David Sirota joins us on the show this week to discuss what has become a horrific environmental disaster for East Palestine, Ohio, where residents have reported serious health issues and animals dying from the pollution. Add to that the struggle that those affected by the toxic chemical release will face as they grapple with the United States’ punishingly cost-prohibitive healthcare system for the care that they need. In so many ways, what happened in East Palestine speaks to the government’s profound failure to protect Americans both in the workplace (as in the case of overworked rail workers with no sick leave) and at home. It also shows that the cause of organized labor is capable of confronting and organizing around that failure, and that if the Democratic Party had lived up to its promises to fully stand with labor in December, thousands of people’s lives would be very different right now.
Thanks for joining us for this essential conversation. You can listen to this episode as a podcast when it’s released tomorrow on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and more.
Episode 112 Audio: David Sirota