Working People

Since full-time lecturers at Howard University originally voted to unionize, they have spent nearly four years bargaining with the university administration to get their first contract. Unless a deal is reached at the 11th hour, lecturers are set to go on strike on Wednesday, March 23, joining nearly 200 adjunct professors who are also fighting for their second contract with the university. Even if a deal is reached to avoid a strike, however, Howard has a long way to go to adequately address the long-running systemic problems that have brought non-tenure-track faculty to the point of hitting the picket line. In this mini-cast, we talk to Dr. Aisha Bonner Cozad, an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Howard School of Social Work, and Dr. Sean Pears, a Lecturer in Howard's College of Arts & Sciences, about the looming strike at one of the most storied HBCUs in the country.

Additional links/info below...

• Dr. Bonner Cozad's LinkedIn page
• Dr. Pears's Twitter page
• Howard Teaching Faculty Union Twitter page and Instagram
• Peter Lucas, Jacobin, "Howard University Faculty Are Ready to Strike"
• Rashad Grove, Ebony, "Howard University Faculty Threaten to Strike Over Working Conditions"
• Higher Ed Labor United statement: We Stand with Howard University Non-Tenure-Track Faculty and Adjuncts

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"

We continue our series on the struggles of teachers and public sector unions in the state of Wisconsin today. As part of a special collaboration between The Real News Network and In These Times magazine for "The Wisconsin Idea," Max, Cameron Granadino (TRNN), and Hannah Faris (In These Times) traveled to Wisconsin in the summer of 2021. From Madison to Appleton, they spoke to a range of educators, organizers, scholars, and activists who are fighting to rebuild worker power after the devastating passage of Act 10 in 2011 under Republican Governor Scott Walker, and nearly 50 years after cops, townspeople, and a union-busting school board broke the infamous Hortonville teachers' strike in 1974. In this interview, recorded in the town of Hortonville, Max sits down with scholars Harvey J. Kaye and Jon Shelton to discuss the historical significance of Act 10, the Wisconsin Uprising, and the Hortonville strike that set the stage for them decades earlier, and to examine how these crucial events fit into the larger historical trajectory of the labor movement and progressive politics in Wisconsin. Harvey J. Kaye is Professor Emeritus of Democracy & Justice Studies and the Director of the Center for History and Social Change at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay; he is also the author of many books, including Thomas Paine and the Promise of America and Take Hold of Our History: Make America Radical Again. Jon Shelton is Associate Professor and Chair of Democracy and Justice studies at UW Green Bay, and he is the author of Teacher Strike! Public Education and the Making of a New American Political Order.

Additional links/info below...

• Harvey's Twitter page
• Jon's Twitter page
• American Federation of Teachers—Wisconsin website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• In These Times investigative series: The Wisconsin Idea
• Harvey J. Kaye, Macmillan, Thomas Paine and the Promise of America
• Harvey J. Kaye, Zero Books, Take Hold of Our History: Make America Radical Again
• Working People, **Harvey J. Kaye (bonus episode)**
• Jon Shelton, University of Illinois Press, Teacher Strike! Public Education and the Making of a New American Political Order
• Eleni Schirmer, Gender and Education, "When Solidarity Doesn't Quite Strike: The 1974 Hortonville, Wisconsin Teachers' Strike and the Rise of Neoliberalism"
• The Jacobin Show, "The Democratic Coalition after Trump and the Fall of Wisconsin"
• Dan Kaufman, Norton Books, The Fall of Wisconsin: The Conservative Conquest of a Progressive Bastion and the Future of American Politics
• Michael D. Yates, Monthly Review Press, Wisconsin Uprising: Labor Fights Back
• John Nichols, Bold Type Books, Uprising: How Scott Walker Betrayed Wisconsin and Inspired a New Politics of Protest

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"

We're back, baby! We're kicking off Season 5 of Working People with a multi-part series on teachers and public sector unions in the state of Wisconsin. As part of a special collaboration between The Real News Network and In These Times magazine for "The Wisconsin Idea," Max, Cameron Granadino (TRNN), and Hannah Faris (In These Times) traveled to Wisconsin in the summer of 2021 to investigate two intertwining stories that have played a crucial role in the rightwing shift and the decades-long attack on workers and unions in a state that used to be a bellwether of the labor movement and progressive politics in America. One of those stories has to do with the passing of Act 10 in 2011 under Republican governor Scott Walker, which was a hammer blow to public sector unions around the state that stripped them of their collective bargaining rights and put a chokehold on unions' ability to function—a chokehold that was tightened in 2015 when Wisconsin became the 25th "right to work" state. The other story is the story of a historic teachers' strike that took place in 1974 in the small, rural town of Hortonville. With a population of just around 1,500 people at the time, Hortonville became the site of one of the most contentious and consequential teachers' strikes in Wisconsin's history. And, in many ways, the sort of cultural hostilities, clashing economic pressures, and vicious union-busting that played out in Hortonville set the stage for a statewide showdown over Act 10 nearly 40 years later. The Hortonville strike itself ripped the community in two—over 80 striking educational staff members in the district were fired by an intransigent school board, and the legacy of the broken strike left a deep scar on the town and the school district for many years. Over the course of this series, we'll be talking to teachers and organizers in Wisconsin to see how, nearly 50 years after the Hortonville strike and a decade after Act 10 and the historic protests against it at the state capitol, they are still fighting to recover and build worker power. In this interview, Max talks with Amanda and Jeff Frenkel, two K-12 teachers in Hortonville and union organizers with the American Federation of Teachers, about the challenges they and their coworkers are facing today, and about the ways they are working to rebuild the union and serve their community.

Additional links/info below...

• American Federation of Teachers—Wisconsin website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "The Fight to Organize Teachers in Small-Town Wisconsin"
• Eleni Schirmer, Gender and Education, "When Solidarity Doesn't Quite Strike: The 1974 Hortonville, Wisconsin Teachers' Strike and the Rise of Neoliberalism"
• In These Times investigative series: The Wisconsin Idea

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"

With permission from The Real News Network, we're publishing the audio of Max's most recent TRNN interview with Jana Murphy of the Justice for Evan coalition.

In September 2021, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez spoke with the family of Evan Seyfried about a lawsuit they filed against grocery giant Kroger, which alleges that Evan was bullied, harassed, and sabotaged by store managers Shannon Frazee and Joseph Pigg to the point that he suffered a "transient episodic break" and took his own life. It's been one year since Evan committed suicide, and while the Seyfrieds struggle to pick up the pieces, family friends, community members, and volunteers have come together to honor Evan's life, demand accountability for his death, and address the scourge of workplace bullying. In this interview, Alvarez speaks with Jana Murphy, an organizer of the Justice for Evan coalition and a close friend of the Seyfried family, about the fight to hold Kroger accountable and the national day of action planned for Wednesday, March 9.

Pre-Production/Studio/Post-Production: Cameron Granadino

Additional links/info below...

• Watch the video version of this interview on The Real News Network YouTube channel
• Justice for Evan protest (March 9) information
• Justice for Evan Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
• National Workplace Bullying Coalition website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• #NotMe App
• Working People, "Evan Seyfried (w/ Ken, Linda, & Eric Seyfried)"
• "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"
• Jessica Schmidt, Fox News 19, "Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed against Kroger, Company Employees after Former Manager Took His Own Life"
• Alex N. Press, Jacobin, "At Kroger and Amazon, Capital Is Going on the Offensive"
• Anonymous, VICE, "They Call Me a Hero Because I Work at Kroger, So Why Do I Feel Disposable?"

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"

With Laborers Local 79 leading the charge, union demolition workers, construction workers, carpenters, bricklayers, and more have rallied multiple times in the past month outside the Chelsea Terminal Warehouse in New York City to protest the mishandling of workers' pensions and the exploitation, union busting, wage theft, and hazardous conditions workers have experienced at the job site. As Dean Moses writes in The Villager, "Many of the Laborers are immigrant demolition workers, also called los demolicionsitas, and construction workers who say that they have been deprived of healthcare throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to face intimidation and threats for trying to unionize Terminal Warehouse. Protesters named several culprits—three being New Line Structures, ECD NY and Alba Services—which, they alleged, have a history of wage theft and permitting hazardous working conditions. There were also allegations of gender discrimination." We talk to Chaz Rynkiewicz, Vice President and Director of Organizing for Laborers Local 79.

Additional links/info below...

• Laborers Local 79 website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Laborers Local 79 Twitter thread about the #Alba3
• Dean Moses, The Villager, "Hundreds of Union Employees Protest Alleged Exploitative Working Conditions at Chelsea Terminal Warehouse"

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"

Late last year, Max had the honor of getting to speak to a class at Tulane University called "Introduction to Podcasting and Social Justice" taught by Dr. Billy Saas, cohost and producer of the podcast Money on the Left, as well as the cofounder and codirector of the Money on the Left Editorial Collective. The students in the class talked to Max about how and why he started Working People, how the show has grown over the years, and they also had a deep conversation about the political importance of podcasting as a medium. In the first half of this episode, you'll hear Max's conversation with the "Introduction to Podcasting and Social Justice" class, which was recorded and edited by the students. Then, in the second half of the episode, you'll hear Max's follow-up conversation with Dr. Saas and two students from the class, Sophia Badame and Sophie Harris, about how the class evolved over the semester, the final projects they worked on, and how the next generation of podcasters are working to explore and expand the medium.

Additional links/info below...

• Billy's faculty page and Twitter page
• Money on the Left website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Chronicle Review (The Chronicle of Higher Education), "The Podcast University (An Interview with Zachary Davis)"
• Maximillian Alvarez, Current Affairs, "Can the Working Class Speak?"

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"

We're gearing up for Season 5 of the show and will be back very soon! In the meantime, if you're looking for more important coverage of worker struggles from Max, go check out the interviews he's doing for The Real News Network. With permission from TRNN, we're publishing the audio of his most recent interview with retired railroad worker and union officer Jeff Kurtz.

A crucial labor battle is currently unfolding between railroad workers and BNSF Railway, the largest freight railroad network in North America. Earlier in January, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD), which together represent roughly 17,000 railroad workers, initiated steps to prepare for a strike that would have begun on the Feb. 1. This would comprise the largest railway strike in recent memory, and the unions have cited as the main point of contention a new BNSF scheduling and availability policy that workers say will separate them from their families and make it next to impossible to live and reasonably plan their lives. BLET National President Dennis Pierce and SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson called BNSF's so-called "Hi-Viz" policy "the worst and most egregious attendance policy ever adopted by any rail carrier."

However, on Tuesday, Jan. 25, a US District Court judge granted BNSF a temporary restraining order blocking the two unions from striking, saying that a strike would cause the rail company "substantial, immediate and irreparable harm." In this interview, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with retired railroad worker and union leader Jeff Kurtz about BNSF's "Hi-Viz" policy and why workers in the railroad industry are prepared to strike.

Jeff Kurtz was a railway engineer and union member for 40 years. He served as a union officer most of his career, including eight years as president of BLET Local 391 and chairman of the BLET Iowa State Legislative Board, where he oversaw safety and legislative matters for the union in the state for four railroads for 10 years. He retired in 2014 and served as state representative for one term in the Iowa House after winning the 2018 election in his House district. He now works in a volunteer capacity with Railroad Workers United and the local labor chapter of the Iowa Federation of Labor.

Pre-Production/Studio/Post-Production: Cameron Granadino

Additional links/info below...

• Watch the video version of this interview on The Real News Network YouTube channel
• Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Just desserts: Striking bakery workers in CA demand respect"

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"

Here we are again... With the Omicron variant spreading like wildfire, COVID-19 cases around the country have shattered previous highs. The federal government has essentially given up on trying to fight the virus and a familiar ghoulish chorus of media pundits and wealthy business executives are berating working people to suck it up and put themselves in harm's way for the sake of the economy. What's worse, workers who are standing up for themselves are being viciously vilified and scapegoated for the systemic failures that have put us in this mess.

Perhaps no group is facing more backlash right now than educators. Earlier this week, nearly 3/4 of the membership of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) voted to return to virtual work until a deal to implement necessary safety measures is reached with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) or until the city's positivity rate falls below 10 percent. In response, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the CPS administration have locked educators out of their virtual classrooms, replaying their actions from last year when COVID cases were surging and teachers were locked out of their employee accounts and had their pay docked if they refused to return from teaching remotely. In this urgent, unscheduled mini-cast, we talk about the lockout with Ana, a CPS teacher and CTU member, and Quetzalli Castro, a CPS teacher and a delegate and organizer within the CTU.

Additional links/info below...

• Chicago Teachers Union website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Petition: "We need safe working and learning conditions in CPS!"
• CTU informational posters: "Our Students, Parents & Communities Deserve Safety"
• Working People, "Mini-cast: #SafeReturnOrNoReturn (w/ Paula Ladin & Mariana Ruiz)"
• Quinn Meyer, Block Club Chicago, "Chicago Teachers Say They Want To Return To Classrooms, But They Need Better COVID-19 Safety Measures"
• Monica Eng, Axios Chicago, "Chicago Public Schools Cancel Thursday Classes"

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"

Due to COVID awfulness, we're counting our 6-hour livestream fundraiser for striking Kellogg's workers as the official finale of Season Four of Working People (woo!). Thank you all for listening to and supporting our work over the past year. We're getting some much-needed rest and gearing up for Season Five. In the meantime, we're ringing in the new year by unlocking this special bonus episode—enjoy! And happy 2022! All power to the workers! 2021 was an energizing year for a labor movement that has had its back against the wall for a long time. From record numbers of American workers voluntarily quitting their jobs to publicly supported strikes and unionization drives in different sectors of the economy, more and more working people are taking action and standing up for themselves. But this is just the beginning—there's still a lot of work to do, and 2022 will provide a crucial test for the labor movement and its supporters. In this special panel episode of Working People, originally published in November as a bonus episode for patrons, we talk to three full-time union organizers—Puja Datta (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), Margaret McLaughlin (United University Professions), and Diana Hussein (UNITE HERE)—about what Striketober and 2021 in general have meant for the labor movement. We also talk about the day-to-day work of being a union organizer, where the labor movement goes from here, and what you can do to build working-class power.

Additional links/info below...

• Puja's Twitter page
• Margaret's Twitter page
• Diana's Twitter page
• Luis Feliz Leon & Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Beneath Striketober Fanfare, the Lower Frequencies of Class Struggle Need to Be Heard"
• Marc Steiner, The Real News Network, "Can Today's Labor Militancy Become a Transformative Political Force?"
• Labor Notes, Secrets of a Successful Organizer
• AFL-CIO, "Know Your Workplace Rights"

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"

After nearly 3 months, the strike at cereal giant Kellogg's, which involved 1,400 workers at four different plants, has come to an end. On Tuesday, December 21, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union (BCTGM) announced that its members at Kellogg's had voted to ratify the latest contract offer. We want to send all our love and solidarity to everyone who held strong on the picket line and congratulate them on their new contract. We also want to thank everyone who watched and participated in the 6-hour livestream fundraiser for striking workers that we cohosted last week with Mel Buer and the Morning Riot podcast (produced by the great David Story of The Valley Labor Report). All in all, we ended up raising just shy of $16,000 for Kellogg's workers and their families! That money is being divided equally and sent to the members of the BCTGM locals in Omaha, Nebraska, Battle Creek, Michigan, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Memphis, Tennessee. Even though the strike has ended, workers have racked up many costs since walking off the job in October, and every dollar we raised will go to helping them get through the holidays and get back on their feet.

In case you were unable to watch the livestream, we are uploading all six hours of audio here for listeners. The strike may be over, but this was an incredibly special, entertaining, and solidarity-filled event that brought together powerful voices from the Kellogg's picket lines as well as special guests including: Marianne Williamson, Alex Winter, Randy Bryce, Breht O'Shea of Revolutionary Left Radio and Guerrilla History, Kim Kohlhaas of AFT-Wisconsin, Haeden Wright of the UMWA Auxiliary in Alabama, Caroline Smith of Student Workers of Columbia, Tevita Uhatafe of the Transport Workers Union, Steven Monacelli of Protean Magazine, Bryan Conlan of Strikewave, Dwight Rhinosoros of Eat the Rich, David Griscom of Left Reckoning, Jacob Morrison of The Valley Labor Report, and Professor Jon Shelton. Thank you again to all who participated and donated, and congratulations to Kellogg's workers on their new contract. Solidarity forever!

Additional links/info below...

• Morning Riot Twitter page
• Marianne Williamson's Twitter page
• Alex Winter's Twitter page
• Randy Bryce's Twitter page
• Revolutionary Left Radio Twitter page
• Guerrilla History Twitter page
• Tevita Uhatafe's Twitter page
• Kim Kohlhaas's Twitter page
• AFT-Wisconsin's Twitter page
• Caroline Smith's Twitter page
• Student Workers of Columbia Twitter page and hardship fund for striking workers
• Haeden Wright's Twitter page
• PayPal for UMWA Auxiliary strike pantry for Warrior Met Coal workers
• Steven Monacelli's Twitter page
• Protean Magazine Twitter page
• Bryan Conlan's Twitter page
• Strikewave Twitter page
• Dwight Rhinosoros's Twitter page
• Eat the Rich Twitter page
• David Griscom's Twitter page
• Left Reckoning Twitter page
• Jacob Morrison's Twitter page
• The Valley Labor Report Twitter page
• Jon Shelton's Twitter page

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"