Portside

On picket lines around the country, from Wyoming, Michigan to Rochester, N.Y. to Langhorne, Pennsylvania ---G.M. workers made the strike their own. Their fight is one that all of us, regardless of the work we do, should claim as our own.

While labor is clearly on the march forward, socialists appear to be floundering, still unsure about the way forward. But if the past year is any indication, workers will not be waiting for socialists to catch up.

Chicago Public Schools teachers are on strike and w ill hit picket lines Thursday after failing to reach a new contract deal with the city following months of negotiations.

The government-promoted plans let employers completely off the hook and put the entire burden of retirement savings and investment management on workers. They put another nail in the coffin of traditional plans in which employers share the expense.

By raising an issue that affects not only teachers, but the communities they live and work in, CTU is deploying a strategy known as “bargaining for the common good.”

Labor unions see an opportunity to organize one of the fastest-growing industries.

The Arkansas State Board of Education busted the Little Rock Education Association, the teacher’s union for the district, voting not to renew the contract, effectively ending the bargaining power for the union.

Technology and ride-hailing workers embrace lessons from a book based on ideas associated with a labor group, the IWW, from the early 20th century. The book has provided a blueprint for organizing collective power without a formal union.

The Trump Administration is arguing at the Supreme Court that employers should be able to fire LGBTQ workers. If religion can be used to deny workers rights as individuals, it can be used to upend the struggle for collective rights and dignity.

The picketing GM workers and impending Chicago Teachers Union action suggest a dramatic revival of striking as a tactic.