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The Economy Hub - Are Unions Necessary?

Michael Hiltzik Los Angeles Times
One simply can't explain the decline of union representation without acknowledging the role of employer opposition and its empowerment by government policy, as outlined in a 2009 report from the Economic Policy Institute. The government role includes the expansion of "right to work" laws, and the enfeeblement of the National Labor Relations Board and its intimidation by members of Congress.

Book Review - Sanitation Workers: You Gotta Love Them

Michael Hirsch The Indypendent, Issue # 194
Injury rates for sanitation workers outstrip harm done even to cops and firefighters. The Bureau of Labor Statistics ranks refuse and recyclable materials collection as the nation's fourth most dangerous job, exceeded only by commercial fishing, logging and plane piloting. Like Rodney Dangerfield's everyman, they get no respect.

Tidbits - February 20, 2014

Portside
Reader Comments - Keystone XL; Sid Caesar; Venezuela; UAW and Volkswagen; Bernie Sanders Run for President?; Chris Hedges; Nixon, Reagan and Sabotage of Peace; Healthcare; Love and Loneliness; Song for Pete Seeger; Announcements: -Remembering Freedom Summer and the Civil Rights Era - New York - Feb. 22; Teleconference on 'Moving Beyond Capitalism' - Feb. 24

Tidbits - February 13, 2014

Portside
Reader Comments - Cecily McMillan Update - Occupy Activist Faces Seven Years in Jail - Trial Postponed to March 3rd; Africa; Latin America; Learning from History; Slavery; UAW Campaign at Volkswagen; Amiri Baraka; Pete Seeger memories; Announcements - CISPES Delegation to El Salvador; Workers Get a Cut on Powell Books purchases; New Video - The USA's new underclass; Labor Notes conference - April 4 - 6 - Early bird discount

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New Rules for Radicals

David Moberg In These Times
George Goehl and National People’s Action spent the last 6 years developing a new organizing strategy. The organization now commits itself to a vision of a “new economy”: democratic and public control of finance, and cooperative and alternative forms of business ownership. NPA also envisions giving workers real decision-making power within corporations and giving the public the right to revoke the charters of corporations that provide too little social value.

Tidbits - February 6, 2014

Portside
Reader Comments - Pete Seeger; Jews and Mayor de Blasio; Atlanta; NSA; Staples & Postal Jobs; Minimum Wage; Wars of Reconstruction; Brooklyn College CWE; Drugs and Philip Seymour Hoffman; Christie Scandal; Unions and Keystone Pipeline; Announcements - New Music Video-Close Guantanamo; Egyptian Revolution in Perspective -NYC-Feb 8; Fight Against VEOLIA Privatization -SF-Feb 8; Book Signing-William L. Patterson bio -LA-Feb 11; Labor - A Poor People's Movement -NYC-Feb 21

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"The Second Machine Age" by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee

Steven Pearlstein Washington Post
"The Second Machine Age," by MIT professors Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, has gotten a lot of attention for its bold predictions of a forthcoming giant leap forward in the kinds of tasks that smart machines (robots) will be capable of performing. This could have a major impact on the nature of work, the number of jobs, the kinds of jobs, and the kind of society we will have in the future.

Union Rule Despised by Right-Wingers Now Roaring Back to Life

Josh Eidelson Salon
When workers want to vote on whether to form a union, they should have a fair chance to do so. The National Labor Relations Board is set to issue rules that aim to do that. A rule that Romney scorched and judges killed is being revived by Obama appointees. While the proposed rule is a basic step toward protecting workers' rights, much more needs to be done to fully address the significant challenges people face when they try to come together for a voice on the job.
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