Working Life Podcast

Episode 140: I like the ring of The Stop Wall Street Looting Act, don’t you? True, it’s part of the business model of the joint, especially the private equity pirates. The Act is, in fact, aimed squarely at the private equity industry, who have stripped and destroyed hundreds of companies. I’ll talk about the Act with the national expert on the industry, Eileen Appelbaum, the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Support the podcast here: www.patreon.com/WorkingLifePodcast When you are sitting on your airplane ready to take off, you’ve probably seen those LSG Sky Chefs catering trucks driving up to service your plane with the sumptuous menu of crackers and peanuts. Thousands of those catering workers are low paid, and have to pay for expensive ,mediocre health insurance—and they are preparing for a possible strike to get some justice on the job. I’ll be speaking with one of the workers on today’s program. Support the podcast here: www.patreon.com/WorkingLifePodcast Lastly, you may

Episode 139: I have to tip my cap to the conservative, anti-worker right-wing. That whole gang has been far more focused, in a laser-like way, on seizing power in places where it can matter a lot—the local and state political arenas. Progressives, until recently, just didn’t focus enough on state capitols and local races—letting the right wing dominate state legislatures and local city governments. And that’s meant really bad things for workers to the tune of billions of dollars in lost wages—as we will hear today from Laura Huizer, senior staff attorney of the National Employment Law Project, who talks about a report she has co-authored looking at a little wonky, very dangerous, legal thing called “pre-emption”. Support the podcast here: www.patreon.com/WorkingLifePodcast And with the strike by thousands of workers globally against Amazon this past Monday on Amazon Prime day, I remind us what a corporate terrorist the company really is by re-airing two great segments on the topic of Amazon’s tax avoidance

Episode 138: Wait, didn’t we just talk last week about the attacks on government workers? Well, a week doesn’t go by when another attack against people, who keep our society working, is launched by this administration—this time it’s the workers at the Environmental Protection Agency. AFGE Local 1236 Bethany Dreyfus joins me to give us the lowdown on the draconian rules imposed just days ago. I can’t add to the descriptions of the daily despicable conditions faced by migrants and refugees at the southern border. Instead, what I wanted to do today is go the root of what brought so many to flee their homes—what made people refugees? It’s economic oppression, corruption, the lack of the rule of law—all blessed, supported, encouraged and funded by the U.S. I look at this in two conversations. First, Vicki Gass, Senior Policy expert for Central America and Mexico for Oxfam, describes why people become refugees. And, then, Gladys Cisneros the Solidarity Center’s country program director in Mexico, digs into whether

Episode 137: If you look hard enough, you can find conspiracies to defraud workers in every corner of the economy—and those conspiracies are usually dressed up as something entirely different. Take the people who work for the VA—there is a conspiracy to crush their union and cut wages, all dressed by in the cloak of “efficiency through privatization”. I talk with American Federation of Government Employees leaders Marilyn Park and Eric Gerken about the Orwellian-named “Mission Act”, which will cripple the VA, hurt the quality of care Vets receive and undermine the union. And in the glittering world of Hollywood, talent agencies are pocketing huge fees as essentially payoffs from studios, in a broad conspiracy that is taking away money from writers of movies, who are the people talent agencies are supposed to be representing. David Goodman, the president of the Writers Guild of America and a long-time, top-tier TV writer, chats with me about the fight that has already seen, in an eye-opening act of solidarity,

Episode 136: It seems so simple—post offices are everywhere, often literally on Main Streets in towns all across the country. Everyone knows where the post office is. So, why not turn post offices into hubs of financial transactions for people, from pay check cashing, which could be a first step, and then on to remittances of money to families around the globe and even installing Postal Service ATMs? You can boil down this down to a simple question: who would you rather give your business to, Citibank or the Post Office? I take up this idea with Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, and Ohio Representative Marcy Kaptur. Then, Catherine Feingold, director of the AFL-CIO’s International Department, is back to dig into a new global treaty to combat violence and harassment at work. -- Jonathan Tasini Follow me on Twitter @jonathantasini Sign up for The Working Life Podcast at: www.workinglife.org Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.tasini.3

It’s an action-packed, let’s-catch-the-thieves-in-the-act episode. The Federal Reserve Board’s Open Market Committee just wrapped up its two-day secret June meeting without triggering a new cut in interests rates—and what does that mean? I unravel the state of play at the Fed—and ask the question why shouldn’t we change the basic structure of the Fed—with Dean Baker, Fed-watcher extraordinaire and senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Intrigue is also swirling around the renegotiation of NAFTA 2.0 so Lori Wallach, director of Global Trade Watch who knows the entire inside story and state-of-play, is back with all the insight you can’t get from anyone else. I close by noting a sad moment in time—it’s been a whole decade since workers saw a rise in the federal minimum wage, which is stuck at a poverty-level, immoral $7.25. Leo Gertner, a staff attorney with the National Employment Law Center, joins me for a chat about a new report excoriating Congress for failing to raise the minimum

Episode 134: As you may recall from last week’s episode, I was at the California Democratic State Party convention recently. I continue bringing you the speeches of the presidential candidates who spoke—this week it’s Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbard and Cory Booker. To give those speeches some context, I chat with Karen Bernal, the outgoing chair of the California state party progressive caucus. We look back at the past few years—and try to be honest about progressive victories and defeats, and the long road ahead to shaking loose the elements of the establishment who stand in the way of progress and a more democratic (small “d”) party. -- Jonathan Tasini Follow me on Twitter @jonathantasini Sign up for The Working Life Podcast at: www.workinglife.org Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.tasini.3

Episode 133: I just returned from the great city of San Francisco which hosted the state Democratic Party Convention. And in my audio bag are most of the speeches of the Democratic presidential candidates who gave their pitches to the delegates—California, with a much earlier primary than usual, will potentially have a decisive say about who will be the eventual Democratic nominee. This week, Elizabeth Warren starts off a mini-series of the speeches, which I will bring to you in the coming weeks. Warren gave, in my opinion, the sharpest, most focused, clear policy and philosophical speech of them all. Then, Tefere Gebre, the executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, joins me for a deep discussion about worker uprisings, the racism of trade and tariffs and internal politics inside the Federation that have targeted him. And I wrap up with my favorite topic, taxes. Jessica Schieder, a federal tax policy fellow at the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, walks us through some new ideas to help moderate-

Episode 132: Murder, violence and robbery—it sounds like a list for a plot of The Wire. But, no, it’s just another standard operating procedure for the free market system—in which people are murdered in Colombia thanks to so-called “free trade”, workers are beat up and sometimes killed at McDonald’s because the company doesn’t care about its workers beyond the bottom line so leaves workers exposed to threats to their lives and, lastly, public sector employees have the money they have saved for retirement, sometimes over many decades, taken from them mainly because some greedy Wall Street lowlifes crashed the economy to make a pile of money no matter the cost to millions of people. The Violence: Debbie Berkowitz, the Worker Health and Safety Program Director for the National Employment Law Project, chats with me about NELP’s new report looking at the violence faced by McDonald’s workers. The Robbery: Tom Chamberlain, president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, explains how the Democratic-led Legislature is pushing—disg

Episode 131: Here we go again: a slow but steady laying of a groundwork for a war, this time against Iran, assisted by the media’s promotion of lies surrounding Iran, reprising the role it played almost two decades ago hyping up the threats posed by Iraq. I talk in-depth with Phyllis Bennis, director of the New Internationalism project at the Institute for Policy Studies, about the Iran war threat. Then, Sara Nelson, the dynamic president of the Association of Flight Attendants, joins me for a discussion about what her members face and the future of labor.

Episode 130: Our friends at the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, my go-to folks when it comes to tax policy, put out another fantastic report called “Corporate Tax Avoidance Remains Rampant Under New Tax Law”. I know—you’re shocked, just shocked that the 2017 GOP tax fraud bill is letting corporations steal from us day after day…steal because tax avoidance by corporations. To dig into this robbery, I turn to a frequent guest, the Oracle himself, ITEP’s Matt Gardner. Then, I decided to rope in for a conversation Alex Seitz-Wald, a main political reporter for NBC and MSNBC. Alex rings me up now and again to get chat about stories he’s working on, and, now and again, he makes the mistake of choosing to actually quote me—accurately I would quickly add, and with my permission. So, I thought I’d turn the tables on him a bit—though not for the purposes in engaging in bashing of traditional media, which I’ve engaged in a lot and for which there is plenty of fodder to do so on a regular basis.

Episode 129: Just hours ago, 25,000 teachers and their supporters massed in Portland, Oregon to demand a fully-funded education system—it’s another moment in the incredible teacher organizing that has swept the country over the past year. With the energy of thousands of revved up teachers pulsing in the background, I chat at the rally with teacher/union leaders, as well as bring other voices from the mobilization. Then, in the richest nation in human history, 11.5 million children live in poverty. Children. I talk with Meg Wiehe, deputy director of the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, about the Child Tax Credit and the new move to get states to fill the hole in the federal CTC system, and maybe even bump up the miserly amount given to families who need it most to make sure kids can eat and be clothed. And here’s a pro tip for climate change activists: if you want to build bridges with coal miners who might not be on board with your agenda, you could start, in a small way, by marching with them as

Episode 128: Another day, another profitable corporation trying to skim more dough from the pockets of workers. Thousands of workers are striking Stop & Shop in the Northeast—I’m joined by Julie Sabo, one of those workers and a 38-year veteran of the company. Then, a top official of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), First Officer James Belton, chats with me about the 737 Max and the crucial role the pilots and their union play in airline safety. Our Robber Baron of the week is the CEO of the parent company of Stop & Shop. -- Jonathan Tasini Follow me on Twitter @jonathantasini Sign up for The Working Life Podcast at: www.workinglife.org Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.tasini.3

Episode 127: Everyone measures the morality or immorality of society based on different criteria. For some, it’s the huge numbers of people who pay outrageous amounts for prescription drugs or just go bankrupt because of health care costs. For others, it’s racism permeating our economic and social fabric or the permanent war economy the country has had for generations, wasting trillions of dollars on behalf of the military-industrial complex. Today, I hone in on the immorality of how the country, mainly its right-wing politicians, treats teachers. And we’re going to dig into that with a look at two new teacher uprisings on the two coasts. I talk with David Fisher, president of the Sacramento City Teachers Association, about the strike starting tomorrow over the scandalous conduct of the education bigwigs who are engaging in widespread unfair labor practices, violating a contract agreed to last year by the union and management. Then, I take our listeners across the country to Florida to discuss with Fed Ingra

Episode 126: Yesterday was Equal Pay Day—not a celebratory day but a time, again, to raise a stink that there is still a significant pay gap between men and women in our country: on average in 2018, women were paid 22.6 percent less than men. I talk more about gender pay discrimination with economist Elise Gould. I, then, speak with Jacque Simon, policy director for the American Federation of Government Employees, about the relatively under-the-radar full-scale Trump attack on the rights of federal workers and their unions. To wrap up the show, I welcome back J.D. Scholten who came oh so close to defeating the racist Steve King in Iowa’s 4th Congressional district. J.D. has continued to travel the state, focusing on the issue of poverty.

Episode 125: So, you want another job? That’s a pretty normal kind of desire for millions of people. Maybe there’s a better job out there that pays more money. Maybe the place you work just stinks, it’s abusive or you’re the target of sexual harassment. So, ok, off you go to polish up the old resume and start looking…well it isn’t that easy. You, and millions of people like you, may be trapped by a bad contract clause. I’ll talk about that wrinkle today with an expert leading a campaign to give a lot more freedom to millions of workers. Then, it’s a fresh in-depth look with AFL-CIO trade expert Celeste Drake at the state of play of negotiations over the new North American Free Trade Agreement. In short, it’s still a bad deal.

Episode 124: I offer a public service to progressives—and to those, like me, who are irritated by progressive leaders who don’t know how to talk about specifics when it comes to policy, and just spew out sloganeering, even when they get caught making mistakes. It’s embarrassing. So, today, Matt Gardner, a leading expert on tax policy, comes back to the show to talk with me about five specific things we can do to raise close to $5 trillion over the next decade. Jot these down—and send them to your favorite member of Congress or TV talking head. I, then, welcome back Debbie Berkowitz, a national expert on safety and health in the workplace, to for a chat about the grim reality that going to work has gotten more dangerous in the Trump era.

Episode 123: If you are looking for a place to see the scourge of free market capitalism at work, you don’t have to look further than Bangladesh. I talk with Monika Hartsel of the Solidarity Center about the thousands of workers in Bangladesh who have been recently fired for protesting and demanding better wages. I, then, welcome back Marianela Acuña Arreaza of the Houston-based Faith and Justice Worker Center to discuss the widespread wage theft her organizations has uncovered. Our Robber Barons of the week are the CEOs of Big Pharma.

Episode 122: A classic workers versus corporate greed battle is underway right now in Erie, Pennsylvania. Just about 2,000 workers who make locomotives are walking the picket lines in freezing weather—and I talk with Scott Slawson, the president of the union, to get the details on their struggle against, Wabtec, a union-busting company. Kimberly Ellis is back on the show to give us an inside look at her new bid to become chair of the California Democratic Party—and she’s the front-runner! Our Robber Baron of the week is the CEO of Wabtec.

Episode 121: Here’s one thing we learned in recent days about Jeff Bezos—like all CEOs, he’s a bully and quite uninterested in engaging in a give-and-take with community leaders where Amazon does business. I talk to union leader Dave Mertz about the decision by Amazon to back out of the deal to build part of its new headquarters in New York City, mainly because Bezos was unwilling to yield an inch on union rights and other demands to alter the bad terms of the original agreement. Then, I check back in with the contract negotiations at the Los Angeles Times—a year after the union victory, which I covered, the organizing committee is still battling the company for a first contract, and, now, the newspaper has thrown a pretty bizarre demand into the mix. Our Robber Baron is the CEO of UBS.