Portside

Home Care workers in the state of Vermont have overwhelmingly voted to be represented by AFSCME.

AFL-CIO donates labor history archives to University of Maryland. The material will be accessible from Hornblake Library which is the university's library for special collections.

AFL-CIO donates labor archives to University of Maryland. The material will be stored in the Hornblake Library which is the university's library for special collections.

Eliseo Medina made a big mistake in tacitly backing SEIU’s raid on its longtime ally and the nation’s most progressive union, Unite HERE. Some believe that and his support for the SEIU- UHW takeover forever tarnished his legacy. But in the big picture Eliseo Medina did as much to advance social and economic justice as anyone of his time. His career was marked by extraordinary dedication to working people, and he never stopped believing in the power of “Si Se Puede”!

Nurses as Housekeepers at Vanderbilt Medical Center: An Untold Story Behind the Story.

SEIU 721, which represents 55,000 who've had no raise in five years, plans to protest county's proposed 6%-raise-over-30-months offer.

The case the Supreme Court will hear involves a South Florida greyhound track, now known as Mardi Gras Gaming, where UNITE HERE reached an agreement with the employer in 2004. The company would allow union representatives to speak to workers in non-work areas during non-work times and would provide the union with contact information for employees. It would also “remain neutral” about unionization.

Many have praised the recent AFL-CIO convention for the delegates' efforts to fundamentally change organized labor's direction and strategy. The hope is that a reinvigorated labor movement will reverse the decline in union power and forge a broad coalition that can effectively fight the rising tide of wealth and income inequality and the growing impoverishment of the working-class. The following article from the AFL-CIO's online blog highlights ten new initiatives.

The Union Makes Us Strong takes us back, and that's not at all a bad thing. There's a purity of sound here that is moving, along with a professionalism and delivers the goods. "The Union Makes Us Strong by Peter K. Siegel and Eli Smith is a wonderful collection of old favorites, enlivened by some fancy banjo, fiddle and mandolin work and by the sweet harmony of the two singers, " writes labor historian Paul Buhle.

Cleaning and concessions workers in federal buildings will protest their taxpayer-funded poverty jobs. Those planning to strike include workers who serve food or wash floors at Union Station (owned by the Department of Transportation), Smithsonian Museums (owned by the federal Smithsonian Institution), and the Ronald Reagan Building and Old Post Office (owned by the General Services Administration).