Broadcast on January 6, 2022 Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith This week's show: One year after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, the Capitol Police resist privatization and AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler on the fight for democracy. EPI Policy Analyst Margaret Poydock on why unions are not only good for workers, they’re good for communities and for democracy. This week’s music: The Selecter’s “All You Fascists Are Bound To Lose”. Plus labor news headlines: Politics and Prose recognizes union ; DN...
Jan 06, 2022•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on December 30, 2021 This week’s show, after months of negotiations and a public campaign, Colonial Williamsburg workers have finally won new contract ; we talk with Benjy Cannon, Communications Director at UNITE HERE Local 25. Then: will this year’s historic strike wave continue in 2022? Contracts covering 1.3 million workers expire next year; Labor Notes Assistant Editor Dan DiMaggio reports on Who Might Strike in 2022 . PLUS: "We Won't Back Down" a brand-new song from Jerry Levinsky...
Dec 30, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on December 23, 2021 This week's show: The San Francisco Mime Troupe’s “A Red Carol” radio drama blends activism, comedy, music, and passion to re-imagine the Charles Dickens classic as a story, not of the redemption of one bad man, but as the never-ending story of all of us making the world a more progressive place. A Red Caro l, written and directed by Michael Gene Sullivan , adapted from “A Christmas Carol ” by Charles Dickens, features a 10 person cast that includes present and vet...
Dec 23, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on December 16, 2021 This week's show: Live-streamed from the Blue House Productions sound stage last Sunday night, the DC Labor Chorus’ Evening of Favorite and Sacred Songs is one of the highlights of the local labor calendar, featuring selections from the folk, gospel, jazz, seasonal, and labor traditions, including new songs inspired by recent events. The DC Labor Chorus is directed by Elise Bryant and made up of labor and community activists who love to sing for peace, for joy, and...
Dec 16, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on December 9, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith This week's show: Live from Battle Creek, Michigan, an update from Trevor Bidelman, president of Baker’s Local 3G on why Kellogg’s strikers overwhelmingly rejected the latest contract offer. Then, teaching history shouldn’t have to mean re-living it on the job. Workers at Colonial Williamsburg are being worked to the bone and exploited, just like in the old days, says their union, UNITE HERE Local 25; Benjy Cannon reports. The on...
Dec 09, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on December 2, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith This week's show: we talk with David Story, a defense industry worker who says it’s time to cut the Pentagon budget (and spend the money on unionized green jobs); then we catch up with James Schiffman, an associate professor in Georgia who was punished when he spoke out ( ‘We are teaching in COVID factories' ) about his concerns about his school’s lax covid policies. Plus labor news headlines: M.L.B.’s lockout begins; Union worke...
Dec 02, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on November 18, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith This week's show: The Warrior Met Coal strike comes to DC; UMWA’s Erin Bates reports. AFL-CIO Director of government affairs Bill Samuel on how the just-signed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will put millions of Americans to work. Author Joseph Anderson explores the worker perspective in his new book “ Capitalist Pigs: Pigs, Pork, and Power in America .” PLUS: Hold The Line ; brand-new music from Tom Morello! Produced by...
Nov 18, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on November 11, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith This week's show: William Attig, Executive Director of the Union Veterans Council, AFL-CIO drops by to discuss a brand-new program, Operation Union Veterans Day. Then, New York Times media columnist Ben Smith on Why the Media Loves Labor Now . Plus, the 60-second Labor Rap! Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Kaliah Chapman. @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod @AFLCIO @unionveterans @benyt...
Nov 12, 2021•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on November 4, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith This week's show: Harold Meyerson, Editor-at-large, American Prospect, on “The Biden Drift and do-nothing Democrats.” UNITE HERE Local 25 Political Director Sam Epps on connecting electoral work – his local knocked on over 200,000 Virginia doors during the recent elections -- with union organizing. PLUS: Garlock workers strike in Palmyra, NY, and the John Deere strike continues as UAW members reject a second contract proposal. Pr...
Nov 05, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on October 28, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock This week's show: Michigan Congressman Andy Levin remembers AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka and tells us about the “ Keeping Workers Safe Act” Levin just introduced in Congress. Then, Jack Metzgar on his book "Bridging the Divide” and the differences between working-class and middle-class cultures in the U.S. We wrap up with singer-songwriter George Mann, who’s just released a brand-new CD, “A World Like This.” Produced by Chris Garlock; eng...
Oct 28, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on October 21, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith This week's show: Today is Latina Equal Pay Day : Xochitl Cobarruvias (Labor Council for Latin American Advancement LA chapter chair) on why Latinas must work 10 extra months for the same pay. During the sixth minute of each of the National Women’s Soccer League's games on October 6, players stopped the game , gathered at midfield and locked arms in solidarity; Dave Zirin, sportwriter and host of WPFW’s The Collision tells us wha...
Oct 21, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on October 14, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith This week's show: 700 nurses have been striking for 8 months at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts, and the folks who make Elijah Craig Bourbons at the Heaven Hill distillery in Kentucky have been on strike since September 11. Plus: Click here to support Your Rights At Work’s home station WPFW 89.3FM in Washington, DC. Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Kaliah Chapman. @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #labor...
Oct 14, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on October 7, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith This week's show: Bakery Workers Local 3G president Trevor Bidelman reports on the Kellogg strike from Battle Creek, MI; latest on the UNITE HERE Hilton Housekeeping Campaign with UNITE HERE Local 25’s Benjy Cannon. Plus: Click here to support Your Rights At Work’s home station WPFW 89.3FM in Washington, DC. Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella. @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod @AFLCIO @BCTGM #Kel...
Oct 07, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on WPFW (89.3FM) on September 23, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock This week's show: Hollywood could be facing the biggest strike since World War Two; IATSE Local 488’s CDavid Cottrill on why the folks who make the movies and shows we love are so fed up. DC Jobs with Justice’s Melinda Fiedler provides details on the new benefits and expanded access in the updated DC Paid Family & Medical Leave Act, which goes into effect October 1. The Sheraton in Columbia, Maryland is now the Merriwea...
Oct 01, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on WPFW (89.3FM) on September 23, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock This week's show: Why Bill 34-20 in Montgomery County is a sneak attack on all union rights …Oreos are OK again (sort of); workers won their strike against Nabisco, but an “M” or “MS” on the product code means it was made non-union in Mexico…Plus: highlights from next week’s Womxn’s Labor Leadership Symposium . Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & Kahlia Chapman. @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #la...
Sep 23, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on WPFW (89.3FM) on September 16, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock & Ed Smith This week's show: Nabisco strikers win tentative contract. Stories of terrible managers—and the workers who fought back; we talk with Mother Jones editor Jacob Rosenberg about Bad Bosses , a brand-new feature in the publication named after the legendary labor organizer. Want shorter lines at airport security? Improve conditions for TSA workers! We’ll find out how from Johnny Jones , Secretary-Treasurer of the...
Sep 16, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on September 9, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock On this week's show: NoVA Labor's Ginny Diamond (and friends) with a live report from the Richmond bakery and barber strike picket lines; plus we visit with new Painters and Allied Trades president Jimmy Williams Jr., and Carolyn Bobb, the new co-host of State of the Unions, the AFL-CIO’s podcast. Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & Kahlia. @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod @AFLCIO @va_labor @BC...
Sep 10, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on September 2, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith This week's show: Working in DC , the musical based on Studs Terkel’s book of oral histories of workers, opens on Labor Day on Black Lives Matter Plaza in front of the AFL-CIO. We talk with director Shanara Gabrielle about taking it to the streets with revolutionary theater. Plus: The latest episode of the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s Tales of the Resistance radio drama: “Hobos in Space”. Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by ...
Sep 02, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on August 26, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith This week's show: A frontline report from the Nabisco strike * , a preview of Saturday’s March On for Voting Rights , and Jamie McCallum remembers activist and labor historian Stanley Aronowitz , “who knew that freedom begins where work ends.” Plus today’s labor music, "One Day Longer" by Tom Breiding, about the United Mine Workers strike at Warrior Met. * click here for details on the Nabisco/Mondelēz “Made in Mexico” boycott. Pr...
Aug 26, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on August 19, 2021 This week's show: Two episodes of the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s Tales of the Resistance: Persistence radio drama. First up, a little change of pace, with the "What Were You Thinking?" game show and Eyeball On History. Then, "Collision at the Intersectionality," the culminating episode for both the Jailbreak and Black Fox story lines. You’re not going to find programming like Your Rights At Work or the San Francisco Mime Troupe anywhere else but on WPFW 89.3FM, wher...
Aug 19, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on August 12, 2021 Hosted by Ed Smith This week's show: AFL-CIO director of policy and special counsel Damon Silvers remembers his friend and colleague AFL-CIO president Rich Trumka, who died on August 5. PLUS: The San Francisco Mime Troupe’s Tales of the Resistance Episode 5: "Passion... For Justice!" Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & Kahlia. @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod @AFLCIO @RichardTrumka Pass the #PROAct @SFTroupers...
Aug 12, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on August 5, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock This week's show: Labor historian Joe McCartin on the life and legacy of AFL-CIO president Rich Trumka, who died on August 5. PLUS: "I've Never Been More Optimistic": A Conversation with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, on the AFL-CIO's State of the Unions podcast. Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & Kahlia. @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod @AFLCIO @RichardTrumka Pass the #PROAct...
Aug 05, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast On this week's show: two great episodes of the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s Tales of the Resistance, Vol. 2 radio drama. First up, "We Keep Us Safe: A Discussion of Police Violence with the SF Mime Troupe," then, "Mysterious Mysteries! "The Tale of the Black FOX" Part 2." Produced by the San Francisco Mime Troupe ; YRAW produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & Kahlia. @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod @SFTroupers...
Jul 30, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on July 22, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith This week's show: AFL-CIO director of policy and special counsel Damon Silvers reports on the labor federation’s week of action on the PRO Act…”Breaking the Shell” reports on the hardships faced by Mexican crab pickers on Maryland's Eastern Shore; we talk with Mari Perales Sánchez , one of the report’s authors… Plus: Jeff Bezos thanks the little people, Scabby the Rat lives to see another day, workers at Frito-Lay, Uber and Lyft str...
Jul 22, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on July 15, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock This week's show: Richard Loeb, AFGE Senior Policy Counselor, on why nearly 80% of federal and DC workers say they are more productive teleworking during the pandemic. Then, Allyson Brantley, author of the new book Brewing a Boycott: How a Grassroots Coalition Fought Coors & Remade American Consumer Activism on t he historic Coors boycott, coalition building in the '60s & '70s and lessons for today’s organizers. PLUS: Episode 2 of the Sa...
Jul 15, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on July 8, 2021 This week's show: From The View from Somewhere podcast , the fascinating story of Marvel Cooke, a groundbreaking Black woman journalist who reported on labor in the 1940s and organized a union with the Newspaper Guild in the 1930s. Then, Episode 1 of Tales of the Resistance, Volume 2, the brand-new radio drama from the San Francisco Mime Troupe that we’ll be featuring here on Your Rights At Work this summer. Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Kahlia. @wpfwd...
Jul 08, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on July 1, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith This week's show: The American Postal Workers Union is celebrating its’ 50th birthday today; Postal Workers president Mark Dimondstein reports on how his union is still fighting for postal worker rights. PLUS: Metro Washington Council Political Director David Stephen on the Hero Pay bill in DC City Council…DC Jobs with Justice Worker Rights Policy Advocate Nikko Bilitza on the Your Rights at Work and the New Minimum Wage webinar…the ...
Jul 01, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on June 24, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith This week's show: NABET-CWA Local 31’s Barbara Krieger on workers under assault at Montgomery Community Television; former DC Jobs with Justice Executive Director Nikki Cole previews Wages, Benefits, and Fair Pay: 20 Years of DC JWJ panel. Plus: World premiere of Todd Smith’s “Scabby the Rat and Fatty the Cat” song and the latest labor news headlines. Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & Kahlia. @wpfwdc...
Jun 25, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Originally broadcast on February 11, 2021; rebroadcast on June 17, 2021 Hosted by Chris Garlock and Ed Smith This week's show: The AFL-CIO’s Cathy Feingold and Brian Finnegan report live from "The Sound of Democracy: A Global Noise Barrage for Myanmar" action at the Embassy of Myanmar in Washington, DC. Jamie McCallum on his new book “Worked Over: How Round-the-Clock Work Is Killing the American Dream.” He argues that labor’s next big battle may be over not wages but time. PLUS Labor news headli...
Jun 17, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Broadcast on June 10, 2021 This week's show: Chris Garlock and Ed Smith are off this week but we’ve got a special show for you today. First, on the State of Working America podcast, Heidi Shierholz and Josh Bivens of the Economic Policy Institute fact-check the labor shortage hype. Then, from the San Francisco Mime Troupe , Seeing Red: What will it take to get people to stop voting against their interests? How do we overcome the divide-and-conquer tactics that keep us all down? And when did our ...
Jun 10, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
