Portside

There is nothing new about Republican opposition to teachers unions, but in recent years, it has become increasingly clear that some Democrats have turned against them as well. In the following post we hear from a union leader, Bob Peterson, the president of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, about how he thinks teachers union must change to keep alive public education.

"...owners said they would suspend the unloading of container and other cargo ships on Thursday, Monday and the weekend because of what they called "a strike with pay." The move followed a similar two-day limit on work last weekend that angered many port workers. They saw it as a ploy to punish them and increase pressure to settle on a new labor contract after nine months of negotiations, which continue with the aid of a federal mediator."

A powerful few benefit by dividing the Nigerian people along ethnic, religious and sectarian lines for political gain. Massive unemployment --particularly in Northern Nigeria -- has fed the insurgency; while Nigerian workers – bus and okada (motorcycle taxi) drivers, market stall holders, hawkers, teachers, commuters and others – are especially vulnerable to Boko Haram’s attacks.

Ann Wayt was fired in 2012, shortly after Affinity nurses voted to join National Nurses Organizing Committee-Ohio (NNOC-Ohio), a state affiliate of NNU. A lawsuit was filed and a jury awarded her more than $2 million in damages.

Ann Wayt, a veteran registered nurse, was awarded more than $2 million in damages by a jury. She was fired in 2012, shortly after Affinity nurses voted to join National Nurses Organizing Committee-Ohio, a state affiliate of the National Nurses United.

Anti-union laws don’t help the economy, don’t create jobs and don’t end ‘compulsory union membership’. They can only kill off unions

Anti-union laws don’t help the economy, don’t create jobs and don’t end ‘compulsory union membership’. They can only kill off unions

Last week SEIU and adjunct professors launched a national campaign calling for $15,000 per course.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback wants to make a decades-long bet that pension-fund returns will exceed current interest rates for taxable municipal bonds. “The use of pension bonds impugns an issuer more than a downgrade, because it shows they’re willing to saddle future generations with risk in order to make current budget discussions easier,” says Matt Fabian, a partner at Concord, MA-based research firm Municipal Market Analytics.

So far 3,800 workers are off the job. Non-striking refinery locals are getting 24-hour contract extensions each day. But the unions says, if need be, it will bring more sites out. It's the first national refinery strike since 1980. Back then workers at all represented refineries went out together, and stayed out for three months before they got a deal.