Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff

Episode: "Union Organizing In Today’s U.S."

Date: October 28, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode focuses on the resurgence of union organizing in the United States, particularly in retail and service sectors such as coffee shops and grocery stores. Richard D. Wolff hosts two guests, Blue Bottle Independent Union organizer Alex Pine and economics professor/organizer Anastasia Wilson, to explore modern union strategies, the methodology of workers' inquiries, and how bottom-up organizing is reinvigorating the labor movement. The conversation shines a light on collective worker empowerment, innovative organizing tactics, and the broader economic context affecting these trends.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Capitalism’s Instability and Recession Anxiety

Timestamps: 02:00 - 08:00

• Recurring Economic Downturns:
  Wolff opens with an analysis of the capitalist system's cyclical crises, detailing how recessions or depressions every 4-7 years are built into the system.

  "Economic downturns are a feature of capitalism. It is arguably among the most unstable economic systems the human race has ever instituted for itself."
  — Richard Wolff (03:07)

• Role of the Top 10%:
  Market instability and the health of the overall economy are largely determined by the wealthiest 10%, who account for half of all consumer spending and the vast majority of business investment. If this small minority pulls back, downturns spiral.

  "Capitalism is a system that the majority are held hostage, economically speaking, by the minority."
  — Richard Wolff (08:00)

• A More Democratic Economy:
  Wolff suggests that democratizing enterprises and redistributing income more equally could reduce economic instability.

2. Economic Nationalism and America’s Changing Role

Timestamps: 09:10 - 13:00

• JP Morgan’s Nationalist Turn:
  Announcement of JPMorgan Chase’s $1.5 trillion ten-year commitment to “national security and self-reliance” is seen as a public admission of the failures of international capitalism.

  "We are not interested in the world anymore. We're turning inward. That's what it’s about."
  — Richard Wolff (11:35)

• Isolation and Decline:
  Wolff connects economic nationalism and protectionism to America’s relative decline in the world economy and increased isolation.

  "We are a declining part of the world economy. And instead of trying to work out our relationship with the rest of the world, we're turning inward."
  — Richard Wolff (12:50)

3. Societal Violence as Economic Symptom

Timestamps: 13:00 - 16:00

• Mass Shootings & Social Context:
  Wolff draws parallels between rising domestic violence (340 mass shootings in 2025 at the time of recording) and a broader culture of violence, linking it to imperial decline and how U.S. society attempts to solve problems, both domestic and international, through force rather than cooperation.

  "The decline of the empire shows up that way, too."
  — Richard Wolff (15:35)

Main Interview: The New Wave of Union Organizing

4. Historic Surge and Modern Parallels

Timestamps: 18:00 - 20:15

• Labor History:
  Wolff contextualizes the current labor movement within the surge of unionization during the Great Depression, noting today’s energy in coffee shops, warehouses, and retail.

  "One of the great questions these last few years has been whether… we may be on the cusp of… a resurgence of the labor movement in this country."
  — Richard Wolff (18:45)

5. Organizing Blue Bottle Coffee

Timestamps: 20:15 - 21:45

• The Union Effort:
  Alex Pine details the campaign to unionize Blue Bottle (owned by Nestlé): nine stores unionized (six in Boston, three in the Bay Area), but the fight for a first contract with management continues as the company stalls negotiations.

  "We've been fighting for a first contract for a livable wage for the past year. And the company has continuously delayed and stalled getting to an agreement."
  — Alex Pine (20:58)

6. The Workers’ Inquiry: Theory and Practice

Timestamps: 21:45 - 23:30

• What is a Workers’ Inquiry?:
  Anastasia Wilson explains this organizing tool—rooted in Marxist methodology—as a deep survey and interview method allowing workers to articulate the reality of their work.

  "Collecting this information and then distributing it… is a really important way to… circulate struggles, to understand how to do this work… how to form an independent union."
  — Anastasia Wilson (22:31)

• Firsthand Narratives Build Power:
  Pine describes how gathering coworker stories both informs organizing strategy and helps workers connect over shared experiences, raising collective consciousness.

  "Surveying our coworkers and getting their first person narratives… has been really instrumental in informing our approach to organizing."
  — Alex Pine (23:25)

7. Bridging the Worker–Leadership Divide

Timestamps: 24:00 - 24:45

• Preventing Organizational Drift:
  Wolff notes the frequent disconnect between union leadership and rank-and-file members; workers’ inquiry helps prevent this by maintaining grassroots focus.

8. Expanding the Inquiry to Grocery Workers

Timestamps: 25:10 - 26:26

• From Coffee to Groceries:
  Wilson and Pine describe how their methods are now informing union campaigns in the grocery sector, with inspiration from groups like Trader Joe’s United.

  "There's a lot of organizing in the grocery sector right now. I look to Trader Joe's United… as inspirations for my own organizing personally."
  — Alex Pine (26:16)

9. Worker Response & Collective Identity

Timestamps: 26:26 - 28:54

• Honoring All Experiences:
  Pine shares how small suggestions matter—a coworker's comment about moving fridges demonstrates that all aspects of the job, not just wages, are meaningful organizing issues.

  "It sounds kind of silly to anybody that doesn't work in a cafe, but I can tell you that, like, the placement of drains or… syrups… are things… people care about just as much."
  — Alex Pine (26:55)

• Making Collective Culture:
  Arts and crafts (like zine-making) based on workers’ stories further build camaraderie and break down barriers.

• Expertise from Below:
  Wilson emphasizes that each worker is an expert on their own labor conditions, building dignity and solidarity.

  "Everybody is an expert on their experience at work and their experience with what sort of capital does...
  — Anastasia Wilson (28:58)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the workers’ inquiry as transformation:

  "By making an inquiry, you're telling these people their story… has a value to you. This is a very important message, and for successful unionizing, I would think it is almost magic."
  — Richard Wolff (27:45)

• On collective imagination and self-management:

  “…in that little moment of 'we can do the refrigeration placement better,' you have the kernel of something which on this program we emphasize all the time: that these enterprises could be and would be and should be better organized if the workers ran them themselves."
  — Richard Wolff (30:58)

Closing Sentiments

• On the wider significance:

  "What you're describing is not only a way of drawing these people into the unionization effort… but… the kernel of workers running their own enterprises. And for that, this is a very important program."
  — Richard Wolff (31:13)

Key Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------------|------------| | Economic cycles and instability | 02:00–08:00| | JP Morgan’s nationalist pivot | 09:10–13:00| | Social violence & imperial decline | 13:00–16:00| | Labor history context and resurgence | 18:00–20:15| | Blue Bottle union organizing | 20:15–21:45| | Workers’ Inquiry explained | 21:45–23:30| | Preventing the leadership–worker divide | 24:00–24:45| | Expansion to grocery worker organizing | 25:10–26:26| | Worker responses to inquiries | 26:26–28:54| | Building solidarity and dignity | 28:54–30:12| | The case for democratic workplaces | 30:12–31:37|

Takeaways

• Economic instability is structurally rooted in capitalism; recession fears are well-founded.
• The wealthy minority wields immense economic power, effectively holding the economy hostage.
• Organized labor is finding new life in low-wage, service-based sectors, blending historical tactics with innovative bottom-up strategies like workers’ inquiries.
• Honoring workers’ lived experiences and fostering collective expertise are central to this new wave of union organizing.
• The push toward democratic control in the workplace holds potential not just for better contracts, but for reimagining how businesses can be run.

This episode provides both a sobering look at systemic economic issues and an inspiring glimpse into the practical resurgence of labor solidarity among frontline workers in contemporary America.