Working Life Podcast

Episode 90: I recently posted a column, which I talk a bit about in the opening of the episode, predicting that the recent teachers’ uprisings (which have been featured a lot on the podcast) will have far more lasting impact on the country’s economic policies than any one electoral race—and those uprisings may blow up the Big Lie conservatives have shopped around for several decades. You, then, will hear a recording from a recent inspiring Black Lives Matter rally I attended in Los Angeles, and that’s especially relevant as we watch the Supreme Court signal increased hostility towards people of color, and, generally, progressive ideas (sorry, friends, that guy is going to get confirmed). Last up is my conversation with Dorothy Gasque, a progressive running for the Democratic nomination in Washington State’s 3rd Congressional district. Our Robber Baron of the week is the CEO of Coca Cola who seems to be just fine with the company’s role in global human rights violations.

Episode 89: Patriotism isn’t embodied in flag-waving. It’s seen every day in the hard work done by community and union activists. So, with the fluke of our regularly scheduled podcast falling on July 4th, I start by talking with Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, the co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health about a new initiative called “Our Turn” that is turning the spotlight on the sexual abuse and harassment rampant in the world of low-wage workers like janitors, farmworkers, hotel workers and other people who labor in factories. I also chat with Mark Dimondstein, the president of the American Postal Workers Union, about not only the union’s contract negotiations underway right now but ways in which we can re-imagine the post office to do a whole lot of things for the betterment of the people. Our Robber Baron of the Week is the recently-departed CEO of Mattel, Margaret Georgiadis.

Episode 88: Today, the inevitable happened. The Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME, with the now-familiar right-wing conservative majority siding with the anti-union billionaire forces against public sector unions, and, really, the entire middle-class. I welcome back Celine McNicholas from the Economic Policy Institute to look at who is hurt by the decision. I, then, give us another listen at an in-depth conversation with American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten about how the AFT has been preparing to fight back in the wake of the decision. Our Robber Barons are the network of billionaires who funded Janus and similar cases.

Episode 87: I start off on the West Coast with a conversation with Sylvia Cabrera, a “this is the future” union activist who helped lead winning organizing drives at three schools in Los Angeles owned by the biggest charter school chain in the area. So, yeah, charter schools undermine the public school system but, if they exist, they best be unionized. I, then, go to the final frontier, where no person has gone before…I couldn’t help channel a little Star Trek there to forecast a chat with Paul Shearon, the incoming president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), which represents, among a whole slew of varied workers, NASA rocket scientists. Our Robber Baron of the week is the CEO of Time Warner Jeff Bewkes.

Episode 86: No matter that the Los Angeles Ports moves 40 percent of the containerized goods entering the country, generating billions of dollars in commerce—it’s rip-off time when it comes to treating the truck drivers and warehouse workers fairly. I know, you’re shocked! I recently checked out a big rally, featuring Bernie Sanders, by workers trying to form a union at a number of companies at the L.A. ports. In the big picture, the workers are getting screwed like a lot of workers: companies misclassify workers, treating them as independent contractors, not employees. After you hear segments from the energetic rally, I chat with truck driver Daniel “Seko” Uaina. I, then, talk with progressive candidate Kara Eastman who won the Democratic primary for the 2nd Congressional District in Nebraska—and, then, got the blow-off from the national party, at least partly because she defeated the favored centrist “Blue Dog.” Because the national party has been so-skilled at winning elections, rights? Our Robber Baron of the week is the CEO of Allergan, Brent Saunders.

Episode 85: Fantasy is the Magic Kingdom’s product. Yet, life is all too real for the thousands of people who work at Disneyland and Disneyworld, the people who make billions for the huge wealthy corporation but are faced with bad pay, homelessness, debt and hunger. So a few days ago, I went to the mass rally for Disneyland workers where the featured political ally was, of course, Bernie Sanders, who gave a tutorial on the struggle of all workers. The rally also featured a panel of workers in conversation with Bernie, and I’ll bring that to you, as well. Finally, I talked to two Disney workers whose stories you will hear right after the rally segments. Our Robber Baron of the week is, of course, Disney CEO Bob Iger who makes tens of millions of dollars while most of his workers can’t pay the bills.

Episode 84: The economic system has been built on racism for generations. The recent tax cuts just made things a lot worse—and I talk about that with Michael Linden, co-author of a path-breaking paper about the hidden racism in the system. I, then, ring up Lori Wallach, the peoples’ trade warrior extraordinaire, for an insider look at the recent earth-shaking developments and fights over the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Then, I review the political predictions for 2018 from the global business magazine, The Economist, which predicts a Democratic win…at least in the House. Our Robber Baron of the week is the CEO of BT, a global telecom company.

All those flag-waving politicians love their military folks—until it’s time to screw them every which way once they take off the uniform, especially when it comes to funding the Veterans Administration. I look into the attack on the VA by the free-market fanatics in a conversation with union policy expert Jacque Simon. I also chat with legal expert Najah Farley about how the horrendous Supreme Court decision this past week, which puts workers out on their own when it comes to taking on unlawful and unethical corporate behavior, will especially hurt the #MeToo movement. In a follow-up from last week’s episode, I also discuss with Darryl Blackwell, a worker on the hog processing line at Farmer Johns Smithfield, the brutal conditions he faces and how things will get worse if the Department of Agriculture allows big corporations to speed up the hog assembly line. Our Robber Barons of the week are the heads of the Wall Street buyout firms Bain, KKR and Vornado.

Episode 82: Another day, another chapter in the new ways to screw workers. This time, the target is workers inside hog processing plants--who are already doing one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. I talk with expert Debbie Berkowitz about the Department of Agriculture's new proposal to speed up the processing line--so that Big Ag can pile up bigger profits even if workers get hurt and sick at an even higher rate.

Today, the next teacher uprising is underway in North Carolina. I caught up with NC teacher union president Mark Jewell before the mass rally to hear about not just the short-term goals but the long term political strategy.

Heidi Harmon, mayor of San Luis Obispo, California is a better example of "America's Mayor". She's a solid progressive who was elected in 2016 as part of a campaign run by a big progressive team. As she prepares to run for re-election I chat with her to hear her thoughts about lessons all progressives can learn about running a city and building a long-term progressive movement.

Our Robber Baron of the week is Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue.

Episode 81: The teachers’ uprisings around the nation have challenged the bankrupt ideology of supply-side tax cutting—and maybe marks a shift in the public’s view of taxes and public spending. I talk about that with Meg Wiehe, deputy director of the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy. I welcome back Arizona teacher activist Amber Gould for an eyewitness account of the Arizona mass rally, and what it means for politics in the state. I also chat with David Rosnick of the Center for Economic and Policy Research about how much worse inequality really is despite some statistics floating around. Our Robber Baron of the week is, again, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos who is trying to scuttle a tax to fund affordable housing in Seattle.