Unity Unmuted

Season 1, Episode 5

While presenting a glamorous front on Sunset Boulevard, Emerson College’s Los Angeles campus (ELA) has been host to many underappreciated faculty members.

ELA may be a long way away from main campus, but it is attended by the same students who are hoping to wrap up their degrees against the backdrop of the Hollywood sign. These students are taught and supported almost exclusively by affiliated faculty.

Join us as we catch up and celebrate a hard won contract with the affiliated faculty union at ELA, learning more about their battle through their union contract negotiations to receive the same benefits as their colleagues did on the east coast only a few years prior.

Track Listings

Lost Fast First Pass by HalfheartedAttack © copyright 1945 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY-NC-SA 3.0) license.

Old Man Psycho by HalfheartedAttack © copyright 1945 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY-NC-SA 3.0) license.

Season 1, Episode 4

Burnout, the story of capitalism gone wild!

The ambitions of working people to do the best possible, to exceed, to go above and beyond, and to do more are celebrated, as they should be. But how do we honor these hard workers? Too often with unappreciated (read unpaid, undercompensated) work the good intentions of enthusiastic workers are often capitalized by corporations and institutions. And Emerson College, much like many other higher education institutions, doesn't turn out to be an exception here.

In this episode, our members rate their burnout levels and go on to grill dysfunctional capitalism!

The episode was heavily inspired by an online Bustle article titled “Have We Been Thinking About Burnout All Wrong?” by Eve Ettinger (published March 7, 2022) which was recommended by union member, Dan Crocker. The full article can be viewed at https://www.bustle.com/wellness/burnout-definition-what-we-get-wrong

Track Listings

Lost Fast First Pass by HalfheartedAttack © copyright 1945 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY-NC-SA 3.0) license.

Transcript available at https://unityunmuted.com/category/transcripts

Season 1, Episode 3

The Pandemic! It has changed us (maybe forever), there is no denying that. But is higher education ready for the change? Universities may be cutting-edge in producing new scientific theories and critical writing but when it comes to operation and work culture, academia is not known for its flexibility. The staff union fought for the health and safety of their members through the darkest and hardest days of the pandemic. While working from home may have been the obvious solution for many companies, the challenges of establishing new working conditions at Emerson were daunting.

Track Listings

Lost Fast First Pass by HalfheartedAttack © copyright 1945 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY-NC-SA 3.0) license.

Season 1, Looking back and looking forward

We asked the Emerson Staff Union members to share their personal experiences and thoughts after a full year of the pandemic!

Life had changed and so had work and people’s working conditions.

They told us about the good, the bad, and the ugly of working during the pandemic era.

Track Listings

Old Man Psycho by HalfheartedAttack © copyright 1945 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY-NC-SA 3.0) license. / Edited from original

Reverie (small theme) by _ghost © copyright 2010 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: Pitx / Edited from original

shimmer by airtone © copyright 2022 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

Between Worlds (Instrumental) by Aussens@iter © copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: (Smiling Cynic)

Old Man Psycho by HalfheartedAttack © copyright 1945 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY-NC-SA 3.0) license.

Season 1, Episode 2

More on the ingredients and recipe of making a union.

What does it take to start a union from scratch?

Who is resisting and who is pushing? Why do higher education employees need a union?

We talked to the founders of the Emerson Staff Union and asked them to tell us what drove them to join the rising movement of American workers in organizing their colleagues and becoming a part of SEIU Local 888 in Boston.

Track Listings

Lost Fast First Pass by HalfheartedAttack © copyright 1945 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY-NC-SA 3.0) license.

Season 1, Episode 1

What does it take to start a union from scratch?

Who is pushing and who is resisting? Why do higher education employees need a union?

We talked to the founders of Emerson Staff Union and asked them to tell us what drove them to join the rising movement of American workers in organizing their colleagues and become a part of the SEIU Local 888 in Boston.

Track Listings

Lost Fast First Pass by HalfheartedAttack © copyright 1945 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY-NC-SA 3.0) license.

Season 1 Teaser

The Emerson Staff Union is speaking up and unmuting their mics, telling a story of a union in the making. From the birth scene to the battleground of negotiations, the walkouts to working from home, Unity Unmuted is the voice of workers united and empowered.

Subscribe to listen!

Transcript available at https://unityunmuted.com/category/transcripts