Teamsters and the Class Struggle
The Socialist Program with Brian Becker
The Socialist Program
4.7 • 587 Ratings
🗓️ 21 June 2023
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On today's episode Brian Becker and Prof. Richard Wolff discuss UPS workers voting 97% for a strike for better conditions, better pay, and more full-time work. What does this militant vote among hundreds of thousands of UPS workers mean for the strength of the labor struggle?
Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | 97% of UPS Teamsters cast their ballot in favor of authorizing what would be a massive and historic strike. |
| 0:12.7 | Demanding an end to two-tier wages, more full-time work, better wages and decent conditions, |
| 0:19.2 | the 360,000 union workers at UPS have the power to shut down a company |
| 0:25.8 | that has become central to U.S. and global commerce. If there is no agreement, the strike is |
| 0:32.5 | set to begin at the end of next month. We need a new system. We need a new society. We need to demand that which may have sounded impossible even a few weeks ago, but is not only realizable, but an imperative necessity. Andy. The We are very excited to have Professor Richard Wolfe join us again for our regular weekly segment |
| 1:17.0 | where we talk about the biggest stories related to the economy and to the working class. |
| 1:22.7 | The Socialist Program brings you content three days a week thanks to the support of our patrons at patreon.com |
| 1:29.4 | forward slash the socialist program we appreciate all of your support and encourage you to become a |
| 1:35.8 | patron today if you enjoy listening to this show richard wolf is the co-founder of the organization |
| 1:42.3 | democracy at work he's the author of many books the latest being the sickness is the co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. He's the author of many books. |
| 1:45.6 | The latest being the sickness is the system when capitalism fails to save us from pandemics or itself. |
| 1:52.9 | Be sure to check out all of his work at RD.Wolf.com. That's R-D-W-O-L-F.com. Wolfe, welcome back. Thank you, Brian. I'm glad to be here. |
| 2:04.1 | Well, let's just frame this discussion about the looming strike, if there is one, with the Teamsters |
| 2:11.0 | at UPS. The contract between the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and United Parcel Service |
| 2:17.3 | will expire at the end of July. |
| 2:21.3 | Much has been written about the labor upsurge, Richard, in recent years from Starbucks organizing |
| 2:27.0 | across the country, to the wave of unionization among academic workers, to the significant public |
| 2:33.3 | sector strikes in K through 12 and higher education. |
| 2:38.5 | And it's quite clear that there is a real potential now in the 2023 for the revitalization of the |
| 2:46.3 | labor movement in the United States. What we have not yet seen in recent years is organized labor taking |
| 2:54.3 | action in a way that affects the ability of the entire economy to function at the national level. |
| 3:02.8 | But with this strike, that may be about to change. Anyway, let's get started. Well, I think the best way |
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