Work Stoppage

Ep 62 - OSHA Won't Save Us

We’re back to the regular news format this week and it’s a heavy one. First we follow up with the Frito-Lay workers, who have won some concessions from the company after being on strike for almost 3 weeks. Then we cover a major truck drivers’ strike across Puerto Rico that has resulted in a confrontation between the local government and the colonial “oversight board” installed by the US. We also discuss OSHA issuing paltry fines for a liquid nitrogen leak that killed 6 workers at a food processing plant in Georgia, and US politicians doing nothing to prevent the shutdown of one of the largest generic pharmaceutical plants in the US and the loss of its 1500 jobs. The past week has seen a flurry of organizing activity around revelations of major misconduct and a pervasive culture of sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard specifically and across the games industry generally. Finally, we cover California Dr. Pepper workers voting to unionize with the Teamsters, threatening to shut down the whole region’s production if the company doesn’t bargain in good faith.

 

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Ep 61 - Iran Oil Strike Interview

On this week’s episode of Work Stoppage we were lucky enough to be joined by a guest, Ida Nikou, a PhD student studying labor relations in Iran to discuss the recent strikes among temporary and contract workers in Iran’s oil industry. We learn some of the background on the situation for workers in Iran across various industries, what kinds of unions exist, what level of labor rights (or lack thereof) most workers have in Iran, and generally discuss the parallels and differences between the conditions workers face in both Iran and the US. We go over the specific conditions faced by the oil workers that lead to this wave of strikes and the impact they’ve had in Iran. Finally we discuss the ways US imperialism has exacerbated this situation, and the importance of workers within the US standing against US imperialism in solidarity with workers around the world.

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Overtime Episode 3 - The Nature of the State Pt 1 PREVIEW

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On this Overtime episode, the first in a series, John, Lina, and Dan take some time to dig into the fundamentals behind our understandings of the nature of the state: what it is, its historical development, how it functions, and how it can be changed. During this first part of our discussion, Dan takes us through the theoretical work and historical analysis on the state by Marx, Engels, and Lenin, how they defined the state, how they foresaw it being abolished in the future, and how we could get from where we are under the domination of the capitalist ruling class, to a real democracy where workers would have state power instead of a tiny rich ruling class. We talk about how their theories apply today, how we see their historical materialist analysis reflected in the US state today, and why their theories remain vital for workers struggles for control of their own lives.

In the next episode(s) in this series, John will bring in analysis of the state from the Anarchist perspective, and we will take a look at how later theorists like Gramsci and Althusser expand on these concepts based on modern historical developments.

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EP 60 - Let Public Workers Strike

After a bit of a detour talking about Cuba, this week’s episode starts with a follow up on the striking SEIU Local 73 Cook County workers who have ended their strike after securing several key victories.  Then we take a look at the surge in support for rank and file democracy at the latest Teamsters convention and the prospects for a major win for the Teamsters for a Democratic Union slate.  We discuss a new report documenting the obscene ratio between average executive pay and average worker pay, and also cover workers in India who have gone on hunger strike to protest the closure of the yarn factory they worked at and how the local government is using rules nominally designed to protect people from covid to crack down on them.  Also this week, public workers in Massachusetts are pushing to repeal a law banning them from striking, and workers at Great Lakes Brewing Company have organized a union to try and ensure that they actually have a voice in the operation of their “employee owned” brewery.

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EP 59 - Scab Bullies

Dan is back from vacation and this week’s episode starts with a follow up on the striking Cook County Health workers and nurses, where the nurses won major concessions from the county but the other healthcare workers remain on strike. Next we cover some of the evolving tactics the UMWA workers have been using during their ongoing strike at Warrior Met coal, as well as recent revelations that Amazon has been instructing its managers not to tell employees when they’ve been placed on “performance improvement plans” which could result in their termination.  We also cover a week-long strike by workers at the Chicago-based Portillo’s chain, a bizarre dual contract situation at a Pepsi plant in Indiana, and finish up discussing Iceland’s move to a 4 day work week.  

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EP 58 - Doughnut Workers United Interview

On last week’s episode we discussed the recent strike by workers organizing with Doughnut Workers United at Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland during the recent heat wave. This week we were lucky enough to be able to interview one of the workers illegally fired in retaliation for that strike. We discuss the general conditions at Voodoo Doughnuts, the tactics used by management to combat the union drive, and how the company tried to justify its firing of workers for a legally protected strike action over unsafe work conditions.

 

Listeners can help out the affected workers by donating here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/dwu-strike-and-hardship-fund-june-2021

 

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EP 57 - We See This All The Time feat. @laborkyle

This week we are joined by @laborkyle as a guest! We start with a follow-up from the Colorado Labor Board on how employers aren't allowed to just put "not hiring in Colorado" on their listings to avoid labor law. We then cover the retaliatory firing of workers for a workplace safety strike at Voodoo Doughnuts, ways in which Trader Joe's is attacking worker rights again, and how Amazon's work conditions are so bad that some of their contractors have had to stop doing business entirely. Finally we end on a strike at a Frito-Lay plant in Tacoma which is also a partial struggle to get democracy in their union, and the repression of Atlanta's Homeless Union by the police.

 

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EP 56 - Fast Food Bank

This week’s episode starts with a follow up on the Cedar Point Nursery Supreme Court case we covered in our interview with Sam Knight, where the Court has now made it functionally illegal to do workplace organizing of agricultural workers in California.  Then we cover 2700 Chicago area nurses and other hospital staff going on strike for better wages and to stop plans to double their healthcare costs.  We also discuss a recent series of wildcat strikes by workers for delivery startup Gorillas in Germany, states using facial recognition software to deny unemployment benefits, and the Teamsters recent momentous vote to make organizing Amazon workers their top priority.  Finally, we close with a heartwarming story from Marseille, France, where workers have seized a closed McDonald’s and turned it into a food bank serving hundreds of families every week.  

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EP 55 - Convenience Store Panopticon

On this week’s episode of Work Stoppage we start out following up on the BlockTheBoat campaign, which has faced police violence after moving up the west coast to Seattle.  Then we discuss the recent Supreme Court ruling defending Nestlé and Cargill’s use of child slavery in Africa, and workers at the AFL-CIO’s offices filing a labor complaint against the Federation for its plan to force them back into the office.  We also cover union busting at a charter school named for Brazilian labor activist and educator Paulo Friere, major corporations refusing to be transparent about job salaries in Colorado, and a dystopic move to remotely monitor convenience store employees 24/7.  

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EP 54 - Evil Foods Interview

We have a special interview episode this week as we are joined by two former employees of "No Evil" Foods, who tell us what it was like to face a fierce union busting campaign from a company supposedly founded on progressive values.  The anti-union campaign waged by Evil Foods against its employees, followed by the firing of the entire production staff, is one of the starkest recent reminders than no matter how nice your boss is, they will throw you on the street if it will make them more money.

Help out the former Evil Foods employees:  https://givebutter.com/PlVQ64

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EP 53 - Use Your Collective Power

We open this week’s episode with a follow up on the Warrior Met coal miners’ strike, where striking workers have faced repeated car attacks while picketing. We also catch up on the striking ATI steelworkers, who are pushing back on company attacks on their healthcare.  Then we cover the Biden Administration’s recent betrayal of a campaign promise to extend OSHA protections to cover covid, and a fight by pilots in India for protections and fair compensation after hundreds have been hospitalized.  We discuss “No Evil” Foods recent extremely evil move of firing their entire production staff, a successful organizing drive by preschool teachers in Colorado, and finish up with Argentina’s new law to protect the rights of trans workers.  

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Overtime Episode 2 PREVIEW - AFL-CIA

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On this Overtime episode, Dan examines the long, sordid history of collaboration between the leadership of the AFL-CIO and the CIA. Working to enforce the interests of US Empire and the ruling class that controls it, the leadership of the AFL-CIO used the specter of “communist domination” to justify subverting labor movements around the world. Hoping to prevent such betrayal of the global working class in the future, here we look at why this collaboration occurred, who was behind it, and what we can do to make sure that US labor stands in solidarity with workers around the world.

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EP 52 - "Political" Unions

This week we start out checking in on the striking Volvo Truck workers in Virginia, who have rejected a corporate-friendly tentative agreement for the second time. We then cover the demise of New York’s proposed bill to create toothless state unions for gig workers after strong opposition from Los Deliveristas Unidos and other unions.  Next, we discuss the success of the AROC/ILWU #BlocktheBoat campaign in Oakland, as well as a proposed resolution from the LA Teachers’ Union calling for an end to US aid to Israel and to support the BDS movement. Then we cover Canada’s postal workers union pushing to transform the postal service into a broader agency capable of meeting more community needs.  Also this week, while the Biden admin gets rosy media coverage, the federal government has continued to award massive contracts to companies using detained migrants as slave labor.  Finally, with the news that Jeff Bezos will be heading into space (hopefully forever), we take a look at the numbers behind his wealth, and how Amazon’s speedup based business model is taking its toll on workers’ bodies. 

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EP 51 - End School Privatization

We start this week’s episode with workers from the ILWU refusing to allow an Israeli-operated ship to dock in Oakland in solidarity with labor unions in Palestine.  Then we discuss massive demonstrations across Brazil led by trade unions calling for an end to the fascist Bolsonaro regime, and a series of sit down strikes in Indian auto plants protesting unsafe working conditions during the current covid surge.  We also cover lawmakers in several states attempting to pass union busting legislation aimed at privatizing schools in the wake of recent major teachers’ strikes, and a recent wave of companies in the UK using “Fire and Rehire” tactics to cut workers’ wages and benefits.  Finally, we discuss a strike by McDonald’s highway service plaza employees in Connecticut over Memorial Day Weekend, and how the constant threats from employers to replace their workers with robots are laughable.

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EP 50 - Labor Peace Is Not In Our Interest

This week’s episode is a heavy one as we cover some of the harshest consequences of the pandemic faced by workers. We start on a happy note, following up on nursing home workers winning their demands and avoiding a strike in Connecticut after the governor had threatened to use the National Guard as scabs. We then move to New York for two stories on gig workers, one covering draft legislation which would force workers into two toothless state-approved unions with no ability to strike, another covering the grassroots organizing efforts of gig workers themselves to fight for better working conditions in NYC. Next we discuss an investigation into the murder by neglect of nearly a dozen migrant workers at a Seneca Foods green bean facility in Wisconsin during the height of the pandemic, and how every level of power, from the company to the legislature to the state OSHA worked together to sacrifice these workers for increased profits. Also this week, the AFL-CIO has announced their long awaited report on how to handle police unions, and finish off with the unionization of 17,000 workers in the University of California system.

 

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EP 49 - Overwork Exacerbates Death

John is back and this week’s episode starts with an update on the status of the ongoing uprising in Colombia, followed by a general strike in occupied Palestine and workers actions around the world standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people.  We follow up with striking workers at a Virginia Volvo Truck plant who overwhelmingly voted to reject a proposed business friendly contract, cover a series of recent dystopian moves from Amazon including the launch of a new “AmaZen mindfulness program”, and discuss the “shocking” new science linking being worked into the ground with higher risk of early death.  Finally, we close out on the ways the CDC’s recent handling of mask guidelines screws over workers, and congratulate two groups of ski patrollers who recently voted to unionize in Colorado and Montana.

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Overtime Episode 1 PREVIEW - Detroit: I Do Mind Dying

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On this solo episode, Dan reads several sections from Detroit: I Do Mind Dying, a history of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, and discusses what we can learn from a criminally under-analyzed movement. The League represented an advanced attempt to unify the class struggle on the shop floor with social struggles in broader society, and a powerful pushback against entrenched bureaucratic business friendly union leadership. The first in a future series of deep dive 'Overtime' episodes into labor history, here we examine what about the League’s practice worked, what didn’t, the historical context in which the movement took place, and what parallels can be drawn to struggles today.

Finally Got The News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hGfZBaFHwo

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EP 48 - Strike Breaking Soldier Scabs w/ Ethan (Invent the Future/Red Game Table)

This week’s episode has a bit of a shuffle as John is busy moving, but Lina and Dan were lucky enough to be joined by special guest Ethan from Invent the Future and Red Game Table!  We start out with a follow-up on the uprising currently happening in Colombia, then move to the governor of Connecticut calling out the National Guard to act as scabs to break a potential strike at nursing homes. Next we discuss an upcoming McDonald’s strike on May 19 for $15/hr, Amazon drivers being forced to choose between driving safely and keeping their jobs, and the nationwide push by the ruling class to end unemployment benefits to force people to work for less than a living wage.  We close out covering workers quitting a Maine Dollar General and calling to overthrow capitalism on the way out. As mentioned during the meme review, 

Gaza Fights For Freedom is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnZSaKYmP2s

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Ethan (@utopologist) co-hosts Invent the Future (@proletarianinfo) and GMs Red Game Table (@RedGameTable)

EP 47 PREVIEW - Breakin' The Law

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On this week’s episode, John, Lina, and Dan follow up on a successful union drive at Maine’s largest hospital, and workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island working to build an independent union with lessons from the BAmazon drive.  Next, we discuss the president of NYU running to the parents of grad students to complain about them going on strike, and bus drivers going on wildcat strike in Mississippi.  Our main story this week is the ongoing general strike and protests across Colombia over the past week in response to regressive taxes on the working class, the attempted privatization of Colombia’s healthcare system, and violent police repression.  Finally, we applaud In These Times’ call to get rid of no-strike clauses in union contracts.

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EP 46 - This Week's Dailies

Sign the Trader Joe's Employee Petition here: https://www.coworker.org/petitions/trader-joe-s-crew-members-demand-no-cuts-to-wages-and-healthcare-coverage-be-returned?fbclid=IwAR1swxthYfSMbaVrigvusuRZEK2-Yql0QHscE-9xqFp49Rm05Xf1HBMRMuU

This week’s episode starts with an update on the ongoing United Steelworkers strike against ATI in multiple states.  Then John, Lina and Dan discuss a petition by Trader Joe’s workers aimed at making benefits gained during the pandemic permanent, Joe Biden raising the minimum wage for federal contractors and starting a labor task force, and several major unions threatening to withhold funds from Democrats who don’t support the PRO Act. In our main story, we cover the awful working conditions of drivers for Walmart’s gig service, Spark, and how it seems to combine all the worst aspects of the various gig companies into one.  Finally, we close out with an update on the Indian Farmers’ Movement, staying strong five months on.

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