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Sanders Loses on Trade at Democratic Platform Meeting

David Weigel The Washington Post
When it came time to fight, the Sanders forces tried two tactics. The first was an amendment to the compromise plank, tweaking it to say "and that's why we oppose the TPP." The second was a separate amendment that would have put the party on record against a TPP vote this year.

South Korea: Independent Union Leader Sentenced to Five Years in Prison

Yi San Labor Notes
South Korea's unions, once one of the best organized segments of the global labor movement, have suffered setbacks since the late 1990s, when the government made it easier for employers to lay off workers and hire casuals. Fewer than one in 10 workers is now unionized, the country’s lowest level ever. South Korea’s government and business leaders want to put Han away because he represents a pivotal segment of what is left of labor militancy.

The Story of the Book That Explained the World

Donald Liebenson Chicago Tribune
The Encyclopedia Britannica has gone through many editions, but the 1910-1911 scholars edition is nonpareil. Dennis Boyles' book says why, and enumerates what is lost when readers gain accessibility and cost-savings from easy access to Wikipedia and other venues but lose in depth and authority.

Left of the Left: My Memories of Sam Dolgoff

Peter Cole Portside
This memoir by physics and geology professor Anatole Dolgoff of his father, IWW activist Sam Dolgoff (1902-1990), beautifully captures the aura of the anarchist and related movements in the United States in the latter half of the 20th century, says reviewer Peter Cole.

Review: In ‘The Innocents,’ Not Even Nuns Are Spared War Horrors

Stephen Holden The New York Times
Much of Anne Fontaine’s blistering film “The Innocents” is set within the walls of a Polish convent in December 1945, just after the end of World War II. What at first appears to be an austere, holy retreat from surrounding horrors is revealed to be a savagely violated sanctuary awash in fear, trauma and shame. The snow-covered, forested landscape of the convent is photographed to suggest an ominous frontier that offers no refuge from marauding outsiders.

Labor Union Works to Persuade Voters Door-to-Door

Doug Livingston Akron Beacon Journal
While candidates and political parties use mostly volunteers to get the public to help them optimize ad spending, Working America aims to shape attitudes in face-to-face conversations, usually standing on a front stoop with a cracked screen door or a barking dog between a canvasser and a malleable voter. Over the past 12 years, the labor group has held repeat conversations on their front porches to advance progressive policies and candidates.

Clinton Snags AFL-CIO Official, Former Sanders Staffer, In Labor Outreach

Amanda Becker Reuters
Secretary Hillary Clinton has hired two deputy labor campaign directors. Lori D Orazio is coming from the AFL-CIO and formerly worked for the United Auto Workers. Michelle Gilliam was a staffer for Senator Bernie Sanders and before that was an organizer for a local chapter of the Transport Workers Union.

A Rush of Americans, Seeking Gold in Cuban Soil

Kim Severson The New York Times
American bureaucrats, seed sellers, food company executives and farmers seek the prizes that are likely to come if the United States ends its trade restrictions against Cuba.

Immigrant Laborers Have a New Tool to Fight Back Against Rampant Wage Theft in the US

Kate Groetzinger, Frida Garza Quartz
The Jornalero app has three main functions: First, it allows day laborers to record the hours they work. Second, it allows them to file a wage theft report directly to a workers’ center from their phone. Third, it allows them to send out an alert when they experience wage theft, to warn other day laborers with the app about nonpaying employers in the area.