Ben Purtill

Author: Ben Purtill

The ebb and flow of class struggle in British miners’ unions

Ben Purtill reviews Huw Benyon and Ray Hudson’s The Shadow of the Mine: Coal and the End of Industrial Britain.

Jack Mundey, BLF members and local residents at a Green Ban demonstration, 1973.

Class power can remake society: remembering Australia’s “green ban” movement

Ben Purtill recounts when building laborers in Australia stopped work, first over wages and working conditions, and then to protect the environment, among other “social” causes.

Organizing Work

Wobcast #1: Not The Standard Playbook

00:00 / 49:38

Wobcast #1: Not The Standard Playbook

Nov 1, 2018 • 49:38

Introducing Wobcast! This is a podcast produced out of the Edmonton branch of the IWW. It is about workplace organizing, with a focus on solidarity unionism. In this first episode, Nick Driedger explains the difference between solidarity unionism and “workplace contractualism” — the mainstream approach
Wobcast #2: Proof of Concept

Jan 17, 2019 • 1:13:15

In the second episode of our podcast, Marianne Garneau argues that the Stardust campaign in NYC is the “proof of concept” of the solidarity unionism model developed by the IWW. Find us on Stitcher and iTunes. RSS feed here. Hear episode one of our podcast
Wobcast #3: Organizing Reproductive Work

Apr 29, 2019 • 1:17:05

In the third episode of our podcast, host Rhiannon speaks to Katia Roscov, an early childhood educator, about reproductive labor, such as housework and child care. They note that sometimes it is paid and sometimes unpaid, but it always reflects a gender dynamic in society.
Wobcast #4: Crises, elections, and working class power

Apr 15, 2020 •

In the fourth episode of the Organizing Work podcast, Nick Driedger and Marianne Garneau talk about the coronavirus crisis, the defeat of Bernie Sanders, and what both mean for the labor movement and for the left
Wobcast #5 - Adventures in Leftist Leadership on the Job

Jul 7, 2020 • 1:07:27

In our fifth Organizing Work podcast, site publisher Marianne Garneau and regular contributor MK Lees talk about three recent articles addressing the left's role in workplace organizing -- and the massive reaction online
Wobcast #6: Talking Politics

Oct 9, 2020 • 42:13

In the sixth episode of our podcast, site publisher Garneau and contributing editor Nick Driedger talk about politics: what it is, whether workplace organizing is political, and where working class power lies.
Wobcast #7 - Peter Cole

Dec 10, 2020 • 1:11:38

Marianne Garneau interviews Peter Cole, author of Ben Fletcher: The Life and Times of a Black Wobbly, now out in its second edition from PM Press.
Wobcast 8 - Class Struggle Unionism

Jan 7, 2022 • 50:50

In the latest episode of the Organizing Work podcast, a joint episode with Laborwave Radio, Marianne Garneau and Alex Riccio talk to Joe Burns about his new book, Class Struggle Unionism.
Wobcast 9: William Z Foster

Jun 27, 2022 • 43:43

Nick Driedger discusses the life and ideas of William Z. Foster, taking a critical look at his ideas about “boring from within” and the “militant minority” as it relates to union strategies.