Vina Colley

Vina Colley

Author: Working People April 25, 2024 Duration: 1:47:13

"Vina Colley was Erin Brockovich before Erin Brockovich," Kevin Williams wrote in a 2020 Belt Magazine article titled, "The Poisonous Legacy of Portsmouth's Gaseous Diffusion Plant." Williams continues, "Colley has become an unlikely citizen-scientist, spending a lifetime researching and documenting PORTS and its sins... Colley was hired as an electrician at the facility in 1980 and worked there for three years. 'I was exposed to everything. We were cleaning off radioactive equipment that we did not know was radioactive. They never told us,' Colley told me. Then, she said, her hair started falling out, she developed rashes, and 'I got really sick and went to the hospital, not knowing that it was my job causing me all these problems. I had big tumors.' In the four decades since, she's faced a range of health problems, including chronic bronchitis, tumors, and pulmonary edema." In this episode, we sit down with Colley herself to talk about growing up in Ohio during America's Cold War atomic age, her experience working as an electrician at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, and her decades-long fight to hold the plant and the government accountable for what they've done to her, her coworkers, and her community, and to get them the compensation they deserve.

Additional links/info below…

Permanent links below...

Featured Music...

  • Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song


There’s a conversation happening about the economy, politics, and culture, but too often the actual voices of the people who keep everything running are absent. Working People changes that. This is a place where the lived experience of the working class in modern America takes center stage. Produced in partnership with In These Times magazine and The Real News Network, each episode is built around a candid interview with someone from the vast and varied landscape of the American workforce. You’ll hear from teachers, factory workers, service industry employees, caregivers, and many others, each sharing the unvarnished details of their daily reality. Conversations naturally unfold to cover not just the specifics of their jobs, but the broader context of their lives-their personal histories, their political views, the dynamics within their families, and the unique blend of satisfaction and struggle that defines their world. The Working People podcast doesn’t offer abstract analysis; it provides a direct, human connection to the stories that collectively shape our society. It’s about understanding the hopes, the frustrations, and the resilience that are woven into the fabric of working-class life today. By listening, you get a genuine portrait of the people whose labor is so often discussed, yet whose own narratives are so rarely heard in such depth.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Working People
Podcast Episodes
"It is our moral imperative": Oregon students hunger strike for Gaza [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:08
At this very moment, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who have managed to survive Israel's scorched-earth siege and bombing are being deliberately starved to death as a result of Israel's 11-week blockade preventing food a…
A bitcoin mine in Texas is "killing us slowly," local residents say [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:31
I would like to see Texas become the center of the universe for bitcoin and crypto," US Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said in 2021. In 2024, Republican Governor Greg Abbott said Texas "wears the crown as the bitcoin mining…
Trump escalates the war on federal unions [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:16
Last week, President Trump escalated his administration's war on the federal workforce and workers' rights when he signed an executive order to end collective bargaining with federal labor unions across the government. T…
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and the Uprising of the 20,000 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:16
As we've mentioned many times before on the show, movements today are a part of a legacy of extraordinary actions taken by ordinary people. Tapping into our own labor history provides us with a blueprint for action in to…
Privatize USPS? Mail carriers are fighting for a better idea [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:09
This week, we're taking a more national focus, and checking in with the National Association of Letter Carriers, who have been embroiled in a years-long contract negotiation with the US Postal Service. In our episode tod…