Portside

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and some of his organization’s largest affiliate unions are getting behind Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. But others are pushing Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, a former Service Employees International Union organizer.

Austerity in response to these circumstances can only make conditions worse. Cuts in government spending at the same time as unemployment and threats of eviction hang over many heads is a recipe for deep recession.

Activists say the key was actually talking about working-class issues.

For several reasons, the left is an indispensable component of the Democratic coalition. For one thing, contrary to centrists’ claims, progressive policies like free health insurance, green energy, and a $15 minimum wage are broadly popular.

A Wisconsin dairy farmer explains what Democrats need to do to rebuild rural communities and regain the ground they’ve lost.

Traversing the rise of second-wave feminism, Catherine Dwyer’s documentary is an important contribution to an overlooked past

Trump prepares for a cable pulpit while the alt-right entrench online, and more media and tech news

The right-wing has effectively taken over much of the media, from TV stations to radio and podcasts. Fortunately, labor organizers and analysts are creating high quality informative podcasts and news shows.

Over the past four decades, however, government health policies have reduced health services to commodities and objects of speculative investment.

Thigpenn says the path forward means reversing public spending priorities that direct resources away from low-income communities — priorities that create tax structure that makes low-income communities in California scramble to fund schools.