Specials

As 2012 comes to a close, today we look back at some of the stories we brought you this year. We'll do what FSRN does best, bring you the voices of the grassroots as people all over the world fight for social justice. We begin with election night in the US. While much remained the same, we look at the incremental change from marriage equality to women and LGBT Congressional winners to marijuana to immigration.

The US government knows more than ever about its citizens, gathering data from aerial surveillance, phone conversations and the Internet. Join us on Christmas Eve for our special program: "One Nation Under Surveillance," a look back at our investigations this year on the legal  and illegal spying mechanisms used by the government and private  corporations, and highlighting the work of activists who are pushing back, demanding more privacy protections.

For some of the details, we’re joined by Mira Edmonds, an attorney with the Alliance for Justice. She joins us from Washington, DC.

• Farm workers organize for labor rights in California
• Making new labor leaders in Wisconsin
• Labor and community organizing in New Orleans
• In Vermont, health care for all

The United Farm Workers just completed an historic march to Sacramento to call on Governor Jerry Brown to support legislation that would extend basic labor rights to farm workers, a segment of the work force that is excluded from certain federal labor protections. Farm workers set out from the agricultural town of Madera on August 23 and walked 170 miles over 13 days. FSRN caught up with UFW President Arturo Rodriguez as the march approached Sacramento.

One of this year's most visible labor struggles was sparked by legislation in Wisconsin to strip state workers of their collective bargaining rights. With the labor movement already facing an aging leadership and declining membership, many critics saw the fight as Labor’s last stand. Others have used the lessons from this year’s labor battles in Wisconsin to forge a new vision for the state’s labor movement. Molly Stentz reports from Madison.

The Deep South has a reputation for hostility towards organized labor. But despite this, New Orleans has a long tradition of union organizing. The city’s teachers' union was the first integrated education union in the South. And the first integrated American Federation of Labor shop was likely the streetcar workers in New Orleans. In 1892, the city held a successful general strike which included workers from different racial backgrounds and won concessions for unionized shops, overtime pay, and a 10-hour work day.