Portside

With the GOP running the White House and Congress, membership in federal unions is on the rise, fed by an administration and legislature that leaves the workforce anxious about budget cuts, layoffs and an erosion of civil service protections.

Earlier this year, hundreds of workers at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside, the city's largest hotel, voted to unionize, a rare development locally that labor leaders think could give them a long-sought foothold in the city's mostly low-wage but critical hospitality industry, which employs nearly 80,000 workers.

The legislation, which addresses job insecurity, hiring discrimination and workplace safety, was championed by the Chicago Workers’ Collaborative (CWC) and Warehouse Workers for Justice (WWJ), as well as the Illinois AFL-CIO and Raise the Floor Alliance, a coalition of eight Chicago worker centers.

It’s worth noting how much the five Republican appointees on the Court would have to put their thumbs on the scale to rule in favor of the employers.

Once upon a time, more jobs meant higher wages. Not so today. The combination of globalization, automation, increased corporate strength, decreased union power has broken that connection.

The University of Chicago is fighting its graduate union tooth and nail — with a little help from the Trump administration.

Newsroom employees at The Los Angeles Times are trying to form a union, setting up a potential clash with the newspaper’s parent company, Tronc. Cost-cutting measures, including sweeping layoffs, have agitated the staff. Last year, Tronc instituted an abrupt change to the vacation policy that effectively eliminated accrued vacation days, according to several employees interviewed.

The Mexican workers reached a settlement that obligates their employer to address complaints.

A number of authors are writing about the coming end of capitalism. But how will the end come about, and what will post-capitalism look like? Paul Mason's optimistic view of the liberatory potential of info-tech may be misguided.

Given the public sector is the largest employer of African-Americans, and recognizing their substantial and traditional involvement in unions — Black workers are more likely to belong to a union than any other racial group — such anti-union campaigns as Right to Work have particular implications for African-Americans.