Portside

Negotiations will take place in 2023 for some of the biggest contracts in the labor movement, including at UPS and the Big Three automakers.

The year has been characterized by incredible solidarity, as Starbucks and Amazon workers challenged our conceptions of political possibility and galvanized a resurgent labor movement. It was a year of taking power to task, from the fearless Warrior Met strike to the militance of worker-led, independent union drives at Amazon, Trader Joe's and Chipotle.

Most middle and lower wage older workers are not able to retire and must work to avoid poverty and maintain living standards. For work to be a bulwark against old age poverty, work must be decent, and work and retirement policy must be compatible.

A contract forced on railroad workers, and anti-labor conduct by Starbucks and Amazon, showed the difficulty of organizing in 2022.

As the economy opened up to women a half century ago, one in three working women was an office employee. As the clerical workforce grew by leaps and bounds, so did a sense of injustice among the women, leading to the founding of the 9 to 5 Movement.

It’s that time of year when bosses look at their balance sheets and send employees packing. Legally, they don’t even have to explain why—and usually, they don’t.

Logistics workers in rail, trucking, and warehouses labor hard to bring us our packages year-round. But their employers subject them to ruthless harassment, surveillance, and union busting. Their organizing efforts need our solidarity this Christmas.

Free transit or fixing the system?

Could the clash between democracy and authoritarianism become even sharper in 2023? Yes – in fact, that may be the safest prediction we can make. Here’s how we – the moderators of Portside – see it:

The post-neoliberal world could move in a neo-authoritarian, elitist, anti-democratic direction. Or it could be a communitarian, multiracial democracy. For the second option prevails, labor must help forge a new order that lifts all working people.