LaborForce Media Launches ‘Partners in Labor with Rick Smith,’ Expanding Its Platform for Working America

New podcast joins The Daily Jolt, The Rick Smith Show and Labor’s 9/11 Legacy, spotlighting the people and partnerships supporting unions and working families.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, October 28, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Behind every strong union is a community of people committed to helping working families move forward. LaborForce Media is bringing those connections to the microphone with the launch of Partners in Labor with Rick Smith, a new podcast exploring the people, organizations, and partnerships supporting labor unions.

Now available through major podcast listening platforms, the series features conversations about the experiences that shape a commitment to labor—and how that commitment translates into action.

The launch builds on LaborForce Media’s work across radio, podcasts, digital journalism, and social media. It connects a new collection of interviews with the working America focus of The Daily Jolt with Rick Smith, the broader conversations of The Rick Smith Show, and the historical storytelling of Labor’s 9/11 Legacy, hosted by Arthur Aidala.

Together, these programs offer complementary ways to hear labor’s voice: through the issues workers face today, the relationships supporting their future, and the history that deserves to be preserved.

“Labor’s story belongs to the people who live it—and to those willing to stand beside them,” said Kerri O’Brien, Co-Founder and CEO of LaborForce Media. “Partners in Labor gives us an opportunity to ask what that commitment looks like. Why does someone care about unions? What have working families taught them? And how are they putting that understanding to work?”

A Broader Conversation About Partnership

Partners in Labor welcomes union leaders, union members, and their families, along with vendor partners, union employer groups, elected officials, advocates, and others who support labor unions.

The series explores the relationships behind issues such as healthcare, benefits, financial security, organizing, workforce development, workplace safety, and workers’ rights. Guests have room to explain their connection to labor, discuss challenges, and share what they hope to contribute.

For LaborForce Media, the word “partner” reflects a commitment that extends beyond a business relationship. It can describe an employer investing in a skilled union workforce, a family member advocating for protections that changed their life, or a service provider working to make benefits more accessible to members.

The conversations are intended to help listeners better understand those commitments and the people making them.

“Working people deserve to hear directly from the people making decisions, providing services, and standing up for their interests,” said Rick Smith, host of Partners in Labor. “These conversations give us time to get beyond an introduction and talk about what matters: the work, the responsibility, and the difference someone hopes to make.”

The Daily Jolt: Bringing Labor’s Perspective to the Day’s Issues

Partners in Labor also creates a new way for audiences to connect with The Daily Jolt with Rick Smith, powered by LaborForce Media.
Launched on Labor Day 2026, The Daily Jolt is a daily radio show and podcast focused on the issues shaping working America. Its mix of news, commentary, and interviews brings a labor perspective to conversations about wages, healthcare, retirement, workplace protections, and economic opportunity.

Selected Partners in Labor conversations and clips will be featured on The Daily Jolt, introducing the guests and their perspectives to the show’s audience while directing listeners to the fuller interviews.

The relationship gives each format a distinct purpose. The Daily Jolt connects listeners with the day’s issues, while Partners in Labor provides additional space to explore the experiences and relationships behind them.

Connecting with The Rick Smith Show

The new series also draws on Smith’s work as the host of The Rick Smith Show, where working people and the issues affecting their lives are central to the conversation.

Across these programs, Smith helps connect personal experiences with larger questions about opportunity, power, public policy, and the value of work.
Partners in Labor adds a focused interview format to that work, inviting guests to discuss their own relationship with unions and the responsibilities that come with supporting working families.

For listeners discovering Smith through the new podcast, the series offers another entry point into his broader radio and podcast programming.

Labor’s 9/11 Legacy: Preserving the Stories Behind the Response

The launch also sits alongside LaborForce Media’s commitment to preserving labor history through Labor’s 9/11 Legacy, hosted by attorney and broadcaster Arthur Aidala.

Developed for the 25th anniversary of September 11, the podcast series examines labor’s role in the response and recovery, helping preserve the experiences of people whose skill, service, and solidarity became part of that history.

Its connection to Partners in Labor is rooted in a shared purpose: making sure the people behind labor’s contributions are heard.

Where Labor’s 9/11 Legacy looks closely at a defining chapter in American history, Partners in Labor explores the commitments people carry into their work today. Both recognize that labor’s story reaches beyond a job title or an organization’s name. It is also a story of families, communities, sacrifice, and shared responsibility.

“Our programming allows us to connect the immediate with the enduring,” Darren Yelin, Co-Founder and CRO of LaborForce Media said. “We can examine an issue affecting workers today, hear from someone working to address it, and preserve the history that helps explain why it matters. Each program gives people a different reason to listen—and another way to understand labor’s contribution.”

An Invitation to Listen—and Participate

The initial collection of Partners in Labor interviews is available now, with additional conversations planned.

Listeners can explore the series at: https://shows.acast.com/partners-in-labor-with-rick-smith

LaborForce Media is also inviting suggestions for future guests.
Union leaders, members, family members, employers, service partners, public officials, and other supporters of labor are encouraged to share their connection to unions and suggest a subject for a conversation with Rick.

If you are a partner in labor, LaborForce Media wants to hear from you.

About Rick Smith
Rick Smith is a veteran labor broadcaster and longtime voice for working people. Through The Rick Smith Show, he has built a national platform focused on workers, unions, economic fairness, democracy, corporate accountability, and the issues shaping working-class communities. Known for his direct, passionate, and fact-based style, Rick brings urgency, clarity, and conviction to conversations about labor, politics, policy, and the future of work.
With The Daily Jolt with Rick Smith, Rick brings that same voice to a daily radio and podcast format designed to inform, challenge, and activate listeners across working America.

About LaborForce Media
LaborForce Media is a labor-focused media platform dedicated to telling the stories that shape working America. Through news, podcasts, video, events, email, social media, and strategic partner campaigns, LaborForce Media connects unions, workers, labor leaders, benefit decision-makers, and mission-aligned organizations with timely content and trusted labor-market visibility.
Media Contact
LaborForce Media- Kerri O’Brien, CEO kerri@laborforcemedia.com

Kerri OBrien
LaborForce Media
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