Labor Jawn

Listen to our outside-of-Philly bonus episodes at Patreon.com/LaborJawn ! Support the show www.laborjawn.com

The 1909-1910 Shirtwaist Strike in Philadelphia and 15 year old union leader, Bessie Hyman.  Originally aired: November 22, 2021. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

After SEPTA officially took over from the defunct Philadelphia Transit Company, Transit Workers United Local 234 had to fight for their next contract, facing opposition from the city, state, and even their own union. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

Only six years after the founding of Pennsylvania, a group of German Quakers drafted the first petition for universal human rights in American history. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

Amidst post-war inflation, a grain shortage, and growing anti-union sentiment, the bakers of Philadelphia marched out on strike to fight for wages, hours, and conditions.  Originally aired: December 25, 2023. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

We take a break from our regularly scheduled programming to talk with Alan Fisher, a transit youtuber with an affinity for trains and a passionate distaste for car-centric urban planning. The conversation ranges from the successes and failures of public transportation and how it affects the working class to whether or not Robert Moses was the devil incarnate (citation needed). Originally aired: Ap...

At one of the most industrialized farms in the country, Black and Italian farm workers stood up against violent repression from corrupt policemen, farmer vigilantes, the KKK, and the "Henry Ford of Agriculture," to get fair wages and union recognition. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

Maggie Kuhn dedicated her life to educating women, battling segregation, and supporting workers, but when she was forced into retirement at 65 years old she founded the Gray Panthers to fight for the rights and dignity of older workers.  Originally aired: December 27, 2021. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

In this interview episode, Sam and Gabe sit down with Lindsey and Duncan, two unionists who have been organizing against the construction of a new 76ers arena in Philly's historic Chinatown. Sign the petition: https://noarenaphl.org/ Hearing schedule: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfjcM6Bx3uRcZBGDgTW97_ZJz2Y1wNhZtbptbAYSqWkxDSGKQ/viewform Union member petition: https://docs.google....

In 1985, after escaping war, famine, and genocide, 200 Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees in West Philadelphia took on their latest challenge: some of the worst landlords in the city. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

After losing health and pension benefits, workers at Atlantic City's Trump Taj Mahal casino went on strike in 2016.  Originally aired: June 13, 2022. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

In a doubleheader episode, the two unions who would eventually merge into the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) both coincidentally went on strike in 1961. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

In this special crossover episode of The Jewish Diasporist and Labor Jawn, hosts Jordan and Gabe team up to interview Dr. Caroline Luce, a scholar of Jewish labor history in the United States. Together. They explore the rich and complex history of Jews in America, highlighting the intersections of immigration, labor unions, synagogues, mutual aid societies, and colonialism. Tracing the westward mi...

From Communist organizing in the 1930s to the 1963 March on Washington and beyond, Bayard Rustin had an incredible life, fighting for civil rights as a black, gay, radical labor agitator and peace activist.  Originally aired: January 11, 2024. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

In this interview episode, Sam and Gabe sit down with Dr. Peter Cole, author of "Ben Fletcher: life and times of a Black Wobbly" and "Wobblies on the Waterfront: Interracial Unionism in Progressive-Era Philadelphia."  Originally aired: October 16, 2023. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

After a series of terrible contracts leaving workers struggling with long hours, poor conditions, and low pay, the Teamsters at UPS knew that they had a fight to win. After years of organizing, 185,000 workers stood up to one of the largest shipping companies in the United States.  Originally aired: February 12, 2024. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

After 2 years of wage cuts, the United Garment Workers of America finally went on strike in Philadelphia, triggering sympathy strikes across much of the East Coast. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

In September 1987, the Philadelphia Eagles and the National Football League Players Association walked off the field and onto the picket line, demanding better benefits, conditions, and wages. Over the next 5 weeks, the striking Eagles battled scab players, the NFL, and worst of all, the Dallas Cowboys.  Originally aired: November 15, 2022. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

After years of race baiting, lowering wages, grueling work, and horrendous conditions, the Deep Sea Longshoremen of Philadelphia set out to build a multi-ethnic, racially integrated, radical union.  Originally aired: March 21, 2024. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

In this special interview episode, Sam and Gabe sit down to talk with two of the organizers behind Green 4 Falasteen, a coalition of AFSCME members and staffers organizing for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and in solidarity with their fellow workers in Palestine.  Originally aired: April 17, 2024. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

While Campbell's Soup profits were soaring, their workers wages had shrunk during the great depression. With help from local Socialist organizations, they fought back in 1934. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

Sam and Gabe sit down with Mitch Troutman, organizer and author of The Bootleg Coal Rebellion: The Pennsylvania Miners Who Seized an Industry, 1925–1942.   Originally aired: December 12, 2022. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

In this special Sam-researched episode, we travel back to May 18, 1912 when the Detroit Tigers walked off the field in Philadelphia to protest teammate Ty Cobb's suspension and were replaced by the most unlikely group of players in major league baseball history: North Philly locals.  Originally aired: May 6, 2022. Support the show www.laborjawn.com

Sam and Gabe sit down with Dr. Robin Bernstein, Dillon Professor of American History at Harvard University, to discuss her new book 'Freeman's Challenge: The Murder that Shook America's Original Prison for Profit.' Support the show www.laborjawn.com

While news of the violence in other cities poured in, Philadelphia sat poised for a revolution in the midst of the "Great Upheaval" of 1877. Support the show www.laborjawn.com