Portside

Reader Comments- Progressive Wins: Philadelphia / Los Angeles; Third Party Builders Meet; What U.S. Really Owes Black America; Thirty Years After MOVE Bombing; The Nakba: The Intentional, Deliberate Dispossession of Palestinians; Remembering Guy Carawan; David Letterman Show and whiteness; Educators and School Staff Make a Difference; Mike Brown Would Have Been 19; Announcements- Greece Solidarity 4 All U.S. Tour; Left Forum 2015 Today in History-Post-War Strike Wave

'Mr. President, the stroke of your pen can have transformative impact for millions of workers.'

An anonymous customer service representative for a U.S. telecommunications company writes of the tremendous pressures on workers in customer service jobs, which pay just above the hourly minimum wage. Because of the low pay, these workers must rely on end of the month performance-based pay bonuses to get by. “Pay for performance” bonuses can add several hundred dollars a month to a paycheck. But it’s a very precarious way to make ends meet.

Reader Comments - Baltimore, other cities as "Occupied Territory"; Drop the Charges against those arrested; Government-Sponsored Segregation; Bernie Sanders - a Long Tradition of American Socialism; Alberta NDP Victory; $15 per Hour or Bust; Israeli Soldiers Speak Out-Gaza Atrocities Were Orders; Labor Union Membership Now Just 11%; Feliks Tych - R.I.P.; Announcements - New York, Boston

Like the other low-wage workers that protested yesterday, the ultimate goal of the burgeoning adjunct faculty movement is fair pay and decent working conditions. What yesterday’s demonstrations showed was that this could be a substantial and sustainable struggle that is primed to create waves throughout the labor market. And unifying all low-wage workers—from fast food to faculty—will be an important part of that.

How the minimum wage hurts us all. Is $15 an Hour a Realistic Goal for Fast-Food Workers? -- Even the Wall Stree Journal says YES -- If all workers earned at least $15 an hour, there would be a ripple effect through hundreds of occupations.

Keb Mo: Honky Tonk Women. John Oliver: Government Surveillance. Manu Chao -- "El Viento". 7 Reasons to Raise the Minimum Wage to $15. More Horrific Police Violence Filmed.

Reader Comments - Mexican Farmworkers Strike; Innocent Man on Death Row - Prosecutor Apologizes; Stealing Africa's Seeds; Fighting Water Privatization - Ireland and Mexico; Run Elizabeth, Run; Jews Who Speak Out Against Israeli Policies; Cesar Chavez, the UFW - Lessons for Today; Feminist Heroes for Children; Cuba Eradicates Syphilis; Billie Holiday and Ethel Rosenberg; Resources for Passover; To Better Understand Greece and Syriza; Announcements