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Rejecting TPP, AFL-CIO’s Trumka Calls for ‘Global New Deal’

Bruce Vail Working in These Times
"We have a choice, and we will choose between the world economy of today—with slow growth, high unemployment and obscene levels of inequality—and the world of tomorrow, of broadly shared prosperity. We will choose between a world of wealth for the 1%, with poverty for the rest of us, and a world in which all of us who work hard can enjoy the fruits of our labor."

Looking Back at the Labor Party

Mark Dudzic interviewed by Derek Seidman New Labor Forum
Going back, you said that there were 80 unions at the Labor Party's founding that represented roughly half a million workers. It seems like you were trying to make this a party that was - concretely and substantively, not just symbolically or rhetorically - composed of and led by actual leaders, organizers, and rank-and-file members of the labor movement. Can you speak about that kind of model, and how it's different from other existing parties?

The Minimum Wage Is a Fight for Women

Isaiah Poole OurFuture.org
Despite decades of efforts on behalf of equal pay for women, women still earn on average 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. Legislation increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 would narrow that gap by 5 percent

A Christie Life Primer

Gail Collins The New York Times
When the political ship is going down, nobody will bother to rescue the unattached woman and the dork from senior year.

So, the Pope and Obama Walk Into a Slum ...

Chris Arnade The Guardian
When you bend the rules to favor the wealthy, they never give back. Francis knows this because it is how Argentina, and much of Latin America, has been run for centuries.

Friday Nite Videos -- March 28, 2014

Portside
Sarah Jones: One Woman, Eight Hilarious Characters. Donald Rumsfeld: The Unknown Known. A Dog, a Noun and a Verb. Open Access Explained! Stop Freaking Out About the Debt.

Tidbits - March 27, 2014

Portside
Reader Comments - Ukraine; Russia; Climate Change; Wall Street; Capitalism; Wanted: Populist Movement of the 99%; Angela Davis; Charter Schools; Government Spying, NSA; NCAA Racism; TPP Announcements - Left Labor Project - Election Strategy Discussion -New York -Apr 3; Need 100 Jewish voices in New York against anti-boycott bill; 2014 Moving Beyond Capitalism Conference; New resource - Politics and ideology in the American Historical Profession

Beyond the Minimum Wage: Interview With Jobs With Justice's Sarita Gupta

Amy Dean, Truthout Interview Truthout
There's a growing population of people who have to make ridiculous choices between paying for food or paying for rent or paying for health care - basic necessities. There's actually a need for us right now to create a whole new generation of smart policies. The fight for raising the minimum wage and all these wage campaigns are actually part of creating a long-term vision around what economic democracy looks like and needs to be.

The Rise of Vermont's Fracked Gas Battle: Communities Organize Against Pipeline Plans

Keith Brunner Toward Freedom
If built, the proposed Addison-Rutland Natural Gas Project would extend Vermont's gas pipeline grid south into Addison and Rutland counties, with the possibility of further expansions linking up with the US pipeline network in the Albany, New York area. The entire pipeline project was dealt a major blow on March 4, 2014, when three affected communities passed Town Meeting Day resolutions opposing the pipeline.