Belabored Podcast #138: Wobblies of the World, Then and Now, with Peter Cole

The labor movement is facing existential crises the world over—in the United States, it’s staring down the face of a Trump administration and Trump-appointed Supreme Court likely to overturn long-accepted labor laws and regulations. But even before Trump, the problems were many—so many that labor’s attempts at new organizing in recent years, like the Fight for $15 and OUR Walmart, often went outside of the expected collective bargaining model.

There are predecessors for this kind of organizing, and a history of unions from before the days of the NLRB. This week, we bring you Michelle’s conversation with labor historian Peter Cole, co-editor of a new book on the Industrial Workers of the World, Wobblies of the World: A Global History of the IWW. Then, Michelle and Sarah discuss what the Wobblies mean for the labor movement’s challenges today. Is “One Big Union” still a relevant concept—or a more relevant concept than ever, perhaps?

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