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Labor Rights or Labor Freedoms? A Conversation with Matthew Dimick

Podcast

Matthew Dimick, Professor of Law at the University of Buffalo, joins the show to respond to recent debate over the Wagner Act.

Dimick makes clear that rather than trying to posit the Act was a gift to labor that the labor movement should be cautious whenever the state seeks to substitute its powers for unions own self-activity.

Our discussion touches on the following articles written by Dimick in Organizing Work and Catalyst Journal.

Counterfeit Liberty- https://catalyst-journal.com/2019/07/counterfeit-liberty

The Wagner Act, Cause and Consequences- https://organizing.work/2022/08/the-wagner-act-causes-and-consequences/

The Long Deep Grudge

Podcast

Toni Gilpin joins the show to discuss her book, The Long Deep Grudge, which chronicles the epic battles of the Farm Equipment Workers Union (FE) against corporate giant International Harvester.

From the book description, "International Harvester – and the McCormick family that largely controlled it – garnered a reputation for bare-knuckled union-busting in the 1880s, but in the 20th century also pioneered sophisticated union-avoidance techniques that have since become standard corporate practice. On the other side the militant Farm Equipment Workers union, connected to the Communist Party, mounted a vociferous challenge to the cooperative ethos that came to define the American labor movement after World War II."

Order the book at https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1383-the-long-deep-grudge

This and more on the latest episode of Laborwave Radio.

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William Z. Foster: A Critical Examination on his Methods and Strategies

Podcast

Second episode in our discussion of the life and thought of William Z. Foster.

On this go around Lucas Carpenter and Tim Shields join the show to do a deep dive over Foster's proposed methods for effective labor organizing. In particular we examine his pamphlets Organizing Methods in the Steel Industry and Strike Strategy.

We also discuss the techniques of pink sheeting, role of popular education in organizing, and competing conceptions of leadership identification and development.