On last week’s episode we discussed the recent strike by workers organizing with Doughnut Workers United at Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland during the recent heat wave.  This week we were lucky enough to be able to interview one of the workers illegally fired in retaliation for that strike.  We discuss the general conditions at Voodoo Doughnuts, the tactics used by management to combat the union drive, and how the company tried to justify its firing of workers for a legally protected strike action over unsafe work conditions.

Listeners can help out the affected workers by donating here:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/dwu-strike-and-hardship-fund-june-2021

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EP 58 - Doughnut Workers United Interview

We’ve got a packed episode of Work Stoppage this week.  Just before recording Starbucks decided to fire seven of their workers in Memphis for unionizing, in one of the more obvious cases of retaliation we’ve covered.  Thousands of teachers protested last Friday in Puerto Rico over incredibly low wages which force many of them to take second or even third jobs just to make ends meet.  The GOP introduced a bill last week to try and bring back company unions and are trying to disguise it as “pro-worker” legislation, we break down why it’s bullshit.  Target workers organizing for hazard pay have given us a window into how corporations train their managers to be union busters by leaking screencaps of the company’s anti-union training.  Also this week, Amy’s Kitchen, yet another company cultivating a “progressive” image with their line of vegan and non-GMO frozen foods, is trying hard to suppress workers organizing to combat years of labor intensification.  Finally, we cover the victory of workers at a major GM plant in Mexico, who overwhelmingly voted to replace their corrupt company union with one led by rank and file workers.

Fund for fired Memphis Starbucks workers: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-fired-starbucks-union-leaders-in-memphis

If you like the show, please support us at patreon.com/workstoppage.  We couldn’t do the show without your support, and patrons get access to evergreen Overtime episodes .

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Ep 91 - Company Unions are Fascist Unions

If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month.

Normally our history series tend to focus on mass movements, on structures, on the broad forces at play in the class struggle. But just because the class struggle is the motor of history, doesn't mean that individuals don't play critical roles. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was one of those exceptional working class leaders forged in struggle who played an outsized role in many of the most pivotal labor struggles in US history. Political agitator, firebrand public speaker, labor organizer, IWW legend, Communist Party leader, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn played countless roles in the pursuit of liberation. In this series, we'll discuss her incredible life and what lessons we can learn from her lifelong devotion to the cause of the working class. 

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OT Ep 68 Preview: Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Pt 1

If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month.

The first Red Scare following the US entry into World War 1 threw the US left into intense turmoil. Though Elizabeth Gurley Flynn had left the IWW over organizational and strategic differences, she was swept up in the Palmer Raids alongside many of her comrades. She would devote much of the rest of her life to the legal defense of workers imprisoned for opposing war or fighting for their rights on the job. She fought for years to release thousands of political prisoners locked up for opposing the draft and criticizing US entry into the war. Through this work, Flynn also came into contact with one of the most historic cases of political persecution of this period, the legal lynching of Sacco and Vanzetti. Throughout the 1920s, though no longer a part of the IWW, Flynn remained a fixture of the US labor struggle, continuing to criss cross the country in defense of workers rights.

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Overtime Episode 71 Preview: Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Pt 5

We start this week with a brief update on national negotiating with Starbucks Workers United and the continued growth of the union. We also follow up with the Boeing firefighters of IAFF I-66 who ratified a new contract this week, ending a nearly month long lockout. The Department of Labor finally announced some higher than usual penalties for child labor at Hyundai. The historic stand up strike for Palestine at UC continued to grow this week, adding thousands more strikers at three more campuses. We also check in on rideshare driver organizing in the UK, where hundreds protested by blocking traffic. Finally, we discuss a report in Labor Notes on how workers at Stellantis are fighting back against the company's attempts to undermine last year's contract wins.

Also, as we discuss at the end of the show, we're trying something new! Submit your stories about bad bosses, organizing wins, and other workplace tales to our new Google Voice number!

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Ep 210 - 4811 Will Strike You All

This week we are going deep into the vault of the many Overtime series we have done to bring ALL of the listeners something that feels applicable to the times we face right now. Some of our views on these important topics have been slightly reexamined since 2021 when this episode came out, but overall it still covers this history well. To get all 4 episodes in this series, become a patron. We appreciate the support.

Join us down the rabbit hole on this first part of a series of patrons-only Overtime episodes where we discuss an overview of the history of the US repressive state apparatus, and how it has been used to crush working class movements.  In this episode we discuss the history of violent state suppression of strikes, and how the federal government worked hand in hand with private armed forces like the Pinkerton’s to infiltrate and crush early labor unions.  We talk about how repression of the movement changed with the legalization of collective bargaining and the ejection of communists from the major unions during the Red Scare.  We also get into some of the early covert programs developed to fight left-wing movements and Black liberation groups, COINTELPRO and Operation Mockingbird.  Future episodes will go over programs like Operation Gladio, Operation Condor, the CIA’s involvement in the drug trade, Operation Cyclone, and more in the long sordid history of US covert warfare.  All with the ultimate goal of understanding the violent tactics used by the US against working class movements around the world, so we can understand how that affects our movement today.

OT Ep 8 (Unlocked): The Repressive State Apparatus – A Brief History – Pt 1

While looking for recordings of Elizabeth G. Flynn I found this in the Walter P. Ruther Online Library at Wayne State University. The audio player was broken on the website, but I figured out a way to downloaded the source audio anyway. It was also very low quality so I put a little effort into remastering it so everyone can enjoy it. Solidarity.
-Lina

Source: https://reuther.wayne.edu/node/12892

Original Description: A conversation with Elizabeth Gurley Flynn in which she discusses her upbringing and entry into the political scene as the “girl orator,” her organizing efforts and labor defense work on behalf of the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.), and the evolution of her political beliefs. Of particular interest is a description of her arrest under the Smith Act and her years spent in prison at the Women’s Reformatory in Alderson, West Virginia.

Keywords: Industrial Workers of the World, Communism, Socialism, Lawrence Strike, Joe Hill, Herbert Hoover, Bill Haywood, Joe Hill, McCarren Internal Security Act, Smith Act, Palmer Raids, Tom Mooney, Sacco and Vanzetti Trial

[Unlocked & Remastered] 1962 Interview with Elizabeth Gurley Flynn

Louisiana Nurses Strike Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-the-nurses-strike-fund

Another whirlwind week of attacks on workers rights and the fightback from the labor movement. In our headlines we check in on the Oregon Nurses Association, the UFW, Student Workers of Columbia, the Professional Staff Congress, and more workers across the country and the world. 10,000 workers at King Soopers in Colorado are on strike, we discuss the first week of UFCW Local 7's fight for a fair contract. Nurses in New Orleans used the spotlight on the city for the Super Bowl to highlight their struggle for safe staffing. Workers in National Nurses United, the UE, AAUP, SPFE and many other unions across the country are fighting back against the twin assaults on our trans siblings and our immigrant co-workers, we discuss some of their first steps. Finally, the AFGE, AFSCME, and the AFL-CIO at large are leading the fight against Elon Musk's attempts to purge and loot the federal government.

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

Ep 245 - Striking Is Our Hammer

If you're not a patron, subscribe at patreon.com/workstoppage to get full access to the episode.

As migrant workers across the US face an onslaught of racist state terrorism from ICE and other federal agencies, solidarity from the labor movement is more critical than ever. One of the most powerful tools of repression that the bosses have is using racist dehumanization to split workers against each other across national lines. So now more than ever, it's critical that American workers understand that these migrant workers are our brothers and sisters, and that only by uniting with them can we advance our class interests. For as long as there has been a border between the US and Mexico, workers on both sides have only ever won their struggles against oppression through unity, rather than division. In this series, using the incredible book Radicals in the Barrio by Professor Justin Akers Chacon as our core guide, we will discuss the history of shared working class struggles by Mexican and Mexican American workers on both sides of the border from the Mexican-American War to the Cold War. 

In this first episode, we will begin by laying the groundwork for the politics of the Mexican Revolution, looking back through the history of colonization, independence, war with the United States, and relations with US Imperialism. In future episodes, we'll discuss the role of the working class in the Mexican Revolution, how these revolutionaries brought their ideas north across the border and influenced struggles in the US, and how multi-national unity has been critical to any labor victories won in the Southwest for over 150 years.


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The Working Class Has No Border Ep 1: Pre-Revolutionary Foundations

Find a Sick of ICE! Event Near You: https://sickofice.org/

We start this week's headlines with follow-ups on workers at Safeway, Chiquita and Cisco, several new struggles being waged by the Teamsters, and South Korea's new train driving Minister of Labor. We've also got new possible strikes by healthcare workers in Rhode Island and municipal workers in Philly. Our first main story covers a sweeping new labor code in Colombia passed after a nationwide working class mass mobilization. Next we discuss a recent piece in the New Republic documenting the ways UPS is functionally breaking the landmark 2023 contract and workers are literally dying because of it. Finally, we close with a round up of updates on the Trump Administration's war on workers, and new ways workers are fighting back.

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

Ep 265 - Sick of ICE!

We start this week with some headlines including victories at Safeway, King Soopers, Tyson, Sharp Healthcare, as well as workers standing up to ICE all over the country. Another major struggle by farmers in India against attacks on their livelihood that could draw 10s of millions this week. Municipal workers in Philadelphia have been on strike over a week and the mile high stacks of trash are showing just how vital these folks are. The right wing assault on universities continues to escalate, and many administrators are using it for cover for attacks on workers they've wanted all along. Finally, we cover a roundup of ways that the Trump Administration is rolling back even more of the very few labor protections any of us have.

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Ep 266 - What Are We Willing to Do About It?

Student Workers of Columbia Petition: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSffy00B2Ns3ssleCKD8JIPdyav9vIIjFeydhfj2w86K1NfwYA/viewform

Its another supersized episode as we try our best to catch up to the unending cascade of news in the labor world. We start with headlines from PetSmart, Airgas, Italian dock and textile workers, the WNBA, Amazon, Raven Software, and Hormel. For our main stories, this week we really focus in on the attacks on public workers, starting across the pond with the ruthless austerity facing doctors at the NHS. Next we discuss Trump's move to tear up union contracts at the VA and EPA. We also dive into the attempt to roll back reforms won through the working class struggle in the 1960s and 70s, removing crucial regulations. Finally, we dive into the specific assault on teachers, where it comes from, and whether it's really as "populist" as our media would like us to believe.

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Ep 270 - They're Flooding the Zone

We're back to full strength this week and have another jam packed episode for you! We start with headlines from workers at Microsoft, Uber, Amazon, Portuguese Airports, Kaiser Permanente, SpaceX, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Then we've got a follow up on last week's landmark defiance of Canada's attempt to crush the Air Canada strike, with flight attendants winning big after standing their ground. Next we've got an update on the war on education, with stories from the University of Oregon, Columbia University, the AAUP, and public school teachers in Oklahoma. Continuing with our airport centered theme, we also have a maddening story of union busting by airport transportation contractor SkyHop, from a recent report by Amir Khafagy for Documented. Finally, after nearly four months, the workers at Butler Hospital in Providence, RI finally won their strike and ratified a new contract, we discuss what they won in the process.

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Ep 272 - So Be It

It's Labor Day! Which means we're working and hopefully you aren't, because the labor news needs reporting, but everyone else needs to be at a protest, picket line, and/or barbecue. We start with headlines from Northwestern University, Arena League Football, the Offshore Wind industry, Yosemite National Park, UPMC, Activision Blizzard, and Valleyview Municipal Library in Alberta, Canada. For our main stories we discuss the continued campaign of escalations by the incredible organizers with No Azure for Apartheid, fighting Microsoft's collaboration with genocide. Next we've got a story that couldn't be more emblematic of the purpose of the nationwide campaign of ICE terror, with union organizers in upstate New York being specifically targeted for deportation. Uber and Lyft drivers in California took a major step towards official unionization this week, but the deal that made that possible comes with quite a few asterisks. Finally, the UAW notched another major win in an extremely tight election at the BOSK EV battery plant in Glendale, Kentucky.

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Ep 273 - Labor Dabor

If you're not a patron, subscribe at patreon.com/workstoppage to get full access to the episode.

In our sixth episode, and final episode of our subset on the struggle of farmworkers,  we discuss the epic agricultural strikes of the 1930s.  With farm wages slashed to starvation levels during the Great Depression, organization in the fields made the slogan "Fight, Don't Starve!" a reality. While the AFL continued to refuse to organize farmworkers, the Communist Party stepped into the gap and organized the largest agricultural strike wave in US history in 1933. In response, farm owners and their allies in the state unleashed truly fascist repression, attempting to drown these struggles in blood. But the perseverance of the workers and their dedication to racial and national unity managed to extract vital wins even in the depths of the worst economic downturn in the country's history. These struggles would terrify farm owners so much, they would lobby the state to create the country's first guest worker program, the Bracero Program, to institute a legalized regime of apartheid in the fields and try to prevent the racial unity that proved so powerful. These fights and the response from the capitalist class laid the foundations for the structures of exploitation and oppression faced by farmworkers today, and carry many lessons for those who would organize for a better future.

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The Working Class Has No Border Ep 6: Fighting California Fascism PREVIEW

It's back to school time so we start this week's headlines with a bunch of stories of teachers fighting for the learning conditions their students deserve all over the country, in primary, secondary, and higher education. We've also got headlines on rideshare drivers, healthcare workers, hotel workers, train drivers, and dockworkers. This week saw yet another new low for Columbia University admins, who are now trying to strip all grad workers of their right to unionize. ICE staged its largest workplace raid ever this week, abducting over 450 workers at a major Hyundai factory under construction in Georgia, halting the project and causing outrage in South Korea. The latest jobs numbers are out, so we close by taking some time to dig into the numbers showing that these racist attacks are hurting rather than helping US born workers, and leading to a recession. 

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Ep 274 - We Can't Wait

We're down a host this week, but Dan and Lina press on to bring you the labor headlines.  We've got stories from the CTU, Hyundai, Amazon, and Onatrio Public Colleges. For our first main story, it turns out not only is AI not intelligent, in order to be even slightly coherent, it relies on low paid human labor. Union busting law firm Littler Mendelson was exposed in an article in the American Prospect for advocating breaking labor law bosses don't like. Workers at Starbucks are continuing to devise new tactics to pressure the company to finally sign a union contract as membership has soared past 12,000. Finally, two articles this week from Jacobin and In These Times ask how labor can change tactics to respond to a crisis the NLRB process is not designed to solve.

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Ep 275 - Fight Outside The Lines

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For the first of two episodes focusing on the struggle of miners in the Southwest, we discuss the critical role played by Mexican miners in the growth of the US electrical industry at the turn of the 20th century. As demand for copper exploded, the mines of Arizona and northern Mexico became incredibly valuable, and thus demand for labor soared.  Mine owners used racial hierarchies and job segregation to split their workers against each other to prevent the power of solidarity from shutting down their isolated mining towns. Mexican miners organized in the thousands, but were often refused solidarity from the house of labor, whether the AFL or the Western Federation of Miners. We discuss the bloody struggles for fair wages and safe working conditions in the early 1900s, as Mexican miners were often forced to stand alone against the tyranny of the bosses and the state, waging heroic struggles and paying for every extra cent they earned with blood. 

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The Working Class Has No Border Ep 7: Mexican Miners Power The Second Industrial Revolution PREVIEW

Support Palestinian Families: https://lifeline4gaza.com/

The news has been...a lot lately, but there have been a ton of labor stories that have been drowned out and we are here to bring them to you! We start with headlines from Texas State University, California Public Schools, Chicago day laborers, nurses at the VA, farm workers in upstate New York, Republic Services, and Netflix Animation. Workers across Europe have been in motion this week, and our first major story covers the fight against austerity by millions of French workers who have taken to the streets. We saw another extremely cynical union busting drive under religious justification, this one at Loyola Mormont University. Finally, we discuss the historic general strike by Italian workers that shut down the entire country in solidarity with Palestine and the Global Sumud Flotilla. 

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Ep 276 - Palestina Libera!

We've got some huge international strikes and check-ins on some long running campaigns this week. We start with headlines from Iowa hospitals, Cornell University, Incheon International Airport, New Zealand primary schools, Doordash, and Amazon. Our first main story we discuss a Labor Notes piece updating us on the ongoing effort to organize one of the country's biggest banks, Wells Fargo. After the illegal seizure of the Global Sumud Flotilla, Italian workers made good on their threats to launch a massive general strike. Workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have been on strike for over 2 years, we discuss what's keeping them going after all this time and the importance of their struggle to a dire media landscape. Finally, a piece in the American Prospect from Sarah Lazare demonstrates clearly how the attacks on immigrants are attacks on all of us, and why the time is now for a unified fightback by organized labor.

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Ep 278 - Blocchiamo Tutto!

The government may be shut down, but labor never stops, so neither do we. We open with some headlines at Mauser Packaging Solutions, Hilton Hotels, Canada Post, Microsoft, the nation of Greece, and the LA Times. Home healthcare workers in Michigan won a huge union victory this week, with tens of thousands winning union representation for the first time. Thousands of healthcare workers in California and Hawaii are gearing up for what may be the largest strike at Kaiser Permanente in history this week. The Trump Administration is using its own campaign of terror against farmworkers to justify lowering their wages. Finally, Chicago has become the epicenter of ICE's attack on the working class, and even the Pope is calling for labor unions to step up their defense.

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Ep 279 - Frogs Against Fascism

If you're not a patron, subscribe at patreon.com/workstoppage to get full access to the episode.

For the final episode in our series, we finally discuss the struggle of Mexican workers in the factories of the southwest. We've covered farmworkers, miners, oil workers, and by the 1920s, more and more jobs began to open up for Mexican workers in more stable jobs in canneries and other factories. But just as with the extractive sectors, bosses used open racism to segregate their workforce and drive conditions down for everyone. We discuss the organization of railroad workers in Los Angeles, cannery and furniture factory workers across California, and the truly epic strike by pecan shellers in San Antonio that reshaped the industry. We close out our series summarizing the lessons we've learned throughout all these struggles, and how they can be applied to rebuild our labor movement into the fighting organization of the entire working class that this moment so desperately needs.

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The Working Class Has No Border Ep 9:  Mexican Workers Organize The Factories (1920-1950) PREVIEW

With millions of people taking to the streets this weekend, we've got a packed episode for you. We start with headlines from Republic Services, Blizzard Entertainment, Starbucks, Microsoft, the Royal College of Nursing, Tata, and the nation of Spain. Tens of thousands of workers just wrapped up a historic week long strike at Kaiser Permanente, we discuss their continued struggle. Peoples Dispatch reports on the fight by workers in the cotton industry of Benin against forced labor.  Volkswagen is facing a potential fight, Labor Notes breaks down the organizing effort in Chattanooga. Air traffic controllers aren't getting paid due to the shutdown, and yet their union is advocating workers not to call in sick. Finally, more and more workers are standing up to ICE kidnapping their neighbors, we recount some of their latest efforts and tactics.


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Ep 280 - Kaiser Clown Car

We start with headlines from Starbucks, Amazon, MIT, Ohio University, Harvard, UPS, Fairfax County, Allina Healthcare and Tunisia. In a possible major shift, Saudi Arabia announced the end to their system of contract slave labor known as the Kafala system, we discuss how that may play out in reality. A recent piece from In These Times spoke with unionized workers at Reuters in British Columbia who are fighting their employer's collaboration with ICE. Over 100,000 workers launched a mass strike in New Zealand against austerity policies crushing the country's education and healthcare sectors. Finally, Capital and Main put out an excellent report this week on efforts by workers at dollar stores in Louisiana to organize for better pay and conditions outside the usual NLRB process, and how that might be replicated elsewhere.

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Ep 281 - No NLRB? No Problem

We're back with another packed episode as John returns and people everywhere are talking about general strikes. First we start with headlines from Volkswagen, Breakthrough Beverages, Minneapolis Public Schools, Texas State University, Microsoft, Uber, and the FAA. The Trump Administration has rolled out another policy to attack workers, this time attacking our right to keep all our digits. A recent piece on On Labor raises the possibility of sectoral bargaining in higher education as a solution to intransigent administrators constantly undermining student workers. The UK hit a new low as a recent report shows that even when they rule companies are illegally refusing to pay workers, they don't even bother collecting their fines. The provincial government of Alberta is waging a scorched earth campaign to rob teachers of their right to strike, which may actually prompt a general strike across the province. Finally, we follow up with yet another report exposing that most of the companies claiming they're replacing workers with AI...aren't.

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Ep 282 - "Notwithstanding" My Ass

Election day got all the coverage in the major media last week, but workers struggles don't stop so we've got our weekly roundup for you with all the news that got crowded out. We start with headlines from public workers in Memphis, students in Alberta, Teamsters in Philly, climbing gym workers in Minnesota, bartenders in Utah, and Iron Workers in Chicago. Our main stories start covering the impact on workers across the country by the government shutdown combined with the Trump Administration's attacks on the union movement. The VA has seen some of the harshest cuts, and we discuss the ripple effects this is having on veteran's healthcare. UC workers won a tentative agreement after threatening the largest strike in the university system's history, we discuss the organizing effort that made it happen. Finally, Starbucks workers have officially voted to authorize a massive nationwide strike, with the first rallies set to start this week.

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Ep 283 - The Gales of November

It's another jam packed episode, once again workers are doing so much we struggled to cover it all! We start with headlines from the University of California, Portland State University, University of Chicago, Case New Holland, GM Canada, Walgreens, the ECHL, Kickstarter, and the United States Federal Government. Starbucks workers launched their largest strike ever this past week, we check in on the first pickets and the fight for a contract. The extremely long and hard fought strike by workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette finally came to a conclusion this week through legal action. Over 15,000 workers in Iran's oil sector went on strike recently for pay, benefits, and to preserve their country's sovereignty. Finally, we check in on the malfeasance of the Labour Party who under Keir Starmer are simultaneously attacking both Doctors and Teachers.

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Ep 284 - No Coffee 'Til Contract

Long drive ahead of you this week? We've got your labor news ready to go! We start with a ton of headlines checking in with Starbucks, Amazon, Nestle, New Seasons Market, the University of Pennsylvania, Sharp Healthcare, and the nightmare that is the state of Florida. For our full stories this week, we start by checking in on union busting in a place even our jaded listeners might not expect: public libraries. Then we check in on developments with the strike by workers at Canada Post and discuss the ramifications of the end of their nationwide industrial action. Finally, the LA Times released an expose this week showing the stark levels of child exploitation in US agriculture, a scourge which is directly tied to the long history of superexploitation of migrants that US agribusiness fortunes are built on.

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Ep 285 - Labor Librarians

Workers have been pummeled by an overload of customers on Black Friday, so there's a lot to catch up on as we enter the final month of 2025. We start with headlines covering Amazon, Highlander Charter School, Brown University, the University of Maryland, Columbia University, the UFW, National Park Workers, Campbell's, Uber and Lyft, and Leonardo S.p.A. Our main stories start by checking in on the nationwide Starbucks strike, that has now grown to 85 cities across the US. Workers have taken serious fire for standing up for truth and justice in many fields, we take a round up to see how workers are facing attacks on anti-genocide speech and for standing up to ICE. Finally, as neo-liberalism turns life for workers in the West into a waking nightmare, more and more are standing up, so we take a tour around major strikes launched or announced this week in Belgium, Portugal, India, Australia, and of course, Italy.

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