Strikes and mergers, plus stories of Black midwives

Leading off this week's show we've got a collaboration between two figures who will be familiar to regular listeners of this show: Errol Schweizer of The Checkout Podcast and Maximilian Alvarez, who hosts the Working People podcast. In recent months Errol has been among the fiercest critics of the proposed merger between grocery giants Kroger and Albertson's.  This past week Errol joined Max on the Working People podcast to talk about his own unique career path, the implications of growing monopolization within the grocery sector, and the pressures faced by retail workers in both the front and back of the shop.

Next, two strike updates, one from New Jersey, the second from northern Victoria. In New Brunswick, three unions representing 9,000 educators, clinicians and librarians walked out last week at Rutgers University in an unprecedented contract action. The We Rise Fighting podcast reviews the latest news and offers their take on what's going on. 

We then turn to the Stick Together podcast from Australia where we hear about the Shepparton cannery workers and their fight for fair pay. Tony Mavromatis, Victorian State Secretary for the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union explains the broad implications of the strike to Annie McLaughlin.

What is the legislative conference and why should we care? We’ll find out
on the PFFA podcast.

Gene Lantz is concerned.  Successive crises in both the US and overseas have, the host of Workers Beat contends, left us at a historical fork in the road where both democracy and the larger international order face continued tumultuous times. 
Gene warns that we are just one crisis away from drastic change.

Finally, despite a long tradition of midwifery in the Black community, which predates the founding of the United States, less than 2% of midwives today are Black. The Re-Work podcast brings us the story of Kim Durdin, who found her calling in reclaiming midwifery and birthwork.

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Highlights from labor radio and podcast shows around the country, part of the national Labor Radio Podcast Network of shows focusing on working people’s issues and concerns.

#LaborRadioPod @AFLCIO @WorkingPod @stick__together @iaff43 @KNON893FM @rework_radio

Edited by Patrick Dixon, produced by Chris Garlock; social media guru Mr. Harold Phillips.