Episode 132: Murder, Violence and Robbery—Gifts From the Free Market

Working Life Podcast

Episode 132: Murder, violence and robbery—it sounds like a list for a plot of The Wire. But, no, it’s just another standard operating procedure for the free market system—in which people are murdered in Colombia thanks to so-called “free trade”, workers are beat up and sometimes killed at McDonald’s because the company doesn’t care about its workers beyond the bottom line so leaves workers exposed to threats to their lives and, lastly, public sector employees have the money they have saved for retirement, sometimes over many decades, taken from them mainly because some greedy Wall Street lowlifes crashed the economy to make a pile of money no matter the cost to millions of people. The Violence: Debbie Berkowitz, the Worker Health and Safety Program Director for the National Employment Law Project, chats with me about NELP’s new report looking at the violence faced by McDonald’s workers. The Robbery: Tom Chamberlain, president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, explains how the Democratic-led Legislature is pushing—disgracefully—to cut public workers’ pensions. The Murders: Cathy Feingold, the director of the AFL-CIO’s international department who was recently elected as Deputy President of the International Trade Union Confederation, the organization representing 200 million unionized workers worldwide, breaks down the widespread killing of union leaders and other activists in Colombia, despite promises made—promises yours truly never bought—that the so-called “free trade” deal between the U.S. and Colombia would bring about labor rights reforms and protections. -- Jonathan Tasini Follow me on Twitter @jonathantasini Sign up for The Working Life Podcast at: www.workinglife.org Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.tasini.3