Opposition mounts to GM plant closings

By our reporter, 8 February 2019

The World Socialist Web Site has received many statements of support from autoworkers across North America for the February 9 demonstration against the planned closure of five plants by GM and the elimination of 14,000 jobs.

The reality of capitalism: GM makes $11.8 billion in profits while closing plants, eliminating 14,000 jobs

February 9 demonstration against auto plant closures in Detroit
The program and strategy to defend jobs

US commander says Pentagon prepared to intervene to defend Venezuela embassy

By Bill Van Auken, 8 February 2019

Testifying before the Senate Thursday, SOUTHCOM chief Admiral Faller linked the Venezuelan coup to the “great power” conflict with China and Russia.

Washington issues ultimatum to Venezuela over “humanitarian aid” ploy

Canada mobilizes support for US coup in Venezuela

By Keith Jones, 8 February 2019

Canada is front and center in Washington’s drive to install a virulent right-wing regime that will throw open the country to unbridled imperialist exploitation.

Paris steps up calls for coup in Venezuela

Hands off Venezuela!

US-China trade talks to resume as deadline nears

By Nick Beams, 8 February 2019

While the Trump administration put a degree of positive “spin” on last month’s discussions, little progress has been reported on the key US demands.

Over 7,000 Bangladesh garment workers sacked after wage protests

By Wimal Perera, 8 February 2019

While the garment trade unions publicly bewail the mass sackings and arrests, these organisations have created the political conditions for the crackdown.

After US withdrawal from INF nuclear treaty with Russia
France conducts dry-run simulation of nuclear weapon strike

By Will Morrow, 8 February 2019

The operation lasted 11 hours and included “all phases” of what was referred to as a “nuclear dissuasion mission,” except for the detonation of an actual nuclear warhead.

Corporate tax cuts in UK save big business billions of pounds

By Barry Mason, 8 February 2019

According to an analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, previous cuts in corporation tax led to a reduction of around £16.5 billion a year in revenue, between 2010 and 2016.

Germany is preparing for economic war

By Peter Schwarz, 8 February 2019

The German government wants to promote the emergence of powerful monopolies that can counter their American and Chinese competitors “on an equal footing.”

New York City school-bus workers’ union ignores strike vote, accepts sellout deal

By Steve Light, 8 February 2019

New York City School-bus workers voted to strike, but ATU Local 1181 signed tentative contract that continues poverty pay and precarious employment.

Behind Kia’s patronizing Super Bowl ad, auto company makes billions off low wage labor in US South

By Leslie Murtagh, 8 February 2019

Kia’s new advertisement campaign uses a struggling working-class Georgia town as a backdrop for the promotion of its pricey vehicles.

Australia: Tigerair pilots locked in dispute over wages and conditions

By John Harris, 8 February 2019

Tigerair is seeking to set a new benchmark in the assault on the wages and conditions of pilots, a highly-skilled cohort of professionals with immense responsibilities.

New in Norwegian

Washinton stiller ultimatum til Venezuela over plan om «humanitær bistand»

Bill Van Auken, 8. februar 2019

Bak det kyniske påskuddet om bekymring over Venezuelas sosiale krise rigger Pentagon og CIA scenen for en væpnet konfrontasjon på landets grenser.

Bølge av arbeidsnedleggelser i Matamoros i Mexico bygger mot generalstreik

Alex González, 8. februar 2019

Ytterligere 40.000 arbeidere har gått til streik på tvers av flere bransjer, og truer å bringe byen til stillstans.

Frankrikes nasjonalforsamling vedtar politistat-, «antiopptøyer»-lov rettet mot protester

Will Morrow, 8. februar 2019

Loven, introdusert som svar på «gul vest»-protestene, markerer et betydelig skritt i omdanningen av Frankrike til en politistat.

AfD-parlamentariker fordømmer Holocaust-minnemarkering i Bundestag

Christoph Vandreier, 8. februar 2019

Syttifire år etter frigjøringen av Auschwitz blir naziregimets forbrytelser nedtonet i det tysk parlamentet uten at det utløser noen nevneverdig protest.

New in French

L'Assemblée nationale française adopte la loi autoritaire «anticasseurs» contre les manifestations

Will Morrow, 8 février 2019

Introduite en réponse aux protestations des «gilets jaunes», cette loi marque une étape importante dans la transformation de la France en un État policier.

La réalité du capitalisme: GM réalise des profits de 11,8 milliards de dollars tout en fermant des usines et supprimant 14.000 emplois

Jerry White, 8 février 2019

Les énormes profits, en même temps que la destruction de communautés entières, révèlent le vrai caractère du système capitaliste et pourquoi la classe ouvrière doit l’abolir.

Washington lance un ultimatum au Venezuela sous couvert du stratagème de «l’aide humanitaire»

Bill Van Auken, 8 février 2019

Faisant cyniquement semblant de s'inquiéter de la crise sociale au Venezuela, le Pentagone et la CIA préparent le terrain pour une confrontation armée à la frontière du pays.

Le rôle politique d'Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Genevieve Leigh, 8 février 2019

Tout en s'attirant un soutien basé sur ses critiques des inégalités sociales, Ocasio-Cortez sert à fournir une couverture de gauche au Parti démocrate. Ceci permet de mieux bloquer le développement d’un véritable mouvement contre les inégalités sociales et le capitalisme.

New in Russian

Боритесь с увольнениями на автозаводах Ford! Создавайте комитеты действий для объединения рабочих автомобильной промышленности по всей Европе!

Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei и Socialist Equality Party и Parti de l’égalité socialiste, 7 февраля 2019 г.

Рабочий класс не может признать за корпорациями «права» закрывать заводы, уничтожать целые сообщества и разрушать жизни десятков тысяч рабочих.

New in Turkish

Venezuela’dan elinizi çekin!

Bill Van Auken, 7 Şubat 2019

ABD’deki, Avrupa’daki ve Kanada’daki işçiler, Venezuela’daki bu gerici ve yağmacı emperyalist müdahaleye karşı çıkmalı ve mücadelelerini, ortak düşman olan dünya kapitalist sistemine karşı, Venezuela ve Latin Amerika işçilerinin mücadeleleri ile birleştirmeliler.

Sudan’da hükümet karşıtı protestolar devam ediyor

Jean Shaoul, 7 Şubat 2019

Protestolar, 1989’da bir darbeyle iktidara gelmesinden bu yana, Devlet Başkanı Ömer El Beşir yönetimine yönelik en büyük tehdidi oluşturuyor.

New in Spanish

La realidad del capitalismo: GM gana $11,8 mil millones, cierra plantas y elimina 14.000 empleos

Jerry White, 8 febrero 2019

Las enormes ganancias junto a la destrucción de comunidades enteras exponen el verdadero carácter del sistema capitalista y el por qué la clase obrera debe abolirlo.

Ola de paros en Matamoros, México crece hacia una huelga general

Alex González, 8 febrero 2019

Aproximadamente unos 15.000 obreros siguen en huelga a lo largo de múltiples industrias, amenazando con frenar la vida de la ciudad.

Cómo el WRP traicionó al trotskismo:1973-1985
26. Una misión para S. Michael

Declaración del Comité Internacional de la Cuarta Internacional, 8 febrero

Este es el texto del análisis realizado en el verano de 1986 por el Comité Internacional de la Cuarta Internacional sobre el colapso de su sección británica, el Workers Revolutionary Party.

Washington emite un ultimátum a Venezuela sobre la estratagema de "ayuda humanitaria"

Bill Vank Auken, 8 febrero 2019

Detrás de la cínica pretensión de preocupación sobre la crisis social de Venezuela, el Pentágono y la CIA están preparando el escenario para una confrontación armada en la frontera del país.

Asamblea Nacional de Francia aprueba ley policial-estatal “antidisturbios” contra protestas

Will Morrow, 8 febrero

Introducida en respuesta a las protestas de los “chalecos amarillos”, la ley constituye un paso importante en la transformación de Francia en un Estado policial.

Mientras Unifor intensifica su campaña racista antimexicana
Dirigente sindical canadiense intenta pasarse por simpatizante de los huelguistas de Matamoros

Roger Jordan, 8 febrero

El silencio casi total de Unifor acerca de la valiente lucha de los trabajadores de Matamoros es coherente con su campaña reaccionaria que ataca a los trabajadores mexicanos por la masacre laboral de GM.

La elección de Nayib Bukele en El Salvador refleja un continuo giro hacia el imperialismo estadounidense

Andrea Lobo, 8 febrero 2019

La abrumadora victoria de Bukele fue principalmente una expresión del odio popular hacia los partidos gobernantes tradicionales.

New in German

Hände weg von Venezuela!

Bill Van Auken, 6. Februar 2019

Mit Hilfe des europäischen und kanadischen Imperialismus und der rechten Regierungen Lateinamerikas bereitet sich Washington darauf vor, Venezuela entweder zu erobern oder in einen Bürgerkrieg zu stürzen.

Berliner Fluggesellschaft Germania meldet Pleite an

Ulrich Rippert, 6. Februar 2019

Wie schon bei der Pleite von Air Berlin, bei der die Gewerkschaft Verdi eng mit Lufthansa zusammenarbeitete, zahlt letztlich die Belegschaft die Kosten der Insolvenz.

Entlassungswelle bei Ford und GM
Ford kündigt 1.000 Entlassungen an, General Motors beginnt massiven Stellenabbau

Von unseren Reportern, 6. Februar 2019

Während General Motors mit der Entlassung von 4.250 Beschäftigten begonnen hat, kündigte Ford die Abschaffung der zweiten Schicht in seinem Werk in Flat Rock (Michigan) zum 1. April an, wodurch mehr als 1.000 Stellen wegfallen.

40 Jahre seit der Erstausstrahlung der Serie „Holocaust“

Clara Weiss, 6. Februar 2019

Vier Jahrzehnte nach ihrer Erstausstrahlung hat die Serie inmitten eines internationalen Rechtsruckes nichts an ihrer Relevanz verloren.

New in Portuguese

EUA deixam o tratado INF: mais um passo em direção à guerra nuclear

Andre Damon, 8 Fevereiro 2019

A saída dos EUA do tratado de Forças Nucleares de Alcance Intermediário (INF, na sigla em inglês) marca uma grande escalada dos esforços dos EUA para assegurar sua hegemonia militarmente.

Partido dos Trabalhadores utiliza onda de violência no Ceará para apoiar medidas de repressão e austeridade do fascista Bolsonaro

Miguel Andrade, 8 Fevereiro 2019

Sob o pretexto de combater o crime organizado, tanto Bolsonaro quanto o PT estão procurando aumentar a repressão sobre a oposição social.

Other Languages

Perspective

France recalls its ambassador to Italy

8 February 2019

The decision to recall the French ambassador to Italy points to an accelerating collapse of relations between the major imperialist powers of Europe.

Earlier Perspectives »

Featured Commentary

Murdoch newspaper approves chief Nazi lawyer’s legal defence of dictatorship

By Richard Hoffman, 8 February 2019

Carl Schmitt was the Nazi crown jurist who prepared legal doctrines justifying the destruction of the Weimar Constitution and the establishment of the Hitler dictatorship.

AfD deputy denounces a Holocaust commemoration in German parliament

By Christoph Vandreier, 7 February 2019

Right-wing Humboldt University Professor Jorg Baberowski threatens students

Halil Celik, 1961-2018

Halil Celik, a fighter for socialism (1961-2018)

By Peter Schwarz, 1 February 2019

On December 31, 2018, Halil Celik, founder and leader of the group Sosyalist Eşitlik, which supports the International Committee of the Fourth International in Turkey, died of cancer at the age of 57. This obituary presents an overview of his life.

In memory of Halil Celik (1961–2018)

February 9 demonstration against GM plant closings

“The auto workers will not be forgotten men and women!”: Press conference promotes March to Fight Plant Closures

WSWS Labor Editor Jerry White addressed a press conference Tuesday in front of GM world headquarters in downtown Detroit ahead of this weekend’s march to oppose mass layoffs in the auto industry.

Lordstown GM plant closing: Another blow to northeastern Ohio

By Samuel Davidson, 7 February 2019

Sri Lankan tea plantation workers committee supports call for February 9 demonstration in Detroit

By our reporters, 7 February 2019

Reject the anti-Mexican campaign of the UAW and Unifor
Unite US, Canadian and Mexican workers against GM plant closings!

Students and youth must join the fight to oppose GM job cuts!

Commentary

Dearborn, Michigan mayor suppresses historical article on Henry Ford’s anti-Semitism

By Tom Mackaman, 7 February 2019

French National Assembly passes police state “anti-riot” law targeting protests

By Will Morrow, 7 February 2019

“Yellow vest” assemblies meet in Commercy
The pseudo-left parties seek to intervene in France’s “yellow vest” movement

More on the "yellow vests" protests in France »

US military conducting urban warfare training exercises in Los Angeles

By Dan Conway, 7 February 2019

The Governor Ralph Northam affair

By Patrick Martin, 4 February 2019

The Strategy of International Class Struggle and the Political Fight Against Capitalist Reaction in 2019

By James Cogan, Joseph Kishore and David North, 3 January 2019

One hundred years since the murder of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht

By Peter Schwarz, 15 January 2019

Arts Review

Cold War: Many unstated assumptions about politics and history
Also, Capernaum and Stan and Ollie…

By Joanne Laurier, 8 February 2019

Cold War, directed by Polish-born Pawel Pawlikowski, is a film about two artists caught up in Cold War culture and politics in the 1950s.

Fire in my mouth: New York Philharmonic premieres oratorio on the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

By Fred Mazelis, 6 February 2019

The Land of Steady Habits: Postcrash American disillusionment

Workers Struggles

UK Arriva North rail sell-out deal, Scottish lecturers’ strike, Sibanye miners’ stoppage continues in South Africa
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa

8 February 2019

Strikes by rail guards working for Arriva North in northern England, who are opposing the introduction of driver only operated trains, have been called off by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union.

Teachers at four Chicago charter school campuses walk out

Oakland, California teachers overwhelmingly vote to strike

More on teachers' struggles »

Matamoros Strike

Wave of walkouts in Matamoros, Mexico builds toward general strike

By Alex González, 7 February 2019

As Unifor escalates racist anti-Mexico campaign
Canadian union leader postures as supporter of Matamoros strikers

The US pseudo-left’s conspiracy of silence on the Matamoros workers’ rebellion

70,000 strike at US-Mexico border

Help break the media blackout of the Matamoros strike by sharing this video.

Watch: A Texas Amazon worker's message to Matamoros workers

"Attention striking workers in Matamoros: I want you to know we have heard your here in the United states. We are with you and we support you." Help break the media blackout of the Matamoros strike by sharing this video.

As strike expands in the maquiladoras
Mexican auto parts workers explain how they formed strike committees

By Andrea Lobo, 26 January 2019

More on the Matamoros workers rebellion »

History

One hundred years since the death of Franz Mehring

By Peter Schwarz, 6 February 2019

Obituary

Stanley Hill, who presided over wholesale corruption in NYC unions, dead at 82

By Alan Whyte, 7 February 2019

Socialist Equality Party

Sri Lankan SEP public meetings to launch Tamil edition of The Russian Revolution and the Unfinished Twentieth Century

7 February 2019

Defend Julian Assange!

Rally to demand the Australian government acts to free Julian Assange!
Sydney Martin Place Amphitheatre, 2pm, March 3! Melbourne State Library, 1pm, March 10!

By the Socialist Equality Party (Australia), 25 January 2019

Australian workers and youth support March rallies in defence of Julian Assange

John Pilger to speak at March 3 Sydney rally to defend Julian Assange

Julian Assange issues “urgent” legal challenge against US extradition plans

More on the campaign to free Julian Assange »

This week in history: February 4-10

25 years ago: Byron De La Beckwith convicted for 1963 assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers

Byron De La Beckwith, member of a white supremacist group, was convicted on February 5, 1994 for the 1963 assassination of Medgar Evers, a civil rights activist and head of the Mississippi state branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

More »

50 years ago: Millions strike in Italy

On February 5, 1969, millions of Italian workers participated in a one-day general strike called by the major labor federations to demand higher pensions.

More »

75 years ago: Roosevelt moves to control Arabian oil

On February 6, 1944, the US government’s Petroleum Reserve Corporation, set up by President Franklin Roosevelt, unveiled its plans to construct a vast pipeline across Saudi Arabia to transport crude oil from the Arabian wells.

More »

 

100 years ago: Seattle general strike begins

On February 6, 1919, 25,000 workers in Seattle, Washington walked out to join 35,000 shipyard workers already off the job, as a general strike virtually shut down the city.

More »

IYSSE

Oppose political censorship and fascist threats against the ISO and DSA in Portland!

By the International Youth and Students for Social Equality at PSU, 31 January 2019

Two political meetings on college campuses in Portland were shut down by campus police after provocations from the far-right group Patriot Prayer.

Successful election result for IYSSE at Humboldt University in Berlin

By the IYSSE chapter at Humboldt University, 26 January 2019

Mehring Books

The Russian Revolution and the Unfinished Twentieth Century published in Tamil

1 February 2019

The translation of David North’s book is vital for Tamil-speaking workers, youth and intellectuals on the Indian sub-continent, in Sri Lanka, and exile communities around the world.

ICFI meeting announcement

Indian Trotskyists campaign for Kolkata meeting to mark the 80th anniversary of the Fourth International

By Arun Kumar and Ritwik Mitter, 26 January 2019

Indian university students discuss the rising danger of war and the betrayal by the Stalinist parties of the working class.

Indian Trotskyists in Kolkata to celebrate 80 years of the Fourth International

7 January 2019

The Kolkata meeting will review the essential political lessons of the protracted struggle of the Fourth International and their relevance to the fight for socialist internationalism today.

Security and the Fourth International

New book now available
Agents: The FBI and GPU Infiltration of the Trotskyist Movement

By Mehring Books, 21 January 2019

The WSWS announces the release of a new book, Agents: The FBI and GPU Infiltration of the Trotskyist Movement, by Eric London.

The origins and findings of the Security and the Fourth International investigation

By Eric London, 14 November 2018

Seventy-eight years since the assassination of Leon Trotsky

By Eric London and David North, 21 August 2018

Socialist Equality Party (Germany)

Socialist Equality Party takes legal action against surveillance by German secret service

By the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei, 10 January 2019

Dr. Peer Stolle, the lawyer for the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei, has submitted formal notice in writing to the German Federal Agency for the Protection of the Constitution. The text of the letter is published here.

International Committee of the Fourth International

The 50th anniversary of the founding of the SEP (Sri Lanka)
Victory of the Trotskyists in the 1985–1986 split in the ICFI

By Saman Gunadasa and K. Ratnayake, 29 December 2018

David North addresses New Zealand meeting celebrating 80 years of the Fourth International

By our reporters, 11 December 2018

80th anniversary of the Fourth International celebrated in Melbourne with public lecture

Eighty Years of the Fourth International: The Lessons of History and the Struggle for Socialism Today

By David North, 9 October 2018

On the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Fourth International

Book Review

Rohini Hensman’s Indefensible: The ISO discovers its muse—the CIA

By Alex Lantier, 14 December 2018

Rohini Hensman’s book, issued by the International Socialist Organization’s (ISO) Haymarket Books publishing house, is an endorsement of imperialist war.

Part one | Part two | Part three | Part four