Power At Work

In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Emily Matthews, striking photographer and Treasurer of the Post-Gazette Branch of the Pittsburgh Newspaper Guild, and Natalie Duleba, striking designer and union member, to discuss what their contract demands are, their experiences after 18 months on the picket line, and how they are keeping their union siblings motivated. Tune in to hear about how union members have been supporting one another throughout the strike, recent developments in the strike, including a possible National Labor Relations Board  injunction against the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, and the importance of protections and benefits for workers in industries like journalism that have been disrupted and where workers face a great deal of uncertainty.  ⁠⁠Subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to the Power At Work Blog. Follow us on social media: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ Emily Matthews is a photojournalist at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but she's currently on strike. Emily is also the Treasurer of the Post-Gazette Branch of the Pittsburgh Newspaper Guild. Natalie Duleba is a designer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but she's currently on strike. Natalie now writes for the Pittsburgh Union Progress.

In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by labor leaders from Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia to discuss how the labor movement succeeded in stopping the billionaire owner of two sports teams from relocating those teams from downtown D.C. to the suburbs of Northern Virginia and, in the process, stood up for union jobs and workers in the region. Harris is joined by Virginia Diamond, President of the Northern Virginia AFL-CIO; Samuel Epps, President of the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO; and Greg Akerman, President of the Baltimore/DC-Metro Building Trades Council to talk about their efforts to work with the developers to secure a project labor agreement and labor peace agreement, the consequences for workers if the deal went through, and how workers in Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. feel about the final result. Tune in for a fascinating conversation about how the labor movement used solidarity and regional cooperation to stand up against a billionaire and a powerful governor to protect workers' interests.  ⁠⁠⁠Subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to the Power At Work Blog. Follow us on social media: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ Virginia Diamond is the President of the Northern Virginia AFL-CIO. Virginia has also worked as Legislative Counsel to the Virginia Professional Firefighters, a UAW attorney, and a commissionerofthe Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission. Samuel Epps is the President of the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO. Before he was elected President of the council, Samuel was the Political Director at UNITE HERE Local 25. Greg Akerman serves as the President of the Baltimore/DC-Metro Building Trades. Previously, he served as Northern Virginia Director for the Council.

In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Anneisha Williams, fast food worker and Fast Food Council member; Michelle Healy, SEIU Director of Breakthrough Campaigns; and Maria Maldonado, statewide director and Fast Food Council member, to discuss the organizing and innovation achieved by the California Fast Food Workers Union, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. Tune in to hear about the union's non-traditional sectoral bargaining strategy and what fast food workers in California have achieved so far, such as a pay increase to $20 per hour and the establishment of a historic Fast Food Council. You don't want to miss the latest Power At Work blogcast!  ⁠⁠Subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to the Power At Work Blog. Follow us on social media: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ Anneisha Williams is a fast food worker and proud member of the California Fast Food Workers Union and the California Fast Food Council. Maria Maldonado is the statewide director of the California Fast Food Workers Union. Michelle Healy is the SEIU Director of Breakthrough Campaigns.

Senior Fellow Seth Harris and Director Hannah Garden-Monheit discuss FTC's ban on non-compete agreements, its legal reasoning, impact on labor markets, worker empowerment, and expected legal challenges. They explore how the ban will increase competition, improve worker power, and face potential litigation hurdles.

According to preliminary returns, workers in the Volkswagen manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee voted overwhelmingly on April 17, 18, and 19 to be represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) in a historic election result with important implications for those workers and their families, the city of Chattanooga, the state of Tennessee, the labor movement, and the auto industry.  Early returns suggest the union won the election by a roughly 3-to-1 margin. The UAW claimed victory after 11PM ET. Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris offered his commentary on the union election results just a few hours after voting ended in the Chattanooga Volkswagen plant.  

This webinar was hosted by the International Labour Organization on April 9, 2024 and was republished with permission.  In this International Labour Organizaton webinar, economists Janine Berg and Pawel Gmyrek present the findings of their report "Generative AI and jobs: A global analysis of potential effects on job quantity and quality." Listen to these experts discuss the impact of artificial intelligence on worker power, explore how tools like GPT-4 can be responsibly integrated into the workplace, and respond to questions from a live audience. To access the report, click here. To access the policy brief, click here.  Subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to the Power At Work Blog. Follow us on social media: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ Janine Berg is a Senior Economist and she received her Ph.D. from the New School for Social Research in New York, USA. Since 2002 she has worked at Inclusive Labour Markets, Labour Relations and Working Conditions Branch (INWORK) of the International Labour Organization (ILO). She has conducted research on the economic effects of labour laws as well as provided technical assistance to ILO constituents on policies for generating jobs and improving working conditions. Pawel Gmyrek is a Senior Researcher in the Effective Labour Institutions unit of ILO’s Research Department. His current work is focused on the impact of generative AI on employment and occupational structures and the use of generative AI tools and large unstructured datasets for research purposes. He has been a staff member of the International Labour Office since 2008 and published on topics related to multilateral funding, aid effectiveness, human rights and technology and jobs.

In this blogcast, Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Terri Gerstein, Director of the NYU Wagner Labor Initiative at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service; and Alí Bustamante, deputy director of the Worker Power and Economic Security program at Roosevelt University. Listen to their conversation on sectoral bargaining, the importance of protecting workers and children from exploitation, and the implications of organizing in the South. You don't want to miss this edition of the Power Hour! Subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to the Power At Work Blog. Follow us on social media: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ Terri Gerstein is the Director of the newly created NYU Wagner Labor Initiative, at the NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Previously, she directed the Project on State and Local Enforcement at the Harvard Law School Center for Labor and a Just Economy and was a Senior Fellow at the Economic Policy Institute. Alí R. Bustamante is the deputy director of the Worker Power and Economic Security program at Roosevelt, where he specializes on how public policy can structure markets around both economic and social value and empower Americans through the provision of public goods and stronger labor protections.

In this blogcast, Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Tim Rowden, editor of the St. Louis/Central Illinois Labor Tribune, and Don McIntosh, editor of the Northwest Labor Press to talk about how national headlines are impacting their regions, what they're hearing from workers on the ground, and the uncertain future of labor journalism. You don't want to miss the latest Power At Work blogcast! You can view Northwest Labor Press' website here. You can view St. Louis Labor Tribune's website here. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Overcast. Tim Rowden is the editor of the St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune, and a former reporter and bureau chief for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Don McIntosh is the editor of the Northwest Labor Press.

Join the Power at Work Blog, the Burnes Center for Social Change, and the Massachusetts State House Employee Union for a conversation with acclaimed labor reporter Hamilton Nolan about his new book The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor. This conversation was recorded live on March 27. The conversation was moderated by Seth Harris, former top Biden White House labor advisor, former Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor, and a Senior Fellow at the Burnes Center for Social Change at Northeastern University; and Thomas Pelkey, an organizer with the Massachusetts State House Employee Union. 

Listen to Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris’s conversation about worker power, the labor movement, social justice, and podcasting with Jamala Rogers and Bianca Cunningham, co-hosts of Convergence Magazine's Black Work Talk, and Adam Keller and Jacob Morrison, co-hosts of The Valley Labor Report. Our guests discuss how they coordinate their podcasts and their other jobs, what workers in their communities are currently talking about, and how unions can build power among workers in the South. You don't want to miss the latest Power At Work blogcast! Listen to The Valley Labor Report here. Listen to Black Work Talk here. Subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to the Power At Work Blog. Follow us on social media: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ Jamala Rogers has held and currently holds leadership and membership in organizations that share her vision for a more just and peaceful world. Jamala is an unapologetic feminist and is deeply involved in the development of women and increasing their full participation in social movements. Jamala is a featured columnist for the award-winning St. Louis American newspaper, St. Louis’ largest black weekly. Her columns also appear in the Capital City Hues (Madison, WI) and the LA Progressive. Jamala is the author of The Best of the Way I See It, a compilation of her political writings over a 20-year period. She is also the author of Ferguson is America: Roots of Rebellion.  She is host of Voices from the Battlefield, a weekly radio program on Black Radio Hall of Fame. Jamala is co-host of Black Work Talk, a production of Convergence Magazine. She also does a weekly podcast of short takes called Just Expressin’ Myself on Black World Media Network. Bianca Cunningham is Campaign Director for Bargaining for the Common Good at Action Center for Race and the Economy. A former Verizon Wireless worker, she led her coworkers in seven stores across Brooklyn, NY to join CWA in 2014, making them the first unionized retail workers in the company. She later led a 49-day strike to secure a first contract. Bianca co-founded the DSA’s AfroSocialists and Socialists of Color caucus, a caucus for Black Indigenous and people of color within the organization. She most recently was on staff at Labor Notes where she sometimes wrote and more often facilitated training on Race and Labor. Adam Keller is the co-host of The Valley Labor Report, Alabama’s only union talk radio show, a union stagehand with the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 900, and a union activist. Keller is currently organizing with Alabama Arise, a non-profit advocacy group focused on supporting low-income people suffering from poor policy decisions. Jacob Morrison is the co-host of The Valley Labor Report, Alabama’s only union talk radio show and President of the North Alabama Area Labor Council. Morrison is a member of his local union the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) 1858. Ignited by a passion to serve working people, as soon as he joined his union he put himself to work on a mission to invigorate the labor movement in his area. He made connections with other unions in his area to begin to pick up the pieces of the inactive North Alabama Labor Council culminating in the council being newly chartered in 2020. He is also sometimes a freelance labor reporter.