Portside

The plug door that ripped off an Alaska Airlines plane only exists because of cost-cutting production techniques to facilitate cramming more passengers into the cabin.

Too many politicians are bought and paid for by the corporations that are killing us. Capitalism is the greatest disaster of all — the engine behind every industrial accident in the US and every get-out-of-jail-free card for negligent employers.

Since the 2008 recession, companies have increasingly turned to temporary employees to work in factories and warehouses and on construction sites. The temp industry now employs a record 2.8 million workers.The trend carries a human cost. A ProPublica analysis of millions of workers’ compensation claims shows that in five states, representing more than a fifth of the U.S. population, temps face a significantly greater risk of getting injured on the job.