Working Life Podcast

Episode 130: Our friends at the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, my go-to folks when it comes to tax policy, put out another fantastic report called “Corporate Tax Avoidance Remains Rampant Under New Tax Law”. I know—you’re shocked, just shocked that the 2017 GOP tax fraud bill is letting corporations steal from us day after day…steal because tax avoidance by corporations. To dig into this robbery, I turn to a frequent guest, the Oracle himself, ITEP’s Matt Gardner. Then, I decided to rope in for a conversation Alex Seitz-Wald, a main political reporter for NBC and MSNBC. Alex rings me up now and again to get chat about stories he’s working on, and, now and again, he makes the mistake of choosing to actually quote me—accurately I would quickly add, and with my permission. So, I thought I’d turn the tables on him a bit—though not for the purposes in engaging in bashing of traditional media, which I’ve engaged in a lot and for which there is plenty of fodder to do so on a regular basis.

Episode 129: Just hours ago, 25,000 teachers and their supporters massed in Portland, Oregon to demand a fully-funded education system—it’s another moment in the incredible teacher organizing that has swept the country over the past year. With the energy of thousands of revved up teachers pulsing in the background, I chat at the rally with teacher/union leaders, as well as bring other voices from the mobilization. Then, in the richest nation in human history, 11.5 million children live in poverty. Children. I talk with Meg Wiehe, deputy director of the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, about the Child Tax Credit and the new move to get states to fill the hole in the federal CTC system, and maybe even bump up the miserly amount given to families who need it most to make sure kids can eat and be clothed. And here’s a pro tip for climate change activists: if you want to build bridges with coal miners who might not be on board with your agenda, you could start, in a small way, by marching with them as they try to save their pensions, which effectively are being stolen by big corporations using bankruptcy laws. United Mine Workers official Phil Smith joins me to look at the crisis in pensions and a big campaign to get Congress to make sure miners get what was promised them for many decades. I also want to note that Larry Hanley, the president of the ATU, passed away last night at the age of 62. I knew Larry for many years and worked closely with him for the last several years. He was one of the few national labor leaders who moved his union in support of Bernie Sanders in 2016. A True progressive. He will be missed.

Episode 128: Another day, another profitable corporation trying to skim more dough from the pockets of workers. Thousands of workers are striking Stop & Shop in the Northeast—I’m joined by Julie Sabo, one of those workers and a 38-year veteran of the company. Then, a top official of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), First Officer James Belton, chats with me about the 737 Max and the crucial role the pilots and their union play in airline safety. Our Robber Baron of the week is the CEO of the parent company of Stop & Shop.

-- Jonathan Tasini

Follow me on Twitter @jonathantasini

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Episode 127: Everyone measures the morality or immorality of society based on different criteria. For some, it’s the huge numbers of people who pay outrageous amounts for prescription drugs or just go bankrupt because of health care costs. For others, it’s racism permeating our economic and social fabric or the permanent war economy the country has had for generations, wasting trillions of dollars on behalf of the military-industrial complex. Today, I hone in on the immorality of how the country, mainly its right-wing politicians, treats teachers. And we’re going to dig into that with a look at two new teacher uprisings on the two coasts.

I talk with David Fisher, president of the Sacramento City Teachers Association, about the strike starting tomorrow over the scandalous conduct of the education bigwigs who are engaging in widespread unfair labor practices, violating a contract agreed to last year by the union and management. Then, I take our listeners across the country to Florida to discuss with Fed Ingram, president of the Florida Education Association, what he calls a “silent strike.”

-- Jonathan Tasini

Follow me on Twitter @jonathantasini

Sign up for The Working Life Podcast at: www.workinglife.org

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.tasini.3

Episode 126: Yesterday was Equal Pay Day—not a celebratory day but a time, again, to raise a stink that there is still a significant pay gap between men and women in our country: on average in 2018, women were paid 22.6 percent less than men. I talk more about gender pay discrimination with economist Elise Gould. I, then, speak with Jacque Simon, policy director for the American Federation of Government Employees, about the relatively under-the-radar full-scale Trump attack on the rights of federal workers and their unions. To wrap up the show, I welcome back J.D. Scholten who came oh so close to defeating the racist Steve King in Iowa’s 4th Congressional district. J.D. has continued to travel the state, focusing on the issue of poverty.

Episode 125: So, you want another job? That’s a pretty normal kind of desire for millions of people. Maybe there’s a better job out there that pays more money. Maybe the place you work just stinks, it’s abusive or you’re the target of sexual harassment. So, ok, off you go to polish up the old resume and start looking…well it isn’t that easy. You, and millions of people like you, may be trapped by a bad contract clause. I’ll talk about that wrinkle today with an expert leading a campaign to give a lot more freedom to millions of workers. Then, it’s a fresh in-depth look with AFL-CIO trade expert Celeste Drake at the state of play of negotiations over the new North American Free Trade Agreement. In short, it’s still a bad deal.

Episode 124: I offer a public service to progressives—and to those, like me, who are irritated by progressive leaders who don’t know how to talk about specifics when it comes to policy, and just spew out sloganeering, even when they get caught making mistakes. It’s embarrassing. So, today, Matt Gardner, a leading expert on tax policy, comes back to the show to talk with me about five specific things we can do to raise close to $5 trillion over the next decade. Jot these down—and send them to your favorite member of Congress or TV talking head. I, then, welcome back Debbie Berkowitz, a national expert on safety and health in the workplace, to for a chat about the grim reality that going to work has gotten more dangerous in the Trump era.

Episode 123: If you are looking for a place to see the scourge of free market capitalism at work, you don’t have to look further than Bangladesh. I talk with Monika Hartsel of the Solidarity Center about the thousands of workers in Bangladesh who have been recently fired for protesting and demanding better wages. I, then, welcome back Marianela Acuña Arreaza of the Houston-based Faith and Justice Worker Center to discuss the widespread wage theft her organizations has uncovered. Our Robber Barons of the week are the CEOs of Big Pharma.

Episode 122: A classic workers versus corporate greed battle is underway right now in Erie, Pennsylvania. Just about 2,000 workers who make locomotives are walking the picket lines in freezing weather—and I talk with Scott Slawson, the president of the union, to get the details on their struggle against, Wabtec, a union-busting company. Kimberly Ellis is back on the show to give us an inside look at her new bid to become chair of the California Democratic Party—and she’s the front-runner! Our Robber Baron of the week is the CEO of Wabtec.

Episode 121: Here’s one thing we learned in recent days about Jeff Bezos—like all CEOs, he’s a bully and quite uninterested in engaging in a give-and-take with community leaders where Amazon does business. I talk to union leader Dave Mertz about the decision by Amazon to back out of the deal to build part of its new headquarters in New York City, mainly because Bezos was unwilling to yield an inch on union rights and other demands to alter the bad terms of the original agreement. Then, I check back in with the contract negotiations at the Los Angeles Times—a year after the union victory, which I covered, the organizing committee is still battling the company for a first contract, and, now, the newspaper has thrown a pretty bizarre demand into the mix. Our Robber Baron is the CEO of UBS.