Political Eh-conomy Radio

This week, two labour historians talk about their new books on Canadian and US workers’ movements in the 20th century, books which offer important and practical lessons for unions today. First up, I speak with Barry Eidlin [https://barryeidlin.org], Assistant Professor of Sociology at McGill University, about his just-published book, Labor and the Class Idea in the United States and Canada [http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/sociology/political-sociology/labor-and-class-idea-united-states-and-canada]. The book seeks to explain the divergence between the Canadian and US labour movements since the 1960s and we discuss everything from the recent Janus decision to how the US labour law regime obscures the fundamental power imbalances in the workplace to how Canadian unions still need internal revival despite their (somewhat) better position. Next, I talk with Christo Aivalis [https://twitter.com/christoaivalis], Postdoctoral Fellow in History at the University of Toronto, about his book, The Constant Liberal: Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Organized Labour and the Canadian Social Democratic Left [https://www.ubcpress.ca/the-constant-liberal]. The title speaks for itself but the relationship between Trudeau and labour foreshadows how neoliberalism would be implemented in Canada in later decades and holds lessons for how labour should orient politically as well as fight Trudeau the younger today. As always, remember to subscribe above to get new episodes as they appear, rate the show on iTunes anddonate [http://rozworski.org/subscribe-to-podcast/]to help keep this good thing going. Thanks! [http://rozworski.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/20180726-labour-fate-and-revival-header.jpg]

Last Thursday was a dark day in Ontario as the Conservative Party led by businessman-bully-bullshitter Doug Ford won a majority [https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/doug-ford-s-progressive-conservatives-win-majority-in-ontario-1.3963986] in the provincial election. Two guests assess the factors behind the Ford’s win and the chances for building an effective opposition to the coming right-wing agenda for Canada’s most populous province. First up, Doug Nesbitt, PhD student in history at Queen’s presently competing his dissertation on the Days of Action during the last Conservative government in Ontario under Mike Harris. He is also an editor at rankandfile.ca [http://rankandfile.ca] as well as an organizer with the Fight for 15 and Fairness in Kingston, where he lives. He analyzes this 2018 election drawing on links with the Harris years in the 90s, the opposition then and its lessons. He leaves off exactly where my conversation my second guest, Deena Ladd, begins. Deena is the director of the Worker’s Action Centre [http://workersactioncentre.org/] in Toronto and one of the main organizers behind Ontario’s wildly successful Fight for $15 and Fairness [https://www.15andfairness.org/]. She discusses how Doug Ford’s win came about and what this tells us about the strategies that can challenge his government from below. As always, remember to subscribe above to get new episodes as they appear, rate the show on iTunes anddonate [http://rozworski.org/subscribe-to-podcast/]to help keep this good thing going. Thanks! [http://rozworski.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/20180614-doug-ford.jpg]

This episode is dedicated to the recent, inspiring [https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/02/west-virginia-teachers-strike-energy-industry] and victorious [https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/03/west-virginia-janus-right-to-work-unions] teachers’ strike in West Virginia. West Virginia teachers went out on strike in late February over low pay and continued attacks on the health insurance plan they share with all other state workers. They stayed out [http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-west-virginia-teachers-strike-20180303-story.html] despite an initial deal signed by the Governor and their leadership and ultimately won a 5% raise [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/06/us/west-virginia-teachers-strike-deal.html] not just for themselves but for all public employees in West Virginia as well as promised reforms to their insurance plan, known as the PEIA. I spoke with two teacher leaders from West Virginia and an expert on teacher unionism to get some perspective on how this strike came about, how it won and what others can learn from its example. My first guest is Emily Comer, a high school Spanish teacher in South Charleston, West Virginia; she is a rank-and-file activist in her local of the AFT, the American Federation of Teachers and co-author of this excellent piece [https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/03/west-virginia-teachers-strike-agreement-budget] on the strike. I next speak with Lois Weiner [https://web.njcu.edu/faculty/lweiner/content/default.asp], professor in the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education at New Jersey City University and a specialist in urban teacher education and teacher unionism. Her research actively supports teachers who want to transform their unions; she wrote this piece [http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/20940/west_virginia_teachers_show_how_to_win_power_after_janus] on the strike that I reference in my interview. My final guest is Brandon Wolford, local president of the WVEA in Mingo Country. The WVEA is the West Virginia Education Association and alongside the AFT it is one of the two big teachers’ unions in West Virginia; Mingo County has a storied place [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Virginia_coal_wars] in labour history as an epicentre in the Mine Wars and mining struggles throughout the 20th century. As always, remember to subscribe above to get new episodes as they appear, rate the show on iTunes anddonate [http://rozworski.org/subscribe-to-podcast/]to help keep this good thing going. Thanks! [http://rozworski.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/20180320-wv-teachers-strike.jpg]

…And we’re back to regularly-scheduled programming. Apologies for the podcasting hiatus to (now really faithful) listeners; I hope to be back to regular episodes once again. I’m restarting the show this week with two great guests. First up, I speak with Angella MacEwen [https://twitter.com/AMacEwen] about the on-going NAFTA re-negotiations and whether Trudeau’s much-vaunted “progressive free trade” holds water. Angella has been a guest on the show before and is an economist at the Canadian Labour Congress. Speaking of the Labour Congress, my second guest, David Bush [https://twitter.com/dbrabblerouser], looks at the turmoil that led up and has resulted from Unifor leaving Canada’s house of labour. Dave is an editor at Rankandfile.ca [http://rankandfile.ca/]; he writes frequently and incisively on the Canadian labour movement. As always, remember to subscribe above to get new episodes as they appear, rate the show on iTunes and donate [http://rozworski.org/subscribe-to-podcast/] to help keep this good thing going. Thanks! [http://rozworski.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/20180220-free-trade-and-clc.jpg]

On this episode, three guests provide some perspective on the politics and the economics of the Fight for $15. First, I speak with Jonathan Rosenblum [http://www.JonathanRosenblum.org], campaign director at the first Fight for $15 at SeaTac Airport, just outside Seattle, Washington. Workers there won an immediate raise to $15 via a municipal ordinance in 2015. Jon is also an author and has recently publishedBeyond 15: Immigrant Workers, Faith Activists, and the Revival of the Labor Movement [http://www.beacon.org/Beyond-15-P1259.aspx]. Next, I move closer to home and talk to Sheila Block, economist at the Ontario office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Sheila lays out the context for the $15 and Fairness [http://15andfairness.org] campaign in Ontario, one of changing work and a weaker labour movement. Rounding out the show, economics writer and researcherNathan Tankus [https://twitter.com/nathantankus] returns to the podcast to discuss the economic arguments in favour of raising the minimum wage. We go beyond the narrow issue of  minimum wages to broader challenges to “textbook economics.” As always, remember to subscribe above to get new episodes as they appear, rate the show on iTunes anddonate [http://rozworski.org/subscribe-to-podcast/]to help keep this good thing going. Thanks! [http://rozworski.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/20170720-fighting-for-15.jpg]