Oct. 7, 2025

Your Workplace is Instrumental for a Better Future. Here’s How.

Your Workplace is Instrumental for a Better Future. Here’s How.

How we can build a movement in response to our current helplessness.

I sat down with assistant professor of labor studies and author of We Are the Union, Eric Blanc, to discuss: the euphoria and struggle of movement-building as a response to hopelessness, how mid-century suburban development undermined labor power, and why understanding (and wielding) economic leverage is critical.

  • (05:22): The pushback against unions and why unions are essentially about democracy
  • (08:55): How worker-to-worker organizing might be the best path forward against oligarchy
  • (18:45): The story of Morrisha Jones and the importance of leverage
  • (22:15): Why full employment in the economy should be a progressive priority
  • (27:55): The obstacles that appear after a union's been formed, but before a contract's been reached
  • (36:24): How "vibes" and culture play a role in building a movement
  • (43:00): How unions can flourish beyond a manufacturing economy, and how the country's structure has changed since the 1930s
  • (47:20): The impact of suburbanization on labor power
  • (01:01:33): The connection between social justice movements and broader organizing
  • (01:19:32): How Europe's move to the right, despite its union density, speaks to the future of the US
  • (01:28:04): Tactical next steps and resources

Transcripts, show notes, resources, and credits will be available within a week at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://moneywithkatie.com/workplace-unions.

Money with Katie’s mission is to be the intersection where the economic, cultural, and political meet the tactical, practical, personal finance education everyone needs.

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