Solidarity Radio

In this episode we are joined by Gabriella a rank and file Teamster, UPS worker, and Teamsters for a Democratic Union steering committee member. In this episode we discuss rank and file union organizing, the challenges and opportunities the upcoming Teamsters election presents, and Teamsters for a Democratic Union. Follow Gabriella on Twitter @revivethestreijk for updates on her war on cheese and Teamsters posting. Check out the websites for  Teamsters for a Democratic Union https://www.tdu.org/ and Teamsters United https://www.oz2021.com/ to learn more about them. You can find the Joe Burns books mentioned by Gabriella at most book sellers. For more about Solidarity go to our website www.solidarity-us.org and follow us on Twitter @SolidarityUS and Instagram @SolidarityUS1986. If you liked what you heard here, be sure to check out our comrades at the socialist journal Against the Current www.againstthecurrent.org. You can also follow them on Twitter @atc_mag and Instagram @atc.mag. This is part two of two in a series of conversations about TDU, TU, and the Teamsters election.

Fred Zuckerman (left) and Sean O’Brien (right) Joining us this week is Andy — a rank and file Teamster, public transit worker, member of the Tempest Magazine collective, and Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) member — and Hank — a rank and file Teamster, worker at UPS, and TDU member. In this episode we discuss rank and file union organizing, the challenges and opportunities the upcoming Teamsters election presents, and Teamsters for a Democratic Union. If you want keep up with Hank check out his writing at Letterboxd and follow him on Twitter @ComradeRobocop. To read more from Andy you can follow him on Twitter @andsern or his Patreon. Finally, please do not forget to check out Tempest Magazine for its insightful writing and analysis. Follow Socialism from Below on Twitter @socfrombelow. Do not forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast streaming platform and do not forget to rate us and write a review on iTunes. It takes five seconds and is a huge help to our podcast. For more about Solidarity go to our website www.solidarity-us.org and follow us on Twitter @SolidarityUS and Instagram @SolidarityUS1986. If you liked what you heard here, be sure to check out our comrades at the socialist journal Against the Current www.againstthecurrent.org. You can also follow them on Twitter @atc_mag and Instagram @atc.mag. This is part one of a two part series. In the next episode we will talk with Gabriella a rank and file Teamster, TDU member, and UPS worker.

Listen to the workshop of activists and organizers from across the country strategizing, sharing experiences, evaluating tactics, and making connections with others passionate about increasing the power of tenants and making decent housing a right. Transcript forthcoming! Learn more about the participating organizations: KC Tenants: KC Tenants fights for safe, accessible and affordable housing for all. It is led by a multigenerational, multi-racial, poor and working-class group of tenants. They believe in developing grassroot leaders who fight for their own liberation and tell their own stories. LA Tenants Union: The LA Tenants Union is a movement of tenants who are seeking to make affordable and safe housing a right. They fight against landlord harassment, evictions, and displacement and organize to enhance the political power of tenants through advocacy, education and direct action. City Life / Vida Urbana: City Life/Vida Urbana is a Boston-based housing rights organization that was founded almost 50 years ago. It is a bilingual community organization fighting for racial, economic and gender justice in housing. CLVU organizes against housing displacement, whether it be through foreclosures or evictions, and for building working class power in matters of tenant and housing rights. Philly Tenants Union: Philly Tenants Union is a tenant-led organization that fights for the right to safe, decent and affordable housing. PTU engages both in direct action against individual landlords as well as in campaigns for legislative reforms that strengthen the rights of tenants. Unfortunately Philly Tenants Union were unable to attend although they participated in the early planning of the event  

Joining us from Seattle are Jade and Megan, two members of Seattle DSA. Jade is also a member of the national Afrosocialist Socialist of Color Caucus (AfroSoc Caucus) and is also a co-chair of Seattle DSA’s Anti-Racist Co-Conspirators Caucus (ARC). Megan is co-chair of SDSA Council district 3, co-chair of the Seattle AfroSoc caucus. We talk about reparations, class reductionism, restorative justice, and the necessity of open and frank conversation. If you want to find out more about what Seattle DSA be sure to check out their website www.seattledsa.org and @SeattleDsa. If you want to learn more about what the Seattle AfroSoc caucus is up to give them a follow at @seattleAFROSOC and for more about the national caucus check out @AFROSOCDSA. While ARC doesn’t have any social media yet keep an eye out for future accounts.

This week we are joined by Luis of the Mexican socialist party the Partido Revolucionario de las y los Trabajadores. We talk about what the PRT is, the current political situation in Mexico, the Fourth International, and the meaning of “Trotskyism” in the 21st century. To learn more about PRT check out their website, Facebook, and Twitter. To learn more about the FI check out their website, the website of their educational center International Institute for Research and Education, their magazine International Viewpoint. 1:34 What is Partido Revolutionario de las y los Trabajadores (PRT)? Situating it historically and in the current moment. 9:47 The meaning of nationalism and populism in Latin America. 16:03 The emergence of AMLO and its consequences. 24:40 The Fourth International and its historical relationship to “Trotskyism” 34:16 What is the FI now? 38:00 The strategy of building broad/useful parties 42:30 Talking about PSOL in the context of the “broad/useful parties” framework. 46:09 Final comments We just launched our Socialism from Below Twitter account. Do not forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast streaming platform. Please follow us there, and do not forget to rate us and write a review on iTunes. It takes five seconds and is a huge help to our podcast. For more about Solidarity go to our website and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. If you liked what you heard here, be sure to check out our comrades at the socialist journal Against the Current. You can also follow them on Twitter and Instagram.

This week we are joined by Jetzel, Magda, and Mak  who are all leaders in KC Tenants. We talk about how they use a diversity of tactics, the importance of organizing at the speed of trust, why socialists should organize tenants, and some pro tips for those of us who are new to tenant organizing. Find out more about KC Tenants on Twitter, Instagram, and on their website. You can also find the pamphlets that Magda mentioned in longer form and zine form on their website. To support them you can head over to their donations page. ~ 0:34 What is KC Tenants? ~ 4:03 How do policy advocacy, direct action, and mutual aid fit together? ~  12:32 How did COVID-19 change how you organized? What were the challenges? ~ 20:09 Organizing at the speed of trust. ~ 24:20 Tenants hotline and workers’ inquiry ~ 30:26 Why should socialists organize tenants? ~ 34:12 Organizing a diverse working class. ~ 45:32 Pro tips for new tenant organizers. We just launched our Socialism from Below Twitter account. Do not forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast streaming platform. Please follow us there, and do not forget to rate us and write a review on iTunes. It takes five seconds and is a huge help to our podcast. For more about Solidarity go to our website and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. If you liked what you heard here, be sure to check out our comrades at the socialist journal Against the Current. You can also follow them on Twitter and Instagram.

This week we are joined by Jhon a member of the National Bank Employees Union in Colombia and an organizer involved with the latest round of protests in Colombia. We talk about the neoliberal agenda that has sparked this series of protests, the state’s response, the role of narco trafficking paramilitaries, and the power of a united and democratic working class movement. Jhon suggests that you follow these sites for news about the protest movement: Canal Dos and El Comando Departmental Unitario ~Min 2:34 The neoliberal program that sparked the protests ~Min 10:40 Narco trafficking and its relationship to the state ~Min 15:05 Venezuelan Refugees ~Min 21:00 State violence against protesters ~Min 29:30 Role of paramilitaries and narco trafficking in the state repression ~Min 37:30 Current protest movement and the work of building it from the bottom up ~Min 51:00 The power of a United and democratic working class movement ~Min 55:30 How comrades in the US can support Columbian comrades We just launched our Socialism from Below Twitter account. Please follow us there, and do not forget to rate us and write a review on iTunes. It takes five seconds and is a huge help to our podcast. For more about Solidarity go to our website (www.solidarity-us.org) and follow us on Twitter @solidarityus, Instagram @solidarityus1986, and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SolidarityUS If you liked what you heard here, be sure to check out our comrades at the socialist journal Against the Current (www.againstthecurrent.org). You can also follow them on Twitter @atc_mag and instagram @atc.mag.

Far From Over – Class Struggle and Union Organizing at Amazon We extracted the audio for our podcast feed from the video originally published on the Socialist Project in Canada A presentation and roundtable discussion on class struggle and union organizing at Amazon warehouses with Alessandro Delfanti (https://delfanti.org/), Amazonians United (https://www.amazoniansunited.org/) workers and organizers Ira and Fathia, Paul Gray, Jessica Ireland, and Tanner Mirrlees. 0:00 Introduction w/ Tanner Mirrlees 3:21 Amazon, capitalism and work w/ Alessandro Delfanti 27:44 Roundtable discussion w/ Paul Gray, Jessica Ireland, Alessandro Delfanti, and Amazonian United workers-organizers Ira and Fathia 1:01:14 Q & A w/ audience A central political challenge for the Left today is to organize gig workers across the sectors of digital capitalism into unions. High-tech corporations such as Amazon, Google, Apple, and Facebook have quickly become one of – if not the – most powerful sectors of contemporary capitalism, and these and other companies have been equally creative and vicious in keeping their operations all but free of unions. The struggle to organize and unionize workers in “Big Tech” has recently become concentrated on Amazon, the pivotal company in the new logistics of distribution and retail, and now one of the largest employers on the planet, next to Wal-Mart and US Department of Defense. Significant class struggles have emerged in response to the brutal conditions of work and labour in Amazon warehouses, from Italy to Germany, from Bessemer, Alabama, to Brampton, Ontario. It was widely hoped that the pitched battle for union recognition at Bessemer would be a turning point in this struggle, setting off a series of unions being formed elsewhere. If lessons are learned and new strategies taken up from the failed vote, it still may be. If there is to be a renewal of the union movement and working-class politics in North America and beyond, Amazon is surely at the centre of the firms of digital capitalism that must be conquered. Alessandro Delfanti teaches at the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology at the University of Toronto. He is the author of the forthcoming book The Warehouse: Workers and Robots at Amazon (Pluto Press). Ira lives in Queens, the best borough of the best city in the world with his partner and three cats. Ira has worked at an Amazon delivery station for over a year and a half, is a cofounder of Amazonians United NYC and is a communist who believes that the working class should call the shots. Fathia has been an Amazon worker in Maryland for 6 months and is in the process of forming an organizing committee with her coworkers to organize around issues in their workplace. She is a queer woman of color with a background in worker and student organizing. She is committed to building worker solidarity across identities and borders and taking our power back from the greedy bosses who seem to think it’s theirs. Organized by Socialist Project and Centre for Social Justice. The SP is a Toronto-based organization that supports the rebuilding of the socialist Left in Canada and around the world.

4:55 Skip to the interview segment of the show. As this is written, the Biden Administration is holding great outdoor July 4th events and encouraging everybody to get together to celebrate the liberation, from British oppression back then and from the Covid virus today. That despite the fact the Covid Delta variant is ravaging Asia, has a foothold here, and that less than half of U.S. North American residents have been vaccinated. In the following interview environmental journalist David Quammen discusses (1) that while vaccines can be important they are no cure-all even if herd immunity is conferred, and (2) what must be done across the planet to protect humanity from breakout of a virus that is highly lethal and easily transmissible in its early stages when the carrier is still well. This must include protecting natural ecosystems from commercial intrusion, which current economic elites hotly oppose. David Quammen’s books are admired for their scientific accuracy and accessible language. They include: Ebola, Spillover, The Reluctant Mr. Darwin, Monster of God, The Song of the Dodo, Yellowstone: A Journey Through America’s Wild Heart, The Chimp and the River. Bill Resnick is a founding member of the Old Mole Variety Hour radio collective. The “Variety“ is in the struggles from below that the Mole examines. The Mole is on KBOO 90.7FM, listener supported radio in Portland, OR. It afflicts the comfortable and comforts the afflicted 24/7/365 and live streams to the universe. This originally aired on Old Mole Variety Hour April 26th 2021, KBOO is an independent, member-supported, non-commercial, volunteer-powered community radio station.

This week we are joined by Natalia Chaves from the Brazilian socialist organization Subverta to talk about Bancada Feminista do PSOL the socialist feminist collective candidacy as well as democratizing electoral campaigns, ensuring accountability to social movements, trans inclusion and queer representation in the socialist feminist movement, and ecosocialism. Find out more about Subverta on their website www.subverta.org and on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @subvertamos Find out more about Bancanda Feminista on their website www.bancadafeministapsol.com.br and on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @bancadafeministapsol   ~ Min 2 What is Subverta and how does it relate to PSOL? ~ Min 10 Bancada Feminista do PSOL, what is a collective candidacy and what are the challenges they face? ~ Min 21 Democracy, representation, and the composition of the collective candidacy ~ Min 29 Accountability to social movements ~ Min 34 Bancada feminista and the feminist movement in Brazil ~ Min 45 Trans inclusion and queer leadership in the socialist movement ~ Min 51 Ecosocialism   For more about Solidarity go to our website (www.solidarity-us.org) and follow us on Twitter @solidarityus and Instagram @solidarityus1986 If you liked what you heard here, be sure to check out our comrades at the socialist journal Against the Current (www.againstthecurrent.org). You can also follow them on Twitter  and instagram @atc.mag.