Weekly Roundup: January 4, 2023

Check out the latest content from Democracy at Work.

New this week: Railroad fallout & labor militancy, a co-op HOFer, US social bonds broken by gov’t, what’s a labor market?

Check out the latest content from Democracy at Work!

Economic Update: Surging US Labor Activism

Prof. Wolff discusses explosive labor militancy across 2022 in US and UK, Wells Fargo bank again fined for illegal practices on 16 million bank customers, US-Russia economic warfare undercuts European economies whose response will likely shape Ukraine War's results. In the second half, Wolff interviews journalist Bob Hennelly on the rising US labor movement.

Hennelly: “The hierarchy of needs that exists in all of us has been forever altered. We had to all of a sudden put our immediate households, our family, our loved ones, those of us who are in households with multi-generational people who had pre-existing conditions, our children- our very future- we had to put them into a new constellation which puts capital below human need. This blows the mind of a system that has been arranged as a pyramid for a very long time where money was the only enduring value.”

Capitalism Hits Home: Broken Social Bonds

Dr. Fraad continues her discussion of the impact of broken social bonds on our mental health. This week she focuses on government and the ways in which our American government has failed to protect us— with huge increases in poverty, low wages, unjust workplace practices, inflation, excessive military expenditures, and more. Many Americans are feeling abandoned, but we must unite with hope and cooperation to demand better conditions.

Fraad: “We need a choice of system like they have in France so that we can choose a socialist alternative or a sharing alternative which will be excellent for our mental health as well as our physical health.”

All Things Co-op: Developing the Co-op Sector

Kevin speaks with Paul Hazen, executive director of the U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council (OCDC) and Cooperative Development Foundation hall of fame inductee. Drawing on a lifetime of cooperative development work, Paul shares his insights on the importance of cooperatives in rural communities, how he helped his church start the Community Purchasing Alliance Cooperative, how to achieve bipartisan support for co-ops in congress, national vs. local policies, and more.

Paul Hazen: “When we're meeting with the Republican or conservative, we talk about how cooperatives are people pulling themselves up by the bootstrap. These are businesses in the communities that are grounded there… When we're talking to a liberal Democrat, it's business that's inclusive, that's democratic, it's self-help. All that's true, all that's true. And when you're in [the] political arena, you have to use your messaging.”

Ask Prof Wolff LIVE: The Manipulation of Labor Markets

An audience member of Ask Prof Wolff LIVE asks: ""Can you discuss the concept of labor markets and how they influence collective bargaining power?" To learn how to ask your own questions to Prof Wolff, click here.

Wolff: “The supply and demand for labor is not something that the employers or the workers simply accept as a fact of nature, like you know it's raining on Thursday so we have to remember an umbrella. No, no, no. It is something both sides try to manipulate.”