Episode

4/17 Chicago Trader Joe’s Vote For Union Election; NLRB Action Against Crowder w/ Daniel Poppen, Matt Bruenig

April 17, 2024

It’s Hump Day! Sam speaks with Daniel Poppen, member of the union organizing committee at the Trader Joe’s location in the North Center neighborhood of Chicago, to discuss the staff’s decision to file for a union election. Then, he speaks with Matt Bruenig, founder of the People’s Policy Project, author of the NLRB Edge newsletter, and co-host of “The Bruenigs” podcast, to discuss his recent NLRB filing against Steven Crowder. First, Sam reacts to State Dept. spokesperson Matthew Miller refusing to answer the Associated Press’s Matt Lee’s question about why they’ve been unable to verify whether Israel struck an Iranian diplomatic target in Syria. Then, Sam’s joined by Dan Poppen as they take us through the steps that led the Trader Joe’s North Center location in Chicago to vote for a union election. Dan discusses some of the issues that have been facing Trader Joe’s workers, the inspiration they’ve received from other unionizing Trader Joe’s locations around the country, and what they can anticipate going forward after the vote totals are finalized. Then, Sam is joined by Matt Bruenig to discuss his representation of Jared Monroe, AKA “Not Gay Jared”, the former “Louder With Crowder” employee, who has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Steven Crowder and the company. Bruenig outlines the main pillars that constitute the NLRB complaint, and provides some context to Jared’s experience while working for Steven Crowder, what that entailed, and what they’re hoping to achieve as the complaint is arbitrated and decided upon.

And in the Fun Half, Sam reacts to Google employees demonstrating and conducting sit-ins against Google’s work with Israel in their New York and California offices. He and Matt then check in on Speaker Johnson’s tightrope walk, attempting to pass a supplemental foreign aid bill, which his far-right faction doesn’t want. Johnson, who’s now referring to him as a “wartime Speaker”, is losing soldiers as an outline has been revealed, with Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry complaining that there’s no border funding in the legislation (it was in another bill that Perry and his cohort didn’t support). On the other end, former Kevin McCarthy confidant Rep. Garret Graves asks the all-important question: “What are Republicans getting” from this supplemental? And now, Speaker Johnson is only being offered tepid support from former President Trump, who is now willing to wait and see what happens to him with the motion to vacate looming over his head. Sam and Matt then turn to Trump’s hush money trial, with Trump attorney and spokesperson Alina Habba telling Fox’s Martha McCallum that Trump will be regarded like *wait for it* Nelson Mandela if he were to be put in jail for violating his gag order. Sam covers the recent Politico scoop of comedian Rob Schneider tanking a performance in front of Senate Republicans and their staffers, before diving into Trump’s recent rally this weekend where he heard chants of “Genocide Joe!”, to which he responded in part by saying: “You’re not wrong”. And, finally, Sam and Matt step into Dave Rubin’s corner, where Rubin discusses his concerns about his inability to “arbitrage” the divide between the left and the right. Then, they check in on Dave’s conversation with Will Cain from last week, where Dave tries his absolute hardest to take shots at Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens while *trying his absolute hardest* not to actually take shots at Tucker Carlson or Candace Owens. Plus, your IM’s!

Find out more about Trader Joe’s union efforts here: https://traderjoesunited.org/

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