Members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh just ended their strike over unfair labor practices at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette after 1132 days. They had won one court battle after another, until the Supreme Court ruled in their favor. The paper’s owners then announced that they would be shutting it down and turning it over to a non-profit, which promptly terminated most of the workers. Now the workers and the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh have decided to launch a new worker-community-owned newspaper. Pacifica’s Steve Zeltzer interviewed labor journalist Steve Mellon, one of the workers who had been on strike, about what’s to come.
Watch the full interview here.
***
Israel’s main labor federation, the Histadrut, has a long history of supporting the Israeli apartheid state. It has strong ties to the US’s AFL-CIO, which is also supporting the Gaza genocide.
In Canada last month the Canadian Labor Congress broke ties with the Histadrut after a long education campaign and struggle at their convention. Canadian trade unionist Hassan Husseini, who is with Canadian Labour For Palestine, gave this report to a group of US trade unionists who are working in the US to break ties with the Histadrut and the AFL-CIO.
***
Next, Marianne Pizzitola and Michelle Keller, hosts of Labor and Healthcare Confidential on Pacifica’s WBAI in New York, talk to two rank-and-file Teamsters about their fight for equal representation in the contract battle that put them at odds with union leadership. Colleen Donovan is with UPS Teamsters Local 804-New York and Jess Lister is with Teamsters UPS Union Local 728-New York.
***
Recent headlines scream about the next pandemic, but Dr. Peter McCullough says that there’s a lot of irrational fear involved. Next we share part of an interview Dr. McCullough gave to Kristie Leigh’s DC Dispatch on Lindell TV on May 23.
And that concludes today’s edition of Capitalism, Race & Democracy. 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 Steve Zeltzer, Ann Garrison, Polina Vasiliev, and Thomas O’Rourke.
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:
David Rovics, performed by AI Tsuno, “If We All Sing Together”
Explosive Media, “Little Orange Man”
It’s Coming Out! (Who’s Funding Who?) from the Fearless Teamsters
