Portside

Walmart Stores Inc., the nation's largest private employer, is fuming about a ''living wage'' bill approved by the D.C. Council that has an unusual twist: It would apply only to certain large retailers, forcing them to pay at least $12.50 an hour, nearly 50 percent higher than city's minimum wage of $8.25.

Commentators questioned the wisdom of inflicting further austerity on a nation where more than 1.3 million are out of work, salaries have been cut by an average 25%, and poverty has been imposed on more than a third of the entire population.

BART strike aftermath: Arrogant techies channel Russian aristocracy and declare class warfare.

As trade unions, we need to develop our own vision of how our industries and jobs should be transformed to meet sustainability goals. We must also be able to identify the policy levers that may be used to implement that vision.