Host Scott Aaron Rogers interviews union organizer and My Labor Radio host Mark Gevaart in a wide-ranging discussion about the American labor movement. The conversation traces the decline of union density from the 1950s golden era (when one-third of workers were union members and top tax rates exceeded 90%) through Reagan's breaking of PATCO, NAFTA's offshoring of manufacturing jobs, and the systematic pitting of blue-collar workers against public sector unions through right-wing talk radio and misogynistic, racist rhetoric.
Gevaart explains how rugged individualism and complacency among union members allowed the erosion of worker power, while minimum wage stagnation ($7.25 since 2009), part-time scheduling to avoid benefits, and pathetic unemployment insurance ($350/week in Indiana) have gutted the middle class. The discussion covers positive developments like Starbucks unionization efforts and growth in service sector organizing (currently only 1.7% of 15.1 million retail workers are union), the surge in apprenticeships and women entering skilled trades, and nursing strikes demanding safe staffing ratios.
Major topics include the tension between labor and AI/automation, with Gevaart acknowledging both opportunities (data center construction creating IBEW apprenticeships) and threats (jobs disappearing once facilities are operational). He criticizes IU Health's new Fort Wayne hospital for inadequate union labor requirements and emphasizes that non-union employers only pay competitive wages to keep unions out, setting a floor that benefits all workers. The interview concludes with discussion of alternatives to data centers (like high-speed rail infrastructure) and labor's uncertain future navigating AI without a clear roadmap, while emphasizing the need for solidarity across trades, genders, and sectors to counter corporate union-busting.
TIMESTAMPED CHAPTERS:
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0:00:22 - Introduction
- Host Scott Aaron Rogers introduces show and guest Mark Gevaart
- Topics preview: union density decline, blue collar vs public sector conflict, service worker organizing, AI/data centers
- Upcoming shows and subscription information
0:02:55 - Mark Gevaart Introduction
- Social media handles: MyLaborRadio on Blue Sky, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok
- Promoting apprenticeships and skilled trades on TikTok
- Using algorithms to focus on labor content
0:05:14 - Making America Great Again: The 1950s Union Era
- Trump's base remembers single-salary middle class lifestyle
- 1950s: one-third of workers unionized, 90%+ top marginal tax rate
- What happened: complacency, rugged individualism ("my family's fine")
- Retail unionization then (Woolworths lunch counters) vs now (1.7% of 15.1 million retail workers)
- Nuclear family model collapsed, now requires multiple part-time jobs
- Both parties failed on minimum wage ($7.25 since 2009, restaurant workers $2.13)
- Indiana unemployment system designed to delay/deny benefits ($350/week inadequate)
0:10:27 - Reagan and the Breaking of Unions
- 1970s economic crisis blamed on union contracts, not oil dependence
- Reagan's PATCO strike: air traffic controllers fired, signal to corporate America
- "Reagan Democrats": white working class bought promises, got betrayed
0:12:46 - NAFTA and Offshoring Manufacturing
- Most-favored-nation trading with China and Mexico
- Textiles went first: socks, underwear, shirts, Levi's jeans
- Manufacturing shipped to cheaper labor markets
- Container shipping boom enabled Walmart model
- Some reshoring: Camel City Mills reviving American sock manufacturing
0:14:38 - Data Centers and Apprenticeship Boom
- IBEW apprenticeships growing with data center construction
- Flash-in-pan opportunity: hundreds employed during build, far fewer after
- Trades now open to all genders, women succeeding
- Concern about where workers go when construction phase ends
0:22:16 - Blue Collar vs Public Sector: Wedge Issues and Hate Radio
- Corporate-funded wedge tactics divide workers
- Blue collar (auto workers) pitted against white collar (teachers, government employees)
- Right-wing talk radio stoked misogyny and racism
- Feminization of teaching/nursing used to devalue those professions
- Federal government historically largest employer of African Americans
- DEI attacks as repackaged racism against public sector workers
0:26:00 - Solidarity vs Management: The Strike Experience
- Union solidarity on picket lines vs management's hatred of worker unity
- Strikes show workers enjoying camaraderie, supporting each other
- Management sees labor as expense to minimize, not value to respect
- Non-union employers pay competitive wages only to keep unions out
- Unions set wage standards that lift all workers in a region
0:28:57 - Automation, Nursing Strikes, and Do More With Less
- Manufacturing jobs mindless but physically/mentally demanding
- Nurses on strike across NY, CA, MI, MN for safe staffing ratios
- Corporate model: short-staffing for shareholder revenue
- "Do more with less" pushing nurses to handle 10-12 patients
- IU Health Bloomington hospital construction with inadequate union labor requirement
0:31:31 - IU Health Hospital Fort Wayne: A Missed Opportunity
- New hospital construction south of town
- Minimal union labor requirement criticized
- Media fails to cover union angles in development stories
- Hospitals as corporate profit centers rather than patient care facilities
0:34:36 - Union Media Landscape
- Mainstream media ignores union perspectives
- Labor magazines exist but lack broad reach
- YouTube and social media as alternative sources
- Need to actively seek out union content
0:43:46 - Service Worker Organizing: Starbucks and Beyond
- Baristas unionizing at Starbucks locations nationwide
- Service sector vast opportunity: 15.1 million retail workers, only 1.7% union
- Young workers leading new organizing wave
- Building on lunch counter unions of 1950s Woolworths era
0:47:41 - AI, Data Centers, and Labor's Uncertain Future
- AFL-CIO wrestling with AI as major challenge
- AI threatens to replace reporters, creative workers
- AI-generated content lacks feeling, life, human connection
- Data centers create construction jobs but few permanent positions
- Robotics in manufacturing: still need humans for programming, maintenance, repair
- Workers displaced by automation with nowhere to go
- Labor on "thin ice" - exciting opportunities but unclear roadmap
0:50:09 - High-Speed Rail Alternative
- Artificial precarity: billionaires drive what gets built
- High-speed rail could provide lasting union jobs like interstate highway system
- Government investment in infrastructure vs private sector data centers
- Comparing 1950s public works to today's priorities
0:57:07 - Closing Remarks
- Importance of union organizing across all sectors
- Solidarity between blue collar and public sector workers essential
- Next shows: Drew Cox (4th District Congressional candidate), Sharon Wight (Statehouse candidate)
- Support Progressive Indiana Network at progressiveindiana.net
