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Work Stoppage

Work Stoppage

workstoppage

A weekly labor news podcast covering workers‘ struggles around the world from a revolutionary left perspective.

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Top 10 Work Stoppage Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Work Stoppage episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Work Stoppage for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Work Stoppage episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Work Stoppage - Ep 64 - Robo-Union Trojan Horse
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08/18/21 • 85 min

On this week’s episode of Work Stoppage we start by checking in on the Teamsters strike at a Pepsi plant in Indiana, where workers have gotten a surprising show of support from the local government of the nearby town of Hammond. Then we take a look at how a Wisconsin healthcare company is giving bonuses only to non-union workers, and discuss a new app called Unit which claims it can help workers unionize without any of the resources of an actual union. We also cover a walkout by tech workers at the New York Times and the revelations of the Times’ anti-union strategy to try and force as small a bargaining unit as possible. Finally, we talk about a weeklong strike by contract sanitation workers in India demanding equal pay for equal work, and the inspiring success of workers in Venezuela who seized a Kellogg cereal factory when the company abandoned it.

Subscribe for additional Overtime episodes at patreon.com/workstoppage

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX

Follow the pod @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

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Work Stoppage - EP 60 - Let Public Workers Strike
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07/22/21 • 92 min

After a bit of a detour talking about Cuba, this week’s episode starts with a follow up on the striking SEIU Local 73 Cook County workers who have ended their strike after securing several key victories. Then we take a look at the surge in support for rank and file democracy at the latest Teamsters convention and the prospects for a major win for the Teamsters for a Democratic Union slate. We discuss a new report documenting the obscene ratio between average executive pay and average worker pay, and also cover workers in India who have gone on hunger strike to protest the closure of the yarn factory they worked at and how the local government is using rules nominally designed to protect people from covid to crack down on them. Also this week, public workers in Massachusetts are pushing to repeal a law banning them from striking, and workers at Great Lakes Brewing Company have organized a union to try and ensure that they actually have a voice in the operation of their “employee owned” brewery.

Subscribe for additional Overtime episodes at patreon.com/workstoppage

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX

Follow John @facebookvillain, Lina @solidaritybee and find Dan in the discord as Kelbaenor.

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Work Stoppage - EP 58 - Doughnut Workers United Interview
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07/14/21 • 49 min

On last week’s episode we discussed the recent strike by workers organizing with Doughnut Workers United at Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland during the recent heat wave. This week we were lucky enough to be able to interview one of the workers illegally fired in retaliation for that strike. We discuss the general conditions at Voodoo Doughnuts, the tactics used by management to combat the union drive, and how the company tried to justify its firing of workers for a legally protected strike action over unsafe work conditions. Listeners can help out the affected workers by donating here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/dwu-strike-and-hardship-fund-june-2021 Subscribe for additional Overtime episodes at patreon.com/workstoppage Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow Doughnut Workers United on Twitter @DWU_PDX Follow John @facebookvillain, Lina @solidaritybee and find Dan in the discord as Kelbaenor.

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Work Stoppage - Ep 62 - OSHA Won't Save Us
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08/05/21 • 91 min

We’re back to the regular news format this week and it’s a heavy one. First we follow up with the Frito-Lay workers, who have won some concessions from the company after being on strike for almost 3 weeks. Then we cover a major truck drivers’ strike across Puerto Rico that has resulted in a confrontation between the local government and the colonial “oversight board” installed by the US. We also discuss OSHA issuing paltry fines for a liquid nitrogen leak that killed 6 workers at a food processing plant in Georgia, and US politicians doing nothing to prevent the shutdown of one of the largest generic pharmaceutical plants in the US and the loss of its 1500 jobs. The past week has seen a flurry of organizing activity around revelations of major misconduct and a pervasive culture of sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard specifically and across the games industry generally. Finally, we cover California Dr. Pepper workers voting to unionize with the Teamsters, threatening to shut down the whole region’s production if the company doesn’t bargain in good faith. Subscribe for additional Overtime episodes at patreon.com/workstoppage Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow the pod @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

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Work Stoppage - Ep 65 - No Contracts No Snacks!
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08/28/21 • 89 min

It’s just John and Dan as Lina is off this week, and we start with a dire warning to never trust a man in a cravat after Nathan J Robinson responded to the staff of Current Affairs’ desire to form a co-op by firing everyone. Then, after a brief check-in with the Teamsters in Indiana who have reached an agreement with Pepsi to end their strike, we hit some of the big news this week as a judge in California has ruled Prop 22 unconstitutional. However, this hasn’t stopped gig companies trying to expand their misclassification schemes across the country as a Prop 22 clone is being pushed in Massachusetts. We also cover a strike by nurses in Worcester, MA that has stretched into its sixth month, as Tenet Healthcare brings in scabs rather than hiring more nurses. Also this week, Nabisco workers across the country are on strike after their parent company Mondelez, enemies of the show, have recently closed two facilities in the US and attempted to force remaining workers to work 12 hours shift or up to 70 consecutive days without paying overtime.
Portland Nabisco workers’ strike fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/bctgm-local-364-strike-support
Richmond Nabisco workers’ strike fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/bctgm-local-358-strike-support
Subscribe for additional Overtime episodes at patreon.com/workstoppage
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow the pod @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

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Work Stoppage - Ep 61 - Iran Oil Strike Interview
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07/28/21 • 78 min

On this week’s episode of Work Stoppage we were lucky enough to be joined by a guest, Ida Nikou, a PhD student studying labor relations in Iran to discuss the recent strikes among temporary and contract workers in Iran’s oil industry. We learn some of the background on the situation for workers in Iran across various industries, what kinds of unions exist, what level of labor rights (or lack thereof) most workers have in Iran, and generally discuss the parallels and differences between the conditions workers face in both Iran and the US. We go over the specific conditions faced by the oil workers that lead to this wave of strikes and the impact they’ve had in Iran. Finally we discuss the ways US imperialism has exacerbated this situation, and the importance of workers within the US standing against US imperialism in solidarity with workers around the world.
Subscribe for additional Overtime episodes at patreon.com/workstoppage
Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX
Follow us on Twitter @WorkStoppagePod, John @facebookvillain and Lina @solidaritybee

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This week was a exciting but busy one with all of us getting together to celebrate Lina's wedding, which unfortunately made it impossible to put together the regular episode. So we've decided to unlock the first episode in our new series on the history of the field of cybernetics and how the labor movement has interacted with it. It's been a super fascinating topic learning about figures like Norbert Wiener, Ross Ashby, and Stafford Beer, so we hope you like this unlocked episode as just the first portion of what we've been covering. Our Cybernetics series will continue for patrons later this week and our weekly labor news rundown will be back at our regularly scheduled time next Tuesday!
Thank you so much for listening, we couldn't do the show without you!
Original Description:

We're very excited this week to be starting our long awaited series discussing the history of the field of cybernetics and how it intersects with the labor movement. In this first part, John explains the life and work of polymath and founder of the study of cybernetics, Norbert Wiener. We discuss the parallels between Wiener's thinking and Marxism, the ways that his conception of cybernetics requires a dialectical outlook at the world, and how the systems theory approach of cybernetics can help us understand complex events, including in the realm of politics and organizing. Next week, we will continue with the second half of our discussions on Norbert Wiener, including his relationship with the UAW. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

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Work Stoppage - EP 57 - We See This All The Time feat. @laborkyle
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07/08/21 • 91 min

This week we are joined by @laborkyle as a guest! We start with a follow-up from the Colorado Labor Board on how employers aren't allowed to just put "not hiring in Colorado" on their listings to avoid labor law. We then cover the retaliatory firing of workers for a workplace safety strike at Voodoo Doughnuts, ways in which Trader Joe's is attacking worker rights again, and how Amazon's work conditions are so bad that some of their contractors have had to stop doing business entirely. Finally we end on a strike at a Frito-Lay plant in Tacoma which is also a partial struggle to get democracy in their union, and the repression of Atlanta's Homeless Union by the police. Subscribe for additional Overtime episodes at patreon.com/workstoppage Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow John @facebookvillain, Lina @solidaritybee and of course follow Kyle @laborkyle

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Work Stoppage - Ep 111 – All Aboard The Strike Train
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06/28/22 • 100 min

We start this week’s episode with a discussion of how unions can play a major role in fighting for workers’ right to reproductive healthcare in the wake of the Supreme Court gutting abortion rights. Then we start the episode proper with a follow-up with the Indiana University grad workers, where despite winning overwhelming support from faculty, the administration is digging in and refusing to recognize the union. Then we have some on the ground labor reporting from Dan, who discusses a local strike of Teamsters at DHL in Pawtucket, RI, where workers are fighting for healthcare and a living wage. Next, over 4000 workers in one of the largest platinum mines in the world in South Africa have gone on strike to protest horrible wages paid to contract workers. Also this week, workers in Maine filed for the first union in the country at a Chipotle and are fighting against understaffing and overwork leading to unsanitary conditions. Train drivers in New Jersey delivered a master class in a well-timed industrial action when they staged a sickout the Friday evening of Juneteenth weekend in protest of not receiving holiday pay. The big story this week is obviously the massive rail strike in England, where 40,000 workers shut down the rails for three days to protest the government’s plan to slash thousands of jobs, destroy pensions, and enforce a pay cut during record inflation. Finally, as usual, we close with our update on the Starbucks Workers United movement as it continues to rack up wins.

No Contract, No Coffee Pledge to Support Starbucks Workers: https://crm.broadstripes.com/ctf/SJID0H

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX

Follow the pod @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

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Work Stoppage - Ep 95 – Union Democracy Gets the Goods
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03/11/22 • 94 min

After yet another crazy week both in and outside the labor world we’ve got another packed episode for you. First, we follow up with the workers at REI in Manhattan who have won their union election in a landslide. Next, the NYT Tech Guild also overwhelmingly won their election, becoming the largest union of tech workers in the US. Following up our story on the rise of independent unions in Mexico, workers at the Tridonex auto parts factory in Matamoros voted by a large margin to replace their old company union with a new democratic one. We also discuss organizing efforts by Philly Starbucks workers to fight for covid safety protections after the company dropped its mask mandate for customers, and also touch on 3 more union election victories in Buffalo for the Starbucks Workers United movement. We cover two stories of workers in Italy: First, tens of thousands of students protested to end the requirement that all high school students perform unpaid labor for private companies in order to graduate after multiple students have died on the job. Then, thousands of doctors have protested the government’s austerity policies towards primary care physicians and its slow slide towards privatization. Finally, we cover the massive strike of teachers and education support professionals in Minneapolis.

If you like the show, please support us at patreon.com/workstoppage. We couldn’t do the show without your support, and patrons get access to evergreen Overtime episodes and periodic Shop Floor Discussion episodes on current issues too long to cover in our regular episodes.

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX

Follow the pod @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee.

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FAQ

How many episodes does Work Stoppage have?

Work Stoppage currently has 365 episodes available.

What topics does Work Stoppage cover?

The podcast is about News, Podcasts and Politics.

What is the most popular episode on Work Stoppage?

The episode title 'Ep 64 - Robo-Union Trojan Horse' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Work Stoppage?

The average episode length on Work Stoppage is 60 minutes.

How often are episodes of Work Stoppage released?

Episodes of Work Stoppage are typically released every 3 days, 23 hours.

When was the first episode of Work Stoppage?

The first episode of Work Stoppage was released on May 26, 2020.

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