Sara Nelson on Why Worker Unity is Key to Success [Re-Air - Episode Cut]

Synopsis:  In a call to action, Sara Nelson urges workers to move beyond defense and set the agenda for change, declaring "our world is burning" but asserting that collective power can be used to create a better future.

Make a tax deductible YEAR END DONATION and become a member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate. This show is made possible by you! 

Description [original release date July 2025]: Sara Nelson knows how to leverage worker power — and so do the 55,000 flight attendants she represents. A union member since 1996, she’s been the International President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO since 2014. You may remember her integral role in threatening a strike, which helped pressure the Trump administration to end the 2019 government shutdown. But under the second Trump term, the administration plans to gut many government agencies and has canceled one million contracts for federal workers so far. “We have to understand that if one group is under attack, we're next,” she tells Laura Flanders in this exclusive interview. “So we have to rush to each other's sides.” In this episode, Nelson and Flanders explore labor movement tactics and strategies, wins and losses, and why general strikes and cross-industry worker solidarity are critical in this moment. What is her message and her mission for 2025? All that, plus a commentary from Laura on floods and profits.

“We have to understand that if one group is under attack, we're next. So we have to rush to each other's sides. But we can also turn this around and not just be on defense. . . We are in a crisis. Yeah. Our world is burning. We can actually set the agenda and make things better.”

Guest:  Sara Nelson: International President of the Association of Flight Attendants- (AFA-CWA) (representing 55,000 Flight Attendants at 20 airlines) 

Watch the episode released on YouTube July 18th 5pm ET; PBS World Channel July 20th, and on over 300 public stations across the country (check your listings, or search here via zipcode). Listen: Episode airing on community radio (check here to see if your station airs the show) & available as a podcast July 23rd.

Full Episode Notes are located HERE.

Music Credit: “Be the Change” by Nation Beat from their album Archaic Humans released on Rope a Dope Records, "Steppin" by Podington Bear, and original sound design by Jeannie Hopper

Support Laura Flanders and Friends by becoming a member at https://www.patreon.com/c/lauraflandersandfriends

RESOURCES:

*Recommended book:

“The Work of Living: Working People Talk about Their Lives and the Year the World Broke” by Maximillian Alvarez, Get the Book*

(*Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. The LF Show is an affiliate of bookshop.org and will receive a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.)

Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes:

• Labor Safety, Project 2025, & the Far Right’s Plot Against Workers: What You Need to Know:  Watch / Listen:  Episode

• Labor Movement v. Fascism: Worker Organizers & Labor Educators Are Under Attack: Watch / Listen:  Episode

• UAW President Shawn Fain: "Workers are still up against the same billionaires": Watch

• Special Report- Bernie Sanders & AOC:  “Fighting Oligarchy” with People Power Watch / Listen:  Special Report, Uncut Interview- Bernie Sanders

• Watch: Episode, Bernie Sanders’ Speech at the Fight Oligarchy rally, Kenosha, WI

•  Special Report- Labor Movement v. Fascism:  Worker Organizers & Labor Educators Are Under Attack. Watch / Listen  

Related Articles and Resources:

•  Is America Pissed Off Enough at Trump and Musk for a General Strike?  By Susan Miligan, April 24, 2025, The New Republic

•  In Chicago, a Coalition of Unions, Community Organizers, and Riders Have Forced Uber to Come to the Table, by Will Tanzman and Lori Simmons, July 16, 2025, The Nation

•  US aviation agency reinstating fired employees after court order, union says, by David Shepardson, March 17, 2025, Reuters

•  Unions sue to stop Trump from ending collective bargaining rights for many federal employees, by Tami Luhby, April 4, 2025, CNN

• The Sleeping Giant That could Stop Trump’s Agenda in Its Tracks, by Mary Harris, April 25, 2025, SLATE

• The Call Is Out for Mass, Simultaneous Strikes in 4 Years, by Sarah Lazare, October 14, 2024, The Nation

• How Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson became America’s most powerful voice for labor, by Morgan Clendaniel, September 9, 2024, Fast Company Magazine

•  Sara Nelson:  Let’s Show Bosses They’re Lucky to Have Our Work, by Sara Nelson, February 13, 2024, Jacobin Magazine

Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer;  Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O’Conner-Senior Consulting Producer.

FOLLOW Laura Flanders and Friends

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/

Blueky:  https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.social

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriends

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lg

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriends

Patreon:   https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriends

ACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel