Your Rights At Work; State of the Unions; Union Strong; Solidarity Center Podcast; Fairwork; Belabored

This week we are starting with news fresh off the picket line. BCTGM’s Bakery Workers Local 3G president Trevor Bidelman called into Your Rights at Work from Battle Creek, Michigan. He reports on the strike against Kellogg’s, the demands of the workers, and also builds some solidarity with people calling into the show.

Then, we have Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers on The State of the Unions. Weingarten discusses what’s going on at Capitol Hill and what it means for the labor movement.

Next up, we hear from the New York AFL-CIO’s Union Strong, where the Commissioner of the NY Department of Labor, Roberta Reardon, discusses unemployment as well as how the DOL has been addressing workers safety concerns as more people are going back to work.

For the next two shows we’re going to have to zoom out a bit and look at two different countries and their own informal economies. On the Solidarity Center’s Podcast Brother Gbenga, one of the founders of the Federation of the Informal Workers Organizations of Nigeria speaks from the capital Lagos. Gbenga explains the Nigerian informal economy, its problems, and how his organization helps those who work within it. 

A continent away, the Fairwork Podcast, contextualizes Ukraine’s informal economy with regards to its Soviet history and where its labor movement fits in with its political movements.

Lastly, we are following up with the second part of The Legacy of Occupy Wall Street from Dissent magazine’s Belabored podcast. Guests Ruth Milkman and Nastaran Mohit continue the conversation on the labor movement’s relationship with Occupy and its lasting impacts on social movements today.

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 @NYSAFLCIO @DCLabor @SolidarityCntr @TowardsFairWork @DissentMag

Edited by Patrick Dixon and Melanie Smith; produced by Chris Garlock; social media guru: Harold Phillips with Mel Smith.