Work Stoppage

After yet another crazy week both in and outside the labor world we’ve got another packed episode for you.  First, we follow up with the workers at REI in Manhattan who have won their union election in a landslide.  Next, the NYT Tech Guild also overwhelmingly won their election, becoming the largest union of tech workers in the US.  Following up our story on the rise of independent unions in Mexico, workers at the Tridonex auto parts factory in Matamoros voted by a large margin to replace their old company union with a new democratic one.  We also discuss organizing efforts by Philly Starbucks workers to fight for covid safety protections after the company dropped its mask mandate for customers, and also touch on 3 more union election victories in Buffalo for the Starbucks Workers United movement.  We cover two stories of workers in Italy: First, tens of thousands of students protested to end the requirement that all high school students perform unpaid labor for private companies in order to graduate after multiple students have died on the job.  Then, thousands of doctors have protested the government’s austerity policies towards primary care physicians and its slow slide towards privatization.  Finally, we cover the massive strike of teachers and education support professionals in Minneapolis. If you like the show, please support us at patreon.com/workstoppage.  We couldn’t do the show without your support, and patrons get access to evergreen Overtime episodes and periodic Shop Floor Discussion episodes on current issues too long to cover in our regular episodes. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow the pod @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 the violence facing labor organizers, human rights defenders, and Indigenous leaders in Colombia on the show before, in the context of last year’s working class uprising.  But we hadn’t really had a chance to give the topic the amount of time it deserves.  Colombia is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a labor organizer, with hundreds killed in the last few years.  The US neocolonial control of Colombia’s government and economy is largely to blame, as major US corporations like Nestle and Coca-Cola have taken advantage of the Colombian state’s complicity with paramilitary death squads to quash organizing drives at their facilities.  On this Shop Floor Discussion, we get into the history of state/para-state violence in Colombia, the difficulties that presents for labor organizing, and some of the connections to Operation Condor. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow the pod @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee.

It’s been a busy week in Labor news so we’ve got a jam packed episode of Work Stoppage.  First, we’ve got a few recent victories:  Workers at Coffee Tree Roasters in Pittsburgh won their union election 17-3 and will now be represented by UFCW Local 1776.  Workers at Rich Products’ Jon Donaire ice cream cake plant have ended their four month long strike with three times the wage increase that the company initially offered.  Also, following up our story about gig workers in Canada, Ontario’s labor ministry has ruled that Ontario Uber drivers are in fact employees and gig companies must immediately act to comply with provincial labor law.  In that vein, we also report on a bill in Washington state currently supported by both gig companies and Uber that would permanently misclassify gig workers in exchange for some mild benefits.  Amazon has once again stepped up their repression, having the NYPD arrest several organizers with the Amazon Labor Union, including Christian Smalls, for “trespassing.”  We also discuss the awful working conditions at the Hershey’s candy factory in Stuarts Draft, Virginia, where over 1300 workers are voting on whether to unionize with the BCTGM.  Finally this week, Starbucks workers got another major victory as the workers at a Mesa, Arizona location finally got their ballots counted and won the third successful Starbucks union election. If you like the show, please support us at patreon.com/workstoppage.  We couldn’t do the show without your support, and patrons get access to evergreen Overtime episodes and periodic Shop Floor Discussion episodes on current issues too long to cover in our regular episodes. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow the pod @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee.

We start this week’s episode checking in with Starbucks’ latest repressive move against its workers as they’ve fired one of the lead organizers at the first store to unionize in Buffalo. Next, we discuss a recent shady deal by the UFCW to represent Uber drivers in Canada, where the representation costs will be covered by Uber and the UFCW will lobby Canada’s parliament to preserve worker “flexibility.”  Over the past couple weeks there have been huge protests in Haiti, as textile workers in free trade “assembly zone” sweatshops have risen up to demand an increase in the minimum wage.  We also cover the announcement that workers are unionizing with the IWW at Alamo Drafthouse’s flagship location in Austin.  Also this week we discuss the exploitation of minor league baseball players in the context of the ongoing lockout of the players in the majors, and the necessity of solidarity from the major league players.   Finally this week, workers at the Midtown Detroit location of Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Company have launched a strike to demand recognition of their union. If you like the show, please support us at patreon.com/workstoppage.  We couldn’t do the show without your support, and patrons get access to evergreen Overtime episodes and periodic Shop Floor Discussion episodes on current issues too long to cover in our regular episodes. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow the pod @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee.

After making fun of REI’s attempt to make a “progressive" union busting podcast, our episode starts following up with the striking Clover workers in South Africa.  Workers have faced violent attacks from company strikebreakers against their picket lines but are standing strong and expanding their strike activity. Next we cover strikes by healthcare workers in Sri Lanka and Nigeria, where workers have faced salary cuts, unpaid wages, and insufficient PPE.  Since going on strike, both countries’ governments have threatened the striking workers with legal reprisals. Also this week we discuss Amazon’s attempts to hide their covid numbers and how workers at facilities in California have helped expose them.  We also cover a new report documenting rampant wage theft and abuse in the temp worker industry, which is ripe for unionization.  Finally, we’ve got the first of what will hopefully be many union victories at PetSmart, as the workers in Toronto have won their union election to become the first unionized PetSmart of their over 1700 stores across North America. If you like the show, please support us at patreon.com/workstoppage.  We couldn’t do the show without your support, and patrons get access to evergreen Overtime episodes and periodic Shop Floor Discussion episodes on current issues too long to cover in our regular episodes. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow the pod @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. Sometimes there’s a story in the news that needs a bit more in depth discussion than we can give it on a regular episode.  So we’re starting a new patrons-only series of Shop Floor Discussion episodes to cover them.  For our first longer form discussion, we want to tackle the recent Freedom Convoy protests that have been going on in Canada for the last few weeks.  Hailed as a “working class revolt” by the American right wing (and some on the left), we investigate the actual class character of the protests as well as the response from the Canadian trucking industry and the Teamsters.  This event gives us a good opportunity to discuss how to identify a real working class uprising versus an astroturfed white nationalist protest, as well as a chance to define and discuss tailism and how to avoid it. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow the pod @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee.

We’ve got a packed episode of Work Stoppage this week.  Just before recording Starbucks decided to fire seven of their workers in Memphis for unionizing, in one of the more obvious cases of retaliation we’ve covered.  Thousands of teachers protested last Friday in Puerto Rico over incredibly low wages which force many of them to take second or even third jobs just to make ends meet.  The GOP introduced a bill last week to try and bring back company unions and are trying to disguise it as “pro-worker” legislation, we break down why it’s bullshit.  Target workers organizing for hazard pay have given us a window into how corporations train their managers to be union busters by leaking screencaps of the company’s anti-union training.  Also this week, Amy’s Kitchen, yet another company cultivating a “progressive” image with their line of vegan and non-GMO frozen foods, is trying hard to suppress workers organizing to combat years of labor intensification.  Finally, we cover the victory of workers at a major GM plant in Mexico, who overwhelmingly voted to replace their corrupt company union with one led by rank and file workers. Fund for fired Memphis Starbucks workers: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-fired-starbucks-union-leaders-in-memphis If you like the show, please support us at patreon.com/workstoppage.  We couldn’t do the show without your support, and patrons get access to evergreen Overtime episodes . Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow the pod @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee.

Since we've just finished a new patrons-only series on the nature of the state, this time focusing on the repressive state apparatus, we figured it would be a good idea to make the first part of our series on the theory of how the state functions available to all our listeners. This episode gives a window into what we have been going over on the Overtime episodes.  To support the show and get access to more episodes like this, as well as episodes on labor history and organizing, subscribe over at patreon.com/workstoppage.  We couldn't do the show without the support of our patrons. Original Description: On this Overtime episode, the first in a series, John, Lina, and Dan take some time to dig into the fundamentals behind our understandings of the nature of the state: what it is, its historical development, how it functions, and how it can be changed. During this first part of our discussion, Dan takes us through the theoretical work and historical analysis on the state by Marx, Engels, and Lenin, how they defined the state, how they foresaw it being abolished in the future, and how we could get from where we are under the domination of the capitalist ruling class, to a real democracy where workers would have state power instead of a tiny rich ruling class. We talk about how their theories apply today, how we see their historical materialist analysis reflected in the US state today, and why their theories remain vital for workers struggles for control of their own lives. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow the pod @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee.

This week we begin following up with our friends at Student Workers of Columbia who have finally ratified their first contract after a years’ long struggle for recognition.  Next we discuss the recent developments in the healthcare industry where several companies are attempting to apply the gig model to nursing.  Issues have been brewing in the rail industry for years as companies have slashed workforces to raise profits, and recently 17,000 workers voted to authorize a strike after BNSF unilaterally imposed a draconian attendance policy, but the workers have been blocked from striking by the courts.  We check in on the union drive in Bessemer where ballots for the re-do election go out this week and Amazon’s union busting continues unabated.  Amazon workers are also organizing in NYC, where Amazon Labor Union has re-filed for election at the JFK8 warehouse as the NLRB alleges Amazon’s union busting has broken the law.  Finally, workers have filed for the first union election at REI in Manhattan, as yet another “progressive, liberal company” shows its true colors in refusing voluntary recognition.  If you like the show, please support us at patreon.com/workstoppage.  We couldn’t do the show without your support, and patrons get access to evergreen Overtime episodes . Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow the pod @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. In the final episode of our series on the history of the US repressive state apparatus, we discuss some of its major developments on the homefront during the last 20 years. We cover the massive rise in state surveillance and attacks on the Muslim community in the wake of 9/11. Also the rise of intelligence sharing “Fusion Centers”, pulled straight from the CIA’s coordinating role in Operation Condor. We go over the creation and massive expansion of ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, the vicious repression of Indigenous land and water defenders protesting DAPL, Line 3, and other pipelines, and the string of suspicious deaths of leaders of the uprising in Ferguson. Finally, we close out the series summing up the lessons we can apply in our organizing today from this history, and what inspiration we can draw from the movements that have resisted the repressive apparatus over the last century. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow the pod @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee.