Portside

Labor leaders view this year’s elections – and 2024’s – with special urgency, as a goal-line stand to preserve America’s democracy.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and some of his organization’s largest affiliate unions are getting behind Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. But others are pushing Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, a former Service Employees International Union organizer.

Union leaders hope Biden will be able to enact policies to reinvigorate the labor movement, bringing in more members, money, and political influence while dramatically expanding collective bargaining rights and protections from workplace abuse.

As schools prepare to open, in addition to safety measures, some unions are pressing for police-free schools, canceling rents and mortgages, and bans on new charter programs and standardized testing.

The president of the Texas branch of the American Federation of Teachers says that going on strike is an option if teachers are forced back into the classroom this fall without proper precautions for COVID-19.

Several local unions have moved to oust police unions, despite the federation's approach that collective bargaining can be used for police reform.

Joe Biden has racked up endorsements from four of the largest — and most politically influential — unions in the past 10 days, a show of force that has bolstered his standing as the de facto Democratic nominee for president.

Sara Nelson, the president of the Association of Flight Attendants, has struck a chord with activists calling for her to run for labor’s top job: president of the AFL-CIO

Thousands of teachers gathered in Pittsburgh to discuss plan of action for new school year after strikes over pay and conditions