Monday, June 12, 1017: Aging With Dignity - Marginalized Workers Young & Old Take Charge

This week on Women's Magazine, we focus on some of the most challenged workers in today's workforce:  domestic workers and young women of color. 

At one end of the age spectrum, we talk to members of La Colectiva de Mujeres, the San Francisco Women's Collective, part of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, about their Aging With Dignity campaign. The campaign draws attention to the situation of over half a million workers over 50 who have no retirement benefits.

Domestic workers in the U.S. are 93% female, 20% without high school diplomas, and the median age is 44.  In California, 75% of the 336,000 domestic workers (doing childcare, elder care and housecleaning) are women of color.  Because domestic work is excluded from the Social Security Act, only 2% of domestic workers have any retirement benefits.

Listen now or Get MP3. 27:55 min

On today's show we pay tribute to Judy Brady, author of the classic article, "I Want a Wife." Judy Brady died on May 14, 2017. She was 80 years old.

Click here to listen to the entire show. 59:50 min

Also on today's show:
Mamacitas Cafe - Marginalized Women Workers Organize!

November 17, 2014: Whole Foods Workers in For the Fight

Workers and supporters at November 6th rally

We'll also talk with three of the women involved in the unionization campaign at the SOMA Whole Foods. The grocery chain offers a pre-cooked organic turkey dinner for 8 for $160. CEO John Mackey claims that Whole Foods has the highest profits as a percentage of sales of the Fortune 500 businesses but their employees are still paid under market wages.

Two weeks ago workers and supporters in San Francisco approached the south of Market Whole Foods to demand raises and the right to unionize with the IWW. Here is their story of what happened on November 6th.

For more information and to support the workers of Whole Foods go to their website at Whole Foods Market Workers Unite.

Listen now or get MP3. 17:37 min.






Click here to listen to entire show. 59:50 min.

Also on today's show:
Radical Feminism and Sustainability
Dhaya and Karinda Take on the World

September 1, 2014: Domestic Workers Organize in the US

Author Sheila Bapat on domestic worker organizing in the U.S.

When U.S. labor protections were being created in the 1930s, domestic workers, who were overwhelmingly African American, were specifically excluded as a concession to southern Democrats. Today, the women who do domestic worker are largely immigrants, and while they have won some rights, still face harsh conditions with little recourse.  But in recent years, domestic worker organizing has been one of the most successful labor movements in the country. Sheila Bapat, author of Part of the Family? Nannies, Housekeepers, Caregivers, and the Battle for Domestic Workers’ Rights, talks with Preeti Shekar.

Sheila Bapat is an attorney and writer covering economic and gender justice. Her work has appeared in Jacobin, Salon, Reuters, Slate, Alternet, Truthout, the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Labor and Employment Law, PolicyMatters, and the Center for Women Policy Studies' series, "Reproductive Laws for the 21st Century." Sheila holds a JD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.

Listen now or Get MP3. 20:48 min.

Sunday September 7, 2014, 3-5p
Claiming our Voice: South Asian Domestic Worker Organizing
Held at Oakstop Coworking, 1721 Broadway, Suite 201, Oakland, CA 94612

Hosted by ASATA (Alliance of South Asians Taking Action) and Re-imagine RPE
Special Guest: Sheila Bapat, author of "Part of the Family?," a book about domestic workers' rights, Panel moderated by Preeti Mangala Shekar. For tickets and more info go to Claiming Our Voice.

Click here to listen to entire program. 59:50 min.

Also on today's show:
Drop the Charges on Rasmea Odeh