Book Worm

Dan's back this week and so that means an avalanche of new labor news stories. We begin by discussing the new massive strike at Rutgers, with over 9000 faculty, post docs, and grad student workers fighting for fair wages and job security. Next we discuss Florida's latest attempt to destroy public unions. In Syracuse yet another massive union landslide this past week as grad workers voted overwhelmingly to unionize. Service workers in the South staged a one day strike in protest of the region's refusal to enforce safety protections in industries with a majority Black workforce. School staff at the Rhode Island School of Design struck this week, fighting for $20/hr at a school that charges $77k/year.  Unfortunately we have another story of union busting from Planned Parenthood in the Midwest, this time involving illegal surveillance of the union's bargaining team. Finally, we congratulate workers in New Jersey (also at Rutgers!) on filing for the first union at Barnes and Noble in the country.

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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Ep 152 - Pay Your Workers!

We start this week's episode following up with the RISD workers who have signed a new contract after winning their key demands. Next we check in with the striking graduate workers at the University of Michigan where both the courts and the cops have ramped up repression.  Trader Joe's United split two elections this week, one win out west and a heartbreaking loss in NYC. The Writer's Guild of America had record turnout and unity in authorizing a strike that could shut down TV production in Hollywood. Over 150,000 government workers in Canada struck last week to protest low wages and raise offers below inflation. The Barnes and Noble expanded to a second store this week. Starbucks unveiled their economic proposals for nationwide bargaining. Ben and Jerry's workers have joined the Workers United movement. And just the day of recording, workers at Sega have announced their fight to make Sonic a union hedgehog.

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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Ep 154 - Gotta Go Fast!

Our first story this week is on the approaching possibility of a strike by 25,000 pilots at Southwest and American Airlines. Next we discuss the possibility of workers in Coventry, England becoming the first officially recognized Amazon warehouse in the UK. We have two tragic stories of deaths of labor organizers after facing an onslaught of harassment from far right regimes in South Korea and the Philippines. 230,000 rail workers in Germany called off a potential 50 hour strike at the last moment when the rail carriers met a key wage demand. Teachers in Oakland struck for 7 days demanding not just better wages and working conditions, but more importantly government investment in the public good. Medical residents at Penn recently voted by nearly 90% to unionize, forming the largest new union in Pennsylvania in 50 years. Finally, as we recorded on the commemoration of the Nakba, we take a moment to call for solidarity and the liberation of Palestine from settler colonial occupation.

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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Ep 157 - Free Palestine!

We're back from our break for Lina's wedding, which was wonderful and we all had an amazing time, but now it's time to catch up on two weeks of labor news! We start the show with a quick trip through as many short labor stories as we can, covering developments at Starbucks, Amazon, REI, Barnes & Noble, AT&T, Colectivo, Paizo, UPS, and more. Then we follow up with the workers at the Wharf InterContinental Hotel in Washington DC who have forced their employers to recognize their union election with UNITE HERE. We also check in on the UAW workers at Clarios, who have voted to end their strike, as well as the fallout from Florida's anti-public worker law. The past two weeks have seen diverging trends in negotiations with the Hollywood studios, with the Directors signing a tentative agreement for a new deal and SAG-AFTRA voting 98% in favor of joining the writers on strike. David Byrne's recent attempt to do a Broadway musical with no union musicians is the latest in a long history of anti-union behavior by the famed auteur. Smoke clouds choked NYC in the first week of June, forcing workers to organize for their safety. Finally, we congratulate the postdocs and researchers at the University of Washington for winning a one week strike for a new contract.

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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Ep 161 - Back After Forming a Union

It may be a long weekend, but people still gotta work, and that means more labor stories. First we do a quick run through the headlines, discussing where things stand with the WGA strike, the independent labor movement in Mexico, and the fight to defend Pride at Starbucks. Next, workers in South Korea have launched a two week long mobilization to demand the far right anti worker Yoon regime resign. West Coast ports in Canada shuttered this week as negotiations with the ILWU have stalled. 15,000 hotel workers are on strike in LA, as workers fight for wages that just allow them to live where they work. Nurses in Texas and Kansas struck for one day for safe staffing and faced a week long lockout on returning. 6000 aircraft workers with Boeing supplier Spirit Aerosystems shot down multiple tentative agreements before finally winning a new contract. Amazon continues to kill workers with its frantic pace and unsafe conditions, but also keeps trying to deny responsibility. Finally, we check in on the negotiations between the Teamsters and UPS, and discuss some of the recent major wins by the union.

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX 

Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Ep 163 - Everybody's Striking For The Weekend

Shoutout to Cguppy21 for whipping me around in the prius.

Top Dollar Leaves Us All At The Bottom

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RezRat is forever and back.

 Jresin got hung out back

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Hit me up at jresin.22@gmail.com 

New tracks tagged #Barnes and Noble