Portside

With the traditional union model and its emphasis on bargaining by representatives exiting the stage, working people are urgently searching for a new way to challenge corporate power and win a better life for their families. One hundred years later, the road not taken—represented by Local 8—represents one model.

The new bill marks a significant retreat from the Safe Chemicals Act. Missing are dozens of critical provisions designed to protect the public, especially vulnerable groups such as unborn babies, infants and children. These flaws raise this question: “Where exactly was the compromise”? This looks more like an industry bill than a law that will ensure that chemicals in commerce, many of which are polluting our bodies, are safe for all of us – especially kids.

The United States is one of only a few democracies that places the responsibility of registering primarily on each individual voter, rather than making government accountable for ensuring that eligible persons are registered. Not surprisingly, obstacles to registration result in fewer people who are registered to vote. Disparities in voter registration rates directly result in disparities in who votes in any given election, leaving many voices unheard.

When someone says that most Americans oppose race-based affirmative action, what they really mean is most White Americans oppose it.

In an exclusive, written interview, jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti warns that the alternative to a two-state solution is a conflict "with no middle ground."

There is no need for a chaos-engulfed finale to the Afghan War, no reason to continue the bloodshed

The problem is that almost nobody in Israel - hawks, peace advocates, or those in the middle - believes anything will come out of Kerry’s shuttle diplomacy.

This huge amount of money did not go to the workers ...

March Against Monsanto. Social justice in Sweden. Make a Wall Street banker squirm. Unemployment rates among the youth. Challenging Detroit’s creditors. The ugly, destructive war against food stamps. Pathway to citizenship.

On this fiftieth anniversary of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, here are five songs from the album that have powerfully shaped both music and politics over these decades: Blowin' in the Wind; Masters of War; It's a Hard Rain That's A Gonna Fall; Don't Think Twice, It's Alright and Talking World War III Blues.