East Bay transit workers fight bosses’ takebacks, seek support

Vol. 84/No. 7 - February 24, 2020

OAKLAND, Calif. — Bus drivers, mechanics and clerical workers employed by the AC Transit system in the East Bay held a midday rally outside the agency’s headquarters Feb. 5, seeking to win more support for their fight against the company’s…


French workers continue protest against Macron’s pension assault

Vol. 84/No. 7 - February 24, 2020
Sailors march in Marseille, France, Jan. 29 as part of a national day of protest against government plans to raise retirement age from 62 to 64 and to cut back workers’ pensions.

PARIS — Sizable union-led protests have continued against French President Emmanuel Macron’s attack on workers’ pensions, despite the end of a six-week national rail strike Jan. 29 called to oppose the assaults. The strike was joined by workers walking out…


Sinn Fein vote surge fueled by social crisis, calls for Irish unity

Vol. 84/No. 7 - February 24, 2020

LONDON — None of the capitalist parties contesting Ireland’s Feb. 8 parliamentary election came close to gaining a majority. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, who have dominated Irish governments since a war for independence liberated a majority of the country…


As Trump touts jobs and peace, Democrats face mounting crisis

Vol. 84/No. 6 - February 17, 2020

President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address to Congress Feb. 4 as a reelection rally, boasting “jobs are booming, incomes are soaring, poverty is plummeting, crime is falling, confidence is surging, and our country is thriving and…



Support miners on strike against Asarco bosses’ union busting!

Vol. 84/No. 6 - February 17, 2020

Copper miners on strike in Arizona and Texas continue to staff the picket lines 24/7 and reach out for support against the union-busting attack of Asarco’s bosses. “We are continuing Sunday dinners at the Mission picket line and Friday dinner…


Seattle hospital workers strike for ‘patients before profits’

Vol. 84/No. 6 - February 17, 2020
Members of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW rally in Seattle Jan. 29 during three-day walkout at Swedish-Providence hospitals demanding increased staffing for patient care and a wage raise.

SEATTLE — Some 8,000 workers represented by SEIU Healthcare 1199NW and other unions went on strike against the Swedish-Providence hospital system Jan. 28-30. Picket lines were set up 24 hours a day at seven facilities in the greater Seattle area.…


Out of the EU, UK rulers seek trade bloc with Washington

Vol. 84/No. 6 - February 17, 2020
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, left, and President Donald Trump meet at U.N. meeting last September. After London break with EU, rulers seek trade bloc with Washington to compete.

As promised, the Conservative U.K. government led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson walked out of the European Union Jan. 31, dealing a blow to the German and French rulers who dominate it. Johnson’s government will now start talks, first and…


China rulers take steps to consolidate control in Asia

Vol. 84/No. 6 - February 17, 2020
Huawei display of 5G mobile station at China Expo in Shenzhen, Oct. 29, 2019. Beijing seeks to use high-tech dominance to help establish long-term bloc with reliant Asian regimes.

While big-business press headlines have focused on the trade disputes and agreements between Washington and Beijing, the course of the rulers in China has become increasingly clear. Armed with a long view, they are focused on building their own empire…


Relatives of slain protesters in Iran reject gov’t bribes

Vol. 84/No. 6 - February 17, 2020
Borhan Mansournia, left, an Iranian Kurd, was killed by gov’t security forces when he joined protests in November. Relatives are speaking out about killing in face of capitalist rulers’ efforts to bribe them into lying and blaming his killing on fellow protesters. At right is his father.

Relatives of protesters who were murdered by Tehran’s security forces last November have spoken out against the authorities’ attempts to bribe them to lie about the killings. The protesters rose up against the bourgeois clerical regime’s wars abroad and the…