Belabored Podcast #155: The Future of Collective Action

Organizers representing teachers, housekeepers, graduate students, and airline workers discuss union power in the wake of the Janus decision.

Marriott hotel workers protest in Philadelphia, June 2018 (Unite Here Philadelphia)

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With one bad news story after another coming out of the Trump administration, it’s easy to feel pessimistic about the labor movement these days. But it’s worth remembering that for every devastating Supreme Court decision, anti-union executive order, or rollback to public benefits, glimmers of hope are present on the front lines. In the belly of the political beast in DC, grassroots organizers gathered at AFL-CIO headquarters to discuss collective action under Trump, beyond the beltway. Activists representing teachers, housekeepers, graduate students, and airline workers talked about union power in the wake of the Janus decision and keeping hope alive for the next generation of young labor leaders.

In other news, we discuss labor uprisings in Haiti, striking nurses going #RedforMed in Vermont, putting the brakes on Uber’s low wages in New York, and why the Republican paid leave proposal is hazardous to your health. And we ruminate on redistributing wealth at the top of the income pyramid, and a sexual harassment scandal in the bowels of Wall Street.

If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Help keep us going for the next 155 episodes!

News

Vermont nurses go Red-For-Med (Socialist Worker)

UVM nurses strike: Day 1 brings feisty rhetoric from union, hospital touts ‘quality care’ (Burlington Free Press)

Marco Rubio and Ivanka Trump say they support paid family leave — just not the plan that would most efficiently provide it (NBC)

What the Media Won’t Tell You About Why Haitian People Are Protesting (Atlanta Black Star)

Michelle: Can New York Rein in Uber? (The Nation)

New York City Considers New Pay Rules for Uber Drivers (New York Times)

NYTWA Response to July 2nd TLC Proposal (New York Taxi Workers Alliance)

Conversation

AFL-CIO’s Ideas at Work program, Washington DC

Kat Payne, housekeeper at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, organizer with Unite Here

Rachel Sandlow-Ash, law student and research assistant at Harvard, organizer with Harvard Graduate Students Union-UAW