Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Teresa Ghilarducci laments both the state of the union movement in the U.S., and the lack of any public discussion as to how to rebuild the strongest voice most citizens have against corporate excesses. And Bob Bryan recognizes that unions are nothing short of necessary to a balanced economy, while Alana Semuels writes about the lack of good jobs created when businesses "onshore" to anti-labour jurisdictions.

- Meanwhile, Zeeshan Aleem highlights how Minnesota has thrived after raising both upper-end taxes and its minimum wage. And Trish Hennessy takes a look at the success of living-wage employers in Ontario.

- Sean McElwee theorizes that it may be possible to encourage even the U.S. Republicans to accept meaningful income redistribution as long as it takes the form of tax credits rather than direct spending.

- Steven Hoffman and Patrick Fafard suggest a few "easy wins" for Justin Trudeau's first actions in office. And for those thinking bigger, Roy Romanow and Greg Marchildon make the case for a national pharmacare program.

- Finally, the CCPA's latest Monitor focuses on climate change in the lead up to the Paris conference later this month. Fiona Harvey reports that the latest UN review of international climate change commitments suggests that the targets set to date fall far short of what's needed to limit the damage to two degrees Celsius. And Christina Figueroa is optimistic that the world is ready for meaningful action against climate change, while Derrick O'Keefe highlights how Paris will test Justin Trudeau's willingness to put the public good over the interests of oil barons.