Episodes
Co-host Carolyn Bobb sits down for a conversation about the AFL-CIO's newest affiliate, the National Women's Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA), with its Executive Director Meghann Burke.
Published 12/23/21
Published 12/23/21
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler sits down with Emily‘s List President Laphonza Butler to talk about life as newly elected women leaders as Shuler celebrates her first 100 days. They lay out their plans to build more inclusive labor and political movements, respectively. They also discuss how their lives have changed since becoming new leaders of their organizations.
Published 12/01/21
Tim and Carolyn sit down with Jimmy Williams Jr., general president of the Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), to discuss the ongoing membership work of the IUPAT. They also talk about the positive impact the Build Back Better legislative agenda, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act will have on working people across the country.
Published 11/15/21
Tim and Carolyn are joined by two BCTGM members on strike at Kellogg's, Heather Greene and Andrew Johnson.
Published 11/02/21
Congressman Chuy García (Ill.) joined Tim and Carolyn to discuss the Build Back Better agenda, infrastructure and what passage of the PRO Act would mean for working people all across the country.
Published 11/01/21
Tim and Carolyn are joined by American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten to discuss back to school, the state of play on Capitol Hill and the rise of unions.  
Published 10/04/21
On this week‘s episode of ”State of the Unions,” co-hosts Tim Schlittner and Carolyn Bobb sit down with National Nurses United (NNU) Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN, to discuss how nurses went above and beyond to speak out and advocate for patient care and workplace safety while on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Published 09/20/21
Tim and new co-host Carolyn Bobb discuss the legacy of Richard Trumka, Liz Shuler and the new leadership team at AFL-CIO and talk to Labor Secretary Marty Walsh.
Published 09/06/21
Julie and Guest Co-host Carolyn Bobb sat down with Matt Morrison, executive director of Working America, to discuss how the affiliate union is mobilizing millions of workers from all demographics who otherwise lack representation at work.
Published 03/18/20
Tim and Julie sit down with M.K. Fletcher, AFL-CIO Safety & Health Specialist to talk all things Coronavirus (COVID-19), what the labor movement is doing and how we are responding to ensure that frontline workers' needs are taken care of.
Published 03/04/20
Meet Caleb-Michael, the new executive producer of State of the Unions as he reintroduces SOTU Pod Episode 16, Can't Stop. Won't Shop. Stories from a UFCW Picket Line. In this episode Julie and Tim talk to Kristen Johnson, a deli manager and shop steward at the Stop & Shop in Somerville, Massachusetts. Kristen and more than 30,000 of her co-workers, members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), are out on strike for fair pay, benefits and respect on the job.
Published 02/19/20
Podcast co-host Tim talks with AFL-CIO EVP Tefere Gebre about his journey from being an Ethiopian refugee to success in the labor movement in Orange County, California, and in Washington, D.C., and the people and institutions that helped him along the way.
Published 02/05/20
Podcast co-hosts Julie and Tim talk to with Rev. Leah Daughtry, CEO of "On These Things," about Reconnecting McDowell, a project of the American Federation of Teachers that takes a holistic approach to revitalizing the education and community of McDowell, West Virginia, and how her faith informs her activism.
Published 01/22/20
Podcast co-hosts Julie and Tim talk to International Association of Fire Fighters General President Harold Schaitberger about IAFF's Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Treatment and Recovery, 9/11 and the life of a firefighter.
Published 01/08/20
Co-hosts Julie and Tim take a look behind the scenes of "State of the Unions" and chat with the team that makes the podcast and talks about everyone's favorite episodes of 2019.  
Published 12/25/19
Podcast co-host Tim Schlittner and guest host and AFL-CIO International Director Cathy Feingold talk with Professor Cas Mudde, a political scientist from the University of Georgia. Mudde has a new book, "The Far Right Today," which takes a look at the resurgence of right-wing politicians and activists across the globe, much of it cloaked in populist, worker-friendly rhetoric.
Published 12/11/19
Podcast co-host Tim Schlittner talks to Guy Ryder, the director-general of the ILO about the international labor movement, the idea of "decent labor" and the future of work.  
Published 11/26/19
Julie and Tim talk with Will Attig about his work connecting the labor movement and the veterans community. 
Published 11/13/19
Tim talks to union member and Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Mark Pocan (Wis.) about strikes, trade, health care, LGBTQ equality and the freedom to form a union. 
Published 10/30/19
Julie and Tim talk to Maine Senate President Troy Jackson (IUPAT/IAM) about his path to power and the experiences that have shaped his life and career.
Published 10/16/19
Julie and Tim talk to U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (Ohio) about worker power, automation, trade and his decision to stay in the Senate. 
Published 10/02/19
Julie and Tim check in with Industrial Union Council Executive Director Brad Markell about the UAW strike at GM and interview UC Hastings Associate Law Professor Veena Dubal, whose work helped pave the way for passage of AB 5, landmark pro-worker legislation in California. 
Published 09/18/19
Julie and Tim talk to SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris about the future of work, sexual harassment and her journey from young actor to labor leader. 
Published 09/04/19
Tim talks to NABTU Chief of Staff Mike Monroe about a Department of Labor proposal that would undermine world-class apprenticeships in the construction industry.
Published 08/21/19