United States
Military brass denounce Trump’s withdrawal of troops from Syria
By Barry Grey, 21 October 2019
The extraordinary intervention of high-ranking retired generals is a breach of the core constitutional principle of the subordination of the military to civilian authority.
From the archive of the World Socialist Web Site
Two years since the death of temporary autoworker Jacoby Hennings
By Jerry White, 21 October 2019
The still unexplained death of Jacoby, a 21-year-old temporary part-time worker at Ford’s Woodhaven Stamping Plant, exemplifies the brutal treatment of temps, a central issue in the GM strike.
As UAW-company talks restart
Striking Mack Truck-Volvo workers struggle enters second week
By Nick Barrickman, 21 October 2019
Mack-Volvo workers face a conspiracy between the company and the United Auto Workers trade union, which is seeking to isolate them under conditions of growing class struggle.
050 Asarco Copper Strike
21 October 2019
060 Sanders rally / AOC endorsement
21 October 2019
Newark and New Jersey officials continue to dissemble about statewide lead poisoning crisis
By Shuvu Batta, 21 October 2019
Residents of Newark, New Jersey continue to be exposed to lead in their tap water, as city and state officials attempt to lie their way out of the crisis.
Michigan’s Democratic governor takes lead in cutting 2020 state budget
By Kevin Reed, 21 October 2019
Democratic Party governor Gretchen Whitmer attacked the September 30 Republican budget as “a mess,” and then proceeded to redline major funding cuts.
The GM strike and the global class struggle
By Marcus Day, 21 October 2019
The strike by 48,000 US General Motors is part of an eruption of social struggle throughout the United States and the world.
Why haven’t Boeing’s executives been arrested?
By Bryan Dyne, 21 October 2019
Internal messages leaked last week again highlight the drive by Boeing to secure short-term profits at the expense of human lives.
Form rank-and-file strike committees to expand the struggle!
Chicago teachers’ strike in danger as CTU maneuvers to shut it down
By Kristina Betinis, 21 October 2019
The success of this struggle depends on a clear understanding of what teachers are up against—who are their friends and who are their enemies.
The death of Elijah Cummings: Democrats, media glorify a mediocrity
By Patrick Martin, 21 October 2019
The real purpose of the flowery tributes was to give a “progressive” gloss to the House Democrats' impeachment campaign, in which Cummings played a significant role.
Vote no! Reject UAW misinformation! Elect rank-and-file committees to expand the strike!
By the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter, 20 October 2019
With this tentative agreement, the suspicions of many workers have been confirmed: the UAW is a bribed tool of corporate management.
Hillary Clinton slanders Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Green Party candidate Jill Stein as Russian spies
By Andre Damon, 19 October 2019
Clinton’s claims, made without the slightest factual substantiation, are an attempt to criminalize the anti-war statements of the two candidates as treasonous.
What autoworkers need to know about the sellout UAW-GM contract
By Tom Hall, 19 October 2019
The contract creates the conditions for a vast expansion in the use of temporary employees, while the supposed “pathway” to regular employment is worthless.
“They sold us out again!”
Autoworkers denounce UAW-GM tentative agreement
By our reporters, 19 October 2019
The contract maintains the hated multi-tier wage and benefit system; creates the conditions for expanding the use of temporary workers; and sanctions the closure of four facilities.
As Chicago teachers strike completes second day, union and Democratic Party working together to shut it down
By George Gallanis, 19 October 2019
What is happening behind the scenes is not a genuine fight between the Lightfoot administration and the CTU and SEIU, but a discussion of tactics and plans to best ram through another sellout contract.
Mack-Volvo Truck strike to idle 3,000 at Volvo’s New River Valley factory in Virginia
By Steve Filips, 19 October 2019
The strike by over 3,500 Mack-Volvo workers at production facilities in Pennsylvania and Maryland will force the layoff of 3,000 employees at the New River Valley Volvo Truck Assembly factory in Dublin, Virginia.
As president delivers fascistic speech in Dallas
Democrats link Trump impeachment drive to dissent in military over Syria pullback
By Barry Grey, 19 October 2019
Retired Special Operations Commander William McRaven published an op-ed piece in the New York Times Thursday calling for Trump’s removal “the sooner, the better.”
UK police gain access to details of thousands of men, women and children through government’s Prevent database
By Barry Mason, 19 October 2019
In the three years up to March last year, 21,042 individuals were referred to the Prevent programme, giving the police full access to their private information.
More than 30,000 teachers and staff strike in Chicago, Illinois
By Kristina Betinis, 18 October 2019
The Chicago Teachers Union is working closely with Democratic Party politicians who control the city to shut down the strike as quickly as possible and impose an agreement that conforms to the city’s demands.
No to the sellout contract! Take the GM strike out of the hands of the UAW!
By Tom Hall, 18 October 2019
The UAW is attempting to force through concessions that will set a new benchmark for exploitation for generations to come.
Teachers in rural Colorado strike over low pay
By William Frost, 18 October 2019
Educators in Park County, Colorado have walked out to demand living wages.
Autoworkers denounce UAW deal with GM
By a WSWS reporting team, 18 October 2019
Autoworkers on the General Motors picket lines, at Ford and Fiat Chrysler factories and on social media are denouncing the tentative agreement the United Auto Workers is trying to ram through.
United Steelworkers, unions keep striking Asarco mineworkers in the dark
By Jessica Goldstein, 18 October 2019
Mineworkers at Asarco have immense support from their brothers and sisters in the working class who are willing to fight with them, but the United Steelworkers, Teamsters and other unions are determined to keep them isolated.
Suicide rates and suicidal behavior rise sharply among American youth
By Trévon Austin, 18 October 2019
The CDC reports that the suicide rate among those aged 10 to 24 years old increased by 56 percent between 2007 and 2017.
UAW sanctions plant closings, expansion of temps in new GM deal
Workers must organize now to defeat the sellout
By Jerry White, 17 October 2019
As details of the UAW-GM tentative contract begin to leak out, it becomes increasingly clear that the UAW has betrayed everything for which workers have fought in the month-long strike.
32,000 Chicago Public Schools teachers and staff strike
By Kristina Betinis, 17 October 2019
Teachers must make an independent initiative to expand their struggle against the Democratic Party and its program of austerity and corporate-backed “school reform.”
UAW isolates Mack Truck strike as it moves towards sellout at GM
By Tom Hall, 17 October 2019
As at General Motors, a key goal of Mack Truck management is to maintain labor flexibility.
Democratic debate shows cross-party support for imperialist intervention in Syria
By Patrick Martin, 17 October 2019
All 12 candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination called for a continued US military presence.
Spanish government threatens broader crackdown as mass protests escalate in Catalonia
By Alejandro López and Alex Lantier, 17 October 2019
Mass protests and street fighting erupted in cities across Catalonia for a third night running yesterday over the fraudulent conviction of 12 Catalan nationalist politicians
A rare moment of truth on the US support for Al Qaeda
By Patrick Martin, 17 October 2019
Representative Tulsi Gabbard described the terrorist group as the “ground force” for the American “regime-change” operation in Syria.
Trump defends US pullback in Syria
By Bill Van Auken, 17 October 2019
Amid mounting opposition from within Congress and the military, Trump defended his order to withdraw a small contingent of US special forces from northeastern Syria.
British family “emotionally and psychologically destroyed” by detention in US immigration prison
By Norisa Diaz, 17 October 2019
The tragic experience faced by the Connors family is a small glimpse into the horrors faced by those who flee their home countries, undertaking a perilous journey only to be detained, separated, and abused in America’s brutal concentration camps.
Pacific Gas and Electric utility confronts mass outrage a week after Northern California power shutoffs
By Dan Conway, 17 October 2019
During last week’s outage, traffic signals went dark, water was not pumped from ground wells, food spoiled, and medical devices failed to operate.
Continued rise in STDs highlights bipartisan attack on American healthcare system
By Erik Schreiber, 17 October 2019
As the CDC itself implies, the continuing increase in the incidence of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis is a scandal and an indictment of both capitalist parties.
Canada’s involvement in US-led war drive against China: An election non-issue
By Roger Jordan, 17 October 2019
A tacit all-party agreement to black out discussion of Canada’s rearmament and involvement in US strategic offensives around the world has been in effect throughout the campaign for the October 21 federal election.
At New York forum in defense of Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning
UN special rapporteur on torture warns: “Assange will not get a fair trial in Virginia”
By Sandy English, 17 October 2019
A panel discussion at Columbia University on Tuesday laid bare the fraudulent character of the charges brought against Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning and put the spotlight on those who committed the war crimes that WikiLeaks exposed.
UAW announces tentative agreement with GM, keeping strikers in the dark on contract terms
By Jerry White, 16 October 2019
A major factor in the UAW’s move to shut down the month-long walkout is the growing strike wave nationally, which threatens to break the union’s isolation of the GM workers.
As strike wave grows, UAW scrambles to shut down GM walkout and impose sellout contract
By Jerry White, 16 October 2019
With the walkouts by Mack-Volvo truck workers and copper miners in Arizona and Texas, and the announcement of an impending strike by 30,000 Chicago teachers and support staff, the UAW is anxious to shut down the GM strike as soon as possible.
Chicago teachers expected to strike Thursday, as union pledges to limit it to a “short-term” walkout
By Kristina Betinis, 16 October 2019
Despite having dropped some of the union's demands and announced “a path to a settlement” with Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s school board, CTU leaders have said it is unlikely they can avert a strike.
Testimony highlights key role of Bolton in impeachment inquiry against Trump
By Barry Grey, 16 October 2019
The forces with which the Democrats are aligned include Bolton, who speaks for the most rabidly militaristic factions of the neo-conservative right wing.
California Governor vetoes $2 billion affordable housing bill
By Rafael Azul, 16 October 2019
Gavin Newsom’s veto exposes the Democrat as a fiscal austerity conservative in the mold of Republican governors.
“PG&E should be nationalized”: Berkeley students and residents denounce forced blackout in California
By Evan Blake, 16 October 2019
Last week’s blackout, which affected over two million people and businesses, lasted up to four days in some places and likely caused many premature deaths.
Trump conference video incites violence against opponents
By Patrick Martin, 15 October 2019
The gruesome video imagines Trump using guns, knives, spears and other weapons to slaughter his critics in the media and the Democratic Party.
2,000 Asarco mineworkers go on strike in Arizona and Texas
By Samuel Davidson and Jessica Goldstein, 15 October 2019
The strike by Asarco copper miners in the US is part of a growing movement that includes miners and key sections of transport, service and industrial workers across the globe.
Fort Worth, Texas police officer charged with murder after shooting woman in her home
By Jacob Crosse, 15 October 2019
Atatiana Jefferson was shot through the window of her home early Saturday morning, while playing video games with her nephew.
US Supreme Court term begins with new threats to democratic rights
By Ed Hightower, 15 October 2019
The newly consolidated 5-4 far-right majority on the court is poised to hand down rulings imposing further restrictions on abortion rights, gay rights and basic civil liberties.
International review denounces FAA certification of Boeing 737 Max 8
By Bryan Dyne, 15 October 2019
The Joint Authorities Technical Review makes clear that the FAA, ostensibly Boeing’s regulator, made no attempt to determine the safety of new flight control software that led to the crash to two 737 Max 8 flights.
230 CTU and teachers strike
15 October 2019
Oppose the Turkish military offensive in Syria!
By the International Committee of the Fourth International, 14 October 2019
As Ankara seeks a militarist solution to ethnic and class conflicts inflamed by decades of imperialist interventions, the Middle East and the world are on the brink of all-out war.
US sends 3,000 more troops to defend Saudi monarchy
By Bill Van Auken, 12 October 2019
The escalation of the US troop deployment in the region followed on the heels of a missile attack on an Iranian oil tanker in the Red Sea.
Auto strike in peril: UAW, GM prepare to end strike and impose contract betrayal
By Tom Hall, 12 October 2019
Having isolated the strikers for four weeks, the UAW is moving to end the walkout on GM’s terms.
As wildfires, power outages spread throughout California, tens of thousands ordered to evacuate
By Dan Conway, 12 October 2019
Fires burned throughout the Southern California region on Thursday and Friday, leading to deliberate power outages with dozens of homes and buildings destroyed.
US and China reach limited trade deal
By Nick Beams, 12 October 2019
The markets responded enthusiastically with the Dow finishing up by more than 300 points, but for all the celebrations, the agreement is very limited.
US immigration policies sending thousands of children, including babies, back to Mexico
By Kevin Martinez, 12 October 2019
The Trump administration has ordered 16,000 migrants under the age of 18 to await their US immigration court hearings in Mexico, including nearly 500 infants.
Seattle Democrats endorse Socialist Alternative’s Kshama Sawant
By Julio Patron, 12 October 2019
As the working class moves to the left, Kshama Sawant and Socialist Alternative are even more fully integrating themselves into the Democratic Party.
Trump makes fascistic appeal to police and military at Minneapolis rally
By Patrick Martin, 11 October 2019
The president spoke at his first rally since the start of the impeachment inquiry with dozens of red-shirted police as a backdrop, and any protesters physically removed.
The irrationality of capitalism: Millions cut off from electricity, lives endangered by California utility PG&E
By Evan Blake, 11 October 2019
The forced blackouts affecting over two million people and businesses across 34 counties in Northern California serve as a stark example of the irrationality of the capitalist system.
After secret meeting with CEO Mary Barra, UAW moving to shut down GM strike
By Jerry White, 11 October 2019
The meeting with Barra takes place as the UAW continues to isolate the strike by 48,000 GM workers and tries to wear down opposition to another pro-company deal.
Immigrants shut down Matamoros-Brownsville border crossing in protest over US-Mexico asylum ban
By Eric London, 11 October 2019
The protest is a powerful indication of growing opposition among the estimated 40,000 immigrants being held in inhumane conditions in Northern Mexico.
Who is UAW Vice President Terry Dittes?
By Shannon Jones, 11 October 2019
There is nothing in the biography of Dittes that suggests that this longtime UAW bureaucrat is anything but a loyal hand raiser for the corrupt Solidarity House bureaucracy.
WikiLeaks source Jeremy Hammond held in contempt by grand jury
By Kevin Reed, 11 October 2019
Information activist Jeremy Hammond has been found in contempt of court for refusing to answer questions before the same judge and grand jury that imprisoned Chelsea Manning.
Prosecutors in Illinois charge nine-year-old with murder after mobile home fire claims the lives of five family members
By Jacob Crosse, 11 October 2019
The fire took place on April 6 at the Timberline Mobile Home Park located in Eureka, Illinois, a small community outside of Peoria.
New York City transit authority adds 500 police officers
By Philip Guelpa, 11 October 2019
Amidst crumbling infrastructure, deteriorating service, and repeated fare increases, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is hiring 500 new police officers to patrol the New York City transit system.
As UAW keeps Mack-Volvo workers on job past contract deadline, Daimler’s Freightliner Trucks cuts 900 jobs
By Steve Filips, 11 October 2019
A mass layoff of workers at Freightliner is part of a cascade of job losses aimed at bolstering profits across the transportation industry.
SEP and IYSSE meeting series in the United States
Race, Class and the Fight for Socialism: Perspectives for the Coming Revolution in America
11 October 2019
This meeting series will refute the historical falsifications advanced in the New York Times “1619 Project,” explain their underlying political motivations and present the strategy for socialist revolution in America today.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's “Just Society”: Palliatives that will never be implemented
By Genevieve Leigh, 11 October 2019
Most of the proposals involve tweaks and adjustments to existing laws, with little new funding to address social needs.
Trump asserts unchecked presidential powers
By Patrick Martin, 10 October 2019
Trump’s attorneys are arguing that neither state prosecutors nor Congress have any power over the chief executive.
Turkey launches US-backed offensive targeting Kurdish forces in Syria
By Alex Lantier, 10 October 2019
Turkish air raids and artillery bombardments hit cities and military and civilian targets along approximately 100 kilometers of the Turkey-Syria border.
FISA court documents expose illegal FBI mass surveillance
By Kevin Reed, 10 October 2019
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a series of previously classified documents and secret rulings that provide details of illegal spying on US citizens by the federal agency.
Richest 400 Americans paid lower taxes than everyone else in 2018
By Trévon Austin, 10 October 2019
The overall tax rate on the richest .01 percent was only 23 percent last year, while the bottom half of the population paid 24.2 percent.
After mid-September financial market turbulence
US Fed announces return to asset purchases
By Nick Beams, 10 October 2019
In announcing the move, Fed chairman Jerome Powell said that without sufficient reserves in the banking system even normal demands for cash could cause “outsized movements in money market interest rates.”
UAW promoting anti-Mexican nationalism to isolate and defeat GM strike
By Tom Hall, 10 October 2019
The UAW’s response to the stand taken by Mexican workers in defense of US strikers is to demand Mexican workers be fired, supposedly to “save” American jobs.
GM tightens screws on UAW with threat to close joint training center
By Shannon Jones and Jerry White, 10 October 2019
The threat to cut off the flow of cash through the UAW-GM Center for Human Resources, is a message to union officials that they must quickly shut down the strike and impose Wall Street’s demands.
US-North Korean nuclear talks stall again
By Peter Symonds, 10 October 2019
Negotiations in Sweden on Saturday broke up with North Korea declaring that it would not take part in another session of “sickening negotiations” unless the US offered a substantial concession.
PG&E imposes blackout for over two million residents in Northern California
By Evan Blake, 10 October 2019
Facing wind storms, the energy monopoly cut power for masses of people, fearing liability in the event of further deadly wildfires sparked by its power lines.
Trump admits US killed millions in war based on lies
By Bill Van Auken, 10 October 2019
Whatever his immediate intentions, Trump has admitted that successive US governments have engaged in war crimes resulting in mass murder.
UAW keeps GM contract proposal secret from workers at company’s request
By Eric London, 9 October 2019
The UAW is keeping workers in the dark as the strike has forced furloughs or layoffs of at least 150,000 workers across the auto industry.
Why do the CIA assassins and coup-plotters love this “whistleblower”?
By Patrick Martin, 9 October 2019
The CIA official who filed a formal whistleblower complaint against Trump is being defended by those who spent eight years under the Obama administration persecuting whistleblowers.
Amazon workers in California win job back for fired co-workers
By Kayla Costa, 9 October 2019
The development is a result of a recent group formed by workers at a delivery center in Sacramento, California, who submitted a petition of 78 signatures demanding the rehiring, full back pay, and paid time off for all part-time workers.
Workers in stone fabrication industry worldwide at high risk of deadly lung disease, CDC finds
By Jessica Goldstein, 9 October 2019
The CDC investigation highlights the international character of the risk of silicosis, a deadly and incurable occupational lung disease, among stone fabrication workers.
Trump White House declares it will not cooperate with impeachment inquiry
By Joseph Kishore, 9 October 2019
The Democrats have chosen quite deliberately to base their opposition to Trump on the most reactionary, anti-democratic grounds possible: support for the intelligence agencies and American imperialism.
Expand the strike to Ford and FCA!
The GM strike is a fight against the entire ruling class
By Eric London, 8 October 2019
The outcome of the strike will determine conditions of life for millions of workers across not just the auto industry, but all workplaces for years to come.
010 US political crisis/Trump impeachment
8 October 2019
“We should all be out”
Growing call for industrywide strike to back GM workers
By Jerry White, 8 October 2019
Workers at Fiat Chrysler’s Sterling Heights Assembly Plant denounced the UAW for isolating GM workers and called for an all-out strike by GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler workers.
060 Amazon workers win reinstatement of co-workers
8 October 2019
Key witness in trial and conviction of police officer Amber Guyger murdered in Dallas
By Kevin Reed, 8 October 2019
Joshua Brown was killed two days after the sentencing of the officer to ten years in prison for the September 6, 2018 off-duty shooting death of Botham Jean in his own apartment.
General Electric freezes pension benefits for over 20,000 employees
By Jacob Crosse, 8 October 2019
Beginning January 1, 2021, affected employees will no longer be allowed to make contributions to nor accrue additional benefits to their pension plan.
Trump issues proclamation to deny immigration visas to workers lacking health insurance
By Casey Gold, 8 October 2019
Last Friday, the White House released a presidential proclamation suspending immigration visas for applicants “who will financially burden the United States health care system.”
110 Increasing cases of silicosis among construction workers
8 October 2019
Little prospect of agreement as US-China trade talks set to resume
By Nick Beams, 8 October 2019
China is reported to be opposed to any all-encompassing deal on trade and changes to its economic programs along the lines being demanded by the US.
Australian PM aligns with Trump administration against “globalism” and China
By James Cogan, 8 October 2019
Morrison reviewed the sweeping steps that have already been taken to assist the United States wage “strategic competition” against China.
Pompeo signs US-Greek military alliance and threatens Iran, Russia, China
By Alex Lantier and V. Gnana, 7 October 2019
Aggressive US and European foreign policy is intensifying the risk that great-power conflict over the Balkans and the Middle East can trigger a global war.
Trump continues to defy Democrats’ impeachment inquiry
By Barry Grey, 5 October 2019
On Friday, President Donald Trump stepped up his defiance of the impeachment inquiry launched by the Democrats with the support of the intelligence agencies.
GM strike in danger of union-enforced defeat as UAW announces ‘good progress’ on temps, health care
By Tom Hall, 5 October 2019
The United Auto Workers (UAW) and General Motors are making “good progress” towards an agreement, UAW Vice President for GM Terry Dittes said in a letter published Friday evening.
20,000 jobs and six plants threatened at German tire maker Continental
By Marianne Arens, 5 October 2019
The company’s executive announced what is alleged to be its biggest ever reorganisation—a frontal attack on workers.
White supremacist Coast Guard officer pleads guilty to drug and weapons charges
By Matthew Taylor, 5 October 2019
A list of potential targets found on Paul Hasson’s computer included the Democratic Party politicians and media figures routinely attacked by President Donald Trump and his supporters.
Illinois steelworker killed on the job, police launch investigation
By Jacob Crosse, 5 October 2019
Police and government officials are investigating the death Adrian Gomez, 26, husband and father of two, who was killed when he became trapped in machinery.
New York City transit workers exposed to toxic asbestos for decades
By Philip Guelpa, 5 October 2019
Dangerous, antiquated conditions at the East New York bus depot are only one symptom of the severely deteriorated condition of the city’s transit system.
Trump announces plan to further privatize Medicare
By Patrick Martin, 4 October 2019
The Democrats are basing their impeachment drive not on opposition to Trump’s fascistic attack on immigrants and pro-corporate social policies, but on claims that he is not pursuing US foreign policy aggressively enough.
Follow the WSWS