Portside

Northwestern University football players showed they'd learned more than playbooks: they'd also learned teamwork. They understood that individuals don't win football games. And they knew they weren't going to win this fierce contest with their schools and the NCAA without teamwork. If successful, they will form the first union of its kind in the country. Leo Gerard explains why the Steelworkers are supporting the effort. Jon Solomon answers 5 questions.

The passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership suffered a set-back when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would not support "fast track" legislation, which would limit debate and Congressional ability to amend the "NAFTA on Steroids" trade pact.

Union members in Pennsylvania held a mass demonstration inside the state capital to protest a Republican effort to strip public employee unions of their right to have member dues collected through payroll deduction. The protesters were clear that they see this Republican effort as just the beginning of an attempt to destroy unions and workers' rights in the state.

Anti-labor forces in Tennessee and elsewhere are leading a fight against both Volkswagen and the UAW to prevent unionization. These right-wing forces see a successful unionization drive as opening the door to the UAW in other southern states.