At Philadelphia's 2025 May Day Rally and March, Gabe and Sam ran around with a microphone to get recordings from union members, organizers, and workers. Each person was asked 4 questions: -Who was the worst boss you've ever had and why? -Are you part of a union? -What does being a union member mean to you? -What was your favorite moment of solidarity that you've witnessed? Submit your story at www.laborjawn.com/voices Support the show www.laborjawn.com...
Jun 28, 2025•4 min
At Philadelphia's 2025 May Day Rally and March, Gabe and Sam ran around with a microphone to get recordings from union members, organizers, and workers. Each person was asked 4 questions: -Who was the worst boss you've ever had and why? -Are you part of a union? -What does being a union member mean to you? -What was your favorite moment of solidarity that you've witnessed? Submit your story at www.laborjawn.com/voices Support the show www.laborjawn.com...
Jun 28, 2025•3 min
In this special interview episode, Sam and Gabe sit down with Josh MacPhee and Kennedy Block to talk about their new book "Strike While the Needle Is Hot: A Discography of Worker’s Revolt," which documents 80 records that striking workers and their supporters have put out. Pick up a copy from Common Notions to get 15% off with the code STRIKE15. The first 100 sales will also get a free mixtape of strike songs! Support the show www.laborjawn.com...
Jun 23, 2025•1 hr
In a period when Philadelphia's tourism industry was starting to soar, hotel workers' wages were stagnant. They launched a strategically timed strike to fight for a raise, while a rank and file caucus pressured union leadership into action. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Jun 09, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 79
In 1977, SEPTA workers walked out into a bitter 44 day struggle, leading to a rank and file fight against both the bosses and their own union leadership. Originally aired: August 24, 2022. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
May 29, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 32
At Philadelphia's 2025 May Day Rally and March, Gabe and Sam ran around with a microphone to get recordings from union members, organizers, and workers. Each person was asked 4 questions: -Who was the worst boss you've ever had and why? -Are you part of a union? -What does being a union member mean to you? -What was your favorite moment of solidarity that you've witnessed? Submit your story at www.laborjawn.com/voices Support the show www.laborjawn.com...
May 18, 2025•2 min
During WW2, to prevent the runaway inflation experienced in the 1st World War, the US Government established the Office of Price Administration to enforce price ceilings and regulate business. But after the war conservative forces started to push for their wholesale removal, the labor movement stepped up to try and prevent another great depression. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
May 15, 2025•59 min•Ep. 78
In March 2021, workers at the Mariposa Food Co-Op in West Philly formed a union with UFCW Local 1776. Today, they're working to build more power in order to make Mariposa into an even better place to work. Originally aired: February 13, 2023. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
May 06, 2025•1 hr 4 min
Before the United Auto Workers formed in 1935, there had been multiple attempts to organize the industry. In 1933, Ford Workers in Chester, Pennsylvania went out for union recognition, triggering multiple other strikes and actions. Originally aired: November 29, 2023. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
May 05, 2025•55 min•Ep. 57
While private sector employees in Philadelphia had been seeing huge union wins throughout the 1930s, municipal workers were largely left out. This would all change in 1938 when garbage collectors brought the city to a standstill in a weeks long strike. Originally aired: September 5, 2022. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Apr 28, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 33
In early 1917, workers at sugar refineries in South Philly went on strike for better hours, conditions, and pay. But after weeks of stalemate, poverty, and staggering inflation, the strike turned into a violent clash between workers’ families and police. Episodes 28-29 originally aired: June 26, 2022. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Apr 23, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 28
In Hazleton, Pennsylvania, radical silk workers fought an uphill battle against the bosses, scabs, and even the American Federation of Labor. Originally aired: January 29, 2024. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Apr 17, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 60
In the midst of the Great Depression, a group of workers at the Hershey Chocolate Company went on a sit down strike for better conditions, wages, and most importantly, union recognition. The ensuing battle pitted worker against worker as a massive riot broke out in what was once considered an oasis of prosperity and peace. Originally aired: April 11, 2022. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Apr 16, 2025•38 min•Ep. 22
In 2020, workers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art voted to unionize, but it took 2 years and a 19 day strike for them to get a first contract. Gabe and Sam sit down with Tim Tiebout, Adam Mazieka, and Juliet Vinegra to discuss the history and future of the union. Originally aired: April 3, 2023. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Apr 16, 2025•46 min
Workers from the largest non-union hosiery mill in 1930s Philadelphia go on strike. Originally aired: January 11, 2022. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Apr 15, 2025•34 min•Ep. 10
In this special interview episode, Sam and Gabe chat with Eli and Alex, organizers with Workers United, who have been building a militant union of cafe, bakery, and coffee roaster workers in Philly. Originally aired: September 18, 2023. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Apr 15, 2025•47 min
Originally founded as a secret society of tailors, the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor eventually grew to become a national labor force of 700,000 workers. Episodes 18-19 originally aired: March 21, 2022. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Apr 14, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 18
In this special interview episode, Sam and Gabe sit down to discuss the history of zionism, antizionism, and the American labor movement, with writer and activist Alison Glick and lawyer, organizer, and activist Suzanne Adely from Labor for Palestine. Originally aired: November 7, 2023. Donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians: https://www.map.org.uk/ Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Apr 10, 2025•1 hr 3 min
After winning their first fight in 1900, Pennsylvania anthracite miners went on strike for the 8 hour day, higher wages, and union recognition. This would lead to one of the first federal mediation committees in US history. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Apr 01, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 77
By the end of the American War for Independence, soldiers of the Pennsylvania Line had gone for months with little to no pay. Their only recourse left: mutiny against congress. Originally aired: October 4, 2022. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Mar 31, 2025•55 min•Ep. 35
Wartime Philly: thousands of white transit workers walk off the job to protest the promotion of eight black employees. Originally aired: January 17, 2022. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Mar 30, 2025•36 min•Ep. 11
When prohibition became law in January 1919, it left many questions unanswered. During this uncertainty, bartenders in Philadelphia went out on strike in a political protest. Originally aired: September 19, 2022. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Mar 30, 2025•33 min•Ep. 34
In this special interview, Sam and Gabe sit down with Katherine Coker, a former restaurant worker who has been educating and agitating around Philly, teaching people about wage theft and the conditions in the restaurant industry. Originally aired: June 28, 2023. https://linktr.ee/katherinecoker Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Mar 27, 2025•40 min
The 1970s were a turbulent time in American and Philadelphia history. Amidst stagnant wages, inflation, and a new law allowing public sector strikes, Philly school teachers took matters into their own hands fighting the district, mayor, and state. Episodes 44-45 originally aired: March 7 and 20, 2023. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Mar 25, 2025•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 44
In 1937, battery workers in Philly fought for higher wages using a brand new strike tactic, triggering a rift among the labor movement in the city. Originally aired: August 7, 2023. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Mar 25, 2025•46 min•Ep. 52
In this special interview episode, Gabe and Sam talk with Wade Rathke, founder and chief organizer for ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). Originally aired: April 27, 2023. chieforganizer.org Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Mar 24, 2025•36 min
After a deadly building collapse in a predominantly black South Philly neighborhood, a coalition of housing advocates, labor leaders, and radicals pressured the city to create the Philadelphia Housing Authority. Originally aired: May 6, 2022. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Mar 24, 2025•36 min•Ep. 20
In the 1700s, every ship coming into Philadelphia needed a pilot to guide it. But as the wealthy merchant class started to solidify power, they started to clash with the fiercely independent sailors who guided their ships. Originally aired: February 20, 2023. www.andrewjlyter.com Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Mar 23, 2025•49 min
In this special interview episode, Sam and Gabe sit down with Dr. Blair LM Kelley, director of the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina, about her new book Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class. Originally aired: July 10, 2023. https://www.profblmkelley.com/ Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Mar 23, 2025•46 min
Fast food workers across the US strike for better pay and the raising of the minimum wage. We also take time to rant about past jobs and the utter insanity of good ol' American capitalism. Originally aired: February 7, 2022. Support the show www.laborjawn.com
Mar 20, 2025•39 min•Ep. 13
