Progressive Voices

Moira Birss: Amazon Rainforest, Jeff Carter: New US-Russia Arms Race; OJ Seman: Native American Presidential Debate Forum

The Off-Kilter Podcast Episode 125 by Progressive Voices

Leslie is joined by Roy Houseman, Legislative Director for the United Steelworkers, to discuss NAFTA 2.0.

- Bad trade deals and especially NAFTA have a devastating legacy. Over the past 20 years, the United States lost 5 million manufacturing jobs and nearly 90,000 factories. Some went to China or Vietnam or India. But a lot went to Mexico.

- We hear about workers like those at Carrier and Rexnord, who’ve seen their jobs shipped to Mexico. But workers who have kept their jobs are also still threatened, like tire workers at Goodyear. Goodyear opened a huge facility in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, in 2017 .Workers there make the same products as Goodyear workers in the United States; meanwhile, in Gadsden, Ala., Goodyear laid off 175 workers earlier this year.

- When Mexican workers protested poor working conditions at the Goodyear plant with a one-day strike not authorized by the company-controlled union, they fired 57 of the participants.

- NAFTA was bad for workers in all three countries, pitting U.S. and Canadian workers earning family-supportive wages against Mexican workers subsisting low wages without the protections of real labor unions. In Mexico, unemployment rose and poverty levels remained the same.

- Part of the problem is that Mexican workers don’t have the protections of real unions. New labor laws passed in April would help remedy this, but right now, Mexico has no budget for implementation. And since this requires hiring hundreds of judges and reviewing hundreds of thousands of labor agreements to determine their validity, nothing has changed. Corporatists and other opponents already are attempting to thwart the labor reforms with lawsuits and other actions.

- This is why the renegotiated NAFTA as it currently stands is not acceptable. Without labor enforcement mechanisms built into the agreement, it is meaningless. There is an opportunity here to remedy a longstanding wrong, but we have to get it right.

The website for the United Steelworkers is www.USW.org and their Twitter handle is @Steelworkers. Roy Houseman's handle is @RoyHouseman.

Rick Smith Show - 08-30-2019 by Progressive Voices

During today's episode, Mark is joined by Vice President of the National Wildlife Federation, Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali.

The two discuss the Amazon Rainforest fires, including what caused them, why it's taking so long to put them out, and how they are related to climate change.

The website for the National Wildlife Federation is NWF.org and their Twitter handle is @NWF. Dr. Ali's handle is @EJinAction.

Also, please check out the website that Dr. Ali mentions during the broadcast, www.ZeroDeforestationCattle.org. The site aims to showcase how supply chain initiatives are supporting effective solutions for verified zero deforestation beef, leather, and tallow production in the Brazilian Amazon. The site also highlights ways for supply chain actors to support continuous improvement and ensure that cattle products sourced from this region do not contribute to the loss of tropical forests.

You can also watch this episode here on Facebook Live --> https://www.facebook.com/MarkLevineTalk/videos/652164758607648

Background Briefing Friday by Progressive Voices

Randi Rhodes PV Audio Promo 8-29-19 by Progressive Voices

Today's guest host is Brent Cohen, Executive Director of Generation Progress and the VP of the Center for American Progress.

Brent is joined by a pair of expert guests to discuss the Trump administration's new attempt to "end a decades-old settlement agreement that had set a 20-day limit for holding children and issue new regulations that could hold undocumented families detained together indefinitely.

The 1997 Flores v. Reno court agreement had set nationwide policy for the detention and treatment of minors in immigration custody.

It requires the government to release children from immigration detention without unnecessary delay to their parents, other adult relatives or or licensed programs." (Source: https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/21/politics/what-is-flores-settlement/index.html)

Brent and his panel explain the horrible dangers that this change would unleash on extremely vulnerable children and families.

The guests for this topic are Ginna Green, Chief Strategy Officer at Bend the Arc, and Katy Murdza, Dilley Pro Bono Project Advocacy Coordinator at the American Immigration Council.

The website for 'Bend the Arc' is www.bendthearc.us and their Twitter handle is @jewishaction. Ginna's handle is @ginnagreen. The website for the American Immigration Council is www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org and their Twitter handle is @immcouncil.

The website for "The Center for American Progress" is www.AmericanProgress.org and their Twitter Handle is @amprog.

Brent Cohen's handle is @BrentJCohen.

Nicole Sandler What's News 08 - 29 - 19 by Progressive Voices

Rick Smith Show - 08-28-2019 by Progressive Voices