Portside

A lot has changed since 1966, when watermelon workers in the South Texas borderlands walked out of the melon fields in a historic strike to protest poor wages and appalling working conditions. What hasn't changed is the work: It's as brutal as ever. Workers are vulnerable to getting cheated by growers and crew bosses. Texas — with the third-largest population of farmworkers after California and Florida — has some of the lowest agricultural wages in the country.

The history of Labor Notes shows that labor's strength -- and socialists' relevance -- depend on a militant and independent rank and file.

"This movement is bigger than $15 and a union. This movement shows that no matter what’s going on in America, no matter what it is that we’re fighting for, if you want change for your city, for your community, for your country, we as a people can’t be silent anymore.

How has Trump managed to attract substantial support among white men without college degrees? According to Raymond Hogler, "The answer is an interlocking set of changing economic and cultural conditions in the U.S. that has undermined middle-class incomes and values. And it starts with the steady erosion of the American labor movement."

Workers are picketing Southwest Airlines at 10 airports. Union leaders say that the company has been privileging stockholders at the expense of workers, despite record profits.

Unions must expand beyond narrow bargaining to challenge those who hold wealth and power at the highest levels. Most unions are accustomed to bargaining with their direct employers, as they have done for decades. But the financialization of the economy has rendered that structure obsolete. In order to win for workers, unions need to take their demands directly to those who actually have the money and control. They can often be found on Wall Street.

Activists are calling for an end to charter schools and juvenile detention centers.

Bernie is building an infrastructure that will help encourage the growth of the political revolution. This will include a Sanders Institute to elevate issues and ideas, and two organization to recruit 100 candidates running for offices from Congress to school boards, as well as to help them campaign.

President Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers and President Michael Mulgrew, United Federation of Teachers Strongly supported Secretary Hillary Clintion at the Democratic Party National Convention. They stressed that she was rock solid on labor issues.

The labor movement's agenda was on full display at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Union delegates numbered roughly one-quarter of the convention’s 4,000-plus delegates. Still, there were stark reminders that labor has struggled to keep at bay the party’s coziness with corporations, especially those of the Silicon Valley disruption variety. Ride-hailing giant Uber—not unionized taxi cabs—served as the DNC’s exclusive shuttle service.