Portside

A brave group have become an example for Britain, and all of Europe, in taking back workplace control

A South African court ruled that the trade union federation Costau is guilty of hate speech and anti-Semitism because of its support of Palestinian rights. The union denounced the ruling as an attack against workers’ rights to offer solidarity, freedom of expression and the struggle for justice and dignity for all.

Mark Rosenthal died July 15, 2017. He was a rank and file trade unionist who helped change the face of the New York City labor movement in the late 1990's and beyond. He was a founding member of the Committee for Real Change in DC 37, AFSCME and President of Local 983. Steven Greenhouse's article in The New York Times in 1998 is the best obituary Mark could have.

Mark Rosenthal died July 15, 2017. He was a rank and file trade unionist who helped change the face of the New York City labor movement in the late 1990's and beyond. He was a founding member of the Committee for real Change in DC 37, AFSCME and former Local 983 President. Steven Greenhouse's article in The New York Times September 30, 1998 is a fitting tribute to Mark Rosenthal

"The White House celebrates US-manufactured products this week, even though Trump’s vodka, menswear and even board games have been made overseas."

Americans think they live in a democracy. But their workplaces are small tyrannies.

Isolated examples exist of union resistance and victory. Important as these are, they do not yet approach the scale needed to respond to the challenges that labor faces in the coming years. But they show that it is still possible to strike, and it is still possible to win. In each case, building workplace union culture and organization was key. Broadening this model outwards could provide ways of reversing labor’s fortunes.

The Eisendrath group’s deal preserves two independent newspaper voices in Chicago, one of the last two-newspaper towns in America. Tronc had vowed to operate the Tribune and Sun-Times as independent titles, though media observers had expressed skepticism over how long that might last.

"On Tuesday, the U.A.W. said a petition for a union election had been filed by employees at a Nissan plant in Mississippi with more than 6,000 workers. They asked for a vote within a month."

The removal of a single toxic CEO, like the condemning of a single home in the wake of a chemical leak, won’t make the region livable.