Portside

Inequality across much of Europe has widened, but it is still quite modest when compared with the vast income gap in the United States.The question is whether relative equity can hold as workplace institutions that for decades protected European employees’ standard of living give way to a more lightly regulated, American-style approach, where the government hardly interferes in the job market and organized labor has little say.

On 12 December 2013, more than a lakh workers predominantly from the unorganised sector marched on Parliament to demand a minimum living wage, social security measures and regulariation of work. The call had been given by trade unions across the political spectrum and the participants came from all parts of the country. However, mainstream and popular media remained indifferent and ignored the rally, much like earlier times.

On 12 December 2013, more than 100,00 workers predominantly from the informal sector marched on Parliament to demand a minimum living wage, social security measures and regularized work. The call had been given by trade unions across the political spectrum and the participants came from all parts of the country. However, mainstream and popular media remained indifferent and ignored the rally, much like earlier times.

From Silicon Valley, the Rocketship chain of charter schools is hoping to expand across the country. It’s backed by some of the biggest names in the tech world and claims high test scores. But what are these schools preparing kids for? And what are the real costs of Rocketship's low-cost model?

The members of the University of Illinois Chicago, have voted to go on strike after fifteen months of negotiations. Among the faculty members key demands are improvements in pay for adjunct professors. In light of Congress planning to fail to extend unemployment benefits for the long term unemployed, we present Daniel Kahn and the Painted Bird's video of "March of the Jobless Corps".

Google is aggressively moving into the business of developing a newer class of robots - those designed to be more mobile, versatile, and human-like. The goal: expanding the market for robots to small- and medium-sized companies in order to reduce their labor costs. Google recently acquired a suite of robotics-related companies, including one in Japan, and has created a new division within Google to consolidate research and development in this field.

Federal employee unions saw an uptick in membership after the government shutdown, and the number of members has been growing consistently over the last several years.

With our inequality coming close to that of Jamaica and Argentina, as Obama pointed out in his Dec. 4 speech on inequality and social mobility, we can no longer ignore the danger it poses to our democracy and living standards.

We have working examples of the kinds of cooperative banking and financial institutions we need in order to scale up our vision of a New Economy beyond corporate control: from cooperative banks to credit unions, to federal loans and the community’s own investment. By enriching this sector, we can nurture the power of workers over capital, an age-old struggle that the most recent financial crisis makes only more urgent. But there are real constraints.

Teachers unions are facing tumultuous times, grappling with financial, legal and public-relations challenges as they fight to retain their clout and build alliances, and deal with declines in membership.