Portside

We can't change the world if we can't even sing together - Dar Williams on what happens if political music dies. "When people come together and sing, mountains can be moved." New film about Victor Jara, Chilean troubadour, murdered by the junta 40 years ago - brings Victor's story up to date. "If you are watching people singing in Wisconsin, you could be subject to arrest." (video)

The 1.3 million member United Food and Commercial Workers Union will rejoin the AFL-CIO after an 8 year hiatus with the Change to Win labor federation. The UFCW will become the AFL-CIO's largest private sector affiliate and bring the labor federation's membership to about 13 million.

The name of the march on August 24th is the "National Action to Realize the Dream March". It is important that you use the name when speaking about the march so that people understand that this march is not just a commemoration, but a continuation of the efforts 50 years ago. Also bus information for New York City Left Labor Project bus to Washington.

At the AFL-CIO annual convention next week community based organizations will be invited to attend and participate in the proceedings. This is a first and it is good news. However when the convention ends what is needed is not just good resolutions but a commitment to action.

The top military commanders concurred that the decision to use the atomic bomb was political, not military.

In the face of a steadily declining labor movement, unions are increasingly battling one another, devoting resources to gaining members from rivals rather than focusing on the 88.2% of the workforce that is not unionized. Recent "raids"have been especially big with tens of thousands of members at stake. They've become easier to carry off because many unions don't just represent one profession anymore, and can rationalize expanding into rival turf.