KQED Radio
KQED Newssee more
Latest Newscasts:KQEDNPR
Player Sponsored By
upper waypoint

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich Asks: Are American Workers on A General Strike?

at
Save ArticleSave Article
Failed to save article

Please try again

Robert Reich, author of "The Common Good," poses for a photo. (Photo: Courtesy of Robert Reich)

Hundreds of thousands of workers in industries ranging from health care to coal mining are on strike, in a massive wave of labor actions being dubbed “Striketober”.  But even off the picket lines there may be quieter indicators of worker rebellion. Employees are quitting at record rates and employers are struggling to find workers, even after hiking up wages. To former Labor Secretary and UC Berkeley Professor Robert Reich, these are signs that American workers may finally have the bargaining power to push back against low wages, long hours and bad working conditions.  “You might say workers have declared a national general strike until they get better pay and improved working conditions” he wrote in an opinion piece for The Guardian.  We’ll talk to Robert Reich about this moment and the future of labor. 

 

Guests:

Robert Reich, professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley, He's served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton.

Sponsored

lower waypoint
next waypoint
California PUC Considers New Fixed Charge for ElectricityOakland’s Leila Mottley on Her Debut Collection of Poetry ‘woke up no light’Alice Wong Redefines ‘Disability Intimacy’ in New AnthologyHow a Massive California Prison Hunger Strike Overhauled Solitary ConfinementHow to Spend this Summer Camping CaliforniaKQED Series ‘Beyond the Menu’ Tells the Backstory of FoodInside Mexico's Clandestine Drug Treatment CentersWhat’s Next for Pro-Palestinian Campus ProtestsViolence Escalates in Sudan as Civil War Enters Second YearCity Lights Chief Book Buyer Paul Yamazaki on a Half Century Spent “Reading the Room”