Working People

Latest Episodes:

Mini-cast: Break the Chains, Pt I (w/ Josephine Lee & Tosh Anderson) Oct 24, 2019

Show notes

Part I of our mini-cast series on undocumented workers and the fight to repeal the employers' sanctions provision of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (1986) and secure equal rights for all workers (in collaboration with the Break the Chains Alliance).

Additional links/info below...

Break the Chains website: https://equalrightsforallworkers.org/
Break the Chains Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/equalrightsforallworkers/
Maximillian Alvarez & William Lopez, In These Times, "It's Not Just About Deportations: Trump Wants to Create a Permanent Underclass"

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Lobo Loco, "Malte Junior - Hall"

Mark Hardison Oct 22, 2019

Show notes

In Part I of our two-part episode on workers in the Maine logging industry, we chat with Mark Hardison, a longtime woodcutter from Eastern Maine, near the town of Ellsworth. We talk about Mark's life, getting involved in the woods industry, and about the ways that the industry has changed over the years. We also talk about efforts to organize workers in the woods industry and the long and complicated history between American workers, Canadian workers, and the companies that pit them against each other. We also talk about the serious dangers that workers in this industry face on a daily basis, including Mark himself, who was nearly crushed to death by a hanging tree.

We also check in with our friend Lauren Schandevel for the first installment on her recurring segment, The Bellwether Bitch, where she breaks down media representations of Macomb County, MI, where Lauren grew up.

Working People call-in line #: 734-272-4402

Additional links/info below...

Dan Morgan, The Washington Post, "Company 'Slavery' Ignites Maine Woodsmen's Union (1977)"
Steve Fuller, The Ellsworth American, "Bucksport First Responders Help Save Injured Logger's Life"
Beth Brogan, News Center Maine, "Maine Loggers Poised to Unionize"

The Bellwether Bitch...

Lauren's Twitter page
The Lead, CNN, "Voters in Critical Swing State on Impeachment"

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Lobo Loco, "Malte Junior - Hall"
November Polaroid, "Silent Ships"

Mini-cast: Update from the UAW Picket Line (w/ John Jayne) Oct 17, 2019

Show notes

We talk with John Jayne, a GM worker in Philadelphia and member of UAW Local 2177, about the month-long UAW strike and the new tentative contract agreement.

Additional links/info below...

Jamie L. LaReau, Detroit Free Press, "GM-UAW Deal Calls for 9,000 Jobs, $9,000 Ratification Bonus, E-truck at Detroit-Hamtramck"
Jamie McCallum, Jacobin, ""They Made That Money off Our Blood, Sweat, and Tears""
Sean Crawford and Maximillian Alvarez, In These Times, "The Strike Against General Motors Is One Front in a Much Larger Class War"

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Lobo Loco, "Malte Junior - Hall"
Pete Seger, "Solidarity Forever"

Darrow Omar Oct 13, 2019

Show notes

We talk with Darrow, office coordinator for Portland State University's Women, Sexuality, & Gender Studies Department and member organizer for SEIU Local 503. We talk about Darrow's involvement in the union and about the planned statewide strike that was narrowly averted soon after we recorded this episode. But we also got a chance to talk about Darrow's life as a queer millennial from the Northern Mariana Islands who made their way to being a university staff worker in Oregon and getting involved in union organizing.

Additional links/info below...

CSEIU 503 website and Twitter page
Kelly Hayes, Truthout, "Oregon State University Employees Vote to Authorize a Strike Amid Heated Moment"
Kim Kelly, The New Republic, "The Next Big Labor Strike Hits Oregon"
Henry Houston, Eugene Weekly, "SEIU, Universities Avoid Strike"

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Lobo Loco, "Malte Junior - Hall"
Scott Holmes, "Hotshot"

Homecoming (w/ Sarah Smarsh) Sep 27, 2019

Show notes

SPECIAL EPISODE: We chat with the one and only Sarah Smarsh, author of Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard & Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth.

Additional links/info below...

Sarah's Twitter page and website
Sarah Smarsh, Scribner Books, Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard & Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth
The Homecomers (podcast) Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Lobo Loco, "Malte Junior - Hall"

Going to the Mat Sep 23, 2019

Show notes

In Part II of our season-opening special on indie professional wrestlers, we talk with Noah (The Sorceress), Chris Hutton (Rob Matter), and Joella (Incogneato/Chronic Pain) about their experiences at different levels of the indie wrestling scene.

Additional links/info below...

Chris's Twitter Page
Incogneato's Instagram page
Noah's Twitter page
Wrestle Yr Friends Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Lobo Loco, "Malte Junior - Hall"
Small Tall Order, "Trying"
Tendinite, "More Whiskey"

Angel Blue Sep 08, 2019

Show notes

We kick off Season 3 with news from Andy O'Brien (AFL-CIO) about a unionization push in the Maine logging industry and we talk with indie professional wrestler Angel Blue. We talk about how Angel first got into wrestling when she was still in high school, all the work and the physical and mental stress that goes into being a professional wrestler, and what it's like when you walk through the curtain before a match... And we talk about how Angel has seen and been a part of the explosion of kick-ass women wrestlers in the past two decades. We also talk about the neck injury Angel suffered in the ring earlier this year and the incredibly tough road she has traveled since it happened, including struggling with doctors who treat her like shit because she needs a surgery she can't afford (please consider donating to Angel's GoFundMe fundraiser to help her pay her medical bills).

Additional links/info below...

Angel's Twitter page
GoFundMe fundraiser for Angel's medical bills

News from Maine ...

Andy O'Brien's Twitter page
O'Chang Comics
Beth Brogan, News Center Maine, "Maine Loggers Poised to Unionize"

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Lobo Loco, "Malte Junior - Hall"
Return to Normal, Celestial"

Mini-cast: (ACTION NOW) Say No to IRAPs Aug 24, 2019

Show notes

Directed by the Trump administration, the US Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed changes to apprenticeship programs that could spell disaster for union workers in the building trades, giving businesses the ability to create their own apprenticeship programs (IRAPs), underpay workers, and undercut unions. We recorded this PSA to let listeners know what is going on, why it's bad, and what you can do about it. The period to file a public comment in opposition to these proposed changes ends this Monday, August 26: follow the links below to tell the DOL to keep IRAPs out of construction.

Links for filing public comments...

Federal Register - Apprenticeship Programs, Labor Standards for Registration, Amendment of Regulations
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers - Public Comment Form (Friends/Family)

Additional links/info below...

Michael Prebil & Lul Tesfai, New America, "In Proposed Apprenticeship Amendment, Congress Might Join DOL in Putting the Cart before the Horse"
Michigan Building & Construction Trades Council - Tell the DOL: Hands off building trades apprenticeships
NW Labor Press, "Building Trades Sounds Alarm on DOL Apprenticeship Proposal"
Ian Kullgren, Politico, "Construction Workers Prepare to Battle Former Ally Trump"

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Lobo Loco, "Malte Junior - Hall"

Mini-cast: Pay KY Coal Miners Now! (w/ Josh Holbrook) Aug 04, 2019

Show notes

We talk with Josh Holbrook, one of the Kentucky coal miners currently protesting coal companies Black Jewel, Black Hawk, and Revelation for stiffing him and his coworkers on backpay after going bankrupt.

Additional links/info below...

GoFundMe - Letcher County BlackJewel Coal Miners
Action Network - Fund for Former Revelation, Black Hawk, and Black Jewel Miners Demonstrating in Harlan County
Brittany Patterson & Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley Resource, " Laid-Off Employees Of Bankrupt Blackjewel Mining Seek Pay, Answers"
Oakley Fugate & Shaylan Clark, "Black Jewel Protest in Cumberland"
Curren Sheldon, 100 Days in Appalachia, "The Protesting Kentucky Coal Miners Who Stood Up and Stopped a Train"

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Lobo Loco, "Malte Junior - Hall"

Mini-cast: Show Me What Democracy Looks Like (w/ Astra Taylor) Jul 26, 2019

Show notes

A section from our chat with Astra Taylor, writer, filmmaker, organizer, and co-founder of the Debt Collective. We talk about Astra's new documentary, What Is Democracy?, and her companion book, Democracy May Not Exist, But We'll Miss It When It's Gone.

Additional links/info below...

Astra's Twitter page
Debt Collective website and Twitter page
Astra Taylor, Zeitgeist Films, What Is Democracy?
Astra Taylor, Metropolitan Books, Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone
Maximillian Alvarez, The Baffler, "Wrestling with the Demo(n)s"

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Lobo Loco, "Malte Junior - Hall"

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