Portside

Songs for and inspired by May Day - The Last Internationale Demand That 'Workers of the World Unite!'; Union Town by Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman; "This Land Is Your Land" with Judy Collins, Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie & Fred Hellerman; L'Internationale - Pete Seeger in English and the original French; "The Internationale" conducted by Arturo Toscanini--BANNED by U.S. censors!; Max Roach: We Insist! Freedom Now Suite

The only way back to political relevance for socialists lies through realistic engagement with politics as it exists today.

Teachers at one of Chicago's largest charter- school networks - run by the United Neighborhood Organization - have voted to organize into a union. Public school teacher, responds to question - what is behind charter schools. Idea of a motivated community of adults - parents, teachers, administrators - creating a unique school from the ground up, designed to serve that particular community - are not charter schools. AFT calls for moratorium on Common Core testing.

In a scarcely-noticed lawsuit filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, a conservative nonprofit, the Center for Individual Rights, claims that California's system for collecting dues or fees from public employees abridges free speech. RELATED: 10 California teachers are suing in federal court to stop mandatory fair share fee collection. The lawsuit seeks to expand last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision involving union activity in a California special election.

Millions took to the streets to take part in May 1 demonstrations around the globe. From union rallies to protests and clashes with police, the International Labor Day events drew attention to the issues of austerity, unemployment and workers rights.

May Day started with the demand for the eight-hour day, and struggles over work time are again front and center as workers experience either drought or flood.

The strongest payoff comes with socializing and universalizing health and retirement coverage. Adopting either would erase the bad jobs entirely.

This May Day, we might want to return to the similarities between the acts of violence outside of Dhaka and in Boston, both events resulted in senseless bloodshed of innocent victims. While we might debate how to prevent tragedies like the Boston marathon bombings, it is abundantly clear that enforcement of safety standards and basic regulations would help prevent the sheer scale of terror and violence from being unleashed yet again in Bangladesh.