Portside

Minnesota workers and community groups have worked toward this moment for over a decade. It’s paying off.

A leading supplier of low-wage labor to major construction projects has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle sexual-harassment complaints 18 women workers filed with the New York State Attorney General’s office.

With atmospheric carbon dioxide levels having reached the 400 ppm point - way above the 350 ppm considered to be the upper limit for avoiding environmental catastrophe - organized labor is struggling with the tension between the immediate need for jobs in a crisis-ridden economy and the perils to humanity's future of avoiding the sacrifices required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The following two articles discuss those tensions from different angles.