Pressure, Profits, and Pushback

This week on Labor Force Podcast, we break down an economy that looks stable on paper—but feels anything but in real life. From a major new push to rebuild union power to strike victories in Los Angeles and Colorado, workers are showing what collective action can still achieve—even under intense pressure. But that pressure is coming from all sides: rising costs tied to global conflict, corporations maintaining strong profits while households struggle, and an accelerating shift in the labor market driven by AI. We dig into the growing disconnect between economic data and lived experience, why consumer sentiment is collapsing even as markets hold strong, and how companies are using crisis moments to protect margins while shifting costs onto workers. We also examine what’s at stake with immigration policy, as new data shows just how deeply immigrant labor is embedded in the U.S. economy—and what mass deportation could actually do to wages, prices, and entire industries. Plus: Nearly half a million New Yorkers face losing health coverage—and why the system keeps creating these “coverage cliffs” A controversial closure of a unionized Apple store The next major battleground in Southern auto unionization Why AI may be quietly choking off entry-level jobs—and what that means for the future of work And finally, we close on the “above-ground economy”—where even luxury is being redefined downward, and the American Dream is starting to look more like a simulation than a reality.