Workers in East Palestine discuss politics, derailment

Vol. 87/No. 23 - June 12, 2023

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — At the street fair going on here, Nancy Felger, a retired health care worker and former shop steward of her Service Employees International Union local, told Socialist Workers Party member Candace Wagner that she heard that…


Toxic chemical fires poison East Texas

Vol. 87/No. 23 - June 12, 2023

Since the beginning of May there have been three fires at refineries and chemical plants near Houston, with one worker dead and over a dozen injured. Like the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, these dangers are a product of the…


Rail workers send solidarity to residents in East Palestine

Working people step up fight after toxic derailment
Vol. 87/No. 22 - June 5, 2023
Shell chemical fire in Deer Park, near Houston, May 5, one of several recent disasters in East Texas. Big business drive for profits causes such “accidents,” as it did in East Palestine, Ohio.

PITTSBURGH — “By speaking out and supporting efforts to hold the nation’s rail carriers accountable,” SMART-TD, the rail conductors’ union, proclaimed in its spring 2023 newsletter, “We do our part to keep what happened in East Palestine from happening again.”…


Rail workers build support for people of East Palestine

Residents seek control over cleanup, health care
Vol. 87/No. 21 - May 29, 2023
Michelle and Dave Shaffer talk with SWP member Kaitlin Estill in East Palestine, Ohio, April 30. He said rail disaster proves “we can’t trust politicians, the government or Norfolk Southern.”

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — In an ongoing series of meetings here hosted by the Environmental Protection Agency, working people, farmers and small-business people continue to express their anger and distrust at claims being made by the railroad and government agencies.…


Bosses’ profit drive threatens more toxic chemical disasters

Vol. 87/No. 20 - May 22, 2023

Since the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment and controlled burn-off of five tankers that spewed 700,000 pounds of toxic vinyl chloride onto the soil, water and air in East Palestine, Ohio, in February, attention there and around the country has…


Residents demand the truth about East Palestine disaster

Rail union speaks out, blames profit drive of bosses
Vol. 87/No. 20 - May 22, 2023
Rail union paper says Norfolk Southern bosses’ profit drive is responsible for disaster in East Palestine, Ohio. Fight put up by area residents, rail unionists shows potential for them to work together to take control of working conditions on the railroad, living conditions in that region.

Working people in East Palestine, Ohio, continue to fight to get the truth from the rail bosses and Environmental Protection Agency representatives who claim everything is safe now after the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment and release of highly toxic…


Working people in East Palestine keep up fight for cleanup, health

Vol. 87/No. 19 - May 15, 2023
Eric “Jake” Cozza, center, who lives half a mile from Norfolk Southern derailment site, testifies at April 27 EPA hearing, saying results of urine test show presence of toxic vinyl chloride.

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Three months after the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment, fire and burn-off of toxic vinyl chloride here, workers, farmers and small-business people continue to press to gain control over needed steps to clean up the…



East Palestine working people fight for control over their lives

Vol. 87/No. 18 - May 8, 2023
Oil refinery worker Rich Miner, center, and Sheree Artis talk to Socialist Workers Party member Seth Galinsky in Paulsboro, New Jersey, April 23. Miner said he volunteered for the cleanup after 2012 derailment there, when vinyl chloride spilled, same chemical as in East Palestine.

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Workers, farmers and small-business people here continue to press for action to clean up the area and protect their health after the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment, fire and burn-off of toxic vinyl chloride. They’re…