Rite Aid workers, protesting the chain stores union busting. Courtesy AFL-CIO

The Labor Desk at National Radio Project highlights the struggles of everyday people for healthcare, childcare, livable wages and more. This Desk challenges the false image people have of organized labor and the broader labor movement. The Labor Desk also provides training opportunities for independent journalists and individuals involved in community building activities.

Supported by independent funding sources, the Labor Desk is free to explore and expose government and corporate roles in labor issues. Please support the Labor Desk.

Programs from this desk are listed below. Click through for audio, full description, and guest contact information.

The Life, Death, and Rebirth of ACORN (October 23rd, 2012) It took 40 years to build ACORN, but just a few months to bring it down. Local organizers are trying to rebuild, but how is ACORN’s absence affecting elections, poverty, and the continuing housing crisis?

Making it Our Business: Co-ops on the Rise (September 11th, 2012) The global economic situation is causing more people to consider worker owned businesses. We go from Chicago, where workers are trying to take over the factory to save their jobs, to the Basque country in Spain, where an entire region has formed a massive co-operative society.

Ban the Box! The Campaign for Post-Prison Employment ENCORE (July 10th, 2012) It’s not even the crime that counts sometimes. It’s that little box on an application that asks you to reveal if you have a criminal history. Checking that box can mean the difference between failure and success. We look at the nationwide movement to ‘ban-the-box’, and make criminal histories less of a stigma.

Justice in the Home: Domestic Workers Re-define the Labor Movement (April 10th, 2012) With the passage of New York’s Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in 2010, workers are now organizing in California and other states to win basic rights and protections long denied to this labor force. On this edition, we look at past and present struggles of domestic workers.

Ban the Box! The Campaign for Post-Prison Employment (March 13th, 2012) It’s not even the crime that counts sometimes. It’s that little box on an application that asks you to reveal if you have a criminal history. Checking that box can mean the difference between failure and success. We look at the nationwide movement to ‘ban-the-box’, and make criminal histories less of a stigma.

Massachusetts Leads the Way in CORI Reform (March 13th, 2012) In the United States, an estimated 65 million people have had a brush with the law that resulted in a criminal record. And every year, about 650 thousand of them are released from prisons and jails—reemerging into society with one goal—to get back on their feet. To increase opportunity, some states are rethinking their approach to criminal records. Massachusetts is one. With assistance from Deborah Begel, Francesca Rheannon brings us this report.

Looking Back, Moving Forward: 2011 Year in Review (December 27th, 2011) A look back at some of the most important issues of 2011: Attacks on organized labor, the Egyptian revolution, and the struggle to address climate change. We’ll hear highlights from some of our best programs of the year, and get updates on where those stories stand now.

The Toxic Truth About Nail Salons (Encore) (December 6th, 2011) We take a look at the health impacts of chemical exposure, the shoddy regulation of cosmetics, and the movement towards greener nail salons.

Who Won the Egyptian Revolution? (August 30th, 2011) Hosni Mubarak’s dictatorship is gone, but a military council now rules Egypt, and has kept much of Mubarak’s repressive apparatus. Meanwhile, extremist Islamist groups want to adopt undemocratic, right-wing policies. Producer Reese Erlich goes to Cairo to ask: “Who Won the Egyptian Revolution?”

The Wisconsin Workers Uprising (Part 2) (July 24th, 2011) Was the occupation of the state capital in Madison, Wisconsin a resurgence of organized labor in the United States, or the last gasp for unionized workers as they face continual erosion of their rights? This week, we hear Part 2 of a retrospective documentary on the 2011 Wisconsin uprising, produced by Workers Independent News.

The Wisconsin Workers Uprising (Part 1) (July 20th, 2011) Was the occupation of the state capital in Madison, Wisconsin a resurgence of organized labor in the United States, or the last gasp for unionized workers as they face continual erosion of their rights? This week, we hear Part 1 of a retrospective documentary on the 2011 Wisconsin uprising, produced by Workers Independent News.

The Toxic Truth About Nail Salons (January 25th, 2011) We take a look at the health impacts of chemical exposure, the shoddy regulation of cosmetics, and the movement towards greener nail salons.

How We Survive: The Recession Generation (November 23rd, 2010) If you’re a young person looking for a job, it looks pretty dismal out there, and it may not brighten up anytime soon. On this edition of How We Survive, we look at how the economy is hitting the “millennial generation.”

Working Beyond Unions [Labor Day Special Encore] (August 31st, 2010) It’s been decades since the U.S. has had a powerful labor movement and recent efforts to revive it have mostly fallen flat. But there is hope for a new labor movement that goes beyond the unions.

Immigrant Families Behind Bars (encore) (June 22nd, 2010) In a special collaboration with Feet in Two Worlds, we hear about an immigrant family torn apart after an immigration raid in Arizona. Also, grassroots efforts help change policies at a detention center in Texas.

Working Beyond Unions (June 15th, 2010) It’s been decades since the U.S. has had a powerful labor movement and recent efforts to revive it have mostly fallen flat. But there is hope for a new labor movement that goes beyond the unions.

Immigration Reforms: How a Broken System Breaks Communities (January 26th, 2010) We go to two communities sorting through the aftermath of Bush-era federal immigration raids, and to Los Angeles, where American Apparel became the first test case of the Obama administration’s new approach to workplace hiring violations.

Trade Shifts: Reflections on the Seattle WTO Protests (December 2nd, 2009) Ten years ago this week, thousands of people shook the streets of Seattle in protest of the World Trade Organization. On this edition, we revisit the voices from that week and find out how global economic forces have shifted in the past decade.

Immigrant Families Behind Bars (October 21st, 2009) In a special collaboration with Feet in Two Worlds, we hear about an immigrant family torn apart after an immigration raid in Arizona. Also, grassroots efforts help change policies at a detention center in Texas.

How We Survive: Predatory 'Mending' (October 7th, 2009) Activists have been setting up community-run check-cashing and community loan funds as an alternative to predatory lending practices which led to our current foreclosure crisis.l

Still Looking for the Union Label (September 2nd, 2009) In a special collaboration with “Public Eye Magazine,” correspondent Abby Scher takes a look at the EFCA. We also hear from Amy Dean, a longtime union leader who talks about the future of labor unions and tells us what’s up with all the current infighting.

How We Survive: The Deepening Homeless Crisis (encore) (August 26th, 2009) We visit with a family who lost their home and now lives inside their cramped trailer in a city parking lot. And we’ll hear how two different communities are dealing with the economic crisis by taking matters into their own hands.

How We Survive: The Deepening Homeless Crisis (February 18th, 2009) We visit with a family who lost their home and now lives inside their cramped trailer in a city parking lot. And, how two different communities are dealing with the economic crisis by taking matters into their own hands.

Looking Back, Moving Forward 2007 (December 26th, 2007) As the year 2007 ends, we reflect on three key issues we covered this past year and hear the voices of: the immigrant labor force in post-hurricane New Orleans, domestic workers in the United States, and Iraqi refugees on the streets of Damascus.

Women Rising XIII: Enterprising Women (September 12th, 2007) We profile four women entrepreneurs, bravely starting businesses where no one else has ventured and who are leading a worldwide grassroots movement to create micro-enterprise.

Mothers, Migrants and Maids of Honor (encore edition) (September 5th, 2007) They’re mothers, their migrants and they’re caregivers to our children and our elders. Domestic workers are the backbone of many American families, their own families and their communities.

Two Years After Katrina: Still Weathering the Storm (August 29th, 2007) It’s been two years since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast. Two years since the levees broke and changed the face of an entire city, state and region. And despite hopeful signs of renewal, New Orleans and many parts of the Gulf Coast are still in disrepair. So how much has really changed? How much has stayed the same?

Musicians, Migrants and All That Jazz (August 8th, 2007) On this edition, correspondent Reese Erlich talks with musicians to learn how the historic New Orleans music scene endures and how new influences are bringing hope to the struggling city.

New Orleans Now: Immigrants, Labor Rights and the Human Cost of Rebuilding an American City - Part 3 (June 20th, 2007) On this edition, part three of our immigration series, we hear from two people who have affected countless lives by providing a basic necessity: health care.

New Orleans Now: Immigrants, Labor Rights and the Human Cost of Rebuilding an American City - Part 2 (June 13th, 2007) On this edition, part two of our immigration series, we hear from the people on the ground making a difference in the lives of these workers and from the workers themselves.

New Orleans Now: Immigrants, Labor Rights and the Human Cost of Rebuilding an American City - Part 1 (June 6th, 2007) On this edition, we hear from the immigrants themselves and from the people on the ground trying to help them.

Women Rising IX: International Changemakers - Honoring Elder Women Activists (November 22nd, 2006) Women are gaining influence as leaders throughout the world fighting for peace, justice, the environment and civil society. In this program we profile three courageous women elders honoring their lives of dedication to far reaching social movements.

The Color of Wealth (October 4th, 2006) Income generation is one indicator of power differences between racial groups in the United States. But accumulated wealth, not income alone, may be the most revealing index of inequality.

Border Stories: On the Frontlines of the Immigration Debate (September 13th, 2006) On this edition, people who've risked their lives to enter the U.S. undocumented share their personal stories of why they came, and what they hope for their futures and the future of immigrants in this country.

Chile's 9/11 (September 7th, 2005) As US citizens observe the 4th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks, few realize the dark significance of that day in Chilean history. On this edition, a group of Chilean Exiles in the US reflect on the coup, and how music transformed their experience of terror into artistic expression.

Daze of Labor, Days of Change (August 31st, 2005) On this edition of Making Contact, we focus on the root of the American holiday, Labor Day: the contemporary condition of American labor.

Big Box Nation (June 15th, 2005) On this edition, we take you inside the walls of the infamous big box retailer to hear how the company is responding to withering criticism from activists, what Wal-Mart's financial success means for workers and small business owners, and a flap over a pro-Wal-Mart advertisement that compared a city zoning ordinance to book burning in Nazi Germany.

Social Security "Reform": Rolling Back the New Deal (April 27th, 2005) On this edition, we'll explore the importance of the program to those often overlooked in the current debate over Social Security, like young people, and the disabled.

From Cradle to Grave: The Impact of Electronics (encore edition) (December 22nd, 2004) On this week's edition we take a closer look at what our gadgets are doing to our environment.

Working Democracy: Participatory Movements in Latin America (May 12th, 2004) On this edition of Making Contact, we take a look at workers movements in Argentina and Bolivia and investigate how residents of Montreal are using a citizen-based model of democracy from Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Striking Back: Organized Labor and Solidarity (August 27th, 2003) On this special edition from the Labor Desk of the National Radio Project, we take a look at successful efforts by hospital workers in Bronxville, New York, meatpackers in Omaha, Nebraska, and dockworkers in Charleston, South Carolina.

Job Security: Labor Rights and the U.S. War on Terrorism (November 20th, 2002) On this edition of Making Contact, we take a look at national security and labor rights.

Temp Work: Full-Time Insecurity (February 20th, 2002) On this program, we take a look at how the temporary work industry can offer some opportunities, but can also perpetuate job insecurity.