Portside

The GDL union, which represents about one in 10 of railway operator Deutsche Bahn's nearly 200,000 workers, wants a 5-percent pay rise and a reduction in the working week to 37 hours from 39. It is also fighting for the right to negotiate on behalf of other employees including train stewards.

Ava, the robot star of Ex Machina, the dazzling sic-fi thriller, could easily be seen as an addition to the list of subservient bots in the tradition of Siri and Samantha—a machine that exists to tend every man's need, and read him driving directions without challenging masculinity. But if you push past that frustration, the film brings to the fore the idea that technology is as imperfect as its creators, and its mirror can provide a useful reflexion.

UCORE’s 20 member caucuses come from all over the country and from both teachers unions, the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers. Locals and caucuses in the network consider themselves social justice unionists, balancing bread-and-butter issues with working to create equity and keep public schools in the hands of communities rather than private enterprises.

The success of the organizing is due to everything from the abysmal recovery from the 2008 economic crisis to Occupy Wall Street's role in shifting the national dialogue from austerity to economic inequality. But Fight for 15 is due primarily to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which initiated the campaign in 2011 and has poured tens of millions of dollars into growing waves of protest that are battering the image of the fast-food giants.

Not far from the Deepwater Horizon accident site, Royal Dutch Shell is now developing the deepest offshore oil field in history. In the Caspian Sea, an international consortium is exploring the Kashagan oil and gas field, a mega-project that the consortium itself describes as an enormously challenging endeavour. And the hunt for Arctic oil takes place in some of the most inhospitable waters in the world.

The document substantiates claims by opponents that the TPP is a corporate-rights agreement designed to facilitate the export of U.S. jobs, allow corporations to sue governments for enacting labor and environmental protections, make it illegal for governments to favor local businesses, and advance the colonization of national economies by global corporations and financiers.

Adios (muy buenas), Sábado; Shut up, Credo; Solidarity, Gawker; Not so fast, Comcast; Ahoy, maties; Leak on, Julian

Many American Jewish organizations claim to be staunch supporters of civil and human rights as well as academic freedom. But when it comes to Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, they make an exception. In their relentless opposition to BDS, they leave even core principles behind. In Israel this week, sixty young people sign open letter to Netanyahu announcing their resistance to the draft in biggest wave of refusal since 2008.

A new Senate select committee is needed to investigate CIA-NSA-FBI wrong-doing - at home and abroad. Former chief counsel to the Church Committee calls for such a new committee and new investigation. As Senator Feinstein has revealed, the CIA will not only stall but even spy on Congress to impede its investigation of wrongdoing. The Church Committee found abuses and illegal acts going back to FDR's administration.

Two months in office and the media sours on New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. Why? de Blasio did not anticipate that a Democratic Party Governor of a solid blue state would put cutting taxes for the rich ahead of funding universal pre-K in New York City.