Advertise on podcast: Working People

Far from all the political bluster about police being "defunded," six years after the earth-shaking George Floyd protests swept the US and public approval for law enforcement plummeted, police have never been more politically and monetarily supported than they are now. But when veteran labor reporters and union activists Hamilton Nolan and Jacob Morrison attended the 23rd Quadrennial Convention of the International Union of Police Associations in Las Vegas, Nevada, they found a different kind of union, and a different kind of convention, than they were expecting… In this special episode of Working People, we speak with Nolan and Morrison about their August reporting trip to the IUPA Convention in Las Vegas. Additional links/info: Hamilton Nolan Substack (How Things Work) and Bluesky page Jacob Morrison's Twitter/X page The Valley Labor Report website, YouTube channel, Facebook page, Bluesky page, and Twitter/X page Hamilton Nolan & Jacob Morrison, The Real News Network, "Beards and loathing: A cop union convention comes to Las Vegas" Hamilton Nolan, How Things Work, "We infiltrated a police union convention in Las Vegas" Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

President Trump has renewed his efforts to "Build the Wall" in areas along the US-Mexico Border that don't currently have border barriers—including the Big Bend region of West Texas. Invading people's private properties and upending their local economies and shared ecosystem with a border wall residents say they don't want or need, the Trump administration continues to dole out billions of taxpayer dollars to flood Texas border towns like Terlingua, Sanderson, and Marfa with troops and federal agents—and to pay construction contractors with ties to the Trump family. In this episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of residents living near Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park who have banded together with their neighbors to fight back against the federally funded destruction of their homes. Panelists include: Yolanda Alvarado, a fifth-generation cattle rancher and the regional director for Conserve Big Bend: No Big Bend Wall; Crystal Allbright, a longtime resident and bicycle shop owner in Terlingua; Sara Ryza, a longtime resident, small-business owner, and proprietor of the Desert Air Motel in Sanderson, Texas; Scott Whitener, a longtime resident of Marfa, Texas, and a former superintendent on the Big Bend Ranch State Park; and Sharron Reed Gavin, a retiree and longtime resident of Terlingua. Additional links/info: No Big Bend Wall website, Facebook page, and Instagram Uriel J. Garcia & Alex Ford, The Texas Tribune, "What to know about possible border barriers in Big Bend" The Terlingua Music Bash (Oct. 15-18) website and Facebook page, Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Because he was bullied in elementary school for being Native American, James Gardner's friends lovingly call him "NDN." His friends and family know NDN to be a fiercely loyal, loving person, and a fiercely hard worker. But as a third-generation concrete specialist, NDN was exposed to chemicals that have left him disabled, terminal, and facing foreclosure on his home. In this episode of Working People, we speak with James "NDN" Gardner and his best friend James Quigg. Additional links/info: GoFundMe: James Gardner: Terminal Liver Failure—Home at Risk Maven Navarro, Forth Worth Star-Telegram, "Terminally ill, this proud man is fighting to keep the Fort Worth home he built" Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

"We are living in a pivotal moment in labor history," Cole Rockarts writes in their new book Fired Up About Unions. "At a time when corporations have more power, profit, and political influence than ever before, workers are leading inspiring union organizing campaigns and taking on bosses to win big… Their struggles reveal that everyday people can unite, change their conditions, and build better workplaces and a better world." In this episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of labor organizers across the USA and Canada about why labor unions are more important now than ever, and how workers organizing collectively can change their workplaces, their lives, and the world. Panelists include: Hassan Husseini of the Public Service Alliance of Canada and Labor for Palestine - Canada; Tina Oh of SEIU Local 2 in Hallifax, Canada; Alex Raymond of Teamsters 322 in Virginia, USA, and Cole Rockarts, veteran labor educator and organizer and author of the new book Fired Up About Unions. Additional links/info: Cole Rockarts, Between the Lines Press, Fired Up About Unions Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

On the morning of August 18, residents living near the Brent Industries facility in Toledo, Ohio, awoke to a series of massive explosions and a towering chemical fire in their backyards. Two Brent Industry workers who were on shift at the time of the explosion were killed. Members of the surrounding community say they are experiencing symptoms of chemical exposure, and that they are not getting the answers they need from Brent Industries or the Environmental Protection Agency. In this episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of Toledo residents about the industrial disaster at Brent Industries and the harrowing aftermath. Panelists include: Toledo Councilwoman Dr Brittany Jones; Mike Balonek, Toledo-based filmmaker and sacrifice zone advocate; Sarah Locker and Kris Ramsdell, who both live right next to the Brent Industries facility where the deadly explosion occurred. Editor's note: According to WTVG Toledo, "The coroner's office identified those who died in the [Brent Industries] fire as Heladio G. Perez, 46, and Mary Allen, 64. An autopsy revealed they both died as a result of blunt force trauma." Additional links/info: Dave Collins & John Seewer, Associated Press, "Explosions and fire tear through Ohio industrial building, killing 2 workers" Kevon DuPree, WTVG Toledo, "Records show history of fires, violations at Brent Industries facility" Lily Lowndes, Alexis Means, & Brianna Weaver, WTVG Toledo, "Two dead after explosions rock Toledo industrial facility" Mike Balonek website, Facebook page, Instagram, and production company website Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

On August 27, registered nurses, patients, and community allies rallied and stopped traffic in cities around the US to demand that hospitals and elected officials cut all ties with artificial intelligence giant Palantir. In this episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of registered nurses—Kelli Brennan (Portland, Maine), Lee Barker (Kansas City, Missouri), and Kiera Arbour (Chicago, Illinois)—about National Nurses United's "Purge Palantir!" campaign, and about the disturbing creep of Big Tech and Big Brother into a US healthcare system that is already in crisis. Additional links/info: National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram National Nurses United: "Nurses hold nationwide civil disobedience actions to demand 'Palantir Out!'" Sheera Frenkel & Aaron Krolik, The New York Times, "Trump Taps Palantir to Compile Data on Americans" Aisha Down & Robert Booth, The Guardian, "Palantir manifesto described as 'ramblings of a supervillain' amid UK contract fears" Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Over the 2026 Labor Day weekend, Working People host and TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez spoke at the Reuther-Pollack Labor History Symposium in Wheeling, West Virginia, organized by the Wheeling Academy of Law & Science (WALS) Foundation. The theme of this year's Symposium was "The Art of Labor," and other speakers included: Tabitha Arnold, textile artist and tapestry maker; Erik Ruin, printmaker and shadow puppeteer; and Shaun Slifer, a multidisciplinary artist and the Creative Director for the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum. In this episode of Working People, we share the audio recording of Alvarez's speech, "Why the Stories Working People Tell Ourselves About Ourselves Matter." You can read the full, edited transcript of this speech on the TRNN website. Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

The 20th-century days of vinyl records, tape decks, CDs, Tower Records, and MTV have given way to our 21st-century age of MP3s and music streaming, Spotify, Amazon, YouTube, TikTok, and Ticketmaster. While certain people and certain companies in the music industry are making more money than ever, working musicians are finding it increasingly impossible to pay the bills and make a living from their art. In this episode of Working People, we speak with all four members of veteran Chicago rock band The Empty Pockets about the work that goes into being a professional musician, and the realities of working and trying to make a living in the music industry today. Additional links/info: The Empty Pockets website, Facebook page, Instagram, YouTube channel, and Spotify channel Josh Solomon, Hypebot, "We stopped waiting to be chosen and mailed 100,000 CDs instead" Jules Taylor Music website, Facebook page, Instagram, YouTube channel, and Spotify channel Featured Music:  Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

After a deadly "derecho" storm and flash floods slammed the midwest in early August, downing trees and power lines, tens of thousands of residents in and around Gary, Indiana have been surviving without power for 12 days and counting. According to the Associated Press, "Northern Indiana Public Service Co. said 68,000 customers were still without power as of Thursday morning, the majority of them in Lake County beside the Illinois border. The utility said it has restored power to 306,500 others since Aug. 11. But power is not expected to be fully restored until Tuesday [Aug. 25] in some places, including Gary." In this urgent episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of residents and community leaders about the ongoing blackout in Gary and the conditions that led to this avoidable national tragedy. Panelists include: GlenEva Dunham, president of the Gary Teachers Union, AFT Local 4; Freida Graves, Project Director at the faith-based nonprofit Families Anchored in Total Harmony (FAITH) CDC; and Reverend John Jackson, Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ. Additional links/info:  FAITH CDC website and Facebook page Gary Advocates for Responsible Development (GARD) Facebook page Tilly Robinson, Indianapolis Star, "Braun tells NIPSCO to move faster in Gary, while clergy says state must do more" Javonte Anderson, Capital B Gary, "I grew up in Gary. I've never seen a power outage like this" Belly of the Beast, "US policy causes Cuba's blackouts. US citizens bring solar panels for pregnant women" Featured Music:  Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits:  Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

In her 2001 masterwork Nickel and Dimed, the late Barbara Ehrenreich went undercover to report on the daily realities working people in America face trying to get by on minimum-wage. After working as a housekeeper, a nursing aide, a home cleaner, a server, and more, Ehrenreich wrote that "The first thing I discovered is that no job, no matter how lowly, is truly 'unskilled.'" It is difficult to overstate the impact that Ehrenreich's book and body of work have had on US culture and working-class politics over the last 25 years, and the enduring relevance of her work today. In this special episode of Working People, we commemorate the anniversary of Nickel and Dimed and celebrate the life and legacy of Ehrenreich by speaking with a panel of guests who are carrying on that legacy today. Panelists include: Deirdre English, coauthor of three books with Barbara Ehrenreich, former editor in chief of Mother Jones, and a former director of the Magazine Center at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley; Alissa Quart, editorial director of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and author of seven books, most recently Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream; and Ann Larson, author of Cleanup on Aisle Five: Essential Work, Poverty Wages, and the View from Behind the Supermarket Register and a fellow with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. Additional links/info: Barbara Ehrenreich, Metropolitan Books, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America Alissa Quart, Deirdre English, Ai-jen Poo, Ann Larson, & Bill Fletcher, The Nation, "Saluting a Matriarch—25 Years After Nickel and Dimed" Economic Hardship Reporting Project website, Facebook page, and Instagram Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Frontline healthcare workers and the patients they serve are facing a major crisis at the University of Vermont Health network—the state's leading healthcare provider. "In June, UVM Health eliminated over 140 positions across its network, a third of which were union positions," Matt More reports at The Rake Vermont. "The cuts, which the hospital estimated will save $9.5 million, comes as the network faces a $300 million budget shortfall… Later that month, UVM Health handed down a speed-up order to its Medical Group, which includes outpatient clinics and more than 1,000 physicians, which practitioners say will result in briefer appointments with patients." How did Vermont's flagship health network end up in this crisis? How is it affecting healthcare workers and their patients? And what can be done to fix it? In this episode of Working People, we speak with Melissa Lavallee, secretary of UVMMC Support Staff United and VP of healthcare for AFT-Vermont; and Teagan Cook, lead outpatient chemotherapy scheduler at her hospital and a chief steward in UVMMC Support Staff United. Additional links/info: UVMMC Support Staff United website, Facebook page, and Instagram AFT-Vermont website, Facebook page, and Instagram Matt Moore, The Rake Vermont, "UVM Health's unions fight hospital cuts to protect their patients' healthcare and their working conditions" Town Meeting TV, "Put workers and patients first! - Solidarity town hall meeting with UVM Medical Center unions" Olivia Gieger, VT Digger, "UVM Health cuts 142 jobs — an estimated $9.5 million in staff positions" Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

For the last five months, oil giant British Petroleum (BP) has locked 800 workers out of their jobs at a crude oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana. The facility, located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, is BP's last unionized oil refinery in the United States. BP says it is pursuing "modernized job structures, training, and upskilling," but workers and their union—United Steelworkers Local 7-1—say that the company has not bargained in good faith, that its contract proposals pose blatant existential threats to workers' jobs, pay, and collective bargaining rights, and that the company is illegally trying to crush the union out of existence with the lockout. In this episode of Working People, we speak with three locked out workers at the BP oil refinery in Whiting: Eric Schultz, president of USW Local 7-1; Leno Miller, assistant griever for USW Local 7-1; Tim Powell, a 19-year member of USW Local 7-1, and a volunteer for the lockout assistance committee. Additional links/info: USW Local 7-1 Official Lockout Update/Support Page USW Local 7-1 Facebook page and Instagram Sarah Lazare, Workday Magazine / The American Prospect, "Locked out refinery workers say BP is trying to 'starve us,' crush union" Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "I survived the rig explosion that caused the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This is what I saw" Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

In 2022, the United States nearly experienced its first national railroad strike in decades, until then-President Joe Biden, along with Democrats and Republicans in Congress, stepped in to block a strike before it could begin. Rail labor unions were forced to accept contracts that did not substantively address long-brewing crises in the freight rail industry that have had disastrous consequences for frontline workers, trackside communities like East Palestine, Ohio, the passenger rail system, and the US supply chain writ large. In this episode of Working People, we speak with returning guest "Jay," a veteran train dispatcher who's been in the industry for 22 years, about what has changed—and what hasn't—for rank-and-file railroad workers on the job over the last four years.  Additional links/info:  Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "Ask a railroad worker: How did railroad jobs get so bad?"" Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "Freight workers explain why a national railroad strike is looming" Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "Railroad workers speak out after Congress and Biden block rail strike" Mike L, TRNN, "A carman's perspective on the East Palestine derailment and the railroad industry as a whole" Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, "US freight workers say it's time to nationalize the railroads" Featured Music:  Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits:  Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

When workers at the historic Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper hit the picket line in October of 2022, they had no idea that they would be on strike for over three years—or that the strike would end with new owners taking over the paper and most strikers losing their jobs. But now, a new chapter is being written in their epic story. This week, workers and community supporters launched the Pittsburgh Progress, "a cooperative news organization, owned and democratically run by its workers and members… dedicated to looking out for, and telling the stories of, the working-class people who form the heart and soul of our diverse communities." In this episode of Working People, we discuss the birth of the Pittsburgh Progress, and what it means for working people in and beyond Pittsburgh, with Steve Mellon and Natalie Duleba, both former strikers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and both founding worker-members of the newly launched Pittsburgh Progress. Additional links/info: Pittsburgh Progress website, Facebook page, Bluesky page, and Instagram Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Progress, "This new media cooperative invites the community to join us on our journey of creation" Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "The longest-running strike in the US is over—and the workers won" Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "They won their strike fair and square. Now their rich bosses are closing up shop" Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "Venetoulis Institute 'saves' the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by purging union members who went on strike" Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

In so-called "red states" and "blue states" around the US, from rural areas to urban centers, the explosion of new data center projects is impacting residents in poor, working-class, and middle-class communities alike. In this episode of Working People, we speak with a diverse panel of residents fighting new and proposed data center projects in Texas and Maryland about what it means for you and your community when one of these loud, polluting, energy- and water-guzzling behemoths comes to your town—and how to fight back. Panelists include: Cheryl Shadden, a registered nurse anesthetist who lives right next to the site of a Marathon bitcoin mine in Granbury, Texas; Karen Pearson, a licensed professional counselor and a resident of Granbury who also lives right next to the Marathon bitcoin mine; Dr. Shannon Wolf, Precinct Chair in Hood County, who lives three miles from the Marathon bitcoin mine; Craig Jackson, a resident of Granbury who lives 300 feet from the site of a new proposed data center, and who is also a plaintiff in a current lawsuit residents have filed against the city of Granbury; Micaiah Lloyd, a grassroots organizer and resident of Charles County, Maryland, who lives near the site of a proposed data center; Hillary Gonzalez, an eco-poet, author, founder of Sacred Parks & Waterways, and a resident of Baltimore, Maryland, who lives right next to the site of Johns Hopkins University's future Data Science and Artificial Intelligence complex. Additional links/info: Protect Hood County website and Facebook page Sacred Parks & Waterways website and Instagram Viral MS Now clip featuring Cheryl Shadden of Granbury, Texas Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "A bitcoin mine in Texas is 'killing us slowly,' local residents say" Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "'Like being tortured': Texas residents living next to bitcoin mine are getting sick and being ignored" Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "Toxic Avengers: America's poisoned and abandoned communities must stand together or die" Christine Condon, Maryland Matters, "Data center frustrations cause upheaval in county primary elections" Emmanuel Rivas Valenzuela, KERA News, "Granbury residents sue city over data center plan, allege Texas Open Meetings Act violations" Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor