‘Unions are important not just for pay, but for safety’

Vol. 82/No. 2 - January 15, 2018

EAST CHICAGO, Ind. — In the early morning hours of Dec. 11, 2017, Alfred Cadena, a 61-year-old operator on the Continuous Annealing Line, was killed on the job at the ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor mill here. He had 41 years’ experience…


Economic crisis behind protests in Iran cities

Vol. 82/No. 2 - January 15, 2018

In the wake of years of economic hardship, Tehran’s wars in Syria and Iraq, and recent price increases, daily protests by workers and youth spread across Iran in late December. Some participants have chanted slogans opposing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Others…


Bosses push for profits fuels rise in job deaths

Vol. 82/No. 2 - January 15, 2018
Construction workers rally to protest attacks on unions, safety in New York City Nov. 14.

For the third year in a row the number of workers who were killed on the job increased in 2016. Some 5,200 workers paid with their lives for the bosses’ drive for profits, with immigrants and older workers hardest hit.…


Truckers on strike across Russia face gov’t attacks

Vol. 82/No. 2 - January 15, 2018

Long-haul truckers in Russia conducted their third countrywide work stoppage during the holiday season Dec. 15-25. Since November 2015 they have fought the government over the Platon tax system, a per-ton toll imposed on owners of trucks weighing over 12…


US gov’t lies, misconduct bring mistrial in Bundy case

Vol. 82/No. 2 - January 15, 2018

In an important victory for ranchers, workers and farmers, federal Judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial Dec. 20 in the government’s frame-up trial against rancher Cliven Bundy, two of his sons, Ryan and Ammon, and supporter Ryan Payne. The four…


Auckland art auction extends solidarity to Cuba

Vol. 82/No. 2 - January 15, 2018
Auckland art auction extends solidarity to Cuba

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — “Hurricane Irma devastated hundreds of families in Cuba,” Mario Alzugarary, above right, Cuba’s ambassador to New Zealand, told those attending the opening of a three-day art exhibit and auction at the George Fraser Gallery, Dec. 14.…


Amtrak, gov’t seek to cover up bosses’ role in  Wash. derailment

Vol. 82/No. 2 - January 15, 2018
Amtrak train on first trip on new tracks spills onto highway in DuPont, Washington, after derailment Dec. 18. Bosses rushed to put crews on new bypass without adequate training.

After Amtrak Cascades train 501 derailed and crashed Dec. 18 as it traveled over the just completed Point Defiance Bypass on its way from Seattle to Portland, government officials and railroad bosses began to try to blame the engineer. Three…


‘In Cuba there is no discrimination against Chinese’

Vol. 82/No. 2 - January 15, 2018

NAGASAKI, Japan — The differing class origins and perspectives of the millions of people who made up the Chinese “diaspora” over the last 200 years, and how these differences affected their struggles against discrimination, were discussed and debated at an…


North, South Korea discuss talks as US sanctions squeeze Pyongyang

Vol. 82/No. 2 - January 15, 2018

In his annual New Year’s speech, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his government would like to discuss with its South Korean counterparts participating in the Winter Olympics in South Korea next month. “The Winter Games will be a…


Nagasaki: A fitting setting for meeting on overseas Chinese

Vol. 82/No. 2 - January 15, 2018

With a long history of Chinese settlement and trade, Nagasaki provided a fitting setting for this year’s ISSCO conference. The port city of Nagasaki was established on the northwest coast of Kyushu Island in 1571 for trade with Portugal and…