Burnham's Plan to Beat Farage - TUC Chief Paul Nowak

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft WE NEED YOUR (FINANCIAL) SUPPORT TO KEEP GOING!****Babe wake up, new PM just dropped!Since we launched this podcast, politics has been lurching from crisis to crisis. Yet again, Britain has a new leader. Our 5th in 4 years, our 7th in a decade. It can’t go on like this, surely?!This week we have a special episode with Paul Nowak, the General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress, the national umbrella organisation for trade unions in England and Wales, representing nearly 6 million workers.Founded in the 19th century, The TUC has a storied history. Agitating for greater rights and protections for workers, Trade Unions have guaranteed the weekend, sick pay and holidays. As the relation between capital and labour is rewritten by new tech, we forget our Union heritage at our own peril. Collective bargaining has been at the core of progressive change. Without it, we are at the mercy of vested interests. For many historians, Margaret Thatcher won a decisive victory over agitating Unions. Union memberships drop from over 50% to 22% today. But now, memberships are rising again as workers realise the threat ahead. Oligarchy has returned. Tech is taking jobs. And democracy itself appears to be on the line.Chapters00:00 Intro02:00 Union Members For Farage06:05 Burnham’s Change Agenda11:01 Getting Britain Building Again17:36 Can Burnham Take On Vested Interests?23:42 Employment Rights vs. Farage’s Crypto Interests29:05 Populist Right Hypocrisy36:30 Ending Neoliberalism42:03 Fixing the Unproductive State48:52 Can the Union Movement be Reactionary?53:37 Left-Wing Talent Pipeline59:54 Trades vs. Universities1:05:34 Reindustrialising Britain1:13:16 Lifelong Educational Reform1:20:20 Can The State Afford Radicalism?1:25:10 Youth Unemployment and Mental Health