With strikes, sick-outs, sit-downs and other kinds of industrial action sweeping the country, Marx21 sits down with Frankie Lamar to look back at one of the earliest US worker mobilizations to combat COVID-19 — when New York City teachers shut down their schools. With New York lawmakers now fighting over when to reopen schools, lessons from the teachers’ struggle are more important than ever.
Category: Labor
“We feel like cannon fodder” • Nurse Elizabeth Lalasz on fighting COVID-19 in a broken healthcare system
Elizabeth Lalasz is a Registered Nurse of 11 years working in Chicago’s largest public safety net hospital. As the busiest hospital in Illinois mainly serving working class people, the uninsured, and communities of color, her hospital is on the frontlines of the coronavirus crisis. Marx21 interviewed Elizabeth about what it’s like handling COVID-19 in our broken medical system, she and her co-workers’ fight for life-saving equipment, and how we can show solidarity with healthcare workers through this pandemic.
Chicago teachers are fighting for social justice
On October 17 more than 25,000 Chicago Public School teachers in the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), along with 7,000 special education classroom assistants and other support staff from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73, started to strike, demanding the newly elected Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot fund their schools. As we finish out the first… Continue reading Chicago teachers are fighting for social justice
Contract vote still up in the air as GM workers continue to picket
The United Auto Workers’ National Council approved a tentative deal with General Motors last Thursday. Locals were fed back information, voting by the union membership started this Saturday and will continue till Friday, October 25th, with individual locals setting their own voting times. Eirc Fred reports on what the current contract on offer would mean… Continue reading Contract vote still up in the air as GM workers continue to picket
Immigrants are welcome here • Fight the right, smash the fascists
Building broad anti-racist, anti-fascist resistance in the US today is imperative, write Iannis Delatolas and Clare Lemlich The horrors of the Trump era seem to have no end. Family separations at the border, kids having to appear and defend themselves in front of judges, thousands of refugees and immigrants locked up in concentration camps in… Continue reading Immigrants are welcome here • Fight the right, smash the fascists
The GM strike continues
"Despite news of an impending deal, the 50,000-strong GM strike, now over ten days old, may continue for a while. Although a hardship, this may be good news for the workers," writes Eric Fred Latest negotiations A letter from UAW Vice President Terry Dittes to members on Wednesday stated "all unsettled proposals are now at… Continue reading The GM strike continues
GM strike going into second week holding solid
Marx21 interviews a veteran UAW member at a picket line in California On Monday September 23 as the GM strike entered its second week, Marx21 members Kyle Chun and Wonil Kim went to visit the picket line at a GM parts distribution center employing 60 workers in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The picket was held by… Continue reading GM strike going into second week holding solid
UAW Strikes at General Motors
Ever since West Virginia teachers and staff won their stunning victory against a state government coming after their health insurance in March 2018, this country has witnessed a series of strikes marked by a kind of boldness and combativeness that hasn’t been seen for a generation. Teacher strikes in Oklahoma, Arizona, and Los Angeles that… Continue reading UAW Strikes at General Motors
Puerto Ricans show us how to win. Strikes and protests force out Roselló
The Puerto Rican Center for Investigative Journalism (CPIPR) reported 500,000 demonstrators on the streets July 22 in a country of about 3 million. Photo by Alonso Sambolín “No nos vamos a cansar, te vamos a sacar” (We will not tire, we will remove you) shouted demonstrators in Puerto Rico. And they were right. The detested… Continue reading Puerto Ricans show us how to win. Strikes and protests force out Roselló
Striking teachers show us how to win
EN ES Since February 2018, striking education workers have put class struggle back on the political agenda in the United States. It began in West Virginia when teachers and other public school workers from all 55 counties in the state refused to work, demanding an end to low pay and spiraling healthcare costs. Puncturing decades… Continue reading Striking teachers show us how to win
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