Work Stoppage

We are forced by recent events to start this week's episode with a call for all the forces of labor to stand in solidarity with the oppressed people of Palestine. The fight against apartheid and colonialism is a crucial part of the class struggle and workers in the Imperial Core, especially the US, have a particular responsibility to resist the complicity of our government. Getting into the labor news, we discuss the tentative agreement reached at Kaiser Permanente after last week's strike of 75,000 healthcare workers. We also cover a recent strike by sanitation workers in Durham, NC which won big gains for all city employees. Recent weeks have seen walkouts by pharmacy workers at both CVS and Walgreens, we talk about why. We check in on the status of the SAG-AFTRA strike as the AMPTP walks away from the table. Finally we close discussing the UAW, both their strike at Mack Truck and the expansion of the Stand Up strike to the most profitable plant in the country. 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. We've talked about some of the more well known general strikes in US history: the interwar strikes in Seattle, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Toledo. But even before them, in the 19th century, there was one general strike that predated them all. In New Orleans in 1892, tens of thousands of workers, Black and white, stood as one against their exploiters. They fought not just for better wages and shorter hours, but for the bosses to recognize and negotiate not just unions of white workers, but Black workers too. The 1892 New Orleans general strike stands as a monument to the power of multiracial working class unity, and shows why bosses have fought so hard for so long to prevent workers from achieving it. 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's episode celebrating the power move by Drew Barrymore's writing staff turning down an offer to return after being stabbed in the back during the strike. Next we discuss VFX workers at Disney voting unanimous to join IATSE. One of our biggest stories this week is the largest healthcare strike in US history, as 75,000 workers at Kaiser Permanente struck for 3 days in 5 states. We also discuss major new contract wins by academic workers at Tufts and MIT, and a major contract victory by workers at Kumho Tires in Georgia. Finally, we discuss this week's developments in the UAW's Stand Up strike, including a monumental win that will shape the future of the entire industry. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Strike Support Toolkit: https://uaw.org/standwithus/dealershipcanvass/  Another huge week in labor as the militancy of workers has become contagious across the country. We start out discussing the move to shutter Moog Music in North Carolina following a union drive. Then, we cover the new anti-trust complaint filed against Amazon by the FTC. Also this week, Gavin Newsom vetoed a very popular bill to keep people safe from driverless trucks.  75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers may launch the largest healthcare workers strike in history this week after years of understaffing. Culinary Union workers in Las Vegas may join them as well, as they are also fighting for a new contract. Of course the biggest story this week was the stunning victory of the WGA over the Hollywood studios this week. We break down the tentative agreement reached this week and discuss the wins the studios said were impossible just a few weeks ago. Finally, we cover developments in the UAW Stand Up strike against the Big 3. We discuss new plants on strike, tactics in the plants still operating, and how the union is responding to violence against picketers. 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. After wrapping up our series on the history of allegations of mafia involvement in the International Longshoremen's Association, we'd be remiss not to discuss likely the single biggest cultural touchstone related to the issue, the film On The Waterfront. Elia Kazan's 1954 crime drama is considered an all time classic film, buoyed by an iconic performance from Marlon Brando. But the film's attacks on unions as an institution, and its obsession with individual rather than collective solutions make it hard to really consider it part of the canon of "Labor Cinema." We discuss the film's merits, it's flaws, and how it fits into the history of the ILA . Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

UAW Strike Support FAQ: https://labornotes.org/2023/09/when-auto-workers-stand-heres-how-stand-them Lina is away this week, so we're joined by longtime friend of the show Ethan to help us discuss all the week's big labor news. The strike by UAW workers at the Big 3 has seized the public consciousness in its first week as workers around the country have been inspired by the thousands of auto workers standing up and fighting back against corporate greed. On Friday, with GM and Stellantis refusing to agree to better working conditions, the UAW expanded the strike to 38 parts centers across the country. We discuss the strike, the response from the press, how politicians have tried to co-opt it, and the very real solidarity coming in from workers around the world.  Also this week, we congratulate the grad student workers of Northeastern, winning their union after an 8 year battle. We also discuss the latest NYT expose on the explosion of illegal child labor in the US, as well as a new story on prison labor and clickwork in Finland.  Intro clips credit: Status Coup News, UAW 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. Episode 7 - Where Do We Go From Here? Wrapping up our series on the history of allegations of mafia involvement with the ILA, we reach the 21st century. Today, the workforce on the docks is a shadow of earlier years. Decimated by automation, the union continued to be hounded by federal prosecutors, but was never ordered to make itself more democratic. We discuss various corruption trials of the last 20 years, the end of the BiState Waterfront Commission, and sum up where the union stands today. Finally, we examine the entire history of allegations of corruption in the ILA, the impact on the workers, and the vital importance of rank and file democracy to any future attempts to put the membership in the driver's seat. 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 from YouTube. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

UAW Strike Support FAQ: https://labornotes.org/2023/09/when-auto-workers-stand-heres-how-stand-them It's a monumental week for labor, but before we can get to the strike everyone is excited about, we've got a ton of stories to cover. First we discuss Starbucks Workers United's latest day of action. Next we discuss the successful union elections by VFX workers at Marvel and writers at MTV's Ridiculousness. Unfortunately, we have some stories of high profile scabs this week as Drew Barrymore and Bill Maher announced their intention to cross the WGA picket line. We could see a huge shift in college athletics, as this week the Dartmouth Men's Basketball team filed for union representation with the SEIU. Rail companies in the US continue to defy safety regulations as warned by the workers for years. Meanwhile, Korean rail workers launch a 4 day nationwide strike against privatization. And in the UK, the union movement announced plans to defy the new Tory anti-strike law. In addition to the autoworkers, over 1000 UAW members at Blue Cross Blue Shield also went on strike in Michigan this week. Finally, we discuss the launch of the UAW's "Stand Up Strike" against all of the Big 3 automakers at once. We discuss how the strike began, what this somewhat unique strike strategy hopes to maintain, and how workers everywhere can support the UAW workers as they fight for our entire class. 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. Episode 6 - Things Fall Apart Following the deal to allow unrestricted automation of longshore work in exchange for higher salaries and benefits, the ILA entered a period of a long decline. As containerization ate away at the number of jobs on the docks, the union was also encircled by another force, the FBI. The FBI's UNIRAC investigation into the ILA was its largest racketeering trial ever at the time. But by refusing to go after the core problem of a total lack of accountability of union leaders to membership, and instead going for a career-making trial of a few individuals, government prosecutors made little progress in their professed goal of "cleaning up the waterfront."  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 from YouTube. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

It's deadline time for the negotiations between the Big 3 automakers and the UAW this week, our main story breaks down where things stand, what the companies have offered, and debunks some of the common anti-worker arguments rolled out against the UAW's demands. But before all that, we follow up with Grindr, where half of the company's staff have been forced out in retaliation for organizing. At Rutgers, a strike by nurses for safe staffing continues after a month of abuse from bosses. Starbucks announced this week they're closing the city of Vancouver's only unionized store. Cornell grad student workers are building off forcing Starbucks off their campus and forming a union of their own. Cracks have appeared in the unity of the bosses in the Writers and Actors strike, potentially showing an endgame. We also discuss the Naujawan Support Network's fight against wage theft and abuse of migrant workers in Ontario. Finally, we prepare for the strike at the Big 3 with our UAW update. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee