Belabored Podcast #127: Rebellion in the Streets
Belabored Podcast #127: Rebellion in the Streets
Five organizers talk about this year’s May Day, which saw immigrant workers taking to the streets around the country.
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This past Monday was May Day, the day celebrated around the world as International Workers’ Day. The holiday’s roots are actually here in the United States, though thanks to decades of redbaiting we celebrate Labor Day in the fall and presidents have declared May 1 “loyalty day.” But in recent years, beginning with the massive Day Without an Immigrant in 2006, working people have begun to reclaim the day as one to stay home from work and demand radical change. This year’s May Day saw massive immigrant worker strikes once again, from coast to coast, and we spoke with organizers from around the country who helped make the day happen: Maria Elena Durazo of UNITE HERE, Will Lambek with Migrant Justice, Celene Perez of Warehouse Workers Resource Center in California, Jose Oliva with Food Chain Workers Alliance in Chicago, and Christine Neumann-Ortiz of Voces De La Frontera Wisconsin.
We also take a look at the House vote to repeal Obamacare and replace it with Trumpcare; the People’s Climate March; the narrowly averted Hollywood writer’s strike; and the struggles of migrant workers in the Marianas islands. For Argh, we consider exploitation of chicken plant workers, and a massive general strike in Brazil.
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News
Every Republican who voted for this abomination must be held accountable (Washington Post)
Gold Mantis breaks silence; Imperial Pacific ‘denounces’ contractors’ illegal acts (Marianas Variety)
The People’s Climate March and Labor (OnLabor)
The Global People’s Climate Marches were Massive (In These Times)
WGA Deal Decoded: Big TV Gains But Movie Writers Have Less to Celebrate (Hollywood Reporter)
Conversation:
Sarah: “We will use our non-cooperation”
Michelle: This May Day, Don’t Go to Work, Take to the Streets and Strike (In These Times)
The Day Without Immigrant Workers Has Begun (The Nation)
Can Workers Make America Great Again? (Refinery 29)
Argh, I Wish I’d Written That!
Sarah: Ella Mahony, Why Brazil is Striking on Friday (Jacobin)
Michelle: Michael Grabell, Exploitation and Abuse at the Chicken Plant (The New Yorker)
