Working People

It's been 12 years since the catastrophic explosion that sank the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, killing 11 workers and causing the largest marine oil spill in human history. A lot of forgetting can happen in that time. A lot of cultural amnesia and historical distortion has been able to set in over the past 12 years, whether that came in the form of a years-long PR campaign from British Petroleum (BP), the high-budget Hollywood-ification of the disaster in the 2016 movie starring Mark Wahlberg, or just the general lack of workers' voices and stories in the media. In this episode, we talk with Leo Lindner, who worked for 10 years at the mud company M-I, the last 5 of which were spent working on the Deepwater Horizon. Leo was on the rig on April 20, 2010, the day of the explosion. We talk to Leo about his life, about moving to and growing up in Louisiana as a kid, working on tugboats and in oil fields, and about the experience of being a worker in the midst of one of the most devastating industrial and environmental disasters of the modern era.

Additional links/info below...

• Leo's Twitter page
• Richard Pallardy, Encyclopedia Britannica, "Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2010)"
• Lisa Friedman, The New York Times, "Ten Years After Deepwater Horizon, US Is Still Vulnerable to Catastrophic Spills"
• James B. Meigs, Slate, "Blame BP for Deepwater Horizon. But Direct Your Outrage to the Actual Mistake"
• Alison Rose Levy, TruthDig, "The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Was a Cover-Up, Not a Cleanup"
• Associated Press, "Short Portraits of 11 Who Died on the Deepwater Horizon"
• Megan Milliken Biven, Current Affairs, "Dredging Up the Past"
• Oliver Milman, The Guardian, "'I Pray to God It Never Happens Again': US Gulf Coast Bears Scars of Historic Oil Spill 10 Years On"

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

(C/W: bullying, harassment, suicide) This time last year, we introduced listeners to the family of Evan Seyfried, a dedicated Kroger employee in Milford, Ohio, for nearly 20 years, whose beautiful life was tragically cut short after he was targeted and tortured by coworkers and driven to suicide, according to Evan's family. A lot has happened since we published that episode one year ago, and we wanted to provide Working People listeners with an update on how Evan's family and loved ones are doing, what the status of the lawsuit against Kroger is, and how the Justice for Evan coalition is growing around the country. In this panel episode, we check in with Evan's father Ken, his brother Eric, his girlfriend and best friend Amy Chamberlin, Jana Murphy and Erica Erskine of the Justice for Evan coalition, and Austin LiPuma, the attorney representing the Seyfrieds in their lawsuit against Kroger.

Additional links/info below...

• Justice for Evan Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
• Working People, "Evan Seyfried (w/ Ken, Linda, & Eric Seyfried)"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'Justice for Evan': Supporters Demand Accountability from Kroger after 19-Year Employee Allegedly Bullied by Management to Suicide"
• Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Max Alvarez: A DEADLY, Silent Epidemic of Workplace Abuse is Growing"
• National Workplace Bullying Coalition website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• "Lawsuit: Kroger Manager Drove Employee To Suicide" (PDF)
• Julian Mark, The Washington Post, "Former Kroger Grocery Store Employee's Suicide Was a Result of 'Torturous Conditions,' Lawsuit Says"

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

On Friday, September 16, the United States could see its first major rail strike and/or rail lockout since the early '90s. Railroad workers have reached the end of their rope after years of enduring dramatic staff cuts that have piled more work onto fewer workers, along with exhausting schedules and draconian attendance policies that have made it impossible to live and reasonably plan their lives. These cost-cutting, profit-maximizing policies are part of a larger, decades-long trend that workers say have destroyed the freight rail industry. For years, quality of service for freight rail customers and shippers, and quality of life for railroad employees, has plummeted, all while prices, profits, and stock buybacks have skyrocketed. While many are understandably concerned about the seismic damage a national rail strike initiated by the unions, or a lockout initiated by the rail carriers, could do to the supply chain, railroad workers are the ones taking a stand to save the supply chain from the corporate greed that has already done irreparable damage to the freight rail industry. In this urgent episode, recorded on Sunday, September 11, we talk with Jay, a longtime train dispatcher and recent guest on the show, and Joe, a locomotive engineer, about the ongoing crisis on the nation's railroads and about the latest updates on the dispute between the rail unions and rail carriers as we countdown to the strike/lockout deadline on 12am EDT, September 16.

Additional links/info below...

• Shiyin Chen & Keith Laing, Bloomberg, "US Freight Railroads to Cut Services as Union Talks Fail, Report Says"
• SMART-TD, BLET Joint Statement on Rail Embargo
• Jeff Stein, Lauren Kaori Gurley, & Tyler Pager, The Washington Post, "Freight Rail Strike Threatens Supply Chains, Prompting White House Planning"
• Working People, "Jay"
• Maximillian Alvarez & Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Is the US Headed for a National Rail Strike"
• Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Fired Up Rail Workers Rally in Galesburg, Illinois, as Potential National Strike Looms"
• Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Corporate Billionaires Are Wrecking the Supply Chain. Just Look at the Railroads"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Railroad Workers Are Being Ground to Dust. Who Will Help Them?"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Court Blocks Railroad Workers from Striking Over Draconian Attendance Policy"
• Joe DeManuelle-Hall, Labor Notes, "Rail Workers Reject Contract Recommendations, Say They're Ready to Strike"

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

The rail industry is experiencing a self-induced crisis as a result of decades of cost-cutting, profit-maximizing executive decisions that have driven rail workers and the supply chain into the ground. In an attempt to mediate between the major freight rail companies and unions representing around 115,000 railroad workers, President Biden appointed a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) to offer recommendations for resolving the ongoing contract dispute. But an overwhelming number of surveyed workers seem prepared to reject the PEB's recommendations, and if the current contract dispute isn't resolved the US could be headed towards its largest rail strike in decades.

In this livestream produced by The Real News Network, Max and journalist Mel Buer co-host a panel with current/former railroad workers and members of Railroad Workers United Jeff Kurtz and Ron Kaminkow to discuss the looming possibility of a massive national rail strike. With permission from TRNN, we are sharing the audio from this livestream on the Working People feed for our listeners.

Additional links/info below...

• Mel's Twitter page
• Ron's Twitter page
• Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Press Release: "RWU Announces Position on PEB #250"
• Survey Results: Rail Workers and the PEB
• Working People, "Jay"
• Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Fired Up Rail Workers Rally in Galesburg, Illinois, as Potential National Strike Looms"
• Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Corporate Billionaires Are Wrecking the Supply Chain. Just Look at the Railroads"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Railroad Workers Are Being Ground to Dust. Who Will Help Them?"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Court Blocks Railroad Workers from Striking Over Draconian Attendance Policy"
• Joe DeManuelle-Hall, Labor Notes, "Rail Workers Reject Contract Recommendations, Say They're Ready to Strike"

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

***This is a Patreon Exclusive episode***

Subscribe to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/workingpeople

Thank you to all the Patreon subscribers for their love, support, and generosity. <3 Max, Jules & the Working People Team.

Gen Z has inherited a world on fire, but they will not accept it, and they are using every tool they have at their disposal to change it. The activists and content creators at Gen Z for Change, for instance, are creatively using their organizing skills, coding skills, and social media skills to push for climate action and to defend reproductive rights, workers' rights, and more. We talk to Elise Joshi and Sean Wiggs from Gen Z for Change about their recent campaigns to support workers organizing at Amazon, Ralphs, and Starbucks, and about the importance of building intergenerational solidarity.

Additional links/info below...

• Gen Z for Change website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and TikTok
• Elise's TikTok and Twitter page
• Sean's TikTok and Twitter page
• People over Prime
• Change is Brewing
• Wreck It Ralphs
• Taylor Lorenz & Caroline O'Donovan, The Washington Post, "Gen Z TikTok Creators Are Turning Against Amazon"
• Lauren Kaori Gurley, Motherboard, "People Are Using Job Listings to Sabotage Companies That Mistreat Their Workers"

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

Matt Littrell has worked as a picker at the Amazon warehouse in Campbellsville, Kentucky, for the past year and a half. He's also been one of the lead organizers and the public face of a growing push to unionize Amazon facilities in Kentucky. In retaliation for his organizing, Littrell says that Amazon management has been watching him like a hawk and finding reasons to write him up—and last week, the company finally fired him for "performance" issues. In this urgent mini-cast, we speak with Littrell about working and organizing at Amazon, the company's continued union busting, and about what folks around the country can do to support him and Amazon workers everywhere.

Additional links/info below...

• Matt's Twitter page
• Survival Fund for Fired Amazon Worker-Organizer Matt Littrell
• Eli M. Rosenberg, NBC News, "Fired Amazon Union Organizer at Kentucky Warehouse Alleges Retaliation"
• Caroline O'Donovan, The Washington Post, "Amazon Calls Cops, Fires Workers in Attempts to Stop Unionization Nationwide"

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

"As blistering heat waves swept across the United States this summer, breaking temperature records and placing millions under heat advisories and warnings," Livia Albeck-Ripka writes at The New York Times, "workers... have continued to deliver America's packages for a variety of carriers, often in trucks that have no cooling mechanisms for drivers. Some UPS workers have shared photographs that show thermometer readings of up to 150 degrees in the backs of their trucks." A shocking number of package deliverers and letter carriers—to say nothing of farmworkers, construction workers, warehouse workers, etc.—have reported heat-related injuries and illnesses, and some have even died on the job from heat exposure. As climate change makes dangerous working conditions even worse for those who are exposed to extreme heat, workers, unions, and the public are demanding serious action be taken. In this urgent panel episode, we speak with Zakk, Gabriela, and Steve, three UPS package deliverers and members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, about the serious dangers of working in the heat and the fight they and their union are waging to ensure better protections for workers.

Additional links/info below...

• Gabriela's Twitter page
• Zakk's Facebook page and Twitter page
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Teamsters for a Democratic Union website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Livia Albeck-Ripka, The New York Times, "UPS Drivers Say 'Brutal' Heat Is Endangering Their Lives"
• More Perfect Union, "UPS Drivers Are Dying Of Extreme Heat. The Company Doesn't Care"
• Jordan Hart, Business Insider, "'We're Dying Out Here:' After Death of 24-Year-Old UPS Worker in His Truck, Family Members, Other Workers Renew Calls for AC in Trucks, Warehouses"
• Working People, "(Unlocked) BONUS EPISODE - A Pivotal Moment for the Teamsters (w/ Indigo Olivier)"
• Working People, "'We Are Essential,' Pt I (Voices from the Covid-19 Crisis)"
• Denise Chow & Nigel Chiwaya, NBC News, "The US Could See a New 'Extreme Heat Belt' by 2053"
• Kelly Yamanouchi, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Teamsters Set Stage for Union Contract Battle with UPS"

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

Mansa Musa is a radical freedom fighter who was imprisoned in the US for nearly 50 years. Now, at 70 years old, he is the co-host of Rattling the Bars at The Real News Network, a staunch advocate for the rights of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, and a soldier in the struggle to dismantle the prison-industrial complex. We talk to Mansa about his life and about how the labor movement and the fight for prison abolition are necessarily interconnected.

Additional links/info below...

• Rattling the Bars on The Real News Network
• Voices for a Second Chance website and Twitter page
• Mansa Musa, The Real News Network, "'I Wouldn't Even Feed This to My Dog': The Inhumane Reality of Prison Food"
• Eddie Conway & Mansa Musa, The Real News Network, "Mansa Musa: How I Survived 48 Years in Prison"

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"

As we speak, the major railroad companies and 13 different unions representing over 115,000 railroad workers have reached an impasse in contract negotiations that have been going on for years, and we are now closer to a national rail shutdown than we've been in a generation. President Biden has even appointed an Emergency Presidential Board to try to mediate between the rail unions and the rail carriers, but if that mediation fails we'll be on the verge of a historic shutdown. So, how did we get here? If you talk to any railroader in private, you'll get an earful about how decades of corporate greed, consolidation, cost cutting, automation, layoffs, and other profit-maximizing, shareholder-serving decisions have upended the railroads and turned what used to be good lifelong jobs into exhausting, impossible jobs that veteran workers are leaving in droves. But if any workers speak up publicly about what's going on on the railroads, they will likely face severe consequences. Luckily, we were able to connect with Jay, a qualified conductor who was licensed to operate locomotives at 19 years old, and who became a qualified train dispatcher before he was 23. We talk about Jay's life, how he came to work at the railroads, and what the job of a train dispatcher entails, but we also talk about how the industry has changed in recent decades, the havoc those changes have wreaked on workers and the supply chain, and why we should all be concerned about the crisis the railroads are in right now.

Additional links/info below...

• Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Corporate Billionaires Are Wrecking the Supply Chain. Just Look at the Railroads"
• Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Fired Up Rail Workers Rally in Galesburg, Illinois, as Potential National Strike Looms"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Railroad Workers Are Being Ground to Dust. Who Will Help Them?"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Court Blocks Railroad Workers from Striking over Draconian Attendance Policy"
• The Hill's Rising, "Max Alvarez: DRACONIAN New Rail Industry Policy WORSENS Supply Chain Crisis, CRUSHES Workers"
• Jeff Schuhrke, In These Times, "US Railroad Workers Inch Closer to a Possible National Strike"

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 week, Lauren Bianchi and Chuck Stark, two teachers at George Washington High School on the Southeast Side of Chicago, were on the verge of losing their jobs. In what Chicago Teachers Union officers suspect was an act of retaliation from Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Chicago Public Schools recommended that Bianchi and Stark be fired for their involvement in the student-, teacher-, and community-led effort to stop the relocation of the General Iron metal shredder from the wealthy Northside neighborhood of Lincoln Park to a site half a mile from their school. With the union and their community behind them, though, the Chicago Board of Education issued a stunning rejection of Chicago Public Schools officials' recommendation to fire the two teachers. In this min-cast, we talk to Bianchi and Stark about the struggle to stop General Iron and the importance of teachers serving the needs of their communities.

Additional links/info below...

• Chicago Public Schools website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Darryl Fears & Robin Amer, The Washington Post, "To Stop a Scrapyard, Some Protesters in a Latino Community Risked Everything"
• Maxwell Evans, Block Club Chicago, "2 CPS Teachers Say They're Being Fired In Retaliation For Their Activism Against General Iron"
• Brett Chase, Chicago Sun Times, "Outspoken Teachers Who Urged Students to Join Environmental Protest Avert Firing by Chicago Board of Ed"

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