Working People
Working People: A podcast by, for, and about the working class today (now in partnership with In These Times magazine and The Real News Network). Working People is a podcast about working-class lives in 21st-century America. In every episode, you'll hear interviews with workers from around the country, from all walks of life. We'll talk about their life stories, their jobs, politics, and families, their joys and hopes and frustrations. Overall, Working People aims to share and celebrate the diverse stories of working-class people, to remind ourselves that our stories matter, and to build a sense of shared struggle and solidarity between workers around the country.
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Who's afraid of Chris Smalls?
06/08/2026
Who's afraid of Chris Smalls?
At a live event hosted at Red Emma’s Cooperative Bookstore and Coffeehouse in Baltimore, Maryland, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez got to sit down for a deep and wide-ranging conversation with Chris Smalls, co-founder and former president of the Amazon Labor Union. Alvarez and Smalls discuss Smalls’ new book, When the Revolution Comes: A Fight for the Future of the Working Class; they recount the incredible story of the formation of the Amazon Labor Union and the unionization of the first Amazon warehouse in the US; and they talk about Smalls’ journey from warehouse worker and labor organizer to becoming an internationally recognized public figure and a human rights activist who has sailed with humanitarian flotilla missions to Gaza and Cuba. Additional links/info: Chris Smalls and Chris Smalls, Penguin Random House, Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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‘They were going after everyone’: Baltimore security officers fired and removed from schedules after lawful strike
05/27/2026
‘They were going after everyone’: Baltimore security officers fired and removed from schedules after lawful strike
Nearly a year after workers voted to authorize a strike, non-union city and commercially contracted security officers in Baltimore, MD, walked off the job on April 9 on an Unfair Labor Practice strike against their employers, Abacus Corporation, Metropolitan Protective Services, and Urban Development Solutions. Now, Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) say that workers have been retaliated against by Metropolitan Protective Services (MPS), alleging that the city contractor “fired and harassed workers following [the] lawful strike.” MPS denies these allegations and claims “that no employees have been terminated due to union involvement.” In this episode of Working People, we speak with Victoria Cox, a former MPS employee who worked to reach the rank of sergeant, and Daril Riley, a former MPS employee who reached the rank of corporal. Both Cox and Riley have had their shifts taken off the schedule—and, essentially, their jobs taken away—and both have been put under investigation by MPS since the strike in April. Additional links/info: Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “” SEIU Local 32BJ , , and Katherine Wilson, Baltimore Sun, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor Statement from Derrick Parks, CEO and President of Metropolitan Protective Services (5/26/26): Metropolitan Protective Services, Inc. (MPSI) maintains that no employees have been terminated due to union involvement. We fully support our employees' right to choose whether or not to join a union. The individuals recently removed from the schedule were terminated for failing to maintain the current Maryland guard license required by the Maryland State Police. Regarding Sergeant Cox, she was removed from the schedule at the specific request of the client following multiple advisements regarding violations of client policy and insubordination. Of our 175 employees, only six have been removed from the schedule or terminated, all due to licensing issues or performance concerns. We find these allegations to be without merit and believe they are being used by the union to exert pressure on the company. Furthermore, we have received reports of union representatives harassing employees who chose not to join, including unauthorized site visits and the use of derogatory language. MPSI is currently considering filing a cease and desist order and a harassment lawsuit to protect the rights of our staff. Our priority remains protecting all employees, regardless of their union status.
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Kim Kelly: Coal miners are dying, and Trump betrayed them
05/20/2026
Kim Kelly: Coal miners are dying, and Trump betrayed them
Since the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump and his acolytes, rightwing media, and coal industry barons and lobbyists have obsessively painted the picture of Trump as a friend to coal miners and the so-called “undisputed champion of beautiful clean coal.” But as labor journalist Kim Kelly reports at In These Times, “the simpering ’Trump digs coal’ image the administration seeks to project is vastly at odds with the actions it’s taken to limit miner protections, endanger their health, and exacerbate the black lung crisis consuming Central Appalachia.” In this episode of Working People, we speak with Kelly about the Trump administration’s latest betrayal of coal miners and their families and its underreported attack on the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission and abrupt, unprecedented firing of FMSHRC Commissioner Moshe Z. Marvit. Additional links/info: Kim Kelly , page, , page, and Kim Kelly, In These Times, “” Jordan Barab, Confined Space, “” Kim Kelly, In These Times, “” Kim Kelly, In These Times, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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Over 4,000 UAW members on strike at Harvard University
05/12/2026
Over 4,000 UAW members on strike at Harvard University
After 14 months of fruitless contract negotiations with the Harvard University administration, over 4,000 workers represented by the Harvard Graduate Students Union (HGSU-UAW Local 5118) walked off the job on an indefinite strike on April 21. According to the union, “Graduate student workers will suspend teaching and research labor until Harvard’s bargaining team takes substantive action in addressing the union’s key issues: pay that keeps pace with the rising cost of living, recourse for harassment and discrimination, support for non-citizen students, protections for academic freedom, and ‘fair share fees’ to equitably distribute the expenses of union representation, among others.” In this episode of Working People, we speak with three striking graduate student workers about the issues at the center of this strike, and about what it’s like to live, work, and strike at the country’s richest university amid political attacks from the federal government, scandals connecting high-ranking Harvard officials to Jeffrey Epstein, and a nationwide cost-of-living crisis. Panelists include: Sara Speller, a fifth-year PhD student in the Music Department at Harvard and president of the Harvard Graduate Students Union; Zoë Feder, a seventh-year PhD student in the program in Biological & Biomedical Sciences at Harvard Medical School and a research assistant in the Microbiology Department; and Jacob Wolf, a third-year PhD student and Teaching Fellow in the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Additional links/info: Harvard Graduate Students Union (HGSU-UAW Local 5118) , page, page, , and Harvard Graduate Students Union Lydialyle Gibson, Harvard Magazine, “” Noah A. Ferris, The Harvard Crimson, “” Hugo C. Chiasson & Elise A. Spenner, The Harvard Crimson, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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Meet the new Pittsburgh Post-Gazette bosses, same as the old bosses
05/07/2026
Meet the new Pittsburgh Post-Gazette bosses, same as the old bosses
After members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh won their strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in late 2025, which had lasted for over 3 years, they were notified in January that the paper’s wealthy owners, the Block family and Block Communications Inc., were shutting down operations. Then, in a stunning turn of events, the Post-Gazette was purchased in April by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, which also owns The Banner in Baltimore, MD. While Post-Gazette workers were cautiously optimistic about the news, the union learned last week that the Venetoulis Institute is cutting at least 40 percent of its staff, including 80 percent of the union workers who participated in the recently ended strike. In this episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of union members and former Post-Gazette employees about what will happen to them and their coworkers, to the Post-Gazette itself, and to journalism in the Steel City. Panelists include: Andrew Goldstein, a now-former Post-Gazette education reporter and still-acting president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh; Helen Fallon, a longtime copyeditor for the Post-Gazette and professor emerita at Point Park University in Pittsburgh; and Erin Hebert, a now-former copyeditor and designer for the Post-Gazette and First Vice President of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh. Additional links/info: Pittsburgh Alliance for People-Empowered Reporting (PAPER) Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh , page, and Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh: “” Riddhi Setty, Columbia Journalism Review, “” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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Alec Baldwin backs union drive at Starbucks
05/01/2026
Alec Baldwin backs union drive at Starbucks
After decades of decline, the organized labor movement in the US has seen a resurgence in rank-and-file militancy over the last decade, with increased strike actions and union drives in industries across the economy. And in the story of this recent revival of labor in America, the movement led by predominantly young baristas to unionize coffee giant Starbucks has played a pivotal role. The new documentary Baristas vs. Billionaires takes viewers on a journey through the last five years of the epic, ongoing struggle to unionize Starbucks, told by some of the workers and organizers at the center of that struggle. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with director of Baristas vs. Billionaires and Academy Award nominee Mark Mori, and with legendary actor and Academy award nominee Alec Baldwin, who is a producer on the film. Additional links/info: Baristas vs. Billionaires Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Studio Production / Post-Production: David Hebden Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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May 1: A Nationwide ‘Economic Blackout’ Against Billionaires and Authoritarianism
04/29/2026
May 1: A Nationwide ‘Economic Blackout’ Against Billionaires and Authoritarianism
Inspired by January’s mass strike against ICE terror in Minnesota, a vast coalition of labor unions, democratic organizations, and community groups are organizing a nationwide economic blackout on Friday, May 1, International Workers Day. “May Day Strong events are being planned across the US,” Michael Sainato reports at The Guardian, “with organizers calling for ‘no school, no work, no shopping,’ in protest of government policies they say put billionaires’ needs above those of workers.” In this episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of guests who are all involved in organizing May Day events this week from Philadelphia to Chicago to Iowa. Panelists include: Jana Korn, who currently serves as the chief of staff for the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO, and also serves on the board of Philadelphia Jobs with Justice; Jeff Kurtz, a retired locomotive engineer and union officer who also served as a state representative in the Iowa House of Representatives; and John Emiliano, a healthcare worker and organizer in Chicago with the Tahanan Center and Tanggol Migrante, a grassroots Filipino migrant defense network. Additional links/info: May Day Strong coalition Workers Over Billionaires 2026 - Philadelphia Workers Over Billionaires 2026 - Chicago Lee County (Iowa) Labor Chapter and Tahanan Filipino Center Tanggol Migrante Latino Union of Chicago Michael Sainato, The Guardian, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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‘The rain was black’: A plant explosion set off a toxic bomb in this Louisiana town
04/15/2026
‘The rain was black’: A plant explosion set off a toxic bomb in this Louisiana town
On Aug. 22, 2025, the small-town lives of residents living near the Smitty’s Supply facility in Roseland, LA, changed forever when an explosion occurred at the automotive lubricant plant. The explosion and ensuing fire, which burned for days, triggered evacuations across the area, blanketing homes and businesses with smoke, soot, and oily residue, while spilling petroleum products from the plant into area waterways, including several adjacent ponds and the Tangipahoa River. While the Environmental Protection Agency claims that the area is safe, according to the agency’s own chemical monitoring, residents say they’ve been left behind and kept in the dark as they develop negative health symptoms and their homes remain covered in toxic substances. In this episode, we speak with Arlene Bankston, a farmer and resident of Roseland, and Allie Ponvelle, who lives one town over in Amite, about the slow-moving nightmare they’ve been living in ever since the massive explosion and chemical fire at Smitty’s Supply. Additional links/info: Alene Bankston’s Allie Ponvelle’s Chemically Impacted Communities Coalition (CICC) Wesley Muller, Louisiana Illuminator, “” Whitney Miller, WWL Louisiana, “” ”Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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Baltimore security guards strike for respect, healthcare, and a union
04/08/2026
Baltimore security guards strike for respect, healthcare, and a union
Nearly a year after workers voted to authorize a strike, non-union city and commercially contracted security officers in Baltimore, MD, will walk off the job on April 9 in an Unfair Labor Practice strike against their employer, Abacus Corporation. In their yearslong effort to unionize and secure more job security, better pay, accessible healthcare, and safer working conditions, workers at Abacus have reported rampant union busting and violations of their labor rights. In this episode, we speak with Laura Dixon, a veteran security officer and Abacus employee, and Jaimie Contreras, executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ. Additional links/info: SEIU Local 32BJ , , and Katherine Wilson, Baltimore Sun, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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US postal workers side with communities over collaboration with ICE: "Don't be a snitch"
04/01/2026
US postal workers side with communities over collaboration with ICE: "Don't be a snitch"
While facing decades-long political efforts to throttle and privatize the United States Postal Service (USPS), and while US Postmaster General David Steiner ominously warns that the USPS will “run out of money” within a year, postal workers continue to deliver the mail and serve communities across the country. But that job has gotten harder, more dangerous, and more complicated in recent years. From increases in targeted violence against letter carriers to the Trump administration’s attacks on mail-in voting, to ICE and Border Patrol agents invading communities on their mail routes, USPS workers are confronting many daily hazards on the job that the public doesn’t see. In this episode, we speak with Connor Mauche, a letter carrier in New York and a shop steward for Branch 3 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, about what it’s like to be a postal worker in America in 2026. Additional links/info: National Association of Letter Carriers - Branch 3 Ann DeStefano Sutherland, (a documentary about the Great Postal Strike of 1970) Derek Dolbeare, Labor Notes, “” Sara Braun, The Guardian, “” Monique Morrissey, Economic Policy Institute, “” Susan Haigh, AP, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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Immigrant workers launch largest US meatpacking strike in 40 years
03/25/2026
Immigrant workers launch largest US meatpacking strike in 40 years
3,800 workers and Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7 members at the massive JBS beef processing plant in Greeley, CO walked off the job on an unfair labor practice strike on March 16. This is the first strike ever at the Greeley plant—one of the largest in the country—and it’s the biggest meatpacking strike in the US since the 1985-86 strike at the Hormel plant in Austin, MN. As Caitlyn Clark and Lisa Xu report in Labor Notes, “Strikers say JBS has been increasing the speed of the production line while cutting work hours from 40 a week to 35, squeezing out more work for less money… Workers are also demanding that the company stop charging them out-of-pocket costs for personal protective equipment like mesh vests and arm guards—essential because they work with knives, saws, and other sharp, dangerous equipment.” In this episode, we speak with Clark and Xu, who report from the JBS picket line and break down why this strike is so significant and what it will take for workers to win this fight against the largest beef processor in the US. Guests: Caitlyn Clark is a national organizer at , an organization dedicated to rank-and-file member education and empowerment for UFCW members in grocery, meatpacking, and retail. is a staff writer and organizer at . Additional links/info: Caitlyn Clark & Lisa Xu, Labor Notes, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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Fourth-generation fisherwoman Diane Wilson goes on hunger strike against Dow Chemical
03/18/2026
Fourth-generation fisherwoman Diane Wilson goes on hunger strike against Dow Chemical
Diane Wilson is a fourth-generation fisherwoman and a lifelong resident of Seadrift, Texas. Wilson has become a global folk hero over the course of her epic, decades-long journey from shrimp boat captain and mother of five to social and ecological justice warrior who took on a multibillion dollar corporation polluting the bays along her beloved Texas Gulf Coast. But the fight to save her home from industrial pollution is far from over. On March 2, Wilson began a hunger strike outside the Dow Chemical Company / Union Carbide plant in Seadrift. “I have a tent and am camping out 24 hours, 7 days a week,” Wilson wrote in a letter to Dow CEO Jim Fitterling, “to impress upon Dow/Union Carbide our intense dislike and frustration of decades of plastic pollution being discharged into our bays and waterways.” In this urgent episode, we speak with Wilson as her hunger strike enters its third week. Guest: Diane Wilson is a fourth-generation shrimper, boat captain, mother of five, author, and an environmental, peace, and social justice advocate. During the last 30 years, she has launched legislative campaigns, demonstrations, hunger strikes, sunk boats, and even climbed chemical towers in her fight to protect her Gulf Coast bay. She is a co-founder of CODEPINK, the women’s anti-war group based in Washington, DC, and co-founder of the Texas Jail Project, which advocates for inmates’ rights in Texas county jails. Since 2012, Wilson has been executive director and waterkeeper of San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper (SABEW) on the Texas Gulf Coast. Wilson is the author of numerous books, including: ; and . Additional links/info: Diane Wilson Diane Wilson, “” San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper (SAWBE) , , , and Plastic Pollution Coalition, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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“ICE got me”: The urgent fight to free Ludovic Mbock
03/12/2026
“ICE got me”: The urgent fight to free Ludovic Mbock
38-year-old regional video gaming champion Ludovic Mbock, who came to the US legally from Cameroon, was snatched by ICE while applying for his yearly work permit—as he’s done for 20 years. He has since been detained for three weeks and moved to facilities in Louisiana and Georgia, and his freedom depends on a critical bond hearing this week. In this urgent episode of Working People, we speak with Diane Sohna, Ludovic’s sister, and Nikhil Delahaye, a close friend of Ludovic’s and a fellow gamer. Additional links/info: Ludovic Mbock GoFundMe: Antonio Planas & Rondez Green, The Baltimore Banner, “” Heidi Kemps, GameSpot, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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Sean O’Brien sold workers and unions out to Trump—these Teamsters are running to oust him
03/04/2026
Sean O’Brien sold workers and unions out to Trump—these Teamsters are running to oust him
As general president of the union, Sean O’Brien has operated with a “Teamsters vs. Everybody” mentality, especially when it comes to dealing with President Trump and embracing the MAGA right. But now, 14 months into the second Trump administration, the labor movement and the entire working class—Teamsters members included—is under attack. In this episode of Working People, we speak with veteran Teamsters Richard Hooker Jr. and John Palmer, who are running to oust O’Brien from leadership in the upcoming union election. Guests: Richard Hooker Jr. has dedicated 26 years to the Teamsters, spending 20 of those years at UPS and the last six in leadership roles. He is the Secretary-Treasurer and Principal Officer of Teamsters Local 623 in Philadelphia, and he is now running on the Fearless Slate to unseat Sean O’Brien as a candidate for general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. John Palmer has 38 years of experience in the Teamsters and is currently serving as a vice president at large of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He is running on the Fearless Slate as a candidate to be the union’s general secretary-treasurer. Additional links/info: Teamsters Fearless Slate Hank Kennedy, Current Affairs, “” Michael Sainato, The Guardian, “” Joe Allen, CounterPunch, “” Peter Eavis, The New York Times, “” Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “” Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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Tech workers protest Microsoft’s ties to ICE terror and Israel's war crimes
02/26/2026
Tech workers protest Microsoft’s ties to ICE terror and Israel's war crimes
In just six months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) more than tripled the amount of data stored on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform,The Guardian reports, “at the same time that its arsenal of surveillance technology ballooned.” This week, tech workers with the No Azure for Apartheid (NOAA) campaign staged a protest and informational picket at Microsoft’s global headquarters in Redmond, WA, demanding that Microsoft cancel all contracts that provide technological support for Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and ICE’s campaign of terror in the US. We speak with Ibtihal, a former software engineer at Microsoft and an organizer with the NOAA campaign. Additional links/info: No Azure for Apartheid and Harry Davies & Yuval Abraham, The Guardian, “” Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “” Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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They won their strike fair and square. Now their rich bosses are closing up shop.
02/18/2026
They won their strike fair and square. Now their rich bosses are closing up shop.
On Nov. 24, 2025, in a major and hardwon victory, Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh members finally returned to work at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after more than three years on strike. Then, on Jan. 7, 2026, workers were notified that Block Communications Inc.—the company that owns the Post-Gazette as well as the Toledo Blade, the Buckeye Sports Network, and a number of TV stations in Ohio and Kentucky—said that it will be ceasing operations at the Post-Gazette on May 3 of this year. We speak with Steve Mellon, a veteran photographer and writer who was on strike for over three years at the Post-Gazette, about how workers are processing this devastating news, and about their push to launch a new news source by and for working people. Additional links/info: Pittsburgh Alliance for People-Empowered Reporting (PAPER) Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh , page, and Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh “” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “” Kris B. Mamula, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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NO DEAL: Nurses at NY-Presbyterian overwhelmingly vote to stay on strike
02/13/2026
NO DEAL: Nurses at NY-Presbyterian overwhelmingly vote to stay on strike
The longest-running nurses strike in New York City history has come to an end—for some. Nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, however, overwhelmingly voted this week to reject a tentative agreement and to stay on strike until their demands for safer staffing and more job security are met. In this unscheduled strike update episode, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Beth Loudin, a neonatal nurse and member of the executive committee of the New York State Nurses Association at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Additional links/info: New York State Nurses Association , , , and Claudia Irizarry Aponte & Ben Fractenberg, The City, “” Luis Feliz Leon, Sarah Hughes, & Danielle Smith, Labor Notes, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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Massive strike at Kaiser Permanente enters third week
02/12/2026
Massive strike at Kaiser Permanente enters third week
An estimated 31,000 health care workers in California and Hawaii walked off the job on Jan. 26 in their ongoing battle with healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente to address workers’ demands for safe staffing, more manageable workloads, and a livable wage. The United Nurses Associations of California / Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) strike is now in its third week, and more than 3,000 pharmacy technicians, pharmacy assistants, and clinical laboratory professionals represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers. In this urgent strike update episode, we speak with a panel of UNAC/UHCP members who are all currently on strike at Kaiser Permanente. Guests: Sanayo Kondo is a physical therapist at Kaiser Permanente - Redwood City in Northern California, and she is also on the bargaining team for her UNAC/UHCP group. Kadi Gonzalez is an outpatient Registered Nurse at Kaiser Permanente who works in OB/Gyn care and is on the board of directors for UNAC/UHCP. Lucky Longoria is a Registered Nurse who works in pediatrics at Kaiser Permanente - Downey in Southern California and previously worked as a travel nurse. Additional links/info: United Nurses Associations of California / Union of Health Care Professionals , , and UNAC/UHCP Press Release: “” Kaiser Permanente, “ (Jan. 25, 2026)” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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America’s toxic future looks like East Palestine, OH, today
02/06/2026
America’s toxic future looks like East Palestine, OH, today
Feb. 3, 2026 marked the three-year anniversary of the Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical disaster in East Palestine, OH—one of the worst industrial disasters in US history. Over the last three years, residents have been exploited and abandoned by Norfolk Southern, the government, opportunistic politicians, sensationalist media outlets, and self-serving attorneys, but we have not forgotten them. On the three-year anniversary of the day that changed their small-town lives forever, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez was on the ground in East Palestine speaking with residents about their lives and needs today. Here is what they said... Additional links/info: Ohio Valley Derailment Mutual Aid and Chemically Impacted Communities Coalition (CICC) Golomb Research Group (UCSD) and East Palestine Health Effects Study Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “” (click for a full list of all of Max’s East Palestine reporting for TRNN over the last three years) Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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“A hero”: Nurses, federal workers honor Alex Pretti
02/01/2026
“A hero”: Nurses, federal workers honor Alex Pretti
Hundreds of union nurses, federal workers, and local residents gathered outside the Veterans Affairs central office building in Washington, DC, on Jan. 28, to hold a vigil for Alex Pretti and all who have been killed by ICE. The vigil was one of many events organized or co-sponsored by National Nurses United, the nation’s largest union and professional association of registered nurses, which has forcefully called for ICE to be abolished in the wake of Pretti’s killing. We speak with attendees of the vigil in this on-the-ground edition of Working People. Additional links/info: Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “” Maximillian Alvarez Working People / The Real News Network, “” National Nurses United: “” National Nurses United press release (1/24/26): “ National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United , page, page, and Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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Largest nurses union calls to abolish ICE after Alex Pretti killing
01/28/2026
Largest nurses union calls to abolish ICE after Alex Pretti killing
On Friday, Jan. 23, around 50,000 people in Minneapolis, MN, engaged in a historic mass strike and day of protest to demand an end to ICE terror and President Trump’s federal siege of Minnesota. Then, on Saturday, Jan. 24, an ICE agent shot and killed Alex Pretti, volunteer ICE observer and a registered union nurse who worked for the Veterans Health Administration. In this episode, we speak with Mary C. Turner, a registered nurse inn Minnesota and a member of the Council of Presidents of National Nurses United, the largest nurses union in the US, which is now forcefully calling for the abolition of ICE. Additional links/info: National Nurses United: “” National Nurses United press release (1/24/26): “ National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United , page, page, and Devon Lum & Haley Willis, The New York Times, “” Thomas Birmingham & Ari Bloomekatz, In These Times, “” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “” Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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"Shut everything down": Minnesota calls for mass strike on Jan. 23
01/21/2026
"Shut everything down": Minnesota calls for mass strike on Jan. 23
The state of Minnesota is under siege by our own federal government, and residents—immigrant and US-born alike—are living in fear. With the deployment of over 3,000 federal agents to Minnesota in recent weeks, this is the Trump administration’s largest and most violent so-called “immigration enforcement” operation yet—and with President Trump threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota in response to protests over ICE’s terror campaign, the situation on the ground is extremely volatile. Amid this federal invasion, unions, community organizations, faith leaders, and small businesses in Minnesota are calling for a statewide day of “no work (except for emergency services), no school, and no shopping” on January 23. In this urgent episode, we speak with three union members and organizers in the Twin Cities—Daniel Troccoli, Douglas Williams, and Janette Corcelius—about the situation on the ground in Minnesota, and about the proposed mass strike this Friday. Additional links/info: 1/23: ICE OUT OF MN and 1/23 ICE OUT OF MN Sarah Lazare & Amie Stager, In These Times, “” Luis Feliz Leon, Labor Notes, “” Suzanne Gamboa, Shaquille Brewster, & Colin Sheeley, NBC News, “” Rachel Leingang & Maanvi Singh, The Guardian, “” Joseph Cox, 404 Media, “” John Hamilton, Democracy Now!, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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The longest-running strike in the US is over—and the workers won
12/18/2025
The longest-running strike in the US is over—and the workers won
On Monday, Nov. 24, after more than 1,100 days on strike, Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh members were cheered on by supporters at a rally in downtown Pittsburgh before returning to work at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Even though strikers have returned to work, however, many issues at the center of the strike are still in legal limbo—and their fight for a fair contract is not over. In this episode of Working People, we speak with three Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh members—Bob Batz. Jr, Natalie Duleba, and Steve Mellon—about where things stand now, how their lives have changed since returning to work, and what it takes to hold the picket line for over three years. Additional links/info: Pittsburgh Union Progress Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh , page, and Bob Batz Jr. & Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Union Progress, “” Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, “” Sara Scire, Nieman Lab, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich
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What does it mean to be a union member in these dark times?
11/20/2025
What does it mean to be a union member in these dark times?
Making ends meet in today’s economy is difficult enough, but with so many societal crises affecting working people’s lives on and off the shop floor—from mass layoffs to untenable costs of living, from an authoritarian federal government to AI and the climate crisis—it can feel all but impossible. What does it mean to have a union job, to be a union member, and to be part of the labor movement in these overwhelming times? What role do unions and other labor organizations have to play, not just in the fight for economic justice, but in the fight for democracy, civil rights, the rule of law, and a livable planet? We posed these questions to a range of emerging labor leaders from different unions and worker centers enrolled in the 2025-26 Minnesota Union Leadership Program (MULP). Here’s what they told us… Additional links/info: Minnesota Union Leadership Program Workday Magazine Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich
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'We're done': Starbucks workers launch indefinite national strike
11/13/2025
'We're done': Starbucks workers launch indefinite national strike
Four years after the first Starbucks store in the US unionized in 2021, workers across the country are still facing rampant union busting and still fighting for a first contract with the coffee giant. That is why a supermajority of unionized baristas with Starbucks Workers United recently voted to authorize an Unfair Labor Practice strike, which is set to begin on Thursday, Nov. 13, on “Red Cup Day,” in over 25 cities around the US. “Union baristas mean business and are ready to do whatever it takes to win a fair contract and end Starbucks’ unfair labor practices,” says Michelle Eisen, Starbucks Workers United spokesperson and 15-year veteran barista. “If Starbucks keeps stonewalling, they should expect to see their business grind to a halt. The ball is in Starbucks’ court.” In this urgent episode, we speak with Eisen about the impending strike and the state of the yearslong union struggle at Starbucks. Additional links/info: “No Contract, No Coffee!” Starbucks Workers United , page, page, , and Starbucks Workers United press release: “” Dee-Ann Durbin, Associated Press, “” Alina Selyukh, NPR, “” Michael Sainato, The Guardian, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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Campus life is unrecognizable in the Trump era: ‘There’s so many cops everywhere’
11/06/2025
Campus life is unrecognizable in the Trump era: ‘There’s so many cops everywhere’
Life on college campuses has changed dramatically in the last 10 months. While institutions of higher education continue to reel from the Trump administration’s top-down attacks and scramble to adjust, workers on campus say that their universities are simultaneously expanding their own internal repression and surveillance apparatuses to squash dissent. In this episode, we speak with a panel of graduate student workers and union members from Columbia University and the University of Michigan about the chilling new reality on their campuses and what it’s like to live, learn, and work there today. Panelists include; Vayne, a PhD candidate in history at Columbia University and a member of the bargaining committee for Student Workers of Columbia; Conlan Olson, a PhD student in computer science at Columbia University and a member of the bargaining committee for Student Workers of Columbia; Jared Eno, a grad worker in sociology and public policy at the University of Michigan and a rank-and-file member of the Graduate Employees Organization. Additional links/info: Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) , , , and Student Workers of Columbia-UAW Local 2710 , , , and Email zap info: ““ Glenn Hedin & Barrett Dolata, The Michigan Daily, “” Student Workers of Columbia press release: “” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “” Credits: Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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Life after genocide: A Gazan’s message to the world about the ceasefire
11/01/2025
Life after genocide: A Gazan’s message to the world about the ceasefire
In September, before the current ceasefire deal was announced, we spoke with two Palestinians in Gaza—Mohamed Abu Tawila (a former English teacher) and his nephew Abdul Rahman (a would-be college student)—about surviving 700 days of genocidal destruction at the hands of Israel’s military and with the full backing of the United States. In this critical follow-up episode, we speak once again with Mohamed Abu Tawila from Gaza to get an on-the-ground account of life for Palestinians after the shaky implementation of the ceasefire began on Oct. 10. Additional links/info: Mohamed’s Living Water Mutual Aid in Gaza and Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “” Tareq S. Hajjaj, Mondoweiss, “” DropSite News, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich
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Workers replaced by AI have a dire warning for the world
10/29/2025
Workers replaced by AI have a dire warning for the world
In this special crossover edition of Working People and The Marc Steiner Show, hosts Maximillian Alvarez and Marc Steiner examine how the “artificial intelligence” (AI) boom is shaping the economy and the impact it is already having—and will continue to have—on working people’s lives, livelihoods, and jobs. Alvarez and Steiner speak with two members of a new mutual aid and advocacy group called Stop Gen AI, which formed this year out of the critical need to provide material support for creatives, knowledge workers, and anyone else impacted by generative AI. Guests: Kim Crawley is a former cybersecurity professor and co-author of . She founded Stop Gen AI in May 2025 in response to the immense socioeconomic harm generative AI has done to her and her peers, and to the vast environmental, cultural, scientific, psychological, and economic harm it does to the world. Stop Gen AI is unique for its anticapitalist focus and commitment to raising survival funds for people who are struggling. Emmi is an information security expert with experience across many niches of the industry, including application security across a number of verticals, and she is a specialist in insider threat and cyber threat intelligence. She joined the efforts of Stop Gen AI in 2025 due to the overwhelming amount of friends she has seen lose their entire lives and careers due to the out-of-control AI bubble. She also has nearly two decades of experience with boots-on-the-ground union organizing, protesting, and activism. Additional links/info: Stop Gen AI and page Khiree Stewart, WBALTV 11, “” Marc Steiner & Maximillian Alvarez, The Marc Steiner Show, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Stephen Frank, Marc Steiner Show Theme Song Credits: Studio Production: David Hebden Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich
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This government shutdown is not like the others: Furloughed federal workers explain
10/22/2025
This government shutdown is not like the others: Furloughed federal workers explain
The federal government shutdown is now in its fourth week. Over 700,000 federal employees have been furloughed, with nearly as many continuing to work without pay, yet there are still no signs that an end to the shutdown is near. “Unlike past presidents, Mr. Trump appears to feel little urgency to strike a deal to reopen the government,” Luke Broadwater writes at The New York Times. “Instead, he has used the shutdown, which began Oct. 1, as an opportunity to further remake the federal bureaucracy and jettison programs he does not like, seizing on unorthodox budgetary maneuvers that some have called illegal.” In this episode, we speak with three furloughed federal employees about the harm government shutdowns cause working people, and we discuss why this shutdown is different. Guests: Adam is a furloughed federal employee who works in recreation for the US Forest Service, managing hiking, biking, and equestrian trails in central Idaho. He serves as chapter president of National Federation of Federal Employees Local 1753, and he is an organizer with the Federal Unionists Network. Ellen is a furloughed federal employee who works in SNAP oversight and administration at the USDA Food and Nutrition Service. She serves as chapter president of National Treasury Employees Union Local 255, representing FNS employees at the Northeast regional office, and she is an organizer with the Federal Unionists Network in Boston. April is a furloughed federal employee who works in the office of Head Start at the Administration for Children and Families HQ in Washington, DC. She serves as chapter president of the National Treasury Employees Union Local 250. Additional links/info: Federal Unionists Network , , and Federal Unionists Network: “” Luke Broadwater, The New York Times, “” Democracy Now!, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Credits: Featured music: Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich
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Will Texas State University fire a tenured professor based on a Nazi apologist’s doctored video?
10/13/2025
Will Texas State University fire a tenured professor based on a Nazi apologist’s doctored video?
“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: “” Bill V. Mullen, Jacobin, “” Russell Payne, Salon, “” Full video of Edward Helmore, The Guardian, “” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
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