Episodes
Friday Dec 08, 2023
2023 AAM ’Made in America Holiday Gift Guide’
Friday Dec 08, 2023
Friday Dec 08, 2023
The two discuss this year's 'Made in America Holiday Gift Guide.'
It’s the AAM's biggest list ever, featuring more than 200 companies that manufacture products in the United States. In honor of the guide’s 10th anniversary, they’ve included both new gift ideas and old favorites, noting the year previous picks were included.
The guide is organized by 23 different clickable categories, including, giftables, toys, kids, bath and beauty, Handbags and accessories, apparel, jewelry, socks, shoes, auto accessories, electronics, food, hobbies, stationery, holiday supplies, stocking stuffers, home, furniture, kitchen, outdoor gear, tools and pets!
Also, as always, you can view the list by state if you'd like.
The website for the gift guide can be found at http://TinyURL.com/2023AAMGiftGuide and the AAM website is www.American Manufacturing.org.
The X handle for AAM is @KeepItMadeInUSA and Beth's handle is @ebrotherton.
Since joining AAM in 2014, Beth has led efforts to grow and strengthen AAM's digital presence, managed advocacy campaigns designed to strengthen manufacturing, and helped elevate the conversation about manufacturing in the news media.
A Golden State native, Beth holds bachelor’s degrees in political science and journalism from the University of Southern California.
She lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband, two children, and a rescue dog.
Tuesday Nov 28, 2023
Workers Seizing the Moment
Tuesday Nov 28, 2023
Tuesday Nov 28, 2023
The two discuss how workers across the economy – from automakers to health care workers – are using their collective power to ensure they have fair contracts and safe working conditions.
The first step in this process is organizing, and as workers seek greater protections on the job, they’re capitalizing on this unique moment.
It’s not just the hot labor market, though the recent low unemployment has certainly helped.
The pandemic helped workers in a number of industries understand that they’re essential. It has also highlighted what they needed from their employers – in terms of job security, living wages, and more – as well as the power of working together to achieve these goals.
Also, Joe Biden, the most pro-labor president in recent memory, has tasked his administration with helping workers to exercise their right to form unions. This unprecedented support, and whole of government approach, has helped tip the balance back toward workers, and away from greedy corporations.
Workers are also experiencing a time of great potential as we look to the clean energy transition. Clean technology – like electric vehicles – require a wide variety of raw materials and other components.
It’s essential that jobs from mining to manufacturing are good, community supporting jobs. That means ensuring workers can exercise their right to organize.
The final step in organizing is not, as some might think, a successful vote, but a first contract. This is where corporations like Starbucks double down on their efforts to break workers’ collective will.
We’ve seen this protracted bargaining at places like Kumho and OHL/Geodis, though the USW was ultimately successful in both cases.
What workers need to help them successfully weather the immense challenges they face, including getting this vital first contract, is the PRO Act.
The website for the United Steelworkers is USW.org and their handle on X and Instagram is @steelworkers. You can find them on Facebook by visiting Facebook.com/Steelworkers.
Saturday Nov 04, 2023
Most Equitable Economic Recovery in American History
Saturday Nov 04, 2023
Saturday Nov 04, 2023
The two examine what is now the most equitable economic recovery in American history.
First, they break down data from a new Treasury Department report, which provides "new evidence that the recovery from the economic harm of the COVID-19 pandemic was the most equitable recovery in recent history. The report – which includes new Department research alongside new data released by the Federal Reserve Board – finds that the speed and strength of the response by the Biden-Harris Administration helped to thwart the worst economic outcomes anticipated from the COVID shock for Black and Hispanic families, and that, across a broad array of economic indicators, the financial well-being of Black and Hispanic families have remained strong relative to recoveries in recent history."
(Link here: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1834)
Second, they discuss a Twitter thread on what 'Bidenomics' is, and how it's going two years into the Biden administration.
The data rich thread was posted by Heather Boushey, a Member of the Council of Economic Advisers & Chief Economist for the President's Invest in America Cabinet.
(Link here: https://twitter.com/hboushey46/status/1715711474994422140)
Finally, Leslie and Scott talk about why President Biden isn't getting more credit in the polls for the strong economic recovery that has happened under his leadership.
This includes a Bloomberg article from Matthew Yglesias examining that exact topic.
(Link here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/10/22/biden-s-economy-is-great-everywhere-except-in-the-polls/d6bae722-70d6-11ee-936d-7a16ee667359_story.html)
For over 16 years, Scott Paul and AAM have worked to make American manufacturing a top-of-mind issue for voters and our national leaders through effective advocacy, innovative research, and a savvy public relations strategy.
Their website is www.AmericanManufacturing.org and their Twitter handle is @KeepItMadeInUSA.
Scott's handle is @ScottPaulAAM.
Saturday Oct 14, 2023
Teamsters Rally to Protect American Jobs from Mexican-Owned Grocery Chain
Saturday Oct 14, 2023
Saturday Oct 14, 2023
They discuss a leaflet action being held on October 17th where more than 50 local unions will be taking part in at Chedraui-owned grocery stores.
Here is some more background on the issue:
· Grupo Comercial Chedraui is a Mexican company that is publicly traded on the Mexican stock exchange. The company has grown significantly and now operates three supermarket chains, and makes the majority of its revenue from the United States.
· Chedraui owns three store banners in the United States with around 375 total locations. The three banners are:
o Smart & Final, which is concentrated in Southern California but also has locations in Nevada and as far east as Phoenix.
o El Super, which is also concentrated in Southern California and has locations in Nevada, Arizona, and as far east as New Mexico and Juarez in Texas.
o Fiesta Mart, which is entirely in Texas. Most of its locations are in either Houston or the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
· Teamsters Local Union 630 won two elections at Smart & Final warehouses in the Los Angeles area just this year. The two groups at the Commerce and Riverside facilities comprise around 700 total workers. After years of suffering from low wages and poor benefits, these workers decided to join the Teamsters union to improve their workplace.
· Yet, on the heels of the election at the Commerce facility, Chedraui announced that it would be consolidating its distribution operations into a single facility in Rancho Cucamonga, right before the union election at the Riverside facility. An internal company announcement distributed to workers stated that when this move takes place, the workers will have to reapply for their jobs and will not be guaranteed jobs at the new facility, regardless of their experience or how long they have worked for the company. The company has not responded to workers’ inquiries regarding the status of their jobs at the new facility and what pay and benefits will be available.
· Local 630 members rallied in August and September to demand fair treatment by Chedraui, with a focus on protecting American jobs and living standards, and bargaining a fair contract.
· To date, the Teamsters have filed seven unfair labor practice charges against Smart & Final and Chedraui, alleging egregious violations of federal labor law, including that the planned facility relocations and termination of all employees are motivated by anti-union discrimination; that the company has interfered with workers’ right to organize by withholding a regularly scheduled cost of living adjustment and blaming it on the Union; and by holding mandatory captive audience meetings where the company CEO promised workers benefits and job security at the new facility in exchange for rejecting the Union.
· The company has been engaging in bad-faith surface bargaining, likely with the intention of running out the bargaining clock and then either attempting to decertify the Teamster bargaining units or withdrawing recognition when it transfers its operations and forces employees to reapply.
· This consumer leaflet action on 10/17 comes ahead of bargaining resuming on 10/18. The Teamsters are calling on consumers to demand that Chedraui respect its US workers, cease its violations of US labor law, honor its employees’ choice to become Teamsters, and bargain a fair contract.
Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Visit Teamster.org to learn more and follow them on Twitter @Teamsters and on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.
Saturday Oct 14, 2023
Israel Orders Entire Population of Northern Gaza to Move South
Saturday Oct 14, 2023
Saturday Oct 14, 2023
Israel's military said the order, which has raised fears of an imminent ground offensive on the densely populated enclave, was intended to minimize civilian casualties in the war against Hamas.
But the United Nations said it was "impossible" and risked a humanitarian disaster.
"We call on all civilians in Gaza City to move south," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Friday in a press conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Tel Aviv.
"We don't want to harm them. Whoever wants to save his life should go south. Hamas is camouflaging itself inside the civilian population and we are going to go in and dismantle its infrastructure," Gallant said.
More than 1,530 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis have been killed, thousands have been injured, and hundreds of thousands of others have been displaced since the latest fighting between Israel and Hamas began. Hamas is believed to be holding about 150 hostages in Gaza.
Friday Oct 06, 2023
Remembering USW President Tom Conway
Friday Oct 06, 2023
Friday Oct 06, 2023
Leslie is joined by the incoming President of the United Steelworkers (USW), David McCall.
During this interview, they remember the late Tom Conway, former President of the USW, who sadly passed away on September 25th of this year.
While the labor movement and the union both lost a great leader, thanks to Tom’s vision and hard work, both are on firm footing and primed to continue the fight for economic justice and fairness for working families.
Tom’s legacy involves innovations and breakthroughs on a number of fronts:
He bargained cutting-edge contracts across USW sectors.
- He understood that companies needed to be successful so they could pay workers good wages and benefits, so where he could, he worked with them.
- When he couldn’t, he was relentless in his work to find ways to make sure workers’ needs remained at the forefront.
- This included the 2015 oil strike, which helped secure a number of important health and safety provisions for workers.
- And a number of rounds of steel bargaining that helped stave off calls for concessions and ensure fair pay and high-quality benefits.
But Tom understood that fighting for working families wasn’t just about pay; it was about securing the future.
- Early in his time as an international leader, Tom was instrumental in developing the Institute for Career Development (ICD), a joint labor-management training program, enshrined in a number of USW collective bargaining agreements, that offers members opportunities to learn new skills.
- Under his leadership union workers and activists were able to achieve a major victory with the passage of the Butch Lewis Act, which saved the pensions of more than one million workers and retirees, including more than 100,000 USW members.
Tom was also committed to building a diverse movement and many of his efforts contributed to building a strong future for workers.
- He spearheaded an innovative organizing initiative connecting rank-and-file members with their fellow workers to talk about joining the labor movement. This quickly paid dividends, resulting in organizing victories in the United States and Canada, including some of the union’s biggest wins in years.
- These include 3,500 faculty members at the University of Pittsburgh who joined the USW, as well as baristas at Starbucks coffee shops across Canada, and 1,500 workers at Georgia’s Blue Bird Corp. bus factory.
- They join others, including waste disposal workers, professional football players, museum and library workers, high-tech workers, airport workers, prison chaplains and others, who all joined the Steelworkers’ ranks as a result of Conway’s initiative.
Tom also invested heavily in building out the bench, and under his leadership, the union held its first international Next Gen conference in November 2019.
- Under Tom’s direction, the USW built out our Veterans of Steel committees to make sure – to the fullest extent possible – that the union was helping those in need, and making sure veterans’ voices are heard.
Finally, Tom fought relentlessly for both for fair trade and job creation.
- This included working with government leaders in Washington to ensure that they enforced trade laws to prevent illegally subsidized and dumped products that damage American industries and destroy good paying jobs.
- He did this work in steel, rubber and tire, and many other industries.
- It also meant finding creative solutions, as well as working with companies and lawmakers to create jobs.
- He formed partnerships and allied groups like the Alliance for American Manufacturing.
- And more recently, his was one of the loudest voices calling for infrastructure investment.
Tom will be missed a great deal, but his strength as a leader, and vision for the future, have helped countless working people and will continue to help countless more moving forward.
The new USW President, David McCall, has a career of fighting for fairness and justice for workers that began as a member of Local 6787 in Burns Harbor, Indiana, where he worked as a millwright at the sprawling integrated steel facility.
He joined the union's staff in 1985 and served as the director of USW District 1 from 1998 until 2019. Over the course of his career, McCall successfully fought to preserve thousands of jobs in the steel industry and beyond. McCall has also chaired USW master contract negotiations with Cleveland Cliffs, Republic Steel, Timken, Graphics Packaging and others.
The website for the United Steelworkers is www.USW.org.
Their handle on both Twitter and Instagram is @steelworkers.
Saturday Sep 23, 2023
How is the United States Doing at Reshoring Its Jobs and Supply Chains?
Saturday Sep 23, 2023
Saturday Sep 23, 2023
Leslie is joined by Scott Paul, President of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), a partnership established by some of America’s leading manufacturers and the United Steelworkers union.
The two examine the importance of supply chains.
Their conversation includes how the United States is doing at reshoring its supply chains, how 'Bidenomics' is improving the country's manufacturing sector, and a Washington Post expose on how Tesla and EV supply chains are raising concerns about forced labor in China.
The AAM website is AmericanManufacturing.org and their Twitter handle is @KeepItMadeInUSA.
Scott's handle is @ScottPaulAAM.
Friday Sep 15, 2023
The Power of Ordinary People
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Leslie is joined by Amber Miller, Director of the USW’s Rapid Response Department, a nearly 30-year tradition of member-driven, issue-based, nonpartisan legislative activism. Amber has been a proud second-generation Steelworker since 1997 where she began her career at Chase Brass and Copper in northwest Ohio.
The two discuss the power of ordinary people, strengthened by their Union, the United Steelworkers (USW).
During their conversation, Leslie and Amber examine the specific ways that the USW empowers their members to make a difference.
This includes by educating USW members about critical issues that affect them and their families, working with legislators to put workers' priorities into action, and offering workers a venue to communicate directly with their elected leaders.
The website for the United Steelworkers is USW.org. Their handle on both Twitter and Instagram is @steelworkers.
Wednesday Aug 16, 2023
America and the World’s Clean Energy Future Is Arriving Faster Than You Think
Wednesday Aug 16, 2023
Wednesday Aug 16, 2023
Leslie is joined by Scott Paul, President of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), a partnership established by some of America’s leading manufacturers and the United Steelworkers union.
The two discuss how solar manufacturing in the United States is booming, thanks to public policy!
They also break down how fast clean energy manufacturing is scaling up in America.
The AAM website is AmericanManufacturing.org and their Twitter handle is @KeepItMadeInUSA.
Scott's handle is @ScottPaulAAM.
Friday Aug 11, 2023
Friday Aug 11, 2023
Leslie is first joined by Vincent Perrone, Teamsters International Trustee and a member of the Teamsters National Negotiating Committee for the UPS contract. He's also the President of Teamsters' Local 804 in New York.
The two discuss the historic new UPS contract won by the Teamsters.
Highlights of the tentative 2023-2028 UPS Teamsters National Master Agreement include:
- Historic wage increases. Existing full- and part-time UPS Teamsters will get $2.75 more per hour in 2023. Over the length of the contract, wage increases will total $7.50 per hour.
- Existing part-timers will be raised up to no less than $21 dollars per hour immediately, and part-time seniority workers earning more under a market rate adjustment would still receive all new general wage increases.
- General wage increases for part-time workers will be double the amount obtained in the previous UPS Teamsters contract — and existing part-time workers will receive a 48 percent average total wage increase over the next five years.
- Wage increases for full-timers will keep UPS Teamsters the highest paid delivery drivers in the nation, improving their average top rate to $49 per hour.
- Current UPS Teamsters working part-time would receive longevity wage increases of up to $1.50 per hour on top of new hourly raises, compounding their earnings.
- New part-time hires at UPS would start at $21 per hour and advance to $23 per hour.
- All UPS Teamster drivers classified as 22.4s would be reclassified immediately to Regular Package Car Drivers and placed into seniority, ending the unfair two-tier wage system at UPS.
- Safety and health protections, including vehicle air conditioning and cargo ventilation. UPS will equip in-cab A/C in all larger delivery vehicles, sprinter vans, and package cars purchased after Jan. 1, 2024. All cars get two fans and air induction vents in the cargo compartments.
- All UPS Teamsters would receive Martin Luther King Day as a full holiday for the first time.
- No more forced overtime on Teamster drivers’ days off. Drivers would keep one of two workweek schedules and could not be forced into overtime on scheduled off-days.
- UPS Teamster part-timers will have priority to perform all seasonal support work using their own vehicles with a locked-in eight-hour guarantee. For the first time, seasonal work will be contained to five weeks only from November-December.
- The creation of 7,500 new full-time Teamster jobs at UPS and the fulfillment of 22,500 open positions, establishing more opportunities through the life of the agreement for part-timers to transition to full-time work.
- More than 60 total changes and improvements to the National Master Agreement — more than any other time in Teamsters history — and zero concessions from the rank-and-file.
Leslie is then joined second by Greg Unterseher, Manager of Pilot Representation for the Teamsters Airline Division.
They detail the Teamsters lawsuit against Cape Air and Republic Airways for unlawfully requiring pilots to sign employment contracts with non-compete clauses that impose penalties ranging from $100,000 to $250,000.
The lawsuit asserts the employment contracts are an attempt by the airlines to change pilots’ working conditions unilaterally, in violation of federal labor law under the Railway Labor Act.
Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Visit Teamster.org to learn more and follow them on Twitter @Teamsters and on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.