Belabored

[contentblock id=belabored-info] It’s a week of walkouts and shutdowns for workers nationwide. We talk to teachers raising hell in the City of Angels and discuss their demands with United Teachers of Los Angeles President Alex Caputo-Pearl. We also check in with Jay O’Neal about how last year’s wave of teacher strikes is still reverberating in West Virginia, and on prospects for hundreds of thousands of federal workers as they mount a major legal challenge against the record-setting government shutdown. There’s also fresh labor activism afoot at Amazon warehouses in Minnesota and New Jersey, and recommended reading on post-Janus silver linings for workers, and the evil idiocy of Trump’s wall. This week’s show was supported by our monthly sustaining members. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a member today. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org. News Michelle: The Shutdown Has Turned Uncle Sam Into a Deadbeat Boss (The Nation) West Virginia United: A Rank-and-File Caucus (Labor Notes) Michelle: Is This the Turning Point in the Fight Against Amazon? (The Nation) Conversations L.A. Teachers’ Strike Updates: 500,000 Students at 900 Schools Affected (New York Times) L.A. Teachers Prepare to Strike (Dissent) Sarah: ‘This Model of Education is Not Sustainable’ (The Nation) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Heather Gies, Disaster Averted: How Unions Have Dodged the Blow of Janus (So Far) (In These Times) Sarah: Greg Grandin, The Vast, Stupid, Useless Wall (Jacobin) The post Belabored Podcast #167: L.A. Teachers Shut It Down, with Alex Caputo-Pearl appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] Last week, New York’s Taxi and Limousine Commission voted to institute what is likely the country’s first wage standard for app-based drivers at companies like Uber and Lyft. The decision came as a result of organizing by New York’s drivers, and we are joined by one of the people who made it happen, Bhairavi Desai of the New York City Taxi Worker Alliance. She tells us what it will mean in real terms for NYC Uber, Lyft, and other app-based drivers as well as New York’s yellow cab drivers. We also check in on the teachers at Acero, the site of the first charter school strike in the country with Chris Geovanis of the Chicago Teachers Union, and hear from University of North Carolina instructor Sam Finesurrey about the #StrikeDownSam action against white supremacy on campus. There’s also an update on New York’s nail salon workers, and some news from Buffalo, where Tesla solar panel workers are forming a union. For Argh, we consider what it’ll take to get a Green New Deal, and how racist attacks on immigrants never stop with immigrants This week’s show was supported by our monthly sustaining members. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a member today. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org. News Michelle: Is the Nail-Salon Industry Any Better for Workers Now? (The Nation) Silent Sam Protesters at Chapel Hill Embrace a New Tactic: a ‘Grade Strike’ (Chronicle of Higher Education) UNC faculty members, in letter to parents, support Silent Sam strike and withholding grades (The News & Observer) More Tesla Workers Want to Unionize, Despite Elon Musk’s Promises of Free Frozen Yogurt (New York Magazine) USW and IBEW launching union organizing drive at Tesla’s Buffalo solar factory (Niagara Gazette) Ending First Charter School Strike in U.S., Teachers Celebrate Tentative Contract Agreement (Governing) Conversations Bhairavi Desai, New York Taxi Workers Alliance NYC Establishes First Ever Minimum Wage For Uber & Lyft Drivers Michelle: Can New York Rein In Uber? (The Nation) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Harry Blain, It’s Never ‘Just the Immigrants’ (Foreign Policy in Focus) Sarah: Eric Levitz, Is a Green New Deal Possible Without a Revolution? (New York Magazine) The post Belabored Podcast #166: Raises for Uber and Lyft Drivers, with Bhairavi Desai appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] For weeks, the Central American migrant caravan has been approaching the U.S. border and gathering the government’s ire, and now in Tijuana, we’re bearing witness to a humanitarian crisis, an economic crisis, and one of the most glaring moral failures of Trump’s immigration policy, as throngs of desperate and exhausted migrants have come seeking asylum. Instead of providing refuge, border authorities have brutalized and gassed them simply for demanding their basic rights. We spoke with an activist with Cosecha Movement about the conditions at the border, and how ordinary communities and workers are banding together for mutual aid and resistance on both sides of the border. You can learn more about their organizing work and connect with other groups involved at LaHuelga.com or on Twitter @CosechaMovement. In other news, we look at Black Friday and strikes across Europe by Amazon warehouse workers, and at the local backlash against Amazon at the soon-to-be new home of HQ2, Long Island City. We’ve also got updates on the devastation of auto worker communities as GM shutters plants across North America, and a new turning point in the union battle at Columbia for graduate workers and UAW. This week’s show was supported by our monthly sustaining members. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a member today. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org. News Amazon workers strike in Germany, Spain on Black Friday (Reuters) At rain-soaked rally in Long Island City, protesters vow to continue fight against Amazon HQ2 plan (QNS) Michelle: The Gender Wage Gap Is Worse Than We Thought (The Nation) Still a Man’s Labor Market: The Slowly Narrowing Gender Wage Gap (IWPR) GM’s Plant Closures Confirm the President is a Liar and a Fool (The Nation) Union Workers Walk Out of GM’s Oshawa Assembly Plant Following Closure Announcement (Jalopnik) Grad student and postdoc unions approve Columbia bargaining framework, forfeiting strike power until 2020 (Columbia Spectator) After UAW’s betrayal, Graduate Workers must vote ‘no’ (Columbia Spectator) Sarah and Michelle: Belabored Podcast #111: Workers’ Rights for Graduate Employees, with Lindsey Dayton (Dissent) Conversations Movemiento Cosecha Twitter @CosechaMovement Pueblo Sin Fronteras on Facebook Michelle: “We didn’t expect the amount of chaos”: A Dispatch from the Border (Dissent) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: John Gallagher GM’s Hamtramck plant closing reopens old controversy in Detroit (Detroit Free Press) Sarah: Charlotte Shane, A House Divided (Bookforum) The post Belabored Podcast #165: Communities Unite for Border Resistance, with Cosecha Movement appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] On election night, the labor movement had a few things to be thankful for, but perhaps none bigger than the loss, finally, of Governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin. Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO’s only comment was “Scott Walker was a national disgrace.” Walker’s Act 10 stripped collective bargaining rights from public workers and though it kicked off massive protests that laid the groundwork for the change in US politics over the last eight years, it remains in effect in Wisconsin, along with a later move to so-called “Right-to-Work” status for the private sector. We talk to Eleni Schirmer, former co-president of the Teaching Assistants Association at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and an education policy PhD candidate there, about what it was like to see Walker go, and what the people who’ve fought him can do next. We also check in on election results from around the country, and talk a little about Amazon’s decision to locate its new headquarters near Washington, D.C. and in New York City. For Argh, we think about a working class politics that goes beyond borders, and how to tell Amazon “no thanks, but no thanks.” This week’s show was supported by our monthly sustaining members. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a member today. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org. News Minimum Wage, Health Care, and Local Democracy Big Winners Across Country on Election Day. (National Employment Law Project) Michelle: Hate was Not a Winning Ticket (Dissent) Over 700 union members win public office in midterms (People’s World) Fighting for Stacey Abrams and Empowerment in Georgia (New York Times) Mass. Voters Say ‘No’ To Nurse Staffing Ballot Question (WBUR) Michelle: More Nurses Means Better Care—So Why Did This Ballot Measure Fail? (The Nation) Here Are The Most Outrageous Incentives Cities Offered Amazon In Their HQ2 Bids (Buzzfeed) Sarah: Nationalize Amazon (The Outline) Conversations Eleni Schirmer TAA-Madison Scott Walker Lost!!! (Splinter) Eleni Schirmer & Michael Billeaux: What’s Next After Right-To-Work? (Jacobin) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Hamilton Nolan, Dear Amazon, New York doesn’t want you. Go find another city to destroy (Guardian) Sarah: The Border Crossing Us (Viewpoint) The post Belabored Podcast #164: Scott Walker’s Gone, Now What? With Eleni Schirmer appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] It’s that time of the year again, when we’re all to do our democratic duty with a mix of anticipation and dread. We bring you a dispatch from the campaign trail that is guaranteed to bank a victory for progressives no matter who wins on Tuesday: Meg Reilly of the Campaign Workers Guild talks to us about the first movement to unionize the workers who canvass the streets, run the phone banks, and carry the clipboards that make the election process tick. We also talk to Greg Nevins of Lambda Legal and Mara Keisling of the National Center for Transgender Equality about the crisis facing the trans community as Trump tries to roll back civil rights. And in other news we survey two labor rebellions rippling in digital media and Silicon Valley, look at how Spain is working with unions to navigate a just transition as they close coalmines, and check in with Louisiana teachers taking on Big Oil’s corporate welfare. With recommended reading on cross-border solidarity on the Gulf Coast, and trans workers on the vanguard of labor. This week’s show was supported by our monthly sustaining members. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a member today. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org. News Spain to close most coalmines in €250m transition deal (Guardian) Labor Flexes New Muscles in Online Media (Bloomberg) Hundreds of Baton Rouge school workers vote for walkout; here’s why, when, what to know (The Advocate) East Baton Rouge school employees postpone walkout after opposed tax breaks left off state board agenda (The Advocate) Google Faces Internal Backlash Over Handling of Sexual Harassment (New York Times) Conversations ‘Transgender’ Could Be Defined Out of Existence Under Trump Administration (New York Times) Greg Nevins of Lambda Legal Mara Keisling, Executive Director, National Center for Transgender Equality Campaign Workers Unionize to Get Higher Pay, Severance and Even Warmer Offices (WNYC) Meg Reilly, Vice President, Campaign Workers Guild Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Jessica Williams, New Orleans’ Honduran community prepares to aid migrant caravan, ‘raise consciousness’ (The New Orleans Advocate) Michelle: Julianne Tveten, One Way to Defend Transgender People From Trump’s Attacks? Labor Unions (In These Times) The post Belabored Podcast #163: Organizing for Democracy, with Meg Reilly appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] This week, we dive into the question of union democracy at UPS with renowned labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein. The majority of Teamster members at UPS voted to reject a proposed contract; leadership, however, says they’ll ratify the contract anyway. What happened? What does this struggle mean for the future of the Teamsters, and what does the fight at UPS tell us about the revival of the strike and the changing labor movement? We tried to answer those questions and more. We also hear from UK writer/researcher Callum Cant on the innovations in Britain’s McStrike and the organizing of Deliveroo and UberEats drivers, check in on the fight over Temporary Protected Status with John Doherty of IUPAT, and follow up on the strike at Chicago’s Lyric Opera and a lawsuit in Missouri to keep public workers’ protections. For Argh, we think about the radical work of Ursula Le Guin and Moishe Postone, and women’s role in fighting the student debt crisis. This week’s show was supported by our monthly sustaining members. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a member today. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org. News Unions challenge Missouri law making it easier to fire nearly 25,000 state workers (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) McNetworks: Two current modes of struggle (Notes from Below) Michelle: Immigrant Families Living in the US Are Still Fighting for Their Right to Stay Together (The Nation) Strike Over, Lyric Opera of Chicago Can Resume Business (New York Times) Conversation Nelson Lichtenstein at UC Santa Barbara Nelson Lichtenstein at Dissent UPS Drivers Voted Down Their Union Contract, But The Teamsters Are Ratifying It Anyway (Huffington Post) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Sabrina Cereceres and Samantha Morgan, Women Have the Power to End the Student-Debt Crisis (The Nation) Sarah: Jasper Bernes, The Shield of Utopia (Commune) The post Belabored Podcast #162: A Struggle Over Union Democracy at UPS, with Nelson Lichtenstein appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] In this episode we look at two types of fights for workplace justice: the landscape of worker-owned cooperatives now mushrooming across the country, and a global protest movement rising up at airports around the world. In other news, we look at strike action bearing fruit on the picket lines of Sun-maid, Amazon getting on board with the Fight for $15, more Fight for $15 strikes in the US and UK, and workers struggling against exploitation and forced labor behind the glamorous edifice of the Twin Cities real-estate boom. With recommended reading on neoliberalism’s despair, and the socialist mind. This week’s show was supported by our monthly sustaining members. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a member today. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org. News Amazon Sets $15 Minimum Wage For U.S. Employees, Including Temps (BBC) Thousands of service industry workers will strike next week to demand unions (Washington Post) Uber Eats and Deliveroo riders to strike alongside McDonald’s, Wetherspoons and TGI Fridays employees (Independent) Michelle: This Labor-Trafficking Case Exposes the Twin Cities’ Seedy Subcontracting Underbelly (The Nation) Twin Cities Contractor Charged with Human Trafficking, Other Charges (CTUL) Sun-Maid strike ends after 15 days, new contract effective immediately (The Fresno Bee) Conversation Melissa Hoover, Democracy at Work Institute of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives Historic federal legislation embeds support for employee-ownership within the SBA (Democracy at Work Institute) The government just made it easier for workers to own a piece of their employer (CNN) Airport Workers United with Shoeb Babu Airport Workers to Launch Worldwide Protests for Higher Pay, Improved Working Conditions (American Prospect) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Miya Tokumitsu, Tell Me It’s Going to be OK (Baffler) Sarah: Asad Haider, Socialists Think (Viewpoint) The post Belabored Podcast #161: Workers Resist, Workers Rule appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] This week we report from the frontlines of UNITE HERE’s One Job Should Be Enough campaign. Marriott hotel workers in several cities have voted to strike as they press for a fair contract that provides what they need to support their families without having to take on extra jobs just to survive. They’re also demanding that the global hotel chain address sexual harassment, health and safety issues, and job security so that they can get a fair share of its mega profits. In other news, we look at the prospect of a four-day workweek, another teachers’ strike in PA, the latest anti-worker shenanigans at the NLRB, and striking against sexual harassment at McDonald’s. With recommended reading on Brett Kavanaugh, and the forgotten victims of Wall Street. This week’s show was supported by our monthly sustaining members. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a member today. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org. News Unions call for four-day working week (BBC) Time on Our Side: Why We All Need a Shorter Working Week (New Economics Foundation) ESEA Pride NLRB Proposes New Joint Employer Standard (AP) Joint Employer NPRM: Hy-Brand Returns (On Labor) What’s next for #MeToo? The McDonald’s strikes have an answer. (Vox) Conversation Nia Winston, President Local 24 UNITE HERE Gemma Weinstein, Local 5 UNITE HERE One Job Should Be Enough Thousands Of Marriott Workers To Vote On Multi-City Strike (Huffington Post) When A Full-Time Job Isn’t Enough To Make It (NPR) “I’m Ready To Fight”: Thousands Of Marriott Workers Will Protest For Safer Conditions This Week (Buzzfeed) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: David Dayen, Retrospectives of the Financial Crisis Are Leaving Out the Most Important Part—Its Victims (In These Times) Sarah: Anita Hill, How to Get the Kavanaugh Hearings Right (New York Times) The post Belabored Podcast #160: When One Job Isn’t Enough appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] For this post–Labor Day episode, we go back to school with longtime teacher union activist Barbara Madeloni, exploring the picket lines that have been paving the way to the schoolhouse gates around the country. And we go to a struggle for the heart of labor in the heartland, with Celeste Robinson of the Fifteen Now Minnesota campaign, to discuss how a struggle for a fair wage is galvanizing the Twin Cities. In other news, we look at workers in China who don’t care about Trump’s trade war, but are sparking a class war on the factory floor and an initiative to organize graduate researchers in Illinois. With recommended reading on the future not of work, but of workers, and the power of a prison strike. Finally, we leave you with a picket line song from Washington state teachers, “It’s All About Fair Wages.” This week’s show was supported by our monthly sustaining members. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a member today. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org. News Michelle: China’s Workers Aren’t Fighting a Trade War—They’re Fighting a Labor War (The Nation) Barbara Madeloni and Samantha Winslow, Teachers Carry Strike Spirit into New School Year (Labor Notes) Sarah: Writing the Unions’ ‘Fight-or-Die Survival Chapter’ (New York Times) Rauner vetoes bill allowing university research assistants to join unions (The News-Gazette) Graduate Employees’ Organization at UIUC Conversation Celeste Robinson, co-director of 15 Now Minnesota Citizens League outlines three $15 minimum wage scenarios for St. Paul, with and without tip credits (Twin Cities Pioneer Press) Carl Nadler, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, UC Berkeley The New Wave of Local Minimum Wage Policies: Evidence from Six Cities (IRLE) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Kim Kelly, How the Ongoing Prison Strike is Connected to the Labor Movement (Teen Vogue) Michelle: Sarita Gupta, Stephen Lerner, & Joseph A. McCartin, It’s Not the “Future of Work,” It’s the Future of Workers That’s in Doubt (American Prospect) The post Belabored Podcast #159: Fight or Die, with Barbara Madeloni and Celeste Robinson appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] On August 7th, the state of Missouri was the first to fire a volley back after the Supreme Court’s Janus ruling, with a resounding victory in a ballot initiative to defeat a so-called “right to work” bill. Voters rejected the law across the state, by a more than two-to-one margin. How did Missouri’s labor movement do it? We talk to two Missouri organizers—Jessica Podhola and Shannon Duffy—about the win, what comes next, and what the rest of the country can learn from their incredible success. We also talk about the national prison strike going on now, agribusiness on protected lands, the scam that is work requirements for Medicaid, and a new agenda for labor law. This week’s show was supported by our monthly sustaining members. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a member today. News Why prisoners are going on strike today (The Nation) Major prison strike spreads across US and Canada as inmates refuse food (Guardian) Michelle: Republicans Want to Force People to Work for Their Health Care—What Could Go Wrong? (The Nation) Sarah: A New Framework for Labor Law: Shifting the Paradigm on Workers’ Rights (Truthout) Michelle: Trump Quietly OK’s Bioengineered Farming on Wildlife Refuges (The Nation) Conversation How Missouri Beat “Right to Work” (Dissent) Missouri Voters Overwhelmingly Reject “Right to Work” (Labor Notes) Missouri Jobs With Justice The post Belabored Podcast #158: A Victory for Labor in Missouri appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] We’re bringing you a special episode this week. Last week, Sarah was in New Orleans for Netroots Nation, and this week we bring you the recording of the panel, What’s a Strike and How Can I Help?, designed to explain to labor rookies what goes into planning a strike, building community support, and successfully pulling one off. It was moderated by Mary Cathryn Ricker of the AFT, formerly president of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers, and featured Sarah alongside Rebecca Diamond, AFT member from West Virginia and one of the many rank-and-file teachers to participate in the recent statewide strike there, and Jonathan Westin, director of New York Communities for Change, which despite not being a union has led many a strike, including the first-ever Fight for $15 fast food strikes back in 2012. If you think Belabored is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a member today. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org. Panel: Strike 101 Sarah: West Virginia Teachers Walk Out (Dissent) Sarah: The Rising Ghosts of Labor in the West Virginia Teachers’ Strike (New York Times) Sarah: This Group Pioneered the Fight for $15. Can They Transform the Fight for Affordable Housing Too? (The Nation) Mary Cathryn Ricker: Teacher-Community Unionism: A Lesson from St. Paul (Dissent) Video: Rebecca Diamond works two jobs. (AJ+) Belabored #150: Lessons Learned on the Picket Line In Other News Michelle: The Labor Abuse That Went Into NYU’s Abu Dhabi Campus (The Nation) Michelle: Who Profits from Our Prison System? (The Nation) Argh, I Wish I'd Written That! Michelle: Andrew Strom, Brett Kavanaugh, "Common Sense," and Class Prejudice (On Labor) Sarah: Albert Burneko, How Is This Shit Legal (Deadspin) --> The post Belabored Podcast #157: What’s a Strike and How Can I Help? appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] This past week was Amazon Prime Day, the newly minted capitalist holiday where the world’s biggest retailer offers sweet deals on a random day of its choosing and its workers pay the price. This year, though, Amazon Prime Day was the target of action around the world, and we bring you some updates from some of those actions, from Germany to right here in the United States. We also hear from a Seattle nanny on the new domestic worker bill of rights in that city, from workers fighting poison pesticides, think about what climate change means for people who work in the heat, and talk to someone from Mark Janus’s former union about Janus’s new job. For Argh, we consider mass layoffs as class warfare, and look at Trump’s Supreme Court nominee’s class prejudice. This week’s show was supported by our monthly sustaining members and by Netroots Nation. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a member today. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org. News Groups Make Final Push In Court To Ban Pesticide Linked to Brain Damage (Earth Justice) Americans already living EPA rollbacks under Pruitt. See the list (The Morning Call) Seattle City Council passes new labor standards for domestic workers (Curbed Seattle) As Climate Heats Up, Government Must Protect Workers From Heat (UFW Foundation) It is Time to Protect Millions of Workers From Extreme Heat (Citizen Vox) America’s Most Despised Coworker Gets New Job With Other Despicable People (Splinter) Conversation Amazon Prime Day threatened by strikes at European warehouses over working conditions (CNBC) German Amazon employees strike for better pay, health conditions (The Local) Warehouse workers bring fight for better wages, conditions to Amazon (northjersey.com) Warehouse Workers Stand Up Code of Conduct (Warehouse Workers Stand Up) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Andrew Strom, Brett Kavanaugh, “Common Sense,” and Class Prejudice (On Labor) Sarah: Albert Burneko, How Is This Shit Legal (Deadspin) The post Belabored Podcast #156: Striking Amazon appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] With one bad news story after another coming out of the Trump administration, it’s easy to feel pessimistic about the labor movement these days. But it’s worth remembering that for every devastating Supreme Court decision, anti-union executive order, or rollback to public benefits, glimmers of hope are present on the front lines. In the belly of the political beast in DC, grassroots organizers gathered at AFL-CIO headquarters to discuss collective action under Trump, beyond the beltway. Activists representing teachers, housekeepers, graduate students, and airline workers talked about union power in the wake of the Janus decision and keeping hope alive for the next generation of young labor leaders. In other news, we discuss labor uprisings in Haiti, striking nurses going #RedforMed in Vermont, putting the brakes on Uber’s low wages in New York, and why the Republican paid leave proposal is hazardous to your health. And we ruminate on redistributing wealth at the top of the income pyramid, and a sexual harassment scandal in the bowels of Wall Street. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 155 episodes! News Vermont nurses go Red-For-Med (Socialist Worker) UVM nurses strike: Day 1 brings feisty rhetoric from union, hospital touts ‘quality care’ (Burlington Free Press) Marco Rubio and Ivanka Trump say they support paid family leave — just not the plan that would most efficiently provide it (NBC) What the Media Won’t Tell You About Why Haitian People Are Protesting (Atlanta Black Star) Michelle: Can New York Rein in Uber? (The Nation) New York City Considers New Pay Rules for Uber Drivers (New York Times) NYTWA Response to July 2nd TLC Proposal (New York Taxi Workers Alliance) Conversation AFL-CIO’s Ideas at Work program, Washington DC Kat Payne, housekeeper at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, organizer with Unite Here Rachel Sandlow-Ash, law student and research assistant at Harvard, organizer with Harvard Graduate Students Union-UAW Anna Simmons, educator and organizer with AFT-West Virginia Lyndi Wade Howard, a Boston-based Jetblue flight attendant, organizer with TWU Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: David Dayen, Inhuman Resources (Highline, Huffington Post) Michelle: Sam Pizzigati, Minimum wage? It’s time to talk about a maximum wage (Guardian) The post Belabored Podcast #155: The Future of Collective Action appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] The day labor has been dreading is here: the Janus v AFSCME case was decided by the Supreme Court, and the public sector is now officially “right-to-work.” What does this actually mean? What did the Court rule, and what can we look forward to (or dread) next? Labor law professor Charlotte Garden, who submitted an amicus brief in the case and attended oral arguments, joins us to explain what happened and what the fallout might be. We also look at a new domestic worker bill of rights introduced in Seattle, actions by Marriott workers around the country, Trump’s bonkers proposal to combine the departments of Labor and Education, and the impact of giving immigrants legal representation in deportation proceedings. For Argh, we look at tech workers’ rebellion against Trumpism and alternative ways to go on strike. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 153 episodes! News Seattle Considers a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights (Slate) Sarah: Who’s Protecting Home Care Workers in The #Metoo Era? (Dame) Legal Representation in Immigration Courts Leads to Better Outcomes, Economic Stability (New Jersey Policy Perspective) “I’m Ready To Fight”: Thousands Of Marriott Workers Will Protest For Safer Conditions This Week (Buzzfeed) Trump Wants to Drastically Alter the Education Dept. Here’s What You Need to Know. (Chronicle of Higher Education) Conversation Charlotte Garden at Seattle University School of Law Charlotte Garden: This Supreme Court made it easier for conservatives to win First Amendment claims, but harder for liberals (NBC News THINK) Charlotte Garden: The Deregulatory First Amendment at Work (Harvard Civil Rights – Civil Liberties Review) Sarah: With Janus, the Court Deals Unions a Crushing Blow. What Next? (New York Times) Michelle: Regardless of How the Supreme Court Rules in ‘Janus,’ Labor Needs to Get More Militant (The Nation) Sarah and Michelle: Belabored #72: The Right to Work for Less, with Elizabeth Shermer (Dissent) Sarah and Michelle: Belabored #136: Countdown to Janus, with Andy Stettner (Dissent) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Alex Press, How Silicon Valley workers are revolting against Trump’s immigration policy (Vox) Michelle: Mark Engler, There’s More Than One Way to Strike the Boss (Jacobin) The post Belabored Podcast #154: After Janus, with Charlotte Garden appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

(Steve Pavey / Kentucky Poor People's Campaign) --> [contentblock id=belabored-info] We take a long view of worker activism on the frontlines of today and the future, with interviews on the UPS workers lining up for a strike, from the picket line of the AT&T strike in the Midwest, behind the uprising by Google workers who drew the line against collusion with the Pentagon, and on the movement to fight Wall Street with a public bank in New York. With recommended reading on one small southern town’s fight to protect migrant families, and the rabble-rousing sex workers rallying in New York for dignity and respect on the job. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 153 episodes! News Over 90% of UPS Teamsters Just Voted to Strike (In These Times) Google Won’t Renew Controversial Pentagon AI Project (Wired) Rank-and-File Union Members Are Leading Another Massive Strike. This Time It’s AT&T Workers (In These Times) Movement to Get Public Money Out of Wall Street Comes to Wall Street (Next City) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Miriam Jordan, ICE Came for a Tennessee Town’s Immigrants. The Town Fought Back (New York Times) Michelle: Emily Witt, After the Closure of Backpage, Increasingly Vulnerable Sex Workers Are Demanding Their Rights (New Yorker) The post Belabored Podcast #153: Workers On the Frontline Today and Tomorrow appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

(Steve Pavey / Kentucky Poor People's Campaign) --> [contentblock id=belabored-info] While the labor movement awaits the Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME, the Court has been busy making mincemeat of workers’ rights in other ways. The decision in the Epic Systems case, which makes it easier for workers to be pushed into individual arbitration with their bosses, is already being felt in workplaces around the country. Celine McNicholas of the Economic Policy Institute joins us to explain what happened. In the news we hear from the Trade Union Campaign to Repeal the 8th, part of Ireland’s successful fight for legal abortion, and from United Airlines catering workers’ organizing drive. We check in on a potential major strike in Las Vegas, and look once again at Walmart’s global supply chain abuses. And for Argh, we take apart the “skills gap” and the revolt of the white-collar worker. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 152 episodes! News Abortion as a Workplace Issue: Trade Union Campaign to Repeal the 8th (Trade Union Campaign to Repeal the 8th Amendment) Sarah: Ireland votes to legalize abortion. What comes next? (Rewire) Walmart: Gender based violence in clothing supply chains (Global Labor Justice) United Airlines CEO gets earful from catering workers wanting to unionize (Chicago Business Journal) Strike would cost top Las Vegas casinos over $10 million per day (USA Today) Conversation Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis (SCOTUSblog) Celine McNicholas: In Epic Systems Corp. decision, the Supreme Court deals a significant blow to workers’ fundamental rights (EPI) Supreme Court Decision Greatly Reduces Worker Protections (The Century Foundation) An Epic Supreme Court Decision on Employment (The Atlantic) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Kate Bahn, Education Won’t Solve Inequality (Slate) Michelle: Gabriel Winant, Why Are So Many White-Collar Professionals In Revolt? (Guardian) The post Belabored Podcast #152: SCOTUS’s Epic Fail, with Celine McNicholas appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

(Steve Pavey / Kentucky Poor People's Campaign) --> [contentblock id=belabored-info] Half a century after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. set out on a march to demand equality now, the poor are still marching. But they’re no less impassioned and they come, as King once said, “to demand that the government address itself to the problem of poverty.” We speak to Rev. Liz Theoharis, co-chair of the Poor People’s campaign along with Rev. Dr. William Barber. The longtime welfare rights organizer talked about why people are marching across the country for economic justice and “moral revival.” They are making their political demands heard for the next several weeks but also hope to build power at the ballot box, in their workplaces, and in their communities. We also look at labor rights on campus from the Emirates to the East Village, outrage at a gig economy worker’s tragedy, and Minneapolis’s Fight for 15. With recommended reading on turning the Heart of Dixie red, and the teacher revolt against austerity. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 151 episodes! News Michelle: Minneapolis Raised the Minimum Wage, Now They Just Have to Get Employers to Pay It (The Progressive) Walking the Floor of the Great Minnesota Activist Factory (Splinter News) Responsible Contractor Policy in Retail Cleaning (CTUL) Sarah and Michelle: Thinking Outside the Box with CTUL (Dissent) STRIKE’S ON: Student Workers Strike, Faculty Won’t Cross Picket Lines (New School Free Press) “Everybody Who Works Here Should Be Here”: The New School Cafeteria Occupation (Verso) Forced Labor Risk Persists at NYU Abu Dhabi, Report Finds (NYU Local) Michelle: An NYU Professor Was Barred From Researching in the United Arab Emirates—Where NYU Has a Campus (The Nation) After Caviar courier’s death, what about gig workers’ rights? (Philly.com) All Out For Pablito Sparrow Cycling, a worker-owned co-op Conversation, with Rev. Liz Theoharis Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival Get Ready for the Poor People’s Campaign (The Nation) Report: Souls of Poor Folk (Institute for Policy Studies) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Gus Bova, Red State: Does Socialism Have a Future in Texas? (Texas Observer) Sarah: Jane McAlevey, Teachers Are Leading the Revolt Against Austerity (The Nation) The post Belabored Podcast #151: Empowering the Souls of Poor Folk, with Rev. Liz Theoharis appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] Education strikes continue to rock the country, from Arizona to right here in New York City, where Columbia University graduate employees struck for recognition. We spoke with Ian Bradley Perrin at Columbia, about the strike at year’s end and what next steps are for the university workers, and with Noah Karvelis, Arizona teacher and one of the founders of Arizona Educators United, about the statewide teacher strike, the national wave, and what it means for teachers’ labor. We also look at a ruling that might help end misclassification of workers as independent contractors, the ongoing struggles of taxi workers, the massive May Day strike in Puerto Rico, and the battle for New York’s governor’s office. For Argh, we think about the aftermath of the strike wave, and consider that maybe Marx was right. News Michelle: Could These Community Groups Become Collateral Damage in Andrew Cuomo’s Fight Against Cynthia Nixon? (The Nation) California’s top court makes it more difficult for employers to classify workers as independent contractors (LA Times) A Taxi Driver Took His Own Life. His Family Blames Uber’s Influence. (New York Times) In a National May Day Strike, Puerto Rican Marchers Face Down Tear Gas To Protest Privatization (In These Times) Conversation, with Noah Karvelis and Ian Bradley Perrin Arizona Teachers End Walkout as Governor Signs Bill Approving Raises (New York Times) Columbia Graduate Students Walk Out Over Union Fight (New York Times) Sarah: The Struggle to Stay Middle Class (New Republic) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Jason Barker, Happy Birthday, Karl Marx. You Were Right! (New York Times) Sarah: Chris Brooks, What Should Unions Do After The Strike Wave Recedes? (New Labor Forum) The post Belabored Podcast #150: Lessons Learned on the Picket Line appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] In this episode we bring you some choice outtakes from this year’s Labor Notes Conference in Chicago. We collected some great insights about labor activism around the globe, from St. Paul to San Juan to Seoul. Interviewees include: Beth Swanberg, St. Paul, Minnesota teacher and member of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers, on the recent contract battle and what they won Mercedes Martinez, President, Federacion de Maestros de Puerto Rico, and Liza Fournier, teacher and member of UNETE teachers union in Puerto Rico, on rebuilding after the hurricane and their battle and strike against privatization of Puerto Rico’s public schools Sheerine Alemzadeh, co-founder and co-director of Healing to Action, on mobilizing the labor movement against gender-based violence at work Ligaya Lindio-McGovern, sociologist at Indiana University Kokomo and global labor rights advocate, on migrant labor in the Asian diaspora Mikyung Ryu, International Director of Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, on the state of organized labor in South Korea and the role of unions in the peace movement Further reading/listening: Sarah: A True Labor of Love (New Republic) Michelle: Stopping Sexual Abuse on the Job Begins With Empowering Workers (The Nation) How Do You Organize Workers Who Live and Sleep in Their Bosses’ Homes? (The Nation) Belabored #137: Sex, Power, and Labor Rights, with Ariane Hegewisch You can also hear our wonderful discussion with education worker activists at our main panel on Organizing Outside the Law in our previous episode, Belabored #148. The post Belabored Podcast #149: Voices from the Labor Notes Conference 2018 appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] Whether we like it or not, the labor movement often finds itself clashing with the powers that be in ways that push the edges of the law. So, as troublemakers, how do we advocate for workers when the rules are rigged against us? Belabored hosted a live panel discussion at the Labor Notes Conference in Chicago in early April to discuss how to organize outside the law. And who better to coach us on how to break the rules than the workers who make our schools run every day? We sat down with four teachers and education organizers: Brandon Wolford (Mingo County, West Virginia); Josh Smyser (United Campus Workers); and Amy Mizialko and Angela Harris (Milwaukee Teachers Education Association). We discussed strategies to build power inside and outside of formal union structures in constrained political environments; activism in public-sector workforces where strikes are banned; and, as we prepare for the pending Supreme Court case Janus v. AFSCME, what we can learn from education workers nationwide who are advancing labor’s demands even without official collective-bargaining rights. With voices from Wisconsin, Tennessee, and West Virginia, we explore how to rewrite the rules at work and win progressive community change in the era of Trump. Featuring: Brandon Wolford, Mingo County, West Virginia Josh Smyser, United Campus Workers Amy Mizialko and Angela Harris, Milwaukee Teachers Education Association --> Further reading/listening: Belabored #146: West Virginia Teachers Win Sarah: West Virginia Teachers Walk Out (Dissent) Michelle: The Oklahoma Teachers’ Strike Is a Mutiny Against Austerity (In These Times) Teacher Strike Fever Spreads (Labor Notes) Full transcript Please note: This is a rush transcript. An edited version will appear on the Dissent website in the coming week. Michelle Chen: Welcome to Belabored Live, everyone. Sarah Jaffe: This is going to be, actually, the 5th anniversary of our podcast. For me. Michelle joined us a little bit later, but still, five years of this podcast and our first guest ever was Karen Lewis from the Chicago Teachers Union. So, it is appropriate that we are doing this here in Chicago. Chen: Full circle. Pretty cool. Jaffe: And that we have some teachers on our panel. We are going to talk about the rapidly approaching future of organizing outside of labor law. We have some people on our session who can talk about that in various ways. We are going to let them introduce themselves for a couple of minutes. Then, we will ask some questions and then, open it up and get some questions from you. Also, before we get started, we are going to say thank you so much to Chris Brooks who helped us make this possible, lined up our amazing panelists, made this entire conference what it is. Thank you to Chris and all of the Labor Notes staff. I don’t think we decided yet who was going to go first. Anybody want to volunteer? Amy Mizialko: Hi, everybody. I am Amy Mizialko. I am a special education teacher from Milwaukee Public Schools. This is my twenty-sixth year. I am currently serving as the Vice President of the Milwaukee Teachers Union. We are seven years post–Act 10 and organizing with community, parents, students, all lovers of public education in our city to make sure that our students get what they deserve, our public schools get resourced, and that educators get the respect that they need to do the work that they need to do with kids in classrooms. Josh Smyser: I am Josh Smyser. I am a member of United Campus Workers, which is a CWA affiliate. We organize public higher-education workers in the State of Tennessee. We are currently at nineteen campuses with about 1,800 members. We, like a lot of public-sector workers, are feeling the onslaught of neoliberalism, and that has mainly manifested itself as an effort by our governor to privatize the entirety of facilities in our state government. We won, recently, a major victory [against] the NRC systems and we are currently working to stop that on the other ones. Angela Harris: My name is Angela Harris. I am a kindergarten teacher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at Milwaukee Public Schools [and] a proud member of the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association. Current campaigns that we are fighting right now: time, health, and a raise. We want the district to take us seriously, consider us the professionals that we are, and respect our time and allow us to dictate how our time is used. At this point, I am a new educator. This is my first year. There are no prospects of me getting a raise any time in the near future. That is really important to me. They are also trying to raise my health insurance. So, on top of not getting a raise, I am expected to pay more for my healthcare, as well. We have a whole month of actions planned with teachers, community members, parents to fight back against this. Brandon Wolford: I am Brandon Wolford and I come from a small, rural county in southern West Virginia. I am a s

[contentblock id=belabored-info] The news that Toys “R” Us stores around the country would be closing has resulted in another round of breathless “retail apocalypse” news stories that predict utter collapse for the industry—which employs ten percent of all working Americans. What’s the real deal? What killed Toys “R” Us, and what does it mean for the people working there? How can they fight back? We talk with Carrie Gleason of the Center for Popular Democracy’s Fair Workweek Initiative about retail jobs of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We also check in on teacher uprisings with an update from Jersey City and more from the UK university strike, and updates as well from JetBlue flight attendants voting for a union and Disney workers’ struggle for fair pay. For Argh, we follow up with yet more teacher strikes, this time in Puerto Rico, and threats to public-service loan forgiveness. Belabored will be at Labor Notes 2018! Come see our live recording and stop by our booth. More information on the Labor Notes site. News Jersey City teachers go on strike for the first time in 20 years (Think Progress) Michelle: Are Disney Workers Having a Hard Time Making Ends Meet? (The Nation) Thousands of JetBlue flight attendants to vote on joining Transport Workers Union (New York Daily News) Sarah: Consider the Flight Attendant (New Republic) #NoCapitulation: How one hashtag saved the UK university strike (Wired) Conversation, with teachers Emily Comer, Jay O’Neal, and Leah Clay Stone Carrie Gleason at the Center for Popular Democracy Private Equity: Looting “R” Us (American Prospect) Sarah: America’s Massive Retail Workforce Is Tired of Being Ignored (Racked) Sarah and Michelle: Belabored Podcast #130: Retail Warriors (Dissent) Michelle: Retail Jobs Don’t Have to Be Awful (The Nation) Michelle: The Fight for $15 Is Starting to Fight for Fair Schedules (The Nation) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Monique Dols, Puerto Rico teachers will strike for their schools (Socialist Worker) Michelle: Raina Lipsitz, ‘Sick With Worry’: A GOP Bill to Eliminate the Public-Service Loan Forgiveness Threatens Social-Work Sector (The Nation) The post Belabored Podcast #147: Retailpocalypse Again? With Carrie Gleason appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] When the teachers of West Virginia prepare for class each day, they’re ready for anything: students with families in crisis, parents battling hunger and job loss, and punishing budget cuts. But when they walked off the job to go on strike in late February, they were prepared for the most high-stakes test of their careers: fighting state lawmakers for a fair contract. And ultimately, it was hope that sustained them through the strike and in the end, nothing could prepare them for the collective thrill of a political victory. We talk to three educators who were on the front lines about their strategy, and how labor can keep winning in schools and statehouses across the country. We also look at the school safety debate from the eyes of teachers, university student and worker strikes from Illinois to England, and the International Women’s Day Strike. With recommended reading on financial disaster facing Puerto Rico and student debtors. Belabored will be at Labor Notes 2018! Come see our live recording and stop by our booth. More information on the Labor Notes site. News Lecturers on Strike (Jacobin) Illinois Grad Students Are on Strike to Make the University Accessible for the Working Class (In These Times) Chicago supporters march as U. of I. teaching assistants’ strike lingers (Chicago Sun-Times) Michelle: These Teachers Refuse to Be Weaponized (In These Times) A Call to Action: International Women’s Strike NYC (Left Voice) Conversation, with teachers Emily Comer, Jay O’Neal, and Leah Clay Stone Sarah: West Virginia Teachers Walk Out (Dissent) Sarah: The Rising Ghosts of Labor in the West Virginia Teacher Strike (New York Times) West Virginia Teachers Are Resurrecting the State’s Rich History of Labor Activism (The Nation) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Jessica Silver-Greenberg, Stacy Cowley, and Natalie Kitroeff, When unpaid student loan bills mean you can no longer work (New York Times) Michelle: Larisa Yarovaya and Brian Lucey, Bitcoin rich kids in Puerto Rico: crypto utopia or crypto-colonialism? (The Conversation) The post Belabored Podcast #146: West Virginia Teachers Win appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] The labor movement often seems trapped between legislative attacks and its own learned helplessness. But there’s a renewed sense of militancy slowly coming to the surface—and no better sign of it than this week’s West Virginia teacher walkout, which has closed down every school district in the state. As the labor movement faces down Janus vs. AFSCME, which begins oral arguments this month at the Supreme Court and could have devastating consequences for public-sector unions, we talk with longtime labor organizer and strategist Shaun Richman, who’s been thinking about outside-the-box ways for the labor movement to regain its rebellious spirit. We also hear from St. Paul teachers and Oregon public workers about organizing under the gun, look at our failed family leave system and Donald Trump’s infrastructure-plan-that-isn’t, and think about commuting time as working time and the hard work of producing art that takes workers seriously. Belabored will be at Labor Notes 2018! Come see our live recording and stop by our booth. More information on the Labor Notes site. News Michelle: “The Family Medical Leave Act Is a Quarter-Century Old This Year—and in Desperate Need of an Update” (The Nation) Michelle: “Trump’s Infrastructure Plan Is Great, Unless You Want Actually Functioning Infrastructure” (The Nation) Sarah: “How to Halt Labor’s Slow Death” (New Republic) Sarah: West Virginia Teachers Walk Out (Dissent) Lois Weiner, “How Business Unionism Got Us to Janus” (In These Times) Conversation Shaun Richman, organizer, strategist (@Ess_Dog) Labor Wars: Two Reasons Why Most Unions Don’t Do Large-Scale Organizing (New Labor Forum) With Bill Fletcher, Jr: What the Revival of Socialism in America Means for the Labor Movement (In These Times) Biggest Labor Stories of 2017: The Attacks From Above and the Fight From Below (In These Times) Republicans are Taking Voter Suppression to the Workplace (In These Times) The right to organize at work deserves constitutional protection (Vox) Labor’s Bill of Rights (The Century Foundation) Here’s How a Supreme Court Decision To Gut Public Sector Unions Could Backfire on the Right (In These Times) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Maggie Doherty, “Trump Betrays the Bards of Hard Work” (New York Times) Sarah: Winnie Hu, “For Health Care Workers, the Worst Commutes in New York City” (New York Times) The post Belabored Podcast #145: Rights and Rebellions, with Shaun Richman appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

—[contentblock id=belabored-info] We look at two labor groups waging creative challenges against corporate America: In Minnesota, we speak with organizers with Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL), a worker center that has partnered with SEIU to organize workers at major Twin Cities big box retailers. During Superbowl weekend, CTUL activists challenged corporate greed by protesting against Home Depot and other big sponsors, demanding fair wages and working conditions, as well as justice for immigrant communities. Meanwhile in Portland, the Wobblies have been biting into corporate fast food with a strike and boycott campaign against Burgerville. With recommended reading on white collar unionizing and yellow cab labor strife. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 144 episodes! News In ‘Anti-Trafficking’ New Orleans Strip Club Raids, Police Make No Trafficking Arrests (In Justice Today) Activist Spotlight: BARE on the Mass Closure of Strip Clubs in New Orleans (Tits and Sass) Agency Workers Protest Trump Labor Board Prosecutor’s Agenda (Bloomberg BNA) German industrial workers win right to flexible hours (BBC) Abuse of migrant workers ‘rampant’ in Thai fishing fleets, rights group says (CNN) St. Paul Teachers Say Yes to a Possible Strike (The Progressive)   Conversation Emilio Miranda Rios and Ruth Schultz, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL) Reports on Super Bowl Week of Action (CTUL) Hot Protest in an Ice-Cold Super Bowl City (The Nation) Canaan Schlesinger, Burgerville Workers Union Burgerville Workers Union Strike update Boycott Burgerville Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Alex Press, White-Collar Unionization Is Good for All Workers (The Nation) Michelle: Ginia Bellafante, A Driver’s Suicide Reveals the Dark Side of the Gig Economy (New York Times) The post Belabored Podcast #144: Thinking Outside the Box appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] The government shutdown is over, with the Democrats giving in to a deal that leaves DREAMers unprotected and Trump’s power unabated. Still, there will come a time when Trump is gone, and labor will have to pick up the pieces. Rachel Cohen, a DC-based freelance journalist, joins us to talk about her reporting, at The Intercept, on labor’s plans for the post-Trump future. What can we learn from the last two failures of major labor law reform? From other countries’ collective bargaining systems? Will the Democrats continue to cave? We also look at the surprising uptick in union membership in 2017, union wins at the Los Angeles Times and Slate, the prison strike in Florida and the attempt to impose work requirements for Medicaid. For Argh, we consider the immigrant workers who feed the people who are trying to deport them, and the history of democracy in the workplace. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 143 episodes! News Striking Florida Prisoners Thrown in Solitary Confinement, Activists Say (Miami New Times) Sarah: Work requirements for Medicaid and other attempts to dismantle healthcare (Interviews for Resistance) Los Angeles Times newsroom votes to go union amid growing corporate tumult (Poynter) Slate Staffers Vote to Unionize in Defiance of Stiff Management Resistance (Splinter News) Union Membership byte 2018 (Center for Economic and Policy Research)   Conversation Rachel M. Cohen How The Labor Movement Is Thinking Ahead to a Post-Trump World (The Intercept) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Barry Eidlin and Micah Uetricht, Defending Democracy Means Organizing Your Workplace (In These Times) Sarah: Dave Jamieson, These Women Have Spent Years Cleaning Up After Senators Who Now Want To Deport Them (Huffington Post) The post Belabored Podcast #143: Planning for a Post-Trump Future, with Rachel Cohen appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] The world of Big Tech seems clean and ultra modern, but your smartphone was likely built under shockingly dirty labor conditions. An in-depth investigation of Vietnamese Samsung production facilities peels back the shrink-wrap of the electronics industry to reveal who makes our fancy gadgets and what our obsession with consumer electronics means for workplace health. We speak with Joe DiGangi of IPEN, which published the report. The revelations, which fit into a pattern of labor exploitation at Samsung, have prompted international scrutiny as well as reported crackdowns on workers. In other news, we look at a movement for a shorter workweek in Germany, a drive for higher wages at Disney, a milestone for the fast food worker movement in New York, and Trump’s latest assault on immigrant communities. With recommended reading on labor unrest in Iran and #MeToo in the workplace. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 142 episodes! News Trump’s attacks on humanitarian immigration just became a full-blown war (Vox) Michelle: A Labor Battle at… Disney World? (The Nation) German workers strike for right to two-year, 28-hour working week (Guardian) Fast-Food Workers Claim Victory in a New York Labor Effort (New York Times)   Conversation Joe DiGangi, IPEN researcher IPEN and CGFED, Stories of Women Workers in Vietnam’s Electronics Industry Michelle: Was Your Smartphone Built in a Sweatshop? (The Nation) Where Was Your Smartphone Made? (WNYC) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: J.C. Pan, Arbitrary Rule (The Nation) Michelle: Murtaza Hussain, Protests in Iran Took Many By Surprise — But Not Iranian Labor Activists (The Intercept) The post Belabored Podcast #142: Smartphone Sweatshops in Asia, with Joe DiGangi appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] Holiday travel can be exhausting and stressful enough if you’re a traveler—now imagine being a flight attendent or an airport employee who has to deal with all those stressed-out travelers. This week we bring you an episode on the workers who make your visits home for the holidays possible. We spoke with Transport Workers Union international president John Samuelsen about the organizing campaign of JetBlue flight attendants, who have filed for a union election, and with Gueldere Guerilis and Melifaite Cine, who work in the Fort Lauderdale airport and are part of a campaign for airport employees to get a living wage. We also discuss a pilot’s strike at European airline Ryanair, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals weighing in on the gender wage gap, the ongoing struggles of unpaid interns, and the Trump administration’s plans to slow down union elections and allow employers to legally steal tips. For Argh, we consider inequality in Silicon Valley’s labor forces, and remind you that sexual harassment is a workplace issue. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 141 episodes! News When women earn less than men, is gender bias always to blame? 9th Circuit to decide en banc (Reuters) Employers would pocket $5.8 billion of workers’ tips under Trump administration’s proposed ‘tip stealing’ rule (EPI) NLRB: Request for Information Regarding Representation Election Regulations (NLRB) Second Circuit Holds that Hearst Interns are not Employees (National Law Review) Ryanair pilots to strike before Christmas (BBC) Ryanair offers to recognise unions in historic shift to try to avert strikes (Reuters) Conversation John Samuelsen, TWU TimeWeUnite, TWU JetBlue Flight Attendants Campaign JetBlue flight attendants seek to form union during D.C. visit (New York Daily News) Gueldere Guerilis and Melifaite Cine, Fort Lauderdale Airport passenger service workers Congressman Hastings, Vice Mayor Furr, & FLL Airport Workers Launch ‘Safe Airports’ Campaign to Improve Security at Ft Lauderdale Airport (32BJ SEIU) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Charlotte Simmonds, The Silicon Valley paradox: one in four people are at risk of hunger (Guardian) Sarah: Melissa Gira Grant, The Unsexy Truth About Harassment (NYRB Daily) The post Belabored Podcast #141: Union for the Holidays appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] Desperate to get virtually anything passed in Congress, the Republican majority is pushing a tax plan that will devastate workers, undermine the social safety net, and give a bad deal to just about everyone in the country except the ultra rich. So it’s hard to know where to start when exploring the legislation’s myriad horrors. But in this episode, we talk to some of the people protesting the bill: graduate student workers resisting a punitive tax hike that will explode the cost of higher education, and one union’s campaign to demand that corporate America make good on promises that the bill will benefit ordinary workers. In other news, we look at Black Friday strikes, Universal Basic Income in Canada, Trump’s long-buried labor abuse scandal, and Congress’s latest plan to deny children healthcare. With recommended reading on unions changing Silicon Valley and what can be done about the threat of national “Right to Work.” If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 140 episodes! News Canada Tests ‘Basic Income’ Effect on Poverty Amid Lost Jobs (ABC News) Amazon faces ‘Black Friday’ strikes in Germany, Italy (DW) Trump Paid Over $1 Million in Labor Settlement, Documents Reveal (New York Times) For This Congress, Children Come Last (New Republic) Conversation Jody Calemime, CWA general counsel Will a Corporate Tax Cut Lift Worker Pay? A Union Wants It in Writing (New York Times) The Tax Bill Battle Shows the Left Needs a “Single Payer of Fiscal Policy” (In These Times) Senate GOP tax bill hurts the poor more than originally thought, CBO finds (Washington Post) Ian Bradley-Perrin, Hannah​​ Khoddam, graduate student workers Michelle: The GOP Tax Plan Would Make It Even Harder to Be a Grad Student (The Nation) The GOP tax bill could be a disaster for PhD students (Vox) The Ivy League Has An Unexpected Friend in Donald Trump (Huffington Post) @SaveGradEd on Facebook, Twitter Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Lizzie O’Shea, Tech capitalists won’t fix the world’s problems – their unionised workforce might (Guardian) Sarah: Mindy Isser, How the Labor Movement Can Win Under National ‘Right to Work’ (The Nation) The post Belabored Podcast #140: Resisting the Taxpocalypse appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] We’ve been hearing a lot about sexual harassment lately, but it’s mostly been in a few industries: the media, Hollywood, politics. Far less attention has been paid to the industries where harassment and assault are rampant but access to news coverage is not: service work and in particular, farm work. This episode, we bring you a conversation with Coalition of Immokalee Workers member Oscar Otzoy, who tells us about the group’s organizing to fight sexual violence in the fields and economic violence throughout their member’s lives. We also look at the good news from the recent elections, a lawsuit against Microsoft for sex discrimination, the shutdown of DNAinfo and Gothamist as extreme union-busting, and a win for a gravedigger’s union. For Argh, we look at why unions haven’t been able to stop sexual harassment, and how business unionism brought labor to the brink of the Janus case. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 139 episodes! News Three Women Suing Microsoft for Bias Want to Add 8,630 Peers (Bloomberg) Can Tech Workers Complain About Sexual Harassment? Depends What They Signed. (Buzzfeed) Sarah: How Democratic Socialists Worked With Sanders Supporters and Grassroots Groups to Sweep November’s Elections (truthout) Autocracy at Work: Understanding the Gothamist Shut Down (On Labor) Gravediggers at L.A.’s Biggest Cemetery Unionized on Friday the 13th (LA Weekly) Conversation Coalition of Immokalee Workers 700,000 Female Farmworkers Say They Stand With Hollywood Actors Against Sexual Assault (Time) Harvest Without Violence Global capitalism undermines progress in workplace safety in Bangladesh’s garment industry (The Pump Handle) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Lois Weiner, How Business Unionism Got Us to Janus (In These Times) Sarah: Ian Kullgren, Why Didn’t Unions Stop Sexual Harassment (Politico) The post Belabored Podcast #139: Fighting Harassment on the Farm appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] 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? If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 137 episodes! Conversation Wobblies of the World: A Global History of the IWW edited by Peter Cole (@ProfPeterCole), David Struthers, and Kenyon Zimmer IWW Historical Archives Wobblies — A new history of a radical union that profoundly impacted Southern African politics (Africa is a Country) Sarah and Michelle: Belabored Podcast #136: Countdown to Janus, with Andy Stettner (Dissent) What the Revival of Socialism in America Means for the Labor Movement (In These Times) Become a Workers’ Movement for the 21st Century (New Socialist) The post Belabored Podcast #138: Wobblies of the World, Then and Now, with Peter Cole appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] The Harvey Weinstein affair has sparked public outrage and an outpouring of #MeToo stories on social media. It may also spur collective solidarity among women workers who increasingly see sexual violence as an issue not just of gender but of economic justice as well. Is the labor movement listening? We speak with Ariane Hegewisch of the Institute for Women’s Policy and Research to understand the ramifications of sexual violence in the workplace for labor policy and the labor movement as a whole, and how workers and their unions can go beyond the “whisper network” to mobilize against sexual abuse at work. We also highlight more positive news about DC’s groundbreaking bill to decriminalize sex work, unionizing graduate workers in Chicago, and UK fast food workers having a very British McStrike. With recommended reading on labor struggles as feminist struggles, and whisper networks as public weapons. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 137 episodes! News University of Chicago grad students vote to unionize (Chicago Tribune) Fast food workers stand up for themselves and #McStrike – we’re loving it! (Red Pepper) New Bill Would Decriminalize Sex Work In D.C. (DCist) Conversation Ariane Hegewisch, Program Director on Employment & Earnings at Institute for Women’s Policy and Research Violence and Safety (IWPR) Sexual Harassment in the Workplace (National Women’s Law Center) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Dayna Tortorici, Lean Out: Feminist struggles are labor struggles (Harper’s) Michelle: Alex Press, It’s time to weaponize the “whisper network” (Vox) The post Belabored Podcast #137: Sex, Power, and Labor Rights, with Ariane Hegewisch appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] The labor movement has been living in the shadow of a national assault on public-sector collective bargaining for a while now. We’ve talked a lot about Harris v. Quinn, how labor dodged a bullet with that case, and dodged another with the death of Scalia before the Friedrichs case could be decided. But Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31 is likely to be the case labor has been dreading, and we break it down for you today with Andy Stettner of the Century Foundation. We also look at Uber’s failures in London and neoliberalism’s failures in France, a union drive at the Los Angeles Times and a labor solidarity mission to Puerto Rico post-hurricanes. For Argh, we consider forced labor “rehab” facilities, and how moving left is the solution to the rise of the populist right. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 136 episodes! News The False Promise of Macron’s Labor Reforms (The Nation) Macron tells workers protesting job losses to ‘stop wreaking f***ing havoc’ (Independent) Is Uber Still Working in London? Taxi App’s Fate Hangs in the Balance after UK Ban (Independent) Los Angeles Times Newsroom, Challenging Tronc, Goes Public With Union Push (New York Times) Letter to the Los Angeles Times Newsroom (Los Angeles Times Guild) New York unions send workers, thousands in donations to aid hurricane victims in Puerto Rico (New York Daily News) Michelle: Trump’s Visit Didn’t Help Puerto Rico’s Recovery Efforts. This Sustainable-Energy Plan Could. (The Nation) Conversation: Andrew Stettner at the Century Foundation Supreme Court poised to deal a sharp blow to unions for teachers and public employees (LA Times) Building Power before Janus–And After: Lessons from CUNY (Labor Notes) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Amy Julia Harris and Shoshana Walter, They thought they were going to rehab. They ended up in chicken plants (Reveal) Michelle: Paul Mason, The AfD’s breakthrough shows that parties of the left must get radical (Guardian) The post Belabored Podcast #136: Countdown to Janus, with Andy Stettner appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] What a difference an election makes. What used to be unthinkable in the healthcare debate, fully universal free healthcare for all, has moved from radical to “mainstream” in a few short months. Now that Trumpcare is threatening to explode even the moderate reforms of the ACA, single-payer healthcare is now not only looking promising but possible on the national political horizon. Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced his long awaited Medicare for All single-payer bill, concretizing the vision he presented on the campaign trail for free, accessible healthcare for all. To figure out why such a common-sensical proposal took so long to be validated in Washington we talked to Michael Lighty, Director of Public Policy for National Nurses United, one of the few unions who have steadfastly championed single-payer since before it was cool. Lighty, who is also helping to lead the new Sanders Institute, a policy think tank founded and directed by Jane Sanders with Dave Driscoll, explains the role of healthcare workers in the debate and how they continue to play the long game on universal healthcare. In other news we examine struggles for gender injustice in Silicon Valley, pushing childcare for all, striking at Spectrum Cable, and sanctuary unions for immigrants. With recommended reading on a resurgence of labor on college campuses and the reincarnation of failing charter schools. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 135 episodes! News Sarah: Creating a sanctuary union, with George Miranda Michelle: How to Fix America’s Childcare Crisis (The Nation) Michelle: Childcare Workers Make 40% Less Than the Nationwide Median Wage (The Nation) A Cable Workers Strike Grows Increasingly Bitter (The Bridge) Spectrum Workers’ Strike Approaches 5-Month Mark (New York Times) Google sued over ‘sex discrimination’ (BBC) Women Shouldn’t Have to Sue Google to Get Equal Pay (New Republic) Conversation: Michael Lighty, Director Public Policy, National Nurses United NNU Medicare for All campaign Sanders Institute Michelle: Amid GOP Attacks on Health Care, the Movement for Single Payer Is Growing (Truthout) How Bernie Sanders got Democrats to stop worrying and embrace single-payer (Vox) Single-payer won’t pass now. But its popularity proves our morals are changing. (Washington Post) Cuomo backs federal single-payer health care system — and even says he’d approve it on a state level (New York Daily News) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Annie Waldman, Failing Charter Schools Have a Reincarnation Plan (ProPublica) Michelle: Thomas Frank, Are elite universities ‘safe spaces’? Not if you’re starting a union (Guardian) The post Belabored Podcast #135: How Single-Payer Went from Margin to Mainstream, with Michael Lighty appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] In the wake of a massive hurricane (and with another one looming just off the U.S. mainland) Donald Trump decided that the time was ripe to overturn President Obama’s protections for immigrant youth. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, DACA, required young people to register themselves, pay a fee, and submit to investigation in order to gain a semblance of legal status in the United States and Trump has now decided to take that away. But the issue of Hurricane Harvey (and Irma, and the next ones) isn’t separate from the issue of immigrants’ rights to stay and work in the United States. As we discuss on today’s show with DACA recipients and with teachers from Texas, these issues are very much intertwined. We also hear about the British “McStrike” and about Trump’s attempts to make work even more miserable for American workers; and if that’s not enough, we also look into the plot against unions. And to end on a somewhat brighter note, we look at the organizing among tech workers and the campaign that ended gender-segregated job advertisements. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 134 episodes! News Justice Department drops appeal to save Obama overtime rule (The Hill) Trump Blocks Effort to Stop Wage Discrimination in ‘Blatant Attack on Fair Pay for Women and People of Color,’ Women’s Leader Says (National Partnership for Women & Families) McDonald’s workers to go on strike in Britain for first time (The Guardian) Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union Rightwing alliance plots assault to ‘defund and defang’ America’s unions (The Guardian) Canada demands U.S. end ‘right to work’ laws as part of NAFTA talks (The Globe and Mail) Conversation: Sarah: Dreams Die Hard: Where Do They Go After DACA? (BillMoyers.com) Michelle: Harvey Strains Texas’s Already Overburdened Schools (The Nation) Michelle: DACA Was Won By a Vibrant Movement of Immigrant Youth. Now, That Movement Will Rally to Defend It. (In These Times) Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Siddharth Patel, Tech Workers: Friends or Foes? (Jacobin) Sarah: Laura Tanenbaum and Mark Engler, Help Wanted—Female (The New Republic) The post Belabored Podcast #134: Defending Migrants through Hell and High Water appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] Before fascism and political turmoil descended on the country this week, Trump was scheduled to showcase his grand plan for overhauling the nation’s infrastructure. So while you’re on the frontlines of resistance, we take a close look at Trump’s plan to stealthily privatize massive chunks of the the government, what it means for both public and private sector labor, and how the labor movement should respond. We speak with Georgetown history professor Joseph McCartin about the history of public worker unionism, the legacy of PATCO (the anti-union war waged by the President who was just anointed as Trump’s labor hero), and how today’s workers can build power across the workforce. In other news we look at labor against white supremacy in California and North Carolina, scandal at the UAW, mobilizing against right-to-work in Missouri, and unions at the NAFTA talks. With reflections on why baby poop and marriage are labor issues. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 133 episodes! News The Bay Area gets ready to confront the right (Socialist Worker) Sarah: Toppling Monuments to White Supremacy, with Angaza Laughinghouse (The Baffler) Ex-UAW star charged with theft from Fiat Chrysler to buy designer clothes, shoes, shotgun (Detroit Free Press) Unions turn in 310,000 signatures to repeal Missouri right-to-work law (The Kansas City Star) Labor Wants to Make Nafta Its Friend. Here’s the Problem. (New York Times) Conversation: Joseph A. McCartin, Georgetown University McCartin: Bargaining for the Common Good (Dissent) McCartin: After the Friedrichs Scare (Jacobin) McCartin: Public Sector Unionism under Assault: How to Combat the Scapegoating of Organized Labor (New Labor Forum) McCartin: The Strike That Busted Unions (New York Times) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Arthur Delaney, Bad Jobs And No Welfare Give Rise To A New Type Of Charity: The Diaper Bank (Huffington Post) Michelle: Victor Tan Chen, America, Home of the Transactional Marriage (Atlantic) The post Belabored Podcast #133: Laboring Against Privatization, with Joseph A. McCartin appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] For the third time in recent months, a major union election has gone down to defeat in a Southern manufacturing facility—this time at the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi. The union busting was fierce and the support from politicians like Bernie Sanders and Jackson’s Chokwe Antar Lumumba and celebrities like Danny Glover wasn’t enough to put the workers over the top, but was there anything that could have been done differently? We speak with Chris Brooks of Labor Notes about organizing the South, the structural challenges the workers faced, and ideas for new strategies for organizing in an increasingly union-free USA. We also look at an auto mechanics’ strike in Chicago and a union win at Facebook, at the dystopian horizon of Trumpian immigration policies, and microchips in workers’ bodies, implanted by the boss. For Argh, we consider the power of police union contracts, and the question of race in the battle against capital. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 132 episodes! News About 2,000 mechanics strike at Chicago-area car dealerships (Chicago Sun Times) Union mechanics enter second week of strike (Chicago Sun Times) Michelle: 500 Workers Staffing Facebook’s Cafeteria Just Voted to Unionize (The Nation) Wisconsin workers embedded with microchips (USA Today) Pa. lawmaker to introduce bill to prohibit employers from requiring microchip implantation (Philadelphia Business Journal) Trump Supports Plan to Cut Legal Immigration in Half (New York Times) Conversation: Chris Brooks: Why Did Nissan Workers Vote No? (Labor Notes) Causes of the Union Defeat at Nissan (Socialist Worker) Michelle: Mississippi Autoworkers Mobilize (Dissent) Sarah and Michelle: Belabored Podcast #123: Marching on Mississippi, with Morris Mock and Danny Glover (Dissent) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Kimbriell Kelly, Wesley Lowery and Steven Rich, Fired/Rehired (The Washington Post) Michelle: David Roediger, It’s Not Just Class: The Fight for Racial Justice Is Inseparable from Overcoming Capitalism (In These Times) The post Belabored Podcast #132: What Happened in Mississippi? with Chris Brooks appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] As our population grows grayer and our hospital systems increasingly strained, homecare workers have become a critical part of community-based healthcare for our elders and family members with disabilities. The country now faces a crisis in home-based health services, as consumers struggle to pay and providers struggle with poverty wages. Despite the tremendous unmet needs for quality homecare services, the latest Republican Trumpcare proposals threaten to slash wages, bleed our social service infrastructure and force families into poverty and institutionalization. We speak with labor advocates and workers about what’s at stake in the healthcare reform fight, for workers and and for the communities they help heal. In other news, we track the latest labor actions at airports a hard-fought unionization drive for Mississippi auto workers, striking nurses at Tufts Medical Center, and unions invest in Chicago’s hometown paper. Plus recommended reading on Marx on Constitutional law and class politics in the UK. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 131 episodes! News New York-area airport employees temporarily halt strike as negotiations get underway (New York Daily News) Talks Continue as Airport Workers Prepare for Possible Strike (SEIU 32BJ) Tufts Medical Center Nurses Go On Strike (WBUR) ‘We want to work’: Nurses locked out at Tufts Medical Center (Boston Globe) U.A.W. Says Nissan Workers Seek a Union Vote in Mississippi (New York Times) Michelle: Mississippi Autoworkers Mobilize (Dissent) Sarah and Michelle: Belabored Podcast #123: Marching on Mississippi, with Morris Mock and Danny Glover (Dissent) Union group led by Eisendrath outduels Trib owner to acquire Sun-Times (Chicago Sun Times) Conversation: with June Barrett, homecare worker from Miami, and Saba Waheed, Research Director, UCLA Labor Center Sarah: Home care workers have our lives in their hands. They’re paid only $10 an hour (Guardian) Michelle: With Medicaid And Health Care Under Attack, Home Care For The Aging Faces Crisis (Truthout) Michelle: Trump’s Medicaid and immigration policies will make home health care more expensive and more rare (Mic) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Bertell Ollman, Toward a Marxist Interpretation of the US Constitution (Jacobin) Sarah: Richard Seymour, Your incorrect theory of class (Patreon) The post Belabored Podcast #131: A Crisis of Care, with June Barrett and Saba Waheed appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] Retail remains one of the fastest-growing and most common jobs in the United States, despite recent doom and gloom headlines. But when people think of the working class, they still tend to picture a hard hat or an assembly line. This week, we dig into the world of retail, talking to organizers and workers from around the country who have been focused on raising wages, securing schedules, and winning power for the workers who sell, stock, and clean the stores where we buy our clothes and goods. We speak with Carrie Gleason of the Center for Popular Democracy, Stuart Appelbaum of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, and Kelby Peeler, Kwame Grant and Anya Svanoe of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment. In a related story, we hear from a Walmart worker on the latest fight for medical leave, and the (good) news on the impact of Seattle’s $15 minimum wage. We also get updated on the moves of the Senate to pass Trumpcare, and hear from Randy Bryce, a union ironworker who is running to beat Paul Ryan. For Argh, we consider the new working class, and return to one of our favorite topics: port truck drivers. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 130 episodes! News Senate Health Bill in Peril as CBO Predicts 22 Million More Uninsured (New York Times) What the Republican Healthcare Holdouts Want (The Atlantic) Michelle: No, Seattle’s $15 Minimum Wage Is Not Hurting Workers (The Nation) Sarah: Challenging Paul Ryan on his home turf Pointing Out: How Walmart Unlawfully Punishes Workers for Medical Absences (A Better Balance) Conversation: Sarah: America’s Massive Retail Workforce is Tired of Being Ignored (Racked) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Gabriel Winant, The New Working Class (Dissent) Michelle: Brett Murphy, Rigged: Forced into debt. Worked past exhaustion. Left with nothing. (USA Today) The post Belabored Podcast #130: Retail Warriors appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] Okay, maybe the UK election results—in which Labour defied all expectations, confounded the pundits, and snatched away the Tories’ absolute majority—weren’t exactly a sweep for the left per se, but after months of transatlantic electoral heartburn, the vote marked at least a taste of sweet victory for progressives. We spoke to Jacobin Magazine Europe Editor Ronan Burtenshaw for post-election analysis of how a new progressive populism is challenging the status quo in Britain and perhaps the United States. And we look at the challenges facing Labour and Corbynism as they seek not just to go against all odds, but to win. In other news, we examine the healthcare reform implosion in Washington, NAFTA’s impending Pandora’s Box, and the gender tax on college debt. With recommended reading on Ivanka’s shady factory and America’s class blinders. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 129 episodes! News Michelle: NAFTA Is Broken. Trump Has All the Wrong Fixes. (The Nation) AP sources: Trump tells senators House health bill ‘mean’ (Associated Press) The GOP’s secret health care bill is going to get us all. (New Republic) The college trap ensnaring women and minorities (CBS News) Women’s Student Debt Crisis in the United States (American Association of University Women) Conversation: Ronan Burtenshaw, Jacobin Magazine Europe Editor Max Shanly and Ronan Burtenshaw: The Blueprint (Jacobin) Ronan Burtenshaw and Novar Flip: Grime for Corbyn (Jacobin) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Richard Reeves, Stop Pretending You’re Not Rich (New York Times) Sarah: Krithika Varagur, Revealed: reality of life working in an Ivanka Trump clothing factory (Guardian) The post Belabored Podcast #129: A New Dawn for Labour? With Ronan Burtenshaw appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] Despite unprecedented chaos in Washington, AT&T workers have proved once again that good old fashioned organizing still gets the goods. Following a national three-day strike, we talk to Bob Master of the Communication Workers of America on what workers got and what work there’s left to do as they move toward a contract deal. We also look at the other side of a key issue in the negotiations—rampant offshoring of call center jobs to various outlets in the Global South. We talk to Dominican Republic-based organizers Oliver Benson and Hanoi Sosa about organizing call center workers in solidarity with their U.S. counterparts. In other news, we examine what the data says about a pivot point for UK politics as Labour ascends, the effectiveness of universal basic income, Portland and Oakland unions mobilizing against fascism racism, and the Puerto Rico debt crisis and vicious austerity measures thrashing the island. With recommended reading on memories of work and coming of age, and the Democrats destroying public education. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Please help keep us going for the next 128 episodes! News No Strings Attached: The Behavioral Effects of U.S. Unconditional Cash Transfer Programs (Roosevelt Institute) Noose discovery at Port of Oakland prompts longshoremen walk-out (East Bay Times) Response to the Portland Attack (Amalgamated Transit Union Division 757) Organized Labor Groups Pledge Show of Support (And Muscle) on June 4 (Willamette Week) Puerto Rico budget to protect pension payments: governor (Reuters) The Looting of Puerto Rico’s Infrastructure Fund (AFL-CIO) Sarah and Michelle: Belabored Podcast #107: Controlling Crisis in Puerto Rico, with Héctor Cordero-Guzmán (Dissent) Conversation: Bob Master, CWA Political Director Oliver Benson and Hanoi Sosa, Dominican Republic-based call center organizers AT&T Deal With Electrical Workers Keeps Call Center Jobs Local (Fortune) Michelle: The Workers Who Answer Your Customer-Service Calls (The Nation) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Akhil Sharma, Richard Ford, Toni Morrison, On the Job (The New Yorker) Sarah: Diane Ravitch, Don’t Like Betsy DeVos? Blame the Democrats (New Republic) The post Belabored Podcast #128: AT&T Workers Rising Globally and Locally, with Bob Master appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] This past Monday was May Day, the day celebrated around the world as International Workers’ Day. The holiday’s roots are actually here in the United States, though thanks to decades of redbaiting we celebrate Labor Day in the fall and presidents have declared May 1 “loyalty day.” But in recent years, beginning with the massive Day Without an Immigrant in 2006, working people have begun to reclaim the day as one to stay home from work and demand radical change. This year’s May Day saw massive immigrant worker strikes once again, from coast to coast, and we spoke with organizers from around the country who helped make the day happen: Maria Elena Durazo of UNITE HERE, Will Lambek with Migrant Justice, Celene Perez of Warehouse Workers Resource Center in California, Jose Oliva with Food Chain Workers Alliance in Chicago, and Christine Neumann-Ortiz of Voces De La Frontera Wisconsin. We also take a look at the House vote to repeal Obamacare and replace it with Trumpcare; the People’s Climate March; the narrowly averted Hollywood writer’s strike; and the struggles of migrant workers in the Marianas islands. For Argh, we consider exploitation of chicken plant workers, and a massive general strike in Brazil. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Please help keep us going for the next 127 episodes! News Every Republican who voted for this abomination must be held accountable (Washington Post) Gold Mantis breaks silence; Imperial Pacific ‘denounces’ contractors’ illegal acts (Marianas Variety) The People’s Climate March and Labor (OnLabor) The Global People’s Climate Marches were Massive (In These Times) WGA Deal Decoded: Big TV Gains But Movie Writers Have Less to Celebrate (Hollywood Reporter) Conversation: Sarah: “We will use our non-cooperation” Michelle: This May Day, Don’t Go to Work, Take to the Streets and Strike (In These Times) The Day Without Immigrant Workers Has Begun (The Nation) UNITE HERE on May Day Can Workers Make America Great Again? (Refinery 29) LaHuelga.com Food Chain Workers Alliance Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Ella Mahony, Why Brazil is Striking on Friday (Jacobin) Michelle: Michael Grabell, Exploitation and Abuse at the Chicken Plant (The New Yorker) The post Belabored Podcast #127: Rebellion in the Streets appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] The news cycles come and go, and Trump’s Twitter outbursts are fleeting, but when the spotlight fades, what happens to the workers whose struggles are year round, even lifelong? Sarah Jaffe speaks to labor organizers at the heart of the Rust Belt to illuminate some of the many crises engulfing working people today, and the deep frustration among communities who, before and after the election, have felt economically and politically disenfranchised. The story behind our current political moment is, as always, more complex than it seems. In other news, we look at mobilization for immigrant workers in New York, striking tech company workers in Silicon Valley, students and parents standing up for an activist teacher in Chicago, and ironworking moms’ campaign for workplace justice. With recommended reading on the agony of Appalachia and the unknowns of universal basic income. News Michelle: Undocumented Bakers Are Planning ‘A Day Without Bread’ This Friday (The Nation) Brandworkers campaign for Tom Cat workers Facebook Gives Staff Green Light to Join May 1 Political Protests (Bloomberg) Women Ironworkers Will Get Six Months Of Paid Maternity Leave (Buzzfeed) Students, Parents Rally For Special Ed Teacher Facing ‘Political’ Firing (DNA Info Chicago) Conversation: Chuck Jones, John Feltner, and Gary Canter in Indianapolis Sarah: Back at the Carrier Plant, Workers Are Still Fighting on Their Own (The Nation) Argh! I Wish I’d Written That Michelle: Alyssa Battistoni, The False Promise of Universal Basic Income (Dissent) Sarah: Laura Reston and Sarah Jones, Appalachia Needs Big Government (New Republic) The post Belabored Podcast #126: Voices from the Rust Belt, with Chuck Jones appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] This week we bring you a recording of our Belabored Live panel last week, March 29, at Fordham Law School in New York City. In the wake of Trump’s election, labor and community organizers across the country have rediscovered and expanded on the power of the strike, harking back to an era where strikes were as much against state power as they were against the boss. Our panel, co-hosted by Fordham Law Coalition of Concerned Students and Workers’ Rights Advocates at Fordham Law, featured three organizers and participants in three very different strikes, from the Verizon strike in April and May of 2016, during peak election season and amid hopes for a very different result, to the New York Taxi Workers Alliance strike and Yemeni bodega strikes against Trump’s Muslim ban and anti-immigrant policies. Joining us were Rabyaah Althaibani, a community organizer and co-organizer of the Yemeni bodega strike, Pam Galpern, a Verizon field technician and mobilization coordinator for CWA Local 1101, and Javaid Tariq, a longtime taxi driver and member of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. Thanks to Karim Hajj of Divided Productions for recording the conversation. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Please help keep us going for the next 125 episodes! Conversation: Sarah: Why the Verizon Workers’ Victory is a Big Deal (The Progressive) Yemeni Bodega Owners Strike to Say “We Are America” (The Nation) Sarah: #DeleteUber is introducing a new generation to the horrors of scabbing (Washington Post) Michelle: New York’s Immigrants Aren’t Done With Trump (The Nation) Michelle: Filipino Workers Are Seizing the Means of Communication in the Fight Against Verizon (The Nation) New York Taxi Workers Alliance The post Belabored Podcast #125: Striking to Live in the Age of Trump appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] What’s a college degree worth to you? With so many students getting drowned in debt for a taxpayer-funded sham diploma, how has the massive for-profit college industry managed to capitalize on Americans’ high hopes of achieving middle-class “credentials”? In her new book, Lower Ed, sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom explores the political drivers of for-profit higher education, and Wall Street’s entanglement with an unregulated academic marketplace that exploits struggling students’ aspirations. Cottom spoke with Sarah Jaffe at a discussion hosted by the New America Foundation about the culture and politics of commercialized college in the Age of Trump. In other news, we look at the politics of the Muslim (headscarf) ban at work in Europe, a looming adjunct faculty strike at Ithaca College, a factory worker uprising in Bangladesh, and the U.S. women’s hockey team’s threat of a strike at the World Championship. Next Wednesday, March 29 we’re hosting a discussion on labor under Trump, with organizers Pam Galpern, Bhairavi Desai, and Rabyaah Althaibani, at Fordham Law in New York. Join us! If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Please help keep us going for the next 124 episodes! News Employers allowed to ban the hijab: EU court (Al Jazeera) Sarah: Why the U.S. Women’s Hockey Players Are Planning to Strike (Dissent) Protests in Bangladesh Shake a Global Workshop for Apparel (New York Times) Michelle: A Western Company Could Finally Be Held Accountable for the Rana Plaza Disaster (The Nation) Why IC contingent faculty authorized strike (Ithaca Journal) Conversation: Tressie McMillan Cottom, @tressiemcphd, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Virginia Commonwealth University Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy (The New Press) Call Now: What It’s Like to Enroll in a For-Profit College (Dissent) Selected Essays Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Jo Littler, Meritocracy: the great delusion that ingrains inequality (The Guardian) Sarah: Patrick Dixon, Playing Chicken: Discovering a Diverse Working Class in Trump Country (Working Class Studies) The post Belabored Podcast #124: College Dreams and College Schemes, with Tressie McMillan Cottom appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] Last weekend, the long-time union struggle at the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi reached a new peak with a march, led by former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and Hollywood icon and activist Danny Glover. We spoke with Canton plant worker Morris Mock and Glover about the conditions in the plant, the long struggle for union rights in the South, their deep connection to civil rights struggles, and more. We also check in with Women’s Strikers from around the country and the workers in SeaTac, Washington, and we take a look at the promises and the reality of “Trumpcare.” For “Argh,” we look at a winning labor-environmental campaign in Richmond, CA, and a look back at the entwined history of protest marches and mass strikes. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Please help keep us going for the next 123 episodes! News Alaska Air, reversing course, will hire baggage handlers it outsourced (Seattle Times) Women’s Strike Syllabus (Truthout) Sarah: Feminism for the 99 Percent with Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor Michelle: This is what feminism really looks like (The Nation) A Women’s Strike Reader (Dissent) Trump pledges ‘paid family leave’ in first speech to Congress–but doesn’t specify fathers (Guardian) Conversation: Danny Glover: Nissan Workers in the South Need a Union (Newsweek) Sarah: Forever Temp? (In These Times) Driving Change at Nissan Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Nelson Lichtenstein, No More Saturday Marches (Jacobin) Michelle: Garrett Brown, Labor-Enviro-Community coalition wins stronger California oil refinery regulations and showcases a winning strategy for worker and community health (The Pump Handle) The post Belabored Podcast #123: Marching on Mississippi, with Morris Mock and Danny Glover appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] President Trump wants to strike fear into immigrant communities, but with or without papers, immigrants are standing their ground. Following a spate of terrorizing deportation raids across the country, activists rose up and launched a Day without Immigrants—a spontaneous, decentralized wave of strikes and demonstrations, to show both what’s at stake in the fight for immigrant rights under Trump, and to demonstrate the massive economic power that migrant workers wield. We spoke with German Sanchez and Christine Neumann-Ortiz of Voces De La Frontera in Wisconsin, Pablo Alvarado of National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) in Los Angeles, and Basma Eid of Enlace’s Worker Center Federation in New York after the protests to get their insights about organizing strategies at work and in the streets under Trump. In other news, we look at the new nominee for Labor Secretary and the role of whistleblowers in federal science agencies, examine the epidemic of gender discrimination and sexual harassment in Big Tech and follow a rising union movement challenging Big Banks. With recommended reading on deportees working tech support and abortion laws imposing forced labor. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Please help keep us going for the next 122 episodes! News Tech Still Doesn’t Take Discrimination Seriously (Wired) Reflecting On One Very, Very Strange Year At Uber (Susan J. Fowler) Trump’s Labor Pick Has a History of Attacking Voting Rights (The Nation) The Scandal That May Haunt the New Nominee for Labor Secretary (The Atlantic) ‘Draconian’ Trump gag on scientists could affect legislation, experts warn (Guardian) Political Screening of Science Backfires as Scientific Integrity Policies Dangle (PEER) Bank workers will protest to form their first US union — and the whole world is watching (Mic) Conversation: Day Without Immigrants Protests German Sanchez, Christine Neumann-Ortiz of Voces de la Frontera Pablo Alvarado of National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) Basma Eid of Enlace’s New York Worker Center Federation Sarah: Un Dia Sin Inmigrantes (The Baffler) Tens of Thousands Strike on Day without Immigrants (Labor Notes) The Fallout From ‘A Day Without Immigrants’ (The Atlantic) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Shayna Medley, Abortion Restrictions as Forced Labor in the Age of Trump (On Labor) Sarah: Jonathan Blitzer, The Deportees Taking Our Calls (New Yorker) The post Belabored Podcast #122: Immigrants Strike Back at the White House appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] Despite years of hearing that trade deals are simply a done deal, it appears the Trump administration is renegotiating several major agreements that had previously received bipartisan backing. But will the new deals be any better for workers—in the U.S. and abroad—than the old ones? We talk to Arthur Stamoulis, Executive Director of Citizens Trade Campaign and John Cavanagh, Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Studies to find out. We also hear from the latest state to go no-rights-at-work, check in on the Momentive strike workers on their 100th day on the picket line, hear from the taxi workers who put the weight of a work stoppage behind protests against Trump’s Muslim ban, and update you on the situation with the confirmation of the wrecking crew cabinet. For Argh, we look at labor organizing for resistance, and the history of battles over the minimum wage. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Please help keep us going for the next 121 episodes! News Upstate strike an early test of Trump’s economic agenda (Politico) Tentative Agreement Reached At Momentive (CWA District 1) Michelle: New York’s Immigrants Aren’t Done With Trump (The Nation) Sarah: #DeleteUber is introducing a new generation to the horror of scabbing (Washington Post) Gov. Eric Greitens signs Missouri right-to-work bill, but unions file referendum to overturn it (Kansas City Star) Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary, Pence Breaks Tie (New York Times) Labor Nominee Andrew Puzder Has Another Problem: Undocumented Help (Huffington Post) Conversation Arthur Stamoulis, Executive Director of Citizens Trade Campaign Labor & Nonprofit Groups Outline Priority NAFTA Changes (Citizens Trade Campaign) John Cavanagh, Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Studies John Cavanagh: The Trade Debate Isn’t About the U.S. vs. the World, It’s Corporations vs. the Rest of Us (Institute for Policy Studies) Michelle: Yes, Trump’s Against Free Trade. That Doesn’t Mean He’s For Good Job (The Nation) A Left Vision for Trade (Dissent) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Eileen Boris, The Decades of History Behind Arguments Made By President Trump’s Labor Secretary Pick (Time) Michelle: Moshe Marvit & Leo Gertner, Where’s the Best Place to Resist Trump? At Work (Washington Post) The post Belabored Podcast #121: Trading Our Rights Away? With Arthur Stamoulis and John Cavanagh appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] Not surprisingly, in his first week in the White House Trump has not only failed spectacularly to “drain the swamp” but seems determined to flood it with a fresh assortment of Wall Street cronies, corporate behemoths, and giants of Big Philanthropy. To help us wade through the president’s goldplated cesspool, we speak with Andrew Stettner of the Century Foundation, who has been tracking the nominations, to gauge how Trump’s picks to head education (Betsy DeVos), financial regulation (Steven Mnuchin), labor (Andrew Puzder), and other policy areas could shape the federal agenda in the coming years, and what advocates should look out for to hold the new administration accountable. We also examine Trump’s latest trade policy gambit, local anti-Trump protests in the Twin Cities and Boston, and a union drive at a southern Boeing plant. With recommended reading from veteran radicals Frances Fox Piven and Yanis Varoufakis, on how Trump could reinvigorate dissent and spark a new insurgency against neoliberalism. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Please help keep us going for the next 120 episodes! News Sarah: Striking against Trump, with Luciano Balbuena and Veronica Mendez Moore Michelle: Yes, Trump’s Against Free Trade. That Doesn’t Mean He’s For Good Jobs. A Left Vision for Trade (Dissent) Boeing’s North Charleston workers to vote on union representation (The Post and Courier) Michelle: Immigrant Workers Are Already Fighting Back Against Trump (The Nation) Conversation Andrew Stettner, Senior Fellow, The Century Foundation Andrew Stettner: GOP Secretaries of Labor: Puzder Is a Break from the Past Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Frances Fox Piven, Throw Sand in the Gears of Everything (The Nation) Michelle: Yanis Varoufakis, We need an alternative to Trump’s nationalism. It isn’t the status quo (Guardian) The post Belabored Podcast #120: Meet the New Boss, with Andrew Stettner appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] We knew it was coming on election night: the expanded push for so-called “right-to-work” laws, which defund unions by allowing workers to avoid paying the costs of their representation while requiring the union to represent them anyway. And since then, Missouri, New Hampshire, and Kentucky have seen the bills introduced, and Kentucky—the last state of the Old South to not have such a law—has seen it pass, along with other assaults on workers’ organizing rights. We talk with Bill Londrigan of the Kentucky AFL-CIO about the response of the working people of Kentucky, the fight in his state and around the country to maintain and even expand union power under a hostile regime. We also check in on a couple of Trump’s cabinet appointees, Betsy DeVos and Andy Puzder, and their discontents, the ongoing battle over Uber drivers’ rights, and a planned women’s strike against the incoming administration. For Argh, we look at the jobs men don’t want to do (spoiler alert: the ones mostly done by women) and prepare for the coming battles by considering the power that people deemed powerless actually have. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on into Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Please help keep us going for the next 119 episodes! News Teachers Unions Mount Campaign Against Betsy DeVos, Trump’s Education Pick (Washington Post) A sobering look at what Betsy DeVos did to education in Michigan — and what she might do as secretary of education (Washington Post) Restaurants run by labor secretary nominee report ‘disturbing’ rates of sexual harassment (Guardian) Gov. Cuomo calls for Uber, tuition-free college in State of the State (WHEC) It’s Not Too Late to Fix Cuomo’s Awful Uber Bill (Streetsblog NYC) Thousands of women will go on strike to protest Trump’s inauguration (ThinkProgress) On Inauguration Day, Don’t Go to Work. Don’t Buy Anything. We Need A National Strike to Stop Trump. (In These Times) Conversation Kentucky State AFL-CIO Responds to Republican Assault on Working People (AFL-CIO) Kentucky Republicans Pass Right-To-Work, Dropping The Hammer On Unions (Huffington Post) Hundreds fill [New Hampshire] Representatives Hall for hearing on right-to-work bill (Concord Monitor) [Missouri] Right-to-work measures advance, unlikely to appear before voters (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Claire Cain Miller, Why Men Don’t Want the Jobs Done Mostly by Women (New York Times) Sarah: Melissa Chadburn, If you’re in the fight, get ready to do the work (DAME) The post Belabored Podcast #119: The No-Rights-At-Work Attack, with Bill Londrigan appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info] Donald Trump rode a wave of anti-immigrant hatred all the way to the White House. So many immigrant communities are justifiably terrified of what will happen to their families, jobs, and rights when he takes office. But in many ways, they’ve been preparing for such a crisis for years; now they’re just more driven to mobilize the institutional muscle they’ve built up over the past eight years organizing against Obama’s draconian deportation and detention policies. The Trump administration will make their lives harder, but it’s also emboldened their resistance. To close out 2016, we speak with Rosanna Aran and Christina Fox of #SomosVisibles, a new campaign to amplify the voices of immigrant communities across New York, who are determined to keep mobilizing for economic and racial justice. In other year-end news: a hard-fought union victory for Columbia graduate student workers; political grandstanding around Trump’s supposed “rescue” of Carrier workers; a follow up on North Carolina’s infamous bathroom bill with former Belabored guest Eric Fink; and an innovative initiative in Portland to tax obscenely high executive salaries. With recommended reading on how Trump’s pick for Education Secretary plans to Christianize and privatize public schools, and a checklist for the next four years of organizing. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on into Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Please help keep us going for the next 118 episodes! News Michelle: Columbia’s Graduate Student Union Is a Nationwide First (The Nation) North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory’s Defeat Is a Cautionary Tale for LGBTQ Opponents (Slate) Sarah and Michelle: Belabored Podcast #102: A Left Turn on the Campaign Trail, with Eric Fink (Dissent) Steve Novick’s CEO tax wins close vote, putting Portland on world map (The Oregonian) Workers at Endangered Indiana Plant Feel Forgotten by Trump (ABC News) Conversation Rosanna Aran and Christina Fox of #Somosvisible / #WeAreVisible / Laundry Workers Center #Somosvisible on Twitter Update: 10 Protesters Arrested After Shutting Down George Washington Bridge’s Upper Level (Gothamist) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Sarah: Stephen Lerner & Maurice Weeks, 5 Practical Principles to Guide Our Work Under Trump (The Nation) Michelle: Sikivu Hutchinson, Betsy DeVos, Education Secretary, and the Looting of Public Education (LA Progressive) The post Belabored Podcast #118: Fighting for Sanctuary and Solidarity appeared first on Dissent Magazine.