

Power At Work
The Burnes Center for Social Change
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 11, 2023 • 58min
Power at Work Blogcast #20: Reporting on Worker Power with Josh Eidelson and Dave Jamieson
In this blogcast, Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris spoke with Josh Eidelson and Dave Jamieson -- two of the biggest hitters in the world of labor reporting. The conversation covered the UPS-Teamsters negotiations, the role of the Supreme Court in advancing corporate attacks on worker power, and several other stories impacting labor and worker power today.
Josh Eidelson covers the workplace for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Businessweek, where his work has exposed government choices that narrowed workers’ rights, corporate practices that exacerbated the Covid-19 pandemic, and labor leaders’ sexual misconduct.
Dave Jamieson is the labor reporter for HuffPost, where he writes about low-wage work, workplace safety, subcontracting, organizing campaigns, and the intersection of politics and work.

Jul 7, 2023 • 32min
Workers by the Numbers #19: Analyzing the June Jobs and Unemployment Report with Alicia Modestino and Elise Gould
Watch Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris in conversation with Alicia Modestino, Associate Professor at Northeastern University, and Elise Gould, Director of Health Policy Research at the Economic Policy Institute, as they discuss the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ jobs, wages, and unemployment report for June 2023. This conversation was aired live on the homepage of the blog at 8:45 AM ET on Friday, July 7—just 15 minutes after the release of the report.

Jun 27, 2023 • 59min
Power At Work Blogcast #18: Farmworker Organizing Rights in New York State
Listen to Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris in conversation with Cathy Nolan, former New York State Assemblywoman for District 37, and Jessica García, Assistant to the President of the Retail, Wholesale Department Store Union (RWDSU), as they discuss agricultural workers' rights, the barriers and triumphs organizing under the 2019 New York Farm Workers Bill, the fight to get it passed, and much more.

Jun 20, 2023 • 1h 12min
Power At Work Blogcast #17: An Interview With John O'Malley
Listen to Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris in conversation with John O'Malley, legislative coordinator for the Communications Workers of America Local 1180, as they discuss his history organizing in the workplace, the legislative goals of local 1180, organizing not-for-profit workers, and much more.

Jun 13, 2023 • 1h 4min
Power At Work Blogcast #16: A State Labor Secretaries Roundtable
Listen to Burnes Center for Social Change senior fellow Seth Harris in conversation with Portia Wu, Secretary of Labor for the state of Maryland, Laura Fortman, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Labor, and Robert Asaro-Angelo, Commissioner at New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, as they discuss the the role and responsibilities of a labor secretary, the big issues each state faces, and much more.

Jun 6, 2023 • 1h 2min
Power At Work Blogcast #15: Analyzing the Glacier Northwest v. Teamsters Supreme Court Decision
Listen to Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris in conversation with Charlotte Garden, Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota, and Anne Marie Lofaso, Professor of Law at West Virginia University, as they discuss the recently decided Glacier Northwest Inc. V. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Supreme Court Decision.

Jun 2, 2023 • 35min
Workers by the Numbers Blogcast #14: Analyzing the May Jobs and Unemployment Report with Aaron Sojourner and Alicia Modestino
Listen to Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris in conversation with Alicia Modestino, Associate Professor at Northeastern University, and Aaron Sojourner, Senior Researcher at the W.E. Upjohn Institute, as they discuss the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ jobs, wages, and unemployment report for May 2023. This was aired live on the homepage of the blog at 8:45 AM ET on Friday, June 2—just 15 minutes after the release of the report.

May 23, 2023 • 53min
Power At Work Blogcast #13: An Interview with Daniel Ratner
Listen to the Burnes Center for Social Change's Seth Harris in conversation with Daniel Ratner, partner at Levy Ratner, as they discuss the incredible story of the Battle of Bronxville, Ratner's history as a union organizer, some of the biggest cases in labor now, and more.

May 16, 2023 • 1h 10min
Power At Work Blogcast #12: Beyond the Headlines: Reporting on Worker Power with Matthew Cunningham-Cook, Alexandra Martinez, Tim Noah, and Noam Scheiber
Listen to the discussion between Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris, Matthew Cunningham-Cook, researcher and writer with The Lever, Alexandra Martinez, the Senior News Reporter at Prism, Tim Noah, staff writer at the New Republic, and Noam Scheiber, reporter with The New York Times, as they talk about some of the biggest news stories impacting workers, unions, and worker power in the U.S. today.

May 5, 2023 • 32min
Workers by the Numbers Blogcast #11: Analyzing the April Jobs and Unemployment Report with Alicia Modestino and Elise Gould
Listen to Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris in conversation with Alicia Modestino, Associate Professor at Northeastern University, and Elise Gould, Senior Economist at the Economic Policy Institute, as they discuss the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ jobs, wages, and unemployment report for April 2023. This conversation aired live on the blog—https://poweratwork.us/—at 8:45 AM ET on Friday, May 5, just 15 minutes after the release of the report.