Today on the Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Dr. Damita Brown…
Kristen Taylor, lead organizer for Worker Justice Wisconsin, and Sara Gia Trongone, Labor Solidarity Co-Chair of AFT Local 3220 (TAA) join us to talk about labor issues including the current organizing and worker justice actions, increasing minimum wages, Striketober, the John Deere strike in Iowa and the condition of organized labor in Madison.
More on Worker Justice Wisconsin and their monthly membership meetings (every third Thursday) at the Madison Labor Temple to learn and build community: https://workerjustice.org/
More on UW-Madison TAA (AFT Local 3220): https://taa-madison.org/
Listen in Madison at 89.9FM or online anywhere at wortfm.org. Support your community radio with a pledge online at wortfm.org!
Kristen Taylor’s passion for promoting social justice and workers’ rights brought her to Worker Justice Wisconsin in 2009, where she worked as a bi-lingual volunteer advocate and helped with the daily office tasks around the center. In 2010 she was hired on as staff and for over 10 years, she has dedicated countless hours assisting low wage and immigrant workers in Wisconsin in their fight against workplace inequalities. At the worker center, Kristen provides direct advocacy assistance to workers, teaches weekly trainings that educate workers about their rights and trains workers to organize collectively to demand better working conditions. She has been involved with several campaigns and projects over the years including, but not limited to, The “Just Dining Guide”, the Fight for $15 movement, and the training and building of worker cooperatives.
This year, Kristen is a lead organizer of WJW’s new worker membership program, providing monthly meetings and a safe place for workers to join forces, organize and fight back against workplace injustices. Worker Justice members can participate in these monthly meetings to learn new leadership tools, learn about worker organizing victories around the United States and network together. This group fosters empowerment that happens when workers join forces to solve workplace problems.
Sara Gia Trongone is a proud and active union member. She currently serves as the Labor Solidarity Co-Chair of AFT Local 3220 and is a founding member of the University Labor Council. She (sort of) earns a living as a doctoral student in Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studies labor and social movements.
Photo by Lance Cheung for USDA: https://flic.kr/p/2mCYz7N
