Unionizing "The Office" (US Version) w/ Elizabeth Laycak

Veteran labor organizer, Elizabeth Laycak, joins the show to discuss how two new workers employed by Dunder Mifflin Paper Co. in Scranton, PA would initiate a unionization campaign with a strategy to win.

We cover mapping and charting, assessments, identifying leaders (and isolating anti-union workers), along with the importance of secrecy and inoculation throughout the campaign.

Very fun episode and Laborwave Radio is making an open invitation to any of our listeners that wish to discuss the hypothetical union campaign they would conduct at any fictional workplace on television or the big screen! Contact LR at laborwavenews@gmail.com if you've got a pitch!

Please support Laborwave Radio by subscribing to our patreon at patreon.com/laborwave We have gifts depending on the tier you join, and exclusive access to our archives and Discord server.

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/laborwave-radio/id1536697871

Shop Floor Organizing at Amazon w/ Amazonians United Chicagoland

Ruby and Zama, members of Amazonians United, join the show to discuss their methods of shop floor organizing and direct unionism.

They share stories of how AU emerged, initially through breaking bread and resocializing the workplace, to their first direct action demanding access to water in the shop.

We also discussed the dismissal of AU by proponents of business unionism, and offer a critique of conventional labor union practices.

Learn more about AU at https://www.amazoniansunited.org/

Please support Laborwave Radio by subscribing to our patreon at patreon.com/laborwave We have gifts depending on the tier you join, and exclusive access to our archives and Discord server.

Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, it helps our content reach new listeners.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/laborwave-radio/id1536697871

Music:

Ty Segall- Love Fuzz

Union Democracy and Working Class Power Require Deep Organizing w/ Marybeth Seitz-Brown

Marybeth Seitz-Brown, organizer and former rank-and-file member with the NewsGuild of New York, joins the show to discuss how deep organizing is necessary for building robust union democracy and pushing union members to tackle the biggest issues of the day.

Building off her article, "The Left Needs to Engage Members If We Want to Win Big" in The Forge, Marybeth puts forward grounded advice on how to develop methods for ensuring union democracy is an active practice and organizing approaches workers with the expectation that their politics and activity can change over time.

We discuss why it matters to view democracy as the practice of "governing by obeying," the need to expand the political imagination around what unions can fight for and win, and how deep organizing can build the structures within our unions necessary for accomplishing the above.

Read the article at https://forgeorganizing.org/article/left-needs-engage-members-if-we-want-win-big

Please support Laborwave Radio by subscribing to our patreon at patreon.com/laborwave We have gifts depending on the tier you join, and exclusive access to our archives and Discord server.

Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, it helps our content reach new listeners.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/laborwave-radio/id1536697871

Music:

Mika Miko- Turkey Sandwich