Labor Day 2021 with Mike Elk of Payday Report (G&R 109)

Green and Red commemorates Labor Day with labor Journalist and founder of "Payday Report" Mike Elk (@MikeElk).  We begin by talking about the historical origins of Labor Day in the U.S. (where Labor Day occurs in September rather than on May 1, like most of the world) and we pay tribute to the late Stanley Aronowitz.     
We had a wide-ranging discussion with Mike Elk, who began by giving up updates on the Warrior Met Coal strike in Alabama and the Amazon union drive that took place there earlier this year. After that we spoke about the role of labor in the post World War II period, and discussed the importance of people such as Ed Asner, Walter Mondale, and William Greider. We also talked about what to expect from the AFL-CIO with new President Liz Shuler and the legacy of the late Richard Trumka.  We, again, paid tribute to the brave women who were fired from Collin College and pointed out how the New York Left did nothing to help them. Finally, we talked about the role of "gatekeepers" in labor journalism and education--the way that people who don't have working-class backgrounds have come to dominate the way we on the Left talk about labor.
Links// 

Payday Report: https://paydayreport.com/ 
Gallup: Approval of Labor Unions at Highest Point Since 1965 (https://bit.ly/2VfsWe2) 
Stanley Aronowitz, Labor Scholar and Activist, Dies at 88 (https://nyti.ms/3DRFqdw)
The Nation: Ed Asner, American Socialist (https://bit.ly/3tdJfoe)

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This is a Green and Red Podcast production. Produced by Bob  (@bobbuzzanco) and Scott (@sparki1969).  “Green and Red Blues" by Moody.  Editing by Isaac.