America’s Work Force Union Podcast
America’s Work Force Union Podcast provides a clear and unfiltered voice for the working people of America. Radio veteran Ed “Flash” Ferenc leads the discussion with a focus on topics that include the impact of labor unions in America, workers’ rights, legislative actions and labor-management relations. Featured guests include various labor leaders, politicians, journalists and more. America’s Work Force Union Podcast provides updates and information from sources around the United States and continues to be the trusted voice for workers across the country.
Episodes
Most workers in the United States lack enforceable legal protections against workplace heat. Only seven states have standards on the books. And the federal OSHA proposal that was supposed to change that is stuck in limbo — leaving millions of workers exposed to preventable illness and death as summer temperatures climb.
On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, NRDC Senior Advocate Juanita Constible breaks dow...
One in five Americans lives with a mental health condition. Employee assistance programs have existed since the 1940s. And the field is now entering a third wave — one that asks not just how to help workers after they are struggling, but how to build workplaces where fewer people reach that point.
On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Carelon Behavioral Health Medical Director Brian Keefe traces the full h...
Episode 122 of America's Work Force Union Podcast brings together two important conversations — one looking back at the founding of the nation and one looking forward at a crisis that could reshape retirement security for 80 million Americans.
First, American Legion Media and Communications Director Jeff Stoffer joins for a farewell segment after 26 years at the Legion and a partnership with AWF dating back to 2009. Built aro...
A nuclear reactor is under construction in Tennessee. A fuel fabrication facility has steel going vertical. And $10 billion in investment is projected to create up to 3,000 jobs across skilled trades, technical roles and professional positions in East Tennessee alone.
On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Tennessee Nuclear Network Director Bill Tindal breaks down why Oak Ridge has become the national center of the ...
Today's America's Work Force Union Podcast brings two major stories together in one conversation-packed episode.
First, UPTE-CWA Local 9119 President Dan Russell discusses the union's landmark organizing win — 2,100 University of California tech workers added to the bargaining unit, making UPTE the largest tech worker bargaining unit in the country at 8,400 members. Russell breaks down the subtle union avoidance strategy tha...
Twenty-nine years ago, Dave Baker was told Iron Workers Local 44 was going to build a bridge. This week, drill shaft work on the Brent Spence Bridge companion project officially began.
On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Local 44 Business Manager Dave Baker discusses the decades of political and funding gridlock that stalled one of the most critical infrastructure projects in the Midwest, what finally broke the i...
Workers at Trinity Health Grand Haven Hospital voted 89 to 66 to keep their union — after their employer had already illegally stripped it from them. The NLRB went to court seeking an emergency order to restore recognition while the case was litigated. Two Trump-appointed Sixth Circuit judges said no. The dissent came from a Reagan appointee.
On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, union attorney and Brooklyn L...
Trey Martin joined the Iron Workers at 19 with no clear path to the middle class. Twenty years later, he watched his wife nearly die from two autoimmune diseases and nearly go bankrupt in the process — even with solid union health insurance. That experience, and a Congress that has failed to address healthcare for his entire lifetime, convinced him it was time to run.
On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Iro...
A profitable MillerCoors distributor in West Virginia is demanding wage cuts, retirement rollbacks and health insurance premium increases of up to 880%. The company is not claiming financial hardship. And 49 Teamsters Local 175 members voted unanimously to strike — and have been running 24-hour, seven-day-a-week picket lines ever since.
On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Teamsters Local 175 Secretary-Treas...
AT&T Mobility wireless workers just ratified a strong new contract covering 9,000 people across 36 states — and a 95% strike authorization vote is a big reason why the bargaining committee had the leverage it needed.
On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, CWA District 4 Administrative Director Frank Mathews discusses the contract win, the CWA Worker Power Agenda built directly from responses by more than 9...
Three years after the East Palestine derailment, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has adopted the Rail Safety Act as an amendment to the Build America 250 Act — mandating two-person freight train crews, new hazmat transparency requirements and improved defect detector standards. It is the biggest rail safety step in more than two decades.
On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, SMART Transp...
US employers spend $1.7 billion every year trying to stop workers from organizing. One union-busting consultant earned $7 million alone last year. Amazon spent more than $26.6 million on outside consultants in 2025. And the Department of Labor is enforcing disclosure requirements for unions while largely ignoring the same rules for companies and law firms that fight workers.
On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, La...
The worker's share of Gross National Income just hit its lowest level ever recorded. Corporate profits just hit their highest share in nearly 80 years. And CEOs took home $1.24 million in raises last year while average workers earned around $50,000. AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond has seen enough.
On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Redmond breaks down the new GNI data, the AFL-CIO's annual Executive Pay...
Central Ohio is on pace to work 20 million building trades hours in 2026 — nearly double its 2023 record. So when Governor Mike DeWine suspended Ohio's data center sales tax exemption without warning or consultation, Columbus Building Trades Executive Secretary-Treasurer Dorsey Hager had plenty to say about it.
On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Hager breaks down the economic case for the exemption, the re...
Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga just wrapped a seven-city labor roundtable tour across Ohio — and the message from workers was the same at every stop. Affordability is the number one issue, trust in government is near rock bottom and working people are ready for something dramatically different come November.
On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Burga breaks down what he heard from union leaders in Clevelan...
Taylor Dobson was a fast food shift lead being pushed toward assistant manager when she decided enough was enough. Today she is a first-year carpenter apprentice with Carpenter's Local 174 in Chicago, working on solar farm projects and building a career she always wanted but never knew how to access.
On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Taylor walks us through her path from Dunkin Donuts to the union hall, the Hir...
When Live Nation and Ticketmaster make the news, the conversation usually starts and ends with ticket prices. But the real crisis goes much deeper.
In this episode, we sit down with Karen Suarez-Flint, Secretary-Treasurer of the Chicago Federation of Musicians Local 10-208, to expose the systemic extraction of wealth from the working musicians who hold the entire industry up.
What We Discuss in This Episode:
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Every victory at the bargaining table starts with workers standing together—but solidarity means looking out for each other's minds as well as their livelihoods.
In this episode of America’s Work Force Union Podcast, host Ed "Flash" Ferenc sits down with John Lepley, Director of Education and Membership Development at the United Steelworkers (USW). Marking both Mental Health Awareness Month and the USW's 84th anniversar...
As America’s energy infrastructure undergoes a massive evolution, one critical trade is quietly keeping it all efficient: mechanical insulation.
On today's episode of the America's Work Force Union Podcast, host Ed "Flash" Ferenc welcomes back Pete Ielmini, Executive Director of the Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust (LMCT), for his monthly update. Pete reveals the latest behind-the-scenes push on Capito...
Is American manufacturing fighting a losing battle against corporate greed and foreign markets?
On today’s episode of the America’s Work Force Union Podcast, we welcome back our independent labor voice, Tom Buffenbarger (Retired International President of the IAM Union). With over 50 years of labor experience, Buffenbarger delivers a masterclass on the current geopolitical and legislative battles directly affecting Amer...
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