Belabored: Recent Episodes
Dissent
A podcast about labor organizing, hosted by Sarah Jaffe and Michelle Chen. Presented by Dissent magazine since 2013.
In The Great Escape, Saket Soni recounts how he organized a group of Indian migrant workers to free themselves from a human trafficking scam and hold their captors accountable.
The post Belabored: How Workers Escape, with Saket Soni appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Subscribe to the Belabored RSS feed here. Support the podcast on Patreon. Subscribe and rate on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. Tweet at @DissentMag with #Belabored to share your thoughts, or join the conversation on Facebook. Check out the full archive here. Belabored is produced by Casey Stone.
The miners’ strike in the early 1980s was a turning point for British labor. The defeat of the powerful National Union of Mineworkers at the hands of Margaret Thatcher signaled open season on organized workers, and it was accomplished in part through the use of new and brutal police tactics. These days, the strike is back across Britain, with workers fighting for and in many cases winning inflation-busting wage hikes and improved conditions, driving out bad bosses, and demanding recognition for all that “essential” work during the pandemic. Today’s Conservative government is attempting to take a page from Thatcher’s book to crush the unions any way they can, including with new legislation designed to drastically curtail the right to strike.
This week, we take a step back and consider the strike wave in the context of that history, with longtime organizer Joe Rollin with Unite the Union, and journalist, author, and filmmaker Morag Livingstone, co-author of Charged: How the Police try to Suppress Protest.
We also hear about some new rights for workers thanks to the Minnesota state legislature, what the Rutgers unions won, the latest on the struggles of Starbucks workers with Evan Sunshine of Starbucks Workers United, and warehouse workers’ fight for safe conditions.
Thank you for listening to our 266th episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you.
If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org.
This season of Belabored is supported in part by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.
News
Matt Dougherty, Cornell Students Organize to Kick Starbucks off Campus, Ithaca.com
Irene Tung, Fighting for Safe Work: Injury Data Show Urgent Need for Intervention in NY State’s Warehouses, National Employment Law Project
P. Kenneth Burns, ‘We have to continue to teach this university a lesson’: 3 Rutgers faculty unions vote to ratify contract, but say ‘unfinished business’ remains, WHYY
Mary Ann Koruth, Here are the raises, new benefits included in Rutgers union contracts approved today, Northjersey.com
Abdirahman Muse, Emma Greenman, and Erin Murphy, Minnesota Enacts Landmark Protections for Amazon Warehouse Workers, The Nation
Max Nesterak, Minnesota lawmakers approve 9 major worker-friendly changes, Minnesota Reformer
Matt Butler, Starbucks closing last two Ithaca locations, union fight brewing, The Ithaca Voice
Conversation
Unite the Union
Charged: How the Police try to Suppress Protest
Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign
Protect the Right to Strike
The post Belabored: Reviving the Strike in Britain, with Morag Livingstone and Joe Rollin appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Subscribe to the Belabored RSS feed here. Support the podcast on Patreon. Subscribe and rate on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. Tweet at @DissentMag with #Belabored to share your thoughts, or join the conversation on Facebook. Check out the full archive here. Belabored is produced by Casey Stone.
Almost exactly thirty-one years ago, Los Angeles was burning as several days of civil unrest erupted in the wake of the acquittal of the police officers who had brutally beaten Rodney King. It was not just an impulsive uprising fueled by rage at police brutality but a reflection of many years, if not decades, of a simmering urban crisis in which social disinvestment, deindustrialization, and deep segregation turned the city into an economically and racially polarized landscape, with the police serving as chief enforcers of a brutal social hierarchy. In this episode, we talk about working-class Los Angeles before and after the civil unrest of 1992—and how the city’s labor movement reflects and grapples with the scars of historical injustice.
The late Mike Davis examined the racial, cultural, and political divisions of Los Angeles in his seminal work on the city, City of Quartz. We revisit that text and the events of 1992 with Tobias Higbie, associate director of UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, and Kent Wong, director of the UCLA Labor Center, to discuss how the city’s structural inequities continue to shape its labor struggles in sectors from the classrooms to the docks.
In other news, we look at the Hollywood writers’ strike, teachers’ strikes across England with Vik Chechi-Ribeiro of NEU Manchester, African tech workers organizing, and South Asian Americans mobilizing against caste discrimination with Karthikeyan Shanmugam of the Ambedkar King Study Circle.
Thank you for listening to our 265th episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you.
If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org.
This season of Belabored is supported in part by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.
News
John Koblin, Brooks Barnes, and Nicole Sperling, Hollywood, Both Frantic and Calm, Braces for Writers’ Strike, New York Times
Daniel Arkin, Hollywood writers go on strike after contract negotiations fail, NBC
Sakshi Venkatraman, California is one step closer to banning caste-based discrimination, NBC
Richard Adams, Schools across England close as teachers vow to continue strikes, Guardian
Vik Chechi-Ribeiro, The NEU strike – Winning a rank-and-file led union, Notes From Below
Billy Perrigo, 150 African Workers for ChatGPT, TikTok and Facebook Vote to Unionize at Landmark Nairobi Meeting, Time
OpenAI Used Kenyan Workers on Less Than $2 Per Hour, Time
Conversation
Kent Wong, Director, UCLA Labor Center
Tobias Higbie, Associate Director, UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment
Mike Davis, Realities of the Rebellion, Against the Current
Cindi Katz, Neil Smith, and Mike Davis, L. A. Intifada: Interview with Mike Davis, Social Text
Ruth Milkman, Immigrant Organizing and the New Labor Movement in Los Angeles, Critical Sociology
Corina Knoll, Adeel Hassan, and Shawn Hubler, Los Angeles Schools and 30,000 Workers Reach Tentative Deal After Strike, New York Times
Sarah and Michelle, Belabored: L.A. Teachers Shut It Down, with Alex Caputo-Pearl, Dissent
Sarah Jaffe, What Rydell High School Can Teach Us about the LA Teachers Strike, Nation
Michelle Chen, Warehouse Workers of Los Angeles, Unite!, Nation
City on the Edge, HERE Local 11
The post Belabored: Los Angeles, 1992, Revisited with Tobias Higbie and Kent Wong appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Subscribe to the Belabored RSS feed here. Support the podcast on Patreon. Subscribe and rate on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. Tweet at @DissentMag with #Belabored to share your thoughts, or join the conversation on Facebook. Check out the full archive here. Belabored is produced by Casey Stone.
The wave of unionization continues apace across the United States and elsewhere in the world, but there’s often much less attention paid to the part of the process that comes after the winning of a union election: the bargaining of a contract. It can seem like the hard part is over when the votes are counted, but our guest this week reminds us that the hard part is just beginning. If that sounds daunting, well, Jane McAlevey is here to share her knowledge of how to make that hard part, if not easier, at least to help you succeed. McAlevey is a longtime organizer and organizing theorist, the founder of the massively popular online trainings, Organizing for Power, supported by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, and the author and co-author of several books and many reports and articles on the art of worker organizing. Her newest book, with Abby Lawlor, is titled Rules to Win By: Power and Participation in Union Negotiations, and she joins us to talk about using big, open, democratic bargaining tactics to win major gains at the table and in the contract.
We also check in with Donna Murch of Rutgers AAUP-AFT on the multi-union, 9,000-worker strike at Rutgers University in New Jersey, and hear from Katie Wells on a new report on the conditions of Doordash drivers. And we hear about the firing of a union leader (and former Belabored guest) at Planned Parenthood North Central States, and the junior doctors and nurses’ strikes fighting to save the British National Health Service.
Thank you for listening to our 264th episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you.
If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org.
This season of Belabored is supported in part by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.
News
Daniel Han, ‘Pissed off’: Rutgers unions mull resuming strike amid mounting frustration over finalizing contract, Politico
Noah Lanard, Why Rutgers Faculty Are Striking for the First Time in 257 Years, Mother Jones
Sarah, “Injury to All” at Rutgers University, Dissent
Katie Wells and Isabella Stratta, The Instant Delivery Workplace in D.C., Beeck Center
Michelle, Transcript: Courier Class War, with Antonio Solis, Dissent
Anne Rumberger, Abortion Rights Are Workers’ Rights, Jacobin
Sarah and Michelle, Belabored: Game Workers Unite and Win, with Emma Kinema, Dissent
Sarah and Michelle, Belabored: Reproductive Justice Is Labor Justice, Dissent
Dan Zahedi, Junior Doctors Will Fight as Long as It Takes, Tribune
George Walker, Nurses Tell of Disappointment With Latest NHS Pay Offer, Novara
Aubrey Allegretti, Denis Campbell, Kiran Stacey, and Jamie Grierson, Nurses will strike again in England after voting to reject government pay deal, Guardian
Conversation
Jane McAlevey
Organizing for Power
Jane McAlevey, Getting to Contract: Negotiating and Winning Against the Odds, The Nation
Sarah, After a Union Election Victory Comes the Hard Part, The Progressive
The post Belabored: How to Bargain for Power, with Jane McAlevey appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Subscribe to the Belabored RSS feed here. Support the podcast on Patreon. Subscribe and rate on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. Tweet at @DissentMag with #Belabored to share your thoughts, or join the conversation on Facebook. Check out the full archive here. Belabored is produced by Casey Stone.
When you hear the words “child labor,” your mind may go to the turn-of-the-century photographs taken by Jacob Riis and Lewis Hines of the grim lives of tiny laborers toiling in mines and urban sweatshops. Or you may think about the children in Africa or South Asia who dig for precious metals or harvest crops on plantations; their exploitation is the target of many international human-rights campaigns and condemnations from various Global North governments. But recent news reports have revealed that child labor is alive and well in the United States in 2023. Fueled in large part by the influx of migrants from Central America, many “unaccompanied minors,” or children living with relatives, have to work to support families back home. Meanwhile, some politicians are actively working to undermine existing child labor restrictions—as weak as they already are—under the pretext that giving businesses the flexibility to employ child workers for longer hours and with less oversight is actually beneficial for society.
Jack Hodgson, a visiting professor in history at the University of Roehampton, joins the podcast to discuss child labor throughout U.S. history and in the context of labor and civil rights struggles that continue to this day.
In other news, we look at Brandon Johnson’s victory in the Chicago mayoral race and the legacy of the Chicago Teachers Union; a new union drive by New York University contract faculty with Hannah Gurman; the school service workers’ strike in Los Angeles; and why France is on fire over pension policies.
Thank you for listening to our 263rd episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you.
If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org
News
Micah Uetricht, The Movement That Made Brandon Johnson Mayor of Chicago, The Nation
Kari Lydersen, Brandon Johnson Won the Race for Chicago’s Mayor By Loving and Fighting for the City, In These Times
Sara Wexler, Full-Time Contingent Faculty at New York University Are Trying to Unionize, Jacobin
Angelique Chrisafis, Hundreds of thousands of people take to French streets amid fears of violence, Guardian
Ellen Francis and Claire Parker, Why French workers are fighting to retire at 62, Washington Post
Jon Peltz, In Los Angeles, 60,000 Education Workers Just Went on Strike and Won Big, Jacobin
Megan Giovannetti and Jasmin Joseph, “If They Strike, We Won’t Cross the Picket Line”: LA Teachers And Service Workers Unite, In These Times
Conversation
Jack Hodgson, Child labor remains a problem in the United States, Washington Post
Hannah Dreier, Alone and Exploited, Migrant Children Work Brutal Jobs Across the U.S., New York Times
The post Belabored: Child Labor, Child Strikes, with Jack Hodgson appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Subscribe to the Belabored RSS feed here. Support the podcast on Patreon. Subscribe and rate on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. Tweet at @DissentMag with #Belabored to share your thoughts, or join the conversation on Facebook. Check out the full archive here. Belabored is produced by Colin Kinniburgh.
As we wind 2022 and our COVID-19 series to a close, our struggles around pandemic work are anything but over. We’re seeing upticks in unionization, strikes, and other forms of workplace resistance. We’re also seeing workers quitting so-called “essential” jobs at record rates, leaving their former coworkers in the unenviable position of picking up the slack while also battling to improve their conditions—and those of the people they care for. Teachers and nurses have been at the heart of all these struggles, on top of pre-pandemic labor shortages and constant admonitions to “do more with less,” so to wrap up our year and our in-depth COVID-19 reporting, we invited two rank-and-file leaders from those fields to join us for a live episode, recorded December 15 via Zoom.
Elizabeth Lalasz is a registered nurse, union steward, and professional practice committee member with National Nurses United. She has worked three times on COVID-19 units over the course of the pandemic. Jia Lee has been a special education teacher for over twenty years in the New York City Department of Education and has served as a union chapter leader since 2005. She is a steering member of the Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE), a caucus within the United Federation of Teachers, and a steering member of Black Lives Matter at Schools, NYC.
Thank you for listening to our 262nd episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you.
If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org
Conversation
Elizabeth Lalasz
Jia Lee
Sarah Jaffe and Michelle Chen, Belabored: Is it Safe to Go Back to School? Dissent
Sarah Jaffe, What If Nurses Ran the Healthcare System? Dissent
Sarah Jaffe, How the New York City School System Failed the Test of Covid-19, The Nation
Michelle Chen, For Some Workers, Schools Never Closed, The Nation
Sarah Jaffe, The Great Ungrieving, The New York Review of Books
Michelle Chen, Educators March to Get NYPD out of NYC Schools, Dissent
Sarah Jaffe, Schools Reopen — and Teachers Fight for Their Lives, Their Students, and the Future of Public Education, Rethinking Schools
Michelle Chen, Teachers’ Aides Adjust to the COVID Classroom, Dissent
Sarah Jaffe, How the Attack on Teachers Threatens the Future of Public Schools, Rethinking Schools
Michelle Chen, Deregulated Under Trump, Nursing Homes Are Becoming COVID Morgues, Truthout
Sarah Jaffe, First, Nurses Saved Our Lives—Now They’re Saving Our Health Care, The Nation
Michelle Chen, The Bereavement of Elder Care, Dissent
Sarah Jaffe and C.M. Lewis, Nurses Are Striking Across the Country Over Patient Safety, The Nation
Thanks to the Ford Foundation of Social Justice for sponsoring this series.
The post Belabored: Essential Workers in Crisis, with Elizabeth Lalasz and Jia Lee appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Subscribe to the Belabored RSS feed here. Support the podcast on Patreon. Subscribe and rate on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. Tweet at @DissentMag with #Belabored to share your thoughts, or join the conversation on Facebook. Check out the full archive here. Belabored is produced by Colin Kinniburgh.
You may not see many signs in everyday life that the pandemic is still ongoing these days; mask mandates have been removed, social gatherings have resumed, and employers are pushing workers to return to in-person work. But for several million people across the United States, the pandemic is still assaulting their bodies and minds—with chronic pain, respiratory problems, cognitive issues, fatigue, and other hard-to-treat symptoms. For more than two years, people living with “long COVID,” or “longhaulers,” have largely had to struggle on their own to access medical treatment, disability benefits, and workplace accommodations, and have often faced discrimination and disbelief when trying to advocate for their rights as patients and workers.
While there is still much scientists do not understand about the illness, long COVID is profoundly changing the way people work, often intersecting with other forms of discrimination, income inequality, and systemic barriers to healthcare and leave time. We spoke with Rebecca L. Jacobs, Director of Community Support for the COVID-19 Longhauler Advocacy Project, and Kimberly Knackstedt, Co-Director of the Disability Economic Justice Collaborative at The Century Foundation, about long COVID as an issue of labor rights and disability justice, and how our systems of worker protection and disability support need to change.
In other news, we look at a win for British Telecom workers, Congress blocking railroad workers from striking and denying them sick days, and New School and University of California academic workers and Twitter janitors on strike.
To wrap up our in-depth series on the ongoing pandemic’s effect on workers, we’re going to be doing a special end-of-year live show on December 15, 7 p.m. (EST). We’ll be joined by two rank-and-file leaders in nursing and public school teaching: Elizabeth Lalasz and Jia Lee. Register here.
Thank you for listening to our 261st episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you.
If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org
News
Katy Stech Ferek and Esther Fung, Senate Votes 80-15 to Pass Bill Blocking Nationwide Railroad Strike, Wall Street Journal
Ross Grooters and Jonah Furman, Railroad Engineer on the Imposed Contract: “It Really Fell Short of Railroad Workers’ Needs,” Jacobin
Dani Anguiano, Closed labs, cancelled classes: inside the largest strike to hit US higher education, The Guardian
Claudia Irizarry Aponte, The New School and Part-Time Faculty Go Into Mediation as Strike Enters Third Week, The City
Miles Hamberg, The New School Staff Are Still Striking for a Fair Deal, The Progressive
Ryan Mancini, Twitter lays off janitors on strike weeks before Christmas holiday, MassLive
Sergio Quintana, Janitors Locked Out of Twitter Headquarters Without Warning, Join Picket Line, NBC Bay Area
‘Bank the money and our collective strength,’ BT Group members urged, as ballot begins on company’s ‘final’ pay offer, Communication Workers Union
Mark Sweney, BT awards tens of thousands of staff £1,500 as strikes end, The Guardian
Conversation
Rebecca L. Jacobs, Director of Community Support for the COVID-19 Longhauler Advocacy Project
Kimberly Knackstedt, Co-Director of the Disability Economic Justice Collaborative at the Century Foundation
Kimberly Knackstedt, Why the COVID-19 Pandemic Isn’t Over, The Century Foundation
Patient-Led Research Collaborative
Ryan Prior, Rebecca Vallas, and Kimberly Knackstedt, The Long Haul: Q&A About Long COVID and the Future of Disability Policy, The Century Foundation
Natalie Shure, We Might Have Long Covid All Wrong, The New Republic
Thanks to the Ford Foundation of Social Justice for sponsoring this series.
The post Belabored: When COVID Never Ends appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Walmart and Kroger workers discuss the added stress of working during the holidays.
The post Belabored: Pandemic Black Fridays are Twice as Tiring, with Cynthia Murray and Lisa Harris appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Delivery workers from New York and London join the podcast to talk about organizing during the pandemic.
The post Belabored: Courier Class War appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
A mental healthcare provider discusses the pandemic's effects on her work.
The post Belabored: Mental Health Workers’ Double Pandemic, with Kellie Benson appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Labor journalists discuss media coverage of the recent strike wave in Britain.
The post Belabored: The Death and Life of Labor Journalism appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Two congressional staffers discuss the push to unionize Capitol Hill.
The post Belabored: The Union on the Hill, with Janae Washington and Taylor Doggett appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
British dockworkers join the podcast to talk about ongoing strikes in Liverpool and Felixstowe.
The post Belabored: Shutting Down the Ports, with Steve Gerrard and Liverpool Dockworkers appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
A group of strippers at the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in North Hollywood hopes to break new ground in organizing their field nationwide as part of the Actors’ Equity Association.
The post Belabored: Strippers Seek Justice at Work, with Velveeta appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
In Scotland, Grangemouth oil refinery workers are just the latest to realize their power after two years of pandemic, when they were deemed essential—and watched industry profits spike—while they accepted pay freezes.
The post Belabored: Wildcat Oil Strikes and the Energy Crisis, with Ewan Gibbs appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
UPS workers are sharing photographs of triple-digit temperature readings inside their trucks. The Teamsters say drivers are suffering from heat-related illnesses at an alarming rate.
The post Belabored: Delivery Workers Stuck in Searing Heat appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
The president of the RMT joins the podcast to talk about the union's recent strike and what's next for rail workers in the UK.
The post Belabored: Train Strikes Revive British Unions, with Alex Gordon appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
What the fall of Roe means for workers.
The post Belabored: Reproductive Justice Is Labor Justice appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Donna Jo Marks, Carlos Perez, and Jessica Wender-Shubow join Belabored for a live discussion about the politics of time spent at work.
The post Belabored: Working Time Struggles, Live from Labor Notes appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Workers at a division of games conglomerate Activision Blizzard shocked the industry by becoming one of the first collective bargaining units in U.S. gaming.
The post Belabored: Game Workers Unite and Win, with Emma Kinema appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Organizers of unionization efforts at Amazon, Starbucks, and the New York Times discuss how their experiences as women shape their work.
The post Belabored: Women Leading the Labor Movement appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Economist J.W. Mason joins the podcast to talk about inflation and how to organize around price increases.
The post Belabored: What’s Up With Inflation, with J.W. Mason appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
With a pandemic pause on student loan repayments set to expire this year, debt abolitionists have stepped up their campaign to get Washington to cancel education debt entirely.
The post Belabored: Abolish Student Debt, with the Debt Collective appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
A two-part episode on logistics labor, with Michelle Valentin Nieves of the Amazon Labor Union, and Laleh Khalili, author of Sinews of War and Trade.
The post Belabored: Winning in Logistics Work, with Michelle Valentin Nieves and Laleh Khalili appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Retail has historically been one of the hardest sectors to organize, but workers at REI are bucking that trend.
The post Belabored: Retail Organizing at REI appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week teachers and education workers went on strike in Minneapolis for the the first time in fifty years.
The post Belabored: Teacher Strikes in the Age of COVID-19 appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
How close are we to fully automated robot logistics?
The post Belabored: Cyborg Taylorism in the Warehouse, with Beth Gutelius appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Over the past several decades, the shift of public goods and services into the control of corporations has taken a toll on their quality, increased inequality, undermined labor and civil rights, and made government less accountable. How can we restore our ownership of the commons?
The post Belabored: Public Goods, Private Harms with Donald Cohen appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Long-haul trucking went from being one of the best blue-collar jobs to one of the toughest in America. What does this transformation mean for the ongoing supply chain crisis?
The post Belabored: Trucker Supply Crisis? With Steve Viscelli appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Workers are being asked, once again, to keep working despite a surge in COVID-19 infections. As employers push for a return to "normal," how should we deal with the risks of returning to work?
The post Belabored: Dangerous Work, with Debbie Berkowitz and Xian Barrett appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Rebecca Kolins Givan and C.M. Lewis look back at the year in labor.
The post Belabored: The Great Resignation appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
A discussion on global shipping, just-in-time manufacturing, and why fixing the supply chain means rethinking endless growth.
The post Belabored: Supply Chain Chaos, with Charmaine Chua appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Sadé Dozan of Caring Across Generations discusses the Build Back Better bill, which would put some $150 billion into Medicaid-supported homecare services.
The post Belabored: Our Neglected Human Infrastructure, with Sadé Dozan appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
How do you take industrial action when your workplace is your computer? In his new book, Phil Jones considers the millions of "microworkers" around the world who process data for digital platforms.
The post Belabored: Work Without the Workers, with Phil Jones appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
For decades, the United Auto Workers has been controlled by a tight-knit group of insiders. Now members are voting in a historic referendum on how the union elects its central leadership.
The post Belabored: Can the United Auto Workers Be Democratized? With Justin Mayhugh appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Eve Livingston's new book, Make Bosses Pay, aims to get young people connected to unions and to push unions to engage more with the working class as it is today: diverse, precarious, and perhaps on the brink of rebellion.
The post Belabored: Toward a Liberatory Unionism, with Eve Livingston appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Though the occupation didn’t last long, it shaped many subsequent campaigns and movements, including in organized labor.
The post Belabored: The Legacy of Occupy Wall Street, with Ruth Milkman and Nastaran Mohit appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
How did Occupy change the labor movement? And what lessons might it still hold for unions struggling to find their footing in an ever more crisis-prone world?
The post Belabored: Occupy’s Ten-Year Anniversary, with Stephen Lerner and Jonathan Westin appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
As hopes for ambitious climate policy fade, Joe Uehlein, Founding President of the Labor Network for Sustainability, talks about why we must decarbonize the economy while protecting workers.
The post Belabored: Washington Retreats from a Just Transition, with Joe Uehlein appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Amelia Horgan's new book, Lost in Work: Escaping Capitalism, asks what work is, why it sucks, and what we can do to change it.
The post Belabored: Lost in Work, with Amelia Horgan appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
A close look at what happens when corporations police themselves.
The post Belabored: Why “Corporate Social Responsibility” Fails Workers appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
A new right-wing campaign to ban "critical race theory" aims to crack down on teachers who teach honestly about racism. How can teachers protect themselves and their students?
The post Belabored: Critical Race Panic in Schools, with Jesse Hagopian appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
A conversation about what rising U.S.-China tensions mean for workers and the labor movement in both countries.
The post Belabored: Labor Solidarity in China, with Tobita Chow and Kevin Lin appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Reflections on what The New Yorker Union won, how they did it, and what other workers can learn from their victory.
The post Belabored: Strike Averted at the New Yorker, with Gili Ostfield appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
If you're nervous about going back to work, you're not the only one. Workers and labor advocates discuss what the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions might mean for workplace safety and labor rights.
The post Belabored: Back to Work appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Political economy researcher Riya Al-Sanah joins us from Haifa to talk about this week's historic general strike.
The post Belabored: General Strike in Palestine appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
The author of A Planet to Win talks about Biden's infrastructure proposals and why care jobs are green jobs.
The post Belabored: The Value of Care, with Alyssa Battistoni appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Worker centers organize workers excluded from labor regulations and disconnected from mainstream unions. They have brought fresh energy to the labor movement.
The post Belabored: The Power of Alt-Labor appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Steven Pitts and Robin D.G. Kelley discuss Amazon and the state of the Black working class.
The post Belabored: Black Against Amazon, with Steven Pitts and Robin D.G. Kelley appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union in the United Kingdom, talks about the prospects for a truly feminist labor movement.
The post Belabored: Women on Labor’s Frontline, with Jo Grady appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Rita Pasarell, former Albany legislative staffer and co-founder of the Sexual Harassment Working Group, discusses recent accusations against Andrew Cuomo.
The post Belabored: Changing a Culture of Harassment appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Celine McNicholas of the Economic Policy Institute digs into the PRO Act and other labor policies currently on the table.
The post Belabored: What’s Joe Biden’s Agenda for Labor? appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Belabored co-host Sarah Jaffe talks about her new book, Work Won't Love You Back.
The post Belabored: Labor Unloved with Sarah Jaffe, Kenzo Shibata, and Micah Uetricht appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
California's Proposition 22 locked in a second-tier status for gig economy workers. In the state and around the country, they're still organizing for something better.
The post Belabored: Stopping the Spread of Prop 22 appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Alphabet Workers Union member Alex Hanna talks about Google’s labor politics, how a minority union can mobilize through direct action, and the future of organizing in the tech industry.
The post Belabored: Going Union at Google appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Rebecca Dixon, Bill Fletcher Jr., and Jane McAlevey look back on 2020, a tumultuous year for workers.
The post Belabored: How the Pandemic Changed Our Working Lives appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
A new book, Unions Renewed, suggests that labor needs to update its playbook for a new period of capitalist development.
The post Belabored: Renewing Unions in the Age of Finance, with Alice Martin and Annie Quick appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
While the presidential race ended with a narrow victory for the Democrats, the electorate revealed how sharply divided it is—what does it all mean for labor?
The post Belabored: Labor at the Ballot Box appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Trump and Pence claim that industrial jobs are "booming" under their leadership. In Lordstown and Indianapolis, local labor organizers tell a different story.
The post Belabored: Trump’s Broken Promises appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Community and labor groups are campaigning for equal benefits for undocumented immigrants and other workers excluded from the coronavirus relief packages.
The post Belabored: Essential but Excluded, with Nadia Marin-Molina appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
The Democrats in the House just passed a new stimulus bill, but what are its odds of passing the Senate? Rebecca Dixon of the National Employment Law Project breaks it down.
The post Belabored: The Senate Fiddles While America Burns, with Rebecca Dixon appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Three education workers talk about school reopening, and their struggle to protect their health and that of their students.
The post Belabored: Is it Safe to Go Back to School? appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
The athletic strikes may have been short-lived, but they made a huge impact, disrupting the pretense of normalcy that sports entertainment normally helps viewers create.
The post Belabored Podcast #205: Wildcat Sports Strike Wave, with Dave Zirin appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
As public fear rises over potential disruptions to mail-in voting in the lead-up to the election, we talk with three postal workers about what’s happening to our mail and the people who handle it.
The post Belabored Podcast #204: Protect the Post Office appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
The beginning of the pandemic saw governments around the world experimenting with ways to pay people to stay home. What have we learned?
The post Belabored Podcast #203: What the Pandemic Taught Us About Basic Income, with Barb Jacobson appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week workers across the country walked off the job and rallied in the streets as part of a labor mobilization to support Black Lives Matter.
The post Belabored Podcast #202: The Strike for Black Lives appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Trump's recent proclamation temporarily bans guestworkers from coming to the United States, but what does it actually do? Daniel Costa of the Economic Policy Institute explains.
The post Belabored Podcast #201: Trump’s Latest Migration Outrage appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
For the 200th episode of Belabored, Sarah and Michelle speak to Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Stacy Davis Gates about what it’s like to be an educator and an organizer during a pandemic and an uprising against police brutality.
The post Belabored Podcast #200: Back to the Streets of Chicago appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
For a short time in 1919, the working class ran the city of Seattle. Radicals experienced intense police violence, and those deemed "outside agitators" faced deportation. The story of a general strike.
The post Belabored Podcast #199: Radical Seattle, with Cal Winslow appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
What should you do if your boss is pressuring you to return to an unsafe workplace?
The post Belabored Podcast #198: Not Safe to Work appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
The illness in the food chain should remind us that we are all only as healthy as the sickest person in society.
The post Belabored Podcast #197: Food Workers and the Virus appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Veteran labor activist Bill Fletcher, Jr. on how the labor movement can cope with the crisis and salvage itself.
The post Belabored Podcast #196: How the Pandemic Will Change Labor, with Bill Fletcher, Jr. appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
The director of Athena joins us to talk about why Amazon workers have been walking off the job.
The post Belabored Podcast #195: Delivering Us from Coronavirus, with Dania Rajendra appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on the economy. Mike Konczal of the Roosevelt Institute joins us to discuss the disappointing relief bill that was signed into law today.
The post Belabored Podcast #194: The Coronavirus Bailout, with Mike Konczal appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
As the coronavirus spreads across the world, we discuss what it means for workers in healthcare, the gig economy, and other frontline industries.
The post Belabored Podcast #193: Work in the Time of Coronavirus appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Why is the labor movement in Minnesota thriving? SEIU Local 26 joins us to talk about the Twin Cities' robust network of grassroots worker centers and unions.
The post Belabored Podcast #192: Unions for All, with SEIU Local 26 appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Workers across France have been on strike over pension reforms for six weeks. Dissent editor at large Colin Kinniburgh joins us from Paris.
The post Belabored Podcast #191: A Mass Strike Against Macron, with Colin Kinniburgh appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Sarah and Michelle talk about this year's biggest labor stories.
The post Belabored Podcast #190: The Year in Labor appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
How do we reach across borders to build a truly international labor movement?
The post Belabored Podcast #189: International Solidarity appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
After eleven days rallying in the streets, the Chicago Teachers Union ended their strike and inked a tentative agreement with many hard-fought gains.
The post Belabored Podcast #188: What the Chicago Teachers Won appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Autoworker Sean Crawford and Sociology Professor Ruth Milkman join us to debrief.
The post Belabored Podcast #187: After the GM Strike, Now What? appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Two organizers discuss recent efforts to unionize nonprofit workers. Plus: an interview with Chicago teacher Kenzo Shibata about the first day on the picket line.
The post Belabored Podcast #186: “A Boss Is a Boss” appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
An inside look at the gig economy. Plus: updates from the GM strike, a teachers' strike looming in Chicago, and more.
The post Belabored Podcast #185: Riding for Deliveroo, with Callum Cant appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
We hear about a new union in the UK organizing everyone from foster care workers to Uber drivers. Plus: an interview with a striking General Motors worker.
The post Belabored Podcast #184: Organizing the Unorganizable, with Jason Moyer-Lee appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
A report back from Labor Notes’s first ever conference in Asia.
The post Belabored Podcast #183: Troublemaking in Asia appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
How would the workplace be different if the workers owned it?
The post Belabored Podcast #182: (Slowly) Seizing the Means of Production appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Following Hong Kong's first general strike in decades, three activists talk about labor's role in the protests.
The post Belabored Podcast #181: Hong Kong Pushed to the Edge appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
The President of the Puerto Rico Teachers Federation talks about this week's protests and the ongoing fight against corruption.
The post Belabored Podcast #180: General Strike in Puerto Rico Gets the Goods, with Mercedes Martinez appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
South Korean journalist Lee Jae-yeon discusses her investigation of working conditions in Samsung factories in nine cities in India, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
The post Belabored Podcast #179: Samsung’s Labor Abuses appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Unionized nurses are campaigning for sweeping changes to the healthcare system, including Medicare for All and safe staffing levels in hospitals.
The post Belabored Podcast #178: A Nurse’s Prescription for Fixing Healthcare appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
What if the best thing we could do—for ourselves, the planet, and even our workplaces—was to work less?
The post Belabored Podcast #177: More Hours for What We Will, with Will Stronge appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Three New York organizers—Bhairavi Desai, Bianca Cunningham, and Valeria Treves—talk about how the labor movement can evolve to become more inclusive, powerful, and responsive to the needs of diverse working-class communities.
The post Belabored Podcast #176: Talking Union in NYC appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Drivers and organizers in New York, Los Angeles, and the UK talk about Wednesday's strike.
The post Belabored Podcast #175: Shut off the Apps, with International Striking Uber and Lyft Drivers appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Stop & Shop workers staged the biggest private-sector strike in years. We talk to two of the strikers about what they won.
The post Belabored Podcast #174: Stop & Strike appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
The labor that makes the multi-billion-dollar video-game industry possible, educators fighting back in New York and Chicago, the IRS auditing poor people, and much more.
The post Belabored Podcast #173: Wages for Warcraft, with Jamie Woodcock appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Capitol Hill is abuzz with the Green New Deal. But is the rest of the economy, and its workers, ready for the kind of dramatic transformation that the climate change movement is calling for?
The post Belabored Podcast #172: Putting Climate Justice to Work, with Rusty Hicks appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Musicians take to the picket lines in Chicago, New York nurses prepare to strike, and a deep look into how automation affects women workers.
The post Belabored Episode #171: Orchestra on Strike! with Robert Kassinger appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
An interview with RWDSU's Camille Rivera, on the labor and community organizing behind the defeat of the Amazon HQ2 deal in Queens.
The post Belabored Podcast #170: An Amazon Autopsy, with Camille Rivera appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
We're joined by AFA President Sara Nelson, whose leadership of flight attendants and calls for a general strike helped end the government shutdown.
The post Belabored Podcast #169: Shutting it Down, with Sara Nelson appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
What did the L.A. teachers win? UTLA bargaining committee chair Arlene Inouye joins us to talk about the contract.
The post Belabored Podcast #168: Victory in L.A., with Arlene Inouye appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
A report from the picket line.
The post Belabored Podcast #167: L.A. Teachers Shut It Down, with Alex Caputo-Pearl appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Last week, New York established an important new pay floor for app-based drivers. Bhairavi Desai of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance joins us to talk about the victory.
The post Belabored Podcast #166: Raises for Uber and Lyft Drivers, with Bhairavi Desai appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
We spoke with an immigrants' rights activist from the Cosecha Movement about conditions at the border.
The post Belabored Podcast #165: Communities Unite for Border Resistance, with Cosecha Movement appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Bye Scott Walker.
The post Belabored Podcast #164: Scott Walker’s Gone, Now What? With Eleni Schirmer appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Meg Reilly of the Campaign Workers Guild joins us to talk about the first movement to unionize the workers who canvass the streets, run the phone banks, and carry the clipboards.
The post Belabored Podcast #163: Organizing for Democracy, with Meg Reilly appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
The majority of Teamster members at UPS voted to reject a proposed contract; leadership says they’ll ratify it anyway. How did this happen? Nelson Lichtenstein joins us to discuss the ongoing conflict.
The post Belabored Podcast #162: A Struggle Over Union Democracy at UPS, with Nelson Lichtenstein appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
We look at two types of fights for workplace justice: the worker-owned cooperatives now mushrooming across the country, and a global protest at airports around the world.
The post Belabored Podcast #161: Workers Resist, Workers Rule appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
In cities across the country, Marriott hotel workers are forced to work second jobs to pay the bills. We talk with two worker-organizers planning to strike for a fairer contract.
The post Belabored Podcast #160: When One Job Isn’t Enough appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Workers in St. Paul, Minnesota are seeking to build on a major Fight for 15 victory in neighboring Minneapolis. Plus: An update on the teacher strike wave.
The post Belabored Podcast #159: Fight or Die, with Barbara Madeloni and Celeste Robinson appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This month Missouri voters rejected "right to work" at the ballot. Two organizers from the state join us to talk about the win and what the rest of the country can learn from their incredible success.
The post Belabored Podcast #158: A Victory for Labor in Missouri appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
In a special panel discussion, Sarah speaks with three strike veterans about what it takes to walk off the job, build community support—and win.
The post Belabored Podcast #157: What’s a Strike and How Can I Help? appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
On Amazon Prime Day warehouse workers around the world took action against the company. We hear about some of the organizing going on in fulfillment centers from Germany to New Jersey.
The post Belabored Podcast #156: Striking Amazon appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Organizers representing teachers, housekeepers, graduate students, and airline workers discuss union power in the wake of the Janus decision.
The post Belabored Podcast #155: The Future of Collective Action appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
The day labor has been dreading is here: the Janus v. AFSCME case was decided by the Supreme Court, and the public sector is now "right-to-work." But what does this actually mean for workers?
The post Belabored Podcast #154: After Janus, with Charlotte Garden appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
We check in on worker-led activism across the country, with interviews on UPS and AT&T strikes, behind-the-scenes resistance at Google, and the public banking movement.
The post Belabored Podcast #153: Workers On the Frontline Today and Tomorrow appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Economist Celine McNicholas breaks down what last week's Supreme Court ruling means for workers—and why more individual arbitration is bad news.
The post Belabored Podcast #152: SCOTUS’s Epic Fail, with Celine McNicholas appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Rev. Liz Theoharis, co-chair of the Poor People's campaign, joins us to talk about why people are marching across the country against poverty and for economic justice.
The post Belabored Podcast #151: Empowering the Souls of Poor Folk, with Rev. Liz Theoharis appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
As education strikes continue to rock the country, we talk with two striking workers—Ian Bradley Perrin, a graduate employee at Columbia University, and Arizona teacher Noah Karvelis.
The post Belabored Podcast #150: Lessons Learned on the Picket Line appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
In a series of interviews from Labor Notes, Sarah and Michelle talk to worker-organizers from South Korea, Puerto Rico, Minnesota, and beyond about building rank-and-file power around the globe.
The post Belabored Podcast #149: Voices from the Labor Notes Conference 2018 appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
How do we advocate for workers when the rules are rigged against us? Sarah and Michelle sat down with four teacher organizers for a special panel discussion at the 2018 Labor Notes conference.
The post Belabored Podcast #148: Organizing Outside the Law, at Labor Notes appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
As Toys "R" Us shuts down, we talk with Carrie Gleason of the Fair Workweek Initiative about the future of retail—an industry that employs ten percent of working Americans.
The post Belabored Podcast #147: Retailpocalypse Again? With Carrie Gleason appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
We talk to three West Virginia teachers about why they went on strike, how they won, and how the labor movement can carry their momentum forward.
The post Belabored Podcast #146: West Virginia Teachers Win appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Facing a legislative onslaught, the labor movement must rediscover its fighting spirit—and find ways to turn the GOP attack to its own advantage.
The post Belabored Podcast #145: Rights and Rebellions, with Shaun Richman appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Two labor groups are waging creative challenges against corporate America—and for the rights of immigrant workers.
The post Belabored Podcast #144: Thinking Outside the Box appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
If the Democrats reclaim power in 2020, what should labor do?
The post Belabored Podcast #143: Planning for a Post-Trump Future, with Rachel Cohen appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Do you know where your smartphone was made? A new in-depth report reveals dangerous conditions in Samsung factories in Vietnam.
The post Belabored Podcast #142: Smartphone Sweatshops in Asia, with Joe DiGangi appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Holiday travel can be stressful, and doubly so for the workers who make that travel possible. We hear about the flight attendants and baggage handlers organizing this holiday season.
The post Belabored Podcast #141: Union for the Holidays appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Protests have been going on around the country over the Republican tax bill. We're joined by some of the organizers.
The post Belabored Podcast #140: Resisting the Taxpocalypse appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
We talk with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers about organizing to fight sexual harassment of farm workers.
The post Belabored Podcast #139: Fighting Harassment on the Farm appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
The history of the IWW—and its concept of "One Big Union"—holds lessons for the labor movement today.
The post Belabored Podcast #138: Wobblies of the World, Then and Now, with Peter Cole appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Sexual harassment is a labor issue.
The post Belabored Podcast #137: Sex, Power, and Labor Rights, with Ariane Hegewisch appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Janus v. AFSCME is the Supreme Court case labor has been dreading. Andrew Stettner of the Century Foundation joins us to talk what it means for workers and unions.
The post Belabored Podcast #136: Countdown to Janus, with Andy Stettner appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Medicare for All has moved from radical to mainstream in a span of just months. Michael Lighty of National Nurses United joins us to talk about the role of healthcare workers in the fight for single-payer.
The post Belabored Podcast #135: How Single-Payer Went from Margin to Mainstream, with Michael Lighty appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
We talk to DACA recipients and defenders around the country, from Texas to New York, about Trump's decision to overturn President Obama’s protections for immigrant youth.
The post Belabored Podcast #134: Defending Migrants through Hell and High Water appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Joseph McCartin joins us to talk about the history of public worker unionism, the legacy of PATCO, and how today’s workers can build power across the workforce.
The post Belabored Podcast #133: Laboring Against Privatization, with Joseph A. McCartin appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Last week, in a highly anticipated union election, workers at a Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi voted against unionizing with the UAW. Chris Brooks from Labor Notes joins us to talk about the result.
The post Belabored Podcast #132: What Happened in Mississippi? with Chris Brooks appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Home care is one of the most rapidly growing fields in the country, but workers and care recipients will be under threat if Trump slashes Medicaid. We talk about what's at stake in the healthcare reform fight.
The post Belabored Podcast #131: A Crisis of Care, with June Barrett and Saba Waheed appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
In this special episode on the retail industry, organizers and workers from around the country talk about their fights to win fair wages and scheduling.
The post Belabored Podcast #130: Retail Warriors appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Ronan Burtenshaw joins us to discuss last week's election upset and what's next for the UK left.
The post Belabored Podcast #129: A New Dawn for Labour? With Ronan Burtenshaw appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Bob Master of CWA joins us to talk about AT&T workers' three-day strike. Plus: we hear from the Dominican Republic about call center workers organizing in solidarity with their U.S. counterparts.
The post Belabored Podcast #128: AT&T Workers Rising Globally and Locally, with Bob Master appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Five organizers talk about this year's May Day, which saw immigrant workers taking to the streets around the country.
The post Belabored Podcast #127: Rebellion in the Streets appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Trump's promises notwithstanding, many factory workers in the Rust Belt are just as frustrated after the election as they were before. Sarah Jaffe speaks to three labor organizers in Indiana to understand why.
The post Belabored Podcast #126: Voices from the Rust Belt, with Chuck Jones appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Organizers and participants in three recent strikes—the Yemeni bodega strike, the taxi workers' strike at JFK airport, and last year's Verizon strike—discuss labor under Trump.
The post Belabored Podcast #125: Striking to Live in the Age of Trump appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Tressie McMillan Cottom talks about her new book, Lower Ed, and why the expansion of the for-profit college industry is a labor issue.
The post Belabored Podcast #124: College Dreams and College Schemes, with Tressie McMillan Cottom appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Actor and activist Danny Glover and worker Morris Mock talk about the March on Mississippi and the fight for a union at the state's Nissan plant.
The post Belabored Podcast #123: Marching on Mississippi, with Morris Mock and Danny Glover appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Following last week's Day Without Immigrants, organizers share their insights about how to fight Trump at work and in the streets.
The post Belabored Podcast #122: Immigrants Strike Back at the White House appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Will Trump's renegotiated trade deals be any better for workers—in the United States and abroad—than the old ones?
The post Belabored Podcast #121: Trading Our Rights Away? With Arthur Stamoulis and John Cavanagh appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Andrew Stettner of the Century Foundation joins us to talk about Trump's cabinet picks, and what they mean for labor.
The post Belabored Podcast #120: Meet the New Boss, with Andrew Stettner appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Bill Londrigan of the Kentucky AFL-CIO joins us to talk about the right-to-work bill that just passed in his state, and the fight to maintain union power under a hostile regime.
The post Belabored Podcast #119: The No-Rights-At-Work Attack, with Bill Londrigan appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Rosanna Aran and Christina Fox of #SomosVisibles join us to talk about immigrant organizing in New York under Trump.
The post Belabored Podcast #118: Fighting for Sanctuary and Solidarity appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Massachusetts Teachers Association President Barbara Madeloni joins us to talk about an election victory for public education, and how labor should respond to Donald Trump.
The post Belabored Podcast #117: Welcome to the Resistance, with Barbara Madeloni appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
We look at some bright spots from the election, including the story of how a unique labor-community coalition in Arizona helped defeat the reelection bid of the infamous bigot Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
The post Belabored Podcast #116: Facing Labor and Politics Under Trump appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Jane McAlevey joins us to talk about her new book, No Shortcuts, strategies for workplace organizing, and what's wrong with Saul Alinsky.
The post Belabored Podcast #115: Organizing for Power, with Jane McAlevey appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
We speak with two Harvard workers, Kecia Pugh and Anabela Pappas, and UNITE HERE organizer Tiffany Ten Eyck about the ongoing strike at the country’s most elite university.
The post Belabored Podcast #114: Striking the Ivory Tower, with Harvard Workers appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Last week's general strike in India might have been the largest strike in history.
The post Belabored Podcast #112: Striking India, with Vamsi Vakulabharanam and Gautam Mody appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Lindsey Dayton from the Graduate Workers of Columbia joins us to talk about the recent NLRB ruling that graduate students who work for private universities are employees and have the right to unionize.
The post Belabored Podcast #111: Workers’ Rights for Graduate Employees, with Lindsey Dayton appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Belabored co-host Sarah Jaffe talks about her new book, Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt.
The post Belabored Podcast #110: Americans in Revolt, with Sarah Jaffe appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
A sneak preview of the labor events happening at the World Social Forum next week in Montreal.
The post Belabored Podcast #109: Forum for Change, with Nathalie Guay appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Airport workers at the Philadelphia International Airport just voted to strike next week during the Democratic National Convention. SEIU 32BJ Vice President Gabe Morgan joins us to explain why.
The post Belabored Podcast #108: Philly Airport Workers Rising Up, with Gabe Morgan appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Puerto Rico’s debt crisis has been a long time in the making, but will the solutions advocated by the U.S. government make it any better?
The post Belabored Podcast #107: Controlling Crisis in Puerto Rico, with Héctor Cordero-Guzmán appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Jean Ross, co-president of National Nurses United, joins us to talk about the nursing strike in Minnesota. Plus: audio from NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro's People's Summit speech on why we need to fight neoliberalism now.
The post Belabored Podcast #106: Nurses on the Frontline, with Jean Ross appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Streets and workplaces in France have been roiling with protests against a reform that would threaten the country's 35-hour work week. Jacobin editor Jonah Birch joins us to talk about what it means for labor.
The post Belabored Podcast #105: A French Uprising, with Jonah Birch appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
A conversation with Gabriel Thompson about America’s Social Arsonist, his new biography of legendary organizer Fred Ross.
The post Belabored Podcast #104: Fred Ross’s Incendiary Organizing, with Gabriel Thompson appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
A live conversation with John Nichols, co-author of People Get Ready: The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizenless Democracy.
The post Belabored Podcast #103: Get Ready for Struggle, with John Nichols appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
An interview with Eric Fink, a democratic socialist candidate for State Senate in North Carolina, who is challenging one of the lawmakers behind the state's HB2 “bathroom bill.”
The post Belabored Podcast #102: A Left Turn on the Campaign Trail, with Eric Fink appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
A conversation with Irish journalist Ronan Burtenshaw about the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, its legacy, and the Irish left today.
The post Belabored Podcast #101: Ireland Rising, with Ronan Burtenshaw appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
For the 100th episode of Belabored, a special live-recorded discussion with Mark Engler, about his new book This Is an Uprising, and what the labor movement can draw from popular protest.
The post Belabored Podcast #100: How Uprisings Happen, with Mark Engler appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act made it illegal for employers to discriminate “because of sex.” We talk with Gillian Thomas, author of a new book on the history of the Supreme Court's rulings on that little phrase, which have shaped the experiences of millions of working people.
The post Belabored Podcast #99: Because of Sex, with Gillian Thomas appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Following the arrest of six children in immigration raids, public school teachers in North Carolina are rallying to protect their students from deportation.
The post Belabored Podcast #98: Teachers Mobilizing for Migrant Kids appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Janae Bonsu, from Black Youth Project 100, talks about the group's "Agenda to Build Black Futures," and why we need to think of economic justice and racial justice as intertwined.
The post Belabored Podcast #97: Building Black Futures with Janae Bonsu appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Joel Berger, a second-generation Detroit public school teacher, talks about teacher protests over the city's dilapidated schools and the water crisis in Flint.
The post Belabored Podcast #96: Sick of Austerity in Detroit and Flint appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have both announced plans to give workers paid family leave. Ellen Bravo of Family Values @ Work joins us to explain how this policy became central to both candidates' campaigns.
The post Belabored Podcast #95: Campaigning for Families with Ellen Bravo appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
New legislation in Seattle could pave the way for Uber drivers to unionize. We explore the legal and political road ahead with Rebecca Smith of the National Employment Law Project and Takele Gobena of the App-Based Drivers Association.
The post Belabored Podcast #94: Disrupting Uber appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
A look back at year's best and worst moments for labor, and what there is to look forward to in 2016, for workers from China to Chicago and everywhere in between.
The post Belabored Podcast #93: The Good, The Bad, and the Hopeful appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
A celebration of pioneering union activist and radical troubadour Joe Hill.
The post Belabored Podcast #92: Don’t Mourn, Organize! appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This Black Friday, Walmart workers and their allies have undertaken a "Fast for $15." Belabored spoke with Dan Schlademan, co-director of OUR Walmart, and Tyfani Faulkner, who was in the middle of her fifteen days without food.
The post Belabored Podcast #91: Fasting for $15 and Full-Time appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
An interview with historian Erik Loomis about his new book, Out of Sight, on the labor and environmental catastrophes caused by our outsourcing of dirty jobs. Plus: the Mizzou football players, updates in the Fight for $15, and FedEx workers on strike.
The post Belabored Podcast #90: Offshoring Dirty Jobs, with Erik Loomis appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Bank worker Khalid Taha tells us why he's standing up for better banks and better wages. Plus: Bernie Sanders on a picket line, sexual harassment at T-Mobile, and a win in the fight against on-call scheduling.
The post Belabored Podcast #89: Banking on Change, with Khalid Taha appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Recent contract negotiations at Fiat Chrysler are signaling an end to the infamous two-tier wage system. We speak with Chrysler worker Alex Wassell and Professor of Industrial Relations at Clark University Gary Chaison about the new deal.
The post Belabored Podcast #88: Dismantling Two-Tier appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Megan Erickson joins us to discuss her new book, Class War: The Privatization of Childhood, and how education can't solve inequality, but can become less unequal.
The post Belabored Podcast #87: Class War in the Classroom appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Does our basic humanity suffer as we pursue our “dream jobs”? We speak with Miya Tokumitsu, who examines the dangers of the "do what you love" ethic in her new book. Plus: the Seattle teachers’ strike, LA sweatshop struggles, adjunct agony, and the latest in the campaign for workers' rights at Walmart.
The post Belabored Podcast #86: Loving and Loathing Work, with Miya Tokumitsu appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
The National Labor Relations Board made news last week when it ruled to revise its definition of a joint employer to include many business owners who get their workers through a temp agency or subcontractor. We discussed what this means for workers with Larry Engelstein of SEIU 32BJ.
The post Belabored Podcast #85: Joint Responsibilities, with Larry Engelstein appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Premilla Nadasen joins us to talk about her new book, Household Workers Unite, on the forgotten history of black domestic workers organizing from the 1950s to the 1970s.
The post Belabored Podcast #84: Domestic Workers Unite, with Premilla Nadasen appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
What's happening in Greece? Sarah Leonard, who just returned from a reporting trip to the country, joins us to explain what just happened and what's next for the working people of Greece and the rest of austerity-ridden Europe.
The post Belabored Podcast #83: Austerity and Solidarity in Greece, with Sarah Leonard appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Writers Guild of America East is the union behind recent public organizing campaigns at two digital media outlets—Gawker Media and Salon.com. We talked to their director of organizing, Justin Molito.
The post Belabored Podcast #82: Labor Rising in New Media, with Justin Molito appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Audio from our live discussion on labor and the history of capitalism, with Betsy Beasley and David Stein.
The post Belabored Podcast #81: Live, with Who Makes Cents? appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
What if you could run a workplace organizing campaign through your smartphone? We speak with Mark Zuckerman, president of The Century Foundation, about how unions can use digital platforms to empower workers. Plus: the latest on Uber, Verizon, the TPP, and an ice-cream labor revolt.
The post Belabored Podcast #80: Class Struggle? There’s An App for That appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Irene Tung of the National Employment Law Project explains Andrew Cuomo's new wage board, an unconventional way that New York fast food workers might see a raise. Plus, audio from the Walmart shareholders meeting.
The post Belabored Podcast #79: On Board for $15 appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Organizers from five private universities discuss what's next for grad student unionism.
The post Belabored Podcast #78: The Union and the University appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week, Sarah and Michelle invited Hack the Union editor Kati Sipp to explain universal basic income, and why it's an important idea for workers. They discuss automation, which parts of the social safety net UBI would replace, and what it has to do with the unwaged work that women do in the home.
The post Belabored Podcast #77: Should the Labor Movement Support Basic Income? appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This May Day, we bring you voices from the streets of Baltimore and Long Beach—where unions are helping mobilize their communities against police terror and for economic justice—and from a West Coast Walmart, where activist Venanzi Luna has been leading the fight against union-busting. Plus: Whatever happened to the eight-hour day?
The post Belabored Podcast #76: May Day Special! Labor Shuts It Down From Baltimore to Long Beach appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Following Wednesday's nationwide protests for a living wage, Sarah and Michelle spoke with workers in New York and Atlanta about why they joined the Fight for $15 movement and what they hope it will achieve.
The post Belabored Podcast #75: What’s Next in the Fight for $15? appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Following last week's Supreme Court decision that UPS had unfairly denied a pregnant worker reasonable accommodations on the job, Belabored talked with Melissa Josephs, from Women Employed, an Illinois-based organization that successfully campaigned for a new state law to protect pregnant worker’s rights, and Latavia Johnson, a Walmart worker in Illinois.
The post Belabored #74: Labor Pains, with Melissa Josephs and Latavia Johnson appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
What is the Trans-Pacific Partnership? It's hard to know since the deal is being negotiated almost entirely in secret. Belabored talks with Celeste Drake, Trade & Globalization Policy Specialist at the AFL-CIO, about the ramifications of the trade deal for workers around the globe.
The post Belabored Podcast #73: Shedding Light on TPP Secrets, with Celeste Drake appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Lawmakers across the country are racing to pass so-called "right-to-work" legislation, the euphemistically named union-busting policy that restricts the collection of fees from all workers covered by a union contract. Belabored spoke with historian Elizabeth Shermer about the politics and history of right-to-work policies, and what labor can do to fight back.
The post Belabored Podcast #72: The Right to Work for Less, with Elizabeth Shermer appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Belabored talked with Ai-jen Poo talk about her new book, The Age of Dignity, her work organizing domestic workers, how care work is undervalued, and how racism and sexism contributed to the crisis in caring labor.
The post Belabored Podcast #71: Building Care, with Ai-jen Poo appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
U.S. oil workers are are on strike, in the largest walkout since 1980. Belabored talked with Steve Garey, president of United Steelworkers local 12-591 in Mount Vernon, WA, about worker safety, the decision to strike, and what's at stake.
The post Belabored Podcast #70: Striking Oil, with Steve Garey appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
What does the decline of stable working-class jobs mean for the working-class family? Belabored asks Andrew Cherlin, author of a new book, Labor's Love Lost, on the rise and fall of the nuclear family in America, and how the workplace shapes our family life.
The post Belabored Podcast #69: Laborers and Lovers, with Andrew Cherlin appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Belabored talked to historian Joshua Freeman about how police and their unions fit within the labor movement, and the political contradictions of uniformed officers getting organized.
The post Belabored Podcast #68: Good Cop, Bad Cop, with Joshua Freeman appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
As protests continue to grow nationwide under the banner "Black Lives Matter," Belabored talks to two workers about how their struggle connects to today's racial justice movement. We also talk to three graduate student organizers and discuss a new retail workers' bill of rights, bad news from the Supreme Court, the secret lives of airport workers, and more.
The post Belabored Podcast #67: Bodies On the Gears appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
For Black Friday, Belabored talks to a Walmart labor activist and learns about a recent investigation into Walmart’s tax dodging. Plus: Ferguson #NotOneDime boycott, Obama's executive action on immigration, the port truckers’ strike, and more.
The post Belabored Podcast #66: Seeing Red on Black Friday appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Belabored talked to Michael Mulholland, president of the utilities union AFSCME Local 207 in Detroit, about last week's financial deal, the impact on union workers, and the political forces driving what he calls a manufactured financial crisis.
The post Belabored #65: Inside the Motor City’s Economic Crash appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Belabored talks to Brian Jones, a teacher union activist running for Lieutenant Governor of New York on the Green Party ticket.
The post Belabored Podcast #64: A Teacher on the Ballot, with Brian Jones appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Belabored spoke with Allison Julien, a New York-based domestic worker and veteran campaigner with the National Domestic Workers Alliance, on the state of the movement and new challenges in organizing this unique and often overlooked workforce.
The post Belabored Podcast #63: Domestic Workers on the Move, with Allison Julien appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week, Belabored is all about labor feminism, with Feminism Unfinished authors Dorothy Sue Cobble, Linda Gordon, and Astrid Henry. Plus: labor joins the protests in Hong Kong, college students take on Teach for America, and more.
The post Belabored Podcast #62: The Unfinished History of Labor Feminism appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Is real economic and environmental sustainability still achievable? How do you tackle capitalism and climate change simultaneously? Belabored, in its first ever live recording, asks Nastaran Mohit, Lara Skinner, and guests.
The post Belabored Podcast #61: When Climate and Labor Converge (Live!), with Nastaran Mohit and Lara Skinner appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Is the outcome of the Market Basket strike a victory for working people, or something more complicated? Belabored asks James Green, a former professor at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and the author of several books on labor history and social movements. Plus: care workers mobilizing across the country, pre-K workers and inequality in New York, and more.
The post Belabored Podcast #60: Whither Market Basket? with James Green appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Is the right to form a union also a civil right? Belabored asks Moshe Marvit, who recently helped turn the idea into legislation now pending in Congress. Plus: "crowd work," Ferguson, unionizing Elmos, and why we need a four-hour workday.
The post Belabored Podcast #59: Labor Rights as Civil Rights, with Moshe Marvit appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week, Belabored talks to Catherine Ruckelshaus, General Counsel of the National Employment Law Project, about the NLRB's McDonald's ruling, and what it means for workers facing the "Who's the Boss" problem.
The post Belabored Podcast #58: Holding McDonald’s Responsible, with Catherine Ruckelshaus appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week, Belabored talks to Ben Speight, a veteran organizer with Teamsters 728 in Georgia, about building the labor movement in the South. Plus: transgender discrimination at Hobby Lobby, teachers supporting postal workers, and why workers should have a say in who runs the company.
The post Belabored Podcast #57: Organizing the South, with Ben Speight appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
What does Harris v. Quinn mean for home care workers, for other public sector workers, and for any of us who care about labor? Belabored asks Harvard Law professor Benjamin Sachs and Minnesota care worker Sumer Spika. Plus: strikes in California and Greece, labor struggles at the opera, and more.
The post Belabored Podcast #56: The Post–Harris v. Quinn Future appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week, Belabored talks to sports critic Dave Zirin about the wildcat strikes, street protests, and police crackdowns on the fringes of the World Cup in Brazil. Plus: a look at the White House’s new push for “family-friendly policies,” the latest teacher-bashing crusade led by ex-Obama flacks, the economic assault on young black men, and more.
The post Belabored Podcast #55: The Ugly Side of the Beautiful Game, with Dave Zirin appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week brought bad news for public schools, when a California court ruled in Vergara v. California that teacher tenure laws were unconstitutional. Belabored talks to California teacher Frank Wells about the implications of the lawsuit, the motivations behind it, and why tech companies are so interested in changing schools. Plus: World Cup unrest in Brazil, a win for child care workers in Vermont, and more.
The post Belabored Podcast #54: Teacher Tenure on Trial appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
As activists shine a spotlight on labor abuses surrounding the Guggenheim and NYU's expansion to Abu Dhabi, Belabored speaks with Andrew Ross about global labor struggles and the role that the arts and academic communities can play in transnational movements for social justice. Plus: Sheryl Sandberg's latest "Lean In" fail, Jeff Bezos as the World's Worst Boss, Uber organizing, and more.
The post Belabored Podcast #53: Art, Academia, and Labor Struggles in Abu Dhabi, with Andrew Ross appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
In the latest escalation of the low-wage workers' movement, fast food workers went out on strike this week in hundreds of cities around the globe. Sarah and Michelle speak with Tsedeye Gebreselassie of the National Employment Law Project about the importance of local victories in this global struggle, and why workers must lead the way. Plus: miners' deaths abroad and at home, teachers' ongoing resistance to high-stakes testing, Thomas Piketty, and more.
The post Belabored Podcast #52: Fast Food Local, with Tsedeye Gebreselassie appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Ellen Bravo sits down with Belabored to discuss new challenges and milestones in the movement for gender justice and why the basic, structural struggles for women’s economic empowerment are still far from over. Plus: the port truck drivers’ latest labor action; struggles led by sherpas, cabbies, and banking sector workers; divisions in NYC charter schools; and Donald Sterling.
The post Belabored Podcast #51: Taking on the Big Boys, with Ellen Bravo appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
For Belabored’s one-year anniversary, Michelle and Sarah talk to Saket Soni of the National Guestworker Alliance about how the conditions faced by guestworkers are spreading to more and more of the workforce. Plus: a victory for UPS workers in Queens and a labor uprising in China; the drug-testing of public employees; the fight for $15 in Seattle; and more.
The post Belabored Podcast #50: The Future of Work, with Saket Soni appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
In New Labor in New York, editors Ruth Milkman and Ed Ott of the City University of New York analyze thirteen worker centers and labor groups focused on the new "precariat": traditionally non-union sectors like street vendors, domestic workers, struggling freelance “creatives,” and restaurant workers. This week on Belabored, we speak to Milkman about what these case studies tell us about the future of labor.
The post Belabored Podcast #49: Mapping New York’s New Labor Movements, with Ruth Milkman appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Is the era of the student athlete over? This week on Belabored, Lee Adler joins us to discuss the groundbreaking NLRB decision that Northwestern University's football players are employees and thus eligible to form a union. Plus: a growing campaign to opt out of standardized testing, the difference between unemployment and retirement, the struggle against Amazon in Europe, and more.
The post Belabored Podcast #48: Athlete-Students’ Big Win appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week on Belabored, we speak to activists with the Retail Action Project and Women Employed about the impact of unfair scheduling on the lives of retail workers. We also discuss the Supreme Court drama over employer-sponsored health insurance and reproductive rights, "the end of jobs," labor protections for unpaid interns, Wall Street's attack on Los Angeles, TaskRabbit, and more.
The post Belabored Podcast #47: Retail Hours, Wholesale Injustice appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week, Belabored talks to political scientist Adolph Reed about his recent article in Harper's magazine, examining the broad prospects for today's left, the need to focus on inequality, why the labor movement matters, and why Democrats relying on big money donors is like keeping a Komodo dragon in your bedroom. Plus: a strike in Vermont, a lawsuit at McDonald's, a modest proposal for executive salaries, and more.
The post Belabored Podcast #46: What’s Left, with Adolph Reed appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week, Belabored examines the history and ongoing impact of the 2012 Chicago teachers' strike with Micah Uetricht, author ofStrike for America: Chicago Teachers Against Austerity. Plus: uprisings by UPS workers in New York and IBM workers in China; labor abuses by the Pentagon overseas; the White House’s plans to expand overtime pay; and more.
The post Belabored Podcast #45: The Meaning of the Chicago Teachers’ Strike, with Micah Uetricht appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week, Belabored talks to Melissa Gira Grant, whose new book Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Work dismantles the myths surrounding sex work and challenges us to think about sex work in the same framework in which we put other kinds of labor. At the heart is the question: should workers have to love their work in order to be able to demand rights and protections on the job?
The post Belabored Podcast #44: The Work of Sex Work, with Melissa Gira Grant appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Belabored talks to San Francisco-based journalist Julia Carrie Wong about Silicon Valley gentrification and with Jobs with Justice organizer Kung Feng about the response of community and labor groups to the tech sector's growing presence. Plus, gender inequities in house work, the exploitation of temp workers, and updates on labor struggles across the country.
The post Belabored Podcast #43: Google and Gentrification, with Julia Carrie Wong appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
In news: United Auto Workers' defeat in Chattanooga, Tennessee, port truckers and wage theft, minor league ballplayers suing over wage violations, the U.S. government's reliance on sweatshops, the strike by University of Illinois faculty, and why the Congressional Budget Office is wrong about the minimum wage. And Portland teacher Elizabeth Thiel on militant teacher unionism in Oregon.
The post Belabored Podcast #42: (Almost) Striking in Portland appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Could banking at the post office be a boon to low-income communities and a major challenge to Wall Street? Sarah and Michelle discuss with Dave Dayen. Plus the latest news on teachers and nurses organizing for workplace rights, how Wal-Mart’s anti-labor actions may be undermining its bottom line, a legal victory for immigrant guestworkers, and the crowdsourced sweatshop.
The post Belabored Podcast #41: Can Postal Banking Deliver Us from Wall Street? With Dave Dayen appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Joanne Barkan has spent years researching and writing about the ideology of billionaire ed reformers. She joins Michelle and Sarah to talk about her work. And in labor news, London's public transit workers go on strike; Tennessee may yet see a unionized auto plant; NFL cheerleaders rise up against wage theft; and workers rise up against the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
The post Belabored Podcast #40: Philanthrocapitalism, with Joanne Barkan appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Special guest Heather McGhee of Demos responds to the President's address with policy solutions that could alleviate income inequality and joblessness. Meanwhile, working people take action against inequality at the grassroots level.
The post Belabored Podcast #39: The Real State of the Union, with Heather McGhee of Demos appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Harris v. Quinn, a case that could break public-sector unions around the country. Sarah and Michelle talk to Eileen Boris and Jennifer Klein, the authors of Caring for America: Home Health Workers in the Shadow of the Welfare State, about the case, the formation of home care workers' unions, and the potential ramifications for all public sector workers.
The post Belabored Podcast #38: Caring for America, with Eileen Boris and Jennifer Klein appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Sarah and Michelle talk with Max Fraser about new tactics in labor militancy, which he explores in his new article in Dissent. Plus: standoff over unemployment benefits in Congress, changes in the ranks of the Chicago teachers’ union, expanded pre-Kindergarten in New York, and worker uprisings in Cambodia.
The post Belabored Podcast #37: The One-Day Strike, featuring Max Fraser appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week, a special discussion of Sarah's investigation into temping in manufacturing. Plus, SeaTac's fight for $15 an hour, Portland teachers' fight for a fair contract, and Congress's fight over whether the unemployed should get their benefits, and a labor uprising in South Korea.
The post Belabored Podcast #36: Forever Temp appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Sarah and Michelle look back over the year in labor: the good news and the grim, the under-the-radar stories and the big wins. They also look forward to next year and make some (hopeful) predictions. Sarah and Michelle also bring you up to date on the latest labor news, including unexpected unions gaining a toehold in fast food.
The post Belabored Podcast #35: Highs and Lows of the Year in Labor appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Sarah and Michelle talk about Washington's epic fail on unemployment benefits, rampant labor violations by companies operating on federal contracts, Chris Hayes and the union drive at an NBC subsidiary, and a recap of last week's #LowPayisNotOkay protests. Plus voices from 32BJ and the Alliance for Quality Education.
The post Belabored Podcast #34: Communities Rise Up For Public Ed appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Justin Timberlake is "bringing unions back," sushi workers win a settlement for wage theft, France may be cracking down on sex work, and last week's strikes. Sarah and Michelle discuss discuss this and more, featuring interviews with Walmart worker organizer Colby Harris and Greg Jones of the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers.
The post Belabored Podcast #33: Pension Theft and Beating Big Brands appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week, Michelle and Sarah share some good and bad news, including suggestions from listeners and a look forward to the Black Friday actions at Walmart next week. Journalist Liza Featherstone joins them to talk about Walmart's corporate culture and the challenges it poses to organizing. They conclude with thoughts on Seattle's new socialist city council member and the value of solidarity.
The post Belabored Podcast #32: Black Friday appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week, Sarah and Michelle consider tough questions about academic labor, free speech, technology, and incarceration. Plus an interview with Bonnie Castillo on the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan and the role of labor in disaster relief.
The post Belabored Podcast #31: Relief Work appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week on Belabored: looking forward after the elections, Walmart workers on strike again, and the dangers of trading tax breaks for "job creation." Then, an in-depth look at the world of outsourcing: labor struggles in China and Bangladesh, the shady world of global temp agencies, and outsourcing right here at home. Featuring an interview with Bangladeshi labor organizer Kalpona Akter
The post Belabored Podcast #30: Out (and In) Sourcing appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week on Belabored, Sarah Jaffe and Michelle Chen look at New York after Superstorm Sandy. Who did the work of the recovery and how has it affected them, who's out of a job, what did Sandy teach us about what a union can do? Featuring NYSNA president Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, with her thoughts on how Sandy made people look at their union--and the world--differently. They also look at some scary stuff for Halloween: a candy factory explosion, inside an anti-union captive audience meeting, and more.
The post Belabored Podcast #29: After the Storm appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week on Belabored, Sarah and guest co-host Peter Frase discuss international solidarity campaigns with American workers and give an update on the situation in Detroit. Then, independent journalist Susie Cagle joins them to talk about labor unrest in the Bay Area, where solidarity can be hard to come by.
The post Belabored Podcast #28: Solidarity appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week, Sarah Jaffe and guest host Michelle Chen discuss retail organizing, the fallout of government shutdown, standardized test insanity, and solidarity in higher education.
The post Belabored Podcast #27: Retail Revolution? appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week Sarah Jaffe is joined by Laura Clawson of Daily Kos to discuss the continuing government shutdown, the debt ceiling, and the larger Republican attack on the legacy of the New Deal. They also find some things to be optimistic about.
The post Belabored Podcast #26: The Lockout Continues appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week, Sarah Jaffe and guest host Bryce Covert round up the week's labor news and chat about work-family policy on the federal, state, and local level. They also discuss the government shutdown with Mariya Strauss, a labor journalist whose partner is a federal employee.
The post Belabored Podcast #25: Shutdown appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week on Belabored: a message from departing co-host Josh Eidelson and a roundup of labor news from New York to Bangladesh. Then, Sarah Jaffe interviews longtime organizer and union strategist Stephen Lerner about fighting Wall Street, organizing around debt, and the recent fast food strikes.
The post Belabored Podcast #24: New Insurgencies appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week on #Belabored: Occupy celebrates a birthday, labor rights for domestic workers, workers centers under fire, and deep cuts for food stamps. Then, Sarah Jaffe breaks down the interplay between unions, judges, and politicians in the battles to save New York hospitals from closure.
The post Belabored Podcast #23: A Taste of Victory appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
In this week's Belabored podcast, Josh and Sarah talk about a judge’s ruling against Indiana's “Right to Work,” a living wage law vetoed in DC, Chicago schools without air conditioning, and steps towards UAW union recognition in the South. Plus a report back on the AFL-CIO convention in Los Angeles.
The post Belabored Podcast #22: Resolutions appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week's Belabored podcast opens with a round-up of recent news: strikes by fast food workers and port truckers, anti-retaliation rallies against Walmart, and progress on silica dust safety rules. Then Sarah and Josh are joined by Daily Kos Labor Editor Laura Clawson for a wide-ranging interview: What’s ahead at next week’s AFL-CIO convention? Can living wage laws triumph? How has the relationship between bloggers and unions changed?
The post Belabored Podcast #21: Retaliation appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week, Sarah and Josh discuss recent labor developments, including a big raise for Walmart warehouse workers, and a judge’s reversal in the fight over New York hospital closures. Then they’re joined by City Paper reporter Daniel Denvir, who breaks down the latest in the under-covered crisis in Philadelphia's public schools.
The post Belabored Podcast #20: Who’s Killing Philly Schools? appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
How do sex, race, and class shape what counts as “work” and as “life”? Why do these conversations neglect a life for women outside productive or reproductive labor? Is it time for labor to demand the right to free time? The nineteenth episode of Belabored takes on these questions plus the latest developments in labor news.
The post Belabored Podcast #19: The Politics of Time appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week on Belabored, an interview with historian William Jones about the forgotten history of civil rights and the relation between racial and economic justice. Plus the latest on prevailing wage law in New York, living wage law in DC, domestic workers' rights, and labor issues at the ACLU.
The post Belabored Podcast #18: Jobs and Freedom appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week on Belabored: a closer look at the historic fast food strikes in seven cities and an exploration of the relationship between funding sources and internal democracy in alt-labor. Plus college athletes, graduate student employees, and sobering survey data.
The post Belabored Podcast #17: Fast Food Nation appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week on Belabored: Detroit blogger Marcy Wheeler discusses the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history. Plus fast food strikes, immigration reform, port truck drivers, and layoffs at Chicago public schools.
The post Belabored Podcast #16: Who Bankrupted Detroit? appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week in Belabored: Special guest Lee Fang shares his insights into the resurgent right wing. Plus Chicago school closings, NLRB appointments, and strikes by low wage workers.
The post Belabored Podcast #15: Renegade Retailers and Education Ideologues appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week in Belabored: a living wage bill, the fight to save a Brooklyn hospital, and legal challenges to payroll debit cards and "independent contracting." Plus an Explainer segment on employer retaliation.
The post Belabored Podcast #14: Labor and the Law appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week in Belabored: insurgent teachers in Newark and Washington, DC, teacher evaluations in New York, benefit cuts in North Carolina, and a settlement between Hyatt and UNITE HERE. Plus special guest Michelle Chen.
The post Belabored Podcast #13: Education Workers appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week in Belabored: fighting hospital closures in Brooklyn, the firing of a dozen Walmart strikers, an end to the New York legal services strike, and a new bill to make managers pay for retaliation. With special guest Rich Yeselson, author of "Fortress Unionism."
The post Belabored Podcast #12: Hold the Fort? appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
This week on Belabored: a worker takeover of public broadcasting in Greece; the passage of a new law protecting New York child models; McDonald’s forcing debit cards on its employees; and a hunger strike in protest of Philadelphia school cuts and layoffs. With special guest Penny Lewis, author of Hardhats, Hippies, and Hawks.
The post Belabored Podcast #11: Hardhats and Hippies appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Josh and Sarah recount the spectacle and ideology of last week's Walmart shareholder meeting. Also discussed: a GOP effort to pre-empt paid sick days; a landmark legal ruling on unpaid internships; a letter from Elizabeth Warren on trade deal transparency; and two rallies in New York.
The post Belabored Podcast #10: Whose Walmart? appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Uprisings in Turkey and the role of labor unions, international actions targeting McDonald's, ongoing conflict at Palermo's Pizza, and an independent organizing campaign at an upscale New York deli. Plus the debut of Belabored Explainers! This week: wage theft.
The post Belabored Podcast #9: Who Stole My Wages? appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Savannah port truckers organizing; Seattle fast food workers striking; Chicago teachers suing; and a bankruptcy judge's blow to retired mineworkers. Sarah discusses the new NYC bike share program through a labor lens. Josh talks about the first prolonged strikes by US Walmart employees. And find out how to participate in Belabored's new explainer!
The post Belabored Podcast #8: Bad Green Jobs and the Long Strike appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Josh and Sarah interview Gabriel Thompson, biographer of Fred Ross, the little-known organizer who trained Cesar Chavez. They also discuss the latest strikes by low-wage workers, a strike in Dubai of immigrant workers, & more.
The post Belabored Podcast #7: Social Arsonists appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Obama’s appointments to the National Labor Relations Board rejected, new strike authorizations, and Sarah and Josh discuss the state of fast food workers’ organizing efforts. They interview journalist Jake Blumgart about recent developments around anti-sweatshop activism, at-will employment, the future of Atlantic City, and high-stakes testing at a sushi restaurant.
The post Belabored Podcast #6: “That Can Get You Fired” appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Sarah and Josh discuss port trucker organizing in Savannah, fast food strikes in St. Louis, and one union’s experiment with using collective bargaining as a weapon against big banks. Then they consider the anti-union record of Obama’s new nominee for the Commerce Department, and the Democratic Party's future with organized labor.
The post Belabored Podcast #5: Bargaining Against Banks appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Sarah and Josh interview Hyatt hotel housekeeper Cathy Youngblood, a leader in UNITE HERE battling with the hotel giant, on Obama’s choice of a Hyatt heir to run the Commerce Department, and her “Someone Like Me” campaign calling for a worker to be added to Hyatt’s board. Plus labor news and "I wish I'd written that!"
The post Belabored Podcast #4: “Talk To Someone Like Me” appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Sarah and Josh talk strikes: the latest wave of one-day, low-wage, non-union work stoppages and, hypothetically, what might happen if everyone doing care work in America...stopped.
The post Belabored Podcast #3: “Strike.” appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Belabored interviews the BBC's Paul Mason and talks minimum wage, maximum subsidies, the expansion of Working America, the end of the American Crystal Sugar lockout, the beginning of a strike at “Fashion Police," and the role of guestworkers in the immigration debate.
The post Belabored Podcast, Episode 2: “The neoliberal era is over.” appeared first on Dissent Magazine.
Presenting our new podcast, Belabored, hosted by labor journalists Josh Eidelson and Sarah Jaffe. The inaugural episode features an interview with Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis.
The post Belabored Podcast, Episode 1: “We will shut down your city” appeared first on Dissent Magazine.