Work Stoppage

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 third and final part of our series on the nature of the state, we examine the work of two theorists of the modern capitalist state, Antonio Gramsci and Louis Althusser.  Starting with Gramsci’s understanding of the concept of hegemony, we look at the arms of the state that extend beyond the traditional public sphere, how state ideology influences and is reproduced by “civil society”.  We then go over Althusser’s development of Gramsci’s concepts into his formulation of the arms of the state into two distinct groups, the repressive state apparatuses and the ideological state apparatuses.  Both of these theorists help expand our understanding of how state ideology works even with the “private” sphere to reproduce and reify the ideological superstructure on top of the economic relations of exploitation fundamental to capitalism.  We discuss Gramsci’s imperative for revolutionaries to work to build a counter-hegemony, a new proletarian understanding of how society can be restructured away from capitalist relations of exploitation.  We wrap up with some examples of how this all affects workers organizing on the shop floor, and how a solid understanding of the state reproduces its own ideology can help us build competing models for society, and fight back against capitalist hegemony in all its manifestations. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX

On the second part of our Overtime series on The Nature of the State, John brings us through some of the core aspects of the Anarchist theory of the state.  Taking a look at the analysis of Kropotkin and Malatesta, we examine how the early Anarchist conception of the state is similar to the Marxist definition, and also where it differs.  With a bit of a looser structure than the first episode of the series, perhaps befitting the subject matter, we wrestle with some of the complexities of power structures, hierarchies, and the difficulties of trying to build radical new societies within the harsh material realities of the world.  We also touch on how the broader definition of the state from the early Anarchist perspective anticipates later developments in the Marxist theory under thinkers like Gramsci, which we will discuss in Part 3. Get the full ep at patreon.com/workstoppage

This week’s episode starts by following up with the striking UMWA workers at the Warrior Met coal mine in Alabama who have recently picketed in NYC in front of Blackrock and also held a large solidarity rally drawing union workers from across the country.  We also cover the declaration of one NLRB official that Amazon made a fair election in Bessemer “impossible” and therefore the election should be rerun.  We discuss an excellent piece by friend of the show Sam Knight on Walmart and its associated banks’ predatory practices targeting poor workers, illegal anti-union actions taken by both Elon and Kimbal Musk, and how agricultural workers are bearing the brunt of the burden of dealing with climate change.  Finally, over 800 auto mechanics are on strike in Chicago, where dealerships are attempting to slash contributions to healthcare funds and cut pay.   Subscribe for additional Overtime episodes at patreon.com/workstoppage   Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX   Follow the pod @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

We’re back to the regular news format this week and it’s a heavy one. First we follow up with the Frito-Lay workers, who have won some concessions from the company after being on strike for almost 3 weeks. Then we cover a major truck drivers’ strike across Puerto Rico that has resulted in a confrontation between the local government and the colonial “oversight board” installed by the US. We also discuss OSHA issuing paltry fines for a liquid nitrogen leak that killed 6 workers at a food processing plant in Georgia, and US politicians doing nothing to prevent the shutdown of one of the largest generic pharmaceutical plants in the US and the loss of its 1500 jobs. The past week has seen a flurry of organizing activity around revelations of major misconduct and a pervasive culture of sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard specifically and across the games industry generally. Finally, we cover California Dr. Pepper workers voting to unionize with the Teamsters, threatening to shut down the whole region’s production if the company doesn’t bargain in good faith.   Subscribe for additional Overtime episodes at patreon.com/workstoppage   Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX   Follow the pod @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

On this week’s episode of Work Stoppage we were lucky enough to be joined by a guest, Ida Nikou, a PhD student studying labor relations in Iran to discuss the recent strikes among temporary and contract workers in Iran’s oil industry. We learn some of the background on the situation for workers in Iran across various industries, what kinds of unions exist, what level of labor rights (or lack thereof) most workers have in Iran, and generally discuss the parallels and differences between the conditions workers face in both Iran and the US. We go over the specific conditions faced by the oil workers that lead to this wave of strikes and the impact they’ve had in Iran. Finally we discuss the ways US imperialism has exacerbated this situation, and the importance of workers within the US standing against US imperialism in solidarity with workers around the world. Subscribe for additional Overtime episodes at patreon.com/workstoppage Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow us on Twitter @WorkStoppagePod, 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 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. In the next episode(s) in this series, John will bring in analysis of the state from the Anarchist perspective, and we will take a look at how later theorists like Gramsci and Althusser expand on these concepts based on modern historical developments. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  

After a bit of a detour talking about Cuba, this week’s episode starts with a follow up on the striking SEIU Local 73 Cook County workers who have ended their strike after securing several key victories.  Then we take a look at the surge in support for rank and file democracy at the latest Teamsters convention and the prospects for a major win for the Teamsters for a Democratic Union slate.  We discuss a new report documenting the obscene ratio between average executive pay and average worker pay, and also cover workers in India who have gone on hunger strike to protest the closure of the yarn factory they worked at and how the local government is using rules nominally designed to protect people from covid to crack down on them.  Also this week, public workers in Massachusetts are pushing to repeal a law banning them from striking, and workers at Great Lakes Brewing Company have organized a union to try and ensure that they actually have a voice in the operation of their “employee owned” brewery. Subscribe for additional Overtime episodes at patreon.com/workstoppage Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow John @facebookvillain, Lina @solidaritybee and find Dan in the discord as Kelbaenor.

Dan is back from vacation and this week’s episode starts with a follow up on the striking Cook County Health workers and nurses, where the nurses won major concessions from the county but the other healthcare workers remain on strike. Next we cover some of the evolving tactics the UMWA workers have been using during their ongoing strike at Warrior Met coal, as well as recent revelations that Amazon has been instructing its managers not to tell employees when they’ve been placed on “performance improvement plans” which could result in their termination.  We also cover a week-long strike by workers at the Chicago-based Portillo’s chain, a bizarre dual contract situation at a Pepsi plant in Indiana, and finish up discussing Iceland’s move to a 4 day work week.   Subscribe for additional Overtime episodes at patreon.com/workstoppage   Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX   Follow John @facebookvillain, Lina @solidaritybee and find Dan in the discord as Kelbaenor.

On last week’s episode we discussed the recent strike by workers organizing with Doughnut Workers United at Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland during the recent heat wave. This week we were lucky enough to be able to interview one of the workers illegally fired in retaliation for that strike. We discuss the general conditions at Voodoo Doughnuts, the tactics used by management to combat the union drive, and how the company tried to justify its firing of workers for a legally protected strike action over unsafe work conditions.   Listeners can help out the affected workers by donating here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/dwu-strike-and-hardship-fund-june-2021   Subscribe for additional Overtime episodes at patreon.com/workstoppage   Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX   Follow Doughnut Workers United on Twitter @DWU_PDX   Follow John @facebookvillain, Lina @solidaritybee and find Dan in the discord as Kelbaenor.

This week we are joined by @laborkyle as a guest! We start with a follow-up from the Colorado Labor Board on how employers aren't allowed to just put "not hiring in Colorado" on their listings to avoid labor law. We then cover the retaliatory firing of workers for a workplace safety strike at Voodoo Doughnuts, ways in which Trader Joe's is attacking worker rights again, and how Amazon's work conditions are so bad that some of their contractors have had to stop doing business entirely. Finally we end on a strike at a Frito-Lay plant in Tacoma which is also a partial struggle to get democracy in their union, and the repression of Atlanta's Homeless Union by the police.   Subscribe for additional Overtime episodes at patreon.com/workstoppage   Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX   Follow John @facebookvillain, Lina @solidaritybee and of course follow Kyle @laborkyle