North America
The global campaign to reopen schools drives COVID-19 deaths past one million
By Genevieve Leigh, 22 September 2020
Underlying the reckless drive to reopen schools is a broader policy of “herd immunity” adopted by every major capitalist country around the world.
Report documents criminality and corruption at heart of global banking system
By Barry Grey, 22 September 2020
The report documents the role that major banks knowingly play in laundering trillions of dollars in dirty money from terrorist organizations, drug cartels and assorted international financial criminals.
Spike in Canada’s COVID-19 infections exposes criminality of back-to-work, back-to-school drive
By Roger Jordan, 22 September 2020
The dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases is the direct outcome of the ruling elite’s criminal back-to-work and back-to-school policies, which are aimed at guaranteeing corporate profits regardless of the cost in human lives.
US escalates military intervention in Syria
By Bill Van Auken, 22 September 2020
The bolstering of the US force with another 100 troops, armored vehicles, and air power heightens the threat of confrontation between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers.
Trump to nominate new Supreme Court justice as early as Friday
By Jacob Crosse, 22 September 2020
Ignoring Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s pleas to wait until after the election, Trump has pledged to nominate a women by Saturday.
Louisville police chief declares “state of emergency” in advance of state’s decision on charges against policemen who killed Breonna Taylor
By Kevin Reed, 22 September 2020
Federal police agencies have been requested by U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman to provide protection for the courthouse and three other buildings in downtown Louisville in anticipation of protests this week.
Youth in the US most likely to be low-paid ‘essential’ workers
By Melody Isley, 22 September 2020
Adding insult to injury, students, many of whom who are frontline workers and therefore unable to escape exposure, are being blamed for the explosion of cases on college campuses.
Opposition mounts at the University of Michigan as COVID-19 outbreaks emerge on campus
By Jesse Thomas, 22 September 2020
The possibility that the university administration delayed the public announcement of the cases until after the strike was officially smothered cannot be discounted.
Devastation left in the wake of Hurricanes Sally and Laura along the US Gulf Coast
By J. L'Heureau, 22 September 2020
The region stretching from Texas to Florida remains locked in the crosshairs of a historically overactive hurricane season.
“As COVID spreads, autoworkers lives are in danger!”
Fiat Chrysler worker describes rapid abandonment of safety measures after return work
By a Fiat Chrysler Jefferson North Assembly worker, 22 September 2020
A member of the FCA Jefferson North Assembly Rank and File Safety Committee describes management’s flouting of safety protocols at the factory.
The New York Times and Nikole Hannah-Jones abandon key claims of the 1619 Project
By Tom Mackaman and David North, 22 September 2020
The Times has abandoned, without any public announcement or explanation, the central thesis that 1619, not 1776, was the “true founding” of the United States.
Ten thousand Quebec home daycare workers strike; Mexican professors demand back wages
Workers Struggles: The Americas
22 September 2020
Quebec home daycare workers began an unlimited strike Monday while instructors in Zacatecas, Mexico began a strike at the state’s 43 Bachelors College campuses on September 17.
Supreme Court fight deepens political crisis surrounding US elections
By Patrick Martin, 21 September 2020
The death of liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has created a vacancy on the highest US judicial panel that President Trump aims to fill with an ultra-right nominee.
President Trump gives preliminary approval to takeover of TikTok by Oracle and Walmart
By Kevin Reed, 21 September 2020
In an unprecedented act of imperialist piracy, the assets of Chinese-owned video sharing app TikTok are being handed over to Oracle, Walmart and group of private investors.
San Diego County seeks to exclude university outbreaks to undercount coronavirus cases
By Melody Isley, 21 September 2020
As COVID-19 cases skyrocket, San Diego County supervisors are lobbying to artificially lower case numbers by excluding the recent outbreak at San Diego State University.
Strike by 4,000 University of Illinois at Chicago workers reaching critical juncture
By Jessica Goldstein, 21 September 2020
The only way for service workers and nurses at UIC and UIH to combat poverty wages and the threat of the pandemic is to take their struggle into their own hands.
Who runs the University of Illinois?
By Brian Brown and James Martin, 21 September 2020
An examination of the university's Board of Trustees shows the political forces arrayed against the nearly 5,000 nurses and university workers who have gone on strike.
SEIU calls off health care strike in Minnesota after Allina hospital system threatens legal action
By Jonas Boquist, 21 September 2020
The cancellation of the strike comes as 4,000 workers at the University of Illinois at Chicago in SEIU Local 73 remain on picket lines in Chicago, Peoria, Rockford and Urbana.
Dry weather continues to fuel historic wildfires in California, rains bring new dangers to Pacific Northwest
By Kevin Martinez, 21 September 2020
While fires continue to burn, destroying homes and displacing thousands, the Democrats and Republicans each seek to pass the blame onto each other.
Los Angeles educators form rank-and-file safety committee to oppose unsafe school reopening
By the Los Angeles Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, 21 September 2020
The Los Angeles Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee has been established to protect the district’s students, teachers and staff from the deadly virus.
Los Angeles sheriff terrorizes residents and attacks critics following shooting of two deputies
By John Andrews, 21 September 2020
Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva continues to lay blame on demonstrators and critics for the shooting of two deputies one week ago by a still unidentified assailant.
New York City school bus drivers and educators face common struggle against unsafe openings
By A. Woodson and Steve Light, 21 September 2020
School bus drivers will begin transporting thousands of special education children today, as the nation’s largest school district prepares to restart in-person instruction by September 29.
With Canadian Detroit Three auto contracts set to expire, Unifor rushes to reach concessionary “pattern” settlement
By Carl Bronski, 21 September 2020
If Unifor does call a strike, its aim will be to allow workers to let off steam, while the union continues backroom talks with Ford.
As COVID-19 deaths approach one million
WHO condemns governments’ failure to prepare for pandemic
By Bryan Dyne, 21 September 2020
The pandemic has exposed the contradiction between the highly integrated nature of modern society and the outmoded and irrational nation-state system of capitalism.
The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020)
By Tom Carter, 21 September 2020
With around-the-clock tributes, the American media is presenting the late Supreme Court justice as a “progressive icon” and a “trailblazing feminist.”
Jacobin magazine embraces Trump administration’s murderous “herd immunity” policy
By Andre Damon, 21 September 2020
On Saturday, Jacobin magazine published an extended interview with anti-lockdown activist Martin Kulldorff, who demanded that “schools and universities should reopen” because “young, healthy people contribute to…herd immunity.”
Corporate publications hostile to exposure of CIA spying on Assange and their own reporters
By Oscar Grenfell, 21 September 2020
Corporate publications rebuffed requests that they publish information on the spying, even when it targeted their own journalists.
Corporate publications hostile to revelations that CIA spied on Julian Assange and their own journalists
By Oscar Grenfell, 21 September 2020
Corporate publications rebuffed requests that they publish information on the spying, even when it targeted their own journalists.
Catastrophic wildfires, corporate air pollution, and COVID-19: A collision of crises
By Henry Hakamaki, 21 September 2020
The EPA loosened air pollution limits at the very time that coronavirus was becoming pandemic in the United States.
Casualties of “herd immunity”: Three new teacher deaths in one week as US schools reopen
By Genevieve Leigh, 19 September 2020
The deaths are a direct result of the criminal actions by Democratic and Republican governors, as well as the Trump administration.
Colorado police conduct militarized arrests of Party for Socialism and Liberation members
By Jacob Crosse, 19 September 2020
The manner of the arrests and the overwhelming charges against the six protesters are a clear act of intimidation against all those determined to put an end to police violence and racism.
Biden in Minnesota: A phony “pro-worker” spin on a right-wing campaign
By Barry Grey, 19 September 2020
On the basis of economic nationalism, Biden is doubling down on his ludicrous self-promotion as a “working stiff” from “hard-scrabble” Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Wall Street demands still more Fed money
By Nick Beams, 19 September 2020
The US Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates at virtually zero, for as far as the eye can see, has been deemed insufficient.
As American Federation of Teachers shuts down UM graduate student strike
Campuses across Michigan see dramatic spike in cases
By Joseph Lorenz, 19 September 2020
The decision to open campuses is part of the drive by governments everywhere in line with so-called "herd immunity" policies.
Wildfires threaten drinking water and further desertification of US West Coast
By Linda Rios, 19 September 2020
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, 21 major fires are still burning in California, 12 in Oregon and 8 in Washington state.
SUNY-Oswego forced into temporary shutdown of in-person instruction after spike in COVID-19 cases
By Alex Findijs, 19 September 2020
The campus in upstate New York is the second state university to be forced into a temporary shutdown this month due to the spread of COVID-19 cases.
Ford Kansas City Assembly workers launch Rank-and-File Safety Committee to save lives
By the Ford Kansas City Assembly Rank-and-File Safety Committee, 19 September 2020
Neither the UAW nor Ford has addressed any of the safety issues inside the Kansas City Assembly plant since production restarted in May.
“This district is not ready at all”
Teacher in Vancouver, Washington speaks out on school reopenings amid wildfires
By Evan Winters, 19 September 2020
Despite weeks of unhealthy wildfire-fueled air quality, the Evergreen School District is preparing to reopen elementary schools for partial in-person learning.
Union shuts down nurses strike at University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago
By George Gallanis and Fabian Salgado, 19 September 2020
The Illinois Nurses Association ended the strike without a new contract and isolating 4,000 staffers on the picket line.
New York yellow cab drivers block bridges to demand debt relief
By Shuvu Batta, 19 September 2020
Battered by crippling debt and collapsing demand for taxis, drivers staged a protest Thursday calling for relief from their enormous debt burden.
Dominion grocery workers in Newfoundland in fourth week of strike for higher pay
By Carl Bronski, 19 September 2020
The 1,400 low-paid workers remain on strike against the Newfoundland subsidiary of Loblaws, Canada’s largest supermarket chain.
White House bans TikTok and WeChat: A major intensification of internet censorship
By Kevin Reed, 19 September 2020
The move is an assault on freedom of expression and an effort to consolidate control of the internet by a handful of massive corporations working in partnership with the American government.
Toots Hibbert, ska and reggae giant: “Right now, someone else has that number”
By Paul Bond, 19 September 2020
Hibbert was widely respected and liked as a person, as well as admired for his work. That he was one of the most important international ambassadors for reggae owed much to his personal integrity.
New York City Democratic mayor delays school opening a second time
By our reporters, 18 September 2020
Bill de Blasio, the “progressive” mayor of New York City, announced a new date for a ‘’phased reopening” of the city’s public schools.
New York yellow cab drivers block bridges to demand debt relief
By Shuvu Batta, 18 September 2020
Battered by crippling debt and collapsing demand for taxis, drivers staged a protest Thursday calling for relief from their enormous debt burden
Trump repeats threats of post-election military repression as Barr calls for charging protesters with “sedition”
By Patrick Martin, 17 September 2020
While Trump and his political aides and advisers openly speak of civil war and martial law, the Democrats are largely ignoring and covering up the moves toward dictatorial forms of rule.
House report on Boeing 737 Max crashes: Corporate criminality, FAA complicity, but no accountability
By Barry Grey, 17 September 2020
Despite the incriminating evidence, the Democrats propose no actions to hold either Boeing or the FAA accountable for the deaths of 346 men, women and children.
No charges in Missouri police murder of 25-year-old Hannah Fizer
By Jacob Crosse, 17 September 2020
As another killer cop goes free, protesters against the police killing of Ricardo Munoz in Lancaster, Pennsylvania remain in jail, with bail set at $1 million.
Reject the AFT’s rush to vote on sellout contract at University of Michigan!
By the International Youth and Students for Social Equality at UM, 17 September 2020
Now is not the time to back down! The struggle must be broadened to include undergraduates, staff, faculty and workers in a common struggle.
American Federation of Teachers shuts down University of Michigan graduate student strike
By our reporters, 17 September 2020
The end of the strike occurred less than 24 hours after the American Federation of Teachers assumed control of negotiations and produced an agreement that was virtually identical to the one overwhelmingly rejected just a week ago.
Big Ten universities announce football will resume
By Andy Thompson, 17 September 2020
After an earlier decision to postpone the season, the Big Ten football conference has announced games will begin October 24.
“We’re going to keep fighting”
Opposition mounts as thousands of University of Illinois at Chicago nurses and workers continue strike
By Kylie Rose, 17 September 2020
The university administration and the Democratic Party are increasingly nervous over the support striking workers have elicited.
Slow-moving Hurricane Sally makes landfall along Alabama-Florida border
By J. L’Heureau, 17 September 2020
With close to 20 million people in its path, Sally brought coastal flooding, record rainfall, high winds and mass power outages to a large swath of the northern Gulf Coast, stretching from southeast Louisiana to the west central coast of Florida.
Fed toes the line on Wall Street’s demands
By Nick Beams, 17 September 2020
The most commonly used phrase by Fed chair Jerome Powell at his press conference was “very strong forward guidance” in a message to Wall Street that the central bank was giving the commitments it has demanded.
Trump’s China tariffs ruled illegal by World Trade Organisation
By Nick Beams, 17 September 2020
The WTO decision will not see any relaxation of the US trade war against China but rather its intensification.
Strikes mount as COVID-19 breaks out in hundreds of Spanish schools
By Alice Summers, 17 September 2020
Spanish unions have refused to call out education workers in a unified struggle against the reopening of schools, limiting action to sporadic, short-term protests.
Faurecia Gladstone Rank-and-File Safety Committee calls for plantwide shutdown to guarantee safety during pandemic
By Faurecia Gladstone Rank-and-File Safety Committee, 17 September 2020
The Faurecia Gladstone Rank-and-File Safety Committee has issued a statement calling for equal treatment to protect against COVID-19.
Surge in COVID-19 infections as in-person classes resume at many Illinois college campuses
By Fabian Salgado, 17 September 2020
Illinois State University is experiencing a horrifying explosion in the rate of COVID-19 infection as in person classes resume at many of the state’s campuses.
University of Wisconsin-Madison and La Crosse quarantine students after infections
By Brian Green, 17 September 2020
The affected students were given the choice of returning to their families or remaining on campus in the crowded and COVID-infested residence halls.
COVID-19 outbreaks force switch to online learning at New Jersey schools
By Erik Schreiber and Robert Milkowski, 17 September 2020
At least eight districts have switched their entire district or individual schools to fully remote instruction after confirmed infections.
New York City ruling elite warns Mayor de Blasio of “widespread anxiety”
By Fred Mazelis, 17 September 2020
The corporate elite is demanding an intensified back-to-work drive, and is fearful that the “progressive” mayor may not be able to keep the lid on growing social discontent.
As US death toll hits 200,000, Trump calls for herd immunity
By Andre Damon, 17 September 2020
“Herd immunity” has been the guiding principle of Trump’s response to the pandemic, underlying his efforts to downplay the virus, handicap testing and get workers back on the job as quickly as possible.
Book Review
Wilmington’s Lie: The 1898 white supremacist coup in North Carolina
David Zucchino, Atlantic Monthly Press, 336 pages
By Fred Mazelis, 17 September 2020
The racist massacre in Wilmington was a major turning point in the entrenchment of Jim Crow segregation throughout the South.
“I thought this was like an experimental concentration camp”
Nurse alleges forced sterilizations, medical malpractice at Georgia immigrant detention center
By Niles Niemuth, 16 September 2020
The chilling report provides further evidence of the sadistic abuse meted out by the Trump administration in its fascistic war on immigrants.
Acting US Homeland Security secretary refuses to appear before congressional committee
By Jacob Crosse, 16 September 2020
In defiance of Congress and the Constitution, Chad Wolf said he would not testify before a House committee on September 17.
Wisconsin Supreme Court blocks Green Party presidential campaign from 2020 ballot
By Kevin Reed, 16 September 2020
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4-3 to reject a lawsuit by the Green Party candidates seeking an injunction against the distribution of ballots to voters without their names on them.
University of Michigan graduate student workers’ strike at critical turning point
By Matthew Brennan, 16 September 2020
With threats of a court injunction and the taking over negotiations by the American Federation of Teachers, the strike by more than 1,200 graduate students is in danger.
Defying injunction threats, striking University of Michigan grad students call for “larger mobilization of working people”
By our reporters, 16 September 2020
Striking graduate students at the University of Michigan are continuing their walkout in defiance of the strikebreaking threats by top administrators.
Who is on the University of Michigan Board of Regents?
By Matthew Brennan, 16 September 2020
The governing body of the University of Michigan is a nexus of powerful political, military and corporate interests
Strike by University of Illinois at Chicago nurses and workers continues, as Illinois Democratic governor threatens to decimate state budget
By James Martin and Kristina Betinis, 16 September 2020
A virtual blackout of the strikes at UIC and its hospital in the national press indicates the growing fear in ruling circles over the development of working class opposition.
West Coast fires and evacuations expected to fuel the spread of COVID-19
By Kevin Martinez, 16 September 2020
Tens of thousands of people fleeing fires have been forced to live in makeshift shelters, making effective social distancing measures nearly impossible.
Trump stages sham Mideast “peace” ceremony on White House lawn
By Bill Van Auken, 16 September 2020
The overriding significance of the Israel-UAE-Bahrain accords is the further consolidation of a US-led anti-Iran axis in the Middle East.
COVID-19 cases escalate with school re-openings: Build educators rank-and-file safety committees!
By Tom Pearce and Julie Hyland, 16 September 2020
With Labour Party support, the National Education Union is complicit in abandoning its 450,000 members and those they teach to the government’s policy of “herd immunity”.
“It’s immoral and irresponsible to bring students to campus and to conduct in-person classes”
NYU faculty and students denounce unsafe reopening of campus
By IYSSE at New York University, 16 September 2020
The reopening of NYU, the largest private university in the US, is utterly reckless and places the lives of students, workers and residents in the area in immense danger.
San Diego State University seeks to shift blame to students for coronavirus outbreaks following reopening
By Melody Isley and Norissa Santa Cruz, 16 September 2020
As the virus spreads on campus, students have watched in horror as peers are taken away to isolation dorms by staff dressed in hazmat gear.
“It is really up to the teachers to take their safety into their own hands.”
One-third of schools in Knox County, Tennessee have at least one positive COVID-19 case
By Isaac Finn, 16 September 2020
The growing spread of the deadly virus is the direct outcome of the “herd immunity” policies that have been pursued by every level of government in the US.
Reactionary Massachusetts ruling paves way for Andover public schools to open in-person
By Mike Ingram, 16 September 2020
The state Department of Labor Relations board ruled that Andover teachers had engaged in an illegal strike by refusing to enter school buildings
US defence secretary phones Sri Lankan president about increased military cooperation
By Vijith Samarasinghe, 16 September 2020
Washington wants enhanced military relations with the strategically-located island in order to intensify its war drive against China.
Woodward revelations: Canada’s political elite implicated in Trump’s suppression of COVID-19 threat
By Omar Ali and Roger Jordan, 16 September 2020
Given Canada’s intimate military-strategic partnership with Washington, it is inconceivable that the Trudeau government was not privy to the intelligence Trump and the top Democrats received about the pandemic.
Trump incites fascistic violence as US election approaches
By Joseph Kishore—SEP candidate for US president, 16 September 2020
The great issues confronting workers in this election cannot be resolved on the basis of an electoral strategy. They can be resolved only through the revolutionary movement of the working class and the conquest of state power.
Suppression of wages in US at centre of widening social inequality
By Nick Beams, 16 September 2020
The reduction in labour’s share of the national income by eight percentage points over five decades means that workers would be receiving $1.12 trillion more had the previous distribution between wages and profits applied.
New cases of COVID-19 reach a one-day high of nearly 308,000 worldwide
By Benjamin Mateus and Patrick Martin, 15 September 2020
The number of new cases of COVID-19 hit a new one-day high of nearly 308,000 worldwide, bringing the global total to almost 30 million cases and 930,000 deaths. The United States alone will reach 200,000 deaths by mid-week.
As Bloomberg pledges $100 million, Wall Street boosts Biden campaign
By Patrick Martin, 15 September 2020
Bloomberg’s announcement is only the largest pledge of support from the financial oligarchy for the Democratic campaign.
Lancaster, Pennsylvania police assault protesters after killing mentally ill man
By Douglas Lyons, 15 September 2020
The killing of Ricardo Munoz, who suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, sparked protests by hundreds of residents Sunday in the city of 80,000.
Four thousand University of Illinois at Chicago staff join striking nurses
By Kristina Betinis and Marcus Day, 15 September 2020
The now nearly 5,000 university health and staff workers are locked in a battle against the Democratic state leadership and must expand their struggle for health and safety.
Los Angeles Sheriff threatens violence, reporter arrested after shooting of deputies
By John Andrews, 15 September 2020
After the shooting of two deputy sheriffs by an unknown gunman in Compton, California, Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva threatened anti-police violence protesters and deputies roughed up and arrested a local reporter.
US farmworkers labor under unsafe conditions as West Coast fires continue to rage
By Rafael Azul, 15 September 2020
Nearly 500,000 field workers have been severely affected by the ongoing wildfires as they continue to labor in California’s Central Valley and in the wine region, picking lettuce, strawberries, citrus, grapes, and other crops.
The University of Iowa and Iowa State University students and staff unite to oppose in-person learning
By Andy Thompson, 15 September 2020
The demands of those involved in the protest are to end all in-person classes and have all learning be done online until the pandemic is under control.
Mounting opposition to school reopenings as 55 New York City teachers test positive for COVID-19
By Alberto Escalera, 15 September 2020
Public school educators in New York City have conducted protests and written petitions in the last several days to oppose the reckless reopening of schools by Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Dangers mount as Detroit implements a “hybrid” return to school
By the Detroit Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, 15 September 2020
The re-opening of schools in Detroit is threatening the lives of teachers, support staff, children and parents.
Washington, DC mayor calls for reopening of public schools amid pandemic
By Nick Barrickman, 15 September 2020
The announcement comes despite a late-July decision banning in-person teaching throughout the fall.
White House announces Oracle Corporation as “trusted tech partner” of TikTok
By Kevin Reed, 15 September 2020
The announcement of a “technology partnership” between Oracle Corporation and TikTok is part of an attempt to whip up anti-Chinese sentiments in advance of the US elections.
Hospital merger between Beaumont and Advocate-Aurora Health faces internal opposition
By Kevin Reed, 15 September 2020
The merger plans have been slowed down by opposition from Beaumont staff and a group of donors who are calling on the Board of Directors to fire the management team.
Working-class resistance mounts to back-to-work campaign
By Jerry White, 15 September 2020
On Monday, nearly 4,000 service workers at the University of Illinois walked out, joining strikes by 800 nurses at a UI hospital in Chicago and nearly 2,000 grad student instructors at the University of Michigan.
Bernie Sanders offers left gloss to Biden’s right-wing campaign
By Jacob Crosse and Barry Grey, 15 September 2020
With polls tightening, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders urged the Biden campaign to do a better job of selling its right-wing program to workers and youth.
The precedents for disease eradication through international cooperation
Part one
By Frank Gaglioti, 15 September 2020
An examination of the historical record demonstrates that infectious diseases like COVID-19 can be eliminated.
Albany, New York nurses set to strike; walkout continues at Cerrejón mining complex in Colombia
Workers Struggles: The Americas
15 September 2020
Some 2,500 nurses at Albany Med are set to strike over contract issues while workers at Colombia’s Cerrejón mining complex in the La Guajira department are in the third week of a strike against threatened layoffs.
Trump, Roger Stone call for violence and repression after Election Day
By Patrick Martin, 14 September 2020
The US president and his oldest political crony called for a police-military crackdown to back his continued rule.
University of Michigan graduate students vote to extend strike as opposition erupts at campuses throughout the US
By Genevieve Leigh, 14 September 2020
The reopening of campuses is driving an expansion of the coronavirus pandemic, with 19 of the 25 largest outbreaks in communities with colleges that have started in-person learning.
“A general strike is a must to stop this back-to-work and back-to-school madness”
Autoworkers support University of Michigan strikers
By our reporters, 14 September 2020
Like the herding of workers into the auto factories, the drive to reopen schools and colleges even as the pandemic continues to rage is entirely driven by profit interests.
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