aptioning made possible by democracy now!] 12/14/21 12/14/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! workers at the elmwood starbucks store in buffa, new yok, won a storic victory after they voted to unionize last week, king thethe first do so among the coffee chain's 9000 locations in the united states. more stores have already filed

to unionize in boston. we will speak with a starbucks paris stop in buffalo and go to men but to talk with one of 1400 kellogg's workers who now have been on strike for over two months. >> my name is kevin bradsha i am on strike with other workers across united states and we are fighting against the kellogg's company for equal p and equal benefits and also job security. we have been on strike now for almost two months and we are trying to make sure all future workers and current workers have thsame amount of pay and benefits and job security going forward in the future. amy: this comes as president biden as condemned kellogg's plan to permanently replace workers. we will look at the way of union drives and labor organizing with historian nelson lichtensteyn, author of "state of the union: a century of american labor." but first, shocking up who news expo reveals a secretive

customs and border protection union investigated as many as 20 journalists in the context by using government databases intended to track terrorists. those investigated included pulitzer prize-winning associated press reporter martha mendoza, along with others at the huffington post, "the wall street journal" and "the new york times." we will speak with a reporter who broke the story titled "operation whistle pig: inside the secret cbp unit with no rules that investigates americans." >> it was so aeptable. everything rambo did was under orders, assigned, directed, rewarded by the highest levels of cbp. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the death toll from unprecedented weekend storms across the united states has

risen to 90, with dozens still missing. and kentucky, workers at that mayfield consumer products candle factory survived the stormed said supervisors threatened to fire them if they left early friday and even as forecasters one at approaching tornadoes and warning sirens could be heard. some of the workers left the factory ahead of the storm despite the threat to their livelihoods. at least eight people who remained died as a tornado ripped to the building and largely flattened. more than 100 workers were trapped. the rear december tornadoes are likely a result of the climate crisis. this is a meteorologist jeff masters. >> we have a warmer climate that means you can get torna any time of year so you have to be prepared anywhere you live. you can get a tornado in december, january, february. we have seen an increasing number of these off-season storms. tornado season's all season long come all year long. amy: climate scientists are

announcing the i shelf them holding back one of antarctica's most dangerous glaciers. it is reported that shelf appears place to shatter within the next three to five years. once the shelf collapses, ice from the glacier will flow more easily into the ocean, raising global sea levels. a complete collapse of the glacier could result in several feet of sea level rise, inundating coastal communities home to hundreds of millions of people around the world. covid-19 cases continue to surge in the united states, europe, and south africa, where the fast-spreading omicron variant was first detected. on tuesday, south africa's largest private health insurer reported omicron seems to be substantially more contagious than the delta variant and reduces the effectiveness of existing vaccines, though people who are fully vaccinated are largely still protected against the severe disease. in britain, the health secretary

sajid javid warned the omicron coronavirus variant is spreading rapidly across the u.k. and appears poised to overtake delta as the dominant variant. >> it is spreading at a phenomenal rate. the number of infections is doubling every two to three days. there is going to be a tidal wave. the second thing we have learned in the last we is two doses of the vaccine are not enough to protect you. three doses, booster shot come is. would be hugely effective in protecting against symptomatic infection. amy: prime minister boris johnsoon monday announced the first known debt went to the omicron variant. lastly, johnson reversed his long-standing opposition to public health measures and ordered new restrictions, including mask mandates and proof-of-vaccination, while urging people to work from home. here in the united states, the number of confirmed coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic has topped 50 million. nearly 800,000 people have died of covid-19 according to johns hopkins university researchers,

with nearly 1300 deaths reported on monday alone. california has ordered a new statewide indoor mask mandate beginning wednesday after recording a 47% jump in covid-19 cases since thanksgiving. here in new york city, beginning today children aged 5 to 11 will be required to have proof of vaccination to enter certain indoor places, such as restaurants. a proof-of-vaccination mandate for everyone 12 and up was already in effect. this is new york mayor bill de blasio. >> we went to protect our youngest new yorkers. we know omicron has had a lot of effect on younger folks. we know we need a whole family to be safe. as the youngest kids are sick, that also helps protect our seniors. amy: on monday, the u.s. supreme court declined to block new york state's vaccine mandate for health care workers. petitioners had tried to claim religious exemptions. meanwhile, the air force says it has discharged 27 service members for refusing to get

vaccinated against covid-19 as required by the pentagon. the pentagon said monday no enlisted soldiers or officers will be punished for a deadly drone attack in kabul during t final days of the u.s. occupation of afghanistan. the august attack killed 10 afghan civilians, including seven children. this is pentagon spokesperson john kirby. >> what we saw here was a breakdown in process, in execution in procedural events not the result of negligce, not the result of misconduct, not the result of poor leadership. amy: the pentagon initially said the strike avert an imnent threat by the islamic state and made other false claims about the attack before beingord to walk ck thoselaims an offer ndence paymes to the

viims famies bause a pss exposes. to seeur cerage ofhis story, go to democracynow.org. in sudan, police fired tear gas and rubber-coated bullets at crowds of protesters who gathered near the presidential palace monday to demand the military hand over power to a civilian government to lead a transition to democratic rule. dozens of protesters have been killed by sudanese police and soldiers since the military toppled caretaker prime minister abdalla hamdok in an october 25 coup. sudan's military rulers reinstated hamdok in late november amid popular pressure, but the military is maintaining oversight over hamdok and his cabinet. in colombia, an independent investigation backed by the united nations has found colombian police were responsible for killing at least 11 people during massive anti-police brutality protests in the capital bogotá last year. father of two was killed after being pinned down by police. he was shot repeatedly with the

stun gun for more than two minutes as he begged, "please, no more." denmark's minister has been sentenced to 60 days in prison after being found guilty of illegally separating underage some secant couples. she was accused of violating european convention on human rights most of judges overseeing her impeachment trial said she had intentionally neglected her ministerial duties which order the separation of at least 23 asylum seeking couples in 2016. she is known for promoting anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies in denmark. back in the united states, the house committee investigating the january 6 capitol insurrection has recommended former white house chief of staff mark meadows be found in criminal contempt of congress. meadows had agreed to cooperate with a subpoena from the committee but reversed course last week just ahead of his scheduled deposition. monday, the committee reveal meadows played a larger role than previously known in plans to overturn the results of

the 2020 election, as well as a failed effort by white house insiders to push trump to call off the capitol riot. the committee's vice-chair, republican congressmember liz cheney, read messages sent by three fox news hosts to meadows as the insurrection played out on live tv. >> mark, the president needs to tell people in the capital to go home. this is hurting all of us. he is destroying his legacy, laura ingraham wrote. please, get him on tv destroying everything you have accomplished , ryan kyl meet texted. "can he make a statement come ask people to leave the capit ol," sean hannity urged. one of president's son's texted, "he has to condemn this [beep]

asap." amy: although there were calling on him to stop the resurrection, they said on here that they believed it was in people. survivors of the disgraced former usa gymnastics doctor and serial sexual abuser larry nassar have reached a $380 million settlement with usa gymnastics, the u.s. olympic and paralympic committee, and their insurers. the settlement comes after a five-year legal battle and will cover claims brought by hundreds of women who were sexually abused by nassar, including olympic gold medalists simone biles, aly raisman, and mckayla maroney. rachel denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse nassar, said on twitter -- "most of e over 500 represented here are not but showed up over and over again. weid this together.

don't rget their voice what they gave come and what it took." in 2018, dr. nassar was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexually assaulting and abusing more than 160 women and girl athletes. wikileaks founder julian assange suffered a mini-stroke in a british prison in late october as he fought to avoid extradition to the united states to face espionage charges. that's according to assange's fiancé stella moris, who said the stroke left assange with a drooping right eyelid, memory problems, and signs of neurological damage. moris believes the stress from captivity paired with endless legal challenges has taken a deep toll on assange's mental and physical well-being. on friday, a british court ruled in favor of the biden administration's appeal to extradite assange to face charges in the u.s. the ruling has been condemned by journalists around the world as a major blow to press freedom. in minnesota, the manslaughter trial of former brooklyn center police officer kim potter

continued monday, with a medical examiner testifying the wound daunte wright received from potter's handgun was not survivable. potter has said she mistakenly shot wright with her glock 9 millimeter pistol believing it was her taser. minnesota state investigator sam mcginnis testified that potter failed to test her taser, as required, on the day she fatally shot wright. he also laid out the differences between a glock pistol and a taser. >> the taser is yellow, the firearm is black. the taser has a stocky body to a compared to the glock handgun. the grip of the taser is shorter. it is wider than the glock. amy: meanwhile, former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin signaled monday he's preparing to change his "not guilty" plea to "guilty" in a federal case charging he willfully violated george floyd's civil rights. chauvin was convicted of floyd's murder and sentenced to 22.5 years in prison. and today is the ninth anniversary of the sandy hook

school shooting in newtown, connecticu the 2012 massacre claimed the lives of 26 schoolchildren and six educators. since sandy hook, there have been three under 50 u.s. school shootings including 28 this year but there still has been no major change in a federal gun safety policy in the united states. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by my co-host juan gonzález in new brunswick, new jersey. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: we begin today's show with a shocking yahoo! news exposé about a secretive customs and border protection unit that investigated as many as 20 journalists and their contacts by using government databases intended to track terrorists. those investigated by cbp's so-called counter network division include the pulitzer prize-winning associated press reporter martha mendoza, along

with others at "the huffington post," "the wall street journal," and "the new york times." members of congress and their staff may have also been targeted. the explosive revelations are detailed in 500-page report by the department of homeland security's watchdog unit's office of inspector general. it opened the investigation after news reports that border patrol agent named jeffrey rambo conducted a leak investigation in 2017 by accessing government travel records of the reporter ali watkins, who was with politico at the time and now works r "the new york times." rambo also shared th information he gathered th the fbi. in response to the report, the justice department declined to pursue criminal charges for misuse of government databases and lying to investigators, citing "the lack of cbp policies and procedures concerning rambo's duties." on monday, the ap demanded an explanation. in a letter to dhs secretary alejandro mayorkas, ap executive

editor julie pace wrote -- "this is a flagrant example of a federal agency using its power to examine the contacts of journalists. while the actions detailed in the inspector general's report occurred under a previous administration, the practices were described as routine." an ap spokesperson told democracy now! -- "we are deeply concerned about this apparent abuse of power. this appears to be an example of journalists being targeted for simply doing their jobs, which is a violation of the first amendment." for more, we're joined by jana winter, the investigative correspondent for yahoo! news whose major new exposé is headlined, "operation whistle pig: inside the secret cbp unit with no rules that investigates americans." welcome to democracy now! take us through what took place and why this was called operation whistle pig. >> first, thank you for having me on. second, there are a lot of tentacle so bear with me.

operation whistle pig was a leak investigation started by a porta patrol agent named jeffrey rambo who was detailed to cbp's counter network division. initially, his investigation targeted ali watkins and james wolfe but it spread to as many as 20 other journalists. i would also like to mention we have no information this is not occurring today. the same people are in charge come the same people regularly "vetting" journalists who they think might have information they would like to have or who they want to reach out to. juan: could you talk about why they began targeting ali watkins and the senate intelligence committee staffer and how they originally -- how this rambo initially contacted her? close it began as one would not suspect with an order from the white house to look at forced labor the democric republic of

congo, specifically about what companies were using child labor to produce consumer goods like salt in china. so rambo gets a tasking to come up with that plan to find these data points, given to the white house, who within in theory hit the companies with sanctions under a tariff act of 1930. rambo puts together a list of reporters and ngo workers and government officials from other agencies and people from academia who might provide information on these data points about what companies are using forced labor. on the initial list of reporters who specialized in these kind of reporting like arthur mendoza on the ap. rambo created another list looking for national security reporter with buzz who could buy me nose to the reporter himself publish articles that were not necessarily accurate that what

overstayed the capabilities of u.s. law enforcement to essentially trick these companies into altar their shipping patterns which would get enough evidence to hit them with sanctions under the tariff act of 1930. that is where ali watkins comes in. rand paul sa her artic -- rambo saw her article trending on twitter and that is how it happened. juan: in terms of rambo himself, any sense of how high up in the chain of command the knowledge of the surveillance of reporters activities went? >> i want to be clear rambo is the fog i hear. there was "washington post was what story a long time ago talking about him being this rogue agent -- if only. we now know based on these documents everything he did on every single step of the way from his planned targeting journalists to reaching out to journalists, his vetting of

journalists, looking into sources to contacted the fbi to running a leak investigation to contacting the fbi again -- all of this is done with the knowledge and under the orders of his boss dan white, who was referred for criminal prosecution for multiple things including making false statements to investigators. and he is now back at his job running his division and dhs will not talk about this, say anything publicly about what is going on. this goes up. these are not political appointees who are tasked with something in cbp. these were career officials who are still running the secretive unit with no rules and no procedures for how they access databases and targeting americans are located in the united states were not suspected of any crime whatsoever. amy: let's be clear, jana, talk about it not be a rogue operation, as you point out in your piece, one of the keepsakes that rambo has from his time in the washington area is a large glass globe with cobalt blue

ocean and clear land, an award from cbp from his work that came with a cash bonus. it is a reminder that before the press coverage, before the press coverage he was lauded for his work at the national targeting center, including on the watkins wolfe case. it reads "jeffrey rambo, in honor and recognition of your dedication to the national targeting center counter network division of 2017." at is going away party, his boss cited his work on the leak vestigation. >> he was a hero inside cbp until this became public. he has been thro under the bus here, not saying what he did was great at all, but this was something -- they also made him the representative for all of dhs. there's one person that does that for the annual or biannual or something meeting. he was the hero internally and was completely blindsided by

them throwing him under the bus and saying, you know, you're going to investigate this guy. we have no idea what this is. this is a completely rogue agent who did these things. his life has been severely impacted by this. but it is important -- not to focus on rambo here, this is much bigger than him most of the administration today is silence, during their heads in the sand like we won't notice. the same people, despite criminal referrals, are back at work doing the same thing. amy: let's go back in response to your report, democratic senator ron wyden has called on dhs's inspector general to turn over its investigation to congress immediately. wyden said in a statement sunday -- "if multiple government agencies were aware of this conduct and took no action to stop it, there needs to be serious consequences for every official involved, and dhs and the justice department must explain what actions they are taking to prevent this unacceptable conduct in the future."

senator wyden is the chairman of the senate finance committee. can you talk about even the report, the 500 page report that you got a hold of that the senator's then they can't get? -- senator is saying they can't get? >> first of all, that is ridiculous. personally, as a regular person, i'm super disappointed with the aspects of this coming in the oversight aspect. i think cbp launched an investigation into one of their own. dhs inspector general did what they do, which is launched an investigation to follow up. they recommended things for prosecution. i don't know, they did not answer my questions about it. i don't what to be too negative on that because there were literally the only agency that got back to be out of everyone under deadline and actually said something that was responsive to something i asked -- not this particular question. i don't know if they were

supposed to hand it over to congress. i imagine i should have done that. i think we're looking at this from the wrong end. this is by design. i think this is not some, oh, of course the agencies do about this and that was a mistake. no, this was a division created to avoid the pesky bureaucracy involved with sharing sensitive information and databases. the person running the team, rambo's boss who was referred for criminal prosecution and is back at work, told investigators their division pushes the limit, they are the guidelines, there are no other ones, they're the ones making the decisions, they're the ones making the rules. doj was certainly involved because this material was passed on to the fbi. there iso way to say it wasn't used in the prosecution of james wolfe. it is just not possible. you can see the travel records. he lied about the travel records

and went to jail for lying about these things. there is a direct connection. dhs, the white house, this is not just a trump political moment. this is an ongoing division that exists in the people who run it said as much to investigators. i just think -- i don't know. i'm interested to see if wyden can get any traction since we have been ignored. 's office has been ignored in this capacity for quite a while. juan: you into the fbi. could you talk about their involvement in this and also you mentioned the case against wolfe. i don't know if many listeners of our program are aware of that. could you talk about that case specifically? >> sure. james wolfe used to be the director for the senate intelligence committee. he went to jail -- prison for

two months after pleading guilty to charges -- here's what happened. rambo is looking into contacting these reporters. he is looking at ali watkins, a political rising star reporter. he vets her meaning he runs all of her travel -- set her travel, sees she is traveling with his older gentleman, older by more than 30 years, who he later identifies as james wolfe. rambo strikes the leak investigation. before he rages to meet -- arranges to be ali watkins under an alias and other weird things come he reaches out to an fbi contact at headquarters and says, i have something i think is in your lane, please call me immediately. rambo's working with the fbi very early on this on what he sees as a reporter who's getting ossified information from this man who he thinks she is dating.

ali watkins continues to say she did not receive information from that person and james wolfe was never convicted or evenharged with leaking classified information, just to be clear. but the fbi, jeff rambo passed along all of ali's travel records, facebook posts, other data that had run, her connections to the terror watch list, and continue to pull these records. he wanted to hand over -- rambo wanted to hand over this information to the got the day after he not with ali watkins. he said, i believe she is leaking information -- i mean, she is receiving leaked information from him. dan white said, no, no, why do we just take and continue to investigate her in-house? let's see if she has any sources in

the department of homeland security. they ran another investigation, which is operation whistle pig, named after the whiskey that rambo drank what he was meeting with ali watkins at the bar. there's so many parts of this, yes. over time, rambo finds out the fbi is actually not pursuing his probe until he gets back to san diego at the end of his detail, the targeting center, it's a call that says, hey, is the fbi. we just opened up a new leak investigation unit in-house and we would lovell of is information again. amy: we have 30 seconds. >> basically, we have no idea how many other reporters have been investigated by the fbi thanks to this unit that has no rules in a procedures and continues to operate today. amy: jana winter is an investigative correspondent for yahoo! news. we will link to your major new exposé "operation whistle pig: inside the secret cbp unit with no rules that investigates americans."

when we come back, we speak with one of the workers at a buffalo starbucks who just won a historic victory to unionize, making them the first to do so out of the 9000 starbucks stores in the united days. and to memphis to speak with one of 1400 kellogg's workers who have now been on strike for two months. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we turn now to look at the historic workers' victory. at the only starbucks store in buffalo, new york, where workers successfully voted to unionize last week, making them the first to do so among starbucks' 9000 locations in the united states. [cheers] amy: workers cheered as the results of their vote re announce 19 worrs voted ifavor an eight against forming a union. a union vote faed at us ke a starbus locationnd a third election at the buffalo airport starbucks has not yet been confirmed after neay half the

"yes" tes were cllenged. the national labor relations board will now review those votes. e victory buffalo w just can despite unionbusting efforts and could trigger similar drives at morbid stores across the country. already on monday, workers at two massachusetts starbucks in boston and brookline filed paperwork with the nlrb conditioning to unionize. for more, we are joined by one of the starbucks workers you heard cheering. jaz brisack, a barista at a starbucks store in buffalo, new york. this is the first location of starbucks to guinean eyes. she is with starbucks workers united. welcome to democracy now! why do you explain the significance of your victory and also what starbucks did bringing in management from all over the highest levels to try to pressure workers? >> thank you for having me.

like you are saying, it is important. we won our union, thank goodness, and that tennessee store, which was actually packed with people who don't even though at that store, to try to inflate the voter list, we're confident they will also be another unionized starbucks. we should not have had to gutter all of the unionbusting we have gone through in the past four months. starbucks it a swateam, they called it, of over 100 managers led by the president of starbucks. these managers came into our stores. they were there in every shift pulling people off the floor, working on the floor so they could prevent us from being able to have honest conversations with our partners. we went from having 85% at my

store, 100% of voters signed up on union cards at genesee, to fighting for our lives win one of these starbucks unions. juan: could you talk about some of the conditions that prompted the employees to believe they needed to unionize? close honestly, we were unionizing becausee wanted a voice in the workplace. we did not think starbucks was by any means the worst employer. there are things that could always be better. i had a coworker when we started the campaign, she had been 11 years and was making 16 since more than a new hire. certainly, health care and mental health and certain things could be better. we really just want to voice on the job. we don't believe any job should not have a union because we

think everything should have more democracy. i think the real crisis tragedy here is we would have won so many more stores already if we actually had a fair process for these votes. but instead, starbucks took advantage of every delay tactic possible, most of which were loopholes created by the trump labor board, to delay us getting to our votes and actually being able to unionize and to give them more time to have antiunion meetings and threaten us with losing benefits, losing the right to transfer, that is against our fellow partners, our managers, and blame the union for all of the stress. juan: could you talk about the company tactics? starbucks presents itself as

, socially conscious company was debris surprised by the vehemence with which they marshaled their forces to prevent this union drive? >> 100%. in the beginning we ask them to send a fair election principles, which is a set of guidelines that sets a higher standard than s. labor law for how companies act during union elections. it seems night we expected them to sign it but instead, the company that says they are social justice company, different kind of company, hires the most notorious unionbusting law firm in the country, and literally ran not even a textbook antiunion campaign but in almost unprecedented antiunion campaign of bringing in literally the coo, the president of starbucks north america, and all of your other corporate underlings to try to

disrupt buffalo and turn our stores upside down. amy: can you talk about what happenedt the other two starbucks where the workers were attempting to unionize? results not completely in, or being challenged on both sides? >> so they were totally disrupted. there were some ballots that were not actually counted, so we're still figuring out would all happened there. guess what all happened there. at genesee, they had stacks of voter list with partners from other stores that were remodeling. and every worker who worked at that store but a valid they sectiveltoday wanted to receivballots and put on the voter list. one of our partners told bernie sanders during the town hall that he hosted that it was like if you had partners -- sorry, if you had tourists from texas

visit vermont and that vote in senator sanders' senate election. i think once those ballots are cleared up, it is going to get their victory at the genesee store. amy: finally, your response during brookline and the boston store are already attempting to unionize there? go beyond just starbucks, your message. >> i think our movement is growing. i am incredibly proud of the boston partners, the arizona partners, and the partners in the other stores in buffalo. i do want to note there are three more stores that are going to union elections. starbucks is terrified that elmwood will be the first domino, so they are already cracking down much harder. yet an organizing committee leader he one of these stores who is being written up and retaliated ainst for the most minor of things. they're finding ways to target

her because they realize what they were doing earlier was not enough to stops and break us apart so they're trying to go even harder. we need even more community pressure on starbucks to stop unionbusting and actually come to the bargaining table and work with our unions. amy: jaz brisack, thank you for being with us barista at a , a starbucks store in buffalo, new york, which became the first location in the u.s. to unionize -- the first starbucks location. she's with starbucks workers united. we turn now to the 1400 kellogg's workers who've remained on strike for over two months, demanding fair wages and better working conditions. last week, kellogg's said it would start replacing striking workers with permanent hires after a tentative, five-year agreement wi the company was rejected by an overwhelming majority of kellogg's cereal plant workers. kellogg's announcement drew backlash from across the country, with many demanding a boycott of kellogg's products in solidarity with striking workers.

on friday, president biden tweeted -- "i am deeply troubled by reports of kellogg's plans to permanently replace striking workers. permanently replacing striking workers is an existential attack on the union and its members' jobs and livelihoods. i strongly support legislation that would ban that practice." workers at plants in michigan, nebraska, pennsylvania, and tennessee have been on strike since october. they make all of the company's most popular brands of cereal, including froot loops and frosted flakes. for more, we go to memphis, tennessee, where we are joined by kevin bradshaw, president of local 252g a striking kellogg's , worker who has worked for the company for 20 years. welcome to democracy now! can you talk about what is at stake and the rejection of that contract was up for vote? >> thank you for having me. what is at stake is that 3% raise the companies talking about and bragging about is not for everybody.

we are fighting for equal pay and equal benefits. we want them placed at the same opportunities as myself to be able to retire with the same pension, benefits, insurance. to provide livelihood for the families. we are fighting for equal pay and equal benefits regardless of what the company is putting out there and trying and replace us is something they're using as a scare tactic. it is another scare tactic on a greedy company. juan: kevin bradshaw, some employees were working as ch is 80 hours a week? >> we have been working seven days a week, 12 to 16 hours a day. we are asking the company, if you're going to work as the same, need to pay is the same. we're trying to get relief and allow people to be off like

fmla when they're not trying to circumvent fmla and thing you can be off with your family, you can't take care of a loved one or yourself. there are a lot of things on the table we're trying to fight for woing conditions and also fighting to keep jobs in america. we have job security. we have jobs going offshore to mexico because the cpany w to pay -- i me, pay less for more work. we are fighting a very greedy company right now. juan: this that of a possible replacement of the strikers. this was a big tactic back in the 1990's and early 2000's of employers but it had subsided somewhat. what about this issue a permanent replacement? >> the company -- we have several different charges against the company. they have been calling employees at home, trying to get them to come across the picket line.

that is one of the scare tactics. the announcement of t 1400 jobs was another kick in the face to scare people because they know it is a hardship right now it no jobs, no income for over two months and right around the holidays when you want to spend time and money with your family and loved ones. this is a very evil tactic. people doesn't sleep. amy: talk about the significance of the president of the united states condemning kellogg's, announcing they month higher -- might hire replacement workers, sushi, scabs. >> when code is stans with the working people in amica that makes this company millions and millions, it lets the whole nation know the working people and working class and units in north america. that is the very reason we have a president is to support labor we want to continue supporting labor. it is the right thing to do. amy: can you talk about the

demographics of the workers at the striking plans come the racial blake -- breakdown? >> we have a plant here. mine in memphis, we are predominantly african-american. other planes are probably more diverse i was there with maybe 30%, some a little more. you omaha, pennsylvania, battle creek, michigan. a lot of diversity among the plants. some have more demographic makeup than others. memphis is probably the most predominantly black plane out of all four plants. juan: in terms of what you are asking of the public, honestly, kellogg is a name known across america and has been for decades in terms of its products, what are you asking in terms of the public? >> we are asking you not to buy kellogg's cereal. look for the logo on the side of the box. we're not making cereal right w so anything you eat, should

have the logo on it so that is scabs cereal. those are replacement workers who don't care about the job they're doing trying to supply food chain to fd american people. we take pride in those jobs. union jobs. amy:, and, as we begin to wrap up, the company, kellogg's is saying we have made every effort to reach a fair agreement, and making six offers to the union throughout negotiations, all of which have included wage and benefit increases for every employee. it appears the union created unrealistic expectations for our employees." can you respond to that and also tell us what kellogg's makes? talk about the products that many people have under -- on their breakfast tables and through the day. >> first of all, those things they said they offer, those are just their own opinion. we're just asking them to be fair. pay their people equal pay and

benefits and insurance is not enough. it is not a whole lot when you're making record after record-breaking profits every. we're just asking the company to be fair. i guess it is unrealistic to treat people fair. as far as the profits and everything they are making and their products, i mean in memphis we make cornflakes, frosted flakes, checks, rice krispies. we make a plethora of the cereal brands. we make a lot of things as far as snack foods, potato chips, pringles. the list goes on most of pop tarts, waffles. they own 70 companies i don't thickly have time to go to the list. kellogg's is a very profitable company. they've never operated in the red. it is a lot. america want to thank you, kevin, for joining us, kevin bradshaw, president of the local 252g in memphis, tennessee, and a striking kellogg's worker who has worked for the company for

20 years. we will continue with this theme. next up, the waves of union drives with labor historian nelson lichtensteyn, author of "state of the union: a century of american labor." stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. as we look out how the union victory at the starbucks on a buffalo, new york,robably won't be the last and comes amidst a way that union drives in labor justice actions including strikes around the united states, we're joined now by nelson lichtensteyn, distinguished history professor at university of california, santa barbara, where he directs the center for the study of work, labor, and democracy. he is the author of "state of the union: a century of american labor" and "the retail revolution: how walmart created a brave new world of business."

welcome to democracy now!, professor. we just talked about kellogg's and before that, starbucks, the first of all must 9000 starbucks stores have been unionized and a buffalo, new york. you have talked about the significance of what you call this ty acorn. >> yes, thank you. what is remarkable here is the enormous amount of effort and money being managed input into stopping this organizing drive, it is really a statement on the part of management on how important unionism is if they're going to spend all this money and bring their top executives to prevent a handful of workers from unionizing, that is the best endorsement of unionism i'veeen in a lg time. what is interesting is they had to bring in some of their top people. one of the dirty secrets of

these retailers is lowelevel magements unreliable. the local managers at walmart, target, starbucks, there unreliable. they know people. they work with them. that is what they bring in these well-paid managers. so if you have 20 or 30 or 50 starbucks come and it seems quite possible, and this will spread much too in the top management and and will be unable to stop it. starbucks in particular, their clientele is sort of hip collegiate, upper was i new york, what haveou. so i think there is a possibility of a sort of fire, you know, and starbucks which

could spread to the entire company. clearly, management is afraid of that. juan: professor, in terms of yo studied the changing nature of the american labor movement. we hear a lot about deindustrialization when it fact there probably more industrial jobs in the world today than there ever have been. the difference of fewer and fewer of them are in the advanced industrial countries. we are now faced with walmart, which you studied come amazon -- these are superstores and super warehouses, no longer the super factories that used to exist. there are now mostly in china, mexico, vietnam, bangladesh and other parts of the global south. so how does this affect the ability of workers to organize -- basically dealing with the reception and distributioor warehousing of goods made

elsewhere? >> lots of manufacturing has gone abroad. it is a totally integrated system wh big dictatorships where we're seeing that now with the problems of the supply chain. bumany of these jobs -- well, all of amazon, for example, or a large retailer or starbucks, these "retail" or "distributional jobs" today they resemble factory work of the past. these distribution centers have 2000, 3000 workers. they are blue-collar industrial kind of jobs. the same medications that led to the great labor upsurges of the 19th century, the 1930's and later on in the 1960's, the

presidents that these large retailers and distribution systems. i would also make the poi starbucks, any given starbucks shuts down or closed by management doesn't affect the rest of the company, but the distribution centers that amazon has, these reflect -- have an impact on a whole area. you know, they're kind of the commanding heights of american capitalism, shifting from the steel mills and auto plants to the distribution centers in the great retailers. juan: and in terms of the ability of the workers who are organizing to maintain their unions, two would not only recognition but then contracts, could you talk about the channg nature of labor law and the ability of workers to

organize? >> labor law does your spokesperson from starbucks made it clear, the ability of top management to flood these stores, to intimate workers -- all of this is legal, by the way . so there are no penalties, by the way, when management is found guilty of locality or firing a worker no penalties. the worker gets their job back. the situati is so uncomfortable, they always quite. so labor law is totally rotten. it even warned fortin in the labor law is a real mindset post up at various moments, great social movements in this country, whether it is the women smith and work civil rights -- women's movement or civil rights, we have a section of capital which has made this decision that it is better to

accommodate the social movement then n, whether it is public relations or political or possibly being broken up, the dangers of resisting this movement are too great. clearly, this was true in a civil rights movement where midwestern manufacturers in the 1960's through the republican party in the midwest thought they would support the civil rights law's. what i am looking to is if enough century -- pressure is put on these companies, if the democratic party makes -- understands one of its great problems is the absence of a trade union movement, whic would be similar to the democratic party, did you will get a change in managerial attitudes on thi not everyone, but ctainly a company like starbucks, which is in a public relations disaster if fighting 50 or 60 starbucks

unionizing drives all of the country and their publicized all the time, that i think that is a possibility you could see a switch -- the same way that firms today advertise the fact there really good on diversity or promote women or are good on the environment. why would net be the same with trade unions? trade unions have special power in management, special danger. i thi we are now seeing that. but the labor law is rotten. it is not protect the right organize. bernie sanders has asserted some limits of the prolactin to the reconciliation bill for congress, but basically, what has to be done is these tactics have to be advanced outside the

existing labor law. amy: professor lichtensteyn, i'm looking at a very painful text chain of a worker named larry who is on any amazon plant in illinois when the ceiling caved during the tornadoes. he is writing, "i am fueling up now. we'll be home after the storm. what you mean? amazon won't let us leave. the response come all it is doing is light and post up what you doing? hope everything is ok. i love you. larry left behind four children. i believe six people perished in the amazon warehouse, told not to leave. if youan talk about this and so the piece y wrote just recently for "the washington post, about america striking in this w.e.bubois quote at the

beginning of your piece. >> one of the things that trade unions do you is they keep their ion health and safety. one of the functions is to police the laws that already exist, health and safety laws, and because it is impossible for bureaucrats in washington tuesday right out of the country -- to spread out all over the country, you need people on the floor to do that. if you are in a union, you're not afraid of being reprimanded or fired or penalized for speaking up. there is no doubt unionized firms have a better health and safety record than those that are not. clearly, the manager at that amazon place was under the

gun during the christmas rush to keep people working, so you have this tragedy. it is another dication of why we need trade unions. iake one other point. initutions are really important. consciousness, working class consciousness ebbs and flows. right now we are at a period of heightened consciousness. it is a good thing. the pandemic, the money flowing tohe economy. workers are clearly in an activist mode. that does not necessarily last for a generation. a union, like a civil rights law or any other institutional law, is a way of capturing that consciousness and making to the law of the land in periods when things are in a recession, that the workers have this. du bois said when slavery was ended, this was a general

strike. he wrote this book in the middle of the night. i think your having that again today. amy: professor nelson lichtensteyn, thank you for being with us, professor at university of california, santa barbara.

. hello and welcome back to "nhk newsline," i'm in new york. people in the u.s., midwest and south are cleaning up after tornados ravaged their homes and livelyhoods, 10s of thousands of households and businesses are still without water, power and gas. at least 88 people were killed, more than 120 have not been accounted for. residents of six states saw the first tornados hit late friday.