Power At Work

In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Miren Algorri and Johanna Hester to discuss the recent important contract victory for more than 60,000 child care workers in California.Watch now to learn more about the lives of child care workers and how the right to organize and bargain collectively has shaped child care provision in California. Seth, Miren, and Johanna will discuss how these workers won this latest contract victory, how organizing and bargaining in California’s child care industry uses a different model than the private-sector model overseen by the federal National Labor Relations Board, and how that model might inform union organizing in the future. Connect with Power At Work:Website: poweratwork.usTikTok: @poweratworkblogInstagram: @poweratworkblogTwitter/X: @poweratworkblogFacebook: poweratworkblogLinkedIn: power-at-workJohanna Puno Hester is the assistant executive director of UDW/AFSCME Local 3930. She continues her community organizing through the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), the first and only national organization of Asian Pacific American union members to advance worker, immigrant and civil rights.Miren Algorri is a dedicated Early Childhood Educator with over 30 years of experience in the field and owner of Little Blossoms Family Childcare, providing bilingual early childhood services to families in San Diego, California.

Episode #12 of the Power Half-Hour has arrived!The Power Half-Hour is a livestreamed, fast-paced, bi-weekly roundtable with a rotating group of regular guests. Our guests 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 this episode are:Seema Patel - Associate Professor of Law at UCSF Law SchoolClaudia Irizarry Aponte - Senior Reporter covering labor and work for THE CITYBill Samuel - Pro-union consultant for NVGCatch our next episode live on Power At Work's LinkedIn page on November 11th and soon after on PowerAtWork.US.Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1tdZ4QF...Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...Listen on OvercastConnect with Power At Work: Website: poweratwork.usTikTok: @poweratworkblog Instagram: @poweratworkblog Twitter/X: @poweratworkblog Facebook: @poweratworkblog LinkedIn: power-at-work

In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by David Sirota of The Lever and Luc Triangle of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to discuss how some wealthy corporations are aggressively engaged in undermining democracy and how the labor movement is fighting back.In this episode, Seth, David, and Luc will discuss a new report issued by the International Trade Union Confederation — the ITUC — entitled “Corporate Underminers of Democracy 2025”, and new book titled "MASTER PLAN" by David Sirota. Seth, David, and Luc will discuss the report and book, along with other recent developments in the battle to preserve democracy. They will also discuss why worker power and the labor movement are essential to winning that battle.Connect with Power At Work: Website: poweratwork.usTikTok: @poweratworkblog Instagram: @poweratworkblog Twitter/X: @poweratworkblog Facebook: poweratworkblog LinkedIn: power-at-workLuc Triangle is the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation. He was elected to that position two years ago, after serving as the General Secretary of IndustriAll European Trade Union for almost a decade. Before that, he was the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Federation for Textiles, Clothing and Leather (ETUF-TCL). David Sirota is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Lever, a reader-supported investigative news outlet. He was a speechwriter and senior adviser for Senator Bernie Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign. He also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for Netflix's Don't Look Up.

Episode #11 of the Power Half-Hour has arrived!The Power Half-Hour is a livestreamed, fast-paced, bi-weekly roundtable with a rotating group of regular guests. Our guests 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 this episode are:McKenna Schueler - News reporter for Orlando WeeklyAli Bustamante - Professor of Practice at the University of New OrleansSuhauna Hussain - News reporter for Los Angeles TimesCatch our next episode live on Power At Work's LinkedIn page on October 28th and soon after on PowerAtWork.US.Connect with Power At Work: Website: poweratwork.usTikTok: @poweratworkblog Instagram: @poweratworkblog Twitter/X: @poweratworkblog Facebook: @poweratworkblog LinkedIn: power-at-work

In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Sonia R. Vásquez Luna of LIUNA and Steven Gardner of NJ LECET to discuss working-class politics and the state government elections in New Jersey and Virginia that are taking place in 2025.The panel covered a number of important topics, including whether working-class and worker power issues are part of the candidates’ campaigns.  Our guests discussed whether unions in Virginia and New Jersey have an agenda that they want their endorsed candidates to implement if they are elected. They also addressed whether the two Democratic candidates are labor Democrats, focusing on working-class issues. Finally, Seth will ask Sonia and Stever to predict the outcomes of the elections in their states, and the effects that those expected outcomes might have on the 2026 midterm elections that will involve more governors and state legislators, but also every member of the U.S. House of Representatives and one-third of the U.S. Senate.Connect with Power At Work: Website: poweratwork.usTikTok: @poweratworkblog Instagram: @poweratworkblog Twitter/X: @poweratworkblog Facebook: poweratworkblog LinkedIn: power-at-workSonia R. Vásquez Luna is the Business Manager of Laborers' public employee local union 572, representing over 3,000 Public Employees and Service Contract members in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia, and North Carolina. Ms. Luna is also a member of the Manassas, Virginia, city council. Steve Gardner is the Director of the New Jersey Laborers Employers Cooperation and Education Trust, which is a labor-management partnership of the Laborers International Union of North America. Mr. Gardner is the former Executive Director of the New Jersey Assembly Majority Leader’s Office and a former Senior Advisor to Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald. Prior to his service in government, Mr. Gardner administered the New Jersey Laborers’ political action committees.

Episode #10 of the Power Half-Hour has arrived!The Power Half-Hour is a livestreamed, fast-paced, bi-weekly roundtable with a rotating group of regular guests. Our guests 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 this episode are:Sharon Block - Executive Director at Harvard Law School’s Center for Labor and a Just EconomyElizabeth Ford - Assistant Professor at Seattle University School of LawTalia Soglin - Reporter for transportation and labor at the Chicago TribuneCatch our next episode live on Power At Work's LinkedIn page on October 14th and soon after on PowerAtWork.US.Connect with Power At Work: Website: poweratwork.usTikTok: @poweratworkblog Instagram: @poweratworkblog Twitter: / poweratworkblog Facebook: poweratworkblog LinkedIn: power-at-work

In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Randi Weingarten of the AFT and Roy Bahat of Bloomberg Beta to discuss the effort by the American Federation of Teachers and its local largest affiliate in cooperation with three of the leading American artificial intelligence companies to train elementary and secondary school teachers to use AI in their work.Watch now to see answered: How and why did the deal come together? Seth, Randi, and Roy will talk about what the union and the companies hope to accomplish by training school teachers in the use of AI. They will discuss how the union might try to address AI through collective bargaining over artificial intelligence. And they will discuss whether this arrangement between a very large teachers’ union and some very large companies is getting any pushback from local leaders, members, other unions, or anyone else.Connect with Power At Work: Website: poweratwork.usTikTok: @poweratworkblog Instagram: @poweratworkblog Twitter/X: @poweratworkblog Facebook: poweratworkblog LinkedIn: power-at-workRandi Weingarten is an American labor leader, attorney, and educator. She has been president of the American Federation of Teachers since 2008, and is a member of the AFL-CIO. She is the former president of the United Federation of Teachers.Roy Bahat is a venture capitalist, educator, and activist. He is currently the head of Bloomberg Beta, the venture capital arm of Bloomberg. He teaches at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

Episode #9 of the Power Half-Hour has arrived!The Power Half-Hour is a livestreamed, fast-paced, bi-weekly roundtable with a rotating group of regular guests. Our guests 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 this episode are:Alexandra Martinez - Senior News Reporter at PrismMel Buer - Multimedia freelance journalist and creator of Words About WorkAndrew Ziaja - Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of LawCatch our next episode live on Power At Work's LinkedIn page on September 30th and soon after on PowerAtWork.US.Connect with Power At Work: Website: poweratwork.usTikTok: @poweratworkblog Instagram: @poweratworkblog Twitter: / poweratworkblog Facebook: poweratworkblog LinkedIn: power-at-work

In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Jason Stahl of the College Football Players Association and Tremayne Anchrum Jr., Clemson Tigers alumnus, to discuss the effort currently underway to organize college football players so they will be able to bargain with their schools over their working conditions.Watch now to see answered: Are college athletes, and college football players in particular, employees of their universities with the rights to organize and bargain collectively under federal and state laws? To better understand this question, Seth, Jason, and Tremayne will discuss the lives of college football players and what their work weeks look like, both during the season and off-season. They will also discuss whether this is the right time to engage in a novel form of worker organizing, given the ferocious union busting and anti-union attitudes of the current President of the United States.Connect with Power At Work: Website: poweratwork.usTikTok: @poweratworkblog Instagram: @poweratworkblog Twitter/X: @poweratworkblog Facebook: poweratworkblog LinkedIn: power-at-workJason Stahl is the founder and Executive Director of the College Football Players Association. Jason is a former faculty member in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.Tremayne Anchrum Jr. is an American professional football guard. He played college football for the Clemson Tigers and has previously played in the NFL for the Los Angeles Rams, with whom he won Super Bowl LVI. Tremayne serves on the CFBPA's Alumni Member Leadership Committee.

Episode #8 of the Power Half-Hour has arrived!The Power Half-Hour is a livestreamed, fast-paced, bi-weekly roundtable with a rotating group of regular guests. Our guests 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 this episode are:Kim Kelly - Labor reporter for In These Times magazine and a regular labor columnist for Teen VogueMark Gevaart - Host of the My Labor Radio podcast and an active and activist member of the United Auto WorkersAnne Lofaso - Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law and former attorney for the National Labor Relations BoardCatch our next episode live on Power At Work's LinkedIn page on September 16th and soon after on PowerAtWork.US.Connect with Power At Work: Website: poweratwork.usTikTok: @poweratworkblog Instagram: @poweratworkblog Twitter: / poweratworkblog Facebook: poweratworkblog LinkedIn: power-at-work