Working People

Working People

Working People: A podcast by, for, and about the working class today.

  • 25 minutes 24 seconds
    Tech workers protest Microsoft's ties to ICE terror and Israel's war crimes

    In just six months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) more than tripled the amount of data stored on Microsoft's Azure cloud platform,The Guardian reports, "at the same time that its arsenal of surveillance technology ballooned." This week, tech workers with the No Azure for Apartheid (NOAA) campaign staged a protest and informational picket at Microsoft's global headquarters in Redmond, WA, demanding that Microsoft cancel all contracts that provide technological support for Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and ICE's campaign of terror in the US. We speak with Ibtihal, a former software engineer at Microsoft and an organizer with the NOAA campaign.

    Additional links/info: Featured Music:
    • Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song
    Credits:
    • Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
    26 February 2026, 4:59 pm
  • 33 minutes 9 seconds
    They won their strike fair and square. Now their rich bosses are closing up shop.
    On Nov. 24, 2025, in a major and hardwon victory, Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh members finally returned to work at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after more than three years on strike. Then, on Jan. 7, 2026, workers were notified that Block Communications Inc.—the company that owns the Post-Gazette as well as the Toledo Blade, the Buckeye Sports Network, and a number of TV stations in Ohio and Kentucky—said that it will be ceasing operations at the Post-Gazette on May 3 of this year. We speak with Steve Mellon, a veteran photographer and writer who was on strike for over three years at the Post-Gazette, about how workers are processing this devastating news, and about their push to launch a new news source by and for working people. Additional links/info: Featured Music:
    • Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song
    Credits: Audio Post-Production:
    • Jules Taylor
    18 February 2026, 11:00 am
  • 21 minutes 46 seconds
    NO DEAL: Nurses at NY-Presbyterian overwhelmingly vote to stay on strike

    The longest-running nurses strike in New York City history has come to an end—for some. Nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, however, overwhelmingly voted this week to reject a tentative agreement and to stay on strike until their demands for safer staffing and more job security are met. In this unscheduled strike update episode, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Beth Loudin, a neonatal nurse and member of the executive committee of the New York State Nurses Association at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

    Additional links/info:

    Featured Music:

    • Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

    Credits:

    • Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

    13 February 2026, 7:16 pm
  • 1 hour 53 seconds
    Massive strike at Kaiser Permanente enters third week
    An estimated 31,000 health care workers in California and Hawaii walked off the job on Jan. 26 in their ongoing battle with healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente to address workers' demands for safe staffing, more manageable workloads, and a livable wage. The United Nurses Associations of California / Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) strike is now in its third week, and more than 3,000 pharmacy technicians, pharmacy assistants, and clinical laboratory professionals represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers. In this urgent strike update episode, we speak with a panel of UNAC/UHCP members who are all currently on strike at Kaiser Permanente. Guests:
    • Sanayo Kondo is a physical therapist at Kaiser Permanente - Redwood City in Northern California, and she is also on the bargaining team for her UNAC/UHCP group.
    • Kadi Gonzalez is an outpatient Registered Nurse at Kaiser Permanente who works in OB/Gyn care and is on the board of directors for UNAC/UHCP.
    • Lucky Longoria is a Registered Nurse who works in pediatrics at Kaiser Permanente - Downey in Southern California and previously worked as a travel nurse.
    Additional links/info: Featured Music:
    • Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song
    Credits:
    • Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
    12 February 2026, 10:35 pm
  • 38 minutes 5 seconds
    America's toxic future looks like East Palestine, OH, today
    Feb. 3, 2026 marked the three-year anniversary of the Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical disaster in East Palestine, OH—one of the worst industrial disasters in US history. Over the last three years, residents have been exploited and abandoned by Norfolk Southern, the government, opportunistic politicians, sensationalist media outlets, and self-serving attorneys, but we have not forgotten them. On the three-year anniversary of the day that changed their small-town lives forever, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez was on the ground in East Palestine speaking with residents about their lives and needs today. Here is what they said... Additional links/info: Featured Music:
    • Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song
    Credits:
    • Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
    6 February 2026, 8:34 pm
  • 15 minutes 49 seconds
    "A hero": Nurses, federal workers honor Alex Pretti
    Hundreds of union nurses, federal workers, and local residents gathered outside the Veterans Affairs central office building in Washington, DC, on Jan. 28, to hold a vigil for Alex Pretti and all who have been killed by ICE. The vigil was one of many events organized or co-sponsored by National Nurses United, the nation's largest union and professional association of registered nurses, which has forcefully called for ICE to be abolished in the wake of Pretti's killing. We speak with attendees of the vigil in this on-the-ground edition of Working People. Additional links/info: Credits:
    • Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
    1 February 2026, 8:35 pm
  • 24 minutes 53 seconds
    Largest nurses union calls to abolish ICE after Alex Pretti killing
    On Friday, Jan. 23, around 50,000 people in Minneapolis, MN, engaged in a historic mass strike and day of protest to demand an end to ICE terror and President Trump's federal siege of Minnesota. Then, on Saturday, Jan. 24, an ICE agent shot and killed Alex Pretti, volunteer ICE observer and a registered union nurse who worked for the Veterans Health Administration. In this episode, we speak with Mary C. Turner, a registered nurse inn Minnesota and a member of the Council of Presidents of National Nurses United, the largest nurses union in the US, which is now forcefully calling for the abolition of ICE. Additional links/info: Credits:
    • Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
    28 January 2026, 11:00 am
  • 56 minutes 59 seconds
    "Shut everything down": Minnesota calls for mass strike on Jan. 23
    The state of Minnesota is under siege by our own federal government, and residents—immigrant and US-born alike—are living in fear. With the deployment of over 3,000 federal agents to Minnesota in recent weeks, this is the Trump administration's largest and most violent so-called "immigration enforcement" operation yet—and with President Trump threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota in response to protests over ICE's terror campaign, the situation on the ground is extremely volatile. Amid this federal invasion, unions, community organizations, faith leaders, and small businesses in Minnesota are calling for a statewide day of "no work (except for emergency services), no school, and no shopping" on January 23. In this urgent episode, we speak with three union members and organizers in the Twin Cities—Daniel Troccoli, Douglas Williams, and Janette Corcelius—about the situation on the ground in Minnesota, and about the proposed mass strike this Friday. Additional links/info: Featured Music:
    • Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song
    Credits:
    • Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
    21 January 2026, 11:50 pm
  • 1 hour 16 minutes
    The longest-running strike in the US is over—and the workers won
    On Monday, Nov. 24, after more than 1,100 days on strike, Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh members were cheered on by supporters at a rally in downtown Pittsburgh before returning to work at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Even though strikers have returned to work, however, many issues at the center of the strike are still in legal limbo—and their fight for a fair contract is not over. In this episode of Working People, we speak with three Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh members—Bob Batz. Jr, Natalie Duleba, and Steve Mellon—about where things stand now, how their lives have changed since returning to work, and what it takes to hold the picket line for over three years. Additional links/info: Featured Music:
    • Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song
    Credits:
    • Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich
    18 December 2025, 8:06 pm
  • 58 minutes 11 seconds
    What does it mean to be a union member in these dark times?

    Making ends meet in today's economy is difficult enough, but with so many societal crises affecting working people's lives on and off the shop floor—from mass layoffs to untenable costs of living, from an authoritarian federal government to AI and the climate crisis—it can feel all but impossible. What does it mean to have a union job, to be a union member, and to be part of the labor movement in these overwhelming times? What role do unions and other labor organizations have to play, not just in the fight for economic justice, but in the fight for democracy, civil rights, the rule of law, and a livable planet? We posed these questions to a range of emerging labor leaders from different unions and worker centers enrolled in the 2025-26 Minnesota Union Leadership Program (MULP). Here's what they told us…

    Additional links/info:

    Featured Music:

    • Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

    Credits:

    • Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich
    20 November 2025, 3:42 pm
  • 53 minutes 2 seconds
    'We're done': Starbucks workers launch indefinite national strike
    Four years after the first Starbucks store in the US unionized in 2021, workers across the country are still facing rampant union busting and still fighting for a first contract with the coffee giant. That is why a supermajority of unionized baristas with Starbucks Workers United recently voted to authorize an Unfair Labor Practice strike, which is set to begin on Thursday, Nov. 13, on "Red Cup Day," in over 25 cities around the US. "Union baristas mean business and are ready to do whatever it takes to win a fair contract and end Starbucks' unfair labor practices," says Michelle Eisen, Starbucks Workers United spokesperson and 15-year veteran barista. "If Starbucks keeps stonewalling, they should expect to see their business grind to a halt. The ball is in Starbucks' court." In this urgent episode, we speak with Eisen about the impending strike and the state of the yearslong union struggle at Starbucks. Additional links/info: Featured Music:
    • Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song
    Credits:
    • Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
    13 November 2025, 4:30 pm
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