To mark our 200th episode, we revisit the topic of the first episode: the Chicago Teachers Union. We speak to CTU vice president Stacy Davis Gates about what it’s like to be an educator and an organizer in a city facing a global pandemic and a nationwide uprising against police brutality.

For links and articles mentioned in this episode, visit https://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/belabored-chicago-200.

Belabored Podcast #200: Back to the Streets of Chicago

A podcast about labor organizing, hosted by Sarah Jaffe and Michelle Chen. Presented by Dissent magazine since 2013.

News

Politics

News Commentary

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.

For links and articles mentioned in this episode, visit https://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/belabored-how-workers-escape-with-saket-soni

Belabored: How Workers Escape, with Saket Soni

The strike is back in Britain but the Conservative government is out to crush the unions. What lessons should labor learn from the 1980s?

For links and articles mentioned in this episode, visit https://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/belabored-reviving-strike-britain-morag-livingstone-joe-rollin

Belabored: Reviving the Strike in Britain, with Morag Livingstone and Joe Rollin

On working-class Los Angeles before and after the civil unrest of 1992—and how structural inequities continue to shape the city's labor struggles from the classrooms to the docks. 

For links and articles mentioned in this episode, visit https://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/belabored-la-1992-higbie-wong

Belabored: Los Angeles, 1992, Revisited with Tobias Higbie and Kent Wong

The longtime organizer and theorist discusses tactics that unions can use to win major gains at the table and in the contract.

For links and articles mentioned in this episode, visit https://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/belabored-how-to-bargain-for-power-with-jane-mcalevey

Belabored: How to Bargain for Power, with Jane McAlevey

Healthcare and education have been at the center of pandemic labor struggles. Two rank-and-file leaders from these fields join the podcast for a live episode.

For links and articles mentioned in this episode, visit https://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/belabored-essential-workers-in-crisis-with-elizabeth-lalasz-and-jia-lee

Belabored Podcast #200: Back to the Streets of Chicago

Download our free app to listen on your phone