(2021-12-29). Australian SEP supporters: "The only force that can free Assange is the international working class" wsws.org The Socialist Equality Party is today publishing further comments from WSWS readers and supporters of the fight to free WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
(2021-12-29). Outrage among US workers over CDC decision to reduce quarantine guidelines. wsws.org The CDC announcement has stunned and angered workers who are being confronted with the fact that the corporate and political establishment consider their lives and those of their friends and relatives expendable.
(2021-12-29). San Diego sanitation workers continue strike for wages and safe working conditions. wsws.org San Diego waste management workers went on strike against Republic Services the day after the Teamsters union shut down another strike by Republic workers in Orange County.
(2021-12-29). National Labor Relations Board agreement expands union access to Amazon workers. wsws.org The NLRB ruling is the latest effort by the Biden administration to install a union at Amazon, which can be relied on to contain worker unrest in this critical industry.
(2021-12-29). What is behind the American Postal Workers Union and the Postmaster General's 10-year plan? wsws.org The concessionary contract negotiated by the American Postal Workers Union and the United States Postal Service supports the recently enacted plan to dismantle and privatize mail delivery.
(2021-12-29). Volkswagen workers kept in the dark following new union-management consultations on restructuring. wsws.org As COVID-19 spreads unchecked in schools and factories, Volkswagen workers are facing unprecedented attacks on their jobs and working conditions.
(2021-12-29). Sri Lankan health workers endorse the Global Workers Inquest into the COVID-19 pandemic. wsws.org "As frontline health workers we have been battling the pandemic in hospitals and experiencing how the government has been handling the pandemic in a criminal manner."
(2021-12-29). How Can Workers in "The Great Resignation" Harness Leverage Long-Term? zcomm.org If we don't organize and either get living-wage laws passed, or minimum wage drastically increased, [all] of these gains, especially adjusted for inflation, are just going to be lost."
(2021-12-29). Migrant workers face discriminatory policies in New Zealand. wsws.org The Labour Party-led government has deported more than 850 people over the last two years, including to countries like India where the COVID-19 pandemic has killed millions.
(2021-12-29). Australian health workers report dire conditions as COVID-19 cases soar. wsws.org "What I witnessed yesterday has left a terrifying impression on me. The hospitals are not equipped for this."
(2021-12-29). Jeremy Corbyn and the North Shropshire Conservative Defeat. orinocotribune.com By Fra Hughes — Dec 24, 2021 | In undermining Corbyn in a Machiavellian-type coup, the new Labour leader Keir Starmer was supported by the establishment, supported by the mainstream media, supported by Tony Blair, and supported by Zionist "Israel". |
(2021-12-29). In remembrance of Chuck Kaufman, anti-imperialist, international solidarity organizer. fightbacknews.org Tucson, AZ – It is with heavy heart that the news of the passing of longtime anti-imperialist organizer Chuck Kaufman reached communities on December 28. Born in a small Indiana town, Chuck's life saw travels to numerous countries, most notably in the Latin American countries most firmly in the crosshairs of U.S. imperialism. | In 1987, as Reagan's illegal Contra War against Nicaragua ravaged the country in an attempt to kill the successful Sandinista Revolution, Chuck answered the call for solidarity. He gave up his advertising business and joined thousands of other U.S. solidarity activists to help in the coffe…
(2021-12-29). Great power rivalry and capitalist crisis. greenleft.org.au Thirty years since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War the promised peace and harmony has been illusive, writes William Briggs.
(2021-12-29). Apple employees mount one-day strike on Christmas Eve to demand COVID-19 protections and better working conditions. wsws.org Employees at the tech company Apple launched a one-day strike on December 24 to demand improvements in their wages, benefits and working conditions.
(2021-12-29). UK HGV drivers' health and lives endangered by "epidemic" levels of fatigue. wsws.org The government has significantly weakened safety restrictions protecting HGV drivers and other road users in response to a labour shortage created by decades of declining pay and conditions.
(2021-12-29). Arundhati Roy on the Media, Vaccine Inequity, Authoritarianism in India & Challenging U.S. Wars. democracynow.org We go to New Delhi, India, to speak with acclaimed Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy about the pandemic, U.S. militarism and the state of journalism. Roy first appeared on Democracy Now! after receiving widespread backlash for speaking out against the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. At the time, her emphatic antiwar stance clashed with the rising tides of patriotism and calls for war after 9/11. "Now the same media is saying what we were saying 20 years ago," says Roy. "But the trouble is, it's too late."
(2021-12-28). Dozens of Saudi-led airstrikes on Yemen halt crucial aid supplies. peoplesdispatch.org Over the past week, the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition bombed different locations in Yemen killing at least three people including a child and a woman in Ajama near the capital Sana'a.
(2021-12-28). UN Envoy Warns 'Threat to Civilian Lives Is Increasing' in Yemen. scheerpost.com By Jessica Corbett / Common Dreams A United Nations special envoy on Tuesday raised alarm about the safety of civilians in war-torn Yemen given escalating violence, including airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition. "The escalation in recent weeks is among the worst we have seen in Yemen for years and the threat to civilian lives is increasing," said Hans …
(2021-12-28). After Years Of Setbacks, US Labor Demonstrates Its Power. popularresistance.org 2021 was a historic year for labor in the US. An eruption of strikes, major contract wins, and workers quitting low-wage jobs in unprecedented numbers all signaled that workers en masse are ready to reclaim their power. Workers organized union drives across nearly every industry, pushed for union reforms, and elected new union leadership, speaking volumes to their desire for a more democratic workplace. | For many workers, the pandemic revealed the cruelty of capitalism. Mainstream media and politicians campaigned for a return to business as usual during this second year of COVID. In particular, workers, called "
(2021-12-28). Longshore Workers Get Blamed For Delays, As Contract Fight Looms. popularresistance.org If you ordered a teddy bear or a designer picture frame as a holiday gift, you know that it likely took a lot longer to get here than in past years. | There have been problems getting things from point A to point B since the pandemic started. At one point in October, 77 percent of the world's ports were experiencing long delays. | More than most Americans, Longshore Union (ILWU) members grasp what supply chain problems are and how they come about. Many come from multigenerational families of port workers who understand both their militant union's storied history and its role in the global economy today. | ILWU me…
(2021-12-28). Thousands of flights canceled worldwide due to rising infections among airline workers. wsws.org The airlines lobbied the CDC to change its guidelines so airline workers could be forced to work even if they are infected or exposed.
(2021-12-28). CDC surrenders US population to the spread of Omicron. wsws.org The US health agency is effectively ending any effort to stop the spread of COVID, in order to meet business demands for workers.
(2021-12-28). Whatever Happened to 'Eight Hours for What You Will'? scheerpost.com Strikes and the pandemic are exposing how many of us, from Frito-Lay and Nabisco factories to movie sets, are working 12-hour shifts, sometimes for many days in a row. Photo: Topeka Frito-Lay Union Members Appreciation Page | By Barbara Madeloni / When Frank Carrico talks about why he and his co-workers at the Heaven Hill distillery
(2021-12-28). More workers died of COVID-19 at one Michigan auto plant than all of China in 2021. wsws.org Xavier Anderson, a worker at Stellantis' Sterling Stamping Plant north of Detroit, is the fifth to die from COVID-19 at the plant.
(2021-12-28). Workers Struggles: The Americas. wsws.org Air traffic controllers in Peru struck to demand better work conditions and COVID protections while over 250 workers at Republic Services in Chula Vista, California, walked out over contract issues.
(2021-12-28). Australian governments let loose soaring COVID-19 infections. wsws.org There is shock and outrage among health workers, medical experts and working-class people as governments wash their hands of the developing disaster.
(2021-12-28). Minnesota: Ramsey County AFSCME workers demand raises and respect. fightbacknews.org St. Paul, MN — Chanting their demand for "raises and respect," close to 200 members of AFSCME members braved the snow, December 28, for an informational picket to bring attention to the county's proposed plan to freeze wages and raise health insurance costs on workers during the ongoing global pandemic. AFSCME Locals 8, 151, 707, 1076 and 1935 took part in the picket, and were joined by other workers in solidarity.
(2021-12-28). Saint Vincent & The Grenadines To Use Cuba's Abdala Vaccine. telesurenglish.net On Monday, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines (SVG) became the first country in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to authorize the use of Abdala, a COVID-19 vaccine made in Cuba. | RELATED: | Previously, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves announced that Cuba had donated 300 Abdala doses to his country, which would be used immediately on teachers and other workers who are on the front lines of the fight against the pandemic. | "God and the Cuba…
(2021-12-28). Anger among Kellogg's workers as work restarts following union betrayal of two-month strike. wsws.org Kellogg's workers report filthy conditions and missing tools inside the plant, as well as continuing censorship by union-affiliated social media pages.
(2021-12-28). Guatemala: 25 Years of Peace Accords, 25 Years of Neoliberalism. libya360.wordpress.com Ollantay Itzamná Mayan peasant women harvesting sesame seeds. OI In the Christmas atmosphere, and the day after the feast of the "Holy Innocents", the groups that took up arms in the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) and the Creole State of Guatemala, after 36 years of "internal war", signed the firm and lasting Peace Agreements….
(2021-12-28). An Anniversary of Stalinist Counterrevolution: 30 years since the end of the USSR. wsws.org The International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) recognized, as early as 1985, that Gorbachev's policies of glasnost and perestroika expressed the drive of the Stalinist bureaucracy to reintegrate the Soviet economy with the world market through the restoration of capitalism.
(2021-12-28). Eighth Round Of JCPOA Revival Talks Begin. popularresistance.org "Today all parties have agreed to come back to activate the eighth round of negotiations even in (the) Christmas and New Year's holiday. This in itself fully shows a greater sense of urgency on the part of all parties concerned," Wang Qun, China's ambassador to the United Nations institutions headquartered in Vienna, Austria, which includes the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) nuclear watchdog, told reporters on Monday. | China is just one of several parties to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal, who also include Russia, France, Germany, the UK, the European Union, the US, and…
(2021-12-28). Labor Unions, Environmentalists, And Indigenous People Unite To Defeat Mining Interests In Argentina. popularresistance.org The people of the southern Argentinian province of Chubut are celebrating more than just the holidays this December. After a fierce struggle against a recently enacted zoning law that would have opened the province up to large-scale silver, copper, and lead mining by multinational corporations like Canadian Pan American Silver, the governor was ultimately forced to backtrack. The law in question, which was approved on December 15, was repealed last Tuesday, just five days later.
(2021-12-28). Labor, Environmentalists, And Indigenous Unite To Defeat Mining. popularresistance.org The people of the southern Argentinian province of Chubut are celebrating more than just the holidays this December. After a fierce struggle against a recently enacted zoning law that would have opened the province up to large-scale silver, copper, and lead mining by multinational corporations like Canadian Pan American Silver, the governor was ultimately forced to backtrack. The law in question, which was approved on December 15, was repealed last Tuesday, just five days later. | From the night of the approval until the afternoon of December 21, the movement against the law spread rapidly throughout the province…
(2021-12-28). History: "Wipe the Soviet Union Off the Map", 204 Atomic Bombs against 66 Major Cities, US Nuclear Attack against USSR Planned During World War II. globalresearch.ca According to a secret document dated September 15, 1945, "the Pentagon had envisaged blowing up the Soviet Union with a coordinated nuclear attack directed against 66 major urban areas.
(2021-12-28). "Lula knows that the ecological question is strategic and fundamental," says Leonardo Boff. peoplesdispatch.org For this reason, agreements between nations to block changes have become a priority at the negotiation tables. Today, they are even an impediment to the conclusion of commercial advances, such as the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union,…
(2021-12-28). For a "Zero COVID" policy in Canada's schools!—an appeal from a special-needs educator. wsws.org To oppose the disastrous profit-before-lives pandemic policy pursued by Canada's governments, I urge my colleagues to join with the Cross-Canada Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee in organizing independent rank-and-file committees in all schools to fight for a science-based Zero COVID strategy.
(2021-12-28). The Radical Legacy Of New York's Winter Rent Strike. popularresistance.org From 26 December 1907 to 9 January 1908, 10,000 tenants, predominantly Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe living in New York City's Lower East Side, took part in a historic rent strike. During an economic depression causing mass unemployment and grinding poverty, landlords tried to hike rents by thirty-three percent. With their cry to 'fight the landlord as they had the Czar', the tenants won a partial victory, with rents significantly reduced for 2,000 households. The movement established a tradition of militant working-class housing campaigns that eventually contributed to winning vital rent controls that st…
(2021-12-28). Israel attacks Syria's Latakia port for the second time this month. peoplesdispatch.org The strike on Latakia on Tuesday caused a fire and damage to containers. The port is a major source of food and other supplies to the war-ravaged Syrian people and the country's economy…
(2021-12-28). Richard Wolff: US Capitalism Has Peaked And Is On The Way Down'. popularresistance.org For the end of the year, Clearing the FOG speaks with economist Richard Wolff about the current state of United States capitalism. Wolff explains that the United States is experiencing the greatest crisis in its history – a severe economic crisis at the same time as a pandemic, as well as the climate crisis. This is unprecedented. Unlike the great depression in the last century, when the wealth divide shrank, inequality is worsening. On top of that, US empire is in decline. Wolff discusses the current state of inflation and supply chain disruption and the forces behind them. Instead of facing up to these realitie…
(2021-12-28). Canadian Tire Fire #24: Coyote Camp Retaken as Solidarity Actions Multiply, COVID Spreads in Prisons, Another Winter of Housing Crisis. itsgoingdown.org This week we're covering two weeks worth of struggle news. On December 21st, 1492 Land Back Lane got another small win when the Ontario Court of Appeal struck down the permanent injunction against them and ordered the failed developer pay spokesperson Skyler Williams $20,000 to cover the costs of the appeal. Though a temporary injunction…
(2021-12-28). 2021 Samidoun Year in Review: Help us organize a new year of Palestinian liberation struggle! samidoun.net 2021 has been a year of struggle for Palestine — towards return and liberation. This year, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network has taken to the streets, organized new chapters, marched for justice, and fought to free Palestinian prisoners. We're now preparing for 2022. From New York to Vancouver, from Germany to occupied Palestine, from Toulouse […] | The article
(2021-12-28). Checkmate: Iran is Spearheading a Geopolitical Sea Change in West Asia. orinocotribune.com By Matthew Ehret — Dec 24, 2021 | While the west bangs on about Vienna talks, sanctions and military options, Iran has been quietly building a vast network of alternative solutions to cement its Asian ascent. | Benjamin Franklin once famously wrote to his fellow colonials: "Either we hang together or we hang separately." | Those words are just as true today as they were 270 years ago, for empires have always controlled by dividing their victims into regional tribal interests in order to be better conquered. | While techniques have adapted to modern times, the essential ingredients for the science of discord…
(2021-12-28). US-Backed Opposition Continues to Loot Venezuelan Assets. telesurenglish.net On Monday, Venezuela's Foreign Affairs Minister Felix Plasencia accused the US-backed opposition of continuing with the looting of resources belonging to the Bolivarian people. | RELATED: | "Unscrupulous politicians, who are divorced from national interests, intend to continue with the shameless plundering of the resources of all Venezuelans. Justice will be imposed sooner rather than later and they will have to render accounts before our people," h…
(2021-12-28). The Pentagon just got $778 billion, but USAID is running out of money for Covid-19 vaccines? nationofchange.org "Why is there more money for the military-industrial complex… at the same time the U.S. is refusing to spend the $25 billion needed to make enough additional vaccines to vaccinate the world?"
(2021-12-28). Sudan: Protesters Vow to Stay on the Streets Despite Crackdown. libya360.wordpress.com Pavan Kulkarni Photo: Sudanese Professionals Association At least 235 demonstrators were injured in a crackdown by Sudanese security forces on December 25 when people took to the streets in large numbers. The day marked two months since the military consolidated its power through a coup At least 235 demonstrators were injured in a crackdown by…