In this episode of the United America Network’s labor-focused podcast, guest Randy Korgan, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 1932, joins the conversation to discuss the future of union labor and the growing power of working people across the Inland Empire and beyond. Korgan highlights how labor organizing is reshaping public sector and logistics industries, and why workers are increasingly demanding leaders who are willing to take real action—not just offer promises.

The discussion explores the collapse of trust in traditional political institutions, the rise of worker-led organizing, and the importance of collective bargaining as a foundation for economic fairness. Korgan emphasizes that unions succeed when members are actively engaged and when leadership prioritizes fighting corporate exploitation.

From warehouse workers to public employees, this episode reveals how solidarity, education, and organizing are driving real-world results—and why labor power is becoming central to political and economic change in America today.

8 Takeaways

• Workers increasingly prioritize leaders who actively fight for them, not just make promises
• Both major political parties are seen as drifting away from working-class priorities
• Union organizing is driving measurable gains in wages, rights, and workplace conditions
• Trust is central—workers will disengage if leaders fail to follow through
• Collective bargaining is framed as essential to protecting First Amendment workplace rights
• Corporate power is described as increasingly dominant in shaping labor conditions
• Worker-led organizing is growing across public sector and logistics industries
• Real change comes from participation, not passive observation or complaint

[00:00:00]

[00:00:22] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : we'll be hearing from him and with issues that he does differently than other labor leaders in a way that's really beneficial to, building a, stronger place for blue collar and other workers in our area. Randy, welcome.

[00:00:38] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : It is a privilege.

[00:00:40] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : We've known each other a long time, and it's been, I've been privileged to, to know you and so we wanna talk a little bit about how 1932 came to be and how it became a teamster local. It was an independent association before which a lot of those associations don't exist anymore for different reasons, [00:01:00] and clearly it became a very big issue that.

[00:01:16] Randy Korgan, Guest: One of the things that we noticed many, years ago before we chartered Teamsters 1932, which was chartered in 2015, what we always had noticed about the prior organization, San Bernardino Public Employees Association.

[00:01:52] Randy Korgan, Guest: As they could, especially in modern times. I would say 60, 70 years ago, it was much easier for independents to [00:02:00] operate by themselves. But with the consolidation of corporate America, corporate wealth and how they push themselves even into public entities it's, really, in my opinion, it's really hard for independents, independent associations to, they're not gonna have the resources.

[00:02:38] Randy Korgan, Guest: Never really attacked them even when they had some struggles 'cause I always felt like at some point there would be an opportunity for them to. Literally just take that entity and just become an independent local union. And then that happened in 2014 and 2015. Clearly the vote of the membership happened in 15.

[00:03:22] Randy Korgan, Guest: And using the cheap dirt in the region. To then manipulate the outcome of a lot of this building that was going on, right? A lot of these warehouses, right? And then obviously they created a lot of bad jobs and then that's just all around bad for the economy. And so one of the things that we were able to focus the membership on within.

[00:04:00] Randy Korgan, Guest: Exploiting that that resource exploiting the workers in the area

[00:04:23] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : Local union that 1932 is.

[00:04:41] Randy Korgan, Guest: It wasn't like just some slogan for the sake of having a slogan. It was real in a sense that something had to happen, something had to change and there needed to be a plan to do it. And clearly the membership. Very know, widely and, and very assertively we're like, I'm all in.[00:05:00]

[00:05:28] Randy Korgan, Guest: And also getting the general public to understand how important all these jobs are that our members do.

[00:05:46] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : You're trying to deal with this, real, this fight to make sure that we're connected in a way we can transform the area.

[00:06:18] Randy Korgan, Guest: All these really important things for our community, how important these are. And you gotta raise the value of 'em so that. Everybody recognizes how important they're, and I think that when, as that happened and the, and transforming Inland Empire happens at the same time, I think that is why our brand is now so strong.

[00:06:53] Randy Korgan, Guest: We're walking the walk, we're knocking on the doors and there is tangible results. Results to that [00:07:00] transformation.

[00:07:01] Randy Korgan, Guest: That's correct. They see that and they're living those results right now.

[00:07:10] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : And these union podcasters know of those results or know of you.

[00:07:15] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : And that's, it was when I became of this, it's cool man, part of this network. And people said, oh, do you know Randy Korgan? I said, hell yeah, of course I know Randy Korgan. He's got a good reputation in this area so well beyond this area.

[00:07:45] Randy Korgan, Guest: On the podcast side of things and this, sort of platform.

[00:08:14] Randy Korgan, Guest: Where the, we obviously do a live radio show and the Worker Power Hour for us is this really fun space where, the unions tell slowly telling its story over a period of time. Uhhuh, and as far as I'm concerned for us, maybe it's this, it's a new way to do things. But I'm excited to see, and it's great to hear that others are understand or know or we know about theirs.

[00:08:45] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : Speaking of which, I'd love to come on your program too, so

[00:08:49] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : I love to, I've heard your team to Power Hour and that is, it's amazing.

[00:09:04] Randy Korgan, Guest: yeah we've, we have sure had people from all over the country. That has been fun. We have had different dynamics obviously.

[00:09:35] Randy Korgan, Guest: Then you gotta be involved, you gotta participate and you gotta vote, and you gotta put your feet in the ground and make something happen. You can't just sit back and complain. You gotta participate in something to edge the space out and make sure that you're making a difference.

[00:09:56] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : I remember I invited you to speak in Riverside [00:10:00] and I invited what then? Sheriff Stan Smith. To speak and he came on before you and then you got up and you said, just turning on a dime. You said, this is a rare thing for me. I don't usually come on after the sheriff. He usually comes after me.

[00:10:17] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : Very. So people certainly, that

[00:10:20] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : People broke, up when, you said that 'cause but then you're always able to, get people revved up. And that's is one of the reasons I always invited you to speak when I had an opportunity to have you speak. 'cause you would always speak the truth to people and get them fired up.

[00:10:37] Randy Korgan, Guest: I am I enjoy doing it because I feel the, my history, my experience and my life, it's really my entire adult life spent in the labor movement has given me an opportunity to share with others. And it's okay to just let it fly. It's okay to.

[00:11:13] Randy Korgan, Guest: And that's okay. It's okay to step in there and let your energy flow and just sometimes be a little bit emotional with it. You're, gonna be all right.

[00:11:40] Randy Korgan, Guest: be an organizer,

[00:11:41] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : Many people that are in labor and labor leaders, not everyone is an organizer. Now, from the first time I talked to you, that was something of getting members. Active in having member organizers was important to you. It's important to the labor movement that we have, that we need more of that. I do applaud you for that [00:12:00] orientation that you have about member organizers.

[00:12:21] Randy Korgan, Guest: Now the city employees, including the airport, are with Teamsters 1932. And we're proud of that fact and we're, we love to see that more and more groups are gravitating towards that collective action here, especially out here in the low desert. There's so much opportunity. We're actually gonna be opening up an office out here at Teamsters 1932 office because our growth has been so big.

[00:12:51] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : yeah.

[00:13:27] Randy Korgan, Guest: It's easier for them to lead 'em than it is for me. I'm just a conduit. It's gonna help connect them to it,

[00:13:41] Randy Korgan, Guest: I've got an old rule. It's it's from many, decades ago, way before my time.

[00:14:01] Randy Korgan, Guest: And that growth is gonna just keep moving through the labor movement. And every more and more people are gonna experience. The collective bargaining process, and you don't end up becoming polarized or paralyzed and stagnant. You continue to move in a growth mode. I've spent over 30 years in growth mode and I'm now proud to say that I've been part of more than 40,000 workers that are now dues paying teamsters within this union.

[00:14:30] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : So some of those are not in 1932 'cause you've done a, kind of a breadth of organizing as well. And other parts of

[00:14:38] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : But in 1932, how many members are in 1932 at this point?

[00:14:43] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : 16,000. So it makes one of the larger unions within the inland area

[00:14:47] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : If not the largest.

[00:15:05] Randy Korgan, Guest: Is we've actually organized every single worker, every member, every unit that is in our local union has come off of an organizing of effort from one of our teams. That's, a powerful statement

[00:15:29] Randy Korgan, Guest: Yeah. Just a couple hours ago I spent. An hour in the morning, a little more than an hour with our probation directors so they're not just managers, they're directors above the managers that we represent in the of count in San Bernardino County. So we actually represent all the director positions across San Bernardino County for the various different departments.

[00:16:10] Randy Korgan, Guest: We got zookeepers in our local unions that we represent. And it's really some people will say, oh that's too wide. It's, that's too spread out. You need to be focused in on one area. I completely disagree with that. The diversity, having the diversity across multiple classifications across that include nurses and, do, include truck drivers and include everything.

[00:16:50] Randy Korgan, Guest: Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds 863 classifications in our local alone.

[00:16:55] Randy Korgan, Guest: that is, that's strong diversity. When you have a fight,

[00:17:00] Randy Korgan, Guest: Yep. And it, gets everybody to understand each other's struggles so that you can come together for a common interest.

[00:17:11] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : But you didn't leave out the, truck drivers, which is where I come from. I was a truck driver for 10 years. I'd like you to be able to speak into the, camera as, we're doing here, and tell anyone that's listening to this that's not in the union why they should join the Teamsters Union.

[00:17:32] Randy Korgan, Guest: I'm on. Huh? You're

[00:17:37] Randy Korgan, Guest: I, I think that the most important thing that we need to recognize as workers in America is that corporate America is never, ever handed us anything corporate America.

[00:18:04] Randy Korgan, Guest: Workers' rights have never been just given away given to, to, to the public or given to working people. Workers have always had to fight for that. Why I think it's important for every worker to understand that is go back in history and look at that journey. Look at what happened in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, and how, workers in America didn't progress and weren't able to buy homes, be able to have a good working class job, good working class, middle class.

[00:18:58] Randy Korgan, Guest: 40 hours [00:19:00] healthcare, retirement plans. Safety on the job rules when it comes to how long you can drive and, how you're affected. Even this goes so far as to the water you drink. corporate America has fought. Every single rule where we've tried to prevent the poisoning of water. And so why is it important for workers to organize?

[00:19:46] RRAF-2026-06-EDITED SHOW-RANDY KORGAN: which

[00:19:47] Randy Korgan, Guest: This is 2026. What are you saying? And the reason that happened is they were left off in 19 35, 19 34, and 1935 because of. Cotton and textile and, who [00:20:00] owned the farms. They left that entire industry out because they wanted to continue to exploit them. And so my point to it is, any gain for people in America has always been one with workers and with unions being the advocate to make that change, whether it's at the bargaining table at the city or at the federal level.

[00:20:21] Randy Korgan, Guest: do a good job?

[00:20:39] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : Can you address, not

[00:20:41] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : They're being taken away. Yeah. Being taken away and being threatened to be more, to be taken away. Can you address a little bit of that so that we can include. That people that know that's going on, that's one thing, but they may not know some of the threats.

[00:21:13] Randy Korgan, Guest: These rights to be stripped away and you do nothing about it, then the your, the rest of your First Amendment rights are gonna be stripped away on top of it. And, first let's just talk about not the secondary issue. The primary issue is these rights were already gained. Why would we allow this without a fight?

[00:21:45] Randy Korgan, Guest: We are gonna fight back. And so we're at this really interesting point in America where, the electorate last year, a little more than a year ago, basically turned over the reigns to corporate America. Corporate America cannot. They cannot control themselves. It's all [00:22:00] about make America greedy again.

[00:22:19] Randy Korgan, Guest: And I think it's really important for us to recognize this moment and do something about it. Don't just complain. Get out there and do something about it.

[00:22:31] Randy Korgan, Guest: I would assume so, yes.

[00:22:36] Randy Korgan, Guest: I I, would, say I fall in that category.

[00:22:54] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : Because they did not feel the party was fighting for them. And so I think that we are, we're looking to see how [00:23:00] that fights back, but it can only fight back if there are labor leaders as well as political leaders willing to fight. So I would just just say that we need more people that are willing to not just sit in the seat and talk about what they believe in.

[00:23:16] Randy Korgan, Guest: And I also think it goes to the elected of leaders too. I just saw a couple races in different parts of the country. Forgive me for not remembering their names. I was covering it on the radio show yesterday and these individuals are winning that have a labor platform.

[00:23:50] Randy Korgan, Guest: Both parties regarding that subject. And I think it's time that those elected officials lean back into labor, use labor as their primary foundation and say, Hey, I'm gonna do what's best [00:24:00] for working people. Not what's best for the corporations. Not a compromise, really what's best for working people?

[00:24:20] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : if people see someone willing to fight for them, they're more likely to act themselves.

[00:24:27] Randy Korgan, Guest: Yeah. 'cause we've seen that here recently where some words we're told, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that, and there's some surface stuff. But the reality, there's an undermining to the foundation of what workers need.

[00:24:39] Randy Korgan, Guest: That's correct.

[00:24:43] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : That we need more people that are willing to fight as labor leaders and not, we have labor leaders willing to fight. We have good people that are dedicated.

[00:24:57] Randy Korgan, Guest: Okay? And you may, people may not like that I'm saying [00:25:00] this and I'm not gonna call people out and say, Hey, and create undermine or, dissension. I'm just saying, let's get in this fight. Let's get rolling. Let's make some things happen.

[00:25:17] Steve Matthews, Host of "Riverside Rank & File" : And come here as well and say what y'all gonna commit to do and then do it. If you're a labor leader, if you're a political leader, use these venues. Use Randy's radio show you use this podcast, but be doing the work. We need people that are willing to fight and we have an ability to make change with commitment, with proof.