About this episode

The episode discusses unionization efforts at a punk merch warehouse and the historical context of the Aquatennial parade.

Workers at the Northeast Minneapolis Kings Road Merch warehouse have provided merch for some of the biggest names in punk music. But after they voted to unionize, parent company Sony Music announced plans to close their warehouse for good. Tim Lunning, a representative from the Kings Road Merch Union, joins the podcast to talk about why he believes Sony's actions amount to unionbusting, and how the workers are fighting back. Later, legendary musician and producer Gary Hines joins the conversation to talk about why he made the decision to pull his Black drum corp, the Sabathanites, out of the Aquatennial parade in the 1960's – and why he eventually returned to the festival in 2010. Learn more about the topics discussed in today's episode: minneapolis punks voted to unionize a merch warehouse. sony music plans to shut it down. (see/saw) Paradox: Echoes of Reform & the Minneapolis Police (PBS) Sabathanites return to Aquatennial (Insight News) Sabathanites Drum Corps (MNopedia) Become a City Cast Twin Cities Neighbor Learn more about the sponsors of this July 13th episode: The Cedar Cultural Center Studio J-Bo Twin Cities PBS Minnehaha Falls Art Fair Want to get in touch? Follow us…

People in this episode

Host: City Cast

Guests: Tim Lunning, Gary Hines

Topics covered

• unionization
• punk music
• workers' rights
• Aquatennial history
• music industry
• community activism

Keywords

• unionbusting
• Kings Road Merch
• Sony Music
• Aquatennial
• Tim Lunning
• Gary Hines
• Minneapolis
• punk music
• workers' rights

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Kings Road Merch, Sony Music

Places: Minneapolis

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