A View from the Left Side

Long-term drought, extreme heat, intense fires and unpredictable weather -- obviously, Arizona is feeling the effects of climate change now. 

Governor Doug Ducey and Republican Legislators continue to pursue the capitalist path of unbridled and unchecked growth as the road to prosperity, with no concern regarding the environmental impact or the long-term sustainability of their ideas. 

 In her speech to the  UN climate conference in 2019, teen climate activist Greta Thunberg called the corporate push for more consumerism ... more growth ... more building  "fairytale" and warned world leaders that the youth of planet Earth expect action. In 2021, Thunberg called the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow "more blah, blah, blah" and scolded leaders for making little progress. 

Climate change is a ticking time bomb. The human race has roughly this decade to make major changes in order stop the worst effects of climate change. 

For the commentary this week, you'll hear Thunberg scolding world leaders for inaction on climate change on behalf of the world's children in 2019.

Interview

My guest this week is Sandy Bahr, who is the Chapter Director for the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club. Bahr is a regular at the Arizona capitol. We discuss the current status of Arizona's water supply, weather, and politics.

Time Stamps
PPH Commentary 0:42 
Youth Climate Activist Greta Thunberg Addressing UN Conference in 2019 1:43  
Interview with Sandy Bahr 6:42  
What Does the Sierra Club Do? 7:38  
What Is the Status of the Drought and Arizona's Water Supply? 8:40   
Groundwater Pumping Is Killing Our Perrenial Rivers 10:27  
Anything Goes' in Some Parts of Arizona. Enter 'Super Pumpers'. 11:44  
Despite Water Shortages  Governor and Republicans Still Focus on Growth 13:45  
Republican Pipe Dreams 14:27  
Water Shortages in 2022 Due to Lake Mead Level 17:38 
Agriculture Will Be Effected First by Water Shortages 18:12 
If We're Going to Pay Farmers  Why Not Pay Them to Grow Sustainable Crops? 18:46  
Heavy Groundwater Pumping in Cochise County Fuels Feed Crops for Other Countries 20:17   
Will We Have Water Shortages and Rationing in 2022? 21:43  
Cochise County Residents Want an Active Management Area to Save the Water Supply 22:43 Rep. Gail Griffin of Cochise County Has Blocked Good Water Bills from Republicans and Democrats 23:16  
Did the Summer Rain Help Us with the Drought? 24:30  
The Drought Is Not Over 25:02 
Both Phoenix and Tucson Set Extreme Heat Records in 2020 25:12  
Phoenix Creates Its Own Weather Patterns 25:40 
With Climate Change Arizona Will Get Hotter and Drier 26:13  
COP26: What Happens to Arizona if Global Temperatures Rise Above 1.5 Degrees? 28:03   
This Is a Climate Crisis and an Extinction Crisis 29:59  
NOW Is the Time for Bold Action if We Are Going to Avoid the Worst Impacts of Climate Change 30:59  
Extreme Heat Kills People 31:43 
Destabilizing the Climate Has Huge Implications for the Future of Humanity 33:06   
COP26: Are World Leaders or Multinational Corporations in Charge of Our Planet's Future? 33:34  
This Is the Time to Say 'NO' to the Fossil Fuel Industry 34:07  
With Many Open Seats in the Arizona Legislature in 2022,  We Have the Opportunity to Elect Better Representation 34:45

Arizona’s 2021 Independent Redistricting Commission has been working on new Congressional and Legislative maps for a few months now. Controversial draft maps (version 10) were passed by the commissioners on October 28, 2021.   

The maps are not final, and many people in Pima County, myself included, are not happy with the Pima County’s gerrymandered districts. Tucson proper is split into four different districts, ignoring natural boundaries like Interstate 10 and multiple mountain ranges and putting urban areas in districts that are heavily rural. 

This is where you come in. The draft maps have entered a 30-day comment period. There will be opportunities to comment on the maps in person at meetings throughout the state. In addition, you can comment online at the IRC’s website anytime. There is a virtual town hall on Saturday, November 6, 2021 to kick this off. 

My podcast guests provide a wealth of background information on the independent redistricting process. You’ll find out more about the Independent Redistricting Commission, the map-making procedures, the controversies behind the draft maps, and next steps. Republicans are trying to game the redistricting process by claiming more safe Republican districts that they are entitled to. We can’t let them do that. Republicans rule the state as if they had a mandate and a super majority—instead of a razor thin majority. They have no mandate. Arizona’s electorate is nearly evenly divided in thirds between Republicans, Democrats and Independents. Contrary to popular belief, Independents are all over the map politically. I have canvassed their doors. Arizona is a multicultural, multiracial purple state. The people of Arizona deserve maps that reflect our population—not maps that are based upon the desires of the powerful.

Interview Guests
My guests are Dr. Don Jorgensen and Brian Bickel, two guys who have been closely watching the IRC's mapping process very closely.

Jorgensen is the founder of Jorgensen Healthcare Associates and owner of Arizona-based Human Factor Consulting. Don is an author, a global speaker and consultant in the areas of change leadership, strategic planning and team development. Don is a former Chair of the Pima County Democratic Party, and a regular radio guest on state and national politics. Don and his wife Kathy have visited all 7 continents, and have worked on humanitarian projects around the globe, in countries like South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Brazil. 

Brian is a life long Democrat, born and raised in Michigan and a graduate of the University of Arizona. He is a former Marine and retired Army Major with combat tours in Vietnam, Panama, Saudi Arabia and Bosnia. He is a retired healthcare executive, most recently the CEO of Southeast Arizona Medical Center in Douglas. He is currently the treasurer for the Pima County Democratic Party. His wife, Susan, is an Arizona native. They have one son and two grandsons who live in Amarillo, Texas.

Time Stamps
 | PPH Commentary 0:43   
 | Interview with Don Jorgensen and Brian Bickel 4:39 
 | What Is the Redistricting Process? 5:27  
 | Historical Look at IRC: 2000 and 2010 vs 2020  6:42  
 | Ducey Had His Thumb on the Scale 7:43   
 | IRC In-Person Meetings 9:49  
 | Pima GOP Chair Says They Want Their own Legislative District 11:10
 | There Are Multiple Ways People Can Comment on Maps 12:57   
 | The Mapping Process Explained 14:29  
 | Controversial V8 Maps Skirted the Process 15:56  
 | Gerrymandering Gives Republicans More Safe Districts 17:04  
 | SALC Maps Popped Up at the Last Minute 21:51  
 | Thoughts on the 2022 Election 24:16  

During my five years in the Arizona House, I have been a crusader for increased funding and services for maternal and child health. Arizona is worst in the country for Adverse Childhood Experiences. Far too many Arizona children grow up with food insecurity, housing insecurity and financial insecurity, while the state government gives away billions each year in tax breaks. 

With so much cash on hand, it’s time for the Arizona Legislature to invest in the health and wellbeing of children and families – instead of more tax breaks for corporations and wealthy Arizonans. 

According to Arizona’s 2020 Statewide Maternal and Child Health Needs Assessment Report, Arizona has one of the highest poverty rates in the country. Between 59 and 74% of African American, Latino and Native American children in Arizona live in low-income households. Although some of Arizona’s infant and maternal health outcomes are better than average, racial and ethnic disparities exist. Arizona’s overall infant mortality rate is 5.6 (per 1000 live births), but that rate jumps to 9.2 (per 1000 live births) for African Americans and 9.4 (per 1000 live births) for Native Americans. Similar racial and ethnic disparities exist when you look at low birthweight.

Arizona’s working families are at a crossroads. Many are struggling after losing pandemic benefits and are worried about loss of eviction protection in an uncertain world. Will the Arizona Legislature help them by easing some of their medical burden? Arizona’s Medicaid system, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) has flexibility options that it can opt into—especially now that the procedures have been streamlined and now that Arizona has plenty of money for matching funds. My guests today will talk about the state of maternal and child health in Arizona and steps that the Arizona Legislature can take in 2022 to improve the health and the lives of Arizonans, particularly our youngest residents. 

My guests for this podcast are Zaida Dedolph, director of health policy for the Children's Action Alliance, and Rep. Kelli Butler, who is ranking Democrat on the Arizona House Health Committee. They discuss Arizona's need for expanded maternal and child healthcare and the state's unique opportunities as we approach the next Legislative session.

Time Stamp
 | PPH Commentary 0:42  
 | Interview with Zaida Dedolph 5:22  
 | Increasing Access to Care for Arizona Children 6:17  
 | Arizona's Rate of Uninsured Children Is Almost Twice US Rate 7:12 
 | AHCCCS and KidsCare 101 8:31 
 | Arizona Doesn't Have to Be Stingy with Healthcare  9:52 
 | Arizona Does the "Bare Minimum" for New Moms and Babies 11:27 
 | Arizona Maternal Mortality Report: 80% of Postpartum Deaths Are Preventable 12:36 
 | Instead of Action to Save Lives  |  AZLeg Wants More Reports 13:54 
 | Increased Access to Prenatal and Postpartum Care Would Save Lives and Money 15:45 
 | Arizona Needs Medically Accurate Reproductive Health Education  18:43 
 | There Are Generational Benefits to Increasing Health Coverage for More Families 20:17 
 | Interview Rep. Kelli Butler 23:04 
 | House Health Committee Is Meeting About Medicaid Expansion 24:06  
 | Legislators Discuss Seven Ways to Improve Access to Care in Arizona 25:19 
 | Butler Is Still Pushing for Expansion of KidsCare 26:16 
 | Democrats Have Been Trying to Pass Dental Care for Pregnant People for Years 27:10   
 | Expansion of Postpartum Care  28:35 
 | Other Expansions Discussed by HHC 29:59  
 | Prevention Saves Lives and Money 31:07 
 | More on Arizona's Maternal Mortality Report 32:48  

An overabundance of fake news, paid political advertising and trolls gaslighting the facts have turned most social media sites into cesspools of misinformation and click bait to boost engagement and profits.

There is little or no regulation to protect the privacy of the unassuming public or to ensure the accuracy of information disseminated through social media. Consumers are left to ferret out scams and misinformation on their own.   

The highly unregulated landscape of Internet-based commerce and finance is the ideal breeding ground for risky, questionable get-rich-quick schemes. 

Enter cryptocurrency, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), and blockchain.  

Maybe you have heard these terms, but you don't know exactly what they mean or you're not sure why you should care.

Today's podcast covers Internet privacy, cybersecurity and their relationship to cryptocurrency, NFTs and blockchain.

My guests today are two of my colleagues in the Arizona House of Representatives. Serving LD10 in Tucson, Rep. Domingo Degrazia is a lawyer by profession, a Certified Information Privacy Professional, and drafter of the proposed Arizona Data Privacy bill. He is Whip for the House Democratic Caucus and serves on both the Judiciary and Rules Committees. Serving LD18 in Maricopa County, Rep. Mitzi Epstein is a computer systems analyst by profession. She worked for Olin Brass Manufacturing and in the Treasury Department at Citicorp Mortgage. She is Ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee and also serves on the Rules Committee and the Land, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee.

Time Stamp
PPH Commentary 00:42
Interview with DeGrazia and Epstein 05:26
Privacy and Security on the Internet 06:08
Are People too Trusting? 08:36
Are Devices Listening to Us? 09:52
There Is Little Government Regulation. Tech Regulates Itself 10:11
Personal Information Was Used Against People in WWI, WWII 11:03
Radicalization and Misinformation Spreads through Social Media 12:52
Outrage Algorithms Build Anger and Profits 13:58
European Internet Regulations 14:34
Regulation Is Patchy or Nonexistent in Most US States 15:40
Is It a Good Thing that Some Apps Track Your Every Step? 16:53
Some of Your Data Is Being Collected and Used by Other Countries, including China 17:23
Deleting Apps that Track You 18:33
What about Cryptocurrency, Nonfungible Tokens, and Blockchain? 19:23
Blockchain Is Just One Tool 20:46
Which AZLeg Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Committee Members Are Invested in Crypto? 22:42
Cryptocurrency Is Built on Nothing 23:03
Nonfungible Tokens (NFTs)

"Ya know Arizona is a right-to-work state. Don't'cha? The right to work for less," my Dad warned me, 40 years ago when I moved to Tucson in the fall of 1981.

Back in 1981, I knew what right to work meant, but I didn't realize how anti-union, right-to-work laws suppress wages for everyone. I also had no idea how moving from a highly unionized state to a right-to-work state would impact my career, my future wages and my children's opportunities to make a living wage. 

Thank goodness that voters in low-wage states like Arizona can take matters into their own hands through Citizens Initiative when the state Legislature fails to act OR when the Legislature passes laws that outwardly attack workers and local jurisdictions that attempt reforms.

In this Episode of A View from the Left Side, you will learn about efforts in Tucson and Flagstaff to raise the local minimum wage to $15 per hour and efforts by Republican Legislators to stop local voters from improving the local economy by raising the wage..

My guest is C.J. Boyd who is campaign manager for Tucson Fight for $15, which is on the Nov. 2, 2021 ballot. If you are on the Permanent Early Voting List (PVEL), you should have received your ballot in the mail.

In this episode, Boyd explains the Tucson citizen's initiative to raise the wage to $15 by 2025 and the worker protections that are also included in this ballot proposition.

Time Stamp
"PPH Commentary 0:19 "
"Interview with C.J. Boyd 6:11 "
"Tucson Fight for $15 Explained 6:42 "
"Worker Protections 7:48 "
"Worker Schedules 9:00 "
"Wage Theft Is Biggest Type of Theft in US 9:58 "
"Chamber of Commerce Fighting Labor Standards and Enforcement 10:57 "
"More Wage Theft 12:40 "
"Local Small Businesses 15:12 "
Flagstaff $15 Minimum Wage & State Retaliation 17:35
"State Law Says Cities & Counties Can Raise Local Minimum Wage 20:27 "
"What about Pima County? 23:11 "
Who Will Be Helped by Prop 206? 25:20
Tip Workers 26:08

One of my pet peeves is reading a cliff-hanger news story, only to be left hanging when there is no follow up. Several stories reported in my previous podcasts have had newsworthy developments since those episodes aired.

To catch you up on the details, Episode 8 is a compilation of updates.

Many of my podcasts referred to petition drives and court cases that were trying to stop bad Republican bills from being enacted. These issues were decided last week because the General Effective Date for new laws was last week. Unless passed with an emergency clause or stopped by the courts, bills passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor are enacted 90 days after the end of session.

Today, three previous guests return to discuss the status of the contested laws – particularly the flat tax, the alternative tax to get around Prop 208, the voter suppression bills, the bills attacking the power of the Secretary of State and the power of the governor, Arizona’s latest radical anti-choice bill SB1457, and mandated COVID public health protections.

The good news is that progressives had some wins in the courts. We also had some disappointments. Needless to say, the struggle to beat back oppressive legislation continues. Of course, Governor Doug Ducey and Attorney General Mark Brnovich are appealing cases that the state lost. 

Who is paying for these unnecessary lawsuits generated by unconstitutional or burdensome laws enacted by Republicans? You are. The taxpayer. Creating and fighting ideological court cases all the way to the Supreme Court is a badge of honor for red state legislatures nationwide and an enormous misuse of taxpayer funds – particularly when the states are defending suppression of voting rights, reproductive rights, civil rights and public health precautions.

Besides the unnecessary court cases, does Arizona really need more than 300 new laws every year? I don’t think so, but that’s how many the Republicans pass each year. Thanks to Ducey, “small government” Republicans, and special interest groups including the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the Goldwater Institute, Americans for Prosperity, the Institute for Justice, the Arizona Tax Research Association (ATRA) and the Center for Arizona Policy (Cathi Herrod), hundreds of new laws were in the queue to go into effect last week. Which ones were the people able to stop? Not enough.
-------------------------
Interviews

For Episode 8, three previous podcast guests joined me to provide updates on the lawsuits and petition drives that Arizona voters used in an attempt to stop bad Republican bills from becoming law.  Children’s Action Alliance President and CEO David Lujan talks about the three Invest in Arizona referenda. Civil rights lawyer Dianne Post discusses Arizona’s new anti-abortion law. Arizona Public Health Association Executive Director Will Humble reports back on COVID19 in Arizona. There’s also news about sports betting, the filibuster and what’s going on with labor.

Time Stamp

PPH Commentary 1:00
"Update on 'Fraudit' (E1) 4:47 "
"Update on Referenda (E2) 5:39 "
"Update on Online Gaming (E3) 11:41 "
"Update on United Campus Workers (E4) 13:50 "
"Update on Anti-Choice Laws (E5)  15:12 "
"Update on COVID19 (E6) 20:20 "
Update on Filibuster (E7) 27:49

In 2020, President Obama called the filibuster a relic of the Jim Crow era. Obama was putting it mildly. Historically, the filibuster has been a primary weapon against civil rights legislation for more than 100 years. Many Americans have celebrated the removal of statues and renaming of boulevards that glorified Confederate leaders. Taking down statues is just feel-good public relations as long as our politicians silently kill important legislation with a Senate rule that has been used to perpetuate structural racism and white supremacy since the Civil War.

In 2021, the filibuster is being used to stop much-need legislation that would protect and expand voting rights, reproductive rights, worker rights and civil rights; reform policing; provide a path to citizenship for Dreamers; and tackle poverty. Blocking these bills from becoming law will disproportionately hurt people of color, particularly women of color. This is Jim Crow 2021.

The filibuster has been in the news a lot lately because several key pieces of legislation are currently stalled in Congress due to a filibuster threat.

What is the filibuster? How can crucial voting rights legislation be stopped because it doesn’t have 60 votes in the US Senate? What happened to passing laws with a simple majority? What is a cloture vote? What does it mean when people call for elimination or reform of the filibuster?

My guests on this podcast break down the history of the filibuster, how it works, what reform would look like, and what’s at stake if Congress fails to reform or eliminate this arcane custom.

Joining me today are two long-term colleagues of mine at Blog for Arizona, Michael Bryan and Larry Bodine. Mike is the founder and managing editor of Blog for Arizona. He is a local attorney and served as a prosecutor for the City of Tucson. Larry is President of Democrats of Greater Tucson and has been a writer and editor at Blog for Arizona for many years. Larry is also an attorney by profession and a former newspaper reporter.

Time Stamp...

"PPH Commentary 0:37 "
"Interview begins  6:31 "
"History of Filibuster 7:54 "
"Filibuster Is Not in Constitution 9:23 "
2000 Filibusters in US History 10:13
"Reforms Reduced Disincentives to Filibuster 10:38 "
Use of the Filibuster Has Skyrocketed  12:36 
"Mitch McConnell Plans to Filibuster Raising Debt Ceiling 13:56 "
Republicans Have Abused Filibuster 14:53
"Constitutionality and Racist Roots of Filibuster 17:04 "
What Bills Are Stalled Now in the Senate 19:45
"Without Reform, Is the Return of Jim Crow? 22:28 "
"What Can We Do? 25:28 "
"Nuclear Option 25:48 "
Executive Orders and the Deep State 27:22
Sinema Raising Funds on Her Opposition to Biden Economic Plans 28:33
"Would the Senate Function Better without the Filibuster? 31:15 "
AZ Dems State Committee Warns Sinema of Potential Censure  32:49
"Is the Filibuster Needed?  33:22"

Eighteen months ago the Arizona Legislature shut down due to the COVID19 pandemic and the governor's shelter in place order. Arizonans have traveled a rocky road since then. 

Throughout most of the pandemic, Arizona's government has been willing to sacrifice lives in order to hew faithfully to the right's anti-science ideology, which dovetails neatly with the "open for business" mantra. Pressure from the Chamber of Commerce, COVID deniers, and the Trump administration caused Arizona Governor Doug Ducey to jump the gun more than once and open the state up for business too soon. In the summer of 2020, Arizona was worst in the world for COVID19.

My guests today are Will Humble, executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association and former director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, and Rep. Melody Hernandez, who is paramedic. Humble provides a brief overview of where Arizona has been and where we are now with the pandemic. He breaks down the history, the science, the policies, the politics, and the personalities. In contrast, as a frontline healthcare worker throughout the pandemic, Hernandez tells stories of tragedy, death and perseverance.

Time Stamp:
| Introduction 0:37
| Interview with Will Humble 1:28
| Arizona's COVID Story 2:13 
| Vaccine Rollout 12:17 
| COVID Deniers 13:23 
| COVID & the Schools 15:01
| Face Masks Make a Difference 19:01
| Current COVID Wave Hitting Vaccine Deniers 20:31 
| Some AZ Counties Hit Harder than Others 20:58 
| Comparing AZ to Other States 22:24
| Why Is AZ #7 in COVID Deaths? 25:03
| Federal & Corporate Mandates for Vaccines & Masks 27:43 
| Closing Comments for this Segment 29:15 
| Interview with Rep. Melody Hernandez 30:24
| Working as a Paramedic during COVID 31:02
| When Hospitals Get Full 32:33
| Delta Is a Pandemic of the Unvaccinated 33:30
| County Differences: Maricopa v Pinal 35:22
| So Much Death 38:49
| On the Job COVID Precautions 39:53 
| Gun Violence Increases as People Come Out 40:54
| Vaccines Save Lives 42:38 

In 2016, Senate Republicans stopped President Barack Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court to replace Justice Antonin Scalia. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said it was too close to the election and that the new president should choose the new supreme court judge. Despite nationwide outcry against this, the Supreme Court functioned for months with only eight justices. After President Donald Trump took office, he nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch in January 2017,  Judge Brett Kavanaugh in July 2018, and Justice Amy Coney Barrett on September 2020, just months before the 2020 election. (I guess according to Mitch McConnell rules are meant to be broken.)

The US is currently suffering the aftermath of these three conservative appointments. Multiple Republican-controlled state legislatures have passed restrictive anti-abortion bills during the past decade. Since the Supreme Court has taken a decided hard turn to the right with the Trump era appointments, states like Texas and Arizona are in the forefront with anti-choice legislation designed to challenge Roe v Wade.

Now US Attorney General Merrick Garland is mounting a legal case against the Texas ban on abortions after six weeks. In Arizona, there is a lawsuit to stop SB1457, which criminalizes the woman, her doctor and anyone who helps her get an abort a fetus with a known birth defect, regardless of severity of the diagnosis or life expectancy after birth. 

My guests Rep. Athena Salman and Dianne Post discuss repressive antiabortion laws in red states, particularly Arizona and Texas and what we can do about it.

To protest this latest round of legislation attacking reproductive healthcare, Women's Marches will be held around the US and around Arizona on Saturday, October 2, 2021 to protest repressive anti-choice laws like those passed in Texas, Arizona and other red states.

Tucson Women's March: October 2 at 10 a.m. - noon, starting at Armory Park.
Phoenix Women's March:  October 2 at 10 a.m. - noon, starting at the State Capitol.

Podcast Time Stamp:
PPH Commentary on Reproductive Choice 0:54 
Interview Begins 3:34  
Legal Issues 7:38   
Texas v AZ antiabortion laws 12:27  
Federal Case against Texas 15:29   
AZ IS 'Pro-Birth'  |  Not 'Pro-Life' 17:53  
Inadequate Prenatal Care in AZ 18:56  
Health Is Not Ducey's Forte 20:50  
AZ Antiabortion Law Is Worse than Texas 21:49
Mail Order Drugs Illegal in AZ 25:13  
Our To-Do List 28:06  
Events 29:45  
Will There Be Boycotts of Texas and AZ? 31:26

Work has changed dramatically in the past 40 years. 

In the 1980s, President Reagan busted the air traffic controllers’ union, corporations began closing factories and offshoring American jobs to countries with cheap labor, and trickledown economics dictated tax cuts for the rich and the dregs for the rest of us. 

It the 1990s, banking deregulation paved the way for the Wall Street crash of 2008 by eliminating financial protections enacted after the Great Depression. 

During the Great Recession, which dragged on for years, almost 9 million Americans lost their jobs. Unemployment hit its peak at 10% in 2009. Although, many governors tout robust recoveries from the 2008 Wall Street crash, the jobs Americans have today are dramatically different from jobs in the 1970s – before union busting, offshoring, and tax cuts for the rich became commonplace. Before politicians cared more about fundraising and getting elected, than about the people they claim to serve. 

In an episode of his podcast “Marketplace,” NPR’s Kai Ryssdal said, in 2018,  “Today is a much different picture. Unemployment is near its lowest level in 50 years. On paper, the American labor force has more than recovered, but when you dig a little deeper, the imprint of the financial crisis is visible in the types of work people now do and how they get paid for it.”

Entry level pay for college graduates increased only 6% in six decades (1960-2018), although housing, healthcare and college debt have increased exponentially. 

Most of the jobs created in the decade after the 2008 Wall Street Crash were alternative work, according to NPR, temporary, on-call, contract, or freelance work. In a decade, the work/life norm in the United States shifted from fulltime work with decent wages, benefits and maybe even a union card to just-in-time labor and juggling multiple jobs and daycare in the gig economy. 

In this pre-COVID time period, one in three US adults reported doing some type of nonstandard, “gig economy” work to make ends meet. In 2018, participation in the labor force was 63%, a record low. Pre-COVID, the gig economy was pervasive in Tucson. So many people worked as ride-share drivers and/or delivered packages in their personal cars. I often wondered how many of them had careers and fulltime work before the crash. 

When COVID hit in 2020, there was another wave of job losses and more dramatic changes to work life. 

In March 2021, the Economic  Policy Institute reported that although the US economy had been adding jobs, particularly as the vaccinations rolled out, the US was still down 9.5 million jobs compared to pre-pandemic levels one year earlier. At this rate, they estimated it would take two years to get back to February 2020 employment levels. This prediction was made before the Delta variant caused another wave of the pandemic in 2021. When factoring in the number of jobs that weren’t created during the COVID economic slowdown, EPI says more than 25 million American workers were “directly harmed by the COVID labor market.” 

As I said in one of my 2020 pandemic videos, many jobs and industries may become obsolete or may be changed forever. The continuation of pandemic era consumer hesitancy toward large crowds, big indoor events, air travel and in-person shopping could stall economic recovery into the future. The steady stream of misinformation about vaccines and masks has given the COVID19 Delta Variant the freedom to infect and kill thousands of people unnecessarily.

In my opinion, now more than ever, people need the protections that unions provide. 

In honor of Labor day, my guests today are Trish Muir, who is Chair of the Pima Area Labor Federation and a member of the Teamsters union, and Ryan Kelly, who is the PALF field director and a member of the National Writers’ Union, which is also my union.