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The Concept

Tom Toles - Washington Post amuniversal.com

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The Life of a Fast-Food Worker

Sasha Abramsky The New Yorker
Across the country, for the past several months, workers have been walking out of McDonalds, K.F.C.s and other fast-food companies, calling for a fifteen-dollar hourly wage. Fast-food companies say that this is unrealistic. Raise the hourly wage to fifteen dollars per hour, they argue, and local franchises, many of them operating with small profit margins, will either fail or have to lay off employees.

15 Wins for the Progressive Movement in 2013

Joshua Holland Bill Moyers and Company
While Washington was stuck in the grip of the politics of obstruction, grass-roots activists did their part, scoring some major wins for economic justice, civil liberties and democracy. As we near the end of the year, here are some of the biggest progressive wins we saw.

Antidotes to Avarice: A 2013 Top Ten

Sam Pizzigati Too Much
Nurses, philosophers, and UK trade unions have, over the past 12 months, all shared some fascinating ideas on how we can make our societies more equal — and much better — places to live.

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Delhi: March For a Minimum Living Wage

Srinivasan Ramani Economic and Political Weekly
On 12 December 2013, more than a lakh workers predominantly from the unorganised sector marched on Parliament to demand a minimum living wage, social security measures and regulariation of work. The call had been given by trade unions across the political spectrum and the participants came from all parts of the country. However, mainstream and popular media remained indifferent and ignored the rally, much like earlier times.

Old Story

David Horsey Los Angeles Times

Tidbits - December 12, 2013

Portside
Reader Comments - Nelson Mandela; Republic Windows - CEOs Going to Jail; Minimum Wage; Healthcare - Single-Payer; Syria; India homophobia; Austerity; Living Wage - Low wage workers; Books to read (or to give; or both); Announcements - Suggestion for Year-end Giving - Davis-Putter Scholarship; Shostakovich For The Children Of Syria - Carnegie Hall, New York - January 13

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Obama, de Blasio, Fast-Food Workers and the Challenge of Inequality

Gregory N. Heires The New Crossroads
With our inequality coming close to that of Jamaica and Argentina, as Obama pointed out in his Dec. 4 speech on inequality and social mobility, we can no longer ignore the danger it poses to our democracy and living standards.

State, Local Governments Take Action on Minimum Wage

Don Lee Los Angeles Times
With Washington tied up on other issues, states and municipalities are handling minimum-wage increases on their own. Legislators and voters in five states — California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island — and in four local governments this year approved measures raising the minimum wage above the current national rate of $7.25 an hour, in one case as high as $15 an hour.
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