Belabored Podcast #157: What’s a Strike and How Can I Help?

Belabored Podcast #157: What’s a Strike and How Can I Help?

In a special panel discussion, Sarah speaks with three strike veterans about what it takes to walk off the job, build community support—and win.

Striking teachers participate in the #RedforEd kickoff march, Phoenix, Arizona, April 26 (Gage Skidmore / Arizona Education Association)

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We’re bringing you a special episode this week. Last week, Sarah was in New Orleans for Netroots Nation, and this week we bring you the recording of the panel, What’s a Strike and How Can I Help?, designed to explain to labor rookies what goes into planning a strike, building community support, and successfully pulling one off. It was moderated by Mary Cathryn Ricker of the AFT, formerly president of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers, and featured Sarah alongside Rebecca Diamond, AFT member from West Virginia and one of the many rank-and-file teachers to participate in the recent statewide strike there, and Jonathan Westin, director of New York Communities for Change, which despite not being a union has led many a strike, including the first-ever Fight for $15 fast food strikes back in 2012.

If you think Belabored is worth supporting as we soldier on through Trumplandia, please consider becoming a member today. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org.

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Panel: Strike 101

Sarah: West Virginia Teachers Walk Out (Dissent)

Sarah: The Rising Ghosts of Labor in the West Virginia Teachers’ Strike (New York Times)

Sarah: This Group Pioneered the Fight for $15. Can They Transform the Fight for Affordable Housing Too? (The Nation)

Mary Cathryn Ricker: Teacher-Community Unionism: A Lesson from St. Paul (Dissent)

Video: Rebecca Diamond works two jobs. (AJ+)

Belabored #150: Lessons Learned on the Picket Line

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In Other News

Michelle: The Labor Abuse That Went Into NYU’s Abu Dhabi Campus (The Nation)

Michelle: Who Profits from Our Prison System? (The Nation)


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