Tidbits - February 14, 2013

Portside
Readers respond - The Persistence of Racial Resentment; Meredith Tax on Democracy, Islam and the Left. Response to Carl Proper (The Americanization of the United States); Prisoner X. Plus: Grad Students Take Action at UIC - Urge School to Not Break Their Hearts; Resources on Racial Justice; Role of Public Intellectuals - New York - Feb 15; Life of Eslanda Robeson - Conversation with Barbara Ransby - Chicago - Feb 19; Red Brain, Blue Brain - There is a Difference;

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Anchorage Unions Protest Proposed Labor Law Revision

Kyle Hopkins Anchorage Daily News
A large demonstration was held in Anchorage to protest the Mayor's attempt to institute sweeping changes he believes are needed to streamline labor negotiations and deliver city services cheaper and more efficiently. As written, the plan would limit raises, eliminate the right to strike and give the Assembly the final word on stalled labor disputes, among many new provisions.

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Firefighters, teachers face smaller retirement safety net

Melanie Hicken CNN
Many new state workers — ranging from teachers to police officers to street cleaners — will retire with fewer retirement benefits than their current counterparts. Since 2009, faced with ballooning bills and strained budgets, 45 states have either cut pension benefits or increased mandatory employee retirement plan contributions, or both.

Fighting Fire with Fire

Ashok Kumar & Chetan Ahimsa Ceasefire Magazine (UK)
Underneath global apparel's glitzy makeup lies an unglamorous underbelly - one of violent working conditions and structural faux pas. Case and point: factory fires. In September 2012, 300 garment workers lost their lives when a factory caught ablaze in Pakistan - two months later, 112 deaths after a similar tragedy in Bangladesh. Add China to the list, and 2012 will go on record as the deadliest year to be a garment worker.

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Shrinking US Labor Unions See Relief in Marijuana Industry

Reuters CNBC
The medical marijuana shop next to a tattoo parlor on a busy street in Los Angeles looks much like hundreds of other pot dispensaries that dot the city. Except for one thing: On the glass door - under a green cross signaling that cannabis can be bought there for medical purposes - is a sticker for the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW), the nation's largest retail union.

Literature for Labor Activists and Impact on Union Density

Laura McClure, Nick Coles Labor Notes
Many activists rely on fiction for inspiration, new perspectives, and, of course, entertainment. For some of us, novels even helped start us down our paths of activism. Union density in United States has declined yet again - only 11.3% of American workers now belong to unions. Labor histories can play a key role in the education of a new generation of working people, and novels, can make the case for working people's rights.

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A Novel Idea: Fiction for Labor Activists

Laura McClure Labor Notes
Many activists rely on fiction for inspiration, new perspectives, and, of course, entertainment. For some of us, novels even helped start us down our paths of activism. But—which novels? A survey of a handful of labor activists and educators revealed their favorite class-conscious novels.

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Union Dues Collecting is examined by Missouri, Kansas lawmakers

John Hancock & Brad Cooper Kansas City Star
Republicans say it’s a simple change, opting out to opting in. But by making it more difficult for public employee unions to collect dues, GOP lawmakers in Kansas and Missouri could weaken a chief political nemesis. If organized labor is dealt that blow this year, the stage could be set in subsequent years in Missouri to push for a right-to-work law — the most contentious of disputes between management and unions played out in state legislatures across the nation.
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