Working People

Well, that was ... quite a year. From the COVID-19 pandemic and the presidential election to mass protests against police violence and worker actions around the country, it's hard to even remember all that we went through in 2020. Luckily, right before New Year's Eve, we got together with four of the best young labor journalists around—Edward Ongweso Jr., Juliana Feliciano Reyes, Lauren Kaori Gurl...

In this special episode, we talk with three representatives of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades —Jim Williams (General Vice President), Kellie Morgan (Political Director & Community Organizer, District Council 77), and Salvador Herrera (Director of Organizing, District Council 88)—about labor's fight to pass the PRO Act. We break down what the PRO Act is, why passing it would...

This is Part II of our special two-part episode with Tacoma longshore workers Zack Pattin and Brian "Skiff" Skiffington. Zack and Skiff are both members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 23 and organizing leaders with the ILWU Young Workers Committee. In Part I of our conversation with Zack and Skiff, we talked about their winding paths to working on the waterfront an...

We've got a Working People first! In this special two-part episode, we sit down to chat with not one but two  longshore workers: Zack Pattin and Brian Skiffington from Tacoma, WA. Zack and Brian are both members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 23, and organizing leaders with the ILWU Young Workers Committee. In Part I of our expansive, multi-hour conversation with Z...

We chat with Erek Slater, a bus operator for the Chicago Transit Authority, where he's been working for the past 15 years. Erek is a family man, a father, and a three-term elected shop steward and executive board member of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 241. We talk about his working life and all that goes into being a bus operator, all the things that passengers never see—even though we dep...

We chat with Michele, a clinical social worker in the Bronx with years of experience working in psychiatric emergency and crisis settings. We talk about Michele's life and the road that led her to being a social worker—we also discuss the history of social work itself, and we dive into the very real struggles and often harsh circumstances that are a daily reality for social workers and the people...

We're back with Season Four of Working People ! In this urgent episode, we talk with Dr. Amir Atabeygi, a physician at MultiCare Indigo Urgent Care in Thurston County, Washington. On Monday, November 23, amid a terrifying surge in COVID-19 cases around the country, Dr. Atabeygi will join his fellow physicians, physician assistants, and advanced registered nurse practitioners on the picket line as...

The next time you see us, it will be the premier of Season Four of Working People ! Until then, we wanted to share this interview Max did with Evan Matthew Papp of Empathy Media Lab about why Max started the show and how it's developed over the years. They also talk about why Working People is a proud member of the Labor Radio / Podcast Network , and about the importance of making labor- and human...

We'll be back with Season Four of Working People very soon, but in the meantime, here's an interview Max did with Our Calgary , a great new Canadian podcast. Max talks with Lucas about the 2020 election and his hopes and fears for the country, the left, and for alternative media. Check it out (and give Our Calgary a follow!).    Additional links/info below... Our Calgary 's Twitter page, link tree...

We talk to Hamilton Nolan, labor reporter for In These Times , about reporting on the Trump  re-election campaign during a pandemic and seeing up close the rotting core of America.   Additional links/info below... Hamilton's author page and Twitter page Hamilton Nolan, In These Times , " Risking Your Life For a Trump Rally Means There's Nothing Left to Lose "   Featured Music (all songs sourced fr...

We're back with another installment of our ongoing series Working-Class Politics , where we talk to working-class folks and advocates who are running for office. We sit down with two members of California's Labor Slate, Eduardo Torres (running for Ambrose Recreation and Parks Board) and Gaelan Ash (communications director for Labor Slate).   Additional links/info below... Labor Slate's website , F...

Everyone who is a worker or who cares about workers should pay attention to Prop 22 in California and understand the potentially devastating impact it could have. Professor Veena Dubal joins us on the show to talk about why.    Additional links/info below... Veena's faculty page and Twitter page Sarah Ashley O'Brien, CNN Business , " The $185 Million Campaign to Keep Uber and Lyft Drivers as Contr...

We talk with Amanda Yee for this urgent mini-cast on the deliberate and terrifying persecution of leftist organizers and activists by the state, including members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) in Denver.     Additional links/info below... Amanda's Twitter page PSL website , Twitter page, and Facebook page  PSL Legal Fund: Donate to the legal and political support campaign for arr...

We've remastered our Labor Day special from Season One and are re-releasing it for all our new listeners. In this episode, we talk to LaDonna Brave Bull Allard of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. We talk about LaDonna's life, the #NoDAPL movement and the erasure of Native peoples, and about learning ways of living with the land.    Additional links/info below... Sacred Stone Village Facebook page  ...

We close out Season Three of Working People with a critical discussion about why cops have no place in the labor movement and about the rank-and-file push from groups like No Cop Unions (AFL-CIO) and Drop the Cops (SEIU) to get them out. Featuring Kim Kelly, Halimat Alawode, & Julia Wallace.   Additional links/info below... No Cop Unions (AFL-CIO) website and Twitter page SEIU Drop the Cops Linktr...

UPDATE : We were notified by Libsyn (the service where we host our podcast) that No Evil Foods demanded to have our last episode removed due to our use of an "unauthorized recording" from the union-busting captive audience meetings they subjected their workers to. We are re-uploading the episode with an intro/update from Max. You can still listen to the recordings in question here: http://andrew-m...

We talk to Jon, Meagan, Josh, and Cortne, four former employees at No Evil Foods, a vegan plant-based meat producer in North Carolina that made headlines over the past year with its union-busting tactics. We talk about the failed unionization drive, the captive-audience meetings management held, and about companies like NEF using "progressive" branding to mask their anti-union practices.   Additio...

We talk to Mel Buer ( Protean Magazine ), Gabby (DefendPDX), and Garrison Davis, three independent journalists who have been on the front lines this summer covering the anti-police protests in Minneapolis, Portland, and Omaha. We talk about how events have unfolded from their vantage point, the hazards of doing this vital work, and about the importance of anticapitalist media.    Additional links/...

We talk to writer, organizer, and adjunct lecturer Maggie Levantovskaya about immigrating from the Soviet Union, navigating class differences in the U.S., and about how so many higher education professionals have become gig workers.    Additional links/info below... Maggie's website and Twitter page Maggie Levantovskaya, LitHub , " On Flannery O'Connor's Chronic Illness ... and Chronic Racism " Ma...

We chat with David Story and Jacob Morrison, the hosts of The Valley Labor Report , a new radio show out of Huntsville, Alabama, about the importance of making pro-worker media in the South.    Additional links/info below... The Valley Labor Report Facebook page, Twitter page, Youtube channel, and Patreon     Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org ) Lob...

We're back from hiatus with a new full-length episode! We talk to Jami Bellefleur, a Maine native and shipbuilder, about her life and work, and about the ongoing strike at Bath Iron Works.   Additional links/info below... IUMSWA IAMAW Local S6 website , Twitter page, and Facebook page Local S6 strike fund   Andy O'Brien, Labor Notes , " Maine Shipbuilders Bring the Hammer Down to Reject Concession...

Oh shiiiit, it's mailbag time!! Max, Zak, and MacKenna (3/4 of the Alvarez siblings) sit down to answer listener questions. Listen to the full bonus episode on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/mailbag-episode-38475818  

UNLOCKED BONUS EPISODE: We talk to Kooper Caraway, President of the Sioux Falls AFL-CIO and Labor Rep for AFSCME Council 65 about the labor movement in South Dakota and about doing labor organizing that is bold, inclusive, anti-racist, and antifascist. (If you want to hear more bonus episodes like this, subscribe to our Patreon!  https://www.patreon.com/WorkingPeople ) Additional links/info below....

We talk to Michael Brooks about his new book, Against the Web , and we try to move the ball forward on debates about the "woke left," working-class politics, and left internationalism.     Additional links/info below... Michael's Twitter page  Michael Brooks, Zero Books, Against the Web: A Cosmopolitan Answer to the New Right (buy through Red Emma's ) The Michael Brooks Show Facebook page, Twitter...

In this installment of The Break Room , Daniel Stone, a now-former employee of Dollar General in Nashville, tells us about issues with how the national chain has handled the #COVID19 crisis—and how he was fired after raising concerns with corporate about lack of protection for frontline employees.  If you'd like to send something in to The Break Room , hit us up at workingpeoplepod@gmail.com !   ...