trumka
GRITtv: The F Word: Learning What Unions Have to Teach
In a lot of the talk about attacks on labor, the focus has been on electoral politics and cash. Defunding unions will defund the Democratic party and progressive candidates who might fight for working folks. But Jane McAlevey made the point in a recent issue of The Nation that doing away with unions does away with one of the only forms of popular education we have. It's not just the organized schoolteachers that teach—unions have a long history as face-to-face educators, keeping history and even songs alive, passing them generation to generation. Distributed by Tubemogul.
Email this pageGRITtv: Richard Trumka: Challenging Business to Care About Jobs
"Corporate America hasn't been thinking about this country for a number of years," says Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO. And one might argue that politicians have been thinking too much about corporate America and not enough about working America. Unemployment is still too high, and new conservative governors are taking advantage of the recession to bust public unions. But Trumka and the AFL-CIO are fighting back, and that's even led to some strange partnerships--a statement recently, co-authored with U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue. Trumka joins us from D.C. via Skype to tell us what he and Donohue agree on--and what they don't.
GRITtv: Bill Fletcher, Jr.: Economic Royalists and Obama
Barack Obama spent his 49th birthday speaking to labor leaders at an AFL-CIO federation meeting, but GRITtv commentator Bill Fletcher, Jr. noted that Obama needs to do more than attend meetings--it's time for some action on the Employee Free Choice Act. In addition, Fletcher notes, Obama should be situating himself among working people, not just union higher-ups, against the "economic royalists" who would keep the economy's fundamental inequality. Fletcher joins us via Skype from Washington, D.C. to talk about Obama's ongoing struggle with obstructionism, and how no matter which party comes out of the 2010 elections, the working people need to keep pressing for what's theirs.
GRITtv: Bill Fletcher, Jr.: Organize the Unemployed
Workers are under assault, says Bill Fletcher, Jr., and the labor movement needs to fight back. One of the best ways to do this, he suggests, is for labor to start organizing the unemployed as well as supporting their membership. Meanwhile, Fletcher notes, 15 tea partiers get together and it makes national news, while labor's struggles are marginalized or ignored. There's plenty to fight for, though--more stimulus, jobs for those who don't have them and fair wages for those who do, better attention by the leaders to their base, and for the administration to keep its promises. Fletcher joins us via Skype from Washington, D.C. to discuss.
GRITtv: Lost Decade for Unemployed Youth
The focus during the unemployment crisis has been largely on those who have lost their jobs, but students and first-time job seekers have been hit hard as well. Viany Orozco of Demos points out that for those who enter the workforce for the first time during a recession, the wage hit can last for many years down the road. Orozco joins guest host Ed Ott, a longtime labor activist, and Tahir Duckett of the AFL-CIO's Working America to talk about youth unemployment, why it matters, and how it connects to the student activism springing up around the country.
GRITtv: Which Side Are You On? Organizing Labor in America
Paula Finn, editor of the New Labor Forum, Thomas Frank, author of "What's the Matter with Kansas?" and "The Wrecking Crew" and Wall Street Journal columnist Tom Geoghegan, labor lawyer, recent congressional candidate, and author of "Which Side Are You On?: Trying to Be for Labor When It's Flat on Its Back," joined Laura to talk about labor's problems and suggest some solutions to help all of us, whether we're union members or not.
