Union Talk Podcast
Latest Episode, 4/23/25
Higher Education Under Attack
President Trump has declared war on America’s colleges and universities. The administration has launched investigations into dozens of colleges and universities and stripped billions in research grants from schools. The administration is disappearing students who are in the U.S. legally for exercising their First Amendment rights. Three professors and union leaders join AFT President Randi Weingarten to provide a view from the frontlines of Trump’s war on knowledge and discuss how we can fight back.
More Episodes
3/25/25
Economic Opportunity or Destruction?
We're talking economics on this episode of Union Talk, but you won’t need a Ph.D. to join the conversation. This episode focuses on how the economic policies of President Trump and Elon Musk hurt working and middle-class Americans—many of the same people who voted for Trump hoping he would help reduce costs and help working people achieve a better life. Economic expert Damon Silvers joins to set the baseline for the damage Trump and Musk are doing, and teachers Greg Cruey and Ternesha Burroughs share what their communities in Minnesota and West Virginia are experiencing. The group also discusses the labor movement's role in moving an agenda for broad-based opportunity and ensuring working people and their children have a shot at the American dream.
2/27/25
Wrecking Ball: Teachers on the Devastating Impact Trump’s Education Cuts Will Have on Kids
Direct from the classroom, four teachers join AFT President Randi Weingarten to talk about the devasting impact that President Trump’s and Elon Musk’s education cuts will have on their students and communities. From ripping away services for special education students and supports for impoverished kids to robbing working-class students of Pell Grants and the chance to go to college, social studies teachers Heather Stambaugh and Rodney Fresh and special education teachers Marsena Toney and Jennifer Graves give a firsthand account of how these cuts will hurt kids. They also discuss ways they are standing up to protect kids and preview actions happening across the country on March 4 to stop these cuts.
1/17/25
Union Talk ON STRIKE: Oregon Healthcare Professionals Stand Up for Better Care Conditions
5,000 nurses, physicians and other medical professionals are on strike in Oregon, the largest healthcare strike in the state’s history. After a day on the strike line, Dr. Lesley Liu and Rebekah Van Dyke, RN, join AFT President Randi Weingarten to share why they’re on strike and how they’re standing up for their patients, their profession and a fix to a healthcare system that puts profits before patients and caregivers.
12/18/24
Finding Common Ground
AFT President Randi Weingarten sits down with two union members — one who voted for Harris and one who voted for Trump – to discuss not only what the November election meant to them, but how we can all find common ground within our union to fight for workers across America.
11/18/24
The Power and Future of Unions with Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su
AFT President Randi Weingarten goes one-on-one with Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su to discuss the transformative power of labor, the recent rise of labor unions and how we can secure a better future for our kids by connecting education and industry in exciting ways.
11/3/24
2024 Election Ground Game
AFT President Randi Weingarten invites election canvassers and organizers to discuss the importance of talking face-to-face to get out the vote during the crucial last few days of election season. Her guests are Labor Council for Latin American Advancement Westchester Chapter President Maria Kercado, Yolanda King from the Detroit Federation of Teachers,Ashanti Wood from For Our Future and Kate Sundeen from the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.
11/4/22
2022 Midterm Roundtable with Congressional Candidates Nikki Budzinski, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Rep. Jahana Hayes and Robert Zimmerman
11/01/21
Do you have student debt? New Changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and how this can help you!
About UnionTalk
On Union Talk, AFT president Randi Weingarten interviews workers, policymakers and experts who are confronting the issues working families face and championing solutions. From the classroom to the bargaining table to Congress to the streets, Union Talk looks at the past, present and possible ways the labor movement and unions are vehicles to secure opportunity, justice and a voice in our democracy for all. Different episodes of Union Talk do deep dives on great public schools and affordable higher education, healthcare as a right, unions, an economy that works for all and what it takes to maintain a thriving democracy. Union Talk tells the stories that demonstrate that together we can accomplish for our families and communities what is impossible to do alone.