This Labor Day weekend, WRKF presents a collection of radio programs examining labor, work, the role of work in our lives, and the rights of workers in our economic system.
Civics 101: Strikes, Unions, and Workers' Rights
Sunday, September 1 at 5pm
This is the story of what happens (and what's happening) when the American workforce tries to get a seat at the table. Guiding us in our examination of strikes, unions, and the labor movement: Kim Kelly, journalist and author of “Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor”; Eric Loomis, professor of History at the University of Rhode Island and author of “A History of America in Ten Strikes”; and our friend Andrew Swan, an 8th Grade Social Studies teacher in Newton, MA among many other things.
I Hear America Singing
Sunday, September 1 at 9am and 7pm, on WRKF Classical
The view of one’s life’s work has taken on different meanings in societies and eras across the world. From servant and slavery systems of old, to the industrial revolution, to labor unions and the gig economy, our idea of work is ever-changing. As in all aspects of our culture, music has been a part of work every step of the way. Today, both the advent of remote-work and the emerging question of universal basic income are creating new paradigms and discussions about the meaning of work.Join Cantus for a joyful examination of the role work has played in our lives in years past and how work might evolve into the future.
At Sword's Point
Monday, September 2 at 12pm and 7pm
The untold story of the first true target of the Red Scare– labor unions –and of the small town that, against all expectations, fought back.American labor unions have seen an incredible resurgence in recent years, which begs the question: why were they declining in the first place? We revisit a pivotal moment in American history, when the furious power of Joseph McCarthy’s ‘Red Scare’ found its first true target, and when the dismantling of American organized labor began. But this isn’t a story of workers caving in the face of mass hysteria; this is the story of a small town that fought back against all expectations.The hour long radio documentary recounts these dramatic events of the early 1950s, while also providing important context on the machine tool industry of Greenfield, MA — once a center of global innovation —as well as the origins of the United Electrical Workers Union, or UE.
