Belabored Podcast #196: How the Pandemic Will Change Labor, with Bill Fletcher, Jr.
Belabored Podcast #196: How the Pandemic Will Change Labor, with Bill Fletcher, Jr.
Veteran labor activist Bill Fletcher, Jr. on how the labor movement can cope with the crisis and salvage itself.
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The coronavirus crisis continues to ravage the economy, plunge millions into unemployment, and expose endemic inequalities in the workforce. Yet lawmakers are already speculating on how to “reopen” the economy as soon as possible, despite the looming public-health risks facing countless frontline workers and disproportionately harming communities of color. We speak with veteran labor activist Bill Fletcher, Jr. about what the pandemic is revealing about neoliberalism, the brokenness of our social welfare infrastructure, and how the labor movement can cope with the crisis and salvage itself.
In other news, we discuss the National Health Care Day of Action, the White House’s attempt to drive down immigrant farmworkers’ wages with Evy Peña, how Asian American labor activists are defending their communities with Kim Geron and Monica Thammrath, and health hazards at a Smithfield pork processing plant.
On May 1, join Sarah online for a May Day event with Sara Nelson and Stacy Davis Gates: System in Crisis: A Working-Class Vision for the Future.
This week’s show was supported by our monthly sustaining members. If you think our work is worth supporting, 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.
News:APALA Blasts Trump’s Executive Order for Inciting Hate, Lying about Immigrant Workers (APALA)
Sarah: Belabored Stories: What If Nurses Ran the Healthcare System? (Dissent)
Sarah: Belabored Stories: A Healthcare Worker Day of Action (Dissent)
White House Seeks To Lower Farmworker Pay To Help Agriculture Industry (NPR)
Smithfield Foods Is Blaming “Living Circumstances In Certain Cultures” For One Of America’s Largest COVID-19 Clusters (Buzzfeed)
Conversation:
Bill Fletcher, Jr., executive editor of Global African Worker
Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path Toward Social Justice
“They’re Bankrupting Us!”: And 20 Other Myths about Unions
Claim No Easy Victories: The Legacy of Amilcar Cabral
Argh, I Wish I’d Written That:
Michelle: Amber Joseph, What One New York Teacher Is Learning in a Pandemic (NYR Daily)
Sarah: Miranda Hall, Love doesn’t pay the bills (Open Democracy)
