there is growing, repression in, in Serbia.

So this isn't a shock.

Get over ourselves a little bit now and, and like you say, what is the work in hand we have to do, but go get over the shop.

there are so many different types of disabilities, and again, everyone experiences their own disability differently, So A who's walking around with a knife in their pocket and B, he took it out and opens it and like basically threatens to stab.

Scabby.

And so these black men who, laid this track, the black man who dug these tunnels, the people who knew mostly convicts, who knew about how these bodies were buried.

Came up with a song to keep spirits at bay, to remember John Henry, from the Labor Radio Podcast Network.

This is the Labor Radio Podcast weekly, bringing you voices, news, and ideas from labor shows across the country.

I'm Chris Garlock.

You're being all super formal this week.

I am Harold Phillips.

And I am Patrick Dixon.

Uh, welcome back for another wrapped up of this week's labor media highlights.

this week we start in Serbia with labor Start where trade union leaders describe the growing repression they're facing and how global solidarity can help push back.

Next up, we're going to the United Kingdom and.

The Organizing for a Change podcast, and in this episode it's a conversation that listeners in the US will find somewhat familiar.

They're discussing, uh, how to respond or how to communicate with union members who are indicating their support for far right political parties.

Then we're headed to Canada.

We're on Apple Box talks.

The team explores accessibility in film and media.

With Winnie Luck, executive director of Canada's disability screen office, about building truly inclusive production spaces.

Patrick, I see why you call this our international episode.

Serbia UK Canada.

With the workers' mic.

We're back to the good old USA, Ken Edwards.

Phil Davidson Defend Labor's most famous mascot after Chicago business owner threatened.

This is true, folks to stab, scabby the rat.

Sit not scabby.

Not scabby.

It's not so revisiting how the inflatable icon became a symbol of free speech and a line, you just don't cross.

No, you don't.

Don't mess with the rat.

And America's Workforce Union Podcast digs into the legacy of John Henry, the real, John Henry, the man behind the legend, and what the story tells us about work, race, and song.

That's all to come on.

This week's Labor Radio podcast weekly show that connects the voices of working people everywhere.

Working people everywhere all the time, all around the world.

I love it.

Stick around everybody.

Great lineup.

Let's get started.

I kind of feel like we should have that.

Oh, there you go.

News, our kind of thing happening underneath that.

Yeah, we'll work on that.

All right.

Let's kick things off on the Labor Start Podcast.

Where host Eric Lee talks with Serbian Trade Union leaders, Ronco and Igor from the Air Traffic Controllers Union, SKL, about a 40 day strike.

That led to major backlash after the walkout.

Both were barred from their workplace and later fired under so-called negative security checks.

While officials even tried to revoke their licenses, they describe it as a coordinated political attack on their union.

Part of a growing wave of repression in Serbia, where we've seen this before, folks and independent labor activists are being punished for standing up for workers' rights.

Hey, this is Judy Ansel from the Heartland Labor Forum.

We're a radio that talks back to the boss, and we're proud to be part of the Labor Radio Podcast network.

With more than 200 Labor radio shows and podcasts from across the country and around the world.

The Labor Radio Podcast Network.

We're working people speak.

Find us@laborradionetwork.org.

Hello, this is Eric Lee from Labor Start, and this is another Labor Start podcast interview with trade union activists and leaders from around the world.

This time we're very pleased to have two trade union leaders from Serbia, Ronco, and Igor with two leaders.

One is the president, one is the secretaries of a union called SKL.

I hope I'm getting all this right.

Ranko.

Igor, welcome to the show.

Yeah, glad to be here.

Hi.

Hi, Derek.

Nice to Kevin.

So you, you're both in Belgrade, but in separate, uh, locations.

Um, I don't know who wants to go first, but can you tell us what happened?

Uh, I'll go first.

Uh, yes.

We, we organized, uh, uh, uh, uh, industrial action in, uh, in, uh, Serbia.

Uh, which was, uh, uh, lasted for, uh, about, uh, 40 days.

So they, I guess they waited for the strike to end and then, uh, seven days after, uh, they, uh.

Officially gave us a notice that, uh, we have negative security checks and according to law, that prevents us to enter the ops room where we work.

So they used that basically against us to prevent us from, uh, working as air traffic controllers.

And then three days after the employer smsa, uh, sectors or, uh, fired us, uh, uh, using that, uh, uh, using those grounds.

This is basically a misuse of, uh, uh, security services in Serbia to, to, to fire us or to, to, well, it's a retaliation for the, for the strike.

It's a political retaliation for, for the strike, and it's an in attack on our union, a big attack on our union, on our members, and on our, uh, fundamental right to, to strike.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Igor, did you wanna add something?

At the same time, we received the security impediment information from our employer.

They sent, uh, they sent uh, a letter.

To the director of Civil Aviation to revoke our licenses demanding that they revoke our license.

So it was a coordinated attack on us.

So you are restricted from entering the building and we are doing something that will revoke or suspend your licenses, which is our means to work.

So it was a very malicious, coordinated attack on us.

Yes.

And I wanna ask you something.

I, uh, we heard from another global union this week that wants us to do another campaign fairly soon, also in Serbia, not connected to the air traffic, a different, completely different case.

And we had a campaign a year ago in Serbia.

Now Serbia is not.

The biggest country in the world.

Right?

So to have three campaigns, miss Serbia all at once struck me as a little, little bit odd.

And I asked someone and they told me that Serbia now has a reputation as a country that is offering itself to businesses saying we're business friendly, we don't have strong unions.

The law's working.

You know, it's, is that what's happening?

Are you part of a general attack on, on unions in Serbia?

How do you see it?

Well, I think, uh, that, uh, yes, I think there is a, uh, um.

Um, there is a mentality issue here, uh, that's going towards unions, especially unions who are independent and who act in the best interest of, uh, union members.

So yes, there is a, some, some form of, pressing mentality towards unions, uh, here that we have experienced, not just in our case, we, we saw it everywhere, but this case is maybe, uh, maybe brought it to the next level, but, uh.

Yes.

And, uh, there is growing, uh, repression in, in Serbia.

Definitely there is a lot of, uh, cases of people being, uh, fired or, uh, being, uh, demoted for, uh, political reasons.

So yes, there is growing, growing repression here, and it's, uh, it's, uh, it's going towards unions as well.

So I wish you the best of luck and we will follow it closely and extend our solidarity.

Thank you so much, both of you, for being on the show.

Thank you for having us, Eric.

Thank you Eric.

And of course we will.

Yeah, we're all focused on our air traffic controllers here in the us but it's just an example of how the jobs here in the US are not that different than the jobs in other countries.

On Organizing for a Change host Simon Sapper and Martin Smith.

Sit down with Matt Collins from Hope Not Hate to talk about a growing challenge inside the uk labor movement, how to counter far right narratives within workplaces.

Not like we know anything about that here in the us.

Mm-hmm.

new Union research shows that as much as 30 to 40% of members in some unions are, quote unquote, reform curious or even openly supporting far right politics, reflecting broader shifts in the uk and let's be honest, here at home.

Matt says, it's time to stop being shocked, face the problem, head on, and start doing the hard organizing work because as he puts it, We're, we're in a real, we're in a real fight about this.

Hello and welcome to Organizing for a Change, the podcast for Union Builders with me, Simon Zapper.

I'm Martin Smith and we're delighted listeners to be joined in this episode.

Organizing For Change by Matt Collins, who's the trade union liaison officer, hope Not Hate, and someone who has contributed hugely to the fight against the far right so far and continues to do so.

Matt, you're very welcome.

Thanks for joining us.

Thank you for having me.

Well, where we're going today, listeners, is to look at how we counter the far right narrative in workplaces, and this comes on the back of some important research work, doesn't it, Martin?

Over the summer 2025, a number of unions put some research in the field of their own members and activists, and not all have reported it was internal, but three major unions reported to the TUC.

Just in September.

That significant levels of support between 30 and 40% results came back of their membership being either reform, curious.

Already decided to support reform.

And you know, we know that at the moment reform is the parliamentary wing of the, a collection of far right organizations.

So I mean that obviously in asking the question, getting the answer, the next urgent issue is, well, what then need we to be doing about that in the workplace is to begin countering it.

I think it would be, it'd be naive in the extreme Yeah.

To presume to have a, a kind of forced feeling of security in union about that.

Union members, as you say, reflect the population at large.

Yeah, I think, I think they do.

And this is where there may have been some early complacency.

I, I guess that complacency might have gone back as far as Brexit.

We, well, we're immunized or isolated from this kind of from, from these kind of views.

This 6 million, 5 million now trade unionists in this country, I'd be foolish, we'd fool, would've always been fool to just assume all of completely toe that the party line on.

All on.

All in, all in every issue.

And yeah, so do not, these figures should be a wake up call for some, but they shouldn't be a shock for others because again, the way that society moves and the way that society votes, that, that's also, that's also very much reflected in the initial report.

Yeah, I think that's right.

And although all, all the studies over many, many years have shown that the political persuasions and voting intentions and voting records of trade union members are, are roughly the same as the general.

Population.

And so for example, we know Reform UK are riding at 27% in the opinion polls at the moment.

So the figures that these unions have come up with are not that far away from that.

The higher in some unions that have got more of an industrial base, but that shouldn't surprise us.

It means we have to work out plans of what we need to do in each workplace.

The other thing would be, of course, we don't need to go searching for them.

The reform vote isn't hiding.

So this isn't a shock.

Get over ourselves a little bit now and, and like you say, what is the work in hand we have to do, but go get over the shop.

Realize now we're in a fight.

We're, we're in a real, we're in a real fight about this.

I and also the other thing is that we probably, we probably should have had this straight after Brexit.

If we'd, if we, you know, I think a lot of people had really dark and quite upset.

What this country become and I sort of wish we'd probably jumped on sooner toe all possible.

We need to start tackling that reform message.

They, again, they tend to get away with being, everyone likes them because they're a bit like us.

They're a bit Lish.

They probably don't pay their taxes.

They probably do the people we wanna be.

So let, we need to start taking that apart.

Really need to start taking that apart about what it means is, you know, an extra 50 pound a month in your pay packet would be great, but there'll be no NHS at 22.

That's fantastic.

None of us on this podcast are young.

We spend more time at the doctors and we spend any anywhere else.

You know, there's more time at the doctors than we do in the pub.

That's where it's gonna cost us.

That's where it's really, really gonna cost us.

And reform aren't, you know, when you see how many poor people, people on, on low incomes, you sort of think that they're gonna be better.

Under, under reform is, reform is the enemy of people on, on low income.

So we need to, you really like the work that the TC are doing on.

We need to all take that on board and start telling our members, look, far is great.

Doesn't, doesn't do this, doesn't do that.

Didn't even to his constituency, he's one of the lads.

He's got millions of pounds from different jobs working four or five jobs.

This, this is at your expense.

This will all come at your expense and get, and I'm getting quite passionate about it.

Martin, in the old age.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm getting really, I'm getting really passionate about that because I'm seeing a lot of good people in difficult situations.

Reform are gonna dig them outta a hole and actually reform are just gonna bury them in that hole.

And I think to some extent the, I mean some of the support for before mis support for throughout and some extent it comes back to what you're saying, it's similar to dynamics, to the support for Bo Johnson.

You know, if, if that to a long period of time, yeah, you've concluded politics is a circus, then you might as well vote for the clout.

And there's an element of that, you know, listen, thank you for having me on.

Edit out all the bits I didn't know I was talking about Simon.

Matt, thank you so much for, for, for all that you do and for all your co, all your, your colleagues and comrades.

And hope not hate do.

It is, it is hugely appreciated and you don't need me to say it's, it's bloody important this is the tricky thing with the name Ref.

They called it the Reform Party.

And everyone said, and people, some people say, oh, it's a genius Raider, callier political party.

'cause everyone likes the word reform.

Everyone likes the idea, oh, we need reform.

Yeah, reform.

Who isn't in favor of reform?

Um, and so I was, you know, saying members are reform curious.

Well that doesn't raise any red flags for the international listener.

Um, yeah, I saying reform party curious, I think makes it understandable to the US a little better than just reform, which is in the lexicon over there considering voting for the far right reform party or so, I dunno.

Hey, this is Bob oti from Million Dollar Organizer.

We're proud to be part of the Labor Radio podcast network with more than 200 Labor radio shows and podcasts from across the country and around the world.

The Labor Radio Podcast Network where working people speak.

Find us@laborradionetwork.org.

Next on Apple Box Talks, hosts, crystal and Hillary.

Welcome Winnie Luck, Executive director of British Columbia's Disability screen Office for a powerful conversation about accessibility and inclusion in film and media, Strong on her own lived experience with mobility issues.

Winnie stresses the importance of asking what are your access needs and building that question into every stage of hiring and production.

She also pushes the industry to look beyond visible disabilities, to support people with invisible and neurodivergent conditions, and to move past that single wheelchair icon as the image of disability, creating spaces where everyone feels safe to share and succeed.

welcome to Apple Box Talks.

I'm Crystal.

And I'm Hilary.

We're joined via Zoom today by the executive director of the Disability Screen Office.

Winnie.

Officially announced in April, 2022.

The Disability Screen Office was launched through a collaborative effort led by Accessible Media Inc.

And with funding from Telefilm Canada and the Canadian Media Fund.

Winnie Luck was appointed in June, 2023 as the DSOs inaugural executive director.

She's an advocate and an activist, and her lived experience with mobility issues has fueled her passion for advocating for accessibility rights.

Winnie was featured last year in our Kinetoscope magazine, and we are so glad to have her joining us on the Apple Box today.

Welcome, Winnie.

Thank you so much for having me.

I think probably the number one question that folks should be asking, especially their team when they're hiring, when they're building their, their project and their team, you should be asking each other.

And during interviews are, what are your access needs, right?

What are the folks, the people that you're wanting to work with?

Communication styles, access needs, everyone really have different communication styles, whether you're disabled or not.

And when we're doing this work, it's really about being proactive, planning, making sure that we're being preventative in a lot of natures.

So again.

Setting expectations.

So with accessibility and disability lens, when you're talking about sets, when you're talking about venues, locations, what have you, it is about making sure that when we're thinking about the work and the.

Project we ask ourselves, is this accessible to, all we see a lot of focus given also to visible disabilities where you have, you know, the parking placards on the car, which is a person in a wheelchair.

But how are you finding the conversations with folks when you're having these accessibility conversations processing through invisible disabilities?

'cause we know so many disabilities are not.

A wheelchair, right?

Yeah.

It doesn't, it doesn't help that that icon, right?

The universal icon is a mobility, a person in a wheelchair, because you're right, there are so many different types of disabilities, and again, everyone experiences their own disability differently, and so in the sense of invisible disability, especially right now, even the word neurodivergent, that is such a new term, and understanding that we're finding that there's this trend right now where.

Mothers parents, right?

Fathers and mothers are diagnosing their children and that children want to be diagnosed.

And very quickly are they saying, oh, I have these exact same characteristics I've been masking my whole life.

Like I didn't realize, I didn't understand that it wasn't me, it's my environment, right?

That this is how my brain works.

You know, again, it's about setting up those expectations and really talking about it.

I mean, I don't wanna put the onus or responsibility on the person who's.

Disabled to do this, right?

It's about creating an environment where they feel safe to talk about it and divulge and everyone is sharing their own journeys and stories.

I've had so many conversations now where industry leaders, so I'm talking about.

Executive directors, CEOs, presidents of their own organization, and they've had decades of their career, but have never talked about their own disability and or not understanding what disability means.

I've had these are real, uh, examples of someone saying to me, I'm blind in one eye, but I'm not disabled.

I'm deaf in one ear, but I'm not disabled.

I experience all this chronic pain, but I'm not disabled.

Or I go through all this anxiety, I have depression.

But I'm not disabled.

So the invisible disabilities I'm finding right now in our current kind of environment are folks, uh.

Because it's not in your face.

It's easier to hide.

It's easier not to talk about, and that in itself is a barrier, right?

It is not easy to bring it up.

I've loved getting to know you more.

It's been so good to have you here today with us.

Thank you for all of your time, and I am personally going to really remember how important it is to check those boxes, so thank you.

Thanks, Laurie.

Thanks Crystal.

Thanks Winnie.

Pleasure.

Bye.

I really love the fact that we have Apple Box talks in the network because so many people don't think about what happens behind the scenes in film and TV production.

So a podcast from an izi local based in British Columbia, they really pull back the curtain for us.

on the workers, Mike hosts.

Ken and Phil get fired up over an outrageous attack on Labor's most famous mascot.

That's scabby the rat.

You're, you're old buddies with scabby, right?

Chris?

At one point here in the DC area, there were three different scabby.

The rats, three different unions, uh, had them.

they weren't mine, but I knew where they were.

And so anybody that wanted scabby the rat, they would call me.

And then I would, you know, make the phone calls and, and scabby would show up.

it was ton of fun.

this, this is a great story.

Um, a Chicago.

Business owner actually threatened to stab scabby, the rat, the inflatable labor icon.

You've all seen him.

He is like, I don't know, 30 feet tall or something.

He's huge.

And there's lots of different ones.

There's a friendly scabby, the angry scabby.

so anyway, the Ken and Field dig into scabs wild backstory, and the legal, and believe me, there have been many legal battles, that that made him a symbol of free speech.

They make it clear just like we do.

You can mess with unions if you want, but you do not mess with scabby.

I'm pretty sure the word they use is not mess, but We'll, we'll, we'll let that slide.

Good morning everyone.

Welcome to the workers' mic, right here on seven 20 WGN.

Powered by the National Coalition of Labor.

I am Ken Edwards with the National Coalition of Labor to my right today.

Phil Davidson, mid America Carpenters.

Good morning.

How are you?

Very well, thank you.

We said we're gonna talk about scabby and you know, you can mess with people, you can mess with unions, you can mess with workers.

But don't you know, don't mess with scabby, don't mess with, uh, come on overgrown.

Syphilitic rats.

That's where we draw the line.

Think that a little spicy with, uh, so a couple Good local one 50.

Yeah, 1, 1 50.

And then unite here.

Local 25 in New York.

So here, we'll start with, uh.

Let's start with local.

Um, local is, uh, local one 50 had a banner up and, uh, I'm not sure what the banner was about.

I think it, I have no idea to be honest with you, but I did see a, a YouTube video, um, where I guess it says the owner of Weela Tours in cruises.

So something like that.

Yeah.

Maybe cruises right off the river.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Like they tool around the lake or something.

Right.

And so I guess they have a, they lease a dock or dock space?

Is it Navy Pier?

I don't know.

Yeah, it's, I mean, let's, it's a body of water.

Okay.

So it's right there.

I'm assuming it's like right there behind us somewhere.

Yes.

Um, on the Great Lake Michigan.

Mm-hmm.

And, um, so the one 50 had a banner and you know, they had scabby the rat out there.

And so this guy comes out and so this is all on video, which is the problem right now when you, when you do goofy things, everything's on video.

Right.

So, uh, he comes out and I, I guess they say he's the, you know, grandson or the owner or whatever it is.

Um, and he says, you know, basically get this rat outta here.

Like, who are you?

What are you doing here?

And he's like, I own this space.

Mm-hmm.

He was like, you don't own it?

No.

You know, you lease it.

Yes.

You don't own it.

I don't care to leave.

You can't be here, leave.

And then they're like, no, we're not leaving.

And because you know why they have a First Amendment right to be there.

Yes.

And we'll talk about that in a second.

So they're like, no.

And he says, well, you know what, I'm gonna shiv scabby shiv.

That's a no-no.

I mean, who says shiv?

Someone who served time.

Honestly, it's not, we're not saying he served time, by the way, but that is a really weird thing to say.

Yes.

It's like, I'm gonna shank sc or shive.

But then the guy, literally, I'm not making this up, did he have a sharpened toothbrush?

A homemade toothbrush?

No, he actually had a knife.

He had a knife in his pocket.

Yeah.

So A who's walking around with a knife in their pocket and B, he took it out and opens it and like basically threatens to stab.

Scabby.

Mm.

You can't do that.

And if I'm also a business agent out there, or organizer, you know, or on the job, I'm afraid that this guy's going to, you know, stab me.

I don't see how that's not assault.

No, but you know, we'll leave that to the smart lawyers.

Don't threaten scabby.

Right.

Don't you know, don't take it upon yourself to try and, uh, stifle somebody's first amendment rights.

Right.

'cause you can't, and it's gonna cost you a lot of money.

That's Yeah, for sure.

Because there's been, there's, there's been plenty of instances over the years where Stabby has been punctured.

All right.

So I told you that, uh, we're, I, we're gonna do a little deep dive for a quick second in, I forget the year it was, but I should know this 'cause it was literally my picket.

We were picketing.

A golf course.

Um, and we had scabby up there and I wanna say it was like Crystal Tree or something like that.

Okay.

And in Orland Park.

Okay.

Is that, is that right?

Um, sounds right.

I think.

I think so.

So we're, we're picketing and doing the whole thing.

And, uh, they come in and said, you know, can't be here, uh, Orland cops come and take the, take this rat down.

And we say, no, no, no.

We're not taking the rat down.

It's on the right of way.

It's first Amendment, et cetera.

Like, if you don't take it down, we're gonna take it down for you.

And they did.

They took it down for us.

They did.

Now.

They were nice enough not to stab it.

Okay.

Okay.

They just deflated it and they took it and they, how did they do it?

Did they just pulled up?

Yeah, they, they unplugged the, the generator.

And so, um.

They took it to jail.

They took scabby to jail.

I do remember this, so, so this was like on a Sunday and the following Saturday we brought 17 scabies and a thousand people and people dressed up in rat costumes and trucks and it was fun.

All the trades were there.

You guys were there.

Teamsters, everybody.

And we had signs said, free scabby.

Free scabby.

We put on a big protest and you know, right there in Oregon Park in front of the cop shop.

And they're like, okay, just go away guys.

Just ridiculous.

And they, they, we'll give you scabby back.

Just please just go away.

And we did.

And then, you know, we did, we sued them.

And sued Owen Park.

Yeah.

And they're like, what you, why we gave you scabby back?

Like now you're gonna sue us?

And and the answer was, yeah, we're gonna sue you because we need to end this fight once and for all.

So the case went to court and I just wanna read you the first line of the case, and this is the case that made scabby, uh, protected by the First Amendment.

In the United States.

It was a federal case.

It said it would be easy to minimize the significance of this case by disclosing that a central part of this dispute involves an inflatable rat figure, which I just thought was the funniest first part.

Important detail.

Yeah.

And it says, yet this case involves important principles of labor picketing, which are protected by the First Amendment right to free speech and assembly, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And, and that was it.

That was the case that.

Um, that protected scabby and oh, by the way, Orland Park had to pay our attorney's fees and, you know, and eventually announced scabby is protected.

I remember that.

Right.

Yeah.

Alright, listen, we'll be back next week with more of the workers' mic right here on seven 20.

Hey, this is Simon Zapper from the Union Jews Podcast.

We're proud to be part of the Labor Radio Podcast network with more than 200 Labor radio shows and podcasts from across the USA and around the world.

The Labor Radio Podcast Network.

We're working people speak.

Find us@laborradionetwork.org.

Up next, a very special Halloween edition of America's Workforce Radio.

They did a great job on this, and Patrick, I know you helped set it up.

So one big happy network digs into one of the labor's most haunting legends.

Flash Talks with University of Georgia historian Scott Nelson, author of Steel Drive Man.

John Henry, the untold story of an American legend Nelson uncovers the real story behind John Henry.

A 15-year-old convict forced to dig railroad tunnels through solid rock who died along with dozens of others, building the Chesapeake in a higher railroad.

The song that made John Henry famous wasn't just a work chant, it was a dirge keeping alive.

The memory of those buried without markers near the Virginia Penitentiary, the White House in the song.

Welcome to the Friday, October 31st edition of America's Workforce, today is Halloween and we're gonna do something a little different.

We usually talk.

About, labor struggles and that's part of the show today, but joining us on our liveline today is Scott Nelson.

He's a professor out of the University of Georgia, and, he's part of the group of professors that delve into labor history.

And we're gonna talk about John Henry, the untold story of an American legend and, part of his life was pretty scary.

So it fits into this being Halloween.

Professor Nelson, thanks for joining us today.

John Henry, who ends up in the Virginia Penitentiary, is a young man.

He is 15 years old, 16 years old.

And he is may or may not have been shoplifting, he's the perfect size for digging, a hole in the side of a mountain.

What you need is somebody who's got a arch of his swing is small, and, the smaller you are the better for drilling holes.

He, along with about 18 or 20 other men, are brought up to drill Robin's nest size holes on the side of a mountain to create the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad from the Chesapeake, to the Ohio River.

He and the other workers finished by 1870, but almost all of them are dead.

He and everyone else with him died of acute silicosis.

The rock generated by explosions, is, tiny bits of crystalline rock you inhale your lungs fill with fluid.

It kills you.

The first folklores who came around the song was around 1911.

John Lomax father, and, it circulates.

Up in the mountains of, Western Virginia.

And West Virginia, it's a song about a man who dies and folklores get really interested in it.

Folklores are English professors who're stuck in the south, and they, got their chops, reading about Shakespeare and literature but they end up, interested in, black legends in the South.

One of those black legends is John Henry.

It's a work song.

Primarily, John Henry's digging the side of a mountain, but the song is sung by track liners.

The men six or eight of them will line up alongside a track and they'll pull all at the same town.

This old hammer, huh?

Kill John Henry Hump Kill John Henry Hump won't kill me.

Hump.

Won't kill me.

Huh?

You're pulling on what's called a gandy dancer's, hammer or a mall lifting a rail to move it a quarter or an eighth of an inch.

Track liners do this all the time.

They keep the track in line.

There's like a hundred thousand of them in, the south.

In 1890 or 1891, around the turn of the century.

This song John Henry has traveled up and down the railroads throughout the south.

The song ends with, they took John Henry to the White House and buried him in the sand.

Every locomotive comes roaring by, says there lies a steel driving man.

Nobody knew what to make of that phrase the White House is in Washington, this place is in Western Virginia.

It turns out the Virginia Penitentiary, has a big White House in the center.

People in Richmond called it the White House.

Next to the old White House is Virginia Penitentiary.

They found 200 bodies, skeletons of men, ages 16 to 25.

All young men.

All of them buried, next to each other, in the sand by the old Virginia Penitentiary.

So the Song of John Henry is about, the valiant struggle against the steam drill, but also about where the bodies are buried.

The song itself tells you where they buried, without any tombstones.

The bodies were discovered around 1999 before I wrote the book, and no one knew why, how they ended up there.

But it turns out that the Song of John Henry lead you, right to the spot where they were all buried.

The Smithsonian has the bones now.

It's clear they were involved in a workplace tragedy that took place in 1871.

These, workers had to be transported back to Richmond from the work site, dragged back, put on a railway car, and dumped next to, the Virginia Penitentiary.

The song itself tells you not just about the terrible crime, but about.

Where they die.

One way of understanding this song is there's an African tradition that's, that goes back to, nor Nigeria.

That suggests that when you die, when when someone dies, you write a dirge that celebrates their life.

But if they die under, too young, or if they die on unnatural circumstances.

You're supposed to, if, if you are traveling near them, you need to sing a song that keeps them at peace so the ghost doesn't bother you.

The song explains their life and their death.

And so these black men who, laid this track, the black man who dug these tunnels, the people who knew mostly convicts, who knew about how these bodies were buried.

Came up with a song to keep spirits at bay, to remember John Henry, to recall his life, but also to keep them from being haunted by his spirit because the spirit of dead workers is all around us.

Professor Scott Nelson of the University of Georgia History, professor and author of Steel Drive, and Man John Henry, the untold story of an American legend.

That concludes another episode of America's Workforce Radio podcast.

I love this show.

In fact, I love it so much that we picked it up for, last Sunday's edition of, the Labor History Today podcast.

So if you want a very short version, check that out.

But if you want the original, go to America's Workforce Radio.

Well, hey, before we go.

You know, we couldn't fit all the great shows that were released over the past week into the show this week.

So we've got a few shows you should know.

on economics for the people.

David Bacon reports on the lives of working people deported to Tijuana You had David Bacon on your show recently too, did he?

I did.

He's fabulous.

And every show e every show should have David Bacon on it.

It would just be a better show on the Power Line podcast, Ryan talks with Steve Cop of MJ Electric about turning safety on paper and a real job site safety School me from the NEA features Jennifer Albert Mann, author of Shift Happens, a labor history book written for teens and young adults.

And Patrick and I recorded a talk she gave last year and she's terrific.

And I guess, you know what, everybody should have her on their show too.

You know who else everybody should have on their show?

No.

Harold Who?

Daniel Gerardo from Kickstarter United.

He joined Chris and Juan on the Union or bust podcast this week to talk about why the union's been striking for the past month.

You know, that is the longest strike now in tech history, if you can believe it.

I did not know that.

Mm-hmm.

Thank you, Harold.

Thank you, Harold.

All right.

Cool.

Labor force dives into the grand crisis caused by the government shutdown and attacks on SNAP benefits and how workers are carrying on.

Eugene Deb's legacy, that's definitely someone they should have on their show too.

Uh, I got some good news and bad news for you, Patrick.

Come on.

It was just Halloween.

The ghost of Eugene Debs can be on every show.

Fair enough, fair enough.

Uh, speaking English just in time for Halloween, the Labor Notes Podcast.

Got spooky.

They found organizing lessons in a trio of films.

They live the Haunting of Hill House and the New Nosferatu.

Um, I think we might have to pick that up for the Labor Heritage Power Hour.

We feature labor arts stories and uh, and also I love the Labor Notes podcast.

So do you really think we need this, uh, this roundup line or can we just roll into That's a wrap.

I don't think we don't need it.

Why don't, why don't you go ahead and you take the first one.

Yeah, I'll take the next.

We'll swap.

Yeah, let's swap.

And that's a wrap for this week's Labor Radio Podcast weekly.

Your roundup of our selection for more than 200 shows in the Labor Radio Podcast network.

You will find links to every show@laborradionetwork.org.

You can follow hashtag Labor Radio Pod, um, blue Sky, Facebook, Instagram, and some other social network that shall go on named.

If you have thoughts or suggestions, drop us a line info@laborradionetwork.org.

We'd love to hear from you folks.

You can also support the network with Union made t-shirts, two colors in all sizes@laborradionetwork.org.

And let me tell you folks, they look great.

They do, they do this podcast recorded as Harold loves to hear us say under a SAG after collective bargaining agreement edited this week.

Easy for me to say by Patrick Dixon, produced by me.

Even easier to say, Chris Garlock and social media always.

And Forever.

And Forever, Mr.

Harold Phillips.

And I guess that's my cue for the Labor Radio Podcast weekly.

I'm Chris Garlock.

I'm Patrick Dixon.

Stay active and stay tuned to your left court rate.

Stay active.

I You did so well.

I thought you were gonna get all the way through Patrick.

Stay active and stay tuned to your local labor radio or podcast show.

And I'm Harold Phillips.

We'll see you next week.