Labor Radio-Podcast Weekly

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.

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

MLK and labor: his last speech

This week, on the 55th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. while he was in Memphis supporting striking sanitation workers, AFSCME, the union those sanitation workers belonged to, released the I AM STORY Podcast, which retells the story of a labor struggle that rocked a city and altered our history. Episode 1 is available now on all major podcast platforms.

Then, on Building Bridges Radio: Mike Honey on Dr. King and his last speech in Memphis.

On America’s Workforce Radio, Michigan State Senator Darrin Camilleri discusses his successful Right to Work repeal bill.

Then, we’ll hear about green jobs for Rhode Island on the Labor Vision podcast.

Roswell Hub is a podcast from a Teamster in Roswell, Georgia; today we feature an episode exploring Why must you work as instructed?

Then, on the Valley Labor Report, Max Fraser talks about his book Hillbilly Highway.

Our last segment today is from the America Works podcast, from the Library of Congress, and we’ll hear from Dairy Farm Herdsperson Joyce Godbout.

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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.

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

I AM Story; Memphis ‘68

A discussion of the continuing Pittsburgh Gazette strike on Today in Pittsburgh Labor.

The Union Strong podcast reports on a healthcare worker rally in Albany, New York.

Then, a discussion of education and training programs with Matthew Clark on the BCTGM Voices Project.

A win for unions and indigenous communities in Brazil, on the Solidarity Center Podcast.

And in our final segment, Cam Juarez talks about growing up as one of "Cesar's kids" on Words and Work.

We’ve got a special bonus track today, from a brand-new podcast that launches next Tuesday, April 4: The I AM Story Podcast follows the history of the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike as told by those who experienced it first-hand. Produced by AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the I AM Story Podcast builds a narrative that envelops listeners, transporting them back to the streets of Memphis, the sanctuary of Mason Temple, the homes of the workers and the union hall where these American heroes decided to take a stand against injustice.

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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.

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

Labor Power & Strategy

From We Rise Fighting, a report on the strikes in France over increasing the retirement age.

On the ILO Future of Work podcast, Janine Berg and Iván Williams Jiménez discuss why key workers are undervalued.

From the Heartland Labor Forum, authors from the new book Labor Power & Strategy, which focuses on how organized labor can build its power to take on corporate America and win.

On El Cafecito del Día, a conversation on book bans with Noel Candelaria, Secretary Treasurer of the NEA.

On Stick Together, stories of working women in Australia.

And in our final segment, from the SAG-AFTRA podcast, producers of the SAG-AFTRA awards explain what went on behind the scenes of this year's show.

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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.

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

Elon Musk’s company town

Elon Musk plans to set up a company town; The Rick Smith Show reminds us of the dark history of company towns.

Then, on America’s Workforce Radio, Tim Burga, President of the Ohio AFL-CIO, tells us about new legislation to improve safety on the railroads.

Next we go to Brazil, for a report on 39 workers rescued from modern slavery on the Solidarity Center Podcast.

From the FairWork podcast, a discussion with Heather Berg about how the internet has changed sex work.

Our final segment today is from the new season of the America Works podcast, which introduces us to Jude Bejarano, a cement plant worker in Evansville, Pennsylvania

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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.

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Edited/produced by Chris Garlock; social media guru Mr. Harold Phillips.

Extremism in Topeka

The Kansas Reflector’s Sherman Smith reports on extremism in Topeka on theHeartland Labor Forum.

Donna Murch and Todd Wolfson discuss Rutgers workers' industrial unionism strategy on The Dig.

The Oscars are this Sunday; actor and podcaster Harold Phillips highlights some of the more labor-focused movies and TV shows on Labor Goes To The Movies.

After a 2-year hiatus, we’re very pleased to welcome back the Working History podcast, which spotlights the work of leading labor historians, activists, and practitioners focusing especially on the U.S. and global South; today we’ll hear Jefferson Cowie on his new book Freedom's Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power.

We wrap up this week’s show with The Radical Songbook podcast and a 1996 song about striking hospital workers that’s still very relevant today.

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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.

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Edited/produced by Chris Garlock; social media guru Mr. Harold Phillips.

The Tractor Princess and The Cake Lady

April Lott, Vice President of the South Carolina AFL-CIO and President of AFGE Local 3627, joins the America’s Work Force Union podcast to talk about the uphill battle she faces, not just from the anti-labor rhetoric but also as a black female in a union in South Carolina, the state with the lowest labor density.

In the latest episode of Solidarity Works: A Podcast From The United Steelworkers, Vice President of Human Affairs Kevin Mapp and Pride at Work Co-President Brittani Murray talk about uniting workers across race, class, and gender to build a labor coalition that lasts.

Then, on the Green and Red podcast, Scott talks with Truthout’s Candice Bernd about her latest article “Armed Community Groups Are Defending Texas Drag Queens From Christian Fascists.”

Valerie Watson Johnson is better known as The Cake Lady; we hear more from the Lunch with Labor show.

In the latest episode of Re:Work, Antoinette Yvonne DeOcampo-Lechtenberg paints a picture of growing up in a rural farming community in the 1960s and 1970s, as the daughter of a Filipino immigrant from the Manong generation. “The Tractor Princess” draws on excerpts from an oral history interview that’s a part of a community archive and research initiative called Watsonville is in the Heart, which highlights the stories of Filipino families from the greater Pajaro Valley region in California.

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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.

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“A Hell of Wall Street’s Making”

Two reports focusing on the recent train derailments:
Jeff Kurtz of Railroad Workers United talks with the We Rise Fighting podcast about the roots of the problem, and then on the Working People podcast, rail worker Matt Weaver says East Palestine was “A Hell of Wall Street's Making.”

Then, “Teasing the tech,” things teachers should know about the impact of education technologies; that’s from the EdVoices podcast, put out by Education International, the voice of teachers and other education employees across the globe.

Next, why not riot? The Green and Red podcast talks with Ben Case, author of a provocative new book, “Street Rebellion: Resistance Beyond Violence and Nonviolence,” which challenges the strategy of non-violent and often non-aggressive protest and makes a case that riots are another tactic to be used by the Left. 

Our final segment today is from the SAG-AFTRA Podcast, which toured the show floors at the CES tech show last month and brings us a closer look at AI and the future of film, the latest trends and innovations that might affect the entertainment industry in the years ahead.
In a related note, the Screen Actors Guild Awards are tomorrow night and you can check out actor and labor podcaster Harold Phillips’ labor picks on today’s Labor Goes to the Movies podcast.

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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.

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

Black History Month at work

February marks Black History Month in the United States and that’s definitely been reflected this last week on the Labor Radio Podcast Network. 

On El Cafecito del Día, Janella Hinds from the United Federation of Teachers in New York discussed the importance of centering Afro-Latina voices within the contemporary labor movement, and the need to address the continued under-representation of black members within positions of union leadership.

The following two shows are really a tale of two different states:
On the OEA Grow Podcast, Natika Samuels interviewed Kevin Adams, a Colorado social studies teacher and the host of the Two Dope Teachers podcast.  Adams discusses the full gamut of activities that are on offer to students during black history month and how to create a positive environment where students feel free to explore questions of culture, politics and heritage in a lively and meaningful way.
By contrast is a new report on the stifling environment that teachers are facing in the Sunshine State on Educating From the Heart, from the Florida Education Association.  Tina and Luke spoke to Raegan Miller, Jabari Hosey, and Jen Cousins, - not professional educators themselves but rather parent advocates and activists – who describe some of the classroom realities faced by teachers when they’re attempting to teach black history, and how parents can respond in productive ways that avoid the shouting and hectoring of adversarial school board meetings.

In the second half of today’s show we go to the Heartland Labor Forum where Bloomberg News’ labor reporter Robert Lafolla brings us an update from the National Labor Relations Board.

We stay in the Midwest where WORT community radio in Madison, Wisconsin, reports on recent charges of a hostile work environment at the Henry Vilas Zoo.  It has nothing to do with the animals.

Then we visit New Zealand where Auckland union representative Justine Sachs digs into the mailbag on Red Dead Redemption and addresses the age old question of what to do when your workplace has a moldy carpet.

We began with Black History Month and that’s where we end today's show, with a trailer for AFSCME’s new I AM Podcast, a forthcoming series that explores the legacy of the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike.

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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.

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

Three from the UK

Hundreds of thousands of nurses, teachers, and transit workers have taken to the streets in the UK for living wages and against privatization of public services; we’ll hear a report from WorkWeek Radio.

Then, the secret art of negotiation -- why is it an art and not a science? -- on the latest UnionDays, a UK-based podcast that’s returning from hiatus. 

From the Reinventing Solidarity podcast, despite Walmart’s decade-long effort at reforms, the average full-time worker there earns just under $32,000 a year. Author Rick Wartzman explores what this suggests about the systemic failures of capitalism in the 21st century.

On Writing podcast host Greg Iwinski talks to screenwriter Tony Gilroy who’s currently the showrunner and executive producer of the Star Wars series ANDOR. Gilroy talks about how his music career influenced his work as a screenwriter, why empathy is the key to imagination, and the similarities between being a showrunner and a dairy farmer.

We wrap up this week’s show with a poem by Kathryn Poulsen Wood from The Radical Songbook podcast, and, from Labor History in 2:00, the day known in Great Britain as the Battle of Saltley Gate.

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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.

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