“With great power comes great responsibility.” That’s what Uncle Ben said to young Peter Parker in the Spider-Man stories that we all love so much. But in the real world, power doesn’t manifest in wall-crawling, super strength, the ability to fly, or shoot laser beams out of our eyes, etc. In the real world, power […]
https://www.thericksmithshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Screen-Shot-2021-05-26-at-8.21.54-PM.png8361326Brett Pranskyhttps://www.thericksmithshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/logo.pngBrett Pransky2021-06-09 13:41:552021-06-09 13:45:29The Wealth Class are Super-Villains
On this day in labor history, the year was 1917. That was the day the Granite Mountain and Speculator Mines in Butte, Montana caught fire, killing 168 miners. It is considered the worst underground hard-rock mining disaster in the nation’s history. Just weeks after the United States had entered World War I, the demand for […]
When we negotiate with power for better wages, we rarely fight for everyone. In fact, some of the first groups we negotiate out of the discussion are restaurant workers and tipped workers. Saru Jayaraman, President of One Fair Wage has been a fierce advocate for this particular group of workers, and she explains why in […]
https://www.thericksmithshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Screen-Shot-2021-05-26-at-8.21.54-PM.png8361326Brett Pranskyhttps://www.thericksmithshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/logo.pngBrett Pransky2021-06-05 14:19:292021-06-05 14:41:21Restaurant Workers Refuse to Go Back to Poverty Wage Jobs
Things are getting scary out there. We have Trump claiming he’ll be reinstated in August, his former National Security Advisor calling for a Myanmar-style military coup over the Memorial Day weekend, and GOP legislatures all over the country doing everything in their power to make sure people of color or anyone else who might vote […]
https://www.thericksmithshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Screen-Shot-2021-05-26-at-8.21.54-PM.png8361326Brett Pranskyhttps://www.thericksmithshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/logo.pngBrett Pransky2021-06-02 12:08:322021-06-02 12:08:32The Next Insurrection Will Have Full GOP Support
On this day in labor history, the year was 1921. That was the day one of the worst race riots in American history began in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In a frenzy of anti-black violence, a white mob destroyed virtually the entire black neighborhood of Greenwood. Over the course of two days, as many as 300, mostly […]
The argument is simple: large segments of the US working population once belonged to unions. In those unions, we found power, but we also found community. And while a lot of attention has been paid to the power we lost as union membership declined, we have spent much less time talking about how we lost […]
https://www.thericksmithshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Screen-Shot-2021-05-26-at-8.21.54-PM.png8361326Brett Pranskyhttps://www.thericksmithshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/logo.pngBrett Pransky2021-05-28 16:21:532021-05-28 19:34:37How Union Busting Leads to Radicalization
On this day in labor history, the year was 1863. That was the day the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry marched through the streets of Boston in a farewell parade and then boarded ships headed for Beaufort, South Carolina. Thousands lined the streets for the send off, including prominent abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips and […]
On Wednesday morning, a murderer walked into a public transit rail yard in San Jose, California and murdered eight co-workers with a gun, then turned a gun on himself. It’s an event that can happen anywhere, in almost any country on the planet, but it is also an event that happens so frequently in America […]
https://www.thericksmithshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Screen-Shot-2021-05-26-at-8.21.54-PM.png8361326Brett Pranskyhttps://www.thericksmithshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/logo.pngBrett Pransky2021-05-27 12:51:082021-05-28 12:27:51ATU Friends and Fellow Workers Killed … with a Gun
When Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene compared mask mandates to the Holocaust, everyone took notice. Most were stunned that she would ever think of making such a silly connection, but she did, and then she doubled down on it. Brett Pransky, writer, professor, and Executive Producer of The Rick Smith Show took exception to the […]
On this day in labor history, the year was 1937. That was the day the Steel Workers Organizing Committee or SWOC, called a nationwide strike against three of the four ‘Little Steel’ companies, Republic, Inland and Youngstown Sheet & Tube. The drive to organize Little Steel came on the heels of an historic agreement with […]
The Wealth Class are Super-Villains
Commentary, Political Action“With great power comes great responsibility.” That’s what Uncle Ben said to young Peter Parker in the Spider-Man stories that we all love so much. But in the real world, power doesn’t manifest in wall-crawling, super strength, the ability to fly, or shoot laser beams out of our eyes, etc. In the real world, power […]
June 8, 1917 – Tragedy in the Mine
History, NewsOn this day in labor history, the year was 1917. That was the day the Granite Mountain and Speculator Mines in Butte, Montana caught fire, killing 168 miners. It is considered the worst underground hard-rock mining disaster in the nation’s history. Just weeks after the United States had entered World War I, the demand for […]
Restaurant Workers Refuse to Go Back to Poverty Wage Jobs
Commentary, Political ActionWhen we negotiate with power for better wages, we rarely fight for everyone. In fact, some of the first groups we negotiate out of the discussion are restaurant workers and tipped workers. Saru Jayaraman, President of One Fair Wage has been a fierce advocate for this particular group of workers, and she explains why in […]
The Next Insurrection Will Have Full GOP Support
Commentary, Political ActionThings are getting scary out there. We have Trump claiming he’ll be reinstated in August, his former National Security Advisor calling for a Myanmar-style military coup over the Memorial Day weekend, and GOP legislatures all over the country doing everything in their power to make sure people of color or anyone else who might vote […]
The Tulsa Race Massacre
History, NewsOn this day in labor history, the year was 1921. That was the day one of the worst race riots in American history began in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In a frenzy of anti-black violence, a white mob destroyed virtually the entire black neighborhood of Greenwood. Over the course of two days, as many as 300, mostly […]
How Union Busting Leads to Radicalization
Commentary, History, Political ActionThe argument is simple: large segments of the US working population once belonged to unions. In those unions, we found power, but we also found community. And while a lot of attention has been paid to the power we lost as union membership declined, we have spent much less time talking about how we lost […]
The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
History, NewsOn this day in labor history, the year was 1863. That was the day the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry marched through the streets of Boston in a farewell parade and then boarded ships headed for Beaufort, South Carolina. Thousands lined the streets for the send off, including prominent abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips and […]
ATU Friends and Fellow Workers Killed … with a Gun
Commentary, News, Political ActionOn Wednesday morning, a murderer walked into a public transit rail yard in San Jose, California and murdered eight co-workers with a gun, then turned a gun on himself. It’s an event that can happen anywhere, in almost any country on the planet, but it is also an event that happens so frequently in America […]
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Holocaust Hyperbole
Commentary, NewsWhen Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene compared mask mandates to the Holocaust, everyone took notice. Most were stunned that she would ever think of making such a silly connection, but she did, and then she doubled down on it. Brett Pransky, writer, professor, and Executive Producer of The Rick Smith Show took exception to the […]
The “Little Steel” Strike
History, NewsOn this day in labor history, the year was 1937. That was the day the Steel Workers Organizing Committee or SWOC, called a nationwide strike against three of the four ‘Little Steel’ companies, Republic, Inland and Youngstown Sheet & Tube. The drive to organize Little Steel came on the heels of an historic agreement with […]