"Vina Colley was Erin Brockovich before Erin Brockovich," Kevin Williams wrote in a 2020 Belt Magazine article titled, "The Poisonous Legacy of Portsmouth's Gaseous Diffusion Plant." Williams continues, "Colley has become an unlikely citizen-scientist, spending a lifetime researching and documenting PORTS and its sins... Colley was hired as an electrician at the facility in 1980 and worked there for three years. 'I was exposed to everything. We were cleaning off radioactive equipment that we did not know was radioactive. They never told us,' Colley told me. Then, she said, her hair started falling out, she developed rashes, and 'I got really sick and went to the hospital, not knowing that it was my job causing me all these problems. I had big tumors.' In the four decades since, she's faced a range of health problems, including chronic bronchitis, tumors, and pulmonary edema." In this episode, we sit down with Colley herself to talk about growing up in Ohio during America's Cold War atomic age, her experience working as an electrician at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, and her decades-long fight to hold the plant and the government accountable for what they've done to her, her coworkers, and her community, and to get them the compensation they deserve.

Additional links/info below…

• Vina's Facebook page

• DOL Energy Advisory Board Information: Comments for the Record, "My name is Vina Colley and I am a sick worker from the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion plant in Piketon, Ohio..."

• Kevin Williams, Belt Magazine, "The Poisonous Legacy of Portsmouth's Gaseous Diffusion Plant"

• Erin Gottsacker, The Ohio Newsroom, "Piketon stopped enriching uranium twenty years ago. Now the nuclear industry is coming back"

• Scioto Valley Guardian, "Residents in Pike County closer to justice and compensation for radioactive contaminants"

• Sen. Sherrod Brown, Press Release: "Brown secures commitment to work to add Pike, Scioto county residents to radiation exposure compensation program"

• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine residents demand fully-funded healthcare"

Permanent links below...

• Working People Patreon page

• Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!

• Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page

• In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page

• The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

• Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Gene Bruskin was born to a Jewish working-class family in South Philadelphia and has been a life-long social justice activist, union organizer, poet, and playwright. Since retiring from the labor movement, Gene wrote his first play in 2016, a musical comedy for and about work and workers called Pray For the Dead: A Musical Tale of Morgues, Moguls and Mutiny. In this mini-cast we talk to Bruskin about his life in the the labor movement, the role of art and imagination in revolutionary politics, and about Bruskin's new musical, The Return of John Brown, which is premiering this month in Baltimore, Washington, DC, and the John Brown Raid Headquarters in Maryland. "In a staged reading of this new musical, John Brown, who in 1859 became the first person in the nation executed for treason, climbs out of his grave where he was hanged, into the present, only to be rearrested and threatened with another hanging."

Additional links/info below…

• The Return of John Brown (musical,) website

• Cosmopod, "Gene Bruskin: A Life in the Labor Movement"

• Christina L. Perez, Labor Notes, "Labor Musical Brings Morgue Workers' Struggle to Life"

Permanent links below...

• Working People Patreon page

• Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!

• Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page

• In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page

• The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

• Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

On March 23, 2024, a coalition of around 80 people convened at the East Palestine Country Club at the first gathering called by the newly formed Justice for East Palestine Residents & Workers Coalition. Those in attendance included: East Palestine residents; railroad workers; residents of other "sacrifice zones" in Ohio, Maryland, California, and West Virginia; concerned citizens living near other rail lines; labor activists and labor union representatives; representatives of environmental justice organizations; (striking) journalists; socialists, Trump voters, non-voters, etc.; and more. As journalist Steve Mellon reported, "The newly formed coalition, dubbed Justice for East Palestine Residents & Workers, determined they will travel to Washington, D.C., on Oct. 8 to further their demand that the federal government step in and make sure those affected by the derailment are provided with fully funded health care. They plan to involve union members, including those who represent workers at railroad companies, as well as environmentalists and members of other communities damaged by chemical contamination. The coalition also determined to schedule a second conference in Iowa — the cause has been embraced by union organizers there; several traveled by bus to East Palestine to attend Saturday's event — and to seek a meeting with the president of the AFL-CIO. Organizers want the federation of unions representing more than 12 million workers to support the coalition's demand."

In this extended episode, you will hear a compilation of speakers from the March 23 conference in East Palestine. Speakers include: Lauri Harmon, East Palestine resident; Chris Albright, East Palestine resident; Jami Rae Wallace, East Palestine resident, president of East Palestine Unity Council; Christina Siceloff, East Palestine resident; Rob Two-Hawks, East Palestine resident; Daren Gamble, East Palestine resident; John Palmer, longtime organizer and officer with the Teamsters, but not speaking on behalf of the Teamsters; Andrew Sandberg, International Association of Machinists (IAM); George Waksmunski, United Electrical Workers (UE); Chris Silvera, Teamsters Local 808 Executive Secretary; Steve Mellon, journalist for the Pittsburgh Union Progress, on strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for 18 months; Vina Colley, Portsmouth-Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety & Security; Steve Zeltzer, WorkWeek; David Pfister, Food & Water Watch; Nicole Fabricant, activist, academic, and author of Fighting to Breathe: Race, Toxicity, and the Rise of Youth Activism in Baltimore; Hilary Flint, Clean Air Action; Penny Logsdon, Lee County, Iowa, Labor Chapter; Jeff Kurtz, Lee County, Iowa, Labor Chapter; Carrie Duncan, Lee County, Iowa, Labor Chapter; Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network; Mike Stout, Musician.

Additional links/info below…

• Justice for East Palestine Residents & Workers website

• Mike Stout, "Stand Up for East Palestine" music video

• Steve Zeltzer, The Labor Video Project YouTube channel

• Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Union Progress, "'If I don't talk no one's going to know': Stories of pain from East Palestine move coalition members to action"

Permanent links below...

• Working People Patreon page

• Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!

• Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page

• In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page

• The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

• Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

• Jules Taylor, "E.P. Theme for W.P."

24 hours after Max returned to Baltimore from East Palestine, Ohio, the shipping vessel Dali slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, collapsing it into the Patapsco River. The catastrophic collision and collapse of the bridge claimed the lives of six immigrant, non-union construction workers who were working the night shift at the time, filling potholes on the bridge. In this interview on The Valley Labor Report, Alabama's only weekly union talk show, hosts Jacob Morrison and Adam Keller speak with Max about The Real News Network's coverage of the bridge collapse, the connections between Baltimore and East Palestine, and about the conspiracists and "anti-woke" grifters who are trying to capitalize on this tragedy for their own gain.

Additional links/info below…

• Baltimore Immigrant Community Fund Key Bridge Emergency Response

• The Valley Labor Report YouTube channel, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Patreon

• The Valley Labor Report, "The Toll of Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse in Baltimore on Working People - TVLR 3/30/24"

• Democracy Now!, "Baltimore Key Bridge Collapses, Killing Six Immigrant Workers Who Had No Access to Emergency Warnings"

• America's Workforce Radio, "Union Solidarity Is the Key to Getting East Palestine Residents Help"

• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Missing, Presumed Dead Workers from Key Bridge Weren't Informed of Mayday Call"

• Maximillian Alvarez, The Nation, "Echoes of East Palestine in the Key Bridge Collapse"

• Breaking Points, "Construction Workers ABANDONED in Baltimore Bridge Collapse"

Permanent links below...

• Working People Patreon page

• Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!

• Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page

• In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page

• The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

• Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

• Jules Taylor, "TVLR Theme Song / Florence Reece Remix"

This Saturday, March 23, unionists and labor leaders, environmental justice groups, community organizers, community members from other "sacrifice zones," and supporters from around the country are coming to East Palestine to join residents as part of the newly formed Justice for East Palestine Residents and Workers coalition. The coalition has come together in recent months and mobilized around the core objective of pressuring President Biden to invoke the Stafford Act and issue a major disaster declaration for East Palestine. If Biden does this, organizers say, it will immediately unlock a whole suite of federal resources that residents desperately need and have been demanding for a year, and it will also immediately guarantee every resident emergency healthcare. For residents like Chris Albright—a former pipeline worker and LIUNA member who has been disabled by the toxic fallout from the derailment, is now experiencing severe heart failure, can't work, and has subsequently lost his health benefits—this is a matter of life and death, and we are racing against the clock.

This episode is a compilation of voices from across the growing Justice for East Palestine Residents and Workers coalition. Speeches in the first half are from a panel cohosted by Steve Zeltzer and Penny Logsdon and recorded by the Labor Video Project on Feb. 3, 2024, the one-year anniversary of the derailment; speeches in the second half are from another panel cohosted by Steve Zeltzer and Penny Logsdon and recorded by the Labor Video Project on March 9, 2024. Speakers include: Steve Zeltzer (Labortech); Penny Logsdon (Lee County Labor Chapter); Chris Albright (East Palestine resident, LIUNA member); Jami Wallace (East Palestine Unity Council); Steve Mellon (Pittsburgh Union Progress); Jeff Kurtz (Lee County Labor Chapter); Maximillian Alvarez (The Real News Network); Mike Stout (protest musician); Charlie Wishman (Iowa AFL-CIO); John Palmer (Teamsters, San Antonio); Bob Anspach (BLET-IBT 391); Vina Colley (Portsmouth Pikeston Residents for Environmental Justice).

From the Justice for East Palestine Residents and Workers organizing committee: "We will be hosting a National Conference for the people of East Palestine along with supporters in Ohio and throughout the country to build this campaign for healthcare on Saturday, March 23, 2024, where we will bring community members, labor, environmentalist and allies together in our urgent campaign. This Conference will be held from 12-5pm ET at the East Palestine Park. To contact the Justice for East Palestine Residents and Workers organizing committee, reach out to

Steve Zeltzer: labormedia[at]gmail[dot]com

Penny Logsdon: onecent7921[at]gmail[dot]com

In solidarity."

Additional links/info below…

• Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Union Progress, "'Where are you, President Biden?' Union organizers, residents demand health care for East Palestine"
• Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "East Palestine DEMANDS Biden Visit More Than 'PHOTO OP'"

Permanent links below...

• Working People Patreon page
• Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
• Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

• Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Brett Cross is a small-town kid who grew up in Western Texas, among the oil fields, near Odessa. He worked in the oil fields, worked his way up to doing pipeline work, eventually moving to green energy work. He even became a foreman, working hard to provide for his family. And Brett was at work when he got the call from his wife Nikki that changed their lives forever. It was May 24, 2022, Nikki was at their sons' school, Robb Elementary, in Uvalde, Texas. "This is not a fucking joke," she said, "there's a shooter at the boys' school." We talk to Brett about his life before, about living in a small town, working and making your own fun, we talk about some of the family memories he cherishes most. We remember Brett and Nikki's son Uziyah "Uzi" Garcia, we talk about the day Uzi was taken from them, along with 18 of his classmates and two of his teachers, and we talk about the unimaginable fight for justice and real change that Brett and Nikki have been fighting ever since.

C/W: This episode discusses school shootings and the murdering of children.

Additional links/info below…

• Brett's Twitter/X page
• Sneha Dey, Erin Douglas, Andrew Zhang, Brooke Park, & Jessica Priest, The Texas Tribune / ProPublica, "21 Lives Lost: Uvalde Victims Were a Cross-Section of a Small, Mostly Latino Town in South Texas"
• Edgar Sandoval, The New York Times, "A Year After the Uvalde Massacre: Did Anything Change?"
• Gus Bova, Texas Observer, "The Uvalde Parents Won't Back Down"
• Elissa Jorgensen, American Statesman, "'There Are no Good Days': Uziyah's Family Won't Stop Fighting Until Gun Laws Change"
• Danielle Campoamor, Today, "A Father's Fury: Uvalde Dad Brett Cross Is Mad as Hell and Wants You to Know It"
• Kayla Padilla, Texas Public Radio, "Arrested Uvalde Father Says Police More Upset With Him Using Expletive Than Children Dying"
• Yvette Benavides, David Martin Davies, & Julián Aguilar, Texas Public Radio, "'We Did It!' — Uvalde's Entire School Police Department Suspended Following Activism from Families"
• Lomi Kriel, Alejandro Serrano, & Lexi Churchill, The Texas Tribune / ProPublica, "'Cascading Failures': Justice Department Blasts Law Enforcement's Botched Response to Uvalde School Shooting"
• John Woodrow Cox, Steven Rich, Linda Chong, Lucas Trevor, John Muyskens, & Monica Ulmanu, The Washington Post, "More Than 360,000 Students Have Experienced Gun Violence at School Since Columbine"

Permanent links below...

• Working People Patreon page
• Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
• Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

• Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song
• Jules Taylor, "John L. Handcox Remix"
• Follow Jules on Twitter and Facebook

This is an excerpt from our most recent bonus episode featuring Teddy Ostrow. To access the entire conversation, and numerous bonus episodes we have released throughout seven seasons of Working People, please visit our Patreon to unlock this content.

The Upsurge was an invaluable show that documented two of the most pivotal labor union struggles in recent years as they were happening: the 2023 Teamsters contract fight at UPS, and the UAW's 2023 stand-up strike at the Big Three automakers. Even though The Upsurge has closed shop and Teddy Ostrow, Ruby Walsh, and the gang are moving on to new projects, we sat down with Teddy to take a moment to celebrate what they accomplished and talk about what we've learned from the last year in worker struggle.

Additional links/info below…

• The Upsurge podcast
• Teddy Ostrow Twitter/X profile
• Teddy Ostrow, The Real News Network, "New York's Tenant Unions Are Playing the Long Game"
• Mel Buer & Teddy Ostrow, The Real News Network, "The UAW Won Big in 2023—And They're Not Done Yet"

Permanent links below...

• Working People Patreon page
• Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
• Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

• Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

"Last Wednesday, a fellow rail worker was gravely injured on the job and lost his life," a Feb 6 email from Railroad Workers United reads. "Our brother Chris Wilson, who worked for Norfolk Southern, was critically injured in its Decatur rail yard Wednesday and died Thursday at Huntsville Hospital." Another email from Feb. 9 reads, "On January 15th, a fellow rail worker was killed on the job in Ohio." Then, on Feb 17, another email: "On February 13th, a fellow rail worker was killed on the job in North Carolina. Brother Randall M. Howell, 41, of Allied Federation Lodge 563, died following a road crossing incident in Roanoke Rapids, N.C." Why are railroad workers all over the country dying on the job? And what can be done to stop these needless deaths? We talk with four railroad workers and members of Railroad Workers United (RWU).

Panelists include: Nick Wurst, a freight conductor in Massachusetts, legislative rep for his union local, and currently serving on the RWU international steering committee; Matt Weaver, a member of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division-International Brotherhood of Teamsters (BMWED-IBT) for nearly 30 years, legislative director for his union in Ohio, and a founding member of RWU: Mark Burrows, a retired locomotive engineer with 37 years in the industry, and the editor of "The Highball," RWU's quarterly newsletter: and Ross Grooters, RWU co-chair, member of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), also serving on the BLET-IBT Iowa state legislative board, with over 20 years in the industry.

Additional links/info below…

• Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Ross's Twitter page
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "They Were Just Another East Palestine Family—Until Norfolk Southern Set Off a Bomb in Their Lives"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine Residents Still Need Help—the Labor Movement Should Be an Ally"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "He Tried to Raise the Alarm about Railroad Safety. Then He Got Fired"
• Mike L, The Real News Network, "A Carman's Perspective on the East Palestine Derailment and the Railroad Industry as a Whole"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "US Freight Workers Say It's Time to Nationalize the Railroads"
• Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Rail Worker EXPOSES Ohio Disaster COVERUP"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, ""This Was Preventable": Railroad Workers Explain How Wall St Caused the East Palestine Derailment"
• Working People, "East Palestine, Ohio: A Hell of Wall Street's Making (w/ Matt Weaver)"
• Kari Lydersen, In These Times, "The Case for Nationalizing the Railroads"

Permanent links below...

• Working People Patreon page
• Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
• Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

• Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song
• Jules Taylor, "John L. Handcox Remix"
• Jules Taylor, "Her Water"

One year ago, graduate student-workers at Johns Hopkins University overwhelmingly voted to unionize under the banner of Teachers and Researchers United (TRU-UE), which is affiliated with United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers. While workers had much to celebrate with their historic union election victory, bargaining a first contract with the university administration has been another story. On February 20, fed up with what workers say have been disrespectful and insufficient offers from the university administration, TRU-UE members held practice pickets on campus to show the administration what's in store if more progress is not made at the bargaining table soon. In this on-the-ground episode, we take you straight to the picket line to hear from worker-organizers about what they're fighting for and what they're asking supporters to do to help.

Additional links/info below…

• Teachers and Researchers United (TRU-UE) website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Now or never: Grad Student-Workers at Johns Hopkins Mobilize Ahead of Union Election"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "These Workers Are Making Baltimore a Union Town Again"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Johns Hopkins University Graduate Students Are Organizing for a Living Wage"
• Ryan Quinn, Inside Higher Ed, "Johns Hopkins Grad Students Successfully Unionize"

Permanent links below...

• Working People Patreon page
• Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
• Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

• Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song
• Jules Taylor, "John L. Handcox Remix"

Baltimore has become what many consider to be ground zero in the emerging "solidarity economy" and the formation of worker-owned, cooperatively run businesses. There's something important going on here, and there's a lot that we can all learn from our fellow workers who are in the cooperative space—people who are living, breathing proof that there's another way to run a business, that there's another way to run our economy, and that there are other ways we can treat work and workers. At a recent event hosted by the Baltimore Museum of Industry titled "Work Matters: Building a Worker-Owned Co-op," Max moderated a panel including workers and representatives from Common Ground Bakery Café, Taharka Bros Ice Cream, A Few Cool Hardware Stores, and the Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy (BRED). He talked to them about how they came to work at these different co-ops, how their businesses transitioned to more cooperative models, and they dig into the nitty gritty of what working at a co-op looks like, what it takes for workers to democratically run a business, and the real challenges, limitations, and rewards that come with this kind of work. Panelists include: Vince Green (Taharka Bros Ice Cream); David Evans (A Few Cool Hardware Stores); Craig Smith (A Few Cool Hardware Stores); Sierra Allen (Common Ground Bakery Café); Christa Daring (BRED).

Additional links/info below…

• Baltimore Museum of Industry website, Facebook page, and Instagram
• Jaisal Noor, The Real News Network, "Worker Co-ops vs. COVID"
• Jaisal Noor, The Real News Network, "Taharka Bros: Ice Cream with a Side of Worker Ownership"
• Working People, "Your Job Doesn't Have to Suck (w/ Jaisal Noor)"
• Lisa Elaine Held, The Washington Post, "Amid Food-Industry Upheaval, Baltimore Businesses Are Handing Workers the Keys"
• Rebekah Kirkman, The Real News Network, "After Beloved Baltimore Coffee Shop Abruptly Closed, Workers Reopen as Co-op"

Permanent links below...

• Working People Patreon page
• Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
• Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music...

• Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song
• Jules Taylor, "Working People Live Show" Theme Song
• Jules Taylor, "John L. Handcox I Live On Remix"
• Follow Jules Taylor on Twitter and Facebook