The whole gang's back together and what a week in labor it has been! After a few quick headlines we dive right into the biggest story of the week breaking down the nationwide writer's strike.   Writers across the country have hit the picket lines to defend the very existence of their profession as a career. A story in Labor Notes details the ways fishery workers in Massachusetts have had immigration law and labor law loopholes weaponized against them. AI and content moderation workers in Africa launched the first continent wide union of its type this week. More horrors out of Amazon as they've released a new service purporting to provide affordable connection to healthcare...with the price of giving away your HIPAA rights. More awful news on the child labor front as the government announced fines for McDonald's employing children as young as 10. Finally, we close with some happier news, as the team behind Youtube Music announced their unanimous decision to join the CWA.

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX 

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

Ep 156 - The People's War Against AI

Know Your Rights Toolkit: https://assets.nationbuilder.com/arisechicago/pages/2726/attachments/original/1735833065/Toolkit_immigrant_workers_-_digital_EN.pdf
Alamo Drafthouse Worker Support Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/mutual-fund-for-laid-off-alamo-drafthouse-employees
ILWU Los Angeles Wildfire Relief Fund: https://checkout.square.site/merchant/6RSQCXFP2D8CP/checkout/EBJ3K7AK2WR2SCPQUAHP2DUB

Trump's back, which means its time to ramp up the fight back against attacks on our fellow workers. After our headlines, we discuss how the government of the Bahamas used legal repression to crush a planned two day nationwide strike before it happened. Then we discuss a recent exposé in The City by friend of the show Claudia Irizarry Aponte on a "union" for home health workers that does more for the bosses than for its members. Also this week, we've got two stories on wage theft, union busting, and retaliation by Geo Group against immigrants detained in its privately operated concentration camps. Finally, we discuss a recent Labor Notes piece sharing the lessons from union struggles to defend immigrant workers across the country and how our unions can defend our fellow workers.

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX 

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 242 - El Pueblo Unido

Our episode this week is one big call to action. Trump and the billionaires are trying to shred the collective bargaining rights of every worker in America and it requires the labor movement to rise to the occasion. In addition to the attack on federal workers rights, we discuss the intertwined simultaneous assault on immigrant workers and students fighting genocide. We've also got another update from official NALC Correspondent Cea Moline on both the state of the NALC contract and the fight against privatization.

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX 

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 252 - PATCO On Steroids

Eventually, some day, we may get back to shorter episodes. Today is not that day. We start with headlines from Amazon, Microsoft, Simmons and Wellesley Universities, and the Supreme Court. For our first main story we dive into the union led protests against attacks on research funding by Trump and the billionaires. Next we dive into Shawn Fain's recent Facebook Live event discussing UAW policy on tariffs and trade, and how that affects workers outside the US. Finally, we close out with the fight against deportations and abductions that is going to need to continue to accelerate.

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX 

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 254 - Bring Them All Home

Headlines this week from New Bedford, Seattle, Utah, Chicago, and Missouri. A recent piece from Amir Khafagy reveals the criminal underfunding of one of the few institutions of New York City government actually intended to help working people. The Trump and Musk assault on the NLRB continued this week with attacks on NLRB precedent, theft of sensitive NLRB data, and increasing numbers of workers calling for unity in the fightback. Zenimax workers are standing up and preparing for one of the first strikes in the video game industry's history. Finally, workers with independent Mexican union SINTTIA have once again won major gains through militant action, raising standards for autoworkers across the country.

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX 

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 255 - Fighting Unions, Not Friendly Unions

Migrant Justice Petition: https://migrantjustice.net/node/556

Headlines this week from PetSmart, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Wellesley College, Kroger,  and the Port of Casablanca. We discuss a piece this week from The American Prospect on the rampant abuse of independent contractor labels in the construction industry. Also this week, attacks on immigrant workers continued to escalate with 8 dairy workers arrested in Vermont. Trump's tariffs continue to wreak havoc on workers, with many manufacturers cutting, rather than increasing jobs. Finally, we check in with Starbucks Workers United, where workers have taken to direct action as the company continues to refuse to offer a fair contract after three years.

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX 

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 256 - The Cows Don't Milk Themselves

We start this week with headlines on organizing in healthcare, logistics, airlines, construction, software development, video games, and trading cards. We did a deeper dive on a set of stories from Canada last week, this week we have three big stories from workers and farmers in India fighting against neoliberal exploitation. The next major step forward for Mexico's young independent labor movement may be coming up, as Labor Notes reports on efforts to bring new union SINTTIA to a second major plant from GM. The Supreme Court took a major step towards dismantling the NLRA and the entire post-Depression regime of contractual collective bargaining this week, and unions will need to shift tactics to respond. Finally, we discuss how the 4 day workweek is going in Iceland.

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX 

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

Ep 260 - Beyond the Board

Big episode this week as Trump's war on workers has taken an extremely literal turn. First we've got headlines from Providence, Western Washington, Genoa, Argentina, and Ecuador. Doctors continue to unionize in record numbers, and this week we cover two recent victories. The Washington DC City Council jettisoned democracy to attack tipped workers this week, halting an already approved wage increase at the behest of restaurant owners. Over 150,000 grocery workers with the UFCW and Teamsters are gearing up for what could be the biggest grocery strikes in years. Finally, we discuss the powerful uprising by the working people of Los Angeles in response to raids by the ICE terrorist organization against migrant workers, the false imprisonment of SEIU California's president, and the necessity for unified action to end these brutal attacks on our communities.

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX 

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

Ep 262 - Chinga La Migra!

Headlines this week from South Korea, Paris, Greece, Washington, Oregon, Chicago, New York, and Maine, including follow ups on the big Philly public worker strike, the lockout at Butler Hospital in Providence, and the ever expanding strike at Republic Services. Our main story this week is the war on the working class being unleashed against immigrants across the country, including a militarized terror raid at a farm in California where ICE murdered one worker and arrested 200. A recent report from The Guardian documents how Amazon is using AI to automate discrimination against disabled workers. Finally, the workers and farmers movement in India once again held a truly massive strike, with 250 million people hitting the streets last week.

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX 

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

Ep 267 - ICE Are Murderers

Part of the series “Viewpoints on Resilient and Equitable Responses to the Pandemic” from the Center for Urban and Regional Studies at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing people around the world to question how this virus will affect the many public and private systems that we all use. We hope this collection of viewpoints will elevate the visibility of creative state and local solutions to the underlying equity and resilience challenges that COVID-19 is highlighting and exacerbating. To do this we have asked experts at UNC to discuss effective and equitable responses to the pandemic on subjects ranging from low-wage hospitality work, retooling manufacturing processes, supply chain complications, housing, transportation, the environment, and food security, among others.

Hannah Gill is an anthropologist and oral historian with a specialization in Latin American and Caribbean migration studies. She is an associate director of the Institute for the Study of the Americas at UNC-Chapel Hill and author of the book "The Latino Migration Experience in North Carolina: New Roots in the Old North State." She'll talk about the roles of immigrants in our labor force, particularly those considered essential workers.

Viewpoints on Resilient & Equitable Responses to the Pandemic. Hannah Gill: Immigrant Workers

Created in 1957, the Center for Urban and Regional Studies is one of the oldest university-based research centers of its kind. The Center’s mission is to promote and support within UNC-Chapel Hill, high-quality basic and applied research on urban, regional and rural planning and policy issues.

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