Portside

Sharp cuts in government spending implemented March 1 as part of the sequester are slowing the recovery. The federal government shed another 14,000 workers in May, for a total of 45,000 jobs cut over the past three months. The federal work force now is smaller than at any time since February 2008.

Just Cause: A Union Guide to Winning Disciplinary Cases is no exception. Based on more than four years of research into 15,000 arbitration awards and the author’s long experience representing unions, the book presents a new method to analyze and present disciplinary cases.

A building collapse in Philadelphia kills 6 - a non-union contractor with a shady history faces scrutiny - see 2 articles below. The factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,100 workers is another glaring example of workers without union protection at the mercy of greedy employers and corrupt politicians. But this cycle can finally be broken if demands for change start to focus on workers’ right to form trade unions - see opinion column below.

While so far protests remain isolated, poor conditions across Cambodia, and poorer Asian states for that matter, could result in more widespread demonstrations. Bangladesh may be garnering most of the headlines due to recent tragedies, but conditions across poorer Asian states remain equally dire. Still, governments are hesitant to step in out of fear that manufacturers will relocate elsewhere, taking jobs and tax revenues with them.