Episodios

  • They won their strike fair and square. Now their rich bosses are closing up shop.

    They won their strike fair and square. Now their rich bosses are closing up shop.
    Feb 18 2026
    On Nov. 24, 2025, in a major and hardwon victory, Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh members finally returned to work at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after more than three years on strike. Then, on Jan. 7, 2026, workers were notified that Block Communications Inc.—the company that owns the Post-Gazette as well as the Toledo Blade, the Buckeye Sports Network, and a number of TV stations in Ohio and Kentucky—said that it will be ceasing operations at the Post-Gazette on May 3 of this year. We speak with Steve Mellon, a veteran photographer and writer who was on strike for over three years at the Post-Gazette, about how workers are processing this devastating news, and about their push to launch a new news source by and for working people.

    Additional links/info:
    • Pittsburgh Alliance for People-Empowered Reporting (PAPER) website
    • Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh website, Facebook page, and Instagram
    • Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette owners couldn't bust the union, so they shut down the paper"
    • Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "The longest-running strike in the US is over—and the workers won"
    • Kris B. Mamula, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Post-Gazette to publish final edition and cease operations on May 3"

    Featured Music:
    • Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

    Credits: Audio Post-Production:
    • Jules Taylor
    Más Menos
    33 m
  • NO DEAL: Nurses at NY-Presbyterian overwhelmingly vote to stay on strike

    NO DEAL: Nurses at NY-Presbyterian overwhelmingly vote to stay on strike
    Feb 13 2026

    The longest-running nurses strike in New York City history has come to an end—for some. Nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, however, overwhelmingly voted this week to reject a tentative agreement and to stay on strike until their demands for safer staffing and more job security are met. In this unscheduled strike update episode, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Beth Loudin, a neonatal nurse and member of the executive committee of the New York State Nurses Association at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

    Additional links/info:

    • New York State Nurses Association website, Facebook page, Bluesky page, and Instagram

    • Claudia Irizarry Aponte & Ben Fractenberg, The City, "NewYork-Presbyterian nurses reject contract by overwhelming margin"

    • Luis Feliz Leon, Sarah Hughes, & Danielle Smith, Labor Notes, "Fifteen thousand New York City nurses strike"

    Featured Music:

    • Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

    Credits:

    • Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

    Más Menos
    22 m
  • Massive strike at Kaiser Permanente enters third week

    Massive strike at Kaiser Permanente enters third week
    Feb 12 2026
    An estimated 31,000 health care workers in California and Hawaii walked off the job on Jan. 26 in their ongoing battle with healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente to address workers' demands for safe staffing, more manageable workloads, and a livable wage. The United Nurses Associations of California / Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) strike is now in its third week, and more than 3,000 pharmacy technicians, pharmacy assistants, and clinical laboratory professionals represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers. In this urgent strike update episode, we speak with a panel of UNAC/UHCP members who are all currently on strike at Kaiser Permanente.

    Guests:
    • Sanayo Kondo is a physical therapist at Kaiser Permanente - Redwood City in Northern California, and she is also on the bargaining team for her UNAC/UHCP group.
    • Kadi Gonzalez is an outpatient Registered Nurse at Kaiser Permanente who works in OB/Gyn care and is on the board of directors for UNAC/UHCP.
    • Lucky Longoria is a Registered Nurse who works in pediatrics at Kaiser Permanente - Downey in Southern California and previously worked as a travel nurse.

    Additional links/info:
    • United Nurses Associations of California / Union of Health Care Professionals website, Facebook page, and Instagram
    • UNAC/UHCP Press Release: "Massive Kaiser strike enters third week"
    • Kaiser Permanente, "Our statement on the UNAC/UHCP strike (Jan. 25, 2026)"

    Featured Music:
    • Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

    Credits:
    • Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
    Más Menos
    1 h y 1 m
  • America's toxic future looks like East Palestine, OH, today

    America's toxic future looks like East Palestine, OH, today
    Feb 6 2026
    Feb. 3, 2026 marked the three-year anniversary of the Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical disaster in East Palestine, OH—one of the worst industrial disasters in US history. Over the last three years, residents have been exploited and abandoned by Norfolk Southern, the government, opportunistic politicians, sensationalist media outlets, and self-serving attorneys, but we have not forgotten them. On the three-year anniversary of the day that changed their small-town lives forever, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez was on the ground in East Palestine speaking with residents about their lives and needs today. Here is what they said...

    Additional links/info:
    • Ohio Valley Derailment Mutual Aid Facebook page and fundraiser
    • Chemically Impacted Communities Coalition (CICC) website
    • Golomb Research Group (UCSD) website and East Palestine Health Effects Study website
    • Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "America's toxic future looks like East Palestine, Ohio, today" (click for a full list of all of Max's East Palestine reporting for TRNN over the last three years)


    Featured Music:
    • Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song


    Credits:
    • Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
    Más Menos
    38 m
  • "A hero": Nurses, federal workers honor Alex Pretti

    "A hero": Nurses, federal workers honor Alex Pretti
    Feb 1 2026
    Hundreds of union nurses, federal workers, and local residents gathered outside the Veterans Affairs central office building in Washington, DC, on Jan. 28, to hold a vigil for Alex Pretti and all who have been killed by ICE. The vigil was one of many events organized or co-sponsored by National Nurses United, the nation's largest union and professional association of registered nurses, which has forcefully called for ICE to be abolished in the wake of Pretti's killing. We speak with attendees of the vigil in this on-the-ground edition of Working People.

    Additional links/info:
    • Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "'A hero': Nurses, federal workers honor Alex Pretti (Documentary Report)"
    • Maximillian Alvarez Working People / The Real News Network, "Largest nurses union calls to abolish ICE after Alex Pretti killing: 'They messed with the wrong profession'"
    • National Nurses United: "Week of action in honor of Alex Pretti, RN and all others killed by ICE"
    • National Nurses United press release (1/24/26): "National Nurses United outraged by murder of VA registered nurse by immigration agents, demand abolition of ICE"
    • National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram

    Credits:
    • Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
    Más Menos
    16 m
  • Largest nurses union calls to abolish ICE after Alex Pretti killing

    Largest nurses union calls to abolish ICE after Alex Pretti killing
    Jan 28 2026
    On Friday, Jan. 23, around 50,000 people in Minneapolis, MN, engaged in a historic mass strike and day of protest to demand an end to ICE terror and President Trump's federal siege of Minnesota. Then, on Saturday, Jan. 24, an ICE agent shot and killed Alex Pretti, volunteer ICE observer and a registered union nurse who worked for the Veterans Health Administration. In this episode, we speak with Mary C. Turner, a registered nurse inn Minnesota and a member of the Council of Presidents of National Nurses United, the largest nurses union in the US, which is now forcefully calling for the abolition of ICE.

    Additional links/info:
    • National Nurses United: "Week of action in honor of Alex Pretti, RN and all others killed by ICE"
    • National Nurses United press release (1/24/26): "National Nurses United outraged by murder of VA registered nurse by immigration agents, demand abolition of ICE"
    • National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram
    • Devon Lum & Haley Willis, The New York Times, "Videos show moments in which agents killed a man in Minneapolis"
    • Thomas Birmingham & Ari Bloomekatz, In These Times, "A staggering number of Minnesotans took to the streets Friday to demand ICE leave. The next day, ICE responded by killing another resident"
    • Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "Trump plans massive military parade while cutting veteran jobs, benefits, & healthcare"
    • Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, "Trump cuts leave VA hospital nurses and veteran patients in a crisis"

    Credits:
    • Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
    Más Menos
    25 m
  • "Shut everything down": Minnesota calls for mass strike on Jan. 23

    "Shut everything down": Minnesota calls for mass strike on Jan. 23
    Jan 21 2026
    The state of Minnesota is under siege by our own federal government, and residents—immigrant and US-born alike—are living in fear. With the deployment of over 3,000 federal agents to Minnesota in recent weeks, this is the Trump administration's largest and most violent so-called "immigration enforcement" operation yet—and with President Trump threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota in response to protests over ICE's terror campaign, the situation on the ground is extremely volatile. Amid this federal invasion, unions, community organizations, faith leaders, and small businesses in Minnesota are calling for a statewide day of "no work (except for emergency services), no school, and no shopping" on January 23.

    In this urgent episode, we speak with three union members and organizers in the Twin Cities—Daniel Troccoli, Douglas Williams, and Janette Corcelius—about the situation on the ground in Minnesota, and about the proposed mass strike this Friday.

    Additional links/info:
    • 1/23: ICE OUT OF MN call to action and Facebook event page
    • 1/23 ICE OUT OF MN Org Sign Up
    • Sarah Lazare & Amie Stager, In These Times, "'We are facing a tsunami of hate': Amid ICE crackdown, unions and community groups call for Minnesota shutdown in 10 Days"
    • Luis Feliz Leon, Labor Notes, "Will ICE ignite a mass strike in Minnesota?"
    • Suzanne Gamboa, Shaquille Brewster, & Colin Sheeley, NBC News, "Immigration officers around Minneapolis are approaching people and demanding proof that they're U.S. citizens"
    • Rachel Leingang & Maanvi Singh, The Guardian, "'Make no mistake, this is an occupation': ICE's deadly presence casts long shadow over Minneapolis"
    • Joseph Cox, 404 Media, "Inside ICE's tool to monitor phones in entire neighborhoods"
    • John Hamilton, Democracy Now!, "ICE vs. People of Minnesota: A special report on community resistance to Trump's militarized crackdown"
    Featured Music:
    • Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song
    Credits:
    • Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
    Más Menos
    57 m
  • The longest-running strike in the US is over—and the workers won

    The longest-running strike in the US is over—and the workers won
    Dec 18 2025
    On Monday, Nov. 24, after more than 1,100 days on strike, Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh members were cheered on by supporters at a rally in downtown Pittsburgh before returning to work at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Even though strikers have returned to work, however, many issues at the center of the strike are still in legal limbo—and their fight for a fair contract is not over. In this episode of Working People, we speak with three Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh members—Bob Batz. Jr, Natalie Duleba, and Steve Mellon—about where things stand now, how their lives have changed since returning to work, and what it takes to hold the picket line for over three years.

    Additional links/info:
    • Pittsburgh Union Progress website
    • Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh website, Facebook page, and Instagram
    • Bob Batz Jr. & Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Union Progress, "Pittsburgh journalists vote to end country's longest strike and notify the PG they are returning to work"
    • Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, "Post-Gazette strikers send company return to work offer"
    • Sara Scire, Nieman Lab, "What newsroom organizers learned from the years-long strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"

    Featured Music:
    • Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

    Credits:
    • Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich
    Más Menos
    1 h y 17 m