Ep 82 - Why We Fight

It’s a heavy start to this week’s episode, as we begin with the horrific aftermath of the multi-state tornado system that killed over 80 people, including at least 14 workers forced to stay at their jobs by their management.  These workers were murdered by their employers in the pursuit of profit, for which the companies are unlikely to ever be brought to justice.  We follow up that difficult segment with an update on the Kellogg’s strike, where workers overwhelmingly rejected a tentative agreement that would have maintained the two-tier contract system, standing strong to protect the rights of future workers.  Moving on to the first unambiguously happy story of the episode, Starbucks workers in Buffalo won their union elections at two of the three Buffalo stores that held votes last week, and have inspired union drives in at least 6 more stores.  Also this week, workers at Activision Blizzard King went on strike to protest the firing of testers at Raven Software and also announced their drive to form the first unionized workforce at a major game studio.  We also discuss the IATSE strike on the set of the film “Nefarious”, where the right wing production company used Oklahoma’s right to work law and free child labor from a local technical school to try and evade union protections.  Finally, we close on a high note, as the biggest new bargaining unit of the year was recognized as 17,000 student researchers finally had their branch of the UAW recognized by the University of California system.

Donate to the family of Larry Virden, killed by Amazon in the tornado: https://www.gofundme.com/f/2nd7wq-dads-funeral

Support the striking Kellogg’s workers:  https://labor411.org/411-blog/five-ways-to-support-the-kellogg-strike/

Donate to the striking ABK workers: https://www.gofundme.com/f/abk-strike-fund

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