Mary F*cking Poppins is a poet, performer, zine creator/publisher and musician based in Liverpool. In Episode 21 of First Impressions we talk about how she switched from writing lyrics as a member of fast hardcore/anarcho punk band Falaun to creating poetry during lockdown and the journey that followed, which now sees her producing the seminal Word Vomit zine – a regular collection of themed ‘therapeutic writing’ from local, national and international contributors that pushes back against societal norms and injustices, managing to be both personal and political. 

Mary and I also discuss the Word Vomit open mic nights at Liverpool venue Round the Corner (Floor 1, 51 Kempton Street, Liverpool L3 8ET); her upcoming workshop at the Liverpool Anarchist Bookfair on Saturday 18th March (at The Black – E, 1 Great George Street, Liverpool L1 5EW) and a Word Vomit split album to be released on Bandcamp later this year. Inspirations cited include experimental novelist Kathy Acker and we also discuss Wirralian performance poet Jegsy Dodd, among other artists. 

An unapologetically dyslexic writer, Mary explains how her writing journey began with Lumpen (‘a journal for poor and working class writers’) and Girrrl Guide (a zine she created in support of young girls going through their teenage years) before bringing us up to date with her plans for future collaborations. You can hear my guest read her poem ‘Cleaner’s Guilt’ at 00:00 and perform ‘Night Witches’ with Falaun at 34:39 in this episode. Cover art credits for Word Vomit: Rory da Silva and John Graham. Links to more of Mary’s work/recommended destinations below. Back with more podchat soon! 

Word Vomit zine on Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/word.vomitzine/ 
Strictly Unprofessional Press = https://strictlyunprofessional.bigcartel.com 
Word Vomit zine on Bandcamp = https://wordvomitzine.bandcamp.com
Falaun (band) on Bandcamp = https://falaun.bandcamp.com 
Girrrl Guide zine = https://archive.org/details/GirrrlGuideZine./mode/1up
Girrl Guide podcast = https://www.spreaker.com/show/girrrl-guide-podcasts-show
Lumpen journal = https://www.theclassworkproject.com/product-page/issue-3-lumpen-in-the-time-of-corona
Round the Corner (Liverpool) = https://roundthecornerliverpool.co.uk 
Anarchist Book Fair (Liverpool, 18th March) = https://www.liverpoolanarchistbookfair.org.uk 
Kathy Acker = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Acker 
Jegsy Dodd = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jegsy_Dodd 
D. Hunter’s ‘Tracksuits, Traumas and Class Traitors’ = https://www.theclassworkproject.com/product-page/tracksuits-traumas-and-class-traitors-by-d-hunter 
Martin Appleby = http://www.athinsliceofanxiety.com/2022/03/poetry-selections-from-martin-appleby.html 
Scumbag Press = https://www.scumbagpress.co.uk 
Daniel Schulz = https://thewildword.com/poetry-spirit-daniel-schulz/ 
Paper and Ink zine on Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/paperandinkzine/ 
Original Punkster on Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/originalpunkster11/

First Impressions - Episode 21 - Mary F*cking Poppins

In this episode, Ken interviews Winnie Ng. 

Winnie is a labour rights activist and scholar with a deep commitment to anti-racism, equity and worker empowerment. She is Chair emeritus Unifor National Chair in Social Justice and Democracy at Toronto Metropolitan University, the first and only union-endowed Chair at a Canadian university.

She began her activist work in the labour movement in 1977 as a union organizer with the International Ladies Garment Workers Union; and later on with HERE Local 75. She served as the Ontario Regional Director with the Canadian Labour Congress for 8 years before returning to the academy to complete her doctoral program at OISE/University of Toronto.

Winnie’s research focuses on reimagining the labour movement from a decolonizing and anti-racism perspective, and the physical and mental health impact of global labour market re-structuring, plant-closure and precarious employment on racialized, immigrant and migrant workers, and in particular women workers.

She is the recipient of numerous distinctions, including the Urban Alliance on Race Relations Leadership Award, the United Farm Workers’ Cesar Chavez Black Eagle Award and the YWCA Woman of
Distinction Award. She is a founding member of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance and Asian Canadian Women’s Alliance, and the former co-chair of the Good Jobs for All Coalition.

In her retirement, Winnie serves as the Co-Chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China and volunteers with the International Domestic Workers Federation, a global union that represents over half a million members worldwide.

For updates and more, follow Ken here: https://www.instagram.com/ken._moffatt_/

Ep. 07 Winnie Ng: The Struggle of Memories Against Forgetting

In this week's episode of Comrade Cast, we delve deep into the rising wave of labor movements that are sweeping the globe. From the passionate protests among the UAW to the groundbreaking strikes in Hollywood, the workers of the world are uniting in an unprecedented manner. What's sparking this global pushback? What does it mean for economies, societies, and the future of work? Join us as we discuss the intricate dynamics, the key players, and the potent implications of these events.

The Strikes Have Only Begun: Labor Raising World Wide | Comrade Cast Ep. 45

Robert Forrest speaks to Galway City East Labor Candidate Helen Ogbu about the importance of workers' rights.

Galway Labour Canditate Helen Ogbu Interview

All workers deserve to be treated better and given better working conditions, more staffing, less mandated overtime, guaranteed 40 hour work weeks, paid leave, good benefits, and so much more.  We're more than numbers on a spreadsheet.  We're human beings and we are intrinsically worth more than what we are being given.

This song is available for free download if you want a copy.


Lyrics:

This one's for the new boss
Same as the old boss
From the APWU Bangor Area Local 536...
Let's go!

When you hit me up for overtime I thought it through.
We're wasting up our lives, working hard for you.
We've been takin' stock and it's overdue.
A better contract is what we want from you.
When you hit me up for overtime I thought it through.
We're wasting up our lives, working hard for you.
We've been takin' stock: wages overdue.
A better contract is what we want from you.

When you negotiate, remember we're worth more,
Wages, staffing, benefits, conditions, the first four,
Inflation on the rise, it's taxing the work floor,
Some of us get overtime, some are still dirt poor,
We Serve for the People, we ask you what that's worth,
Stacks of packages, letters and flats surge,
Union Gear Thursday, that's with the Black Shirts,
Remember that us workers are United in Craft Work,
Listen, Lou. We're feeling less than half heard,
This time, the Servants will be gettin' the last word.
A decade of concessions, reality sets in,
Inflation outpacin' our wages now and we get thin,
Full time Clerks, working extra to get by,
Used to be the job, that the metric was set by,
Newer hires make the same, workin' at Best Buy,
And that's a fact that we cannot continue to let fly.

When you hit me up for overtime I thought it through.
We're wasting up our lives, working hard for you.
We've been takin' stock and it's overdue.
A better contract is what we want from you.
When you hit me up for overtime I thought it through.
We're wasting up our lives, working hard for you.
We've been takin' stock: staffing overdue.
A better contract is what we want from...

You claim we're fully staffed, then give overtime mandates.
You're doing our work, then claimin' we can't take
Another new hire, we're at max capacity,
Delaying the service is not a thing we had to see,
Twenty-eleven, brought the two tier pay scale,
Thirteen years chasin' loose leaf bait trails,
Turnover risin', the new peeps' wage jail,
Enough with the lies, the youth need a raise, they'll 
Walk out if you don't give 'em a reason to stay,
Benefits fall short, with three kids on the way,
You forget we're the future? Yeah, we need to be trained.
Failing to hire more of us now would be a mistake.
Workers gettin' hurt, haven't seen a team lift,
In over two years, you don't seem to give a shit,
Reverting our jobs, every time we miss a bid,
Truth be told, every one of us sick of it,
We won't be silent 'til it's all career
We want a contract by the end of the year
Convert the part timers who are already here
And improve the conditions that are bringing us tears
It comes down to this, you gotta stick to your word,
Violate the contract like you flippin' the bird,
We hold up our end, give us what we deserve,
And stop claiming that our work is your victory, heard?
Yeah...

When you hit me up for overtime I thought it through.
We're wasting up our lives, working hard for you.
We've been takin' stock and it's overdue.
A better contract is what we want from you.
When you hit me up for overtime I thought it through.
We're wasting up our lives, working hard for you.
We've been takin' stock: staffing overdue.
A better contract is what we want from you.
When you hit me up for overtime I thought it through.
We're wasting up our lives, working hard for you.
We've been takin' stock, wages overdue.
A better contract is what we want from you.
When you hit me up for overtime I thought it through.
We're wasting up our lives, working hard for you.
We've been takin' stock: and it's overdue.
A better contract is what we want from you.

Yeah...

We're Worth More

Javi drops knowledge on labor, land, and dignity. Interlude with punch.

Workers Struggle (Javi's Interlude)

What can workers do to support Palestine? What can unions do to support their workers? How can the workers movement build strength, and take power back from the compliant lapdogs that run the Irish government? The answers to all these questions and more are contained in this talk. 

Speakers:
Alex Homits of the IWU - union.ie
Eoghan McNeill of The Ditch - wereontheditch.com
Harry Johnston of Trinity BDS - https://linktr.ee/tcd_bds

This is a recording of a public talk given by the IWU, in collaboration with the Trinity BDS committee, in the Máirtín Ó Cadhain Theatre in Trinity College, on the 19th of July 2025.

How Workers Can Refuse To Handle Israeli Goods with The IWU

Based on the Daimler Truck workers chanting "tick tock" as their contract deadline approached, and the Boeing strike of 33,000 machinists who voted down the first contract offer by 95%. labornotes Heavy, mechanical beat mimics factory sounds. Verses tell stories of workers forced to work weekends despite record profits, automation threatening jobs, executives making 300 times what workers earn. Chorus is the relentless "tick tock" chant building in intensity. References the ILA dockworkers' first strike since 1977, the 53-day Boeing action, AT&T's 36-day strike. Bridge features actual union slogans: "On strike, shut 'em down, this is a union town!" Celebrates the 271,500 workers who struck in 2024 Economic Policy Institute and the 77% of young workers who approve of unions.

Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock

A celebration of young workers leading the labor resurgence. Opens with the statistics: 77% of workers under 34 approve of unions, 88% of workers under 30, support crossing partisan lines. Center for American ProgressTraprock Verses tell the stories: The predominantly young Starbucks Workers United organizing 537 stores; Restaurant Dive grad students organizing 20,000+ since 2022; young workers at Amazon, in tech, in schools bringing "imagination, creativity and fresh strategies" to the movement.
Chorus is defiant: "We're not asking, we're organizing / No one's coming to save us anyway / The adults haven't won, only we can / Gen Z ain't asking, we're here to stay." References actual youth organizing language and approach. Bridge addresses why: Starting from behind, crushing student debt, housing unaffordable, climate crisis, no job security, nothing left to lose. But turns that precarity into power: "You gave us nothing, so we've got nothing to lose / You broke the system, now we're breaking through." Ends with union chants: "I believe that we will win!"

Gen Z Ain't Asking

A strong supporter of Labor in all its forms, speaking truth to power.

We are children of the working class.
Our music draws from Marxist theory, street wisdom, and everyday survival under capitalism.
This project is dedicated to the people: struggling, organizing, and refusing to be silenced.

Recorded and Produced in Oakland, CA

Tap in with us:
Instagram: @3rdWorldMilitants
Linktree: linktr.ee/3rdworldmilitants
Community & Booking: 3rdworldmilitants@gmail.com

The Comrade Cast(Formerly Chatter in the Skull)is a show focused on delivering you deep and unconventional analysis for current events, on going crisis, and what the future of the ever shifting shifting tides of the geopolitical ocean will bring us.

Dublin-based podcast documenting grassroots activism in Ireland

Music Studio, covering any genre, any kind of artist.

I'm a writer and editor based in Lancaster. Check out my podcasts Pet Projects (in which I interview creative types about their pets - and their projects), First Impressions (a surreal slice of literary cheesecake), and Monkey Scribbling (two older blokes reflect on their youth in the '90s through the letters they exchanged at the time). 

Pet Projects is a collaboration with Ana Rebolledo and Monkey Scribbling with Richard Pye. 

The family band I formed with my brother, Decaying Leather, in 1989 continues to write and record. Our music can also be found on SoundCloud and elsewhere.

Flirt FM 101.3 is Galway City's award winning Student, Community & Alternative Station, based in the University of Galway since September 1995. With 2.6 paid staff, the station is home to up to 150 volunteers.

Downstream from what explores the links between art, and social justice. We interview a group of cultural creators, artists, and activists to speak about the link between art and social change. Season Two includes interviews with sound artist and educator Ben McCarthy; Educator, visual artist and musician Samantha Wehbi; Educator, multidisciplinary artist Natalie Wood; Labour and Pro Democracy activist and educator Winnie Ng; Singer-Songwriter and Activist Simone Schmidt .


The first season included interviews with Kiké Roach and Alex Bierk along with series co-creator Ken Moffatt.  As with the practice of art the interviews span a great many topics and a wide variety of creative interventions.

Downstream from What is created under auspices of the Jack Layton Chair at Toronto Metropolitan University We appreciate the support of the Dean of Arts and Dean of Community Services 

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or comments.

New tracks tagged #workersrights