Building Bridges Radio: Your Community & Labor Report

Produced and Hosted by Mimi Rosenberg & Ken Nash over WBAI,99.5FM in the NYC Metro Area

WHO WE ARE

WORKERS OF THE WORLD TUNE IN! Introducing "Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report"

Our beat is the labor front, broadly defined, both geographically and conceptually. We examine the world of work and workers on the job as well as where they live. We examine the issues that affect their everyday lives, with a particular sensitivity towards human rights abuses, environmental concerns and the U.S. drive for global domination. We record their global struggles and provide analysis of their efforts to empower themselves and transform society to provide greater democratic, human, social, political and economic rights. Each program consists of feature stories, generally interviews, within a historical context, often accompanied by sound from demonstrations, rallies or conferences, and complemented and enhanced by poetry and instrumental or vocal -- people's culture.

Over the years Building Bridges has produced a weekly one hour program, Mondays from 7-8 PM EST, covering local, national and international labor and community issues over radio WBAI-Pacifica 99.5 FM in New York. We also produce half hour version, Building Bridges National, which is distribtued to over 40 broadcast and internet radio stations.


For more information you can contact us at knash@igc.org
In Struggle Mimi Rosenberg & Ken Nash

Recession & Prison Labor; Medicare is the Answer, Not the Problem 27:17  

Corporations Say, Why Bargain With Free Labor When There’s A Captive Labor At Our Disposal?
with
Rania Khalek, independent journalist, AlterNet

Prison labor is every Corporation's dream - cheap labor, no sick leave, no
time off, no holidays and employees that can be easily replaced. Of course,
for human rights activists however, it's a nightmare, because the other side
of the coin is forced labor, no unions, low or no pay and no protections
whatsoever for the workers. Corporations have used or currently uses
prison labor for anything from holiday coffee for Starbucks to cutting
airplane components for Boeing, making Game Boys for Nintendo,
producing equipment for the war in Iraq, shrink wrapping mouse devices
for Microsoft, making dentures, down to sewing lingerie for Victoria
Secrets. The use of slave labor and now the use of prison labor is
a multi-billion dollar business.
********************
Medicare Is the Answer, Not the Problem
with
MARGARET FLOWERS, M.D., Congressional Fellow for the
18,000-member Physicians for a National Health Program.
Sara Somers, Senior Attorney, National Health Law Program

Both Democrats and Republicans are missing the point by putting the
emphasis on controlling Medicare and Medicaid costs without effectively
addressing the reasons for our rising health care costs. Rather than
embracing the Republican rhetoric which blames our public insurances,
Democrats would do well to call out the real reason for our health care
spending crisis: our current fragmented and profit-driven model, and
advocate for a national improved Medicare for all. Watching the actions
in D.C. is like watching the same political theater we have seen for each
issue. The crisis, manufactured, or real, becomes an excuse to pretend
to fight over the solutions, all the while continuing to move towards greater
austerity measures for necessities such as health care, housing, education,
jobs and pensions. We must address the root causes of the direction
this country is headed, corporatism and militarism, through unity and mass
acts of resistance. We will not email or elect ourselves out of this situation.

play stream or

download

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

0 comments

Post a Comment