Sam and Emma host Kate Aronoff, climate reporter for the New Republic, to discuss the developments coming out of the COP27 conference in Egypt. Then, they are joined by Jonah Furman of Labor Notes and author of the Who Gets The Bird? newsletter on SubStack to discuss the recent labor updates across the country, including the impending U.S. federal rail strike. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on the UC teachers’ strike, the tally of over 400k early voting ballots in GA, Arizona suing an Arizona county over refusing to certify the election because of another Arizona county’s minor shenanigans, the upcoming marriage equality vote, and various Supreme Court ongoings, before parsing through Kevin McCarthy’s analysis of the GOP’s shortcomings during these past midterms. Kate Aranoff then joins as she explores what COP27 actually is, what environmental policy is being discussed, and who the major actors at the conference are – from the actual national delegates to the private companies’ observers. After tackling the particular role of petrol states at the conference, Kate, Emma, and Sam walk through the history of the UN’s climate change conference and the policy it has sponsored, with the US consistently throwing its weight against any compensatory funds for poorer nations or any policy that attempts to hold developed countries responsible for the environmental impact of their climate policy, as seen specifically with the Kyoto Protocols, before diving deeper into how COP27 has seen that begin to change, writing in a loss and damages fund. They wrap up the interview by tackling the actual material impact of these conferences and the US’s obstructionist actions. Next, Jonah Furman walks Sam and Emma through the particular labor obstacles presented for organizing Railway labor action, exploring the early passing of the RLA well before unionization took hold in the US, and how it creates countless federal obstacles to labor action in the industry. They wrap up by tackling the recent action taken by Joe Biden, in lockstep with Schumer and Pelosi, to push forward his rejected contract, and discuss where the workers’ fight can go from here.

Check out Kate’s work at the New Republic here: https://newrepublic.com/authors/kate-aronoff

Check out Labor Notes here: https://labornotes.org/

Check out Who Gets The Bird? here: https://whogetsthebird.substack.com/

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