United States
Massive service cuts to public transit planned in Massachusetts
By Will McCalliss, 3 December 2020
The impacted services include local and commuter train, bus and ferry transportation, with the planned changes to be implemented in different modes of transportation at varying times in 2021.
Bipartisan $908 billion “emergency relief framework” receives support from Democratic congressional leadership
By Jacob Crosse, 3 December 2020
Limited details reveal a proposal that includes generous handouts and protections to corporations while excluding another round of stimulus checks and reducing unemployment funds for workers as the pandemic enters its deadliest phase.
Police department in Mississippi pilots program linked to home security cameras
By Scott Burris, 3 December 2020
Software developed by the security company Fūsus allows police departments to access home security cameras like Amazon Ring and create a real-time cloud network of public and private video streams across entire cities. The implementation of this program is an attack on privacy and other democratic rights.
Facebook speech falsely claims massive vote fraud
Donald Trump’s Mein Kampf
By Patrick Martin, 3 December 2020
Trump is deliberately inciting fascist forces through his baseless claims of a “stolen election.”
Mobilize the working class to halt school reopenings in New York City!
The New York City Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, 3 December 2020
Everything now depends upon the building of rank-and-file safety committees in every school and neighborhood across the city, completely independent of the UFT and the Democrats who are conspiring to reopen schools.
US coronavirus pandemic deaths heading towards 3,000 per day
By Chase Lawrence, 3 December 2020
The explosion in deaths is a consequence of the criminal “herd immunity” policy pursued by both Democrats and Republicans which has entailed the reopening of schools and nonessential production in order to maintain profit making and ensure a continued rise in the stock market.
Nurses union in New York state ends strikes as COVID-19 hospitalizations surpass 100,000 for first time
By Jerry White, 3 December 2020
The nurses who went on strike at two New York state hospitals Tuesday gave voice to the anger of millions of health care workers across the US and internationally who are battling the pandemic with inadequate staffing and protections.
UAW keeping workers at Ohio Ventra parts plant on the job without contract during pandemic
By Zac Thorton, 3 December 2020
Forced to continue working under a contract which expired in July, workers at the parts plant are reaching their breaking point as UAW maintains silence over negotiations.
Hundreds of nurses strike in Albany and New Rochelle, New York
By Josh Varlin, 2 December 2020
Nurses at both Albany Medical Center and Montefiore New Rochelle walked out Tuesday over staffing, PPE and other pandemic-critical issues.
zzzz999 College sports and coronavirus developments
2 December 2020
Los Angeles school district plans full reopening as COVID-19 outbreaks mount in schools
By Dan Conway, 2 December 2020
Despite claims that they do not intend to fully reopen schools, behind closed doors the school district is in fact planning such moves with the teachers union.
Sixteen-year-old Wisconsin high school student dies of COVID-19
By Fabian Salgado, 2 December 2020
Even though Isai Morocho’s school was not meeting in person, his father, mother and brother all work in-person jobs, allowing for endless possible encounters with the virus.
zzzzz999 Two years since Camp fire destroyed Paradise
2 December 2020
Amid pandemic surge in school-aged children
Chicago Public Schools unveils reopening plan
By Alexander Fangmann, 2 December 2020
The Chicago Public Schools reopening plan ignores the deadly reality of COVID-19 and will result in the needless deaths of even more Illinois teachers, students and family members.
Health care workers in the US speak out: “We have PTSD”
By Bryan Dyne, 2 December 2020
The dire situation facing frontline health care workers during the pandemic is only getting worse as the number of hospitalizations in the US surpasses 100,000.
zzz999 John Reed 100 years since his death
2 December 2020
Who is Biden’s top economic adviser Brian Deese?
By Jerry White, 2 December 2020
The executive from the giant investment firm BlackRock played a leading role in the destruction of autoworkers’ jobs and living standards during the 2009 restructuring of GM and Chrysler.
Music and aerosols: What the research reveals about the performing arts during a pandemic
By Benjamin Mateus, 2 December 2020
The Skagit Valley Chorale rehearsal on March 10 was one of the nation’s first super-spreading events. A University of Colorado study provided a critical recognition that the virus that caused COVID-19 spread predominately in the aerosol form.
Faurecia parts workers launch Rank-and-File Safety Committee in Saline, Michigan
Faurecia Saline Rank-and-File Safety Committee, 2 December 2020
Autoworkers in Saline, like their brothers and sisters at Faurecia Gladstone in Indiana, join a national network of rank-and-file committees that is fighting for a complete shutdown of the auto industry with full compensation for workers.
Trump campaign threatens Republican officials certifying election results
By Jacob Crosse, 2 December 2020
Following Trump’s lead, an attorney for the president suggested fired DHS Cybersecurity chief Chris Krebs should be “taken out at dawn and shot.”
Biden-Harris tech policy: militarism and censorship
By Kevin Reed, 2 December 2020
Democratic Party president-elect Joseph Biden is formulating policies and assembling a team committed to the use of advanced technologies for the purposes of warfare and suppression of free speech.
14-year-old Michigan youth who was brutally treated by police dies of COVID-19
By Valery Tsekov, 2 December 2020
Fourteen-year-old Honestie Hodges has died from complications of COVID-19 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, two weeks after being hospitalized on her birthday.
The coronavirus pandemic and the case for expropriating the financial oligarchy
By Eric London, 2 December 2020
As the deaths pile up in every country, the ruling class is taking advantage of the pandemic to orchestrate an unprecedented transfer of wealth from the working class to the rich.
The conspiracy to reopen schools
By Andre Damon, 1 December 2020
Despite a months-long media campaign claiming it is safe to reopen schools, every reputable scientific study has shown that closing schools is one of the most effective ways to contain the pandemic.
999 Jeff Bezos' "Earth Fund"
1 December 2020
999 Biden tech policy team backs censorship
1 December 2020
Biden economic team: Straight from Wall Street
By Patrick Martin, 1 December 2020
Behind a screen of racial and gender diversity, the Biden administration will be a government of, by and for the ruling class.
“Are any of these trucks worth any of our brothers and sisters dying?”
COVID-19 cases explode at GM Fort Wayne as UAW abets cover-up
By Shannon Jones, 1 December 2020
Management memos obtained by the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter document 50 cases in the plant between November 6 and November 23. Eleven cases were reported November 20 alone, indicating the rate of infection is increasing.
Young people speak out about the unprecedented collapse in their living conditions since the pandemic began
By Noah Ryan and Nick Barrickman, 1 December 2020
Over half of all people between the ages of 18 and 29 in the United States have been forced to move in with relatives or friends since the pandemic began in March.
US Steel announces electric arc furnace in Alabama as crisis mounts in global steel industry
By Jessica Goldstein, 1 December 2020
Production for the American steel industry declined across the board in 2019 as a result of retaliatory tariffs, and global production sank even further in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
New York City educators denounce plans to reopen schools
By Sandy English, 1 December 2020
Educators throughout New York City have reacted with outrage at the plans of Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio and the UFT to reopen schools on December 7.
Evictions caused nearly 11,000 excess COVID-19 deaths in six months in the US
By Jacob Crosse, 1 December 2020
Data compiled by researchers at five major US universities illustrates the deadly consequences of throwing workers and their families out of their homes during the pandemic.
“GM’s one of the biggest liars out there”
GM Fairfax worker speaks out over management-UAW cover-up of COVID-19 spread
By James Tatsch, 1 December 2020
The coronavirus has been surging across Kansas and Missouri, with both states recording their highest totals over the proceeding days with no sign of abating.
Cleveland-Heights University Heights School District threatens to halt health care benefits if teachers strike
By Isaac Finn, 30 November 2020
A school district just outside of Cleveland, Ohio is threatening to cut healthcare payments to 500 teachers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Microsoft’s new “Productivity Score” helps employers spy on workers
By Mike Ingram, 30 November 2020
Microsoft has released new software that turns its Office 365 product into a full-fledged workplace surveillance tool, allowing corporations to spy on their workforce in multiple ways.
This week in history: November 30-December 6
30 November 2020
75 years ago: General Douglas MacArthur, the effective leader of US-occupied Japan, ordered the arrest of former Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe and eight of the country’s other civilian and military leaders for war crimes, setting the stage for criminal prosecutions.
New York City schools to reopen amid explosion of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, deaths
By Bryan Dyne, 30 November 2020
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement is a warning to the working class in the United States and internationally that even as numerous coronavirus vaccines are nearing completion, workers and youth will continue to be sent into workplaces and schools to needlessly get sick and die.
999 Jeff Bezos' "Earth Fund"
30 November 2020
999 NYC mayoral race
30 November 2020
999 Predictions of post Thanksgiving surge in the US
30 November 2020
“We are not criminals”
ICE detainees in New Jersey stage hunger strike over coronavirus threat
By Erik Schreiber, 30 November 2020
Nine immigrants held at Bergen County Jail in Hackensack are demanding release from the rat-infested facility where social distancing is not possible.
Trade unions stage scattered protests on Amazon’s Black Friday
By Kayla Costa, 30 November 2020
With opposition by Amazon workers growing against brutal work conditions and the lack of protection from the pandemic, the unions and their pseudo-left supporters are trying to contain resistance within the confines of corporate-controlled political parties and the capitalist system.
FCA ramps up production at Warren Truck despite death of temporary worker from COVID-19
By James Brewer, 28 November 2020
The worker who succumbed to the virus had been hired less than three weeks before he became sick and had told his coworkers that he had waited a long time to get the chance for a job at FCA.
Leaked documents from Amazon’s Global Security Operations Center expose worldwide conspiracy to suppress workers’ resistance
By Tom Carter, 28 November 2020
The leaked documents also expose the use of spies from the Pinkerton Detective Agency, which has a long history of surveillance, infiltration and violence against the workers’ movement.
New ultra-right Supreme Court majority invokes religion to block COVID-19 safety measures
By John Burton, 28 November 2020
The Supreme Court struck down New York’s measures to control the spread of COVID-19 by limiting indoor events, including religious services, heralding the power of the new five-justice, ultra-reactionary bloc.
New IRS rule will push many US small businesses to the brink
By Jessica Goldstein, 28 November 2020
A new ruling by the Treasury Department will affect millions of small businesses that received a portion of the total $717 billion in relief funds from the US Small Business Administration through the federal Paycheck Protection Program.
Massive spread of COVID-19 in Kentucky schools and death of 15-year-old girl prompts statewide school closures
By Warren Duzak, 28 November 2020
Almost 10,000 K-12 students and 2,000 faculty members are presently in quaratine or isolation across Kentucky.
Michigan COVID-19 hospitalizations pushing medical facilities to occupancy limits
By Kevin Reed, 28 November 2020
The exponential surge in coronavirus cases in Michigan during the months of October and November has resulted in an alarming increase in the number of patients entering hospitals across the state with 53 facilities at 75 percent or higher bed occupancy.
California Highway Patrol evicts homeless families on Thanksgiving eve
By Jacob Crosse, 28 November 2020
Citing COVID-19 state mandated shelter-in-place orders, families and activists with Reclaim and Rebuild our Community attempted to take up residence in vacant publicly owned homes.
Ten years since WikiLeaks published the US diplomatic cables
By Thomas Scripps, 28 November 2020
WikiLeaks contributed to a growing recognition among workers and young people that state criminality and ruling class conspiracies are not accidents or the work of a few bad individuals, but the product of a whole social system based on the rule of competing oligarchies which must be overthrown.
Who is Alejandro Mayorkas?
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 28 November 2020
Biden’s pick for DHS secretary was a key figure in the Obama administration’s detention and mass deportation of immigrants.
UFCW ignores strike vote by West Virginia Kroger workers, pushes through sellout agreement
By Ray Coleman, 27 November 2020
The contract rammed through by the United Food and Commercial Workers would impose lower wages and higher health care costs onto essential workers in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Layoffs leave New York City-area nursing homes unprepared as the pandemic intensifies
By Erik Schreiber, 27 November 2020
Faced with increased costs, care facilities are cutting staff, jeopardizing the lives of elderly residents.
999 Warren Truck update
27 November 2020
Study finds meatpacking plants were responsible for 8 percent of coronavirus cases in opening phase of pandemic in the US
By Cordell Gascoigne, 27 November 2020
The findings of the study are an indictment not only of the major meatpacking companies themselves but the entire political establishment.
Censored Planet: University of Michigan research finds worldwide increase in internet censorship
By Kevin Reed, 27 November 2020
Data collected by a group of UM researchers has revealed that online interference is growing internationally and that “the world’s freest countries are not safe from internet censorship.”
US CDC plans to reduce quarantine time after potential COVID-19 exposure
By Benjamin Mateus, 27 November 2020
The purpose of reducing the isolation period to as little as seven days is to ensure workers will be back on the job faster, even though the CDC admits this will increase the transmission of the virus.
Meet the Censored: Andre Damon
By Matt Taibbi, 26 November 2020
Increased content moderation has been sold as a tool to control the far right, but the World Socialist Web Site was among the first to sound the alarm.
What UAW President Rory Gamble is really thankful for this Thanksgiving
By Jerry White and Tom Hall, 26 November 2020
Few, if any, workers will read the trite and clichéd Thanksgiving message from United Auto Workers President Rory Gamble, published Wednesday on the UAW's web site. But it is worth mentioning for its sheer hypocrisy.
Hailing election security, New York Times drops its “Russian meddling” narrative
By Barry Grey and Jacob Crosse, 26 November 2020
The fact that it is absent from the Times’ November 22 editorial makes absolutely clear one basic fact: the entire anti-Russia narrative is a deliberate fabrication.
President Trump issues full pardon of former national security advisor Michael Flynn
By Kevin Reed, 26 November 2020
Trump’s action ends the case against the right-wing White House aide who lied to the FBI during the early days of the investigation into claims of “Russian interference” in the 2016 US elections.
Thousands of US college students return home for Thanksgiving amid surging pandemic
By Alex Findijs, 26 November 2020
After the disastrous reopening of campuses this fall led to hundreds of thousands of cases, countless college students are bringing the coronavirus home with them.
999 Warren Truck TPT death interviews
26 November 2020
Biden delivers pablum and pretense as he consolidates a right-wing administration
By Patrick Martin, 26 November 2020
In a Thanksgiving message and a television interview, the president-elect dismissed the ongoing threat to democratic rights from President Trump.
The Democratic Socialists of America pleads with Biden not to appoint Rahm Emanuel
By Kristina Betinis, 26 November 2020
A petition opposing the appointment of Emanuel to President-elect Biden’s administration simultaneously exposes the right-wing record of the Democratic Party and the utter bankruptcy of its DSA faction.
US jobless claims and hunger spike as Congress goes on vacation
By Jacob Crosse, 26 November 2020
Amid historic levels of unemployment, disorganized partial lockdowns without stimulus are leaving workers and small businesses without protection from the coronavirus or social support.
999 Education article, topic TBD (Chicago, TN, MI or AL)
26 November 2020
What the rich are thankful for
By Andre Damon, 26 November 2020
Amid mass unemployment, hunger and death, America’s financial oligarchy is celebrating a bumper year.
India’s ruling elite welcomes Biden-Harris victory in US presidential election
By Deepal Jayasekera, 26 November 2020
The warm welcome for the President-elect is based on the calculation that a Biden administration will be no less committed than Trump’s to expanding the anti-China Indo-US “global strategic partnership.”
Two Alabama teachers die from COVID-19 as governor vows to keep schools and businesses open
By Shelley Connor, 25 November 2020
Over the past two weeks, the rate of COVID-19 infections across Alabama has increased by over 50 percent, with educators representing a significant number of these cases.
Pennsylvania, Nevada certify Biden victories as Trump repeats his vows to overturn the election
By Barry Grey, 25 November 2020
Whether or not Biden’s right-wing administration-in-waiting comes to power, Trump’s election coup is a dire warning to the working class.
New York City teachers union pushes for fast return to in-person classes
By Alberto Escalera, 25 November 2020
Less than a week after New York City’s Democratic mayor Bill de Blasio was forced to close schools due to the spreading pandemic, the United Federation of Teachers is calling for them to be reopened.
Jacobin and Democratic Socialists of America promote illusions in a “progressive” Biden administration
By Gabriel Black, 25 November 2020
The central role of Jacobin is to prevent any political break with the Democratic Party as Biden constructs a reactionary administration based on Wall Street and the military.
Southwest Airlines gives ultimatum to workers: wage cuts or furloughs in 2021
By Steve Filips, 25 November 2020
Southwest Airlines is demanding a 10 percent pay cut as US air carriers that received a $25 billion bailout cut costs in order to boost profits.
Amazon announces the opening of its online pharmacy
By Patrick Smith, 25 November 2020
Amazon’s entry into the pharmaceutical industry underscores the conglomerate’s accelerating domination over sector after sector of the US and global economy.
Joe Biden’s cabinet: A rainbow coalition of imperialist reaction
By Eric London, 25 November 2020
The nomination of a series of right-wing women and minority representatives of the military-intelligence complex encapsulates and exposes the right-wing essence of identity politics.
US coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths explode during past two weeks
By Bryan Dyne, 25 November 2020
The number of active cases in the country has risen to more than five million and is on track to double every six to eight weeks.
As virus surges in North Dakota, Fargo food distribution workers strike over lack of COVID-19 protections
By Shannon Jones, 25 November 2020
Workers at the Cash-Wa food distribution operation in Fargo, North Dakota are on strike over health and safety in an area that is experiencing the highest COVID-19 death rate in the world.
Mass layoffs loom for Silicon Valley service workers
By Aditya Veeraiah, 25 November 2020
With many white-collar workers working from home, tech giants are threatening the jobs of thousands of cafeteria, janitorial, transportation and other service workers.
Jeff Riedel, photographer and fighter for socialism: 1968-2020
By Fred Mazelis and Kevin Reed, 24 November 2020
An immensely gifted artist, Jeff Riedel’s photographic work combined exceptional technical skill with social insight.
Chicago nursing home workers launch strike against poverty wages, lack of protection from COVID-19
By Alexander Fangmann, 24 November 2020
Nearly 700 certified nursing assistants and other workers walked out Monday morning for higher pay, more staffing and protections against COVID-19.
Workers have the right to information and free speech!
What’s behind the UAW’s attack on the World Socialist Web Site
The Sterling Heights Assembly Plant Rank-and-File Safety Committee, 24 November 2020
While it is telling workers to shut up and keep working, the UAW has pulled its own stewards from the plant floor, and Solidarity House is still working remotely.
999 SHAP statement on UAW and WSWS
24 November 2020
A month after being hired at suburban Detroit Fiat Chrysler plant, worker dies from COVID-19
By George Kirby, 24 November 2020
Stevie Brown, a temporary part-time worker at the Warren Truck Assembly Plant, is the latest victim of the murderous policy of keeping the factories open even as they have become a major vector in the spread of the deadly disease.
Zoom cancels meetings at several universities on Zoom censorship
By John Conrad, 24 November 2020
Zoom’s dramatic escalation of censorship has major implications as schools, academic institutions as well as political organizations have become increasingly dependent on the platform to conduct classes, conferences and meetings.
999 Amazon entry into online pharmacy market
24 November 2020
Why are millions of Americans traveling for Thanksgiving as the pandemic rages?
By Niles Niemuth, 24 November 2020
Even as travel this week is expected to decline from last year, with many citing concerns over COVID-19 as a reason to stay home, the movement of tens of millions across the country threatens to massively accelerate the spread of COVID-19.
999 Remote learning in the US
24 November 2020
650 bodies stored in freezer trucks for months in New York City disaster morgue
By Josh Varlin, 24 November 2020
Hundreds of people, mostly victims of the pandemic, have been stored in freezer trucks in Brooklyn for months as city authorities struggle to identify their next of kin and make funeral arrangements.
Federal agency lifts blockade on Biden transition, but Trump pledges to continue electoral coup
By Barry Grey, 24 November 2020
The erosion of support for Trump within the corporate-financial oligarchy is driven in part by a recognition that Biden is assembling a right-wing, militaristic administration that will aggressively defend the interests of big business.
Florida Sheriff’s Office intelligence-gathering program labels student youth as future criminals
By Alex Johnson, 24 November 2020
The police agency’s strategies for tracking youth shed light on the extraordinary lengths the department has gone to carry out repressive measures against underaged Pasco residents.
Deep budget cuts face mass transit systems throughout the United States
By Nick Barrickman, 24 November 2020
Transit systems nationwide have warned that without emergency funding many services will be cut.
North Carolina pastor who led peaceful march to polls charged with felony assault
By Jacob Crosse, 24 November 2020
Three weeks after police assaulted peaceful marchers on their way to register to vote, the county sheriff’s office announced felony and misdemeanor charges against organizer Reverend Greg Drumwright.
Biden names national security team of right-wing militarists
By Patrick Martin, 24 November 2020
The roll-out of Biden’s first cabinet nominees shows the top priority of the incoming Democratic administration: building a US-led imperialist front against China and Russia
999 US election crisis, vote certifications
24 November 2020
Trial 4: A shameless police frame-up in Boston
By Joanne Laurier, 24 November 2020
Trial 4 is an eight-episode documentary television series, currently streaming on Netflix that examines the case of Sean Ellis, a black teenager wrongly convicted of the 1993 murder of police officer John Mulligan.
999 Reply to Jacobin on Biden
24 November 2020
Alabama juvenile hall teacher speaks out on hazardous conditions
By Shelley Connor, 24 November 2020
An educator at one of Alabama’s juvenile detention facilities described the dangerous conditions she and her students are forced to confront daily.
Mass opposition among healthcare workers as estimated deaths exceed 20,000
By Katy Kinner, 23 November 2020
Over 800 St. Mary’s nurses in Pennsylvania returned to work on Sunday with no evidence of a contract deal, just one example of various unions strangling strikes as health care workers face death on a massive scale.
As demands for work stoppage grow, UAW officials tell Sterling Heights Assembly workers: “Don’t read the WSWS”
By Shannon Jones, 23 November 2020
In the face of growing demands by Fiat Chrysler workers to halt production at the Sterling Height Assembly Plant to stop the spread of COVID-19, local United Auto Workers officials are lashing out at the World Socialist Web Site and rank-and-file workers who have turned to the WSWS to expose the deadly conditions at the suburban Detroit auto factory.
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