and months of bad-faith bargaining and union-busting from the university administration; at the same time, the Duke University administration has not only refused to acknowledge its graduate student-workers' right to unionize, but it has vowed to go to the National Labor Relations Board in the hopes of stripping that right from graduates at all private universities.

In this panel episode, we talk with worker-organizers from Duke and Rutgers about the struggles taking place at their institutions and across higher ed. Panelists include: Matt Thomas, a PhD student in the English Department at Duke University and co-chair of the Duke Graduate Student Union; Kristina Mensik, a PhD student in the Political Science Department at Duke University and a member of the Duke Graduate Student Union; Bryan Sacks, an adjunct professor of Religion and Philosophy at Rutgers and vice president of the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union (PTLFC-AAUP-AFT); Todd Wolfson, associate professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers and general vice president of Rutgers AAUP-AFT

Additional links/info below...

Duke Graduate Student Union website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union website and Twitter page
Rutgers AAUP-AFT website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
Higher Ed Labor United (HELU) website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
Matt's Twitter page
Kristina's website and Twitter page
Todd's faculty page and Twitter page
Alex Press, Jacobin, "Duke University Is Trying to Turn Back Time on Graduate Worker Unions"
Deepa Kumar, Truthout, "One of US's Largest Public Universities Could See First Strike in Its 257 Years"
Nancy Solomon, Gothamist, "With 94% Vote, Rutgers Faculty Tells Union Leaders They Can Call a Strike"
Indigo Olivier, Teen Vogue, "Graduate Unions: Why Student Workers at University of California, Temple, More Are Striking"
Dave Kamper, Labor Notes, "What's Fueling the Graduate Worker Union Upsurge?"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Steve Mellon

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 04:05:00 +0000

In October of last year, over 100 workers represented by five labor unions—including production, distribution, advertising, and accounts receivable staff—walked off the job on an unfair labor practice strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The strike began after the newspaper's management, Block Communications, which is owned by the Block family, cut off health insurance for employees on Oct. 1. As Michael Sainato reports at The Guardian, "The strike is unfolding in a US media industry that has seen widespread layoffs over the past decade with newspapers hit especially hard. Workers at the Post-Gazette have been working without a union contract since March 2017, claiming they haven't received any pay raises in 16 years."

Workers are approaching their sixth month on strike, and it has been a long, ugly fight. This past weekend, according to a press release from The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, "A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette scab truck driver assaulted two striking workers at a South Side picket line late Saturday night. The unprovoked assault sent one striker to the hospital with a broken jaw, which required surgery. Both workers were stripped of their health insurance by actions of the PG." In this episode, we talk with Steve Mellon, a veteran multimedia journalist and staff photographer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, whose work has been featured in The New York Times, Fortune, Forbes, Time, and USA Today. We talk with Steve about his career in journalism, how the industry has changed over the past 30 years, what it's been like to be on strike for the past five months, and what we can all do to help.

Additional links/info below...

Steve's Twitter and Website
Donate to Support Striking Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Workers
The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
The Pittsburgh Union Progress website, Twitter page, and Instagram
Steve Mellon, University of Pittsburgh Press, After the Smoke Clears: Struggling to Get By in Rustbelt America
Michael Sainato, The Guardian, "Pittsburgh Newspaper Workers Go on Strike Over Unfair Labor Practice"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Striking Workers Need Our Help to Keep Fighting in 2023"
Jamie Wiggan, Pittsburgh City Paper, "Striking Worker Struck in the Face as Post-Gazette Labor Angst Spills Over"
Jordana Rosenfeld, Pittsburgh City Paper, "Judge Finds Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Management Violated Workers' Rights"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

The Fight to Pass the Workplace Psychological Safety Act (w/ Misty Orlando, Dr. Jennifer Fraser, & Jerry Carbo)

Mon, 13 Mar 2023 01:00:00 +0000

While there are some stronger and broader laws in particular states, there is currently no federal standard defining, let alone outlawing, workplace bullying if the case does not involve harassment or discrimination of a member of a "protected status group" based on their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability. And yet, according to a 2021 survey commissioned by the Workplace Bullying Institute, 30% of adult Americans say they are currently being bullied or have experienced bullying at work, and that number jumps up to 39% for the currently employed Americans who were surveyed. That's not a small, insignificant problem. That's a lot of the working population. And the results also show that instances of bullying have actually increased in recent years with the expansion of remote work. But advocates are pushing legislators in different states to strengthen laws to protect workers from bullying in the workplace, and there are signs of hope concerning a bill in Oregon that would do just that. In this mini-cast, we speak with Misty Orlando, who has been the primary grassroots lobbyist for the bill, as well as Dr. Jennifer Fraser, author of The Bullied Brain, and Jerry Carbo, president of the National Workplace Bullying Coalition and professor of management at the Grove College of Business at Shippensburg University.

Additional links/info below...

Misty's Twitter page
Jennifer's website and Twitter page
National Workplace Bullying Coalition website, Twitter page, and Facebook page
Dr. Jennifer Fraser, Rowman & Littlefield, The Bullied Brain: Heal Your Scars and Restore Your Health
KMUZ, Willamette Wake Up, "Workplace Psychological Safety Act: Combating Bullying in the WorkPlace"
Jefferson Public Radio, "Oregon Legislators Urged to Support Workplace Psychological Safety Act"
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Max Alvarez: A DEADLY, Silent Epidemic of Workplace Abuse is Growing"
Working People, "Happy Birthday, Evan (w/ Amy Chamberlin & Jana Murphy)"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Live Show: We Need You—Yes, You—to Join the Labor Movement (w/ Chris Smalls, Vince Quiles, Sarah Beth Ryther, Tafadar Sourov, & Riley Fell)

Thu, 09 Mar 2023 05:22:00 +0000

We hosted another Working People live show on Feb. 22 in New York City, in collaboration with the Action Builder / Action Network team and The People's Forum. In this panel discussion, introduced by Amazon Labor Union president Chris Smalls, Max speaks with worker-organizers from around the country about why they and their coworkers decided not to quit their jobs but to commit to improving their workplaces, what the day-to-day work of organizing looks like, and how you—yes, you—can get involved and help grow the labor movement. Panelists include: Vince Quiles of Home Depot Workers United in Philadelphia; Tafadar Sourov of Laborers Local 79 in NYC; Sarah Beth Ryther of Trader Joe's United in Minneapolis; and Riley Fell of Starbucks Workers United in Baltimore.

Additional links/info below...

Vince's Twitter page and TikTok
Home Depot Workers United Twitter page
Laborers Local 79 website, Twitter page, and Facebook page
Trader Joe's United website, Twitter page, and Instagram
Trader Joe's United Solidarity Fund
Riley's Instagram
Starbucks Workers United website, Twitter page, and Instagram
Action Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Action Builder website
The People's Forum website, Twitter page, and Facebook page
Amazon Labor Union website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
Working People, "Vince Quiles"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "He Tried to Organize Home Depot's First Union. Now He's Unemployed"
Jeff Schuhrke & Sarah Beth Ryther, Jacobin, "Trader Joe's Workers Have Won Their First Unions in America"
Working People, "Alex P."
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "This NYC Construction Union Is Reaching Out to Undocumented and Non-Union Workers. The Bosses Don't Like It"
Working People, "New York Is a Union Town (w/ Chaz Rynkiewicz)"
Ashley Bishop, The Nation, "Immigrant Construction Workers Fight Back Against Exploitation"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "The Historic, Youthful, Rank-and-File Movement to Unionize Starbucks"
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Starbucks Leads Corporate CRIME WAVE To Crush Union Workers"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Amazon Workers United4Change (w/ Nannette Plascencia & Ivan Baez)

Sat, 04 Mar 2023 02:50:00 +0000

The historic union election victory at the JFK8 Amazon warehouse on Staten Island sent shockwaves throughout the US and beyond, but New York is not the only place Amazon workers are organizing. In Moreno Valley, California, workers at the ONT8 warehouse have been doing the painstaking work of organizing for years, and now they are attempting to unionize with the independent Amazon Labor Union, facing the same union-busting playbook from Amazon management that workers in Staten Island, Bessemer, Chicago, etc. have faced. We talk with Nannette Plascencia, who has worked at Amazon since 2015 and has led the unionization effort at ONT8, and Ivan Baez, a member of the union organizing committee and a former ONT8 employee who was recently fired in a suspected act of retaliation for his organizing activity.

Additional links/info below...

Amazon Workers United4Change (ONT8) Instagram
GoFundMe: Amazon Workers United4Change (ONT8)
Amazon Labor Union website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
Christopher Salazar, The Frontline Observer, "Anti-Union Campaign at Amazon ONT 8 Aims to Silence and Interrogate Amazon Workers, Says United 4 Change Leader"
Noam Scheiber & Karen Weise, The New York Times, "Amazon Labor Union, With Renewed Momentum, Faces Next Test"
Suhauna Hussain, The Los Angeles Times, "Amazon Union Push at Moreno Valley Warehouse Stalls"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "The NLRB Ruled in Favor of Amazon Union Organizers. What's Next?"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Fired Amazon Union Organizer: 'We're Not Able to Feed Ourselves"
Working People, "Amazon Labor Union"
Working People, "Alicia Johnson"
Working People, "Amazon Keeps Firing Union Organizers (w/ Matt Littrell)"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Rail Workers of the World, Unite! (w/ Ross Grooters, Cat Cray, Clayton Clive, & Matthieu Bolle-Reddat)

Sun, 26 Feb 2023 08:20:00 +0000

From unions in the United States fighting to save our supply chain from the destruction wrought by corporate tycoons, Wall Street vampires, and bought-off politicians, to the National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT) leading the fight against austerity politics and ruling-class union busting in the United Kingdom, to rail workers with the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) in France joining their compatriots in the streets in a general strike against President Emmanuel Macron's neoliberal attack on the country's beloved pension system, rail workers around the world are fighting different battles in the same war: the class war. In this special international episode, we bring together a panel of rail workers from the US, UK, and France to talk about what they are up against, what the struggle looks like in their corners of the world, and what we can all do to connect those struggles and build international worker solidarity. Panelists include: Ross Grooters of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and Railroad Workers United in the US; Cat Cray and Clayton Clive of the RMT in the UK; Matthieu Bolle-Reddat of the CGT Cheminots Versailles in France.

Additional links/info below...

Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Ross's Twitter page
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Rail Worker EXPOSES Ohio Disaster COVERUP"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, ""This Was Preventable": Railroad Workers Explain How Wall St Caused the East Palestine Derailment"
Working People, "East Palestine, Ohio: A Hell of Wall Street's Making (w/ Matt Weaver)"
Mel Buer, The Nation, "The Ohio Derailment Catastrophe Is a Case Study in Disaster Capitalism"
Kari Lydersen, In These Times, "The Case for Nationalizing the Railroads"
RMT Union National Dispute Fund
Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Corporate Billionaires Are Wrecking the Supply Chain. Just Look at the Railroads"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "The Supreme Court Is About to Drag Workers' Rights Back by Centuries"
RMT Union website, Facebook page, and Twitter page,
Clayton's Twitter page
Manchester South RMT Twitter page
Cat's Twitter page
Working People, "RMT Strike (w/ Mel Mullings, Clayton Clive, Cat Cray, & Gaz Jackson)"
Rupert Pickering, Tribune, "Defend the RMT"
Karl Hansen, Jacobin, "Britain's Rail Workers Are Poised to Strike Against Austerity"
Venda Premkumar, Maia Khan, & Rita Mahli, Tribune, "Why We're On Strike"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "New Anti-Union Law in UK Takes Aim at Strike Wave"
General Confederation of Labour website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "French Workers STRIKE Against Neoliberal Pension Reforms"
Tomek Skomski & Marion Beauvalet, Tribune, "Workers Against Macron"
Working People, "The French General Strike (2019-2020)"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

East Palestine, Ohio: A Hell of Wall Street's Making (w/ Matt Weaver)

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 07:10:00 +0000

It's been nearly two weeks since the catastrophic derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in northeast Ohio thrust the residents of East Palestine and the surrounding area into a non-stop waking nightmare. It will take weeks, months, if not years to appraise the damage of this train derailment on the population, on the rail workers and first responders, and on the environment, but while corporate spokespeople and many in the media try to paint this tragedy as some freak accident, we know better... We know better because we have been listening to railroad workers. In this urgent mini-cast, we discuss the nightmare in East Palestine with Matt Weaver, who has worked on the railroad since 1994, is a member of BMWED-IBT 2624, and was recently chosen to serve as legislative director for his state.

Additional links/info below...

Matt's Twitter page
Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Mel Buer, The Nation, "The Ohio Derailment Catastrophe Is a Case Study in Disaster Capitalism"
Watch Matt on The Problem with Jon Stewart: "The Ohio Train Disaster: Corporate Greed & Regulatory Failure"
Michael Kaplan, CBS News, "Excess Size Caused Train to Break Down in Days Before It Derailed in Ohio, Employees Say"
Mass for Shut Ins podcast, "037 - Workin' on the Railroad with Matt Weaver and Maximillian Alvarez"
Working People, "Jay"
Working People, "Countdown to Midnight (w/ Jay & Joe)"
Working People, "Where Do Railroad Workers Go from Here? (w/ Jay, Marilee Taylor, John Tormey, & Matt Parker)"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Happy Birthday, Evan (w/ Amy Chamberlin & Jana Murphy)

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 23:28:00 +0000

We kick off Season Six of the show with a very special episode that is dedicated to Evan Seyfried, his family, and his loved ones. As listeners know from our previous conversations with Evan's family members and their supporters in the Justice for Evan coalition, Evan was a loving son, brother, boyfriend, friend, and a dedicated worker. For 19 years, with a virtually spotless record, Evan worked at a local Kroger grocery store in Milford, Ohio, where he eventually became the dairy department manager. From October 2020 to March 2021, however, according to a lawsuit filed by the Seyfried family, Evan suffered a torturous litany of bullying, harassment, and sabotage at the hands of numerous actors, including management-level supervisors Shannon Frazee and Joseph Pigg, which caused Evan to eventually suffer a "transient episodic break" and take his own life.

We have done our best over the past year and a half to help the Seyfrieds get the justice they deserve, to hold Kroger accountable, and to keep Evan's story from fading from public view. But we also want to make sure that people remember Evan for the whole, beautiful person he was, for the joy and light he brought into the world, and for the love he showed to those who knew him. February 11 is Evan's birthday, and we want to take this opportunity to give some of that love back. With Evan's beloved girlfriend Amy Chamberlin and dear friend of the Seyfried family and cofounder of the Justice for Evan coalition Jana Murphy, we pay tribute to Evan by celebrating his life and the beautiful mark he left on this world.

Additional links/info below...

Justice for Evan Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
Justice for Evan Billboard Campaign
Justice for Evan: Kroger Associates Stories (Facebook group)
Kroger Employees (Facebook group)
Working People, "Evan Seyfried (w/ Ken, Linda, & Eric Seyfried)"
Working People, "For Evan (w/ Ken Seyfried, Eric Seyfried, Amy Chamberlin, Erica Erskine, Jana Murphy, & Austin LiPuma)"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'Justice for Evan': Supporters Demand Accountability from Kroger after 19-Year Employee Allegedly Bullied by Management to Suicide"
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Max Alvarez: A DEADLY, Silent Epidemic of Workplace Abuse is Growing"
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Lawsuit Says Kroger Management Bullied Worker Into Taking His Own Life"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Texas Environmental Workers Union (w/ Chloe Torres and Brandon Marks)

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 07:59:00 +0000

PLEASE SIGN THIS LETTER TO URGE THE TEXAS CAMPAIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT TO RECOGNIZE OUR UNION

In this urgent and special episode, Jules sits down with Brandon Marks and Chloe Torres for an in-person interview about the struggle Texas Environmental Workers Union members are facing in their workplace. After 5 months of the Texas Campaign for the Environment (TCE) not recognizing their union, members of the Texas Environmental Workers Union unanimously agreed to a one-day strike, happening February 6th, 2023.

Union members are requesting that listeners sign on their letter urging the TCE to recognize their union, and consider donating to their strike fund.

The Texas Environmental Workers Union is proudly represented by the Communications Workers of America.

Additional links/info below…

· Brandon Marks – Twitter, Facebook

· Chloe Torres - Facebook

· Updog – South Texas Emo/Ska Bandcamp, Twitter

· Texas Environmental Workers Union – Twitter, Website

· Communications Workers of America - Website

· Texas Campaign for the Environment

· DONATE TO THE TEXAS ENVIRONMENTAL WORKERS UNION STRIKE FUND

· Video for this episode

Permanent Links Below…

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"
Updog – "Burned Out"

Live Show: Organize, Fight, Win (w/ Michelle Valentin Nieves & Harry Marino)

Sat, 07 Jan 2023 03:53:00 +0000

Earlier this month Working People hit a new milestone: We recorded our first live episode in front of an audience! Organized by the Action Builder / Action Network team and hosted by Busboys & Poets in Washington, DC, we got to speak with Michelle Valentin Nieves of the Amazon Labor Union and Harry Marino of the Major League Baseball Players Association about the incredible worker organizing victories for Amazon workers and minor league baseball players, and about lessons we have learned from an intense year of grassroots struggle that we will be carrying into 2023.

Michelle Valentin Nieves is the Executive Secretary and a founding member of the Amazon Labor Union. Harry Marino is an assistant general counsel at the Major League Baseball Players Association. He is formerly the Executive Director of Advocates for Minor Leaguers, the nonprofit organization that joined with the MLBPA to unionize Minor League players. Harry pitched in the Minor League systems of the Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Since launching in 2012, Action Network tools have helped the Women's March mobilize huge rallies across the globe, helped the DNC raise millions for candidates and organizations, and more. The Action Builder toolset, launched in 2019, helps dozens of unions and progressive organizations empower leaders and build strong organizing campaigns.

Additional links/info below...

Michelle's Twitter page
Harry's Twitter page
Amazon Labor Union website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Major League Baseball Players Association website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Action Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Action Builder website
Advocates for Minor Leaguers website
Working People, "Amazon Labor Union"
Eric Blanc, Jacobin, "The Workers Behind Amazon's Historic First Union Explain How They Did It (An Interview with Christian Smalls, Angelika Maldonado, & Michelle Valentin Nieves)"
Evan Drellich, The Athletic, "'Hit the Go Button': The Six Years that Made Baseball's Minor League Union"
Tipping Pitches, "The Gang Forms a Union (feat. Trevor Hildenberger)"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Embodying Degrowth (w/ The Maintainers)

Wed, 14 Dec 2022 03:37:00 +0000

The planet we share, the only home we've ever known, has its limits. Its resources, its ability to sustain all life, are not infinite—and every day we are bearing witness to the disastrous consequences of mortgaging our collective future on the false belief that they are. The path we are on now is untenable, something's going to give. Whether it comes from us or for us, change is coming nonetheless.

As an ecologically and civilizationally sustainable alternative to an unsustainable global system driven by the economic necessity of infinite growth, "degrowth" can mean many things and could take many practical forms. But "degrowth" is perhaps less useful as a prescribed solution, a blueprint for the future, than as a frame for thinking and acting differently in the present. "What does degrowth look like in practice? How are different people, in different parts of the world, already embodying and enacting degrowth in their daily lives?" These questions have no single answer, but posing the questions in the first place, and searching for the numerous potential answers, is an essential process that can help us better diagnose what is off balance in our world and what it would take to heal.

For the past year, Max has had the honor of participating in a fellowship program for The Maintainers, "a global research network interested in the concepts of maintenance, infrastructure, repair, and the myriad forms of labor and expertise that sustain our human-built world." In Part II of our special two-part episode produced in collaboration with The Maintainers, we meet some of the other members of The Maintainers team as well as the 2022 Maintainers Movement Fellows, and we take a deep dive into their cornerstone group project, "Embodying Degrowth."

Featuring: Andy Russell, Co-Founder and Co-Director of The Maintainers; Lauren Dapena Fraiz, Project Manager for The Maintainers; Liliana Coelho, Community Outreach and Events Coordinator at The Maintainers; Rheanna Chen, 2022 Maintainers Movement Fellow; Tona Rodriguez-Nikl, 2022 Maintainers Movement Fellow; Sam Bennett, 2022 Maintainers Movement Fellow; Leila D. Behjat, 2022 Maintainers Movement Fellow; Maximillian Alvarez, 2022 Maintainers Movement Fellow.

Additional links/info below...

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

What Could a Worker-Focused Just Transition Look Like? (w/ Megan Milliken Biven, James Hiatt, & Clarke)

Mon, 12 Dec 2022 21:32:00 +0000

As humanity barrels towards climate catastrophe, the need to envision and build more ecologically sustainable societies and economies becomes more pressing with each passing day. However, our collective imagination is often so limited that it becomes impossible to envision societies and economies that aren't organized around the quest for profit and infinite growth. So, what could a "degrowth" economy look like? To some, "degrowth" is a dirty word signaling a future of austerity that would translate to tremendous losses in jobs and economic stability for working people as societies race to cut back economic production to ward off the worst effects of climate change. To others, "degrowth" might mean the reduction of operations in the most environmentally destructive industries like oil and gas while targeting job growth in other areas like building green infrastructure, environmental cleanup efforts, sustainable farming, and so on. But, as is so often the case, you rarely get to hear what working people on the ground have to say about these issues.

For the past year, Max has had the honor of participating in a fellowship program for The Maintainers, "a global research network interested in the concepts of maintenance, infrastructure, repair, and the myriad forms of labor and expertise that sustain our human-built world." Over the next two episodes, we're going to introduce you all to some of the work that Max and The Maintainers team have been doing for the fellowship. In today's episode, you're going to hear one of the interviews Max conducted as part of the cornerstone group project for the 2022 cohort of Maintainers Movement Fellows.

In a special panel discussion about what a worker-centered transition to a more ecologically sustainable economy could look like, Max speaks with: Megan Milliken Biven, a former federal government employee and founder of True Transition, an organization that focuses on speaking directly to oil and gas workers throughout the United States about their working conditions, their training and compensation needs, their hopes for tomorrow's industries, and is working to help create the kind of good-paying jobs and get workers the kind of training they need to transition to a sustainable energy future; James Hiatt, who was an oil refinery worker, lab analyst, and operator for a number of years and now works with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade to promote alternative forms of economic development in Louisiana beyond the grip of the fossil fuel industry; and Clarke, a longtime commercial diver who's done contract work primarily for oil and gas companies in the Gulf of Mexico for over 15 years, but is now transitioning to other forms of commercial diving work.

Additional links/info below...

The Maintainers website and Twitter page
Dec. 15: Embodying Degrowth: An Event with The Maintainers Movement Fellows
Megan's Twitter page
James's Twitter page
True Transition website
Louisiana Bucket Brigade website and Twitter page
Defend Southwest Louisiana website
Maximillian Alvarez & Leo Lindner, The Real News Network, "I Survived the Rig Explosion that Caused the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. This Is What I Saw"
Working People, "Clarke"
Megan Milliken Biven, Current Affairs, "Dredging Up the Past"
Matthew T. Huber, University of Minnesota Press, Lifeblood: Oil, Freedom, and the Forces of Capital
Darren Dochuk, Basic Books, Anointed with Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Where Do Railroad Workers Go from Here? (w/ Jay, Marilee Taylor, John Tormey, & Matt Parker)

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 00:57:00 +0000

After a 3-year saga of stalled contract negotiations between the country's freight rail carriers and the 12 unions representing over 100,000 railroad workers, "pro-union" President Biden and Congress last week "averted" a national rail shutdown by overriding the democratic will of rail workers and forcing a contract down their throats. So, what happens now? We convene a special all-railroader panel to break down the events of the last week and to discuss where railroad workers and the labor movement go from here.

Panelists include: Jay, a qualified conductor who was licensed to operate locomotives at 19 years old, and who became a qualified train dispatcher before he was 23; Marilee Taylor, who worked on the railroads for over 30 years and retired earlier this year from her post as an engineer for BNSF Railway, but is still an active member of Railroad Workers United; John Tormey, a writer and BWMED-IBT member who works as a track laborer for the commuter rail in Massachusetts; and Matt Parker, a full-time locomotive engineer who's worked on the railroads for 19 years and also serves part-time as Chairman on the Nevada State Legislative Board of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

Additional links/info below...

Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
John's Twitter page
Matt's Twitter page
Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Emily Cochrane, The New York Times, "Biden Signs Legislation to Avert Nationwide Rail Strike"
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "EXCLUSIVE: Rail Worker SLAMS Biden's "Tyrannical" Move Blocking Strike"
Citations Needed, "News Brief: Biden, Congressional Dems Partner with GOP, Media to Discipline Rail Labor"
Bad Faith, "Joe Biden ABANDONS Rail Workers"
Useful Idiots, "'Union Joe' Biden Sells Out Rail Workers"
John Tormey, The Baffler, "Known Assailants"
Working People, "Jay"
Working People, "Countdown to Midnight (w/ Jay & Joe)"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Wall Street is Holding the Supply Chain Hostage to Stop a Railroad Workers' Strike"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Solidarity with Railroad Workers"
Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Corporate Billionaires Are Wrecking the Supply Chain. Just Look at the Railroads"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Holiday Season on the Picket Line (w/ Marcques Derby)

Wed, 23 Nov 2022 04:42:00 +0000

This time last year, 10,000 workers and UAW members at John Deere waged a massive strike that became a national news story. This year, workers at another industrial manufacturer are spending Thanksgiving carrying on a strike that has lasted for seven months, but has received significantly less national attention. As Mel Buer reports, "CNH Industrial, a multinational corporation, is an agricultural machinery and construction equipment manufacturer with 13 locations across the United States producing its Case and New Holland brands of equipment. Workers at the Burlington and Racine locations are unionized with the United Auto Workers (UAW)—UAW Local 807 and Local 180, respectively—and have been embroiled in contentious contract negotiations with the company since earlier this year. Their previous six-year contract with Case New Holland officially expired on April 30. After weeks of stalled negotiations failed to produce an acceptable contract, over 1,000 workers in Burlington and Racine walked off the job on May 2." As the holidays approach and the weather gets colder, we need to remember the brave workers holding the line and fighting for a better life for themselves and their families. In this mini-cast, we speak with Marcques Derby of UAW Local 807, who has worked at CNH Industrial for 11 years.

Additional links/info below...

Marcques's Twitter page
GoFundMe: Help The Striking UAW Local 807 CNH Workers
UAW Local 807 Christmas Gift Drive's Community Registry
Flyer for Solidarity Day for UAW 180 (Racine, WI)
Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Case New Holland Workers' Strike Enters Fifth Month as Negotiations Stall"
The Rick Smith Show, "The Working-Class Heroes Tour: CNH Industrial Strike - Racine, WI - 10/31/22"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Fabio Bosco

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 04:10:00 +0000

Last month, the world watched with bated breath as Brazilians voted in two rounds of high-stakes elections that pitted far-right president Jair Bolsonaro against former president, leftist hero, and leader of the Workers Party Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. After being elected president in 2018, Bolsonaro and his far-right movement have unleashed a darkness upon Brazil that has had wide-ranging implications for the country, the hemisphere, and the world. From burning the Amazon and overseeing a disastrous response to the COVID pandemic to stoking fascistic violence, conspiracy theories, and a fervor for religious war among his supporters, Bolsonaro and Bolsonarism have been a political wrecking ball slamming against a world already teetering on the edge of disaster. And that is why so many around Brazil and around the world celebrated when Lula defeated Bolsonaro at the end of October.

What role did workers and working-class voters play in this critical election? What does Lula's victory mean for working people and for the labor movement in Brazil? How have the lives of working-class people, and the shape of working-class politics, changed in Brazil in recent years and decades? And what can we all do to build international solidarity with our fellow workers in Brazil and beyond? We talk about all of this and more with Fabio Bosco, a retired subway operator in São Paulo, a trade unionist, and an organizer with the labor federation CSP-CONLUTAS.

Additional links/info below...

CSP-Conlutas website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Michael Fox, The Real News Network/NACLA, Brazil on Fire podcast series
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Indigenous-Led Alliance Moves to Stop Bolsonaro's 'Ecocidal' Destruction of the Amazon"
Michael Fox, In These Times, "Brazil's Labor Unions Prepare for War with Far-Right President Jair Bolsanaro"
Robert Maisey, Trades Union Congress, "Bolsonaro Is Waging War on Labour Rights in Brazil"
Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Phones Down, Fists Up (w/ Tiffany Murray)

Mon, 07 Nov 2022 21:00:00 +0000

Call center workers employed by Maximus went on strike at four locations—in Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Virginia—this Tuesday, November 1. Maximus is a federal contractor, and during the open enrollment period workers there handle a non-stop stream of high-stakes calls from people trying to navigate the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid systems, but they have been pushed to their limit. As stated in a Twitter thread posted by Call Center Workers United, "We've been saying for years: during ACA open enrollment, we're dealing with constant back-to-back calls. Some frustrated callers become abusive and subject us to racist and sexist slurs. We're paid wages so low it's nearly impossible to support a family. We've had enough. We're striking for THREE SIMPLE DEMANDS: 1) $25/hr starting wage, 2) Time to breathe between calls, 3) Meaningful protection from abusive callers." In this urgent mini-cast, we talk to Tiffany Murray, a worker at the Maximus call center in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, about the conditions that have pushed her and her coworkers to hit the picket line, and about what others around the country can do to help.

Additional links/info below...

Call Center Workers United Twitter page
Support the Call Center Workers Solidarity Fund
Mary Yang, NPR, "Call Center Workers Strike over Pay and Working Conditions"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

In Key Swing States, Union Members Are the Last Line of Defense (w/ Maggie Acosta, Bryan Villarreal-Vasquez, & Sheila Silver)

Mon, 07 Nov 2022 02:24:00 +0000

The soul of the labor movement is the fight for democracy in and outside of the workplace—and, from the shop floor to the ballot box, organizers, volunteers, and rank-and-file workers with UNITE HERE are putting everything they have into that fight. Even in the midst of a deadly pandemic that hit the service and hospitality industries especially hard, union members with UNITE HERE hit the pavement in record numbers ahead of the 2020 general elections. As Harold Meyerson notes in The American Prospect, UNITE HERE members canvassed "more precincts than any other organization on the Democratic side of the ledger that year. Talking to well over a million voters in Vegas, Reno, Phoenix, Philadelphia, and Atlanta, they played a key role in Joe Biden's victory and in the Democrats winning control of the Senate. This year," ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, "they have even more members knocking on doors than they did two years ago." As working people face an increasingly unbearable cost-of-living crisis, as the right continues to attack abortion rights (and voting rights, and workers' rights, and LGBTQ people, and teachers, etc.), as basic human needs like healthcare, housing, and clean water are put farther out of reach for the poor and working classes, as more people give up on a political system they feel gave up on them a long time ago, the fight for a better society must come from the grassroots. In this special panel, recorded a week before the 2022 midterm elections, we talk with three UNITE HERE members—Maggie Acosta (Arizona), Bryan Villarreal-Vasquez (Nevada), and Sheila Silver (Pennsylvania)—about their tireless canvassing efforts in battleground states, what they're hearing from voters, and what the struggle for democracy means to them and their union.

Additional links/info below...

UNITE HERE website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Harold Meyerson, The American Prospect, "Can the Hotel Workers' Union Save the Democrats?"
Harold Meyerson, The American Prospect, "The Only Precinct Walkers"
Support the Call Center Workers Solidarity Fund
Brett Anderson, The New York Times, "These Cooks, Waiters and Casino Workers Could Swing the Senate"
UNITE HERE Press Release: "Largest Canvass Operation in NV, AZ, and PA Sees Path to Victory vs. MAGA Republicans"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Vince Quiles

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 05:28:00 +0000

The wave of grassroots worker organizing is spreading to different industries and businesses around the country, including those that have notoriously resisted any and all unionization efforts in the past. The Home Depot, the single largest home improvement retail company in the US, is one of those businesses, and there is a union drive underway as we speak at a store in Philadelphia. As Johan Furman writes at More Perfect Union, "On Monday, September 19, workers filed a petition to organize a union among 276 workers at a Home Depot in northeast Philadelphia. If successful, the independent union would be the first at the home repair chain, the fifth-largest private employer in the U.S." We talk to Vince Quiles, who's worked at the northeast Philly store for five years and is one of the worker-organizers leading the drive to become the first unionized Home Depot location in the country.

Additional links/info below...

THDworkersUnite Twitter page
Vince's Twitter page
Johan Furman, More Perfect Union, "Workers Plan to Renovate Home Depot with a Union"
Max Marin, The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Home Depot Workers in Northeast Philly Allege 'Surveillance,' Other Union-Busting Tactics Ahead of Election"
Breaking Points, "Home Depot Workers REVOLT After Massive Stock Buyback"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Alabama Paper Mill Workers Want Their Lives Back (w/ Jacob Morrison)

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 12:28:00 +0000

"On the morning of Oct. 1... almost 500 union members from three United Steel Workers (USW) locals at WestRock's Mahrt Mill paper mill in Cottonton, Alabama, voted to reject a second contract offer from the company," Jacob Morrison recently reported for The Real News Network. "The refusal to ratify WestRock's 'last, best, and final' offer came as a result of the company insisting on removing contract language pertaining to what the workers there call 'penalties' for long hours. Members resoundingly rejected this contract, even though it included an unheard-of $28,000 ratification bonus—increased from an already staggering offer of $20,000, which workers already rejected on Sept. 21." Workers at WestRock's Mahrt Mill paper mill have been locked out by the company since early October and say they can't be bought off with bonuses for signing a contract that will ensure they have even less time for life outside of work. In this special guest-hosted episode, Morrison speaks with Mahrt Mill workers from the picket line about the lockout and their fight to get their lives back.

Additional links/info below...

Jacob's Twitter page
MAHRT USW LOCAL 0971 Facebook page
The Valley Labor Report Twitter page, YouTube channel, and Patreon
Jacob Morrison, The Real News Network, "Alabama Paper Mill Workers Want Their Lives Back—And They're Giving Up $30,000 to Get It"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song
Jules Taylor - all other musical selections, available at soundcloud.com/lousy

In the Name of the Father (w/ Aaron Moritz & Shawn Vulliez) PATREON EXCLUSIVE

Wed, 12 Oct 2022 04:05:00 +0000

***This is a Patreon Exclusive episode***

Subscribe to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/workingpeople

Thank you to all the Patreon subscribers for their love, support, and generosity. <3 Max, Jules & the Working People Team.

A great man once said, "The history of all hitherto existing society is the struggle between papa and boy." We chat with our friends Aaron and Shawn from the Srsly Wrong podcast about their new animated series Papa & Boy on Means TV, and about why bosses love to treat workers like children.

Additional links/info below...

Watch Episode 1 of Papa & Boy, "Take a Bath," on YouTube
Watch Papa & Boy on Means TV
Srsly Wrong website, Facebook, page, Twitter page, & Patreon
Means TV website, Facebook page, & Twitter page
The Srsly Wrong MAY DAY Crossover Special (w/ Working People, Rebel Steps, & Doomer v. Bloomer)
Working People, "The Winnipeg General Strike (w/ Srsly Wrong)"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Jonnie Lane

Fri, 07 Oct 2022 16:35:00 +0000

"Flight attendants at Delta are currently pushing to form a union at the only major airline in the US where flight attendants are not unionized," journalist and friend of the show Michael Sainato recently wrote in The Guardian. "The aim is to allow the airline's 23,000 flight attendants to vote on whether to unionize with the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) and will face fierce opposition from an airline that has fought previous efforts." Delta has fiercely fought off unionization efforts in the past, but workers and organizers are confident that this time they'll get a victory. We talk with Jonnie Lane, who works at Delta and has been a flight attendant for the past 15 years, about her path to working in the airline industry, what it's been like working as a flight attendant before and during COVID-19, and what a union would mean for Jonnie and her coworkers.

Additional links/info below...

Jonnie's Twitter page
Delta AFA website and Twitter page
AFA-CWA website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Michael Sainato, The Guardian, "Delta Flight Attendants Race to Unionize: 'We're the People Behind the Profits'"
Meagan Day, Jacobin, "Once Again, Flight Attendants Are Leading the Way"
Gabby Del Valle, Vox, "Delta Told Its Workers to Buy Video Games Instead of Unionizing"
The People's Forum, "BOOK TALK: The Work of Living with Maximillian Alvarez"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Leo Lindner

Wed, 28 Sep 2022 03:33:00 +0000

It's been 12 years since the catastrophic explosion that sank the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, killing 11 workers and causing the largest marine oil spill in human history. A lot of forgetting can happen in that time. A lot of cultural amnesia and historical distortion has been able to set in over the past 12 years, whether that came in the form of a years-long PR campaign from British Petroleum (BP), the high-budget Hollywood-ification of the disaster in the 2016 movie starring Mark Wahlberg, or just the general lack of workers' voices and stories in the media. In this episode, we talk with Leo Lindner, who worked for 10 years at the mud company M-I, the last 5 of which were spent working on the Deepwater Horizon. Leo was on the rig on April 20, 2010, the day of the explosion. We talk to Leo about his life, about moving to and growing up in Louisiana as a kid, working on tugboats and in oil fields, and about the experience of being a worker in the midst of one of the most devastating industrial and environmental disasters of the modern era.

Additional links/info below...

Leo's Twitter page
Richard Pallardy, Encyclopedia Britannica, "Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2010)"
Lisa Friedman, The New York Times, "Ten Years After Deepwater Horizon, US Is Still Vulnerable to Catastrophic Spills"
James B. Meigs, Slate, "Blame BP for Deepwater Horizon. But Direct Your Outrage to the Actual Mistake"
Alison Rose Levy, TruthDig, "The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Was a Cover-Up, Not a Cleanup"
Associated Press, "Short Portraits of 11 Who Died on the Deepwater Horizon"
Megan Milliken Biven, Current Affairs, "Dredging Up the Past"
Oliver Milman, The Guardian, "'I Pray to God It Never Happens Again': US Gulf Coast Bears Scars of Historic Oil Spill 10 Years On"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

For Evan (w/ Ken Seyfried, Eric Seyfried, Amy Chamberlin, Erica Erskine, Jana Murphy, & Austin LiPuma)

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 03:52:32 +0000

(C/W: bullying, harassment, suicide) This time last year, we introduced listeners to the family of Evan Seyfried, a dedicated Kroger employee in Milford, Ohio, for nearly 20 years, whose beautiful life was tragically cut short after he was targeted and tortured by coworkers and driven to suicide, according to Evan's family. A lot has happened since we published that episode one year ago, and we wanted to provide Working People listeners with an update on how Evan's family and loved ones are doing, what the status of the lawsuit against Kroger is, and how the Justice for Evan coalition is growing around the country. In this panel episode, we check in with Evan's father Ken, his brother Eric, his girlfriend and best friend Amy Chamberlin, Jana Murphy and Erica Erskine of the Justice for Evan coalition, and Austin LiPuma, the attorney representing the Seyfrieds in their lawsuit against Kroger.

Additional links/info below...

Justice for Evan Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
Working People, "Evan Seyfried (w/ Ken, Linda, & Eric Seyfried)"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'Justice for Evan': Supporters Demand Accountability from Kroger after 19-Year Employee Allegedly Bullied by Management to Suicide"
Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Max Alvarez: A DEADLY, Silent Epidemic of Workplace Abuse is Growing"
National Workplace Bullying Coalition website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
"Lawsuit: Kroger Manager Drove Employee To Suicide" (PDF)
Julian Mark, The Washington Post, "Former Kroger Grocery Store Employee's Suicide Was a Result of 'Torturous Conditions,' Lawsuit Says"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Countdown to Midnight (w/ Jay & Joe)

Wed, 14 Sep 2022 04:02:08 +0000

On Friday, September 16, the United States could see its first major rail strike and/or rail lockout since the early '90s. Railroad workers have reached the end of their rope after years of enduring dramatic staff cuts that have piled more work onto fewer workers, along with exhausting schedules and draconian attendance policies that have made it impossible to live and reasonably plan their lives. These cost-cutting, profit-maximizing policies are part of a larger, decades-long trend that workers say have destroyed the freight rail industry. For years, quality of service for freight rail customers and shippers, and quality of life for railroad employees, has plummeted, all while prices, profits, and stock buybacks have skyrocketed. While many are understandably concerned about the seismic damage a national rail strike initiated by the unions, or a lockout initiated by the rail carriers, could do to the supply chain, railroad workers are the ones taking a stand to save the supply chain from the corporate greed that has already done irreparable damage to the freight rail industry. In this urgent episode, recorded on Sunday, September 11, we talk with Jay, a longtime train dispatcher and recent guest on the show, and Joe, a locomotive engineer, about the ongoing crisis on the nation's railroads and about the latest updates on the dispute between the rail unions and rail carriers as we countdown to the strike/lockout deadline on 12am EDT, September 16.

Additional links/info below...

Shiyin Chen & Keith Laing, Bloomberg, "US Freight Railroads to Cut Services as Union Talks Fail, Report Says"
SMART-TD, BLET Joint Statement on Rail Embargo
Jeff Stein, Lauren Kaori Gurley, & Tyler Pager, The Washington Post, "Freight Rail Strike Threatens Supply Chains, Prompting White House Planning"
Working People, "Jay"
Maximillian Alvarez & Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Is the US Headed for a National Rail Strike"
Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Fired Up Rail Workers Rally in Galesburg, Illinois, as Potential National Strike Looms"
Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Corporate Billionaires Are Wrecking the Supply Chain. Just Look at the Railroads"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Railroad Workers Are Being Ground to Dust. Who Will Help Them?"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Court Blocks Railroad Workers from Striking Over Draconian Attendance Policy"
Joe DeManuelle-Hall, Labor Notes, "Rail Workers Reject Contract Recommendations, Say They're Ready to Strike"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Is the US Headed for a National Rail Strike? (w/ Mel Buer, Jeff Kurtz, & Ron Kaminkow)

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 03:39:05 +0000

The rail industry is experiencing a self-induced crisis as a result of decades of cost-cutting, profit-maximizing executive decisions that have driven rail workers and the supply chain into the ground. In an attempt to mediate between the major freight rail companies and unions representing around 115,000 railroad workers, President Biden appointed a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) to offer recommendations for resolving the ongoing contract dispute. But an overwhelming number of surveyed workers seem prepared to reject the PEB's recommendations, and if the current contract dispute isn't resolved the US could be headed towards its largest rail strike in decades.

In this livestream produced by The Real News Network, Max and journalist Mel Buer co-host a panel with current/former railroad workers and members of Railroad Workers United Jeff Kurtz and Ron Kaminkow to discuss the looming possibility of a massive national rail strike. With permission from TRNN, we are sharing the audio from this livestream on the Working People feed for our listeners.

Additional links/info below...

Mel's Twitter page
Ron's Twitter page
Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Press Release: "RWU Announces Position on PEB #250"
Survey Results: Rail Workers and the PEB
Working People, "Jay"
Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Fired Up Rail Workers Rally in Galesburg, Illinois, as Potential National Strike Looms"
Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Corporate Billionaires Are Wrecking the Supply Chain. Just Look at the Railroads"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Railroad Workers Are Being Ground to Dust. Who Will Help Them?"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Court Blocks Railroad Workers from Striking Over Draconian Attendance Policy"
Joe DeManuelle-Hall, Labor Notes, "Rail Workers Reject Contract Recommendations, Say They're Ready to Strike"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Gen Z for Change (w/ Elise Joshi & Sean Wiggs) PATREON EXCLUSIVE

Mon, 05 Sep 2022 17:34:58 +0000

***This is a Patreon Exclusive episode***

Subscribe to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/workingpeople

Thank you to all the Patreon subscribers for their love, support, and generosity. <3 Max, Jules & the Working People Team.

Gen Z has inherited a world on fire, but they will not accept it, and they are using every tool they have at their disposal to change it. The activists and content creators at Gen Z for Change, for instance, are creatively using their organizing skills, coding skills, and social media skills to push for climate action and to defend reproductive rights, workers' rights, and more. We talk to Elise Joshi and Sean Wiggs from Gen Z for Change about their recent campaigns to support workers organizing at Amazon, Ralphs, and Starbucks, and about the importance of building intergenerational solidarity.

Additional links/info below...

Gen Z for Change website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and TikTok
Elise's TikTok and Twitter page
Sean's TikTok and Twitter page
People over Prime
Change is Brewing
Wreck It Ralphs
Taylor Lorenz & Caroline O'Donovan, The Washington Post, "Gen Z TikTok Creators Are Turning Against Amazon"
Lauren Kaori Gurley, Motherboard, "People Are Using Job Listings to Sabotage Companies That Mistreat Their Workers"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Amazon Keeps Firing Union Organizers (w/ Matt Littrell)

Wed, 31 Aug 2022 04:18:22 +0000

Matt Littrell has worked as a picker at the Amazon warehouse in Campbellsville, Kentucky, for the past year and a half. He's also been one of the lead organizers and the public face of a growing push to unionize Amazon facilities in Kentucky. In retaliation for his organizing, Littrell says that Amazon management has been watching him like a hawk and finding reasons to write him up—and last week, the company finally fired him for "performance" issues. In this urgent mini-cast, we speak with Littrell about working and organizing at Amazon, the company's continued union busting, and about what folks around the country can do to support him and Amazon workers everywhere.

Additional links/info below...

Matt's Twitter page
Survival Fund for Fired Amazon Worker-Organizer Matt Littrell
Eli M. Rosenberg, NBC News, "Fired Amazon Union Organizer at Kentucky Warehouse Alleges Retaliation"
Caroline O'Donovan, The Washington Post, "Amazon Calls Cops, Fires Workers in Attempts to Stop Unionization Nationwide"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

"If You Can't Stand the Heat, Keep Working" (w/ Zakk, Gabriela, & Steve)

Wed, 24 Aug 2022 02:57:42 +0000

"As blistering heat waves swept across the United States this summer, breaking temperature records and placing millions under heat advisories and warnings," Livia Albeck-Ripka writes at The New York Times, "workers... have continued to deliver America's packages for a variety of carriers, often in trucks that have no cooling mechanisms for drivers. Some UPS workers have shared photographs that show thermometer readings of up to 150 degrees in the backs of their trucks." A shocking number of package deliverers and letter carriers—to say nothing of farmworkers, construction workers, warehouse workers, etc.—have reported heat-related injuries and illnesses, and some have even died on the job from heat exposure. As climate change makes dangerous working conditions even worse for those who are exposed to extreme heat, workers, unions, and the public are demanding serious action be taken. In this urgent panel episode, we speak with Zakk, Gabriela, and Steve, three UPS package deliverers and members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, about the serious dangers of working in the heat and the fight they and their union are waging to ensure better protections for workers.

Additional links/info below...

Gabriela's Twitter page
Zakk's Facebook page and Twitter page
International Brotherhood of Teamsters website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Teamsters for a Democratic Union website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Livia Albeck-Ripka, The New York Times, "UPS Drivers Say 'Brutal' Heat Is Endangering Their Lives"
More Perfect Union, "UPS Drivers Are Dying Of Extreme Heat. The Company Doesn't Care"
Jordan Hart, Business Insider, "'We're Dying Out Here:' After Death of 24-Year-Old UPS Worker in His Truck, Family Members, Other Workers Renew Calls for AC in Trucks, Warehouses"
Working People, "(Unlocked) BONUS EPISODE - A Pivotal Moment for the Teamsters (w/ Indigo Olivier)"
Working People, "'We Are Essential,' Pt I (Voices from the Covid-19 Crisis)"
Denise Chow & Nigel Chiwaya, NBC News, "The US Could See a New 'Extreme Heat Belt' by 2053"
Kelly Yamanouchi, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Teamsters Set Stage for Union Contract Battle with UPS"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

(Unlocked) BONUS EPISODE - Mansa Musa

Tue, 16 Aug 2022 22:17:33 +0000

Mansa Musa is a radical freedom fighter who was imprisoned in the US for nearly 50 years. Now, at 70 years old, he is the co-host of Rattling the Bars at The Real News Network, a staunch advocate for the rights of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, and a soldier in the struggle to dismantle the prison-industrial complex. We talk to Mansa about his life and about how the labor movement and the fight for prison abolition are necessarily interconnected.

Additional links/info below...

Rattling the Bars on The Real News Network
Voices for a Second Chance website and Twitter page
Mansa Musa, The Real News Network, "'I Wouldn't Even Feed This to My Dog': The Inhumane Reality of Prison Food"
Eddie Conway & Mansa Musa, The Real News Network, "Mansa Musa: How I Survived 48 Years in Prison"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Jay

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 02:45:07 +0000

As we speak, the major railroad companies and 13 different unions representing over 115,000 railroad workers have reached an impasse in contract negotiations that have been going on for years, and we are now closer to a national rail shutdown than we've been in a generation. President Biden has even appointed an Emergency Presidential Board to try to mediate between the rail unions and the rail carriers, but if that mediation fails we'll be on the verge of a historic shutdown. So, how did we get here? If you talk to any railroader in private, you'll get an earful about how decades of corporate greed, consolidation, cost cutting, automation, layoffs, and other profit-maximizing, shareholder-serving decisions have upended the railroads and turned what used to be good lifelong jobs into exhausting, impossible jobs that veteran workers are leaving in droves. But if any workers speak up publicly about what's going on on the railroads, they will likely face severe consequences. Luckily, we were able to connect with Jay, a qualified conductor who was licensed to operate locomotives at 19 years old, and who became a qualified train dispatcher before he was 23. We talk about Jay's life, how he came to work at the railroads, and what the job of a train dispatcher entails, but we also talk about how the industry has changed in recent decades, the havoc those changes have wreaked on workers and the supply chain, and why we should all be concerned about the crisis the railroads are in right now.

Additional links/info below...

Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Corporate Billionaires Are Wrecking the Supply Chain. Just Look at the Railroads"
Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Fired Up Rail Workers Rally in Galesburg, Illinois, as Potential National Strike Looms"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Railroad Workers Are Being Ground to Dust. Who Will Help Them?"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Court Blocks Railroad Workers from Striking over Draconian Attendance Policy"
The Hill's Rising, "Max Alvarez: DRACONIAN New Rail Industry Policy WORSENS Supply Chain Crisis, CRUSHES Workers"
Jeff Schuhrke, In These Times, "US Railroad Workers Inch Closer to a Possible National Strike"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

You Gotta Stand Up for What's Right (w/ Lauren Bianchi & Chuck Stark)

Wed, 03 Aug 2022 02:52:42 +0000

Last week, Lauren Bianchi and Chuck Stark, two teachers at George Washington High School on the Southeast Side of Chicago, were on the verge of losing their jobs. In what Chicago Teachers Union officers suspect was an act of retaliation from Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Chicago Public Schools recommended that Bianchi and Stark be fired for their involvement in the student-, teacher-, and community-led effort to stop the relocation of the General Iron metal shredder from the wealthy Northside neighborhood of Lincoln Park to a site half a mile from their school. With the union and their community behind them, though, the Chicago Board of Education issued a stunning rejection of Chicago Public Schools officials' recommendation to fire the two teachers. In this min-cast, we talk to Bianchi and Stark about the struggle to stop General Iron and the importance of teachers serving the needs of their communities.

Additional links/info below...

Chicago Public Schools website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Darryl Fears & Robin Amer, The Washington Post, "To Stop a Scrapyard, Some Protesters in a Latino Community Risked Everything"
Maxwell Evans, Block Club Chicago, "2 CPS Teachers Say They're Being Fired In Retaliation For Their Activism Against General Iron"
Brett Chase, Chicago Sun Times, "Outspoken Teachers Who Urged Students to Join Environmental Protest Avert Firing by Chicago Board of Ed"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Chipotle United (w/ Brandi McNease)

Wed, 27 Jul 2022 02:28:27 +0000

On June 22 of this year, workers at a Chipotle location in Augusta, Maine, made history by becoming the first store in the US to file for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board. Then, on Tuesday, July 19, Chipotle announced that it would be permanently closing the Augusta location. While spokespeople for the fast-casual dining giant deny that the closure is related to union organizing activity, workers and their supporters say the drastic move is a clear act of retaliation and "union busting 101." The Chipotle store closure coincides with a broader, aggressive escalation of anti-union actions taken by other employers who have also recently closed stores and production plants where workers were organizing, including multiple Starbucks locations across the US, Heine Brothers' Coffee in Kentucky, Amy's Kitchen in California, and G&D Integrated, LLC, in Illinois. "By closing the Augusta store," Jeffrey Neil Young, a lawyer representing the Chipotle workers, told The New York Times, "it's signaling to Chipotle workers elsewhere who are involved in or contemplating nascent organizational drives that if you organize, you might be out of job." But workers are refusing to be bullied and silenced by the company, and they are fighting back. In this extended mini-cast, we talk with Brandi McNease, a worker-organizer at the Augusta Chipotle location and a founding member of Chipotle United.

Additional links/info below...

PETITION: Tell Chipotle CEO to Re-Open Augusta!
Chipotle United website and Twitter page
Noam Scheiber, The New York Times, "Chipotle Closes a Maine Store, and Workers Say It's Because of a Union Drive"
Mike Pomranz, Food & Wine, "Chipotle Closes Store That Voted to Form Chain's First Union, Citing Staffing Issues"
Noam Scheiber, The New York Times, "Chipotle Is Sued by New York City Over Scheduling Practices"
Alex Press, Jacobin, "Chipotle Is a Nightmare Employer"
Working People, "Starbucks Sinks to a New Low (w/ Nadia Vitek)"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Starbucks and Other Companies Escalate War on Unions with Store Closures"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'They F*cked Us': Illinois Ironworkers Laid Off after Unionizing"
Nico Madrigal-Yankowski, SFGate, "Bay Area Frozen Foods Giant Amy's Closing Production Plant after One Year"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

An Injury to One Is an Injury to All (w/ Gabbi Pierce & Martha Grevatt)

Wed, 20 Jul 2022 01:49:02 +0000

Things are getting very dark in this country, and it's likely going to get worse before it gets better. At every turn—as collective society breaks down, as the ruling class continues to rob us blind, as humanity barrels towards climate catastrophe—working people are being encouraged to turn on each other and to see certain groups of their fellow workers as the enemy. From the demonization and increasingly violent attacks against LGBTQIA+ people, to an extremist-dominated Supreme Court preparing to strip away queer people's right to marry, to legislatures around the country working to eliminate trans people's right to exist, we must respond to these assaults on our neighbors and coworkers with the same spirit of solidarity that gives life to labor's eternal message: an injury to one is an injury to all. In this special and urgent episode, we speak with Gabbi Pierce and Martha Grevatt about how far the labor movement has come in defending the rights of LGBTQIA+ workers, how far we still have to go, and what role the labor movement can and must play in fighting for dignity and equality for all.

Gabbi Pierce is an organizer with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), co-chair of Pride at Work—Twin Cities, and she is the first transgender person to serve on the Minnesota AFL-CIO General Board. Martha Grevatt is a retired autoworker and member of the United Auto Workers (UAW); she formerly served as Executive Board member for UAW Locals 122 and 869 and was a founding member of Pride at Work.

Additional links/info below...

Gabbi's Twitter page
Communication Workers of America website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Martha's Facebook page and Workers World author page
United Auto Workers website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Unite All Workers for Democracy website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Pride at Work website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Kelly Hayes, Movement Memos, "Attacks on Trans Rights and Abortion Rights Are 'Bound Together'"
Kelly Hayes, Movement Memos, "Attacks on Trans Youth Are a Fascist 'Moral Battering Ram'"
Molly Shah, The Real News Network, "Supreme Court's Hearings on Abortion Bans Are an Ominous Sign of What's Coming"
Kim Kelly, Teen Vogue, "How LGBTQ Union Activists Transformed the Labor Movement"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

RMT Strike (w/ Mel Mullings, Clayton Clive, Cat Cray, & Gaz Jackson)

Fri, 15 Jul 2022 11:43:52 +0000

Last month, roughly 40,000 UK rail workers with the National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT) went on strike for three days, bringing major portions of the British rail system to a halt in a historic show of collective strength. This week, after receiving a contract offer from state-owned Network Rail that union leaders described as "paltry," the RMT announced that workers at Network Rail and the train operating companies will engage in another day of strike action on Wednesday, July 27. With these strikes, and in the ongoing negotiations, workers are fighting for livable wages at a time when the cost of living is spiraling out of control and corporate executives and shareholders are stuffing their pockets with cash. As Adam Bychawski writes, "Train companies paid out nearly £800m to shareholders last year before telling rail unions that employees must take a real-terms pay cut for them to stay afloat." But workers are fighting for much more; they are fighting against years of austerity policies and corporate profit-generating schemes that have led to deteriorating working conditions and quality of service on the rails; they are fighting against further job losses for the sake of "modernization"'; and they are fighting for better, safer, more accessible, and well-staffed rail services for the people who depend on them.

In this special panel episode, we speak with four rail workers and RMT members/officers—Mel Mullings, Clayton Clive, Cat Cray, and Gaz Jackson—about the strike and the importance of workers around the world standing in solidarity with strikers.

Additional links/info below...

RMT Union National Dispute Fund
RMT Union website, Facebook page, and Twitter page,
Mel's Twitter page
Clayton's Twitter page
Manchester South RMT Twitter page
Cat's Twitter page
Gaz's Twitter page
Rupert Pickering, Tribune, "Defend the RMT"
Karl Hansen, Jacobin, "Britain's Rail Workers Are Poised to Strike Against Austerity"
Ronan Burtenshaw, Jacobin, "Britain's Striking Rail Workers Are Drawing the Hatred of the Establishment"
Matthew Weaver, The Guardian, "Mick Lynch: Rail Union Bruiser Who's More Than a Match for the Media"
Gwyn Topham & Tom Ambrose, The Guardian, "Train Services Cut as RMT Rail Strike Enters Third Day"
Jasper Jolly, The Guardian, "Rail Workers to Strike Across Britain on 27 July, Union Announces"
Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Corporate Billionaires Are Wrecking the Supply Chain. Just Look at the Railroads"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Labor on the Airwaves (w/ Judy Ancel, Sarah Jaffe, Michelle Chen, Jamie Partridge, & Chris Garlock)

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 00:45:10 +0000

The "Labor On The Airwaves" panel attracted an overflow audience at this year's Labor Notes conference in Chicago. A show of hands revealed that about a third of those in attendance already had shows while another third was interested in finding out how to start their own shows, many of whom stopped by the Labor Radio-Podcast Network's booth after the panel. Working People's Maximillian Alvarez hosted a panel that included BeLabored hosts Sarah Jaffe and Michelle Chen, Heartland Labor Forum's Judy Ancel, and Jamie Partridge from Labor Radio on KBOO FM.

For the Labor Radio-Podcast Weekly, the Labor Radio-Podcast Network's weekly digest show, featuring highlights from shows in our network, Chris Garlock recorded, edited, and published a shortened version of the "Labor on the Airwaves" panel from Labor Notes. With permission from Chris, we are excited to share the episode on the Working People feed for our listeners.

NOTE: For those interested in joining the Labor Radio Podcast Network (or finding out more about us), please contact us here.

Additional links/info below...

Judy Ancel's Twitter page
Heartland Labor Forum website
Sarah Jaffe's Twitter page
Michelle Chen's Twitter page
BeLabored's website
Jamie Partridge's Twitter page
Labor Radio's (KBOO FM) website

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

(Unlocked) BONUS EPISODE - Labor Notes Postgame (w/ Tevita 'Uhatafe, McKenna Schueler, & Jacob Morrison)

Mon, 04 Jul 2022 20:03:40 +0000

We wish everyone could have been in Chicago for the Labor Notes 2022 conference! But for those who couldn't make it, we convened this comradely panel with some fan-favorite guests of the show—Tevita 'Uhatafe, McKenna Schueler, and Jacob Morrison—to share our thoughts and reflections on the gathering, and to talk about the lessons and strategies we're taking from Labor Notes and applying in our daily lives.

Additional links/info below...

Subscribe and donate to Labor Notes!
Tevita's Twitter page
McKenna's Twitter page and Linktree
Jacob's Twitter page
The Valley Labor Report Twitter page, YouTube channel, and Patreon
Working People, "Tevita 'Uhatafe"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Alicia Johnson

Wed, 29 Jun 2022 03:49:03 +0000

The Amazon Labor Union victory at the JFK8 warehouse on Staten Island was historic, but right now, as we speak, Amazon is currently in court trying to throw out the results of that election, and pro-union worker-organizers keep getting fired. One of those workers is Alicia Johnson, who, as Luigi Morris writes, is "a 56-year-old Black immigrant who lives in the deep Bronx and worked at JFK8 as a Picker Packer. Her commute to work took more than two and a half hours." After Alicia exercised her right to request accommodation from Amazon that would allow her to keep working with an injured leg, along with providing the necessary medical paperwork, she was fired in a suspected act of retaliation. We talk to Alicia about her time working at Amazon, why she supports the union, and about the Kafkaesque nightmare she's faced trying to secure the unemployment benefits she's entitled to.

Additional links/info below...

GoFundMe: ALU Member Alicia Johnson, Fired in Retaliation
Luigi Morris, Left Voice, "Amazon Won't Stop Union Busting and Firing Organizers"
Alex Press, Jacobin, "Amazon Is Trying to Destroy Its Staten Island Union by Firing Union Supporters"
Andrea Hsu, NPR, "Inside the Marathon Zoom Call Where Amazon Seeks to Overturn Historic Union Victory"
Working People, "Amazon Labor Union"
Amazon Labor Union website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Dr. Frances Gill

Thu, 23 Jun 2022 05:03:15 +0000

We all know that, even before the horrific, world-changing event of COVID-19, society would fall apart without hospital workers and medical staff. But as we also know, like so many other fields and sectors of work, the medical field is a very stratified one. Even though we as patients may not see it, many of the folks who make hospitals and medical facilities run are overworked, understaffed, under-protected, and paid way less than we're led to believe. This was made painfully clear last month when frontline physicians at LA county hospitals voted overwhelmingly in favor of striking over unfair labor practices. After voting to strike, LA County members of the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR/SEIU), which is a local of the Service Employees International Union, won a historic tentative agreement with LA County, including average salary increases of 5.5% in the first year of the contract, followed by 3.25% in the following two years, a $3000 increase in annual housing stipends, a signing bonus for incoming interns, the creation of a $125,000 fund for diverse recruitment efforts and more. To talk about all of this and more, we chat with Dr. Frances Gill, a first-year resident physician at LAC/USC Medical Center who is training to be a psychiatrist.

Additional links/info below...

Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR/SEIU) website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
CIR/SEIU Press Release: LA County Frontline Physicians and CIR Members Announce Contract Resolution After History-Making Campaign
Dave Muoio, Fierce Healthcare, "LA County's Tentative Labor Deal Heads Off 1,300-Physician Strike at 3 Public Hospitals"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Dollar Store Workers Deserve Better (w/ Kenya Slaughter & Curtis Williams)

Sun, 19 Jun 2022 01:03:48 +0000

From Dollar General and Dollar Tree to Family Dollar, dollar stores are spreading rapidly throughout Louisiana and across the country, but dollar store workers notoriously have to endure low pay, understaffing, and hazardous working conditions. That's why Step Up Louisiana, "a community based organization committed to building power to win education and economic justice for all," is organizing employees, customers, and community members to fight for safer stores and better pay and working conditions for dollar store workers. In this episode, we speak with Kenya Slaughter, who has been an organizer and frontline worker at Dollar General for a number of years, and Curtis Williams, a dollar store customer who has gotten involved in Step Up Louisiana's campaign.

Additional links/info below...

Step Up Louisiana's website and Twitter page
Kenya Slaughter, The New York Times, "I Never Planned to Be a Front-Line Worker at Dollar General"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Starbucks Sinks to a New Low (w/ Nadia Vitek)

Thu, 09 Jun 2022 03:11:41 +0000

We've adjusted our episode publishing schedule to bring y'all an urgent episode about Starbucks' escalating retaliation against pro-union workers and Starbucks Workers United. As Rina Torchinsky writes for NPR, "Starbucks is closing a store in Ithaca, NY, in what Starbucks union organizers are calling an illegal move of retaliation after workers at the location voted to unionize. The coffee giant gave the employees at the College Ave. location near Cornell University a one-week notice of the closure, the union says, with the store slated to permanently close on June 10. The coffee giant has said the decision to close the store was unrelated to the unionization effort. The store was one of three Starbucks locations in Ithaca that voted to unionize on April 8. Workers at the College Ave. location previously went on a one-day strike in April for what the union says were unsafe working conditions—'a waste emergency caused by the overflowing grease trap.' Starbucks later cited the grease trap as reason for shuttering the location, according to the union." In this mini-cast, we talk with Nadia Vitek, a partner at the College Ave. location and a worker-organizer with Starbucks Workers United, about the sudden decision to close the store and the mounting evidence that this is an illegal act of retaliation meant to send a chilling message to pro-union workers around the country.

Additional links/info below...

Starbucks Workers United website, Twitter page, and Instagram
Union Election Data: Current Starbucks Statistics
Rina Torchinsky, NPR, "Starbucks Union Says the Coffee Giant Is Closing a Store to Retaliate"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "The Historic, Youthful, Rank-and-File Movement to Unionize Starbucks"
Paul Blest, VICE News, "Lateness, Cursing, a Broken Sink: Starbucks Keeps Firing Pro-Union Employees"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

The Five-Year Union Election (w/ Maggie Levantovskaya)

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 04:59:43 +0000

Adjunct faculty and lecturers at Santa Clara University, a private Jesuit university in Silicon Valley, have been working to organize a non-tenure-track faculty union for five years. Along with navigating the particular challenges that come with worker organizing in higher education, theirs is a historic campaign because it is taking place at a religious institution, which the National Labor Relations Board does not exercise jurisdiction over. Nevertheless, after years of organizing and union busting, NTT faculty at Santa Clara are currently voting in their long-awaited union election. In this mini-cast, we reconnect with former Working People guest Maggie Levantovskaya to talk about why NTT faculty have fought so hard for so long to get to this point and why organizing your workplace—in higher ed and beyond—is so important. Maggie is a lecturer in the English Department and member of AFLOC, the Adjunct Faculty and Lecturer Organizing Committee, at Santa Clara University.

Additional links/info below...

Maggie's website and Twitter page
Santa Clara University Adjunct and Lecturer Union website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
Working People, "Maggie Levantovskaya"
Maggie Levantovskaya, Medium, "On 'Divisiveness'"
Maggie Levantovskaya, Current Affairs, "Organizing Against Precarity in Higher Education"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Caliber Workers Union (w/ Tyler Powles & Erinn Murphy)

Thu, 26 May 2022 03:38:31 +0000

Caliber Public Schools, a group of charter schools in Northern California, states on its website that its mission is "to achieve educational equity by shifting the experiences, expectations and outcomes for students in historically underserved communities. Our strengths-based educational program validates, affirms, respects and supports students, families and staff members to reach their full potential." But when teachers and staff who believe in that mission did not feel validated, affirmed, respected, and supported, they took it upon themselves to organize and push Caliber to live up to its promise. Earlier this month, the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) ruled that a majority of the 150 teachers and staff at Caliber: Beta Academy in Richmond and Caliber: ChangeMakers Academy in Vallejo had demonstrated sufficient support for unionizing with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and ordered management to formally recognize the union. In this episode, we talk with Tyler Powles, who was a 4th-grade teacher at Caliber: Beta Academy for five years, and Erinn Murphy, an education specialist (and school parent) at Caliber: ChangeMakers Academy, about their experience working for the charter school network and fighting for a union.

Additional links/info below...

Caliber Workers Union website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Industrial Workers of the World website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Cal Colgan, Industrial Worker, "Charter School Workers' Year-long Fight for Recognition"
IWW Press Release: "California Public Employment Relations Board Determines Union of Teachers and Support Staff at Caliber Public Schools Must Be Granted Recognition"
Zane Sparling, The Oregonian, "Burgerville Employees Ratify Contract, Establishing First Fast-Food Union in U.S."
Working People, "cOrE vAlUeS (w/ MacKenna Alvarez)"
Working People, "Drew Edmonds"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Tevita 'Uhatafe

Sat, 21 May 2022 05:14:30 +0000

If you were following the strikes and labor actions that were happening last year, then you may have noticed that a certain face kept popping up in photos and reports from picket lines all over the country, from the Kelloggs', Nabisco, and John Deere strikes, to the Warrior Met Coal miners caravan to New York City. Who was this mysterious member of the Transport Workers Union making his way to states all around the US to show solidarity with workers in their different struggles? Well, it turns out that that guy is Tevita 'Uhatafe, a first-generation Tongan American, family man, rank-and-file member of the Transport Workers Union Local 513 in Dallas-Fort Worth, and Vice President of the Tarrant County AFL-CIO Central Labor Council. In this episode, we talk with Tevita about his life, about why family has always been so important to him, about working in the airline industry, coming to the organized labor movement, and about how doing the vital solidarity work he does is such a fundamental part of who he is as a person.

Additional links/info below...

Tevita's Twitter page
Tevita's PayPal (let's get Tevita to Labor Notes!): @TUhatafe
Haeden Wright's Twitter page
Braxton Wright's Twitter page
Haeden and Braxton's PayPal (let's get them to Labor Notes too!): @haedenwright
Tarrant County Central Labor Council website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Tevita recognized for his contribution to the labor movement for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'Twerking-class heroes: LA strippers are fighting for a union"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Starbucks "partners" becoming partners (w/ Arianna Ayala)

Thu, 12 May 2022 03:23:33 +0000

We'll be back with new interviews next week after Jules has settled in and recovered from moving cross country! Until then, with permission from The Real News Network, we are sharing the audio of Max's recent interview with Arianna Ayala, a Starbucks partner in New York City and worker-organizer with Starbucks Workers United.

The rank-and-file effort to unionize Starbucks stores around the United States is one of the most head-spinningly historic worker-led movements in our generation. Since the Elmwood Avenue store in Buffalo, New York, made history by becoming the first location to unionize in December of 2021, hundreds of Starbucks locations have filed for union elections, and the overwhelming majority of stores that have already held elections voted in favor of unionizing. Even in the face of intense opposition from corporate executives and upper-level managers at one of the most powerful companies in the world, and working within the incredibly restrictive confines of US labor law, partners organizing with Starbucks Workers United keep racking up wins. In this interview for TRNN, Max sits down with Arianna Ayala, a Starbucks partner and member of the organizing committee at her store in New York City, which recently filed for a union election, to talk about her own experience working at Starbucks during the COVID-19 pandemic, why she and her fellow partners took that fateful step to organize, and why they, like Starbucks partners around the country, believe that a unionized workforce will make Starbucks a better company.

Additional links/info below...

Starbucks Workers United website, Twitter page, and Instagram
Union Election Data: Current Starbucks Statistics
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "The Historic, Youthful, Rank-and-File Movement to Unionize Starbucks"
Paul Blest, VICE News, "Lateness, Cursing, a Broken Sink: Starbucks Keeps Firing Pro-Union Employees"
Alex N. Press, Jacobin, "The Starbucks Union Drive Is Spreading With Impressive Speed"
Rani Molla, Vox, "How a Bunch of Starbucks Baristas Built a Labor Movement"
Kate Rogers, CNBC, "Starbucks Hit with Sweeping Labor Complaint Including Over 200 Alleged Violations"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

50 Years of Class War in Wisconsin (w/ Frank Emspak & Adrienne Pagac)

Sun, 08 May 2022 15:24:02 +0000

This is the final installment in our special series of conversations with teachers, organizers, scholars, and activists in Wisconsin that Max, Cameron Granadino (TRNN), and Hannah Faris (In These Times) recorded in the summer of 2021 as part of a special collaboration between The Real News Network and In These Times magazine. To round out the series, we drive straight into the heart of darkness with an in-depth discussion with veteran educators and organizers Frank Emspak and Adrienne Pagac about the passage of Act 10 in Wisconsin under Republican Governor Scott Walker, the statewide protests against it, and the devastation that it has left in Wisconsin for the past 11 years. Frank is Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School for Workers and a labor activist based in Madison, Wisconsin. He is a regular contributor to WORT Labor Radio, Progressive Magazine, and a range of other media outlets. Adrienne is a scholar, organizer, and former co-president of the Teaching Assistants Association.

The statewide protests against Act 10, known as the Wisconsin Uprising, comprised one of the largest sustained collective actions in the history of the United States, and anyone who was there in 2011 will attest to the collective spirit of resistance and solidarity that the uprising embodied, and the lasting impact it left on all who participated. But the protests were ultimately unsuccessful in beating back Act 10, and the short and long term effects of its passage have been a disaster for working people and organized labor. How did this coordinated assault on labor come to pass in Wisconsin? And what lessons can the rest of us around the country learn from the 50-year war on workers that has changed the state of Wisconsin for generations?

Additional links/info below...

Frank's Twitter page
Adrienne's Twitter page
Frank Emspak, Red Madison, "Commemorating the Wisconsin Uprising"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'You've got to shut it down': Lessons from Wisconsin's 2011 Worker Uprising"
In These Times investigative series: The Wisconsin Idea
The Jacobin Show, "The Democratic Coalition after Trump and the Fall of Wisconsin"
Dan Kaufman, Norton Books, The Fall of Wisconsin: The Conservative Conquest of a Progressive Bastion and the Future of American Politics
Michael D. Yates, Monthly Review Press, Wisconsin Uprising: Labor Fights Back
John Nichols, Bold Type Books, Uprising: How Scott Walker Betrayed Wisconsin and Inspired a New Politics of Protest

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Amazon Labor Union

Tue, 26 Apr 2022 06:34:22 +0000

On Sunday, April 24, the independent Amazon Labor Union held a rally outside the JFK8 fulfillment center on Staten Island, New York, where, just one month ago, workers shocked the world by becoming the first Amazon workforce in the US to successfully vote to unionize. With supporters from organized labor and the surrounding community showing up in full force, along with high-profile appearances from Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, worker-organizers with the ALU showed their support for their coworkers at the LDJ5 sorting center, another facility in the same complex that is voting in their own union election this week. If LDJ5 becomes the second Amazon facility to unionize, it will prove that what happened at JFK8 was not a fluke, but the beginning of a historic movement to unionize the second largest private employer in the US and one of the most powerful corporations in the world. In this special episode, we put together a compilation of speeches from the rally along with interviews Max conducted on the ground with Amazon workers and other special guests. Speakers/interviewees include: Christian Smalls, president of the Amazon Labor Union; Derrick Palmer, vice president of organizing for the Amazon Labor Union; Jordan Flowers, cofounder of the Congress of Essential Workers and the Amazon Labor Union; Senator Bernie Sanders; Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; Karen Ponce, interim secretary of the Amazon Labor Union; Julian Mitchell-Israel, LDJ5 Amazon worker, field organizer for the Amazon Labor Union; Maddie Wesley, LDJ5 Amazon worker, treasurer of the Amazon Labor Union; Kshama Sawant, (socialist) Seattle City Council Member; Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO; Charles Jenkins, elected officer of the Transport Worker Union Local 100 and president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) NY Chapter; Brittany Ramos DeBarros, candidate for Congress in New York's 11th District; Luis Feliz Leon, staff writer and organizer for Labor Notes; Michelle Valentin Nieves, worker-organizer with the Amazon Labor Union.

Additional links/info below...

Amazon Labor Union website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
The Amazon Labor Union Solidarity Fund
Chris Smalls' Twitter page
Derrick Palmer's Twitter page
Jordan Flowers' Twitter page
The Congress of Essential Workers website and Twitter page
Julian Mitchell-Israel's Twitter page
Kshama Sawant's Twitter page
Sara Nelson's Twitter page
The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists' website and Twitter page
Brittany Ramos DeBarros's Twitter page
Luis Feliz Leon's Labor Notes author page and Twitter page
Michelle Valentin Nieves's Twitter page
Bernie Sanders's Twitter page
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Twitter page

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Kenyon Student Workers & Indiana Graduate Workers on Strike (w/ Molly Orr, Nora Weber, & Anne Kavalerchik)

Thu, 21 Apr 2022 04:46:17 +0000

Right now, a majority of residential advisers at Kenyon College, organized with the Kenyon Student Worker Organizing Committee, are on an indefinite strike over unfair labor practices. At the same time, over 1,750 graduate student workers at Indiana University with the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition are on strike, demanding that the university administration formally recognize their union, pay graduate workers a livable wage, and eliminate costly student fees. In this extended mini-cast, we talk about these important struggles with three worker-organizers across the two campuses: Molly Orr, a sophomore at Kenyon College who works at the Kenyon Farm and the Writing Center; Nora Weber, a fourth-year PhD candidate in Sociology at Indiana University; and Anne Kavalerchik, a third-year PhD candidate in Sociology and Informatics at Indiana University.
Additional links/info below...

Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition—United Electrical Workers website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
Kenyon Student Worker Organizing Committee—United Electrical Workers website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
Nora's Twitter page
Kenyon Strike Fund: K-SWOC-UE Strike Fund - Spring 2022
Indiana Strike Fund: STRIKE UNTIL WE WIN FUND!
Maria Carrasco, Inside Higher Ed, "Kenyon College Residential Advisers Go On Indefinite Strike"
Hali Tauxe, Indiana Daily Student, "As Graduate Workers Contemplate Strike, Bloomington Campus Officials Announce Raises"
Jeremy Hogan, The Bloomingtonian, "Gallery: Grad Workers Strike Tuesday, April 19, 2022"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Maricela Aguilar Monroy

Thu, 14 Apr 2022 04:19:29 +0000

Just over ten years ago, the landscape for workers' rights and organized labor in the state of Wisconsin changed dramatically with the passage of Act 10 under Republican Governor Scott Walker in 2011. Act 10 was a hammer blow to the labor movement that essentially stripped collective bargaining rights from public sector workers, made it much more difficult for workers to organize, and forced unions to take massive concessions on healthcare, retirement benefits, and much more. Soon after, in 2015, Walker signed legislation that turned Wisconsin into a "right to work" state, issuing another blow to unions in a state once heralded as a bellwether of the labor movement. But all hope is not lost. In the wake of this coordinated assault on workers and unions, many are using the tools available to them to build up their communities and rebuild working-class power in Wisconsin. This is precisely what we have been investigating in our special series of conversations with teachers, organizers, scholars, and activists in Wisconsin that Max, Cameron Granadino (TRNN), and Hannah Faris (In These Times) recorded in the summer of 2021 as part of a special collaboration between The Real News Network and In These Times magazine. In the latest installment in this series, we talk with Maricela Aguilar Monroy, an undocumented educator and organizer who has spent most of her life in Milwaukee and is working to strengthen the community that has provided a home for her so it can continue to provide a home for others.

Additional links/info below...

Maricela's Twitter page
YES! (Youth Empowered in the Struggle) Facebook page and Twitter page
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Ten Years after Act 10, Wisconsin Teachers Are Still Fighting to Rebuild from the Rubble"
In These Times investigative series: The Wisconsin Idea
The Jacobin Show, "The Democratic Coalition after Trump and the Fall of Wisconsin"
Dan Kaufman, Norton Books, The Fall of Wisconsin: The Conservative Conquest of a Progressive Bastion and the Future of American Politics
Michael D. Yates, Monthly Review Press, Wisconsin Uprising: Labor Fights Back
John Nichols, Bold Type Books, Uprising: How Scott Walker Betrayed Wisconsin and Inspired a New Politics of Protest
Permanent links below...

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Susan Simensky Bietila

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 03:07:26 +0000

Holy cow, this is Working People's 200th episode! Thank you to everyone who has listened to and supported us over the past five seasons—and, of course, thank you to every guest who has ever come on the show to share their story. To commemorate our 200th regular-season episode, we have a special installment of our series of conversations with teachers, organizers, scholars, and activists in Wisconsin that Max, Cameron Granadino (TRNN), and Hannah Faris (In These Times) recorded in the summer of 2021 as part of a special collaboration between The Real News Network and In These Times magazine. In this episode, we talk with longtime artist, activist, and registered nurse Susan Simensky Bietila in Milwaukee. Hearkening back to the episodes we published in the first season of Working People, this is an extended conversation that traces the incredible, winding path that Sue has taken in life, from growing up in the projects in New York to drawing and collaging for The Guardian, the radical US newsweekly, during the height of the Vietnam War, to protesting at the Wisconsin State Capitol in 2011 during the Wisconsin Uprising.

Additional links/info below...

Susan Simensky Bietila's website and art archives
Susan Simensky Bietila, "Wisconsin: Walk Like an Egyptian"
Susan Simensky Bietila's Facebook page
Paul Buhle & Nicole Schulman (eds.), Verso, Wobblies!: A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World
Maximillian Alvarez, Current Affairs, "Can the Working Class Speak?"
In These Times investigative series: The Wisconsin Idea
The Jacobin Show, "The Democratic Coalition after Trump and the Fall of Wisconsin"
Dan Kaufman, Norton Books, The Fall of Wisconsin: The Conservative Conquest of a Progressive Bastion and the Future of American Politics
Michael D. Yates, Monthly Review Press, Wisconsin Uprising: Labor Fights Back
John Nichols, Bold Type Books, Uprising: How Scott Walker Betrayed Wisconsin and Inspired a New Politics of Protest
Permanent links below...

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Practice What You Preach, SPLC (w/ Lisa D. Wright & Katie Glenn)

Tue, 29 Mar 2022 04:58:25 +0000

The Southern Poverty Law Center is a historic civil rights organization that, for 50 years, has been advancing social justice through legal, educational, and advocacy efforts primarily in the Deep South. However, after overwhelmingly voting to unionize in 2019, staff at SPLC say the organization has been stalling negotiations over their first union contract and unfairly treating its lowest-paid and most marginalized workers. On Monday, March 28, SPLC Union members held an informational picket outside the org's headquarters in Montgomery, Alabama, "to protest management's forcing mostly Black women employees to return to the office while allowing the option of remote work for white and higher-paid employees." In this mini-cast, we talk with Katie Glenn, who has worked for SPLC for nearly three years and is a member of the SPLC Union bargaining committee, and Lisa D. Wright, who has worked at SPLC for over 20 years, was a member of the original organizing committee, and is also a steward and a member of the SPLC Union bargaining committee.

Additional links/info below...

SPLC Union website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
SPLC Union Press Release: SPLC Union Members Picket Over Management's Inequitable Office Reopening Plan
Kim Chandler, AP News, "Southern Poverty Law Center Employees Vote to Join Union"
Sarah Jaffe, The Progressive, "Nonprofit Workers Join the Movement to Unionize"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Al Levie

Thu, 24 Mar 2022 03:48:07 +0000

We are diving right back into our special series of conversations with teachers, organizers, scholars, and activists in Wisconsin that Max, Cameron Granadino (TRNN), and Hannah Faris (In These Times) recorded in the summer of 2021 as part of a special collaboration between The Real News Network and In These Times magazine. In this episode, recorded at the Racine Labor Center in Racine, Wisconsin, we talk to retired teacher and longtime organizer Al Levie about the long and coordinated assault on workers and unions that turned Wisconsin into a "right to work" state and that stripped public sector workers of their collective bargaining rights with the passage of Act 10 under Republic governor Scott Walker. But we also talk about Al's life as an organizer, the work he and his students have done to build power in Racine, and about the very real possibility of organizing and mobilizing interracial and intergenerational coalitions of people to fight for justice, equality, and dignity.

Additional links/info below...

Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Organize Students, Organize Everyone, and Fight Like Hell"
Yahoo! News, "Wis. Teacher Refuses Award From Paul Ryan During MLK Ceremony: 'Lackey for the 1%'"
Voces de la Frontera website
Voces de la Frontera Action website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Working People, **John Fleissner (bonus episode)**
John Fleissner's Instagram
Order Defend Public Education Print from John Fleissner
In These Times investigative series: The Wisconsin Idea

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Do Better, Howard (w/ Dr. Aisha Bonner Cozad & Dr. Sean Pears)

Wed, 23 Mar 2022 02:11:00 +0000

Since full-time lecturers at Howard University originally voted to unionize, they have spent nearly four years bargaining with the university administration to get their first contract. Unless a deal is reached at the 11th hour, lecturers are set to go on strike on Wednesday, March 23, joining nearly 200 adjunct professors who are also fighting for their second contract with the university. Even if a deal is reached to avoid a strike, however, Howard has a long way to go to adequately address the long-running systemic problems that have brought non-tenure-track faculty to the point of hitting the picket line. In this mini-cast, we talk to Dr. Aisha Bonner Cozad, an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Howard School of Social Work, and Dr. Sean Pears, a Lecturer in Howard's College of Arts & Sciences, about the looming strike at one of the most storied HBCUs in the country.

Additional links/info below...

Dr. Bonner Cozad's LinkedIn page
Dr. Pears's Twitter page
Howard Teaching Faculty Union Twitter page and Instagram
Peter Lucas, Jacobin, "Howard University Faculty Are Ready to Strike"
Rashad Grove, Ebony, "Howard University Faculty Threaten to Strike Over Working Conditions"
Higher Ed Labor United statement: We Stand with Howard University Non-Tenure-Track Faculty and Adjuncts

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

What the F*ck Happened to Wisconsin? (w/ Harvey J. Kaye & Jon Shelton)

Wed, 16 Mar 2022 05:37:06 +0000

We continue our series on the struggles of teachers and public sector unions in the state of Wisconsin today. As part of a special collaboration between The Real News Network and In These Times magazine for "The Wisconsin Idea," Max, Cameron Granadino (TRNN), and Hannah Faris (In These Times) traveled to Wisconsin in the summer of 2021. From Madison to Appleton, they spoke to a range of educators, organizers, scholars, and activists who are fighting to rebuild worker power after the devastating passage of Act 10 in 2011 under Republican Governor Scott Walker, and nearly 50 years after cops, townspeople, and a union-busting school board broke the infamous Hortonville teachers' strike in 1974. In this interview, recorded in the town of Hortonville, Max sits down with scholars Harvey J. Kaye and Jon Shelton to discuss the historical significance of Act 10, the Wisconsin Uprising, and the Hortonville strike that set the stage for them decades earlier, and to examine how these crucial events fit into the larger historical trajectory of the labor movement and progressive politics in Wisconsin. Harvey J. Kaye is Professor Emeritus of Democracy & Justice Studies and the Director of the Center for History and Social Change at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay; he is also the author of many books, including Thomas Paine and the Promise of America and Take Hold of Our History: Make America Radical Again. Jon Shelton is Associate Professor and Chair of Democracy and Justice studies at UW Green Bay, and he is the author of Teacher Strike! Public Education and the Making of a New American Political Order.

Additional links/info below...

Harvey's Twitter page
Jon's Twitter page
American Federation of Teachers—Wisconsin website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times investigative series: The Wisconsin Idea
Harvey J. Kaye, Macmillan, Thomas Paine and the Promise of America
Harvey J. Kaye, Zero Books, Take Hold of Our History: Make America Radical Again
Working People, **Harvey J. Kaye (bonus episode)**
Jon Shelton, University of Illinois Press, Teacher Strike! Public Education and the Making of a New American Political Order
Eleni Schirmer, Gender and Education, "When Solidarity Doesn't Quite Strike: The 1974 Hortonville, Wisconsin Teachers' Strike and the Rise of Neoliberalism"
The Jacobin Show, "The Democratic Coalition after Trump and the Fall of Wisconsin"
Dan Kaufman, Norton Books, The Fall of Wisconsin: The Conservative Conquest of a Progressive Bastion and the Future of American Politics
Michael D. Yates, Monthly Review Press, Wisconsin Uprising: Labor Fights Back
John Nichols, Bold Type Books, Uprising: How Scott Walker Betrayed Wisconsin and Inspired a New Politics of Protest

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Amanda & Jeff Frenkel

Wed, 09 Mar 2022 21:32:26 +0000

We're back, baby! We're kicking off Season 5 of Working People with a multi-part series on teachers and public sector unions in the state of Wisconsin. As part of a special collaboration between The Real News Network and In These Times magazine for "The Wisconsin Idea," Max, Cameron Granadino (TRNN), and Hannah Faris (In These Times) traveled to Wisconsin in the summer of 2021 to investigate two intertwining stories that have played a crucial role in the rightwing shift and the decades-long attack on workers and unions in a state that used to be a bellwether of the labor movement and progressive politics in America.

One of those stories has to do with the passing of Act 10 in 2011 under Republican governor Scott Walker, which was a hammer blow to public sector unions around the state that stripped them of their collective bargaining rights and put a chokehold on unions' ability to function—a chokehold that was tightened in 2015 when Wisconsin became the 25th "right to work" state. The other story is the story of a historic teachers' strike that took place in 1974 in the small, rural town of Hortonville. With a population of just around 1,500 people at the time, Hortonville became the site of one of the most contentious and consequential teachers' strikes in Wisconsin's history. And, in many ways, the sort of cultural hostilities, clashing economic pressures, and vicious union-busting that played out in Hortonville set the stage for a statewide showdown over Act 10 nearly 40 years later. The Hortonville strike itself ripped the community in two—over 80 striking educational staff members in the district were fired by an intransigent school board, and the legacy of the broken strike left a deep scar on the town and the school district for many years.

Over the course of this series, we'll be talking to teachers and organizers in Wisconsin to see how, nearly 50 years after the Hortonville strike and a decade after Act 10 and the historic protests against it at the state capitol, they are still fighting to recover and build worker power. In this interview, Max talks with Amanda and Jeff Frenkel, two K-12 teachers in Hortonville and union organizers with the American Federation of Teachers, about the challenges they and their coworkers are facing today, and about the ways they are working to rebuild the union and serve their community.

Additional links/info below...

American Federation of Teachers—Wisconsin website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "The Fight to Organize Teachers in Small-Town Wisconsin"
Eleni Schirmer, Gender and Education, "When Solidarity Doesn't Quite Strike: The 1974 Hortonville, Wisconsin Teachers' Strike and the Rise of Neoliberalism"
In These Times investigative series: The Wisconsin Idea

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Justice for Evan (w/ Jana Murphy)

Tue, 08 Mar 2022 05:03:20 +0000

With permission from The Real News Network, we're publishing the audio of Max's most recent TRNN interview with Jana Murphy of the Justice for Evan coalition.

In September 2021, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez spoke with the family of Evan Seyfried about a lawsuit they filed against grocery giant Kroger, which alleges that Evan was bullied, harassed, and sabotaged by store managers Shannon Frazee and Joseph Pigg to the point that he suffered a "transient episodic break" and took his own life. It's been one year since Evan committed suicide, and while the Seyfrieds struggle to pick up the pieces, family friends, community members, and volunteers have come together to honor Evan's life, demand accountability for his death, and address the scourge of workplace bullying. In this interview, Alvarez speaks with Jana Murphy, an organizer of the Justice for Evan coalition and a close friend of the Seyfried family, about the fight to hold Kroger accountable and the national day of action planned for Wednesday, March 9.

Pre-Production/Studio/Post-Production: Cameron Granadino

Additional links/info below...

Watch the video version of this interview on The Real News Network YouTube channel
Justice for Evan protest (March 9) information
Justice for Evan Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
National Workplace Bullying Coalition website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
#NotMe App
Working People, "Evan Seyfried (w/ Ken, Linda, & Eric Seyfried)"
"Lawsuit: Kroger Manager Drove Employee To Suicide" (PDF)
Julian Mark, The Washington Post, "Former Kroger Grocery Store Employee's Suicide Was a Result of 'Torturous Conditions,' Lawsuit Says"
Jessica Schmidt, Fox News 19, "Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed against Kroger, Company Employees after Former Manager Took His Own Life"
Alex N. Press, Jacobin, "At Kroger and Amazon, Capital Is Going on the Offensive"
Anonymous, VICE, "They Call Me a Hero Because I Work at Kroger, So Why Do I Feel Disposable?"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

New York Is a Union Town (w/ Chaz Rynkiewicz)

Thu, 03 Mar 2022 06:33:39 +0000

With Laborers Local 79 leading the charge, union demolition workers, construction workers, carpenters, bricklayers, and more have rallied multiple times in the past month outside the Chelsea Terminal Warehouse in New York City to protest the mishandling of workers' pensions and the exploitation, union busting, wage theft, and hazardous conditions workers have experienced at the job site. As Dean Moses writes in The Villager, "Many of the Laborers are immigrant demolition workers, also called los demolicionsitas, and construction workers who say that they have been deprived of healthcare throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to face intimidation and threats for trying to unionize Terminal Warehouse. Protesters named several culprits—three being New Line Structures, ECD NY and Alba Services—which, they alleged, have a history of wage theft and permitting hazardous working conditions. There were also allegations of gender discrimination." We talk to Chaz Rynkiewicz, Vice President and Director of Organizing for Laborers Local 79.

Additional links/info below...

Laborers Local 79 website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Laborers Local 79 Twitter thread about the #Alba3
Dean Moses, The Villager, "Hundreds of Union Employees Protest Alleged Exploitative Working Conditions at Chelsea Terminal Warehouse"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

"Can the Working Class Speak?" (w/ Billy Saas, Sophia Badame, & Sophie Harris)

Wed, 23 Feb 2022 05:49:42 +0000

Late last year, Max had the honor of getting to speak to a class at Tulane University called "Introduction to Podcasting and Social Justice" taught by Dr. Billy Saas, cohost and producer of the podcast Money on the Left, as well as the cofounder and codirector of the Money on the Left Editorial Collective. The students in the class talked to Max about how and why he started Working People, how the show has grown over the years, and they also had a deep conversation about the political importance of podcasting as a medium. In the first half of this episode, you'll hear Max's conversation with the "Introduction to Podcasting and Social Justice" class, which was recorded and edited by the students. Then, in the second half of the episode, you'll hear Max's follow-up conversation with Dr. Saas and two students from the class, Sophia Badame and Sophie Harris, about how the class evolved over the semester, the final projects they worked on, and how the next generation of podcasters are working to explore and expand the medium.

Additional links/info below...

Billy's faculty page and Twitter page
Money on the Left website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Maximillian Alvarez, The Chronicle Review (The Chronicle of Higher Education), "The Podcast University (An Interview with Zachary Davis)"
Maximillian Alvarez, Current Affairs, "Can the Working Class Speak?"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Railroad Worker Strike Blocked by US Court (w/ Jeff Kurtz)

Wed, 02 Feb 2022 20:29:20 +0000

We're gearing up for Season 5 of the show and will be back very soon! In the meantime, if you're looking for more important coverage of worker struggles from Max, go check out the interviews he's doing for The Real News Network. With permission from TRNN, we're publishing the audio of his most recent interview with retired railroad worker and union officer Jeff Kurtz.

A crucial labor battle is currently unfolding between railroad workers and BNSF Railway, the largest freight railroad network in North America. Earlier in January, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD), which together represent roughly 17,000 railroad workers, initiated steps to prepare for a strike that would have begun on the Feb. 1. This would comprise the largest railway strike in recent memory, and the unions have cited as the main point of contention a new BNSF scheduling and availability policy that workers say will separate them from their families and make it next to impossible to live and reasonably plan their lives. BLET National President Dennis Pierce and SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson called BNSF's so-called "Hi-Viz" policy "the worst and most egregious attendance policy ever adopted by any rail carrier."

However, on Tuesday, Jan. 25, a US District Court judge granted BNSF a temporary restraining order blocking the two unions from striking, saying that a strike would cause the rail company "substantial, immediate and irreparable harm." In this interview, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with retired railroad worker and union leader Jeff Kurtz about BNSF's "Hi-Viz" policy and why workers in the railroad industry are prepared to strike.

Jeff Kurtz was a railway engineer and union member for 40 years. He served as a union officer most of his career, including eight years as president of BLET Local 391 and chairman of the BLET Iowa State Legislative Board, where he oversaw safety and legislative matters for the union in the state for four railroads for 10 years. He retired in 2014 and served as state representative for one term in the Iowa House after winning the 2018 election in his House district. He now works in a volunteer capacity with Railroad Workers United and the local labor chapter of the Iowa Federation of Labor.

Pre-Production/Studio/Post-Production: Cameron Granadino

Additional links/info below...

Watch the video version of this interview on The Real News Network YouTube channel
Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Just desserts: Striking bakery workers in CA demand respect"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Teachers Are not the Enemy (w/ Ana & Quetzalli Castro)

Fri, 07 Jan 2022 03:58:58 +0000

Here we are again... With the Omicron variant spreading like wildfire, COVID-19 cases around the country have shattered previous highs. The federal government has essentially given up on trying to fight the virus and a familiar ghoulish chorus of media pundits and wealthy business executives are berating working people to suck it up and put themselves in harm's way for the sake of the economy. What's worse, workers who are standing up for themselves are being viciously vilified and scapegoated for the systemic failures that have put us in this mess.

Perhaps no group is facing more backlash right now than educators. Earlier this week, nearly 3/4 of the membership of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) voted to return to virtual work until a deal to implement necessary safety measures is reached with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) or until the city's positivity rate falls below 10 percent. In response, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the CPS administration have locked educators out of their virtual classrooms, replaying their actions from last year when COVID cases were surging and teachers were locked out of their employee accounts and had their pay docked if they refused to return from teaching remotely. In this urgent, unscheduled mini-cast, we talk about the lockout with Ana, a CPS teacher and CTU member, and Quetzalli Castro, a CPS teacher and a delegate and organizer within the CTU.

Additional links/info below...

Chicago Teachers Union website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Petition: "We need safe working and learning conditions in CPS!"
CTU informational posters: "Our Students, Parents & Communities Deserve Safety"
Working People, "Mini-cast: #SafeReturnOrNoReturn (w/ Paula Ladin & Mariana Ruiz)"
Quinn Meyer, Block Club Chicago, "Chicago Teachers Say They Want To Return To Classrooms, But They Need Better COVID-19 Safety Measures"
Monica Eng, Axios Chicago, "Chicago Public Schools Cancel Thursday Classes"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

(Unlocked) BONUS EPISODE - Kickin' Ass for the Working Class (w/ Puja Datta, Margaret McLaughlin, & Diana Hussein)

Sat, 01 Jan 2022 18:16:21 +0000

Due to COVID awfulness, we're counting our 6-hour livestream fundraiser for striking Kellogg's workers as the official finale of Season Four of Working People (woo!). Thank you all for listening to and supporting our work over the past year. We're getting some much-needed rest and gearing up for Season Five. In the meantime, we're ringing in the new year by unlocking this special bonus episode—enjoy! And happy 2022! All power to the workers!

2021 was an energizing year for a labor movement that has had its back against the wall for a long time. From record numbers of American workers voluntarily quitting their jobs to publicly supported strikes and unionization drives in different sectors of the economy, more and more working people are taking action and standing up for themselves. But this is just the beginning—there's still a lot of work to do, and 2022 will provide a crucial test for the labor movement and its supporters. In this special panel episode of Working People, originally published in November as a bonus episode for patrons, we talk to three full-time union organizers—Puja Datta (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), Margaret McLaughlin (United University Professions), and Diana Hussein (UNITE HERE)—about what Striketober and 2021 in general have meant for the labor movement. We also talk about the day-to-day work of being a union organizer, where the labor movement goes from here, and what you can do to build working-class power.

Additional links/info below...

Puja's Twitter page
Margaret's Twitter page
Diana's Twitter page
Luis Feliz Leon & Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Beneath Striketober Fanfare, the Lower Frequencies of Class Struggle Need to Be Heard"
Marc Steiner, The Real News Network, "Can Today's Labor Militancy Become a Transformative Political Force?"
Labor Notes, Secrets of a Successful Organizer
AFL-CIO, "Know Your Workplace Rights"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

"Keep the Fire Burning" Livestream

Fri, 24 Dec 2021 04:52:51 +0000

After nearly 3 months, the strike at cereal giant Kellogg's, which involved 1,400 workers at four different plants, has come to an end. On Tuesday, December 21, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union (BCTGM) announced that its members at Kellogg's had voted to ratify the latest contract offer. We want to send all our love and solidarity to everyone who held strong on the picket line and congratulate them on their new contract. We also want to thank everyone who watched and participated in the 6-hour livestream fundraiser for striking workers that we cohosted last week with Mel Buer and the Morning Riot podcast (produced by the great David Story of The Valley Labor Report). All in all, we ended up raising just shy of $16,000 for Kellogg's workers and their families! That money is being divided equally and sent to the members of the BCTGM locals in Omaha, Nebraska, Battle Creek, Michigan, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Memphis, Tennessee. Even though the strike has ended, workers have racked up many costs since walking off the job in October, and every dollar we raised will go to helping them get through the holidays and get back on their feet.

In case you were unable to watch the livestream, we are uploading all six hours of audio here for listeners. The strike may be over, but this was an incredibly special, entertaining, and solidarity-filled event that brought together powerful voices from the Kellogg's picket lines as well as special guests including: Marianne Williamson, Alex Winter, Randy Bryce, Breht O'Shea of Revolutionary Left Radio and Guerrilla History, Kim Kohlhaas of AFT-Wisconsin, Haeden Wright of the UMWA Auxiliary in Alabama, Caroline Smith of Student Workers of Columbia, Tevita Uhatafe of the Transport Workers Union, Steven Monacelli of Protean Magazine, Bryan Conlan of Strikewave, Dwight Rhinosoros of Eat the Rich, David Griscom of Left Reckoning, Jacob Morrison of The Valley Labor Report, and Professor Jon Shelton. Thank you again to all who participated and donated, and congratulations to Kellogg's workers on their new contract. Solidarity forever!

Additional links/info below...

Morning Riot Twitter page
Marianne Williamson's Twitter page
Alex Winter's Twitter page
Randy Bryce's Twitter page
Revolutionary Left Radio Twitter page
Guerrilla History Twitter page
Tevita Uhatafe's Twitter page
Kim Kohlhaas's Twitter page
AFT-Wisconsin's Twitter page
Caroline Smith's Twitter page
Student Workers of Columbia Twitter page and hardship fund for striking workers
Haeden Wright's Twitter page
PayPal for UMWA Auxiliary strike pantry for Warrior Met Coal workers
Steven Monacelli's Twitter page
Protean Magazine Twitter page
Bryan Conlan's Twitter page
Strikewave Twitter page
Dwight Rhinosoros's Twitter page
Eat the Rich Twitter page
David Griscom's Twitter page
Left Reckoning Twitter page
Jacob Morrison's Twitter page
The Valley Labor Report Twitter page
Jon Shelton's Twitter page

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

"Keep the Fire Burning" Livestream

Fri, 24 Dec 2021 04:52:25 +0000

Additional links/info below...

Morning Riot Twitter page
Marianne Williamson's Twitter page
Alex Winter's Twitter page
Randy Bryce's Twitter page
Revolutionary Left Radio Twitter page
Guerrilla History Twitter page
Tevita Uhatafe's Twitter page
Kim Kohlhaas's Twitter page
AFT-Wisconsin's Twitter page
Caroline Smith's Twitter page
Student Workers of Columbia Twitter page and hardship fund for striking workers
Haeden Wright's Twitter page
PayPal for UMWA Auxiliary strike pantry for Warrior Met Coal workers
Steven Monacelli's Twitter page
Protean Magazine Twitter page
Bryan Conlan's Twitter page
Strikewave Twitter page
Dwight Rhinosoros's Twitter page
Eat the Rich Twitter page
David Griscom's Twitter page
Left Reckoning Twitter page
Jacob Morrison's Twitter page
The Valley Labor Report Twitter page
Jon Shelton's Twitter page

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Hospitality Workers at Colonial Williamsburg Need Help (w/ Agatha Hilt, Willie Brown, & John Boardman)

Wed, 22 Dec 2021 06:20:56 +0000

Hospitality workers around the country have faced some of the worst layoffs in any industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. UNITE HERE, a labor union representing over 300,000 workers, most of whom are in the hospitality, food service, and restaurant industries, reported that 98% of its members were out of work last year. At the five hotel properties in Virginia's historic Colonial Williamsburg, however, workers who did get their jobs back are being chronically overworked and underpaid, resulting in injuries on the job and little to no ability to have a life outside of work.

What's worse, according to a press release from UNITE HERE LOCAL 25, the union representing hospitality workers at Colonial Williamsburg, management with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation "has skipped seven bargaining sessions since August" and "has refused to meaningfully engage with workers' demands to end forced overtime. Currently, Local 25 members in Colonial Williamsburg routinely work six- and seven-day weeks in the hotels and 10- and 12-hour days in the taverns, a practice workers are demanding an end to in the next contract." In this mini-cast, we speak with Agatha Hilt, Willie Brown, and John Boardman of UNITE HERE Local 25 about what workers are going through and the status of the current contract fight. Agatha Hilt is a housekeeper at the Williamsburg Lodge and has worked there for the last 11 years, Willie Brown is a houseman at the Williamsburg Lodge and has worked at Colonial Williamsburg for seven years, and John Boardman is the executive secretary-treasurer of UNITE HERE Local 25.

Additional links/info below...

Watch the video version of this interview at The Real News Network
UNITE HERE Local 25 website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Molly Feser & Dominic Catacora, Williamsburg Yorktown Daily, ""Enough is Enough": Colonial Williamsburg Hospitality Workers to Rally for Fair Wages, Better Working Conditions During Grand Illumination"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Working-Class Politics: Paul Prescod

Fri, 17 Dec 2021 07:41:51 +0000

Election season is coming up, so you know what that means... we're re-launching our series "Working-Class Politics"! In this ongoing series, we talk to working-class people running for elected office at all levels—in their unions, in local, state, and national government, etc.—as well as candidates fighting with and for the working class. In the latest installment, we talk to Paul Prescod (aka "Labor Paul"), a socialist, high school teacher, and member of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. Listeners may know Prescod as the cohost of The Jacobin Show, but he is now running for Pennsylvania State Senate in its 8th district, pledging to make organizing around working-class issues and legislating universal programs his top priorities. We talk to Prescod about the importance of building working-class coalitions, earning the trust of organized labor, and what it will take to serve the needs of working people in his district.

Kellogg's livestream fundraiser links/info below...

Working People YouTube channel
Kellogg's Strike Fund Livestream Fundraiser

Additional links/info below...

Paul's campaign website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Paul's Jacobin author page
Peter Lucas, Jacobin, "Teacher and Pennsylvania State Senate Candidate Paul Prescod: "The Rich Need to Start Paying""

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Foul Ball (w/ Alex Bazeley & Bobby Wagner)

Tue, 14 Dec 2021 07:32:55 +0000

Ending 26 years of "labor peace," Major League Baseball is in the midst of a lockout. With league owners failing to address the core contract issues raised by the Major League Baseball Players Association, the previous collective bargaining agreement expired at the beginning of this month. In an open letter to baseball fans, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred stated, "Despite the league's best efforts to make a deal with the Players Association, we were unable to extend our 26 year-long history of labor peace and come to an agreement with the MLBPA before the current CBA expired. Therefore, we have been forced to commence a lockout of Major League players, effective at 12:01am ET on December 2." Has the league made its "best efforts" to bargain in good faith? Were wealthy team owners really "forced to commence a lockout"? We smell BS... In this episode, we're joined by Alex Bazeley and Bobby Wagner, hosts of the podcast Tipping Pitches, to break down the labor politics in today's MLB and what the lockout means for players and fans alike.

Additional links/info below...

Tipping Pitches website, Twitter page, and fan shop
Alex's Twitter page
Bobby's Twitter page
Dayn Perry, CBS Sports, "MLB lockout: Fact-Checking Commissioner Rob Manfred's Open Letter to Baseball Fans"
James Wagner, The New York Times, "M.L.B.'s Lockout: What Is It? How Does It Work? What's Next?"
Nathan Kalman-Lamb & Dirk Hayhurst, Jacobin, "'Inside the Game, You Are Still a Commodity'"
Working People, "Mini-cast: Suicide Squeeze (w/ Nathan Kalman-Lamb)"

Kellogg's strike links/info below...

Working People YouTube channel
Look for updates on the Dec. 17 livestream/fundraiser on the Working People Twitter page and Morning Riot Twitter page
Maximilian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Breakfast of champions: Kellogg's cereal workers strike for employees who have been left behind"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "How companies like Kellogg's are weaponizing the courts to break strikes"
Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Kellogg's strike: Cereal plant workers fight to raise the floor for all employees as sales soar"
Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Kellogg's strikers hold the line and prepare for winter"
Sahid Fawaz, Labor 411, "Five Ways To Support The Kellogg Strike"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Starbucks Workers United (w/ Brian Murray & Jordan Chariton)

Thu, 09 Dec 2021 06:29:11 +0000

Starbucks is the world's largest coffeehouse chain and one of the most recognizable consumer brands in existence. In the US alone, Starbucks has nearly 9,000 corporate-owned stores, and not a single one of them is unionized ... but that may be about to change. After leading an organizing campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic and facing tireless efforts by the company to delay, deflate, and defeat union elections with the National Labor Relations Board, workers at three Starbucks locations in Buffalo, New York, have submitted their ballots, which are being counted as we speak. In this mini-cast, we talk with Brian Murray, one of the Buffalo workers and organizers with SBWorkers United, and journalist Jordan Chariton, who recently traveled to Buffalo to speak with Starbucks workers and report on their fight for Status Coup.

Additional links/info below...

SBWorkers United website, Twitter page, and Instagram
GoFundMe: Starbucks Retaliates Against Whistleblower
Jordan's Twitter page
Status Coup website, Twitter page, and YouTube channel
Sean Collins, Strikewave, ""It's about having a democratic voice in Starbucks." Interview with Brian Murray of SBWorkersUnited"
Noam Scheiber, The New York Times, "As Starbucks Workers Seek a Union, Company Officials Converge on Stores"
Ahiza García-Hodges, NBC News, "Former Starbucks CEO Uses Holocaust Analogy to Describe Coffee Company's Mission"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Columbia Is Still a Bully (w/ Joanna Lee, Tamara Hache, & Caroline Smith)

Tue, 30 Nov 2021 06:17:44 +0000

Back in the spring, we spoke with three graduate student workers at Columbia University who were on strike with other members of the Student Workers of Columbia union, UAW Local 2110. After rank-and-file members rejected the tentative agreement between the university and the bargaining committee, negotiations continued, but Columbia has still failed to meet key demands, including better wages, dental and vision healthcare coverage, and third-party arbitration for cases involving harassment and discrimination. Now, Student Workers of Columbia are back on strike and have been on the picket line since November 3. In this mini-cast, we talk with three graduate student workers, Joanna Lee, Tamara Hache, and Caroline Smith, about the strike and how academic workers are an essential part of the labor movement.

Additional links/info below...

Student Workers of Columbia, UAW Local 2110 website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Hardship Fund for Columbia Student Workers #CUonStrike
Working People, "Mini-cast: Columbia Is a Bully (w/ Joanna Lee, Harlan Chambers, & Cameron Foltz)"
Joanna's Twitter page
Tamara's Twitter page
Caroline's Twitter page
Ashley Wong, The New York Times, "Why Columbia Student Workers Are Back On Strike"
Rachel Himes, Jacobin, "Why Columbia Graduate Workers Like Me Are on Strike"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Fiction is a beautiful weapon in the class war - we should use it (w/ Sarah Lazare)

Tue, 23 Nov 2021 19:36:44 +0000

What role does fiction have to play in the class struggle? Should the left be making a stronger case for the political importance of reading literature? In this special Working People episode, which has been months in the making, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez talks with writer and editor Sarah Lazare about her novel Testimony, which she co-authored with her late father, Peter Lazare. Testimony is a leftist crime thriller that takes place in Springfield, Illinois, at the height of the "war on terror" panic in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. It is also a deeply moving story about trust, commitment to everyday people, and fighting the corrupt, self-serving, and nefarious forces that weaponize fear for their own gain.

As the back cover of the book describes, "Testimony isn't about One Great Man taking on the system, but about one okay, flawed person working with a rag-tag team of other okay, flawed people to combat a system of cynicism and greed much bigger than them." In this deep and wide-ranging conversation, Alvarez talks with Lazare about the book itself, about her father and the long process of getting the book ready for publication, and about the important role genre fiction has to play in our collective fight for a better world. This episode also features segments of dramatic readings from Testimony performed by Alvarez, Lazare, and friends of the show Adam Johnson (Citations Needed) and Mel Buer (Morning Riot). And a special thanks to Working People producer Jules Taylor for all his hard work editing the episode!

Additional links/info below…

Sarah's In These Times author page and Twitter page
Sarah Lazare & Peter Lazare, Strong Arm Press, Testimony
Strong Arm Press, Book Launch Event: "Why the Left Should Engage Fiction: A Conversation With Radical Thriller and Mystery Writers"
Mel Buer Twitter page and Patreon
Morning Riot podcast Twitter page
Adam Johnson Twitter page and Substack
Citations Needed Twitter page and Patreon

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive at freemusicarchive.org): Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

(Unlocked) BONUS EPISODE - A Pivotal Moment for the Teamsters (w/ Indigo Olivier)

Thu, 18 Nov 2021 05:19:49 +0000

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is having a pivotal leadership election right now, and the results will set the future course for one of the most storied unions in existence. This election officially marks the end of the Hoffa era as James P. Hoffa, son of Jimmy Hoffa, is retiring as Teamsters General President. Members have cast their votes for who they want to head the union in the new era, and the ballots are being counted as we speak. We will be bringing you a rank-and-file breakdown of the election in the coming weeks, but for now we are releasing one of our recent bonus episodes on the public feed so listeners can have some context and understand the importance of this election. In this episode, we talk with journalist Indigo Olivier about the Teamsters leadership election and the 46th annual Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) convention, which was held in Chicago on October 1-3. Olivier is a 2020–2021 fellow with In These Times' Leonard C. Goodman Institute for Investigative Reporting and her writing has been featured at outlets like Jacobin, In These Times, and The Nation. She is also a member of NYC-DSA.

Additional links/info below...

Indigo's Twitter page
Indigo's author page at In These Times
Indigo Olivier, Jacobin, "Teamster Rank-and-File Reformers Are Making a Bid for Union Leadership"
Working People, "The Teamsters Have Entered the Chat (w/ Joe Allen)"
Ryan Haney, Labor Notes, "Teamster Insurgents Plan for a Win—And What Comes After"
Andy Sernatinger, In These Times, "Hoffa's House Divided: The 2021 Teamster Election, Explained"
International Brotherhood of Teamsters Election Results

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

35,000 Kaiser Permanente Workers Are Set to Strike (w/ Hannah Winchester & Nick Eng)

Wed, 10 Nov 2021 21:40:38 +0000

35,000 members of the Alliance of Health Care Unions, a coalition of 21 local unions representing over 52,000 workers at the healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente in states around the country, have set a strike date. Unless the company addresses the serious issues that workers have raised at the bargaining table, Kaiser workers will walk off the job on Nov. 15, and thousands more may join in what could become one of the largest strikes ever in the healthcare sector. The core issues that led to the potential strike not only involve adequate compensation for union workers, but also the dire concerns about healthcare workers being grossly overworked and under-resourced, as well as two-tier employment and the struggle to draw in and retain trained staff. On top of the essential concerns that directly impact the jobs and livelihoods of healthcare workers, the outcome of this high-stakes labor struggle will have huge implications for the future of healthcare in the US as we know it.

In this special edition of Working People, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with two Kaiser workers, Hannah Winchester, DPT, and Nicholas Eng, RNFA, about the work that they do, the changes they've experienced in the healthcare system, and the dire conditions that have led to a potential strike. Hannah Winchester is a home health physical therapist by trade; she is also her department's Labor Partner, a shop steward, and a member of the bargaining team for the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP) Professional Bargaining Unit. Nicholas Eng has been a nurse for nearly 10 years; he is also an OFNHP shop steward and is currently on release for OFNHP to be present for contract bargaining and to help with organizing union members and actions, including strike planning.

Additional links/info below…

The Alliance of Health Care Unions website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
OFNHP Cares – Member Hardship Relief Fund
Noah Lanard, Mother Jones, ""You Are Worth More": Kaiser Permanente Workers Are on the Verge of a Historic Strike"
Dave Muoio, Fierce Healthcare, "Nearly 32,000 Kaiser Permanente Workers Set to Strike Nov. 15. Tens of Thousands More Mulling Their Own Demonstrations"

Working People, The Real News Network, "A Small-Town Hospital Goes After Its Union Nurses"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Michael Francis McCarthy

Tue, 09 Nov 2021 01:16:24 +0000

In this special episode, Working People producer Jules Taylor (@realjulestaylor) speaks with working musician and farm laborer Michael Francis McCarthy. Jules and Michael have known each other for a few years, having met during an event in Woodstock, NY where Michael was performing. Michael paints a sobering picture of what earning a living by working as a singer/songwriter looks like.

Unlock the video for this episode here: Patreon

About Michael Francis McCarthy - Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Bandcamp

Additional links/info below…

Blake Morgan, The Hill, "American middle-class musicians are worth fighting for"
John W. Barry, The Poughkeepsie Journal, "Coronavirus: With arts and entertainment shuttered, can derailed industry recover?"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page

Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!

Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"
Michael Francis McCarthy, "Goodnight, Toll Collector"

We're All We've Got (w/ Adam Johnson, Luis Feliz Leon, Brian "BZ" Douglas, & Jules Taylor)

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 02:38:35 +0000

We hosted our first ever Working People livestream this week! We got to chat with some special friends about Spooky Season and #Striketober, and we had a sprawling, heartfelt discussion about solidarity and togetherness. This was a special event we put on for an important cause: to raise money for our amazing producer Jules and his family so they can cover the costs of his mom's dialysis treatments. If you missed the livestream, we hope you enjoy this edited audio version of our conversation (check out our YouTube page to watch the video version). The fundraiser is still going, so please donate what you can and help us spread the word. Thank you for all your love and support!

Additional links/info below...

GoFundMe: Help My Mom Through Dialysis
Watch the full video version of our livestream on YouTube
Jules's Twitter page
Brian "BZ" Douglas's Twitter page
Adam Johnson's Twitter page
Luis Feliz Leon's Twitter page

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Justin Mayhugh

Wed, 20 Oct 2021 22:49:58 +0000

A lot of important history is being made right now, and something potentially game-changing is unfolding among the American workforce. At this very moment, 10,000 UAW members at John Deere are on strike in Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas; 35,000 healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente have authorized a strike; 1,400 workers at cereal giant Kellogg's are on strike in Nebraska, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee; 1,100 coal miners in Alabama have been on strike since April; 800 nurses in Massachusetts have been on strike since March; and many other strikes and strike authorizations are also unfolding. On top of that, record numbers of US workers are voluntarily quitting their jobs, in what is being called the "Great Resignation." Something is happening here... At the same time, there are crucial struggles happening within the labor movement that we all need to be paying attention to. One of these struggles is taking place within the United Auto Workers itself, where members are currently voting on an unprecedented referendum that will decide whether or not the 400,000 working members and nearly 600,000 retirees can directly elect their top union officers. Ballots went out on October 19 and are due back at the end of November; if the referendum passes, it could be the beginning of a massive shakeup for the union, which many members say needs more democratic governance and more militant energy coming from the rank-and-file. Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD), a grassroots caucus of UAW members advocating for direct elections, has been leading the charge for this historic referendum. In this episode, we talk with Justin Mayhugh, who has worked at General Motors in Kansas City for over a decade and is an organizer with the UAWD caucus.

Additional links/info below...

Join us for a special livestream Sunday, Oct. 24, at 7pm EST!
Passcode for joining the live Zoom meeting: 047512
Working People YouTube channel
GoFundMe fundraiser for Jules and his family (please donate!)
Working People will be hosting another Listener Hang on Monday, November 15th, 2021 @ 8 PM EST! Here's a link to join the meeting
Justin Mayhugh Twitter page
Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD) Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
Jonah Furman, The Real News Network, "A Once-in-a-Generation Chance to Revive the UAW Is Coming"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Breakfast of Champions (w/ Dan Osborn)

Mon, 18 Oct 2021 06:22:58 +0000

Like Frito-Lay, Nabisco, John Deere, and Heaven Hill Distillery, cereal giant Kellogg's has seen consumer demand skyrocket during the pandemic, reporting profits of $1.25 billion in 2020. To meet this demand, many workers in Kellogg's plants around the US report pulling 12-16-hour shifts seven days a week, leaving little time for anything outside of work beyond sleep. But the creation of a two-tier employment system in 2015 has meant that newer employees in the lower "transitional tier" are earning significantly less than their coworkers for doing the same work. Demanding that the company raise the floor for all of its employees, Kellogg's plant workers in Nebraska, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee have been on strike since Oct. 5. We talk about the ongoing strike with Dan Osborn, who has worked at the Omaha, Nebraska, plant for 18 years and currently serves as president of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), Local 50G.

Additional links/info below...

5 Ways to Support the #KelloggStrike (includes links to strike funds)
BCTGM Local 50G website
Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Kellogg's Strike: Cereal Plant Workers Fight to Raise the Floor for All Employees as Sales Soar"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Lisa Doerr

Mon, 11 Oct 2021 04:31:07 +0000

We conclude our series of interviews from rural Wisconsin with farmers and community members fighting to defend life as they know it from the onslaught of Big Agriculture and the factory farming industry. As part of a special collaboration between The Real News Network and In These Times magazine for "The Wisconsin Idea," Max, Cameron Granadino (TRNN), and Hannah Faris (In These Times) travelled to Polk County in Western Wisconsin over the summer to speak with residents about their fight to halt or, at least, adequately regulate a proposed concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) that would house 26,000 hogs and produce millions of gallons of liquid manure every year. In this interview, Max sits down with Lisa Doerr, who has been on the front lines of this struggle and lives right down the road from where the proposed CAFO would be built. Lisa and her husband own and operate a hay farm in Polk County that supplies food for small-scale livestock farmers in the area.

Additional links/info below...

Working People, "Kristy Lynn Allen"
Working People, "Hog Wild (w/ Lisa Doerr, Forest Jahnke, Hannah Faris, & Maeve Conran)"
Maximillian Alvarez, Cameron Granadino, & Hannah Faris, The Real News Network, "Factory Farms Pose an 'Existential Threat' for Rural Wisconsin Communities"
Grace Connatser, Wisconsin State Farmer, "Documentary Captures Rural Wisconsin's Struggle with Hog CAFOs"
Maeve Conran, Just Solutions, "Rural Wisconsin Communities Battle Industrial Scale Hog Farms"
Simon Davis-Cohen, In These Times, "'In for a Fight': Rural Wisconsinites Resist Influx of Industrial Hog Facilities"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Lights, Camera, STRIKE! (w/ Marisa Shipley, David McMahon, & Fae Weichsel)

Sat, 02 Oct 2021 07:02:47 +0000

Tens of thousands of members of the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) are currently voting on whether or not to authorize a strike. If passed, the vote could lead 60,000 workers to walk off the job and bring the entertainment industry to a halt. As consumers, we tend to associate the entertainment industry with acting stars, elite directors and producers, and big studio executives, but hundreds and and even thousands of workers make every production possible, and many of them are grossly underpaid, overworked, and denied basic necessities like breaks and time to sleep between shifts. Combined with the explosion of streaming services and ever-increasing demands for studio-quality productions, workers in the entertainment industry are being run into the ground, and they have reached a breaking point.

IATSE represents over 150,000 technicians, artisans, and craftspersons in the entertainment industry, including live theatre, motion picture and television production, broadcast, and trade shows in the United States and Canada. The union is composed of many different locals, not all of which are currently voting to authorize a strike. According to Deadline, "there are actually two separate strike authorization votes going on—one among the union's 13 Hollywood production locals covered by the Basic Agreement, and the other covering 23 different locals outside Los Angeles who work under the Area Standards Agreement." In this urgent Working People episode, we talk to a panel of IATSE members about the work they do and the significance of the strike vote currently underway. Panelists include Marisa Shipley (Local 871), David McMahon (Local 52), and Fae Weichsel (Local 600).

Additional links/info below...

Petition: Tell AMPTP to Give Film and Television Workers a Fair Deal
IATSE website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
IATSE Stories on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
IATSE Film & TV Negotiations Toolkit
IATSE Press Release: "AMPTP Film and Television Negotiations Stalled, Union to Hold Nationwide Strike Authorization Vote"
Marissa's Twitter page and Instagram
David's Twitter page
Fae's Twitter page
Alex N. Press, Jacobin, "Film Industry Workers Are Fed Up With Long Hours"
Brendan Gallagher, Jacobin, "If Hollywood Workers Strike, the Entertainment Industry Will Grind to a Halt"
Gene Maddaus, Variety, "Everything You Need to Know About Hollywood's IATSE Strike Vote"
Dominic Patten & David Robb, Deadline, "IATSE Members 'Deserve Respect' Says Union As Strike Authorization Ballots Hit Inboxes This AM"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Kristy Lynn Allen

Thu, 30 Sep 2021 06:08:40 +0000

A proposed concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in Burnett County, Wisconsin, is slated to house 26,000 hogs and produce millions of gallons of liquid manure every year. Residents fear the irreparable damage a facility of that size could do to their air, land, and waterways, as well as to their property values and the local economy, and many fear there's nothing they can do to stop it. But a diverse coalition of farmers, community members, and environmental advocates are fighting back to protect their homes, their ways of life, and what remains of the independent farming economy. As part of a special collaboration between The Real News Network and In These Times magazine for "The Wisconsin Idea," Max, Cameron Granadino (TRNN), and Hannah Faris (In These Times) travelled to Burnett County over the summer to speak with residents about their concerns and about their struggles against Big Agriculture and the factory farming industry. In this interview, Max talks with local farmer and beekeeper Kristy Lynn Allen about the damage the industrialization of farming has done to agriculture in general, and about the damage the new CAFO would do specifically to farmers like her. Allen is the founder of The Beez Kneez, LLC, and serves as president of the local chapter of the Wisconsin Farmers Union.

Additional links/info below...

The Beez Kneez website and Twitter page
Working People, "Hog Wild (w/ Lisa Doerr, Forest Jahnke, Hannah Faris, & Maeve Conran)"
Maximillian Alvarez, Cameron Granadino, & Hannah Faris, The Real News Network, "Factory Farms Pose an 'Existential Threat' for Rural Wisconsin Communities"
Maeve Conran, Just Solutions, "Rural Wisconsin Communities Battle Industrial Scale Hog Farms"
Simon Davis-Cohen, In These Times, "'In for a Fight': Rural Wisconsinites Resist Influx of Industrial Hog Facilities"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Hog Wild (w/ Lisa Doerr, Forest Jahnke, Hannah Faris, & Maeve Conran)

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 19:46:26 +0000

Over the summer, Max traveled to Wisconsin to report on a crucial struggle that has been largely ignored by corporate media. Residents of rural Polk, Burnett, and Crawford counties in Western Wisconsin have been embroiled in battles over the proposed construction of industrial "hog factories" in their communities, which would collectively house roughly 34,000 hogs. These concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) would also produce millions and millions of gallons of liquid manure a year, and residents fear they could cause irreversible damage to their land, air, water, property values, and ways of life.

What's happening in Wisconsin is part of a larger historical shift that has seen Big Agriculture and factory farming take over an industry that used to be dominated by small and mid-sized farms. The government-aided rise of industrial agriculture and meat production has pushed the independent farmers who still remain in operation today to the brink of extinction. As part of a special collaboration between The Real News Network and In These Times magazine for "The Wisconsin Idea," Max, Cameron Granadino (TRNN), and Hannah Faris (In These Times) went to Crawford, Polk, and Burnett counties to speak with residents about their concerns and about their struggles to defend themselves against Big Agriculture and the factory farming industry. You can watch their full documentary report here.

In this special Working People episode, we follow up on the reporting Max, Granadino, and Faris did over the summer and speak with a panel of folks who were involved with producing and publishing those reports. We also update listeners on the ongoing struggles in Polk, Burnett, and Crawford counties to halt—or, at least, adequately regulate—the proposed CAFOs. Guests on this panel include: Forest Jahnke, Program Coordinator for the Crawford Stewardship Project; Lisa Doerr, an independent hay farmer & resident of Polk County; Hannah Faris, associate editor of "The Wisconsin Idea" at In These Times; and Maeve Conran, Program Director for Free Speech TV and host of Just Solutions.

Additional links/info below...

Crawford Stewardship Project website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Free Speech TV website, YouTube channel, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Maximillian Alvarez, Cameron Granadino, & Hannah Faris, The Real News Network, "Factory Farms Pose an 'Existential Threat' for Rural Wisconsin Communities"
Maeve Conran, Just Solutions, "Rural Wisconsin Communities Battle Industrial Scale Hog Farms"
Simon Davis-Cohen, In These Times, "'In for a Fight': Rural Wisconsinites Resist Influx of Industrial Hog Facilities"
Hannah Faris, In These Times, "A Wisconsin Hog Farm Would Produce 9.4 Million Gallons of Manure a Year. Nearby Residents Live in Fear"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Work to Live (w/ Matt Aubrey)

Tue, 14 Sep 2021 04:49:22 +0000

Around 400 union distillery workers in Bardstown, Kentucky, hit the picket line yesterday after rejecting a contract offer from Heaven Hill Distilleries, which included healthcare price hikes that reduce take-home pay, cuts to overtime, and drastic scheduling changes. Heaven Hill produces some of the most popular bourbon brands in the world, including Evan Williams, Elijah Craig, and Old Fitzgerald. According to Inc. Fact, the company averages annual profits of over $500 million. In this mini-cast, we talk with Matt Aubrey, president of UFCW Local 23D to get an update on the strike and what listeners can do to show support.

Additional links/info below...

Bruce Schreiner, AP News, "Big Bourbon Producer Heaven Hill Faces Strike in Kentucky"
WLKY, "Employees on Strike at Heaven Hill in Bardstown Demanding Better Working Conditions"
Inc. Fact, "Heaven Hill Distilleries: Revenue, Growth & Competitor Profile"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Evan Seyfried (w/ Ken, Linda, & Eric Seyfried)

Thu, 09 Sep 2021 18:10:01 +0000

(C/W: bullying, harassment, suicide) Evan Seyfried was a loving son, brother, friend, and a dedicated worker. For 19 years, with a virtually spotless record, Evan worked at a local Kroger grocery store in Milford, Ohio, where he eventually became the dairy department manager. From October 2020 to March 2021, however, Evan suffered a torturous litany of bullying, harassment, and sabotage, according to a lawsuit filed by the Seyfried family. As the lawsuit alleges, it was this treatment, which was the result of a "conspiracy" involving numerous actors, including management-level supervisors at the Milford store, that caused Evan to eventually suffer a "transient episodic break" and take his own life. In this episode, we talk with Evan's mother Linda, his father Ken, and his brother Eric about the beautiful person he was, the horrific treatment he endured, and the need to hold those who wronged him accountable

Additional links/info below...

Justice for Evan Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
National Workplace Bullying Coalition website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
#NotMe App
"Lawsuit: Kroger Manager Drove Employee To Suicide" (PDF)
Julian Mark, The Washington Post, "Former Kroger Grocery Store Employee's Suicide Was a Result of 'Torturous Conditions,' Lawsuit Says"
Jessica Schmidt, Fox News 19, "Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed against Kroger, Company Employees after Former Manager Took His Own Life"
Alex N. Press, Jacobin, "At Kroger and Amazon, Capital Is Going on the Offensive"
Anonymous, VICE, "They Call Me a Hero Because I Work at Kroger, So Why Do I Feel Disposable?"
Outro Music by Squire Tuck, "A Journey into the Great Unknown"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Casey Scully

Wed, 01 Sep 2021 14:00:00 +0000

For many around the country, the new school year has already begun. And many districts are pushing through with in-person schooling, even though we are in the midst of another COVID-19 spike, with new cases around the country rising to their highest point since January. With large swathes of the population still unvaccinated, including 50 million children nationwide under the age of 12, with vaccine and mask mandates having become another contentious subject of culture war hysteria, and with the more contagious Delta variant spreading like wildfire, school districts around the country appear to be on yet another collision course with COVID spikes that will lead to panicked returns to remote learning after a large amount of students, teachers, staff, and parents get infected. This week, we talk with Casey Scully, a former elementary-school teacher and current high-school math interventionist in Charleston, South Carolina. We discuss the path that led Casey to become an educator, how she has navigated the past year and a half, and what she and her coworkers are currently experiencing with schools reopening.

Additional links/info below...

Casey's Twitter page
Dan Levin, The New York Times, "The U.S. Reaches a Daily Average of 100,000 Covid Hospitalizations for the First Time Since the Winter Peak"
Tina Hesman Saey, ScienceNews, "Schools Are Reopening. COVID-19 Is Still Here. What Does That Mean for Kids?"
Jeff Amy, AP News, "Schools Reopen with Masks Optional in Many US Classrooms"
AP News, "COVID: S. Carolina School District Back to Virtual Classes"
The New York Times, "Tracking Coronavirus in South Carolina: Latest Map and Case Count"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"
Jules Taylor, "Carolina King"

Listener Hang Session #1

Mon, 23 Aug 2021 01:32:57 +0000

We're taking a much-needed break this week, but we'll be back with more worker interviews really soon! To hold y'all over, we're releasing a portion of the amazing group conversation we had on our first ever Working People Listener Hang Session last week. Thank you to everyone who joined us—and if you weren't able to join this time, be sure to call in for our second one next month. If you want to watch the full video version of the Listener Hang Session, go subscribe on Patreon!

Additional links/info below...

Working People, "Listener Hang Session #1 (full video version)"
Scott Stump, USA Today, "Nabisco Bakers Across the US Are on Strike, Potentially Disrupting Oreo Supply"
Stephen H. Norwood, The Journal of Southern History, "Bogalusa Burning: The War Against Biracial Unionism in the Deep South, 1919"
Food Finder website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Strikewave website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Valley Labor Report YouTube channel, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Patreon
The Michigan Robin website and Twitter page
Joe Allen, Haymarket Books, The Package King: A Rank and File History of UPS

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

End Unfair Practices against Window Cleaners (w/ Eric Crone)

Fri, 20 Aug 2021 03:49:51 +0000

Repelling down skyscrapers to clean windows is already a very dangerous job. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, high-rise window cleaners with SEIU Local 26 in Minneapolis were also sent into office buildings to disinfect "hot spots" where outbreaks had occurred, resulting in many workers contracting the virus. Now, after their previous contract expired, 40 window cleaners have walked off the job, demanding pay increases, reduced health care costs, as well as a state-recognized apprenticeship program that would guarantee better training and safety measures for workers in their trade. In this mini-cast, we talk with Eric Crone, a window cleaner who works for Columbia Building Services and union steward.

Additional links/info below...

SEIU Local 26 website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Luis Feliz Leon, LaborNotes, "Striking Window Cleaners Want Their Dangerous Job Recognized as a Skilled Trade"
Pafoua Yang, CBS Minnesota, "'All We Want Is A Fair Wage, Some Respect & Proper Training': High Rise Window Washers Go On Strike"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive:  freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Striking Coal Miners Won't Back Down, Part II (w/ Kim Kelly & Jacob Morrison)

Thu, 12 Aug 2021 20:29:14 +0000

Over 1,100 union coal miners in Brookwood, Alabama, have been on an unfair labor practices strike against Warrior Met Coal for over five months. And for five months, the mainstream media has barely made a peep about the strike. Instead, a small collection of independent journalists and local and progressive media outlets have been working overtime to cover this important story. Jacob Morrison, David Story, and Adam Keller at The Valley Labor Report (Alabama's only weekly labor radio talk show), have been doing more than almost anyone to cover the strike and support striking miners and their families. There is one person, however, who has done more than anyone to lift the strike at Warrior Met into public consciousness for five months straight, and that is independent journalist and all-around badass Kim Kelly. In Part II of our special, two-part update on the miners' strike, Jacob from TVLR and Kim have a wide-ranging conversation about Kim's labor and writing background, the experience of covering the Amazon union drive and the Warrior Met strike in Alabama, and what it means to truly care about and be invested in the people and struggles we cover in labor media.

Additional links/info below...

Join our Working People listener hang session on Monday, August 16, from 8-9:30pm ET! Here's the zoom link
UMWA 2021 Strike Fund
Donate to the UMWA Auxiliary Strike Pantry
United Mine Workers of America website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Jacob's Twitter page
The Valley Labor Report YouTube channel, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Patreon
Working People, "On Strike at Warrior Met Coal (w/ Jacob Morrison & Lee Bains III)"
The Valley Labor Report, "Bad News and Good News for Striking Miners & HOW YOU CAN HELP"
The Valley Labor Report, "Violence from Bosses and Scabs at the UMWA Picket Line in Alabama"
The Valley Labor Report, "Breaking Down the Alabama Coal Miner Strike"
Luis Feliz Leon, LaborNotes, "Striking Alabama Coal Miners Want Their $1.1 Billion Back"
Kim's Twitter page and Patreon
Kim Kelly, The Real News Network, "The True Price of Coal"
Kim Kelly, The Real News Network, "Don't Mess with a Coal Miner's Wife"
Kim Kelly, The Nation, "Alabama's Coal Miners Are Striking for Their Lives"
Pre-order Kim's book: Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor
Democracy Now!, "From Black Lung to BlackRock: Striking Alabama Coal Miners Protest Wall St. Financiers of Warrior Met"
Elwyn Lopez, Ashley Schwartz-Lavares, & Lulit Tadesse, ABC News, "Alabama Coal Miners on Strike Since April Say They're Fighting for Working Americans Everywhere"
Jaisal Noor, The Real News Network, "Striking Alabama Coal Miners Hit Streets of NYC to Protest Corporate Greed"
Hamilton Nolan, In These Times, "At a Massive Union Rally, the Promise of a Better South"
Your Call Radio, "Worker Uprisings Continue Making Waves Across The Country"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Striking Coal Miners Won't Back Down, Part I (w/ Jacob Morrison)

Thu, 12 Aug 2021 20:17:31 +0000

Over 1,100 union coal miners in Brookwood, Alabama, have been on an unfair labor practices strike against Warrior Met Coal for over five months. For five months, workers and their families have been holding the line, demanding to get back what was stolen from them with their last contract, demanding to actually have time to spend with their families, demanding to be treated with the respect they deserve for making this mine more productive than ever. The UMWA's strike motto is "One day longer, one day stronger," and workers are showing no signs that they plan to back down. In Part I of this special two-part update on the miners' strike, our brother-in-arms Jacob Morrison from The Valley Labor Report interviews striking workers and supporters who attended a solidarity rally that the union held in Brookwood last week.

Additional links/info below...

Join our Working People listener hang session on Monday, August 16, from 8-9:30pm ET! Here's the zoom link
UMWA 2021 Strike Fund
Donate to the UMWA Auxiliary Strike Pantry
United Mine Workers of America website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Jacob's Twitter page
The Valley Labor Report YouTube channel, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Patreon
Working People, "On Strike at Warrior Met Coal (w/ Jacob Morrison & Lee Bains III)"
The Valley Labor Report, "Bad News and Good News for Striking Miners & HOW YOU CAN HELP"
The Valley Labor Report, "Violence from Bosses and Scabs at the UMWA Picket Line in Alabama"
The Valley Labor Report, "Breaking Down the Alabama Coal Miner Strike"
Luis Feliz Leon, LaborNotes, "Striking Alabama Coal Miners Want Their $1.1 Billion Back"
Kim's Twitter page and Patreon
Kim Kelly, The Real News Network, "The True Price of Coal"
Kim Kelly, The Real News Network, "Don't Mess with a Coal Miner's Wife"
Kim Kelly, The Nation, "Alabama's Coal Miners Are Striking for Their Lives"
Pre-order Kim's book: Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor
Democracy Now!, "From Black Lung to BlackRock: Striking Alabama Coal Miners Protest Wall St. Financiers of Warrior Met"
Elwyn Lopez, Ashley Schwartz-Lavares, & Lulit Tadesse, ABC News, "Alabama Coal Miners on Strike Since April Say They're Fighting for Working Americans Everywhere"
Jaisal Noor, The Real News Network, "Striking Alabama Coal Miners Hit Streets of NYC to Protest Corporate Greed"
Hamilton Nolan, In These Times, "At a Massive Union Rally, the Promise of a Better South"
Your Call Radio, "Worker Uprisings Continue Making Waves Across The Country"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

When the Plant Closed (w/ Carla Shultz & Laura Flanders)

Sun, 08 Aug 2021 04:41:19 +0000

The Mylan pharmaceutical plant in Morgantown, West Virginia, has been in operation since 1965, producing low-cost generic drugs and providing good-paying jobs for generations of workers. On July 31, the plant (now owned by Viatris, Inc.) closed, upending the lives of over 1,400 workers, the economy of Morgantown, and the future of generic drug manufacturing in the U.S. In this mini-cast, we talk to Carla Shultz, who has worked at the plant for 13 years, and legendary journalist Laura Flanders, who recently reported on the plant closure on The Laura Flanders Show, about the last-ditch efforts to keep the plant open and what it will mean for working people in Morgantown and beyond if those efforts are unsuccessful.

Additional links/info below...

Join our Working People listener hang session on Monday, August 16, from 8-9:30pm ET. Here's the zoom link
Laura's Twitter

The Laura Flanders Show website, Twitter, YouTube channel, and Patreon

Laura Flanders, The Laura Flanders Show, "Big Pharma vs The People: The Fight To Save America's Largest Generic Drug Manufacturer"
Fraiser Kansteiner, Fierce Pharma, "Feds Throw Lifeline to Shuttered Viatris Plant in West Virginia, But Its Fate Remains Uncertain"
Democracy Now!, "Workers Beg Joe Manchin to Save West Virginia Pharma Plant as His Daughter Walks Away with $31M"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Order-Takers No More (w/ Richard D. Wolff)

Thu, 05 Aug 2021 06:38:09 +0000

In this special episode of Working People, we chat with world-renowned economist Richard D. Wolff about how the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated changes to the terrain of work, how we define "working class," and what we need to do to build a broad, diverse, and strong working-class politics in the 21st century

Additional links/info below...

Join our Working People listener hang session on Monday, August 16, from 8-9:30pm ET! Here's the zoom link
Professor Wolff's website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Democracy @ Work's website, YouTube channel, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Richard D. Wolff, Democracy at Work, The Sickness is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or Itself
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Richard Wolff: Capitalism is holding 'all of us hostage'"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"
Elder Flower, "Capital Letters"

Your Job Doesn't Have to Suck (w/ Jaisal Noor)

Wed, 28 Jul 2021 15:00:00 +0000

From workers dying from lack of adequate safety measures and PPE to states viciously cutting off extended unemployment benefits to force people back to unsafe, poverty-wage work, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it horrifyingly clear just how little value the lives and wellbeing of working people have in an economic system where all that matters is the bottom line. But it doesn't have to be this way. We can organize our economy and our workplaces in a more humane way—and we have proof that it works. In this extended mini-cast, we talk with senior reporter Jaisal Noor about his multi-part investigative documentary series for The Real News Network, which examines how 8 worker co-operatives across 4 states have been able to stay in business during the pandemic while prioritizing worker safety and democratic decision making.

Additional links/info below...

Jaisal's Twitter page and TRNN author page
Jaisal Noor, The Real News Network, "Worker Cooperatives Prove Your Job Doesn't Have to Be Hell" (Feature documentary in Jaisal's co-op series)
Jaisal Noor, The Real News Network, "Worker Co-ops vs. COVID" (Full series of Jaisal's co-op coverage)
The Hill's Rising, "Jaisal Noor: How Worker Co-ops Successfully Weathered The Pandemic"
CounterSpin, "Jaisal Noor on Worker Co-Ops, Duncan Meisel on Fossil Fuel Greenwashing"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

CA Rideshare Driver Strike (w/ Ahmad Moss)

Wed, 21 Jul 2021 19:53:32 +0000

On Wednesday, July 21, across California, rideshare drivers with Rideshare Drivers United are going on a one-day strike against the exploitative practices of tech giants Uber and Lyft (which have only gotten worse since the passage of Prop 22 in November), and to demand Congress pass the PRO Act. We talk with Ahmad Ibrahim Moss, a rideshare driver in San Francisco, about how drivers' pay, conditions, and work experience has changed since the passage of Prop 22 (and before), and we talk about the dark truth at the center of the "gig economy."

Additional links/info below...

Rideshare Drivers United website, Facebook, page, and Twitter, page
Working People, "This Could Change Everything (w/ Veena Dubal"
The Gravel Institute, "How Uber is Scamming You (w/ Edward Ongweso Jr.)"
Edward Ongweso Jr., Vice, "Uber, Lyft Give California GOP Millions While Fighting Driver Reclassification"
Veena Dubal, Dissent, "Digital Piecework"
Veena Dubal, Berkley Journal of Employment and Labor Law, "The Drive to Precarity: A Political History of Work, Regulation, & Labor Advocacy in San Francisco's Taxi & Uber Economies"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Cheri Renfro

Thu, 15 Jul 2021 06:38:36 +0000

Hundreds of workers at the Frito Lay manufacturing and distribution plant in Topeka, Kansas, have been on strike since July 5th. Workers at Frito Lay have endured years of disrespect and many at the plant have seen their wages stagnate and fall behind other employers in the area. On top of that, workers have been caught in a horrible cycle that was greatly exacerbated by COVID 19: While more people were staying home during the pandemic and eating a lot more chips, the incredibly high turnover at Frito-Lay has meant that folks who have stayed on have been forced to work longer hours, with some pulling 12-hour shifts seven days a week for weeks on end. In this urgent episode, we talk with Cheri Renfro, who has worked at the Frito-Lay plant in Topeka for 9 years and is currently on strike.

Additional links/info below...

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"
Utah Phillips, "Solidarity Forever"

Kate

Thu, 08 Jul 2021 13:30:00 +0000

In this episode, we sit down with Kate from New Jersey. At the moment, Kate is working primarily as a caretaker for her parents, and we talk a bit about that work and what it means to care for our elders. Up until the pandemic, though, Kate was a massage therapist who loved her job. We discuss how Kate got into working as a massage therapist, all that the job entails, and we talk about the gross and unfair treatment Kate and her coworkers had to deal with when their employer wanted to push folks back to work before they felt safe doing so.

Additional links/info below...

Allison Steinberg, Allure, "These Massage Therapists Worry About the Effects of COVID-19 on the Future of Their Industry"
Rachel Urbanski, WCHS ABC 8, "Refusing to Work Because of COVID-19 Concerns Can Risk Unemployment Benefits"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"
Ketsa, "Alive"

Alex P.

Tue, 06 Jul 2021 00:56:30 +0000

When faced with unlawful intimidation and interrogation from management at Trader Joe's, Alex P and his coworkers stood together and stood up for their rights in the workplace, eventually securing a crucial victory with the National Labor Relations Board. In this deep and wide-ranging conversation, we talk with Alex about his life and work—and so much more. We talk about growing up with strict immigrant parents, graduating from college into a global recession, and the imprints our past jobs leave on us. We talk about the winding road that led Alex to his current job at Trader Joe's, and we discuss the events at Alex's store that pushed him to file a complaint with the NLRB and secure a settlement from the company.

Additional links/info below...

National Labor Relations Board, "Your Rights"
A message from Trader Joe's crew members: "Trader Joe's crew members are organizing to make changes to the way the company does things from the local to national level right now. If you want to connect with us reach out here and you'll be contacted by other workers fighting to make change and can get paired with experienced organizers to train and support you: Join other Trader Joe's Workers Taking Action!"
Alex Press, Jacobin, "Trader Joe's Is Once Again Accused of Violating Workers' Rights"
Brittany Shammas & Hannah Knowles, The Washington Post, "A Trader Joe's Employee Called for Stronger Coronavirus Measures. The Company Fired Him"
Mary Pilon, Bloomberg Law, "Trader Joe's Employees Say Virus Response Was Haphazard, Chaotic"
Michael Sainato, The Guardian, "Trader Joe's and Other US Firms Suppress Unionization Efforts During Pandemic"
Kim Kelly, The Baffler, "Food Fight"
Erica Mildner, Jacobin, "Trader Joe's Put Workers Like Me at Serious Risk During the Pandemic"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"
Poly Action, "Black Smoke Cloud"

Smithfield Workers in Sioux Falls Stand Strong, Win Big (w/ Kooper Caraway)

Mon, 28 Jun 2021 20:54:50 +0000

We cover a lot of important worker struggles on this show, but it's important to cover worker victories as well—and workers in South Dakota just landed a huge victory! After suffering one of the worst COVID workplace outbreaks in the country last year, leading to four deaths and over 1,000 infections, workers at the Smithfield pork processing plant in Sioux Falls refused to back down on demands for better pay and for a 15-minute break during the second half of their shifts. When negotiations with Smithfield stalled, UFCW Local 304A members voted overwhelmingly (98%) to authorize a strike, and the company backed down. On this extended mini-cast, we welcome back beloved friend of the show and president of the South Dakota Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, Kooper Caraway, to discuss this important victory and what lessons the labor movement should take away from it.

Additional links/info below...

Kooper's Twitter page
UFCW Local 304A Facebook page
Sioux Falls AFL-CIO's website and Twitter page
Working People, "Labor is Antifascist (w/ Kooper Caraway)"
Kim Kelly, The New Republic, "The Future of Labor Is Growing in South Dakota"
Makenzie Huber, Sioux Falls Argus Leader, "How COVID-19 Tore Through Smithfield's Meatpacking Plant in 17 Days"
Chacour Koop, The Kansas City Star, "After COVID-19 Outbreak Kills 4, Smithfield Meat Plant in South Dakota Fined $13,494"
Stephen Groves, Associated Press, "Union Vote Authorizes Strike at South Dakota Pork Plant"
Associated Press, "South Dakota Pork Plant, Labor Union Reach 4-Year Agreement"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"
Meydan, "Away"

Mo' Evil Foods, Part II

Wed, 23 Jun 2021 06:11:50 +0000

Earlier this month, No Evil Foods, a vegan meat company founded in North Carolina, notified its staff that they were closing their Asheville production plant and moving to a co-manufacturing facility in Illinois. After sticking it out and working through the COVID-19 pandemic, employees were suddenly notified that they would now be unemployed and would be receiving no severance. In this urgent episode, Jon Reynolds and Meagan Sullivan, two former NEF employees who shared their testimonies in our previous episode on NEF's union-busting campaign, join us again to discuss the plant closure and how listeners can support laid-off workers.

Additional links/info below...

FUNDRAISER: Help Laid-Off No Evil Workers
Working People, "Mo' Evil Foods (Part 1)"
Meagan's Twitter page
Mo Evil Foods website and Twitter page
Birdie Gregson Twitter page
No Evil Foods website, Facebook page, and Instagram
National Labor Relations Board: No Evil Foods, Inc.
PitchBook, No Evil Foods Overview
Kelsey Vlamis & Charles Davis, Business Insider, "No Evil Foods, a Vegan Food Company, Laid Off All Its Production Employees After Giving Them an Ultimatum Last Year About Working Through the Pandemic"
Paul Blest, Discourse Blog, "Leaked Memo Shows No Evil Foods Justifying Laying Off Workers With No Severance"
Jon Reynolds, Facing South, "VOICES: Lessons from the Union Busting at No Evil Foods"
Ben Burgis, Jacobin, "Not All Labor Actions Aid the Working Class"
Lauren Kaori Gurley, Vice Motherboard, "Vegan Meat Company's Anti-Union Speeches Are Being Scrubbed from the Internet"
Lauren Kaori Gurley, Vice Motherboard, "NLRB Files Complaint Against Socialist-Themed Vegan Meat Company That Fired Union Organizers"
Anna Starostinetskaya, VegNews, "VegNews Exclusive: The Story Behind No Evil Foods and Its Major Labor Controversy"
Alex Press, Jacobin, "Workers at No Evil Foods Say the Vegan, Progressive Company Busted Their Union Drive"
Andrew Miller, The Industrial Worker, "Mo' Evil Foods"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

(Unlocked) BONUS EPISODE - Nate Holdren

Wed, 16 Jun 2021 04:44:54 +0000

We will be back to our regular Working People schedule next week. Until then, to tide y'all over, and to celebrate his book recently receiving Honorable Mention for the Merle Curti Intellectual History Award, we're unlocking our bonus episode conversation with historian Nate Holdren. We talk with Nate about his latest book, Injury Impoverished: Workplace Accidents, Capitalism, and Law in the Progressive Era, and about what exactly people lose when they are injured at work. (C/W: some descriptions of workplace injuries.)

Don't forget: We have lots more great bonus episodes like this one over on our Patreon feed! Get instant access to all of them (and help keep the show going) by subscribing for just five bucks a month.

Additional links/info below...

Nate's faculty page and Twitter page
Nate Holdren, Cambridge University Press, Injury Impoverished: Workplace Accidents, Capitalism, and Law in the Progressive Era
Nate Holdren, LAWCHA, "Nate Holdren Responds: Roundtable on Injury Impoverished"
Nate Holdren, Legal History Blog, The process of writing Injury Impoverished

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"
Mr. & Mrs. Smith, "Dirty Laundry"

Ric Ortiz

Thu, 03 Jun 2021 06:21:58 +0000

Max is traveling for The Real News Network, so Working People producer Jules Taylor hosts this episode as he interviews his stepfather about his career as a death investigator and paramedic. In a way, Ric feels like he was meant to work around death as he grew up across the street from a cemetery, and his first job was helping the grave digger before he was 10 years old. He would go on to work as the Chief Medical Investigator for Nueces County, Texas for 20 years. In this special episode, we speak with Ric Ortiz about the events in his life that lead to his career, and the way working around death influences the way one sees the world.

Additional links/info below...

Ric Ortiz on Twitter and Facebook
Fares Sabawi, Corpus Christi Caller Times, "Chief Forensic Investigator Retires After 20 Years"
National Transportation Safety Board Aviation Accident Final Report

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"
talons', "Toms"

From Colombia to Palestine, We Will Be Free (w/ Irene Vélez Torres & Toufic Haddad)

Fri, 21 May 2021 19:12:12 +0000

Right now, working people in other parts of the world are being crushed by a relentless onslaught of murderous violence and dispossession, economic degradation, and inhumane exploitation—they are fighting for their lives, and they are asking for our help. In Palestine, against the ceaseless violence of occupation, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing, Palestinians are rising up to resist their own erasure; in Colombia, millions have taken to the streets to fight against a corrupt system by which the government, the police, and the forces of international oligarchy have waged class war on working people. In this special episode of Working People, spanning three continents, we interview Irene Vélez Torres and Toufic Haddad, two people who are living through world-changing struggles in Colombia and Palestine that working people around the world need to know about, need to care about, and need to take up as our own.

Interview with Irene Vélez Torres begins at 20:25

Interview with Toufic Haddad begins at 46:51

Additional links/info below...

Rally/Livestream fundraiser for striking coal miners in Brookwood, AL
Irene's faculty page
Toufic's Al-Shabaka author page
Toufic Haddad, Bloomsbury, Palestine Ltd.: Neoliberalism and Nationalism in the Occupied Territory
Al-Shabaka website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Alliance for Global Justice website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Christina Noriega, NACLA, "Colombian Uprising Takes Aim at Inequality"
Estefanía Martinéz, Jacobin, "Colombians Are in the Streets Against a Violent Neoliberal Order"
Aaron Tauss, Jacobin, "Colombia Is in Revolt Against Neoliberalism"
Amanda Taub, The New York Times, "From Colombia to U.S., Police Violence Pushes Protests Into Mass Movements"
Seraj Assi, Jacobin & The Real News Network, "It's Apartheid. Naked, Unabashed Apartheid"
Abby Martin, Gaza Fights for Freedom
Abby Martin, The Empire Files, "How Palestine Became Colonized"
Mustafa Abu Sneineh, Middle East Eye, "Palestinian Citizens of Israel Fired for Participating in General Strike"
Lee Yaron, Haaretz, "General Strike Highlights Israel's Dependency on Palestinian Workers"
Citations Needed, "News Brief: Debunking the 5 Most Common Anti-Palestinian Talking Points"
Citations Needed, "News Brief: On Palestine, It's Time for Progressives to Stop Reading From the Same Outrage Script & Support BDS"
"Michael Brooks Takes a Question on Israel"
Yumna Patel's coverage from Palestine for Mondoweiss
Dominique Mosbergen, HuffPost, "Thousands Stand In Solidarity With Palestine In Rallies Held Across U.S., Cities Worldwide"
Adam Forrest, The Independent, "Italian Port Workers Refuse to Load Shipment of Arms Headed for Israel"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Ending Satellites, "While You Are Here"
Jules Taylor, "Working People Interlude Music"

Why Is Trumka Going After Vermont AFL-CIO? (w/ David Van Deusen)

Thu, 20 May 2021 05:00:05 +0000

Over the past couple years, the Vermont State AFL-CIO and its membership have embraced a more democratic, rank-and-file strategy, building up bonds of solidarity with community organizations, and bringing much-needed energy into a labor council that was on the verge of dying. Instead of commending and encouraging these efforts, however, the AFL-CIO national and AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka are monitoring, investigating, and threatening "further action" against the Vermont labor council. Why? We talk with David Van Deusen, President of the Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

Additional links/info below...

Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Vermont AFL-CIO Ten Point Program
"Historic Vermont General Strike Authorization Vote"
Steve Early, CounterPunch, "Why is AFL-CIO So Worried About Its Vermont Affiliate?"
Pacifica Radio, "MAY DAY 2021- A COVID, RACE, & DEMOCRACY SPECIAL"

Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"