Listen to an interview with longtime activist Ewa Jasiewicz who speaks about her organizing work in the years after the U.S. / U.K. invasion of Iraq that surrounded campaigning against the push by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq to privatize elements of the Iraqi oil industry and to sustain a Ba'ath era law that outlawed independent labour unions.

Over many years international anti war activists built up a network of action and solidarity between the global anti-war movement, independent labour unions and unions fighting for labour justice within the deadly context of Iraq at the time.

I have worked on this interview series to recall the importance of building tangible links of solidarity between progressive social movements during this era, beyond rhetoric, looking at what tangible campaigns can look like. Here is an article that Ewa wrote at this time.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/06/oilprivatisationiniraqaca

Also this article has some background on Iraqi union organizing victories in recent years.

https://www.industriall-union.org/determined-struggle-brings-iraqi-workers-new-labour-law

Music on this edition is the track Vietnam by Narcy (@thenarcicyst).

Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan @spirodon Christoff.

Kaie Kellough + Stefan Christoff mix for @radioalhara

@kaiaiak + @spirodon

Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021

Track listing: (Artist, Track Title)

01. Beken - Kote'w Te Ye.

02. Sister Nancy - Bam Bam.

03. Mop Mop feat. Fred Wesley & Anthony Joseph - Run Around (Renegades Of Jazz Remix)

04. Roots Manuva - Ital Visions

05. Nicole Mitchell - Often Hard to Believe

06. Tony Allen - Moving On

07. Gil Scott-Heron - Home Is Where the Hatred Is

08. Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - Marcus Garvey

09. Ursula Rucker - Stop Calling Me!

10. Don Cherry - Utopia and Visions

11. Star Band de Dakar - Thioro Baye Samba

13. Meshell Ndegeocello - Dead Nigga Blvd. (Pt. 1)

14. Muzion - La Vi Ti Neg

15. @spirodon - A street accordion player in Mexico City (soundscape).

16. @anarchistmountains - Shore (excerpt).

Photo taken by Stefan Christoff in the garden of the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City.

* Mexico Dispatch 1 - Oaxaca Municipal Workers Strike

* Reporte 1 de México - Huelga de trabajadorxs municipales de Oaxaca

El miércoles 22 de diciembre en el centro de la ciudad de Oaxaca, lxs trabajadorxs municipales organizaron una serie de acciones de huelga para protestar por sus derechos y condiciones laborales.

On Wednesday, Dec. 22nd in downtown Oaxaca City municipal workers organized a series of strike actions to protest for labour rights and conditions.

Una coalición de cinco sindicatos municipales (Comite Ejecutivo del Sindicato Libre de Empleados y Trabajadores al Servicio del H. Ayuntamiento Constitucional del Municipio de Oaxaca de Juárez) se unió para realizar una serie de bloqueos en el centro con el objetivo de exigir salarios impagos y condiciones laborales justas.

A coalition of five municipal unions (Comite Ejecutivo del Sindicato Libre de Empleados y Trabajadores al Servicio del H. Ayuntamiento Constitucional del Municipio de Oaxaca de Juárez) joined together to hold a series of blockades downtown. These actions were aimed at bringing attention to the voices of workers who are demanding unpaid wages and fair work conditions.

Yesterday I visited some of the blockade sites with Mexican activist/artist Cerrucha. This is an interview with Miriam Morales López, a union delegate, on the motivations for the striking workers who held down blockades on the street streets with municipal trucks throughout the day. This is the first interview done in Spanish for Free City Radio and is a collaboration with Cerrucha, recorded in downtown Oaxaca.

Ayer visité algunos de los sitios de bloqueo con la activista / artista mexicana Cerrucha. Esta es una entrevista con Miriam Morales López, sobre las motivaciones de lxs trabajadorxs en huelga que mantuvieron bloqueos en las calles con camiones municipales durante todo el día. Esta es la primera entrevista realizada en español para Free City Radio y es una colaboración con Cerrucha, grabada en el centro de Oaxaca.

Info on Cerrucha / Información sobre Cerrucha :

https://www.cerrucha.com

This is a report recorded in Mexico as part of a series recorded in winter 2021 and produced for Free City Radio by Stefan @spirodon Christoff

Este es un informe grabado en México como parte de una serie grabada en el invierno de 2021 y producida para Free City Radio por Stefan Christoff.

A guest music mix on Free City Radio by musician Ian Simmonds (@ian-simmonds)

Ian has an album coming out soon on Art Yard Records in the UK.

Full info :

http://iansimmonds.bandcamp.com/album/the-br…k-variations

Track listing :

1. Henry Mancini - Far east blues.

2. Michel Legrand - A man's castle.

3. John Barry - The ipcress file.

4. Tartit - El Jahalat.

5. Ian Simmonds - Pick up .

6. Ian Simmonds - Robinson.

7. Ian Simmonds - A blues for angels.

Photo by Ian Simmonds.

Listen to Free City Radio 81, an exchange with Bulgarian journalist Dimiter Kenarov who speaks on the Balkans and Bulgaria today. In this exchange we speak about the realities of E.U. politics and economics in relation to Bulgaria, the poorest country in the E.U. and which is facing a massive migration crisis westward. Bulgaria has one of the quickest shrinking populations in the world. Also we speak about Bulgaria at the edge of Europe and West Asia within the context of the migrant crisis that has taken place. Finally we speak about Bulgarian history and nationalism, looking at some spaces of contradiction surrounding Bulgarian nationalism and the layered cultural history of the country that was deeply influenced by both Soviet politics and the Ottoman Empire within the past centuries.

For more information on Dimiter Kenarov visit :

https://dimiterkenarov.com

Music on this edition by @anarchistmountains and @postglobaltrio

Free City Radio is hosted by Stefan @spirodon Christoff and also broadcasts weekly on @radiockut in Montreal at 90.3fm on Wednesdays at 11am.

Photo taken in Bulgaria by Stefan.

Listen to an interview with artist Norman Nawrocki who speaks on an upcoming play, 'Run Nawrocki, Run! Escape from Banff Prison', that is screening right now on Norman's channel here :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D3Qn6O02h8

Norman speaks about theatrical works that aim to illustrate and illuminate the systemic discrimination that many Eastern European migrants faced in the Canadian state in the early 20th century.

The play is described this way :

"Imprisoned in a concentration camp near Banff Alberta because of racism & wartime hysteria. Forced to do slave labour. A poor Ukrainian-Canadian rebels, dreams & plots to escape. Norman Nawrocki's exciting new 40 minute-long play blends history, Ukrainian folklore, music & legend with family memory. A true tale about hope, courage & resistance."

Music on this edition is a duet by @spirodon and Norman Nawrocki and also a piece by Aidan Girt and Norman from the Bakunin's Bum project.

Free City Radio comes out twice a week and is hosted and produced by Stefan @spirodon Christoff

Listen to an interview with Jason Schwartz who works with the Athena Coalition. In this interview Jason speaks about the many aspects of activist organizing that is taking place to confront unjust aspects of Amazon corporation policies. In this exchange we hear about Amazon worker organizing for justice and union representation, also the challenge toward Amazon's involvement in invasive and unjust digital technologies and surveillance, while Jason presents a broader analysis that addresses the urgency to think about intersectional critiques toward Amazon as central to building oppositional forces against Amazon today.

Athena Coalition is described this way: "Athena is a broad coalition of local and national organizations representing working people, small business people, people of color, immigrants, and neighbors, along with activists, advocates, policy experts, and academics. We are coming together to create an economy where everyone can thrive, defend our climate, safeguard our communities from surveillance, and expand our democracy. We need everyone to devise these solutions – join us."

Info : https://www.athenaforall.org

Music on this edition by Nomadic Massive.

Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan @spirodon Christoff. This edition is supported by the McGill Corporate Accountability Project.

Free City Radio's 77th edition is a conversation with Robert Vitalis who speaks about the book "Oilcraft: The Myths of Scarcity and Security That Haunt U.S. Energy Policy," which is described this way :

"There is a conventional wisdom about oil—that the U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf is what guarantees access to this strategic resource; that the "special" relationship with Saudi Arabia is necessary to stabilize an otherwise volatile market; and that these assumptions in turn provide Washington enormous leverage over Europe and Asia. Except, the conventional wisdom is wrong.

Robert Vitalis debunks the myths to reveal "oilcraft," a line of magical thinking closer to witchcraft than statecraft. Oil is a commodity like any other: bought, sold, and subject to market forces. Thus, the first goal of this book is to expose the suspect fears of oil scarcity and conflict. The second goal is to investigate the significant geopolitical impact of these false beliefs.

In particular, Vitalis shows how we can reconsider the question of the U.S.–Saudi special relationship, which confuses and traps many into unnecessarily accepting what they imagine is a devil's bargain. The House of Saud does many things for U.S. investors, firms, and government agencies, but guaranteeing the flow of oil, making it cheap, or stabilizing the price isn't one of them. Freeing ourselves from the spell of oilcraft won't be easy—but the benefits make it essential."

Info : https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=28252

Music on this edition is the track "After All" by Sam Shalabi.

Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan @spirodon Christoff

An interview with Gene Bruskin from US Labor Against the War who shares some background and details on the ways that a network of US labor activists built support within the union movement for an anti-war position, to mobilize and oppose the Republican Bush administration's push for war on Iraq. Also Gene speaks about the concrete organizing efforts to build solidarity with Iraqi unions, particularly the oil workers union in Basra.

This interview was recorded for a series that I am working on to document and explore the organizing of US labor movements to support Iraqi trade unions within the context of the larger anti-war movement. This interview is part of a series that I am working on for @radiockut but also for a research paper at Concordia University that explores this topic.

Music on this edition by my friend @thenarcicyst with the track Vietnam.

Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan @spirodon Christoff.

In the 75th edition of Free City Radio, anthropologist, author and professor Neha Vora shares a critical look at orientalist discourses surrounding labour in the Gulf. Beyond naming the systemic injustices against workers in the Gulf region, this interview attempts to place Gulf labour practices within a global context of neo-colonial capitalist labour treatment worldwide, looking at the global colonialist systems at play, both in a contemporary and historical sense. Neha addresses the ways that western human rights organizational discourse toward labour practices within the Gulf can work to reenforce orientalist narratives of exceptionalism, that can work to obfuscate the role of international market forces and global corporations that play such an important role in the Gulf region.

This interview was recorded for broadcast on @radiockut by Stefan @spirodon Christoff

Music on this program is an excerpt of the track Noonday Bells by harpist @sarahpageharp who is here in a live duet with harp player Robin Best recorded at La Sala Rossa concert hall as part of a @howlarts concert.