Unrig America with Sasha Abramsky

EP 5
Welcome to the Unrig America podcast. Host, author, and journalist Sasha Abramsky will be talking with policy experts, advocates, and workers about what rising inequality in today's United States looks like and means on the ground -- and about what can be done to reverse course. 
In this episode of Unrig America, I am joined in conversation with Brenda Munoz, executive director of the UC Berkeley Labor Center, and Enrique Lopezlira, director of the Low Wage Work Program at the Labor Center. In a wide ranging discussion, Munoz and Lopezlira discussed the numbers of low-wage workers in California and across the country, the demographic makeup of this population, the lack of health insurance and pensions that often are collateral effects of low wages, what sorts of financial calculi these workers have to make on a daily basis to survive, and how union organizing, and sectoral bargaining, are vital strategies to reduce chronic poverty in 21st century America.

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©2026 Unrig America Podcast is a production of SEIU California.
For more information, please visit UnrigAmerica.com or email Sasha at [email protected]

Welcome to the Unrig America podcast. Host, author, and journalist Sasha Abramsky will be talking with policy experts, advocates, and workers about what rising inequality in today's United States looks like and means on the ground -- and about what can be done to reverse course. 

In the fourth episode of Unrig America, we’ll meet Chris Hoene, the long-time executive director of the California Budget and Policy Center. Chris is one of California's foremost experts on the economics and politics of inequality, and on the mechanisms that legislators and voters can embrace to rein in inequality and the rise of an American oligarchy. In this episode of Unrig America, Hoene discusses upcoming ballot initiatives and ways to raise the wages of low-income workers.


Chris Hoene, Executive Director, has led the California Budget & Policy Center since 2012. Under his leadership, the organization has grown significantly, shaped policies like the California Earned Income Tax Credit, and strengthened partnerships to make the budget process more accessible for Californians. He has over 20 years of experience in state and local fiscal policy.

Follow the California Budget and Policy Center online:
Site: https://calbudgetcenter.org/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/calbudgetcenter.org
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/calbudgetcenter

Follow SEIU California
Instagram: @seiuca
Facebook: Facebook.com/SEIUCalifornia
Youtube: Youtube.com/SEIUCalifornia
©2026 Unrig America Podcast is a production of SEIU California. For more information, please visit UnrigAmerica.com or email Sasha at [email protected]


©2026 Unrig America Podcast is a production of SEIU California.
For more information, please visit UnrigAmerica.com or email Sasha at [email protected]

Welcome to the Unrig America podcast. Host, author, and journalist Sasha Abramsky will be talking with policy experts, advocates, and workers about what rising inequality in today's United States looks like and means on the ground -- and about what can be done to reverse course. 

In the third episode of Unrig America, I talk with Royal Scott-Bryant about his experiences working in a variety of low-wage jobs in California -- as an Amazon driver, a security guard, a medical delivery driver, and more. Scott-Bryant has lived in California for the better part of a decade, since moving west from New Jersey. He talks about the difficulties of navigating California's high cost of living and the challenges he faces putting food on the table and accessing affordable medical care. Scott-Bryant is a member of Black Workers United and the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE).

Royal Scott-Bryant is a community advocate and worker focused on economic opportunity, workers' rights, and helping create pathways to greater stability for working people. Through his involvement with Black Workers United and EBASE, Royal has been working to amplify the voices and experiences of working-class communities and advocate for greater equity and opportunity.

Follow East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE) online:
Site: workingeastbay.org
Facebook: facebook.com/workingeastbay
Instagram: @workingeastbay

Follow SEIU California
Instagram: @seiuca
Facebook: Facebook.com/SEIUCalifornia
Youtube: Youtube.com/SEIUCalifornia
©2026 Unrig America Podcast is a production of SEIU California. For more information, please visit UnrigAmerica.com or email Sasha at [email protected]


©2026 Unrig America Podcast is a production of SEIU California.
For more information, please visit UnrigAmerica.com or email Sasha at [email protected]

Welcome to the Unrig America podcast. Host, author, and journalist Sasha Abramsky will be talking with policy experts, advocates, and workers about what rising inequality in today's United States looks like and means on the ground -- and about what can be done to reverse course. 
On this edition of Unrig America, I was in conversation with Sarah Anderson, the Global Economy Project Director at the Institute for Policy Studies, and co-editor of the Inequality.org website. Anderson is the author of the annual Executive Excess report, the latest of which was published today, August 27. It documents the rising gap between Executive compensation and the median pay for workers at major companies such as Walmart and Amazon, and the consequences of this stampede toward oligarchical levels of inequality.

In this wide-ranging conversation, we discuss how these levels of inequality were generated, including the use of stock buybacks to feather executives' nests, and the policy solutions that can be implemented to tackle egregious, and unfair, levels of pay disparity. 

Sarah Anderson directs the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies and is a co-editor of the IPS website Inequality.org. She is a well-known expert on the gaps between CEO and worker pay, as the lead author of more than 20 annual “Executive Excess” reports that have received extensive media coverage. Anderson has testified on executive compensation before the Senate Budget Committee in 2012, 2021, and 2024.

Follow Sarahon online:
Bluesky: @sarahanderson.bsky.social
Site: inequality.org
Facebook: @inequalityorg
Instagram: @ips_dc
Follow SEIU California
Instagram: @seiuca
Facebook: Facebook.com/SEIUCalifornia
Youtube: Youtube.com/SEIUCalifornia
©2026 Unrig America Podcast is a production of SEIU California. For more information, please visit UnrigAmerica.com or email Sasha at [email protected]


©2026 Unrig America Podcast is a production of SEIU California.
For more information, please visit UnrigAmerica.com or email Sasha at [email protected]

Welcome to the Unrig America podcast. Host, author, and journalist Sasha Abramsky will be talking with policy experts, advocates, and workers about what rising inequality in today's United States looks like and means on the ground -- and about what can be done to reverse course. 

In this first episode, Sasha talks with Tia Orr, executive director of SEIU California about the Unrig California campaign, aimed at making the California economy work for all residents rather than simply a small elite; and about the coalition of organizations working to pass Fair Share legislation aimed at making wealthy corporations that pay scandalously low wages and provide minimal benefits to employees pony up their fair share in taxes. Orr discusses her personal experiences struggling to survive as a young single mother, and how that has shaped her worldview in the years since.

Follow SEIU California
Instagram: @seiuca
Facebook: Facebook.com/SEIUCalifornia
Youtube: Youtube.com/SEIUCalifornia

©2026 Unrig America Podcast is a production of SEIU California. For more information, please visit UnrigAmerica.com or email Sasha at [email protected]


©2026 Unrig America Podcast is a production of SEIU California.
For more information, please visit UnrigAmerica.com or email Sasha at [email protected]

Welcome to the Unrig America podcast. Host, author, and journalist Sasha Abramsky will be talking with policy experts, advocates, and workers about what rising inequality in today's United States looks like and means on the ground -- and about what can be done to reverse course. 

©2026 Unrig America Podcast is a production of SEIU California.
For more information, please visit UnrigAmerica.com or email Sasha at [email protected]



©2026 Unrig America Podcast is a production of SEIU California.
For more information, please visit UnrigAmerica.com or email Sasha at [email protected]