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A weekly labor news podcast covering workers‘ struggles around the world from a revolutionary left perspective.
Episodes
22 hours ago
22 hours ago
We've got headlines this week from NYC, Boston, Minneapolis, the island of Guadeloupe, and also PBS. Pepsi recently shocked workers in Chicago when they abruptly closed the region's only bottling plant with no notice. A new report shows the shocking worker death toll of US-ally Saudi Arabia's quixotic NEOM project. Philadelphia transit workers voted unanimously to authorize a potential strike. Workers at Boeing have once again forced the company to increase their "Best and Final Offer." Finally, we discuss a recent Labor Notes report on how nurses in Hawaii beat a lockout.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
3 days ago
3 days ago
We are joined by Jeff Schuhrke, Assistant Professor of Labor Studies at Empire State University to discuss his new book Blue-Collar Empire: The Untold Story of US Labor's Global Anticommunist Crusade. This incredible book documents the sordid collaboration between the highest levels of the AFL and the CIA, how to understand this history of labor officials collaborating with imperialism, and how we can point to examples of US workers fighting back against this collaboration to change our unions into truly internationalist organizations standing with our fellow workers all around the world. As workers mobilize in the millions to oppose the US-backed genocide in Palestine, this history is more relevant today than ever before.
Buy the book at: https://www.versobooks.com/products/2979-blue-collar-empire
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Tuesday Oct 29, 2024
Tuesday Oct 29, 2024
We start this week with a quick check-in on rideshare drivers in NYC, hotel workers in Boston, and nurses in North Carolina and Michigan. For our first major story, letter carriers across the country in the NALC are organizing a national vote no campaign in response to a concessionary contract. We continue coverage of workers under attack for speaking out against the genocide in Palestine, from universities across the country, to the ACLU, to Microsoft. A recent report from Bloomberg described shocking working conditions at EV-maker Rivian's Illinois factory. Finally, Boeing workers rejected the company's latest offer and continue their fight for fair wages and a just retirement.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Sunday Oct 27, 2024
Sunday Oct 27, 2024
We are joined by Jeff Schuhrke, Assistant Professor of Labor Studies at Empire State University to discuss his new book Blue-Collar Empire: The Untold Story of US Labor's Global Anticommunist Crusade. This incredible book documents the sordid collaboration between the highest levels of the AFL and the CIA, how to understand this history of labor officials collaborating with imperialism, and how we can point to examples of US workers fighting back against this collaboration to change our unions into truly internationalist organizations standing with our fellow workers all around the world. As workers mobilize in the millions to oppose the US-backed genocide in Palestine, this history is more relevant today than ever before.
Buy the book at: https://www.versobooks.com/products/2979-blue-collar-empire
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Tuesday Oct 22, 2024
Tuesday Oct 22, 2024
After our headlines we discuss a new piece from Workday Magazine this week covering the progress in growing the coalition for a May Day 2028 general strike. Workers at GE Appliances are gearing up for a strike after years of lost benefits and stagnant wages since new owners Haier bought the company. More companies are making use of AI, effective or not, to justify cutting jobs, we discuss how some unions are fighting back. A story in The Guardian this week documents a shocking case of racist abuse at USPS and the fight for accountability. Finally, we celebrate the historic union victory of 800 workers at a Walmart distribution center outside Toronto, as workers once again take on the legendarily anti-union behemoth.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Tuesday Oct 15, 2024
Tuesday Oct 15, 2024
Tell Goodwill to Stop Union Busting: https://goodwillcolorado.org/about-us/contact-us/
We start this week with updates from academic workers, retail workers, nonprofit workers, and several organizing drives by the Teamsters. Workers in Florida faced nightmare conditions this week after a second hurricane slammed into the already reeling region. Samsung workers in India continued their fight for union recognition despite continued state repression. The strike by Boeing Machinists hit the month mark this week as the company refuses to negotiate. Goodwill made headlines recently when it was revealed that they hired union busters to crush an effort to organize a store in Colorado. Finally, we check in on some of the ways workers are under fire for their opposition to genocide and how some are fighting back.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Thursday Oct 10, 2024
Thursday Oct 10, 2024
If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month.
In this episode we go over a ton of classic anti-union talking points and tear them apart. From tired points like "unions are a business" to unions "protecting lazy workers", in this first episode in the series we focus on the more reactionary arguments against unions. In future episode we will dig down on other misconceptions surrounding unions.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Tuesday Oct 08, 2024
Tuesday Oct 08, 2024
After commemorating one year of the US-Israeli genocide in Palestine, we discuss the response from workers in Spain, who launched a one day nationwide strike demanding an end to all relations with Israel. After following up on several UAW stories, the Teamsters at Amazon, and striking hotel workers, we have an update on the Boeing strike as it moves into the long haul. Of course the big story this week was the first strike by the East Coast dockworkers in the ILA in nearly 50 years. We've also got another in our recent discussions on the horrific conditions faced by migrant workers in the US. This week saw tragic loss of hundreds of lives in Hurricane Helene, including several workers at Impact Plastics in Erwin, Tennessee. Finally, we discuss an ongoing strike by 1000 workers at Samsung in India who have faced massive state repression.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Tuesday Oct 01, 2024
Tuesday Oct 01, 2024
This week we start with messages of solidarity to workers across the South affected by Hurricane Helene, and workers across Lebanon affected by the horrific expansion of US-Israeli attacks. We also follow up with Unite Here hotel workers, The Bird Union's new contract, and the unsafe tobacco factories of NYC. Our first story this week examines the long struggle by Filipino healthcare workers for a living wage. Migrant workers are fighting against wage theft here in the US, as we discuss the scale of exploitation enabled by this country's guest worker system. The massive strike at Boeing continued into its third week, with the company's desperate tactics only backfiring in its face. Rideshare drivers in Massachusetts have the chance to vote for a ballot measure that would provide them a union...but without the right to strike. Finally, we discuss the LOOMING strike about to hit the East Coast ports as the major shippers continue to refuse to meet the demands of the ILA.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Tuesday Sep 24, 2024
Tuesday Sep 24, 2024
Support Striking ILWU Local 6 Workers: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-local-6-workers-in-their-fight-for-fair-wages
We start this week's episode with follow-ups at the University of Maine, Boston hotels, Trader Joe's in Manhattan, Starbucks in Ithaca, and Wonderful Nurseries in California. We follow up on the second week of the strike by over 30,000 Machinists at Boeing as the company digs in for a long strike. The UAW announced a strike vote this week to hold Stellantis accountable for its many broken contract provisions. The Teamsters have rapidly expanded their organizing of Teamster drivers. A new report quantifies the massive amount of wage theft taking place at Waffle House. Finally, 800 Teamsters strike at a Borgwarner auto parts plant in New York.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Thursday Sep 19, 2024
Thursday Sep 19, 2024
We are joined by Judy Gearhart to talk about her podcast Labor Link. On her show she interviews workers and worker advocates in many highly exploited industries in Southeast and Southern Asia. From garment workers in Bangladesh to migrant fishers in Thailand appalling working conditions and forms of modern slavery are highly present, and she talks to people trying to make a difference.
Find her show at: http://www.laborlinkpodcast.org
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Tuesday Sep 17, 2024
Tuesday Sep 17, 2024
Legal Fund of Michigan Students for Palestine: https://chuffed.org/project/um-palestine-legalfund
Lina's back and there's so much news! We discuss repression of worker organizing at the SPLC, the Noguchi Museum, and Air Canada in our headlines segment, as well as following up on the strike by 17,000 CWA workers at AT&T. As the school year begins, we discuss a roundup of stories covering the crackdown on free speech on college campuses in an attempt to silence the anti-genocide movement. Also this week, In These Times spoke with UAW workers and residents of Belvidere, IL about the impact of Stellantis dragging its feet on its contract promises. A clash has developed between the UAW and the New Jersey AFL-CIO after the state labor federation backed a legal ruling allowing casinos to continue poisoning their workers with cigarette smoke. In another tale of disgusting union busting, Stone Brewing, following its acquisition by Sapporo, has been trying to stamp out an organizing drive by workers in Richmond. Finally, we discuss the massive strike by Boeing workers across Washington State, with 32,000 hitting the picket lines this week.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Tuesday Sep 10, 2024
Tuesday Sep 10, 2024
We start with updates on The Bird Union, Unite Here hotel workers, the UAW, and AT&T workers on strike across the South. Following our headlines, we discuss the recent firing of rail engineer, and popular commentator, Gareth Dennis, in response to (true) statements he made about safety concerns. Thousands of rideshare drivers and supporters rallied in NYC this week to demand the city stop Uber and Lyft from locking them out of the app to evade fair wage laws. Protests erupted across Australia in response to the government's recent takeover of one of the country's more militant unions on accusation of collusion with organized crime. 32,000 Boeing Machinists have won a tentative deal with the company after a credible strike threat. Finally, we discussion the longhaul strike by Boston University grad student workers.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Tuesday Sep 03, 2024
Tuesday Sep 03, 2024
It's Labor Day, and that can only mean workers standing up for our rights on the job. We begin this week with the launch of this weekend's national hotel strike by workers in Unite Here. After some quick stories on workers fighting for Palestine, the massive surge in unionization in academia, and more warehouse organizing by the Teamsters, we get into our main stories. We follow up with the UAW strike at Cornell, as workers have won a historic new contract. Workers at the Audubon Society have announced they will strike next week as their highly paid CEO continues a petty, illegal union busting campaign. Fred Meyer workers also struck this weekend, simultaneously showing how important stopping the Kroger-Albertsons merger is. Negotiations for a new contract for the East Coast dockworkers in the ILA have ground to a halt, potentially portending the first east coast port shutdown in nearly 50 years. We also discuss this week's 99.99% strike authorization vote by flight attendants at United and a new report showing just how deep the exploitation in the industry is. Finally, we celebrate the union election win of 4000 "temporary" workers at Firestone's massive rubber plantation in Liberia.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Tuesday Aug 27, 2024
Tuesday Aug 27, 2024
UAW GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-uaw-brother-antonio-gastons-family-after-tragedy
AT&T Petition: https://www.cwa.org/attse-support
Another news packed week starts with some follow up on the Teamsters negotiations with Costco, the UAW's fight to hold Stellantis to the contract, and more workers fighting for heat protections. Our first major story is last week's one day rail lockout in Canada, and we discuss the decision by the state to intervene and abandon workers' rights. Next we dig into several stories of teachers at campuses across the US fighting back against draconian policies restricting political speech by students protesting against genocide. California's state government this week made a sweetheart deal with Google, letting them off the hook for destroying innumerable small newsrooms in its quest to monopolize the web. Finally, over 17,000 workers at AT&T across the Southeast have been on strike for two weeks after the company wouldn't even send anyone empowered to negotiate to that table.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Tuesday Aug 20, 2024
Tuesday Aug 20, 2024
We start this week's episode with some quick check ins on: recent organizing wins by the Teamsters, a new strike at Samsung, ULPs filed against Donald Trump by the UAW, a new CEO at Starbucks, and flight attendants at Alaska Airlines fighting for a record contract. We also follow up on the long haul strike by workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, as the NLRB has finally intervened. Workers stood up in cities across the country for Heat Week, demanding basic heat protections from their employers. A wild story from The Guardian this week as SkyWest airlines faces a lawsuit for running an old school company union. Residents of East Palestine are crying foul as new reports emerged that the CDC covered up workers getting sick during the cleanup of the disastrous derailment, attempting to minimize the scandal around the crash. Finally, we discuss the strike by workers at Cornell after months of refusal by administrators to bargain in good faith.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Thursday Aug 15, 2024
Thursday Aug 15, 2024
If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month.
In this installment of “The Weed Series,” the gang discusses the conditions of the cannabis industry in New Mexico and Arizona. We cover workers who organized the first agricultural cannabis union in New Mexico, and Arizona workers who unionized with UFCW Local 99, including one group that now has a contract. We ask why New Mexico has so many dispensaries, and investigate the takeover of social justice initiatives in Arizona by gigantic multi-state operators. We round out with a discussion of two wage theft cases in New Mexico and Colorado that contain hallmark “small business tyrant behavior” and John refuses to pronounce last names correctly unless they belong to workers
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Tuesday Aug 13, 2024
Tuesday Aug 13, 2024
Another jam packed week of labor news! We start this week with follow-ups on workers at Samsung, REI, and Apple. We also follow up on the impact of Florida politicians' attempts to destroy the state's public unions, and how that has been devastating for academic workers. Reporters from the LA Times have documented how public pensions won through union struggle are now being used to fuel the crisis of gentrification and soaring rents across the country. In our main story, we cover a series of stories relating workers' struggles to win protections against deadly heat, exacerbated by worsening climate change. We discuss the effects on farmworkers, incarcerated workers, and the lengths workers in the hottest countries have to go through just to survive the soaring temps. Finally, we discuss the recent vote by thousands of hotel workers coast to coast to overwhelmingly authorize a strike.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Tuesday Aug 06, 2024
Tuesday Aug 06, 2024
We start this week with workers advancing the struggle for solidarity with Palestine in the UE and AFT, along with international stories from Brazil and The Netherlands. Also this week, workers ratified major new contracts at Amtrak and Disneyland, and new unions were formed at Prism Reports and The Frick Museum. In our first major story, the ALU Democratic Reform Caucus swept the recent union elections at JFK8 in Staten Island, we discuss their victory and the path forward for the new leadership. We also discuss a report from Truthout on the crushing conditions faced by small farmers in Mexico, fighting water theft and mass pollution from American mega pork producers like Smithfield. Also this week, the Washington Post released a new report on the rising numbers of workers who are employed full time and still unable to afford a roof over their heads. Finally, we finish off by celebrating workers securing the first ever union contract at an Apple Store in the US.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Thursday Aug 01, 2024
Thursday Aug 01, 2024
If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month.
In this installment of “The Weed Series,” the gang discusses New York. We cover workers in Syracuse who unionized with RWDSU/UFCW 338, the state of employee protections in New York for lawful cannabis users, the multifaceted disaster of Hochul’s legal cannabis rollout, a cannabis product recall, and once again encounter the scourge of fake unions. John encourages maximum conjecture against the pod’s better journalistic instincts.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/