“There's a lot of solidarity, a lot of love and in both Philadelphia and Chicago, and it's been a great road trip with the Labor Radio Podcast Network.” Empathy Media Lab partnered with the LRPN to capture the voices of the global trade union movement from the AFL-CIO Convention in Philadelphia to the Labor Notes conference in Chicago. Evan Papp, Chris Garlock, and Patrick Dixon reflected on these conferences on our drive back to Washington, D.C. Follow the Labor Radio Podcas

“If you're thinking about trying to start a podcast or a radio show, don't think about doing it all yourself, This is a collective thing.” Judy Ancel - Heartland Labor Forum The Labor On The Airwaves panel attracted an overflow audience at this year's Labor Notes conference. A show of hands revealed that about a third of those in attendance already had shows while another third was interested in finding out how to start their own shows, many of whom stopped by the Network's b

“When you come to the fight with organized labor, if you are corporate America, and you want to take us on, or you are a crooked corruptible politician, put your helmets on, buckle your chin strap. It's a full contact sport!” Teamster President Sean O’Brien Friday night’s all-star program at the 2022 Labor Notes conference in Chicago featured Chris Smalls from the Amazon Labor Union, Bernie Sanders and Teamsters president Sean O’Brien, who fired up an already-fired-up crowd.

There are over 4,000 folks at the 2022 Labor Notes conference in Chicago and the Labor Radio Podcast Network team talked to almost all of them today…Liz Medina, Will Westlake, Michael Brennan, Robert Ovetz, Jeff Eagan, Noah Strang, John Courtney, Jordan Fisher, Mitchell Jones, Howard Stewart, Sam Sprole, Lynn Fields, Lakeisha Lloyd, Dan Kask and Bobby Lynn Negron. OK, maybe not all 4,000, but a terrific cross-section of the activists and self-proclaimed “troublemakers” gather

Mother Jones is one of my heroes.

Christian Smalls, Amazon Labor Union President, delivers his opening statement before the Senate Budget Committee, hearing on “Taxpayer Money to Companies Violating Labor Laws.” The Senate Budget Committee held a hearing to examine taxpayer dollars to companies that violate labor laws. Amazon’s labor practices was a focus. Christian Smalls, Amazon’s labor union president testified and said “it’s not a left or right thing. It’s not a Democrat or Republican thing. It’s a worker

“Apartheid used racial discrimination as an instrument to maintain the cheap labor system. So the core of apartheid was a cheap labor system, based on black exploitation.” Jay Naidoo is a South African anti-apartheid activist, trade unionist, and author. Jay served as the first general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions from 1985 to 1993. Following South Africa's transition to democracy in the early 1990s, Jay served as a cabinet minister under the late P

Excerpt from Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps You're all pretty much fucked. They got all these fancy names for trillions of dollars of credit: CMO, CDOs, SIVs, ABS… So Mr. Banker starts leveraging his interest 50 to 1, with your money because he could. 40% of all American corporate profits came from financial services, not production, not anything remotely to do with the needs of the American public. The mother of all evil is speculation, leveraged debt, borrowing to the hilt

“A distillation of my 30 years mentoring and editing authors of all kinds, this little book will show you how to tell your story in tight, addictive prose.” Veteran nurse Timothy Sheard is a writer, publisher, mentor to writers and union organizer with the National Writers Union, UAW Local 1-9-8-1. Timothy has written 9 mystery novels featuring hospital custodian-shop steward Lenny Moss, 2 stand alone crime novels, and he is the founder of Hard Ball Press to help working clas

"You can rally around those people and say, 'No more killing of people through the slow crucifixions of low wage work, union busting, and lack of healthcare.'” Matt Bernico recently published an article in Sojourners Magazine titled RECENT UNION WINS MEAN IT’S TIME FOR MORE ORGANIZED RELIGION. On this Easter Weekend, I needed to learn more. We discuss how Jesus belongs to a particular class of people in history called the crucified people; The powers and principalities using

We continue to explore ways in which if advocates and workers themselves are part of the design and control of platforms...

In The Future We Need, Erica Smiley and Sarita Gupta bring a novel perspective to building worker power and what labor organizing could look like in the future, suggesting ways to evolve collective bargaining to match the needs of modern people—not only changing their wages and working conditions, but being able to govern over more aspects of their lives. Weaving together stories of real working people, Smiley and Gupta position the struggle to build collective bargaining pow

"When I arrived in Thailand, I was an illegal migrant worker. But even though I work in a factory, I read the news every day. I read about the minimum wage. I read about eight hour working hours and how much workers should get paid for overtime." Aung Kyaw, Co-Founder of Thailand's Migrant Worker Rights Network Aung Kyaw is one of the founders and longtime lead organizers of the Migrant Worker Rights Network, a membership-based organization for migrant workers from Myanmar re

An ethical businessperson helps us understand alternatives to the exploitative gig model. We ask: if we keep humans in the loop, can tech in the domestic and care sector be an opportunity rather than a curse? Guests: Aaron Seyedian, Well-Paid Maids; Sayem, domestic worker About The Gig is about the women and men who work in the so-called 'gig economy' worldwide. They find work through online platforms, and will tell us why we all need to be concerned about the real future o

We go to India and Thailand to talk about intimate personal care services that take place in people's homes. Advocates and researchers explain how technology is affecting personal care workers who are already low wage, precarious and exploited. Clients expect 'emotional labor' from these women but there are big risks of gender-based violence that platforms may exacerbate. Guests: Kriangsak Teerawitkajorn, Just Economy and Labour Institute (JELI); Khawla Zainab, IT for Change

“The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's throat, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as a liberator, while the wolf denounces him.

We fast forward from past to future, speaking with two technologists, one based in New York and the other in Barcelona, Spain about how new

Full Interview Evan Papp discusses the largest armed insurrection in the U.S. since the Civil War with the American System Network. This was recorded in September 2021, shortly after Evan produced a series on the Battle of Blair Mountain for the 100 year anniversary. You can hear the original recording at American System here. Union Solidarity Forever! Additional Content About the Battle of Blair Mountain Voices from the Centennial March to Blair Mountain - Organized by the U

"Full employment is the foundation of a just economy.The most urgent priority for domestic economic policy is the creation of new jobs with adequate pay and decent working conditions." In Episode 5, we discuss Economic Justice for All, which is the pastoral letter promulgated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1986. The letter addresses the precarity of Americans living within the U.S. economy and is framed by the values of Catholic social teaching and thu

“So why did we want to recreate this March? Because we are bound and determined that the history of our forefathers will not be taken away from us by any rich person or any government.” Cecil Roberts, President of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) One hundred years ago, in a rural mountainous stretch in middle America, a violent labor uprising took place, a battle of good versus evil, rebellion against wage slavery, a fight for freedom against tyranny -- yet this hist