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"Rather than viewing strikes as a last-resort bargaining tactic, the labor movement must embrace them as engines of political transformation."

Erik Baker, an American historian, associate editor at The Drift, and a former UAW staff organizer, joins Laborwave to discuss his article for Jewish Currents, Revaluing the Strike.

You can read the full article at https://jewishcurrents.org/revaluing-the-strike

Eric Dirnbach joins the show to discuss premajority unionism, where you don't need to wait around to act like a union but can be a union from the start!

We also talk about strikes, dues checkoff, fighting corporate giants like Starbucks and Amazon, and more.

Check out the article written by Eric Dirnbach and Colette Perold on premajority unionism at https://workerorganizing.org/premajority-unionism/

Back from hiatus with a no holds barred takedown of every popular argument for reviving the power of organizing labor! Marianne Garneau, editor in chief of Organizing Work, joins the discussion to breakdown the debates on organizing the unorganized, the rank and file strategy, and forming new types of contemporary unions.

Check out my new article in Organizing Work that dives deeper into the problems with the "militant minority" tendency: https://organizing.work

Matthew Dimick, Professor of Law at the University of Buffalo, joins the show to respond to recent debate over the Wagner Act. Dimick makes clear that rather than trying to posit the Act was a gift to labor that the labor movement should be cautious whenever the state seeks to substitute its powers for unions own self-activity.

Our discussion touches on the following articles written by Dimick in Organizing Work and Catalyst Journal.

Counterfeit Liberty- https://catalyst-journal.com/2019/07/counterfeit-liberty

The Wagner Act, Cause and Consequences- https://organizing.work/2022/08/the-wagner-act-causes-and-consequences/

Toni Gilpin joins the show to discuss her book, The Long Deep Grudge, which chronicles the epic battles of the Farm Equipment Workers Union (FE) against corporate giant International Harvester.

From the book description, "International Harvester – and the McCormick family that largely controlled it – garnered a reputation for bare-knuckled union-busting in the 1880s, but in the 20th century also pioneered sophisticated union-avoidance techniques that have since become standard corporate practice. On the other side the militant Farm Equipment Workers union, connected to the Communist Party, mounted a vociferous challenge to the cooperative ethos that came to define the American labor movement after World War II."

Order the book at https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1383-the-long-deep-grudge

Laborwave Radio has joined the Channel Zero Network, an english-based anarchist radio/podcast network run by radical media makers. Explore the network's co-conspirators at channelzeronetwork.com

Send comments and questions about labor organizing to laborwavenews@gmail.com

Please support Laborwave Radio by subscribing to our patreon at patreon.com/laborwaveWe have gifts depending on the tier you join, and exclusive access to our archives and Discord server.

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Second episode in our discussion of the life and thought of William Z. Foster.

On this go around Lucas Carpenter and Tim Shields join the show to do a deep dive over Foster's proposed methods for effective labor organizing. In particular we examine his pamphlets Organizing Methods in the Steel Industry and Strike Strategy.

We also discuss the techniques of pink sheeting, role of popular education in organizing, and competing conceptions of leadership identification and development.

This and more on the latest episode of Laborwave Radio.

Laborwave Radio has joined the Channel Zero Network, an english-based anarchist radio/podcast network run by radical media makers. Explore the network's co-conspirators at channelzeronetwork.com

Send comments and questions about labor organizing to laborwavenews@gmail.com

Please support Laborwave Radio by subscribing to our patreon at patreon.com/laborwaveWe have gifts depending on the tier you join, and exclusive access to our archives and Discord server.

Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, it helps our content reach new listeners. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/laborwave-radio/id1536697871