The Labor Notes Podcast

The Labor Notes Podcast, co-hosted by organizers Danielle Smith and Natascha Elena Uhlmann, is a weekly show from the folks who put on the Labor Notes conference every two years. We’ll talk about the strikes, contract campaigns, shop floor actions, reform caucus organizing, and union elections that our staff and rank-and-file workers in the labor movement’s troublemaking wing write about and work on all year round. New episodes on Fridays.

The Labor Notes Podcast is a news podcast hosted by Labor Notes, with 81 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Labor Notes hosts The Labor Notes Podcast, a news show with 81 episodes published.

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  Episode #82

  How Much Would You Pay to Stop 11 Workers from Organizing?

  Oct 2, 20268 min

  When workers at the parts retailer AutoZone organized to form the company’s first ever union, their boss pulled out the big guns—but they still won their election! Also in this episode: Video Game Workers at Blizzard have won their first contract and 1,400 solar manufacturing workers have joined the Steelworkers. Labor Notes Podcast co-hosts Danielle Smith and Natascha Elena Uhlmann break down the big lessons (and some important firsts) in three key organizing stories. Also check out: AutoZone Workers Are Trying to Form the Company’s First-Ever Union Video Game Workers Win First Contract at Microsoft-Owned Blizzard Fourteen Hundred Solar Manufacturing Workers Join the Steelworkers

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  Episode #81

  How to Lose Your Next Union Election in 10 Steps

  Sep 25, 202610 min

  If you’re holding bad meetings, caving to management, and trying to do everything yourself, congrats—you’re already well on your way to fumbling your shot! On the other hand, if you want to actually advance a positive vision for your union that energizes members, you can ground your next union election campaign in tried and true organizing principles. Also check out: How to Lose Your Next Election, A Step-By-Step Guide, by Dan Campbell

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  Episode #80

  Why Evil Women Make the Best Organizers

  Sep 18, 202617 min

  They lure people into their campaigns, grow phone trees, and machete a path out of fear. It turns out some of our archetypal evil heroines—Amy Dunne of Gone Girl, sisters Sally and Gillian Owens of Practical Magic, and Merricat Blackwood of We Have Always Lived in the Castle—have some positively devilish organizing tactics (disclaimer: not all of which we endorse!) up their dark, trumpet sleeves. Also check out: 1. All Horror Movies Are About Organizing, Actually: The Labor Notes Podcast Hallowepisode 2. Steward's Corner: A Path Out of Fear 3. Keep Going: A Guide to Organizing When It's Hard

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  Episode #79

  Tyson Shuttered a Plant Overnight, Laying off 2,500 Meatpacking Workers Represented by UFCW Local 1546

  Sep 11, 202624 min

  Tyson workers at a meatpacking plant in Joslin, Illinois, arrived at work one day in mid-August to discover that it was suddenly closed and that 2,500 of them would be out of jobs. These workers—members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1546—are now rallying to demand that the plant reopen, or that they at least be given six months of severance pay rather than the two the company has offered. Caitlyn Clark of Essential Workers for Democracy reported on the plant closure for Labor Notes, and joins this episode. A representative for UFCW Local 1546 did not respond to emailed requests for comment. Relevant reading: 2,500 Tyson Workers Laid Off, Plant Shutters Overnight The First Major Meatpacking Strike in 40 Years Extends into Third Week Learn more about the movement to revitalize the UFCW in our podcast episode from June 2025: “Grocery Workers at the UFCW are Organizing for a Fighting Union.” The incoming new CEO of Tyson just purchased $1 million in Tyson stock, almost immediately after an announcement of low projected earnings due to the beef sector. ( Read more here )

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  Episode #78

  Jackson Transit Workers Win Strike, Save Saturday Service

  Sep 4, 202612 min

  After five weeks on the picket line, 80 public transit workers in Jackson, Mississippi, members of ATU Local 1208, have won a 5 percent wage increase; beat back a plan for “microtransit,” a private on-call service that would have brought in drivers without a commercial driver’s license at a lower-tier wage; and stopped cuts to Saturday service. Labor Notes Organizer Paul Prescod joins the pod. Check out Paul’s coverage of the strike on labornotes.org Jackson Transit Workers Win Strike, Save Saturday Service Mississippi Transit Workers Strike for Better Protections and Service

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