Labor Express Radio

This is the full 1-30-2022 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On the latest episode of Labor Express Radio, Arise Chicago Workers Center discusses Chicago’s new domestic worker rights ordinance.  The Chicago Teachers Union and Mayor Lightfoot reach an agreement on a safe return plan, but short of what the Union wanted.  And working people’s loss of faith in public institutions i...

This is the full 1-9-2022 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. SORRY FOR THE MUCH DELAYED PODCAST VERSION OF LAST SUNDAY’S LABOR EXPRESS.  THE NEWS IN THIS EPISODE IS DATED NOW, BUT STILL VERY MUCH RELEVANT.  UPDATE COMING SOON… On the latest episode of Labor Express Radio, The Chicago Teachers Union calls for a safe return to schools including increased testing in response to the...

This is the full 12-19-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On the latest episode of Labor Express Radio, rank-and-file members of IATSE and the UAW at John Deere discuss health and safety on the job as well as their new contracts.  Chicago JWJ announces a new organizing project called CAWS. Labor Express Radio is Chicago's only English language labor news and current affairs radi...

This is the full 12-5-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On the latest episode of Labor Express Radio, Jonah Furman of Labor Notes discusses the victory of striking workers at John Deere and what they won in their new contract.  Jonah also talks about the new contracts or TAs for IATSE members and workers for Kaiser, as well as the overall state of labor struggle in this unique...

This is the full 11-21-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On the latest episode of Labor Express Radio, IATSE members vote yes by a raise thin margin on their new contract, avoiding a strike.  But is this really a win for workers?  And how does the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust highlight the working conditions in the film industry? Plus,...

This is the full 11-7-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On this episode of Labor Express Radio, STRIKETOBER becomes STRIKEVEMBER or STRIKESGIVING!  The 2021 wave of strikes continues, but is it a “strike wave”.  We hear from multiple labor commentators, organizers and Kellogg’s strikers. Labor Express Radio is Chicago's only English language labor news and current affairs...

This is the full 10-24-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On this episode of Labor Express Radio, Shailly Gupta Barnes of the Poor People’s Campaign discusses their new study, Waking the Sleeping Giant: Poor and Low-Income Voters in the 2020 Elections.  We also discuss STRIKETOBER!  The strike wave sweeping the nation. Labor Express Radio is Chicago's only English language...

This is the full 10-3-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On this episode of Labor Express Radio, the Raise the Floor Alliance, Warehouse Workers for Justice and TWUAP (Temp Worker Union Alliance Project), educate workers about their rights on the job and Jonah Furman, staff writer for Labor Notes, discusses contract negotiations at John Deere where a strike is still possible.  W...

This is the full 9-19-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On this episode of Labor Express Radio, Bill Samuel, director of government affairs at the AFL-CIO talks about the status of the PRO-Act and Luis Feliz Leon, staff writer and organizer with Labor Notes, discusses the impact of Hurricane Ida on the NYC working class. Labor Express Radio is Chicago's only English language labor n...

This is the full 9-5-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On this episode of Labor Express Radio, we examine the Trumka years of the AFL-CIO and reflect on the legacy of the late Richard Trumka - from miner to trade union leader and eventually President of the nation’s largest labor federation.  Our guests are Steven Ashby, professor in the Chicago Labor Education Program in the S...

This is the full 8-22-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On this episode of Labor Express Radio, a brief eulogy for AFL-CIO president Rich Trumka, CTU bargains with CPS over safe return to schools and Avery Barnard, former Amazon employee and producer of the podcast called The Amazon talks about why he launched a podcast on Amazon’s impact on workers and society. Labor Express Radio...

This is the full 8-8-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On this episode of Labor Express Radio, Dennis Kosuth - NNU nurse at Cook County hospital and member of the CTU as a school nurse discusses the new nurse's contact at Cook County and concerns regarding the coming school year.  Also, a 3-week long strike at Frito-Lay in Kansas ended on July 25th.  We hear about why the...

This is the full 7-25-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On this episode of Labor Express Radio, The AFL-CIO ramps up the fight for the PRO-Act with a week of action including every state in the union.  Meanwhile space cowboy Jeff Bezos takes a 4 minute ride to outer space, financed on the backs of hundreds of thousands of Amazon workers. Labor Express Radio is Chicago's only En...

This is the full 6-27-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. SORRY FOR THE UNEXPECTED AND UNPLANNED MONTH HIATUS OF THE PODCAST!... Chicago Teachers Union opposes more than 440 layoffs of CPS employees at the end of the school year.  Cook County hospital nurses on the picket lines during their one day strike.  Chicago transit workers who are fed up with working for a year and a...

This is the full 6-13-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On this episode of Labor Express Radio teachers at Urban Prep Charter school win their two-day strike while teachers at EPIC Charter school are fired and students are harassed by management for supporting them.  Also, Illinois has no clean energy law this legislative session because of the influence of the Prairie State Co...

This is the full 5-23-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. This episode of Labor Express Radio includes audio from the 2021 May Day events in Chicago and addresses the question of what next for organizing at Amazon after the lost union election at the Bessemer Alabama Amazon warehouse, featuring audio from Labor Notes. Labor Express Radio is Chicago's only English language labor news a...

This is the full 5-2-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. This episode features a wide-ranging interview with Jorge Mujica of Arise Chicago Workers Center.  We discuss the end of the dreaded “No Match letters”, the Illinois Senate’s considering of the Secure Jobs Act (SB2332), Biden’s first 100 days and May Day 2021.  Later in the program we hear from Alianza Americas about t...

This is the full 4-18-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On this episode, we address the very unfortunate loss in the union election at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer Alabama.  What are the lessons of this turn of events and what does it mean for the labor movement more broadly?  The program includes the voices of the union, The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Unio...

This is the full 3-28-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On this episode of Labor Express Radio, as we await the results of the union election at the Amazon.com warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, we’ll hear about global union efforts to confront this international logistics giant.  Then we will hear from parents of students in the Chicago public schools who are fed up with what the...

This is the full 3-14-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On this episode of Labor Express Radio, the PRO Act (the “Protecting the Right to Organize Act”) passes in the house and is headed to the Senate.  We hear about what's in the PRO Act from Labor Radio/Podcast Network partner Labor Live at 5 .  In the second half Sara Nelson, International President of the Association o...

This is the full 2-28-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On this episode of Labor Express Radio, we remember Karen Lewis, former President of the Chicago Teachers Union, with audio from the Labor Beat TV and the Labor Express Radio archives.  Karen passed away Feb. 7th.  She leaves a tremendous legacy of a union transformed from one that had made concessions in contract aft...

This is the full 2-14-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On this episode of Labor Express Radio, we celebrate an agreement between the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and Chicago Public Schools on a plan for an at least safer return to schools than what CPS was originally demanding.  It is a victory for the union who had fought hard to ensure the safety of school personnel and stud...

This is the full 1-31-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On this episode of Labor Express Radio, the Chicago Teachers Union makes their demand crystal clear - no return to in-school classes without vaccinations.  And they receive what they see as a statement of support from none other than President Biden himself, while CPS continues to lock out teachers who have resisted a retu...

This is the full 1-17-2021 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On this episode of Labor Express Radio, nurse Dennis Kosuth, who works in both hospitals and public schools, a member of both National Nurses United (NNU) and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) discusses Chicago’s teachers and nurses fighting back against unsafe conditions in their workplaces during the pandemic, especially the r...

This is the full 12-27-2020 episode of the Labor Express Radio program. On this episode of Labor Express Radio, it's our holiday episode.  Did you buy the game Monopoly as a gift this year?  Maybe you played it with friends or family?  What does this game teach children and what was it really meant to teach?  We explore those last two questions on this episode.  And, we ma...