|
Written by Nick B.
|
|
Sunday, 05 August 2007 |
|
This is a letter from Nick B., indicating that he has been considering joining the WIL, and wants to discuss this with WIL comrades. He also makes note of his background and the necessity of practice. |
|
Written by Shane Jones
|
|
Saturday, 04 August 2007 |
 The Providence firefighters (Local 799) haven’t had a current contract since June 30, 2001. They have subsequently, through arbitration, settled for the period between 2001 to 2004, but they remain without an up-to-date contract. The issues that the city is demanding cut backs on are primarily, but not exclusively, health care, wages, benefits and staffing. Due to laws preventing firefighters from striking the union has been “forced into arbitration,” according to one rank and filer we interviewed. “The city has realized it is in their interests to stall. We can’t go on strike; even if we could we can’t turn our back on the public. It’s like a factory where you can do whatever you want to the workers but they can’t go on strike or stop working. The city knows this and gets away with it.” |
|
Written by Bill Leumer
|
|
Friday, 03 August 2007 |
 In 1997, Ron Carey, President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), led the union to a smashing victory against United Parcel Service (UPS) by waging a militant strike, wrenching at least $1 billion in concessions from the company for the duration of the 5-year contract. The Teamsters estimated the real value of the gains, won entirely at the expense of UPS profits, ranged as high as $5 billion. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that this monumental achievement was waged in the context of a series of devastating labor defeats on a national level, including one concessionary contract after another, where workers lost ground so that corporations could raise their profits. And it was waged at a time when most of the high-ranking labor officials had signed off on the notion that “strikes don’t work anymore.” |
|
Written by Shamus Cooke
|
|
Wednesday, 01 August 2007 |
|
It is now taken for granted that social services in the U.S. will be under-funded – if they are funded at all. This isn’t because average people think that such things are unimportant, but because we’ve been taught by “our” representatives in government that even a miniscule social safety net is economically impossible (it is never explained why – it just is). As this approach continues to dominate mainstream political life, the living standards of working people everywhere are being destroyed, and the meager reforms politicians have always promised us have devolved into even tinier crumbs and counter-reforms. Indeed, reforms that benefit the working class seem to be impossible in Washington now-a-days, precisely at a time when the wealth of the country has never been greater. To make sense out of such irrationality, one has to consider that this issue isn’t limited to the 50 states of the U.S. – it’s an international problem, and its cause is no accident. |
|
Written by Shane Jones
|
|
Monday, 30 July 2007 |
 The issue of health care is on the minds of millions of American workers. The crisis of the health care industry is well-documented in Michael Moore’s popular new film “SiCKO”. After two terms under Bush, many are looking to the Democrats as an alternative. Every Democrat running for President has a “health care plan” – but what exactly does this mean? Can any of these “liberal” representatives of the ruling class really offer American workers a way out of the disaster of private health insurance? |
|
|
Written by TheEditoral Board
|
|
Sunday, 29 July 2007 |
|
Editoral for Socialist Appeal 32 As Congress enters its summer recess, millions of Americans who were expecting a real change after the Democrats’ November 2006 victory are justifiably discontented. For all their promises and rhetorical bluster, what have these big-business politicians really accomplished? Has anything fundamental changed for working people? Bush’s approval rating is at an all-time low of just 29 percent – a sharp drop from his 90 percent approval rating after the September 11 attacks. How quickly things change! Only Harry Truman, Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter had lower approval ratings. But after nearly 7 years of Bush’s disastrous domestic and foreign policy, his overwhelming unpopularity is understandable. |
|
|
Written by Josh Lucker
|
|
Thursday, 26 July 2007 |
|
 Michael Moore’s latest film, SiCKO, is from beginning to end an all-out assault on the for-profit U.S. health care system. Most of us have heard of the 47 million Americans, including 10 million children, without health insurance, a number that has been steadily rising over the last few years.
But Moore clearly states in the opening minutes of the film that SiCKO isn’t about them. The focus of the movie is on the nearly 250 million Americans who are insured. He focuses on how the health industry in the U.S. is set up not to provide, but rather to deny care. As a former “denial management specialist” says in the film, “It’s not unintentional. It’s not a mistake. It’s not an oversight. You’re not slipping through the cracks. Somebody made that crack and swept you towards it, and the intent is to maximize profit.” |
|
|
Written by Cort Greene
|
|
Saturday, 21 July 2007 |
|
 For almost nine years, Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labañino, Fernando González, and René González have been imprisoned in the United States for fighting against terrorism.
On August 20th in Atlanta, two judges from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals will be hearing arguments on over 20 irregularities that occurred during this political show trial, ranging from venue prejudice, prosecutorial misconduct, governmental lowering in its burden of proof of espionage conspiracy, errors in sentencing instructions given to the jury, and relevant discovery principles. |
|
|
Written by Ann Robertson
|
|
Saturday, 21 July 2007 |
 Marx’s analysis of capitalism, unlike bourgeois accounts, is conducted from a historical perspective. In other words, Marx was keenly aware that during the march of history, one economic system, because of internal, irreconcilable contradictions, has been replaced by another until it too falls victim to similar contradictions. Of course, when one is born and matures within a single economy and lacks knowledge of any other system, one tends to take one’s own for granted, believing that it will persevere forever. A historical perspective has the advantage of forcing us to rise above the provincial perspective that assumes economic systems are eternal. We survey from above the vast array of systems that have played their fleeting role on history’s stage. For this reason, Marx’s analysis of capitalism is specifically written with the purpose of unveiling its inner contradictions so that the possibility of its demise stands boldly in relief. This runs directly opposed to bourgeois portrayals of capitalism as “natural” and hence as unalterable as the law of gravity itself. |
|
|
Written by SocialistAppeal
|
|
Wednesday, 11 July 2007 |
 Do you know the origins of Fair St. Louis? Everyone has heard of the fair, but few remember that it was originally established as the "Veiled Prophet" Parade, a celebration of the crushing of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, known also as the "Reign of the Rabble" and the "St. Louis Commune". Join us on July 29th for a day of solidarity, education, and remembrance as we commemorate the 130th Anniversary of the strike - a great and forgotten event in the history of the U.S. working class. Potluck. |
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>
|
| Results 106 - 120 of 290 |
