Episode
May 1: A Nationwide ‘Economic Blackout’ Against Billionaires and Authoritarianism
- Podcast
- The Real News Podcast
- Published
- Apr 29, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2866
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Summary
Inspired by January’s mass strike against ICE terror in Minnesota, a vast coalition of labor unions, democratic organizations, and community groups are organizing a nationwide economic blackout on Friday, May 1, International Workers Day. “May Day Strong events are being planned across the US,” Michael Sainato reports at The Guardian , “with organizers calling for ‘no school, no work, no shopping,’ in protest of government policies they say put billionaires’ needs above those of workers.” In this episode of Working People , we speak with a panel of guests who are all involved in organizing May Day events this week from Philadelphia to Chicago to Iowa. Panelists include: Jana Korn, who currently serves as the chief of staff for the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO, and also serves on the board of Philadelphia Jobs with Justice; Jeff Kurtz, a retired locomotive engineer and union officer who also served as a state representative in the Iowa House of Representatives; and John Emiliano, a healthcare worker and organizer in Chicago with the Tahanan Center and Tanggol Migrante, a grassroots Filipino migrant defense network. Additional links/info: May Day Strong coalition website Workers Over Billionaires 2026 - Philadelphia Linktree Workers Over Billionaires 2026 - Chicago details Lee County (Iowa) Labor Chapter Facebook page and May Day 2026 details Tahanan Filipino Center Instagram Tanggol Migrante website Latino Union of Chicago website Michael Sainato, The Guardian , “ US activists plan May Day economic blackout: ‘No school, no work, no shopping’ ” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support . Help us continue pr…