Work Stoppage

Ep 254 - Bring Them All Home

Eventually, some day, we may get back to shorter episodes. Today is not that day. We start with headlines from Amazon, Microsoft, Simmons and Wellesley Universities, and the Supreme Court. For our first main story we dive into the union led protests against attacks on research funding by Trump and the billionaires. Next we dive into Shawn Fain's recent Facebook Live event discussing UAW policy on tariffs and trade, and how that affects workers outside the US. Finally, we close out with the fight against deportations and abductions that is going to need to continue to accelerate.

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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

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Ep 253 - Hands Off Palestine!

It was a major week of protest against the billionaire assault on the working class, but not without contradictions. We start with headlines from Detroit, Chicago, California, Oregon, and Chile. Next we discuss a recent piece by friend of the show Claudia Irizarry Aponte on the surge of exploitative payday loan apps in New York City and across the country. Next we discuss Trump's gigantic tariff announcement and how it's already hurting the working class both here in the US and abroad. Also this week, RFK Jr ramped up massive layoffs at HHS, threatening the health of everyone in the country. Finally, we discuss the intersection of the war on workers and the war on Palestine, as thousands marched on Washington both to demand an end to the genocide and to demand and end to attacks on social programs.

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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

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Unlocked Interview: Make Your Own Job by Erik Baker

We were very excited to be joined this week for a special interview episode by Dr. Erik Baker, lecturer at Harvard University and author of the great new book, Make Your Own Job: How the Entrepreneurial Work Ethic Exhausted America. The book is a fascinating intellectual history of how the concept of "entrepreneurialism" came to dominate ruling class narratives about the economy. This ideology of the individual business owner charting their own course, being their own boss, and "making their own job" has also had deep impacts on the labor movement through mechanisms such as independent contracting. So it was wonderful to get a chance to discuss this history, how it has impacted the union struggle, and how we see it manifesting today!

Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

Ep 252 - PATCO On Steroids

Our episode this week is one big call to action. Trump and the billionaires are trying to shred the collective bargaining rights of every worker in America and it requires the labor movement to rise to the occasion. In addition to the attack on federal workers rights, we discuss the intertwined simultaneous assault on immigrant workers and students fighting genocide. We've also got another update from official NALC Correspondent Cea Moline on both the state of the NALC contract and the fight against privatization.

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Ep 251 - Fight Like Hell!

For Labor, Caution is Fatal - https://inthesetimes.com/article/trump-musk-labor-take-risks

The worker fightback grows stronger every week. We start our headlines with the fight for the right to protest genocide at Columbia, UCLA, and around the country. We've also got headlines at Northwestern University, REI, Hawaiian Airlines, Amazon, and Iowa egg producers. Mexican trolleybus workers are fighting to make the century old system a safe place to work. Tennessee gig drivers are fighting algorithmic attacks with collective action. The CWA have launched a new industrial union in video games for all to join. And of course we've got our weekly roundup of the attacks from the Trump-Musk administration. 

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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

Interview Preview: Make Your Own Job by Erik Baker

If you're not a patron, you can get full access to this episode by supporting us at patreon.com/workstoppage.

We were very excited to be joined this week for a special interview episode by Dr. Erik Baker, lecturer at Harvard University and author of the great new book, Make Your Own Job: How the Entrepreneurial Work Ethic Exhausted America. The book is a fascinating intellectual history of how the concept of "entrepreneurialism" came to dominate ruling class narratives about the economy. This ideology of the individual business owner charting their own course, being their own boss, and "making their own job" has also had deep impacts on the labor movement through mechanisms such as independent contracting. So it was wonderful to get a chance to discuss this history, how it has impacted the union struggle, and how we see it manifesting today!

Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

Ep 250 - Halfway to Halfway to 1000!

We've got another supersized episode this week! We start with headlines from Japan, Chile, Chicago, Chattanooga, Missouri, Rhode Island, and San Jose. For our first store we discuss the fight by Indian tech workers to have a right to time outside of work.  Next, a recent report from IGN reveals how video game companies are working to cut actors out of the business with AI. The war on student workers escalated again this week as Columbia works with the Trump Administration to attack anti-genocide speech. Finally, we close with a roundup on the attacks on federal workers, attempts to shut the Department of Education and gut the Department of Labor, and the growing fight back against the gutting of the government.

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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

Ep 249 - Free Mahmoud Khalil

We start this week with a call to action as the American Gestapo are attempting to deport a student for protesting against genocide. Our headlines section this week includes the Oscars, Long Island power plant workers, a first contract for battery plant workers, and Sesame Street.  The fight for a contract with VW is heating up, and workers at a parts distribution warehouse in New Jersey are joining the fight. We've got a Canadian double header this week, as thousands of education workers strike in Alberta while picketers in Waterloo face violence on the picket line. Workers at REI are taking the fight for a union to the company's board elections. Finally, we do our best to cover the whirlwind of attacks on government workers from the Trump-Musk Administration.

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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

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Movie Time 9 Preview - Zwigato

If you're not a patron, you can get full access to this episode by supporting us at patreon.com/workstoppage.

After a long hiatus we are back with another Movie Time episode covering another excellent piece of Labor Cinema. This week we discuss the 2023 Indian film, Zwigato, about the crushing burden faced by workers in the modern gig economy. Though this is a rare one film episode of Movie Time, this film covers so many aspects of what it means to be working class in the 21st century that we couldn't possibly have covered a second film in the same time. Zwigato is one of the best pieces of working class film to come out in years, and it was a great discussion breaking down its insights into working class struggle and the oppressive systems crushing our lives.

Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

Ep 248 - General Strike Yes, Aimless Boycott No

We have another transit heavy episode this week. First we start with our headlines including Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants, East Coast Dockworkers, Maine DOT workers, and Italian transit workers. In our main stories we start with this week's strike by 60,000 healthcare workers at the University of California. Next, we discuss this past Friday's massive one day general strike by workers in all sectors across Greece. Attacks on trans folks have hit a fever pitch, we discuss how healthcare workers across the country are standing up for trans rights. The mass firing of federal workers continued this week, as did the early stages of a fightback. Finally, we discuss the continued efforts by workers at Delta, both on board and on the ground, to finally unionize.

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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

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Ep 247 - r/IllegalWorkStoppages

The fightback against the Trump administration's war on the federal workforce continued to build this week, and the entire labor movement will need unity to overcome the billionaire's assault. We start with follow ups covering restaurant workers in DC, healthcare workers in Oregon and grocery workers in Colorado. Also this week, headlines from Finland, Cameroon, and Chattanooga. While most of the labor movement was working this week to fight Trump's agenda, Sean O'Brien of the Teamsters was working to support it; we discuss the endorsement of Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-Deremer. Meanwhile, researchers, air traffic controllers, postal workers, and thousands of others came together on different fronts this week to fight the assault on public workers. Finally, we end with the victorious struggle by teachers at a charter school in LA to win fair wages and protect their jobs.

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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

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Ep 246 - Mao Was Right

UFCW Solidarity Pledge: https://www.ew4d.org/blog/solidarity-pledge

We start this week's episode with headlines on UnitedHealthcare, Starbucks Workers United, the SEIU, pension fights in Panama and Belgium, and port workers in Kenya. 10,000 workers in UFCW Local 7 in Colorado remain on strike at King Soopers against attempts to gut their retirement benefits. 20,000 workers at the University of California prepare to strike for fair pay later this month. The fight to organize Amazon continues, even after this week's disappointing election loss in North Carolina. We do our best to keep up with the flurry of attacks on federal workers and the organized fight back against them. Finally, workers are responding to massive layoffs at Alamo Drafthouse with strikes.

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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

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Ep 245 - Striking Is Our Hammer

Louisiana Nurses Strike Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-the-nurses-strike-fund

Another whirlwind week of attacks on workers rights and the fightback from the labor movement. In our headlines we check in on the Oregon Nurses Association, the UFW, Student Workers of Columbia, the Professional Staff Congress, and more workers across the country and the world. 10,000 workers at King Soopers in Colorado are on strike, we discuss the first week of UFCW Local 7's fight for a fair contract. Nurses in New Orleans used the spotlight on the city for the Super Bowl to highlight their struggle for safe staffing. Workers in National Nurses United, the UE, AAUP, SPFE and many other unions across the country are fighting back against the twin assaults on our trans siblings and our immigrant co-workers, we discuss some of their first steps. Finally, the AFGE, AFSCME, and the AFL-CIO at large are leading the fight against Elon Musk's attempts to purge and loot the federal government.

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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

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Ep 244 - Everything Happens So Much

We're still drinking from the firehose of labor news this week with another massive episode. We start with some headlines on AI in healthcare, a class action lawsuit against Apple, and follow ups with DC restaurant workers, Indian Samsung workers, and Teamsters at CostCo. In our first main story we check in on the imminent union vote at the RDU1 Amazon warehouse in Garner, NC. Workers are fighting back against the billionaire's assault on workers both at the federal and the local level, we run down some of the efforts. Once again we were so lucky to be joined by C Moline to discuss the recent rejection of the proposed contract by Letter Carriers around the country. Finally, we close celebrating the major victory by workers at Whole Foods in Philadelphia, who won the first union at the company with the UFCW.

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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

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Ep 243 - Opposing CompanyCo

Petition Supporting Monterey Bay Aquarium Workers: https://mbaworkersunited.org/community-letter-support

We have a supersized episode this week, with so much going on we could barely cover everything. We start with an extended headline segment covering developments in Palestine, Canada, Pakistan, Las Vegas, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Monterey Bay. We were also lucky this week to be joined for a short interview with Claudia Irizarry Aponte, investigative journalist for The City, to discuss her recent investigation of unions in the home health care industry in NYC. Trump started his second turn with a flurry of attacks on workers, we discuss some of the ways unions like AFGE and the CTU are fighting back. We discuss an unusual area for us this week, fine dining, as workers at 5 of the swankiest restaurants in Washington DC are unionizing. Amazon went scorched earth on Canadian workers this week, shuttering its entire operations in Quebec rather than bargain with  its workers. Finally, despite its friendly reputation, Costco is playing hardball at the bargaining table, which may force 18,000 Teamsters to strike this week!

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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

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Ep 242 - El Pueblo Unido

Know Your Rights Toolkit: https://assets.nationbuilder.com/arisechicago/pages/2726/attachments/original/1735833065/Toolkit_immigrant_workers_-_digital_EN.pdf
Alamo Drafthouse Worker Support Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/mutual-fund-for-laid-off-alamo-drafthouse-employees
ILWU Los Angeles Wildfire Relief Fund: https://checkout.square.site/merchant/6RSQCXFP2D8CP/checkout/EBJ3K7AK2WR2SCPQUAHP2DUB

Trump's back, which means its time to ramp up the fight back against attacks on our fellow workers. After our headlines, we discuss how the government of the Bahamas used legal repression to crush a planned two day nationwide strike before it happened. Then we discuss a recent exposé in The City by friend of the show Claudia Irizarry Aponte on a "union" for home health workers that does more for the bosses than for its members. Also this week, we've got two stories on wage theft, union busting, and retaliation by Geo Group against immigrants detained in its privately operated concentration camps. Finally, we discuss a recent Labor Notes piece sharing the lessons from union struggles to defend immigrant workers across the country and how our unions can defend our fellow workers.

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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

Ep 241 - Chariots of Fire

We're fully into the new year and bosses are doing all sorts of new horrors. We start with updates from the UFW, the Utah Ski Patrol, CIR-SEIU, NYU, and Amazon. In our first major story, the ILA have reached an agreement on a new deal just a week ahead of a new shutdown of East Coast ports. Next, in a major shift in the labor landscape, the SEIU have rejoined the AFL-CIO after 20 years independent. As fires ravaged Los Angeles this week, companies sent their workers into the smoke with no regard for human life. Thousands of doctors, nurses, and other caregivers have hit the picket lines in Oregon's largest healthcare strike ever. Finally, the UAW have filed for another massive union vote in the South this week, this time to represent battery plant workers in Kentucky at BlueOval SK.

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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

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Ep 240 - An Avalanche of Struggle

It's our first episode of the new year, so let's ring it in with some class struggle! We start with some headlines on workers at Amazon, Starbucks, Milk-Bone, VW, Hilton Hotels, and the University of Southern California. For our first full story we discuss a recent investigation by The Guardian into the appalling conditions faced by the migrant workers who produce Champagne. Next, ski patrol workers in Park City, Utah are on strike at the country's biggest resort company. Mental health workers at Kaiser Permanente have been on strike since October, the latest group of workers fighting criminal understaffing in the US healthcare system. Speaking of nurses, we discuss recent analysis by People's Dispatch on the way imperialism forces many nurses in Brazil to migrate to the West. Finally, we discuss reports of a potential neutrality agreement between the UAW and Rivian.

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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

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Special Episode - 2024 Year In Review

Its our final show of the year, and we take a look back on the major union victories, industrial actions, and trends in labor that characterized 2024. Millions of workers took to the streets in opposition to the US-Israeli genocide in Palestine, which looks to shape labor relations on campus in 2025. Worker organizing has surged since 2020, and we look back on all the violence unleashed by the supposedly democratic West against worker mobilization this year. Perhaps no single business is as emblematic of the modern US economy as Amazon, and this year the Teamsters unified the struggle to organize workers there and took it to the next level. As our society becomes more and more unequal, more workers who used to be self-employed professionals: doctors, lawyers, and highly compensated tech workers, have been forced to organize. This year also saw a new level of corporate attacks on the NLRB, portending a major struggle over workers rights in the second Trump Administration. Finally, it  wouldn't be a year end show without some predictions, so we take a stab at our thoughts on the year to come.

Happy New Year!

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Ep 239 - Merry Strikemas!

OKC Starbucks Strike Fund: https://x.com/okcsbxunited/status/1870138429184348290?s=46

One of the last weeks of the year has turned out to be one of the biggest weeks for labor too! Workers across the country at hotels, grocery co-ops, ski shops, and mushroom farms are fighting back this week as we discuss in our headlines. Next, our first main story covers the way gig work models are degrading healthcare and turning nursing into a nightmare. Workers at a critical lab that tests for bird flu in California are sounding the alarm on critically low staffing and unsustainable working conditions. The Teamsters launched the largest strike in Amazon's history this week, with pickets around the country and major walkouts at over half a dozen facilities. Starbucks workers also initiated a nationwide strike, hoping to force the company to finally agree to a fair contract. Finally, we close out discussing the longest strike by workers in Las Vegas' Culinary Union in nearly 25 years.

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/