Ep 111 – All Aboard The Strike Train

We start this week’s episode with a discussion of how unions can play a major role in fighting for workers’ right to reproductive healthcare in the wake of the Supreme Court gutting abortion rights. Then we start the episode proper with a follow-up with the Indiana University grad workers, where despite winning overwhelming support from faculty, the administration is digging in and refusing to recognize the union. Then we have some on the ground labor reporting from Dan, who discusses a local strike of Teamsters at DHL in Pawtucket, RI, where workers are fighting for healthcare and a living wage. Next, over 4000 workers in one of the largest platinum mines in the world in South Africa have gone on strike to protest horrible wages paid to contract workers. Also this week, workers in Maine filed for the first union in the country at a Chipotle and are fighting against understaffing and overwork leading to unsanitary conditions. Train drivers in New Jersey delivered a master class in a well-timed industrial action when they staged a sickout the Friday evening of Juneteenth weekend in protest of not receiving holiday pay. The big story this week is obviously the massive rail strike in England, where 40,000 workers shut down the rails for three days to protest the government’s plan to slash thousands of jobs, destroy pensions, and enforce a pay cut during record inflation. Finally, as usual, we close with our update on the Starbucks Workers United movement as it continues to rack up wins. No Contract, No Coffee Pledge to Support Starbucks Workers: https://crm.broadstripes.com/ctf/SJID0H Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX Follow the pod @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter, John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee