Labor Radio-Podcast Weekly

America Works; Building Bridges; Union Dues; The Gig; En Masse; Willamette Wake Up; Heartland Labor Forum

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

Labor History in 2’s report on the very first Labor Day parade; America Works, the new podcast from the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress;  Howard Bryant says "Walkouts Jolt Pro Sports As Players Take a Stand Against Police Shootings" on the Building Bridges radio show; UnionDues, the UK’s only all-things-union podcast; The Gig looks at the future of work as it wraps up its first season; En Masse on trying to right what is wrong; Willamette WakeUp tackles the issue of corporate blanket immunity, and the Heartland Labor Forum on whether there really is a plot to privatize the U.S. mail.

Edited by Evan Papp of the Empathy Media Lab; produced by Chris Garlock; social media guru: Harold Phillips

Working People; Break Time Breakdown; In The Gap; Talking SMART; Solidarity Works; The Docker Podcast

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

If you are going through a union drive and you find that your boss is using some of these tactics, record everything. Put your phone in your pocket, record what they're saying to you, record your conversations with management because that's pretty much the only reason that we have this story is because we documented everything.
This audio is from the Working People podcast, which took an inside look at unionbusting in North Carolina, and then became a target themselves. After the podcast featured recordings of the captive-audience meetings held by management at No Evil Foods, a vegan meat producer in North Carolina, the company threatened to sue and got the podcast host to pull down the show.

It's hard to change your views on anything that, like, shocks your core belief, man. Yeah. And I mean, that is hard and I've definitely been there myself. Yeah. Part of it, part of it is admitting that you were wrong. Or that you were just taught wrong.
On The Breaktime Breakdown podcast, host Jeremy Waugh and SMART Local 110 member Matt Gross get up close and personal in the current national debate over social justice, protests and overcoming their own inherent racism.

Women, especially black women, have been a part of organizing together for many, many years, even though there were times post the civil rights movement, women, especially black women, were excluded from labor organizations generally.
In 2020, Black women still only make 62 cents on the dollar compared to white, non-Hispanic men. In The Gap is a 12-episode podcast series presented by In These Times in recognition of these ongoing disparities. It’s a gripping podcast – a new addition to the Labor Radio Podcast Network -- “about how and why Black women aren’t getting their green.”

When I first announced that I was going to run for business manager, I was told by some of the members, ‘You know, we respect you for wanting to run for this, but, respectfully, we need a man in there.’
The women at work theme continues in this centennial year of women’s suffrage on the latest edition of Talking SMART, with a conversation with female leaders and activists in the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation union who have taken the lead in creating new opportunities for women in the building trades.

I can't separate being Black from being a woman; I have to do both of these things at the same time. And so now that's part of the work that we have to do is recognize that racism still exists. In the best of hearts, the progressive left, White people have to, like, look at themselves and examine how we played into the system and contributed or sustain racism and sexism within our union.
That’s Coalition of Labor Union Women president Elise Bryant, on the Solidarity Works podcast, on Women, Work, and Wielding Power in 2020.

I guess this could be a lot like 1934; what was happening with the Great Depression and everything that was going on, and struggle was built out of hard times.
Willie Adams, president of the International Longshore Workers Union, takes the long view on the current crisis, on The Docker Podcast, another new member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.

And on Labor History in 2: 
Did you know that one of the main organizers for the march was a man by the name of Bayard Rustin? 
Rick Smith on "The Man You’ve Never Heard Of, But Probably Should Have."

Edited by Evan Papp of the Empathy Media Lab, a production house, artist's studio and an event space in Washington DC with a focus on labor, political economy, and art & culture. Produced by Chris Garlock; chris@laborradionetwork.org
Social media guru: Harold Phillips

Rick Smith Show; Union Strong; Labor Radio on KBOO; Building Bridges; Workers Beat; Postal Views Podcast

This week’s show focuses on the attacks on one of the most popular institutions in America: the U.S. Postal Service:

But Trump understands that the people want to vote him out of office, so he's doing everything he can to suppress the mail. They've already removed countless amounts of voting machines from districts that would vote Democratic in the upcoming elections, but now they're suppressing votes through the mail. They’re sabotaging the delivery of the mail, they know exactly what you're doing, and this is calculated.
That’s Cindy Heyward, Legislative Director for APWU Local 89 on The Rick Smith show this week.

You know, the old saying goes, don't put off tomorrow what you can do today because it's not like the mail goes away.
Bill Cook, President of the Northeastern New York Branch 358 of the National Association of Letter Carriers sets the record straight on Union Strong, the podcast from the New York State AFL-CIO.

Not only is the USPS going to deliver all the absentee and the voting by mail in the general in November but it also delivers things like prescriptions and other really key things to areas that might not be as profitable for a more traditional for-profit delivery company like a FedEx.
On Labor Radio on KBOO, hosts Michael Cathcart and Elliott Gilliland explain how president Trump's authoritarian attack on mail-in voting and the Post Office is, at its core, an attack on working people.

The same person that's complaining about mail-in ballots is the same person that admits that he mails in his own ballot. Then it only becomes corrupt when it's everybody else's ballot or when things don't look good for him in the polls.
On the Building Bridges radio show, New York Metro Area Postal Union president Jonathan Smith says our right to vote was enshrined in blood and we can’t let Trump kill the postal service and sabotage our election by taking away our right to vote by mail.

Congress must provide $25 billion and immediate COVID related relief. Postal management service cuts must be stopped and reversed. The postal service must work with us to reassure the public that vote by mail is a safe and secure way to vote in November elections.
Postal workers’ demands, on the Worker’s Beat radio show.

Plus, we’ve got two postal service-related labor history items:
There's going to be a lot of mail on the workroom floor before this beat is through.
The Postal Views podcast remembers the Great Postal Strike of 1970…and on Labor History in 2:  
It's been the most dramatic confrontation between industry and organized labor in two decades.
Rick Smith remembers the Teamsters’ successful strike against UPS in 1997.

Edited by Evan Papp of the Empathy Media Lab, a production house, artist's studio and an event space in Washington DC with a focus on labor, political economy, and art & culture. Produced by Chris Garlock; chris@laborradionetwork.org
Social media guru: Harold Phillips

Labor Express Radio; AFT in Action; America's Work Force Radio; Working People; Solidarity Works

On this week’s show…

I think the pandemic really takes a cover off of all the faults in our society.
On Labor Express Radio, excerpts from Haymarket Books recent webinar “Racism is a Public Health Crisis.”

Employers quickly forgot about the sacrifices that those they called heroes made…
The impact of COVID-19 on public employees is the topic on the latest episode of AFT in Action, the podcast from the Connecticut American Federation of Teachers.

I'm driving into work and I'm listening to a local news radio station; Tina Thomas Manning at the time was the superintendent and she was on there being interviewed. She was ticked off because she got up that morning to go into the office and there was this giant rat outside her house, outside the front yard.
From America's Work Force Radio, we hear the latest adventures of Scabby The Rat.

On these stations, they never hear the word union in a positive context.
In a nice bit of Labor radio/Podcast Network synergy, the Working People podcast recently caught up with the Valley Labor Report, a weekly talk radio show airing in Huntsville and Russellville, Alabama.

We have to use our collective power to fight and to fight for these things that are essential, not just for our members, but really for all workers.
the latest Solidarity Works episode connects the 1965 civil rights struggles with today’s battle for the ballot.

We close the show this week with a special treat, Old School Mechanic, the latest song from Spudwrench, "the singing union elevator constructor."

Plus, Labor History in 2: “Run Down Like A Dog”

Edited by Evan Papp of the Empathy Media Lab, a production house, artist's studio and an event space in Washington DC with a focus on labor, political economy, and art & culture. Produced by Chris Garlock; chris@laborradionetwork.org
Social media guru: Harold Phillips

WorkWeek; Heartland Labor Forum; Working People; Valley Labor Report; America's Work Force Radio; Tales of the Resistance

On this week’s show…

If we tell the people that Amazon doesn't care about black lives and they should stop buying from Amazon, how is Jeff Bezos going to make his $13 billion in a day?
WorkWeek Radio covers the August 1 caravan and shutdown of the Amazon warehouse in San Leandro, California over health and wage issues.

Learning is absolutely critical, but we needed to make sure our students and staff are safe.
Kansas City Federation of Teachers’ union president Andrea Flinders talks with the Heartland Labor Forum about going back to school during the pandemic.

I said, let's start bringing the hammer down to show the company that we are paying attention this time and that we are standing together and that we're not willing to go without a fight.
Maine native and shipbuilder Jami Bellefleur talks with the Working People podcast about her life and work, and about the ongoing strike at Bath Iron Works.

Unions have played a big role in producing a sort of interracial solidarity based labor movement and we try to show this statistically.
On the Valley Labor Report, researcher Jake Grumbach discusses a new study about the effects of union membership on racial resentment.

We could be in a situation now where a lot of people are going to have to upgrade their skills because the sector that they relied on, maybe won't come back or it's not going to come back for a very long time.
Dave Megenhardt, Executive Director for the United Labor Agency in Cleveland, Ohio, talked with America’s Work Force Radio this week about the virtual job training fair it hosted recently.

The factory closed down, the boss moved it to some other country. Now pop is cranky all the time, him and mom fight, and pop says it's all because of capitalism.
Little Jimmy finds out what cookies have to do with capitalism in the latest episode of Tales of the Resistance from the San Francisco Mime Troupe.

Plus, Labor History in 2: “Murdered for Standing Up.”

Edited by Evan Papp of the Empathy Media Lab, a production house, artist's studio and an event space in Washington DC with a focus on labor, political economy, and art & culture. Produced by Chris Garlock; chris@laborradionetwork.org
Social media guru: Harold Phillips

CTU Speaks; My Labor Radio; Brazil Worker’s Podcast; Hero Americana; Speaking of Dignity; Stronger Together

On this week’s show…

What's evil about privatization is that privatization destroys what belongs to all of us.
Author and historian Diane Ravitch talks about her new book, “Slaying Goliath” on CTU Speaks.

The new postmaster general is actively working to destroy the product, the service and the integrity of the United States postal service.
That’s from the latest My Labor Radio podcast, out of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Workers are losing rights, are losing jobs, are losing lives. One thousand Brazilians have been dying every day, due to coronavirus for the last three weeks; 40 million Brazilians have no jobs.
That’s from the Brazil Worker’s Podcast, one of the Labor Radio Podcast Network’s newest members. The Brazil Worker’s Podcast  is an English language broadcast on labor news and current affairs in Brazil, Latin America and opinions on the struggle of the working class around the world.

I believe there's power in numbers. And when you got the numbers, you can do a lot of things.
Reverend Edward Pinkney, on another brand-new Network member, Hero Americana, from Empathy Media Lab. Hero Americana focuses on the eternal struggle between labor, capital, race, and political economy.

I was coming across particular workers, in our neighborhood, in the grocery store and I just wondered, well, what would it look like to hear directly from them?
That’s from Speaking of Dignity, Workers on the Front Lines and the Common Good, the new podcast from The Center for Social Concerns at the University of Notre Dame. This podcast aims to listen to the voices of those workers whose labor we recognize as essential but who rarely get an opportunity to be heard in a public forum.

You need to be dependable and inclusive and people have to be able to trust you.
Micki Varney, Chief Steward for SEIU 503 in Oregon, talks about what it takes to be a union steward, on the latest episode of Stronger Together.

Plus: Labor History in 2; Another Working Class Martyr

Edited by Evan Papp of the Empathy Media Lab, a production house, artist's studio and an event space in Washington DC with a focus on labor, political economy, and art & culture. Produced by Chris Garlock; chris@laborradionetwork.org
Social media guru: Harold Phillips

America’s Work Force Radio; Union Strong; The Heartland Labor Forum; Crimes of Capital; WorkWeek Radio

On this week’s show…

If we want students back in school learning, we have to have all that testing and tracing and other pieces done, so we know what the situation is and we can figure out how to deal with it.
Ohio Federation of Teachers President Melissa Cropper talking with America’s Work Force Radio about how difficult it has been for teachers and schools to renegotiate their re-openings in the fall.

Six feet doesn't necessarily mean you're all okay. You know, the virus doesn't come up to the six foot and go ‘Stop right there.’
Geraldine Stella, Health & Safety Specialist at the New York State Public Employees Federation, discusses workplace safety in the office setting on Union Strong, the official podcast of the New York State AFL-CIO.

My biggest thing is just having a voice and a safe environment to have that voice.
If our local healthcare workers really are so essential, why are the bosses trampling on their rights as workers? Find out how workers in the Midwest are fighting back, on The Heartland Labor Forum, Kansas City's only program about the workplace.

We’re siblings that love podcasts and hate capitalism.
Crimes of Capital – one of the newest members of the Labor Radio/Podcast Network -- is a weekly podcast dedicated to uncovering the real reason behind many of the world’s biggest crimes being committed against humanity.

And this monstrosity is created to enshrine the concept of the Lost Cause and to say to white workers, who are moving in the direction of class consciousness and interracial solidarity, to say to them, ‘Hang with the powerful white people. The powerful white people will look after you, you will have access to privilege and advantage, cut loose those black people that you have been working with.’
Historian Peter Rachleff on WorkWeek Radio, on the Robert E. Lee memorial and the history of the Knights of Labor in Richmond Virginia.

Plus: Labor History in 2; The Beginning of ‘Our’ Interests.

Edited by Evan Papp of the Empathy Media Lab, a production house, artist's studio and an event space in Washington DC with a focus on labor, political economy, and art & culture. Produced by Chris Garlock; chris@laborradionetwork.org
Social media guru: Harold Phillips

Activate LIVE; Firefighter Kingdom; Labor Express Radio; The Break Time Breakdown; America's WorkForce

On this week’s show…

"We are tired of hearing about all the jobs that are being re-shored. When we know our members are out of work, when we know their jobs are still going to China, when we know their jobs are still going to Mexico and what we really need are real solutions that are going to put U.S. workers back to work and put our economy back together."
Owen Herrnstadt, Chief of Staff at the Machinists union, takes a look at Joe Biden's new manufacturing proposal on the latest Activate LIVE podcast…

"Our specialty is fire. We don't go out and look for pulling people over for DUI’s. We don't look for domestic violence, but when we do show up on scene, it's, it's incredible because we have the knowledge of being a fireman and we're able to see the fire for what it is."
Arson investigator Captain Ramon Martinez, on the Firefighter Kingdom podcast…

"I've been mentioning on our recent programs how excited I am that Labor Express Radio is now a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network, a network of now over 50, and it keeps growing labor movement orientated radio programs or podcasts from across the USA. I never knew that there were so many of us out there, and that is one of the network's goals; to make all of us more visible to all of you out there. So to celebrate this new partnership, I thought I would provide you a small sample of what the network has to offer, a sort of coast-to-coast tour."
Labor Express Radio host Jerry Mead-Lucero highlights reports from the Work Week podcast on the West Coast, the Heartland Labor Forum in Kansas City, and the Building Bridges radio show in New York City.

You're paying $120 a month to make $2,000. I said 'Go to any non-union company and get that $2,000 from him and h"ave health insurance and have a pension.'"
Mark and Jeremy talk union dues on The Break Time Breakdown podcast…

"This board has overturned well over a dozen precedents. And in every single case -- every single case -- it's been in favor of an employer and against workers in their unions."
Labor lawyer Joyce Goldstein, on the Trump National Labor Relations Board, on America’s Work Force Radio

Plus: Labor History in 2; Chicago Stockyards Workers Kick Off Historic 1919 Strike

Edited by Evan Papp of the Empathy Media Lab, a production house, artist's studio and an event space in Washington DC with a focus on labor, political economy, and art & culture.
Produced by Chris Garlock; chris@laborradionetwork.org; Social media guru: Harold Phillips

Belabored; WorkWeek Radio; Valley Labor Report; The SAG-AFTRA Podcast; We Do The Work

On this week’s show…

“We really just felt like our voices weren't being heard and worse, sort of actually being told to be quiet.”
Gabi DiDonna of the United Museum Workers union, on the Belabored podcast…

“Normally, we tour all over the world doing shows, but now that’s too difficult. So we decided instead it was like, well, what can we do? And so I was like, well, why don't we do radio plays?”
WorkWeek Radio talks with playwright and actor Michael Sullivan about the new San Francisco Mime Troupe production "Tales of Resistance"…

“We don't need a hospital employers to help us ‘poor little nurses,’ help us learn how to vote.”
On The Valley Labor Report, a nurse talks about unionizing her hospital and the process of bargaining the first contract…

“Back in the day, I didn't see myself, you know, a little beige curly haired girl on television, and I needed to make sure that I put myself on TV so that other kids that look like me would see themselves represented.”
On The SAG-AFTRA podcast, actors Michelle Hurd and Jason George continue the discussion of race and media in a time of social transformation and cultural reform…

On We Do The Work, an interview – and songs – from singer George Mann…Plus: Labor History in 2, and sneak previews of The Gig and Labor History Today.

Edited by Evan Papp of the Empathy Media Lab, a production house, artist's studio and an event space in Washington DC with a focus on labor, political economy, and art & culture. Social media guru: Harold Phillips. Produced by Chris Garlock; chris@laborradionetwork.org

Union City Radio; Heartland Labor Forum; Activate Live; My Labor Radio; Labor Express Radio; Working People; The Gig; Tales from Two Blue Collar Workers

On this week’s show, we’ve got a little bit of everything….

Organized labor in the United States has a very checkered history when it comes to issues of race and gender.”
Racial justice, labor and international activist Bill Fletcher on The Heartland Labor Forum…

“If it's in the air, it's in the air, so we all need to work together to make sure that we're all going home as good as we came in in the morning.”
Shaun Trude, Safety and Health Project Coordinator for the Machinists, on how workers can protect themselves and how the union is fighting for even more protections amid COVID-19 on the Activate Live podcast…

“In the rest of the industrialized world, you just have a right to your job.”
Shaun Richman, author of "Tell The Bosses We're Coming,” on the My Labor Radio podcast…

“I do not believe basic income or a guaranteed income is a replacement for the safety net, I believe it's an addition to it.”
Labor Express Radio explores whether Universal Basic Income is a solution to help alleviate some of the worst problems of our economy or a distraction from real solutions…

“The government of South Dakota is anti union, and South Dakota was one of the first Right to Work states.”
Kooper Caraway, President of the Sioux Falls AFL-CIO on the Working People podcast…

“Workers shouldn't have to bear the brunt of a business model that works only when they are exploited.”
On a special extra edition of The Gig podcast, updates on the legal battles by gig workers around the world…

“The train master goes, ‘You're doing kind of a fast there, so what's going on? He goes, ‘I see your sons are running the engine here. Yeah, you might want to slow that down. That's totally a 10-mile-an-hour yard; you're doing already doing 40.”
That’s from a brand-new Labor Radio-Podcast Network member, the Tales from Two Blue Collar Workers podcast.

Plus, Frederick Douglass  on "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" on Union City Radio.

Edited by Evan Papp of the Empathy Media Lab, a production house, artist's studio and an event space in Washington DC with a focus on labor, political economy, and art & culture. Produced by Chris Garlock; chris@laborradionetwork.org. Social media guru: Harold Phillips