Portside

Seattle teachers strike for first time in 30 years. The Seattle Teachers Association represents 5000 teachers and other employees. The strike is mainly focused on salaries and social justice issues.

The grape strike succeeded where others had failed when Chavez, who led a well-publicized march from Delano to Sacramento in the spring of 1966, came up with a stroke of genius – the 1968-1970 grape boycott that spread worldwide. The boycott showed powerless people that they had power.

As the new international president of my union, the Communications Workers of America, I hope other labor and progressive leaders will join me in helping to jumpstart Working Families Parties across the country. It’s a strategy we can’t afford to neglect.

Union density went up in New York City and New York state this past year, according to a new study by Ruth Milkman and Stephanie Luce. They also found that nearly nearly 40 percent of black workers of New York City are union members. Unions raise wages for all workers compared to nonunion workers, but the pay boost is larger for black workers. Unions also help reduce inequality between nonblack and black workers.

Majority of staff vote to join the News Guild, making Al Jazeera America the fifth digital newsroom to have launched a unionization effort this year

In the complaint the UFCW accused Wal-Mart of using plumbing problems as an excuse to close a store in Pico Rivera, California, in retaliation against workers there who have been active in attempts to organize for better pay and benefits. The other four stores were included as cover, the union claimed.

The Service Emlpoyees International Union Executive Committee is meeting in the mid-September and is expected to endorse Hillary Clinton. "Internal polls show Clinton coming out on top, SEIU officials told POLITICO - 75 percent of members felt favorable about her, when compared to the other candidates." Bernie Sanders supporters are circulating a petition requesting that the union hold off an endorsement at this time.

Millions responded to a strike called by seven trade union centers in India. According to one union leader, "this is reflection of disenchantment of the working class. The government should learn its lessons from the strike. We are ready to discuss and reach a consensus. If the government does not take its lessons, the movement will be intensified.

Mullins asked for their latest comments on current proposals to preserve the area, focusing on the 1,600-acre Blair Mountain Battlefield National Register of Historic Places Nomination Area, or the BMBNA. The companies interested in mining the area include: Aracoma Coal Co., a subsidiary of Alpha Natural Resources; Mingo Logan Coal, a subsidiary of Arch Coal; and WPP LLC, a coal-leasing company with offices in Delaware.

Last week the NLRB issued a major ruling that corporations can be considered "joint employers" of workers hired by franchisees or subcontractors. There has been relatively little attention to the ruling in many places, but the business press is paying close attention. Here is a piece from the International Business Times, trying to make sense of the ruling.