The New State of Unions

Do new unions need “Big Labor”? There is a new generation of labor organizers in the United States: baristas, warehouse workers, and grocers. They are organizing shop-by-shop and relying less on traditional big labor unions. Audie talks with longtime labor activist Erica Smiley, executive director of Jobs with Justice, and Nabretta Hardin, a Starbucks union organizer in Memphis, about legacy unions and their place in the new labor movement. Also: what can this new generation of activists learn from the old guard about sustaining a movement?    To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Om Podcasten

Every Thursday on The Assignment, host Audie Cornish explores the animating forces of this extraordinary American political moment. It’s not about the horse race, it’s about the larger cultural ideas driving the conversation: the role of online influencers on the electorate, the intersection of pop culture and politics, and discussions with primary voices and thinkers who are shaping the political conversation.