“We’re in a really exciting labor moment,” says sociologist Erin Hatton. “Coming out of the trauma of COVID, this may be the silver lining that carries us out of it. Workers are organizing in workplaces that have long been seen as completely outside labor movements.”
And it’s young, women, non-binary, and BIPOC workers leading the charge.
For today’s show, guest host Norman Stockwell from The Progressive Magazine celebrates the latest worker victories and checks in on unionization efforts at Dollar General, Starbucks, and Amazon with an all-star lineup of organizers and scholars.
Luis Feliz Leon is a staff writer and organizer with Labor Notes. The 2022 Labor Notes Conference is taking place June 17–19 in Chicago. More information available at labornotes.org/2022.
Kenya Slaughter is a worker activist and assistant manager at Dollar General in Alexandria, Louisiana. You can learn more about Step Up Louisiana on their Facebook page: facebook.com/StepUpLA.
Erin Hatton is a professor of sociology at the University of Buffalo, where she researches labor and social inequality. Her latest book is Coerced: Work Under Threat of Punishment (University of California Press, 2020).
John Logan is a professor in the Department of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University. His work focuses on the anti-union industry and anti-union legislation in the U.S.
Event notice: CUNA Mutual United and OPEIU Local 39 will be picketing this Saturday, May 21, 11AM to 1PM at 5810 Mineral Point Road. More information here.
Read more: “Dollar General Workers Refuse to Be Silenced” by Mike Kuhlenbeck, The Progressive Magazine.
Listen: A Public Affair May Day special from May 2, 2022.
Cover photo: Starbucks workers rally and march in Seattle, Washington on April 23, 2022, by Elliot Stoller, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
