Ep 95 – Union Democracy Gets the Goods

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.

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