Episode Details

Authoritarianism on the rise: Educators and unionists share strategies for resistance and victory, citing historical examples of successful labor movements, at a conference hosted by CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies and Cornell Worker Institute in New York City this past May.

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Description: Labor organizing is critical to any anti-fascist movement, but labor unions and worker education are feeling the impact of brutal Republican attacks and cuts. How are workers and educators responding? In this special report, from a conference held at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies (SLU) in New York City, Laura spoke with Rebecca “Becky” Pringle, president of the National Education Association, the largest union in the country, about labor solidarity in the deep-red state of Utah; history professor Robert Cassannello, a plaintiff in a successful suit against Florida Gov. DeSantis’s Stop Woke Act; and Rev. Ryan Brown, an Amazon worker/organizer from North Carolina, about how workers and educators are fighting back, and even winning in these times, although the obstacles are immense. The conference, “Labor and the Crisis of Democracy; Working Class Politics in a Time of Authoritarianism” was convened by the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies with the Cornell Worker Institute. 

“It's not the first time that our species have lived in perilous times, with pharaohs who are giving people work without any brick, without any straw. They have always figured out a way to organize, to mobilize and to agitate . . . Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, they were just regular, everyday human beings. No education. But they knew that fundamentally something was wrong about the world.” - Rev. Ryan Brown

“You can study any authoritarian reign, any oligarch throughout history. The people who have the most success in fighting against them are educators and they are unionists . . . We understand these are multi-pronged attacks on every front. So we have to actually have a multi-pronged approach for educators.” - Becky Pringle

GUESTS:

• Reverend Ryan Brown: President, Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity & Empowerment (CAUSE)

• Robert Cassannello: History Professor, University of Central Florida; Incoming President, United Faculty of Florida (UFF)

• Bhairavi Desai: Executive Director, NY Taxi Worker Alliance

• Annabelle Heckler: Artist; Social Practice Fellow, CUNY

• Sherman Henry: Director, Labor Institute for Advancing Black Strategies, Clark Atlanta University

• Dr. Mudiwa Pettus: Assistant Professor, English Department, Medgar Evers College; Social Practice Fellow, CUNY 

• Rebecca “Becky” Pringle: President, National Education Association

Check out the Bonus Interview in this podcast feed:  In a candid discussion with Laura, veteran union organizer Alex Han and U.S. Right Wing exper