Ep 117 – Breaking Free From the Capitalist TRAP

We start this week’s episode with a quick follow up with the Indiana grad student workers who have won major gains despite the university’s continued refusal to recognize their union. Boston teachers have used rank and file methods to win a historic new contract that will help address homelessness in the city. The NLRB has signed onto an order demanding UMWA workers cover the costs of their more than a year long strike against Warrior Met coal, but they are fighting back. The Democrats introduced a bill in Congress with bipartisan support to permanently misclassify gig workers, which would destroy existing labor law. The DOJ has sued the poultry monopolies for wage fixing, but the proposed settlement doesn’t do much to help workers’ wages or job conditions. PetSmart, the nation’s biggest pet supply store, is being sued for trapping employees with thousands of dollars in debt for “grooming academy” training. 200 DC area transit workers are on strike, and could even potentially force out the private company managing what otherwise would be a public service. Finally we check in with the Starbucks Workers United movement, where the company continues to find new, creative ways to illegally retaliate against their own workers for unionizing.

Support fund for fired Buffalo Starbucks organizer: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-sam-fired-13-year-starbucks-union-leader 

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