On the Line

On the Line

By On the LineSociety & Culture
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On the Line episodes

  • Episode 20: July in Review

    In this episode of On the Line we discuss pro-corporate courts rolling back our labor rights, the trumped up investigation into the UAW by their federal monitor, the new Disneyland contract, Boeing workers' and Bridgham and Women's nurses' strike authorization votes, and the historic letter published by 7 national unions calling on Biden to cut all U.S. aid to Israel.

    32 min
  • Episode 18: Lessons from Smithfield: How workers unionized the largest hog processing plant in the world 20 years ago

    20 years ago, over 5,000 Smithfield Foods workers in Tar Heel, NC who work at the largest hog processing plant in the world won their union. At the time, it was the most significant union victory in the private sector in over a decade. How'd they do it?

    In this episode of On the Line, we're joined by Gene Bruskin, Campaign Director for the Justice for Smithfield Campaign to break down the organizing method these 5,000 workers used.

    39 min
  • Episode 17: June in Review

    Unions are winning at a higher rate than they have in 15 years. In June, we saw the largest public sector union victory in 25 years and Waffle House workers won a $3/hour raise which amounts to an over 200% increase for many workers! But the bosses are on the move in the courts to roll back democratic rights and are trying to take us back to the 1930s. What does this mean for us?

    In this episode of On the Line, we go through a quick review of the labor struggles in June, including union wins and crimes of big business!

    33 min
  • Episode 15: May in Review

    In this episode of On the Line, we go through a quick review of labor struggles in May, featuring updates on the historic academic strike of UAW 4811 workers, a bargaining breakthrough with Starbucks Workers United, and a massive union victory at Disneyland

    29 min
  • Episode 13: UC Workers STAND UP Against Violent Repression of Palestine Movement

    In this episode we're On the Line with UAW 4811 members and leaders in the UC system to discuss the progression of the first authorized pro-Palestine strike.

    We're joined by Anny Viloria Winnett, Graduate Student Researcher and ASE Unit Chair for UAW 4811 in Los Angeles, and Desmond Fonseca, Academic Student Employee in the History department at UCLA and UAW 4811 member.

    38 min
  • Episode 12: Inside the First Authorized Pro-Palestine Strike

    In this episode we're On the Line with UAW 4811 members and leaders in the UC system to discuss the first authorized pro-Palestine strike.

    We're joined by Rafa Jaime, President of UAW 4811 and Academic Student Employee in the English department at UCLA, Anny Viloria Winnett, Graduate Student Researcher and ASE Unit Chair for UAW 4811 in Los Angeles, and Mohammed Alyaseen, Academic Student Employee at UCSD and UAW 4811 member.

    30 min

About On the Line

From the publisher's feed

On the Line is a network of union members and leaders who cover, analyze, and draw lessons from the struggles of workers across the country to build a fighting labor movement. Although the vast majority of workers in the U.S. remain unorganized, union popularity is at its highest since 1965. One of the key drivers of this popularity is a groundswell of interest from a new generation of young workers who are looking to the labor movement as a vehicle to fight against an increasingly bleak future. A labor movement that is content with business as usual will not realize the opportunities of this moment. Instead, we need unions that articulate not only our demands for better pay and working conditions, but can advance our broader political aspirations as a working class. Building a movement that can advance the hopes and dreams of all workers won't be achieved by creating perfect structures and processes in unions that become more marginal with each passing year. It will only be achieved by organizing at a scale and fighting with an intensity that we have not seen in decades.