On February dockers from 6 European countries carried out strikes against the genocide in Gaza, the militarization of Europe, and the attacks on the working class. One of those attacks is the use of AI and robotics to attack the working class and the growing threat of genocide and war. Professor Raquel Varela, who teaches in Lisbon, is a global expert on AI, automation, maritime transportation, and the global economy. She spoke with Pacifica’s Steve Zeltzer.
AI, Dockers, Labor, Imperialism, Fascism & World Capitalism With Raquel Varela
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NUHW Kaiser Ilana Marcucci-Morris is a licensed clinical social worker in Oakland, California. There are now 32,000 Kaiser nurses and many other workers on strike in part against short staffing. Marucci-Morris talks about her union’s fight against the use of chatbots to replace trained and licensed professional healthcare workers and why that is a threat not only to labor but also to the millions of patients at Kaiser and all other healthcare systems in the US.
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As we go to air on Feb 9th, some 15,000 nurses of the New York State Nurses Association, braving severe winter weather on picket lines in the Bronx and Manhattan approach Day 30 in their strike against three large hospital networks — Montefiore, NewYork-Presbyterian, and Mount Sinai.
The nurses union is calling for increased staffing to lower patient to nurse ratios, better protections against workplace violence, the exclusion of ICE from hospitals that menace immigrant patients and workers, as well as better wages and benefits that might enable nurses to live in the city where they care for their patients.
Pressure is building with Democratic Party political figures such as Governor Hochul and Mayor Mamdani expressing support for nurses while also calling for a quick end to the strike. The hospitals are using freelance nurses, known as “agency” or “travel nurses” to scab, and management claims essential operations have continued, though there’s no telling for how long. A similar strike three years ago lasted just three days.
What follows are voices from a picket line on Thursday Jan 29 at the Montefiore Weiler Campus in the Bronx. The speakers in order are NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, Montefiore nurse Carolyn Jensen, Democratic New York State Senator Gustavo Rivera, and Montefiore nurse Dahlia Empia. CRD Producers add their voices to the call for victory to the New York State Nurses Association! You can find them on Facebook.
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During Black History Month, Black trade unionist Richard Hooker Jr., president of Teamsters Local 623 in Philadelphia, is speaking out against President Trump’s renewed racist attacks, which are fueling anger across the Black community and the broader working class. Hooker, who is challenging Trump supporter Sean O’Brien for Teamsters Presidemt, spoke with Pacifica’s Steve Zeltzer about the lessons of the 1934 Minneapolis strike, the need for worker–community solidarity, and why this moment demands a workers’ party and a general strike in the United States.
Richard Hooker Jr. & Teamsters In S. Cal Speak Out On AI,The Class Struggle &The Fight For Democracy
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We thank all of Pacifica’s sister stations and affiliates who contribute to the production of this show. Today’s program was produced by the Capitalism, Race & Democracy collective, with contributions from Thomas O’Rourke and Steve Zeltzer.
You can find this and all previous episodes at our website “capitalism race and democracy dot ORG”. Make sure you click the subscribe button. Follow us on X, formerly Twitter, @PacificaCRD.
Thanks for listening!
Music:
Bruce Springsteen, “Streets of Minneapolis”
POWER TO THE PEOPLE. (Ultimate Mix, 2020) – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
Sweet Honey in the Rock, “More than a Paycheck”
