Portside

The current crisis facing the public sector, a major location of African American workers, along with the crisis facing organized labor, should present a moment to reconsider old assumptions. A multi-union effort to organize Southern public sector workers could be something close to a game-changer on several levels, not the least being the potential impact on Southern politics and Southern unionization. And, as the saying goes, as goes the South, so goes the USA.

This recent struggle that succeeded in securing a wage increase at Victoria Secret may show that the fight for better wages at fast food stores might be having a ripple effect.

Should the trend of de-unionization continue, it is not unreasonable to wonder whether there will be any American labor movement to speak of in twenty years or so. But that may change. Over the past several months, a new kind of labor activism has emerged from some of America’s poorest-paying and least-unionized industries. Fast food workers have stood near the forefront of the movement, waging a nationwide strike campaign which began in December with about 200 New York-

Two perspectives on Labor Day plus a music video by Cablevision workers fighting for a contract.

ILWU members see turf battles with rival unions as an additional, unwelcome hurdle to surmount, in an already difficult employer battle.

This article outlines some of the basics of U.S. bankruptcy law and how it relates to worker rights. I will review the current law and some history, and then go into detail about how bankruptcy affects unions. I then offer some ideas of what workers and unions can do to protect themselves under bankruptcy.

This is a year for commemorations, and it is ironic it is also when the U.S. Supreme court gutted the Voting Rights Act, a key component of the movement for human rights. The challenge facing any piece of major legislation goes beyond the movement necessary for passage. There must be recognition of the need for vigilance which requires dedicated education and expectation that guaranteed fairness for all is a human right that must permanently prevail.

The August 28, 1963, March on Washington helped build support for President Kennedy's civil rights bill.The protest was largely responsible for the addition of Title VII, which prohibited employers and unions from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, national origin and sex. It also helped lead to the passage of civil rights legislation under President Johnson. As some of these provisions have been weakened what will be needed to move forward?

The Bay Area strike is one of a series of nationwide one-day strikes -- timed for Labor Day and the 50th anniversary of the historic civil rights-era March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The strikes are the culmination of months of fast-food walkouts that began on the East Coast, organized by New York-based grassroots movement Fast Food Forward, and have rippled across the country.

A large strike in Colombia underscores the dangers of free trade agreements and suggests that we should pay close attention to current negotiations around the Trans-Pacific Partnership.