Power At Work
Sustained and effective worker power arises out of collective action. Our goal at Power At Work is to advance actions that build power to confront power — contributing to a discourse in the United States that puts workers at the center of the conversation.
Latest episodes
May 27, 2025 • 54min
Power At Work Blogcast #92: Trump’s Attacks on Universities and Academic Workers
In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Todd Wolfson, the president of the American Association of University Professors, to discuss the attack on college campuses by the Trump administration. Watch now to hear about the efforts to deport academics and students who do not align with the current administration’s policies, strategies on how unions should respond to these attacks, and the threat to academic freedom.Follow us on social media:TikTokInstagramTwitterFacebookLinkedInTodd Wolfson is an Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies and Co-Director of the MIC Center at Rutgers University. Wolfson is the elected president of the American Association of University Professors. His book “Digital Rebellion: The Birth of the Cyber Left” examines the impact of new media and communication technologies on the organizational fabric of social movements.
May 20, 2025 • 31min
The Power Half-Hour Episode 1
Power At Work is thrilled to announce the first episode of our new series the Power Half-Hour! The Power Half-Hour is a livestreamed, fast-paced, bi-weekly roundtable with a rotating group of regular guests. Our rotating guests will discuss the biggest labor story of the preceding week and the labor story everyone should be talking about over the next two weeks. Joining Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris for our pilot episode are:Claudia Irizarry Aponte - senior reporter covering labor and work for THE CITY;Elizabeth Wilkins - the president and CEO of Roosevelt Forward; andMark Gevaart - host of the My Labor Radio podcast.Follow us on social media:TikTokInstagramTwitterFacebookLinkedIn – Follow the Power At Work's LinkedIn page now to be notified of all future Power Half-Hour episodes!
May 13, 2025 • 1h 10min
Power At Work Blogcast #91: Federal Employee Unions Fight Back
In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Andres Grajales, AFGE’s Deputy General Counsel for Litigation, and Julie Wilson, NTEU’s General Counsel, to discuss the numerous lawsuits that their unions are having against the Trump administration’s assault on federal employees. Watch now to hear the top lawyers from the two largest federal employee unions update on the lawsuits that they currently have against the Trump administration, most notably Trump’s executive order to end collective bargaining rights for the large majority of federal employees. Grajales and Wilson will also go into their unions’ current legal strategies to defend executive agencies from the Trump-Musk effort to eliminate them along with their effort to radically downsize the workforce. Follow us on social media:TikTokInstagramTwitterFacebookLinkedInAndres Grajales is the Deputy General Counsel for Litigation for the American Federation of Government Employees.Julie Wilson is the General Counsel for the National Treasury Employees Union.
May 6, 2025 • 1h 12min
Power At Work Crossover Blogcast: Lessons for the Trump Era
Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris will be co-hosting this blogcast with Chris Garlock from the Labor Heritage Power Hour and Labor History Today podcasts. To celebrate Labor History Month, they will be joined by Professor Veroníca Martínez-Matsuda from the University of California, San Diego, and Professor Joe McCartin from Georgetown University to discuss the lessons from labor history. Watch now to hear the discussion on the 1981 PATCO strike, migrant farm workers, the National Labor Relations Act, and more!Follow us on social media:TikTokInstagramTwitterFacebookLinkedInChris Garlock is the Executive Director of the Labor Heritage Foundation and the founder-coordinator of the Labor Radio Podcast Network (which Power At Work is a proud member of!). Garlock co-hosts two labor podcasts, the Labor Heritage Power Hour and Labor History Today. He is also the executive director of the DC Labor FilmFest. Veroníca Martínez-Matsuda is an Associate Professor of History at the University of California, San Diego; prior to this, she was an Associate Professor in Cornell University ILR School’s Department of Labor Relations, Law, and History. Martínez-Matsuda has published numerous academic articles on migrant farm workers and labor history, most notably her book “Migrant Citizenship: Race, Rights, and Reform in the U.S. Labor Camp Program.”Joe McCartin is the founding Executive Director of Georgetown's Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. McCarrtin is currently a Professor of History at Georegtown University. He is the 2024-26 president of the Labor and Working-Class History Association, and a board member of the Catholic Labor Network. He makes regular appearances in Chris Garlock’s podcast Labor History Today.
Apr 29, 2025 • 1h 3min
Power At Work Blogcast #90: The Battle Over the NLRB
In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by former chair of the NLRB, Lauren McFerran, to discuss the current dire state of the NLRB. Watch now to hear McFerran discuss the implications of Gwynne Wilcox’s firing, the efforts by the Trump administration to dismantle and disempower the board, and the significance of the board maintaining its independence from political influences. This discussion will also highlight the big accomplishments that McFerran achieved during her tenure on the board and the positive impact they have had for worker power and the labor movement.Follow us on social media:TikTokInstagramTwitterFacebookLinkedInLauren McFerran is a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, having previously served as chairman of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) during the Biden administration, from 2021 to 2024. She served as a member of the NLRB from December 2014 to December 2019 and from July 2020 to January 2021. Prior to her appointment to the NLRB, McFerran served the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions as deputy staff director to Chairman Tom Harkin and previously as senior labor counsel to Senator Ted Kennedy.
Apr 22, 2025 • 60min
Power At Work Blogcast #89: Workers, Worker Power, and the Trump Economy
In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Dr. Heather Boushey, a member of Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers, to discuss the implications of the Trump economy on workers and worker power. Watch now to hear Heather and Seth discuss Trump’s industrial policies, the impact of tariffs and tax cuts on income inequality, the role of unions in addressing economic inequality, and more! Also, listen to Heather stress the importance of a holistic approach to economic policies that would address issues faced by working-class families. Follow us on social media:TikTokInstagramTwitterFacebookLinkedInHeather Boushey served as a member of President Joe Biden's Council of Economic Advisers and the Chief Economist for the Invest in America Cabinet at the White House. Boushey is also co-founder of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, where she was president and CEO from 2013 to 2020.
Apr 15, 2025 • 1h 3min
Power at Work Blogcast #88: Reporting on Worker Power with Claudia Irizarry Aponte, McKenna Schueler, and Suhauna Hussain
In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by three reporters who cover labor in different parts of the United States: Claudia Irizarry Aponte of THE CITY, Suhauna Hussain of the Los Angeles Times, and McKenna Schueler of the Orlando Weekly. Their conversation covers the recent wave of anti-union legislation in Florida; how the Trump administration’s attacks on immigrants are impacting workers in Southern California’s hospitality industry; what’s at stake for unions and worker power in New York City’s upcoming mayoral election; and much more!Follow us on social media:TikTokInstagramTwitterFacebookLinkedInClaudia Irizarry Aponte is a senior reporter covering labor and work for THE CITY – a nonprofit independent newsroom covering New York City.McKenna Schueler is a news reporter for the Orlando Weekly. Her reporting focuses on state and local government, workers' rights, and housing issues in Florida.Suhauna Hussain is a business reporter covering labor and workplace issues in California for the Los Angeles Times.
Apr 8, 2025 • 1h 15min
Power At Work Blogcast #87: Labor, Right-Wing "Populism,” and Employment-Based Immigration
In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Shannon Lederer, the Director of Immigration Policy at the AFL-CIO, and Daniel Costa, the Director of Immigration Law and Policy Research at EPI, to discuss the systems that allow employers to bring workers temporarily and permanently into the United States to fill their jobs and whether those systems will be reformed during President Trump's second term. Watch now as Shannon and Daniel highlight the integral role that immigrants play in the growth of the American economy, but also how temporary worker programs and employment-based immigration are highly exploitative and essentially indenture workers to their employers. Seth, Shannon and Daniel also discuss the schism in the Republican Party between the businesses that benefit from temporary worker programs and employment-based immigration and right-wing so-called populists who ferociously oppose these programs.Follow us on social media:TikTokInstagramTwitterFacebookLinkedInShannon Lederer is the Director of Immigration Policy for the AFL-CIO. She works with union affiliates and allies in all sectors of the labor movement to develop and advance policies that promote workers' rights and shared prosperity. In her 17 years in the labor movement, Lederer has focused extensively on efforts to reform our abusive guest-worker programs and regulate the international labor recruitment industry. Daniel Costa is an attorney and the Director of Immigration Law and Policy Research at the Economic Policy Institute. He was the California Attorney General’s senior advisor on immigration and labor from 2018 to 2019. His commentaries have appeared in publications like The New York Times, Roll Call, Fortune, La Opinión, and others, and he was named one of “20 Immigration Experts to Follow on Twitter” by ABC News.
Mar 31, 2025 • 57min
Power At Work Blogcast #86: Celebrating Cesar Chavez Day with Andres Chavez
In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Andres Chavez, Executive Director of the National Chavez Center, to celebrate his grandfather’s birthday–Cesar Chavez Day. Watch now to hear Andres share stories about labor activist and icon, Cesar Chavez, Andres’ work in preserving his grandfather’s legacy, and what we can learn from Cesar’s story to continue promoting worker power in the present. Follow us on social media:TikTokInstagramTwitterFacebookLinkedInAndres Chavez, Cesar Chavez’s grandson, is the executive director of the National Chavez Center (NCC). He leads the arm of the Cesar Chavez Foundation that educates and promotes his grandfather’s legacy across the nation. He also oversees two historic properties, including La Paz in Keene, Calif., where Chavez lived and labored his last quarter century, a portion of which is now the César E. Chávez National Monument that the NCC manages in partnership with the National Park Service.
Mar 25, 2025 • 56min
Power At Work Blogcast #85: Labor History, Women’s History, and Kate Mullany
In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Paul Cole, the founder and executive director of the American Labor Studies Center, and Carole Turbin, the author of “Working Women of Collar City”, to celebrate Women’s History Month, talk about women’s role in labor history, and spotlight labor activist Kate Mullany. Watch now to learn more about Kate Mullany, the co-founder of the Collar Laundry Union, one of the first all-women trade unions in the U.S., in Troy, New York.Follow us on social media:TikTokInstagramTwitterFacebookLinkedInPaul Cole is the founder and executive director of the American Labor Studies Center (ALSC). Prior to his work at the ALSC, Paul was the Secretary-Treasurer of the New York State AFL-CIO and the vice president of the American Federation of Teachers.Carole Turbin is a women and labor historian, author, and fine artist. She was a professor of sociology and history at the Empire State College at Old Westbury in New York. Carole is the author of “Working Women of Collar City: Gender, Class, and Community in Troy, 1864-1886.”
