Gabriel Winant, historian and author of The Next Shift, joins the show to discuss the decline of union power in the face of speed-ups and an expanding framework of labor relations. 

Our conversation focuses on worker rebellion, the political failure alongside economic gains for organized labor in the postwar era, and the lessons we can learn from the defeat of the New Deal.

He draws attention to the period known as the "great exception," where unions experienced their high-water mark in power and organization, and problematizes some of the common claims about this era. Particularly, Winant shows how the present regime of privatized healthcare was embedded in the struggle over shop floor power in the postwar United States.

Get a copy of Winant's book, The Next Shift, at https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674238091

Please support Laborwave Radio by subscribing to our patreon at patreon.com/laborwave We have gifts depending on the tier you join, and exclusive access to our archives and Discord server.

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/laborwave-radio/id1536697871

A Defense of Wanting to Shoot the Foreman: On Speed-Ups and Union Decline

We spoke with Amir Fleischmann of the Graduate Employee Organization, a union at the University of Michigan, about their latest strike leveraged to fight the university's reckless reopening plans amid a pandemic. 

Amir provides a play-by-play of the strike, the events leading up to it and the larger context in which it occurred, and how their union was able to raise expectations and demonstrate the organic links between worker justice and social justice. 

We discuss the demands of the strike, including demands to disarm and defund campus police, and take a look at the strike's mechanics and how workers were able to make their presence felt even during measures of social distancing as well as the power they were able to build among their own membership and in coalition with campus and community organizations.

Laborwave Radio is an independent podcast sustained exclusively through our patrons at patreon.com/laborwave If you enjoy the show, please share our content across social media, like and comment, and join our patreon as either a rank-and-filer, committee member, or strike captain. All patrons receive custom-made gifts from our resident artist including original stickers, illustrated zines, and Laborwave tees.

Music by:
Damaged Bug- Transmute

A Look at the GEO Strike in Michigan Fighting the University's Reopening Plans

Laborwave Radio presents a podcast mini-series, After The Revolution. ​

After the Revolution is inspired by the desire to offer more than a diagnosis of what is wrong with today by focusing on what we might be able to bring about instead. Each episode within this series will begin by highlighting the importance of one particular feature of society, then imagining what it might look like after the revolution, and finally offering some ideas on how we get to this revolutionary society.

Our fourth episode is Malls After the Revolution featuring Shawn of Srsly Wrong, a utopian leftist comedy podcast (https://srslywrong.com/). 

"We can't just have a perfect mall that works and is static. We can think of a bunch of different things that are the conditions of a good mall that we can try to increase over time, such as making sure that community members have access. We could try to make a static mall, but it's like trying to paint the smell of oranges. Or trying to translate the taste of soup into a song. It does not follow."

Malls After The Revolution w/ Shawn of Srsly Wrong

Support Laborwave Radio at patreon.com/laborwave

Alex Press, labor reporter and staff writer at Jacobin Magazine, joins the show to discuss Joe Biden's union credentials and what organized labor should and shouldn't expect from a Biden administration. As made clear in this interview- not much without a fight. 

We also dig into the details of the PRO Act, the types of unions the working class wants and needs, and how the primary means for workers to win progressive legislation is to form militant unions and engage in class struggle. 

This interview follows an article from Alex Press that you can read at https://jacobinmag.com/2020/11/joe-biden-labor-unions-afl-cio-kamala-harris

Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, it helps our content reach new listeners. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/laborwave-radio/id1536697871

Music from In The Red Records:
Fuzz- Rat Race

Organized Labor Shouldn’t Expect Much From President Joe Biden w/ Alex Press

Laborwave Radio focuses on work and labor organizing from an anti-capitalist perspective. We're a part of the Channel Zero Network and Labor Radio Network.

A Defense of Wanting to Shoot the Foreman: On Speed-Ups and Union Decline

Laborwave Radio

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