Authoritarianism on the rise: Educators and unionists share strategies for resistance and victory, citing historical examples of successful labor movements, at a conference hosted by CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies and Cornell Worker Institute in New York City this past May.

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Description: Labor organizing is critical to any anti-fascist movement, but labor unions and worker education are feeling the impact of brutal Republican attacks and cuts. How are workers and educators responding? In this special report, from a conference held at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies (SLU) in New York City, Laura spoke with Rebecca “Becky” Pringle, president of the National Education Association, the largest union in the country, about labor solidarity in the deep-red state of Utah; history professor Robert Cassannello, a plaintiff in a successful suit against Florida Gov. DeSantis’s Stop Woke Act; and Rev. Ryan Brown, an Amazon worker/organizer from North Carolina, about how workers and educators are fighting back, and even winning in these times, although the obstacles are immense. The conference, “Labor and the Crisis of Democracy; Working Class Politics in a Time of Authoritarianism” was convened by the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies with the Cornell Worker Institute. 

“It's not the first time that our species have lived in perilous times, with pharaohs who are giving people work without any brick, without any straw. They have always figured out a way to organize, to mobilize and to agitate . . . Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, they were just regular, everyday human beings. No education. But they knew that fundamentally something was wrong about the world.” - Rev. Ryan Brown

“You can study any authoritarian reign, any oligarch throughout history. The people who have the most success in fighting against them are educators and they are unionists . . . We understand these are multi-pronged attacks on every front. So we have to actually have a multi-pronged approach for educators.” - Becky Pringle

GUESTS:

• Reverend Ryan Brown: President, Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity & Empowerment (CAUSE)

• Robert Cassannello: History Professor, University of Central Florida; Incoming President, United Faculty of Florida (UFF)

• Bhairavi Desai: Executive Director, NY Taxi Worker Alliance

• Annabelle Heckler: Artist; Social Practice Fellow, CUNY

• Sherman Henry: Director, Labor Institute for Advancing Black Strategies, Clark Atlanta University

• Dr. Mudiwa Pettus: Assistant Professor, English Department, Medgar Evers College; Social Practice Fellow, CUNY 

• Rebecca “Becky” Pringle: President, National Education Association

Check out the Bonus Interview in this podcast feed:  In a candid discussion with Laura, veteran union organizer Alex Han and U.S. Right Wing expert Tarso Ramos explore how workers are uniting against rising authoritarianism.

Music Credit: “Jagged” by Blue Dot Sessions. And original sound production and design by Jeannie Hopper.

Watch the special report released on YouTube May 30th 5pm ET; PBS World Channel June 1st, and on over 300 public stations across the country (check your listings, or search here via zipcode). Listen: Episode airing on community radio (check here to see if your station airs the show) & available as a podcast June 4th.

RESOURCES:

Watch the broadcast episode cut for time at our YouTube channel and airing on PBS stations across the country 

Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes:

• Africana & Puerto Rican Studies: A Student-Led Victory for Multicultural Education: Watch / Listen-Podcast

• Journalists Maria Hinojosa & Chenjerai Kumanyika: Forced Removals, Foreign Detention, the War on Education & Free Speech: Watch / Listen-Podcast:  Episode and/or Full Conversation

•  Labor Safety, Project 2025, & the Far Right’s Plot Against Workers: What You Need to Know: Watch / Listen-Podcast

Related Articles and Resources:

•  AFGE president says downsizing after Trump’s order threatens the union’s survival, by Ryan Foley, May 5, 2025, Associated Press

•  Judge blocks Trump push to cut public school funding over diversity programs, by Holly Ramer, AP and Collin Binkley, AP, April 24, 2025, PBS

• PFFU, Utah labor unions return 320K signatures for referendum challenging anti-collective bargaining law, April 17, 2025, International Association of Fire Fighters

• UCF professor may proceed in lawsuit against Stop ‘WOKE’ Act (FL), September 25, 2022, The Charge, Nicholson Student Media

Full Episode Notes are located HERE.

Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O’Conner. 

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ACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel