Labor Force
Mike Struchen
Subscribe
Starbucks. Amazon. And many, many others in both large and small corners of the economy. My own local and state union, NY State United Teachers, celebrating 50 years and counting this year. Approval of unions in the U.S. at a 50-year high. It all comes together in the workers of America realizing their self worth-- and working to claim their share of an ever-elusive pie. Labor Force is a podcast about labor issues and working people in America today in the midst of this convergence. E-mail: struchenmichael@gmail.com Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
Available episodes
Newest first
Oldest first
2 days ago
Wisconsin unions sue to overturn Act 10
Michigan outlawed right-to-work earlier this year, and the Missouri Supreme Court in 2021 struck down a 2018 state law that made it harder for some public-sector unions to organize and collect dues. Now seven Wisconsin unions representing teachers and public workers filed a lawsuit challenging the state's 2011 law, Act 10, which severely restricts collective bargaining for most public employees. The law, a key achievement of former Republican Governor Scott Walker, has faced multiple legal challenges over the years.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
4 days ago
UAW organizing drive targets entire auto sector | Syracuse dancers fired for striking
Shawn Fain said it’s not just the Big 3, but the Big 5, the Big 6 and more, and the UAW is set to make it happen. As reported by Reuters, "The UAW is launching a campaign to organize the entire non-union auto sector in the U.S. The union said workers at 13 non-union automakers were announcing simultaneous campaigns across the country to join the union, including at Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Rivian, Nissan, BMW and Mercedes-Benz."
And 5 of 8 Syracuse City Ballet dancers were fired last week just before "The Nutcracker," the biggest performance of the season. The dancers characterized their actions as a strike due to unsafe working conditions-- while the Board sees it differently, of course. But their conditions were unsafe and unreasonable, to say the least.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
5 days ago
Macy's workers strike ends, but not the fight | Legoland workers unionize
Macy’s workers in Washington state ended their three-day unfair labor practice, or ULP, strike and returned to work Monday. According to UFCW 3000, “Macy’s should know that we will be back on the picket line, unless Macy’s bargains fairly and stops violating labor law.”
And ride technician engineers at Legoland in Carlsbad, CA filed for a union election to join International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), District Lodge 947 in September. They await a ruling by the NLRB on accepting their bargaining unit, and permitting the election to be scheduled.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Nov 24, 2023
Amazon faces strikes and protests on 'Make Amazon Pay' day
As reported by The Guardian, "Hundreds of strikers outside Amazon’s UK Coventry warehouse were joined on Black Friday by trade unionists from Europe and the U.S. as part of a global campaign calling for better working conditions at the internet retailer."
I’m heartened that workers are standing up worldwide on an American capitalist holiday. It should tell us a hell of a lot about the state of things.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Nov 18, 2023
Happy Thanksgiving is Happy to Have Enough
The holiday season is approaching, and we always hear about helping the needy during this time. But four local news stories from here in Central and Northern NY piqued my interest recently, because they were all released this past week, and they’re such a stark juxtaposition with our status as the richest country in the world.
We’re talking about food insecurity at pandemic levels, helping the homeless with the most basic of needs, and finally, so much need, our local Salvation Army is short staffed. In the year of our Lord 2023.
So it might be Happy Thanksgiving, but it’s really more like Happy to Have Enough.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Nov 15, 2023
Starbucks Workers United Red Cup Rebellion, 11/16
"Red Cup Day (November 16th) is Starbucks’s biggest sales event of the season - and also one of the most infamously hard, understaffed days for the baristas that work them.
Last year, workers went on strike. This year, on the heels of victories won by striking workers across different industries nationwide, Starbucks workers are taking the rebellion to the next level!
In addition to our nationwide ULP strike on the 16th, we’re also asking customers and allies to lead actions at Starbucks stores in their communities in solidarity with workers rising up for a fairer workplace.
If you’re a customer or ally, join the rebellion at an action near you on November 16th!"
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Nov 14, 2023
Musk's SpaceX Mars pursuit marred by worker injuries
Elon Musk recently said that in the future, AI will save us all from having to work. Hopefully we colonize outer space by then, or that will not be true for his SpaceX workers having to feverishly toil to let him claim that distinction– which he would surely do, and never mind the labor that actually accomplished it.
A new investigative report from Reuters dives into an unforgivable price of progress. “At SpaceX, worker injuries soar in Elon Musk’s rush to Mars.”
This is just sheer negligence and hubris, leaving workers to fend for themselves in dangerous working conditions. And that’s an understatement.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Nov 11, 2023
"The Army is a Service, Not a Job": Unionism and the military
An article I came across by Jennifer Mittelstadt of Rutgers University, published in International Labor and Working Class History in 2011, "The Army is a Service, Not a Job": Unionization, Employment, and the Meaning of Military Service in the Late-Twentieth Century United States" examines the "often forgotten attempt to unionize the U.S. Armed Forces in the 1970s."
In 2022, The Department of Justice gave the green light to National Guard members on active duty for their states to join labor unions, despite a U.S. law that makes it a felony for military personnel on active federal duty to unionize.
Altogether, this makes for fascinating history on Veterans' Day.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Nov 10, 2023
Vegas culinary union tentative deals | Detroit casino workers' strike
As reported by the Las Vegas Sun, Culinary Union Local 226 will not be striking on the Las Vegas Strip.
The union agreed to a tentative five-year contract for hospitality workers at Wynn Resorts about three hours before this morning’s strike deadline, union officials said.
After seven months of negotiations with resort companies on the Strip, new five-year contracts were tentatively approved Wednesday for Caesars Entertainment and Thursday for MGM Resorts International.
And Detroit casino workers have been on strike for almost a month, since October 17. A piece published Friday by Outlier Media, “How Detroit casino workers are betting on themselves with a first-ever strike,” states at the outset: "After 8 years of stagnant wages, 3,700 workers at the city’s three casinos want a better deal."
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Nov 9, 2023
SAG-AFTRA tentative deal | Lansing Chipotle Teamsters stand up
Per the Los Angeles Times, SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee has approved a tentative deal with the major studios that would end a nearly four-month-long strike that has sidelined thousands of workers and hobbled much of Los Angeles’ signature entertainment industry.
And Teamsters Local 243 members at Chipotle in Lansing rallied last Friday to demand a fair contract from the multibillion-dollar fast casual giant that hauled in more than $8 billion last year. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Nov 6, 2023
UN Special Rapporteur calls out Walmart, Amazon, DoorDash
From The Guardian, The UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter, has called on the CEOs of Amazon, Walmart, and DoorDash, along with the US government, to address allegations that major US corporations pay low wages, trapping workers in poverty and forcing them to rely on government assistance programs. De Schutter's concerns center on the US minimum wage, wage theft by employers, unpredictable working schedules, the situation of undocumented workers, violation of union rights, and automation.
Turns out “peace, dignity and equality on a healthy planet,” the slogan of the UN, doesn’t square with rampant, unchecked capitalism. You don’t say…
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Nov 2, 2023
Portland teachers' strike
Another strike to talk about, and this one close to my heart. Moreover, it’s a textbook example of how a union can both mobilize and coalesce. As we say, a teacher’s working conditions are students’ learning conditions. The two are intertwined, even if some administrations seem to discount that fact.
As reported by Labor Notes, The Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) walked out on strike Tuesday, closing 81 schools. The 4,500-member union is demanding more counselors, more planning time for teachers, more support for special education students, smaller class sizes, and increased salaries and cost-of-living adjustments.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Oct 30, 2023
UAW, GM tentative deal | SAG-AFTRA strike | CVS, Walgreens walkout | UNITE HERE culinary union negotiations
And now, 3-out-of-3 for the UAW against the Big 3, proving definitively that targeted strikes work.
As reported by the Associated Press, GM and the UAW have reached a tentative contract agreement that could end a six-week-old strike against Detroit automakers.
The agreement follows the pattern set with Ford last week and Stellantis over the weekend.
Meanwhile, the SAG-AFTRA strike continues, and employees at Walgreens and CVS are staging a three-day walkout to demand better working conditions and staffing levels. Finally, the UNITE HERE culinary union in Las Vegas primes to strike against the big casinos.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Oct 28, 2023
2 out of 3: UAW reaches tentative deal with Stellantis
Two down, one to go in the UAW campaign against the Big 3. As reported by the AP, Stellantis has reached a tentative contract agreement with the UAW that follows a template set earlier this week by Ford, the UAW announced Saturday night, calling it “another major victory.” --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Oct 27, 2023
Unionism 101: Annual strategic plan and one-to-one conversations
Recorded last weekend at the NYS United Teachers North Country Regional Leadership Conference. The presenters are two Labor Relations Specialists, who work with local presidents to provide assistance before, during, and after contract negotiations. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Oct 27, 2023
Unionism 101: Creating your local newsletter
Recorded last weekend at the NYS United Teachers North Country Regional Leadership Conference. The presenters are two Labor Relations Specialists, who work with local presidents to provide assistance before, during, and after contract negotiations. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Oct 26, 2023
UAW reaches tentative agreement with Ford
After 41 days of targeted strikes, the UAW has reached a tentative agreement with Ford. It includes wins that were said could never happen, resulting in headlines with phrases like “record pay raise” and “breakthrough.”
A long time coming, for sure. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Oct 25, 2023
Unionism 101: Community outreach
Recorded last weekend at the NYS United Teachers North Country Regional Leadership Conference. The presenters are two Labor Relations Specialists, who work with local presidents to provide assistance before, during, and after contract negotiations. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Oct 24, 2023
Unionism 101: The ten-minute meeting
Recorded last weekend at the NYS United Teachers North Country Regional Leadership Conference. The presenters are two Labor Relations Specialists, who work with local presidents to provide assistance before, during, and after contract negotiations. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Oct 24, 2023
UAW strikes GM's most profitable plant
Per the AP, "The UAW has turned up the heat on GM, as 5,000 workers walked off their jobs Tuesday at a highly profitable SUV factory in Arlington, Texas. The move comes just a day after the union went on strike at a Stellantis pickup truck factory in Sterling Heights, Michigan."
What a time we’re in. It sure is grand.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Oct 23, 2023
Unionism 101: Electronic member communication
Recorded last weekend at the NYS United Teachers North Country Regional Leadership Conference. The presenters are two Labor Relations Specialists, who work with local presidents to provide assistance before, during, and after contract negotiations. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Oct 23, 2023
Breaking: UAW strike hits Stellantis
Happy Monday. Shawn Fain said anytime, anywhere, if we get any more raw deals, and he wasn’t kidding. As reported by Reuters, “The UAW went on strike at Stellantis's largest assembly plant on Monday, hitting the automaker's profitable RAM 1500 pickup truck production in a major expansion of the more than month-old strike.”
You see a lot of those trucks on the road, so this one’s gonna hurt. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Oct 22, 2023
NYS United Teachers Regional Leadership Conference | UAW | St. Lawrence Seaway strike
It’s food, drinks, a raucous raffle, and union business over the course of the weekend. It's a NYS United Teachers regional leadership conference. My region is the North Country, bordering Canada, and we held our event this weekend in Lake Placid.
Meanwhile, Shawn Fain and the UAW continue to pull no punches as their strike surpasses one month, and St. Lawrence Seaway workers go on strike. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Oct 16, 2023
Bill Ford vs. Fain | Allina physicians, health care workers unionize
Bill Ford came out today with a brief talk about the rich history of the company, and calling for an end to the UAW strike for the common good of all involved.
Here’s some common good: Ford’s wealth due to the leadership of the Ford family is almost beyond imagining. It is well into the hundreds of millions of dollars because he owns Ford shares. His family is worth over $1 billion. He does not need the $17.5 million he made last year.
And as reported by the NY Times, doctors employed by the Allina Health System, a nonprofit healthcare system in Minnesota and Wisconsin, have voted to unionize, making them one of the largest groups of unionized private-sector physicians in the United States. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Oct 13, 2023
Hex and Co. workers seek union recognition | Kaiser Permanente deal | UAW new phase
A lot of time has been spent on the UAW strike lately, and for good reason. But I also wanted to take some space to lift a smaller, but no less consequential campaign to those involved. Especially if you have a soft spot for a drink and some Dungeons and Dragons, let’s say.
From the AFL-CIO NYC Central Labor Council: Workers at Hex & Co., the three-location board game bar/cafe chain, including the largest board game cafe in Manhattan, delivered a letter to their management in late September asserting their right to collectively bargain, and asking them to voluntarily recognize their union with Workers United.
"We want a livable wage; we want a path to advancement in the company to be clear, and we want adequate staffing to handle the multitude of jobs we are asked to do."
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Sign their petition for recognition.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com…
playlist_add
Oct 12, 2023
UAW hits Ford's largest factory | SAG-AFTRA talks break down | Amazon workers walk
The company wouldn’t play ball, so the UAW called another strike. Last night, 8,700 auto workers at Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville walked out, significantly escalating the ongoing labor disputes against Detroit Three automakers. The strike affected Ford's largest and most profitable plant, which produces heavy-duty F-Series pickup trucks and Ford and Lincoln SUVs.
Meanwhile, SAG-AFTRA tweeted, "It is with profound disappointment that we report the industry CEOs have walked away from the bargaining table after refusing to counter our latest offer."
And Amazon workers at JFK8 in Staten Island, the only unionized location in the U.S., "calling on Amazon to raise our wages, return profit sharing, and return bonuses.”
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Oct 9, 2023
UAW strikes Mack Trucks | Striketober may yet expand
The UAW announced a strike against Volvo Group-owned Mack Trucks Inc., which began this morning. 73% of UAW members in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida rejected a tentative agreement, involving 4,000 workers.
Other campaigns to watch include UNITE/HERE’s culinary workers and bartenders possibly striking the Las Vegas casino-hotels, and SAG-AFTRA maybe striking video game manufacturers.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Oct 7, 2023
#STRIKEtober in full swing
Striketober is officially what it is. And even though the northeast at least is set to cool down after a record-breaking heat wave this week, the heat remains firmly on in the labor movement across various sectors, both large and small, but in either case, no less consequential.
From Kaiser Permanente, to the UAW, SAG-AFTRA, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Durham sanitation workers, fair is fair, and there's no stopping until fairness is reached.
And on the legislative side, the Chicago City Council has approved the "One Fair Wage" initiative, ending the subminimum wage for tipped workers in the city. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Oct 3, 2023
Book recommendation: "The Education Myth: How Human Capital Trumped Social Democracy"
"The Education Myth" challenges the prevailing belief that education is the primary path to economic opportunity in America. Author Jon Shelton argues that from the 1960s onwards, the pervasive influence of the education myth stifled alternative social democratic solutions, leading to a lack of viable ideas for ensuring economic security and social dignity for non-college-educated Americans. This concept was embraced by both Democrats and Republicans, resulting in a deeply unequal economy and a polarized political system over the past four decades. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Sep 28, 2023
The "two-parent privilege" problem
Granted, two incomes are better than one. But that alone isn't a fix for decades of policy-making that have exacerbated inequality and undermined the working class; attempted to take away women's control over their own fertility; and made "deaths of despair" an actual phrase in the richest country on Earth. Not to mention anything else you can think of.
If only "Let's get together and feel alright" was enough.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Sep 25, 2023
Writers' Guild, studios reach tentative agreement
The major film and television studios and striking writers reached a tentative agreement on Sunday after days of marathon negotiating sessions, the Writers Guild of America said Sunday evening, paving a path forward to end the historic work stoppage that has frozen production and paralyzed much of Hollywood. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Sep 22, 2023
NY public workers protest toxic work culture | UAW expands strikes
Per the Albany Times-Union, “NY State Public Employees Federation workers say 'enough' to 'toxic' work environments.” The union, representing 50,000 employees across all state agencies, held a rally on Thursday at the Empire State Plaza to bring attention to alleged workplace bullying. It was the first time they brought the issue into the public light, as workers say instances of abuse from supervisors have only gotten worse.
And the UAW expanded its strike Friday, walking out of 38 GM and Stellantis parts distribution centers in 20 states. Ford was spared additional strikes because the company has met some of the union’s demands during negotiations over the past week, said UAW President Shawn Fain.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Sep 20, 2023
NY salary transparency | UAW, WGA, SAG-AFTRA | Dartmouth bball union
So what’s the pay? Is that not a question you should be able to attain before you apply for a job? Apparently it takes a law to make it so. And we’ve rightly heard a lot about the 13,000 UAW members on strike, but what about the other 133,000? Ten, twelve hour days? Voluntary overtime? More like ‘eight and skate,’ and that’s quite enough. And by the way, if no serious progress by Friday at noon, As Fain announced yesterday, more plants will strike. Then an update on the writers and actors’ strike, and a union drive in NCAA basketball– another sign that this labor upsurge will not be going quietly.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Sep 15, 2023
UAW on STRIKE!
Glorious sounds of workers out on the line right at the stroke of midnight last night, just as planned if the Big 3 didn’t come to the table with reasonable offers. We didn’t think that would happen, and sure enough, it definitely didn’t.
We’ll see for how long and to what ends, but no doubt– it’s the big strike we thought we would have for some time now come to life. Chalk up another one for this era of broad worker militancy.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Sep 12, 2023
Magic Tavern strip club unionizes | UAW strike imminent
We have to emphasize yet again that every worker, no matter the work, needs a union. We begin with the same old shit, different negligent employer, with a ration of exploitation to boot.
Willamette Week reported yesterday, “The strippers at Northwest Portland’s (OR) Magic Tavern have unanimously voted to unionize with Actors’ Equity Association, making it the second unionized strip club in the country.
“I’m over the moon,” says Daphne, a Magic Tavern stripper who helped lead the club’s unionization efforts. “There’s no feeling like hearing, ‘Yes, yes, yes,’ 16 times as they counted the votes.”
Then the UAW is most certainly on course to strike, with only two days before the deadline. The contract expires at 11:59 PM Thursday, so Friday will very likely be the day. Tick, tick, tick...
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Sep 8, 2023
Working class life still hard to afford | UAW withholds endorsement | Mortgage payday
Continuing with the economy on this one.
* Jacobin out with a piece, “Inflation Is Slowing Down. But Working-Class Life in the US Is Still Hard to Afford.” Will the Biden administration respond adequately?
* The UAW not endorsing the corporate duopoly at this point, for good reason.
* My wife and I discuss a financial surprise– a good surprise– which illustrates that in this economy, one’s own wits and genuine effort still need a lift now and then.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Sep 3, 2023
Labor Radio Podcast Network "Happy Hour" | Hot labor summer
Eight members of the Labor Radio Podcast Network:
* Labor Force’s Mike Struchen
* Work Stoppage’s Dan
* Labor Exchange’s Robert Lindgren
* Labor History Today’s Patrick Dixon
* Activate L!ve’s Tanya Hutchins
* The Heartland Labor Forum’s Judy Ancel
* Labor Week’s Harold Phillips and The Labor Heritage Power Hour’s Chris Garlock enjoy a “Happy Hour” conversation about what’s brought us to our present “Hot Labor Summer,” and where we might go from here. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Sep 1, 2023
63% can't pay $500; UAW files charge; AA flight attendants' strike vote
The business of business CNBC out yesterday with, “63% of workers unable to pay a $500 emergency expense, survey finds. How employers may help change that.”
Now you know what you’re going to get from CNBC, but that headline caught my eye nonetheless. Just guess what you won't hear about the solution. Meanwhile, the UAW has filed an unfair labor charge with the NLRB against GM and Stellantis, and 26,000 American Airlines flight attendants have voted 99% to strike if needed. Hot labor summer continues strongly into September.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Aug 29, 2023
Poll: Two-thirds of Americans support unions
“Do you know how hard it is to get two-thirds of Americans to agree on anything? Let me put it another way: More Americans believe in unions than like chocolate ice cream,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler told union organizers and members during the organization’s inaugural “State of the Unions” address.
No one should be surprised after this smoking, sizzling, blazing hot labor summer that will, at the very least, become a warm labor fall.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Aug 25, 2023
UAW strike vote; crucial NLRB ruling; back to school
UAW votes 97% to strike if necessary. The NLRB cracks down on union busting by bosses. And a trip to the our local community college enrollment center to talk the maze of financial aid juxtaposed with a bright, welcoming kindergarten letter at home.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Aug 16, 2023
"Bidenomics" hits the road. Where are you going?
According to Biden, "Bidenomics" is a restoration of the American dream. The Inflation Reduction Act was passed one year ago today.
On the ground, at your kitchen table, in your apartment after work, etc. are you feeling dreamy about your economic circumstances? Is your life touched by macroeconomics, or do we need real policy to address each of our microeconomies? You know the answer. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Aug 12, 2023
Millionaire exec tells UAW "Get real"
Stellantis North America Chief Operating Officer Mark Stewart said in a letter to employees seen by Reuters the automaker is "committed to working with the UAW to reach an agreement based on “economic realism."
How’s this for economic realism? Stewart’s house in Detroit cost $5 million last year. Instagram posts show he's spent the past two weeks at his vacation home in Mexico– his second mansion, of course– during contract negotiations.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Aug 6, 2023
UAW in talks amidst grueling working conditions
Labor Notes out with a piece recently, “As Big 3 Auto Contracts Expire: Hurried Line Speeds and Horrible Hours.” Let’s take a dive through it for the reality of work in the factory, including topics such as marathon shifts, injuries epidemic and chokepoints, among others. Let’s just say the marvel of Henry Ford’s assembly line 100 years later in 2023 is as ugly and fraught as you might well imagine.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Aug 1, 2023
Unionism 101: WI teachers' unions uncover egregious pay gaps
Wisconsin Education Advisory Council and members in Verona, WI found a troubling disparity in their district: gender-based pay differences of up to nearly $20K. Due to their advocacy, 10 teachers received $450K in back pay, interest and retirement earnings. The district also agreed to correct placements of other teachers on the salary schedule, impacting 367 teachers. This in the continued face of Act 10, the virulent anti-union law passed in 2011, which eliminated most collective bargaining rights for public workers, including teachers.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Jul 30, 2023
What price for comfort?
We already look through the lens of relentless capitalism driving the hot labor summer, including the writers' and actors' strike, and what almost was a major Teamsters' strike against UPS, among others.
But what about all of us and our expectations and habits? The Associated Press out with a piece today: “Consumers are demanding speed and convenience. It’s driving the labor unrest in Hollywood and at UPS.”
It begs the question: how much are we willing to put on others just to be comfortable ourselves? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Jul 26, 2023
UPS Teamsters reach tentative agreement
Sounds good on its face, but to be clear, the bargaining process is not yet complete. You've now got 340K members who have to closely digest the details and vote whether to ratify the deal. The voting window will be from Aug. 3 to 22.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Jul 25, 2023
Navigating the presenteeism tightrope
Is work therapeutic? It reinforces our sense of routine, and underlies our social connections. But where’s the line? Surely we know now that there’s definitely a line, but can America’s workaholic culture take pause and recognize it?
Today we're diving deep into the pervasive issue of presenteeism in the workplace and exploring possible solutions. Presenteeism, for those unfamiliar with the term, refers to the compulsion to work long hours and be available around the clock, even when unwell or unproductive. Two articles this week shed light on this problem from different angles, and we'll be discussing their insights. A few terms that come to mind include support, adjustments, balance, boundaries. At least one of them probably applies to all of us– and to all of our bosses.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Jul 17, 2023
Reality bites for Gen X retirement
Well, the hits of capitalism just keep coming.
Who would have known that as my classmates and I were born at the end of the groovy 1970s, went to school and eventually graduated on a sunny day in 1998, the year we sent our first email and Google was founded, that our outcomes, so full of promise and potential, would end up so uneven and lopsided.
As reported by CBS News, “Millions of Americans born between 1965 and 1980, collectively known as Gen X, are headed toward retirement woefully unprepared financially, a recent analysis shows."
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Jul 13, 2023
Worker power surging: SAG-AFTRA and more
As expected, the actors of SAG-AFTRA announced today they will join the Writer's Guild on strike. Welcome to the club!
What really underscores all this is how many important labor stories are all happening simultaneously. You hear those who have been involved in labor for decades pointing out that fact. Movements just continue to build on each other post-pandemic, coalescing into a true zeitgeist moment of worker empowerment.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Jul 11, 2023
Crimes of capitalism: NY Walmarts hit by card skimmers
If you wanted to exploit our capitalist system for your own gain, knowing what you know through general experience or even hardship; maybe even desperation, given its exploitative qualities– how would you do it? With surreptitious computer hackery in the dead of night, or brazenly out in the open in a public space, with a golden touch of irony?
If you’re the three suspects who placed skimming devices in multiple NY Walmarts recently in broad, open daylight, you’d choose the latter.
The suspects strategically targeted Walmart, of course; the retail giant emblematic of voracious capitalist ethos, where countless transactions take place daily. People are getting off work, and have to stop off somewhere to pick up this or that. And chances are, they’re going to Walmart. The last thing they can afford is for their card information to be hacked and stolen, and their account, already brimming with their err.. thousands of dollars, to be compromised.
This operation underscores the f…
playlist_add
Jul 6, 2023
Workforce well-being dips and stagnates
"As workforce well-being dips, leaders ask: What will it take to move the needle?
Empowering managers. Promoting accountability. Focusing on human outcomes. The Deloitte Well-being at Work survey sheds light on what leaders can do to make progress."
For this one, think of the private sector. Obviously the big ones: Google. Apple. Amazon. Starbucks. UPS. Any company with a Chief executive officer (CEO), or a Chief financial officer (CFO), or a Chief operating officer (COO), etc.
No surprise, things are not well for the employees in these organizations. Let’s start here: as reported by Reuters. Average weekly earnings for U.S. private sector employees was $1,132 in December, up 3.6% from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The CEO's higher gains pushed the median "pay ratio" at companies led by the CEOs studied by Equilar to 288 times the pay of their median employee, up from 254 times in 2021.
But hey, who needs a fair distribution of wealth or any se…
playlist_add
Jul 1, 2023
Supreme student loan debt albatross
The Supreme Court strikes again. Affirmative action defies our color-blind constitution, when the framers were anything but. A website designer never asked by any LGBTQ couple to design anything is now free to discriminate. And today’s topic, as reported by NPR, “Student loan borrowers blast Supreme Court Decision on Debt Forgiveness.”
The image accompanying the piece features a graduate in cap and gown, one tassel being pulled forward, and the other with a dollar sign at the end of it pulling her back. The halls of academia and all of their promise in the background. Her face, needless to say, is pointing forward.
See transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Jun 28, 2023
Grand Geneva R&R
My wife and I are at Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Geneva Lake, WI. The kids are with their grandma in Illinois. We drove 13 hours for a babysitter so we could get away for a few days-- a much needed respite to reclaim us for us.
See transcript --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Jun 25, 2023
New York lawmakers OK bill removing medical debt from credit reports
Hospitals and other health care providers in New York would be banned from reporting medical debt to credit agencies under a bill passed this week by the state’s legislature — a measure intended to limit the damage that illness and injury can do to someone’s financial health.
If signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, the law would make New York the second state, after Colorado, to prohibit medical debt from being collected by credit reporting agencies or included in a credit report.
It would make you laugh if it wasn’t so unconscionable. Maybe it still does. It’s an angle I never considered, having never been burdened this way, but you sure know it if you have.
See transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Jun 20, 2023
No water breaks in Texas | Warehouse worker protection in NY
Two intersecting labor stories reinforce firmly that elections have consequences, and those consequences are borne right down to the ground level by the working class. On one hand, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and the nullification of local water break rules for construction workers in Texas. Yes, you heard that right. On the other, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Warehouse Worker Protection Act, which took effect yesterday in New York.
I’ll be the first to say that at the national level, both parties are either batshit insane, in the case of Republicans, or bought and sold, in the case of Democrats. It’s at the state and local levels where politics generally impacts the populace at large. And so it goes here, whether it’s you vs. nature in the scorching heat, or vs. algorithmic quotas in the warehouse.
See transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lab…
playlist_add
Jun 16, 2023
Spend or save: naifs, sophisticates and the economy
Per NPR's Planet Money, a new working paper, ‘The Economics of Financial Stress' looks at what stress can do to a household's financial situation.
The paper is by economists from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, and the University of California, Berkeley. They polled a group of 10,000 prime-age, employed American workers about their current financial situation, and asked them to speculate about how they would behave if certain financial conditions prevailed in their lives. And they found that the respondents fell into two rough groups: financial sophisticates, and financial naifs.
Most of us are naifs, while a select few are sophisticates. With another recession on the horizon, this has implications-- and reflects, as usual, on capitalism.
See transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Jun 11, 2023
"Quiet Luxury May Be Americans' Most Expensive Trend to Date"
As reported by CNBC:
* The “quiet luxury” trend has quickly caught on, even though, these days, most Americans are more likely to live paycheck to paycheck.
* Marked by expensive materials in muted tones, quiet luxury is also known as "stealth wealth."
* As Americans’ economic circumstances get increasingly divided, consumers could benefit from the shift to low-key basics over loud logos, one financial expert says.
Trouble is, all that still assumes a certain privileged economic position. Quiet or loud, it's all the same at the margins.
See transcript --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Jun 10, 2023
Saturday night special | 500 listens
My wife has been working as a server a couple nights a week at a rollicking local restaurant and bar, leaving me to hold down the fort until bedtime. Meanwhile, the show hits 500 listens. What's 500 more?
See transcript --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Jun 8, 2023
Retention bonus
Last year, our new contract included a provision for a $500 retention bonus to acknowledge what we'd been through as a staff during the pandemic. So we knew we were getting it at some point this year-- we just didn't know when. As it turns out, payday is coming tomorrow-- on payday. And it isn't sudden generosity. It was negotiations, and tomorrow would be just the same old payday without the union.
See transcript --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Jun 1, 2023
City can't fill jobs. #FixTierSix
If you're a public worker who joined the NY State and Local Retirement system after April 1, 2012, you're unfortunately in Tier 6. Work until 63, or retire at 55 with a steep penalty. Pay in for your entire career, and pay more if you get a raise.
Meanwhile, Watertown (NY) is set to hold its first-ever job fair to try and fill vacant public and civil service positions. Some jobs have been vacant for over a year. Something has to give. We MUST #FixTierSix.
See transcript --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
May 30, 2023
Laborhood conversation: progressives in red country
My neighbor down the way, Chris, grew up the son of a school administrator. He left home and lived all around the country, having done service in AmeriCorps St. Louis, and was a librarian in Wisconsin and member of his local AFSCME chapter in the aftermath of Act 10. He also volunteered for Bernie 2020, and today is a stay-at-home dad to he and his wife's young son. We talk about Chris's experiences in progressivism; the challenges of organizing; the campaign and Democrats' problem in rural areas; the vital importance of libraries, and the labor of love that is fatherhood.
See transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
May 23, 2023
English 11 American dream final writing
For the past decade, I’ve taught English 11, which generally is American Literature, paired with US History. To end each year, the students compose one of two final writings centered around the American dream: either a documented essay with three sources (one of our works and two reliable outside sources, or two works and one outside source). Pick a lens: definition or obstacles. Or an original 3-5 page short story, incorporating a current issue, trend or concern into the plot. Create characters who must encounter, overcome or not overcome the issue.
Needless to say, their responses are revealing, and their knowledge at their age is real. It's all part of this grand American experience they'll soon be joining.
See transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
May 14, 2023
Happy and much-deserved Mother's Day
I couldn’t call this podcast “Labor Force” without giving recognition to the great unpaid labor in America today: motherhood. Sincere kudos to all the mothers doing the juggling act and somehow making it all work. As a husband, father and teacher, I recognize the significance of your sheer effort and your labor of love.
See transcript --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
May 12, 2023
DeSantis undermines Florida teachers unions in retribution
Florida teacher pay already ranks #48 in the country, and now Gov. Ron DeSantis has gone for the jugular.
Per Florida Phoenix, “The governor took the occasion of a bill-signing ceremony at a Miami charter school to blast the teachers’ unions, which have opposed him on numerous policy matters, including whether to keep schools closed to prevent COVID-19 transmission during the pandemic and require mandatory masking.
The bill (SB 256) bars public sector unions, including those for teachers– but not for police or firefighters that tend to support the governor– from deducting dues from members’ paychecks, requiring employees to write checks instead. Furthermore, unions’ membership would have to constitute 60% of a bargaining unit, an increase from the old threshold of 50%."
“These are political organizations that are not looking out for the interests of parents or the interests of students,” DeSantis has said.
Contrast this with NY, with a 600,000-strong state teachers…
playlist_add
May 4, 2023
"Unions Build Wealth for the American Working Class"
A new report from Center for American Progress analyzes union membership for households without a four-year college degree, defined as working class. It’s no secret: as the report indicates, “Union membership not only increases wealth for working-class families but also narrows racial wealth gaps and offers a path to the middle class.”
See transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
May 1, 2023
May Day discontent around the world. Our discontents?
Per the AP: “People squeezed by inflation and demanding economic justice took to the streets across Asia and Europe to mark May Day on Monday, in a global outpouring of worker discontent not seen since before the COVID-19 pandemic sent the world into lockdowns.
French police charged at radical protesters smashing bank windows as unions pushed the president to scrap a higher retirement age. South Koreans pleaded for higher wages. Spanish lawyers demanded the right to take days off. Migrant domestic workers in Lebanon marched in a country plunged in economic crisis.”
Turns out that capitalism’s global appeal is also a dividing line between the working class and the employer class. Who knew that this dynamic didn’t magically provide equality and stable living conditions across continents? Where one is impacted, all are impacted. Let’s get into some of these discontents, and equate them with our discontents.
See transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spot…
playlist_add
Apr 26, 2023
Mental health urgent care
Need medical attention? Chances are, you’ve gone to an urgent care facility. Here in Watertown, NY, we have QuikMed Urgent Care, WellNow Urgent Care, and so-named Watertown Urgent Care. These facilities provide quick, convenient care on a first-come, first-served basis. We probably can’t really imagine a community now without one.
But those address your physical health. What about an urgent care for mental health, with the same open access and convenience? A ribbon cutting was held in Watertown last week for just that, at Citizen Advocate’s new Behavioral Health Campus. A game-changer for open access, in a time when workers report mental health challenges having a significant impact on their lives.
See transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Apr 21, 2023
Book preview: "The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work"
From the moment we ask children what they want to “be” when they grow up, we exalt the dream job as if it were life’s ultimate objective. Many entangle their identities with their jobs, with predictable damage to happiness, well-being, and even professional success.
In The Good Enough Job, journalist Simone Stolzoff traces how work has come to dominate Americans’ lives—and why we find it so difficult to let go. [...]
Visit simonestolzoff.com for more.
See transcript --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Apr 15, 2023
Social economy, silver lining of an unhealthy county
The village nestled in an idyllic valley. Kids up and down the block. Riding bikes everywhere. Trudging up hills and sledding down at high speed. Building ramps hard as ice. Over the guardrail ramp, skidding onto the frozen creek. Intense backyard football and baseball. Youth football and Little League. Winter soccer, summer soccer. Adventures by night– manhunt, campouts, the cemetery, which also had the best sledding hills. Nintendo, Gameboy and Sega Genesis, but no algorithms, and lots and lots of outdoor time.
That was growing up in the 80s and 90s in Portville, NY, a small town in Cattaraugus County. Picture the lower left-hand corner of the state, about two hours south of Buffalo, right on the border with Pennsylvania. Down the road from the city of Olean and St. Bonaventure University.
I left fifteen years ago now. But of course, those days will always be special. It was with dismay then, that I saw in the Olean Times Herald earlier this month, “Cattaraugus County remains a…
playlist_add
Apr 3, 2023
Doing the most good: pancake breakfast, jobs and the economy
The Salvation Army describes its mission as, “…dedicated to doing the most good. Also, “Sharing is Caring is a long-standing motto that succinctly describes the partnership between The Salvation Army and the community.”
One way it demonstrates these qualities is through the stomach, with its well-known pancake breakfast fundraisers. It hosted one here in Watertown, NY on Sunday. In March, the Salvation Army’s soup kitchen served more than 4,000 meals–three times more than last year.
We may be able to order groceries or food with the tap of a finger. But all the toys in the world can’t make up for an economic system prone to sharp inequality and widespread instability. Maybe you want eggs to go with those pancakes? According to CNN, “High egg prices send profits at largest US producer soaring more than 700%.”
Not much else captures inflation like breakfast.
See transcript --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Su…
playlist_add
Mar 31, 2023
Home care workers: 100 feet why we need a raise
It’s one of those things we obviously take for granted. The ability to bathe and feed ourselves; the ability to come and go as we please. We can do it all for ourselves… until we can’t. Or until a loved one can’t. Home care workers know this all too well, and there’s a shortage of them, like there’s a shortage of teachers and nurses. How might such shortages be solved? By collaboration, investment, professional respect. To the New York home care workers who rallied at the Capitol this week, the most tangible answer is, of course– and what else would you expect? Pay.
See transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Mar 30, 2023
Workers and billionaires: Schultz testifies; minor leaguers get a deal
Two stories yesterday of workers vs. billionaires. One of them played out on Capitol Hill, and the other on baseball diamonds far from the cathedrals of the Major Leagues. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz lied, denied and weaseled his way through his testimony before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on Capitol Hill. Later, it was announced that Minor League baseball players–among the lowest paid workers in the country–paid as little as $7 per hour by billionaire owners– have reached a first union contract that will more than double the pay of all players.
Baristas and baseball players: an unlikely pair in any other context, but this one.
See transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Mar 29, 2023
Victory! Michigan repeals "right-to-work" for less
Big news on the labor front this past week, as reported by Politico: Michigan on Friday became the first state in more than half a century to repeal a right-to-work law.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature, overturning a 2012 GOP law that allowed workers to choose not to join unions or pay union dues as a condition of employment, even if the union represents them in negotiations.
That last part is the kicker. You work in a unionized workplace, you’re not in competition with your colleagues. You’re not on a pedestal. You can’t bargain your own contract. You’re subject to the contract the union negotiates on your behalf. Don’t like it? Talk to the negotiating committee and suggest changes. Get involved. Or, just give up your benefits. Plunge into our capitalist paradise and be your own boss, and set your own terms. Good luck.
See transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepo…
playlist_add
Mar 20, 2023
Come together: birthday pasta bake dinner party
My wife makes a mean pasta bake. Our neighbor is a busy single mom of two sweet kids, one of whom had her eighth birthday over the weekend. So why not get together, share a meal, and let the kids play? An old-fashioned get together in a time that could sorely use more of them--even this introvert has to admit. And leftovers to last for days.
See transcript --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Mar 11, 2023
Lobbying day at the state capitol
An annual tradition dating back to the mid-70's when a group of 100 local leaders came to Albany to fight for pension reform, the NYS United Teachers Committee of 100 lobbying day was this week. Today, members from every region of the state convene to meet with legislators about education issues. The main takeaway? Red or blue don't matter when it comes to the public good, public servants, our children and their future. And we're still talking about pension reform in 2023. Another: this access would not happen without the union.
See transcript --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Mar 1, 2023
Work and parenting
The Washington Post out with a piece, "How you feel about your job affects how well you parent your kids."
“People spend 40 hours a week at work, and that experience affects you and your mental health, your physical health, everything,” said Maureen Perry-Jenkins, a professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. That, in turn, affects how supportive and responsive a parent is.
How this stacks up with paid leave laws in the U.S. (or lack thereof) is another matter. No surprise-- unionized workers fare better than not.
See transcript --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Feb 24, 2023
Taxes, carrots and sharp sticks
Tax season means you get the most significant money at once you see all year: your tax refund. But it can get messy with credits or advances with breakable strings attached.
* Obama’s First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit saga
* H&R Block Emerald Advance cautionary tale
See transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Feb 10, 2023
Unionism 101: nuts and bolts
Both my state and local federations celebrate 50 years this year. With all the workers striving for a contract and figuring out how to structure the union they fought so hard to win, I profile my local and all it has built in that half century. How is it structured? How does it function? What does it do? And why is the contract so important?
See transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Feb 3, 2023
First, do no harm: nurses over profit$$
Watertown, NY-- Samaritan Medical Center nurses picket over an understaffing crisis, and my doctor at Samaritan Family Health Center down the street tells me she's doing the work of three providers due to understaffing.
Private hospital system = profit. Place it within our for-profit system at large-- in the wake of the pandemic-- and it's all laid bare.
View transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Jan 29, 2023
Tech bubble: AI in the workplace
The advent of ChatGPT caused a major stir late last year upon its release, but it's not the only AI endeavor either striving to influence our lives, or already doing so. In the education sphere, according to EdSurge, "A number of startups are trying to bring so-called generative AI to classrooms as a teaching tool."
There's Prof Jim, “a software company that can turn existing written materials—like textbooks, Wikipedia pages or a teacher’s notes—into animated videos at the push of a button.” An avatar for a teacher, with a realistic twist.
More perniciously, Amazon delivery drivers are surveilled by an app as much or more so than the warehouse workers. OpenAI brought ChatGPT to the masses through wage suppression and exploitation of outsourced Kenyan "content labelers."
And while Mark Zuckerberg claims the Metaverse will transform our work experience, those working in it now aren't quite impressed.
View transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.…
playlist_add
Jan 14, 2023
No living wage | No free lunch
Two intersecting stories this past week:
Cornell University researchers: “Fewer than 40% of New Yorkers Earn a Living Wage.”
https://blogs.cornell.edu/livingwage/
"Elected Officials, Education Advocates Call on Governor Hochul to Fund Free School Meals for All Students"
See transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Jan 2, 2023
Paycheck to paycheck
The rich get richer, and the rest of us... get what we get. A pathetic federal minimum wage. Universal programs that would transform American society, such as the Child Tax Credit, free public college, or Medicare for All, dropped or not in the political will, despite popular appeal and desperate need. Union density at just over 10% of workers nationwide. Add to it all, major inflation. The ramifications of these are felt by the vast majority in the 42-year period dating back to 1980, when the current tide toward the top truly turned.
See transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Dec 31, 2022
What's your labor story?
The experience of class solidarity interconnects workers' stories. Three labor book recommendations profiled:
Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor by Kim Kelly (2022)
On the Line: A Story of Class, Solidarity and Two Women's Epic Fight to Build a Union by Daisy Pitkin (2022)
On the Clock: What Low-Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane by Emily Guendelsberger (2019)
See transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Dec 30, 2022
A collective bargain
* Generational resurgence of the labor movement: Starbucks, Amazon, etc.
* 50 years of NYSUT through the lens of collective bargaining– how it was never a given, and what happens when the state restricts it.
* Who’s in your "laborhood?" The importance of connecting with others who have a boss--just like you probably do.
See transcript
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add
Dec 29, 2022
Labor Force (Trailer)
---
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/message
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/laborforcepod/support
playlist_add