It’s Labor Day, even in the South — the region of the country that has long been most hostile to workers’ rights. From slavery through Jim Crow, from “Right to Work” laws aimed at weakening unions to low or nonexistent minimum wages, right-wing leaders in the South have long conspired to disempower labor. But in recent years a few fights — and some high-profile wins — have shown there’s life in the Southern labor movement. In this week’s holiday-abbreviated episode, we look at the state of play on the shop floor.
Show Notes:
“They Moved My Job to Georgia” Peyton Hopkins
“History of Prison Labor in the U.S.” End Slavery Now
“The Evolution of the Southern Economic Development Strategy” Economic Policy Institute
https://www.epi.org/publication/rooted-racism-part1
“List of U.S. States and Territories by Income” Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_income
“Headlights Episode 3: A Union Veteran”
“Just by having a union vote, Mercedes workers in Alabama won major concessions and proved the importance of worker power” Economic Policy Institute
Union of Southern Service Workers
“As a key labor union pushes into the South, red states push back” Stateline
https://stateline.org/2024/05/20/as-a-key-labor-union-pushes-into-the-south-red-states-push-back/