UCOMM Live

Updates on the John Deere strike including one member being killed and the NY Attorney General steps in to stop Pinkertons.

Trevor Bidelman, Local 3G President joins the show to discuss his members' strike at Kellogg's. The workers have been on strike since the beginning of October as they fight for a fair contract. Donate to their Strikefund: https://msha.ke/bctgm/#strike-funds

Vermont State Labor Council AFL-CIO President David Van Deusen joins the show to talk guns, fascism, and the importance of focusing on organizing.

C David Cottrill, an IATSE 488 Business Agent and Political/Legislative Coordinator, joins the show to talk about why his 60,000 person union could go on strike as early as next week due to crazy hours that they are forced to work and low pay.

The Nabisco strike may be over, but another strike has begun at Heaven Hill Distillery and Cops warn of Violence at September 18th rally.

Biden met with automakers about electric vehicles, but Tesla was not there due to their anti-union activities. Plus the IBEW has won a decade-long fight to get the first contract with Comcast and the NLRB may be able to make card check a reality after card check legislation continues to be stalled in the Legislature.

A union steamfitter and a UPS employee are the two latest people to be arrested for taking part in the attack on the United States Capital.

President Biden is mandating vaccines, but unions are pushing back saying that this needs to be bargained. Plus OSHA has issued a $1M fine to a Georgia Poultry plant that killed 6 workers

We have Randy Korgan, the National Director of Organizing Amazon from the Teamsters calling in to discuss their plan to organize Amazon workers nationwide.

The Teamsters are going after Amazon, which is reporting sky-high injury rates. The Supreme Court issues yet another anti-union decision, while Biden announces who the deciding vote on the NLRB will be.

Phil Cohen calls in to talk about what President Biden can do to fix the NLRB. Right to work is defeated in New Hampshire, California union elects a controversial new leader to lead a 90,000 member union, and the UFCW inks the first national cannabis union contract.

Plus environmentalist union-busting, regulating self-driving cars, and the White House Task Force looks at how to promote organizing.

Teamsters notch big win against CEO pay, Biden sets up union taskforce, unions say no money to Democrats who don't support the PRO Act and much more on this week's UCOMM Live with Kris LaGrange.

Thursday, April 8th is the PRO Act Digitial Day of Action, find out what you need to do to get this important bill passed. Amazon, Tesla, and Google are all in trouble with the NLRB over union busting charges. President Biden has released a massive infrastructure bill that will put millions of union members to work. Minor League Baseball has started and players are getting paid below minimum wages, find out why.

A look at 20 things that the American Rescue Plan does for workers, Senate confirms Marty Walsh, Amazon violates NLRB rules, and the Supreme Court is hearing a union case.

Boycott Amazon has been trending this week as consumers stay away from Amazon to support the workers organizing in Alabama. The PRO Act passed the House this week, but faces an uncertain future in the Senate. Right to Work was defeated in Montana and Colorado.

On UCOMM Live with Kris LaGrange Thursday 2/25 at 12 noon ET, we got Jay Malone, the Political Director for the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation, welcoming back Vinny Alvarez, President of the NYC CLC and also welcoming back Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers.

A bill to strengthen apprenticeships has passed the House of Representatives, find out what it does and how it makes pre-apprenticeships and youth apprenticeships stronger. The PRO Act has been introduced, Evan Papp from Empathy Media Labs comes on to discuss what needs to be done to get it passed. Amazon workers in Alabama are organizing, we hear from two of the workers' thanks to The Valley Labor Report. Houston hates firefighters, find out why.

IBEW Local 3's Chris Erikson comes on to talk about the Biden Presidency and how his local union is making it through COVID. We also take a look at the Executive Orders Biden has signed including an OSHA standard for COVID, Union membership increasing, and we list the insurgents who have lost their jobs after storming the Capitol.

Labor has played an integral role in getting the vaccine out to the public, but they also built the facilities that made the vaccine. Find out more about the role they have played. Trumpers attacked the Capitol, killed a cop, and are now going to jail. Did you have one on your job? Joe Biden has appointed Marty Walsh to run the Labor Department, Pete Buttigieg to run Transportation, and Miguel Cardona to run the Education Department. Josh Slaughter calls in to give us his take on these appointments. UCOMM PAC's Worker to Worker campaign helped to turn union voters out in Georgia. Find out more about it and what it means for the PRO Act.

Plus Southwest announces layoffs, NFLPA thinks they can get the season finished without a bubble, the IBEW is training fire departments on how to deal with solar panels, organizing wins from DC to Guam, and teachers are being moved to the front of the line for the COVID vaccine. If you are buying books for the holidays, support a union, independent bookseller that is facing hard times. 7.5% of your purchase will go directly to their worker relieft fund. Buy here: https://ilwulocal5.com/Support/

Workers at an Alabama warehouse are organizing with RWDSU, while the company has decided to hire the union-busting Pinkerton firm to spy on workers. Trump is going after your tips and is trying to prevent unions from organizing on company property. In Georgia, a big Senate race will decide control of the Senate and nurses are striking in New York.

The Building Trades secure a deal to build offshore wind plants, North Dakota is forcing nurses to work while sick with COVID, Biden shows his union muscle to CEOs, and who will lead the Departments of Education and Labor?

27 union leaders will help decide the future of our nation as they join 15 different agency review teams. Additionally, two labor leaders have been appointed to the full transition team by President-elect Biden. The PRO Act will become law if Democrats win two Senate seats in Georgia. Find out what the PRO Act is and who is running. What happens if Trump refuses to leave the White House? We have the answers.

As of this recording, the President hasn't been chosen yet, but we do know that union members turned out big in states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Nevada. However some of the Republicans elected to lower offices are pretty anti-union. Plus the AFL-CIO is demanding that all ballots be counted.

CEOs at Marvel and Home Depot are supporting Trump and spending millions to do it. The Proud Boys are sending out emails threatening swing voters in Florida. CBA's are getting shorter thanks to COVID-19 and GOP's racism and fear message will be their demise in November.

Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy calls in to talk about the work they are doing to turn the Lone Star State Blue and how labor pushed Beto O'Rourke to be a better candidate and not take labor for granted. Josh Slaughter also calls in to talk about 11 union officials being arrested on bribery and an editorial attacking PLA's. Plus Amy Coney Barrett doesn't think using the N Word creates a hostile work environment, a building collapse in Houston, and the failure of OSHA to protect workers during COVID-19.

Trump is attacking union's ability to organize, sign neutrality agreements with employers, and limiting federal unions' ability to bargain for their members. Plus teachers and staff at Brooklyn Friends went on strike this week after their bosses tried to decertify their union and guess what? They Won! UCOMM PAC also premieres their newest ad geared towards electrical workers and the NFLPA wants to ban turf.

IUOE Local 150 is suing for the right to not represent freeloaders in the union, but some big national unions are opposed to the move. NYC principals are asking the state to take over the city school system, and union grocers are getting a big payout from Stop & Shop as a thank you for working during the pandemic.

A new poll shows Biden can't count on union voters, especially building trades members, in a number of important swing states. For any voters still on the fence, we go over the 50 things Trump has done to hurt workers and we take a look at the 30,000 airline workers who will lose their jobs on October 1 if Trump and McConnell don't reach a stimulus deal.

The House is investigating corruption at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). A judge in Boston says unions can't use agency fees to pay for lobbying, but another Judge says unions don't have to pay back agency fees collected before the Janus decision. Plus Trump's ICE is forcing Latinas to have hysterectomy's and his administration is taking money from a fund to take care of firefighter who are sick with 9/11 related diseases. Also get a sneak peek at the launch of UCOMM PAC's first ad attacking Trump. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Joe Biden promises to be the most union-friendly president ever, Will Attig of the Union Veterans Council calls in to tell us about his reaction to Trump's comments, ABC endorses Trump, Amazon hires two union-busters while an elite private school in NYC decertifies their staff union.

Bobby Holst of Local 3 IBEW comes on to talk about his piece on why union members should support Joe Biden. At the same time, NYC Police are supporting Trump and their union may have an issue with the FEC. Plus Teachers in NYC may strike over school reopening and a historic PLA will ensure middle class work for thousands of new families.

Lowe's is hiring a full-time union buster, union leaders at the Post Office say sorting equipment is being removed, union-busters are hosting seminars for tech execs, and Uncle Joe picks Kamala Harris to restore our nation back to respectability.

Austin Keyser the National Political Director of the IBEW calls in this week to talk about what their union is doing to get Joe Biden elected. Amazingly Trump is not the first unfit President, we have a few others that embarrassed our nation. With the 2020 election moving to vote by mail, can we trust our mailman? Plus worker centers are under attack while immigration judges win a big case against the Department of Justice. Plus UCOMM's Karen of the week and Kris is trying out to be the Marlins catcher.

Three union activists from Portland call in to talk about the federal mercenaries that Trump has sent to quell peaceful protests in Portland. They tell the real story about what it is like to be on the ground for the protests. Teachers across the country are being forced to put their lives on the line and go back to schools in just a few short weeks, the AFT says if their schools aren't safe they will support teacher's strikes. Plus baseball is back and the Astro's are facing repercussions for their sign-stealing scandal. We have a video of the incident.

Former Ohio Governor, Presidential Candidate, and Right to Work supporter John Kasich is speaking at the Democratic National Convention, America's Workforce Radio host Ed Flash Fernec calls in to explain. Shockingly police unions are supporting Trump, while Federal unions are supporting Joe Biden. We are having problems at the UCOMM studios with our mailman, he refuses to wear a mask, what do you think we should do about it?

With race issues making headlines every day, we take a look at white privilege through an ironworker meme. Trump's NLRB is also allowing bosses to search employees cars, Michigan is making it hard to work union, Trump has no plan to reopen schools, and Joe Biden releases an energy plan that actually saves union jobs

Jimmy Shillitto calls in to discuss their new contract at Con Ed. Is Trump telling the National Guard to not bargain in good faith? Chris Searcy calls in to talk about it. Mary Vines of UFCW Local 400 calls in to tell us about how Tyson's Chicken wasn't providing PPE for their members, but her unions work seems to have fixed the issue. Seattle labor kicks out their cop union, workforces are nervous about COVID-19 in Vegas and Orlando, Trump calls VA workers thieves and baseball is here!

Local Union President Colin Maycock calls in to talk about some transparency issues his Local is having with their AFSCME Council amid constant threats from the Freedom Foundation. AFSCME did not respond to comment leading us to believe that soft corruption does exist. Also calling in is Brandon Patterson, an up and coming politico in Staten Island. He is Labor's candidate for NYS Assembly.  According to Gallup Americans are not proud to be Americans so we look at why that might be plus we expose the 20 targets of who we need to get the HEROES Act passed in Washington. Labor is marching with Black Lives Matter in DC on Juneteenth and the MLB Players Union needs our support and understanding in their ongoing fight with the greedy owners in MLB.

Vinny Alvarez, the President of the New York Central Labor Council, calls in to talk about the Heroes Act and how it can unite the nation. The AFL-CIO decides not to kick out police unions from the national federation. The AFL-CIO also passed a resolution this week calling on the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to resign. 1.5 million public employees are laid off thanks to COVID-19 and the MLB Commissioner is promising there will baseball in 2020.

On this week's show, we have AFL-CIO Veterans Council Executive Director Will Attig calls in to talk about his call for Defense Secretary Mark Esper to resign after Trump ordered National Guard troops to fire teargas and rubber bullets on peaceful protestors. Bonnie Sulton, a Criminal Justice Policy expert calls in to talk about the ongoing protests surrounding the death of George Floyd and what can be done to stop it. Brandon Parker of the NFLPA comes on to talk about the NFLPA's Community MVP campaign and players taking a stand on Black Lives Matter.

Loretta VanPelt, a teacher in Minneapolis, reports in from the protests in her city over the police killing of George Floyd. She lets us know about the lack of accountability from the Mayor, the County Attorney, and the police union President. Plus the AFL-CIO endorses former Vice President Joe Biden, we look at why Trump flags and union logos don't mix, and the MLB Players refuse to accept 80% cuts from their billionaire owners.

On this week's show we have Frank Jacobs, the Business Manager of IBEW Local 1 in St. Louis on a campaign to stop the raids from the Carpenters union. We also have the New Jersey Department of Labor Commissioner Robert Angelo on the job losses in the state and what the Garden State is doing about. Plus the Freedom Foundation is going after union firefighters, the Chicago Police union elects a madman and Howard Stern speaks out against Trump

Ed Sills of the Texas AFL-CIO calls in to let us know what workers in Texas are doing as the state reopens. A Vice President at Amazon is quitting over the company's union-busting activities, polls show Americans want financial help for the US Postal Service, and Trump's trade war with China has sent more jobs to Mexico.

On this week's show we have Harold Phillips, an actor who was on Grimm and Leverage. He is talking to us about SAG-AFTRA, the Labor Radio Network, and May Day job actions. We also have Chris Erikson Jr, of Local 3 IBEW talking about the 7 PM salute. Senator Mitch McConnell wants blue states to declare bankruptcy so that cops and teachers don't get paid. Plus LaGrange has some thoughts on Trumpers.

Comedian Vic DiBitetto goes on a rant about people not adhering to social distancing and stay at home orders, IBEW members are having a sleepover at their power plants, unions are coming to the rescue and stepping up during the pandemic. Of course, employers aren't and instead, they are lobbying Congress to protect them from sick workers. Plus LaGrange thinks the Packers are getting Joe Burrow in the NFL Draft, are they trading up or is Burrow's about to have the worst day ever?

Glen Casey calls in to talk about NY Governor Andrew Cuomo's handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Steve LeVine of Medium calls in to talk about how America is about to witness a huge growth of unions following the outbreak and Dan calls in to talk about his Thank You to Bernie Sanders. Plus grocery store workers are dying and will we have baseball this year?

Long Island Railroad President Phil Eng calls in to praise the workers of the nation's largest commuter rail line as the work to transport healthcare workers into the epicenter of the pandemic. There are also companies stepping up to help the United States meet their PPE needs, Local 3 IBEW prepares for the long game, and Trump wants you to decertify your union.

Dr. Mancuso calls in to talk about COVID-19. Multiple teachers union leaders call in to discuss Governor Cuomo's Executive Order about Spring Break and talk about the role that their members are playing in stopping the spread. Amazon is firing workers after a walkout, Hobby Lobby is firing workers by email, and union grocery store workers are getting hazard pay.

NFL PA President JC Tretter calls into this week's show to talk about taking over the union, their new contract, and what led him to lead the union. With everyone working from home, some interesting groups have been called on to step up and work during these trying times. We take a look at who has been deemed essential.