Category Archive : News

ScheerPost News

Support for Labor Unions Near Historic High as Trump Trashes Working Class

Reprinted from ScheerPost August 30, 2025

By Jon Queally / Common Dreams

A new poll reveals that Americans continue to support organized labor at historic levels, even as the Trump administration and its Republican allies in Congress take a battering ram to union rights and the nation’s working class.

Gallup’s annual survey, released Thursday, shows more than two-thirds of people in the US (68%) approve of labor unions and the economic security and prosperity they provide working families. The popular support matches record-high numbers of recent years after a long decline from the 1960s through the early 2000s.

As Gallup notes:

When Gallup first measured Americans’ ratings of labor unions in 1936, 72% approved. Approval reached the record high, 75%, in 1953 and 1957 and ranged between 63% and 73% from 1958 through 1967. Then, from 1972 through 2016, approval was lower, with few readings over 60%, including the 48% all-time low recorded in 2009. This was the only time approval fell below the majority level. Since 2017, approval has been above 60%, the longest period at this level since the 1960s.

“Working people want unions and the numbers prove it,” said Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), in response to the latest polling.

The survey shows sharp partisan divides despite the overall approval of organized labor. While 90% of Democrats surveyed and 69% of independents voiced support, only 41% of Republicans expressed the same level of support for organized workers and their unions. “All party groups show increased support for unions compared with 2016,” said Gallup, “though Republican support has declined since peaking at 56% in 2022. That was the only time Republicans’ approval has risen above 50% in the past 25 years.”

Saunders, like other members of the labor movement, has been a steady voice in rebuking President Donald Trump and his Republican Party as they run roughshod over labor rights and wage a relentless war against the working class by attacking Medicaid, food assistance, public education, better wages, collective bargaining, and workplace safety—all while slashing regulatory safeguards designed to protect America’s working families from industry greed and handing out massive tax breaks for billionaires and corporations.

“Gallup polling once again shows historically strong support, because workers understand that they have the power to win fair pay, safer working conditions, and dignity on the job when they organize a union. Today, that power matters more than ever,” said Saunders. “While billionaires and their yes-men in Congress try to slash wages, gut health care, and silence working people, we are fighting back—organizing, mobilizing, and demanding a voice.”

Despite the support of a large majority of Americans across the political spectrum, union density remains at historic lows, which makes sense given the hostility from both major parties to the needs of the working class and their fealty to represent the interests of big business over those of working families over the last five decades.

Union Density graphic

In his latest attack on the working class—and just ahead of the Labor Day weekend—Trump on Thursday issued a new executive order expanding his assault on the government agencies where federal employees would lose their collective bargaining rights.

Union members and labor experts immediately called the order unlawful—just like the original March order upon which it was based—and vowed to fight it tooth and nail in court.

“This is how President Trump is commemorating Labor Day: continuing his administration’s all-out attack on workers and unions,” said Liz Schuler, president of the AFL-CIO. “This new executive order once again distorts the law by ripping away the collective bargaining rights of federal workers in an attempt to silence their voices on the job.”

“Issuing these executive orders just days before the holiday that honors everything working people have fought and died for—including our right to come together with our co-workers in a union and bargain for what we deserve—shows us that this administration’s callous disregard for workers’ rights knows no bounds,” added Schuler. “No matter what it throws our way, the labor movement will never stop organizing and fighting for each other—and we’ll see him in court.”

AFSCME’s Saunders, suggested the polling should serve to invigorate the labor movement, even at a time when corporate power’s hold on the levers of power seems near complete.

“We know that working families are the backbone of our economy. But instead of getting the respect they’ve earned, they’re getting squeezed by CEOs and anti-worker politicians who want to hand out tax breaks to the billionaire class at the expense of Medicaid, food assistance, worker protections and our communities,” he said. “It is easy to see why trust in Congress and big corporations is hitting new lows, while support for unions remains strong.”

Saunders added that his union’s 1.4 million members are “proud to stand with every worker who is fighting back to demand dignity, fairness, and a voice on the job. Because when we stand together, we can defend our freedoms from billionaires who want to rob us of them.”

Bemoaning how Republicans have been able to coopt the mantle of being the party of the working class, all while undermining wages, workplace safety, and the right to collectively bargain, Les Leopold, executive director of the Labor Institute, has been among those warning the Democratic Party that it must change direction, or die trying, if it wants to win back the working class.

As he wrote following Trump’s 2024 reelection, “It’s time to end this sad chapter in U.S. history when the Democratic Party leaders refuse to be genuine allies for workers and the Republican Party is rewarded for pretending to be.

Jon Queally is managing editor of Common Dreams.

https://scheerpost.com

ABOUT SCHEERPOST: ScheerPost is an award-winning, independent news organization that focuses on progressive politics and human rights issues that the mainstream media miss or decline to cover. Founded on the principle of honest reporting and holding those in power to account, we make it our mission to bring our readers the latest cutting-edge news and analysis about these issues. With our original articles written by renowned journalists and reposted articles curated by our award-winning staff, we present our readers with daily content from various perspectives that explain and challenge dominant narratives. Since our inception in March 2020, we’ve been able to maintain our independence through grants and reader donations — we will never erect a paywall — and in the process, our stories have been viewed more than 15 million times by our readers from around the world. 

At the helm of ScheerPost are editor Narda Zacchino, former Los Angeles Times reporter, Sacramento Bureau Chief, Orange County edition editor, associate editor and vice president,  deputy editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, and senior editor at the Center for Investigative Reporting and Robert Scheer, former Ramparts magazine managing editor, Los Angeles Times national correspondent and columnist and author of 13 books. With a combined 60 years-plus of mainstream journalism experience, they created ScheerPost, which has become an essential internet news outlet. At a time of increasing dominance of billionaire ownership in journalism, they materialized the warning of legendary media critic A.J. Liebling that “Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.” Led by passion for independent journalism and bringing light to the truth, the founders do not take any compensation so all donations can go to site staff and operations.

ScheerPost fills a news media gap by reporting on issues other publications often shy away from or ignore entirely, such as controversial international issues; the threat of nuclear war; economic, racial and gender inequality; criminal justice reform; defense industry profiteering, and important moments in history that textbooks totally ignore. Our journalism is vital to providing an alternative understanding of what is going on in our world today. ScheerPost is committed to raising the voices of those marginalized by mainstream media and amplifying issues suppressed by the most powerful people and organizations in the world.

Women’s Radio Hour

WOMEN’S RADIO HOUR with Patricia Law Wed 5pm

LET’S MEET NEIGHBORS FOR A BETTER SAN DIEGO

Patricia is in conversation with Geoff Hueter

Geoff Hueter is the Chair of Neighbors for a Better San Diego, a volunteer grassroots organization that promotes sensible, data-driven planning for San Diego. Prior to that, Dr. Hueter was the Chief Data Scientist and Co-Founder of Certona Corporation, a leader in real time, AI powered omnichannel personalization for the world’s largest retailers. Dr. Hueter holds 12 patents and received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California at San Diego, where he studied gamma ray bursts.

Friendly Fire

FRIENDLY FIRE with Don Kimball Sat 2pm

A Show For and About Veterans

IMMIGRATION POLICIES and ICE with Michael McPhearson, Executive Director of Veterans for Peace.

Women’s Radio Hour

WOMEN’S RADIO HOUR with Patricia Law Wed 5pm
ADUs, PACIFIC BEACH DEVELOPMENT BUILDERS and WHAT WE CAN DO
with Guest Mikalyn “Micki” Mellby


Patricia and Micki are in conversation about ADUs in Pacific Beach development and builders, intent of ADUs, how they are being built now, concerns about the environment safety from fires, parking and many more issues.
ABOUT MIKALYN “MICKI” MELLBY
I am a retired 30+ year small-business, community banker residing in Eastern Pacific Beach, San Diego. I am married with three grown children. My husband and I have worked on flipping houses since we started dating back in 1987, pre-HGTV. We have completed over 25 home remodels over 38 years together. We have remodeled and lived in three homes in this neighborhood over the last 20 years. Our mantra was always to buy the ugliest house in the best neighborhood we could afford and then make it pretty. Upon sale, it was on to the next project.
We are not opposed to development. We built an ADU next to our rental bungalow near the beach two years ago, and our son lives there. Currently, we are building an ADU adjacent to our current home for my daughter, son-in-law, and new granddaughter to live in.
A couple of years ago, the neighbor below my home sold her large lot and residence to a well-known, rather notorious, ADU developer, Christian Spicer of SDRE. Early this year, several neighbors alerted us to the investment/development plans for this site and adjacent parcel. In March and April, discussions became serious when it was realized what the long-term, negative impacts of such a large apartment project could impose on our community. We had always been under the impression since moving here in 2010 that the lots below us could not be developed due to the significance of well-known Kumeyaay tribal artifacts on the undeveloped land dating back 8000-10,000 years. The cultural significance of the historic site is recognized in all the surviving California tribal communities.
Consultations were made with a tribal attorney, and a legal team was put together to represent the neighbors’ best interests in monitoring the subsequently named Chalcifica project. What was 116-units has grown into 136 units under review. Plans are in review with the City of San Diego, and the legal team advised the neighbors to file action before permits are granted. We organized Neighbors for a Better Pacific Beach and established a website at www.protectpb.org. Our goal is to raise $250,000 of the expected legal cost to get us to trial. We have raised over half the funds to date. We have joined and are monitoring the legal efforts of other San Diego communities in opposing these monstrous bonus ADU projects, many of which continue to proceed through the development pipeline even after City Council voted to significantly scale back the program in June

The Electric Picnic

THE ELECTRIC PICNIC with Susan Taylor Sat 7-8pm

SPECIAL PROGRAMMING–POETS’ ROUNDTABLE, IN CONVERSATION ABOUT LISTENING TO POEMS

Featuring San Diego poets SERETTA MARTIN, DELORES FISHER, KARY VAIL and JOSEPH MILOSCH along with host and poet SUSAN TAYLOR

In a departure from Susan’s regular show, she and her guests are in conversation with suggestions on ways listeners can get the most enjoyment from listening to and reading poetry-spoken word. Have you wondered what a poet is trying to tell you, or wondered why some poems mean more to you than others? Listen in and see what might be meaningful to you.

Also, if you are ready to try your hand at poetry-spoken word and you are shy, you are going to hear tips on writing and ways to connect with your followers. Tonight, Susan’s show is full of thoughtful conversation, ideas, poets bouncing ideas off of one another, so that you can get the most from what poets are trying to say.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO ASK SUSAN OR HER GUESTS ABOUT POETRY-SPOKEN WORD, CONTACT INFO@KNSJ.ORG OR CALL 619-283-1100.

Friendly Fire

FRIENDLY FIRE with Don Kimball

A Show for and About Veterans

Today Don is in conversation with author and activist Norman Solomon, author of War Made Invisible, about the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

East County Magazine

June 27, 2025 (San Diego’s East County) – East County Magazine editor Miriam Raftery won two awards from Society for Professional Journalists in the San Diego SPJ Journalism competition. The honors bring ECM’s total awards to 149 since our founding in 2008. 

In the series category for daily reporting and writing, Raftery took third place for her series on the Water Conservation Garden’s growing pains.  The series chronicled the Garden’s financial struggles, brief closure, and reopening after operations were taken over by the Garden’s joint powers authority. View the series:  part 1, part 2, and part 3.

Raftery also won third places in the opinion/editorial category for her editorial published last July 4 , titled As we celebrate Independence Day, our democracy is at risk. Several of the threats to our democratic system of government  that she warned of have since come to pass via authoritarian actions rolled out by the Trump administration following the blueprint outlined in Project 2025.

https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/ecm-wins-two-journalism-awards

Friendly Fire

FRIENDLY FIRE LIVE with Don Kimball Sat 2-3pm

A Show for and About Veterans

GUESTS: VETERANS FOR PEACE MIKE FERNER and LISA LING

Studio Call-in Number 619-790-KNSJ (5675)

Don Kimball is originally from Manchester by the Sea, Massachusetts. Don got the “radio bug” in 1971, when he became a DJ at the student-operated radio station KVPC-FM on the campus of Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa. He’s holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Cal Poly Pomona and is a graduate of the Brown Institute of Broadcasting. Don is a veteran of the US Air Force where he worked as an air traffic controller. Don is a board member of Military Families Speak Out, and a Veteran For Peace member of Chapter 91 in San Diego. 

Don started Friendly Fire, A Voice For Veterans in 2017 at WMPG-FM, a community radio station on the campus of the University of Southern Maine in Portland, Maine. Friendly Fire is also heard on KURU-FM in Silver City, NM. He has interviewed veterans and their families and supporters from as far away as Japan and Ireland. He guests have included everyone from enlisted personnel to US Senators and Congresspeople. Don’s guests have included author Norman Solomon, author of War Made Invisible, UCSD professor Colonel Greg Daddis, whistleblower Reality. L Winner and Veteran For Peace Advisory Board Member, former US Marine Captain, State Department official, NC Green Party Senatorial Candidate and current Eisenhower Media Institute co-director, Matthew Hoh. 

Among the many issues Don has covered on his show are those dealing with veteran homelessness, PTSD, MST, deported veterans, TBI, The Veteran’s Administration, USAF veteran whistleblowers Daniel Hale and Reality Winner, and the epidemic of veteran suicide. Don hopes his show will give veterans an opportunity to let the listeners know what really happens to them and their families when they serve, and how people can work together for the common good of everyone instead of making war against helpless women and children in third world countries, destroying their homes and lives, while at the same time creating an atmosphere of hatred towards the US making citizens here less safe as terrorists seek revenge for America’s endless wars. 

Talk of the Town

TALK OF THE TOWN with Mike Aguirre LIVE Sat 11am

Celebrating KNSJ’s birthday, Mike and KNSJ show hosts, producers, and other volunteers who give their time behind the scenes, talk about KNSJ public community radio and what KNSJ’s mission means to them. KNSJ launched on July 4 2013. Join us. Our call in number is 619-790-KNSJ (5675).

KNSJ Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KNSJ

July 4, 2013

Thank you to all of our listeners and supporters as we celebrate our 12th year on the air. And a special thank you to all of KNSJ’s volunteers who work tirelessly in front of and behind the microphone to run the radio station and bring you programming, stories and music you won’t hear on other San Diego stations.