Grassroots Organizing for Unionization

Gene Bruskin, a long-time union organizer and anti-war activist sits down with our producer Jeff Rosenberg to share the powerful stories of immigrant workers organizing for justice on the job and in their communities. Gene Bruskin was the Campaign Director of Justice @ Smithfield, an effort to organize the over 5,000 workers who were employed at the largest pork processing plant in the world. We talk with Gene specifically about the historic victory at Smithfield Foods in North Carolina and what could be considered his precursor: helping the largely immigrant Harvard laundry workers form their union in the 1980s. As the attacks on immigrant workers ramp up, we must shine a light on the stories that can serve as inspiration for a broad fight-back. This is the first part of a two-part series with Gene Bruskin.