Portside

The California State Assembly recently approved AB 10, a bill authored by Assemblyman Luis Alejo (D-Salinas), to boost the minimum wage starting next year in five steps to $10.00 an hour by 2018. The state senate will soon consider the bill.

There is no valid reason to block President Obama’s nominees, all of whom would bring deep and varied backgrounds to the job.

Human rights activists say the highly anticipated legislation doesn't do enough to protect workers.

Walmart Stores Inc., the nation's largest private employer, is fuming about a ''living wage'' bill approved by the D.C. Council that has an unusual twist: It would apply only to certain large retailers, forcing them to pay at least $12.50 an hour, nearly 50 percent higher than city's minimum wage of $8.25.

Big Oil and Gas corporations should be cleaning up their own mess, not dumping it in our backyards.

Commentators questioned the wisdom of inflicting further austerity on a nation where more than 1.3 million are out of work, salaries have been cut by an average 25%, and poverty has been imposed on more than a third of the entire population.