Work Stoppage

Episode 2 - National Labor Organizations, But For Who? If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month. For the second part of our series on the history of women workers in the US labor movement, we discuss the earliest attempts to form national labor organizations. Coming out of the Civil War, women were fighting against expl...

Workers in academia have wasted no time so far this year in launching ever larger struggles, including this week when 30,000 faculty at the California State system went on strike this week for fair pay. Contingent faculty at NYU have also been organizing to fight low wages, recently securing an election neutrality agreement. The largest union yet to call for a ceasefire joined the chorus this week...

Episode 1 - Women Workers in the Industrial Revolution If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month. We've covered a ton of different eras and stories of the US labor movement on our show, but unfortunately much of it has been heavily focused on solely male workers, leaving out the historic role women have played in shaping...

Adda Coffee Relief Fund: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/support-abruptly-fired-adda-workers-demand-for-severance-pay/ We start this week's episode checking in on some recent victories by the UAW. Next we discuss a judge smacking down Trader Joe's ridiculous copyright lawsuit against Trader Joe's United. Also this week, Adda Coffee in Pittsburgh shut its doors rather than allow a union, while...

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 discussion of Confessions of a Union Buster, we sit down once again with our friend Pat to talk about the incredible number of ways that union busting tactics have remained the same for nearly 50 years. Wild stunts, illegal surveillance, and above all a...

We start this week with a few quick congratulations to workers at Wells Fargo, DHL, and elsewhere before diving into a discussion of news this week that SAG-AFTRA has negotiated an agreement with an AI voice model company for video games. Then we discuss the ways AI is being used to surveil and even fire workers in many different industries. Next we have two stories on the horrific conditions of m...

If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting  patreon.com/workstoppage  and support us with $5 a month. Friend of the show and head of our discord reading group Pat joins us this week to discuss one of their recent books, Confessions of a Union Buster by Martin J. Levitt and Terry Conrow. This book chronicles the life and tactics of one of the lowest, most disgraceful occupation...

For our first episode of 2024, we've got tons new labor stories to cover. After some quick follow ups, we discuss a recent piece in Forbes about how our capitalist system is forcing elders to work longer and longer. Next we've got a bunch of UAW stories, starting with the fight for a fair contract by workers at Allison Transmission in Indianapolis. Also this week, UAW workers on Long Island fight...

If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month. 2023 was a monumental year for US labor. From the Teamsters contract fight at UPS winning historic gains, to the UAW's Stand Up strike changing the game tactically, workers fought back in huge numbers. On this episode, we run down the biggest stories we covered in the labor move...

For our final episode of 2023, despite the holidays we have a lot to cover. The longest adjunct faculty strike in US history ended with a new contract. Wells Fargo workers in Albuquerque became the first unionized branch of a major bank. Thousands of workers in Argentina have taken to the streets to protest President Milei's attempt to sell off the state by decree and destroy workers rights. Teams...

We're taking a break from new episode this week, but in the spirit of the season (such as it is this year), we're unlocking the first episode of one of our Patron series earlier this year, the history of the International Longshoremen's Association and the interference of the mafia and the federal government in worker organizing. Hope all our listeners are having a good holiday, and we'll see you...

If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month. For the finale of our series discussion various attempts at organizing soldiers during the 1970s, we arrive at one of the most dynamic of the era, Portugal. With the collapse of Portugal's fascist dictatorship in the wake of the Carnation Revolution, the organized military playe...

After some quick follow ups on organizing at Ben & Jerry's and Grindr, we get into the big stories in labor as 2023 winds down. More and more unions are standing up against genocide, with 1199 and NNU joining the call for a ceasefire. The UAW filed ULPs against 3 automakers this week for interfering with organizing campaigns. The NLRB ordered Starbucks to reopen 23 stores it closed for unioniz...

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 this week's installment of our series examining attempts to organize unions of soldiers, we move to Western Europe. In a whirlwind tour we discuss Germany, Italy, France, and Spain's various forms of military labor organizations. The refusal of the US to de-Nazify West German...

We've got a very Kentucky-centric episode this week, with two different labor disputes at the KCVG airport with union busting at Amazon and a strike by Teamsters at DHL. Also in Kentucky, Sunergos coffee workers in Louisville finally won a first contract after a weeklong strike. In academic organizing news, adjunct faculty at Columbia College in Chicago are on the longest adjunct strike in US hist...

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 Part 4 of our series looking at attempts to organize soldiers, we discuss the Scandinavian countries. While none of the various soldier unions formed in these countries transformed their society, they showed a wide range of levels of effectiveness. From Norway's quasi-company...

Lina is away this week so it's just the boys on this episode of Work Stoppage. The UAW became the largest and most prominent union to join the calls for a ceasefire this week, the same week they launched the largest organizing drive the US has seen in years. Portland teachers ended their three week strike with a new contract with major wins. Sweden's labor movement continues to shut down Tesla as...

If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month. For the third installment of our series discussing the history of attempts to unionize members of the military, based largely on the book Left Face: Soldier Unions and Resistance Movements in Modern Armies by David Cortright and Max Watts, we discuss the Dutch. From the 1960s to...

Black Friday means we've got a retail and service work news packed episode this week. First we start on a sad note discussing the end of the Medieval Times strike in California. Next we discuss the McCarthyite retaliation being faced by unionized public defenders in New York City for taking a stand in favor of Palestinian human rights. A recent piece in The Guardian exposes the way service workers...

If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month. We're back with the next installment of our discussion of attempts in (relatively) recent history to form unions within military organizations. In this episode we cover the brief period following the end of the Vietnam War when major public worker unions in the US began seriousl...

The whole crew is back together again for another big week of labor news. After our weekly roundup of how workers around the world are standing up for Palestine, we get into a slew of stories about major new contracts. Kaiser Permanente workers ratified their new contract nearly unanimously after their historic three day strike last month. UAW workers at the Big 3 also ratified their new agreement...

The whole crew is a bit overwhelmed this week, Dan is sick, John's class is in crunch mode, and Lina's putting the finishing touches on the rest of the Military Unions series. So this week we're unlocking one of our favorite Movie Time episodes for everyone. Both these labor movies are likely less well known by most of our audience, but they're some of the best we've discussed. Part 2 of our serie...

This week we are very happy to to be joined by Maximillian Alvarez Editor in Chief of The Real News Network and host of Working People Podcast. We start with highlighting some of the many brave actions by workers, activists, and unions in solidarity with Palestine in opposition to those complicit and exacerbating the genocide being enacted by Israel. From people blocking weapons ships in Oakland 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. One question that has arisen over and over in the history of revolutionary movements has been: what about the military? Does it make sense to try and organize soldiers, sailors, and airmen, especially if they come from working class backgrounds? Or is it a futile effort to try a...

This week we are joined by Alexander Edward of Minion Death Cult and long time UPS worker! We start with some follow-up on Walgreens and CVS walkouts, felony vandalism charges being dropped against University of California Grad Student Workers, and the Las Vegas Culinary Union where 35,000+ Workers are set to strike on Nov 10th. In our main stories we start with actions by workers with the support...