Labor History Today

From PATCO to Trump: Lessons from Labor’s Past for Today’s Fight

On this week’s Labor History Today podcast: In a special crossover episode with the Power At Work podcast, historians Joe McCartin and Veronica Martinez-Matsuda join me and Power At Work host Seth Harris to connect the past to labor’s present “perilous moment.” They explore the legacy of the 1981 PATCO strike, today’s threats to federal workers' rights, the farm labor movement’s long exclusion from labor law, and why history doesn’t swing back on its own—people make it.Subscribe to Labor History Today and listen wherever you get your podcasts. #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @ILLaborHistory @RickSmithShow #LaborHistory @PMPressOrg @FlyingWithSara @labornotes @LN4SEdited/produced by Chris Garlock

Broken Heads and Unbroken Spirits: 40 Years After the British Miners’ Strike

On this episode of Labor History Today, we mark the 40th anniversary of the end of one of the most significant labor struggles of the 20th century: the 1984–85 British Miners’ Strike. Former miner and strike veteran John Dunn shares his harrowing personal account of the violence, repression, and community solidarity that defined the year-long battle between the National Union of Mineworkers and Margaret Thatcher’s government. Dunn’s story, told in conversation with Heartland Labor Forum host Tino Scalici, brings to life the cost of resistance, the brutality of the state, and the enduring legacy of working-class struggle.We also feature labor music from the Oyster Band, with “Coal Not Dole,” a poem by Kay Sutcliffe set to song, and Labor History in Two on the Haymarket Affair.
Subscribe to Labor History Today and listen wherever you get your podcasts. #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @ILLaborHistory @RickSmithShow #LaborHistory @PMPressOrg @FlyingWithSara @labornotes @LN4SEdited/produced by Chris Garlock and Patrick Dixon; social media guru: Harold Phillips

50 years of “Strike!” (Encore)

Sara Nelson’s inspirational keynote at the April 6, 2021 symposium celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jeremy Brecher’s classic labor history book “Strike!” On today’s Labor History in 2: Our Thing is DRUM!Originally released May 2, 2021.
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Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @ILLaborHistory @RickSmithShow #LaborHistory @PMPressOrg @FlyingWithSara @labornotes @LN4SEdited/produced by Chris Garlock and Patrick Dixon; social media guru: Harold Phillips

Union Made: The DC Labor FilmFest Preview

This week on Labor History Today: The 25th annual DC Labor FilmFest kicks off May Day at the AFI Silver! Host Chris Garlock previews the powerful lineup of films about work and workers with AFI programmers Todd Hitchcock, Abbie Algar, Eli Prysant, and Javier Chavez — including LILLY, The Last Showgirl, and more.
Plus: On Labor History in 2:00, we remember the 1914 Ludlow Massacre. And historian Nick Juravich shares a favorite labor song celebrating the radical legacy of the National Maritime Union.
🎟️ Full festival info at laborheritage.orgQuestions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

Para Power

On Labor History Today: Para Power: AFT president Randi Weingarten talks with Nick Juravich, associate director of the Labor Resource Center at UMass Boston, about class, race and education and his book Para Power: How Paraprofessional Labor Changed Education. PLUS: Nick’s almost-favorite labor song, and, on Labor History in 2:00, Florence Reece is born. Labor History Today is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.@AFTunion @rweingarten @NickJuravich @AFISilver @LaborHeritage1 @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

A Chance to Harmonize

On Labor History Today: In 1934, as part of an effort to boost morale and encourage citizens to find community in their traditions, the Roosevelt administration sent artists to homesteads throughout the country to lead group activities—including listening to and making folk music. On today’s show, a conversation centered around A Chance to Harmonize: How FDR’s Hidden Music Unit Sought to Save America from the Great Depression—One Song at a Time, a book by award-winning author and music scholar Sheryl Kaskowitz.The event took place at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College on October 16, 2024; our show today is excerpted from a longer video.
On this week’s Labor History in Two: Rose Schneiderman is born.
Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

Taking a Stand: Union Solidarity Against Apartheid

On Labor History Today: Kings and presidents and CEOs like to think that they make history but real history is actually made by thousands of small actions like this: a handful of grounds workers at a local school district refusing to handle South African chicken wire, multiplied around the globe until, eventually, the entire racist system of apartheid collapses. Today’s episode tells the impressive story of international solidarity by union members in British Columbia – B.C. -- who worked tirelessly in support of those fighting to end apartheid. It comes to us from On The Line: Stories of BC Workers, a consistently terrific podcast from our friends in the free and independent country of Canada.
On this week’s Labor History in Two: Fifteenth Amendment adopted; Remembering ILWU Leader Harry Bridges
Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
@BC_LHC #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

Sam Walton, Harry Bridges & The Great Cowboy Strike (Encore)

On Labor History Today: Joe McCartin, Leon Fink and Patrick Dixon discuss the 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that undocumented workers don’t have the same rights as Americans, Sam Walton’s anti-union legacy, and they remember dock union leader Harry Bridges and the Texas cowboys strike. PLUS: Saul Schniderman on Martin Luther King and striking sanitation workers in Memphis. Music this week includes “Glory,” with Common and John Legend, from the motion picture "Selma” and “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke. Originally released March 25, 2018.Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory