Portside

Workers across the United States are getting a raise this week after minimum wage increases took effect across several states and localities Tuesday.

AFSCME District Council 33, which represents thousands of city workers, including trash collectors and police dispatchers, is walking off the job after negotiations didn't end in a deal. The union last went on a strike in 1986.

In order to be effective, abundance policy must benefit and build power for working- and middle-class Americans—rather than enriching and empowering concentrated economic interests and generating populist backlash that undermines democracy.

Almost a century ago, labor activist Emma Tenayuca led Mexican American women in San Antonio’s legendary pecan shellers’ strike, facing down bosses, police, and the Klan. Today amid renewed nativist hate, we can learn from her example.

Under Siege, and Showing its Age

Most of the city unions endorsed the former governor, but a few believed in Mamdani. “It means that for the first time our members will really have a mayor who supports workers,” said Brandon Mancilla, Director of UAW Region 9A.

Unions’ reluctance to engage with workers’ social identities—such as race, ethnicity, and faith—has hindered efforts to build a strong, multiracial labor movement.

Days after the state’s high court OK’d city officials’ yearslong bid to switch 250,000 retired municipal workers to a Medicare Advantage plan, Mayor Adams has pulled the plug on the effort — for now.

A $30 minimum wage law has inspired dueling ballot measures.

New York City is often thought of as a stronghold of organized labor. But the city’s unions look worryingly passive as their strength erodes.