Sherry Linkon, professor at the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University, joined America's Workforce Union Podcast to discuss the deindustrialization of Washington, D.C., the impact of federal job cuts and the ongoing attacks on higher education.
Linkon highlighted the parallels between the recent federal job cuts in Washington, D.C., and the historical deindustrialization of cities like Youngstown, Ohio. While D.C. benefits from a diversified economy, the significant downsizing of federal jobs poses a threat to the local workforce. Thousands of government workers are now facing unemployment, echoing the struggles of industrial workers in the past. Linkon noted that many of these workers, despite having college and graduate degrees, are finding it difficult to secure new employment, drawing a stark comparison to the challenges faced by laid-off industrial workers decades ago.
The conversation also delved into the Trump administration's attacks on higher education, particularly elite private institutions. Linkon explained how cuts to federal grants for scientific research are affecting universities' budgets and operations. These cuts threaten faculty positions and jeopardize the jobs of countless staff and student workers who rely on these funds.
Linkon also addressed the recent wave of campus protests and the political attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. While Georgetown has been somewhat insulated from these issues, the broader trend of targeting universities for their DEI efforts is concerning, she said. The Trump administration's approach to cutting funding for institutions that engage in activities they disagree with is a strategic move to undermine higher education's role in fostering critical thinking and social progress. Linkon emphasized the need to recognize these attacks as part of a larger political strategy to influence public perception and policy.
Listen to the full episode of America's Workforce Union Podcast to gain deeper insights from Sherry Linkon on these critical topics.
America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.
America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.
