The Labor Exchange on KGNU

Full Version The Labor Exchange interview with Kjersten Forseth

Colorado's legislative session wrapped up on last Wednesday. We talk with labor lobbyist Kjersten Forseth about this years session including rail safety legislation recently signed into law and those still awaiting Governor Polis' approval. 

Radio Version The Labor Exchange interview with Kjersten Forseth

Colorado's legislative session wrapped up on last Wednesday. We talk with labor lobbyist Kjersten Forseth about this years session including rail safety legislation recently signed into law and bills still waiting for the Governor's approval. 

Special May Day Episode

On this special May Day episode of the Labor Exchange we get news updates of the latest events in the labor movement and listen to songs old and new about workers, the challenges they face, and what they are doing about it.

Union organizing and Colorado House Bill 1230 with SEIU 105's Alejo Gonzalez

On this episode of the Labor Exchange we talk to SEIU Local 105 Political Coordinator and labor organizer Alejo Gonzalez. He discusses challenges workers face forming a union, common tactics employers utilize and a new Colorado state bill HB24-1260 that prohibits employees from being disciplined for not attending certain employer meetings related to unionization and other topics.

Kay Holderness UA Local 208 member on Women on the Tools event for Women in Construction Week

On this episode of the Labor Exchange we discuss an upcoming event with UA Local 208 member and pipefitter Kay Holderness. The Women on the Tools event is on Saturday March 9th at 10:00 will be at Plumbers Local Union #3 17100 E. 32nd, Place in Aurora, Colorado. It feature hands on work and demonstrations for women (and everyone) interested in joining a trade. 
 
Women in Construction Facebook Page
 
Women on the Tools Facebook Event 

Under the Iron Heel: The Wobblies with Ahmed White

On this episode we hear an interview with University of Colorado Professor Ahmed White on his book Under the Iron Heel about the Industrial Workers of the World and their prosecution at the hands of state and corporate forces.
The book was chosen as the 2022 International Labor History Association Book of the year. Here is a description: 
"A dramatic, deeply researched account of how legal repression and vigilantism brought down the Wobblies—and how the destruction of their union haunts us to this day.
In 1917, the Industrial Workers of the World was rapidly gaining strength and members. Within a decade, this radical union was effectively destroyed, the victim of the most remarkable campaign of legal repression and vigilantism in American history. Under the Iron Heel is the first comprehensive account of this campaign.
Founded in 1905, the IWW offered to the millions of workers aggrieved by industrial capitalism the promise of a better world. But its growth, coinciding with World War I and the Russian Revolution and driven by uncompromising militancy, was seen by powerful capitalists and government officials as an existential threat that had to be eliminated. In Under the Iron Heel, Ahmed White documents the torrent of legal persecution and extralegal, sometimes lethal violence that shattered the IWW. In so doing, he reveals the remarkable courage of those who faced this campaign, lays bare the origins of the profoundly unequal and conflicted nation we know today, and uncovers disturbing truths about the law, political repression, and the limits of free speech and association in class society."
 

The Labor Lobby Corps

On today's show we talk with participants of the CO AFL-CIO’s Labor Lobby Corps program that brings union members to the Colorado State Capitol.
Our guests are Pat Johnson Gibson with SEIU Local 105, Kiyomi Bolick, with Defenders Union of Colorado CWA Local  7799 and Jon Davis, SMART Local 9 Journeyman Sheet Metal worker and organizer.
 
 

Grace Carroll Rocky Mountain Labor School with Joe Maloney & Aspen Cyr

On his episode of the Labor Exchange we talk about the Grace Carroll Rocky Mountain Labor School with Joe Maloney, President of the Idaho AFL-CIO and member of IBEW 449, and Aspen Cyr, with IBEW Local 768 and the coordinator for the school. It'll be at the Colorado School of Mines on July 7th - July 13th, 2024. We also hear retired labor leader Frank Lay - an attendee of the first Rocky Mountain Labor School in 1956. music: David Rovics

Interview with Labor educator Dr. Ericka Wills Grace Carroll Rocky Mountain Labor School [Original Air Date: 9/04/2023]

A conversation with labor history educator, Dr. Ericka Wills from Labor Day 2023. She is professor at the university of Wisconsin Madison School for Workers and the Grace Carroll Rocky Mountain Labor school, which comes to the Colorado School of Mines from July 7th through July 13th, 2024. We talk about the history of the labor movement, and it's future. 

Rail Safety with Carl Smith from SMART Transportation Division

On this episode of the Labor Exchange on KGNU we talk with Carl Smith, a railroad brakeman/switchman currently serving as Colorado State Legislative Director for his union, SMART - Transportation Division. We discuss the train derailments in East Palestine, Ohio and Pueblo, Colorado and new legislation proposed in Colorado to decrease future rail accidents, limit blocked crossings and prepare first responders to respond to accident. Air date: 1/8/2024 on KGNU Boulder/Denver/Ft. Collins