Belabored Podcast #37: The One-Day Strike, featuring Max Fraser

Sarah and Michelle talk with Max Fraser about new tactics in labor militancy, which he explores in his new article in Dissent. Plus: standoff over unemployment benefits in Congress, changes in the ranks of the Chicago teachers’ union, expanded pre-Kindergarten in New York, and worker uprisings in Cambodia.

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This week Sarah and Michelle talk with labor history scholar and activist Max Fraser on new directions in labor militancy, which he explores in the current issue of Dissent. What is the meaning of these one-day strikes that have rankled Wal-Mart and fast food managers over the past year? What do the direct actions undertaken by unions and grassroots workers’ groups tell us about the nature of global capital and how the union structure can facilitate or impede workplace activism? Also: this week’s news round-up tackles the standoff over unemployment benefits in Congress, changes in the ranks of the Chicago teachers’ union, expanded pre-Kindergarten in New York, and worker uprisings in Cambodia. We end with a look back at the War on Poverty and a reflection on the sham that is the so-called “labor of love.”

News:

Unemployment extension fails (again)

CTU Seeks to Tip Balance with New Political Organization

CTU Resolution for Independent Political Organization

Bill de Blasio’s persuasive case for universal pre-K

Michelle: Despite Violence, Cambodian Workers Vow To Continue Their Fight

Interview with Max Fraser:

Can the One-Day Strike Revive the Labor Movement?

Sarah: How Walmart Organizers Turned the Internet Into a Shop Floor

Argh, I Wish I’d Written That!:

Peter Dreier: Is America Ready for a New War on Poverty?

Miya Tokumitsu, In The Name of Love