WBAI Radio's Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report
Monday, November 24, 2008, 7 – 8 PM EST, over 99.5 FM ****************************************
Washington to Detroit - Drop Dead?
with
Frank Hammer, Former Pres., UAW Local 909, Warren, Michigan
and
Warren Brown, Auto Columnist, "Washington Post "
********
Agriprocessors' Immigrant Worker Exploitation
with
Rev. Paul Ouderkirk – Pastor, St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church, Postville Iowa

And
Agriprocessors' Union Busting Kosher?
with
David Young, Organizing Director, Local 342, UFCW

listen or download

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Washington to Detroit - Drop Dead?
with
Frank Hammer, Former Pres., UAW Local 909, Warren, Michigan
and
Warren Brown, Auto Columnist, "Washington Post "

When auto executives and unions leaders came to Washington last weekto ask for a $25 billion bailout, they expected a cold shoulder from Bush, but got one from the Congress as well. Is the Federal government really willing to take the risk of adding more than a million auto workers to the unemployment lines that snake throughout the Midwest? And, what would happen to the wages and working conditions of auto workers that might keep their jobs with the big three companies, or other auto workers across the region and nation?
********
Agriprocessors' Immigrant Worker Exploitation
with
Rev. Paul Ouderkirk – Pastor, St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church, Postville Iowa

On May 12, 2008, US Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested approximately 400 workers at the Agriprocessors, Inc. meat-processing plant. Family members of those arrested were terrified to return to their homes. For almost a week after the raid, hundreds of family members sought refuge in St. Bridget's Church. This and other raids are sweeping across the country, wreaking havoc on families, communities and businesses. Father Paul Oudekirk, Pastor of St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church in Postville, Iowa gained national recognition for his work with the families of the immigrants who were arrested in the largest workplace raid in Iowa history and spoke to us during a recent trip to New York.

And

Agriprocessors' Union Busting Kosher?
with
David Young, Organizing Director, Local 342, UFCW

In 2005, workers at the Agriprocessors warehouse in NYC voted to unionize. The Rubashkin family owners of Agriprocessors refused to recognize the union,ironically alleging some of its workers were undocumented. Despite three rounds of judicial rulings that Agriprocessors must recognize the union, the Rubashkin family continues to flaunt the law and super-exploit its workers.
********************************************************

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WBAI Radio's Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report
Monday, November 17, 2008, 7 – 8 PM EST, over 99.5 FM
58:50
****************************************
Anti-Immigrant Hate In Suffolk Responsible for Stabbing Death of Ecuadorian
Laborer Marcelo Lucero
with
Rev. Allan Ramirez, Pastor, Brookville Reformed Church, & noted immigrant advocate

How To End The Recession
with
Robert Pollin, Economics Professor, & founding Co-Director of
the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Mass.
Co-author of Green Recovery: A Program to Create Good Jobs &
Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy

Fighting Governor Paterson's Budget Cuts
with
Nancy Wackstein, Exec. Director, United Neighborhood Houses
Judy Wessler, Director, Commission on the Public's Health System
Billy Easton, Executive Director, Alliance for Quality Education

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Anti-Immigrant Hate In Suffolk Responsible for Stabbing Death of Ecuadorian Laborer Marcelo Lucero
with
Rev. Allan Ramirez, Pastor, Brookville Reformed Church, & noted immigrant advocate

Jeffrey Conroy, and 6 other teens declared that they were going to "attack
a Mexican" and headed to the village of Patchogue to hunt, according to
their friends and the authorities. They found Marcelo Lucero, a 37-year-old
immigrant from a poor village in Ecuador who had lived in the U.S. for
16 years, worked in a dry cleaning store, sending savings home to support
his mother, a cancer survivor. After the boys surrounded, taunted and
punched Mr. Lucero, the authorities say, Mr. Conroy plunged a knife into
his victim's chest, fatally wounding him. While County Executive Steve
Levy, himself distinguished for anti-immigrant legislation, would like to
isolate the attack to what he is now calling "white supremacists" others
believe the attack is a reflection of widespread anti-Latino sentiment and
racial intolerance in Suffolk County.
*******
How To End The Recession
with
Robert Pollin, Economics Professor, & founding Co-Director of
the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Mass.
Co-author of Green Recovery: A Program to Create Good Jobs &
Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy

The recession is certainly here, so the question is how to diminish its
length and severity. A large-scale federal stimulus program is the only
action that can possibly do the job. The economy needs a shot of public
investment – and if it's green, the payoff will be greatest. What does a
green stimulus look like; should there be an auto industry bailout and what
happened at the world economic summit?

*******
Fighting Governor Paterson's Budget Cuts
with
Nancy Wackstein, Exec. Director, United Neighborhood Houses
Judy Wessler, Director, Commission on the Public's Health System
Billy Easton, Executive Director, Alliance for Quality Education

NYS Governor Paterson has proposed that the State Legislature cut $2B
from the State Budget this year and $3.2 B the next by slashing health care,
education and social service funding. Now hundreds of unions & community
groups have banded together in new coalitions 1 NY and Better Choice
Budget Coalition to demonstrate in Albany this Tuesday to demand that
we stop the cuts by raising taxes on higher income people as we did
successfully in the 2003 recession.

Read More...

WBAI Radio's Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report
Monday, November 10, 2008, 7 – 8 PM EST, over 99.5 FM
**********************************
Obama Wins Presidency as Jobless Rate at 14-Year High
with
William Spriggs, Chair, Economics Department Howard University

The Language of Race, Class & Gender How Was It Used and
How Did It Affect The Voters In Election 2008?
with
Patricia Williams, Nation Columnist and Professor of Law,
Columbia University

Veteran’s Day Special:
Supporting the Troops, Defeating the Policies
with
. Matt Howard, Iraq Veterans Against the War and American
Friends Service Committee
. Drew Cameron, Warrior Writers Project, Iraq Veterans Against
the War

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Obama Wins Presidency as Jobless Rate at 14-Year High
with
William Spriggs, Chair, Economics Department Howard University

President-elect Barack Obama will assume office in January in an
American economy which has lost 240,000 jobs in October, and has shed
1.2 million jobs since the beginning of the year. The country and the world
is sinking deeper into the quicksand of recession. Saddled with over-
whelming challenges, the electorate has placed its hope in his leadership.
So what are the first steps he’s taking or should take on the path to
address the economic freefall?
*******
The Language of Race, Class & Gender How Was It Used and
How Did It Affect The Voters In Election 2008?
with
Patricia Williams, Nation Columnist and Professor of Law,
Columbia University

In the aftermath of the extraordinary election of Barack Obama, Prof.
Williams, tries to parse out the victory using the multiple lens of race, class
and gender to determine how the electorate saw the candidates, their
messages and how Obama’s candidacy overcame the historic barriers of
racism and red-baiting.
*******
Veteran’s Day Special:
Supporting the Troops, Defeating the Policies
with
. Matt Howard, Iraq Veterans Against the War and American
Friends Service Committee. Drew Cameron, Warrior Writers Project,
Iraq Veterans Against the War

Service members continue to die, and are catastrophically wounded due
to the predatory wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? According to researchers,
large numbers of American soldiers when they’ve returned from combat
show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and others psychiatric
difficulties, suicides are increasing. The average age of the fighting
personnel is just 19, but the prognosis for a healthy life is bleak.

Read More...

Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report
National Edition
********************************************
Obama's Big Win! withEric Foner, Prof. of History, Columbia University.
Author "Reconstruction: America's Unfinished
Revolution" & "Our Lincoln: New Perspectives on
Lincoln" and
Chis Kromm, Exec. Dir. Institute for Southern Studies
& Publisher, "Southern Exposure"

play or download (27:28)

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Obama's Big Win!
with
Eric Foner, Prof. of History, Columbia University.
Author "Reconstruction: America's Unfinished
Revolution" & "Our Lincoln: New Perspectives on
Lincoln" and
Chis Kromm, Exec. Dir. Institute for Southern Studies
& Publisher, "Southern Exposure"

Foner and Kromm place Obama’s victory in a perspective of
not only the history of racism in this country but the traditional
reactionary role played by the South since Reconstruction. Is
there a different South emerging that could shake up politics
not only in the region but the nation for years to come?****************************************
Building Bridges is regularly broadcast live over WBAI, 99.5 FM in the N.Y.C Metropolitan area on Mondays from 7-8pm EST and is streamed, archived and pod cast at http://www.wbai.org/ .
Our website is http://www.buildingbridgesradio.org/

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WBAI Radio's Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report
Monday, November 3, 2008, 7 – 8 PM EST, over 99.5 FM ****************************************
Ballot Measures in Three States Threaten Abortion Rights
with
Sondra Goldschein, Staff Attorney,
ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project

"Colorado Civil Rights Initiative" Actually Seeks to Sink Civil Rights
with
Shanta Driver, BAMN National Chair

Progressives Finally Use Ballot Initiatives:
Milwaukee Possibly First Place to Pass Paid Sick Days?
with
Amy Stear, Wisconsin Director, 9 to 5,
National Organization of Working Women

Will the Election be Stolen?
with
Myrna Pérez , Counsel, Democracy Program,
Brennan Center for Justice,
NYUChis Kromm, Executive Director & Publisher, Southern Exposure

Play or Download

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Ballot Measures in Three States Threaten Abortion Rights
with
Sondra Goldschein, Staff Attorney,
ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project

Initiatives aimed at banning abortion, restricting teenagers' access to
abortion, and interfering in a range of private health care decisions will
appear on the ballot in SD (Measure 11), CA (Proposition 4), and CO
(Amendment 48). How will these initiatives affect us all?
************
"Colorado Civil Rights Initiative" Actually Seeks to Sink Civil Rights
with
Shanta Driver, BAMN National Chair

Brought forward by California businessman Ward Connerly, the so-called
Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, Amendment 46, seeks to destroy
affirmative action programs throughout the state.
***********
Progressives Finally Use Ballot Initiatives:
Milwaukee Possibly First Place to Pass Paid Sick Days?
with
Amy Stear, Wisconsin Director, 9 to 5,
National Organization of Working Women

Milwaukee workers without paid sick days are forced to make impossible
choices between vital income and jobs on one hand, and caring for their
own health or family health on the other hand. A new Milwaukee ballot
initiative would allow workers to earn a minimum of one hour of paid sick
time for every 30 hours worked.
************
Will the Election be Stolen?
with Myrna Pérez , Counsel, Democracy Program,
Brennan Center for Justice, NYU
Chis Kromm, Executive Director & Publisher, Southern Exposure

There has been a spike in challenges to the right to vote this year across
the nation and in crucial Southern states. Many states will not register
new voters or will purge existing voters from the voter rolls if election
officials cannot match their voter registration information against that in
other government databases. Voter suppression could impact hundreds
of thousands of votes making the difference between winning or
loosing the national election and many local races.

Read More...

WBAI Radio's Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report
Monday, October 27, 2008, 7 – 8 PM EST, over 99.5 FM ****************************************
District Court Finally Serves Justice to Saigon Grill Restaurant
Delivery Workers
with
Saigon Grill Workers,
Josephine Lee, Coordinator, Justice Will Be Served Campaign
Representative of the Chinese Staff and Workers Association

Indigenous Columbian Leader In US To Testify Against Uribe
Government Policies
with
Rafael Coicué who was the indigenous Governor of Corinto in
Northern Cauca and a representative of the Association of
Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, Colombia (ACIN)

Post-Mortem: 55 Years After the Execution of His Co-Defendants,
Convicted “Atomic Spy” Morton Sobell Confesses – But to What?
with
Robert Meerpool, Youngest Son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
and Executive Director of the Rosenberg fund for Children

Play or download



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District Court Finally Serves Justice to Saigon Grill Restaurant
Delivery Workers
with
Saigon Grill Workers,
Josephine Lee, Coordinator, Justice Will Be Served Campaign
Representative of the Chinese Staff and Workers Association

A victory for all NYC delivery workers occurred when 36 employees of the
Saigon Grill Restaurants, after more than one and a half years of battling
with its owners Simon and Michelle Nget, were awarded $4.6 million for
federal and state labor law violations. The 36 worked at Saigon Grill
restaurants until they were fired in March 2007, in retaliation for
organizing a union and planning to bring a lawsuit against the owners. ****************************************
Indigenous Columbian Leader In US To Testify Against Uribe
Government Policies
with
Rafael Coicué who was the indigenous Governor of Corinto in
Northern Cauca and a representative of the Association of
Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, Colombia (ACIN)

The mass upheaval of the indigenous people of Cauca has been met
with military force resulting in 3 deaths and 122 wounded. Coicué recently
testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the
OAS about the militarization of indigenous lands, the US-Columbia Free
Trade Agreement, the failure of President Uribe’s administration to honor
accords with the indigenous communities and the current repression of
Indigenous protests in Cauca.
****************************************
Post-Mortem: 55 Years After the Execution of His Co-Defendants,
Convicted “Atomic Spy” Morton Sobell Confesses – But to What?
with
Robert Meerpool, Youngest Son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
and Executive Director of the Rosenberg fund for Children

Morton Sobell, now 91 years old and the only living defendant in the
Rosenberg “Atomic Spy” case , 55 years after his co-defendants Ethel
and Julius Rosenberg were put to death in the electric chair at Sing Sing
prison, admitted transferring U.S. military information to the Soviets. But,
what did Sobell actually confess to and what are the essential lessons of
the “atomic spy” trial that keeps this case alive?

Read More...

WBAI Radio's Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report
Monday, October 20, 2008, 7 – 8 PM EST, over 99.5 FM
****************************************
Kucinich on the Fighting the Recession and Winning the Election

The American Dream or Our New Nightmare Homeownership?
with
Josh Zinner, Co-Director, Neighborhood Economic Development
Advocacy Project (NEDAP)

Half Way Around the World: Korean Workers Take Grievances
to the Doorstep of Sirius Satellite Radio,
with
Delegation members of the Kiryung workers

play or download

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Kucinich on the Fighting the Recession and Winning the Election

We talk with Congressman Dennis Kucinich who represents Cleveland,
Ohio, a city and a state fighting both high unemployment and home fore-
closures. Ohio is a battleground state in the Presidential elections.
Kucinich has fought both Republicans & Democrats on issues of war
and the economy. He voted against Paulson’s $700 billion bank bailout
scheme.
*****
The American Dream or Our New Nightmare Homeownership?
with
Josh Zinner, Co-Director, Neighborhood Economic Development
Advocacy Project (NEDAP)

Must we redefine the stuff that dreams are made of – home ownership?
What’s the fallout in our neighborhoods from the burst housing bubble?
And, if home equity is the primary asset of the working class what does
foreclosure portend for the growing disparity in wealth?
*****
Half Way Around the World: Korean Workers Take Grievances
to the Doorstep of Sirius Satellite Radio,
with
Delegation members of the Kiryung workers

200 Korean primarily women workers were hired through a contract to
produce Sirius Satellite radios and receivers. After pitifully low wages,
long work hours and no benefits they unionized, for which they were
imprisoned, beaten and fired. These women have engaged in 1200
days of peaceful protests including mass demonstrations, a 3 month
long sit-in at the plant & a 94 day hunger strike. Now, a delegation of
workers is taking their protest directly to SIRUS headquarters in
NYC, demanding they take responsibility for the exploitation.

Read More...

WBAI Radio's Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report
Monday, October 13, 2008, 7 – 8 PM EST, over 99.5 FM
****************************************
Replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day
with
Dean Hutchinson, Cherokee scholar & poet

What Is To Be Done?: Responding To The Crisis of Capitalism
with
. William Greider, journalist, & author persistently challenging
mainstream thinking on economics
. Arun Gupta, journalist, & activist focusing on searing commentary
on the US economic structure
. Francis Fox Piven, one of America's most thoughtful & provocative
commentators of America's social welfare system

play or download

click below for more information or to post to this blog



Replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day
with
Dean Hutchinson, Cherokee scholar & poet

Indigenous People mark the anniversary of Columbus' voyage, to use
the occasion to reveal the historical truth about the invasion & the
consequent genocide and environmental destruction and then to
organize against its continuation today, and to celebrate Indigenous
resistance. We celebrate Native resistance at The American Indian
Community House.
******
What Is To Be Done?: Responding To The Crisis of Capitalism
with
. William Greider, journalist, & author persistently challenging
mainstream thinking on economics.
Arun Gupta, journalist, & activist focusing on searing commentary
on the US economic structure
. Francis Fox Piven, one of America's most thoughtful & provocative
commentators of America's social welfare system

Feeling dizzy from the whirlwind events on Wall Street? While capitalism's
balloon bursts we won't deflate, but what should we make out of the dire
pronouncements – what is to be done? We bring you highlights of an
emergency forum of leading left voices on economics and grassroots
politics.

Read More...