After everyone goes home, who are the folks who show up to clean the building? On Justice for Janitors Day, Mike interviews two long time janitors about how they chose the job, and the challenges janitors face. The boom times in Seattle don't extend to janitors - their average pay is $30,000 a year. And the workloads keep going up. Every night Amir cleans hospital square footage equivalent to 42 homes. How does that make them feel? Give a listen. Plus, Mike talks a little bit about his own experience as a janitor.
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After everyone goes home, who are the folks who show up to clean the building? On Justice for Janitors Day, Mike interviews two long time janitors about how they chose the job, and the challenges janitors face. The boom times in Seattle don't extend to janitors - their average pay is $30,000 a year. And the workloads keep going up. Every night Amir cleans hospital square footage equivalent to 42 homes. How does that make them feel? Give a listen. Plus, Mike talks a little bit about his own experience as a janitor.
Robby Stern, Senior Advocate, Lifetime Activist - "Senator Sanders was really angry at me."
You, Me, Us, Now
1 hour 3 minutes 27 seconds
9 years ago
Robby Stern, Senior Advocate, Lifetime Activist - "Senator Sanders was really angry at me."
When Black Lives Matter activists Mara Jacqueline Willaford and Marissa Johnson took the stage in Seattle to prevent Bernie Sanders from speaking it created a national storm of media. Not covered so much was the guy trying to emcee the event - Robby Stern. About the same age as Bernie, Robby had a pretty amazing life of advocacy as well. At Syracuse University in the mid-60s he fought segregation and helped organize the second Vietnam War Teach-In in the nation. At UW he helped radicalize the SDS (precursor to the Weather Underground) was arrested multiple times and then kicked out of UW Law School. Drawing the attention of the FBI led to tense confrontations and a trial in San Francisco. Recovering from that, he became a union gardener, union pipe fitter, and then a lawyer for the labor movement. Now he heads Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action (PSARA), which helped organize the event that was to feature Bernie Sanders. We close with his perspective on that day when PSARA’s rally was hijacked by activists, who, like him throughout the years, were ready to cause a ruckus. His perspective is informed by a lifetime of advocacy and activism. Give it a listen.
You, Me, Us, Now
After everyone goes home, who are the folks who show up to clean the building? On Justice for Janitors Day, Mike interviews two long time janitors about how they chose the job, and the challenges janitors face. The boom times in Seattle don't extend to janitors - their average pay is $30,000 a year. And the workloads keep going up. Every night Amir cleans hospital square footage equivalent to 42 homes. How does that make them feel? Give a listen. Plus, Mike talks a little bit about his own experience as a janitor.
