Working People
Working People (in partnership with In These Times and The Real News Network) is a podcast about working-class lives in the 21st century. In every episode, you’ll hear interviews with workers from all walks of life. We talk about their life stories, their jobs, politics, and families, their joys and hopes, their dreams and struggles. Overall, Working People aims to share and celebrate the diverse stories of working-class people, to remind ourselves that our stories matter, and to build a sense of shared struggle and solidarity between workers around the world.
The Real News Network proudly partnered with Working People during Season Four of the show and will be posting all new episodes here on the TRNN website. To listen to the back catalog of Working People episodes, listen and subscribe on your podcast player of choice using the buttons below.
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Latest Episode
Venetoulis Institute ‘saves’ the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by purging union members who went on strike
Just as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was set to shutter, it was purchased by the Venetoulis Institute, which also owns the Baltimore Banner. Then, they fired most of the union workers who participated in the recently ended strike at the PPG.
Recent episodes
Alec Baldwin backs Starbucks barista union drive
“Starbucks became Starbucks because they were not unionized and they could exploit that, they could exploit labor,” Alec Baldwin, Academy-Award-nominated actor and producer of the new documentary “Baristas vs. Billionaires,” tells TRNN.
May 1: Unions, community orgs plan nationwide ‘economic blackout’ against billionaires and authoritarianism
“Nobody else is coming to save us. It is our world that we’re going to fight for. And May Day is the day that we have set to lead that fight.”
‘The rain was black’: A plant explosion set off a toxic bomb in this Louisiana town
“These people that say, ‘It was an accident, move on,’ they don’t have to worry about what the contamination is going to do to their health long term… I can’t afford to just go move.”
Underpaid, uninsured, held at gunpoint: Baltimore security guards strike for a union
“I’m just trying to get healthcare,” says Laura Dixon, a veteran security officer and Abacus Corporation employee. “I haven’t had healthcare in years.”
‘Don’t be a snitch’: US postal workers side with communities over collaboration with ICE
“As a union, we have it on the books. We do not collaborate… If ICE shows up, I don’t know anything. If the cops show up, if you don’t have a court order, I have no idea who you’re talking about, I’m not talking to you, leave me alone.”
Immigrant workers launch largest US meatpacking strike in 40 years
“Workers are fighting to be able to afford the same food that they produce for the rest of the country, to be able to buy beef at the grocery store and not have to buy Top Ramen.”
Fisherwoman Diane Wilson is on hunger strike to stop Dow’s pollution of Texas Gulf Coast
“We’re saying, ‘Oh, pretty please, will you save the bays? Will you not pollute us today?’… I think we’re way too polite and way too well-behaved. And that’s why I advocate being an unreasonable woman.”
‘Worst of the worst’? ICE snatches beloved video gaming champion living in US legally for decades
“This is the nightmare that I’ve had—literally had nightmares woken up in a cold sweat about. The government has kidnapped one of my friends.”
Sean O’Brien sold workers and unions out to Trump—these Teamsters are running to oust him.
“As a labor leader, [O’Brien] should be disqualified…. Donald Trump has done nothing to help the working class, only the people in the Epstein class.”
ICE is using the same Microsoft tech Israel uses to surveil and kill Palestinians
“A lot of the surveillance technology that’s coming for us in North America is framed as ‘battle tested’ in Palestine.”
They won their strike fair and square. Now their rich bosses are closing up shop.
After more than three years on strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh members won and finally returned to work. Now, the wealthy Block family is closing the paper.
NO DEAL: Nurses at NY-Presbyterian overwhelmingly vote to stay on strike
“This has always been about getting a fair contract. We never wanted to go on strike… We want to do our jobs, we love our jobs, but we can only return when our patients are being cared for safely… with more staffing and job security.”
Massive strike at Kaiser Permanente enters third week with new unions joining the picket line
“It is not the same Kaiser… This is no longer a place to get your care. This is now an investment firm that dabbles in hospitals.”
Biden, Trump, the media, the public—we have all failed the residents of East Palestine, OH
“I’m pissed at how many people have forgotten about what happened here. I’m pissed that everybody thinks we’re doing fine, that everything in East Palestine, OH, is good. It’s not.”
‘A hero’: Nurses, federal workers honor Alex Pretti
“I’m a 32-year-old ICU nurse… in many ways, I could be Alex Pretti. What Alex did is a call to all of us to help people in our community, to organize and make sure that we stop fascism from spreading all across the United States right now.”
Largest nurses union calls to abolish ICE after Alex Pretti killing: ‘They messed with the wrong profession’
“What Alex did that day was pure instinct, pure professional behavior,” NNU President Mary C. Turner tells us. “That’s just what you do when you’re a nurse.“
‘Shut everything down’: Amid federal invasion, Minnesota calls for mass strike on Jan. 23
“Right now, we face an existential threat, not just to the labor movement, not just to the working class, but to any and every freedom that we hold dear… Come out, join us on January 23.”
The longest-running strike in the US is over—and the workers won
After over 3 years on strike, members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh have returned to work at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. While the legal battle is still unresolved, this is a major victory for the labor movement.
What does it mean to be a union member in these dark times?
“I feel so strongly that, in these moments where we feel like there’s not a lot of hope, there’s a lot of hope when it comes to this community… There is so much power and influence that labor has, it could be so transformative.”
‘Starbucks is the largest labor violator in modern history’: Starbucks workers prepare for indefinite national strike
“We’ve been fighting for a very long time, and we’re at the point now where we’re done—and workers will go on strike by Thursday if this company does not come back with some new proposals and resolve all of these ridiculous Unfair Labor Practice charges.”
Campus life is unrecognizable in the Trump era: ‘There’s so many cops everywhere’
As the federal government continues its top-down assault on higher education, universities are internally building repression and surveillance machines that mirror the Trump administration.
Life after genocide: A Gazan’s message to the world about the ceasefire
“When the ceasefire began, I felt a mix of disbelief and emptiness. After two years of genocide, silence felt strange, almost frightening.”
Workers replaced by AI have a dire warning for the world
“Basically, the most evil billionaires in Silicon Valley want to consume everything before it’s too late, and then kick the tires and leave us all to drown…”
This government shutdown is not like the others: Furloughed federal workers explain
“We swore an oath when we took these positions to defend the Constitution and to provide these services to the American people… what’s going to happen to your everyday American when they don’t have Social Security or food assistance or Medicare?”
‘Microsoft is an active partner in the genocide!’: Inside the tech worker revolt for Palestine
“I, like many others, thought that working for Microsoft was the opportunity of a lifetime. I worked three years on Azure, not knowing that my labor was actively being used to facilitate the murder of my people.”
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