Archives

For posts before June 2012, please follow these links to our archives.

E.g., 2013-06-26

Labor's Plan B

May 14, 2013
Portside Labor
http://prospect.org/article/labors-plan-b
The American Prospect
Faced with the very real threat of extinction, unions have largely put collective bargaining on the back burner, and instead must try to remind American workers of the basic concept of worker solidarity. “We start from the point of view that, because so few people are in unions these days, very few people have personal experience with collective power,” explains Karen Nussbaum, the executive director of Working America.

Amazon Online Retailer Hit by Strike in Germany

May 14, 2013
Portside
http://www.dw.de/amazon-online-retailer-hit-by-strike-in-germany/a-16810700
Deutsche Welle
Workers at two German Amazon locations have walked out in support of higher wages and to press their right to collective bargaining. The all-day stoppage is set to disrupt services in Amazon's second biggest market.

California Domestic Workers Demand Bill of Rights

May 14, 2013
Portside
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10197
Real News Network
In California, advocates, workers and politicians are trying to pass into law a bill that protects the rights of domestic workers.

Landmark $240M Verdict for Disabled Workers Slashed to $1.6M

May 13, 2013
Portside Labor
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/landmark-240m-verdict-disabled-workers-slashed-1-6m-1C9904675
The Associated Press
A landmark $240 million verdict awarded to 32 mentally disabled Iowa plant workers who were subjected to years of abuse by their handlers will be reduced to just $1.6 million because of a federal cap, attorneys in the case agree.

Deportation in 90 Minutes or Less

May 13, 2013
Portside
http://inthesetimes.com/article/14985/deportation_in_90_minutes_or_less/
In These Times
This proceeding is Operation Streamline, an eight-year-old, little-known provision of immigration policy that was intended—along with the new fence that currently stretches 650 miles long and as high as 20 feet—to discourage illegal entry to the United States along the Mexican border. The provision is meant to “streamline” cases so that more undocumented immigrants can be efficiently processed in court. The harsh punishments are meant to deter subsequent re-entry attempt

Thoreau's Radicalism and the Fight Against the Fossil-Fuel Industry

May 13, 2013
Portside
http://www.thenation.com/article/174225/thoreaus-radicalism-and-fight-against-fossil-fuel-industry
The Nation
As the battle over Keystone moves toward a climax this summer or fall, when Obama is expected to make a final decision, it has become the central rallying point for a broad and diverse climate movement at what looks like a pivotal, and “radicalizing,” moment. More and more, what Bill McKibben recently dubbed the “Fossil Fuel Resistance” is turning to nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience to make its demands seen and heard.

Sister Assata: This Is What American History Looks Like

May 13, 2013
Portside
http://alicewalkersgarden.com/2013/05/sister-assata-this-is-what-american-history-looks-like/
Alice Walker's Garden
I believe Assata Shakur to be a good and decent, a kind and compassionate person. True revolutionaries often are. Physically she is beautiful, and her spirit is also. She appears to hold the respect, love and friendship of all the people who surround her.

Will Cuba's Economic Reforms Succeed?

May 13, 2013
Portside
http://www.americasquarterly.org/node/2450
Americas Quarterly
At the core of the reforms is an acknowledgement by the Cuban state that it must relinquish control over those activities and sectors, such as retail, that do not serve it strategically and that it believes have the capacity to absorb the growing labor force in coming years. If these conditions are established, non-state employment will meet its expected contribution to the economy, above all in terms of job creation and the production of goods and services.

Why Labor Should Back Gina McCarthy for EPA Administrator

May 13, 2013
Portside
http://www.labor4sustainability.org/uncategorized/why-labor-should-back-gina-mccarthy-for-epa-administrator/
Labor Network for Sustainability
American workers need jobs. They also need protection from chemicals and pollutants that threaten their lives, health, environment, climate, and future. Gina McCarthy, President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, has a unique track record in protecting the environment in ways that also protect and expand jobs.

Michigan Schools Can Stop Deducting Union Dues

May 12, 2013
Portside Labor
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130510/SCHOOLS/305100361/Court-Michigan-schools-can-stop-deducting-union-dues?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs
THE DETROIT NEWS
MEA President Steve Cook said in a statement, "Banning payroll deduction of dues only for school employees is clearly an attack on the First Amendment rights of our members and retaliation for our activism in fighting the right-wing, anti-public education agenda."

Honey bees, CCD, and the Elephant in the Room

May 12, 2013
Portside
http://membracid.wordpress.com/2013/05/03/guest-post-honey-bees-ccd-and-the-elephant-in-the-room/
Bug Girl's Blog
What is happening is that researchers are studying one possible factor at a time, and seeing only a tiny part of the whole picture. It’s the parable of “The Blind Men and the Elephant”, where each one describes only that which is in their range of perception, instead of examining ALL of the evidence (including reading ALL of the literature) and coming up with a theory which explains all of it. We’ve got a pile of incomplete theories all competing for the media spotlight.

Who Can Stop the Koch Brothers From Buying the Tribune Papers? Unions Can, and Should

May 12, 2013
Portside
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/who-can-stop-the-koch-brothers-from-buying-the-tribune-papers-unions-can-and-should-20130510
Rolling Stone
The potential Tribune sale would be a high-profile litmus test of the unions' financial self-awareness. Public-sector workers from Massachusetts to California can force their investment managers to make a choice: sell to the Kochs, or keep managing their retirement billions. If the Kochs want to buy newspapers, this is a free country, and nobody can stop them. But the people whose benefits they want to slash don't have to help them get there.

Which Brands Accept Blood on Their Labels?

May 12, 2013
Portside
The Nation
It's difficult for exploited workers to organize and build popular support. Companies can pack up and move to the next low-wage country where people and governments are desperate for jobs and income, however pitiful. This cycle of exploitation is destined to continue until the world runs out of poor countries to exploit, or until citizens in rich countries, like the U.S.

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