(2021-12-18). Australian governments ramp up "reopening drive" amid record COVID-19 infections. wsws.org As Labor and Coalition governments alike scrap public health measures, to satisfy the demands of the corporate elite, there are signs of mounting public concern and hostility.
(2021-12-18). The Dangerous Ignorance of Germany's New Foreign Minister. moderndiplomacy.eu Germany's new Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock came into office on December 8th without her knowing that America's stationing missiles in Ukraine on Russia's border, and only a 7-minute flying distance away from Moscow, would be even more unacceptable to Moscow than, in 1962, would have been, to Washington, the Soviet Union's stationing missiles in Cuba, …
(2021-12-18). Attacks on Brazilian scientists grow amid COVID-19 pandemic. wsws.org The Brazilian and international working class must oppose attacks on scientists whose work has helped educate the public and expose the criminal politics of the world's ruling elite during the greatest global health crisis in a century.
(2021-12-18). Democrats allow child tax credit to lapse as Omicron surges. wsws.org The elimination of the last social support measures implemented during the pandemic threaten destitution to working class families facing dislocation as a new, deadly wave of the virus gathers force.
(2021-12-18). "The raises are insulting in this economy": Postal workers oppose union-brokered tentative agreement. wsws.org The agreement continues decades of attacks on workers by offering meager raises and expanding the second tier of lower-paid postal employees.
(2021-12-18). PSOE-Podemos government arrests Cádiz workers as strikes spread in Spain. wsws.org The PSOE-Podemos government's arrests in Cádiz are a blatant attempt to intimidate workers to prevent them from exercising their right to strike and to protest.
(2021-12-18). Teamsters union shuts down Southern California sanitation workers strike. wsws.org In coastal Orange County, south of Los Angeles, 400 sanitation workers went on strike December 9 against Republic Services, the second-largest waste management firm in the US. The strike was abruptly ended by the Teamsters after seven days.
(2021-12-18). "Workers around the world suffer the same conditions": A former Kellogg's worker in Australia sends a message of solidarity to US strikers. wsws.org Warwick Dove, a member of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia) and former Kellogg's worker, has a message for striking Kellogg's workers in the United States on the eve of their vote on another concessions contract this weekend.
(2021-12-18). Leaked email exposes union-management conspiracy to defeat Kellogg's strike as Sanders attempts to deflect anger towards Mexico. wsws.org The entire bargaining committee should be kicked out in light of this exposure, and a new bargaining committee elected consisting of the most trusted rank-and-file workers from the shop floor.
(2021-12-18). Help CrimethInc. Recover from a Catastrophic Fire. itsgoingdown.org Call to support CrimethInc. as they recover from a massive fire which destroyed their mail order space. Donate here. On December 15, 2021, the mail-order space of the CrimethInc. Ex-Workers Collective was destroyed in a catastrophic fire that reduced three large buildings to burned-out shells in downtown Olympia, Washington. Thousands of our books, posters, and…
(2021-12-18). How a Group of Starbucks Workers Emerged Victorious in Their Union Fight. independentmediainstitute.org The iconic American coffee chain, Starbucks, employs hundreds of thousands of people in nearly 9,000 cafés nationwide. And yet, the news that a handful of Starbucks employees at one café in Buffalo, New York, recently voted to join Workers United—an affiliate of SEIU—made headlines nationally. The New York Times called it a "big symbolic win …
(2021-12-18). [Correspondence] Mental and physical exhaustion of health-care practitioners. thelancet.com Health-care workers are experiencing mental and physical exhaustion after coping with 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many dedicated staff members are retiring from the field and leaving their jobs. This occurrence is now widespread. A recent study by The Physicians Foundation found that doctors were heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic: 61% reported often experiencing feelings of burnout; 57% had experienced inappropriate feelings of anger, tearfulness, or anxiety; 46% had isolated themselves from others; and more than 55% know of a physician who has either considered, attempted, or died by suicide.
(2021-12-18). Mental health workers speak out about pandemic challenges. greenleft.org.au Mental health workers Dr Nikola Leka and Sarah Ellyard spoke to Green Left about the mental health crisis exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
(2021-12-18). Close schools and nonessential businesses! Workers must act to stop Omicron! wsws.org In just two weeks, all of the lies of the government and media have been exposed. Omicron is not "mild," and it is not "manageable." The irresponsible policies being carried out today will result in a wave of deaths in January and beyond.
(2021-12-18). A Sino-Russian military alliance is gratuitous (as of now). mronline.org 
To apply a western analogy, while the Sino-Russian partnership has great potential to model itself after the European Union, neither Moscow nor Beijing desires an Eurasian NATO to create synergy for it.
(2021-12-18). Public health sacrificed for business as usual. greenleft.org.au The COVID-19 catastrophe presents a challenge of planetary proportions. You would expect it would elicit a response drawing on all our skills, compassion and collective resources. But, as Andrew Smart, argues, we are seeing the opposite.
(2021-12-18). YOU LOVE TO SEE IT: The Sacklers Strike Out. dailyposter.com 
(2021-12-18). Castillo government unleashes police against mining protest in Peru. wsws.org The peasant blockade of the giant Chinese-owned Las Bambas copper mine in Peru's southern Andes is creating a growing crisis for the Castillo government.
(2021-12-17). How the Left Can Get Ethiopia Right: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly with #NoMore. towardfreedom.org In the last few months, the left media outlets from various camps, in their sincere attempts to demonstrate solidarity and spotlight conflict in the Horn of Africa and internal developments in Ethiopia, got it wrong. They have been uncritically centering active ideological players on two opposing camps, writes blogger Filmon Zerai.
(2021-12-17). Ethiopia: U.S. sanctions create misery and division. workers.org 
Washington plans to impose sanctions on the central government in Ethiopia starting Jan. 1. The sanctions remove Ethiopia's Special Trade Status, which enables Ethiopian goods to be sold in the U.S. free of import duty. Ethiopia's government is involved in a civil war with forces based in Tigray that had . . . |
(2021-12-17). Biden's Threat: Is Ethiopia Next? With Matt Ehret. strategic-culture.org Many westerners trying to make sense of the events in the "dark continent" of Africa have many barriers standing in the way of their minds and reality. This must be the case, for without such filters of spin proclaiming Africa's problems to be self-induced (or the consequence of Chinese debt slavery), we in the west, might actually feel horrified enough to demand systemic change. We might come to recognize that the plight of Africa has less to do with Africa and more to do with an intentional program of depopulation, and exploitation of vital resources.
(2021-12-17). A Whistleblower And Constant Thorn In The Government's Side. popularresistance.org Joseph Carson, an Energy Department nuclear safety engineer originally from Brooklyn, NY, walked into the moral hazard of working for the U.S. government nearly as soon as his career started. The very first program he worked in during the Cold War led to the development of a nuclear weapon that could kill 20 million people in one fell swoop. The alarm bells immediately started ringing as the federal employee considered his work in the context of the engineering code of ethics he'd been educated in. What started as disclosures about the safety of federal workers in 1991—a report his manager immediately threw…
(2021-12-17). Home Care Workers Protest 24-Hour Work Day In New York City. popularresistance.org Workers employed with the United Jewish Council (UJC) home care agency rallied to end the 24-hour work day and demand their stolen wages on the morning of December 16. While home care workers in New York are being forced to work 24-hour shifts for poverty wages, 11 hours worth of that pay is stolen by their employers. A coalition of worker's rights organizations including the Ain't I A Woman Campaign and the National Mobilization Against Sweatshops (NMASS) have been organizing alongside home care workers for years against these unjust labor practices. | "I am traumatized from working 24-hour shifts," said Epifani…
(2021-12-17). Yes Virginia, there is a labor movement. workers.org 
Workers in Virginia flexed their organizing muscle in two separate industries recently. First, hospitality workers at the tourist attraction, Colonial Williamsburg village, held a rally in front of various sites within the complex. The majority of the workers are Black. Their grievances include low wages and long hours. Colonial Williamsburg . . . |
(2021-12-17). GOP Candidate JD Vance Accuses Walmart of "Slave Labor" But Invests in Its Stock. truthout.org 
Ohio Republican Senate candidate Vance, who made a fortune as a venture capitalist before writing the best-selling book Hillbilly Elegy, submitted his persona…
(2021-12-17). Democratic Production and Self-Organized Labor: How the Che Guevara Commune Confronts the Crisis. libya360.wordpress.com Cira Pascual Marquina and Chris Gilbert Part I: Highland Resistance: How the Che Guevara Commune Confronts the Crisis First-hand accounts of the impact of the US sanctions on a coffee and cocoa growing commune in the Venezuelan Andes. The Che Guevara Commune lies on the fertile hillsides that rise up from the shores of Lake…
(2021-12-17). Qatar jails migrant worker for speaking out on labor violations. peoplesdispatch.org Jordanian Abdullah Ibhais was sentenced to five years in prison in April this year. Human rights groups assert that the sentence is based on false and baseless charges completely lacking evidence…
(2021-12-17). New Leader Pushes Teachers' Union to Take On Social Justice Role. zcomm.org Becky Pringle, the country's top Black labor leader, has plunged the National Education Association into the reckoning unfolding in public schools…
(2021-12-17). Both major parties in Australia plan accelerated pro-business university restructuring. wsws.org Regardless of whether the Coalition or Labor form the next government, the devastating attacks on jobs, conditions and the quality of education will accelerate.
(2021-12-17). UAW members OK direct election of officers. peoplesworld.org 
(2021-12-17). Only a COVID-19 elimination strategy can protect educators, students, and their families from the Omicron tsunami! wsws.org The nearly two years of the pandemic have conclusively demonstrated that a science-based strategy that prioritizes saving workers' lives over corporate profits and investor wealth will only be imposed through the independent intervention of the working class.
(2021-12-17). German Chancellor Scholz's first speech: Praising Merkel, threatening Russia and committing to mass infection. wsws.org The new Chancellor's remarks confirmed the assessment of the WSWS that the programme of the so-called traffic light coalition of SPD (red), Liberals (FDP, yellow) and Greens is a declaration of war on the working class.
(2021-12-17). UC Recognizes Student Researchers United Union Of 17,000 Workers. popularresistance.org California – The university agreed Wednesday to recognize Student Researchers United, or SRU, a union representing 17,000 student researchers employed by the UC system. | The decision came after nearly 11,000 student researchers across the state voted Nov. 19 to authorize a strike. Out of the members who voted, 97.5% voted in favor of a strike, according to a press release from United Auto Workers, the parent union that SRU is joining. | "This is the single biggest new union filing in any industry, definitely this year if not this decade," said UC Berkeley student researcher Tanzil Chowdhury. "Seventeen thousand…
(2021-12-17). Massive new union of student researchers at the University of California wins recognition. liberationnews.org 
In a historic victory decades in the making, Student Researchers at the University of California have won union recognition — the largest group of workers in the United States to form a union in over a decade.
(2021-12-17). 'Virus hunters' race against time in East China. ecns.cn Medical workers at Zhenhai District Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, have been devoted to the fight against COVID-19 since the first local case of a new surge was reported on Dec. 5, 2021.
(2021-12-17). NYC opens first safe consumption sites. workers.org 
With fatal and nonfatal drug overdoses dramatically rising during the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. needs a new strategy for countering this menace. In a number of cities, steps are underway to counteract this horrible loss of life. One is the foundation of safe consumption sites — places where addicted people . . . |
(2021-12-17). Unions Demand Covid-19 Safety Measures for Health Workers Be Made Permanent. zcomm.org "OSHA must act swiftly to extend lifesaving protections for health care workers and to create new Covid-19 safety rules for all workers."brett wil…
(2021-12-17). Kellogg Says It Has Tentative Deal With Union as It Faces Mounting Pressure. truthout.org 
With 1,400 cereal plant workers in the midst of their 11th week of striking, Kellogg Company says that it has reached a The Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union has not yet put out a statement about the agreement, and workers rejected a dea…
(2021-12-17). Strikers at Battle Creek Kellogg's stand strong, Bernie Sanders to join Friday rally. fightbacknews.org Battle Creek, MI – Kellogg's workers are continuing the fight after a rejection of a proposed contract last week. At the Battle Creek headquarters, there is determination to hold the line despite the company's plan to permanently replace 1400 workers. | Jason Rose, a mechanic who has worked at Kellogg's for 15 years, said the company is going to have a difficult time filling all the positions. In Battle Creek, the plant's downward trend in working conditions is well known. "They had a hard enough time hiring people in the first place," said Rose. | The strikers are asking to abolish the two-tier system of hiring…
(2021-12-17). Six-week-long Maharashtra public transport workers strike endangered by unions' sabotage. wsws.org The trade unions and Stalinist parliamentary parties are systematically isolating the MSRTC workers as they courageously defy government threats and savage management reprisals.
(2021-12-17). Less than 24 hours before it announces sellout agreement, BCTGM tosses insulting $200 holiday "gift" to Kellogg's strikers. wsws.org The $200 "gift" expresses the contempt of the well-heeled union bureaucracy for the workers they claim to represent.
(2021-12-17). Volkswagen to cut around 900 temporary jobs in Germany. wsws.org Volkswagen is cutting the positions of around 900 temporary workers in the midst of the current coronavirus wave. VW General Works Council Chairwoman Daniela Cavallo and VW brand board member Ralf Brandstà§tter announced this just four weeks before Christmas in an online workforce meeting.
(2021-12-17). Plasterboard workers demand CSR pays up. greenleft.org.au Plasterboard workers at CSR Gyprock in Yarraville who are continuing their campaign for a 4% pay rise are receiving a lot of union support. Chevy McBride reports.
(2021-12-17). Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa. wsws.org Continuing strike wave of French transport workers over pay and conditions joined by waste collection workers and extracurricular school staff; national one-day strike across Italy against government's budget joined by teachers demanding more resources; strike by teachers across 100 Iranian cities over pay and conditions attacked by police; municipal and health workers strike in Free State, South Africa over pay and conditions…
(2021-12-17). Black Lives Matter: The Power Of Activism & Citizen Journalism. telesurenglish.net The year 2021 is drawing to a close, leaving untouched American structural racism, a legacy of the slave age that capitalism preserves to ensure the reproduction of social inequalities, which have been exacerbated by a pandemic that continues to hit workers in various ways. | RELATED: | In Minnesota, for example, the rate of coronavirus infection in citizens of African descent has remained between 25 and 30 percent…
(2021-12-17). Jon Donaire bakery workers in California continue strike against speed up, mandatory overtime and low wages. wsws.org The workers have been on strike since November 3 against mandatory overtime, long hours, relentless speedup, poor pay, lack of breaks and a punitive point system for attendance.
(2021-12-17). Vote NO on the tentative agreement at Kellogg's! Build rank-and-file committees to expand the strike! wsws.org The contract, announced abruptly Thursday night, is virtually identical to the one which workers rejected overwhelmingly two weeks ago.
(2021-12-17). Headlines for December 17, 2021. democracynow.org Biden Warns of "Winter of Severe Illness and Death" for Unvaccinated Americans, CDC Recommends Moderna and Pfizer Vaccines Over Johnson & Johnson, Citing Rare Blood Clots, Thousands of ICE Prisoners Denied Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters, FDA Relaxes Restrictions on Access to Abortion Pills , Federal Judge Throws Out Opioid Settlement That Shielded Sackler Family from Lawsuits, Lucía Hiriart, Widow of Chilean Dictator Pinochet, Dies on Eve of Presidential Election, At Least Seven Die as Super Typhoon Rai Slams Philippines with 160 MPH Winds, Workers at Candle Factory Destroyed by Tornado Sue Company over "Fla…
(2021-12-17). B&Q distribution centre workers in Worksop, UK stage second week of strike action. wsws.org Workers have voted to escalate the dispute from alternating weeks of strike action followed by an overtime ban to continuous strike action from Christmas Eve.
(2021-12-17). How Worker Solidarity Protects What's Left of the Middle Class. independentmediainstitute.org Patrick Stock, president of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 105, wasn't going to let anyone stop him from supporting the United Auto Workers' strike against Deere & Co. When a court issued an injunction limiting the number of picketers at a Deere facility in Davenport, Iowa, Stock gathered about 30 members of his local and other …