https://organizeamazon.org/ America’s Work Force Union Podcast provides a clear and unfiltered voice for the working people of America. Radio veteran Ed “Flash” Ferenc leads the discussion with a focus on topics that include the impact of labor unions in America, workers’ rights, legislative actions and labor-management relations. Featured guests include various labor leaders, politicians, journalists and more. America’s Work Force Union Podcast provides updates and information from sources around the United States and continues to be the trusted voice for workers across the country. en Fri, 04 Sep 2026 06:46:32 GMT vBulletin 60 https://organizeamazon.org/images/misc/rss.png https://organizeamazon.org/ https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/364001-c-cobctc-on-data-centers-infrastructure-and-outreach Fri, 04 Sep 2026 02:30:02 GMT A million people are projected to move to Central Ohio by 2050. Two Ohio Power Siting Board hearings drew nearly 100 speakers in one week. The outer...
On today's Trades Day episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Dorsey Hager delivers his monthly update covering the Fairfield and Asheville Ohio Power Siting Board hearings for two behind-the-meter energy centers serving data center campuses, Central Ohio's infrastructure gap as growth accelerates toward a million new residents by 2050, apprenticeship outreach to middle schools and high schools and the IBEW job blitz coming to Columbus that could be replicated across all building trades if it succeeds.

Visit columbusconstruction.org for more.



More...]]> T-Link Reporter https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/364001-c-cobctc-on-data-centers-infrastructure-and-outreach https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/363469-rep-steve-horsford-and-dave-megenhardt-on-fighting-for-workers Thu, 03 Sep 2026 03:30:02 GMT Two conversations that connect the fight for workers in the halls of Congress to the fight for workers on the streets of Cleveland β€” one making the...
Congressional Labor Caucus co-chair and Culinary Workers Union Local 226 member Steve Horsford of Nevada discusses the Big Beautiful Bill's betrayal of tipped workers and his Tips Improvement Act to make tax relief permanent, the federal minimum wage frozen at $7.25 since 2009 and down 30% in purchasing power, the Double the Wage Act to require double pay after 40 hours, the PRO Act and Faster Labor Contracts Act and legislation requiring transparency on AI-related layoffs and hiring. He also shares the personal story behind his public service: an immigrant mother from Trinidad, a father shot and killed when he was 19 and a decade running the Culinary Training Academy before he ever ran for Congress. His Labor Day message: the problems workers face are not personal failures, and when workers fight, they win.

Then, United Labor Agency Executive Director Dave Megenhardt traces 55 years of worker-centered service in Cleveland, from a 1971 kidney dialysis program seeded by the Cleveland AFL-CIO, the UAW and the Teamsters through durable medical equipment, workforce development, housing rehabilitation and the placement of more than 2,000 workers across Northeast Ohio last year. He addresses what deindustrialization's legacy of abandoned communities without transition plans should teach us about AI-driven job displacement, the current federal grant landscape and the ULA's role in seeding Policy Matters Ohio. His Labor Day message: look back on a year of hard work, recognize your contribution to the economy and always fight for someone else.

Visit horsford.house.gov and laborcaucus.house.gov for more from Representative Horsford and ulagency.org for more from the United Labor Agency.



More...]]> T-Link Reporter https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/363469-rep-steve-horsford-and-dave-megenhardt-on-fighting-for-workers https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/362896-nabtu-s-dr-tom-kriger-on-apprenticeship-ai-and-the-wizard-of-oz Wed, 02 Sep 2026 04:30:02 GMT The tornado is the high interest rates. The Scarecrow is the caricature of the uneducated farmer. The Tin Woodsman is the industrial worker who lost...
On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, NABTU Director of Education and Research Dr. Tom Kriger discusses the Fitzgerald Act of 1937 and how registered apprenticeship was created, why the union model of training workers in the full range of an occupation is the gold standard, how NABTU's 300,000 apprentices represent roughly half of all registered apprentices in the United States, why the tech industry has badly failed to explain why data centers are necessary and what happens if the US stops building them and why L. Frank Baum's populist parable from the 1890s is more relevant today than most people realize.

Visit nabtu.org for more.



More...]]> T-Link Reporter https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/362896-nabtu-s-dr-tom-kriger-on-apprenticeship-ai-and-the-wizard-of-oz https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/362407-tom-buffenbarger-on-β€˜wimpy’-winpisinger-and-the-origins-of-labor-day Tue, 01 Sep 2026 05:00:18 GMT A machinist named Matthew Maguire proposed Labor Day in 1882. When Grover Cleveland signed it into law in 1894, he gave the ceremonial pen to a...
On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast β€” the final episode of the Labor 132 series, one week before Labor Day β€” IAM retired International President Tom Buffenbarger discusses the life and career of William β€˜Wimpy’ Winpisinger, the IAM general president from 1977 to 1989 who wheeled a wheelchair into his first AFL-CIO executive board meeting to tell George Meany it was time to go, led a walkout of the 1980 Democratic National Convention, put IAM-sponsored race cars on national television with drivers including Roger Mears and Josele Garza to showcase union craftsmen and made trade unionism a religion. Buffenbarger also settles β€” for another year at least β€” the debate over who really created Labor Day.

Visit goiam.org for more.



More...]]> T-Link Reporter https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/362407-tom-buffenbarger-on-β€˜wimpy’-winpisinger-and-the-origins-of-labor-day https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/361310-u-s-rep-debbie-dingell-on-trade-social-security-and-fighting-for-workers Sat, 29 Aug 2026 01:00:13 GMT Her father-in-law was fired for union activity, contracted tuberculosis and was sent west to die. He came back to Detroit, won a congressional seat...
On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Dingell joins the Labor 132 series as co-chair of the 129-member Congressional Labor Caucus. She discusses why USMCA has not created a level playing field with Mexico, the national security threat posed by Chinese autonomous vehicles collecting data on American streets, why the chaotic application of tariffs has cost average households approximately $3,500, the need to scrap the Social Security earnings cap before the 2033 funding cliff and why she is one of the lead House sponsors of Medicare for All β€” a bill that now has more than 100 co-sponsors.

Visit debbiedingell.house.gov and laborcaucus.house.gov for more.



More...]]> T-Link Reporter https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/361310-u-s-rep-debbie-dingell-on-trade-social-security-and-fighting-for-workers https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/360906-insulators-local-6-s-jeff-saliba-on-energy-recovery-and-union-power Fri, 28 Aug 2026 02:00:03 GMT Without the union, he says, he would qualify for Medicaid and food stamps doing the same insulation work. He has been sober for more than 20 years....
On today's Trades Day episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Heat and Frost Insulators Local 6 Business Manager Jeff Saliba joins on behalf of Pete Ielmini and the Mechanical Insulators LMCT. He discusses why the Boston hospital energy report is a call to action for mechanical insulation, how Local 6's MAP-based recovery program gives apprentices a structured path through addiction and a genuine door back into the program, and why the drift toward individualism β€” workers thinking me instead of we β€” is the most significant internal challenge unions face heading into this Labor Day.

If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988. Visit insulators6.org and follow @InsulatorsLMCT for more.



More...]]> T-Link Reporter https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/360906-insulators-local-6-s-jeff-saliba-on-energy-recovery-and-union-power https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/360427-food-is-medicine-aviation-safety-and-49-years-of-the-labor-fight Thu, 27 Aug 2026 03:00:20 GMT Two conversations that connect the health of workers to the history of the movement that fights for them β€” one looking at what union members eat and...
Blue Cross Blue Shield National Labor Office Executive Director Merrilee Logue discusses the Food Is Medicine movement and what it means for the 18 million union members covered through BCBS plans. She outlines updated USDA dietary guidelines emphasizing protein, healthy fats and minimally processed foods, the specific nutritional challenges facing union members doing shift work and physically demanding jobs and a range of programs now available through union insurance plans β€” from registered dietitians and medically tailored meals to produce prescription programs in which healthcare providers can literally prescribe fruits and vegetables as part of a treatment plan. She also discusses the American Psychiatric Association's documented connection between nutrition and mental health and Blue Cross Blue Shield's investment of millions in nutrition programs, food banks and educational initiatives in every zip code across the country.

Then, Professional Aviation Safety Specialists President Dave Spero traces the 49-year history of PASS National β€” from Howard Johansen's decision to start a union after being suspended for kicking in a door to put out a fire, through founders sleeping in their cars and burning through their leave by Memorial Day every year to sign up members, to the eight-year fight for the first contract. He discusses what PASS did on September 11, 2001, when the president suspended the collective bargaining agreement in the first hours so members could focus entirely on securing the aviation system, current FAA workforce shortfalls and the threat of a government shutdown at the end of September 30.

Follow @BlueLabor on LinkedIn and X for BCBS NLO updates and visit passnational.org for more from PASS National.



More...]]> T-Link Reporter https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/360427-food-is-medicine-aviation-safety-and-49-years-of-the-labor-fight https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/359964-usw-s-john-lepley-on-homestead-carnegie-and-the-fight-that-built-labor Wed, 26 Aug 2026 04:00:02 GMT
On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, United Steelworkers Director of Education John Lepley traces the full arc of the 1892 Battle of Homestead β€” Carnegie's castle in Scotland, Frick's Fort, the Pinkerton detectives on the Monongahela, the day-long battle and the militia that broke the union β€” through the 1937 Memorial Day Massacre and the long, costly fight to build the collective bargaining agreements that changed workers' lives. He also recommends Out of This Furnace by Thomas Bell as essential reading on what steelworker life actually looked like from the inside.

Visit usw.org for more.



More...]]> T-Link Reporter https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/359964-usw-s-john-lepley-on-homestead-carnegie-and-the-fight-that-built-labor https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/359485-u-s-rep-mark-pocan-on-the-labor-caucus-pro-act-and-clean-energy-jobs Tue, 25 Aug 2026 04:30:02 GMT The federal minimum wage has been frozen at $7.25 an hour since 2009. The Congressional Labor Caucus has 128 members β€” and everyone must actually...
On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Wisconsin Congressman and 30-plus-year IUPAT member Mark Pocan discusses what worker power looks like from inside the House of Representatives. He covers the Labor Caucus membership requirement and why virtually no Republicans qualify, the 17-year freeze on the federal minimum wage and the $2.13 subminimum wage for tipped workers, what the Big Beautiful Bill did to clean energy job creation in Wisconsin and the Midwest and why organizing at Starbucks, Amazon and REI is some of the most exciting labor movement news he has seen in years.

Visit pocan.house.gov and laborcaucus.house.gov for more.



More...]]> T-Link Reporter https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/359485-u-s-rep-mark-pocan-on-the-labor-caucus-pro-act-and-clean-energy-jobs https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/358317-9-11-at-25-us-shipbuilding-and-the-2032-social-security-cliff Sat, 22 Aug 2026 00:30:11 GMT Two conversations that connect the service of the past to the policy fights of the present β€” one honoring those who answered the call after September...
American Legion Media and Communications Director Henry Howard joins with the September update as the 25th anniversary of September 11 approaches. The September cover story of the American Legion Magazine, Sacred Honor, was written by Ben King β€” a Radio Shack worker in Washington who decided within hours of the attacks that if it was war he would go, signed up for the Army Reserves within days, was deployed to Baghdad in 2006 and survived an IED strike that pushed the engine block of his Humvee into him, receiving a Purple Heart before going on to serve as operations director of the Virginia War Memorial. Howard also previews a new Tango Alpha Lima podcast episode publishing September 8 featuring military pilot Heather Penney, whose September 11 mission was to intercept Flight 93 and bring it down with her own aircraft if necessary β€” a mission from which she would not have returned. He then discusses a September magazine feature on America's shipbuilding decline, from 180,000 shipyard jobs in 1980 to roughly 105,000 by 2010, with current capacity estimated at more than 200 times China's.

Then, Alliance for Retired Americans Executive Director Rich Fiesta discusses a 2032 Social Security funding cliff that would trigger a 22% across-the-board benefit cut if Congress does not act, where the Warren-Moreno scrap-the-cap bill stands and the Alliance's primary fight for the remainder of the 119th Congress: defeating a fiscal commission bill sponsored by outgoing senators that would fast-track Social Security recommendations to a vote while bypassing hearings, testimony and amendments.

Visit legion.org for American Legion updates, listen to the Tango Alpha Lima podcast episode on September 8 and visit retiredamericans.org for the full congressional voting record on seniors' issues.



More...]]> T-Link Reporter https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/358317-9-11-at-25-us-shipbuilding-and-the-2032-social-security-cliff https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/357846-bill-mccamley-on-wage-theft-labor-history-and-the-trades-crisis Fri, 21 Aug 2026 01:30:12 GMT
On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, New Mexico Building Trades Wellness Coalition Director Bill McCamley joins the Labor 132 series for a conversation that runs from the 1794 Cordwainers through the Gilded Age robber barons, the Teddy Roosevelt trust-busting era and the FDR New Deal to the present-day crisis of 40 million men outside the American workforce and 11,000 construction workers dying by overdose each year. He also discusses what it will take to bring young men into the trades, cut the 40-60% apprentice dropout rate, and ensure that workers who do the essential work of building everything know they are valued for it.

Call or text 988 if you need help. Visit nmbtwellness.org and billmccamley.net for more.



More...]]> T-Link Reporter https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/357846-bill-mccamley-on-wage-theft-labor-history-and-the-trades-crisis https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/357368-medicare-for-all-history-head-start-cuts-and-ohio-s-education-fight Thu, 20 Aug 2026 02:30:14 GMT
National Nurses United Medicare for All Campaign Director Jasmine Ruddy traces the labor movement's century-long fight for national health insurance, from the first push tied to the Social Security Act in 1935 through the AMA's repeated opposition campaigns, the AFL-CIO's landmark 1957 declaration of government health insurance as its top legislative priority, Walter Reuther's role in marshaling labor support and the July 1965 passage of Medicare and Medicaid. She then updates listeners on where the Medicare for All campaign stands today: more than half of House Democrats now co-sponsoring the Jayapal-Dingell bill, 16 or 17 Senate co-sponsors on Senator Sanders' bill and a coalition of more than 335 organizations on record in support.

Then, Ohio Federation of Teachers President Melissa Cropper joins for her monthly update as the 2026-2027 school year opens across Ohio. She discusses the federal administration's death-by-a-thousand-cuts approach to Head Start, first contract wins at Menlo Park Academy, KIPP Charter School and Columbus College of Art and Design, the Columbus Metropolitan Library's path toward a first contract following last month's organizing win and what Ohio's governor race means for public education and teachers unions β€” with one candidate calling for the elimination of teachers unions and the other actively engaging with OFT on education policy.

Visit medicareforall.org and nationalnursesunited.org for more from National Nurses United and oft-aft.org for the OFT voter guide and updates.



More...]]> T-Link Reporter https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/357368-medicare-for-all-history-head-start-cuts-and-ohio-s-education-fight https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/356896-smart-union-and-union-eap-on-mental-health-support-that-actually-works Wed, 19 Aug 2026 03:30:18 GMT They audited the EAP numbers. They called them. One program β€” marketing comprehensive mental health services β€” told them it did not do mental health...
On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, SMART Director of Wellness and Mental Health Support Chris Carlough and Union EAP CEO Ben Cort discuss 14-plus years of peer training inside the sheet metal trades, what the audit of existing EAPs actually revealed and how Union EAP was built specifically to meet union members where they are β€” with licensed therapists who answer the phone directly and who understand the culture of union construction work. Member locals using Union EAP are seeing utilization rates 300% to 1,000% higher than their previous providers.

If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988. Visit smohit.org for peer training resources and unioneap.com for more on Union EAP.



More...]]> T-Link Reporter https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/356896-smart-union-and-union-eap-on-mental-health-support-that-actually-works https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/356426-cleveland-teachers-fight-back-and-100-years-of-american-labor-law Mon, 17 Aug 2026 22:00:04 GMT
Cleveland Teachers Union President Errol Savage discusses his first day in office β€” the same day the district announced 310 teacher layoffs β€” and how he responded the only way he knew how: by organizing, showing up and fighting alongside his union brothers and sisters. More than 600 teachers and Cleveland community members showed up at a Board of Education meeting that typically drew a handful of people. The board engaged. The superintendent made different choices. Today fewer than 50 of the original 310 teachers are still not back in Cleveland classrooms in a full-time capacity, and most of those plan to return. Savage also discusses what the fight means for the broader attack on public education and how he is already supporting teachers in Fairview Park, Ohio facing their own contract battle.

Then, labor lawyer and OnLabor contributor Andrew Strom traces 100 years of American labor law from the 1926 Railway Labor Act through the NLRA, Taft-Hartley, the birth of right-to-work through judicial interpretation and three Supreme Court decisions β€” Republic Aviation in 1945, Lechmere in 1992 and Epic Systems in 2018 β€” that illustrate how the same law that was once called the Magna Carta of workers' rights came to be described by the Supreme Court as a mouse hole, all without Congress changing a single word.

Visit ctu279.org for more from the Cleveland Teachers Union and onlabor.org for more of Andrew Strom's writing on labor law.



More...]]> T-Link Reporter https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/356426-cleveland-teachers-fight-back-and-100-years-of-american-labor-law https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/355970-cwa-s-frank-mathews-on-union-history-and-the-story-of-red-on-thursday Sun, 16 Aug 2026 21:30:15 GMT In August 1989, CWA chief steward Gerry Horgan was struck and killed by a replacement worker driving through a picket line during the NYNEX strike in...
On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast β€” part of the Labor 132 series presented by the National Labor Office of Blue Cross Blue Shield β€” CWA District 4 Administrative Director Frank Mathews traces the history of the Communication Workers of America from its 1947 founding through landmark contract wins, barrier-breaking leadership elections and the member relief fund that removes one of management's most reliable bargaining weapons. He then tells the full story of Gerry Horgan and what wearing red on Thursdays has meant to the CWA family over the past 37 years.

Visit cwad4.org for more.



More...]]> T-Link Reporter https://organizeamazon.org/sguncategorized/america-s-work-force-union-podcast/355970-cwa-s-frank-mathews-on-union-history-and-the-story-of-red-on-thursday