Working Class History

Podcast episode about the Workmates collective, a rank-and-file initiative on the London Underground using unofficial direct action and workplace assemblies to fight privatisation in the late-1990s/early 2000s.

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In this episode, we speak to Andy Littlechild, a former London Underground worker and activist with the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) union. He explains how the Labour government introduced privatisation to the Underground, how the Workmates mass meetings began, the start of the Workmates delegate council, the 'Job-and-Knock' dispute, and the eventual demise of the 'Public Private Partnership'.

• E82.1 bonus episode: Andy discusses the politics of anarcho-syndicalism and their influence on his organising. He also tells us about a failed attempt by London Underground management to sack him for his workplace activism
• More information about this episode, including sources, images, links, and eventually a transcript on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e82-workmates-collective/Learn more in our exclusive bonus episode, coming soon for our patreon supporters.

Acknowledgements

• Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman and Fernando López Ojeda.
• Episode graphic: reworked image originally by Matt Buck (CC BY-SA 2.0 Deed)
• Edited by Jesse French
• Theme tune is 'Bella Ciao', thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here or stream it here.

Podcast episode about strikes by miners in Britain in 1972 and 1974, in conversation with Dave Douglass.
Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Sign up and get access to exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory
Continuing our intermittent series of podcast episodes about the great strike of UK miners from 1984-5, we tell the story of what came beforehand. In this episode, we look at the historical background, and learn about the national wildcat strike in 1969, as well as the huge, nationwide official strikes of 1972 and 1974, which both defeated the Conservative government and eventually brought it down.

• E81.1 bonus episode: more about Dave’s revolutionary politics, day-to-day work in the mines, and discussion of popular images of the 1970s in the UK today. Available exclusively for our patreon supporters.
• More information about this episode, including sources, photographs, links, and eventually a transcript on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/blog/e81-miners-strikes-1972-4/

Acknowledgements

• Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman and Fernando López Ojeda.
• Episode graphic: © NLA/reportdigital.co.uk.
• Edited by Louise Barry
• Theme tune courtesy of the Easington Colliery Brass Band.

The fourth and final episode of our podcast series on the Italian resistance to fascism in conversation with anti-fascist partisans themselves.
In this episode, we look at the postwar anti-fascist resistance: from armed partisan rebellions and the so-called ‘Triangle of Death’ to the 1960 anti-Tambroni riots in Genoa, as well as how the resistance is (mis)remembered today.

Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory

• Get Italian resistance merch

Acknowledgements

• Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman and Fernando López Ojeda.
• Edited by Tyler Hill
• Episode graphic: public domain.
• Our theme tune is Bella Ciao, thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here or stream it here.

Show notes, along with sources, photos, further reading, and a transcript on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e77-80-italian-resistance/

Part 3 of our four-part podcast series on the Italian resistance to fascism in conversation with anti-fascist partisans themselves.
In this episode, we look at the question of 'the resistance betrayed': the Togliatti amnesty, what happened to fascists and anti-fascists immediately after the war, and how Italy's fascist movement was allowed to rebuild itself.

Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory

• Get Italian resistance merch

Acknowledgements

• Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman and Fernando López Ojeda.
• Edited by Tyler Hill
• Episode graphic: public domain.
• Our theme tune is Bella Ciao, thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here or stream it here.

Show notes, along with sources, photos, further reading, and a transcript on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e77-80-italian-resistance/

Part 2 of our four-part podcast series on the Italian resistance to fascism in conversation with anti-fascist partisans themselves.
In this episode, we discuss the participation of migrant partisans in the resistance, what the resistance looked like in the cities, the raid of the Jewish ghetto in Rome and, finally, liberation and the execution of Mussolini.

Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory

• Get Italian resistance merch

Acknowledgements

• Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman and Fernando López Ojeda.
• Edited by Tyler Hill
• Episode graphic: public domain.
• Our theme tune is Bella Ciao, thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here or stream it here.

Show notes, along with sources, photos, further reading, and eventually a transcript on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e77-80-italian-resistance/

The first of a four-part podcast series on the Italian resistance to fascism, both during World War Two and immediately after, in conversation with anti-fascist partisans themselves.
In this episode, we look at the rise of fascism, the start of the resistance during World War Two, the partisan formations of the mountains and the participation of women in the resistance.

Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory

• Get Italian resistance merch

Acknowledgements

• Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman and Fernando López Ojeda.
• Edited by Tyler Hill
• Episode graphic: public domain.
• Our theme tune is Bella Ciao, thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here or stream it here.

Show notes, along with sources, photos, further reading, and eventually a transcript on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e77-80-italian-resistance/

Second of a double podcast episode about the Trinidad general strike of 1937, in conversation with Ryan Cecil Jobson.
Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory
Part 2 is about the general strike itself, the repression, the aftermath, its consequences and lessons for us today.

• Get books by CLR James

Acknowledgements

• Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman and Fernando López Ojeda.
• Episode graphic: public domain.
• Edited by Jesse French
• Our theme tune is Bella Ciao, thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here or stream it here.

More information, sources, full acknowledgements and a transcript on the web page for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e75-76-trinidad-general-strike/

First in a double podcast episode about the Trinidad general strike of 1937, in conversation with Ryan Cecil Jobson.
Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory
Part 1 is about the background of British colonialism on the island, the conditions of the working class and poor, racial divisions, and the beginnings of unemployed and worker agitation in the 1930s.

• Get books by CLR James

Acknowledgements

• Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman and Fernando López Ojeda.
• Episode graphic: public domain.
• Edited by Jesse French
• Our theme tune is Bella Ciao, thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here or stream it here.

More information, sources, full acknowledgements and a transcript on the web page for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e75-76-trinidad-general-strike/

Concluding part of a double podcast episode about Ben Fletcher, a very important but little-known dock worker and labour organiser in the US with the Industrial Workers of the World union.
In these episodes, we speak with historian Peter Cole, author and editor of Ben Fletcher: The Life And Times Of A Black Wobbly. We also hear words written by Fletcher, voiced by fellow Wobbly, Alki.
In part 2 we learn about Fletcher’s imprisonment, later life, and the demise of Local 8.
Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory
Full information, acknowledgements, sources and a transcript are on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e73-ben-fletcher/
Acknowledgements

• Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman and Fernando Lopez Ojeda.
• Words of Ben Fletcher voiced by Alki. Check out his YouTube channel here, or follow him on Twitter here.
• Episode graphic: Ben Fletcher in 1918. Courtesy US National Archives and Records Administration/Wikimedia Commons.
• Theme music: “Solidarity (Forever)”, written by Ralph Chaplin, performed by The Nightwatchman, Tom Morello. Buy or stream it here.
• Edited by Louise Barry

First in a double podcast episode about Ben Fletcher, a very important but little-known dock worker and labour organiser in the US with the Industrial Workers of the World union.
In these episodes, we speak with historian Peter Cole, author and editor of Ben Fletcher: The Life And Times Of A Black Wobbly. We also hear words written by Fletcher, voiced by fellow Wobbly, Alki.
In part 1 we learn about his early life, as well as his union branch, Local 8, which in the early 20th-century organised thousands of workers on the Philadelphia docks and was the most powerful multiracial union in the country at the time.
Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory
Full information, acknowledgements, sources and a transcript are on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e73-ben-fletcher/
Acknowledgements

• Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands and Jamison D. Saltsman.
• Words of Ben Fletcher voiced by Alki. Check out his YouTube channel here, or follow him on Twitter here.
• Episode graphic: Ben Fletcher in 1918, enhanced by WCH. Courtesy US National Archives and Records Administration/Wikimedia Commons.
• Theme music: “Solidarity (Forever)”, written by Ralph Chaplin, performed by The Nightwatchman, Tom Morello. Buy or stream it here.
• Edited by Louise Barry