Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff

Episode: Higher Education Labor United (HELU) Rises
Date: September 23, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Richard D. Wolff examines major contemporary shifts in labor, corporate policy, and higher education in the United States. The episode is split in two: first, Wolff critiques recent developments in government-labor relations, corporate compensation, and state-corporate mergers; in the second half, he hosts Joe Berry and Helena Worthen—veteran organizers in the movement for contingent/adjunct faculty—to discuss the emergence of the Higher Education Labor United (HELU) and the future for precarious academic workers.

Main Topics and Key Insights

1. Groundbreaking Vermont Labor Contract

[03:20 - 07:50]

• Historic Clause for Democracy:
  Vermont public employees, organized with AFSCME Unit 93 and Vermont AFL-CIO, won the right to take paid leave to participate in collective action “to defend democracy”—including general strikes.
• Labour and Democracy:
  Wolff heralds this as “a first in American labor,” underlining the significance of unions aligning with broader democratic movements, and urges documentation of any similar clauses elsewhere.
• Key Quote:

  “This is the result right now, I don't think this has happened anywhere else. …A first in American labor. That tells you a lot about what's on the mind of working people in today's America, doesn't it?”
  —Richard Wolff [06:35]

2. Tesla’s Record-Setting CEO Compensation

[07:51 - 11:32]

• Elon Musk’s $1 Trillion Pay Package:
  The Tesla board’s unprecedented move to offer Musk a ten-year, trillion-dollar compensation package—despite already being the world’s richest person.
• Systemic Critique of Capitalism:
  Wolff uses this story to highlight systemic inequality in capitalism, emphasizing the trivialization of massive wealth that could address critical social needs.
• Key Quote:

  “A trillion dollars could transform the lives of all Americans—but certainly could go light-years toward solving our poverty problems, our central city problems, with our housing. …The word that ought to come into your mind—this is obscene.”
  —Richard Wolff [10:03]

• Critique of Social Response:
  Wolff laments society’s passivity:

  “…that we live in a society that reads the headline which says it and doesn't know anything other than to do to turn the page...It boggles the mind…”
  —Richard Wolff [11:07]

3. Corporate-Government Mergers and American Fascism

[11:33 - 15:00]

• Big Tech and Government Collusion:
  Recent government actions—like investment in Intel and profit-sharing agreements with Nvidia and AMD—signal a blending of corporate and state power.
• Historical Parallels:
  Wolff draws explicit connections to fascism:

  “There's a name for the merging of the top levels of corporate private corporations and the top levels of a particular political government. …In Germany, that's what Hitler did and it was called Nazism. In Italy…fascism…”
  —Richard Wolff [13:27]

• Alarm on Labor Suppression:
  Raises the specter of the state using force against labor actions in “merged” corporations.

4. Interview: The Rise of Contingent Labor in Higher Education

[19:28 - 33:05]

Who Are Contingent Faculty?

[19:28 - 21:10]

• Definition and Prevalence:
  About 75% of U.S. higher-ed teaching staff are contingents—contract, adjunct, or part-time faculty hired with no job security between terms.
• Significance:
  These faculty are as qualified as tenure-track peers but face job insecurity and little institutional power.
• Key Quote:

  “Probably 75% of all people who are doing the work of faculty in higher education are hired on a contingent basis...they can be tossed out...for whatever reason.”
  —Helena Worthen [19:28]

Unions and Precarious Faculty

[22:21 - 25:10]

• Unionization Landscape:
  20–25% union coverage—much higher than national private sector averages. Yet, many contracts don’t solve core instability.
• Union Diversity and Limitations:
  Multiple unions represent adjuncts, partially because traditional unions long ignored or rejected them.
• Key Quote:

  “Unions have helped, but not nearly enough. And still only 20 to 25% of us are covered by them.”
  —Joe Berry [23:43]

Attacks on Education: What’s At Stake?

[25:10 - 28:36]

• Devaluation of Public Education:
  Panelists decry the anti-education ethos of cost-cutting and “efficiency” reforms, warning such attacks show how powerful— and threatening—real education can be.
• Key Quote:

  “The attack on education is a sign of how threatening education is.”
  —Helena Worthen [26:55]

Precarity and Academic Freedom

[27:19 - 30:16]

• Chilling Effect on Teaching:
  Job insecurity discourages critical inquiry, as faculty fear backlash and dismissal for controversial or political content.
• Erosion of Academic Freedom:
  Examples include Florida’s DeSantis policies encouraging students to surveil and report instructors.
• Key Quote:

  “…the impact on academic freedom is being felt up and down the faculty in higher education, not just among contingents.”
  —Helena Worthen [29:44]

Why It Matters Beyond Academia

[30:54 - 33:05]

• Broader Societal Impact:
  Higher education shapes public discourse, job training, and the civic health of the working-class majority.

  “Higher education is not a niche. …it is important in constructing the discourse in the society as a whole.”
  —Joe Berry [31:24]

• Vision for the Future:
  HELU envisions higher ed serving—and liberating—the majority, not just providing elite job training for a ruling class.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the significance of labor action for democracy:

  “Multi-day regional actions without loss of pay these workers can participate in if it's to defend democracy...”
  —Richard Wolff [05:08]

• On political-economic mergers:

  “…the merger of the big corporations and the big government make the people oppressing us stronger and more unified. And that ought to worry you, as it should every working man, woman and child in this country.”
  —Richard Wolff [14:26]

• On the future of higher ed:

  “There is a future that's possible for higher ed that serves the working class majority of the country and also is not oppressive and is liberating to the people who work in it.”
  —Joe Berry [32:36]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:20] Vermont’s “Defend Democracy” labor clause
• [07:51] Tesla's Musk trillion-dollar pay package
• [11:33] Google fines & state-corporate mergers
• [19:28] Who are contingent faculty and why they matter
• [22:21] The (limited) role of unions for precarious faculty
• [25:10] Political attacks on education
• [27:19] Precarity's impact on teaching and academic freedom
• [30:54] Why contingent faculty issues matter to “everyone”
• [32:36] HELU’s alternative vision for higher education

Tone & Language

Wolff’s delivery is impassioned, critical, and direct—he connects headlines to systemic issues and doesn’t shy from historical parallels or pointed commentary. His guests, Berry and Worthen, bring both practical expertise and a sense of solidarity, placing the crisis of academic labor in a broader fight for social justice and democracy.

Summary

This episode is an urgent and thorough exploration of how today’s economic and political realities—from labor organizing in Vermont to corporate-government convergence to the struggles and possibilities of academic labor—impact not just workers but the health of democracy and society itself. Berry and Worthen’s insights into the contingent faculty crisis and the rise of HELU ground the discussion in a call for organizing, solidarity, and an education system that empowers all.