Portside

Corporate interests have taken credit for reducing private-sector unions to a fraction of their former strength, and for eroding public-sector collective bargaining, especially since the 2010 “Tea Party midterms.” A resurgence in low-wage worker organizing, sparked by growing inequality in the United States, promises to help defend the rights—and paychecks—of vulnerable workers. But corporations and their paid shills aim to snuff out the movement before it catches fire.

Inside squalid quarters, bedrooms are so crowded that men must sleep three to a stack — one on the upper bunk, one on the lower bunk and one below the lower bunk, separated from the floor by only a thin pad for a mattress. In the space between the beds, the men pile cauliflower, onions and sacks of Basmati rice to cook after working all day and washing the construction dirt from their clothes. Exposed wiring hangs from the ceiling, and cockroaches climb the walls.

(1) Workers around the world hold May Day protests and celebrations. (2) The strength of social democracy in Canada translates to an amazing contrast between the living standards of US workers and their compatriots to the north. (3) As voters in some major US cities choose left leadership, the rising tide of inequality presents major contradictions.

In the long-term, the Technological Revolution may prove to be a giant leap forward in freeing humans from being chained to jobs that are unsafe, unhealthy, physically taxing, and mentally unsatisfying. In the short-term, new technologies are contributing to structural unemployment, rising inequality, job insecurity, and micro-management of workers as these two news stories illustrate.

In a move expected to draw harsh opposition from the business community, President Obama will use his executive authority to push changes in overtime law so that millions of workers who are now exempt will be eligible for premium rates when working more than 40 hours per week.