Portside

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union, once known for its militancy and political radicalism, faces a choice between nurturing rank-and-file power and a slow, painful death.

Dr, Dollar addresses a popular myth about minimum wage increases, and explains why inflation isn't as bad as some might think.

The lack of wage growth is one reason why many consumers feel that the broader economic recovery hasn’t reached their wallets. The problem has divided academics and fueled political debate on Capitol Hill and across the country, turning an increase in the minimum wage, for example, into a central issue in the midterm elections.

More than two-thirds of states quickly adopted Common Core in 2010, but four years later, the standards seem to have become, among other things, a proxy for whatever in education people are unhappy with.

Transnational cereal maker Kellogg's has locked out 220 members of the IUF-affiliated BCTGM since October 22 at its factory in Memphis, Tennessee in an effort to force union acceptance of a plan to radically increase the use of casual workers. Yesterday a Judge ordered Kelloggs to return the workers to work.

Atlantic City needs to diversify its economy away from casinos if it wants to continue attracting large numbers of visitors, union leaders argue in response to announcements of closures. New solutions are needed for workers and the wider community to prevent Atlantic City from again going into decline.

San Diego, California and Eugene, Oregon passed legislation guaranteeing 300,000 workers access to paid sick leave. They have become the eighth and ninth cities to do so.

A major ruling by the NLRB states that McDonald's is jointly responsible for the working conditions in its franchises. This ruling will have major impacts for the company and other corporations that have increasingly relied on the franchise model.

Fast food workers continue their fight for higher wages and the right to unionize. Over 1,300 workers gathered this past weekend in Illinois, and voted to ramp up their tactics.

Adapted from a longer piece in the current issue of New Politics (see link below). Fighting corporate education reform is less about restoring the old system to its former glory than building a just one for the first time.