Listen: Sara Nelson’s Dire Warning; Eric Adams’ Citizenship Pitch, and More
Association of Flight Attendants President Sarah Nelson warns Trump has put every union in America at risk.
By Bob Hennelly
In a wide ranging interview, Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA warns every union in America is at risk if there's not a successful fight back against President Trump's evisceration of the collective bargaining rights for hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
Trump, with a successive series of executive orders has zeroed out union contracts across the board citing national security.
Nelson notes that President Reagan's firing of striking air traffic controllers resulted in union density being reduced nationwide. She rightly argues, union density is now just six percent of the American workforce and Trump's Project 2025 moves could bring it closer to zero.
AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL
This week, AFA-CWA is also working in solidarity with the flight attendants at Air Canada who are defying a government order to go back to work. The Canadian Union of Public Employees, representing 10,000 flight attendants, is asserting that the government “back to work” order violates their constitutional rights.
Nelson also expresses support for Chris Smalls, the founder of the Amazon Labor Union, who was beaten and taken into custody by Israeli military forces after they took over the Gaza-bound aid ship Handala in July.
Protests continue to grow around the world and even inside Israel, where CNN is reporting a grassroots general strike is underway calling for an end to Israel's military campaign that came in response to Hamas's brutal Oct. 7th attack that killed 1,200 people.
The Gaza healthcare system itself, as well as basic public infrastructure, has been decimated by the Israeli military. So far, the official civilian death toll is over 60,000, although some experts on the region insist that body count is most likely much higher.
Here at home, the Trump administration has backed off its attempt to consolidate a controversial takeover of Washington D.C. Police Department, by putting the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration in charge of the municipal police force after a federal judge threatened to intervene.
The New York Times is reporting that despite the latest threat of judicial intervention, federal agents and the National Guard are free to continue patrolling the streets of the nation's capital, a move Trump says was necessary despite a widely reported drop in crime.
After a similar deployment in Los Angeles that included the U.S. military, President Trump has repeatedly threatened similar action targeting other cities that are led by Democratically-elected mayors where crime is actually declining.
MAYOR ADAMS SPEAKS
This is also one of the topics we discussed in a sit-down with current New York City Mayor Eric Adams up at Gracie Mansion last week. Allegations that Mayor Adams is too closely aligned with the Trump administration's mass deportation strategy continue to be one of the defining issues in this year's mayoral campaign, especially after the dismissal of Mayor Adams’ federal corruption case earlier this year.
In his interview, Mayor Adams supports the federal government extending a pathway to citizenship for the many thousands of undocumented residents who put their lives at risk as essential workers during COVID.
Last Thursday, New York City Council Speaker Adreinne Adams blasted the mayor’s decision to veto legislation his administration had helped develop to shield street vendors from criminal penalties which could lead to deportation.
Stucknation Labor WBAI radio was there and includes the Speaker's remarks in this episode.
We also hear from Dr. Steven Auerbach, formerly a Captain in the U.S. Health Service, about serious concerns being raised by physicians around the country about the mistreatment of immigrant detainees that have been abducted by masked ICE agents including at 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan. Multiple press reports have documented cases where detainees in need of medical care had that care denied or significantly delayed with actual deaths being reported.
Today, a coalition from New York Doctors, with the New York Lawyers for Public Interest, the New York Immigration Coalition and Make the Road New York gathered for a press conference at 26 Federal Plaza.
Listeners also get an update from Layla Law-Gisko, the Democratic District Leader for Assembly District 75 about a plan being fast-tracked to demolish 24 NYCHA buildings for a controversial redevelopment plan spearheaded by the Related Company in the Chelsea district of Manhattan.
Listen to the entire show below: