Bill Resnick talks with labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein about debates over building the labor movement, dealing especially with the SEIU (Service Workers International Union), the nation's largest union.  He discusses these issues also in a recent op-ed column in the LA Times.  

Attorney Mike Snedeker and the Old Mole's Jan Haaken reflect on the place of sex work --especially prostitution-- in society.  They discuss the controversy in Portland about "prostitution free zones" along SE 82d Avenue, and the different approaches to these matters in European countries like the Netherlands, emulated by Proposition K on the November ballot in San Francisco.

Old  Mole Frann Michel draws on Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale to focus on the  exploitation and coercion of of women's reproductive  labor.  More specifically, she examines recent political battles over access to abortion, contraception, and sex education, and the need for women to be free to choose when and whether to bear and raise children.  You can read her piece with many links to follow up on right here. 

Is the Obama  campaign  part  of  a  progressive politics?   Clayton Morgareidge quotes and sums up pieces  from three writers taking very different positions:  Steven Rosenfled, writing on AlterNet; Adoph Reed in the Black Agenda Report; and Bill Fletcher Jr. writing in The Black Commentator. 

The Moles celebrate Labor Day by burrowing into issues surrounding  several  kinds of labor.  Labor  Historian Nathan Lichtenstein  talks  labor movement strategy and the SEIU with Bill Resnick.  Mike  Snedker and Jan Haaken  consider the plight of sex workers in Portland.  Frann Michel analyzes controversies  about women's labor and women's sexuality.  And Clayton Morgareidge reviews  progressive takes on Barack Obama.  Hear  the  whole  show by hitting the arrow  above, or  separate pieces  by following the links below:

1.  Labor Strategy and  the SEIU

2.  Sex Work in Portland