United States
“The US is prioritizing money above human life”
Detroit, Michigan teacher speaks on public education during the pandemic
By Nancy Hanover, 23 May 2020
Michigan is threatening mass layoffs of teachers and existential cuts to public schools while planning to reopen schools in the fall despite lack of COVID-19 safety measures.
The US opioid crisis in the era of COVID-19
By Katy Kinner, 23 May 2020
According to a report from the American Medical Association, over 20 states have reported an increase in opioid-related mortality since the official declaration of the pandemic.
US Agriculture Department outlines program to aid farmers hit by pandemic
By Alex Findijs, 23 May 2020
The design of the program will inevitably lead to a disproportionate share of funding flowing to large firms.
Wealth of US billionaires soars as pandemic expands, nearly 40 million unemployed
By Niles Niemuth, 23 May 2020
The class logic at play in the homicidal push to reopen the US economy before the spread of the coronavirus has been controlled is becoming increasingly clear.
Oppose the Trump administration’s deportation of 1,000 immigrant children!
By Norissa Santa Cruz—SEP candidate for US vice president, 23 May 2020
International laws and statutes that once offered special protections for immigrant youth seeking asylum have been made a dead letter by the Trump administration.
Bernie Sanders threatens delegates with removal if they criticize Biden
By Genevieve Leigh, 23 May 2020
Since ending his second bid for the presidency, Sanders has worked to browbeat his supporters into backing Joe Biden.
Social problems begin to come to the fore in Billie Eilish’s debut album
By Elliott Murtagh and J. L’Heureau, 23 May 2020
The 18-year-old pop star’s debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, was the most popular album on the planet in 2019.
US unemployment claims approach 40 million since March
By Niles Niemuth, 22 May 2020
According to some estimates, the real unemployment rate has already hit 22.5 percent, which is nearing levels reached during the depths of the Great Depression in 1933.
“Obamagate” claims spark new round in internal US political warfare
By Patrick Martin, 22 May 2020
There is no progressive or democratic side in the conflict between Trump and the Democrats.
US withdraws from Open Skies Treaty, heightening danger of war with Russia
By Clara Weiss, 22 May 2020
US withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty is a deliberate escalation of military tensions not only with Russia, but also with the major European imperialist powers.
Trump issues new threats as Iranian tankers approach Venezuela
By Bill Van Auken, 22 May 2020
The Trump administration has vowed to take unspecified “measures” to block the shipment of Iranian fuel to Venezuela, raising the threat of state piracy on the high seas.
Georgetown, Kentucky Toyota plant remains open as autoworker tests positive for COVID-19
By George Gallanis, 22 May 2020
In the absence of testing, it is likely that many more infected workers are in the auto plants, unaware that they are carriers.
Third man charged in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery
By Matthew MacEgan, 22 May 2020
William Bryan, who recorded video of Arbery being shot and killed by Travis McMichael in February, was arrested Thursday and charged with felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
NY Governor Cuomo shields nursing homes from prosecutions related to 5,600 COVID-19 deaths
By Erik Schreiber, 22 May 2020
The Democratic governor simultaneously praised his administration’s response to the pandemic and asserted that “nobody” should be held accountable for the tremendous number of needless deaths.
Nearly 1.5 million health care workers laid off in pandemic-fueled jobs massacre
By Gary Joad, 22 May 2020
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 43,000 health care workers lost their jobs in March, while 1.4 million more lost their jobs in April.
The economic impact of the pandemic on young workers in Wayne County, Michigan
By Helen Halyard and Kevin Reed, 22 May 2020
The WSWS spoke with Karissa, 27, about her experiences over the past eight weeks since she and her fiancé lost their jobs when the coronavirus pandemic hit the Detroit area.
No to the anti-China campaign! For international solidarity against the pandemic and capitalism!
By Joseph Kishore—Socialist Equality Party candidate for president, 22 May 2020
The SEP rejects the chauvinistic attacks by the Trump administration and Democrats aimed at shifting responsibility for the mass death due to the coronavirus pandemic from the American ruling class.
After the New York Times’ critique: Former NBC “Today” show host Matt Lauer takes Ronan Farrow to task
By David Walsh, 22 May 2020
Lauer was abruptly fired in late 2017 following complaints by an NBC employee, with whom he was having an affair, about his alleged sexual misbehavior.
Dam collapse in central Michigan sparks historic flooding
By Matthew Brennan, 21 May 2020
Two aging and neglected dams were breached by historic rains flooding the toxic Dow Chemical Plant in Midland, Michigan, threatening a social and environmental catastrophe for hundreds of thousands in the region.
“We need our jobs, but our lives and health are more important”
COVID-19 cases at Ford plants in Detroit, Chicago as anger grows over inadequate safety measures
By Jessica Goldstein and Jerry White, 21 May 2020
New infections have emerged at Ford plants in Dearborn, Michigan and Chicago and also at supplier plant, just days after the reopening of the North American auto industry.
As COVID-19 spreads throughout southern US
Florida scientist was fired for ‘refusing to manipulate’ COVID-19 data
By Bryan Dyne, 21 May 2020
The state governments of both Florida and Georgia have been charged with manipulating their coronavirus case counts and death tolls in order to prematurely reopen their economies.
US government to file antitrust lawsuit against Google this summer
By Kevin Reed, 21 May 2020
The DOJ case will reportedly raise “concerns that Google uses its dominant search business to stifle competition.”
US prepares anti-Russian war games amid COVID-19 pandemic
By Andrea Peters, 21 May 2020
In a little over two weeks, 6,000 US and Polish troops will simulate ground and airborne attacks about 35 miles from the Russian territory of Kaliningrad.
Deaths and illness among youth raise concerns as schools plan to reopen
By Sam Wayne, 21 May 2020
Several recent deaths of youth and students due to COVID-19 demonstrate that, despite efforts by the media and politicians to downplay the danger of the virus to youth, the virus can pose a deadly threat to young people.
Almost no US prisoners have been released since the beginning of the pandemic
By Sam Dalton, 21 May 2020
Despite highly publicized executive orders, only a handful of inmates have been released from jails and prisons across the US even as 100,000 inmates are projected to die from COVID-19.
Missouri executes 64-year-old man convicted on flimsy evidence
By Warren Duzak, 21 May 2020
Walter Barton was executed Tuesday by lethal injection despite new evidence that had made jurors question his murder conviction.
Florida stalls jobless pay to force workers back to work
By Alex Johnson, 21 May 2020
The state has only paid out 22 percent of the claims for unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ford Chicago worker tests positive for COVID-19 after North American auto plants reopen
By Shannon Jones, 20 May 2020
The Trump administration is spearheading a campaign to force a return to work, eliminating all pretense of combatting the spread of the coronavirus.
Firing of State Department inspector general tied to Saudi arms deal
By Bill Van Auken, 20 May 2020
The firing stemmed from a probe into the Trump administration’s declaration of a “state of emergency” to prevent Congress holding up arms sales to the Saudi monarchy.
Senate hearing for Fed’s Powell, Treasury’s Mnuchin shows bipartisan support for bailout, back-to-work drive
By Barry Grey, 20 May 2020
The prize for sheer demagogy and hypocrisy at the hearing went to Sherrod Brown of Ohio, an economic nationalist and close ally of the trade union bureaucracy.
US government uses Pensacola shooter’s alleged ties to Al Qaeda to renew attack on encryption
By Kevin Reed, 20 May 2020
Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray outlined plans to force manufacturers to build backdoor access into consumer mobile devices.
New details emerge in Ahmaud Arbery killing
By Matthew MacEgan, 20 May 2020
Recently released surveillance video shows that Travis McMichael had an encounter with Arbery two weeks prior to fatally shooting him on February 23.
Chicago mayor appoints corporate leaders to Economic Recovery Task Force
By Kristina Betinis and Fabian Salgado, 20 May 2020
As deficits mount, the task force appointments place the right-wing, pro-business character of “diversity” and “equity” appointments on full display.
Capitalism vs. science: The lessons of the 36-hour Moderna vaccine frenzy
By Benjamin Mateus, 20 May 2020
It took just 36 hours for the media’s frenzied promotion of a “breakthrough” treatment for the coronavirus to collapse under its own weight.
The New York Times exposes journalist, #MeToo crusader Ronan Farrow as a dishonest fraud
By David Walsh, 20 May 2020
Farrow has been the golden boy of the American media since the publication of his supposed exposé of Harvey Weinstein in the New Yorker magazine in October 2017.
999 Deaths among youth and students in US
20 May 2020
999 Anti-China campaign
20 May 2020
Workers angry, concerned as US auto plants reopen
By Jerry White, 19 May 2020
Tens of thousands of workers returned to factories across the US Monday in a major test of the Trump administration’s plans to restart the flow of corporate profits even as the death toll of the pandemic continues to rise.
Millions of Americans, including front-line workers’ families, face loss of employer-sponsored health insurance in pandemic
By Alex Johnson, 19 May 2020
The families of health care workers, first responders and other workers deemed essential who have died from COVID-19 now face the prospect of losing their health coverage due to the cut-off of their loved ones’ employer-sponsored insurance.
US courts revoke emergency protections in coronavirus pandemic
By Trévon Austin, 19 May 2020
Over the past week, the US Supreme Court and the Texas Supreme Court have issued a series of antidemocratic decisions that place countless lives at risk and increase the hardships faced by workers in the coronavirus pandemic.
Petition demanding pandemic hazard pay for UPS workers gains 300,000 signatures
By Erik Schreiber and Kayla Costa, 19 May 2020
The response to the petition demonstrates workers’ willingness to fight, but its appeal to the Teamsters union is a dead end. A genuine struggle for safety requires the formation of independent rank-and-file committees.
US retailer JCPenney to close nearly one-third of department stores, announces bankruptcy
By Jessica Goldstein, 19 May 2020
The decline of traditional “brick and mortar” retail is part of a protracted process which has spanned decades. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated processes which were already well underway.
Explosion at downtown Los Angeles warehouse injures 12 firefighters
By Peter Ross, 19 May 2020
The warehouse explosion spread the fire to adjacent buildings but was contained in about an hour by some 230 responders.
Trump official blames high US coronavirus death toll on the diversity that “unfortunately” exists in the population
By Jacob Crosse, 19 May 2020
The fascistic comment is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to find an excuse for its catastrophic performance in the COVID-19 pandemic.
North American auto industry reopens amid mounting opposition by workers
By Marcus Day, 18 May 2020
Roughly 133,000 workers are expected to return to automotive assembly plants this week.
As death toll mounts, White House steps up efforts to scapegoat China for pandemic
By Peter Symonds, 18 May 2020
Blaming China not only deflects attention from the Trump administration’s responsibility for the horrific US death toll, but feeds into its anti-China trade war measures.
Purge of government watchdogs escalates drive for authoritarian rule
Trump fires State Department inspector general
By Barry Grey, 18 May 2020
Over the past six weeks, Trump also has removed the inspectors general of the Intelligence Community, Defense and Health and Human Services.
Amazon eliminates pay raises for workers as COVID-19 toll mounts
By Douglas Lyons, 18 May 2020
As the number of infections and deaths continues to rise at Amazon, the world’s richest man joins Trump’s murderous campaign to “reopen” the economy.
Maryland and Virginia begin “phase one” reopenings despite record increase in COVID-19 cases
By Nick Barrickman, 18 May 2020
The two jurisdictions began reopening their economies amid a consistent uptick in the amount of infections produced by the coronavirus.
New York Democratic governor enlists tech billionaires to push distance learning
By Sandy English, 18 May 2020
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced “Reimagine Education,” a partnership with Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Google’s Eric Schmidt.
At least 275,000 teachers in the US face permanent job loss as states prepare massive budget cuts
By Phyllis Steele, 18 May 2020
The growing budgetary crisis in every state poses an existential threat to public education, with untold consequences for an entire generation of working class youth.
SEIU pushes through sellout contract after blocking strike by Illinois nursing home workers
By Jessica Goldstein, 18 May 2020
The Service Employees International Union pushed through a deal with poverty wages and no guarantee of health and safety measures as the deadly coronavirus continues its rampage.
Little Rock, Arkansas transit workers laid off amidst COVID fears
By Cordell Gascoigne, 18 May 2020
Due to heavy absenteeism over concerns of coronavirus infection, Rock Region Metro has announced service cuts and the layoff of 23 drivers.
Back-to-work drive places countless thousands at risk
By Patrick Martin, 18 May 2020
Major American factories are reopening today, each one the potential center for a major new outbreak of the coronavirus.
US Fed report reveals depth of financial crisis it helped create
By Nick Beams, 18 May 2020
A Foreign Policy article noted that with its asset holdings predicted to reach $9 trillion by the year's end, the Fed is pumping money into the financial system at the rate of $1 million every second.
On “This Week” news show, Sanders urges supporters to vote for Biden
By Jacob Crosse, 18 May 2020
Sanders used the national platform afforded him to once again urge his supporters to vote for the right-wing Democratic candidate.
“They don’t care about the safety of the workers”
As assembly plants reopen US autoworkers speak on premature rush to restart production
By our reporters, 18 May 2020
As workers returned to auto assembly plants across North America workers are speaking out against the premature return to work in the midst of the COVI-19 pandemic and the totally inadequate safety measures in place.
999 US police shootings
18 May 2020
999 Autoworker interviews on reopening
18 May 2020
“There will be a human cost from this. Everyone knows that.”
Drive to reopen auto plants in North America threatens thousands of lives
By Shannon Jones, 16 May 2020
As the Detroit-based auto companies prepare to restart their North American factories, opposition is growing among workers to a deadly return to work.
“I am not going to die for this company that only thinks about the millions they have in the bank”
Mounting opposition among autoworkers on eve of industry restart
By Marcus Day, 16 May 2020
New cases of the virus have already emerged at FCA’s Sterling Heights Assembly this week, even before the plants officially reopen Monday.
Mississippi: Workers at Brentwood Originals pillow factory continue walkouts
By Cordell Gascoigne, 16 May 2020
The walkouts at the Mississippi pillow factory are part of a wave of wildcat strikes and other job actions across the United States and internationally by workers demanding protection from COVID-19.
Hundreds of workers walk out at six fruit packing plants in Washington state
By David Fitzgerald and Kayla Costa, 16 May 2020
Located in the county with the highest COVID-19 infection rate in the state, the agricultural workers are demanding companies provide adequate personal protective equipment, hazard pay and safe working conditions.
Trump threatens to cut all ties with China
By Peter Symonds, 16 May 2020
The US president’s phony allegations—that China failed to prevent COVID-19 becoming a global pandemic—have been integrated into Washington’s trade war measures.
US House passes $3 trillion coronavirus “relief” bill
By Jacob Crosse, 16 May 2020
In a near party-line vote, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed a fourth stimulus bill that has no chance of being approved by the Republican-controlled Senate.
US Senate reauthorizes domestic surveillance, allows access to internet histories
By Kevin Reed, 16 May 2020
The Senate voted 80 to 16 to reauthorize the domestic surveillance provisions of the USA Freedom Act, including rejection of an amendment that would have barred law enforcement from accessing the internet browsing and search histories of citizens.
Washington places Cuba and Venezuela on “terror” list
By Bill Van Auken, 16 May 2020
After fostering an abortive mercenary invasion aimed at overthrowing Venezuela’s government and murdering its president, the US placed Caracas on a list of governments deemed uncooperative in the “war on terrorism.”
Prices for basic foods soar in the US as pandemic disrupts supply chains
By Alex Findijs, 16 May 2020
Grocery prices in the country rose 2.6 percent in April, the largest increase in a single month since 1974.
Budget shortfalls and planned cuts threaten higher education across the US
By Alexander Fangmann, 16 May 2020
Colleges and universities across the US are announcing layoffs and eliminating programs in response to declines in state revenue and financial pressures from dormitory refunds and other costs incurred as they moved classes online.
California State University, the largest public university system in the US, closes campuses for the fall semester
By Anthony del Olmo, 16 May 2020
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, universities and colleges throughout the US are grappling with the new economic and social reality as uncertainty mounts over reopening campuses in the fall.
With private prison outbreak, Tennessee county leads US in per capita COVID-19 cases
By Warren Duzak, 16 May 2020
More than half of the 2,400 inmates at the CoreCivic Trousdale Turner Correctional Center have tested positive for coronavirus.
Woody Allen’s A Rainy Day in New York: A little more of an edge than usual
By David Walsh, 16 May 2020
Disgracefully, A Rainy Day in New York has been suppressed in the US. The film was completed in 2018, but Amazon Studios refused to distribute it.
As Global coronavirus death toll tops 300,000
US whistleblower warns premature return to work will bring “unprecedented illness and fatalities”
By Bryan Dyne, 15 May 2020
Dr. Rick Bright warned yesterday that the pandemic “has the potential to eclipse the devastation wrought by the 1918 influenza, which globally claimed over 50 million lives.”
Three million more US workers apply for unemployment, reaching 36 million in two months
By Trévon Austin, 15 May 2020
On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reported that 40 percent of US households bringing in less than $40,000 a year lost a wage earner in March.
US Senator Richard Burr steps down as intelligence chairman amid investigation into pre-pandemic stock dump
By Jacob Crosse, 15 May 2020
As part of an ongoing Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission’s probe into insider trading, FBI agents have seized the North Carolina senator's personal cell phone.
Declassified Mueller investigation transcripts confirm no evidence WikiLeaks colluded with Russia
By Thomas Scripps, 15 May 2020
The “Russian connection” was baldly asserted by the Democratic Party, US intelligence officials and the corporate media
The drums of economic nationalism are beating louder
By Nick Beams, 15 May 2020
A series of comments published in the New York Times in recent days points to the rise of economic nationalism within the US political establishment the logic of which is war against China.
“We are not going back to unsafe conditions”
After FCA Sterling Heights Assembly workers contract COVID-19, anger mounts over premature return to work
By Shannon Jones, 15 May 2020
Anxiety over a premature return to work has been heightened after reports that several workers in the Detroit area have already been sent home with suspected COVID-19 infections.
Amid charges of unsafe conditions, Puerto Rico’s governor issues back-to-work orders
By Alberto Escalera, 15 May 2020
Businesses have been left to supervise themselves in all matters related to worker safety as the government’s regulatory agencies essentially wash their hands of the matter.
US grocery stores and retailers move to cut pandemic pay to workers
By Zachary Thorton, 15 May 2020
Kroger, Starbucks and other companies plan to end hazard-related bonuses, including pay increases and paid work leave, even as the number of new COVID-19 infections and deaths in the US continues to rise.
As COVID-19 crisis deepens on Native American reservations
Sioux tribe faces down South Dakota over sovereignty
By Evan Cohen, 15 May 2020
The Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes in South Dakota have refused to lift checkpoints on highways that cross their tribal borders.
Supreme Court considers blanket immunity for Trump
By John Burton, 15 May 2020
The Supreme Court on Tuesday held oral arguments on whether to give Donald Trump immunity from congressional and grand jury investigations.
The Trump administration vs. science
By Patrick Martin, 15 May 2020
The president’s attack on his top coronavirus advisor, Anthony Fauci, is part of an appeal to the most backward and reactionary forces to support the deadly policy of “reopening” the US economy.
After COVID-19 infection discovered, 300 workers walk out of Mississippi pillow factory
By Cordell Gascoigne, 14 May 2020
Concern over a possible plantwide spread of the virus was mounting for days when a worker at the plant told supervisors that her husband—also employed at the factory—had tested positive for coronavirus.
Local county officials in California bow before billionaire’s demand to reopen Tesla factory
By Jessica Goldstein, 14 May 2020
Earlier this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk reopened his 10,000-employee factory in defiance of the orders of Alameda County health officials.
Fed chief calls for more money for Wall Street and corporations
By Nick Beams, 14 May 2020
Powell’s remarks effectively poured water on the claim that once lockdowns are lifted, as being demanded by the “return to work” advocates, the American economy will immediately snap back in a so-called V-shaped recovery.
Republicans win two US House special elections
By our reporter, 14 May 2020
The results were a blow to the Democrats, who lost a seat in California they had first captured in 2018.
Illinois reports record COVID-19 death toll as businesses and politicians prepare to “reopen”
By Kristina Betinis, 14 May 2020
Record rates of infection and death are announced as state and local officials and business leaders are preparing to phase out shelter-in-place, sending workers back to their jobs in order to finance the bailout of Wall Street and the super-rich.
Ohio University lays off 140 workers amid massive statewide cuts to higher education
By Katy Kinner, 14 May 2020
New layoffs and furloughs are in response to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s $775 million budget cut, with $110 million to be cut from higher education.
Family files lawsuit against Louisville, Kentucky police over March killing of Breonna Taylor
By Kevin Reed, 14 May 2020
Taylor, an emergency medical technician, was killed in a hail of gunfire during a court authorized “no-knock” siege of her apartment on March 13.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joins Biden-Sanders “unity task force” ahead of 2020 elections
By Genevieve Leigh, 14 May 2020
The announcement of the membership of the task forces is an effort on the part of Sanders to provide the right-wing Biden campaign with a “progressive” gloss amidst growing social unrest.
White House Coronavirus Task Force member warns of “really serious” consequences of premature reopening
By Bryan Dyne, 13 May 2020
The testimony was a devastating indictment of Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and made clear that the back-to-work campaign risks countless lives.
Right-wing Facebook groups threaten to assassinate Michigan Governor Whitmer
By Kevin Reed, 13 May 2020
Extreme right-wing members of private Facebook groups have made threats to assassinate the Michigan governor in response to her “stay home, stay safe” executive order.
Georgia autopsy report shows Ahmaud Arbery shot three times
By Matthew MacEgan, 13 May 2020
Reports also emerged Tuesday that the one of the men involved in the killing, a retired investigator for the local district attorney’s office, helped prosecute Arbery in the past.
Anger simmers over restart of production by Detroit automakers
By Shannon Jones, 13 May 2020
The reckless attempt to restart the North American auto industry is meeting with determined resistance by workers unwilling to risk their lives for corporate profits.
US meatpacking workers continue walkouts and protests against forced return to work
By Christopher Davion and Anthony Bertolt, 13 May 2020
On Wednesday May 6, at least 20 workers in West Columbia, South Carolina walked off the job at the House of Raeford Farms chicken processing plant.
California nurses denounce lack of access to PPE
By Brian Dixon and Kimie Saito, 13 May 2020
“We don’t know how many medical workers have died here because of COVID-19 because neither the hospital nor the union tells us.”
Striking sanitation workers in New Orleans replaced by prison laborers
By Aaron Murch, 13 May 2020
A private waste management company in New Orleans has used inmates to replace striking workers demanding hazard pay and safer working conditions.
New York state to begin reopening in certain regions this weekend
By Josh Varlin, 13 May 2020
Three regions within New York state are set to resume some economic activity May 15, under a plan that leaves significant room for a deadly second wave of the pandemic.
New York police brutality continues unabated in midst of pandemic
By Sam Dalton, 13 May 2020
Sections of the Democratic Party and the media in New York City are attempting to portray brutal attacks by the NYPD on workers and youth exclusively in racial terms.
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