Jan 1, 2022
Due to COVID awfulness, we're counting our 6-hour livestream
fundraiser for striking Kellogg's workers as the official finale of
Season Four of Working People (woo!). Thank you all for
listening to and supporting our work over the past year.
We're getting some much-needed rest and gearing up for Season
Five. In the meantime, we're ringing in the new year by unlocking
this special bonus episode—enjoy! And happy 2022! All power to the
workers!
2021 was an energizing year for a labor movement that has had its
back against the wall for a long time. From record numbers of
American workers voluntarily quitting their jobs to publicly
supported strikes and unionization drives in different sectors of
the economy, more and more working people are taking action and
standing up for themselves. But this is just the beginning—there’s
still a lot of work to do, and 2022 will provide a crucial test for
the labor movement and its supporters. In this special panel
episode of Working People, originally published in
November as a bonus episode for patrons, we talk to three full-time
union organizers—Puja Datta (American Federation of State, County
and Municipal Employees), Margaret McLaughlin (United University
Professions), and Diana Hussein (UNITE HERE)—about what Striketober
and 2021 in general have meant for the labor movement. We also talk
about the day-to-day work of being a union organizer, where the
labor movement goes from here, and what
you can do to build working-class
power.
Additional links/info below...
- Puja's Twitter page
- Margaret's Twitter page
- Diana's Twitter page
- Luis Feliz Leon & Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Beneath Striketober Fanfare, the Lower Frequencies of Class Struggle Need to Be Heard"
- Marc Steiner, The Real News Network, “Can Today’s Labor Militancy Become a Transformative Political Force?“
- Labor Notes, Secrets of a Successful Organizer
- AFL-CIO, "Know Your Workplace Rights"
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 (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)
- Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"