President Donald Trump is continuing to peddle the baseless claim that his administration is delivering “economic relief” for Americans — even as prices of consumer goods are rising and polling shows that a majority of Americans are concerned about food and travel costs this Thanksgiving. On Monday, the White House announced that the “worst inflation crisis” from the Biden administration is…
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Making ends meet in today’s economy is difficult enough, but with so many societal crises affecting working people’s lives on and off the shop floor—from mass layoffs to untenable costs of living, from an authoritarian federal government to AI and the climate crisis—it can feel all but impossible. What does it mean to have a union job, to be a union member, and to be part of the labor movement in these overwhelming times? What role do unions and other labor organizations have to play, not just in the fight for economic justice, but in the fight for democracy, civil rights, the rule of law, and a livable planet? We posed these questions to a range of emerging labor leaders from different unions and worker centers enrolled in the 2025-26 Minnesota Union Leadership Program (MULP). Here’s what they told us…
Additional links/info:
Minnesota Union Leadership Program website
Workday Magazine website
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “What good is a union in Hell?”
Featured Music:
Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song
Credits:Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Alight. Welcome everyone to Working People, a podcast about the lives, jobs, dreams, and struggles of the working class today. Working People is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network and is brought to you in partnership within these Times Magazine and the Real News Network. This show is produced by Jules Taylor and made possible by the support of listeners like you. My name is Maximillian Alvarez and I am very excited to share today’s episode with y’all because believe me as
During a speech on Monday, President Donald Trump continued to dismiss Americans’ concerns about affordability, instead claiming that the U.S. is witnessing a “golden age” of prosperity under his tenure. In remarks before McDonald’s franchise owners gathered in Washington, D.C., Trump said that he has “normalized” inflation, and gave a glowing report of the economy under his watch. In fact…
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In an interview with Fox News last week, Vice President JD Vance downplayed the significance of rising inflation and costs for consumer goods in the U.S., claiming that any price increases are not due to Trump administration policies. Unlike President Donald Trump, Vance recognized that costs were up compared to last year. But he blamed former President Joe Biden for the increases.
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workers as a whole have endured a lot of losses in the class war. Globally-mobile companies have deserted communities with unionized workforces, successive administrations raised up oligarchs by slashing taxes on the rich, a major epidemic put the country on edge, and landlords are using technology to collude on raising rents more rapidly. But all this conventional class war is now…
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Over 1,000 unionized Starbucks workers in over 40 cities across the US walked off the job on an indefinite Unfair Labor Practice strike on Thursday, Nov. 13. The union, Starbucks Workers United, says more workers at more unionized stores will be joining the picket line during the busy holiday season to pressure Starbucks to return to the bargaining table with proposals that seriously address workers’ ongoing demands regarding better pay and work hours, safe staffing, and resolving the hundreds of Unfair Labor Practice charges that have been filed against the coffee giant. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez reports on the ground from the picket line in Philadelphia, PA.
Credits:
Videography: Maximillian Alvarez
Post-Production: David Hebden, Maximillian Alvarez
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Crowd chants:
What do we want? Contract! When do we want it? Now! If we don’t get it? Shut it down! If we don’t get it? Shut it down!
Maximillian Alvarez:
I’m here in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, just outside City Hall. It’s Thursday, November 13th, around 5:00 PM Eastern time. And earlier today, over a thousand Starbucks workers in over 45 cities around the country walked off the job and went out on an unfair labor practice strike. After last week, a super majority of unionized baristas voted to authorize the strike, demanding that Starbucks come back to the bargaining table with serious proposals to address workers’ ongoing years long concerns about safe staffing, better pay, better work hours, and all manner of unfair labor practices that have been filed against the company since the first store unionized in Buffalo, New