Portside

Labor is in trouble which is not news to our readers. Michael Hirsch describes some of the obvious problems and some ways forward. He believes unions should have more of them against us approach. This was something Occupy Wall Street did very successfully. For a short period of time they changed the dialogue away from austerity to the needs of working period. Other ideas include community and union based electoral campaigns, workers papers, international organizing.

Thomas Perez, reported to be President Barack Obama's choice to lead the Dept. of Labor, stands to be a target of conservatives because of his unapologetic civil rights advocacy.

The battle over teachers unions has marched its way across the country. Ohio. Michigan. Wisconsin. Idaho. And now it’s in Kansas, greeted by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and his conservative allies in the Legislature.

To mark International Women's Day on 8 March, which focuses on 'violence against women', the ILO is highlighting the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace - an often subtle but disturbing form of aggression.

Today’s robots can do far more than their primitive, single-task ancestors. And there is a broad debate among economists, labor experts and companies over whether the trend will add good-paying jobs to the economy by helping firms run more efficiently or simply leave human workers out in the cold.