Rail workers in UK strike to defend jobs and safety

Vol. 83/No. 48 - December 30, 2019

Some 800 guards (conductors), members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, began a monthlong strike Dec. 2 against government and bosses’ attacks on their union and to defend jobs and safety for both rail workers and passengers.  The workers’…



Algeria protests reject rigged presidential election

Vol. 83/No. 48 - December 30, 2019

Algeria’s capitalist rulers are working overtime in an attempt to cobble together a new government that can quiet widespread protests against continuing military rule. Against mass opposition, they held a presidential election Dec. 12 where all five hand-picked candidates had…


Gibsons fight Oberlin College ‘racism’ smears

Vol. 83/No. 48 - December 30, 2019

The Gibson family, owners of a bakery in Oberlin, Ohio, won a multimillion dollar libel suit last June against Oberlin College over its race-baiting slanders against them. Since then the college has appealed the $31 million verdict and has engaged…


CP’s oil train wreck raises specter of new Lac-Mégantic

Vol. 83/No. 48 - December 30, 2019

MONTREAL — Two weeks after 3,200 Canadian National Railway workers carried out their Nov. 19-26 strike targeting unsafe conditions pushed by the bosses, a Canadian Pacific crude oil train derailed and caught fire Dec. 9 near the town of Guernsey…


‘I am Troy Davis’: powerful protest against death penalty

Vol. 83/No. 48 - December 30, 2019
Standing left is Cephus “Uncle Bobby X” Johnson, uncle of Oscar Grant, killed by BART police in 2009, who portrayed Troy Davis in Dec. 8 New York performance of “I am Troy Davis.” Gwen Carr, seated left, mother of Eric Garner who was killed by New York Cop chokehold in 2014, played Davis’ mother. Inset is Troy Davis with his nethew, De’Jaun Davis-Correia, whom he mentored and tutored through school from behind bars while on death row.

NEW YORK — Some 100 people joined the family of Troy Davis to see a live performance Dec. 8 of “I am Troy Davis,” a theatrical protest against cop frame-ups and the death penalty. The screenplay adaption of the book…


Workers donate ‘blood money’ bribes to build SWP

Vol. 83/No. 48 - December 30, 2019

Enclosed is a check for $35.83 that I discovered on my Walmart check stub,” wrote Anthony Dutrow from Miami, “no doubt some kind of holiday ‘gift’ and no doubt ‘blood money.’ “This was one of the many things they’ve thrown…


Letters

Vol. 83/No. 47 - December 23, 2019

Cuba’s socialist revolution Keep up the good work that you are doing, especially on Cuba to defend the socialist revolution. A prisoner, Florida Could not put ‘Militant’ down Thank you for sending me the Militant. When I received my first…


25, 50 and 75 Years Ago

Vol. 83/No. 47 - December 23, 2019

December 26, 1994 Under orders of President Boris Yeltsin 40,000 Russian troops invaded Chechnya in the northern Caucasus region December 11. The military assault, launched under the guise of “protecting” civilians, is being met by resistance in the Chechen republic…


Bus drivers in New Zealand fight for higher wages

Vol. 83/No. 47 - December 23, 2019

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — In the week beginning Dec. 2, around half of all bus trips in Auckland became free to the public. More than 900 drivers employed by two of the city’s bus companies — NZ Bus and Go…