Episodes
12 hours ago
Ep 236 - Dr. Union
12 hours ago
12 hours ago
Despite the holiday, workers never stop, so labor news doesn't either! After several stories of the agonizingly slow wheels of "justice" for workers in the legal system in our Headlines, we dive into our main stories. First we check in on the teachers of Beverly and Marblehead, MA, where new contracts have finally been ratified. Next we check in on the surge of organizing by the Teamsters at Amazon locations all over the country. Healthcare workers continue to unionize in big numbers, and not just nurses, we've got three stories this week of doctors unionizing. Shen Yun, everyone's least favorite billboard, have been SHOCKINGLY revealed to be using some extremely sketchy child labor practices. Finally, we check in with the ongoing strike by Canada Post workers, and some international solidarity.
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/
7 days ago
7 days ago
We're extremely excited this week that Dan was invited to sit down with Prez and Talia from The Minyan podcast to discuss the long history of support for Israel by US labor unions and how that has changed in recent years. Building off our recent interview with Professor Jeff Schuhrke, we discuss how anti-communism was used by labor leaders to justify supporting US imperialist policies around the world, including support for Israel. We dig into the ways rank and file efforts to embrace Palestinian solidarity were often stifled from the top in the name of keeping US interests in West Asia safe from "Soviet Aggression." Finally, in light of this history, we discuss how monumental the recent mass movement by rank and file workers to demand their unions end their collaboration with Israeli apartheid is, and why continued organizing within the union movement is our best path to making material change to US foreign policy.
Follow The Minyan on Twitter @the_minyan, and on Bluesky @minyan.bsky.social
Follow Work Stoppage at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, and on Bluesky @workstoppage.bsky.social
Check out all of The Minyan's great episodes here: https://open.spotify.com/show/0fgRlhmbQhZpYzKOth98gq
Find all the info on Work Stoppage at http://workstoppagepod.com/
Tuesday Nov 26, 2024
Ep 235 - Delivering Worker Resistance
Tuesday Nov 26, 2024
Tuesday Nov 26, 2024
We've got a jam packed episode, as workers all around the world are on the move. First we've got headlines covering stories in Germany, South Korea, California and Florida. For our first main story, workers at a Whole Foods in Philadelphia filed to unionize this week, in another major effort to push back against the exploitation of the Bezos empire. Also in Philly this week, city workers in three unions reached new agreements with significant wages and safety protections. We catch up with a flurry of recent incidents of crackdowns on anti-genocide speech by bosses and universities across the US. We also follow up with striking teachers in Massachusetts, where one strike has been settled and two continue. Canada Post workers also continued their strike this week, we discuss the conditions that led us here. Finally, the UAW made another major announcement this week that a majority of workers at Ford's new EV battery plant in Kentucky have signed cards to unionize.
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/
Friday Nov 22, 2024
Interview: Build a Fighting NALC PREVIEW
Friday Nov 22, 2024
Friday Nov 22, 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.
We are joined by C Moline a coordinating committee member of Build a Fighting NALC to talk about the many issues with the current TA that was presented to city postal workers by NALC national. We also go over working conditions for postal workers, international solidarity, and what the near future for NALC members looks like. From the 'Vote No' campaign to rallies in the streets, workers are organizing in the face of it being illegal for them to strike.
C Moline and others speaking in solidarity with Palestinian workers: https://www.youtube.com/live/wKrMIy97Nw0?t=99s
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 Nov 19, 2024
Ep 234 - Northern Exposure
Tuesday Nov 19, 2024
Tuesday Nov 19, 2024
After updates on striking hotel workers, new UAW academic organizing, city workers in Philly and avian flu in dairy workers, we dive into our main stories. Michigan nurses won a massive union election this week as nearly 10,000 voted to join the Teamsters. The Canadian government stepped in on the side of the shipping companies this week and forced workers on both coasts into binding arbitration. Meanwhile, 55,000 striking Canada Post workers are challenging Prime Minister Trudeau to try it with them. We also check in on the strikes by teachers in Massachusetts and the repression they are facing from the state government. Zenimax workers held a one day strike this week to protest their employers' continued intransigence. Finally, delivery workers at Bimbo Bakeries in Washington State recently voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike after over a decade since their last cost of living raise.
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 Nov 12, 2024
Ep 233 - Same Threats as Yesterday
Tuesday Nov 12, 2024
Tuesday Nov 12, 2024
It's impossible to start this week without discussing the fallout from the big election, so we start our main stories with a roundup of statements from union leaders in response to the new era of organizing. Next, we hear from dining workers at Clarkson University on their recent victory in securing a strong contract. Teachers in three towns in Massachusetts walked out on strike this week, defying state threats in their pursuit of fair working conditions for the lowest paid paraprofessionals. After last months strike by the ILA, this week lockouts began at Canadian ports on both sides of the country as the shipping monopolies attempt to force through more automation. Boeing machinists voted this week to accept the latest contract offer and return to work, winning historic wage increases. Finally, we discuss the heroic efforts by Cuban electrical workers to restore power to the country as it faces the inhumane effects of the US blockade.
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 Nov 05, 2024
Ep 232 - Lockout Lessons
Tuesday Nov 05, 2024
Tuesday Nov 05, 2024
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/
Monday Nov 04, 2024
Unlocked Interview: Blue-Collar Empire by Jeff Schuhrke
Monday Nov 04, 2024
Monday Nov 04, 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 29, 2024
Ep 231 - No Diet COLA!
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
Interview: Blue-Collar Empire by Jeff Schuhrke PREVIEW
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
Ep 230 - Winning at Walmart
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
Ep 229 - Goodwill Union Hunting
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
OT Ep 77: Anti-Union Talking Points Pt1 PREVIEW
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
Ep 228 - One Year of Resistance
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
Ep 227 - "We'll Cripple You"
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
Ep 226 - World Class Workers
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
Interview: Judy Gearhart of Labor Link
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
Ep 225 - Nationalize Boeing!
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
Ep 224 - The Wage Theft Industry
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
Ep 223 - Labor Day Means Strike!
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/