Rail, public sector workers protest gov’t attacks in France

Vol. 82/No. 14 - April 9, 2018
Hundreds of thousands of rail and public workers rallied in Paris and around France March 22 against government attacks on unions and two-tier system proposed for new hires in rail.

PARIS — Hundreds of thousands of rail and other government workers took to the streets in 180 cities across France March 22. Close to 25,000 rail workers — almost one-quarter of the workforce at the state-run SNCF (French National Railway…


Solidarity builds for locked-out Quebec aluminum workers

Vol. 82/No. 14 - April 9, 2018

BÉCANCOUR, Quebec — “We will fight for our rights. Through the struggle we have the opportunity to meet other workers and solidify the fight,” Danny Pilotte, a foundry worker, one of over 1,000 locked-out ABI Bécancour aluminum workers, told Communist…


25, 50 and 75 Years Ago

Vol. 82/No. 14 - April 9, 2018

April 12, 1993 LONDON — Three thousand British workers, one-third of them coal miners, marched and rallied here March 29 to protest pit closures. The demonstration, called by the Trades Union Congress, the British labor federation, coincided with a debate…


Socialist Workers Party in 1950: ‘US out of Korea!’

Vol. 82/No. 14 - April 9, 2018

Below is a July 31, 1950, letter from Socialist Workers Party National Secretary James P. Cannon to President Harry Truman and members of Congress demanding they end the U.S. rulers’ war against the Korean people. It is the first of…


Higher taxes or attacks on teachers? A fake trade off

Vol. 82/No. 14 - April 9, 2018

The victorious strike by teachers and other school workers in West Virginia, and the preparations put in place beforehand to effectively organize it, unified workers and built a broad social movement. School workers were inspired by the history of independent…


Kurds: ‘Atrocities don’t kill our quest for freedom’

Vol. 82/No. 14 - April 9, 2018

WASHINGTON — “Thirty years ago, on March 16, 1988, Iraqi aircraft attacked the people of Halabja with chemical weapons. Children were lost in the chaos that followed, families died, and thousands more were injured by poison gas. Today, we mourn…


Dean Foods tells dairy farmers ‘We no longer want your milk’

Vol. 82/No. 13 - April 2, 2018

More than 140 dairy farmers across eight states took another blow this month. As these farmers are now into the fourth year of low milk prices, Dean Foods, one of the country’s major processors, sent them a letter saying that…



Idaho silver miners mark one year on strike against Hecla

Vol. 82/No. 13 - April 2, 2018
March 17 protest in Mullan, Idaho, shows silver miners’ determination to continue their strike.

MULLAN, Idaho — Chanting “One year longer, one year stronger!” and “Mullan is a union town!” over 150 silver miners, family members and supporters marched here March 17, marking the one-year anniversary of the strike by United Steelworkers Local 5114…


SWP drive to expand reach of ‘Militant,’ books begins

Vol. 82/No. 13 - April 2, 2018

The Socialist Workers Party begins an eight-week drive, March 24-May 22, to take its political program and activities deeper into the working class — winning 1,400 subscribers to the party’s paper, the Militant, and selling the same number of books…