Portside

The most important benefit of Obamacare is the security it provides to the tens of millions of people who already had insurance—except that insurance, before the Affordable Care Act, was only as safe as their job.

Adjunct professors make $18,000 to $30,000 for the equivalent of full-time work; compared to tenure track professors, who earn $68,000 to $116,000 (plus benefits), according to the American Association of University Professors. Only three in 10 professors are tenured today, down from six in 10 in the 1970s. Recently, frustrations over the plight of adjuncts have boiled over in congressional hearings, online petitions and a two-day walkout at the University of Illinois.

Campaigns to raise the minimum wage, such as the "Fight for $15" campaign among fast food workers, are not just about raising the minimum wage. They are about changing the social relationships and balance of power embodied in the wage. Through opening this struggle, low-wage workers compel us to rethink again who is a "breadwinner." The campaigns also push us to revisit past campaigns that fought for living wages and also for work to have social value.

Ramogi Huma, president of the College Athletes Players Association, told "Outside the Lines" that he and Kain Colter, the former Northwestern quarterback, will be in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday and Thursday for informational briefings with an undisclosed set of legislators.

Going back, you said that there were 80 unions at the Labor Party's founding that represented roughly half a million workers. It seems like you were trying to make this a party that was - concretely and substantively, not just symbolically or rhetorically - composed of and led by actual leaders, organizers, and rank-and-file members of the labor movement. Can you speak about that kind of model, and how it's different from other existing parties?

Earlier this week, Portside Labor ran an article that featured the St Paul Federation of Teachers recent contract campaign, describing it as 'an impressive example of [a] new direction in collective bargaining.' Marc Beallor, while recognizing the exemplary nature of the SPFT campaign in its use of creative bargaining techniques, takes issue with the notion that they are 'new'. Beallor also points out that the article does not accurately describe bargaining law.

The problem? Male jobs pay more—way more. The median annual wage for computer programmers was $74,280 in 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and it was $53,400 for kindergarten teachers. Many women would need to change fields in order to make all workplaces in America have about a 50/50 gender split.

Collective bargaining is under attack from right-wing, anti-union politicians. But union members are fighting back - pushing new boundaries in what unions do and challenging the notion of "management prerogatives." The Saint Paul Federation of Teachers’ recent contract campaign is an impressive example of this new direction in collective bargaining.

The National Union of Healthcare Workers says it's prevailed in a March 19 do-over election at Seton Medical Center over its arch-rival, the Service Employees' International Union, but the other side says the verdict isn't official yet.

A reform-union activist slate has won the election for Officers in the Los Angeles Teachers Union. This is the second largest teachers local union in the country. They have a long road to walk due to a discouraged membership.