The Labor Exchange on KGNU

On this episode of the Labor Exchange we recognize Labor History Month by learning with author Leigh Campbell Hale about the Columbine Mine Massacre and union organizing in Colorado's northern coal fields.

We hear from SEIU Local 105's Andy Jacob from the America's Workforce Union Podcast - the country's only daily labor focused podcast. Plus we hear from Marge Taniwaki as she accepts her induction into the Colorado Labor Hall of Honor.     

We talk to Raúl O. Paz-Pastrana director of Backside: The Unseen Hands of Horse Racing; a PBS Independent Lens  documentary that takes you to the unseen world of the workers at the Kentucky Derby.

We talk with Colorado AFL-CIO Political Director Jacob Becklund on how to effectively engage in politics, his vision for the future and how the labor movement can build power in Colorado.

On this episode we listen to testimony from the Worker Protection Act and two bills dealing with farm worker overtime in the state. An effort to improve and streamline overtime for farm workers failed and a bill to increase the amount of time worked before being eligible for overtime moved forward. 

Nearly 4000 UFCW Local 7 Meatpacking workers are on strike against JBS USA. We talk with Leticia Avalos, a JBS worker, UFCW member and shop steward and Kim Cordova, President of UFCW Local 7 about unfair labor practices at the plant and how workers are standing up against this multinational company.      

On this episode of the Labor Exchange we listen to labor radio from around the world with the Labor Radio Podcast weekly.

On this week’s Labor Exchange we talk to Boulder Public Library workers Michael Serrano and Rachel Garfield-Levine. Workers at the library have formed a union and are seeking recognition and a contract. 

On this bonus episode of the KGNU Labor Exchange we talk to Adrian Rogers, President of AFSCME Local 1733 in Memphis Tennessee.  The local famously gained union recognition in the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike which was the for civil rights and union rights for Memphis City Workers. It was during his support for this strike that the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr gave his final speech titled I’ve Been to the Mountaintop and was assassinated soon after. 

With a special new years message, we listen back to our episode with artist Austin Sauerbrei about his book Trouble! At Coal Creek. 

We talk with Kate Biester, a high school social studies teacher and Sheridan Education Association President. The Sheridan School District has refused to honor the educators  collective bargaining agreement and educators in the small school district south of Denver are fighting for recognition and a fair contract.

We talk to filmmakers Jen Bradwell and Todd Boekelheide, winner of an Academy Award, on their film Make a Circle about the challenges around early childhood education and solutions that help families and early childhood educators. Watch it on Rocky Mountain PBS using PBS Passport.

We talk about worker solidarity at Casa Bonita, a theme restaurant in Colorado, as workers join together to demand a fair contract. Contract negotiations are ongoing following a strike over the Halloween holiday weekend. We talk to Michelle Mendenhall (IATSE). She started at Casa Bonita behind the bar and is now on the entertainment crew. Riley Holmes (Actors Equity) plays Black Bart and the Sheriff as part of the "dry crew" of entertainers. 

NYC 1970. Construction workers and anti-Vietnam War student protestors violently clash in what became known as the Hard Hat Riot. Marc Levin's new film on American Experience digs deep into this tumultuous history with archival footage and interviews with people on the ground in 1970. Listen to his interview with Labor Exchange Host Robert Lindgren. 

With a poverty rate above the state average and a higher median wage, Boulder is at a crossroads around the minimum wage and affordability. We catch up with Alejandra Beatty, President of the Boulder Area Labor Federation about an effort to lower the rate of the minimum wage in Boulder County and wider fights around what tipped workers should be paid. 

Legendary United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard passed recently at the age of 78. We talk with Joel Buchanan, a longtime member of the United Steelworkers about the work and legacy of President Gerard. 

We hear from Chris deGruy Kennedy from the Bell Policy Center and Joel McClurg from the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger about challenges in Colorado's state budget and a proposed solution with a graduated income tax. 

This week we talk with Austin Sauerbrei about his debut graphic novel Trouble at Coal Creek that tells the story of a rarely told piece of east Tennessee labor history. The book is available from Haymarket Books.  

On this episode of the Labor Exchange we talk with Caroline Nutter with the Colorado Fiscal Institute about the Special Session of the Colorado General Assembly addressing budget shortfalls related to the Trump administrations budget bill.

On this episode we remember Sheila Ivy Traister, a leader with SAG-AFTRA and the AFL-CIO who passed away recently. We listen back to a conversation with her from 2023 about the work of an artist, the importance of unions in the entertainment industry and the Screen Actor Guild Awards. This is a special extended version of our radio interview. 

On this episode of the Labor Exchange we hear the most recent Labor Radio Podcast Weekly, a digest of the top labor radio from across the country. 

We talk with Adam Fox from the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative about what Trump's budget bill will mean for health in Colorado including cuts to Medicaid and the effects on access to healthcare in rural areas and across Colorado. 

KGNU Labor Exchange - Artificial intelligence, vetoes and workers' rights on this 2025 legislative session wrap up episode with Kjersten Forseth, Colorado AFL-CIO lobbyist and worker advocate. 

KGNU Labor Exchange - we get a brief update on Gov. Polis' veto of the Worker Protection Act and we listen back to our interview with Ryan Dineen on the organizing happening in Colorado and Utah's ski communities. Ryan is the President of the Breckenridge Professional Ski Patrol Union which is part of United Mountain Workers and CWA Local 7781.

 KGNU Labor Exchange - The danger of Medicaid cuts with Todd Kaanta, SEIU 105 member and Colorado Coalition for the Homeless case manager and Tim Faust, author, healthcare organizer and OPEIU local 9 member. Our host this week is Ben Ullrich, a member of the Denver Newspaper Guild and SEIU 105 organizer.

KGNU Labor Exchange - We talk to TWU 555 President Abilio Villaverde about his new children’s book about union solidarity, We Are Family. We also delve into what it takes to work in extreme conditions as ramp crew at some of the world’s busiest airports. [Book Link]

KGNU Labor Exchange - Colorado’s Union Radio - We talk with Dr. Alli Whitaker and Dr. Joshua Beggs, residents with the Housestaff Association of the University of Colorado Hospitals (HSA). They are pushing for collective bargaining rights and a greater voice in the workplace. Residents are doctoral-level healthcare providers—physicians, psychiatrists, and others—who work at the University of Colorado Hospitals while completing their medical training. Click to show support for CU Housestaff

The Labor Exchange teams up with Lynn Fields of the Resolved Labor Podcast to hear about Howard Wallace an activist from Denver that dared to marry LGBTQ rights and labor rights. 

KGNU Labor Exchange - Carl Smith SMART-TD talks about a bill to fund more safety inspectors in Colorado and we hear from the hearing on SB5 the Worker Protection Act - including Reps. Jennifer Bacon and Javier Mabry and Casa Bonita worker Michelle Mendenhall. 

KGNU Labor Exchange - Guest Host Ben Ullrich talks about the joy of organizing with Karli McClure & Nate Paer, SEIU 105 Mental Health Workers. Karli and Nate helped build the union at Mental Health Partners (now Clinica Family Health) and are negotiating a first contract. We hear the challenges and successes including how Colorado’s outdated labor laws slow down unionizing efforts.

The KGNU Labor Exchange talks with with union organizer Ryan Dineen on the organizing happening in Colorado and Utah's ski communities. Ryan is the President of the Breckenridge Professional Ski Patrol Union which is part of United Mountain Workers and CWA Local 7781. 

KGNU Labor Exchange - Colorado’s Union Radio - We talk to Ben Ullrich, a former craft distiller and current SEIU Local 105 organizer. We discuss Colorado's outdated labor laws and why more workers are choosing to organize. Tune In Tonight (2/3) at 6 PM on KGNU 88.5FM/1390AM! 📻and on your favorite podcast app

This weeks Labor Exchange is a special Martin Luther King Jr. Day episode. We hear from the AFL-CIO’s 2025 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference held this week in Austin TX and a recent announcement of Climate Jobs Colorado, a new union-led coalition that will address the growing climate crisis through a pro-worker agenda that prioritizes good union jobs.

On this week’s Labor Exchange we finish our conversation with author and educator Leigh Campbell-Hale about her book “Remembering Ludlow but forgetting the Columbine The 1927 - 1928 Colorado Coal Strike.” about the I.W.W. led strike in Serene, Colorado outside of Erie. In this episode we pick up the discussion about I.W.W. organizer Powers Hapgood, his wife Mary Donovan and the role protests around the scheduled execution Sacco and Vanzetti played in the strike.

Listen to the full and uncut conversation with author and educator Leigh Campbell-Hale about her book “Remembering Ludlow but forgetting the Columbine The 1927 - 1928 Colorado Coal Strike.” about the I.W.W. led strike in Serene, Colorado outside of Erie.  

On this week’s Labor Exchange we continue our conversation with author and educator Leigh Campbell-Hale about her book “Remembering Ludlow but forgetting the Columbine The 1927 - 1928 Colorado Coal Strike.” about the I.W.W. led strike in Serene, Colorado outside of Erie.

On this week’s Labor Exchange we talk to author and educator Leigh Campbell-Hale about her book “Remembering Ludlow but forgetting the Columbine The 1927 - 1928 Colorado Coal Strike.” about the I.W.W. led strike in Serene, Colorado outside of Erie.  Join us for part two of our conversation in two weeks.

On this week’s Labor Exchange we hear from Labor voices across the world through the Labor Radio Podcast Network. First,  LabourStart brings us an interview with Tamar Ansiani, one of the striking gaming workers at Evolution Gaming, Georgia; On the Mining & Energy Union Podcast a discussion of Same Job, Same Pay laws; Campo and Sparrow talk about a recent death at a wind farm on the Golden Plains, on Concrete Gang,; Next, on the Power at Work podcast, Painters' president Jimmy Williams has ideas about the Democratic party’s failure to elect Kamala Harris president, plus he shares his views on the current state of labor and how he envisions the future of the labor movement; In our final segment, is Amazon trying to Americanize Canadian labour law? Find out when RadioLabour looks into this question.

On this episode of the Labor Exchange we talk with political strategist and community leader Alvina Vasquez about the 2024 election results.

On today’s episode of the Labor Exchange we talk with AFT Colorado Executive Director Kallie Leyba about the documentary Columbine 2024: 25 Years of TRAUMA by Jeff Vespa which features Kallie and her husband, Columbine teacher Kiki Leyba about their experiences. We also talk about issues facing teachers and students in the 2024 election.

On today’s episode of the Labor Exchange we talk with AFT Colorado Executive Director Kallie Leyba about the documentary Columbine 2024: 25 Years of TRAUMA by Jeff Vespa which features Kallie and her husband, Columbine teacher Kiki Leyba about their experiences. We also talk about issues facing teachers and students in the 2024 election.

On this weeks Labor Exchange we talk to Dr. James Walsh, a professor at the University of Colorado Denver who specializes in labor, working class and immigration history and politics. He also founded the Romero Theater troupe an all volunteer theater project that explores working class themes. He recently led the effort to build the Leadville Irish Miners’ Memorial at Evergreen Cemetery in Leadville. 

On this episode of the Labor Exchange we talk about the community effort to raise the minimum wage in Boulder with Boulder Area Labor Council President Alejandra Beatty as well as talking about the 88th Annual Louisville Labor Day Parade.

On today's Labor Exchange we hear from Joel Buchanan, retired member of the United Steelworkers in Pueblo about his career and the history of steel in Pueblo.

On this episode of the Labor Exchange we talk to Sophie Mariam, a labor policy analyst for the Colorado Fiscal Institute, a non-profit that provides independent analysis of fiscal and economic issues facing Colorado. We’re discussing, among other things, a study published last month by the Economic Policy Institute titled The Rise of the Union Curious: Support for unionization among America’s frontline workers.

On this episode of the labor exchange we hear from Teamsters Vice President John Palmer discussing Teamster President Sean O Brien’s recent decision to speak at the republican national convention, and from others on topics ranging from solar power to labor challenges in the trades. The Labor Exchange is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network, a group dedicated to promoting the wide variety of radio shows and podcasts about working and working people.  Today’s show features excerpts from Labor Radio Podcast Network Partners including The Real News Network Podcast, The Labor And Energy Show; The Wealthy Ironworker and The Construction User 2.0. The Labor Radio Podcast Network Weekly is edited by Patrick Dixon, produced by Chris Garlock. 

On this episode of the Labor Exchange we discuss an effort to have voters make a decision on expanding collective bargaining rights for city workers in Denver. We interview Denver Librarian Lauren Seegmiller along with three members of the Denver City Council: Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, Shontel Lewis, and Sarah Parady.

On today’s episode of the Labor Exchange we hear an interview with pioneering Colorado State Senator and Representative Polly Baca about her impactful career, her links to the labor movement and her hope for the future. This episode features special guest host True Apodaca-Cobell from SEIU 105.

On this episode of the Labor Exchange we talk to Gil Maestas President of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians Local 52 about an organizing effort among workers at Nexstar / Fox 31 and his background in the local broadcasting industry.

On this episode of the Labor Exchange we catch up with Colorado AFL-CIO Executive Director Dennis Dougherty about Governor Polis' veto of three bills passed in Colorado that were designed to help working families.