Shutdowns, Strikes, and Solidarity

This week on The Labor Force Podcast, we’re taking a hard look at what happens when the system stops working — and workers don’t.

The federal government shutdown continues to ripple through the lives of hundreds of thousands of public servants, forcing families to make impossible choices. In St. Louis, the Boeing strike enters its third month as machinists stand firm for fair pay and respect. Meanwhile, contagious organizing is spreading in Houston’s hospitality sector and California’s health care system, where Kaiser nurses are threatening one of the largest walkouts in company history.

We also unpack California’s groundbreaking new law allowing Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize — a major shift for gig workers nationwide. Then we close with a generational deep dive: from pension gridlock in Europe to Gen X’s fight for survival in an AI-driven job market.

From shutdowns and strikes to questions of fairness across generations, this episode asks: what kind of economy are we really building — and who is it working for?

Segments:

• “Surviving the Shutdown” – The human toll of Washington’s dysfunction

• “The Boeing Standoff” – Three months in, the fight for dignity on the line

• “Contagious Organizing” – Houston hospitality workers and California nurses rise up

• “The Gig Worker Breakthrough” – Sectoral bargaining comes to California

• “Nothing But Hot Air” – Former Oklahoma state superintendent Ryan Walters’ attack on teachers’ unions

• “Gerontopia and Gen X” – Generational strain and the future of work