Unions put stamp on East Palestine disaster hearing

Fight for workers control over safety is road forward
Vol. 87/No. 25 - July 10, 2023
Video of burning rail cars after Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment, release of toxic pollution shown at National Transportation Safety Board hearing in East Palestine, Ohio, June 22. Among union leaders speaking was Jared Cassity, SMART-TD, inset, at Dec. 13 rally after Congress barred strike, imposed contract.

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Community residents and rail unions came prepared to have their say at the investigative hearing organized here by the National Transportation Safety Board looking for the causes of the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment, which…


Owens-Illinois strikers in Quebec hit insulting pay offer

Vol. 87/No. 25 - July 10, 2023
March in Montreal June 16 by supporters, United Steelworkers members on strike against Owens-Illinois plant there. Strikers are demanding a wage raise that keeps up with inflation.

MONTREAL — “Enough of being walked over, now we shall walk to them,” Eric Dumas, president of United Steelworkers Local 206-G, told 150 strikers and supporters June 16 before they set out on a march through the neighborhood of Pointe-St-Charles…


Ukraine battle for sovereignty advances amid Moscow clash

Vol. 87/No. 25 - July 10, 2023

The aborted June 23-24 heavily armed convoy headed toward the Kremlin by Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary army, has exposed the weaknesses of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule. Cracks inside his regime have been brought into the open…


Refuse workers in London win pay raise after strike

Vol. 87/No. 25 - July 10, 2023

WELWYN GARDEN CITY, England — Refuse workers here and in Hatfield, towns north of London, returned to work June 23 after striking for better pay four days earlier. Employed by the waste-collection outfit Urbaser, more than 90 members of the…


SWP: Defend political rights workers need!

Vol. 87/No. 25 - July 10, 2023
Farmworkers discuss their fight to win union recognition for the United Farm Workers and better job conditions at Windmill Farms in Sunnyside, Washington, with Vincent Auger, SWP candidate for Seattle City Council, far left, and campaign supporters June 26.

One of the central questions Socialist Workers Party candidates and campaigners are addressing with working people — on strike picket lines, farmsteads and workers’ doorsteps — are the high stakes in defending constitutional freedoms under attack today by President Joseph…


Nurses in Oregon win gains in pay, break time, schedules

Vol. 87/No. 25 - July 10, 2023

BEND, Ore. — Nearly 100% of the Oregon Nurses Association membership at St. Charles Medical Center here voted to approve a new three-year contract after six months of negotiations. The union declared victory after winning substantial wage increases, making its…


Independence for Puerto Rico debated at June 22 UN hearing

Vol. 87/No. 25 - July 10, 2023
Nov. 27, 2022, protest in San Juan against U.S. colonial rule in Puerto Rico. Speakers at U.N. hearing described how U.S. exploitation has worsened economic, social crisis on the island.

UNITED NATIONS — “The political, economic and social model of colonialism in Puerto Rico has not only failed dismally, but every day it is rejected by more Puerto Ricans,” Adrián González, organization secretary of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, told…


UK abortion jailing poses fight to meet social needs of families

Vol. 87/No. 25 - July 10, 2023

LONDON — The jailing of Carla Foster for having an abortion during the eighth month of pregnancy has stirred discussion here about the broader impact of the deepening capitalist crisis on working people and the fight for women’s rights. Foster,…


Writers Guild strike over pay, jobs enters ninth week

Vol. 87/No. 25 - July 10, 2023
Writers Guild strike over pay, jobs enters ninth week

NEW YORK — More than 100 members and supporters of the Writers Guild of America rallied outside City Hall here June 22. Some 11,500 WGA members nationwide have been on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers…