Voice of the People: Radio By and For the 99‪%‬ Mark Anderlik

We hear from tenants of the Eagle Watch Estates apartment complex in Missoula who have organized to get their issues resolved by an unresponsive landlord. That follows our Word of the Week, the “CIO Organizng Method,” and how the method may also explain why the United Autoworkers Unions lost the election at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama. On today’s show we also feature Robbie Liben and his opinion piece on the campaign in Montana for voting “no preference” in support of Palestinians in Gaza in the Democratic Presidential Primary election. And that follows how billionaire oligarchs are behind some of the repression on university campuses; and by the story of the union graduate student worker strikes in response to the repression on some University of California campuses.

Our word of the week is a novel one, “3 1/2%” and what that means (% of a population persistently engaged in nonviolent resistance to succeed). We will hear speeches from the April 14th Palestine solidarity rally held in Bozeman, Montana. Then we will hear from Bozemanite Rylee Dunn on the Montana “Vote No Preference” campaign. We will look closer at the protests on the University campuses all across the world, specifically at Columbia University, opposing Israeli genocide in Gaza. We will catch up to the labor situation at Daimler Truck in the South, and the prospects of a United Autoworkers Union victory at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama.

Our word of the week is “manufacturing consent,” a fundamental understanding we carry in this show. We also look at the organizing victory of the United Auto Workers Union (UAW) at the southern Volkswagen manufacturing plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and a potential strike at more southern plants by the UAW. Then we focus in on the repression of free speech on campuses across the nation with a specific look at Columbia University’s attempt to silence opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Then we look at remarkable revelations by some in the US foreign policy establishment that a peace agreement was close at hand just weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine. Finally, we again skewer the best-seller White Rage by reading from a labor leader’s presentation of the facts about the rural white working class.

Sue Kirchmyer, Soundman Jim and Mark announce 2 new union recognition requests in Missoula: from the DFTBA Workers Union and the University of Montana Graduate Employees Union. We hear from Collette Berg, Taylor Lennox and Ethan Shafron, 3 members of the U of M Graduate Employees Union, in our interview of the week. A brief update on the Boeing situation will precede an editorial by Tony Davis on the decision facing the major airplane manufacturer. We read from an article about Faye Guenther of UFCW Local 3000 who is leading a major reform effort of her union. And we read a review about another book that wrongly blames the rural, white working class for the rise of Donald Trump.

Soundman Jim and Mark host this episode. Our word of the week is “economics.” We will hear a lecture by University of Montana Professor Clint Walker on “Taking the Pulse of Democracy Under Putin.” We will cover the recent closures of two Missoula County wood products industry operations. And we will cover the ongoing economic saga of one of the world’s major airplane manufacturers, Boeing. And lastly we will cover an apology and critique by economist Angus Deaton for the sorry state of his chosen profession.

Friend of the Show Alan Noonan joins Soundman Jim and Mark looking at our word of the week: “merger.” We will listen to the speeches and to some of the participants in last month’s Palestine support rally in Missoula, followed by an editorial by Robbie Liben. And we have our resident former Boeing engineer, soundman Jim Gillan, who will lead us in discussion about that troubled company and how its merger with McDonnell-Douglas has brought it to this point. We also have an update on the status of the Postal Service’s proposed closure of Missoula’s regional mail processing work, the proposed merger of grocery giants Albertsons and Kroger, a summary of notable worker organizing and struggles across the US, and a look at the illegal but successful teachers’ strike wave in Massachusetts.