Portside

Organizing efforts to improve workers' rights have intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic as workers in industries with little benefits and protections have been deemed essential during the health crisis.

The victory at the New Yorker caused a domino effect: the unions at Wirecutter, Buzzfeed News, and Ziff Davis have now also secured just cause, proving that using power builds power.

The “cancel culture” debate never focuses on at-will employment, which allows most American workers to be “canceled” at the drop of a hat — even those teaching in higher education.

Here's one approach that would put labor on the offensive: an initiative for a new law providing all workers with due process rights to challenge unjust discipline and discharge, "Just Cause for All."

Civilians need to understand-- the biggest problem with the destruction of tenure is not that a handful of teachers will lose their jobs, but that entire buildings full of teachers will lose the freedom to do their jobs well.

Just Cause: A Union Guide to Winning Disciplinary Cases is no exception. Based on more than four years of research into 15,000 arbitration awards and the author’s long experience representing unions, the book presents a new method to analyze and present disciplinary cases.

Just cause” protection is helpful because one of the main reasons private sector workers shy away from organizing is their fear of being fired.