Podcasts about Labor notes

At the 39th Constitutional Convention of the United Auto Workers (UAW) in Detroit, Michigan, union delegates debated and affirmed the aggressive direction the UAW has taken under current President Shawn Fain, supporting pushes to increase shop-floor militancy, support new organizing efforts, and take stronger stances on the political crises working people face today. Among the major developments to come out of the UAW Constitutional Convention was a historic vote to divest the union from Israel bonds, which provide financial support to Israel's government as it continues to wage a US-backed campaign of genocidal violence and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians. In this episode, we break down this historic vote and what it means for union members with a panel of rank-and-file workers and members of Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD), a left-wing caucus within the UAW.  Panelists include: Andrew Bergman, a worker at General Motors in Detroit, Michigan, a member of UAW Local 22, and co-chair of UAWD; Navruz Baum, a paralegal in New York, a member of UAW Local 2325, and a member of the UAWD Steering Committee; Margie Thornton, an attorney in Colorado, a member of UAW Local 2320, and a member of the UAWD Steering Committee; and Mike Davis, an auto parts worker in Ohio, a member of UAW Local 2021, and a member of UAWD Additional links/info:  Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD) website, member platform, and donation page Navruz Baum, Daily Struggle, "UAW divests from Israel bonds" Dan DiMaggio & Jane Slaughter, Labor Notes, "Auto worker delegates back union's fighting direction at UAW Convention" Shireen Akram-Boshar, Truthout, "United Auto Workers vote to divest from Israel in historic victory" Featured Music:  Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits:  Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Sean reports back on Labor Note drama!In the fun half, we listen to some of Graham Platner's town hall in an effort to redeem the term ULTRA. Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/c/thiswreckage to hear it!For a Fighting Workers Movement, A Militant Critique of Labor Notes panel: https://youtu.be/lt5X16UQ6bA?is=T_W0N0gkrCqkl9DwNYT piece on how ultra is a slur: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/magazine/ultraprocessed-food-insult.htmlCheck out geese: https://www.geesemag.com/articles/enter-daedalus-2028 https://www.geesemag.com/articles/the-direction-of-determinationPlatner video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjMLrU8mI9AMinnesota 15 legal defense fund: https://chuffed.org/project/186570-minnesota-15-legal-defense-fundSong: New Order - Ultraviolence

Headlines this week from: St Mary's in Chicago, Stanford University, the UAW Convention, Labor Notes, the Rochester Minnesota bus system, TF Green Airport, Embassy Suites Seattle, Salon 1884, and Safeway. The uprising in Bolivia reached a new pitch this week as an agreement was signed with the central union body to roll back privatizations and reforms, but simultaneously the state declared martial law against them. The Labor Notes conference was just held, and we break down some of the hot button issues and organizing lessons that were discussed by the organizers in attendance. Finally, in response to the working class victory in Minneapolis in January against ICE, the FBI this week charged 15 community defenders with a series of trumped up conspiracy charges, but the labor movement has vowed to defend them and continue the fight against ICE terror.   Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

This week on the Labor Radio Podcast Weekly: the Labor Heritage Power Hour live from last weekend's Great Labor Arts Exchange at Labor Notes to explore how culture builds worker power; Grocery Nerds talks Whole Foods union organizing; Economics for the People examines labor organizing in newsrooms; Next Generation Carriers celebrates Pride Month and queer labor history; and Class Matters revisits the Labor Party experiment 30 years later. Plus Shows You Should Know and Chris, Harold and Patrick throw away the script! Subscribe, listen, and follow us at laborradionetwork.org #LaborRadioPod #1u #UnionStrong #WorkersVoices #SolidarityMedia @AFLCIO Help us build sonic solidarity by clicking on the share button below. 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. Produced by Chris Garlock, Patrick Dixon and Harold Phillips.

The second episode from the Hyatt Regency in Rosemont, Illinois for Labor Notes 2026 convention. This time Sean sits down with fellow workers JoJo and Gav from ILC Chicago to discuss various panels that they had just seen. In a surprise appearance, friend from New York, Joyce of the dissident Teamsters Mobilize stops by to talk about the trouble their group had at the conference due to TM's adversarial stance towards the reigning Teamsters for a Democratic Union leadership. Tune in to next week's new episode where Andy and Sean break down the counterprogramming event that occurred outside LN2026 featuring supporters of TM, Spartacists League and the leftcom group International Communist Party.Become a supporter of our work at www.patreon.com/thiswreckagesong: Neil Young - This Note's For You

Thanks to friends in International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers: Caucus of Rank and File Electrical Workers, Sean was able to attend the 2026 Labor Notes convention in Chicago, Illinois. A bunch of fellow workers from ILC Chicago were also there so Sean sat down with them at a loud bar in the convention center hotel to discuss their experiences at various panels they went to.Whither the Teamsters for a Democratic Union? Whither the labor movement? Is there a future for the types of left labor reform movements that Labor Notes calls for? Sean, Hope and Jamie Merchant give their assessment of the good, bad and ugly at the conference including those topic which remained unaddressed but hung in the air.To support our work become a patron at www.patreon.com/thiswreckageSong: Neil Young - This Note's For You

This is the full 5-24-2026 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. Labor Notes discusses taxing the rich and fighting AI in the workplace. Plus Jacob Morrison of The Valley Labor Report and labor journalist Hamilton Nolan discuss Union Now, a new fund for workers in organizing fights.Labor Express Radio is Chicago's oldest labor news and current affairs radio program. News for working people, by working people. Labor Express Radio airs every Sunday at 8:00 PM on WLPN in Chicago, 105.5 FM. For more information, see our Facebook page... laborexpress.organd our homepage on Archive.org at:http://www.archive.org/details/LaborExpressRadioLabor Express is a member of the Labor Radio / Podcast Network, Working People's Voices – Broadcasting Worldwide 24 Hours A Day. laborradionetwork.org #laborradionetwork #LaborRadioPod #1u #UnionStrong

This episode explores the dynamics of union reform caucuses and strategies for empowering workers within healthcare unions, with insights from Lisa Xu of Labor Notes. It covers how members can organize, challenge leadership, and build stronger, more democratic unions. The discussion includes labor activism and reform strategies to strengthen worker power. If you are a rank and file union member who is concerned and frustrated with a lack of transparency within your union or you've considered decertification, this may be the episode for you.   Thank you to Nurses Uncorked Enema Award Sponsor, Happy Bum Co. Please visit https://happybumco.com/  and use promo code NURSESUNCORKED for 20% off your first bundle.   Advertise on the show! Email with the subject NURSES UNCORKED SPONSOR to: nursesuncorked@gmail.com   Become a Patron! Gain early access to episodes, ad-free episodes, exclusive bonus content, giveaways, Zoom parties, shout-outs, and much more. https://patron.podbean.com/nursesuncorkedpodcast ETSY Shop:  Stop Healthcare Worker Violence! https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheNurseErica   Chapters: 00:00 Introduction  05:45 What is a Union Reform Caucus  08:30 Case Studies: Successful Reform Movements 17:20 Current Climate of Union Disillusionment 18:30 Historical Context of Reform Caucuses 27:55 Building a Reform Caucus: Steps and Considerations 31:55 Legal Protections in Union Reform 35:30 Strategies for Effective Reform Organizing 39:24 Enema Award of the Week 42:05 Common Mistakes in Reform Caucuses 44:15 Overcoming Fear in Organizing 46:10 Understanding Decertification and Its Risks 50:35 Taking Action: First Steps for Workers 52:57 Resources for Union Reform and Engagement 56:00 Summary Wrap Up   Guest: Lisa Xu Resources: Labor Notes - https://labornotes.org/ Guide to Building a Union Reform Caucus - https://labornotes.org/caucus  Union Democracy Lawyers - Association for Union Democracy - https://uniondemocracy.org/ Labor Notes Conference 2026 -https://labornotes.org/2026 Help the podcast grow by giving episodes a like, download, follow and a 5 ️ star rating! Please follow Nurses Uncorked at: tiktok.com/nurses-uncorked https://youtube.com/@NursesUncorkedL   You can listen to the podcast at: podcasts.apple/nursesuncorked spotify.com/nursesuncorked podbean.com/nursesuncorked iheart.com/nurses-uncorked   Follow Nurse Erica:  @TheNurseErica on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/@thenurseerica9094 https://www.instagram.com/the.nurse.erica/   DISCLAIMER: This Podcast and all related content published or distributed by or on behalf of Nurse Erica or Nurses Uncorked Podcast is for informational, educational and entertainment purposes only and may include information that is general in nature and that is not specific to you. Any information or opinions expressed or contained herein are not intended to serve as legal advice, or replace medical advice, nor to diagnose, prescribe or treat any disease, condition, illness or injury, and you should consult the health care professional of your choice regarding all matters concerning your health, including before beginning any exercise, weight loss, or health care program. If you have, or suspect you may have, a health-care emergency, please contact a qualified health care professional for treatment. The views and opinions expressed on Nurses Uncorked do not reflect the views of our employers, professional organizations or affiliates. Any information or opinions provided by guest experts or hosts featured within website or on Nurses Uncorked Podcast are their own; not those of Nurse Erica or Nurses Uncorked LLC. Accordingly, Nurse Erica and Nurses Uncorked cannot be responsible for any results or consequences or actions you may take based on such information or opinions. All content is the sole property of Nurses Uncorked, LLC. All copyrights are reserved and the exclusive property of Nurses Uncorked, LLC.

It's News Day Tuesday on The Majority Report On today's program: On the campaign trail in 2024, Donald Trump promised to end inflation on day one. But a year and a half into his administration, inflation is outpacing wage growth for the first time since 2023. NEC Director Kevin Hassett is taking a glass-half-full approach, choosing to focus on the items that are falling in price "on a microeconomic level." Jessica Valenti, author and publisher of the Abortion, Every Day newsletter joins the program for a conversation about the state of reproductive rights in America...and it's not great. Lisa Xu, an organizer with Labor Notes, joins to follow up on her appearance last month when we interviewed her about the 3,800 meatpacking workers in UFCW Local 7 in Greeley, Colorado that launched the industry's first major strike in 40 years. Workers won a wage increase and reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses spent on personal protective equipment. In the Fun Half: NEC director, Kevin Hassett does some bad math in an attempt to spin the recent dismal job report into good news. Dr. Oz continues the Trump administration's assault on Medicare and Medicaid, arguing against the personal home care industry on Fox News. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry is very nonchalant about his state throwing out more than 45,000 ballots that have already been cast. Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA) laughs and agrees with radio host as he tells Hakeen Jeffries to keep his "cotton-picking hands off of Virginia". At a commencement speech to Arts & Humanities majors at the University of Central Florida the speaker mentions AI and the crowd erupts in boos and jeers, to the shock of the speaker. All that and more. To connect and organize with your local ICE rapid response team visit ICERRT.com The Congress switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. You can use this number to connect with either the U.S. Senate or the House of Representatives. Follow us on TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@majorityreportfm Check us out on Twitch here: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport Find our Rumble stream here: https://rumble.com/user/majorityreport Check out our alt YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/majorityreportlive Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! https://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: https://majority.fm/app Go to https://JustCoffee.coop and use coupon code majority to get 10% off your purchase Check out today's sponsors: DELETEME: Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/MAJORITY and use promo code MAJORITY at checkout. ONESKIN: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code MAJORITY at oneskin.co/majority SUNSET LAKE CBD: Use coupon code "Left Is Best" (all one word) for 20% off of your entire order at SunsetLakeCBD.com Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech On Instagram: @MrBryanVokey Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on YouTube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.

The US war on Iran and resulting war on the rest of the world is a constant theme in this week's headlines. We've got stories from World Cup workers, Spirit Airlines, German and Italian students, DeepMind, the University of California, SAG-AFTRA, Indiana University, Stanford, and Cornell. For our first main story, we discuss a recent Labor Notes piece on the deadly nature of working with engineered stone. Immigrant workers incarcerated at a privately run concentration camp in Michigan have gone on strike for nearly a month in protest of their mistreatment. Finally, we actually have a labor story about someone we never thought we'd discuss on the show: Mr. Beast. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Last week, a 20 minute debate about the merits of capitalism went mega viral, with Professor Marc Lamont Hill singularly defending socialism against a panel of co-hosts on the popular Joe Budden podcast. The former rapper and other panelists raised common objections to, and misunderstandings of, socialism, and exposed a particular commitment to Black capitalism that leftists must reckon with in order to change public consciousness. To that end, Morgan State professor of Africana & Media Studies & host of the I Mix What I Like! podcast, Dr. Jared Ball, Labor Notes staffer & Jacobin contributing editor Paul Prescod, & independent journalist Q. Anthony Ali join Bad Faith to break it all down. [9:00 AM] Note that YouTube won't allow us to post the clips from Joe Budden podcast. In addition to listening to it here, you can watch it in full here: https://x.com/TheFilesWithDUB/status/2038580072622260521?s=20 We're also uploading a video version with embedded clips to Bad Faith Patreon for free. Be sure to Bad Faith on Patreon so you don't miss the upload. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

While facing decades-long political efforts to throttle and privatize the United States Postal Service (USPS), and while US Postmaster General David Steiner ominously warns that the USPS will "run out of money" within a year, postal workers continue to deliver the mail and serve communities across the country. But that job has gotten harder, more dangerous, and more complicated in recent years. From increases in targeted violence against letter carriers to the Trump administration's attacks on mail-in voting, to ICE and Border Patrol agents invading communities on their mail routes, USPS workers are confronting many daily hazards on the job that the public doesn't see. In this episode, we speak with Connor Mauche, a letter carrier in New York and a shop steward for Branch 3 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, about what it's like to be a postal worker in America in 2026.   Additional links/info:  National Association of Letter Carriers - Branch 3 website Ann DeStefano Sutherland, The Revolt of the Good Guys (a documentary about the Great Postal Strike of 1970)  Derek Dolbeare, Labor Notes, "Dispatch: Letter carriers are gearing up for another contract fight" Sara Braun, The Guardian, "Nearly blind refugee abandoned by US border patrol found dead in Buffalo" Monique Morrissey, Economic Policy Institute, "Why is President Trump attacking the Postal Service?" Susan Haigh, AP, "US Postal Service expects to run out of cash in a year without help from Congress, postmaster says" Featured Music:  Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits:  Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor 

While facing decades-long political efforts to throttle and privatize the United States Postal Service (USPS), and while US Postmaster General David Steiner ominously warns that the USPS will “run out of money” within a year, postal workers continue to deliver the mail and serve communities across the country. But that job has gotten harder, more dangerous, and more complicated in recent years. From increases in targeted violence against letter carriers to the Trump administration's attacks on mail-in voting, to ICE and Border Patrol agents invading communities on their mail routes, USPS workers are confronting many daily hazards on the job that the public doesn't see. In this episode, we speak with Connor Mauche, a letter carrier in New York and a shop steward for Branch 3 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, about what it's like to be a postal worker in America in 2026. Additional links/info: National Association of Letter Carriers - Branch 3 websiteAnn DeStefano Sutherland, The Revolt of the Good Guys (a documentary about the Great Postal Strike of 1970) Derek Dolbeare, Labor Notes, “Dispatch: Letter carriers are gearing up for another contract fight”Sara Braun, The Guardian, “Nearly blind refugee abandoned by US border patrol found dead in Buffalo”Monique Morrissey, Economic Policy Institute, “Why is President Trump attacking the Postal Service?”Susan Haigh, AP, “US Postal Service expects to run out of cash in a year without help from Congress, postmaster says”Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme SongCredits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

It's Hump Day on the Majority Report   On today's program:   Donald Trump is trying to find a way out of Iran that he can sell as a victory but in reality, it seems that he is just sinking us into a quagmire.   Caitlyn Clark and Lisa Xu join Sam to discuss the first meatpackers strike in the U.S. in 40 years. Caitlyn is a national organizer at Essential Workers for Democracy, an organization dedicated to rank-and-file member education and empowerment for workers in grocery, meatpacking, and retail and Lisa Xu is a staff writer and organizer at Labor Notes. Here is a GoFundMe to help striking workers on the ground Support Colorado Meatpacking Workers on Strike! Or check out the official Local 7 strike fund here. Xavier de Janon, Director of Mass Defense at the National Lawyers Guild on to discuss the 9 people convicted of terrorism related charges after a protest on the Prairieland Ice Detention Center.   For various ways to support the Prairieland Defendants check out their website here.   In the Fun half:   Ryan Grim pieces up some Newsmax doofus over the siege in Cuba.   Rick Scott says we need to destroy Iran before they destroy us.   Markwayne explains that the TSA are working free because of political politics.   Janet Mills holds a town hall teleconference in a half-empty church where the few people who did show up came to express their frustrations with her.   all that and more   No Kings Protests across the country this Saturday, March 28. Check out NoKings.Org to find the protest closest to you.   Check out longtime MR listener Jim Di Bartolo's new graphic novel F*ck Billionaires   To connect and organize with your local ICE rapid response team visit ICERRT.com The Congress switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. You can use this number to connect with either the U.S. Senate or the House of Representatives. Follow us on TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@majorityreportfm Check us out on Twitch here: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport Find our Rumble stream here: https://rumble.com/user/majorityreport Check out our alt YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/majorityreportlive Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! https://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: https://majority.fm/app Go to https://JustCoffee.coop and use coupon code majority to get 10% off your purchase Check out today's sponsors: SELFAST GROWING TREES: Get 20% off your first purchase.  FastGrowingTrees.com/majority SUNSET LAKE: Use coupon code "Left Is Best" (all one word) for 20% off of your entire order at SunsetLakeCBD.com  Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech On Instagram: @MrBryanVokey Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on YouTube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com

3,800 workers and Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7 members at the massive JBS beef processing plant in Greeley, CO walked off the job on an unfair labor practice strike on March 16. This is the first strike ever at the Greeley plant—one of the largest in the country—and it's the biggest meatpacking strike in the US since the 1985-86 strike at the Hormel plant in Austin, MN. As Caitlyn Clark and Lisa Xu report in Labor Notes, "Strikers say JBS has been increasing the speed of the production line while cutting work hours from 40 a week to 35, squeezing out more work for less money… Workers are also demanding that the company stop charging them out-of-pocket costs for personal protective equipment like mesh vests and arm guards—essential because they work with knives, saws, and other sharp, dangerous equipment." In this episode, we speak with Clark and Xu, who report from the JBS picket line and break down why this strike is so significant and what it will take for workers to win this fight against the largest beef processor in the US.    Guests:  Caitlyn Clark is a national organizer at Essential Workers for Democracy, an organization dedicated to rank-and-file member education and empowerment for UFCW members in grocery, meatpacking, and retail. Lisa Xu is a staff writer and organizer at Labor Notes.   Additional links/info:  Caitlyn Clark & Lisa Xu, Labor Notes, "In 57 languages, meatpackers strike for the first time in 40 Years"   Featured Music:  Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song   Credits:  Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor 

3,800 workers and Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7 members at the massive JBS beef processing plant in Greeley, Colorado, walked off the job on an unfair labor practice strike on March 16. This is the first strike ever at the Greeley plant—one of the largest in the country—and it's the biggest meatpacking strike in the US since the 1985-86 strike at the Hormel plant in Austin, Minnesota. As Caitlyn Clark and Lisa Xu report in Labor Notes, “Strikers say JBS has been increasing the speed of the production line while cutting work hours from 40 a week to 35, squeezing out more work for less money… Workers are also demanding that the company stop charging them out-of-pocket costs for personal protective equipment like mesh vests and arm guards—essential because they work with knives, saws, and other sharp, dangerous equipment.” In this episode, we speak with Clark and Xu, who report from the JBS picket line and break down why this strike is so significant and what it will take for workers to win this fight against the largest beef processor in the US.  Guests Caitlyn Clark is a national organizer at Essential Workers for Democracy, an organization dedicated to rank-and-file member education and empowerment for UFCW members in grocery, meatpacking, and retail.Lisa Xu is a staff writer and organizer at Labor Notes. Additional links/info Caitlyn Clark & Lisa Xu, Labor Notes, “In 57 languages, meatpackers strike for the first time in 40 Years” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

This week on the Labor Radio Podcast Weekly, guest co-hosts Natascha Elena Uhlmann and Danielle Smith from the Labor Notes Podcast join the crew to celebrate their show's first anniversary. They reflect on a year of sharing rank-and-file organizing stories and explain why hearing directly from workers has become a source of hope during turbulent times. We also feature highlights from across the Labor Radio Podcast Network: Madison Labor Radio reports from Calumet, Michigan, where organizers are raising funds for a life-sized statue honoring Big Annie Clements, the early 20th-century miner's union organizer who led thousands during the 1913 copper strike. The Voice Podcast looks back at the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, remembering the workers whose deaths sparked sweeping workplace safety reforms and helped fuel the growth of the labor movement. America Works shares the story of Robert O'Keefe, a nurse and Marine veteran who describes caring for fellow veterans during the COVID-19 pandemic and why serving veterans remains a calling. On the Line talks with United Educators of San Francisco leader Natalie Rey about the union's historic four-day strike — the first since 1979 — and how organizing, member engagement, and community support helped educators win key demands. The SAG-AFTRA Podcast takes a humorous look at artificial intelligence in acting. Director Sergio Cilli explains how his viral “AI audition” videos reveal that AI actors still can't manage simple human tasks — like loading a dishwasher. Plus, in our speed Shows You Should Know round, we highlight more shows across the network, including Working Voices, The Labor Show with Jim Snell, The Concrete Gang, Future of Work, Pipe Up, and Power Line Podcast. As always, you can find links to every show featured this week at laborradionetwork.org.

I dette afsnit har vores to værter Janni Nielsen og Jakob Mathiassen fået besøg af Rasmus Emil Hjort, der er medlem af 3F København og formand for mad budenes organisation og Katarzyna Szczygiel, der er ansat i 3F BJMF som organizer for de polsktalende bygningsarbejdere. De to gæster deler ud af deres erfaringer med at organisere migrantarbejdere. Vi læser også op fra en oversættelse af Kapitel 16 i Troublemaker's Handbook 2. Udgivet af Labor Notes. Du kan læse hele kapitlet her: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kzalvcw8sqKHRkvYzfb26y_5zzVymBjfvE9REcoF3dM/edit?usp=sharing

This week's Labor Radio/Podcast Weekly features the Green and Red Podcast honoring civil rights and labor champion Jesse Jackson and his lifelong fight for economic justice and multiracial working-class solidarity. The Valley Labor Report speaks with Dr. Augustus Wood about his new book Class Warfare in Black Atlanta and why Black working-class struggle remains central to confronting inequality and building liberation movements. On My Labor Radio, letter carriers organize nationwide rallies demanding fair contracts, living wages, and respect for essential public service workers. The FedEx pilots' union podcast Fly By Night highlights how worker feedback leads to real improvements in safety and working conditions, while Australia's Concrete Gang defends construction unions against political attacks and makes the case for unions' critical role in protecting wages, safety, and dignity. Finally, Tales from the Reuther Library marks its 100th episode with a look at the Radical Fund, showing how bold ideas and strategic support helped advance labor rights and civil liberties during some of America's most turbulent times. The episode concludes with our “Shows You Should Know” roundup, featuring strike votes by Nova Scotia care workers, ongoing coverage from the Working People podcast, organizing lessons from Labor Notes and Labor Force, and new data on strikes and work stoppages from Power At Work.

The longest-running nurses strike in New York City history has come to an end—for some. Nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, however, overwhelmingly voted this week to reject a tentative agreement and to stay on strike until their demands for safer staffing and more job security are met. In this unscheduled strike update episode, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Beth Loudin, a neonatal nurse and member of the executive committee of the New York State Nurses Association at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.    Additional links/info:  New York State Nurses Association website, Facebook page, Bluesky page, and Instagram Claudia Irizarry Aponte & Ben Fractenberg, The City, "NewYork-Presbyterian nurses reject contract by overwhelming margin" Luis Feliz Leon, Sarah Hughes, & Danielle Smith, Labor Notes, "Fifteen thousand New York City nurses strike"   Featured Music:  Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song   Credits:  Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor   

The longest-running nurses strike in New York City history has come to an end—for some. Nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, however, overwhelmingly voted this week to reject a tentative agreement and to stay on strike until their demands for safer staffing and more job security are met. In this unscheduled strike update episode, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Beth Loudin, a neonatal nurse and member of the executive committee of the New York State Nurses Association at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Additional links/info: New York State Nurses Association website, Facebook page, Bluesky page, and InstagramClaudia Irizarry Aponte & Ben Fractenberg, The City, “NewYork-Presbyterian nurses reject contract by overwhelming margin”Luis Feliz Leon, Sarah Hughes, & Danielle Smith, Labor Notes, “Fifteen thousand New York City nurses strike”Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme SongCredits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

On this week's Labor Radio Podcast Weekly: Labor Notes Podcast — Minnesota workers organize a mass day of action as ICE activity turns immigration enforcement into an unavoidable workplace issue. Words & Work — USL soccer players use the championship spotlight to demand a real CBA, healthcare, and basic professional standards. America Works — Nurse practitioner Tracy Augusta connects holistic health, spirituality, and the labor history of Black caregiving. The SAG-AFTRA Podcast — Performers break down new AI protections, digital replica rules, and what producers can—and cannot—do without consent. Labor Express Radio — A documentary filmmaker and UAW activists recount corruption, job selling, and the rank-and-file movement that reclaimed union democracy. Plus Shows You Should Know: El Cafecito del Día — youth activism and love-in-action organizing; Green and Red Podcast — general strikes, May Day, and class-conscious storytelling; The Concrete Gang — construction industry news and a CFMEU victory; Pipe Up — Black leadership in the pipe trades; Union Or Bust — nurses on the Kaiser strikes; The Valley Labor Report — a Volkswagen win in Chattanooga.

Capitalism as an economic system has been around in various forms for over a thousand years and according to our featured guest this week, it keeps evolving. Join us for a lively and challenging discussion between Ralph and Harvard history professor, Sven Beckert, as they discuss his book “Capitalism: A Global History.”Sven Beckert is the Laird Bell Professor of History at Harvard University. He has written widely on the economic, social, and political history of capitalism. His book Empire of Cotton won the Bancroft Prize and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His latest book is Capitalism: A Global History.Capitalism has existed within a whole range of political systems of organizing political power. And this includes authoritarian regimes; this includes fascist regimes; and this includes also liberal democratic regimes such as Great Britain and the United States. And you see this kind of tension emerging today within the United States in which there is a kind of concern, I think, among some capital-owning elites about liberal democracy. They see that as being limiting to some of their business interests.Sven BeckertIn a way, the book tries to not make us to be just powerless cogs in a machine and not powerless cogs in the unfolding of history. But the book very much emphasizes that the particular shape that capitalism has taken at any particular moment in time has a lot to do also with questions of the state. It has a lot to do with questions of political power. It has a lot to do with questions of social contestation. And sometimes capitalism has been reshaped drastically by the actions of people with very little power. And I show that in particular when I look at the end of the slave-based plantation economy in the Americas, which is very much driven by the collective mobilization of some of the poorest and most exploited people on planet Earth—namely the enslaved workers who grow all that sugar and all that cotton or that tobacco in the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.Sven BeckertI think markets and market activities have existed in all human societies. That is not particular to capitalism. And the few efforts in world history in which people have tried to get rid of the market in its entirety have been pretty much economic disasters. So there is a place for the market. There has been a place for the market in all human societies. But in capitalism, the market takes on an importance that it didn't take on in other forms of economic life… I think it is so important to think about this, because, as I said earlier, capitalism is not natural. It's not the only form of economic life on planet Earth. Indeed, it's the opposite. It's a revolutionary departure from older forms of the organization of economic life.Sven BeckertTrump seems really concerned about impeachment because it's beyond his control. And he sees if (with inflation) the economy starts going down more, unemployment up, prices up, all these campaign promises bogus, polls going down—he fears impeachment. And I've yet to hear him say if he was impeached and removed from office, he wouldn't leave the White House—while he's defied all other federal laws, constitutional provisions, and foreign treaties.Ralph NaderNews 1/30/26* Following the murders of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renée Good by ICE agents in Minneapolis – along with the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis, the abduction of 5-year-old Liam Ramos along with his father, and the arrest of an estimated 3,000 people – the Minnesota AFL-CIO called a General Strike for workers to demand ICE leave the state. This one-day general strike, staged during temperatures of -20°F, drew as many as 100,000 workers into the streets, according to Labor Notes. Participating unions included the SEIU, AFT, and the CWA, along with UNITE HERE Local 17, OPEIU Local 12, IATSE Local 13, and AFSCME Council 5, among many others. Minneapolis has been the site of major labor actions before, perhaps most famously the 1934 General Strike, and it remains a relatively union-dense hub today. It was also the locus of the 2020 George Floyd protests, which many see as a reason why the Trump administration has been so hostile towards the locals.* With the spiraling situation in Minnesota, the Trump administration has finally moved to deescalate somewhat. Per POLITICO, “DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, has…been sidelined,” and border czar Tom Homan has been dispatched to the state to take over operations there. Moreover, the Atlantic reports “Gregory Bovino has been removed from his role as Border Patrol ‘commander at large' and will return to his former job in El Centro, California, where he is expected to retire soon.” While hardly an adequate response to the crisis, these moves do show that Trump sees how badly his lieutenants have bungled their mission. It remains to be seen whether this will mark the end of the high-lawlessness period of ICE activity or if the agency will simply shift its primary theater of operation.* For Minnesota Republicans meanwhile, the situation is nothing short of catastrophic. While the party's fortunes had looked promising just weeks ago, some, like Republican attorney Chris Madel, now say “National Republicans have made it nearly impossible for a Republican to win a statewide election in Minnesota.” Madel had been a candidate for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, but dropped out abruptly this week, citing national Republicans' “stated retribution on the citizens of our state,” per the Star Tribune. While the election is still 10 months away – “a lifetime in politics,” as one person quoted in the story puts it – it is hard to imagine Minnesotans forgetting about the murders of Renée Good and Alex Pretti and delivering a statewide victory for Republicans for the first time since 2006.* Speaking of dropping out, the New York Times reports Eleanor Holmes Norton, the 18-term incumbent delegate representing Washington, D.C. in Congress, has filed a termination notice for her re-election campaign. Norton, a civil rights activist and law professor, was elected D.C. delegate in 1991 and earned a reputation as D.C.'s “warrior on the Hill.” Today, she is the oldest person serving in the House at 88 years old. Norton has shown signs of cognitive decline but insisted she would seek reelection and even after her campaign filed this termination paperwork Norton did not make a public statement for days, raising questions about how aware she even was of this decision – a disgraceful end to a towering career. If any silver lining is to be found, one hopes this will serve as a cautionary tale for other members of Congress not to cling to their seats to the bitter end.* In more congressional news, Axios reports, “Nearly half of the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee broke with their party's leadership in stunning fashion…by voting to hold former President Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress,” for his refusal to testify in the committee's probe related to Jeffrey Epstein. While House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries whipped votes against the motion, Ranking Member Robert Garcia gave committee members permission to “vote their conscience.” With the defections, the vote to hold former President Clinton in contempt was a lopsided 34-8. Nine Democrats voted yes, eight no, and two present. On a separate vote to hold Hillary Clinton in contempt, far fewer Democrats broke ranks. In that vote, Democrats Rashida Tlaib, Summer Lee and Melanie Stansbury voted yes, Dave Min voted present, and the rest voted no. The contempt measure will now move to the House floor and Jeffries must decide whether or not to formally whip votes against the measure there. If it passes a full house vote, the Clintons could be held in jail on contempt charges until they agree to testify, as Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro were during the January 6th investigation.* In more news out of D.C., legendary modern classical composer Philip Glass has pulled the world premiere of his Lincoln Symphony from the Kennedy Center in protest of the venue's takeover by Trump and his cronies. In a statement, Glass wrote “After thoughtful consideration , I have decided to withdraw my Symphony No. 15” because the symphony is “a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and the values of the Kennedy Center [and its current leadership] today are in direct conflict with the message of the Symphony.” Just days after this embarrassing fiasco, Kevin Couch, the Center's new head of artistic programming, abruptly resigned without explanation, per the Hill.* Meanwhile, in Alaska, the Anchorage Daily News reports the Alaskan Independence Party – the state's third largest political party founded in the 1970s to push for Alaskan independence from the United States – has voted to dissolve itself. Ballot Access News reports that the party leaders felt that there is “little support” for Alaskan independence today and “the public doesn't even understand the party's original purpose.” Still, the party stands as one of the most successful minor parties of the twentieth century, electing Walter Hickel Governor in 1999 and electing a state legislator in 1992. It almost elected another candidate Tyler Ivanoff, in 2022; he won 48.73% of the vote. The state of Alaska will now give the roughly 19,000 members of the AIP the chance to re-register with another party, per Alaska Public Media.* In more positive independent political news, the Chicago Tribune reports Southwest Side Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez has launched an independent bid for Illinois' 4th Congressional District seat. Sigcho-Lopez, a DSA member and progressive firebrand in Chicago, is campaigning to “end tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and dramatically expand social services in housing and health care,” in Congress and is “aligned with working-class labor unions and street protesters pushing back against Trump.” This seat is currently held by stalwart progressive Jesús “Chuy” García, but he pulled an unsavory bait and switch, announcing he would “not seek reelection just hours before the party primary filing deadline, leaving no time for other hopefuls to get in the race for the suddenly vacant seat as his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, became the only candidate in the Democratic primary.” This has forced other candidates like Sigcho-Lopez to launch independent campaigns. To get on the ballot, he must collect at least 10,816 petition signatures between February 25th and May 26th.* In more state and local news, NPR reports that as the federal government withdraws from international institutions like the World Health Organizations, states are stepping into the breach. California, for example, has joined the WHO's Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network, or GOARN, and other states like Illinois are poised to follow suit. States like California and Illinois, being sub-national entities, can not join the WHO as a full member, but are eligible to participate in WHO subgroups like GOARN. In a statement, California Governor Gavin Newsom said “The Trump administration's withdrawal from WHO is a reckless decision that will hurt all Californians and Americans…California will not bear witness to the chaos this decision will bring.”* Finally, Axios is out with a major story on the Catholic Church emerging as a “bulwark of resistance,” to Trump's authoritarianism. This piece cites Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, condemning the ICE killings as “examples of the violence that represent failures in our society to respect the dignity of every human life.” This piece adds that “the three highest-ranking heads of U.S. archdioceses also recently issued a plea for ‘moral foreign policy'” in response to the lawless American military action abroad, namely in Venezuela, Cuba and Iran. Most strikingly, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, the Catholic archbishop for the military's archdiocese, is quoted saying it would be “morally acceptable” for troops to disobey orders that violate their conscience. A related question of troops disobeying illegal orders has been much discussed lately, with Trump suggesting members of Congress who reminded troops of their obligation to do so should be hanged for treason. Notably, Pew data suggests 43% of Catholics in the U.S. were born outside the country or had at least one parent born outside the U.S. Reverend Tom Reese, a Jesuit priest and analyst, said the people being targeted by Trump's immigration crackdown are “the people in the pews.”This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

The state of Minnesota is under siege by our own federal government, and residents—immigrant and US-born alike—are living in fear. With the deployment of over 3,000 federal agents to Minnesota in recent weeks,  this is the Trump administration's largest and most violent so-called "immigration enforcement" operation yet—and with President Trump threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota in response to protests over ICE's terror campaign, the situation on the ground is extremely volatile. Amid this federal invasion, unions, community organizations, faith leaders, and small businesses in Minnesota are calling for a statewide day of "no work (except for emergency services), no school, and no shopping" on January 23. In this urgent episode, we speak with three union members and organizers in the Twin Cities—Daniel Troccoli, Douglas Williams, and Janette Corcelius—about the situation on the ground in Minnesota, and about the proposed mass strike this Friday. Additional links/info: 1/23: ICE OUT OF MN call to action and Facebook event page 1/23 ICE OUT OF MN Org Sign Up Sarah Lazare & Amie Stager, In These Times, "'We are facing a tsunami of hate': Amid ICE crackdown, unions and community groups call for Minnesota shutdown in 10 Days" Luis Feliz Leon, Labor Notes, "Will ICE ignite a mass strike in Minnesota?" Suzanne Gamboa, Shaquille Brewster, & Colin Sheeley, NBC News, "Immigration officers around Minneapolis are approaching people and demanding proof that they're U.S. citizens" Rachel Leingang & Maanvi Singh, The Guardian, "'Make no mistake, this is an occupation': ICE's deadly presence casts long shadow over Minneapolis" Joseph Cox, 404 Media, "Inside ICE's tool to monitor phones in entire neighborhoods" John Hamilton, Democracy Now!, "ICE vs. People of Minnesota: A special report on community resistance to Trump's militarized crackdown" Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

The state of Minnesota is under siege by our own federal government, and residents—immigrant and US-born alike—are living in fear. With the deployment of over 3,000 federal agents to Minnesota in recent weeks,  this is the Trump administration's largest and most violent so-called “immigration enforcement” operation yet—and with President Trump threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota in response to protests over ICE's terror campaign, the situation on the ground is extremely volatile. Amid this federal invasion, unions, community organizations, faith leaders, and small businesses in Minnesota are calling for a statewide day of “no work (except for emergency services), no school, and no shopping” on January 23.In this urgent episode, we speak with three union members and organizers in the Twin Cities—Daniel Troccoli, Douglas Williams, and Janette Corcelius—about the situation on the ground in Minnesota, and about the proposed general strike this Friday.Additional links/info:1/23: ICE OUT OF MN call to action and Facebook event page1/23 ICE OUT OF MN Org Sign UpSarah Lazare & Amie Stager, In These Times, “‘We are facing a tsunami of hate': Amid ICE crackdown, unions and community groups call for Minnesota shutdown in 10 Days”Luis Feliz Leon, Labor Notes, “Will ICE ignite a mass strike in Minnesota?”Suzanne Gamboa, Shaquille Brewster, & Colin Sheeley, NBC News, “Immigration officers around Minneapolis are approaching people and demanding proof that they're U.S. citizens”Rachel Leingang & Maanvi Singh, The Guardian, “‘Make no mistake, this is an occupation': ICE's deadly presence casts long shadow over Minneapolis”Joseph Cox, 404 Media, “Inside ICE's tool to monitor phones in entire neighborhoods”John Hamilton, Democracy Now!, “ICE vs. People of Minnesota: A special report on community resistance to Trump's militarized crackdown”Featured Music:Jules Taylor, Working People Theme SongCredits:Audio Post-Production: Jules TaylorBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Follow us on:Bluesky: @therealnews.comFacebook: The Real News NetworkTwitter: @TheRealNewsYouTube: @therealnewsInstagram: @therealnewsnetworkBecome a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!

Labor Radio/Podcast Weekly (1/9): It's the first week back in the New Year—and it feels like five days crammed into three. Chris, Harold, and Patrick return with a packed roundup: geopolitics, strike action, tax-policy sleight of hand, a brand-new show on worker-focused media, year-end reflections, and a fresh new intro. Featured this week: The Dig — Alejandro Velasco, Gabriel Hetland, and Yoletty Bracho join Daniel Denvir to analyze the U.S. attack on Venezuela, Trump's imperial project, oil politics, and how different forces inside Venezuela are responding. Labor Force — Mike Struan checks in on strike action at Telluride Ski Resort, spotlighting leverage, seasonal labor, and the power of unionized workers to shift the balance in a resort economy. (And: good news—workers later ratified a CBA.) Labor Notes Podcast — Labor Notes staff share New Year's organizing resolutions—more phone calls, fewer Zooms, better delegation, and making time to evaluate fights and build for the long haul. Tribunus Plebis — Sean takes on Trump's “no tax on overtime” promise, arguing it's less a benefit than an accounting trick: a rebate structure that rewards overwork while protecting employer power. NEW: The Union Bug — Mel Buer launches a brand-new show with a conversation on why worker-focused media matters, featuring Labor Radio Podcast Network's Harold Phillips and Chris Garlock. Shows You Should Know — Tariff debates, end-of-year wrap-ups, best-of episodes, and a look ahead to 2026, including: The Manufacturing Report, From A to Arbitration, Heartland Labor Forum, Canadian Union Podcast for Employees. Credits / notes: This podcast is recorded under a SAG-AFTRA collective bargaining agreement. Edited this week by Patrick Dixon, Chris Garlock & Harold Phillips; produced by Chris Garlock; social media—always and forever—by Harold Phillips.

It's Hump Day on the Majority Report On the today's program: As Republicans continue to rewrite the history of January 6, we revisit footage from the riot and revisit the very different tone figures like Marco Rubio and Greg Gutfeld struck at the time. Labor-climate organizer and Labor Notes writer Keith Brower Brown joins the show to preview the biggest contract fights of 2026. In the Fun Half: The crew discuss an incident in which an ICE agent, while the show was live, shot a legal observer in the street—falsely claiming she attempted to run him over, despite video showing he fired as she passed by. As the right-wing media obsesses over the Somali daycare fraud story, Medhi Hasan highlights all of the convicted fraudsters that have been pardoned by Trump. An anti-war protestor in Grand Rapids, Michigan was arrested while talking to the local news. New CBS Evening News anchor, Tony Dokoupil continues his humiliating first week as Bari Weiss' lapdog. Tim Pool continues his milquetoast fence sitting while addressing Venezuela All that and more. Today's Sponsors: IQBAR: Text MAJORITY to 64000 to get 20% off all IQBAR products, plus FREE shipping. Message and data rates may apply. SUNSET LAKE CBD: Use coupon code "Left Is Best" (all one word) for 20% on their full lineup of CBD products to support your New Year wellness goals and Dry January aspirations at SunsetLakeCBD.com  Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech On Instagram: @MrBryanVokey Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on YouTube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com

On this week's Labor History Today: We turn up the “today” in Labor History Today with a special edition focused on the historic, open-ended strike now underway at Starbucks. Nearly 2,000 union baristas at 95 stores in more than 65 cities have walked out — the boldest action yet in the Red Cup Rebellion — and we bring you the Labor Radio Podcast Weekly's roundup of how shows across the network are covering this fast-moving struggle. Hear frontline voices from Working People, Work Stoppage, We Rise Fighting, Labor Notes, and WBAI's What's Going On as baristas, organizers, and labor reporters break down understaffing, impossible time standards, corporate cup-writing mandates, community solidarity, and why workers are calling for a nationwide Starbucks boycott. Plus: a brand-new strike song from veteran labor troubadour David Rovics, and — at the end — a little bonus from the Labor Radio Podcast Weekly crew. No contract, no coffee. Tune in. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. @WorkingPod @WorkStoppagePod @LaborNotes @stucknation#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

On this week's Labor Radio Podcast Weekly: Starbucks workers are fed up — and they're walking out. This week's show spotlights the escalating Red Cup Rebellion, with frontline stories from baristas, organizers, and labor leaders across the country. We begin on Working People, where Max Alvarez talks with veteran barista and organizer Michelle Eisen about the urgent new strike wave hitting Starbucks stores nationwide — why workers are walking out, what the company refuses to fix, and what's at stake for the movement. Then over on Work Stoppage, the team unpacks Starbucks Workers United's first open-ended strike — already underway in dozens of stores and growing — and the national call for a full boycott. On We Rise Fighting, Madison barista Joanna breaks down why Red Cup Day has become a flashpoint for worker action, highlighting the role of community care and solidarity in sustaining the fight. From the Labor Notes Podcast, baristas describe a workplace defined by speedups, dangerous understaffing, impossible time-standards, and corporate mandates that ignore the crisis on the shop floor — including the now-infamous “cup writing” rules. And on WBAI's What's Going On, Juliana Forlano joins Brooklyn baristas on the picket line, alongside AFT President Randi Weingarten and NY Assemblymember Claire Valdéz, rallying in solidarity with the nationwide rebellion. Plus: Dave Rovics' brand-new song No Contract, No Coffee and, on Shows You Should Know, The Wealthy Ironworker on politicians pushing “right-to-work”; From A To Arbitration with cold-weather tips for CCAs; Re:Work Radio on healing, UFCW, and the cannabis industry; Labor History Today on land reform, race, and early labor conflicts; Ted talks about AFT's organizing at BASIS charter schools on Words and Work; and we salute Concrete Gang's Gorilla on his retirement. Listen to all these and 200+ more shows at laborradionetwork.org Follow #LaborRadioPod on Bluesky, X, Facebook, and Instagram. Support the Network with union-made T-shirts — two colors, all sizes — at laborradionetwork.org. Recorded under a SAG-AFTRA collective bargaining agreement. Edited by Patrick Dixon; produced by Chris Garlock; social media by Harold Phillips.

This week on the Labor Radio Podcast Weekly: it's all about power — who's got it, who's lost it, and how working people are organizing to take it back. On the Labor Notes Podcast, federal workers push back against executive overreach and call out politicians who pretend they're powerless. Workers Beat Extra dives into divisions inside the labor movement. The Bipartisan Buzz breaks down what postal workers can and can't do under the Hatch Act. Union Strong spotlights the WNBA Players Association's fight for equal pay and better facilities. And from South Africa's Buwa Basebetsi, the Casual Workers Advice Office tells the story of the Unpaid Benefits Campaign — a fight to reclaim billions owed to workers and families. We also say farewell — for now — to the Buwa Basebetsi crew, whose final episode marks the end of a great run. Special thanks to Charles Leonard, a regular at our weekly Network meetings, for his solidarity and storytelling. Plus in Shows You Should Know: Classes of Mail takes on USPS safety guides and the finer points of curbing wheels. My Labor Radio talks trades and tunes with IUOE 369's Sammy Cossairt. Engage: The Podcast for Delta Pilots explores hotel quirks in the “layover landscape.” Labor Radio on KBOO takes you to the Kaiser strike line.

With millions of people taking to the streets this weekend, we've got a packed episode for you. We start with headlines from Republic Services, Blizzard Entertainment, Starbucks, Microsoft, the Royal College of Nursing, Tata, and the nation of Spain. Tens of thousands of workers just wrapped up a historic week long strike at Kaiser Permanente, we discuss their continued struggle. Peoples Dispatch reports on the fight by workers in the cotton industry of Benin against forced labor.  Volkswagen is facing a potential fight, Labor Notes breaks down the organizing effort in Chattanooga. Air traffic controllers aren't getting paid due to the shutdown, and yet their union is advocating workers not to call in sick. Finally, more and more workers are standing up to ICE kidnapping their neighbors, we recount some of their latest efforts and tactics. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

We've got some huge international strikes and check-ins on some long running campaigns this week. We start with headlines from Iowa hospitals, Cornell University, Incheon International Airport, New Zealand primary schools, Doordash, and Amazon. Our first main story we discuss a Labor Notes piece updating us on the ongoing effort to organize one of the country's biggest banks, Wells Fargo. After the illegal seizure of the Global Sumud Flotilla, Italian workers made good on their threats to launch a massive general strike. Workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have been on strike for over 2 years, we discuss what's keeping them going after all this time and the importance of their struggle to a dire media landscape. Finally, a piece in the American Prospect from Sarah Lazare demonstrates clearly how the attacks on immigrants are attacks on all of us, and why the time is now for a unified fightback by organized labor. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

On this week's Labor Radio Podcast Weekly: This week on Work Stoppage, Italy's unions show how it's done, with port blockades and a nationwide transit shutdown in solidarity with Palestine. Over on WorkWeek, a Wells Fargo banker in Wyoming tells how workers organized with CWA—and what happened when the company fired him for it. From the Labor Notes Podcast, beauty-salon workers at Sugared + Bronzed unionize amid safety concerns and punishing metrics—and win momentum shop by shop. In the latest Reinventing Solidarity, NEA president Becky Pringle argues public education is where democracy takes root—and why that scares authoritarians. Meanwhile, on Words & Work, Jonathan Rosenblum revisits Kshama Sawant's wins—from $15 to taxing Amazon—and how an elected office became an organizing center. And on the Powerline Podcast, JNCTN's crew breaks down an app built to tighten safety, compliance, and efficiency across the building trades. Help us build sonic solidarity by clicking on the share button below. 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. @WorkStoppagePod @labormedianow @LaborNotes @CunySLU #LaborRadioPod @AFLCIO Edited by Captain Swing, produced by Chris Garlock; social media guru Mr. Harold Phillips.

Ralph welcomes Palestinian-American writer, activist, and scientist Susan Abulhawa to discuss the ongoing Palestinian genocide and the evidence that supports a vastly higher death toll in Gaza.Susan Abulhawa is a Palestinian-American writer and political activist. She is the author of Mornings in Jenin—translated into thirty languages—and The Blue Between Sky and Water. Born to refugees of the Six Day War of 1967, she moved to the United States as a teenager, graduated in biomedical science, and established a career in medical science. In July 2001, she founded “Playgrounds for Palestine,” a non-governmental children's organization dedicated to upholding the Right to Play for Palestinian children.I consider this, first of all, immoral. It's disrespecting the Palestinian dead while they kill the Palestinians who are still alive with US bombers and artillery shells and other weapons coming from Washington, D.C. And it underestimates the kind of urgency that should be confronting this genocide.Ralph NaderThis is something that I think generations will study for a very long time to come. The complicity of Western media across the board is no less criminal than the genocide itself.Susan AbulhawaThis is a complete wiping out of life. A total destruction. And it's completely driven by this unfathomable hate and colonial arrogance and Jewish supremacy and this notion of entitlement. Of being favored by God, of being promised some real estate by a real-estate-agent Lord. I mean, it beggars belief the narratives that we see spoken in mainstream outlets and in the halls of power. Truly, it beggars belief.Susan AbulhawaNo, I don't believe Israel has a right to exist. It has never had a right to exist. No political entities have a right to exist. People have a right to exist. They have a right to exist in their own homeland with dignity. People have a right to universal dignity. A supremacist ideology—and that's ultimately what Zionism is predicated on, on supremacy and entitlement for a group of people at the detriment of another group of people—that is not a right, and it should never be a right. It should be anathema, in fact.Susan AbulhawaNews 9/5/25* The Intercept reports AIPAC has lost another Democratic ally in Congress. Congresswoman Deborah Ross of North Carolina has pledged that she will not accept AIPAC campaign contributions in her 2026 reelection bid. In previous elections, Ross has accepted over $100,000 in AIPAC donations. This comes on the heels of another North Carolina Congresswoman, Valerie Foushee – who received over $800,000 in AIPAC contributions – also renouncing donations from the group. As the Intercept notes, in June, the North Carolina Democratic Party adopted a resolution calling for a “complete arms embargo on all military aid to Israel until it ends its apartheid rule of Palestinians.” Dr. Paul McAllister, a reverend and chair of the Interfaith Caucus of the North Carolina Democratic Party, is quoted saying “AIPAC uses the muscle of their resources to oust anyone who disagrees with them regarding Israel, the conduct of Israel and the atrocities that may be committed by the government of Israel — so it is good that Deborah Ross is willing to recognize and acknowledge that.”* In more Israel news, a new aid flotilla bound for Gaza departed from Genoa, Italy last Sunday. Unlike previous flotillas however, this one carries the protection of a surprising group: Italian dockworkers. According to POLITICO EU, “Speaking at a rally on the docks of Genoa, one of Europe's largest ports, a dockworker representing the USB union said…‘Around mid-September, these boats will arrive near the coast of Gaza. If we lose contact with our boats, with our comrades, even for just 20 minutes, we will shut down all of Europe.'” Genoa has expressed unprecedented solidarity with Gaza. A food drive in the city collected “more than 300 tons of humanitarian aid…[and] over 40,000 people, including the city's mayor, Silvia Salis, joined a torchlit march through the streets in support of the [humanitarian flotilla on Saturday].” During the procession, Salis remarked “Every day I am proud to be the mayor of this city, but tonight, if possible, I am even more so.”* In yet another Israel story, Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, an Israeli cybersecurity apparatchik, who was arrested in August during an undercover operation “targeting child sex predators,” failed to appear for his court date in Nevada. Alexandrovich fled to Israel after being bailed out of jail in the U.S.; his lawyer, David Chesnoff, told the court that he told Alexandrovich not to attend the hearing. Judge Barbara Schifalacqua is now demanding that Alexandrovich appear before the court this week, but it remains to be seen whether he will actually show. This case has become politicized, with liberals and conservatives accusing one another of allowing Alexandrovich to flee the country. The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu falsely denied that Alexandrovich was arrested at all. This from Al Jazeera.* In more sex predator news, Representatives Ro Khanna, Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor-Greene held a press conference this week with survivors of abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein to push for full disclosure of the Justice Department's files on the case. At this conference, survivors also said they will release their own list of names. This comes amidst a renewed push for Congressional action spearheaded by the survivors. On Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee released a batch of records, but most of these have been made public before. The survivors met with lawmakers this week, including Speaker Mike Johnson, who said “I think the Oversight probe is going to be wide and expansive, and they're going to follow the truth wherever it leads,” per the Washington Post. Congresswoman Nancy Mace was also seen emerging from a meeting with the survivors visibly upset, though we do not know what exactly was discussed in this meeting. What is clear is that the Epstein story is not going away any time soon.* In local news, the National Guard has shared a statement with CBS News' Scott MacFarlane in which they boast that, “Guardsmen have cleaned more than 3.2 miles of roadways, collected more than 500 bags of trash, and disposed of three truckloads of plant waste.” Looking beyond the absurdity of deploying the National Guard to pick up trash, Samuel Littauer, Commissioner of ANC 3C01 – a local government district in Washington – crunched the numbers and found that “DC's cleaning crews cover around 81 miles/day for around $150K/day… [while the] National Guard has cleaned a total of 3.2 miles and costs more than $1M/day.” This means, “It's about 170X more cost efficient per mile to fund DC's existing work.”* Yet, despite the staggering inefficiency of the federal occupation – to say nothing of the outrageous, authoritarian government overreach – D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has signed an order outlining how the District will “continue to work with the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI, U.S. Park Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, [and] the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,” according to WTOP. This report notes that, “Bowser's order provides a path for working with federal law enforcement…[a] public indication that federal law enforcement could remain in the city indefinitely.” Other D.C. officials, including the District's delegate in Congress Eleanor Holmes Norton, have decried the occupation. Unfortunately, Norton is not even afforded the power of a single vote in Congress. This debacle further underscores the necessity for sovereign statehood for D.C.* In more news of federal law enforcement overreach, Prem Thakker of Zeteo reports new figures that show, “61,226 people are currently in ICE detention — the highest number ever in US history.” Thakker goes on to report that “According to ICE data, 70% of these people have no criminal conviction.” This unjustifiable mass detention shows no signs of slowing down, with ICE being granted larger and larger budgets and more and more latitude by the administration. The parallels to other shadowy secret police organizations throughout history continue to grow more pronounced.* Labor Notes editor Luis Feliz Leon reports Columbia University is seeking to bust graduate worker unions – at Columbia and beyond. A statement from the union reads “Over the summer, the university expelled and suspended 80 students, eliminated all but ten…graduate instructor jobs, and filed an Unfair Labor Practice Charge that could reshape the future of higher ed.” This marks yet another blow to the august reputation of Columbia, already damaged by their authoritarian overreaction to pro-Palestine protests and their capitulation to borderline extortion by Trump.* In the federal government, Trump continues to attack critical safety regulators. Reuters reports, “Two of the three remaining commissioners at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the U.S. nuclear safety watchdog, told a Senate hearing on Wednesday they feel President Donald Trump could fire them if they obstruct his goal to approve reactors faster.” Trump, via executive order, has committed the United States to, “fast-tracking new reactor licenses and quadrupling U.S. nuclear energy capacity by 2050…while also reducing staffing at the NRC.” The Commission is already down to just three members from its usual five and according to this report, “a dozen senior level managers…have left or announced they will leave since January, and…143 staff departed between January and June.” The Commission is currently considering five reactor applications and “expects another 25 to 30 soon.” Whatever one's thoughts are on nuclear energy in general, it is wildly irresponsible and dangerous to consider these reactor proposals by a commission short-staffed and constantly threatened with dismissal.* Finally, the Government Accountability Project has submitted a stunning whistleblower complaint on behalf of Chuck Borges, Chief Data Officer at the Social Security Administration. This complaint concerns “serious data security lapses, evidently orchestrated by DOGE officials, currently employed as SSA employees, that risk the security of over 300 million Americans' Social Security data…including apparent systemic data security violations, uninhibited administrative access to highly sensitive production environments, and potential violations of federal privacy laws by DOGE personnel.” The most critical violation is the DOGE staffers' move to “create a live copy of the country's Social Security information in a cloud environment that circumvents oversight.” As this complaint explains, “This vulnerable cloud environment is effectively a live copy of the entire country's Social Security information…that…lacks any security oversight from SSA or tracking to determine who is accessing or has accessed the copy of this data.” This includes “all data submitted in an application for a United States Social Security card—including the name of the applicant, place and date of birth, citizenship, race and ethnicity, parents' names and social security numbers, phone number, address, and other personal information.” If this data were to be compromised – as is eminently possible given the unsecured and unsupervised nature of the cloud copy, “Americans may be susceptible to widespread identity theft, may lose vital healthcare and food benefits, and the government may be responsible for re-issuing every American a new Social Security Number.” This staggering degree of carelessness and incompetence is almost unbelievable, if not for the fact that it comports perfectly with the DOGE track record. We can only hope lawmakers and regulators take swift action to shut down this ticking timebomb of data before it's too late.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

On this week's Labor Radio Podcast Weekly: federal bargaining rights under fire, rank-and-file power rising, and one very odd ICE headline. The Labor Notes Podcast spotlights UAW Region 9A's member-driven endorsements and field power; Green and Red digs into how to turn non-compliance into concrete action; The Workers Mic unpacks Dean Cain's leap from Superman to ICE amid a recruitment blitz; The Valley Labor Report features AFGE's Jessica LaPointe on SSA attrition and service delays; Heartland Labor Forum debunks “national security” claims behind canceling federal CBAs; and Harold's Shows You Should Know. Find these—and dozens more—at laborradionetwork.org. Help us build sonic solidarity by clicking on the share button below. 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. @LaborNotes @PodcastGreenRed @coalition_labor @LaborReporters @Heartland_Labor#LaborRadioPod @AFLCIO Edited by Captain Swing, produced by Chris Garlock; social media guru Mr. Harold Phillips.

Warehouse Workers Against ICE Petition: https://form.jotform.com/251684939561066 Palestinian Trade Unions Statement: https://masarbadil.org/en/2025/07/6308/ No Azure for Apartheid Pledge: https://t.co/df0U2S9P26 We're back after our brief vacation! And so much has happened in the last two weeks! We've got a supersized headline section covering workers organizing at REI, Starbucks, FedEx, UPS, Airgas, Care New England, the Wonderful Company, Canada Post, and more. For our major stories, we start with a review of how university administrators are using the Trump Administration's attacks on higher education as cover to push forward attacks on student organizers. While many workers are coming together to fight ICE, a recent Labor Notes report documents how the leadership of some parts of the building trades are failing the most basic test of a union leader: solidarity. Workers at Fenway Park have gone on strike for the first time after contracting giant Aramark refuses to pay them enough to live in one of the most expensive parts of the country. Finally, we discuss the state of ICE's attacks on the US working class and how more and more Americans are realizing the shared interests we have with our immigrant siblings. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

This week on the Labor Radio Podcast Weekly: What happens when union leadership tries to shut down support for women, LGBTQ members, Black and Latino caucuses—all in the name of “compliance”? On the Labor Notes Podcast, the rank and file are pushing back inside the building trades, and they're not backing down. Then: over in Boston, the Pipe Up podcast is thinking outside the pipe—literally. If electricians can represent blackjack dealers, why can't plumbers organize chimney sweeps? We'll also hear from Working to Live in Southwest Washington, where delegates reflect on solidarity and strategy at the Washington State Labor Council convention. Why “everybody should be union”? Let's just say it starts with healthcare—and ends with dignity. From Cincinnati's Boiling Point to labor YouTubers calling for collectivization over corporatization, this week's shows aren't afraid to tackle the deep questions: Who gets a voice in our unions? What kind of future are we organizing for? And how do we fight disinformation at the hyperlocal level? And speaking of solidarity: you don't want to miss out on participating in the Unions Power America sweepstakes      ! It's your chance to win cash prizes—just for being union. But it's about more than the money. It's about showing the country that union members make America work. Enter today at UnionsPowerAmerica.org and share what union power means to you. No purchase necessary. That's UnionsPowerAmerica.org. Full rules on the site. Don't miss out—Labor Day is almost here! From contract fights to community radio, you'll hear the voices of working people telling their own stories—in their own words. This is the Labor Radio Podcast Weekly: stories you won't hear anywhere else. Help us build sonic solidarity by clicking on the share button below. 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 @LaborNotes @ABWorker @SWWACLC Edited by Captain Swing, produced by Chris Garlock; social media guru Mr. Harold Phillips.

We begin on a positive note by welcoming a “doer,” citizen extraordinaire, Jon Merryman, who couldn't stand the trash, especially old tires, being dumped in his neighborhood. So, he took it upon himself to clean it up and has now expanded his efforts across the country. Then co-president of Public Citizen, Robert Weissman, joins us to explain how spending in the recent bill passed by the Republican controlled Congress prioritizes the Pentagon and deportation enforcement at the expense of the social safety net, essentially trading life for death.Jon Merryman was a software designer at Lockheed Martin, who after retiring found his true calling, cleaning up trash in every county in America.When I first started looking at the environment next to my place of work, one of the things I did uncover was tires. And they were definitely there from the '20s, the '30s, and the '40s, they've been there for decades. And then just after a while, the soil and the erosion just covers them up. And you just discover them, and you realize this has been going on forever.Jon MerrymanNature is innocent. It really doesn't deserve what we've given it. And I feel like someone's got to step up to undo what we've done.Jon MerrymanRobert Weissman is a staunch public interest advocate and activist, as well as an expert on a wide variety of issues ranging from corporate accountability and government transparency to trade and globalization, to economic and regulatory policy. As the Co-President of Public Citizen, he has spearheaded the effort to loosen the chokehold corporations, and the wealthy have over our democracy.The best estimates are that the loss of insurance and measures in this bill will cost 40,000 lives every year. Not once. Every year.Robert Weissman co-president of Public Citizen on the Budget BillPeople understand there's a rigged system. They understand that generally. They understand that with healthcare. But if you (the Democrats) don't name the health insurance companies as an enemy, as a barrier towards moving forward. You don't say United Health; you don't go after a Big Pharma, which is probably the most despised health sector in the economy, people don't think you're serious. And partially it's because you're not.Robert WeissmanNews 7/11/251. This week, the Financial Times published a stunning story showing the Tony Blair Institute – founded by the former New Labour British Prime Minister and Iraq War accomplice Tony Blair – “participated” in a project to “reimagine Gaza as a thriving trading hub.” This project would include a “Trump Riviera” and an “Elon Musk Smart Manufacturing Zone”. To accomplish this, the investors would pay half a million Palestinians to leave Gaza to open the enclave up for development – and that is just the tip of the harebrained iceberg. This scheme would also involve creating “artificial islands off the coast akin to those in Dubai, blockchain-based trade initiatives…and low-tax ‘special economic zones'.” The development of this plot is somewhat shadowy. The FT story names a, “group of Israeli businessmen…including tech investor Liran Tancman and venture capitalist Michael Eisenberg,” who helped establish the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in February 2025. GHF has been accused of using supposed aid distribution sites as “death traps,” per France 24. Boston Consulting Group, also named in the FT story, strongly disavowed the project, as did the Tony Blair Institute.2. In more positive news related to Gaza, the National Education Association – the largest labor union in the United States – voted this week to sever ties with the Anti-Defamation League. The ADL, once an important group safeguarding the civil rights and wellbeing of American Jews, has completely abandoned its historic mission and has instead devoted its considerable resources to trying to crush the anti-Zionist movement. The NEA passed a resolution stating that the NEA “will not use, endorse, or publicize materials from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), such as its curricular materials or statistics,” because, “Despite its reputation as a civil rights organization, the ADL is not the social justice educational partner it claims to be.” Labor Notes writes that the ADL “has been a ubiquitous presence in U.S. schools for forty years, pushing curriculum, direct programming, and teacher training into K-12 schools and increasingly into universities.” One NEA delegate, Stephen Siegel, said from the assembly floor, “Allowing the ADL to determine what constitutes antisemitism would be like allowing the fossil fuel industry to determine what constitutes climate change.”3. Another major labor story from this week concerns sanitation workers in Philadelphia. According to the Delaware News Journal, AFSCME District Council 33 has reached a deal with the city to raise wages for their 9,000 workers by 9% over three years. The union went on strike July 1st, resulting in, “massive piles of trash piling up on city streets and around trash drop-off sites designated by the city,” and “changes to the city's annual Fourth of July concert with headliner LL Cool J and city native Jazmine Sullivan both dropping out,” in solidarity with the striking workers, per WHYY. The deal reached is a major compromise for the union, which was seeking a 32% total pay increase, but they held off on an extended trash pickup strike equivalent to 1986 strike, which went on for three weeks and left 45,000 tons of rotting garbage in the streets, per ABC.4. Yet another labor story brings us to New York City. ABC7 reports the United Federation of Teachers has endorsed Democratic Socialist – and Democratic Party nominee – Zohran Mamdani for mayor. This report notes “UFT is the city's second largest union…[with] 200,000 members.” Announcing the endorsement, UFT President Michael Mulgrew stated, “This is a real crisis and it's a moment for our city, and our city is starting to speak out very loudly…The voters are saying the same thing, 'enough is enough.' The income gap disparity is above…that which we saw during the Gilded Age." All eyes now turn to District Council 37, which ABC7 notes “endorsed Council speaker Adrienne Adams in the primary and has yet to endorse in the general election.”5. The margin of Mamdani's victory, meanwhile, continues to grow as the Board of Elections updates its ranked choice voting tallies. According to the conservative New York Post, Zohran has “won more votes than any other mayoral candidate in New York City primary election history.” Mamdani can now boast having won over 565,000 votes after 102,000 votes were transferred from other candidates. Not only that, “Mamdani's totals are expected to grow as…a small percent of ballots are still being counted.”6. Meanwhile, scandal-ridden incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams has yet another scandal on his hands. The New York Daily News reports, “Four high-ranking former NYPD chiefs are suing Mayor Adams, claiming they were forced to retire from the department after complaining that his ‘unqualified' friends were being placed in prestigious police positions, sometimes after allegedly bribing their way into the jobs.” Former Police Commissioner Edward Caban, who was already forced to resign in disgrace amidst a federal corruption investigation, features prominently in this new lawsuit. Among other things, Caban is alleged to have been “selling promotions” to cops for up to $15,000. Adams is running for reelection as an independent, but trails Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani and disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo.7. Turning to the federal government, as the U.S. disinvests in science and technology, a new report published in the Financial Times finds that, “Almost three-quarters of all solar and wind power projects being built globally are in China.” According to the data, gathered by Global Energy Monitor, “China is building 510 gigawatts of utility-scale solar and wind projects… [out of] 689GW under construction globally.” As this report notes, one gigawatt can potentially supply electricity for about one million homes. This report goes on to say that, “China is expected to add at least 246.5GW of solar and 97.7GW of wind this year,” on top of the “1.5 terawatts of solar and wind power capacity up and running as of the end of March.” In the first quarter of 2025, solar and wind accounted for 22.5% of China's total electricity consumption; in 2023, solar and wind accounted for around 14% of electricity consumption in the United States, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.8. Developments this week put two key rules promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission under former Chair Lina Khan in jeopardy. First and worse, NPR reports the Republican-controlled FTC is abandoning a rule which would have banned non-compete clauses in employment contracts. These anti-worker provisions “trap workers and depress wages,” according to Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, who has introduced legislation to ban them by statute. Perhaps more irritatingly however, Reuters reports the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis has blocked the so-called “click to cancel” rule just days before it was set to take effect. This rule would have, “required retailers, gyms and other businesses to provide cancellation methods for subscriptions, auto-renewals and free trials that convert to paid memberships that are ‘at least as easy to use' as the sign up process.” A coalition of corporate interests sued to block the rule, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a trade group representing major cable and internet providers such as Charter Communications, Comcast and Cox Communications along with media companies like Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery. Lina Khan decried “Firms…making people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription, trapping Americans in needless bureaucracy and wasting their time & money.”9. In another betrayal of consumers, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to break promises and speak out of both sides of his mouth. A new report in NPR documents RFK Jr. speaking at a conference in April, where he “spoke about the health effects of exposure to harmful chemicals in our food, air and water…[and] cited recent research on microplastics from researchers in Oregon, finding these tiny particles had shown up in 99% of the seafood they sampled.” Yet Susanne Brander, the author of the study, had gotten word just an hour earlier that “a federal grant she'd relied on to fund her research for years…was being terminated.” Brander is quoted saying "It feels like they are promoting the field while ripping out the foundation." Ripping out the foundation of this research is felt acutely, as “regulators are weakening safeguards that limit pollution and other toxic chemicals.” So Mr. Secretary, which is more important – stopping the proliferation of microplastics or slashing funding for the very scientists studying the issue?10. Finally, in Los Angeles masked federal troops are marauding through the streets on horseback, sowing terror through immigrant communities, per the New York Times. President Trump mobilized approximately 4,000 National Guard members – putting them under federal control – alongside 700 Marines in response to protests against immigration raids in June. As the Times notes, “It has been more than three weeks since the last major demonstration in downtown Los Angeles,” but the federal forces have not been demobilized. While some have dismissed the shows of force as nothing more than stunts designed to fire up the president's base, Gregory Bovino, a Customs and Border Protection chief in Southern California told Fox News “[LA] Better get used to us now, cause this is going to be normal very soon.” As LA Mayor Karen Bass put it, “What I saw…looked like a city under siege, under armed occupation…It's the way a city looks before a coup.”This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

We start with some check-ins Starbucks' war on workers, the fight by workers at Butler Hospital, and the continuing cruel attacks on workers by the Trump Administration. We've also got headlines this week from Duke, Western Washington University, Sutphen Corp, Golden Gate Nursing Home, and UPMC. Canadian port workers in British Columbia are fighting attempts to replace their jobs with robots. Farm workers in New York are fighting the brazen refusal of farm owners to abide by their legal contract. A recent piece in Labor Notes reports on efforts by both the SEIU and the Machinists to return their union siblings home after being abducted by ICE. Finally, video game workers have been organizing in bigger numbers every year, and this week saw workers at Zenimax reach a new milestone with a first contract. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

We start this week with headlines on organizing in healthcare, logistics, airlines, construction, software development, video games, and trading cards. We did a deeper dive on a set of stories from Canada last week, this week we have three big stories from workers and farmers in India fighting against neoliberal exploitation. The next major step forward for Mexico's young independent labor movement may be coming up, as Labor Notes reports on efforts to bring new union SINTTIA to a second major plant from GM. The Supreme Court took a major step towards dismantling the NLRA and the entire post-Depression regime of contractual collective bargaining this week, and unions will need to shift tactics to respond. Finally, we discuss how the 4 day workweek is going in Iceland. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Rise of the far right in Europe: A product of the anti-working class and pro-war policies of the established parties / For first time, Netanyahu names ethnic cleansing of Gaza as official war aim / Jacobin and Labor Notes promote UAW election as model for “union democracy” despite massive voter suppression

We've got a Canada-centric set of headlines as the temporarily halted Canada Post strike may resume, port workers returned from a two year plus long lockout, and Alberta public workers are ready to strike if necessary. Warehouse workers in Manhattan are organizing against awful conditions and facing brazen bribery by their employers, Labor Notes reports this week. We also discuss a recent report on conditions of superxploitation faced by Cambodia workers making shoes for Nike. Starbucks workers struck nationwide against new harsh restrictions on the company's dress code and their continued refusal to agree to a contract. Finally, we actually got an honest to goodness rail strike this weekend, we discuss the causes and the swift wins made by the use of industrial action. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

Last week, President Trump escalated his administration's war on the federal workforce and workers' rights when he signed an executive order to end collective bargaining with federal labor unions across the government. The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents 150,000 government employees, has sued the Trump administration over the executive order.In response to these intensifying assaults on federal workers, agencies, and critical programs like Social Security, unions, social justice and community organizations, veterans groups, and people of conscience will be participating in protest actions in locales across the US on Saturday, April 5. In this episode, we speak with James Jones, a maintenance mechanic with the National Park Service, a veteran, and a member of the Federal Unionists Network, to get a firsthand account of the Trump administration's attacks on federal workers, agencies, and the people who depend on their services.Additional links/info: Federal Unionists Network website Indivisible website “Hands Off!” National Day of Action (April 5) website Joe DeManuelle-Hall, Labor Notes, “Trump Goes Nuclear on the Federal Workforce” Tyler Pager, The New York Times, “Trump Moves to End Union Protections Across Broad Swath of Government” Daniel Weissner, Reuters, “Union Sues to Block Trump from Ending Collective Bargaining for Many federal workers” Anjeanette Damon, ProPublica, “Curious How Trump's Cost Cutting Could Affect Your National Park Visit? You Might Not Get a Straight Answer” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘It's not Elon versus government, it's Elon versus everyone': A dire warning from fired federal workers” Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Last week, President Trump escalated his administration's war on the federal workforce and workers' rights when he signed an executive order to end collective bargaining with federal labor unions across the government. The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents 150,000 government employees, has sued the Trump administration over the executive order.In response to these intensifying assaults on federal workers, agencies, and critical programs like Social Security, unions, social justice and community organizations, veterans groups, and people of conscience will be participating in protest actions in locales across the US on Saturday, April 5. In this episode, we speak with James Jones, a maintenance mechanic with the National Park Service, a veteran, and a member of the Federal Unionists Network, to get a firsthand account of the Trump administration's attacks on federal workers, agencies, and the people who depend on their services.Additional links/info:Federal Unionists Network websiteIndivisible website“Hands Off!” National Day of Action (April 5) websiteJoe DeManuelle-Hall, Labor Notes, “Trump Goes Nuclear on the Federal Workforce”Tyler Pager, The New York Times, “Trump Moves to End Union Protections Across Broad Swath of Government”Daniel Weissner, Reuters, “Union Sues to Block Trump from Ending Collective Bargaining for Many federal workers”Anjeanette Damon, ProPublica, “Curious How Trump's Cost Cutting Could Affect Your National Park Visit? You Might Not Get a Straight Answer”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘It's not Elon versus government, it's Elon versus everyone': A dire warning from fired federal workers”Permanent links below…Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music…Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme SongStudio Production: Maximillian AlvarezPost-Production: Jules TaylorBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

Researcher Kap Seol, a frequent contributor to the leftist magazine Jacobin, joins the podcast to discuss his recent article about how the deployment of DPRK troops to fight in Ukraine could lead South Korea to respond by escalating its own involvement.  The self-described former socialist also talks about the similarities between Kim Il Sung and Romania's Nicolae Ceaușescu, while touching on historical topics like the life of a revolutionary Korean in 1930s China and the persistent allegations of North Korean involvement in the 1980 Gwangju Uprising Kap Seol is a Korean writer and researcher based in New York. His writings have appeared in Jacobin, Labor Notes, In These Times, Business Insider and other publications.  About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journalists. NK News subscribers can listen to this and other exclusive episodes from their preferred podcast player by accessing the private podcast feed. For more detailed instructions, please see the step-by-step guide at nknews.org/private-feed.

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised that, if elected, “On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program of criminals in the history of America.” Trump's administration has wasted no time since re-entering the White House on Monday, and communities around the US are currently bracing for a wave of ICE raids. In plans that were publicly leaked ahead of Trump's inauguration, the city of Chicago was identified as a key target for immigration raids, putting immigrant residents and their neighbors on high alert. To discuss the impending threat to Chicago and cities around the country, and how communities can fight back, The Real News speaks with Moises Zavala, Workplace Justice Campaigns Organizer for Arise Chicago, and Natascha Elena Uhlmann, a writer for Labor Notes and immigrant rights activist from Sonora, Mexico.Additional links:Immigrant rights toolkit (English)Immigrant rights toolkit (Spanish)How Labor Can Fight Back Against Trump's Mass Deportation AgendaHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterFollow us on BlueskyLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcastStudio: David Hebden, Adam Coley, Cameron Granadino Post-Production: David HebdenProduced by: Stephen Janis and Taya GrahamWritten by: Stephen Janis

Know Your Rights Toolkit: https://assets.nationbuilder.com/arisechicago/pages/2726/attachments/original/1735833065/Toolkit_immigrant_workers_-_digital_EN.pdf Alamo Drafthouse Worker Support Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/mutual-fund-for-laid-off-alamo-drafthouse-employees ILWU Los Angeles Wildfire Relief Fund: https://checkout.square.site/merchant/6RSQCXFP2D8CP/checkout/EBJ3K7AK2WR2SCPQUAHP2DUB Trump's back, which means its time to ramp up the fight back against attacks on our fellow workers. After our headlines, we discuss how the government of the Bahamas used legal repression to crush a planned two day nationwide strike before it happened. Then we discuss a recent exposé in The City by friend of the show Claudia Irizarry Aponte on a "union" for home health workers that does more for the bosses than for its members. Also this week, we've got two stories on wage theft, union busting, and retaliation by Geo Group against immigrants detained in its privately operated concentration camps. Finally, we discuss a recent Labor Notes piece sharing the lessons from union struggles to defend immigrant workers across the country and how our unions can defend our fellow workers. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

Arch-criminal Trump to assume the presidency / Over 100 miners starved to death by the ANC in South Africa, hundreds still in danger / Labor Notes, DSA back sellout on US docks, keep quiet on union's support for Trump

First up on today's wide-ranging show, Ralph speaks to political scientist Adolph Reed about how American politics has started taking its cues from professional wrestling and how the left can rebuild itself. Then, we welcome Steve Silberstein from National Popular Vote to update us on their interstate compact's progress. Finally, we're joined by three interns from the American Museum of Tort Law—Dylan Bird, Gabriel Duffany, and Rachel Donovan discuss a rather unique summer assignment.Adolph Reed is Professor Emeritus of political science at the University of Pennsylvania and an organizer with the Debs-Jones-Douglass Institute's Medicare for All-South Carolina initiative, and co-host of Class Matters Podcast. His most recent books are The South: Jim Crow and Its Afterlives and (with Walter Benn Michaels) No Politics but Class Politics.One of the things that struck me, especially, is during the pandemic it was striking to see how much full-blown animus toward government— or toward the idea of public and public goods—that there is out there in society at large. And we know Heritage (and the rest of the reactionary, the Koch brothers) have been fueling that and stoking that kind of resentment for as long as they've been around, frankly, right…But what's different is that since the Clinton years, the Democrats have been just as likely to attack the idea of government or public goods and public services, right? And they're more likely to do it backhandedly…So there hasn't been any space for people to connect even the fact that they like to go to the public library or like to use the public park with this bipartisan, full-bore attack on the idea of government. And that has gone so far and so deeply within society.Adolph ReedSteve Silberstein founded and served as the first president of Innovative Interfaces Inc., a leading supplier of computer software for the automation of college and city libraries. Mr. Silberstein sold his interest in the company in 2001 and now devotes his time to philanthropic and civic matters, one of which is sitting on the Board of Directors of National Popular Vote.Of the states that have passed [the National Popular Vote compact], it's mostly been with Democratic votes. Because for a while there's been a theory that Republicans couldn't win the national popular vote. That's why they opposed it. But now that they have actually won the popular vote this time around, that theory which caused some of them to oppose it has gone by the wayside.Steve SilbersteinThere's no reason for [Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan being “swing states”]. You know, those states didn't even exist when the constitution was established. It's just purely an accident…Those states are not typical of the United States—each state is unique in some way. So, Wisconsin has a big dairy industry. Pennsylvania has coal mining or fracking or something like that. So the candidates just concentrate on those—what are really very obscure issues to most of the people in the country. These states are not typical. They are not representative in any way shape or form of the rest of the country.Steve SilbersteinDylan Bird is a sophomore at St Lawrence University, pursuing a double major in Global Studies and Spanish on a Pre Law Track. Gabriel Duffany is a sophomore at the University of Connecticut, pursuing a double major in Human Rights and Communication also on a Pre Law Track, and he is an intern at the American Museum of Tort Law. Rachel Donovan is the Outreach Coordinator at the American Museum of Tort Law, and she is pursuing studies in education. All three recently worked as summer interns at the American Museum of Tort Law in the VoxBox Civic Engagement Summer Course, and they participated in Ralph Nader's Dictionary Pilot.It's a very daunting task when somebody hands you a full dictionary—over a thousand pages or so—and asks you to read it front-to-back. Once you start to actually sink your teeth into it…I actually found it to be a very positive experience. Rather than simply looking up individual words and ending your journey there, the goal really becomes the exploration of knowledge.Dylan BirdFor me, what really did stand out wasn't the individual words. It was more so the process of defining that I found the most compelling. So it showed up to me in the linguistic sense that these aren't exact definitions here. They're more so measurements, gauges of people's public opinions and definitions that would shift over time. So it was interesting to see how the evolution of words came, how meanings evolved over time with new technologies, new cultural moments. And as a news writer, I found that fascinating—the complexities of a word, the connotations that go with it, they can make or break the framing of any certain topic.Gabriel DuffanyI think that this project could be very important for students of all ages because it's not often that you would use a physical dictionary very much anymore—versus just going online and looking up a word. And now multiple definitions could come up—you may not even find exactly what you're looking for, because words undergo new meanings on a near-daily basis. And I think having the chance to read the original definition may give students new meanings to words that they may have thought they had the knowledge of due to social media.Rachel DonovanNews 12/25/241. On December 19th, the Teamsters announced they would launch “the largest strike against Amazon in U.S. history.” This strike covers nearly 10,000 Amazon workers who have joined the Teamsters, with workers taking to the picket line in New York City Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco and Skokie, Illinois. Teamsters President Sean O'Brien is quoted saying “If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon's insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it…This strike is on them.” Scenes from this strike went viral over the holidays; one video posted by Labor Notes journalist Luis Feliz Leon shows NYPD officers guarding a path for Amazon trucks to depart after clearing away a blockade by striking workers – in case you were wondering whose side the cops are on.2. In more Amazon union news, INDY Week's Lena Geller reports that on December 23rd Amazon workers filed for a union election at the RDU1 warehouse in Garner, North Carolina. These workers are organizing under the auspices of Carolina Amazonians for Solidarity and Empowerment, aka CAUSE, which states that “despite an illegal campaign of intimidation by Amazon, which is desperate to keep unions out to continue paying poverty wages and failing to improve dismal work conditions,” the union believes they have “easily” exceeded the 30% card check threshold to demand an election. If successful, RDU1 would become the first unionized Amazon facility in the South.3. Independent investigative journalists Ken Klippenstein and Dan Boguslaw are out with a report on a potential conflict of interest in the Luigi Mangione prosecution. Apparently, “Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker, who is overseeing pre-trial hearings for…Mangione, is married to a former Pfizer executive.” Judge Parker's husband, Bret Parker, had served as Vice President and assistant general counsel at Wyeth, and held the same titles after that company was purchased by Pfizer. According to financial disclosures, Mr. Parker still collects a pension from Pfizer in the form of a “Senior Executive Retirement Plan.” The Parkers also own hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of stock in Pfizer itself, along with other pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and healthcare companies. These holdings raise grave questions about the impartiality of this judge.4. In more news from New York, Gothamist reports New York Governor Kathy Hochul has vetoed a bill which would have “reversed New York's longstanding ban on jury service for anyone convicted of felonies at any point in their lives. If enacted, the bill would have allowed people with felony convictions to serve only after completing their sentences, including parole.” This bill passed with the support of the New York Civil Liberties Union and Phil Desgranges, an attorney at The Legal Aid Society, called this bill “common-sense legislation.” State Senator Jabari Brisport wrote “Fun fact about [New York] politics. The Governor has until end of year to sign bills so she usually waits until [the] holiday season and vetoes a bunch right before Christmas, hoping no one notices.” The Gothamist piece notes that Hochul vetoed 132 bills over the weekend.5. Turning to Israel, a remarkable story in unfolding around the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. According to Democracy Now!, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to skip the anniversary “out of fears he might be arrested for committing war crimes in Gaza.” As we have documented on this program, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant in November, and since then various countries have grappled with their obligations under international law to arrest the pair. While certain ICC signatory nations like Germany and France have sought to weasel out of these commitments, according to this report, “Poland's deputy foreign minister recently confirmed Poland would comply with the ICC arrest warrants if Netanyahu visited.”6. On the domestic front, newly elected Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Greg Casar has sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin demanding that the Biden administration withhold new transfers of offensive weaponry to the Israeli military. In this letter, he and other progressive members of Congress make clear that the administration itself has “correctly identified steps the Israeli government must take in order for continued transfers…to be in accordance with U.S. law,” and that “the Israeli government has failed to take sufficient action or change course.” This letter is signed by 20 members of Congress including Casar himself along with Summer Lee, James McGovern, Mark Pocan, Pramila Jayapal, Sara Jacobs, AOC, Rashida Tlaib, and others.7. In a stunning story picked up by POLITICO, Republican Congresswoman Kay Granger – chair of the critical House Appropriations Committee until last April – has been missing in action for months. Despite continuing to hold her Texas seat, she has not cast a vote at all since July. Calls to her office went unanswered and unreturned. Visits to her office found it vacant. And when investigative reporters sought her out, they wound up finding her in an assisted living facility wracked with dementia. This story is tragic; Granger's son has spoken out since publication, addressing how rapidly his mother's mental decline has progressed. Yet, this is just the most striking example of the gerontocracy that has gripped Capitol Hill. And at least Granger had the sense remaining to recuse herself from votes; rebellious Republican Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky is quoted saying he's “more concerned about the congressmen who have dementia and are still voting.”8. Moving to some good news, the Federal Trade Commission announced last week that they, along with the Attorney General of Illinois, have reached a $25 million settlement with food delivery giant GrubHub, stemming from the firm's engagement in “an array of unlawful practices including deceiving diners about delivery costs and blocking their access to their accounts and funds, deceiving workers about how much money they would make delivering food, and unfairly and deceptively listing restaurants on its platform without their permission.” In addition to the monetary penalty, the company must make significant changes to its operations model, including “telling consumers the full cost of delivery, honestly advertising pay for drivers, and listing restaurants on its platform only with their consent.” This is a victory for consumers, workers, restaurants, but perhaps above all, the rule of law. As FTC Chair Lina Khan puts it “There is no ‘gig platform' exemption to the laws on the books.”9. On December 23rd, President Biden announced that he would commute the death sentences for 37 out of the 40 federal prisoners on death row, in a major victory for ending executions by the state. These sentences have been commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In a statement, Biden wrote “I've dedicated my career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system…Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss. But… I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.” He ends this statement by alluding to the fact that as president he has imposed a moratorium on federal executions and fears that the incoming Trump administration will resume state-sponsored killings. Per AP, the three inmates whose sentences were not commuted are: Dylann Roof, the Mother Emanuel AME Church shooter, Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Tree of Life Synagogue shooter Robert Bowers.10. Finally, on Christmas Eve, Bernie Sanders issued a statement laying out “How to Make America Healthy Again,” echoing the language used by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Under Bernie's plan, this initiative would include Medicare for All, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, paid family and medical leave, a 32-hour work week, raising the minimum wage, and reforms to the food industry itself, such as banning junk food ads and stronger warning labels on high-sugar products. As with Bernie's qualified embrace of the “Department of Government Efficiency” this should be seen as a savvy move to call the Trump team's bluff. Will they really go after big sugar? Or will they bend the knee to their corporate benefactors yet again?This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

Ralph welcomes back Dr. Michael Osterholm for a COVID check-up. They'll discuss the latest vaccines, what we know about long-haul COVID, updated testing guidelines, and some of the key lessons we can take from COVID and apply to future outbreaks. Plus, a call to action from Ralph. Dr. Michael Osterholm is a professor and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. In November 2020, Dr. Osterholm was appointed to President-elect Joe Biden's 13-member Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board. He is the author of Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs, and he has a weekly podcast called The Osterholm Update which offers discussion and analysis on the latest infectious disease developments.I think what we're trying to do today is use this vaccine to target those high-risk people in particular to say—you know what, you need to get it at least every four to six months, and that, unlike the flu vaccine, this is not going to be a once-a-year vaccine. If you did that— by just reducing serious illness, hospitalizations, and deaths—it would be a big accomplishment.Dr. Michael OsterholmThe last time you had me on, Ralph, we actually talked about the need for a panel to actually do a post-pandemic review. Not to point fingers, not to blame people, but—what should we have learned from that pandemic? And what I think is, for me, still a real challenge is we haven't seemed to learn through any of this. But more importantly—we haven't realized what happened with COVID could be child's play compared to what we could see, if this was anything like a “1918-like” pandemic of influenza.Dr. Michael OsterholmWe are using, today, virtually the same technology to make flu vaccines that we did in 1940. Now, that should wake everyone up. Dr. Michael Osterholm, on why we need to invest in vaccine developmentWe have, as a society, a cultural aversion to foreseeing and forestalling omnicides.Ralph NaderIn Case You Haven't Heard with Francesco DeSantisNews 8/28/241. Last week, the Uncommitted movement staged a sit-in at the DNC after the Democratic Party barred any Palestinian-American from speaking at the convention. According to Mother Jones, Uncommitted co-leader Abbas Alawieh, a delegate to the DNC, had been requesting a speaking slot for a Palestinian-American for two months in advance, and was only officially denied on the third night of the convention. Alawieh said he was “stunned” by the refusal, and added “We just want our voices to be heard.” As the article notes, “At the DNC, Republican staffers have been offered the chance [to speak]. An Uber lawyer who is high in the campaign got a prime-time slot. But not a single Palestinian has been given even five minutes on that stage.” Uncommitted gave the DNC an extensive list of potential speakers, including a physician just back from Gaza, and a Palestinian elected official from Georgia named Ruwa Romman. Her speech, available at Mother Jones, ended with the lines “To those who doubt us, to the cynics and the naysayers, I say, yes we can—yes we can be a Democratic Party that prioritizes funding our schools and hospitals, not…endless wars. That fights for an America that belongs to all of us—Black, brown, and white, Jews and Palestinians, all of us…together.” This was deemed unacceptable by the power brokers of the Democratic Party.2. In more bad news from the DNC, the New Republic reports that despite major progress in the party's foreign policy platform in 2020, “the center of gravity appears to have shifted almost as far—right back to where it had previously been.” Not only does the 2024 foreign policy platform include nothing about ending the sale and shipment of arms to Israel, the Democrats actually removed sections about ending the support for the Saudi war in Yemen, moving away from misguided forever wars, and cutting military spending – as well as criticizing Trump for being too soft on Iran. This article goes on to say “The Democratic platform abandons the progress made in 2020 in more subtle ways, too. The last platform noted that ‘when misused and overused, sanctions not only undermine our interests, they threaten one of the United States' greatest strategic assets: the importance of the American financial system.'…the new platform does not repeat these concerns…Both platforms call for competition with China, but in 2020 it said that Democrats would do so while avoiding the trap of a ‘new Cold War'—language that does not appear this time around.” In other words, the Democrats are trying desperately to scrub off any progress on foreign policy that pressure from the Bernie Sanders campaigns forced them to adopt into their platform. This is an ominous portend of what foreign policy could look like in a Kamala Harris administration.3. In yet more bad news from the DNC, the Huffington Post's Jessica Schulberg reports “The Democrats quietly dropped abolishing the death penalty from their party platform. This is the first time since 2012 the platform doesn't call for abolition and the first time since 2004 there's no mention of the death penalty at all.” Prior to 2012, the Democratic platform called for limiting the practice. This article continues, “Public support for the death penalty has been gradually declining. A Gallup poll last year found that 65% of Democrats oppose the punishment.” Yet despite this super-majority support the Democrats are abandoning this promise and did not even bother responding to her email asking if the party still supports death penalty abolition.4. On Monday, the Middle East Studies Association sent a letter to the University of Pennsylvania “denouncing its collaboration with the House Committee on Education and the Workforce's investigation of faculty members.” This letter expresses the association's, and its Committee on Academic Freedom's “grave concern about the apparent cooperation of the University…with the [Republican] witch-hunt…against…faculty, as well as faculty and students at other institutions of higher education.” Specifically, the Association accuses the university of providing the committee with materials – including course syllabi – despite no subpoena being issued. The Association compares this “witch-hunt,” to “the now-disgraced House Un-American Activities Committee hearings in the late 1940s and 1950s,” and makes clear that the House committee members are “less concerned with combatting invidious discrimination than with suppressing and punishing pro-Palestine speech.” This letter ends with a demand that the university “immediately desist from any form of cooperation…[and] to affirm [their] commitment to protect the academic freedom of [their] faculty, students and staff, and to vigorously defend them against all forms of governmental harassment and intimidation.”5. Remember the astronauts stranded on the International Space Station due to Boeing's incompetence? According to AP, “NASA decided Saturday it's too risky to bring [them] back to Earth in Boeing's…capsule, and they'll have to wait until next year for a ride home…What should have been a weeklong test flight for the pair will now last more than eight months.” As AP highlights, this is “a blow to Boeing, adding to the safety concerns plaguing the company on its airplane side. Boeing had counted on Starliner's first crew trip to revive the troubled spacecraft program after years of delays and ballooning costs. The company had insisted Starliner was safe based on all the recent thruster tests both in space and on the ground.” In other words, whether in the air or in space, Boeing craft are undependable and dangerous. According to Good Jobs First's Subsidy Tracker, Boeing has received nearly $100 billion in public subsidies, loans or bailouts since 1994.6. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Donald Trump, the BBC reports. In a press conference, Kennedy said he would “seek to remove his name from the ballot in 10 battleground states…where his presence would be a ‘spoiler' to Trump's effort.” That said, election officials in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada said it was too late to take his name off the ballot. In exchange for his endorsement, Kennedy's running mate Nicole Shanahan “entertained the idea that Kennedy could join Trump's administration as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services,” per AP, a perch that would allow him to carry out his anti-vaccine agenda. Kerry Kennedy, his sister, released a statement saying his support for Trump was a “betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story.”7. Last year, the Department of Justice announced an antitrust lawsuit accusing the meat industry of colluding to fix prices with the help of a data company, Agri Stats, that “violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act by collecting, integrating, and distributing competitively sensitive information related to price, cost, and output among competing meat processors,” per Common Dreams. Now, More Perfect Union has released a video on the case featuring Errol Schweizer, the former vice president of Whole Foods' grocery division, saying “This is probably one of the top five food scandals of the 21st Century, and we can't underplay it…People f*****g need to go to jail…for this s**t.”8. Labor Notes' Luis Feliz Leon reports “Costco turned down a card check agreement with the Teamsters.” In a statement, the Teamsters explain “Costco Teamsters were forced to suspend negotiations for a new National Master Agreement after the wholesale giant, despite its claims of being pro-union, refused to accept a card check agreement that would make it easier for nonunion Costco workers to join the Teamsters…Despite Costco's public reputation as a ‘worker-friendly' company, the wholesaler has undergone a troubling shift in its corporate culture and governance. Increasingly…catering to Wall Street shareholders at the expense of workers.” Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien is quoted saying “Costco's so-called ‘pro-worker' image is now nothing more than a talking point for investors…We are not here for empty rhetoric — we're here to win an industry-leading contract that stops Costco's corporate backsliding and guarantees workers the right to organize with a card-check agreement.” This statement also notes that “Costco is ranked as the 11th largest U.S. corporation on the Fortune 500 and reported $242 billion in revenue and $29.7 billion in annual gross profits in 2023.”9. According to Vox, the 2019 US teacher strikes were “good, actually.” This piece cites “New research [which] finds labor stoppages raised wages without harming student learning.” As this article explains, “Answering…questions [like do these strikes work? Do they deliver gains for workers? Do they help or hurt students academically?] has been challenging…due to a lack of centralized data that scholars could use to analyze the strikes…Now, for the first time…researchers …have compiled a novel data set to answer these questions, providing the first credible estimates of the effect of US teacher strikes.” According to this data, which covers 772 teacher strikes across 610 school districts in 27 states between 2007-2023, “on average, strikes were successful,” delivering average compensation increases of 3 percent one year post-strike and reaching 8 percent five years out. Not only that, the data show strikes related to “improved working conditions, such as lower class sizes or increased spending on school facilities and non-instructional staff like nurses…were also effective…as pupil-teacher ratios fell by 3.2 percent and there was a 7 percent increase in spending dedicated to paying non-instructional staff by the third year after a strike.” Perhaps most critically, “the researchers find no evidence that US teacher strikes…affected reading or math achievement for students in the year of the strike, or in the five years after…In fact…they could not rule out that the…strikes actually boosted student learning over time, given the increased school spending associated with them.” The bottom line is this: teacher strikes get the goods, for teachers, staff, and students alike.10. Finally, Bloomberg reports China has achieved their renewable power target six years ahead of schedule. According to this report, “The nation added 25 gigawatts of turbines and panels in July, expanding total capacity to 1,206 gigawatts…Xi set a goal in December 2020 for at least 1,200 gigawatts from the clean energy sources by 2030.” As Bloomberg notes, “China by far outspends the rest of the world when it comes to clean energy, and has repeatedly broken wind and solar installation records in recent years. The rapid growth has helped lead to declines in coal power generation this summer and may mean the world's biggest polluter has already reached peak emissions well before its 2030 target.” Impressive as these achievements are, solar and wind still only account for around 14% of energy generation in China. In order to arrest catastrophic climate change, much much more remains to be done.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe