Portside

Amid the upsurge of successful union representation elections overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, workers are still struggling to secure their first contracts—and real change in the workplace.

Dark grocery stores exist solely for delivery purposes. There are no customers to shop the aisles, and there are no checkout lines; it is less like an ordinary grocery store and more like a shipping center hidden under the façade of a grocery store.

Two key questions confront labor: should unions focus on organizing workers with major strategic leverage in the economy? Or should they welcome any workers willing to fight, since that organizing can constitute a major catalyst for other workers?

Dancers at the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in Los Angeles have received positive signs from the NLRB, which bodes well for their contested union drive. If all goes as expected, they will be the only unionized strippers in the country.

Some of the greatest pop music ever made gets the respectful, rigorous sociological treatment it deserves – thanks to this documentary series from the Public Enemy star

Arbitration agreements prohibit employees from vindicating their legal rights in courtrooms, and instead require them to pursue claims in private, confidential forums.

The Brooklyn poet William J. Harris has something to say about guilt by association as so many of your own best friends have been accused.

This decision was the result of a large-scale union campaign which made good use of a worker's survey to raise public awareness but also to mobilize around the issue of occupational cancers. 

“I’m feeling in shock, to be honest. It hasn’t quite hit me yet and I don’t think I’ll fully believe it until we’ve ratified,” And until I’ve hugged and cried in joy with my fellow strikers. But excited and nervous to get back to work! And to see the ripples this has across the industry.” Almost 250 workers had been on strike for 66 days.

Gary Dorrien’s sweeping history of American democratic socialism weaves personal, intellectual, and spiritual narratives together in a book that reminds us of the great potential of the socialist movement.