Fight continues to keep last abortion clinic in Missouri

Vol. 83/No. 42 - November 18, 2019
Fight continues to keep last abortion clinic in Missouri

Planned Parenthood is continuing to fight against a concerted political campaign by Missouri’s governor, the state’s director of health services and anti-abortion forces to close the only clinic in the state that provides abortion services. Protesters carrying a large banner…


UK election: ‘Workers need our own political party’

Vol. 83/No. 42 - November 18, 2019

MANCHESTER, England — “I can’t decide how to vote. I don’t understand why they don’t do Brexit,” rail worker Danny Boyle told this reporter as we talked during a break at Manchester Piccadilly station, where we both work. Similar conversations…


DC meeting: ‘US hands off Cuba and Venezuela’

Vol. 83/No. 42 - November 18, 2019
“We fought revolutionary struggles to overthrow slavery in Cuba and here in the U.S.,” José Ramón Cabañas, inset, Cuba’s ambassador to the U.S., told event in soldiarity with Cuba and Venezuela in Washington, D.C., Oct. 19. “Our solidarity has strong historic roots.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than 100 participants gathered at the African American Civil War Museum for a “U.S. Imperialist Hands Off Cuba and Venezuela” forum here Oct. 19. The museum is an important institution in D.C. Its mission “is to…


As competition heats up, retail bosses tell workers, ‘Speed up’

Vol. 83/No. 42 - November 18, 2019
Worker at Amazon Fulfillment Center in Staten Island, New York, hits button to indicate order robotically transported to her workstation is done. Bosses’ speedup has led to increase in on-the-job injuries. Inset, company tests drone making deliveries.

Amazon, like its giant retail competitor Walmart, seeks to maximize its profits off workers’ backs. Both companies are stepping up use of robots to press their relentless speedup and intensify the exploitation of workers.  A study by the New York…


Courts back two capitalist parties’ ballot monopoly

Vol. 83/No. 42 - November 18, 2019

Confirming its role as a guardian of the capitalist rulers’ two-party system, the black-robed Supreme Court justices continue to refuse to hear any cases that involve opening up greater access to the ballot for third-party candidates. However, they do hear…


25, 50 and 75 Years Ago

Vol. 83/No. 42 - November 18, 2019

November 21, 1994 DECATUR, Illinois — When Janey McKinney’s husband was locked out by A.E. Staley, a major producer of corn sweeteners, in June 1993, she said she had two choices: “Either lie down and get walked on or stand…




Iraqi protests grow, demand halt to Tehran’s interference

Vol. 83/No. 42 - November 18, 2019
Demonstrators in Iraq block Joumhouriya bridge in Baghdad Nov. 3. Protesters demand end to government’s refusal to provide jobs, electricity, and an end to Tehran’s ongoing intervention.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis rallied in Baghdad Nov. 1 in the largest anti-government demonstrations since the U.S. invasion in 2003. The actions — fueled by deteriorating living conditions, demands for political rights and widespread anger about the Iranian government’s…


California blackout, fire show need for workers control of power companies

Vol. 83/No. 42 - November 18, 2019

GEYSERVILLE, Calif. — In late October hundreds of thousands of California residents had their electric power shut off by Pacific, Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison — the state’s two largest utility monopolies. Both companies initially claimed the shutdowns…