USA/Canada

Student struggles go global

Students all over Europe — and, indeed, the world — are planning a wave of high-level direct action as part of the Global Week of Action, called by the “International Students Movement”. This movement, while originating as the initiative of a small number of activists based in Germany, has used the internet and social networking sites to create an impressive worldwide network of contacts that have responded to its calls for international action for free education.

Third camp politics: America, Iran and our solidarity

Barack Obama’s decision to cancel US plans to build a missile defence base in the Czech Republic and Poland has raised again the issue of America’s attitude to the Iranian regime. Part of the aim of the missile cancellation was to enlist Russia’s co-operation in stopping Iran’s nuclear programme. After the June protests in Iran, members of the US Campaign for Peace and Democracy wrote about the America-Iran conflict and how the US left perceive it. What they say about the American left could also be said about the British left, who, on many issues, under the cover of opposing big power...

Backstage at the AFL-CIO Convention

Any large national convention attracting over 1000 delegates and 2000 guests like the 11.5 million-member AFL-CIO gathering in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 13-17, is necessarily well-scripted and choreographed. This is to be expected. Scheduled appearances by President Barack Obama and other luminaries generally add enough adrenalin to keep people awake for the day's remaining important plenary debates and workshops. But other parts of the agenda not so center stage are, nonetheless, just as notable and even, sometimes, quite remarkable in themselves. Even before the pounding of the...

Workers of the world: Zanon and other reports

Zanon victory; US union recognition law setback; Korean occupation ends; Chilean miners' strike Zanon victory Workers at the occupied Zanon ceramics factory in Neuqen, Argentina, have won a major legal victory. The provincial parliament has voted 26 to 9 to accept that the factory is expropriated and handed over to the workers’ co-operative to manage legally and indefinitely. The workers of the Zanon factory in Argentina occupied the factory in 2001, following a boss’s lock-out, and have run it since then under workers’ control. The workers renamed the factory FASINPAT (Factory without a Boss)...

Outcry over US health plans: Lies, opportunism and the NHS

Gordon Brown and David Cameron have been posing as champions of the National Health Service against the rabid outcry by US right-wingers. What they gloss over is the fact that both Tories and New Labour have spent decades undermining the Health Service and pushing Britain in the direction of the USA’s market-governed health-care system. Thatcher cut the NHS harshly and encouraged private health care. Blair and Brown have developed a “market” for care within the NHS and given massive handouts to the private sector to “encourage competition”. New Labour’s NHS “reforms” have constantly worked to...

Killing Grandma: How the Democrats Lost Control of Health Care

In 1954, President Truman called for the creation of a national health insurance fund to be run by the federal government. This fund as proposed would have been open to all Americans, but would have remained optional. Participants would have paid monthly fees into the plan, which would cover the cost of any and all medical expenses that arose in a time of need. The government would pay for the cost of services rendered by any doctor who chose to join the program. In addition, the insurance plan would give a cash balance to the policy holder to replace wages lost due to illness or injury. Since...

Democracy is power

Martin Donohue recommends Democracy is Power, from the Labor Notes rank-and-file organising project in the US. In the last issue of Solidarity I recommended the Trouble Maker’s Handbook (also produced by Labor Notes) as an invaluable resource for rank and file union activists. This companion volume addresses the key question in any serious attempt at union renewal, democracy. The central message of this book is that only consistent democracy offers hope for union revival. And it is the struggle for that democracy and accountability that can itself transform the existing movement. Why should...

Nortel sackings

More redundancies are expected in coming weeks from the big telecommunications equipment manufacturer Nortel. All Nortel workers have been left in a precarious position, unsure whether they will keep their jobs from one day to the next. In early July, redundancies were made in addition to 228 imposed back in March. The company, which filed for “Chapter Eleven” bankruptcy protection from its U.S. creditors in January, says that all company pensions have been lost. The company has sold its assets, in lucrative packages, to the Israeli technology firm Radwar and to Noki Siemens Networks — and yet...

Toronto local government strike has big impact

Two Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) locals [branches] went on strike on June 22: ‘outside workers’ (including rubbish collectors, parks employees and sewer and water-main workers) and ‘inside workers’ (daycare workers and clerks amongst others). Between them, this amounts to 30,000 CUPE members, of which about 24,000 are out on strike. The rest are classified as essential workers. The strike is a response to a proposal by the City to reduce the annual pay increase of civic workers, bringing it out of line with other City employees and reneging on former contracts. In addition, the...

California's socialists call for fightback

The Peace and Freedom Party of California - which is the only socialist party on the ballot, with 60,000 registered members - has called a conference on 1 August to try to form a new socialist and working-class alternative across the USA in 2010. With the economic crisis, and now the state budget crisis in California, I think the bubble around Obama is being burst. It's a good time to present a socialist programme. California state governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is paying the state's bills with IOUs, saying that the state has run out of dollars, and has forced state employees to take three...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.