Portside

Democrats stepped in on the side of labor ahead of the debate — and helped workers win.

Hotel strikes in 2018 resulted in new agreements to increase wages and pensions. Management attempts to increase workloads remains a major concern for workers as does maintaining health insurance during seasonal layoffs.

For the first time in recent memory workers in multiple Chicago hotels have walked off the job at the same time, and it appears to have taken management by surprise.

The recent split in the Canadian Labour Congress over organizational issues will inhibit the search to renew trade unions. A vision of a powerful, effective, inclusive union movement of the future needs to be developed. If leaders let personal grievances or institutional rivalry dominate the discussion, we will fail, and it may take years to heal the damage.

A proposed deal between SEIU and Airbnb has been criticized by housing groups and labor activists, including some SEIU members, concerned that Airbnb has exacerbated housing crises in cities across the US, including in San Francisco, where Airbnb is headquartered.