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A weekly labor news podcast covering workers‘ struggles around the world from a revolutionary left perspective.
Episodes
Friday Aug 18, 2023
Friday Aug 18, 2023
If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month.
Episode 2 - Shape Up or Ship Out
To start our examination of the history of the International Longshoremen's Association, we go back to the birth of labor organizing on the docks in the late 19th century. We discuss the awful labor conditions faced by workers, forced to beg, plead, or pay for work in the hated daily shape up. We discuss the birth of the ILA on the Great Lakes, the rise of New York City as the center of US overseas trade, and the start of the long reign of "King" Joe Ryan as union president. We also talk about the earliest movements for democracy and reform within the union, and the brutal, sometimes deadly consequences faced by those who stood up for their rights on the docks.
Main sources for this series include: Reds or Rackets by Howard Kimeldorf, Strife on the Waterfront by Vernon Jensen, New York Longshoremen: Class and Power on the Docks by William Mello, and Mobsters, Unions, and Feds by James Jacobs.
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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Tuesday Aug 15, 2023
Tuesday Aug 15, 2023
After saluting the continued organizing prowess of the workers of Hadley, MA, we start this week's show discussing the NLRB shooting down eBay's appeal of the union victory at TCGPlayer. Next we check in on strikes at Wabtec and the University of Michigan, both of which have seen management escalate attacks on workers. Google is back for a second week in a row, this time for firing most of the Google Help team in retaliation for unionizing. City workers in LA staged a huge one day strike to fight for fair raises and an end to overwork, with workers in San Jose joining them this week. The American Political Science Association have decided to cross the picket line of striking LA hotel workers, to the outrage of many members. Rounding out some new unions: Visual effects workers at Marvel are unionizing with IATSE, workers at the NIH are joining the UAW, and Yellowstone workers have voted to join the National Federation of Federal Employees.
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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Friday Aug 11, 2023
Friday Aug 11, 2023
If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month.
Episode 1 - Communism vs. Corruption
One of the peculiarities of the US labor movement is the existence of two different unions for longshore workers, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) on the West Coast, and the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) on the East Coast. Originally, the ILA represented members on both coasts, bringing all longshore workers in the country under one union. But after the refusal of the national leadership to support the 1934 San Francisco General Strike or to support the move to expand the union to warehouse workers, the West Coast workers seceded and formed their own union.
In this series we will examine the history of the ILA and dig into why West Coast longshore workers felt they had no choice but to form their own union. We will examine the key factors that have prevented the rise of a democratic reform movement within the ILA, and how collusion between shipping companies, the federal government, and the mafia played a critical role in suppressing reform. We will discuss the long fight by the rank and file for reform, and how the federal government time and time again stepped in to squash it.
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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Tuesday Aug 08, 2023
Tuesday Aug 08, 2023
Burgerville Workers Support Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/defend-burgerville-workers-from-retaliation-fund
We start this week's episode with a couple stories about Grindr and Google weaponizing Return to the Office policies against their workers who have been working remotely. We also follow up with the TCGPlayer union, as eBay has refused to recognize their election win. Workers at Burgerville have been locked out after management adopted a radically anti-union posture. This past weekend 30,000 teachers protested horrific working conditions in South Korea. Doctors have struck across Nigeria after criminal neglect of the country's healthcare system by the capitalist government and its imperialist backers. Grocery workers at Metro in Toronto have been on strike for over a week fighting sub-poverty wages to just be able to afford the food they stock on shelves every day. The Teamsters still have to vote on the deal at UPS, but wins are already inspiring Amazon workers to demand more. Finally, grad workers have made big wins towards forming their union at the University of Maine.
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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Friday Aug 04, 2023
Friday Aug 04, 2023
If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month.
2023 has already been a monumental year for labor, with over 300,000 workers striking in just the first 7 months. Now, in just six weeks, we could see tens of thousands of UAW autoworkers on strike at any one or all of the Big 3 US automaking companies, Ford, GM, and Stellantis. This is another critical contract fight for the entire labor movement as the upsurge in union support continues to grow. So we decided that doing this story justice would take a whole episode. We sat down to talk about the history of the UAW, the concessions given up during the 2008 bailout, and what workers are fighting for in this new master agreement.
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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Tuesday Aug 01, 2023
Tuesday Aug 01, 2023
We know everyone wants to talk about the biggest labor news this week but first: Union Pizza! Workers at Barboncino Pizzeria in Brooklyn became the first union pizza shop in NYC this week. Also we have a quick update on the ILWU Canada strike, with workers voting on a new TA after rejecting an earlier one. In a sad story, Yellow Freight's bosses have so mismanaged the company that it is shutting down, costing 30,000 jobs. Also this week, Rutgers is trying to get medical students to scab against striking nurses. A new report this week shows Amazon continuously refuses to make accommodations for disabled workers. Then of course the big news this week is the tentative agreement reached between the Teamsters and management at UPS. We go over some of the contracts historic wins, and discuss areas workers have identified where it could be improved. We talk about the impact this contract could have in spurring others to unionize, and how it affects the drive by the Teamsters to organize workers at Amazon. Finally, we close out celebrating one of the largest new bargaining units of the year, with 5000 TV commercial workers joining IATSE.
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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Friday Jul 28, 2023
Friday Jul 28, 2023
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're diving back into labor history with a return to our short series on the history of general strikes in the US. On this episode, we round out the strikes of 1934 by discussing the Toledo Auto-Lite and Minneapolis general strikes. The pitched battles fought by workers across the country terrified the ruling class into accepting some of the most pivotal labor reforms in US history. Fighting scabs, company thugs, police, and even the National Guard, workers with nothing to lose in the midst of the Great Depression struck back against their exploiters and won victories that echoed for decades. Organizing such massive endeavors is never easy or quick, but there are so many lessons we can take from our comrades of the past to help improve our efforts today.
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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Tuesday Jul 25, 2023
Tuesday Jul 25, 2023
After a few quick headlines, we start this week's labor news checking in on updates from the massive nationwide actors and writers strike. Next we discuss how hotels are using gig apps to hire scab labor and blacklist workers. Yellow Freight nearly caused a nationwide strike by failing to pay $50 million they owe the Teamsters' pension fund. Several recreational cannabis companies in California have been caught signing labor peace agreements with a fake union. This week saw new union drives at Staples, Cartoon Network, and Grindr, along with the successful union election at a climbing gym in Brooklyn. Finally, we discuss the most recent updates in the fight for a fair contract at UPS, with just one week to go.
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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Sunday Jul 23, 2023
Sunday Jul 23, 2023
With just a week until 350,000 Teamster workers could strike at UPS, we want to share with as many listeners as possible our great interview with several rank and file UPS workers. So we are unlocking it for everyone to hear!
If you like these sort of episodes, please support us at patreon.com/workstoppage.
Original Description:
The biggest labor story of the year has been the ongoing negotiations between UPS and the Teamsters and the possibility of 350,000 workers launching the biggest strike in the US in decades. So we're thrilled this week to be joined by three rank and file UPS workers from Teamsters Local 41 in Kansas City to talk about it. Stewards Scott, Shaine, and Ben cover the conditions facing full time package car drivers, 22.4 "hybrid" drivers, and part time workers and the fight to improve them. We discuss the tactics used to build the unity that prompted 97% of UPS Teamsters to authorize a strike, how listeners can support their local Teamsters before and during a strike, and how we can build on that solidarity to revitalize the labor movement for the future.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Friday Jul 21, 2023
Friday Jul 21, 2023
If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month.
For our eighth and final episode (for now) in our series on the basics of Cybernetics and how it relates to the labor movement, we finally explore the details of Stafford Beer's Viable Systems Model (VSM). John walks us through the various subsystems of Beer's model for analyzing organizations, and we discuss examples of how the model would apply to an individual human being, a labor union, and even an entire nation. We discuss the various key features of organization this form of analysis reveals, like the importance of devolving at least some management functions to the lowest level parts of the system, or in the case of a union, democratically empowering each and every member.
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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Monday Jul 17, 2023
Monday Jul 17, 2023
This was another major week in labor as the biggest strike of the year so far kicked off with 160,000+ actors joining the writers on picket lines across the country. Also this week, a new reform caucus was announced in the ALU, calling for leadership elections. Starbucks workers launched their nationwide organizing bus tour, hitting cities across the country and shutting down stores tom demand Starbucks return to the bargaining table. The Teamsters have expanded the concept of "flying squadrons" by launching roving pickets across the country demanding recognition of their union drivers. The UAW kicked off the negotiation process with the big three automakers in militant fashion, refusing traditional company niceties. Workers at the Leinenkugel brewery in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin are on strike fighting for a living wage. Finally, we celebrate the union victory of workers at Sega, making Sonic officially a union hedgehog.
AFSE Petition: https://form.jotform.com/231775539933064
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Friday Jul 14, 2023
Friday Jul 14, 2023
If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month.
The biggest labor story of the year has been the ongoing negotiations between UPS and the Teamsters and the possibility of 350,000 workers launching the biggest strike in the US in decades. So we're thrilled this week to be joined by three rank and file UPS workers from Teamsters Local 41 in Kansas City to talk about it. Stewards Scott, Shaine, and Ben cover the conditions facing full time package car drivers, 22.4 "hybrid" drivers, and part time workers and the fight to improve them. We discuss the tactics used to build the unity that prompted 97% of UPS Teamsters to authorize a strike, how listeners can support their local Teamsters before and during a strike, and how we can build on that solidarity to revitalize the labor movement for the future.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Tuesday Jul 11, 2023
Tuesday Jul 11, 2023
We start this week's episode with congratulations to workers at Powerhouse Animation, who became the first unionized animation studio in Texas last week. Next we discuss the pausing of the LA hotel strike....and its resumption. Refresco workers finally won a contract after 3 years of fighting this week, winning big pay raises and other gains. Starbucks has lost in court AGAIN this week, losing cases in Pittsburgh and Ithaca and being forced to rehire workers. We also have some tragic stories of worker deaths this week, one a labor organizer murdered for his work in Bangladesh, the other a 16 year old child forced by our economic system to work in a dangerous saw mill. The University of California has been retaliating against workers following last year's major strike, now escalating to felony charges for writing with chalk. Finally, we have some happier news on some recent victories in organizing by the UFW in New York, and by grad student workers at Stanford.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Friday Jul 07, 2023
Friday Jul 07, 2023
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're back in the world of Cybernetics for this week's Patron episode. On Part 7 of our series, John explains the admittedly very complex concepts of Autopoiesis and Eudemony, key ideas for understanding Stafford Beer's "Viable Systems Model" which stands are the core of his thought. Breaking down these concepts of how systems like machines and biological organisms reproduce themselves and how structures organize themselves towards a maximal goal also help show the parallels between Cybernetics and the study of human societies, history, and more broadly how human beings organize themselves. On our next episode, we will go into the VSM in detail and explain how Beer used it as the foundation for setting up Project Cybersyn and embarking on an attempt to radically democratize the Chilean economy.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Tuesday Jul 04, 2023
Tuesday Jul 04, 2023
It may be a long weekend, but people still gotta work, and that means more labor stories. First we do a quick run through the headlines, discussing where things stand with the WGA strike, the independent labor movement in Mexico, and the fight to defend Pride at Starbucks. Next, workers in South Korea have launched a two week long mobilization to demand the far right anti worker Yoon regime resign. West Coast ports in Canada shuttered this week as negotiations with the ILWU have stalled. 15,000 hotel workers are on strike in LA, as workers fight for wages that just allow them to live where they work. Nurses in Texas and Kansas struck for one day for safe staffing and faced a week long lockout on returning. 6000 aircraft workers with Boeing supplier Spirit Aerosystems shot down multiple tentative agreements before finally winning a new contract. Amazon continues to kill workers with its frantic pace and unsafe conditions, but also keeps trying to deny responsibility. Finally, we check in on the negotiations between the Teamsters and UPS, and discuss some of the recent major wins by the union.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Saturday Jul 01, 2023
Saturday Jul 01, 2023
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've got a quick break from our series on the intersection of the study of Cybernetics and the Labor Movement for an interview! This week we were very excited to speak with AshlyRuth and Diana, two worker organizers with the Union of Southern Service Workers. The South has long stood as a bastion of Right to Work anti-labor laws, with bosses and politicians using racism to divide workers. The USSW is fighting to change that by using cross-sector organizing and drawing on whole communities to fight for better conditions for workers all over the South. AshlyRuth and Diana speak about some of the experiences they've had, both as service workers and as organizers, the awful working conditions they've faced personally, and how the USSW is helping them fight back.
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Tuesday Jun 27, 2023
Tuesday Jun 27, 2023
On this week's episode of Work Stoppage, Trader Joe's continues to drag out the process of certification at its Louisville store. Negotiations between the Teamsters and UPS have moved to discussions of economic issues, with only a month to go before a strike. Nearly 2000 nurses struck for a week in Oregon and are now demanding their employer be investigated for hiring professional scabs. Over 1000 UE locomotive makers in Erie, PA have gone on strike to protect their jobs and their working conditions as Wabtec threatens to slash the labor force. We also catch up with the longest strike in digital media which we missed on our break, with writers at Insider winning healthcare coverage the company claimed was unaffordable. Finally, workers at the University of Pittsburgh officially filed to unionize with the Steelworkers and 1100 undergraduate student workers at Western Washington voted near unanimously to join the UAW!
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Friday Jun 23, 2023
Friday Jun 23, 2023
If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month.
Our series on Cybernetics and Labor continues this week as we dive into the beginning of Project Cybersyn and Stafford Beer's arrival in Chile. We discuss Beer's invitation from the government of Salvador Allende, his work with prominent government officials, and the incredible speed with which his project was assembled. We also begin breaking down Beer's concept of the Viable Systems Model as applied to a socialist government. In our next episode, we will discuss the planned deployment and testing of the project in the final months of Allende's time in power before the CIA-backed coup brought everything crashing to a halt.
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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Tuesday Jun 20, 2023
Tuesday Jun 20, 2023
We're back from our break for Lina's wedding, which was wonderful and we all had an amazing time, but now it's time to catch up on two weeks of labor news! We start the show with a quick trip through as many short labor stories as we can, covering developments at Starbucks, Amazon, REI, Barnes & Noble, AT&T, Colectivo, Paizo, UPS, and more. Then we follow up with the workers at the Wharf InterContinental Hotel in Washington DC who have forced their employers to recognize their union election with UNITE HERE. We also check in on the UAW workers at Clarios, who have voted to end their strike, as well as the fallout from Florida's anti-public worker law. The past two weeks have seen diverging trends in negotiations with the Hollywood studios, with the Directors signing a tentative agreement for a new deal and SAG-AFTRA voting 98% in favor of joining the writers on strike. David Byrne's recent attempt to do a Broadway musical with no union musicians is the latest in a long history of anti-union behavior by the famed auteur. Smoke clouds choked NYC in the first week of June, forcing workers to organize for their safety. Finally, we congratulate the postdocs and researchers at the University of Washington for winning a one week strike for a new contract.
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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
Friday Jun 16, 2023
Friday Jun 16, 2023
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're back from our week off for Lina's wedding and in the latest episode of our series on the history of Cybernetics and its relationship to labor, we've finally arrived at the work of Stafford Beer. Beer's work on complex systems revolutionized the way management operations are thought of in both the business world and in all systems of planning. His book Brain of the Firm on how to better manage complex systems like factories or even networks of them was so influential, he was invited to assist the government of Chile under the leadership of recently elected socialist Salvador Allende. Beer's work on the project of creating an automated command center for monitoring and adjusting the economy of Chile, known as Cybersyn, has become legendary for its futuristic approach to running a planned society. In this episode we discuss an overview of Beer's life and works, and in the next few episodes we will dive into the details of his thought, how Cybersyn was meant to work, and how Beer's body of work can be used by the labor movement and socialists around the world today.
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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee