Working People

Matt Littrell has worked as a picker at the Amazon warehouse in Campbellsville, Kentucky, for the past year and a half. He's also been one of the lead organizers and the public face of a growing push to unionize Amazon facilities in Kentucky. In retaliation for his organizing, Littrell says that Amazon management has been watching him like a hawk and finding reasons to write him up—and last week, the company finally fired him for "performance" issues. In this urgent mini-cast, we speak with Littrell about working and organizing at Amazon, the company's continued union busting, and about what folks around the country can do to support him and Amazon workers everywhere.  Additional links/info below... Matt's Twitter page Survival Fund for Fired Amazon Worker-Organizer Matt Littrell  Eli M. Rosenberg, NBC News, "Fired Amazon Union Organizer at Kentucky Warehouse Alleges Retaliation" Caroline O'Donovan, The Washington Post, "Amazon Calls Cops, Fires Workers in Attempts to Stop Unionization Nationwide" Permanent links below... Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org) Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

"As blistering heat waves swept across the United States this summer, breaking temperature records and placing millions under heat advisories and warnings," Livia Albeck-Ripka writes at The New York Times, "workers... have continued to deliver America’s packages for a variety of carriers, often in trucks that have no cooling mechanisms for drivers. Some UPS workers have shared photographs that show thermometer readings of up to 150 degrees in the backs of their trucks." A shocking number of package deliverers and letter carriers—to say nothing of farmworkers, construction workers, warehouse workers, etc.—have reported heat-related injuries and illnesses, and some have even died on the job from heat exposure. As climate change makes dangerous working conditions even worse for those who are exposed to extreme heat, workers, unions, and the public are demanding serious action be taken. In this urgent panel episode, we speak with Zakk, Gabriela, and Steve, three UPS package deliverers and members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, about the serious dangers of working in the heat and the fight they and their union are waging to ensure better protections for workers.  Additional links/info below... Gabriela's Twitter page Zakk's Facebook page and Twitter page  International Brotherhood of Teamsters website, Facebook page, and Twitter page Teamsters for a Democratic Union website, Facebook page, and Twitter page Livia Albeck-Ripka, The New York Times, "UPS Drivers Say ‘Brutal’ Heat Is Endangering Their Lives" More Perfect Union, "UPS Drivers Are Dying Of Extreme Heat. The Company Doesn't Care" Jordan Hart, Business Insider, "'We're Dying Out Here:' After Death of 24-Year-Old UPS Worker in His Truck, Family Members, Other Workers Renew Calls for AC in Trucks, Warehouses" Working People, "(Unlocked) BONUS EPISODE - A Pivotal Moment for the Teamsters (w/ Indigo Olivier)" Working People, "'We Are Essential,' Pt I (Voices from the Covid-19 Crisis)" Denise Chow & Nigel Chiwaya, NBC News, "The US Could See a New 'Extreme Heat Belt' by 2053" Kelly Yamanouchi, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Teamsters Set Stage for Union Contract Battle with UPS" Permanent links below... Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org) Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Mansa Musa is a radical freedom fighter who was imprisoned in the US for nearly 50 years. Now, at 70 years old, he is the co-host of Rattling the Bars at The Real News Network, a staunch advocate for the rights of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, and a soldier in the struggle to dismantle the prison-industrial complex. We talk to Mansa about his life and about how the labor movement and the fight for prison abolition are necessarily interconnected.  Additional links/info below... Rattling the Bars on The Real News Network   Voices for a Second Chance website and Twitter page  Mansa Musa, The Real News Network, "‘I Wouldn’t Even Feed This to My Dog’: The Inhumane Reality of Prison Food" Eddie Conway & Mansa Musa, The Real News Network, "Mansa Musa: How I Survived 48 Years in Prison" Permanent links below... Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org) Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

As we speak, the major railroad companies and 13 different unions representing over 115,000 railroad workers have reached an impasse in contract negotiations that have been going on for years, and we are now closer to a national rail shutdown than we’ve been in a generation. President Biden has even appointed an Emergency Presidential Board to try to mediate between the rail unions and the rail carriers, but if that mediation fails we’ll be on the verge of a historic shutdown. So, how did we get here? If you talk to any railroader in private, you’ll get an earful about how decades of corporate greed, consolidation, cost cutting, automation, layoffs, and other profit-maximizing, shareholder-serving decisions have upended the railroads and turned what used to be good lifelong jobs into exhausting, impossible jobs that veteran workers are leaving in droves. But if any workers speak up publicly about what’s going on on the railroads, they will likely face severe consequences. Luckily, we were able to connect with Jay, a qualified conductor who was licensed to operate locomotives at 19 years old, and who became a qualified train dispatcher before he was 23. We talk about Jay's life, how he came to work at the railroads, and what the job of a train dispatcher entails, but we also talk about how the industry has changed in recent decades, the havoc those changes have wreaked on workers and the supply chain, and why we should all be concerned about the crisis the railroads are in right now. Additional links/info below... Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Corporate Billionaires Are Wrecking the Supply Chain. Just Look at the Railroads" Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Fired Up Rail Workers Rally in Galesburg, Illinois, as Potential National Strike Looms" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Railroad Workers Are Being Ground to Dust. Who Will Help Them?"  Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Court Blocks Railroad Workers from Striking over Draconian Attendance Policy" The Hill's Rising, "Max Alvarez: DRACONIAN New Rail Industry Policy WORSENS Supply Chain Crisis, CRUSHES Workers" Jeff Schuhrke, In These Times, "US Railroad Workers Inch Closer to a Possible National Strike" Permanent links below... Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org) Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Last week, Lauren Bianchi and Chuck Stark, two teachers at George Washington High School on the Southeast Side of Chicago, were on the verge of losing their jobs. In what Chicago Teachers Union officers suspect was an act of retaliation from Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Chicago Public Schools recommended that Bianchi and Stark be fired for their involvement in the student-, teacher-, and community-led effort to stop the relocation of the General Iron metal shredder from the wealthy Northside neighborhood of Lincoln Park to a site half a mile from their school. With the union and their community behind them, though, the Chicago Board of Education issued a stunning rejection of Chicago Public Schools officials' recommendation to fire the two teachers. In this min-cast, we talk to Bianchi and Stark about the struggle to stop General Iron and the importance of teachers serving the needs of their communities.  Additional links/info below... Chicago Public Schools website, Facebook page, and Twitter page Darryl Fears & Robin Amer, The Washington Post, "To Stop a Scrapyard, Some Protesters in a Latino Community Risked Everything" Maxwell Evans, Block Club Chicago, "2 CPS Teachers Say They’re Being Fired In Retaliation For Their Activism Against General Iron" Brett Chase, Chicago Sun Times, "Outspoken Teachers Who Urged Students to Join Environmental Protest Avert Firing by Chicago Board of Ed" Permanent links below... Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org) Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

On June 22 of this year, workers at a Chipotle location in Augusta, Maine, made history by becoming the first store in the US to file for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board. Then, on Tuesday, July 19, Chipotle announced that it would be permanently closing the Augusta location. While spokespeople for the fast-casual dining giant deny that the closure is related to union organizing activity, workers and their supporters say the drastic move is a clear act of retaliation and "union busting 101." The Chipotle store closure coincides with a broader, aggressive escalation of anti-union actions taken by other employers who have also recently closed stores and production plants where workers were organizing, including multiple Starbucks locations across the US, Heine Brothers' Coffee in Kentucky, Amy's Kitchen in California, and G&D Integrated, LLC, in Illinois. “By closing the Augusta store," Jeffrey Neil Young, a lawyer representing the Chipotle workers, told The New York Times, "it’s signaling to Chipotle workers elsewhere who are involved in or contemplating nascent organizational drives that if you organize, you might be out of job.” But workers are refusing to be bullied and silenced by the company, and they are fighting back. In this extended mini-cast, we talk with Brandi McNease, a worker-organizer at the Augusta Chipotle location and a founding member of Chipotle United.  Additional links/info below... PETITION: Tell Chipotle CEO to Re-Open Augusta!  Chipotle United website and Twitter page Noam Scheiber, The New York Times, "Chipotle Closes a Maine Store, and Workers Say It’s Because of a Union Drive" Mike Pomranz, Food & Wine, "Chipotle Closes Store That Voted to Form Chain's First Union, Citing Staffing Issues" Noam Scheiber, The New York Times, "Chipotle Is Sued by New York City Over Scheduling Practices" Alex Press, Jacobin, "Chipotle Is a Nightmare Employer" Working People, "Starbucks Sinks to a New Low (w/ Nadia Vitek)" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Starbucks and Other Companies Escalate War on Unions with Store Closures" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "‘They F*cked Us’: Illinois Ironworkers Laid Off after Unionizing" Nico Madrigal-Yankowski, SFGate, "Bay Area Frozen Foods Giant Amy’s Closing Production Plant after One Year" Permanent links below... Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org) Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Things are getting very dark in this country, and it's likely going to get worse before it gets better. At every turn—as collective society breaks down, as the ruling class continues to rob us blind, as humanity barrels towards climate catastrophe—working people are being encouraged to turn on each other and to see certain groups of their fellow workers as the enemy. From the demonization and increasingly violent attacks against LGBTQIA+ people, to an extremist-dominated Supreme Court preparing to strip away queer people's right to marry, to legislatures around the country working to eliminate trans people's right to exist, we must respond to these assaults on our neighbors and coworkers with the same spirit of solidarity that gives life to labor's eternal message: an injury to one is an injury to all. In this special and urgent episode, we speak with Gabbi Pierce and Martha Grevatt about how far the labor movement has come in defending the rights of LGBTQIA+ workers, how far we still have to go, and what role the labor movement can and must play in fighting for dignity and equality for all.  Gabbi Pierce is an organizer with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), co-chair of Pride at Work—Twin Cities, and she is the first transgender person to serve on the Minnesota AFL-CIO General Board. Martha Grevatt is a retired autoworker and member of the United Auto Workers (UAW); she formerly served as Executive Board member for UAW Locals 122 and 869 and was a founding member of Pride at Work.  Additional links/info below... Gabbi's Twitter page Communication Workers of America website, Facebook page, and Twitter page Martha's Facebook page and Workers World author page  United Auto Workers website, Facebook page, and Twitter page Unite All Workers for Democracy website, Facebook page, and Twitter page Pride at Work website, Facebook page, and Twitter page Kelly Hayes, Movement Memos, "Attacks on Trans Rights and Abortion Rights Are 'Bound Together'" Kelly Hayes, Movement Memos, "Attacks on Trans Youth Are a Fascist 'Moral Battering Ram'" Molly Shah, The Real News Network, "Supreme Court’s Hearings on Abortion Bans Are an Ominous Sign of What’s Coming" Kim Kelly, Teen Vogue, "How LGBTQ Union Activists Transformed the Labor Movement" Permanent links below... Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org) Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

Last month, roughly 40,000 UK rail workers with the National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT) went on strike for three days, bringing major portions of the British rail system to a halt in a historic show of collective strength. This week, after receiving a contract offer from state-owned Network Rail that union leaders described as "paltry," the RMT announced that workers at Network Rail and the train operating companies will engage in another day of strike action on Wednesday, July 27. With these strikes, and in the ongoing negotiations, workers are fighting for livable wages at a time when the cost of living is spiraling out of control and corporate executives and shareholders are stuffing their pockets with cash. As Adam Bychawski writes, "Train companies paid out nearly £800m to shareholders last year before telling rail unions that employees must take a real-terms pay cut for them to stay afloat." But workers are fighting for much more; they are fighting against years of austerity policies and corporate profit-generating schemes that have led to deteriorating working conditions and quality of service on the rails; they are fighting against further job losses for the sake of "modernization"'; and they are fighting for better, safer, more accessible, and well-staffed rail services for the people who depend on them.  In this special panel episode, we speak with four rail workers and RMT members/officers—Mel Mullings, Clayton Clive, Cat Cray, and Gaz Jackson—about the strike and the importance of workers around the world standing in solidarity with strikers.  Additional links/info below... RMT Union National Dispute Fund  RMT Union website, Facebook page, and Twitter page, Mel's Twitter page Clayton's Twitter page Manchester South RMT Twitter page Cat's Twitter page Gaz's Twitter page Rupert Pickering, Tribune, "Defend the RMT" Karl Hansen, Jacobin, "Britain’s Rail Workers Are Poised to Strike Against Austerity" Ronan Burtenshaw, Jacobin, "Britain’s Striking Rail Workers Are Drawing the Hatred of the Establishment" Matthew Weaver, The Guardian, "Mick Lynch: Rail Union Bruiser Who’s More Than a Match for the Media" Gwyn Topham & Tom Ambrose, The Guardian, "Train Services Cut as RMT Rail Strike Enters Third Day" Jasper Jolly, The Guardian, "Rail Workers to Strike Across Britain on 27 July, Union Announces" Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Corporate Billionaires Are Wrecking the Supply Chain. Just Look at the Railroads" Permanent links below... Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org) Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

The "Labor On The Airwaves" panel attracted an overflow audience at this year's Labor Notes conference in Chicago. A show of hands revealed that about a third of those in attendance already had shows while another third was interested in finding out how to start their own shows, many of whom stopped by the Labor Radio-Podcast Network's booth after the panel. Working People's Maximillian Alvarez hosted a panel that included BeLabored hosts Sarah Jaffe and Michelle Chen, Heartland Labor Forum's Judy Ancel, and Jamie Partridge from Labor Radio on KBOO FM.   For the Labor Radio-Podcast Weekly, the Labor Radio-Podcast Network's weekly digest show, featuring highlights from shows in our network, Chris Garlock recorded, edited, and published a shortened version of the "Labor on the Airwaves" panel from Labor Notes. With permission from Chris, we are excited to share the episode on the Working People feed for our listeners.  NOTE: For those interested in joining the Labor Radio Podcast Network (or finding out more about us), please contact us here. Additional links/info below... Judy Ancel's Twitter page Heartland Labor Forum website  Sarah Jaffe's Twitter page Michelle Chen's Twitter page BeLabored's website  Jamie Partridge's Twitter page Labor Radio's (KBOO FM) website  Permanent links below... Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org) Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song

We wish everyone could have been in Chicago for the Labor Notes 2022 conference! But for those who couldn't make it, we convened this comradely panel with some fan-favorite guests of the show—Tevita 'Uhatafe, McKenna Schueler, and Jacob Morrison—to share our thoughts and reflections on the gathering, and to talk about the lessons and strategies we're taking from Labor Notes and applying in our daily lives.  Additional links/info below... Subscribe and donate to Labor Notes!  Tevita's Twitter page McKenna's Twitter page and Linktree Jacob's Twitter page The Valley Labor Report Twitter page, YouTube channel, and Patreon  Working People, "Tevita 'Uhatafe"  Permanent links below... Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org) Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"