Belabored Podcast #167: L.A. Teachers Shut It Down, with Alex Caputo-Pearl

Belabored Podcast #167: L.A. Teachers Shut It Down, with Alex Caputo-Pearl

A report from the picket line.

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It’s a week of walkouts and shutdowns for workers nationwide. We talk to teachers raising hell in the City of Angels and discuss their demands with United Teachers of Los Angeles President Alex Caputo-Pearl. We also check in with Jay O’Neal about how last year’s wave of teacher strikes is still reverberating in West Virginia, and on prospects for hundreds of thousands of federal workers as they mount a major legal challenge against the record-setting government shutdown.

There’s also fresh labor activism afoot at Amazon warehouses in Minnesota and New Jersey, and recommended reading on post-Janus silver linings for workers, and the evil idiocy of Trump’s wall.

This week’s show was supported by our monthly sustaining members. If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a member today. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org.

Michelle: The Shutdown Has Turned Uncle Sam Into a Deadbeat Boss (The Nation)

West Virginia United: A Rank-and-File Caucus (Labor Notes)

Michelle: Is This the Turning Point in the Fight Against Amazon? (The Nation)

L.A. Teachers’ Strike Updates: 500,000 Students at 900 Schools Affected (New York Times)

L.A. Teachers Prepare to Strike (Dissent)

Sarah: ‘This Model of Education is Not Sustainable’ (The Nation)

Michelle: Heather Gies, Disaster Averted: How Unions Have Dodged the Blow of Janus (So Far) (In These Times)

Sarah: Greg Grandin, The Vast, Stupid, Useless Wall (Jacobin)