There is Power in a Union As Thousands of Academic Workers Set to Strike in California

Posted inLabor

Over 36,000 academic workers across the University of California’s 10-campus system held a strike authorization vote. The vote passed with nearly 98% approval. The strike will begin on November 14th. Workers are demanding include increased compensation, access to sustainable transportation, more childcare assistance, and increased job security.

Listen in: bit.ly/3A7HTjJ

Scott talks with Galen Liang, a grad student and UAW 2865 member to get an update on the looming strike.

How Union Organizing Fights the Boss w/ union organizer Daisy Pitkin

Posted inLabor
We’re in the midst of a new era of momentum and militancy around labor organizing. We’re seeing headline grabbing organizing campaigns at Starbucks and Amazon shifting the political landscape. But beyond Starbucks and Amazon, union organizing has been spreading to sectors across the country.     
In our latest episode, we talk with labor organizer and writer Daisy Pitkin about her new book “On the Line: A Story of Class, Solidarity, and Two Women’s Epic Fight to Build a Union.” We talk about her work organizing a series of factory laundromats in Phoenix, AZ in the early 2000s. Pitkin worked with immigrant women working in the terrible conditions to organize a union. Most notably, she worked with a woman named Alma, who Pitkin describes as “the gutsiest worker leader I’ve ever met.”  
This was all done despite a vicious corporate backlash in the reddest of red states.   
Currently, Pitkin is organizing Starbucks workers in the Rust Belt. We discuss the Starbucks campaign and the future of labor organizing.