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24 hours after Max returned to Baltimore from East Palestine, Ohio, the shipping vessel Dali slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, collapsing it into the Patapsco River. The catastrophic collision and collapse of the bridge claimed the lives of six immigrant, non-union construction workers who were working the night shift at the time, filling potholes on the bridge. In this interview on The Valley Labor Report, Alabama's only weekly union talk show, hosts Jacob Morrison and Adam Keller speak with Max about The Real News Network's coverage of the bridge collapse, the connections between Baltimore and East Palestine, and about the conspiracists and "anti-woke" grifters who are trying to capitalize on this tragedy for their own gain.
Additional links/info belowâŠ
Baltimore Immigrant Community Fund Key Bridge Emergency Response
The Valley Labor Report YouTube channel, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Patreon
The Valley Labor Report, "The Toll of Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse in Baltimore on Working People - TVLR 3/30/24"
Democracy Now!, "Baltimore Key Bridge Collapses, Killing Six Immigrant Workers Who Had No Access to Emergency Warnings"
America's Workforce Radio, "Union Solidarity Is the Key to Getting East Palestine Residents Help"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Missing, Presumed Dead Workers from Key Bridge Werenât Informed of Mayday Call"
Maximillian Alvarez, The Nation, "Echoes of East Palestine in the Key Bridge Collapse"
Breaking Points, "Construction Workers ABANDONED in Baltimore Bridge Collapse"
Permanent links below...
Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Featured Music...
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song
Jules Taylor, "TVLR Theme Song / Florence Reece Remix" -
This Saturday, March 23, unionists and labor leaders, environmental justice groups, community organizers, community members from other âsacrifice zones,â and supporters from around the country are coming to East Palestine to join residents as part of the newly formed Justice for East Palestine Residents and Workers coalition. The coalition has come together in recent months and mobilized around the core objective of pressuring President Biden to invoke the Stafford Act and issue a major disaster declaration for East Palestine. If Biden does this, organizers say, it will immediately unlock a whole suite of federal resources that residents desperately need and have been demanding for a year, and it will also immediately guarantee every resident emergency healthcare. For residents like Chris Albrightâa former pipeline worker and LIUNA member who has been disabled by the toxic fallout from the derailment, is now experiencing severe heart failure, canât work, and has subsequently lost his health benefitsâthis is a matter of life and death, and we are racing against the clock.
This episode is a compilation of voices from across the growing Justice for East Palestine Residents and Workers coalition. Speeches in the first half are from a panel cohosted by Steve Zeltzer and Penny Logsdon and recorded by the Labor Video Project on Feb. 3, 2024, the one-year anniversary of the derailment; speeches in the second half are from another panel cohosted by Steve Zeltzer and Penny Logsdon and recorded by the Labor Video Project on March 9, 2024. Speakers include: Steve Zeltzer (Labortech); Penny Logsdon (Lee County Labor Chapter); Chris Albright (East Palestine resident, LIUNA member); Jami Wallace (East Palestine Unity Council); Steve Mellon (Pittsburgh Union Progress); Jeff Kurtz (Lee County Labor Chapter); Maximillian Alvarez (The Real News Network); Mike Stout (protest musician); Charlie Wishman (Iowa AFL-CIO); John Palmer (Teamsters, San Antonio); Bob Anspach (BLET-IBT 391); Vina Colley (Portsmouth Pikeston Residents for Environmental Justice).
From the Justice for East Palestine Residents and Workers organizing committee: "We will be hosting a National Conference for the people of East Palestine along with supporters in Ohio and throughout the country to build this campaign for healthcare on Saturday, March 23, 2024, where we will bring community members, labor, environmentalist and allies together in our urgent campaign. This Conference will be held from 12-5pm ET at the East Palestine Park. To contact the Justice for East Palestine Residents and Workers organizing committee, reach out to
Steve Zeltzer: labormedia[at]gmail[dot]com
Penny Logsdon: onecent7921[at]gmail[dot]com
In solidarity."
Additional links/info belowâŠ
Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Union Progress, "âWhere are you, President Biden?â Union organizers, residents demand health care for East Palestine" Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "East Palestine DEMANDS Biden Visit More Than 'PHOTO OP'"Permanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music...
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song -
Fehlende Folgen?
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Brett Cross is a small-town kid who grew up in Western Texas, among the oil fields, near Odessa. He worked in the oil fields, worked his way up to doing pipeline work, eventually moving to green energy work. He even became a foreman, working hard to provide for his family. And Brett was at work when he got the call from his wife Nikki that changed their lives forever. It was May 24, 2022, Nikki was at their sonsâ school, Robb Elementary, in Uvalde, Texas. âThis is not a fucking joke,â she said, âthereâs a shooter at the boysâ school.â We talk to Brett about his life before, about living in a small town, working and making your own fun, we talk about some of the family memories he cherishes most. We remember Brett and Nikki's son Uziyah "Uzi" Garcia, we talk about the day Uzi was taken from them, along with 18 of his classmates and two of his teachers, and we talk about the unimaginable fight for justice and real change that Brett and Nikki have been fighting ever since.
C/W: This episode discusses school shootings and the murdering of children.
Additional links/info belowâŠ
Brett's Twitter/X page Sneha Dey, Erin Douglas, Andrew Zhang, Brooke Park, & Jessica Priest, The Texas Tribune / ProPublica, "21 Lives Lost: Uvalde Victims Were a Cross-Section of a Small, Mostly Latino Town in South Texas" Edgar Sandoval, The New York Times, "A Year After the Uvalde Massacre: Did Anything Change?" Gus Bova, Texas Observer, "The Uvalde Parents Won't Back Down" Elissa Jorgensen, American Statesman, "'There Are no Good Days': Uziyah's Family Won't Stop Fighting Until Gun Laws Change" Danielle Campoamor, Today, "A Father's Fury: Uvalde Dad Brett Cross Is Mad as Hell and Wants You to Know It" Kayla Padilla, Texas Public Radio, "Arrested Uvalde Father Says Police More Upset With Him Using Expletive Than Children Dying" Yvette Benavides, David Martin Davies, & JuliĂĄn Aguilar, Texas Public Radio, "'We Did It!' â Uvalde's Entire School Police Department Suspended Following Activism from Families" Lomi Kriel, Alejandro Serrano, & Lexi Churchill, The Texas Tribune / ProPublica, "'Cascading Failures': Justice Department Blasts Law Enforcementâs Botched Response to Uvalde School Shooting" John Woodrow Cox, Steven Rich, Linda Chong, Lucas Trevor, John Muyskens, & Monica Ulmanu, The Washington Post, "More Than 360,000 Students Have Experienced Gun Violence at School Since Columbine"Permanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music...
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song Jules Taylor, "John L. Handcox Remix" Follow Jules on Twitter and Facebook -
This is an excerpt from our most recent bonus episode featuring Teddy Ostrow. To access the entire conversation, and numerous bonus episodes we have released throughout seven seasons of Working People, please visit our Patreon to unlock this content.
The Upsurge was an invaluable show that documented two of the most pivotal labor union struggles in recent years as they were happening: the 2023 Teamsters contract fight at UPS, and the UAW's 2023 stand-up strike at the Big Three automakers. Even though The Upsurge has closed shop and Teddy Ostrow, Ruby Walsh, and the gang are moving on to new projects, we sat down with Teddy to take a moment to celebrate what they accomplished and talk about what we've learned from the last year in worker struggle.
Additional links/info belowâŠ
The Upsurge podcast Teddy Ostrow Twitter/X profile Teddy Ostrow, The Real News Network, "New York's Tenant Unions Are Playing the Long Game" Mel Buer & Teddy Ostrow, The Real News Network, "The UAW Won Big in 2023âAnd Theyâre Not Done Yet"Permanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song -
"Last Wednesday, a fellow rail worker was gravely injured on the job and lost his life," a Feb 6 email from Railroad Workers United reads. "Our brother Chris Wilson, who worked for Norfolk Southern, was critically injured in its Decatur rail yard Wednesday and died Thursday at Huntsville Hospital." Another email from Feb. 9 reads, "On January 15th, a fellow rail worker was killed on the job in Ohio." Then, on Feb 17, another email: "On February 13th, a fellow rail worker was killed on the job in North Carolina. Brother Randall M. Howell, 41, of Allied Federation Lodge 563, died following a road crossing incident in Roanoke Rapids, N.C." Why are railroad workers all over the country dying on the job? And what can be done to stop these needless deaths? We talk with four railroad workers and members of Railroad Workers United (RWU).
Panelists include: Nick Wurst, a freight conductor in Massachusetts, legislative rep for his union local, and currently serving on the RWU international steering committee; Matt Weaver, a member of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division-International Brotherhood of Teamsters (BMWED-IBT) for nearly 30 years, legislative director for his union in Ohio, and a founding member of RWU: Mark Burrows, a retired locomotive engineer with 37 years in the industry, and the editor of "The Highball," RWU's quarterly newsletter: and Ross Grooters, RWU co-chair, member of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), also serving on the BLET-IBT Iowa state legislative board, with over 20 years in the industry.
Additional links/info belowâŠ
Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and Twitter page Ross's Twitter page Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "They Were Just Another East Palestine FamilyâUntil Norfolk Southern Set Off a Bomb in Their Lives" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine Residents Still Need Helpâthe Labor Movement Should Be an Ally" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "He Tried to Raise the Alarm about Railroad Safety. Then He Got Fired" Mike L, The Real News Network, "A Carman's Perspective on the East Palestine Derailment and the Railroad Industry as a Whole" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "US Freight Workers Say It's Time to Nationalize the Railroads" Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Rail Worker EXPOSES Ohio Disaster COVERUP" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "âThis Was Preventableâ: Railroad Workers Explain How Wall St Caused the East Palestine Derailment" Working People, "East Palestine, Ohio: A Hell of Wall Street's Making (w/ Matt Weaver)" Kari Lydersen, In These Times, "The Case for Nationalizing the Railroads"Permanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music...
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song Jules Taylor, "John L. Handcox Remix" Jules Taylor, "Her Water" -
One year ago, graduate student-workers at Johns Hopkins University overwhelmingly voted to unionize under the banner of Teachers and Researchers United (TRU-UE), which is affiliated with United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers. While workers had much to celebrate with their historic union election victory, bargaining a first contract with the university administration has been another story. On February 20, fed up with what workers say have been disrespectful and insufficient offers from the university administration, TRU-UE members held practice pickets on campus to show the administration what's in store if more progress is not made at the bargaining table soon. In this on-the-ground episode, we take you straight to the picket line to hear from worker-organizers about what they're fighting for and what they're asking supporters to do to help.
Additional links/info belowâŠ
Teachers and Researchers United (TRU-UE) website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Now or never: Grad Student-Workers at Johns Hopkins Mobilize Ahead of Union Election" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "These Workers Are Making Baltimore a Union Town Again" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Johns Hopkins University Graduate Students Are Organizing for a Living Wage" Ryan Quinn, Inside Higher Ed, "Johns Hopkins Grad Students Successfully Unionize"Permanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music...
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song Jules Taylor, "John L. Handcox Remix" -
Baltimore has become what many consider to be ground zero in the emerging âsolidarity economyâ and the formation of worker-owned, cooperatively run businesses. Thereâs something important going on here, and thereâs a lot that we can all learn from our fellow workers who are in the cooperative spaceâpeople who are living, breathing proof that thereâs another way to run a business, that there's another way to run our economy, and that there are other ways we can treat work and workers. At a recent event hosted by the Baltimore Museum of Industry titled "Work Matters: Building a Worker-Owned Co-op," Max moderated a panel including workers and representatives from Common Ground Bakery CafĂ©, Taharka Bros Ice Cream, A Few Cool Hardware Stores, and the Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy (BRED). He talked to them about how they came to work at these different co-ops, how their businesses transitioned to more cooperative models, and they dig into the nitty gritty of what working at a co-op looks like, what it takes for workers to democratically run a business, and the real challenges, limitations, and rewards that come with this kind of work. Panelists include: Vince Green (Taharka Bros Ice Cream); David Evans (A Few Cool Hardware Stores); Craig Smith (A Few Cool Hardware Stores); Sierra Allen (Common Ground Bakery CafĂ©); Christa Daring (BRED).
Additional links/info belowâŠ
Baltimore Museum of Industry website, Facebook page, and Instagram Jaisal Noor, The Real News Network, "Worker Co-ops vs. COVID" Jaisal Noor, The Real News Network, "Taharka Bros: Ice Cream with a Side of Worker Ownership" Working People, "Your Job Doesn't Have to Suck (w/ Jaisal Noor)" Lisa Elaine Held, The Washington Post, "Amid Food-Industry Upheaval, Baltimore Businesses Are Handing Workers the Keys" Rebekah Kirkman, The Real News Network, "After Beloved Baltimore Coffee Shop Abruptly Closed, Workers Reopen as Co-op"Permanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music...
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song Jules Taylor, "Working People Live Show" Theme Song Jules Taylor, "John L. Handcox I Live On Remix" Follow Jules Taylor on Twitter and Facebook -
Workers at Homegrown Sustainable Sandwiches in the Seattle area voted overwhelmingly to unionize with UNITE HERE LOCAL 8 in late 2022, and they have been fighting for a first contract ever since. In fact, workers from two Homegrown stores have been on strike since late last fall in protest of the unfair termination of union leader Sydney Lankford, who was fired after speaking up at a union delegation. By the time you hear this, workers at the Redmond Homegrown location will have been on strike for over 100 days. We talk with Sydney Lankford and Perry, two members of the Homegrown workers union who are currently on strike.
Additional links/info belowâŠ
Homegrown workers union Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X page Homegrown Sustainable Sandwiches Contact Us page PETITION: Tell Homegrown to #Bring Syd Back! STRIKE FUND: Support Striking Homegrown Workers! #BringSydBack Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) website Renata Geraldo, Seattle Times, "Seattleâs Homegrown Cafe Workers Vote to Unionize" KIRO 7, "Workers at Redmondâs Homegrown Sandwich Shop Strike Over âUnfairâ Firing of Union Leader"Permanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music...
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song Jules Taylor, "Homegrown outro music" -
Feb. 3, 2024, marks the one-year anniversary of the Norfolk Southern train derailment that changed life forever for the residents of East Palestine, Ohio, and the surrounding area. The derailment of 38 rail cars and the subsequent âcontrolled releaseâ and burnoff of toxic vinyl chloride was one of the most catastrophic industrial accidents in our countryâs historyâand a catastrophe of equal or greater proportion could happen again tomorrow, because we have done little to substantively address the issues that caused it.
While the media and most of the country have forgotten about them, for the people still living in and around East Palestine, life will never be what it was on Feb 2, 2023. "At the one year mark," warns Christa, a resident who has lived in the area her whole life, "I want everybody across the country and across the world to know that this could happen to you... We were an invisible town, an invisible region, and we liked it that way. None of us ever wanted to be on the news... We were very happy being invisible, and then they poisoned our town, and it has changed everything forever."
To commemorate the anniversary of the East Palestine disaster, we begin Season 7 of Working People with this special compilation episode featuring firsthand testimonies of five East Palestine residents: Christa, Chris Albright, Jessica Albright, Stella Gamble, and Daren Gamble.
Additional links/info belowâŠ
Jami Wallace, The Inquirer, "One Year Ago, a Train Derailment Upended My Town. Iâll Spend the Rest of My Life Worrying" Last Week Tonight, "Freight Trains: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)" Emily Baumgaertner, The New York Times, "One Familyâs Toxic Train Wreck Ordeal: Illness, Exile and Debt" Working People, "12-HR LIVESTREAM: Letâs help East Palestine families have a good Christmas!" Savage Joy Marie Mann, "EAST PALESTINE OHIO MUTUAL AID FUNDRAISER" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "They Were Just Another East Palestine FamilyâUntil Norfolk Southern Set Off a Bomb in Their Lives" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "The US Government Has Abandoned East Palestine" Maximillian Alvarez, "East Palestine Residents Still Need Helpâthe Labor Movement Should Be an Ally" Savage Joy Marie Mann, "My Full Recording of Meeting with Mark Durno of the East Palestine EPA" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine Residents Still Need Helpâthe Labor Movement Should Be an Ally" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine, 100 Days Later" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine Residents Have Been Left Behindâand They're Running Out of Water" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine, Ohio: A Hell of Wall Street's Making" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'This Was Preventable': Railroad Workers Explain How Wall St. Caused the East Palestine Derailment" Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Rail Worker EXPOSES Ohio Disaster COVERUP" Mike L., The Real News Network, "A Carman's Perspective on the East Palestine Derailment and the Railroad Industry as a Whole" Al Jazeera English, "Whatâs Behind Train Derailments in the US? | Fault Lines Documentary"Permanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music...
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song Dark and Synthy music for this episode also by Jules Taylor -
From October 4-6 of this year, the US experienced the largest healthcare worker strike in our history, when over 75,000 workers with the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions went on a three-day strike against the healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente. Then, on October 13, after warning that more strikes could be coming if a deal wasnât reached at the bargaining table, healthcare workers scored a major victory and reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser, which the union membership, accounting for over 85,000 Kaiser Permanente workers across the country, voted to ratify in early November. As the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions stated in a press release upon the contract ratification, âIn a historic victory for frontline healthcare workers, more than 85,000 Kaiser Permanente workers have overwhelmingly voted to ratify a new contract that will bolster patient safety, make critical investments in the healthcare workforce, and set a higher standard for the healthcare industry nationwide. Approved by a margin of 98.5%, the four-year contract is in effect from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2027, at hundreds of Kaiser facilities across California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.â In this mini-cast, we speak with Meg Niemi, President of SEIU Local 49, and Audrey Cardenas, a benefits support specialist at a Kaiser dental office in Oregon, about how Kaiser healthcare workers took on the bosses and won this new contract, and what that is going to mean for workers and patients alike moving forward.
Additional links/info belowâŠ
SEIU Local 49 website, Facebook page, and Twitter/X page SEIU United Healthcare Workers West website, Facebook page, and Twitter/X page Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions website and Twitter/X page Meg's Twitter/X page SEIU-UHW Press Release: "More than 85,000 Kaiser Permanente Workers Ratify Landmark New Contract" Michael Sainato, The Guardian, "Kaiser Permanente and Unions Reach Deal after Healthcare Workersâ Strike" Reuters, "Kaiser Healthcare Workers Ratify New Contract" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "35,000 Kaiser Permanente Workers Are Set to Strike, and the Future of US Healthcare Is at Stake (from 2021)"Permanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music...
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song -
Brazil's Radical Plan to Fight Slave-Like Working Conditions (w/ Marcos, John, & Vitor Filgueiras)
In this special international episode, we get the chance to talk to folks in Brazil about the farmworkers who are being trapped in slave-like conditions, and about a truly radical new government program that is trying to break the cycle of enslavement and exploitation. As Vitor Filgueiras, Professor of Economics at the Federal University of Bahia, writes, âBetween 1995 and mid-2020, more than 55,000 workers were removed from conditions analogous to slavery by the Brazilian State, without any indication that there has been a reduction in this type of criminal exploitation of labour in the country. On the contrary, many workers are repeated victims of extreme exploitation.â As we discuss with Filgueiras himself in the second half of this episode, there have been numerous past efforts to liberate farmworkers from these slave-like conditions, but if workers donât have other means or opportunities to economically sustain themselves, they are at high risk of falling right back into this exploitative system to make ends meet. And that is why the project âVida PĂłs Resgateâ (Life After Rescue) was created in 2017 through a partnership between the Federal University of Bahiaâs Faculty of Economics and the Federal Labor Prosecution Office for the 23rd Region. The program is designed to take the fines that employers are forced to pay for violating workers rights and use that money to buy land, tools, seed, and other necessities for rescued farmworkers to develop self-sufficient farms that they own and operate themselves. While the program is still in its early stages, if it is successful, it could have wide-ranging implications for working people in Brazil and beyond.
In the first half of this episode, with Vitor Filgueiras translating, we speak with Marcos and John, two farmworkers who were rescued from slave-like conditions and are now among the Life After Rescue programâs first participants. In the second half, we speak with Filgueiras about where this policy came from, what it will take to make it work, and about the fight to return the land and the means of production to the people. Special thanks to Mike Fox for editing assistance.
Additional links/info belowâŠ
Vitor's Twitter/X profile Vitor Filgueiras, Delta 8.7, "Slave-Like Labour in Brazil and the Vida PĂłs Resgate Project"Reuters, "Brazil Rescues Hundreds Held in Modern-Day Slave Conditions"Dom Phillips, The Guardian, "'Fewer People Will Be Freed': Brazil Accused of Easing Anti-Slavery Rules"Matt Sandy, Al Jazeera, "Heartache and Suffering: Slavery in Brazil" Working People YouTube channelPermanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music...
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song -
It's been nearly 10 months since the derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train and the subsequent âcontrolled releaseâ and burnoff of toxic vinyl chloride changed life forever for the residents of East Palestine, Ohio. While the media, politicians, and the public have largely moved on, people living in and around East Palestine have been abandoned by Norfolk Southern, by their state and federal governments, and left to rot in the toxic fallout. We cannot forget about them.
In September of this year, Max was invited to the Harvard Law School to participate in an all-day event titled "Storytelling for JusticeâEast Palestine," where he conducted a live Working People interview with Chris and Jessica Albright, two residents of East Palestine whose lives have been turned upside down by the derailment. After recording and publishing that live show, we've kept in touch with the Albrights as they and their family continue to do whatever they can to pick up the pieces after Norfolk Southern shattered the life they knew before Feb. 3. In this episode, we talk once again with Chris and Jessica about their lives before the derailment, and about the hell they've been living through ever since.
Additional links/info belowâŠ
GoFundMe: Help Albright Family Recover from Train Disaster Emily Baumgaertner, The New York Times, "One Familyâs Toxic Train Wreck Ordeal: Illness, Exile and Debt" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "The US Government Has Abandoned East Palestine" Maximillian Alvarez, "East Palestine Residents Still Need Helpâthe Labor Movement Should Be an Ally" Savage Joy Marie Mann, "My Full Recording of Meeting with Mark Durno of the East Palestine EPA" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine Residents Still Need Helpâthe Labor Movement Should Be an Ally" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine, 100 Days Later" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine Residents Have Been Left Behindâand They're Running Out of Water" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine, Ohio: A Hell of Wall Street's Making" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'This Was Preventable': Railroad Workers Explain How Wall St. Caused the East Palestine Derailment" Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Rail Worker EXPOSES Ohio Disaster COVERUP" Mike L., The Real News Network, "A Carman's Perspective on the East Palestine Derailment and the Railroad Industry as a Whole" Al Jazeera English, "Whatâs Behind Train Derailments in the US? | Fault Lines Documentary"Permanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music...
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song -
With each passing day, more Israeli bombs are falling on Gaza, more bodies are being blown apart and buried under the rubble, over a million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes. Over the past month and a half, the world has borne witness to a genocidal military campaign to clear out Gaza once and for all, and every day, every hour, it feels like the chance to stop one of humanityâs most inhumane crimes is slipping through our fingers, and the powers that be have shown no interest whatsoever in listening to the thundering calls for a ceasefire coming from governments and mass demonstrations around the world, particularly the Biden administration in the US, the increasingly fascistic Netanyahu government in Israel, and the arms manufacturers and war profiteers who are raking in billions from manufacturing mass death. This is prompting people of conscience around the world, including unions and worker-led groups, to speak out and take action to try to stop the slaughter.
One of those unions is the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys â UAW Local 2325 (ALAA), whose members include legal aid workers at over 25 organizations, including the Bronx Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, Neighborhood Defender Service, and the Legal Aid Society of New York City. Last week, ALAA members were preparing to hold a vote on whether or not to approve the union publicly issuing a "Resolution Calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza, an End to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, and Support for Workersâ Political Speech." In the lead-up to the vote, union members at different legal aid offices reported strong opposition from management. âThese statements call for the elimination of the state of Israel and the annihilation of the Jewish people,â Twyla Carter, Chief Executive Officer of the Legal Aid Society, reportedly told staff, expressing concern that certain donors would pull funding from the Legal Aid Society if the union passed the resolution. Then, on Thursday, Nov 16, as Akela Lacy reports at The Intercept, "attorneys at the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County sued in New York State Supreme Court to stop the vote, saying it posed an ethical dilemma for attorneys that would make it âimpossible for them to properly do their job as Public Defenders.â Those four attorneys were ALAA bargaining unit members. "On Friday," Lacy continues, "the court granted a temporary restraining order enjoining the vote. Voting had gotten underway at 9 a.m. and only 15 minutes were left on the clock when the injunction was issued. The tally never got underway."
In this urgent mini-cast, we speak about this unprecedented attack on union democracy and workers' free speech rights with three ALAA members: Allie Goodman, an attorney in the Family Defense Practice at Bronx Defenders; Michael Letwin, a former public defender at Legal Aid in Brooklyn for 37 years who also served as president of ALAA â UAW Local 2325 for 13 years; and Dany Greene, who has worked as a public defender for six years, four of which were spent at Bronx Defenders, where they helped found and organize the BXD Union, and who now works at an appellate office focusing on criminal appeals.
Additional links/info belowâŠ
Labor for Palestine website and Twitter/X page Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, United Auto Workers Local 2325, "Resolution Calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza, an End to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, and Support for Workersâ Political Speech" Akela Lacy, The Intercept, "Public Defenders Get Restraining Order to Block Their Own Union from Voting on Gaza Statement" Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, "Bar Association Urged to Fight Censorship of Pro-Palestinian Voices"Permanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song -
Back in August of 2022, we spoke with Matt Littrell, a picker at the Amazon warehouse in Campbellsville, Kentucky, and one of the lead organizers in an effort to unionize Amazon facilities in Kentucky. When we spoke with Matt, Amazon had just fired him in suspected retaliation for his organizing activities, citing "performance" issues. Since then, Matt has been dragged through a Kafka-esque legal process to hold Amazon, the second largest private employer in the US, accountable for violating workers' rights. In this mini-cast, we check back in with Matt and discuss recent developments in that process, including reaching a settlement with Amazon, which the National Labor Relations Board is now challenging, leaving Matt in legal limbo.
Additional links/info belowâŠ
Matt's Twitter/X page and LinkTree Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network / Working People, "Amazon Fires Another Organizer to Allegedly Stop Kentucky Facilities Unionizing"Permanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song -
More than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's retaliatory assault on Gaza in the past month, including thousands of women, children, and elderly, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The real number is likely much higher⊠we donât know how many people, dead and alive, are under the rubble right now. But we do know that the bombs continue to fall, every day, at rates unseen in this century. This is an absolute nightmare.
For the past month, we have been trying every single day to make contact with Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, to get their stories on the show so people could hear directly from them. But, for obvious reasons, that has proven to be extremely difficult. Every single time we connected with someone and set up an interview, something would happen, we'd lose touch with them, their phone would stop working, and we'd have no idea if they safe, if they were alive. One of those people was Mohamed el Saife. Mohamed is an independent video journalist in Gaza, and the last message he sent us on October 15 said, âI am now on the ground, between life and death.â After that, we lost touch with Mohamed for over two weeks, and we feared the worst. Then, on November 9, we got another message. With the tiny amount of internet he was able to use, Mohamed sent us a three-minute voice message from Gaza.
Additional links/info belowâŠ
Mohamed's PayPal account Mohamed's Twitter/X page and YouTube channel Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Reuters, "Gaza Death Toll Tops 10,000; UN Calls It a Children's Graveyard" Rob Picheta, Kareem Khadder, Teele Rebane, & Zohair Zabadne, CNN, "Gaza Hospital âSurrounded by Tanksâ as Other Healthcare Facilities Say Theyâve Been Damaged by Israeli Strikes" Marc Steiner, The Real News Network, "Chris Hedges: Israelâs Endgame Is âDestruction of the Idea of Palestineâ" Bethank McKernan, The Guardian, "âA New Nakbaâ: Settler Violence Forces Palestinians Out of West Bank Villages" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Livestream: UK Workers Demand Ceasefire & an End to Israelâs Occupation of Palestine" Marc Steiner, The Real News Network, "âThe American Government Is the Only One That Can Stop Thisâ: Ending the Genocide in Gaza" Marc Steiner, The Real News Network, "âSomething Is Different This Timeâ Israelâs War in Gaza Continues" Chris Hedges, The Real News Network, "âNo Sanctuaryâ: Israelâs Long War on Gaza"Permanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song -
On the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 8, members of the Teamsters union led a picket line march outside of Amazonâs BWI5 warehouse in Baltimore. Dozens of other union workers and members of the Baltimore community joined the demonstration, which was an extension of the ongoing Unfair Labor Practice strike by unionized Amazon drivers and dispatchers at the DAX8 delivery station in Palmdale, CA. âIn April, the 84 workers in Palmdale organized with the Teamsters, becoming the first union of Amazon drivers in the country,â the Teamsters stated in a press release. âAs members of Local 396, they bargained a contract with Amazonâs Delivery Service Partner (DSP), Battle-Tested Strategies (BTS). Despite the absolute control it wields over BTS and workersâ terms and conditions of employment, Amazon refuses to recognize and honor the union contract. Instead, Amazon has engaged in dozens of unfair labor practices in violation of federal labor law, including terminating the entire unit of newly organized workersâŠ. The Amazon drivers and dispatchers began their unfair labor practice strike on June 24. They have picketed over 20 Amazon warehouses around the country, including warehouses in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Michigan, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey.â
Max was on the ground at the Amazon picket on Nov. 8 and spoke to: Deion Anthony Steppes, one of the striking Amazon drivers from Palmdale, CA, and a member of Teamsters Local 396; Cristina Duncan Evans, a Baltimore City educator and member of the Baltimore Teachers Union; Taylor Boren, an art teacher for Baltimore Public Schools and a member of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County; and Mike McGuire, a plumber and community member in Baltimore.
Additional links/info belowâŠ
Amazon Teamsters website and Twitter/X page Donate to the Amazon Driver Worker Solidarity Fund! International Brotherhood of Teamsters website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Teamsters, "Amazon Teamsters Strike Spreads to Two Baltimore Warehouses" Dave Jamieson, HuffPost, "Amazon Delivery Drivers In California Join Teamsters" Wes Davis, The Verge, "Amazon Insists Striking Delivery Drivers Donât Really Work for Amazon" Luis Feliz Leon, Labor Notes, "Amazon Teamstersâ Rolling Pickets Hit Facilities Nationwide"Permanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song -
Every day the Palestinian civilian death toll is rising dramatically as Israel continues with its genocidal bombing and ground invasion of Gaza, and as settler and military violence towards Palestinians in the West Bank intensifies. "It's a closure, it's a curfew, in many places in the West Bank," Issa Amro says. "It's not normal life these days. Soldiers are everywhere, settlers are everywhere, people are afraid to leave their homes, they don't go to work, they don't go to school, they don't go to universities." After losing touch with Issa during the day because he was escaping from settlers who were chasing him in Hebron, we managed to reconnect over the phone and record a nine minute conversation about the hell working people in Palestine are going through right now and what their fellow workers in the US and Canada can do to stop the slaughter. Issa Amro is a Palestinian human rights defender living in Hebron, in the Occupied West Bank. He is the co-founder and former coordinator of the grassroots group Youth Against Settlements. Days prior to this recording, Issa was evicted from his home in Hebron and tortured by Israeli troops.
A note about the audio: After hours of silence and failed phone calls, Issa contacted Max to inform him that he was temporarily safe and had 10 minutes to speak over the phone. Dropping everything he was doing, Max quickly opened his computer, began a QuickTime recording, and called Issa on speakerphone. We apologize for the sub-par audio quality.
Additional links/info belowâŠ
Issa's Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram Youth Against Settlements website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram Danya Al-Saleh, Mondoweiss, "We Are Millions, We Are Billions, We are all Palestinians: Stand with Palestine in DC on November 4th" Amy Teibel, AP, "Palestinian Activist Is Expelled by Israeli Forces from His Home in a Volatile West Bank City" Wafaa Shurafa, Jack Jeffery, & Lee Keath, AP, "Israeli Troops Advance Toward Gaza City as the Palestinian Death Toll Rises Above 9,000" Bethank McKernan, The Guardian, "âA New Nakbaâ: Settler Violence Forces Palestinians Out of West Bank Villages" Taj Ali, Tribune, "Organising Against Apartheid: Why Union Solidarity With Palestine Matters" Ahmad Al-Bazz, Nadia PĂ©ridot, & Ross Domoney, The Real News Network, "Israel's West Bank Checkpoints, from the Eyes of Palestinian Workers" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Livestream: UK Workers Demand Ceasefire & an End to Israelâs Occupation of Palestine" Marc Steiner, The Real News Network, "âThe American Government Is the Only One That Can Stop Thisâ: Ending the Genocide in Gaza" Marc Steiner, The Real News Network, "âSomething Is Different This Timeâ Israelâs War in Gaza Continues" Chris Hedges, The Real News Network, "âNo Sanctuaryâ: Israelâs Long War on Gaza"Permanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song -
Over the past month, United Auto Workers have continued to ramp up their strike at the Big 3 auto companies, calling workers at more plants to hit the picket line. As Keith Brower Brown recently reported at Labor Notes, âEvery Friday for the past four weeks, Big 3 CEOs have waited fearfully for UAW President Shawn Fain to announce which plants will strike next. But without warning on Wednesday [October 11], the union threw a haymaker: within 10 minutes the UAW would be shutting down the vast Kentucky Truck Plant. This plant, on 500 acres outside Louisville, is one of Fordâs most profitableâcranking out full-size SUVs and the Superduty line of commercial trucks⊠These 8,700 strikers join the 25,000 already walking the lines at assembly plants and parts distribution centers across the country in the unionâs escalating Stand-Up Strike.â While we are waiting every day for more updates on the UAW strike as it unfolds in real time, it's important to remember that the issues within the auto industryâand the economy writ largeâthat led this historic moment of struggle have been brewing for decades. In this episode, we talk with Sherry Cothren, who worked for 30 years at Ford Motor Company and retired just before her plant in Toledo, Ohio, closed in 2007. We also speak with Sherry's son, Jeremiah, an architect turned visual journalist and producer whose primary focus captures vivid histories of human rights, social justice and migration.
Additional links/info belowâŠ
United Auto Workers website, Facebook page, and Twitter page Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD) Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram Keith Brower Brown, Labor Notes, "Auto Workers Escalate: Surprise Strike at Massive Kentucky Ford Truck Plant" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "âWeâre All Workersâ: Striking UAW and SAG-AFTRA Members Wonât Be Pitted Against Each Other" Teddy Ostrow & Ruby Walsh, The Upsurge / The Real News Network, "With Concessions Already Won, the UAW Strike Escalates"Permanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song -
The derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train in East Palestine , Ohio, on Feb. 3 of this year, and the subsequent âcontrolled releaseâ and burnoff of toxic vinyl chloride, is one of the most catastrophic and devastating industrial accidents in our countryâs history, and a catastrophe of equal or greater proportion could literally happen again tomorrow. Why? Because no serious steps have been taken on the industry or the government side to substantively address the issues that led to the derailment and its toxic fallout. Meanwhile, for the people still living in and around East Palestine, there is no going back to normal⊠life will go on, but it will never be the same, it will never again be what it was on Feb. 2. We cannot forget about East Palestine, and we cannot give up on the people there, who have been largely abandoned by their government, by Norfolk Southern, and by the media. As part of a new series of Systemic Justice Teach Ins hosted by the Harvard Law School, Max was invited to Harvard on Sept. 23 to participate in an all-day event titled "Storytelling for JusticeâEast Palestine," where he conducted a live Working People interview with Chris and Jessica Albright, two residents of East Palestine whose lives have been turned upside down by the derailment. With permission from the organizers, we are sharing the audio of this interview with our audience.
Special thanks to Professor Jon Hanson, Simone Unwalla, Haley Florsheim, Samantha Perri, Jessenia Class, Chris Albright, and Jessica Albright.
Additional links/info belowâŠ
GoFundMe: Help Albright Family Recover from Train Disaster Systemic Justice Teach Ins 2023 website Emily Baumgaertner, The New York Times, "One Familyâs Toxic Train Wreck Ordeal: Illness, Exile and Debt" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine Residents Still Need Helpâthe Labor Movement Should Be an Ally" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine, 100 Days Later" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine Residents Have Been Left Behindâand They're Running Out of Water" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine, Ohio: A Hell of Wall Street's Making" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'This Was Preventable': Railroad Workers Explain How Wall St. Caused the East Palestine Derailment" Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, "Rail Worker EXPOSES Ohio Disaster COVERUP" Mike L., The Real News Network, "A Carman's Perspective on the East Palestine Derailment and the Railroad Industry as a Whole" Al Jazeera English, "Whatâs Behind Train Derailments in the US? | Fault Lines Documentary"Permanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)
Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song -
The decade from 2010 to 2020 was one that saw more people around the world participating in protests than at any other point in human history. And yet, looking back, the results of so many of these mass protests, the societal changes that followed, were the opposite of what protestors were demanding. In his new book, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution, award-winning journalist and foreign correspondent Vincent Bevins asks: Why? In this special episode, recorded at The Real News Network studio in Baltimore, we talk to Bevins about his new book and about his own working life as a journalist covering people's uprisings around the world.
Additional links/info below...
Vincent's website and Twitter/X page Vincent Bevins, Public Affairs, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution Vincent Bevins, Public Affairs, The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our WorldPermanent links below...
Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)
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