Belabored Podcast #117: Welcome to the Resistance, with Barbara Madeloni

Massachusetts Teachers Association President Barbara Madeloni joins us to talk about an election victory for public education, and how labor should respond to Donald Trump.

Massachusetts Teachers Association President Barbara Madeloni on election night (MTA)

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It’s going to take a lot of work to resist the attacks on labor that appear to be coming, as President-Elect Trump surrounds himself with billionaires, financiers, and white supremacists. Teachers’ unions were already in the line of fire as the Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association case headed for the Supreme Court, and so we decided to talk to a union leader who brought home some good news on election night about what the future might hold. Barbara Madeloni is president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, and helped build the coalition that defeated a ballot initiative that would have drastically expanded the reach of charter schools. She argues for teachers taking a strong stand on protecting students and public schools from Trumpism—and that labor already knows what it needs to do in order to build strong unions that can withstand attack.

We also hear from strikers at Momentive and from the massive Fight for $15 day of action (including Uber drivers) and check in with the latest from OUR Walmart and the ongoing battle around overtime rules. For Argh, we look at Trump’s already-cracking promises to challenge outsourcers, and the challenge that labor and youth activists in South Korea face as they mobilize against their country’s ruling elite.

If you think our work is worth supporting as we soldier on into Trumplandia, please consider becoming a sustaining member of Belabored or donating or subscribing to Dissent. Please help keep us going for the next 117 episodes!

News

Uber Drivers Demand Higher Pay in Nationwide Protest (CNET)

Fight for $15: Four Years, $62 Billion (National Employment Law Project)

Thanksgiving on the Picket Lines at Momentive (Labor Notes)

Michelle: The New Overtime Rules are a Big Deal. Here’s Why (The Nation)

Administration will appeal court order blocking overtime rule (The Hill)

Labor Group Gets IBM’s Watson to Help Walmart Workers (Bloomberg)

Conversation

Massachusetts Teachers Association

Massachusetts Teachers Knock Out Corporate Charter School Scheme (Labor Notes)

Massachusetts Teachers Union President Barbara Madeloni calls for teachers to organize ‘love trumps hate’ standouts (MassLive)

Argh, I Wish I’d Written That!