USA: Immigration Showdown in Arizona This past May 1st, thousands demonstrated in support of immigrant rights in over 70 cities across the U.S. Since 2006, rallies have been organized around this traditional workers’ holiday in order to demand full and unconditional legalization for all workers, regardless of immigration status... This year, however, labor, community, and civil rights organizations had a single rallying cry: opposition to the passage of Arizona Senate Bill 1070 (SB1070), otherwise known as the “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods” Act.
Venezuela: Economic war in the run-up to the parliamentary elections If it is to succeed, the Venezuelan revolution must be taken to the very end, with the expropriation of the capitalists and landlords who still control two thirds of the economy. This is a powerful lever in their hands that they are using to organise economic sabotage to undermine the government. The right-wing, reformist fifth columnists within the Bolivarian movement are attempting to hold back the revolution. That is where the danger lies.
Toronto G20: The brutal face of capitalist reaction The mood leading up to this weekend’s G20 summit and the protest against it became increasingly tense throughout the week. The police and the state spent plenty of time informing the public of its vast arsenal, troop numbers, facilities, and readiness to defend the fence—itself a graphic symbol of the growing class divide not only here in Canada, but around the world.
G20: The democratic limits of capitalism on display in Toronto On June 2nd, the Ontario Liberal cabinet of Premier Dalton McGunity secretly passed, without any input from parliament and certainly no notice to the working people of Canada, sweeping expansions to the Public Works Act. The changes to the act give police forces sweeping new powers of search and arrest on a totally arbitrary basis. The public learned about these legislative changes only on the eve of the largest protest of the G20 summits. [Note, this article was written Friday 25th June, before the events of Saturday 26th.]
What is happening to the working class in North America Back from a recent trip to Canada and the United States, Fred Weston describes what he saw, the effects of the austerity measures on the social fabric of society, the cuts in education and health care, but also the reaction of the working class, such as the growing militant mood among teachers, nurses, refuse collectors...
USA: Historic Nurses' Strike in Minnesota The rainy weather and mountain of security guards didn’t deter some 12,000 Minnesota nurses from going on a one-day strike at 14 different hospitals across the Twin Cities on Thursday, June 10th. The Minnesota Nurses Association, which is part of the newly formed National Nurses United, voted overwhelmingly for the strike, after hospital administrators refused to respond to even one of the contract negotiation proposals the nurses put forward. This was the largest nurses’ strike in U.S. history. A solidarity strike by 13,000 California nurses was also planned, but was eventually blocked by a judge in San Francisco.
Obama, Afghanistan and general McChrystal The public clash between Obama and his top general in Afghanistan highlight the difficulties US imperialism is facing in what is clearly an unwinnable war. What the general has done is to express in public what is normally reserved for private conversation, but it does bring out clearly the impasse the US is facing in Afghanistan.
Canada: The People's Summit in Toronto - Workers and youth get ready to take on the capitalist G20 Hundreds of workers, activists, youth, trade unionists, and students gathered this past weekend at Toronto’s Ryerson University to organize “The 2010’s People’s Summit: Building a movement for a just world.” Aside from the scores of workshops, the summit was aimed at organizing the week-long series of events and demonstrations against the G20 summit in the city, culminating with the giant rally at Queen’s Park on 26th June.
The IMT at the G20 summit After last weekend’s successful intervention at the “People's Summit” in Toronto, the Canadian Marxists of Fightback are preparing for the G20 summit this weekend with a tent at Queen’s Park and a meeting in the evening. If you are in Toronto look us up and come to the meeting.
USA: Why Should We Pay for BP’s Mess? The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico highlights the real state of US capitalism today. While making a lot of noise, Obama is not prepared to take on the oil companies in any serious meaningful way. What he is doing is passing the buck to the US working class.
US Perspectives 2010 This document was drafted in the Spring of 2010, and discussed, amended, and approved at the May 2010 National Congress of the Workers International League. A new phase is opening up in U.S. politics and the Labor Movement as American workers find their backs against the wall and have no option but to fight back.
Canada: Fight Back Against the G20! The leaders of the world’s 20 richest nations are visiting Toronto in June, and they want your money. They want your job, your home, your education, your health care, your public transport, your social services, your pension, and your paycheque. They want to take anything that makes life even halfway bearable. They want all of these things to pay for the mess that they, and their capitalist buddies, created. But, we are not just going to sit and let them.
Honduras: a dictatorship in sheep's clothing América Socialista – the Panamerican magazine of the International Marxist Tendency, interviewed Tomás Andino, a leading member of the Honduran Resistance.
Venezuela: Chávez appoints workers to lead factories in Guayana – struggle for workers' control deepens On May 15th, Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez took a bold and historic initiative, when he decided at a meeting in Puerto Ordáz in Guayana, Bolívar state, to put workers at the forefront of the running of the primary industries located in this region.
Haiti: a striking example of the barbarism of capitalism The earthquake in Haiti has been presented by some preachers in countries like Nigeria as the vengeance of God against the sins of the Haitian people. This reveals the true nature of these people, who use religion to distract the attention of the masses away from the real causes of poverty and devastation. The earthquake is a natural phenomenon; the deaths that it caused are not.