August 08, 2024

Judge Declares Google a Monopolist in Major Antitrust Victory w/ Emily Peterson-Cassin/Waffle House Workers Organize to Fight Unfair Labor Policies w/ Macy Stacher

1 hour 22 minutes

On this edition of Parallax Views, Emily Peterson-Cassin of the Demand Progress Education fund joins the program in the first segment to discuss the landmark decision made in the Google antitrust lawsuit that saw a judge declare that Google is a monopolist. This is a major win for the antitrust movement and those seeking to challenge monopoly capitalism in America. We'll discuss what this means as well as why anti-trust is important for consumers and workers as well as society as a whole. Additionally, we'll discuss the billionaire attacks on FTC chair Lina Khan by billionaires like Reid Hoffman who dislike her antitrust agenda. Recently, Hoffman donated millions to the Kamala Harris campaign and then went on TV to talk about how he'd like to see Khan sacked form the FTC. Supporters of Khan have accused using his status as a mega-donor to curry favor with the Harris campaign in the hopes that a Harris administration will repay him by removing Khan from her position. We'll discuss all of this as well as the work Khan and Jonathan Kanter of the DOJ's Antitrust Division have done over the past four years of President Joe Biden administration. We'll also discuss how Khan, Kanter, and others have inspired a new generation of antitrust enthusiasts that want to break up concentrated corporate power's grip on America.

In the second segment of the show, The American Prospect's Macy Stacher joins the show to discuss his article, "Waffle House Workers Challenge the Southern Economy". Waffle House workers are fighting back against ridiculously low, non-livable wages as well as lack of safety at their jobs, wage theft, meal deductions policies, and, overall, labor policies of the Jim Crow-era that have persisted in today's American South. You may have heard about the phenomena of "Waffle House Fights" that go viral on Twitter and garner chuckles in social media, but what is happening to Waffle House workers who face safety risk and a lack of concern from corporate office in Atlanta when it comes to their needs and rights is no laughing matter. We'll discuss how the Union of Southern Service workers are changing all that and the struggles that Waffle House workers like Cindy Smith, who is prominently featured in Macy's article, face regularly. Macy will also explain how the Atlanta HQ of Waffle House locked out protesting workers and threw out their petition. But even with all the grimness of what these workers face, we'll also delve into the successes they've been able to achieve especially in regard to wages recently. All that and more on this edition of Parallax Views.

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