Working People

"In Texas, a socialist professor is now in the fight of his life against MAGA's New McCarthyism," scholar and author Bill V. Mullen writes in Jacobin. "Tom Alter, a labor historian and tenured professor of history at Texas State University, was fired from his job on September 10 after a far-right troll doctored a videotape of Alter speaking at a virtual Revolutionary Socialism conference. After viewing the video, university president Kelly Damphousse fired Alter on September 10 with what Alter and his supporters say was no due process." While Alter was provisionally reinstated on Sept. 26, he and his family remain in limbo as they wait for a final decision from Texas State University regarding his firing. In this urgent episode of Working People, we speak with Professor Alter himself about the sequence of events that have made his case a flashpoint in the MAGA right's all-out assault on free speech, higher education, and the people who live, work, and study there. Editor's Note (10/14/25): On Monday, Oct. 13, Professor Tom Alter was notified by Texas State University President Kelly Damphousse that "his employment at Texas State University is terminated, effective immediately." "I stand in opposition to Texas State University's attack on democratic rights that are protected by the Texas and United States Constitutions as well as the academic freedom that was once the hallmark of Texas higher education," Professor Alter said in a public statement. "To be clear, my termination is part of a broader political attack being carried out by the authoritarian far-right to crush democracy and democratic institutions in the United States in general and Texas in particular. But the charges leveled against me by the Texas State University administration do not stand up to the facts; I have truth on my side and I look forward to my day in court." Additional links/info:

• Texas State Employees Union - CWA Local 6186: "Reinstate Dr. Tom Alter | Defend Free Speech"
• Bill V. Mullen, Jacobin, "MAGA McCarthyism comes to Texas State"
• Russell Payne, Salon, "Fox News "expert" says Hitler went to heaven"
• Full video of Professor Alter's Revolutionary Socialism conference speech
• Edward Helmore, The Guardian, "US anti-fascism expert leaves country day after being blocked from flying to Spain"

Featured Music:

• Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

• Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

In a stunning and massive development, tech giant Microsoft has announced that it is terminating parts of the Israeli military's access to proprietary technology that it was using to conduct mass surveillance and targeting of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. "Microsoft told Israeli officials late last week that Unit 8200, the military's elite spy agency, had violated the company's terms of service by storing the vast trove of surveillance data in its Azure cloud platform," the Guardian reports. "The termination is the first known case of a US technology company withdrawing services provided to the Israeli military since the beginning of its war on Gaza." This major development would not have happened without the joint-investigative work of reporters at The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call exposing Microsoft's complicity with Unit 8200's mass-surveillance campaign, but it also would not have happened without the disruptive protests by tech workers within Microsoft. In this panel discussion, we speak with three fired Microsoft tech workers and members of the "No Azure for Apartheid" campaign—Nisreen Jaradat, Julius Shan, and Anna Hattle—about the role workers have played in pressuring Microsoft to end its complicity in Israel's war crimes.

Additional Links/Info:

• No Azure for Apartheid Instagram and Linktree
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Nation, "How Microsoft workers helped halt a major contract with the Israeli military"
• Harry Davies & Yuval Abraham, The Guardian, "Microsoft blocks Israel's use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians"
• Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "The biggest labor story in the US right now is happening at Microsoft"
• Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'Microsoft is an active partner in the genocide!': Inside the tech worker revolt for Palestine"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Cops violently dismantle Palestine encampment at Microsoft HQ, arrest protestors"
• Harry Davies & Yuval Abraham, The Guardian, "'A million calls an hour': Israel relying on Microsoft cloud for expansive surveillance of Palestinians"

Credits:

• Studio Production: David Hebden
• Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Last week, The Real News Network published a bombshell interview with two federal whistleblowers working in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Max spoke with Paul Osadebe and Palmer Heenan, two attorneys in HUD's Office of Fair Housing, about the "chaos" that has upended HUD under the new Trump administration, and the vulnerable Americans who are being systematically abandoned as a result. Then, on Monday, Sept. 29, exactly one week after going public, Osadebe and Heenan were fired in what the Federal Unionist Network describes as "a stunning act of illegal retaliation." In this urgent followup interview, we speak once again with Osadebe and Heenan about the conditions of their firing, and what this attack on whistleblowers means for the future of government transparency and the future of HUD itself.

Guests:

• Paul Osadebe is a shop steward for the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) – Local 476, a member of the Federal Unionists Network, and, until recently, an attorney working in the federal government. Osadebe is one of the four employees within HUD who have filed formal whistleblower complaints through the office of Senator Elizabeth Warren (D – Massachusetts). Osadebe was fired for his whistleblowing on Sept. 29.
• Palmer Heenan is a rank-and-file member of AFGE – Local 476, a member of the Federal Unionists Network, and, until recently, an attorney working in the federal government. Heenan is one of the four employees within the Department of Housing and Urban Development who have filed formal whistleblower complaints through the office of Senator Elizabeth Warren (D – Massachusetts). Heenan was fired for his whistleblowing on Sept. 29.

Additional resources:

• Debra Kamin, The New York Times, "Trump appointees roll back enforcement of Fair Housing laws"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "EXCLUSIVE: Federal whistleblowers expose how Trump's HUD is abandoning vulnerable Americans"
• Federal Unionists Network: "BREAKING: HUD whistleblowers fired after exposing civil rights violations"
• Federal Unionists Network website, BlueSky, and Instagram
• AFGE – Local 476 website

Credits:

• Studio Production / Post-Production: Cameron Granadino

Federal whistleblowers are going public with an emergency message from within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). According to their formal complaint, under President Trump's administration, "HUD leadership has already violated the law" and taken actions that "will result in legal violations, gross mismanagement, gross waste of funds, and present a specific danger to public health and safety." The complaints were filed by four attorneys and staff workers at HUD'S Office of General Counsel and Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. In their first on-air appearance since going public with their allegations, Max speaks with attorneys and federal employees Paul Osadebe and Palmer Heenan about their whistleblower complaints and the "chaos" at Trump's HUD.

Guests:

• Paul Osadebe is an attorney working in the federal government, a shop steward for the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) – Local 476, and a member of the Federal Unionists Network. Osadebe is one of the four employees within the Department of Housing and Urban Development who have filed formal whistleblower complaints through the office of Senator Elizabeth Warren (D – Massachusetts).
• Palmer Heenan is an attorney working in the federal government, a rank-and-file member of AFGE – Local 476, and a member of the Federal Unionists Network. Heenan is one of the four employees within the Department of Housing and Urban Development who have filed formal whistleblower complaints through the office of Senator Elizabeth Warren (D – Massachusetts).

Additional resources:

• Debra Kamin, The New York Times, "Trump appointees roll back enforcement of Fair Housing laws"
• Federal Unionists Network website, BlueSky, and Instagram
• AFGE – Local 476 website
• Federal Unionists Network: HUD Whistleblowers Sound Alarm on Civil Rights (Report)
• Federal Unionists Network: Join Us To Defend Public Services!

Credits

• Studio Production: David Hebden
• Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Current and former tech workers with the No Azure for Apartheid coalition continue to disrupt business as usual at Microsoft's global headquarters in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide, and in protest of Microsoft's contracts with the Israeli military to provide tech that Israel uses to surveil, kill, and retroactively justify the killing of Palestinians. In this episode of Working People, which is a critical follow-up to our last episode, we speak with a panel of five tech workers and No Azure for Apartheid coalition members who have all been fired by Microsoft in the past year in response to their protest actions: Anna Hattle, Joe Lopez, Hossam Nasr, Nisreen Jaradat, and Riki. Even after losing their jobs, however, these workers have vowed not to stop organizing and protesting until Microsoft meets their demands to "fully and perpetually divests from Israel's economy of occupation, apartheid, and genocide." Additional links/info:

• No Azure for Apartheid Instagram and Linktree
• Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "'Microsoft is an active partner in the genocide!': Inside the tech worker revolt for Palestine"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Cops violently dismantle Palestine encampment at Microsoft HQ, arrest protestors"
• Tom Warren, The Verge, "Microsoft locks down a building after protesters get inside president's office"
• Microsoft: Brad Smith press conference on Aug. 26, 2025
• Harry Davies & Yuval Abraham, The Guardian, "'A million calls an hour': Israel relying on Microsoft cloud for expansive surveillance of Palestinians"

Featured Music:

• Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

• Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Tech workers at the heart of Microsoft are waging one of the most significant and under-covered labor battles in the US right now. For the last two weeks, members of the No Azure for Apartheid coalition, including current and former tech workers at Microsoft and community allies, have been taking bold, continuing, and escalating actions to disrupt business as usual in solidarity with Palestinians facing genocide and in protest of Microsoft's contracts with the Israeli military to provide tech that Israel uses to surveil, kill, and retroactively justify the killing of Palestinians. Those actions have included establishing a "liberated zone" encampment and even occupying executives' offices at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, WA. In this on-the-ground episode of Working People, recorded at Microsoft headquarters on Aug. 19-20, we take you to the front lines of the No Azure for Apartheid struggle.Additional links/info:

• No Azure for Apartheid Instagram and Linktree
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Cops violently dismantle Palestine encampment at Microsoft HQ, arrest protestors"
• Tom Warren, The Verge, "Microsoft employee arrested at headquarters while protesting Israel contracts"
• Tom Warren, The Verge, "Microsoft locks down a building after protesters get inside president's office"
• Harry Davies & Yuval Abraham, The Guardian, "'A million calls an hour': Israel relying on Microsoft cloud for expansive surveillance of Palestinians"

Featured Music:

• Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

• Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez
• Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Right now, Israel's military is invading and obliterating what remains of Gaza City. After 700 days of genocidal bombing, shooting, forced starvation, and the systematic destruction of schools, hospitals, farms, refugee camps, roads, houses, and the entire infrastructure of civilian life, the Palestinians clinging to life in Gaza City are being exterminated, while others run or limp for their lives with nowhere safe to go. Amid the horrors of Israel's military onslaught, with starvation and illness spreading, Mohamed Abu Tawila, a former English teacher, and his nephew Abdul Rahman, a would-be college student, have been raising money online and risking their lives and safety to secure and transport clean water to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In this urgent episode, we speak with Mohamed and Abdul Rahman from Gaza about their daily struggle to live in the midst of genocide.

Additional links/info:

• Mohamed's Instagram account

• Abdul Rahman's Instagram account

• GoFundMe campaign to support Mohamed's water delivery operation and his family

• GoFundMe campaign to support Abdul Rahman's family

• Ruwaida Amer, The Real News Network, "Gaza journalist's URGENT MESSAGE: 'We need to eat! We need this war to stop!'"

Featured Music:

• Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

• Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Every single one of us who considers ourselves part of the labor movement has some real deep, serious, and urgent soul searching to do this Labor Day. After already falling to historically low levels of union density, public and private-sector unions are facing an extinction-level event under the new Trump administration. That is not hyperbole; that is a fact. So the real question is: What the hell are workers, unions, and the labor movement doing to fight back?

These are the essential questions at the center of both of the interviews we are sharing in this special Labor Day episode, which were recorded at the Netroots conference in New Orleans, LA, in early August. In the first interview, Max speaks with Everett Kelley, national President of the American Federation of Government Employees, about the Trump administration's elimination of collective bargaining rights for federal unions. In the second interview, his first public interview since he was arrested by federal agents observing an ICE raid in Los Angeles in June, David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union – United Service Workers (West), speaks with Max about the status of his case and about the roles unions must play in the fight against fascism.

Speakers:

• Everett Kelley is the national President of the American Federation of Government Employees, which is the largest union representing federal and DC government employees. He began his first term of service as national President in February 2020, was elected to another term during the 42nd National Convention in June 2022, and was reelected during the 43rd National Convention in August 2024. Kelley has been a member of AFGE since 1981. He worked at Anniston Army Depot and retired from there after 30 years of service.

• David Huerta is a longtime labor leader, born and raised in Los Angeles County, CA, who currently serves as president of the Service Employees International Union – United Service Workers (West) (SEIU-USWW).

Additional links/info:

• American Federation of Government Employees website, Facebook page, and Instagram

• Hamilton Nolan, How Things Work, "Fragile movements crumble"

• Michael Sainato, The Guardian, "White House cancels union contracts for hundreds of thousands of federal workers"

• SEIU, "STATEMENT: SEIU President April Verrett on David Huerta's release from federal custody"

• Luis Feliz Leon, In These Times, "Trump has put a target on SEIU, and the labor movement is fighting back"

• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "EXCLUSIVE: Union leader beaten & arrested at ICE raid SPEAKS OUT" (Video version of interview with David Huerta)

• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Unions face extinction under Trump. Is labor fighting back?" (Video version of interview with Everett Kelley)

Featured Music:

• Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Railroad workers are sounding the alarm about the potentially catastrophic consequences of the proposed mega-merger of two of the nation's Class 1 freight rail companies. "Union Pacific said it would buy smaller rival Norfolk Southern in an $85-billion deal to create the country's first coast-to-coast freight rail operator," Reuters reported in July. "If approved, the deal would be the largest-ever buyout in the sector." If this giant merger goes through, what will it mean for railroad workers, customers, and for the general public? In this episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of six veteran railroaders and members of Railroad Workers United to get a workers' eye view of the proposed mega-merger and what it will mean for rail labor, the US supply chain, and for the public writ large. Speakers:

• Ron Kaminkow is a member of Railroad Workers United, currently serving as a trustee, and he is also a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), Division 51 in Reno, Nevada. Kaminkow recently retired from Amtrak; prior to working in passenger rail, he worked on the freight rail system for Norfolk Southern and Conrail.
• Jeff Kurtz was a railroad engineer and union member for 40 years and is a member of Railroad Workers United. 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.
• Derek Masters is a member of Railroad Workers United and works as a conductor for a major Class 1 railroad, primarily in the Northeast. He is a member of SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD).
• Matt Parker is a member of Railroad Workers United who works as a rank-and-file locomotive engineer, based in Nevada, with over 20 years of experience.
• Matt Weaver is a founding member of Railroad Workers United and has been a member of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees (Teamsters) for 30 years. He serves as the BMWED legislative director for the state of Ohio.
• Nick Wurst currently serves as general secretary of Railroad Workers United who works as a freight conductor and locomotive engineer, based in Massachusetts. Wurst started working for the railroad in 2019 as an intermodal worker and member of the Transportation Communication Union (TCU/IAM) and is currently a member of SMART-TD.

Additional links/info:

• Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and X page
• Railroad Workers United press release: "Railroad worker group opposes Class One rail mergers"
• Michael Sainato, The Guardian, "Greater risk of toxic derailments if $85bn railroad merger is approved, warn unions"
• Sabrina Valle, Shivansh Tiwary, & David French, Reuters, "Union Pacific to reshape US freight rail with $85 billion deal for Norfolk"
• CNBC, "Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena & Norfolk Southern CEO Mark George on merger: Deal is 'great for America'"

Featured Music:

• Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

• Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

After seeing friends and neighbors in their community of Pasadena, CA, being terrorized, assaulted, and abducted by masked federal agents, Daniela Navin and Jeannette De la Riva joined together with other neighbors in their area to form Grupo Auto Defensa and fight back. From chasing ICE cars out of town with bullhorns to setting up security brigades so terrified residents can walk outside and go to the grocery store, from providing know-your-rights information to reclaiming public space, protecting each other, and rebelliously refusing to live in fear, the members of Grupo Auto Defensa are defending their community when no one else will. In this crossover episode of Working People, recorded with Professor David Palumbo-Liu and the Speaking Out of Place podcast, TRNN editor-in-chief Maximillian Alvarez joins Daniela Navin and Jeannette De la Riva to discuss the origins of Grupo Auto Defensa and the power of grassroots resistance in the face of the Trump administration's authoritarian assault on immigrant communities and the rule of law.

Guests:

• Daniela Navin is a resident of Pasadena, CA, and a founding member of Grupo Auto Defensa.
• Jeannette De la Riva is a lifelong resident of Pasadena, CA, and a founding member of Grupo Auto Defensa.

Additional links/info:

• Grupo Auto Defensa Instagram
• Speaking Out of Place website and Instagram
• The Real News Network, "'ICE out of Dena!': CA community FIGHTS BACK against ICE terror"
• Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "He's worked in the US for 30 years—then masked ICE agents beat and kidnapped him in broad daylight"

Featured Music:

• Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Credits:

• Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor