wages
Newswire: Student Protests In Chile 08/11/11
The US Labor Department found that one of the world's largest aluminum manufacturers discriminated in their hiring practices. In Texas, Governor Rick Perry oversaw his 235th execution as governor on Wednesday, the most of any modern state leader. Student protests continue in Chile.
Email this pageGRITtv: Ellen Bravo: Wisconsin Fights for Paid Sick Leave
"What's at stake is whether assaults on working people will prevail," says Ellen Bravo, who fought with the Family Values @ Work Consortium to get paid sick leave for Milwaukee's workers only to see it banned in the state legislature--and the ban broadened to include the entire state. Meanwhile, to heighten the already tense situation in that state, Sarah Palin was there this weekend to speak to a Tea Party crowd. Laura spoke with Ellen via Skype from Milwaukee on the continuing importance of Wisconsin's place in the fight for workers' rights, and why she thinks that Wisconsinites, anyway, have a clear plan for success--as the third recall petition for a Republican State Senator is filed.
GRITtv: Hetty Rosenstein: Christie's Attacks on Workers
On April 4, GRITtv traveled to Newark, New Jersey for the We Are One rally, speaking with workers, racial justice activists, and leaders from the new national movement. Why New Jersey? Hetty Rosenstein of the Communication Workers of America filled us in on Governor Chris Christie. “He's anti union, he opposes collective bargaining, he's for the rich, he cut taxes on rich people by $9000 each while cutting services to those who are most vulnerable.” Laura spoke with Hetty about Christie's attacks on collective bargaining, about the need for a broader, wider coalition to fight for working people, and more. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Danny Glover: World's Workers Fighting Back
"If these actions are allowed to stand in these places, there's going to be an assault on public workers around this nation. They are the testing ground to see how people are going to respond to this. And people are responding gloriously, whether it was Indianapolis, whether it was in Madison, they came out. Even those workers who may have been exempt from this takeover, even those workers came out," says actor and humanitarian Danny Glover. Danny Glover has a long history of activism and hasn't slowed down. Just recently, he flew back to Haiti with exiled former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and stopped in Indiana to lend his voice to the struggle of workers there to retain their right to organize. Glover stopped in New York to speak to the memorial gathering for the Triangle Shirtwaist workers, and he took some time to chat with Laura about the struggles of people around the world right now.
GRITtv: March 28, 2011
"It wasn't just students involved in this protest. There was a lot of people from all walks of life involved," says Laurie Penny of the New Statesman, who joins us from London to talk abut the newest round of protests led by UK Uncut. Saturday's protests saw crowds in excess of 500,000 and violent clashes with police forces. Penny joins us from London where she has been observing the protests first-hand to talk about the protests, the media coverage, and what comes next. "I do see flickers of hope, I see that there's an organic movement going on in Wisconsin, across the country," said Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, "It's time to get activated, It's time to let our elected officials know what we want in terms of better working conditions and a better, fair playing field for everyone. Not just those at the top, but those at the bottom and the middle." Laura spoke with Secretary Solis at the Triangle Fire memorial on Friday about sweatshop conditions then and now, whether we can expect prosecutions for those responsible for the deaths of Massey coal mine and BP workers, and what we can do to help protect working people, U.S. citizens or not. "Get involved, volunteer, go out there and organize and make sure those people get off of the sidewalk and onto the street." Finally, a commentary from Laura on the passing of Geraldine Ferraro and her enduring legacy. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Hilda Solis: Defending Working People in 2011
"I do see flickers of hope, I see that there's an organic movement going on in Wisconsin, across the country," said Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, "It's time to get activated, It's time to let our elected officials know what we want in terms of better working conditions and a better, fair playing field for everyone. Not just those at the top, but those at the bottom and the middle." Laura spoke with Secretary Solis at the Triangle Fire memorial on Friday about sweatshop conditions then and now, whether we can expect prosecutions for those responsible for the deaths of Massey coal mine and BP workers, and what we can do to help protect working people, U.S. citizens or not. "Get involved, volunteer, go out there and organize and make sure those people get off of the sidewalk and onto the street." Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Spencer Black & David Newby: Koch Money Behind Scott Walker
"Wisconsin has a proud tradition in terms of labor, the environment, of people standing up to the power and money of big corporations," says Spencer Black, former chair of the Wisconsin State Assembly Natural Resources Committee. ; And those big corporations don't like that tradition one bit. The Bradley Foundation, a right-wing organization with connections with the billionaire Koch brothers, has poured money into Walker's anti-union, anti-worker campaign, and they're not stopping with union busting.Spencer and David Newby, former president of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, join Laura in Madison to discuss the big business backers behind Walker's campaigns not just to gut workers' rights, but to rig the next election.
GRITtv: The F Word: The Violence of the Broken Economy
A lot of people have talked this week about violent political rhetoric bringing the U.S. to a fever pitch, but there's something else keeping people on edge too: that's economic catastrophe. As reporters spread out to talk to accused shooter Jared Loughner's friends and neighbors, a picture has begun to emerge of a reality that rarely makes the front page. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Raj Patel & David Kirby: Fixing Food Policy
"We are heading toward a two-tiered food system in this country," notes David Kirby, author of Animal Factory. The food safety bill that just passed Congress puts some safety standards back into the U.S. food system, but does it do anything to change the ability of poor folks to buy healthy food? Raj Patel points out that when wages are kept low and work is devalued, it doesn't matter how cheap food is; people won't be able to afford it. Raj and David join us for a special extended conversation about the state of food policy in the U.S.: safety, subsidies, wages and working conditions. Does bipartisan acknowledgement that there is a problem bode well for our food system, and what's going on with local activism toward sustainable food production?
GRITtv: David Cay Johnston: Still-Growing Wage Gap
"A weak foundation cannot properly support a massive superstructure, as the leaning Tower of Pisa shows. The latest wage data show the disastrous results some of us warned about, although like the famous tower, the economy only lists badly and has not collapsed." That's from David Cay Johnston's latest piece, digging into the scary numbers on real wages in the U.S. Who's making money, and how much of it? He joins us via Skype to discuss the dirt--and the causes. Distributed by Tubemogul.
