Monday, April 17, 2017
Part 1: The forum was joined by Adelina Nichols, leader of the GA Latino Alliance for Human Rights, to talk about coordinating the May Day actions scheduled for Atlanta on Monday, May 1, and to cover issues facing the Latino community in the face of the new administration.
Monday, April 10, 2017
Part 1: Emory University graduate students, Jonathan Basile and Anais Fern Stenson tell us about the organizing drive on their campus to win recognition of their rights as university workers.
Part 2: Randy Beall and Mitch Boyd, representing the Building Trades unions talk about the apprenticeship programs in trades like heavy equipment operating, painting, bricklaying, electrical, sheetmetal work and other fields that offer good wages, safe working conditions and benefits as union workers.
Monday, March 27, 2017
Part 2: Turner Field Benefits Coalition members Allison Johnson & Douglas Dean discuss impact of redevelopment on residents of Turner Fields.
Monday, February 27, 2017
Part 2: Dean Steed, active member of SNaPCO (Solutions not Punishment Collaborative) provides up-to-date information about community efforts to establish accountability and transparency in cases of police killings of unarmed civilians.
Monday, February 13, 2017
Part 2: Stanley Smalls, Executive Board member of ATU #732 and longtime MARTA Mobility driver describes the victory achieved by the union in winning an arbitration case to overturn the privatization of para-transit services.
Monday, February 06, 2017
Part 1: Ayketa Iverson, National Recruitment Coordinator for the AFL-CIO, explains how to apply for a training program to educate and prepare workers' rights advocates for a position as a field organizer.
Part 2: The Labor Forum commemorates Black History Month by highlighting the history of two organizations, the A.Phillip Randolph Institute and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists with Paul Morris, president of the Metro Atlanta chapter of the A.P.R.I. and member of CBTU.
Monday, January 30, 2017
Part 1: Charone Daskins of ATL Raise UP joined the labor forum to discuss the nominated Labor Secretary Andrew Putzer.
Part 2: Asma El-Huni and Patricio Cambias discussed issues surrounding the sale and purchase of Turner Field by GSU and the push for the university to make a positive impact on the surrounding community.
Part 2: Shannon Reaz of Atlanta Jobs with Justice joined the Labor Forum to speak about the arduous road ahead for working people and all those targeted by the incoming Trump administration.
Monday, January 9, 2017
Part 1: The labor forum welcomed archivist Traci Drummond to the studio to talk about the resources available at the Southern Labor Archives housed at Georgia State University.
Part 2: APWU #404 President William Flanagan shared and discussed the news of the removal of US postal services from Staples stores.
Monday, January 2, 2017
Part 1: The Labor Forum members discussed upcoming labor movement and events, as well as the incoming presidential cabinet in relation to the labor.
Part 2: Lynn Oliviere, with the Atlanta March for Social Justice and Women, discussed the movement's planned march and rally happening in Atlanta in conjunction with the national movement.
Monday, December 19, 2016
Part 1: Roslind Hayes of the Mental Health Consumer Network described the work of that organization in supporting individuals with their health needs and educating the general public about the issue.
Part 2: Tracey Stokes, a MARTA Mobility driver, ATU #732 member and board member of Disability LINK, and Labor Forum members Dawn O'Neal and Paul McLennan joined Hayes in a discussion about the coalition that has joined forces to change the interaction between the disability community and police.
Monday, December 12, 2016
The Labor forum were joined by members of United Students Against Sweatshops and CARE Georgia to discuss how the local activist movements will be moving forward in the political climate of 2017.
Monday, December 5, 2016
Part 1: Workers from Pruitt Healthcare discuss issues they encountered when attempting to unionize when the company management refused to negotiate a contract.
Monday, November 28, 2016
Part 1: Ilise Cohen of Jewish Voice for Peace provided information about the global Boycott, Divest, Sanctions movement in support of Palestine and the Tuesday, Nov. 29 action in Atlanta.
Part 2: The Labor Forum interviewed low-wage workers, members of the Atlanta Fight for $15 and a Union campaign, about the national strike scheduled for November 29th.
Monday, November 14, 2016
Part 1: Ava Hartniss of Georgia Not One More discussed the Standing Rock protest and the organization of a national solidarity movement in support of the Standing Rock protesters.
Part 2: Seiku Komati joined the forum to discuss the impact of the fight for a $15 minimum wage and the need for a living wage in society.
Monday, October 31, 2016
Part 1: The forum hosted Ajamu Baraka, a human rights activist and vice-presidential candidate running under the Green Party, for a discussion about the Standing Rock protest.
Monday, September 26, 2016
Parts 1 and 2: The Labor Forum hosted representatives from the Task Force for the Homeless and the Housing Justice League to discuss the issue of affordable housing in Atlanta.
Monday, September 19, 2016
Neil Gluckman of IATSE #927 talked about the union victory, bringing collective bargaining rights to the stagehands that set-up concerts and shows for Live Nation.
Monday, September 12, 2016
Part 1: Members of the ATL Raise Up and Fight For 15 discussed the local struggle to win a $15 minimum wage and the establishment of a union.
Part 2: The Labor Forum hosted ATU 732 members and MARTA workers Reggie Davis and Stanley Smalls to discuss the expansion of public transportation in metro Atlanta as well as its accessibility to the disability community continue to be critical issues, the need to build community and union alliances, and why solidarity is necessary to win against cuts in service and attacks on wages and benefits.
Monday, August 29, 2016
Part 1: Jeremy Galloway of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee discussed a labor strike planned for September 9th, 2016 demanding an end to inhuman conditions, unpaid labor, physical brutality, and the rampant use of solitary confinement.
Part 2: Patricio Cambias of Students Against Sweatshops discussed the organization of a local chapter of the student organization at Georgia State University.
Monday, August 22, 2016
Part 1: 9 to 5 Working Women representatives discussed an upcoming event
Monday, August 15, 2016
Katie Foster of the Georgia State AFL-CIO discussed the Labor Council's recent support of the Black Lives Matter movement and how matters of racism factor into the lives of laborers.
Monday, August 8, 2016
Eshe Shukura joins WRFG Labor Forum Engineer, Christopher Hollis, to discuss the roles that the arts inform and influence movement work, and visa versa, as well as provide education and healing in unique and lasting ways.
Monday, August 1, 2016
Parts 1 and 2: Marshall Rancifer and Xochitl Bervara discussed how poverty is criminalized in Atlanta through “quality of life” and minor drug arrests and excessive court and probation fees.
Monday, June 20, 2016
Part 1: Dawn O'Neal of the Georgia State AFL-CIO discussed the White House Women's Summit regarding issues women in the child care industry.
Part 2: Gregory Dunkel detailed the labor struggles occurring in France and compared them to the labor movements in the United States and in Haiti.
Monday, June 6, 2016
Rise Up member, Caitlyn O'Reilly Green discussed the significance of the charges and the involvement of Rise Up in raising issues of police accountability and needed treatment for mental illnesses.
Monday, May 30, 2016
Dawn O'Neil discussed the Fight For $15 protest at the McDonalds Shareholders Meeting.
Monday, May 23, 2016
Civil Right lawyer,defense attorney, and Black Lives Matter activist Tiffany Williams Roberts discussed how the "school to prison pipeline" works.
Monday, May 16, 2016
Conversation with a Freedom University student and two of the youth allies who were arrested at the recent Board of Regents meeting, protesting the discriminatory policies barring or restricting undocumented Georgia students from attending the state's public universities and colleges.
Monday, May 9, 2016
Part 1: Members of the National Association of Letter Carriers discussed the role of postal workers in the community and their organization of the Stamp Out Hunger campaign.
Monday, May 2, 2016
Parts 1 and 2: Kurt Petermeyer and Christi Griffin, OSHA regional and area administrators to explain how their agency protects workers’ health and safety on the job.
Monday, April 25, 2016
Part 1: Shannon Reaz with Jobs for Justice discussed the upcoming Mayday Festival
Part 2: Members of Rise Up discussed the planning of the protest against the White Supremacy rally at Stone Mountain.
Monday, April 18, 2016
Part 1: Yolande Tomlinson of the Organization for Human Rights and Democracy provided details about an April 21 program connecting the the impact of state violence and displacement of Palestinians by the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 to the crisis of police murder and gentrification of communities of color in the US.
Part 2: Deborah Casey and Leaburn Kennedy of the Communications Workers of America discussed the continuing workers strike against Verizon and its attempts to outsource its labor.
Monday, March 28, 2016
Part 1: Rob Woods of Georgia Equality spoke about the motivation behind the religious liberty legislation in the state.
Part 2: Greg Fann of AFSCME 1644 talked about the background and impact of the Opportunity School District proposal in the context of that struggle for equality and democratic participation.
Monday, March 21, 2016
Part 1: Eva Cardenas of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights talked about the upcoming March 24 Rally in defense of Our Families and Community, harsh and repressive legislation, and federally sponsored raids in immigrant communities.
Part 2: Veteran teacher and librarian Gloria Slaughter and Susan McWethy will bring their perspective on the issue of how to ensure quality public education in Georgia dominates political discussion with the recent approval of a “turn around” plan passed by the Atlanta public school board and the upcoming constitutional question known as the “Opportunity School District”
Monday, March 14, 2016
Preyonda Broome, ATU member and MARTA Mobility driver spoke about the privatization of the service and how the union and workers are fighting back.
Monday, March 07, 2016
Part 1: Jamie Dukes, president of the AFGE Local #2017, described the failure of the base management at Fort Gordon to abide by the terms of their existing contract or to negotiate a new one.
Part 2: Advocates for immigrant rights, Azadeh Shahshahani and Stephanie Cho analyzed the motivation and implications of several pieces of anti-immigrant legislation pending before the Georgia General Assembly.
Monday, February 29, 2016
Part 1: Jeff Halper, Israeli author and activist, talked about why Israel is an apartheid state and what workers need to know about the Palestinians' resistance to occupation.
Part 2: William Flannigan, president of Local 32 of the American Postal Workers Union reported on the latest information about the campaign against outsourcing postal services to Staples.
Monday, February 22, 2016
Part 1: Allie McCullen of Rise Up talked about the "turn around" plan being proposed by the Atlanta Public School Superintendent and others to close and/or privatize several neighborhood schools.
Part 2: Jason Dozier, member of the Turner Field Benefits Coalition talked about the outline of the platform for development of the area that will be presented to Georgia State University and its partner, Carter, a real estate development company.
Monday, February 15, 2016
Jean Davis discussed a growing social issue of grandparents raising their grandchildren on limited resources.
Monday, February 08, 2016
Part 1: Shalove Laurence who is a homecare worker and active with Fight for $15 campaign here in Atlanta gave an update on the campaign and the hearing on legislation to raise the minimum wage in Georgia.
Part 2: Ashley Rivas-Triana and Jacqueline Delgadillo students with Freedom University explained the significance of the multi-campus actions taken on Feb. 1 to demand educational opportunity for all Georgia students.
Monday, February 01, 2016
Verdaillia Turner, president of the Georgia. Federation of Teachers explains how recently-announced plan by the Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent to close and privatize several "low-performing" city schools is related to the Governor's Opportunity School District take-over scheme.
Monday, January 25, 2016
Joe Hinely and Jackie Turner, members of International Union of Operating Engineers Local 926, spoke about the refusal of Four Seasons Environmental, contracted to do maintenance at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, to recognize the successful union election by its employees and to bargain in good faith.
Monday, January 11, 2016
Parts 1 and 2: Why Workers Should Oppose Immigration Raids and Deportations was the issue co-hosts, Dianne Mathiowetz, Paul McLennan and Tamieka Atkins discussed with WRFG Labor Forum guests, Jardyn Lake of Black Alliance for Just Immigration and Stephanie Alvarado with Southerners on New Ground
Monday, January 04, 2016
Parts 1 and 2: Larry Pelligrini provided information about likely legislation to come before the Georgia General Assembly when its session begins Jan. 11.
Monday, December 28, 2015
Part 1: Dianne Mathiowetz and Paul McLennan reviewed some of the memorable and important victories, interviews and events of 2015 that were aired on the program.
Part 2: Two of the leaders of the Boston school bus drivers, Steelworkers Local 8751, President Andre Francois and Vice president Steve Kirschbaum discussed the lessons of their historic victory and over 2 year battle with the union-busting, multi-national corporation, Veolia.
Monday, December 21, 2015
Part 1: Ayana Dunlop-Bell shares news of young workers organizing.
Part 2: Dre Propst, who helped organize over 200 people to come to a Black Lives Matter meeting at Big Bethel AME last Thursday with the goal of establishing a BLM chapter, talked about what this movement has accomplished and why Atlanta needs a BLM chapter.
Monday, December 14, 2015
Part 1: George Tarto, pastor at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, discussed the pro-immigrant/refugee rally held at his church.
Monday, December 07, 2015
Part 1: The Labor Forum introduced Ayana Dunlop-Bell, coordinator of Atlanta Leaders of Tomorrow, a young worker organization who will be joining the program's team of co-hosts. She will be on air every other week, bringing news and views of young workers as they struggle for justice on the job and in the community.
Part 2: Lovette Thompson, lead organizer for the Atlanta chapter of the National Domestic Workers Alliance provided The Labor Forum audience with a description of the working conditions of the largely female workforce that provides necessary childcare, nanny and housekeeping services and home healthcare.
Monday, November 30, 2015
Parts 1 and 2: Activists Alison Johnson and Tanya Washington talk about the relationship between their fight to preserve their homes and the redevelopment of Turner Field and gentrification of working class, African American neighborhoods.
Monday, November 23, 2015
Parts 1 and 2: The Labor Forum discussed the fight back against the two-tier wage system imposed by major corporations during the economic crisis in the mid-2000's.
Monday, November 16, 2015
Part 1: The Labor Forum spoke with Burlington, VT UE Local #203 President, Elizabeth Nikazmerad about the union's response to KKK literature recently left on the doorsteps of local Black workers.
Part 2: Abdul Rasjid Mannon and Barbara Joye recounted some of the contributions of labor historian, Cliff Kuhn to the development of WRFG 89.3FM. Kuhn who died last week from a massive heart attack hosted the first labor show on WRFG, served as the president of the station's Board of Directors and was a noted professor of history at GSU.
Monday, November 9, 2015
Part 1: Gregg Fann and Tabitha Hicks from AFSCME spoke about their campaign to win a $15 minimum wage for city and county employees.
Part 2: Traci Drummond, archivist at the GSU Southern Labor Archives who provided our listeners with information about the value of the archives for today's struggles.
Monday, November 2, 2015
Part 1: The Labor Forum on WRFG 89.3FM welcomee Paratransit driver Stanley Smalls to the Monday, Nov. 2 program to alert area residents to the threat of MARTA privatizing the disability service.
Part 2: Dawn O'Neal, childcare worker and activist with ATL Raise Up , described the issues facing underpaid workers employed by for-profit daycare centers.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Part 1: San Francisco Central Labor Council member Dave Welsh reported on the Haitian election and the condition of Haitian workers, based on his recent trip to that country.
Part 2: Restaurant servers and Unite Here members, Kathy Diaz, Marlon Ross and Robert Davis talked about their concerns with AirMall USA
Monday, October 19, 2015
Part 1: The Labor Forum on WRFG 89.3FM spoke with Jesse Freeston, director of an award-winning film, "Resistencia :The Fight for the Aguan Valley." The documentary provides a picture of the struggle of farmers in Honduras following the coup of democratically-elected President Manuel Zalaya , to establish cooperatives and free themselves from the exploitative grip of the landed oligarchy
Part 2: WRFG Labor Forum team talked to UNITE HERE members Alphonso Pines and Geno Lawson about the contract victory reached at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta.
Monday, October 12, 2015
Part 1: Eunice Cho, attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, discussed immigration issues in the city and about the city's relationship with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
Part 2: James Macon, president of the Milwaukee ATU local 998, spoke about the fight back in Wisconsin against anti-union legislation and policies of Gov. Scott Walker's administration.
Monday, October 5, 2015
Part 1: Fight for $15 activists detailed recent successes in the national effort to win higher wages and a union for workers in fast-food, retail, domestic and home healthcare and other service industries.
Part 2: Joel Edwards, retired MARTA bus driver and leader of Restore DeKalb, discussed the education and other public service cuts in light of the multi-million dollar deal with Arthur Blank's professional soccer team center to be built on county-owned land on Memorial Drive.
Monday, September 28, 2015
Part 1: Melinda St. Louis from Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch and Neil Sardana, Atlanta Jobs with Justice, talked about the danger of the TPP
Part 2: Yvonne Robinson, Secretary-Treasurer, of the Georgia AFL-CIO, talked about “misclassification” and the hearings on pending legislation to correct this attack on workers’ pay, benefits and working conditions.
Monday, September 21, 2015
Part 1: Xavier Best with SCLC Youth and member of the DeKalb County Coalition for Justice and Police Accountability talked about how the deaths of Kevin Davis, Anthony Hill and Troy Robinson at the hands of DeKalb police has produced citizen demands for real change in policing procedures and tactics.
Part 2: Tanya Washington and Mattie Jackson, residents of the Peoplestown historic neighborhood of the city's Black working class, who are facing forced removal from their homes and their demolition under the guise of flood control.
Monday, September 14, 2015
Part 1: Martha Gravatt, Chrysler worker, discussed the UAW contract with the Big 3 auto companies that expired on Sept. 15, what the issues are, and the importance of the fight against two-tier wage systems
Part 2: Georgia Detention Watch activists discussed the recent resistance by detainees at for profit Stewart Detention Center and the subsequent lock-down by the Corrections Corporation of America staff
Monday, August 31, 2015
Part 1: Ed Barlow of the CWA discussed an update on the AT&T negotiations since the expiration of the union contract.
Part 2: Dianne Mathiowetz and Paul McLennan engaged in a discussion with Domestic Workers Alliance members about the recent legal victory mandating minimum wages and overtime pay to some 2 million domestic workers.
Monday, August 10, 2015
Part 1: Leonard Riley of the International Longshore Workers Association talked about the ILA's Charleston's Day of Grace rally.
Part 2: Mary Hooks of Southerners on New Ground (SONG) discussed the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement in the year since the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri
Monday, August 3, 2015
Part 1: Members of the CWA discussed the union's attempts to negotiation new contracts with AT&T as their current contract was expiring.
Monday, July 20, 2015
Part 1: The Labor Forum spoke with Atlanta "Fight for $15" activists about the importance of the creation of a wage board in New York State to look at raising the minimum wage to $15 for fast food workers.
Part 2: Indiana University professor of Labor Studies, Dr. M. Thanabantu Iverson called in to discuss the history of the struggle against racism and the fight for workers' rights in the context of today's globalized economy.
Monday, July 13, 2015
Part 1: Sohna Harzeez told The Labor Forum audience about the formation of the Turner Field Community Benefits Coalition to ensure that the interests of the surrounding neighborhoods are considered in the plans to redevelop the baseball stadium.
Part 2: ATU International President Larry Hanley, Milwaukee Local #998 President James Macon and MARTA workers, Stanley Smalls and Sarena Dickerson, ATU #732 talked about the efforts at union-busting and privatization of mass transit in the US.
Monday, July 6, 2015
Part 1: The Labor Forum team discussed with Charles Clark, AFL-CIO Southern Regional Director and DeLayne Adams, AFL-CIO Southern Regional Communications Coordinator about efforts by the national labor federation to raise consciousness about the history and impact of racism.
Part 2: Jean Davis, senior activist and advocate, and Neil Sardona, Atlanta Jobs with Justice coordinator, discussed the "Caring Across Generations" campaign to raise the need for in-home healthcare workers for the growing number of aging and disabled people and the issues of liveable wages, working conditions and benefits for those workers who provide these valuable services.
Monday, June 29, 2015
Parts 1 and 2: Donna DeWitt, former South Carolina state AFL-CIO president and Leonard Riley, International Longshoremen’s Association #1422 and Charleston community activist talked about the national implication of the Emanuel AME massacre for the struggle against racism and white supremacy and for workers’ rights.
Monday, June 22, 2015
Part 1: Allie McCullen, Education Organizer with RiseUp, listed the important issues regarding all forms of education in Georgia with particular emphasis on the 2016 ballot amending the state constitution to allow for the governor to take-over so-called "failing" schools from elected school boards and close them down, privatize them, fire all the faculty, and change the curriculum without any oversight.
Part 2: State Senator Vincent Fort offered his criticism of the many mega-million dollar "developments" being built in metro Atlanta that that offer little in the way of good jobs or infrastructure improvements for those living in the impacted neighborhoods.
Monday, June 15, 2015
Part 1: IATSE Business agent, Neil Gluckman and member, Mo Guiberteau, talked about the successful union election and Crew One's refusal to recognize the workers' vote.
Part 2: Ken Mitchell and Danny Housley, members of Disability LINK, discussed both the victories and the issues still remaining that hinder or prevent people with disabilities reaching their full potential.
Monday, June 8, 2015
Part 1: Sharon Black, an organizer with the Peoples Power Assembly, reports on the current conditions in Baltimore following the indictments of six police in the killing of Freddie Grey. She describes both the attempts by the media and right-wing to change the focus from police brutality to "black-on-black" crime and the continuing resistance by youth and others to focus on the issues of poverty, structural racism and jobs.
Part 2: Ajamu Baraka laid out why fighting the TPP and the fast track legislation before Congress this week is an issue of concern to Black people.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Part 1: Carlos Rosero explained how Afro-Colombians as well as other marginalized people such as Indigenous are discriminated against in all spheres of economic, political and social life.
Part 2: Eunice Cho discussed the background of mass detentions and deportations and the resulting struggle to prevent the separation of families and the negative impact on communities.
Monday, May 25, 2015
Part 1: Mary Hooks, an organizer with Southerners on New Ground (SONG), discussed the devastating impact high traffic fines and fees can have on workers, the poor and other marginalized groups.
Part 2: Kim King and Letasha Irby, workers from the Lear auto parts plant in Selma, AL, discussed the dangerous working conditions and low wages at the plant.
Monday, May 18, 2015
Part 1: Guled, a former GSU student activist turned community organizer with Black Lives Matter and other groups talked about the relationship between winning a living wage and the fight for quality, affordable education and an end to police violence and why he supported the Fight for $15 movement taking its demands to the McDonald's shareholders meeting in Chicago.
Part 2: American Postal Workers Union Local 32 President William Flanagan discussed the importance of maintaining a postal service dedicated to serving the public in the face of attempts to privatize the delivery of mail.
Monday, May 11, 2015
Part 1: ILA member Leonard Riley described actions taken by his union to act in solidarity with other workers and communities in the US and around the world and how his union responded to the shooting of Walter Scott by a N. Charleston policeman
Part 2: Actors Equity members, Marguerite Hannah and William S.Murphey talked about the conditions of work, pay and benefits that come with membership in a union.
Monday, May 4, 2015
Part 1: Andre Powell, AFSCME leader and long-time Baltimore community activist talked about the high levels of unemployment, poverty, abandoned housing and police violence in the neighborhood where Freddie Grey lived.
Part 2: Ayanna Dunlap-Bell discussed the National AFL-CIO putting increased emphasis on bringing young workers into the union movement and its leadership in the Atlanta metro area.
Monday, April 27, 2015
Part 1: Joyce Gilliard, an IATSE member talked about the critical issue of safety on the job and about how she was part of the film crew that was struck by a train on a railroad trestle that killed her co-worker, Sarah Jones and injured six, including herself.
Part 2: Marshall Rancifer, whose life experience includes incarceration, addiction and homelessness, addresses the multiple conditions of low wages, inaccessible transportation and unaffordable housing that drive the increasing numbers of homeless men, women and children.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Part 1: The Labor Forum team heard from Antwon Brown and Joshua Collins, two low-wage workers who have enthusiastically embraced the Fight for $15 and a Union campaign.
Part 2: Marilynn Winn, a member of 9 to 5 Working Women, spoke about the discrimination against formerly incarcerated people in employment, housing and education.
Monday, April 6, 2015
Part 1: Gary Murtcheson talks about the Boston Bus Drivers fight against Violia to maintain a good contract.
Part 2: The Labor Forum spoke with two women, Jai and Crystal, about why they are engaged in the fight for a $15 an hour minimum wage and the right to join a union, with both emphasizing the social benefits to their families and communities if they received a liveable wage, freeing them from the constant pressures and stress of juggling bills and multiple jobs with irregular hours.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Sally, an adjunct professor and Keisha Webb of Faculty Forward discussed how low wage workers form the majority of teachers in many of today's universities and colleges. (note, this is a replacement video. a power outage prevented the original broadcasting)
Monday, March 23, 2015
Part 1: Atlanta stagehands who have joined IATSE #927 to bring higher pay and safe working conditions to their jobs talk about how Crew One was refusing to engage in collective bargaining with the workers who set up for concerts and performances at the Fox Theater, Phillips Arena and other venues.
Part 2: Mardie Hill, a home healthcare worker and activist with the Fight for $15 called in to talk about the successful Southern Workers Conference held in Atlanta on March 21 and the upcoming national mobilization of low-wage workers, demanding $15 an hour minimum wage.
Monday, March 16, 2015
Part 1: Kim King, a ten year employee of Lear Seats who suffers from chronic respiratory illness from chemical exposure, spoke about how she led a group in attempting to deliver a letter to the auto company's management to address the workers demands for better wages and working conditions.
Part 2: Verdaillia Turner, President of the Georgia Federation of Teachers discusses the legislative measures impacting public education that are making their way through the Georgia General Assembly, specifically addressing the Governor's plan to appoint his own superintendent to takeover "failing schools."
Monday, March 9, 2015
Part 1: Stanley Smalls talked about the attempt to privatize MARTA and cut unionized jobs in favor of subcontracting.
Part 2: Kim King, one of the in-plant leaders at the Lear plant in Selma AL, talks with The Labor Forum audience about the high level of poverty and unemployment in Selma despite the historic role the people of that area played in the struggle for voting rights.
Monday, March 2, 2015
Part 1: Wisconsin union activist Connie Smith spoke about the fight against "right-to-work" legislation in that state.
Part 2: The Labor Forum interviewed one of the fired leaders of the Boston Bus Drivers union about the ongoing fight against union-busting Veolia corporation.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Parts 1 and 2: Kalpona Akter, Director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity and Mahinur Begum, an 18 year old survivor of the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse discussed the connections between their struggle for safe working conditions and liveable wages and the US corporations which produce apparel for colleges and universities.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Part 1: Neal Sardana, organizing director of the local chapter of Jobs with Justice, discussed coordinating with the Moral Monday movement.
Part 2: Ai-Jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, labor and immigrant rights activist, discussed her recent book, The Age of Dignity" which focuses on the growing aging population and the need for compassionate and skilled care-givers.
Monday, February 9, 2015
Parts 1 and 2: Kwajelyn Jackson of the Feminist Women's Health Center and Cover Georgia discussed new possibilities being considered at the General Assembly.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Part 1: Ashley and Melissa Rivas-Triana of Freedom University discuss the push for reform for undocumented immigrants to gain higher education in the state.
Part 2: Darrell Lane, business agent and active member of Local 42 of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union spoke about the many dangers facing workers in various food production plants including dangerous accumulations of sugar and flour dust.
Monday, January 26, 2015
Part 1: The Labor Forum welcomed Michele Swan, a city worker evicted from her home by 20 Henry County police, some in SWAT gear, arrested and charged with three felonies as a result of her struggle to keep her house, and Housing justice advocate and Occupy Our Homes Atlanta staff member, Jackie Rodriguez to add additional information on the fight against illegal and fraudulent banking and mortgage practices.
Part 2: Delisa Davis described the wrongful death of her brother, Kevin Davis on Dec. 29, 2014 by DeKalb County police after he called 911 seeking help.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Part 1: Harris Raynor, Southern Regional Director of Workers United, SEIU, spoke of the critical fight for $15 an hour minimum wage and the right to join a union for the 58,000 workers at the Atlanta airport
Part 2: State Senator Vincent Fort joined the Labor Forum team in the studio to talk about a number of pieces of legislation designed to bring accountability to police practices in Georgia, specifically detailing the importance of setting standards for "no knock" warrants and requiring police departments to notify the GBI of any civilian deaths resulting from an interaction with police.
Monday, January 12, 2015
Parts 1 and 2: Rev. Francys Johnson, State NAACP Pressident and Moral Monday GA leader discussed the protests held during the first 2015 session of the Georgia State legislature.
Monday, January 5, 2015
Parts 1 and 2: Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council President and State Representative Dewey McClain discusses H.B 8, a bill introduced by State Rep. Tyrone Brooks and himself that would increase Georgia's minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Monday, December 29, 2014
Parts 1 and 2: Martha Gravatt, labor activist, writer and UAW elected skilled trades representative, calls in from Detroit to provide historical context and analysis of the ground-breaking 1936 struggle against the giant auto company, General Motors, when workers held a 44 day occupation of the GM plants in Flint.
Monday, December 22, 2014
Part 1: Shakia Pinnex and Mo Morgan talked about how they were arrested in the direct action that shut down traffic on Peachtree St. in a protest against police brutality.
Part 2: Emily Martin of the National Women's Law Center explained the background and significance of the Young vs.UPS case before the Supreme Court which arises out of UPS firing a pregnant Peggy Young rather than providing a light duty job.
Monday, December 15, 2014
Parts 1 and 2: Ajamu Baraka, a leader in the national and international human rights movement, talked about the results of the Southern Human Rights Organizing Conference that took place in Savannah this past weekend and about the national movement that is building in response to police killings and the failure of the justice system to demand any accountability.
Monday, December 1, 2014
Parts 1 and 2: The Labor Forum team of Dianne Mathiowetz, Paul McLennon and Tamieka Atkins discussed Atlanta's participation in the Dec. 4 National Fast Food Worker Strike for $15 an hour and the right to join a union with Antwon Brown, a fast food worker forced to work two part-time jobs at Long John Silver and a Pop Eyes. Antwon described how the poverty wages paid by corporate fast food chains leave many workers on the edge of homelessness, sustained by public assistance.
Monday, November 10, 2014
Parts 1 and 2: Moratorium Now activist and Detroit lawyer, Jerry Goldberg, discussed the ruling in the city's bankruptcy case that ensures payments to the banks and financial institutions whose policies and schemes devastated the city and led to the crisis.
Monday, November 03, 2014
Parts 1 and 2: Tamieka Atkins explained a National Labor Relations Board ruling that reclassified home healthcare workers, thus bringing them under minimum wage and overtime pay requirements and how its implementation date was pushed back later in 2015.
Monday, October 27, 2014
Parts 1 and 2: Thandabunta Iverson, a coal miner, a union organizer, a professor of labor studies and an activist with the US Human Rights Network, joined the Labor Forum to talk about how and why the common understanding of "human rights" is narrowly seen as matters of concern in undemocratic or dictatorial countries when the rights to a job, to organize a union, and engage in collective bargaining as well as rights to housing, food, education and healthcare are also defined as human rights.
Monday, October 20, 2014
Parts 1 and 2: Local home healthcare workers discussed the Fight for $15 and a Union movement.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Parts 1 and 2 : Terrance Courtney, Atlanta Public Sector Worker's Alliance, George Jackson, of the Philadelphia Teacher's Union, talked about the state of public education in Atlanta and Philadelphia.
Monday, October 6, 2014
Part 1: Curtis Howard and Stanley Smalls, members of the ATU, gave an update on the stalled contract negotiations between MARTA management and its workers.
Part 2: Ken Mitchell of Concerned Transit Riders for Equal Access joined the Labor Forum to discuss an expanded conversation about the move to privatize and cutback on transit access for the public in Atlanta.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Part 1: Kevin Moran of the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition talked about the trial in Quitman, GA.
Monday, September 22, 2014
Part 1: Abayomi Azikiwe talked about the recent development with the massive water shut-offs affecting tens of thousands of Detroit residents .
Part 2: Carl Hartrampf, long-time volunteer at the Task Force for the Homeless and former city housing inspector, addressed the threat by Atlanta's Watershed Management Department to cut the water service off to the building where hundreds of men, women and children take shelter.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Part 1: Fast food workers, Joshua Collins and Dominique Wyatt, talked about the demands of millions of low-wage workers for a living wage of $15 an hour and the right to join a union.
Part 2: Danny Laufer, associate principal cellist, tells Labor Forum listeners about the professional musicians of the renowned Atlanta Symphany Orchestra's struggle to have respect on the job
Monday, September 1, 2014
Part 1: Joel Solow of Atlanta Raise Up called for solidarity with fast food workers who are taking action on Thursday, Sept. 4 to win $15 an hour and the right to join a union.
Part 2: The Labor Forum spoke with Sumer Spika, a homecare worker who describes the successful campaign to win a statewide election for thousands of low-wage workers who provide in-home care for ill and disabled patients.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Part 1: Taryn Jordan discusses the underlying conditions of youth of color -unemployment, low-wage jobs, underfunded schools in addition to police harassment and ongoing discrimination -- to analyze the depth of defiance and resistance taking place in Ferguson to the military occupation of their town.
Part 2: The Labor Forum spoke with Neil Sardana, organizer for Atlanta Jobs with Justice, who described the connections between the issues that form the change agenda of Moral Monday Georgia and worker and immigrant rights.
Monday, August 4, 2014
Part 1: Robert Davis and Faith Krevis, two members of UniteHere described their successful union drive at Cafe Intermezzo at the airport, and explain the benefits they and their co-workers have gained from having a union contract.
Part 2: Krystal Price, a fast food worker, calls the program from Greensboro, NC to talk about the NLRB ruling that establishes McDonalds' corporate responsibility for wages and working conditions at its franchise locations.
Monday, July 28, 2014
Part 1: The Labor Forum team heard from AFSCME members and Atlanta Public School bus drivers, Quentin Hutchins and Gwen Johnson about the successful outcome of the workers' campaign to win high wages and improved working conditions.
Part 2: The Labor Forum spoke with the executive director of the BlueGreen Alliance, Kim Glas, who talked about how the Alliance brings together some of the country's largest unions and environmental groups, such as the UAW, CWA, AFT and ATU and Sierra Club to educate and advocate for policies that create good jobs and a clean environment.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Part 1: The Labor Forum audience heard about the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and what its impact has been plus an upate from California postal worker, Alan Menjivar on the campaign to stop the effort to privatize the post office by placing postal outlets in Staples stores.
Part 2: Teresa Gutierrez, co-director of the May 1st Coalition for Immigrant and Worker Rights in NYC, provided both analysis and practical lessons on building unity among the diverse working class.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Parts 1 and 2: The Labor Forum team spoke with Abeyomi Azikiwe, retired educator, editor and writer, who is actively involved in the struggle against privatization of city services and plundering of public funds by banks and financial institutions as a result of the bankruptcy filing.
Monday, July 7, 2014
Parts 1 and 2: Dr. Akenyele Umoja, chair of the African-American Studies Department at Georgia State University and long-time community activist and member of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, spoke about who benefited from the War of Independence from Britain and what freedom struggles continue to be ongoing today.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Parts 1 and 2: Terence Courtney of Black Alliance for Just Immigration and a long-time community and labor organizer provided a working class critique of the global move to transfer public wealth and resources into the control of a handful of individuals and corporations for private gain.
Monday, June 23, 2014
Part 1: The Labor Forum team speaks with MARTA worker, Mark Fitzgerald about contract negotiations with management and about the importance of good public transportation to the community.
Part 2: Anita Beaty, Task Force for the Homeless director and Ken Howell, ATU member and Cobb County activist, talked about the growing use of public funds for private, profit-making developments, such as sports stadiums.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Parts 1 and 2: Guests Richard Ray and Bruce Carraway contributed their knowledge of the benefits and shortcomings of Georgia's Workers' Compensation law and the role of OSHA in protecting workers' lives.
Monday, May 26, 2014
Parts 1 and 2: Greg Fann, metro Atlanta president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) and Terence Courtney with Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) talked about the centrality of the leadership role of African American workers to progressive movements.
Monday, May 19, 2014
Part 1: Stacy Spill-Brown, vice president of the local Postal Workers' union, joined the forum to talk about attempts to privatize the postal service and contract out postal jobs to Staples.
Part 2: Labor Forum co-hosts, Dianne Mathiowetz and Kenyon Beasley discussed the impact of the international fast food workers' strike with McDonald's worker, Connie Ogletree.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Parts 1 and 2: Atlanta airport workers, Faith Krevis and Pat Cambias and McDonald's worker, Connie Ogletree joined WRFG Labor Forum co-hosts, Fiaanne Mathiowetz ans Kenyon Beasley, for a lively discussion about the fight for a liveable wage and respect on the job. (Note: this marks the beginning of the Labor Forum changing to an hour long program and being a Monday program)
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Amalgamated Transit Union President Jimmy McCoy, International Vice President, Bruce Hamilton, Regional Vice President Sammie Howard, and shop stewards, Robert Pengel and Robert Cloud explained to the Labor Forum listeners how Greyhound terminal workers such as baggage handlers, cafeteria staff and ticket clerks are being abused by the giant transportation corporation. (note: this marks both the last episode of the Labor Forum being aired on Wednesdays and the last half-hour episode)
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
American Postal Workers Union members, William Flannagan, LeRoy Lavender and Kenyon Beasley denounced plans to install post offices in for-profit Staples stores with low-wage Staples employees.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
John McCutchen and Karen Berz explained how sound production often does not use skilled Georgian musicians but employs low-wage workers overseas, and how major movie studio Lionsgate receives millions of dollars in tax breaks from Georgia and other states to bring film production -- and jobs -- to those localities.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Jaime Chandra, Communications Manager at the Feminist Women's Health Center discussed the "religious freedom" argument being offered by the privately-owned, crafts store chain to deny women employees contraceptive care in their insurance policies.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Cristian Avilar, a youth activist from Arizona and part of the bus tour, and Yvonne Robinson, the secretary-treasurer of the Georgia AFL-CIO, discussed how community and labor organizations in Atlanta are preparing to welcome the Fast for Families bus tour which seeks to educate the public about the impact of detentions and deportations on families and society in general.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Republic Service workers, Dave Thomas called in from Atlanta and Jerome Rankins from Alabama join Teamster organizers, with Chuck Stiles and Ben Speight joining in the WRFG studio for The Labor Forum, all to discuss how Republic is the second largest waste management company in the US with profits of almost $800 million in 2013, yet, it was conducting a vicious anti-worker, anti-union campaign around the country.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Helen Butler, Executive Director of the Georgia Coalition for a People's Agenda, discussed the history of working and poor people to win the right to vote.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Javis Davis, member of AFSCME 1644 and proud APS cafeteria worker and union organizer, Sylvia Glass, addressed problems of sanitary conditions, expired food, worker pay and benefits that affect their jobs as they serve breakfast and lunch to school children.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
The Labor Forum learns about the attack on gains made by unionized shuttle bus drivers at Ga. State when the university awarded the contract to MV Transportation. Al McCray, Teamster steward, and Brittany Whitaker with United Students against Sweatshops joined to discuss the fightback being made by workers and students to win living wages and respect at GSU.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
The Labor Forum heard from Malika Redmond of SPARK! Reproductive Justice Now and Eveline Shen of Forward Together address the needs of working and poor women and their families for healthcare access.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
The Labor Forum talked with four young activists with Moral Monday Georgia, Reynaldo Roberts,Tabitha Holley, Adam Quick and Ronnie Mosley about their decision to commit civil disobedience in a protest against the Stand Your Ground law.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Chris Baumann, an organizer with Workers United, SEIU, discusses the pending legislation before the Georgia Assembly that would make school workers such as bus drivers, cafeteria staff, maintenance and cleaning workers and crossing guards ineligible to receive benefits during school breaks.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Mark Burton discussed the case of Clarence Moses-El, a Colorado man who has been imprisonerd for 27 years for a crime he did not commit. The injustices revealed by his continued confinement highlight the serious failure of the legal system to safeguard people's rights to be able to prove their innocence by allowing the police to throw out evidence.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Kimberly Banks and Jackie Rodriguez talked about the campaign to win Medicaid expansion and the broader goals of the Moral Monday movement in Georgia.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
The Labor Forum spoke with cafeteria workers at Clark Atlanta University and Agnes Scott College who have successfully organized unions on their campuses.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Fast-food workers, Renita and Antwon, talked about their jobs at Burger King and Long John Silver's and why they joined the Dec. 5 national day of action for $15 an hour.
