September 06, 2021

Labor Day "Rebroadcast" 2021-09-06

39 minutes

The Colorado River is Facing a Water Shortage

The federal government declared the first-ever water shortage for the Colorado River. There will be mandatory cutbacks to prevent Lake Meade, the largest reservoir by volume in the US, from reaching critically low levels. These measures will bring exceptional challenges to farmers and Indigenous communities who are particularly vulnerable to water scarcity throughout the Colorado River system, and it will surely complicate the water supply which reaches nearly 40 million people.

An Inside Look at Anti-Union Meetings

The article, “Anatomy of an Anti-Union Meeting,” gives a unique look inside at a 2019 union drive at a plant-based meat company in North Carolina, No Evil Foods, and the tools that management used to undermine the union drive. Before the vote scheduled in February of 2020, management hired a consulting firm that specialized in union avoidance and held mandatory meetings for employees. When The Takeaway reached out to No Evil Foods for comment, here's what Mike Woliansky, co-founder and CEO of No Evil Foods, said:

"There is more to the story than what The American Prospect chose to report, both on the union effort and our recent financial challenges. Throughout the pandemic, we tried our hardest to keep the business operating. Despite significant investment in COVID protocols, which were successful as we had zero COVID-19 cases spread among our production team, we too felt the challenges of operating during the crisis. We gave all our employees a permanent $2.25/hr. raise during the pandemic, even while we were struggling financially and facing serious logistical issues, because it was the right thing to do. This put the average wage on our production team at $17/hour, which is very competitive for our area. We initially considered tying the raise to attendance, but quickly realized that policy was not reflective of our values, and after employee feedback we adapted the policy and made the pay increase for everyone regardless of their attendance or performance. We are people, and we make mistakes – and when we realize that we’ve made a mistake, we move to correct it. None of those realities are reflected in The American Prospect story."

The Battle of Blair Mountain 100 Years Later

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the largest labor uprising in the United States, the Battle of Blair Mountain. In August 1921, 7000-10,000 coal miners began marching together against corruption by the coal company, making it the biggest labor uprising in the history of the United States.

For transcripts, see individual segment pages.

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