Work Stoppage

Workers in academia have wasted no time so far this year in launching ever larger struggles, including this week when 30,000 faculty at the California State system went on strike this week for fair pay. Contingent faculty at NYU have also been organizing to fight low wages, recently securing an election neutrality agreement. The largest union yet to call for a ceasefire joined the chorus this week, with the SEIU signing its 2 million members on the call for peace. The UAW's organizing drive at Mercedes Benz in Alabama continues to grow, we discuss some of the tactics workers have used. Unfortunately also this week, the UAW officially endorsed Joe Biden. Massive crowds rocked Buenos Aires this week as workers staged a one day general strike to protest the new government's attacks on labor rights. Finally, we discuss the release of the annual BLS report which gives a snapshot into how the labor movement is doing, and discuss what it means for tactics and strategy going forward. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Episode 1 - Women Workers in the Industrial Revolution If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month. We've covered a ton of different eras and stories of the US labor movement on our show, but unfortunately much of it has been heavily focused on solely male workers, leaving out the historic role women have played in shaping the trade union movement in this country. So in an attempt to help rectify that, we're embarking on the longest series we've ever done to discuss just a few of the incredible stories of struggle, solidarity, and success by women organizers through the 200 year history of the US labor movement. In the first episode, we start from the very beginning, the first ever factory strike in US history, led by the women of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and work our way up the Civil War. Few organizations formed in these first few decades lasted very long, but these early struggles still teach us a lot about the dual struggle waged by women workers against oppression not only by their bosses as workers, but by society as a whole through patriarchy. While victories were few in these early years, there are still a lot of parallels we can draw with our organizing fights today. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Adda Coffee Relief Fund: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/support-abruptly-fired-adda-workers-demand-for-severance-pay/ We start this week's episode checking in on some recent victories by the UAW. Next we discuss a judge smacking down Trader Joe's ridiculous copyright lawsuit against Trader Joe's United. Also this week, Adda Coffee in Pittsburgh shut its doors rather than allow a union, while the Supreme Court takes up a call by Starbucks to gut the NLRB. Once again we have another horrible story of child workers being killed, while a new report reveals the systemic nature of child labor violations in fast food. Macy's workers in Washington are on strike against bosses who seem to have decided to pretend like the union doesn't exist. Finally, Ben and Jerry's workers and student workers at Washington State University both won big new contracts. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month. On the second part of our discussion of Confessions of a Union Buster, we sit down once again with our friend Pat to talk about the incredible number of ways that union busting tactics have remained the same for nearly 50 years. Wild stunts, illegal surveillance, and above all a crushing climate of fear characterize the campaigns described in Marty Leavitt's memoir of his time destroying workers lives, much like the campaigns we see from modern union busters.  But by identifying the core features of these tactics, we can adapt our own to fight back against them. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

We start this week with a few quick congratulations to workers at Wells Fargo, DHL, and elsewhere before diving into a discussion of news this week that SAG-AFTRA has negotiated an agreement with an AI voice model company for video games. Then we discuss the ways AI is being used to surveil and even fire workers in many different industries. Next we have two stories on the horrific conditions of modern slavery face by agricultural workers supplying Starbucks and Kroger. Then we check in with the progress of the UAW's organizing drives at VW, Tesla, and Mercedes Benz. Finally, we shout out the workers at High Country News and the Guttmacher Institute for their recent wins.  Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX   Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month. Friend of the show and head of our discord reading group Pat joins us this week to discuss one of their recent books, Confessions of a Union Buster by Martin J. Levitt and Terry Conrow. This book chronicles the life and tactics of one of the lowest, most disgraceful occupations out there, the union buster. Seeing the inner workings of those agents of the ruling class who make it their life's mission to hold down the working class gives us a window into how their campaigns operate today. Even though the campaigns described in the book are from decades ago, many of the same exact tactics are still in use at places like Starbucks and Amazon. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

For our first episode of 2024, we've got tons new labor stories to cover. After some quick follow ups, we discuss a recent piece in Forbes about how our capitalist system is forcing elders to work longer and longer. Next we've got a bunch of UAW stories, starting with the fight for a fair contract by workers at Allison Transmission in Indianapolis. Also this week, UAW workers on Long Island fight back after solar company EmPower fired nearly half their staff in retaliation for unionizing. Then, we discuss last month's successful strike by 500 post docs at Mt Sinai Hospital in NYC. Also this week, 75,000 junior doctors strike in the UK, Elon declares war on the NLRB, and CostCo workers in Norfolk, VA score a critical organizing victory.  Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX   Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month. 2023 was a monumental year for US labor. From the Teamsters contract fight at UPS winning historic gains, to the UAW's Stand Up strike changing the game tactically, workers fought back in huge numbers. On this episode, we run down the biggest stories we covered in the labor movement in 2023, from massive strikes to the endless stream of new major grad student union victories. Finally, we close out with some predictions for what we might see in 2024. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

For our final episode of 2023, despite the holidays we have a lot to cover. The longest adjunct faculty strike in US history ended with a new contract. Wells Fargo workers in Albuquerque became the first unionized branch of a major bank. Thousands of workers in Argentina have taken to the streets to protest President Milei's attempt to sell off the state by decree and destroy workers rights. Teamsters at Anheuser-Busch have voted nearly unanimously to authorize a strike in February when their contract ends if the company continues to refuse to negotiate. Finally, Southwest Airlines pilots won new contracts this week, bringing all four major airline under contract. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

We're taking a break from new episode this week, but in the spirit of the season (such as it is this year), we're unlocking the first episode of one of our Patron series earlier this year, the history of the International Longshoremen's Association and the interference of the mafia and the federal government in worker organizing. Hope all our listeners are having a good holiday, and we'll see you with new episodes in 2024! Original Description: Episode 1 - Communism vs. Corruption One of the peculiarities of the US labor movement is the existence of two different unions for longshore workers, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) on the West Coast, and the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) on the East Coast. Originally, the ILA represented members on both coasts, bringing all longshore workers in the country under one union. But after the refusal of the national leadership to support the 1934 San Francisco General Strike or to support the move to expand the union to warehouse workers, the West Coast workers seceded and formed their own union.  In this series we will examine the history of the ILA and dig into why West Coast longshore workers felt they had no choice but to form their own union. We will examine the key factors that have prevented the rise of a democratic reform movement within the ILA, and how collusion between shipping companies, the federal government, and the mafia played a critical role in suppressing reform. We will discuss the long fight by the rank and file for reform, and how the federal government time and time again stepped in to squash it.  Main sources for this series include: Reds or Rackets by Howard Kimeldorf, Strife on the Waterfront by Vernon Jensen, New York Longshoremen: Class and Power on the Docks by William Mello, and Mobsters, Unions, and Feds by James Jacobs. Clips found freely available on Youtube. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee