City Works is a monthly news magazine program produced by the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies (SLU) in collaboration with CUNY TV and hosted by Laura Flanders. The show’s mission is to create is a visual and thematic presentation of work, workers and worker organizations, employing topical examinations of the changing nature of work, tributes to unsung heroes, and analysis of the enduring challenges faced by workers. The show will spotlight the vast array of occupations of working people across New York City, and explore individual and collective efforts to make a better life for workers and a more prosperous and equitable society.

Air Time City Works airs Mon. – Thur. at 12 noon (new episodes premiere on the first Monday of the month).
Contact
cityworks@slu.cuny.edu
Latest Episode
Children at Work – SLU City Works
On this episode of City Works, Laura Flanders is joined by Steve Fraser, labor historian and writer, and Nina Mast, economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute and co-author of the Institute’s recent report on the alarming increase in child labor across the country. The three discuss what’s behind this new surge in child labor violations, and how economic interests are attempting to roll back the few protections that remain. Following the discussion is a special report by SLU and City Works that takes a closer look at some of the migrant children who are working on tobacco farms.
Previous Episodes
Season Four
- Episode One – Los Deliveristas: NYC App Delivery Workers
- Episode Two – Organizing at Amazon and in the American Theatre
- Episode Three – Gender Equality in the Workplace: The Struggle Continues
- Episode Four – 2022 Midterm Election Aftermath: A Reporter Roundtable
- Episode Five – Worker Cooperatives Building a Better Workplace
- Episode Six – A Life in Activism and Advocacy
- Episode Seven – Peril in the Factory Protecting the World’s Garment Workers
- Episode Eight – The Threat to NYC Public Housing and the Fight to Keep It Public
- Episode Nine – A New Frontier for Labor: Video Game Workers Get Organized
- Episode Ten – New Protections for Workers and “How Workers Win” Conference
- Special Episode – Rebuilding Labor’s Power for the 21st Century
Season Three
- Episode One – Workers & Disability Rights: Beyond the Pandemic
- Episode Two – The State of the Unions & Occupy Wall Street Ten Years Later
- Episode Three – A Tale of Two Cities Revisited: NYC’s Mayoral Transition
- Episode Four – Challenging Monopoly and “Bezosism”
- Episode Five – Organized Labor and The Global Climate Crisis
- Episode Six – Solving the NYC Yellow Cab Debt Crisis
- Episode Seven – Examining Racism’s Economic and Health Impacts In America
- Episode Eight – Elder Care in America
- Episode Nine – A People’s Guide to NYC & Wall Street’s Grip on Worker Pension Funds
- Episode Ten – The Future We Need: Organizing in the 21st Century
Season Two
- Episode One – BLM and Police Unions
- Episode Two -Immigrant Workers: Contesting the Narrative
- Episode Three – Pandemic Economics
- Episode Four – Post Election Reporters Roundtable
- Episode Five – New York’s Housing Crisis: Tenant Organizing in a Pandemic
- Episode Six – The Biden Administration and the Working Class
- Episode Seven – COVID Recovery and Essential Workers: What’s Next?
- Episode Eight – Worker Organizing in 2021 America
- Episode Nine – Transgender Workforce Activism: Pride is Political
Season One
- Episode One – Workers in New York City; Steven Greenhouse
- Episode Two – Wage Theft; State of the Unions with Ruth Milkman
- Episode Three – Street Vendors; UAW Strike; Vinny Alvarez
- Episode Four – Beyond Resistance
- Episode Five – Teacher’s Strike with Stacy Davis Gates; Randi Weingarten
- Episode Six – Nurses on the Front Lines of Healthcare Delivery
- Episode Seven – Activism in the Gaming Industry
- Episode Eight – Domestic Workers and the Pandemic
- Episode Nine – AOC – Pramila Jayapal – COVID-19 Frontline Workers
Host
Laura Flanders is a best-selling author and broadcaster. After many years in public and commercial radio, she founded The Laura Flanders Show / GRITtv in 2008 to serve as an online channel for in depth conversations with forward-thinking people from the worlds of politics, economics, business and the artsAmerica Radio (2004-2008) before which she was the founding host of Your Call, on public radio, KALW, and CounterSpin, the nationally-syndicated radio program from the mediawatch group FAIR.
Production Team
The show is a collaboration between CUNY TV and the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. Chiqui Cartagena, the station’s Interim Executive Director and Gregory Mantsios, the School’s Dean are executive producer. Rose Imperato is a co-producer along with Joseph Montalbano of CUNY TV. Carl Ginsburg is senior consultant and scriptwriter and Paula Finn is a consulting producer.
CUNY TV
The City University of New York’s television station, CUNY TV, has been educating and informing viewers for more than three decades. Established in 1985, the station has steadily increased its ambition and scope, in 2009 transitioning to high definition and adding over-the-air broadcasting to its existing cable distribution. Now reaching 7.3 million broadcast households in the New York metro area, CUNY TV is committed to extending the academic mission of the university to offer lifelong learning opportunities to all New Yorkers.