2023 is showing no signs of being any less militant of a year for workers than 2022 was, so we've got another packed episode of Work Stoppage this week. After a couple brief check ins, we discuss the recent rejection of Case New Holland's "Last, Best, and Final" Offer by UAW workers.  Also this week, Microsoft surprisingly held up their end of the neutrality agreement and voluntarily recognized the new QA union at ZeniMax. Workers at Howard Brown Health in Chicago struck last week after the company fired 15% of their staff just months after workers unionized. Newspaper workers at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram finally have their first union contract after winning a month long strike. A recent horrifying near-deadly injury once again brought the extreme exploitation of NFL players to national attention. The Tory government in the UK is trying to speed run the class war, as this week they have proposed new laws banning strikes in many industries. Finally, we got rare good news from the feds, as the FTC proposed a blanket ban on non-compete agreements.

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

Ep 139 - Athletes Are Workers Too

We start this week with congratulations for workers at REI, Barnes and Noble, and the Chicago Nature Museum who all won union elections last week. Our first full story covers an ongoing strike by San Diego bus drivers over being forced to work split shifts that take up 13 hours of their day. In DC, workers with UNITE HERE are protesting the move to close one of the most popular and acclaimed new restaurants in the country just to crush a union drive. An investigation by The Nation this week revealed the widespread levels of exploitation and hazardous working conditions in the legal weed business. Tech workers at Amazon have moved to escalate the class struggle at the company in response to recent layoffs. The National Eating Disorders Association decided that rather than continue to operate a helpline used by thousands every year if the workers unionized, they'd rather replace the workers with a chatbot that doesn't work. Finally, resident doctors in Queens struck this week for the first time in over three decades over low wages and disparities with other hospitals.

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

Ep 159 - You Can't Automate Empathy

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.

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

Ep 163 - Everybody's Striking For The Weekend

After saluting the continued organizing prowess of the workers of Hadley, MA, we start this week's show discussing the NLRB shooting down eBay's appeal of the union victory at TCGPlayer. Next we check in on strikes at Wabtec and the University of Michigan, both of which have seen management escalate attacks on workers. Google is back for a second week in a row, this time for firing most of the Google Help team in retaliation for unionizing. City workers in LA staged a huge one day strike to fight for fair raises and an end to overwork, with workers in San Jose joining them this week. The American Political Science Association have decided to cross the picket line of striking LA hotel workers, to the outrage of many members. Rounding out some new unions: Visual effects workers at Marvel are unionizing with IATSE, workers at the NIH are joining the UAW, and Yellowstone workers have voted to join the National Federation of Federal Employees.

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

Ep 169 - Union Busting is Organized Crime

After some quick follow ups on organizing at Ben & Jerry's and Grindr, we get into the big stories in labor as 2023 winds down. More and more unions are standing up against genocide, with 1199 and NNU joining the call for a ceasefire. The UAW filed ULPs against 3 automakers this week for interfering with organizing campaigns. The NLRB ordered Starbucks to reopen 23 stores it closed for unionizing, but results may be a long ways off. Incarcerated workers in Alabama filed a massive class action lawsuit against the state for its use of convict leasing to profit from slave conditions. Cargo handling workers at Denver International Airport strike this week for safe working conditions. Hundreds of nurses in Louisiana joined National Nurses United in a major victory, and Yale graduate student workers won a historic first contract.

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

Ep 187 - America Runs on Slavery

Support Striking ILWU Local 6 Workers: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-local-6-workers-in-their-fight-for-fair-wages

We start this week's episode with follow-ups at the University of Maine, Boston hotels, Trader Joe's in Manhattan, Starbucks in Ithaca, and Wonderful Nurseries in California. We follow up on the second week of the strike by over 30,000 Machinists at Boeing as the company digs in for a long strike. The UAW announced a strike vote this week to hold Stellantis accountable for its many broken contract provisions. The Teamsters have rapidly expanded their organizing of Teamster drivers. A new report quantifies the massive amount of wage theft taking place at Waffle House. Finally, 800 Teamsters strike at a Borgwarner auto parts plant in New York.

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

More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

Ep 226 - World Class Workers

This week we start with messages of solidarity to workers across the South affected by Hurricane Helene, and workers across Lebanon affected by the horrific expansion of US-Israeli attacks. We also follow up with Unite Here hotel workers, The Bird Union's new contract, and the unsafe tobacco factories of NYC. Our first story this week examines the long struggle by Filipino healthcare workers for a living wage.  Migrant workers are fighting against wage theft here in the US, as we discuss the scale of exploitation enabled by this country's guest worker system.  The massive strike at Boeing continued into its third week, with the company's desperate tactics only backfiring in its face. Rideshare drivers in Massachusetts have the chance to vote for a ballot measure that would provide them a union...but without the right to strike. Finally, we discuss the LOOMING strike about to hit the East Coast ports as the major shippers continue to refuse to meet the demands of the ILA.

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

More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

Ep 227 - "We'll Cripple You"

After commemorating one year of the US-Israeli genocide in Palestine, we discuss the response from workers in Spain, who launched a one day nationwide strike demanding an end to all relations with Israel. After following up on several UAW stories,  the Teamsters at Amazon, and striking hotel workers, we have an update on the Boeing strike as it moves into the long haul. Of course the big story this week was the first strike by the East Coast dockworkers in the ILA in nearly 50 years. We've also got another in our recent discussions on the horrific conditions faced by migrant workers in the US. This week saw tragic loss of hundreds of lives in Hurricane Helene, including several workers at Impact Plastics in Erwin, Tennessee. Finally, we discuss an ongoing strike by 1000 workers at Samsung in India who have faced massive state repression.

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

More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

Ep 228 - One Year of Resistance

We've got headlines this week from NYC, Boston, Minneapolis, the island of Guadeloupe, and also PBS. Pepsi recently shocked workers in Chicago when they abruptly closed the region's only bottling plant with no notice. A new report shows the shocking worker death toll of US-ally Saudi Arabia's quixotic NEOM project.  Philadelphia transit workers voted unanimously to authorize a potential strike. Workers at Boeing have once again forced the company to increase their "Best and Final Offer." Finally, we discuss a recent Labor Notes report on how nurses in Hawaii beat a lockout.

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

More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

New tracks tagged #UNITE HERE