Corporate Fat Cats are on the run. America’s workers are being pinched in a falling economy. Is this Labor’s big moment? Personal portfolios are in the dumps, job security’s rare and benefits are evaporating.

Recent polls show that more non-unionized people would vote for a union if they could, though only 13.5 percent of the workforce is organized, nearly sixty percent of Americans approve of unions. It goes beyond polls and theory.

On the West Coast, longshoremen are locked off the docks and lots of businesses are feeling the pain. In Boston, a janitor’s union comprised mainly of immigrants is re-introducing the bosses to the social and fiscal pressures of shame, claiming exploitation and connecting with the public.

Guests:

Elaine Bernard, executive director of the Trade Union Program at Harvard University and a long-time activist

Barry Hirsch, labor economist at Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas

Rocio Saenz, deputy trustee of Local 245, the Service Employees International Union In New England.