Work Stoppage

Topics include flight attendants' historic agreement at Alaska Airlines, prison slavery in Louisiana, interference in UAW's position on Palestine, workers in Turkiye fighting exploitative boss, historic settlement with Uber and Lyft in Massachusetts, and Canadian workers' resilience at WestJet.

If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month. The Work Stoppage crew starts a new series examining the conditions for workers and consumers in the exploding cannabis industry. First congratulating the workers at Ascend Cannabis in Aberdeen for joining the Teamsters, we launch an investigation into the conditions faced by cannabis workers across Maryland. We cover the conditions that lure young people into the industry, the structural racism of state licensing programs, an ultimately unsuccessful but highly instructive union drive at cannabis mega-corporation Star Buds, the shape of union busting in the cannabis industry, the supposed utility of labor peace agreements in burgeoning industries, and the current state of employment protections for lawful cannabis users in Maryland. John also becomes somewhat fixated on crabs. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

Another packed episode this week as the class struggle never stops. After quite a few short stories, our first big discussion this week is the massive Supreme Court ruling which overturned 40 years of precedence and threatens to eliminate the ability of agencies like the NLRB to function. Next we discuss a recent story exposing the systemic nature of racism and wage theft in the Minnesota construction industry. Also this week, Amazon drivers in Illinois joined the Teamsters, fight back against exploitation. Negotiators at IATSE reached a tentative agreement this week, a full month ahead of the deadline for one of the year's most watched contract fights. Workers at Dell showed just how far workers are willing to fight for work-life balance, with over half refusing the company's return-to-office mandate. Finally, we celebrate a major contract win as UAW workers at BMW reached a last minute agreement after organizing around a credible strike threat. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

We've got quick stories from Kentucky, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Greece, Australia, and Japan this week, before we get into a short follow up as the limited energy workers of IBEW Local 46 in Seattle have voted to end their strike. Then we check in with Starbucks Workers United, where despite continued union busting by the company, have continued to rack up tons of new union wins. Also this week, ALU workers in New York voted to officially affiliate with the Teamsters, as the union works to bring its resources to the broader fight to organize Amazon nationwide. The NLRB issued its first "Cemex" bargaining order this week, requiring a Las Vegas casino to recognize and bargain with workers after flagrant union busting during the election. Finally, we close out with congratulations for the staff workers of 1199SEIU, who just won the right to a union of their own. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

This podcast discusses labor stories like the Supreme Court's ruling on worker rights, a massive strike in Nigeria for higher minimum wage, and India's labor issues during a heatwave. It also covers controversies involving Elon Musk, dystopian AI use in call centers, and the formation of a new union at Fairfax County Public Schools.

While looking for recordings of Elizabeth G. Flynn I found this in the Walter P. Ruther Online Library at Wayne State University. The audio player was broken on the website, but I figured out a way to downloaded the source audio anyway. It was also very low quality so I put a little effort into remastering it so everyone can enjoy it. Solidarity. -Lina Source: https://reuther.wayne.edu/node/12892 Original Description: A conversation with Elizabeth Gurley Flynn in which she discusses her upbringing and entry into the political scene as the “girl orator,” her organizing efforts and labor defense work on behalf of the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.), and the evolution of her political beliefs. Of particular interest is a description of her arrest under the Smith Act and her years spent in prison at the Women’s Reformatory in Alderson, West Virginia. Keywords: Industrial Workers of the World, Communism, Socialism, Lawrence Strike, Joe Hill, Herbert Hoover, Bill Haywood, Joe Hill, McCarren Internal Security Act, Smith Act, Palmer Raids, Tom Mooney, Sacco and Vanzetti Trial

If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month. By the time she was in her mid thirties, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn had been on a non-stop, nationwide tour of the class struggle in the United States, joining every fight she could. That work made her one of the most beloved organizers in US history, but also took a toll on her health. Joining the Communist Party in the late 30s following years of convalescence on the West Coast, Flynn spent much of her later years in leadership and mentoring the new generation of fighters for the working class. But her experience in workers legal defense became critical, as the Party faced a massive assault following World War 2, sending Flynn to prison at age 65. Throughout her life, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn never wavered for one moment in her total devotion to the working class and the struggle against oppression. She stands as an inspiration to everyone who fights for a better world, and her life story is full of rich lessons for organizers today. Series Sources: The Rebel Girl by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Elizabeth Gurley Flynn: Modern American Revolutionary by Lara Vapnek Women and the American Labor Movement by Philip Foner https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/women-in-labor-history/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Gurley_Flynn https://www.cpusa.org/article/cpusa-statement-on-the-removal-of-elizabeth-gurley-flynns-historical-marker-in-new-hampshire/ https://libcom.org/article/1909-missoula-free-speech-fight  https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/industrialworker/iub/v1n39-nov-23-1907-iub.pdf Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Starting our labor news this week we discuss big union election news by healthcare workers in California, construction workers in Quebec, and Starbucks workers all over the country. In our first main story, we discuss attempts to quash organizing around Palestine by conservative leadership in a major AFSCME local in NYC. Next we cover this week's update in the historic UC stand up strike for Palestine, as the University administration continued to try to crush the strike in court. For our big story this week we discuss the surprise announcement of the ALU affiliating with the Teamsters to add national muscle to the fight against the e-commerce giant. Finally, we discuss the ongoing strike by the IBEW workers of Local 46 in Seattle, fighting the greed of general contractors and also for respect on the job. Also, as we discuss at the end of the show, we're trying something new! Submit your stories about bad bosses, organizing wins, and other workplace tales to our new Google Voice number! Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

This week we are going deep into the vault of the many Overtime series we have done to bring ALL of the listeners something that feels applicable to the times we face right now. Some of our views on these important topics have been slightly reexamined since 2021 when this episode came out, but overall it still covers this history well. To get all 4 episodes in this series, become a patron. We appreciate the support. Join us down the rabbit hole on this first part of a series of patrons-only Overtime episodes where we discuss an overview of the history of the US repressive state apparatus, and how it has been used to crush working class movements.  In this episode we discuss the history of violent state suppression of strikes, and how the federal government worked hand in hand with private armed forces like the Pinkerton’s to infiltrate and crush early labor unions.  We talk about how repression of the movement changed with the legalization of collective bargaining and the ejection of communists from the major unions during the Red Scare.  We also get into some of the early covert programs developed to fight left-wing movements and Black liberation groups, COINTELPRO and Operation Mockingbird.  Future episodes will go over programs like Operation Gladio, Operation Condor, the CIA’s involvement in the drug trade, Operation Cyclone, and more in the long sordid history of US covert warfare.  All with the ultimate goal of understanding the violent tactics used by the US against working class movements around the world, so we can understand how that affects our movement today.

We start this week with a brief update on national negotiating with Starbucks Workers United and the continued growth of the union. We also follow up with the Boeing firefighters of IAFF I-66 who ratified a new contract this week, ending a nearly month long lockout. The Department of Labor finally announced some higher than usual penalties for child labor at Hyundai. The historic stand up strike for Palestine at UC continued to grow this week, adding thousands more strikers at three more campuses. We also check in on rideshare driver organizing in the UK, where hundreds protested by blocking traffic. Finally, we discuss a report in Labor Notes on how workers at Stellantis are fighting back against the company's attempts to undermine last year's contract wins. Also, as we discuss at the end of the show, we're trying something new! Submit your stories about bad bosses, organizing wins, and other workplace tales to our new Google Voice number! Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/