155,000 German transport workers strike for wage raise as prices soar

Vol. 87/No. 14 - April 10, 2023

Demanding wage raises to offset soaring prices, transport workers in Germany March 27 held their largest strike since the 1990s. Some 155,000 members of Verdi (United Services Trade Union) and EVG (Rail and Transport Workers Union) shut down most train,…


Los Angeles school workers end strike, vote on new contract

Vol. 87/No. 14 - April 10, 2023

LOS ANGELES — The day after ending a massive March 21-23 strike, Service Employees International Union Local 99 announced that a tentative settlement had been reached with the Los Angeles Unified School District. The contract will be presented to the…


BMWE rail workers protest in Omaha, demand sick pay

Vol. 87/No. 14 - April 10, 2023

OMAHA, Neb. — Members of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees union continue to organize protests at railroad bosses’ headquarters demanding paid sick days. On March 24, nearly 100 BMWE members and other union supporters — from American Federation…


Iraqi Communist Party message of solidarity with Cuba

Vol. 87/No. 14 - April 10, 2023

Below is the solidarity message sent by Raid Fahmi on behalf of the Central Committee of the Iraqi Communist Party to the two-day International US-Cuba Normalization Conference held in New York City March 11-12. Fahmi is secretary of the party’s…


Sanitation workers in Denmark strike over onerous work schedule

Vol. 87/No. 14 - April 10, 2023

Some 550 sanitation workers went on strike in Copenhagen, Denmark, March 20 after officials at the municipal trash-collection agency refused to back down on imposing a more onerous work schedule. The strikers set up a mass picket, blocking the entrance…


Hawaii hospital workers strike wins growing support

Vol. 87/No. 14 - April 10, 2023

Contract negotiations between the United Public Workers union and three hospitals in the Kaiser health system on the Hawaiian island of Maui took place March 17. The nurses’ aides, therapists, technicians, groundskeepers, housekeepers, cooks, laundry workers and other union members…


Gov’t court ‘reform’ paused after protests paralyze Israel

Vol. 87/No. 14 - April 10, 2023

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put his government’s push for judicial “reform” on hold March 27 in the face of growing opposition, including a national strike at the airport, stock exchange and hospitals called by the Histadrut labor federation, paralyzing…


Teachers strike schools throughout New Zealand

Vol. 87/No. 14 - April 10, 2023

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Fifty thousand teachers shut down schools throughout New Zealand March 16 in a 24-hour nationwide strike demanding better pay and conditions. The strike involved primary school and kindergarten teachers organized by the New Zealand Educational Institute…


Farmworkers fight for gov’t aid for flooded communities

Vol. 87/No. 14 - April 10, 2023
At bridge between Pajaro and Watsonville, California, residents lambast government officials March 17 for inadequate response, lack of information and aid in face of flooding in Pajaro.

WATSONVILLE, Calif. — “They don’t care about us.” This is how farmworker Jose Narvaez summed up the attitude of governmental agencies responsible for the unfolding social disaster after the flooding of Pajaro, just south of Watsonville, where many farmworkers live.…