Empathy Media Lab

“There will be no way for us to be able to solve every single problem of migrant workers here in Thailand. The only way we can do it, we need to have them to speak up about the problem. We need to have them form their own organization, representing themselves.”

Sawit Kaewwan

About Sawit Kaewwan

Sawit Kaewwan, the secretary general of the State Enterprises Workers’ Relations Confederation (SERC) in Thailand, has mobilized the Thai trade union movement to support migrant workers, especially those at risk for human trafficking.

The unions have offered repeatedly to collaborate with industry and government. Instead, the government is pursuing criminal charges against Sawit and 12 of his colleagues for organizing a national railway safety campaign they launched back in 2009. The charges appear politically motivated because they were filed in 2019 just before the statute of limitations expired. Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission has condemned the actions against the trade unionists.

Learn more about Sawit’s work:

• Judy Gearhart’s Essay on Thompson Reuters Foundation News - https://news.trust.org/item/20211105170721-mjdr1
• https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/sep/21/top-thai-union-leader-targeted-with-jail-for-rail-safety-campaign
• https://laborrights.org/publications/time-sea-change-why-union-rights-migrant-workers-are-needed-prevent-forced-labor-thai
  

About The Labor Link Podcast

The Labor Link Podcast supports workers' rights in global supply chains by sharing personal stories and perspectives of the men and women organizing the workers who make our stuff. The Labor Link Podcast is hosted by Judy Gearhart of American University’s Accountability Research Center and produced by Empathy Media Lab of the Labor Radio Podcast Network. Contact Judy Gearhart for media inquiries at [email protected].

About the Host of The Labor Link Podcast

Judy Gearhart is a senior researcher at the Accountability Research Center and an adjunct professor at Columbia University. Previously she served as the executive director at the International Labor Rights Forum and programs director at Social Accountability International. She also worked in Mexico and Honduras on trade, labor rights, and democratic participation.

About the Accountability Research Center

The Accountability Research Center (ARC) is based in American University’s School of International Service. ARC bridges research and frontline perspectives to learn from ideas, institutions, and actors that advance strategies to improve public accountability.

Through extensive dialogue with partners and collaborators, ARC co-designs exploratory research that is relevant for their strategies and can contribute to international thinking about how change happens.

The University of Maryland School of Public Policy Alumni Board's video and podcast series called Policy Dialogues discusses current events through a policy lens.

Episode 19 focuses on ethics and public policy with Dr. Chloe Schwenke. Participants also included Evan Papp (UMD SPP ‘11).

Dr. Chloe Schwenke is an international development ethicist, practitioner, human rights activist, researcher and educator. Her career has focused on gender equality and social inclusion, LGBTQ+, governance, peacebuilding, and human rights.

Chloe is President of The Center for Values in International Development, which is a new non-profit organization comprised of both practitioners and ethicists, working together to make secular, universal moral values explicit, informative, persuasive, and influential in international relief and development policy, programming, advocacy, monitoring, evaluation, and learning. She served as a political appointee at USAID under the Obama Administration, as Senior Advisor on democracy, human rights, and governance in sub-Saharan Africa, and on LGBTQ+ issues. She currently serves as an adjunct professor at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland at College Park.

We discussed:

• Her international development experiences in post apartheid South Africa;
• The interaction between ethics and public policy;
• Working for the Obama administration as one of the first transgender political appointees in the federal bureaucracy;
• Her co-authored an article with the Center For American Progress titled: Transforming U.S. Foreign Policy To Ensure Dignity and Rights for LGBTI People;
• The mission of the Center for Values in International Development; and
• The tension in being a foreign policy practitioner advocating for policies that have yet to be fully embraced in the U.S.

The views expressed do not represent official positions of the school or alumni network.

Joe Cadwell, President of the Northwest Carpenters Union, hosts Grit Northwest podcast where self-motivated people, just like you, come to learn from construction industry professionals about the issues that affect their lives and careers on a daily basis. Grit NW is built to engage and energize it’s members to take pride in their union. From workers rights to politics, apprenticeships, leadership development and more, the show will dive deep into topics relevant to you.

About the Labor Radio Podcast Network

Launched in April 2020, the Labor Radio Podcast Network focuses on working class issues that are often overlooked in the corporate-controlled media. The goal of the network is to help raise the voices of working people and strengthen organized labor to demand and achieve better treatment from workplaces and elected officials.

The Labor Radio Podcast Network is both a one-stop shop for audiences looking for labor content and a resource for labor broadcasters and podcasters. Resources include a weekly podcast summarizing shows produced by network members, marketing on social media, a website listing network shows and how audiences can find them, a database for contacting expert guests, access to a private listserv for Network members, and a weekly video call to increase solidarity and support amongst members.

If you are a journalist interested in learning more or if you’re a labor radio or podcast producer and want to join the network, contact us at [email protected].

Follow the conversation on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram using the hashtag #LaborRadioPod or visit the website at: https://www.laborradionetwork.org/.

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/LaborRadioNet/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/laborradionet

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/laborradionet/

WEEKLY PODCAST NETWORK SUMMARY: https://laborradiopodcastweekly.podbean.com/

#LaborRadioPod

#1U

#UnionStrong

Video and audio was produced by Evan Matthew Papp of Empathy Media Lab.

NAFTA 2.0 – Is it better for workers than NAFTA? - LRPN Livestream

Labor Radio Podcast Network’s Weekly Wednesday Livestream interviews labor leaders about current labor issues with rotating hosts made up of network members.

Guests for February 10th, 2021 of LRPN Livestream included Lori Wallach (Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch), Eric Gottwald (AFL-CIO Trade Specialist), Alejandro Villamar (Mexican Action Network Against Free Trade), and Rick Arnold (Canada’s Common Frontiers).

LRPN Hosts: Jacob Morrison (The Valley Labor Report) and Judy Ancel (The Heartland Labor Forum).

Topics Discussed:

• Will the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement fix NAFTA?
• Will it stop the drain of jobs from the US and Canada to Mexico?
• Will Mexican workers finally get the same crummy labor rights as we have in the U.S?
• What are the prospects for real North American labor solidarity to counter the corporate giants who move our jobs around like peas in a shell game?

Additional Credits: Produced by Chris Garlock (Union City Radio); Producer, engineer, and editor is Evan Matthew Papp (Empathy Media Lab).

About the Labor Radio Podcast Network

The Labor Radio Podcast Network is both a one-stop shop for audiences looking for labor content and a resource for labor broadcasters and podcasters. Resources include a weekly podcast summarizing shows produced by network members, marketing on social media, a website listing network shows and how audiences can find them, a database for contacting expert guests, access to a private listserv for Network members, and a weekly video call to increase solidarity and support amongst members.

Launched in April 2020, the Labor Radio Podcast Network focuses on working class issues that are often overlooked in the corporate-controlled media. The goal of the network is to help raise the voices of working people and strengthen organized labor to demand and achieve better treatment from workplaces and elected officials.

If you are a journalist interested in learning more or if you’re a labor radio or podcast producer and want to join the network, contact us at [email protected].

Follow the conversation on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram using the hashtag #LaborRadioPod or visit the website at: https://www.laborradionetwork.org/.

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/LaborRadioNet/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/laborradionet

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/laborradionet/

WEEKLY PODCAST NETWORK SUMMARY: https://laborradiopodcastweekly.podbean.com/

#LaborRadioPod

#1U

#UnionStrong

UPDATE

The house bill passed. Now is the time to support senate bill # SB0581 by Senator Hettleman. It comes before the Senate’s JPR this Friday, February 26th at 10am.

Folks can call and ask their state Senator to sign on as a co-sponsor to this bill, and also call the senators on the judicial proceedings committee to ask for them to support this bill and provide a favorable report.

For More info:

https://transmaryland.org/updates/2021/2/24/action-alert

https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/SB0581

----------

The University of Maryland School of Public Policy Alumni Board's video and podcast series called Policy Dialogues discusses current events through a policy lens.

Episode 13 talks with Lee Blinder who is the Executive Director of Trans Maryland, which is an organization that aims to promote trans wellness throughout Maryland by increasing access to affirming services and resources, while nurturing young trans leadership.

Lee discusses HB 427 Change Waiver of Publication Bill - Maryland House Committee Hearing. What Does This Bill Do? Under current law, when filing for a legal name change in Maryland, an individual is required to pay to publish a notice of name change in their local newspaper. A petition can be filed to waive the publication requirement, and could be granted by a judge. Publication adds weeks, sometimes months, to the process and can cost up to an additional $250. Publication is also a violation of a person's privacy. The publication can linger on the Internet indefinitely and have adverse results. Some have resulted in workplace discrimination and even violence, in the cases of trans people and survivors of stalking or domestic violence. The process of petitioning to waive the the publication requirement still is not granted in most areas of the state. A judge may deny any petition and require publication.

HB 427, however, would require courts to waive the publication requirement, thereby protecting the privacy of those changing their names. As a result, this will make the name change process quicker and more affordable. This will reduce one of the barriers transgender people and others face while trying to live their most authentic life.

Learn more at: https://transmaryland.org/updates/2020/2/3/action-alert-name-change-waiver-of-publication-bill-maryland-house-committee-hearing-on-tuesday-february-5.

University of Maryland School of Public Policy Alumni Hosts included Seanniece Bamiro (UMD SPP ‘15), Delisha Thompson (UMD SPP ‘18), and Evan Papp (UMD SPP ‘11).

Follow the conversation at:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SPPAlumniBoard

Anchor.fm - https://anchor.fm/umd-spp-alumni-board

The views expressed do not represent official positions of the school or alumni network.

#PolicyMatters

#PoliticalEconomyMatters