Working People

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"

Hospitality workers around the country have faced some of the worst layoffs in any industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. UNITE HERE, a labor union representing over 300,000 workers, most of whom are in the hospitality, food service, and restaurant industries, reported that 98% of its members were out of work last year. At the five hotel properties in Virginia's historic Colonial Williamsburg, however, workers who did get their jobs back are being chronically overworked and underpaid, resulting in injuries on the job and little to no ability to have a life outside of work.

What's worse, according to a press release from UNITE HERE LOCAL 25, the union representing hospitality workers at Colonial Williamsburg, management with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation "has skipped seven bargaining sessions since August" and "has refused to meaningfully engage with workers' demands to end forced overtime. Currently, Local 25 members in Colonial Williamsburg routinely work six- and seven-day weeks in the hotels and 10- and 12-hour days in the taverns, a practice workers are demanding an end to in the next contract." In this mini-cast, we speak with Agatha Hilt, Willie Brown, and John Boardman of UNITE HERE Local 25 about what workers are going through and the status of the current contract fight. Agatha Hilt is a housekeeper at the Williamsburg Lodge and has worked there for the last 11 years, Willie Brown is a houseman at the Williamsburg Lodge and has worked at Colonial Williamsburg for seven years, and John Boardman is the executive secretary-treasurer of UNITE HERE Local 25.

Additional links/info below...

• Watch the video version of this interview at The Real News Network
• UNITE HERE Local 25 website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Molly Feser & Dominic Catacora, Williamsburg Yorktown Daily, ""Enough is Enough": Colonial Williamsburg Hospitality Workers to Rally for Fair Wages, Better Working Conditions During Grand Illumination"

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"

Election season is coming up, so you know what that means... we're re-launching our series "Working-Class Politics"! In this ongoing series, we talk to working-class people running for elected office at all levels—in their unions, in local, state, and national government, etc.—as well as candidates fighting with and for the working class. In the latest installment, we talk to Paul Prescod (aka "Labor Paul"), a socialist, high school teacher, and member of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. Listeners may know Prescod as the cohost of The Jacobin Show, but he is now running for Pennsylvania State Senate in its 8th district, pledging to make organizing around working-class issues and legislating universal programs his top priorities. We talk to Prescod about the importance of building working-class coalitions, earning the trust of organized labor, and what it will take to serve the needs of working people in his district.

Kellogg's livestream fundraiser links/info below...

• Working People YouTube channel
• Kellogg's Strike Fund Livestream Fundraiser

Additional links/info below...

• Paul's campaign website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Paul's Jacobin author page
• Peter Lucas, Jacobin, "Teacher and Pennsylvania State Senate Candidate Paul Prescod: "The Rich Need to Start Paying""

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"

Ending 26 years of "labor peace," Major League Baseball is in the midst of a lockout. With league owners failing to address the core contract issues raised by the Major League Baseball Players Association, the previous collective bargaining agreement expired at the beginning of this month. In an open letter to baseball fans, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred stated, "Despite the league's best efforts to make a deal with the Players Association, we were unable to extend our 26 year-long history of labor peace and come to an agreement with the MLBPA before the current CBA expired. Therefore, we have been forced to commence a lockout of Major League players, effective at 12:01am ET on December 2." Has the league made its "best efforts" to bargain in good faith? Were wealthy team owners really "forced to commence a lockout"? We smell BS... In this episode, we're joined by Alex Bazeley and Bobby Wagner, hosts of the podcast Tipping Pitches, to break down the labor politics in today's MLB and what the lockout means for players and fans alike.

Additional links/info below...

• Tipping Pitches website, Twitter page, and fan shop
• Alex's Twitter page
• Bobby's Twitter page
• Dayn Perry, CBS Sports, "MLB lockout: Fact-Checking Commissioner Rob Manfred's Open Letter to Baseball Fans"
• James Wagner, The New York Times, "M.L.B.'s Lockout: What Is It? How Does It Work? What's Next?"
• Nathan Kalman-Lamb & Dirk Hayhurst, Jacobin, "'Inside the Game, You Are Still a Commodity'"
• Working People, "Mini-cast: Suicide Squeeze (w/ Nathan Kalman-Lamb)"

Kellogg's strike links/info below...

• Working People YouTube channel
• Look for updates on the Dec. 17 livestream/fundraiser on the Working People Twitter page and Morning Riot Twitter page
• Maximilian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Breakfast of champions: Kellogg's cereal workers strike for employees who have been left behind"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "How companies like Kellogg's are weaponizing the courts to break strikes"
• Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Kellogg's strike: Cereal plant workers fight to raise the floor for all employees as sales soar"
• Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Kellogg's strikers hold the line and prepare for winter"
• Sahid Fawaz, Labor 411, "Five Ways To Support The Kellogg 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"

Starbucks is the world's largest coffeehouse chain and one of the most recognizable consumer brands in existence. In the US alone, Starbucks has nearly 9,000 corporate-owned stores, and not a single one of them is unionized ... but that may be about to change. After leading an organizing campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic and facing tireless efforts by the company to delay, deflate, and defeat union elections with the National Labor Relations Board, workers at three Starbucks locations in Buffalo, New York, have submitted their ballots, which are being counted as we speak. In this mini-cast, we talk with Brian Murray, one of the Buffalo workers and organizers with SBWorkers United, and journalist Jordan Chariton, who recently traveled to Buffalo to speak with Starbucks workers and report on their fight for Status Coup.

Additional links/info below...

• SBWorkers United website, Twitter page, and Instagram
• GoFundMe: Starbucks Retaliates Against Whistleblower
• Jordan's Twitter page
• Status Coup website, Twitter page, and YouTube channel
• Sean Collins, Strikewave, ""It's about having a democratic voice in Starbucks." Interview with Brian Murray of SBWorkersUnited"
• Noam Scheiber, The New York Times, "As Starbucks Workers Seek a Union, Company Officials Converge on Stores"
• Ahiza García-Hodges, NBC News, "Former Starbucks CEO Uses Holocaust Analogy to Describe Coffee Company's Mission"

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"

Back in the spring, we spoke with three graduate student workers at Columbia University who were on strike with other members of the Student Workers of Columbia union, UAW Local 2110. After rank-and-file members rejected the tentative agreement between the university and the bargaining committee, negotiations continued, but Columbia has still failed to meet key demands, including better wages, dental and vision healthcare coverage, and third-party arbitration for cases involving harassment and discrimination. Now, Student Workers of Columbia are back on strike and have been on the picket line since November 3. In this mini-cast, we talk with three graduate student workers, Joanna Lee, Tamara Hache, and Caroline Smith, about the strike and how academic workers are an essential part of the labor movement.

Additional links/info below...

• Student Workers of Columbia, UAW Local 2110 website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Hardship Fund for Columbia Student Workers #CUonStrike
• Working People, "Mini-cast: Columbia Is a Bully (w/ Joanna Lee, Harlan Chambers, & Cameron Foltz)"
• Joanna's Twitter page
• Tamara's Twitter page
• Caroline's Twitter page
• Ashley Wong, The New York Times, "Why Columbia Student Workers Are Back On Strike"
• Rachel Himes, Jacobin, "Why Columbia Graduate Workers Like Me Are on 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"

What role does fiction have to play in the class struggle? Should the left be making a stronger case for the political importance of reading literature? In this special Working People episode, which has been months in the making, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez talks with writer and editor Sarah Lazare about her novel Testimony, which she co-authored with her late father, Peter Lazare. Testimony is a leftist crime thriller that takes place in Springfield, Illinois, at the height of the "war on terror" panic in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. It is also a deeply moving story about trust, commitment to everyday people, and fighting the corrupt, self-serving, and nefarious forces that weaponize fear for their own gain.

As the back cover of the book describes, "Testimony isn't about One Great Man taking on the system, but about one okay, flawed person working with a rag-tag team of other okay, flawed people to combat a system of cynicism and greed much bigger than them." In this deep and wide-ranging conversation, Alvarez talks with Lazare about the book itself, about her father and the long process of getting the book ready for publication, and about the important role genre fiction has to play in our collective fight for a better world. This episode also features segments of dramatic readings from Testimony performed by Alvarez, Lazare, and friends of the show Adam Johnson (Citations Needed) and Mel Buer (Morning Riot). And a special thanks to Working People producer Jules Taylor for all his hard work editing the episode!

Additional links/info below…

• Sarah's In These Times author page and Twitter page
• Sarah Lazare & Peter Lazare, Strong Arm Press, Testimony
• Strong Arm Press, Book Launch Event: "Why the Left Should Engage Fiction: A Conversation With Radical Thriller and Mystery Writers"
• Mel Buer Twitter page and Patreon
• Morning Riot podcast Twitter page
• Adam Johnson Twitter page and Substack
• Citations Needed Twitter page and Patreon

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive at freemusicarchive.org): Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is having a pivotal leadership election right now, and the results will set the future course for one of the most storied unions in existence. This election officially marks the end of the Hoffa era as James P. Hoffa, son of Jimmy Hoffa, is retiring as Teamsters General President. Members have cast their votes for who they want to head the union in the new era, and the ballots are being counted as we speak. We will be bringing you a rank-and-file breakdown of the election in the coming weeks, but for now we are releasing one of our recent bonus episodes on the public feed so listeners can have some context and understand the importance of this election. In this episode, we talk with journalist Indigo Olivier about the Teamsters leadership election and the 46th annual Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) convention, which was held in Chicago on October 1-3. Olivier is a 2020–2021 fellow with In These Times' Leonard C. Goodman Institute for Investigative Reporting and her writing has been featured at outlets like Jacobin, In These Times, and The Nation. She is also a member of NYC-DSA.

Additional links/info below...

• Indigo's Twitter page
• Indigo's author page at In These Times
• Indigo Olivier, Jacobin, "Teamster Rank-and-File Reformers Are Making a Bid for Union Leadership"
• Working People, "The Teamsters Have Entered the Chat (w/ Joe Allen)"
• Ryan Haney, Labor Notes, "Teamster Insurgents Plan for a Win—And What Comes After"
• Andy Sernatinger, In These Times, "Hoffa's House Divided: The 2021 Teamster Election, Explained"
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters Election Results

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"

35,000 members of the Alliance of Health Care Unions, a coalition of 21 local unions representing over 52,000 workers at the healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente in states around the country, have set a strike date. Unless the company addresses the serious issues that workers have raised at the bargaining table, Kaiser workers will walk off the job on Nov. 15, and thousands more may join in what could become one of the largest strikes ever in the healthcare sector. The core issues that led to the potential strike not only involve adequate compensation for union workers, but also the dire concerns about healthcare workers being grossly overworked and under-resourced, as well as two-tier employment and the struggle to draw in and retain trained staff. On top of the essential concerns that directly impact the jobs and livelihoods of healthcare workers, the outcome of this high-stakes labor struggle will have huge implications for the future of healthcare in the US as we know it.

In this special edition of Working People, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with two Kaiser workers, Hannah Winchester, DPT, and Nicholas Eng, RNFA, about the work that they do, the changes they've experienced in the healthcare system, and the dire conditions that have led to a potential strike. Hannah Winchester is a home health physical therapist by trade; she is also her department's Labor Partner, a shop steward, and a member of the bargaining team for the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP) Professional Bargaining Unit. Nicholas Eng has been a nurse for nearly 10 years; he is also an OFNHP shop steward and is currently on release for OFNHP to be present for contract bargaining and to help with organizing union members and actions, including strike planning.

Additional links/info below…

• The Alliance of Health Care Unions website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals website, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram
• OFNHP Cares – Member Hardship Relief Fund
• Noah Lanard, Mother Jones, ""You Are Worth More": Kaiser Permanente Workers Are on the Verge of a Historic Strike"
• Dave Muoio, Fierce Healthcare, "Nearly 32,000 Kaiser Permanente Workers Set to Strike Nov. 15. Tens of Thousands More Mulling Their Own Demonstrations"

Working People, The Real News Network, "A Small-Town Hospital Goes After Its Union Nurses"

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"

In this special episode, Working People producer Jules Taylor (@realjulestaylor) speaks with working musician and farm laborer Michael Francis McCarthy. Jules and Michael have known each other for a few years, having met during an event in Woodstock, NY where Michael was performing. Michael paints a sobering picture of what earning a living by working as a singer/songwriter looks like.

Unlock the video for this episode here: Patreon

About Michael Francis McCarthy - Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Bandcamp

Additional links/info below…

• Blake Morgan, The Hill, "American middle-class musicians are worth fighting for"
• John W. Barry, The Poughkeepsie Journal, "Coronavirus: With arts and entertainment shuttered, can derailed industry recover?"

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"
• Michael Francis McCarthy, "Goodnight, Toll Collector"