Portside

. The author of this iconic anthem of American patriotism was Katharine Lee Bates. In a brilliant lampoon of the bigots' backlash against the Coke commercial, Stephen Colbert pointed out that Bates was a lesbian. He could also have added that she was also a Christian socialist and an ardent foe of American imperialism.

Across the country, local delegations visited Staples stores in January to threaten a boycott unless the retailer's new "postal units" are staffed by actual postal employees.The APWU is in support of making postal services available in more places and for longer hours, as long as they are staffed by postal union members.

Corruption is endemic to the capitalist system and has not been successfully regulated away. Perhaps a system change is warranted?

* The Pipeline and U.S. Unions* * LIUNA On Keystone XL Pipeline Final Environmental Analysis* * Nurses Warn of Escalating Effects of Climate Change on Public Health*

Forming a union is one of the only ways that workers in home-care jobs have been able to have a voice and a pathway out of poverty. Limiting the ability of a state to collaborate directly with home care workers on common sense solutions to meet their own growing workforce needs--which could be the outcome of a right-wing lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court-- sets a terrible precedent for both workers and consumers.

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