This week’s program looks at the impact of the pandemic on workers in three key sectors. First, Maggie talks with Janice Kelble, a long-time New Hampshire leader of the American Postal Workers Union, who describes challenges that must be overcome for the postal service to continue to function as a provider of needed services and a source of decent jobs. Next, she interviews Jennie Marshall, an experienced teacher and administrator in the Salem School District, who talks about the challenges of teaching without classrooms and the disruption to school communities brought on by ending the school year without traditional rituals. The show ends with Arnie’s interview with Adam Kaczynski, president of IUE-CWA Local 201 in Lynn, MA, where workers are organizing for safety in a large-scale industrial workplace and demanding that their employer, General Electric, shift to production of ventilators.
Janice called attention to a petition posted at https://usmailnotforsale.org/. Adam talked about two online petitions, one calling on President Trump to invoke the Defense Production Act and order GE to produce ventilators, the other calling on General Electric to implement measures to protect the health of its workforce.
Arnie and Maggie also provided brief updates on voting rights, the power struggle between the governor and the legislature over pandemic relief spending, and the recent lawsuit calling for release of immigrants from detention at the county jail in Dover.
Our musical selections for the week were “When I Get to Heaven” from John Prine, “Julian of Norwich” performed by Ann Mayo Muir, Ed Trickett, and Gordon Bok, and “Mister Lonely” from Bobbie Vinton.
