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.

Catholic nurses at Ascension call on Bishops to help with contract fight (w/ Gideon Eziama & Lisa Watson) 11/21/2024

Catholic nurses at Ascension call on Bishops to help with contract fight (w/ Gideon Eziama & Lisa Watson) On November 12, unionized nurses at Ascension St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore held a rally in front of the Marriott Hotel downtown, where the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) was holding a meeting. St. Agnes nurses rallied with supporters from around the city, and they were even joined by fellow Ascension nurses who traveled from Wichita, Kansas, and Austin, Texas. According to a press release from National Nurses Organizing Committee / National Nurses United (NNOC-NNU), the purpose of the rally was to “highlight how Ascension has failed to follow to both serve and advocate for patients ‘at the margins of society’ and ‘treat its employees respectfully and justly.’... Baltimore nurses have been in negotiations since Feb. 2024, following a successful union election in November 2023. Ascension has failed to bargain in good faith with Saint Agnes nurses on language that would improve safe staffing and protect patients from cuts to services, lawsuits for billing disputes, and surprise billing or excess charges.” In this on-the-ground episode, you’ll hear speeches and chants from the Nov. 12 rally, and we speak with Gideon Eziama, a registered nurse with over 20 years of experience who has worked at Ascension St. Agnes for the last six years, and Lisa Watson, a registered nurse at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis Hospital in Wichita, who traveled to Baltimore to stand in solidarity with her coworkers at Ascension St. Agnes. Additional links/info below… National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United , page, page, and NNOC/NNU Press Release: “” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “” Aleja Hertzler-McCain, Religion News Service, “” Permanent links below… and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Max Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/34074866

“Let’s unite!”: Poisoned residents of America’s sacrifice zones are banding together (w/ Hilary Flint, Melanie Meade, Elise Keaton Wade, & Angela Shaneyfelt) 11/15/2024

“Let’s unite!”: Poisoned residents of America’s sacrifice zones are banding together (w/ Hilary Flint, Melanie Meade, Elise Keaton Wade, & Angela Shaneyfelt) Sacrifice zones are areas where people have been left to live in conditions that threaten life itself, from toxic industrial pollution to the deadly, intensifying effects of man-made climate change. In a more just and less cruel society, the very concept of a “sacrifice zone” wouldn’t exist. And yet, in America, after decades of deregulation and public disinvestment, more working-class communities are becoming sacrifice zones, and more of us are being set up for sacrifice at the altars of corporate greed and government abandonment. America’s sacrifice zones are no longer extreme outliers; they are, in fact, a harrowing model of the future that lies in store for most of us if the corporate monsters, corporate politicians, and Wall Street vampires destroying our communities aren’t stopped. And residents of different sacrifice zones across the country, fellow workers on the frontlines of all this reckless and preventable destruction, are connecting with each other, learning from one another, and working together to fight back. In this Working People liveshow, recorded on Oct. 19 at Red Emma’s worker cooperative bookstore, cafe, and community events space in Baltimore, we speak with a special panel of residents from four different sacrifice zones in the US about how the situations they’re facing in their own communities and their struggles for justice and accountability are connected. Panelists include: Hilary Flint, communications director of Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community and a former resident of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, a few miles from the site of the Feb 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical disaster in East Palestine, Ohio; Melanie Meade, a community organizer, educator, and life-long resident of Clairton, Pennsylvania, the site of US Steel's Clairton Coke Works, which was named the most toxic air polluter in Allegheny County in a 2021 report by PennEnvironment; Elise Keaton Wade, a real estate attorney by trade, longtime environmental justice activist, and a native of Southern West Virginia; Angela “Angie” Shaneyfelt, a resident of Curtis Bay in South Baltimore, who lives just blocks away from an open air coal terminal owned and operated by rail giant CSX Transportation, which has been polluting her community for generations. Special thanks to Dr. Nicole Fabricant and the South Baltimore Community Land Trust for organizing this live show. Additional links/info below… Coal-Free Curtis Bay page and South Baltimore Community Land Trust , page, page, and Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community , page, , and page Hilary’s Nicole Fabricant’s Melanie’s page Angela’s page Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “” Maximillian Alvarez, In These Times / The Real News Network, "" Maximillian Alvarez & Molly Crabapple, In These Times, “” Laura Gottesdiener, The Nation, “” Nicole Fabricant, University of California Press, Nicole Fabricant, The Real News Network, “” Adam Willis, The Baltimore Banner, "" Melanie Meade, PublicSource, “” Daniel Shailer, PublicSource, “” Permanent links below… and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Max Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/33950297

How will railroad workers vote after Biden and Congress blocked their strike? (w/ Hugh Sawyer, Mark Burrows, & Ron Kaminkow) 11/02/2024

How will railroad workers vote after Biden and Congress blocked their strike? (w/ Hugh Sawyer, Mark Burrows, & Ron Kaminkow) Two years ago, the US was on the cusp of seeing its first national rail strike in decades. Then, President Joe Biden, at the urging of the rail companies, and with the help of both parties in Congress, preemptively blocked railroad workers from striking in December of 2022. Workers were forced to accept a contract that did not address the vast majority of issues that have been putting them, our communities, and our supply chain at hazard. How has this all shaped railroad workers’ attitudes and approaches to the upcoming elections? In this urgent panel discussion, we pose this question directly to three veteran railroaders, and we have an honest discussion about how working people should act strategically within and outside the electoral system to advance their interests. Panelists include: Hugh Sawyer, a veteran locomotive engineer with 36 years of experience, a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Division 316, and a founding member and acting treasurer of Railroad Workers United; Mark Burrows, a retired locomotive engineer with 37 of experience, who has served as co-chair and organizer for Railroad Workers United, where he still edits RWU’s quarterly newsletter “The Highball”; Ron Kaminkow, a recently retired former brakeman, conductor, and engineer who worked for many years in freight rail before working 20 years as a passenger engineer at Amtrak, a founding member of RWU and delegate in the Northern Nevada Central Labor Council. Additional links/info below… Railroad Workers United , page, and page Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “” Maximillian Alvarez & Mel Buer, The Real News Network, “” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "" Mel Buer, The Real News Network, “” Adam Johnson, Nima Shirazi, Maximillian Alvarez, & Mel Buer, Citations Needed / The Real News Network, “” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “” Permanent links below… and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music... Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/33757547

SpoOoOoky Special 2024: The Movie that Traumatized Us All 10/31/2024

Workers take on Kaiser Again, Strike for a Fair Contract in SoCal 10/29/2024

Workers take on Kaiser Again, Strike for a Fair Contract in SoCal On Monday, Oct 21, 2400 behavior health workers at Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California locations walked off the job in their ongoing struggle for a fair contract. Over the summer, negotiations between the health system and the bargaining committee, represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), failed to close the gap between their proposals, opening the door for a strike. The workers are now well into their second week on strike. The healthcare giant refuses to bargain seriously with the workers, offering paltry raises instead of agreeing to the workers’ demands for better pay, pensions, and safer staffing levels at the Kaiser mental health clinics in and around Southern California. These gains, the union believes, would allow Kaiser to compete with other health systems, drastically improve patient care quality, and solve many of the scheduling issues that have plagued the health system since before the start of the pandemic. The union hopes that by striking, they can show management that they are serious about securing a fair contract for their members. Last week, on the first day of the strike, Mel sat down with Chris Reeves and Lisa Caroll, two behavioral health workers who work in Los Angeles and San Diego, respectively, to talk about the state of negotiations, what workers are demanding, and how it feels to be out on the picket line in the struggle for a fair contract. Note: This episode was recorded on Oct 21, 2024, on the first day of the strike. Additional links/info below… NUHW’s Donate to the Stay up-to-date on the strike Check out TRNN’s in the east coast Permanent links below… and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Max Alvarez /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/33675862

After two years of striking, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette workers aren’t ready to give up 10/18/2024

Look for the Helpers: Organizing Relief Aid in Asheville, NC, After "Apocalyptic" Hurricane Helene (w/ Byron Ballard & Lori Freshwater) 10/14/2024

Look for the Helpers: Organizing Relief Aid in Asheville, NC, After "Apocalyptic" Hurricane Helene (w/ Byron Ballard & Lori Freshwater) Over the past two weeks, people around the country have watched in horror as our neighbors and fellow workers have been battered by the successive disasters of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. “After making landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Sept. 26 and tearing through the Gulf Coast of Florida,” Adeel Hassan and Isabelle Taft write in The New York Times, “Helene plowed north through Georgia and walloped the Blue Ridge Mountains, washing out roads, causing landslides and knocking out power and cell service for millions of people. Across western North Carolina, towns were destroyed, water and fuel supplies were disrupted, and residents were in a communications black hole, scrambling for Wi-Fi to try to reach friends and family... As of Oct. 6, there were more than 230 confirmed deaths from the storm.” The hurricanes have passed, but the devastation and dire need they left in their wake remain. In this urgent mini-cast, we speak with two guests who are on the ground in Asheville, NC, providing relief and mutual aid to their community: Byon Ballard, a cofounder of the Mother Grove Goddess Temple in Asheville, where she serves as Senior Priestess, and Lori Freshwater, a journalist and relief aid volunteer who is originally from North Carolina. Additional links/info below… Mother Grove Goddess Temple , page, and Mother Grove Goddess Temple Beloved Asheville , page, and Adeel Hassan & Isabelle Taft, The New York Times, “” Dharna Noor, The Guardian, “” Oliver Milman, The Guardian, “” Oliver Milman & Jonathan Watts, The Guardian, “” Lauren Aratani, The Guardian, “” Permanent links below… and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Max Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/33453467

Cornell's Crackdown on Palestine Solidarity Protests Could Force Grad Student-Worker to Leave US (w/ Jawuanna McAllister & Jenna Marvin) 10/03/2024

Cornell's Crackdown on Palestine Solidarity Protests Could Force Grad Student-Worker to Leave US (w/ Jawuanna McAllister & Jenna Marvin) The student encampment movement last school year turned institutions of higher education into flashpoints of struggle over Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, US support for it, and the right to speak out against it. This year, college and university campuses have become laboratories of repression where different administrative efforts to silence Palestine solidarity and antiwar demonstrators are being deployed. And that is playing out right now at Cornell University. As Aaron Fernando writes at The Nation, “Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, has taken disciplinary action against an international student that will likely force him to leave the country, and could have a chilling effect on other international students participating in political protests. Momodou Taal is a PhD candidate in Africana studies and a graduate student worker, attending Cornell under the F-1 visa program. In the last academic year, Taal joined student-led actions demanding that Cornell divest from industries complicit in Israel’s attacks on civilians in Gaza.” The Cornell grad worker union, Cornell Graduate Students United-UE, released a statement condemning the university’s disciplinary actions against Taal, and is demanding the administration bargain with the union “over the effects of the discipline administered to Taal.” “CGSU-UE condemns Taal’s suspension, which represents a disturbing pattern of discriminatory discipline against marginalized graduate workers. The union is still fighting for just cause protections in discipline and discharge, due process for academic evaluations, strong academic freedom, and nondiscrimination protections inclusive of political affiliation and action, religious practice, and caste.” In this urgent episode, Max speaks about Cornell’s actions against Taal with two members of the CGSU-UE bargaining committee: Jenna Marvin, a third-year PhD student in the History of Art & Visual Studies at Cornell; and Jawuanna McAllister, a sixth-year PhD candidate in Molecular Biology and Genetics at Cornell. Additional links/info below… Cornell Graduate Students United-UE and Petition: “” Aaron Fernando, The Nation, “” Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, “” Permanent links below… and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Max Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/33310577

Microsoft AI Data Center Comes for Drought-Battered Mexican Town’s Water (w/ Diana Baptista) 10/03/2024

Microsoft AI Data Center Comes for Drought-Battered Mexican Town’s Water (w/ Diana Baptista) As the climate crisis intensifies, billions of poor and working people around the world are suffering from lack of regular (or any) access to clean water, but the dawn of “AI” is about to make the problem much worse. In their recent report for Context, “Forget jobs—AI is coming for your water,” Diana Baptista and Fintan McDonnell write, “Artificial intelligence lives on power and water, fed to it in vast quantities by data centres around the world. And those centres are increasingly located in the global south.” In Colón, a municipality in Central Mexico that is home to Microsoft’s first hyperscale data center campus in the country, working people are already bearing the environmental costs of man-made climate change, and they will be the ones to bear the costs of AI and Big Tech. “The town of 67,000 is suffering extreme drought. Its two dams have nearly dried up, farmers are struggling with dead crops, and families are relying on trucked and bottled water to fulfill their daily needs.” In the latest installment of our ongoing series, Sacrificed, Max speaks with Diana Baptista, a data journalist at the Thomson Reuters Foundation based in Mexico City, about Mexico’s ongoing water crisis and about the human and environmental costs of AI and cloud computing. Additional links/info below… Diana’s Context and Fintan McDonnell & Diana Baptista, Context, “” Fintan McDonnell & Diana Baptista, Context, “” David Berreby, Yale Environment 360, “” Tamara Pearson, The Real News Network, “” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “” Permanent links below… and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Max Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/33310547

Alec Plant 09/23/2024

Alec Plant Two years ago, workers from several different Trader Joe’s grocery stores joined the wave of unionization efforts spreading across the country. Workers in Hadley, Massachusetts, made history in 2022 by not only becoming the first Trader Joe’s store to vote to unionize but also by opting to form an independent union, Trader Joe’s United (TJU). However, like with Starbucks, Amazon, Medieval Times, and other companies where workers have been exercising their right to organize in recent years, rampant union busting has been part of the Trader Joe’s story from the beginning. What’s worse, as Alex Press writes in Jacobin, rather than be compelled to follow the law and play by the rules, the supposedly progressive grocery chain has joined Elon Musk’s SpaceX in attacking the very constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board. What is the current state of the union drive at Trader Joe’s? What issues are employees (“crew members”) still dealing with on the job, and what can supporters do to help? In this episode, Max speaks with Alec Plant, a worker organizer at the Lincoln and Grace Trader Joe’s in Chicago and a member of Trader Joe’s United. Additional links/info below… Trader Joe’s United , page, and Lauren Kaori Gurley, The Washington Post, “” Alex Press, Jacobin, “” Dave Jameison, HuffPost, “” Talia Soglin, Chicago Tribune, “” Steven Greenhouse, The New Republic, “” Steven Greenhouse, The Guardian, “” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "” Permanent links below… and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Max Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/33164942

When Work Inspires Art: Labor Poet George Fish 09/19/2024

Seven unions demand end to US military aid to Israel (w/ George Waksmunski & Brandon Mancilla) 08/28/2024

Seven unions demand end to US military aid to Israel (w/ George Waksmunski & Brandon Mancilla) The death toll in Gaza continues to climb, with conservative estimates putting the numbers of dead around 40,000, but a recent report in the British medical journal The Lancet estimates the actual death toll could be 186,000 or even higher—that’s roughly 8% of Gaza’s population. And with each passing day, the humanitarian crises unfolding in Gaza and the West Bank gets orders of magnitude worse. Seeing the dire situation in Palestine, seven major US labor unions collectively drafted, signed, and sent a letter to President Biden demanding that US military aid to Israel stop immediately. The letter reads, in part: "Large numbers of Palestinian civilians, many of them children, continue to be killed, reportedly often with US-manufactured bombs. Rising tensions in the region threaten to ensnare even more innocent civilians in a wider war. And the humanitarian crisis deepens by the day, with famine, mass displacement, and destruction of basic infrastructure including schools and hospitals. We have spoken directly to leaders of Palestinian trade unions who told us heart-wrenching stories of the conditions faced by working people in Gaza." In this episode, Max and Mel speak with George Waksmunski, president of the United Electrical, Radio, & Machine Workers of America (UE), Eastern Region, and Brandon Mancilla, Region 9A Director for the United Auto Workers, about why their unions signed onto this call for an end to US aid to Israel and what organized labor can do to end the genocide in Gaza. Additional links/info below… UAW , page, page, and UE , page, page, and Michael Sainato, The Guardian, "" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "" Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "" Permanent links below… and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Max Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/32770402

300 Episodes of 'Working People'! Announcements, reflections, & what comes next... 08/12/2024

300 Episodes of 'Working People'! Announcements, reflections, & what comes next... In 2024, Working People officially crossed the 300 episode mark! Since we published our first episode back in 2018, the show has grown in ways we never could have imagined, and the world itself has changed in radical, hopeful, terrifying ways, the labor movement has undergone incredible changes, and we’ve done our best to document that change and this moment in history through the conversations we’ve had with workers across industries, from all walks of life, about their lives, jobs, dreams, and struggles. Over the past seven seasons of the show, we've interviewed working people, young, old, and middle-aged, union and non-union, worker-owners at worker cooperatives, workers who were just laid off, workers on strike, workers unionizing, families of workers who were killed by their jobs, Indigenous workers living on reservations, workers whose children were murdered in a school shooting, sex workers, academic workers, manufacturing workers, railroad and airline workers, educators, yoga instructors and professional massage therapists, social workers, baristas, journalists, healthcare workers, service workers, construction workers, coal miners, lumberjacks, Amazon workers. We've spoken with working people in Cuba, Canada, Brazil, Slovenia, Turkey, Myanmar, the UK, France, and more. In this special episode commemorating 300 episodes of Working People, Max and new cohost Mel Buer reflect on how far the show has come and where we’re going next. To all of our listeners and supporters, to those who have been with us since the beginning and to those who found the show at some point over the past 7 seasons, to everyone who has ever listened to the show, shared our episodes, donated to our Patreon, to everyone who ever reached out to remind us that someone was listening and encouraged us to keep going, to everyone who has supported us , THANK YOU. We love you, and we wouldn't be here without you. We hope to keep making you and all our fellow workers proud with this show, and it's an honor to be in this struggle with you. Additional links/info below… Maximillian Alvarez, Current Affairs, "" Working People, "" (the first episode) Mel Buer's and profile and we might play it on the show! Permanent links below... Working People page and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music... Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/32543717

What it Means to 'Walk the Walk': the NEA Staff Lockout (w/ Rowena Shurn and Ambereen Khan-Baker) 08/08/2024

From the East Palestine Derailment Disaster to the Toledo Water Crisis (w/ Mike Balonek & Chris Albright) 08/01/2024

From the East Palestine Derailment Disaster to the Toledo Water Crisis (w/ Mike Balonek & Chris Albright) From East Palestine, Ohio, to South Baltimore and beyond, we’ve been connecting you with residents living in the toxic wastelands left by private and government-run industry—ordinary working people who have been thrust into extraordinary fights for their lives. In the latest installment of our ongoing Sacrificed series, we go to Toledo, Ohio, a city that, in 2014, lost access to its water supply for three days straight due to a massive, toxic algal bloom caused by runoff from industrial animal farming. We speak with filmmaker Mike Balonek and welcome back Chris Albright, a resident of East Palestine, to discuss the connections between the Norfolk Southern train derailment disaster and the Toledo Water Crisis. We also talk about an upcoming conference in Toledo on Saturday, August 3, hosted by the Justice for East Palestine Residents & Workers coalition: “Is your community a sacrifice zone? A conference on corporate-caused disasters.” The conference will focus on the Toledo Water Crisis, the derailment in East Palestine and the need for better railroad safety, and the radioactive poisoning of residents living near the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Pike County, Ohio. The conference will also feature the world premiere of filmmaker Mike Balonek’s new documentary The Big Problem In The Great Lakes, a film about the Toledo Water Crisis of 2014. Additional links/info below… Toledo conference details: Mike Balonek, WTOL 11, "" Maximillian Alvarez, Cameron Granadino, & Hannah Faris, The Real News Network, "" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "" Stephanie Elverd, The Pakersburg News & Sentinel, "" Permanent links below... Working People page and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music... Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/32379007

Teamsters Members React to Sean O'Brien's RNC Speech (w/ Amber Mathwig, Tony, Chantelle, Rick Smith, Zoey Moretti Niebuhr, Jess Leigh, Kat, & Robert Conklin) 07/22/2024

Teamsters Members React to Sean O'Brien's RNC Speech (w/ Amber Mathwig, Tony, Chantelle, Rick Smith, Zoey Moretti Niebuhr, Jess Leigh, Kat, & Robert Conklin) On Monday, July 15, on Day 1 of the Republican National Convention, Sean O’Brien, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, became the first Teamsters president ever to address the RNC. Invited by former president Trump, who is now officially the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election, O’Brien’s speech was no ordinary RNC filler. And to anyone watching, or anyone paying attention to the political reality in this country, this was no ordinary RNC either. O’brien’s very presence on the RNC stage, and the contents of his speech, which lasted for 17 minutes, have sparked a firestorm of intense reactions and furious debates within the labor movement and the Republican and Democratic parties alike. Everyone is talking about this speech and what it all means for workers, but workers themselves need to be driving that conversation. In this special episode, cohosted by Max and Mel Buer, we bring together a diverse panel of Teamster members from across the country to have a spirited, fair, and productive discussion about O'Brien's speech, the 2024 elections, and the future of the labor movement. Speakers include: Amber Mathwig, a UPS warehouse worker and member of Teamsters Local 638 in Minnesota; Tony, a UPS worker, member of Teamsters Local 174 in Seattle, and a member of Teamsters Mobilize; Chantelle, a part-time UPS worker and member of Teamsters Local 177 in New Jersey; Rick Smith, a 35-year Teamster working in the freight industry and host of The Rick Smith Show; Zoey Moretti Niebuhr, a UPS worker, third-generation Teamster, member of Teamsters Local 391 in North Carolina, and president of Pride at Work—North Carolina; Jess Leigh, a UPS worker, shop steward for Teamsters Local 728 in Atlanta, and a member of the Teamsters LBGTQ Caucus and Teamsters Mobilize; Kat, a part-time UPS worker and shop steward for Teamsters Local 70 in Oakland; and Robert Conklin, a third-generation Teamster and member of Teamsters Local 665 in San Francisco. Additional links/info below… PBS NewsHour, "" Sean O'Brien Ryan Bort, Rolling Stone, "" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "" The Rick Smith Show , page, page, and Teamsters Mobilize , Facebook page, page, and Teamsters LGBTQ Caucus Pride at Work—North Carolina Maximillian Alvarez & Teddy Ostrow, The Real News Network, "" Teddy Ostrow, The Upsurge / The Real News Network, "" Permanent links below... Working People page and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music... Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/32243802

Dispatch from Labor Notes & Railroad Workers United Conferences (Chicago, 2024) 07/08/2024

Dispatch from Labor Notes & Railroad Workers United Conferences (Chicago, 2024) Two months ago, from April 17-21, workers and labor organizers of all stripes convened in Chicago for the bi-annual Labor Notes conference, which overlapped with the Railroad Workers United convention. As the registration website rightly noted, “Labor Notes Conferences are the biggest gatherings of grassroots labor activists, union reformers, and all-around troublemakers out there." This is not a buttoned up convention of union officials; this is a real grassroots gathering of people on the frontlines of struggle, talking openly, honestly, and strategically about their struggles, victories, and defeats, about what we can all learn from one another as fellow workers and fighters, and about how we can all contribute to growing the labor movement as fellow members of that movement. In this on-the-ground episode, cohosted by Max and Mel Buer, we speak with attendees at the RWU convention, Labor Notes, and participants in the Labor for Palestine protest that took place outside of Labor Notes on April 19. Speakers include: Johnny Walker, a railroad worker and member of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers—Transportation Division (SMART-TD) Local 610 in Baltimore; Matt Weaver, who has worked on the railroad since 1994, is a member of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees (BMWED-IBT) Local 2624, where he also serves as legislative director for his state; Marcie Pedraza, an electrician at Ford Chicago Assembly Plant and member of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 551; Jacob Morrison, a member of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), president of the North Alabama Labor Council, and cohost of The Valley Labor Report; Leticia Zavala, legendary farm labor organizer working with farm workers in Mexico and the United States, and a member of El Futuro Es Nuestro (It’s Our Future), a farmworker caucus within the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC, AFL-CIO); Colin Smalley, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 777 in Chicago; Berenice Navarrete-Perez, vice president of the Association of Legislative Employees (ALE); Annie Shields, former journalist and union organizer with the NewsGuild of New York; and Axel Persson, a locomotive engineer in France and general secretary of the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) Railway Workers Union in Trappes. Additional links/info below… Labor Notes , page, and page Railroad Workers United , page, and page El Futuro Es Nuestro – It's Our Future and page Labor for Palestine The Valley Labor Report channel, page, page, and Duncan Freeman, The Chief Leader: "" Axel Persson, ML Today, "" Martha Grevatt, Workers World, "" Permanent links below... Working People page and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music... Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/32040887

"Safe Staffing Now!": Baltimore Nurses at Largest Catholic Health Network in US Fight On for First Contract (w/ Nicki Horvat) 07/02/2024

"Safe Staffing Now!": Baltimore Nurses at Largest Catholic Health Network in US Fight On for First Contract (w/ Nicki Horvat) On the morning of Thursday, June 20, unionized nurses at Ascension St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore held a rally outside the hospital to raise awareness of their efforts to secure a first contract and to show management that they’re not backing down from their core demands for safe staffing and an operational model that puts patients and patient care first. "St. Agnes nurses are calling on Ascension to accept their proposals to improve safe staffing and, subsequently, nurse retention," a press release from National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) stated. "Nearly 20 percent of nurses at St. Agnes began employment at the hospital after January 1 of this year. Meanwhile, just over a third of nurses have more than four years of experience at the hospital... The Catholic hospital system is one of the largest in the country with 140 hospitals in 19 states and also one of the wealthiest, with cash reserves, an investment company, and a private equity operation worth billions of dollars—and, because of its nonprofit status, is exempt from paying federal taxes." In this on-the-ground episode, we take you to the NNOC/NNU picket line and speak with Nicki Horvat, an RN in the Neonatal Intensive Care unit at Ascension St. Agnes and member of the bargaining team, about what she and her coworkers are fighting for. Additional links/info below… National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United , page, page, and NNOC/NNU Press Release: "" Angela Roberts, The Baltimore Sun, "" Gino Canella, The Real News Network, "" Gino Canella, The Real News Network, "" Robert Glatter, Peter Papadakos, & Yash Shah, Time Magazine, "" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "" Permanent links below... Working People page and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music... Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/31980117

In Brazil, the Climate Crisis Is Already Turning Working People into Climate Refugees (w/ Michael Fox) 06/24/2024

"CSX has got to go!" Industrially Polluted South Baltimore Residents March to "Evict" Rail Giant from Their Community 06/17/2024

"CSX has got to go!" Industrially Polluted South Baltimore Residents March to "Evict" Rail Giant from Their Community On June 10, in the working-class community of Curtis Bay in South Baltimore, over 50 residents, activists, and supporters from around the city marched through the streets of Curtis Bay to hold CSX Transportation accountable for polluting their community, homes, and bodies with toxic coal dust. Even after an expansive scientific study co-sponsored by the Community of Curtis Bay Association, the South Baltimore Community Land Trust, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, and the Maryland Department of Environment confirmed the presence of coal dust in the air of the South Baltimore community of Curtis Bay, CSX has denied culpability and called the study “materially flawed.” Residents say they’re fed up with the company refusing to take responsibility for the coal dust, and with the city government for ignoring their cries for help for years, and they’re not going to stay quiet. “We got to stand together for Curtis Bay, for South Baltimore,” one resident and youth leader, Carlos Sanchez, told the crowd. “We have to remove CSX for the health of our communities.” With other locals watching from their porches, sidewalks, and storefronts, the crowd marched from the Curtis Bay Rec Center all the way up to the gates of the CSX terminal. There, they signed and delivered a giant “Eviction Notice” to CSX, a company that recorded over $10 billion in gross profits last year. In this on-the-ground edition of Working People, Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Curtis Bay residents on the day of the march and takes you to the heart of the action. Speakers in this episode (in order of appearance) include: Shashawnda Campbell of Baltimore Community Land Trust; David Jones, a resident who has lived in Curtis Bay for over 35 years; Angie Shaneyfelt, a resident who has lived in Curtis Bay for 17 years; Angela Smothers, a lifelong resident of Mt. Winans in South Baltimore; Carlos Sanchez, a youth leader born and raised in Lakeland, South Baltimore; Roma Gutierrez, a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, South Baltimore, and an environmental organizer and youth leader with South Baltimore Community Land Trust; an unnamed representative of Malaya Movement Baltimore; and Maria Urbina, a South Baltimore resident. Additional links/info below… Coal-Free Curtis Bay page and South Baltimore Community Land Trust , page, page, and Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "" Aman Azhar, InsideClimate News, “” Nicole Fabricant, University of California Press, Nicole Fabricant, The Real News Network, “” Michael Middleton & Dr. Sacoby Wilson, Maryland Matters, “” Chloe Ahmann, Baltimore Sun, “” Christine Condon & Dillon Mullan, Baltimore Sun, “” Maryland Department of Environment, "" Adam Willis, The Baltimore Banner, "" Permanent links below... Working People page and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music... Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/31768349

Liz Oliva Fernández 06/11/2024

Liz Oliva Fernández For the past six years on this show, we've talked to working people from across the United States, from virtually every walk of life, about their lives, jobs, dreams, and struggles. But today, we’re going to talk about what it’s like to live and work in a country that has been designated a political enemy of US empire, a country that sits only 90 miles away from the US, a country that American politicians have resolved to strangle into oblivion for the past 60 years. In this episode, we speak with Liz Oliva Fernández from Cuba. Liz is an award-winning Cuban journalist with Belly of the Beast, an independent outlet covering Cuba and US-Cuba relations, and she is the presenter of two new documentaries, Hardliner on the Hudson and Uphill on the Hill. In addition to exposing the sinister interests behind, and the devastating real-world impacts of, the Cold War Cuban policy of Joe Biden’s administration, pushed by powerful hardliners like Senator Bob Menendez, former Chair of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the films also document Liz's experience as a Black journalist from the Global South coming to the US to confront the predominantly white politicians and interests waging economic war on her country. We talk about Liz's new films, and we talk about growing up in Cuba, becoming a journalist, and life for woking people in Cuba under the US-imposed blockade and designation of Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism . Additional links/info below… Belly of the Beast , page, , and channel Belly of the Beast, Belly of the Beast, Andrew Buncombe, The Guardian, “" Ju-Hyun Park, The Real News Network, "" Permanent links below… Working People page and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/31692842

A Veteran Longshoreman's View of the Baltimore Bridge Disaster (w/ John Blom & Marc Steiner) 05/23/2024

"South Baltimore is a sacrifice zone" (w/ David Jones, Angela Smothers, Carlos Sanchez, & Tiffany Thompson) 05/09/2024

"South Baltimore is a sacrifice zone" (w/ David Jones, Angela Smothers, Carlos Sanchez, & Tiffany Thompson) “South Baltimore is a sacrifice zone,” Michael Middleton and Dr. Sacoby Wilson wrote in a guest commentary published in Maryland Matters this February. “The six communities that make up South Baltimore—Cherry Hill, Westport, Mt. Winans, Lakeland, Brooklyn, and Curtis Bay—rank in the top 3% of the state for environmental burden using a Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) screening tool. Curtis Bay, the highest in the state, is Maryland’s poster child for environmental injustice. Industrial areas near Curtis Bay house oil tanks, a wastewater treatment plant, chemical plants, landfills, the country’s largest medical waste incinerator, and more. Heavy diesel trucks frequent residential streets. The Wagner’s Point and Fairfield communities that were once Curtis Bay’s neighbors to the east are gone. Those residents accepted buyouts to leave between the 1980s and 2011 after a series of chemical spills and accidents.” In this episode, we continue our “Sacrificed” series by focusing on communities in South Baltimore and a story that quite literally hits close to home, less than half an hour from where Max lives. We speak with a panel of residents of South Baltimore about how they have seen their communities change over the years, what it feels like to be “sacrificed” by industry and their government, how they and their neighbors are fighting for change, fighting for justice, and what others in Baltimore and beyond can do to help. Panelists include: David Jones, who has lived in Curtis Bay for over 35 years; Angela Smothers, a lifelong resident of Mt. Winans; Carlos Sanchez, a youth leader born and raised in Lakeland; and Tiffany Thompson, who was born and raised in Cherry Hill and has lived in Curtis Bay for the past three years. Additional links/info below… Coal-Free Curtis Bay page Nicole Fabricant, University of California Press, Nicole Fabricant, The Real News Network, “” Michael Middleton & Dr. Sacoby Wilson, Maryland Matters, “” Chloe Ahmann, Baltimore Sun, “” Christine Condon & Dillon Mullan, Baltimore Sun, “” Aman Azhar, InsideClimate News, “” Christian Olaniran, Adam Thompson, Caroline Foreback, CBS News, “” Permanent links below... Working People page and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music... Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/31222802

Vina Colley 04/24/2024

Vina Colley "Vina Colley was Erin Brockovich before Erin Brockovich," Kevin Williams wrote in a 2020 Belt Magazine article titled, "The Poisonous Legacy of Portsmouth’s Gaseous Diffusion Plant." Williams continues, "Colley has become an unlikely citizen-scientist, spending a lifetime researching and documenting PORTS and its sins... Colley was hired as an electrician at the facility in 1980 and worked there for three years. 'I was exposed to everything. We were cleaning off radioactive equipment that we did not know was radioactive. They never told us,' Colley told me. Then, she said, her hair started falling out, she developed rashes, and 'I got really sick and went to the hospital, not knowing that it was my job causing me all these problems. I had big tumors.' In the four decades since, she’s faced a range of health problems, including chronic bronchitis, tumors, and pulmonary edema." In this episode, we sit down with Colley herself to talk about growing up in Ohio during America's Cold War atomic age, her experience working as an electrician at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, and her decades-long fight to hold the plant and the government accountable for what they've done to her, her coworkers, and her community, and to get them the compensation they deserve. Additional links/info below… Vina's page DOL Energy Advisory Board Information: Comments for the Record, "" Kevin Williams, Belt Magazine, "" Erin Gottsacker, The Ohio Newsroom, "" Scioto Valley Guardian, "" Sen. Sherrod Brown, Press Release: "" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "" Permanent links below... Working People page and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music... Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/30976118

Working People Deserve Bread and Roses—and Musicals (w/ Gene Bruskin) 04/22/2024

Justice for East Palestine Residents & Workers Conference in East Palestine 04/18/2024

Justice for East Palestine Residents & Workers Conference in East Palestine On March 23, 2024, a coalition of around 80 people convened at the East Palestine Country Club at the first gathering called by the newly formed Justice for East Palestine Residents & Workers Coalition. Those in attendance included: East Palestine residents; railroad workers; residents of other “sacrifice zones" in Ohio, Maryland, California, and West Virginia; concerned citizens living near other rail lines; labor activists and labor union representatives; representatives of environmental justice organizations; (striking) journalists; socialists, Trump voters, non-voters, etc.; and more. As journalist Steve Mellon reported, "The , dubbed Justice for East Palestine Residents & Workers, determined they will travel to Washington, D.C., on Oct. 8 to further their demand that the federal government step in and make sure those affected by the derailment are provided with fully funded health care. They plan to involve union members, including those who represent workers at railroad companies, as well as environmentalists and members of other communities damaged by chemical contamination. The coalition also determined to schedule a second conference in Iowa — the cause has been embraced by union organizers there; several traveled by bus to East Palestine to attend Saturday’s event — and to seek a meeting with the president of the AFL-CIO. Organizers want the federation of unions representing more than 12 million workers to support the coalition’s demand.” In this extended episode, you will hear a compilation of speakers from the March 23 conference in East Palestine. Speakers include: Lauri Harmon, East Palestine resident; Chris Albright, East Palestine resident; Jami Rae Wallace, East Palestine resident, president of East Palestine Unity Council; Christina Siceloff, East Palestine resident; Rob Two-Hawks, East Palestine resident; Daren Gamble, East Palestine resident; John Palmer, longtime organizer and officer with the Teamsters, but not speaking on behalf of the Teamsters; Andrew Sandberg, International Association of Machinists (IAM); George Waksmunski, United Electrical Workers (UE); Chris Silvera, Teamsters Local 808 Executive Secretary; Steve Mellon, journalist for the Pittsburgh Union Progress, on strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for 18 months; Vina Colley, Portsmouth-Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety & Security; Steve Zeltzer, WorkWeek; David Pfister, Food & Water Watch; Nicole Fabricant, activist, academic, and author of Fighting to Breathe: Race, Toxicity, and the Rise of Youth Activism in Baltimore; Hilary Flint, Clean Air Action; Penny Logsdon, Lee County, Iowa, Labor Chapter; Jeff Kurtz, Lee County, Iowa, Labor Chapter; Carrie Duncan, Lee County, Iowa, Labor Chapter; Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network; Mike Stout, Musician. Additional links/info below… website Mike Stout, "" music video Steve Zeltzer, YouTube channel Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Union Progress, "" Permanent links below... Working People page and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music... Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song Jules Taylor, "E.P. Theme for W.P." /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/30880858

From Baltimore to East Palestine, This Is Unacceptable (w/ The Valley Labor Report & Maximillian Alvarez) 04/03/2024

Labor, Community, & Environmental Organizations Are Mobilizing to Get East Palestine Healthcare (w/ Justice for East Palestine Residents & Workers) 03/19/2024

Labor, Community, & Environmental Organizations Are Mobilizing to Get East Palestine Healthcare (w/ Justice for East Palestine Residents & Workers) This Saturday, March 23, unionists and labor leaders, environmental justice groups, community organizers, community members from other “sacrifice zones,” and supporters from around the country are coming to East Palestine to join residents as part of the newly formed Justice for East Palestine Residents and Workers coalition. The coalition has come together in recent months and mobilized around the core objective of pressuring President Biden to invoke the Stafford Act and . If Biden does this, organizers say, it will immediately unlock a whole suite of federal resources that residents desperately need and have been demanding for a year, and it will also immediately guarantee every resident emergency healthcare. —a former pipeline worker and LIUNA member who has been disabled by the toxic fallout from the derailment, is now experiencing severe heart failure, can’t work, and has subsequently lost his health benefits—this is a matter of life and death, and . This episode is a compilation of voices from across the growing Justice for East Palestine Residents and Workers coalition. Speeches in the first half are from a panel cohosted by Steve Zeltzer and Penny Logsdon and recorded by the Labor Video Project on Feb. 3, 2024, the one-year anniversary of the derailment; speeches in the second half are from another panel cohosted by Steve Zeltzer and Penny Logsdon and recorded by the Labor Video Project on March 9, 2024. Speakers include: Steve Zeltzer (Labortech); Penny Logsdon (Lee County Labor Chapter); Chris Albright (East Palestine resident, LIUNA member); Jami Wallace (East Palestine Unity Council); Steve Mellon (Pittsburgh Union Progress); Jeff Kurtz (Lee County Labor Chapter); Maximillian Alvarez (The Real News Network); Mike Stout (protest musician); Charlie Wishman (Iowa AFL-CIO); John Palmer (Teamsters, San Antonio); Bob Anspach (BLET-IBT 391); Vina Colley (Portsmouth Pikeston Residents for Environmental Justice). From the Justice for East Palestine Residents and Workers organizing committee: "We will be hosting a National Conference for the people of East Palestine along with supporters in Ohio and throughout the country to build this campaign for healthcare on Saturday, March 23, 2024, where we will bring community members, labor, environmentalist and allies together in our urgent campaign. This Conference will be held from 12-5pm ET at the East Palestine Park. To contact the Justice for East Palestine Residents and Workers organizing committee, reach out to Steve Zeltzer: labormedia[at]gmail[dot]com Penny Logsdon: onecent7921[at]gmail[dot]com In solidarity." Additional links/info below… Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Union Progress, "" Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "" Permanent links below... Working People page and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music... Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/30435058

Brett Cross, Uzi's Dad 03/05/2024

Brett Cross, Uzi's Dad Brett Cross is a small-town kid who grew up in Western Texas, among the oil fields, near Odessa. He worked in the oil fields, worked his way up to doing pipeline work, eventually moving to green energy work. He even became a foreman, working hard to provide for his family. And Brett was at work when he got the call from his wife Nikki that changed their lives forever. It was May 24, 2022, Nikki was at their sons’ school, Robb Elementary, in Uvalde, Texas. “This is not a fucking joke,” she said, “there’s a shooter at the boys’ school.” We talk to Brett about his life before, about living in a small town, working and making your own fun, we talk about some of the family memories he cherishes most. We remember Brett and Nikki's son Uziyah "Uzi" Garcia, we talk about the day Uzi was taken from them, along with 18 of his classmates and two of his teachers, and we talk about the unimaginable fight for justice and real change that Brett and Nikki have been fighting ever since. C/W: This episode discusses school shootings and the murdering of children. Additional links/info below… Brett's page Sneha Dey, Erin Douglas, Andrew Zhang, Brooke Park, & Jessica Priest, The Texas Tribune / ProPublica, "" Edgar Sandoval, The New York Times, "" Gus Bova, Texas Observer, "" Elissa Jorgensen, American Statesman, "" Danielle Campoamor, Today, "" Kayla Padilla, Texas Public Radio, "" Yvette Benavides, David Martin Davies, & Julián Aguilar, Texas Public Radio, "" Lomi Kriel, Alejandro Serrano, & Lexi Churchill, The Texas Tribune / ProPublica, "" John Woodrow Cox, Steven Rich, Linda Chong, Lucas Trevor, John Muyskens, & Monica Ulmanu, The Washington Post, "" Permanent links below... Working People page and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network , page, and page In These Times , page, and page The Real News Network , channel, feeds, page, and page Featured Music... Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song Jules Taylor, "John L. Handcox Remix" Follow Jules on and /episode/index/show/workingpeople/id/30215293

**'The Upsurge' is Dead. Long Live 'The Upsurge'! (w/ Teddy Ostrow)** 03/01/2024

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