Portside

"After years and years of politics of gridlock or politics that was focused on protecting the wealthiest in the state, the upper income folks and tax cuts for the wealthy, we saw a session that was focused on working families." Jamie Gulley, president of Minnesota Service Employees International Union commented on recent victories for labor in the Minnesota state legislature. Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) control of state government was responsible.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a new international trade pact crafted by multinational corporations and currently being negotiated in secret by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) along with eleven other foreign governments. Over 600 corporate advisors also have access to the text, but the public and civil society are excluded.

If union members at Hyatt hotels in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Honolulu and Chicago vote yes on a proposed contact it will end a four-year campaign. It will also make it easier to organize in new cities.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced last week that it will accept a case for review next year on the use of labor-management "neutrality" agreements in union organizing campaigns. An anti-union decision from the high court would make labor organizing more difficult and threaten labor organizations at a national level, labor experts say.

In cities all across the country, workers stand on street corners, line up in alleys or wait in a neon-lit beauty salon for rickety vans to whisk them off to warehouses miles away. Some vans are so packed that to get to work, people must squat on milk crates, sit on the laps of passengers they do not know or sometimes lie on the floor, the other workers’ feet on top of them.

In the Lechmere case, the Supreme Court rejected the clear language of the NLRA and Congress' intent by judicially amending the NLRA to limit the definition of employee to "an employee of an employer." In doing so, the court gave greater weight to the employer's property rights, which are nowhere mentioned in the NLRA, than to the clearly protected rights of the employees to join together.

Brazilian President met with national union leaders to discuss their demands in an effort to avoid a July 11th general strike. Unions are seeking a reduced work day, stronger pensions, and increased resources directed to health and education. Also, new research reveals that workers' declining share of national income, due to technology-related productivity increases, is an international problem. Two articles are presented below.

Reformers in Newark Teachers Union win majority of seats on the Executive Board but lose Presidency by 9 votes. This is another indication of growing rank and file opposition to the attack on teachers.

Tuesday marked the 75th anniversary of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which ended some of the worst abuses of American workers by establishing the 40-hour work week, restricting child labor, setting a minimum wage and requiring overtime pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a given week. When will home care workers receive these most basic labor protections?

The Supreme Court issued a pair of 5-to-4 rulings on workers' lawsuits. Justice Ginsburg filed a dissent in both cases calling for Congress to overturn the decisions by passing new legislation.