Portside

“There’s a real rank-and-file rebellion going on right now,” says Jen Wallis, a Seattle switchman-conductor for Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway. “People who’ve never been involved in the union, never went to a union meeting, they are showing up and they’re joining Railroad Workers United in droves.

Market Basket workers don’t have a union. But they achieved in three weeks what few unions have accomplished in recent years: They stood up to their multibillion-dollar employer, won local and national sympathy for their struggle, and stayed united. Boston Globe 8/12/14

The fight against global inequality and opposition to the Israeli attack on Gaza were highlights of the International Transport Workers Federation. Delegates also pledged to continue their campaign against "Flags of Convenience," and their solidarity with all victims of anti-labor violence.

A recent National Labor Relations Board ruling means unions could one day organize nationally among all McDonald’s workers, rather than one store at a time. Nowhere perhaps did the ruling reverberate louder than in Atlanta, headquarters for Arby’s, Chick-fil-A, Popeye’s and other fast-food franchises, as well as many hotel, retail and temp agency chains.The ruling could be a huge boost for the Service Employees International Union, which is organizing fast-food workers.

The Liberal Government in Quebec is attempting to pass a bill that would mandate a 50-50 split between municipalities and unionized workers on pension contributions and future deficits. Over 122,000 municipal workers and retirees would be affected. The bill would freeze the automatic indexing for current retiree pensions. Unions are fighting back.

Civilians need to understand-- the biggest problem with the destruction of tenure is not that a handful of teachers will lose their jobs, but that entire buildings full of teachers will lose the freedom to do their jobs well.

Respondents gave their answers to the following prompts: The economic impact of robotic advances and AI: Self-driving cars, intelligent digital agents that can act for you, and robots are advancing rapidly. Will networked, automated, artificial intelligence (AI) applications and robotic devices have displaced more jobs than they have created by 2025?

Coordinated international labor action has resulted in a victory as dismissed trade union leaders in Egypt were reinstated. One lesson of this struggle is that the power of global worker solidarity can transcend sharp national conflicts to win campaigns.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union, once known for its militancy and political radicalism, faces a choice between nurturing rank-and-file power and a slow, painful death.

Dr, Dollar addresses a popular myth about minimum wage increases, and explains why inflation isn't as bad as some might think.