Mar 05 2010
Original article, by David Zirin and subtitled Comparing Tiger Woods and the scandal he’s embroiled in to the personal and professional savaging that Muhammad Ali suffered is more than insulting, via Socialist Worker (US)
“Boxing is nothing, just satisfying to some bloodthirsty people. I’m no longer a Cassius Clay, a Negro from Kentucky. I belong to the world, the Black world. I’ll always have a home in Pakistan, in Algeria, in Ethiopia. This is more than money.”–Muhammad Ali
Dec 10 2009
Original article, subtitled Lee Sustar reports on signs of movement among the union movement’s rank and file, via Socialist Worker (US):
AFTER A grim year for organized labor, those committed to class-struggle unionism can find a few good reasons to be cheerful this holiday season.
Jul 30 2009
Original article, an interview with Dr. Quentin Young, via socialistworker.org:
The Obama administration is giving up on its August deadline for Congress to pass health care reform legislation, according to press reports. But far worse is what the administration has given up in the substance of the proposals–caving to pressure from a health care industry determined to maintain its power and profits.
Dr. Quentin Young is a veteran of struggles for civil rights and social justice, and a leading member of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP). He talked to Elizabeth Schulte about why the proposals currently being discussed in Washington fall short of what’s needed.
Jul 23 2009
Original article via Socialist Worker (UK):
Workers at Vestas, the UK’s only wind turbine manufacturer, occupied their factory in Newport, Isle of Wight on Monday evening against plans to close it. Dave is one of the occupying workers. He spoke to Socialist Worker on Tuesday.
Feb 15 2009
Original article, subtitled The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression is throwing countries across Europe into turmoil–and spurring struggles unseen in years. Eric Ruder looks at what the future may hold, via socialistworker.org:
THE FINANCIAL turmoil that began in the summer of 2007 in the U.S. is spreading around the globe with frightening speed and devastating consequences for working people.
Jan 26 2009
Original article, by Adam Turl, via socialistworker.org:
IT ISN’T often that a member of the U.S. Congress acknowledges that the source of wealth in modern society is labor. But there was Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) at a rally outside the Republic Windows & Doors factory in Chicago in December, as workers inside occupied the plant.
Dec 07 2008
Original article, a comment by Greg Shotwell, via Socialist Worker (US):
THE CEOs of the three Detroit automakers will return to Congress December 4 to request some $36 billion in loans from the federal government. As a condition of receiving that aid, the automakers were told to provide Congress with a plan for “restructuring” their companies that will include plant closings, elimination of tens of thousands of jobs, and cuts in benefits.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) is prepared to accept this. In a December 3 press conference, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger announced that the union would allow the companies to defer payments into a trust fund that covers retiree health care and to eliminate the “jobs bank” program that provides pay and benefits for laid-off workers.
Gregg Shotwell, a recently retired GM/Delphi worker and a founder of the Soldiers of Solidarity network, challenges the efforts by employers and politicians to blame the auto crisis on union workers:
Dec 06 2008
Original article, subheaded Lee Sustar analyzes the roots of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression–and shows why Marxism offers the best way of understanding what went wrong, via Socialist Worker (US):
THERE ARE plenty of people who should be held accountable for turning an ordinary recession that began a year ago into a global catastrophe.