Work Stoppage workstoppage

We briefly discuss new ULP charges against Amazon for surveillance, Boeing's latest lowball offer to their locked out fire fighters, Teamsters at MolsonCoors winning a tentative agreement, and Scarlet Johansson fighting the theft of her voice by AI to start out with some headlines. Also this week, dockworkers in Oakland are pushing for the ILWU to blockade military goods to Israel. Academic workers in UAW 4811 carried out the first week of their historic stand up strike for Palestine, and are expanding to UCLA and UC Davis this week. The NCAA announced this week a potentially historic settlement that would result in players finally receiving SOME compensation for their labor. Legal aid workers at NYC non profit Mobilization for Justice held strong for over 3 months and finally this week won a new contract meeting all their key demands. Finally, we celebrate the union win by character actors at Disneyland in California.
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The first Red Scare following the US entry into World War 1 threw the US left into intense turmoil. Though Elizabeth Gurley Flynn had left the IWW over organizational and strategic differences, she was swept up in the Palmer Raids alongside many of her comrades. She would devote much of the rest of her life to the legal defense of workers imprisoned for opposing war or fighting for their rights on the job. She fought for years to release thousands of political prisoners locked up for opposing the draft and criticizing US entry into the war. Through this work, Flynn also came into contact with one of the most historic cases of political persecution of this period, the legal lynching of Sacco and Vanzetti. Throughout the 1920s, though no longer a part of the IWW, Flynn remained a fixture of the US labor struggle, continuing to criss cross the country in defense of workers rights.
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We've got another packed episode after a ton of news in the labor movement this week. First, workers in Quebec have successfully formed the first recognized union at an Amazon warehouse in Canada. Next we discuss efforts by agribusiness giant Wonderful Nurseries to overturn California labor law to fight the UFW. We've got a lot of news about the UAW this week. First, the historic political strike by UAW Local 4811 workers at the University of California in defense of the right to protest. Then, of course, we have to discuss the union election at Mercedes, which didn't go the union's way this time, but represents massive progress. Finally, we close out with some good news as workers making electric buses, also in Alabama, won a historic new contract with record raises, and discuss a recent interview with Sara Nelson on her push to bring full union democracy to the AFA.
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The whole gang's back together for the first time in a month! This week, we saw faculty at both NYU and UNC-Chapel Hill, among other schools, launch grading strikes to demand amnesty for protestors brutally arrested during encampment sweeps. Also this week, train drivers in the UK launched yet another series of rolling strikes as the train operators continue to believe they can get away with not paying drivers. In another major act of corporate hubris, Boeing has locked out their in house firefighters after demanding they accept a top rate that only arrives after 19 years on the job. The UAW election at Mercedes is this week and the company is running scared, pulling out all the stops to try and halt another landslide victory. We also check in on the rampant union busting at Apple stores around the country, as they catch a lot less heat than Starbucks for using many of the same tactics. Finally, we congratulate the fight attendants of Breeze Airways for their union election win to join the AFA!
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If you're not a patron you can get the full episode by visiting patreon.com/workstoppage and support us with $5 a month.
Following the Bread and Roses strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn became a national name in labor. Her organizing skills and rousing speaking were sought after by workers all over the country. Flynn helped organize many epic struggles during this period, including a 6 month confrontation between workers and mill owners in the silk capital of the US, Paterson, NJ, and a violent struggle for justice by miners in Minnesota. In all these efforts Flynn faced increasing levels of repression and persecution for her organizing. Taking up the cause of workers' legal defense, she began an effort to free workers imprisoned for fighting for their rights that would last the rest of her life.
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We continue our host shuffle this week as Dan is back, but John is away. We do run through a bunch of headlines but our focus this week is on a few stories. The biggest story in the country, the fight by college students against the genocide waged by our government in Palestine, is also a labor story. The attack on these students is an assault on any concept of rights but also on the labor movement, because ultimately solidarity is both our greatest weapon and the ruling class's greatest fear. We discuss the fascist crackdown on dissent across the country and the ways workers are fighting back. Also this week, we discuss a new piece by Alex Press at Jacobin on the union busting at PEN America, where bosses have been slow rolling contract negotiations for over a year and a half.  The UAW continues to make huge gains, with nearly 4000 workers at Penn finally winning a grad student union, and another potentially historic vote upcoming next week at Mercedes in Alabama.  Finally, we close out celebrating the first win of many by the new Pharmacy Guild at CVS.
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Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee
More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/