Portside

Even without repealing Abood, today’s court decision is plenty catastrophic. It will put financial limits on unions’ campaigns to organize two of the fastest-growing categories of American workers—those who care for the elderly and the sick, and those who care for small children

Through workers associations, work centers, and “alt-labor” groups, millions of workers — along with part-time workers, temporary workers, and those who work for employers that have no union — are using new tactics to fight against that inequality of bargaining power. The groups are not competing with traditional unions, but rather working alongside them and in tandem.

Two pieces sum up the Court's decisions on Harris v. Quinn and Hobby Lobby. The first, from Constitutional Accuracy Center, describes how the Court has been ruling in favor of big business. The second, from BillMoyers.com, provides a round-up of commentary on the cases.

After months of activism by Sodexo employees, the company has decided to change the way it calculates hours for full-time jobs and allow several thousand workers back on the company health care plan.

Delegates to British Trade Union Congress LBGT conference take stand against homophobic slurs and hate crimes. TUC Assistant General Secretary states "We know that LBGT workers are two and a half times more likely to face workplace bullying and discrimination.

In 2002 the members of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, UE, approved a convention resolution opposing George Bush's plans to invade Iraq. Twelve years later the Officers of UE re-affirm their opposition to Obama renewing the war in Iraq.

Driverless cars are safer than human-driven ones. Computers can predict Supreme Court decisions better than legal scholars. What’s next?

This article revolves a new book called The Precariat: the New Dangerous Class by Gary Standing, a British economist.Lack of job security and low wages is how he characterizes these workers. He cites McDonalds and Walmart as the model worldwide for creating precarious employment.

If the union wins a dispute over whether two engineers in Miami can join the union that represents more than 25,000 workers at Boeing and other companies, it becomes much easier and less costly for the union to organize workers outside metro Puget Sound. That means the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace has a better chance of re-unionizing the more than 4,000 engineering jobs that Boeing has moved, or plans to move, out of Washington.

From the May/June 2014 issue of ATC. A thorough look at how the Affordable Care Act will change health care beyond just the consumer interaction. A useful resource for health care consumers, health care workers, and reform activists.