Work Stoppage

We start this week’s episode of Work Stoppage following up with the King Sooper’s workers, who have ratified a new contract and ended their strike. Next we check in with the Game Workers Alliance drive at Activision Blizzard King, where Raven Software QA workers have officially filed for union recognition with the NLRB. Also this week, truck drivers at the Port of Los Angeles are fighting their mi...

If you’re not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month. On the third part of our Overtime series on the history of the US repressive state apparatus, we dive into the long relationship between the CIA and the global drug trade.  From working with the Mafia to break strikes in post-war Europe and protecting their heroin smuggling, to...

We start this week’s episode following up with the Republic Services sanitation workers in San Diego, who have ended their month long strike and ratified a new contract.  We discuss the gains and the limitations of the new deal.  We also check in with the massively expanding Starbucks Workers United campaign, which has spread to 26 locations as of this writing and likely more once we release the e...

Covid is still raging out of control as the government refuses to handle the pandemic, so our first story this week is a look at some of the ways teachers and now students are fighting for safe learning environments, starting with a sickout by teachers and a strike threat by students in Oakland, California.  Then we follow up with the Student Workers of Columbia, who have reached a tentative agree...

If you’re not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month.   On the second part of our Overtime series on the history of the US repressive state apparatus, we discuss its extension to attack working class movements overseas in Operation Gladio and Operation Condor.  We discuss how in the aftermath of World War 2, the United States organ...

It’s the first episode of Work Stoppage of 2022 and the state is once again throwing workers to the wolves.  We start with a follow up on the St Vincent nurses strike, where they’ve ratified a new contract to end one of the longest strikes in the country, but have faced a nefarious move by the company to try and spark a decertification vote.  Next we discuss a union drive recently launched by work...

For the last episode of Work Stoppage of 2021, we decided to take a look back at the stories and trends that we covered in the labor movement this year. We discuss the first major efforts at unionizing Amazon [7:00-24:11], the ways in which OSHA let workers down [24:12-35:19], and the many companies that put forward a "progressive" image only to use the same union busting tactics of every other co...

If you’re not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month. Join us down the rabbit hole on this first part of a series of patrons-only Overtime episodes where we discuss an overview of the history of the US repressive state apparatus, and how it has been used to crush working class movements.  In this episode we discuss the history of v...

We start this week’s episode with a check in with Doughnut Workers United, who finally officially won their unfair labor practice charges against Voodoo Doughnuts for illegally firing workers protesting unsafe working conditions during this summer’s heat wave.  Next, we go over the end of the Kellogg’s strike, covering the new contract’s wins but also the notable fact that it doesn’t eliminate the...

It’s a heavy start to this week’s episode, as we begin with the horrific aftermath of the multi-state tornado system that killed over 80 people, including at least 14 workers forced to stay at their jobs by their management.  These workers were murdered by their employers in the pursuit of profit, for which the companies are unlikely to ever be brought to justice.  We follow up that difficult segm...

On a very special interview episode of Work Stoppage, we were lucky enough to be joined by Charlie, a PhD student and organizer with Student Workers of Columbia, who are currently engaged in the largest strike in the country.  We discuss the history of student worker organizing at Columbia and the process students have been going through to try and get their first contract with the university.  We...

John's back, Lina's away, and businesses keep oppressing their workers. We start this week's episode with an Amazon roundup, as the NLRB officially orders a new election in Bessemer, the NY AG demands Christian Smalls be reinstated, and independent researchers find Amazon concealed 20,000 workplace related COVID cases. Next we have a rare discussion of labor relations in the sports world, as the o...

We weren’t able to line up everyone’s schedules this week so it’s just Lina and Dan on this week’s episode of Work Stoppage. We start with the Kellogg’s strike, where a new tentative agreement has been reached to potentially end the two month long strike. Next we discuss the international effort to reign in Amazon’s labor abuses with strikes around the world on Black Friday organized by the Make A...

The holidays are right around the corner but the class struggle never stops.  We start this weeks episode checking in with the Amazon Labor Union in New York, where issues with turnover and vicious union busting have forced the union to temporarily withdraw their NLRB election petition.  14,000 Kroger workers in Houston have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, which could start as soon as...

There are new contracts all over the place on this week’s episode of Work Stoppage.  We start with Kaiser Permanente, where a tentative agreement has been reached to prevent the planned implementation of a two tiered contract.  Then we discuss the end of the month long John Deere strike, after workers ratified a new deal which contains hard fought gains but maintains their two tiered system.  Also...

We start this week’s episode of Work Stoppage catching up with some of the bigger strikes in the country.  First, Starbucks has pulled out all the stops in its union busting efforts, even bringing in former CEO and failed presidential candidate Howard Schultz to try and convince workers to vote against their union as ballots go out this week. Then we check in on the Kellogg’s strike, where the com...

A lot has happened on the John Deere picket lines since we last talked about the strike, so we start there this week.  One UAW worker was tragically killed after being struck by a vehicle walking to their car from the picket line, and the union has turned down Deere’s most recent contract offer after it failed to remove the current two-tiered system.  We also follow up with the organized Netflix w...

If you’re not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month. As a Labor News show, we talk about unions constantly and how vital they are to building any sort of socialist project. But the labor movement has been around a long time without prompting a revolution, so what should our organizing tactics be if our ultimate goal isn't just sli...

John is on the mend so the gang’s back together for this week’s episode of Work Stoppage, which starts with a follow up on the United Paizo Workers, whose union was voluntarily recognized by the company! Then we discuss the tragic death of Halyna Hutchins and how everything that led to it demonstrates why the IATSE workers voted so overwhelmingly to strike. Also this week, workers in Italy have ra...

John’s under the weather this week, and Lina and Dan start off with a follow up on the IATSE strike, where a tentative agreement was reached by the bargaining committee over the weekend but may not be ratified when the membership gets to vote. We also check in with Starbucks Workers United as the company has closed two of the stores that had been attempting to unionize, while insisting that it has...

Major strikes are popping up all over and Striketober is in full swing. This week we start with our friends at Doughnut Workers United, where the NLRB recently ruled in their favor that Voodoo Doughnuts illegally fired several of their workers for striking and must rehire them and pay back pay.  Then we discuss the recent car attack on protesting farmers in Lakhimpur, Uttar Pradesh, where four far...

Our first story this week is following up with Automobile Mechanics Local 701 in Chicago, where hundreds of mechanics have narrowly agreed to end their 8 week long strike and accept a new contract. Then we discuss a package of reforms passed in New York City to address some of the most egregious aspects of gig work for delivery drivers. We also cover harsh working conditions and intimidation at th...

We’re back to the news on this week’s episode and we start with some follow ups. First we discuss the victory of the Nabisco workers in their 5 week strike and break down the specific wins in their new contract. Then we check in with the workers at Activision Blizzard King who have filed an unfair labor practice charge alleging the company is intimidating workers organizing in the wake of the rece...

On this week’s episode of Work Stoppage we were lucky enough to be joined by a couple guests from Hudson Workers United (@HWUnited) to tell us about their drive to organize workers in the legal industry. They tell us about the difficult conditions they’ve face during the pandemic, the strategies that have worked for them in their struggle to build collective power, and the backlash they’ve faced a...

If you’re not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month. In this Overtime Episode Lina goes over some of the legacy of Saul Alinsky, who is often credited with creating the organizing model that is still used by many people and unions today. All quotes from this episode are from the book No Shortcuts: Organizing for Power in the New G...