Labor Heritage Power Hour

Union vets on the line

Broadcast on May 26, 2022
Hosted by Chris Garlock
Union Veterans Council Executive Director Will Attig on why he got arrested with fellow union vets at the Warrior Met strike. What the 1937 Memorial Day Massacre has to tell us today, with Ahmed White, professor of law at the University of Colorado-Boulder and author of “The Last Great Strike: Little Steel, the CIO, and the Struggle for Labor Rights in New Deal America.” And Harold Meyerson, Editor At Large at The American Prospect, on the return of “law and order” to the NLRB.
Today’s music: One Man Revolution; Tom Morello
Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Michael Nassella.
@wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod @WillAttig @unionveterans @TheProspect @HaroldMeyerson @MineWorkers @tmorello

Does Buffalo end the “Lone Wolf” theory?

Broadcast on May 19, 2022
Hosted by Chris Garlock
Bill Fletcher, Mike Wilson and Mark Gaston Pearce on the racist attack on Black shoppers and workers in Buffalo: does the mainstreaming of the baseless “replacement theory” by the GOP finally debunk the equally specious “Lone Wolf” theory?
Plus: Peter Dreier on Major League Rebels & Baseball Rebels.
Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Michael Nassella.
@wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod @BillFletcherJr @MarkGPearceWRI @UFCW400 @PeterDreier

Kim Kelly says “Fight Like Hell”

Broadcast on May 12, 2022
Hosted by Chris Garlock
Labor journalist KIM KELLY on her new book “Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor”, plus NALC Branch 142 President KEITH HOOKS on the Letter Carriers’ annual "Stamp out Hunger" Food Drive, Saturday, May 14 and why longtime organizer RICHARD BENSINGER thinks Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz “will go down in history as the Al Capone of union busters”. Plus the latest labor news headlines.
Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Michael Nassella.
@wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod @grimkim @WPFWDC @NALC_National #tampOutHunger RichBensinger1 @starbucksunion

Reproductive rights are workers rights

Broadcast on May 5, 2022
Hosted by Chris Garlock & Ed Smith
Hayley Brown, VP for Organizing at the Nonprofit Employees Union (NPEU): Reproductive rights are workers rights, and abortion access is a labor issue (Read NPEU’s statement here); Damon Silvers on “Labor, Climate Change, and Innovation” and why working people are central to any solution to the climate change crisis.
Plus labor news headlines: D.C. Circulator drivers strike for second day amid negotiations; Apple workers in Maryland seek unionization; Amazon Workers Urged to Fight On After Staten Island Union Push Fails; Starbucks will raise wages again — but not for unionized workers; White House to host union organizers representing Amazon, Starbucks workers; Jorts the Cat vs. Scabby the Rat: Rising Labor Movement Needs New Mascots.
Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Michael Nassella.
@wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod @NonprofitUnion @hayleycbbrown

Killed at Work

Broadcast on April 28, 2022
Hosted by Chris Garlock & Ed Smith
On Workers Memorial Day, National Council for Occupational Safety and Health Communications Coordinator Melissa Moriarty on the Killed at Work and Dirty Dozen reports. Monsignor George Higgins, the leading “labor priest” of his era, passed away 20 years ago; Clayton Sinyai, Executive Director of the Catholic Labor Network and member of Laborers Local 11, reports on events honoring Higgins scheduled for May 1 and May 2 (details here). Filmmaker Deborah Shaffer discusses “The Wobblies,” which screens on May Day at the 2022 DC Labor FilmFest.
Today’s music: We Just Come to Work Here & Dump The Bosses Off Your Back; by Anne Feeney.
Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Michael Nassella.
@wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

Earth Day 2022: Fight For Our Future

Broadcast on April 21, 2022
Hosted by Chris Garlock & Ed Smith
Barista J FLETCHER on this week’s vote by workers at five Richmond Starbucks to unionize; JOHN DOHERTY (Painters union) on the April 23 Fight for Our Future rally for climate, care, jobs and justice; ROBIN RUNGE on Stopping Gender-Based Violence and Harassment at Work: The Campaign for an ILO Convention (April 26 book talk); labor historian and journalist MICHAEL MATEJKA on the April 28 Steve Sutton Memorial Dedication in Marseilles, Illinois.Today’s music: Paradise (John Prine cover) by Joe Uehlein; Night Falls by Tom Morello.
Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Ciera Shine.
@wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

Office space: designed for whom?

Broadcast on April 14, 2022
Hosted by Chris Garlock & Ed Smith
Chris Biondi, Training Director at the Washington DC Joint Plumbing Apprenticeship Committee talks about apprentices and Plumber Local 5’s April 21 Industry Day and Open House. Then, there are real questions about the future of the office in the wake of the pandemic; we take a look at the fascinating history of office design with Jennifer Kaufmann-Buhler, author of Open Plan: A Design History of the American Office. Labor news headlines: Starbucks workers vote to unionize 6 more stores, pushing total to 16; Amazon alleges ALU interference in recent union election win, calls for a re-vote; Companies like Amazon spend millions on anti-union efforts. Where’s that money going? ; Starbucks is advertising for an in-house lawyer with experience in 'strike contingency planning' amid increased unionization efforts; Wave of union victories suggests union-busting consultants may have lost their sway; Amazon workers suffer injuries at inflated rates; Actors in ‘Waitress’ Tour Seek to Join Labor Union.Today’s music: 9 to 5, Dolly Parton.
Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Michael Nassella.
@wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

Amazon workers notch historic win

Broadcast on April 7, 2022
Hosted by Chris Garlock & Ed Smith
American Prospect editor at large HAROLD MEYERSON on the historic win at the Amazon JFK8 warehouse, plus exciting news about big changes in labor law thanks to NLRB general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo.
Hundreds of workers at Howard University Hospital are planning a one-day strike next Monday; YRAW co-host Ed Smith, who’s Executive Director of the District of Columbia Nurses Association (DCNA), explains why.
Commercial security officers rallied Wednesday for a fair contract; we hear more from JUDITH HOWELL, a longtime security officer and board member at SEIU 32BJ.
At another rally yesterday, AFSCME Local 2401 members demonstrated in support of telework for DC city workers; the local’s chief shop steward, ROGER SCOTT, reports.
Today’s music: Union Strike Folk Song; Lisa Simpson.
Labor news headlines: Senators announce funding for Capitol cafeteria workers facing layoff; Southern California grocery workers union signs tentative wage hike agreement, averting strike; Bus operators for the DC Circulator approve strike; Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Says Companies Are Being ‘Assaulted’ by Unions.
Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Michael Nassella.
@wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

On The Line with Daisy Pitkin

Broadcast on March 31, 2022
Hosted by Chris Garlock
On today’s show, Washington Hilton housekeepers were up in arms on Tuesday; we find out why from UNITE HERE Local 25’s Paul Schwalb. Then, the Montgomery County Council last week unanimously approved an expansion of the Prevailing Wage; Stephen Courtien, president of the Baltimore-D.C. Metro Building and Construction Trades Council tells us what that will mean for local building trades workers.
Our final guest is longtime union organizer Daisy Pitkin; her brand-new book, ON THE LINE: A Story of Class, Solidarity, and Two Women’s Epic Fight to Build a Union, takes a very timely behind-the-scenes look at the fight to build a union.
PLUS: Ballad of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire(Bev Grant) and the latest labor news headlines.
Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Michael Nassella.
@wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod @UHLocal25 @daisypitkin

Putting the movement in Movement

Broadcast on March 24, 2022
Hosted by Chris Garlock
Movement Crystal City is the first major gym in the country to unionize; organizer Gus Mason joins us to explain why…then, Sunday was the first day of Spring and strikes have been popping up all over; Johnnie Kallas from Cornell's Labor Tracker Project updates us on their latest findings…And finally, if you were glued to this week’s Senate hearing on the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, here’s a case no one brought up: Holmes v. Atlanta, when the Supreme Court ruled against Atlanta's "separate but equal" public golf courses. We find out what the game of golf has to tell us about race in America today, with professor Lane Demas, author of Game of Privilege: An African American History of Golf.
Plus labor news headlines: Tentative agreement reached between Howard University and their faculty; Virginia, the first state to set Covid workplace rules, drops them; Seattle Starbucks workers vote yes for unionization; Grocery workers in California are voting to authorize a strike; Many workers are looking to switch jobs; 52 million workers make less than $15 an hour. Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Michael Nassella and TBD.
@wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod @ILRLaborAction