Labor 131: Max Krochmal, Professor of U.S. History & Director of Justice Studies

This week on America’s Work Force Union Podcast, host Ed "Flash" Ferenc speaks with Max Krochmal, Professor of History and Director of Justice Studies at the University of New Orleans, and member of United Campus Workers Southeast (CWA Local 3821). Krochmal discusses his book Blue Texas, which documents how Black, Mexican American, and white labor activists built multiracial coalitions for civil rights and economic justice in the Jim Crow South. He also examines the murder of union member Royall Brooks in New Orleans in 1948, the solidarity that followed, and the broader history of Black labor organizing in Louisiana. Krochmal shares insights from his public history project, Don’t Stand Alone, a traveling exhibition on New Orleans Black labor history, and reflects on why unions remain popular today, particularly among young people organizing in retail, higher education, and healthcare. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 – Introduction and Sponsor: Blue Cross and Blue Shield National Labor Office 1:00 – Introducing Max Krochmal, University of New Orleans 2:13 – United Campus Workers Southeast: Organizing without collective bargaining 3:30 – Building worker power in the South 4:24 – Blue Texas: Civil rights as labor struggles 5:19 – Multiracial coalitions in Texas during Jim Crow 6:18 – The murder of Royall Brooks in 1948 7:59 – Union solidarity and civil rights in New Orleans 9:58 – The Red Scare and the weakening of CIO unions 12:24 – Subterranean struggles of the 1950s and beyond 12:53 – Don’t Stand Alone exhibit: Black labor history in New Orleans 14:43 – Stories of domestic workers, sex workers, and teachers 15:36 – Hotel and longshore workers in New Orleans labor history 16:45 – Union popularity today among young workers 18:38 – Organizing Starbucks, Lowe’s, and nurses in New Orleans 20:09 – Why labor history fuels modern organizing 20:27 – Mardi Gras as working-class culture SPONSORS & GUESTS Thank you to Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s National Labor Office for sponsoring this episode. Learn more at: https://bcbs.com/national-labor-office-unions Max Krochmal: Professor of History and Director of Justice Studies, University of New Orleans. Author of Blue Texas. Member of United Campus Workers Southeast, CWA Local 3821. @BCBSAssociation #UnionStrong #LaborHistory #WorkersRights #UnionPodcast #MaxKrochmal #BlueTexas #CivilRights #LaborMovement #NewOrleans #AWFUnionPodcast Visit our website for more episodes and information on becoming a sponsor: www.awfpodcast.com Be sure to follow the podcast on Facebook, X (Twitter) and LinkedIn for more updates: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AWFUnionPodcast/ X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/AWFUnionPodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/awfunionpodcast Want another way to listen to the show? Follow us on one of these other platforms: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/id1511224946 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0GzkHxFSBxiXvuX0lZpQBn?si=8dcd24e399864ca2 Podbean: https://americasworkforceradiopodcast.podbean.com/ iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-americas-work-force-union-62567752/ Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/PC:47979