Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff

Episode: Union Organizing In Today's U.S.
Date: October 28, 2025
Host: Richard D. Wolff
Guests: Alex Pine (Blue Bottle Independent Union), Anastasia Wilson (Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Solidarity Research Center)

Episode Overview

This episode explores the state and strategy of union organizing in the contemporary United States, focusing especially on the growing movement among service sector workers such as coffee shop baristas and grocery clerks. Richard Wolff, joined by organizers Alex Pine and economist Anastasia Wilson, discusses why unions are resurging, how new forms of inquiry are informing organizing efforts, and the deeper implications for workplace democracy and economic justice.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Economic Downturns and Capitalist Instability

• Wolff opens by contextualizing the current economic anxieties in the historic and cyclical instability of capitalism.
  • “Economic downturns are a feature of capitalism. It is arguably among the most unstable economic systems the human race has ever instituted for itself.” (03:07)
• Discusses recent stock market volatility and the disproportionate power the wealthy have over triggering or cushioning recessions.
  • “It’s the same small part of the population that are the employers who are the rich people who do most of the consuming...” (07:57)
• Argues that more equal distribution of income and democratic management of businesses could reduce systemic risk.

2. The U.S. Economy’s Shift and Isolationism

• Addresses JP Morgan Chase’s pledge of $1.5 trillion towards “national security and self-reliance,” interpreting it as a sign of inward economic nationalism and a symptom of U.S. imperial decline.
  • “We are not interested in the world anymore. We’re turning inward. That’s what it’s about.” (13:50)
• Critiques both private and governmental moves to disengage from the global economy.

3. Social Violence as a Symptom

• Draws connections between mass shootings and imperial violence abroad, questioning the normalization of violence as a social response.
  • “We have a tendency to solve the national problems violently, and yet we seem puzzled why inside. Violence is so often how people express their difficulties, their hostilities, their problems.” (16:30)

Main Segment: Union Organizing in Today’s U.S.

4. Historical Context for Labor Organizing

• Wolff situates current union efforts within the sweep of U.S. history, noting the unique surge in the 1930s and pondering a possible new era of labor resurgence.
  • “One of the great questions these last few years has been whether...we may be on the cusp of, or may already be in a new beginning, a resurgence of the labor movement in this country.” (19:09)

5. Blue Bottle Independent Union: A Case Study

Organizing Milestones

• Alex Pine explains Blue Bottle’s ownership (by Nestlé), organizing victories, and ongoing challenges in contract negotiations.
  • “We’ve successfully unionized nine of those locations...and the company has continuously delayed and stalled getting to an agreement on a first contract.” (20:34)

The Workers’ Inquiry Method

• Anastasia Wilson introduces the "Workers Inquiry" as a research and organizing strategy with roots in Marxist tradition.
  • “We’re working in the tradition of what sort of Marx laid out, which was this 101 question survey...about what it’s like to experience work, the imposition of work under capital.” (22:03)
• The inquiry uncovers detailed, worker-driven accounts of day-to-day challenges and aspirations, distributed through zines and media, which helps generate grassroots participation and consciousness.
  • “Surveying our coworkers and getting their first person narratives...has been really instrumental in informing our approach to organizing and also in having different stories that we can reflect back to our coworkers.” – Alex Pine (23:23)
  • “Everybody is an expert on their experience at work and their experience with what capital does to us.” – Anastasia Wilson (28:58)

Bridging Organizers and Rank-and-File Workers

• Wolff emphasizes that this method prevents a divide between union leadership and membership, a perennial issue in labor activism.
  • “Working to prevent that at the beginning is probably the best way to prevent it from growing later on.” (24:08)

Expanding the Method: Grocery Worker Organizing

• Wilson and Pine discuss adapting Workers Inquiry to grocery sector campaigns, citing inspiration from Trader Joe’s United and New Seasons Labor Union.
  • “There’s a lot of organizing in the grocery sector right now...Trader Joe’s United or New Seasons labor union as inspirations.” – Alex Pine (26:13)

Worker Responses and Collective Creation

• Workers’ input ranges from technical issues (like fridge placement) to workplace camaraderie and morale, demonstrating that involvement creates a sense of agency and unity.
  • “It sounds kind of silly...but I can tell you that...the placement of drains or...kinds of syrups...are things that...people care about just as much [as wages].” – Alex Pine (26:51)
  • “Making zines which include people’s responses...is another part of the organizing, because people love arts and crafts.” – Alex Pine (27:37)

Honoring the Worker’s Expert Experience

• Wolff underscores that the Workers Inquiry respects workers’ knowledge, which is typically ignored in mainstream culture.
  • “By making an inquiry, you’re telling these people their story, their concern about the placement of the refrigerator has a value to you. This is a very important message.” (27:51)

Broader Implications for Workplace Democracy

• Both guests and Wolff connect these organizing methods with the larger vision of worker-run enterprises.
  • “In that little moment of ‘we can do the refrigeration placement better,’ you have the kernel of something which...these enterprises could be and would be and should be better organized if the workers ran them themselves.” – Richard Wolff (30:31)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Capitalist Power Structures:
  • “Capitalism is a system that the majority are held hostage, economically speaking, by the minority. And that is something you ought to think about...” – Richard Wolff (09:01)
• On the Value of Workers' Experiences:
  • “Everybody is an expert on their experience at work and their experience with what capital does to us.” – Anastasia Wilson (28:58)
• On Organizing Tactics:
  • “Surveying our coworkers...has been really instrumental...to know what our co workers are thinking...and also to help them gain a kind of consciousness about their own experiences.” – Alex Pine (23:23)
• On Workplace Democracy and Unionization:
  • “These enterprises could be and would be and should be better organized if the workers ran them themselves. And that thought is already present in what you’re doing.” – Richard Wolff (30:31)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Economic context & recession anxieties: 00:20–10:30
• U.S. economic nationalism & imperial decline: 10:31–16:00
• Social violence, normalization & systemic causes: 16:01–17:40
• Historical overview of U.S. labor movement: 18:03–19:59
• Blue Bottle Union organizing story: 20:19–21:18
• Workers Inquiry method & impact: 21:43–24:10
• Expanding inquiry to grocery sector: 25:10–26:44
• Worker responses to the inquiry: 26:44–28:20
• Zines & honoring worker expertise: 27:37–28:54
• Broader vision of democratic enterprise: 30:12–31:37

Episode Tone

• Analytical, yet accessible
• Candid and supportive of worker-led movements
• Emphasizes solidarity, democracy, and the possibility of transformative change

Final Thoughts

This episode offers an inside look at new strategies for labor organizing in today’s U.S., illustrating how worker-driven inquiry and collective storytelling fuel both the practical fight for better contracts and the larger movement for workplace democracy. It champions the expertise and voices of those who do the work—showing unionization not just as a negotiation tactic, but as a step toward fundamentally reimagining how our workplaces, and our economy, could be run.