135 - "Square UP: Building Labor's Power in the Gilded Age" with Lorri Nandrea and Tony Pecinovsky скачать в хорошем качестве

135 - "Square UP: Building Labor's Power in the Gilded Age" with Lorri Nandrea and Tony Pecinovsky

In this episode, we welcome Lorri Nandrea and Tony Pecinovsky to discuss the book they edited, “Square Up: Building Labor's Power in the Second Gilded Age”— a vital call to arms for the working class from International Publishers. Square Up is a collection of 16 essays bringing together activists, organizers, and rank-and-file trade union leaders to assess the state of labor in the Trump era and chart a path forward for the working class. Also joining the discussion is returning guest Chris Townsend — veteran organizer, former political director of United Electrical Workers (UE), and a driving force behind the Starbucks Workers United campaign — whose on-the-ground experience adds sharp tactical and historical depth to the conversation. The genesis of Square Up, as Pecinovsky explains, grew directly from International Publishers' deliberate effort to expand its left-labor catalog and to spark a discussion within the progressive trade union movement about fighting back against the attacks of the second Trump administration. The conversation addresses the alarming fact that 40% of union members voted for Trump, with Pecinovsky arguing persuasively that these workers are not ideologically committed to MAGA but are seeking community — something the labor movement has largely failed to provide, as union households, factory towns, and civic institutions have collapsed. Townsend points to the failure of union leadership to politically educate members, contrasting the courage of ATU president Larry Hanley, who endorsed Bernie Sanders against the grain, with today's leaders who simply funnel money to the Democratic Party. The episode also explores private equity's predatory role in mobile home parks and rural communities, the lessons of the 1987 International Paper strike in Jay, Maine, the history of the Communist Party's indispensable role in labor organizing from the 1930s through Trade Unionists for Action and Democracy (TUAD), and the urgent need to frame immigration as a class struggle issue rather than a culture war one. Lorri Nandrea is a writer, organizer, and author. She has a background in wide-ranging working-class experience — having worked as a waitress, barista, pizza cook, punch-press operator, and gas-station attendant before earning a PhD in English from Northwestern University — and has spent her career connecting academic analysis to grassroots activism. She writes regularly for People's World and the Communist Party USA, covering labor, climate, and racial justice issues. Tony Pecinovsky is the President of International Publishers, the storied left-labor publishing house with a century-long history of bringing Marxist and labor literature to American readers. He is the author of "Let Them Tremble: Biographical Interventions Marking 100 Years of the Communist Party, USA," co-editor of "Faith in the Masses," and author of "The Cancer of Colonialism: W. Alphaeus Hunton, Black Liberation, and the Daily Worker, 1944–1946." A community activist and prolific writer, he contributes regularly to People's World, Black Perspectives, American Communist History, and the St. Louis Labor Tribune, and speaks frequently on college campuses across the country. Chris Townsend is a veteran labor organizer with nearly five decades of experience across four unions — UE (United Electrical Workers), the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), the Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). He served as Political Action Director for UE for 25 years before retiring in 2013 and later helped found the Inside Organizer School at ATU, which became the launchpad for the Starbucks Workers United movement — sending the first wave of union salts into Buffalo stores and igniting a campaign that has now organized nearly 700 locations nationwide. Resources: Order the book: https://www.intpubnyc.com/browse/squa... International Publishers webpage: https://www.intpubnyc.com/ Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/