Heartland Labor Forum

By KKFI 90.1 FM Kansas City Community RadioTV & Film Film Reviews

Heartland Labor Forum episodes

November 04, 2025 KU Professors Are Long Overdue for their First Contract and Can Labor and Management Really Cooperate?-An Interview with Bob Jacobi
Over a year and a half ago, faculty and academic staff at the University of Kansas overwhelmingly voted in favor of unionization as the United Academics of KU. So why don’t they have a union contract by now? We’ll find out this week on the Heartland Labor Forum. Then, with the inherent adversarial relationship between labor and management, can the two sides ever really cooperate? We'll ask Bob Jacobi, Executive Director of the Labor-Management Council of Greater Kansas City to make the case for it. Our feature is Safety First with Mary Erio.
1 hr
October 29, 2025 The Future of Social Security and Shutdown and Resistance
It’s all about shutdown and resistance. First, Jessica LaPointe is President of the American Federation of Government Employees Social Security Council. We’ll ask her and a local worker about the present and future of Social Security. Then, we’ll ask federal union leaders from HUD, the IRS the Army Corps of Engineers and Social Security how members are surviving with no pay and why they want more unions to show up and protest. Thursday at 6pm, rebroadcast Friday at 5am. Our feature is Voices from Labor History.
1 hr
October 20, 2025 Kansas City’s Development Incentives and Responsible Bidder Ordinances
Should your tax dollars that go to build publicly funded construction projects be used to pay for work done by companies that rip off their workers, don’t provide health insurance or pay for workers compensation insurance to cover on-the-job injuries or not pay employment taxes? We’ll talk to two leaders of unions in the building trades about what fair contracting should be and why they support passage of responsible bidder ordinances.
1 hr 1 min
October 16, 2025 Can Unions Live without the National Labor Relations Act? A Roundtable Discussion
Since 1935, the rules for union organizing and bargaining for most private sector companies have been set by the National Labor Relations Act. Since 1935 corporate America has repeatedly undermined and weakened labor law so that now both Trump and the Supreme Court are poised to kill or paralyze it. We’ll have a roundtable discussion on where we are with labor law and where we can go if unions and workers find ourselves without enforceable rights to organize and bargain. Guests are Peter Olney, former organizing director of the West Coast Longshore Union, Lynn Reinhart, former chief counsel for the AFL-CIO now with the Economic Policy Institute, and Bill Fletcher Jr., author, labor educator and former assistant to the President of the AFL-CIO to weigh in Our feature is Know Your Rights with Michael Amash.
1 hr 1 min
October 07, 2025 America’s Top-heavy Economy and Marcella Bencivenni: How Italian Immigrants Shaped the US Labor Movement
Ever wonder why official economic reports don’t match your experience? We'll talk to economist Heather Long about how the rich are doing so well that it skews the overall economic data. Then, a century ago Arturo Giovannitti was nearly executed for speaking since union organizers were not permitted free speech rights. We’ll talk to Marcella Bencivenni about this working-class hero who helped win us all our rights. Our feature is Labor Song of the Month with Mark Galus.
1 hr
October 01, 2025 Was UAW President Walter Reuther Assassinated? and What Would a Pro- Worker Tariff Policy Look Like?
Walter Reuther died in a plane crash in May 1970. The government ruled it an accident, but was it? Or was it something more nefarious? We'll talk with Rob McKenzie about his provocative new book The Assassination of Walter Reuther: Why They Did It, How We Know. Then, as Trump plays fast and loose with tariffs, we’ll ask what a pro-worker trade policy looks like? Our feature is Safety First with Mary Erio.
1 hr 1 min
September 22, 2025 The Pittsburgh Post Gazette Workers Wonder How Long Can a Strike Last? And Gerrymandering Missouri? With Rep Keri Ingle
Pittsburgh Post Gazette workers have been on strike for more than a thousand days. This week on the Heartland Labor Forum we’ll ask Jon Schleuss Vice President of their union, the News Guild, why it’s lasted so long and how the workers are still staying strong. Then, Representative Keri Ingle is back from the battle over gerrymandering and initiative petitions in Jeff City. We’ll get an insider’s story of how it went down. Our feature is Washington Window and we’ll hear about the new bill to limit CEO pay.
1 hr 1 min
September 18, 2025 Creeping Fascism??? - Jason Stanley: Erasing History and A Young People’s Guide to Fascism
Is Fascism creeping toward the USA or is it already here? We’ll hear about two books to help you decide. First fascism expert Jason Stanley on his book Erasing History; How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future. Then A Young Person’s Guide to Fascism by illustrator Sue Coe and writer Stephen Eisenman which explores the threads of fascism in U.S. history and shows their baleful influence on today’s foreign policy. Thursday at 6pm, rebroadcast Friday at 5am. Our feature is Know Your Rights with Michael Amash.
1 hr
September 08, 2025 New Union Leader Matt Harris of Plumbers Local 8 and Donna Birks Takes the Lead at LEPCI
Albert Einstein once said he’d rather have been a plumber. Here in KC Plumbers Local 8 has a new leader - Matt Harris. He’ll be on the Heartland Labor Forum this week. Then, Donna Birks rose through the ranks to become financial secretary of UAW Local 31 at the GM Fairfax plant, then led the Tri-County Labor Council and now in retirement is heading Labor’s Educational and Political Club Independent. We’ll talk to both Matt and Donna. Our feature is Labor Song of the Month with Mark Galus.
1 hr
September 03, 2025 Respect Missouri Voters Wants to Ban Politicians from Overruling the Will of the Voters and Boeing St. Louis on Strike
This week the Missouri legislature will once again meet to undermine the will of the voters. On the Heartland Labor Forum we’ll talk to Benjamin Singer of Respect Missouri Voters […]
The post Respect Missouri Voters Wants to Ban Politicians from Overruling the Will of the Voters and Boeing St. Louis on Strike appeared first on KKFI.
1 hr

About Heartland Labor Forum

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Heartland Labor Forum is Kansas City's only program about the workplace. It is produced by and for our working people. We have been agitating on the air since 1989. Find out who is busting unions and…