Rob Sewell reports from the founding convention of the American LaborParty in Cleveland, Ohio..."This is war. We have dug in our heels and we will not surrender." With these words of defiance, Margaret Trimmer-Hartley speaking on behalf of the 2,000 striking newspaper workers in Detroit, brought the founding Labor Party Convention in Cleveland to its feet. An older trade unionist from Chicago approached the microphone and began playing on his harmonica the old union anthem, "SolidarityForever". The whole Convention spontaneously erupted to the sound. Every delegate linked arms in a show of strength and unity. It served to sum up the whole mood of jubilation and determination that

When Bill Clinton first came in to office back in 1992 he claimed to carry the hopes and aspirations of millions of working people - both black and white, and all those who had been marginalised by the successive right wing Republican regimes of Reagan and Bush. One by one any hopes have been dashed - on welfare, healthcare and education, Clinton has sided with the rich and the conservative every time, his phony ‘third way’ philosophy little more than warmed up Republicanism.

The weeks following the Clinton election victory opened up discussions throughout the ranks of the new American Labor Party. In an election where less than 50% bothered to vote, the lowest percentage since 1924, it gave further proof of the disillusionment with the parties of big business. Even amongst those who voted, many did so reluctantly. Despite the fact that over the last four years Clinton had moved further towards the Republicans, the bulk of the US unions gave him support. In the next four years, the unions will be forced to look in a new direction. According to Republican Congressman, Frank Cremeans, "The President signed 60% of our legislation into law. I'm confident he will

The murder by a white police officer of an unarmed 19-year-old black man was the spark which ignited the accumulated tinder of racism and poverty in Cincinnati last week. In the biggest "race riots" since the Rodney King trial in Los Angeles in 1992, hundreds took to the streets to protest police brutality and the pent-up frustrations of decades of marginalization and poverty. Timothy Thomas was the 15th black male killed by the Cincinnati police since 1995, and the fourth since November. During the same period of time, no whites were killed by police. Officer Stephen Roach shot him as he evaded arrest for outstanding warrants - mostly traffic violations. Roach claims he feared for his

"Times they are a-changing", the song made famous by Bob Dylan in the mid-1960s, certainly captured the changing mood in the United States, caught in the upheavals of the Vietnam war and the civil rights struggle.

Tony Blair gets into government and declares he is not for socialism, but for a brand new 'Third Way'. Alexa McDonough tours Europe to discuss with Danish bankers and Blairite enthusiasts and comes back to Canada preaching friendship with Business. In a recent article Alexa calls for "A Third Approach to Change". Workers and youth looking to the NDP to change society want to know exactly what kind of change is proposed and what it means for them.

Interview with California utility power plant worker, conducted in April of 2001. The interview discusses the "energy crisis" in California and the US Left's attitude towards this "crisis". This power plant worker interviewed is a Shop Steward of his Union and Chairperson of his local Labor Party chapter, he goes by the name, Orson Card.

In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the American ruling class and its media microphone have been sounding the call of nationalism, expecting everyone else to fall in line. Unfortunately for them, a significant number of students have decided not to adhere to this most "democratic" ideal, rejecting the bellicose rhetoric of the bourgeoisie and fully understanding the hidden implications of the "us vs. them" mentality.

Next month millions of Americans are faced with the farce of choosing a President drawn from the two big business parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. Bill Clinton and Bob Dole in reality constitute the Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum of US politics. That is why the majority of those eligible to vote, as in 1992, will stay at home.

Ever since the magnificent show of anti-capitalist sentiment in Seattle last year, left-wing activists and labor organizations have been planning for the "next big event". The chosen target was the meeting of representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) beginning on April 16, 2000 in Washington DC. One of the goals of the protest movement is to bring attention to the harmful effects the policies of these capitalist organizations have on the environment and on workers around the world.

We are told in our high school government classes that the judicial arm of government is "objective" and "impartial". Yet time after time it is clear that the decisions taken by the Supreme Court, the highest body of the judicial branch, are tinted with "partisan" bias - the fiasco over the presidential election being the most recent and conspicuous case. The election of George W. Bush raises many questions about the US Supreme Court. Several judges will most probably be appointed under the Bush administration, and the question of "liberal" versus "conservative" judges is a common topic of discussion. Many people fear that important gains such as the right to abortion (Roe vs.

The US government's propaganda war against "terrorism" is also attempting to deflect attention from the dramatic economic slowdown affecting the United States and the dire consequences it is having on American workers. Rob Sewell takes a look at the developing situation.

"I have seen the future, and it doesn't work." Adlai Stevenson, on visiting California

'Brownouts' in the golden west, power cuts in Silicon Valley and, in the longer term, threats by big chunks of high tech business to relocate out of California, the most advanced industrial state on earth. What the hell is going on? Deregulation of the electricity industry, that's what They've decided to introduce market forces into the energy sector, and the result is they're creating havoc.

The last defiant words of Gary Graham, who was executed by lethal injection in Texas, was to accuse his captors of "the systematic state murder of black people". This murder not only takes place on death row but in the cities of America.

This years' campaign for the American presidency has been a hard fought one, with both sides doing everything legal -and sometimes illegal - to  win. In the end it has come down to a dead heat between Vice President Al Gore and his opponent, Governor George W. Bush.  Yet, with this seemingly divided electorate, many Americans still seem uninterested in who wins. In fact, nearly one half did not even bother to vote. Why would so many choose not to vote? Do they not care who will be directing the country? Of course they care.  However, a vote for Bush is a vote for Gore and the working class understands that both Gore and Bush are two sides of the same coin: the coin of