The reasons why the workers want a union are not surprising. Covid was obviously a major issue. Lack of proper safety procedures has been a worker concern at Amazon facilities nationally.
Movements
New report shows low strike numbers
Covid changed everything in the country and has certainly affected the labor movement. So, it’s quite reasonable to see Covid as a unique and unusual damper on militancy.
Chicago teachers continue fight for school safety
The union has argued that the poor condition of the school buildings, the very uneven protective measures taken by the CPS, and the difficulties of social distancing with younger children all make the spread of the virus a serious concern.
Hunts Point Strike: Fightback is possible!
When the working class movement is seen as a movement of action and struggle, people become open to its fundamental world outlook. Ideas of class solidarity and unity come forward.
Chicago teachers say, “Safe Return or No Return!”
The most probable explanation for Lightfoot’s rush to reopen the school system is class vindictiveness towards the CTU. Lightfoot feels, correctly, that she was bested by the CTU in the 2019 strike.
Healthcare workers fight both the virus and the employers
The length of a healthcare strike during a medical crisis is a thorny problem that unionists will need to think carefully about. Instant cries of bureaucratic betrayal may miss the mark.
Fightbacks in the workplace today
We can see where the areas of fightback are today: the small strikes, the hospitals, for safety during the pandemic in schools, and the Teamsters’ opposition.
Chicago strikers fight for their patients
The largest strike taking place in this country today is the combined nurses and campus workers strike at the University of Illinois at Chicago. It represents one of the most important examples of united working class action in the time of Trump and COVID. What’s involved here? On Saturday, September […]
Colombia: a nationwide uprising against police brutality
Colombia is engulfed in a nationwide uprising against police violence and government assassination of social movement leaders. The uprising erupted after September 9 when police detained and murdered lawyer Javier Ordoñez by repeated Taser shocks to his head. Police claimed they had to subdue Ordoñez after they were called to […]
Supreme Court’s Abortion decision: a small victory amid a string of defeats
A movement is needed more than ever to defend a woman’s right to choose The United States Supreme Court, in another sharply divided abortion rights decision, struck down a Louisiana statute that would have required doctors performing abortions in that state to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. The requirement […]
Fighting for reproductive rights in the age of Trump
The Black Lives Matter movement has shaken US society to its core in 2020—and accomplished more in a matter of weeks of struggle than decades of waiting for Democrats to take action. The US Supreme Court is now preparing to rule on the most draconian anti-abortion legislation since the 1973 […]
Without struggle, there is no progress
On May 25, George Floyd was murdered by Derek Chauvin of the Minneapolis Police Department. Like so many times before, at least since the attack on Rodney King in 1992, the police were caught on camera. What’s different now is that George Floyd’s murder has sparked a rebellion larger, broader, […]
The Language of the unheard
“Can you hear us now?” Those were the words spray painted on the boarded-up windows of Minneapolis’ East Lake Clinic—near the 3rd Precinct police station that protesters burned down on the night of May 28th. The whole world has now watched four Minneapolis cops murder George Floyd. Yet it took […]
“The Negro struggle has a vitality and a validity of its own”: C. L. R. James on Black Liberation in the United States
The uprising that spread across the United States in the wake of the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd on Memorial Day was a powerful reminder of the central role that racism has always played in U.S. history. But was also a reminder of another key point that the Trinidadian-born […]
Socialist tasks during the pandemic
Many excellent articles have appeared analyzing the COVID 19 pandemic from a socialist and Marxist perspective. In this piece, we will look at just one question: what should socialists do during the pandemic? The main components of the answer are supporting essential workers fighting for safety protections, defending workers demanding […]