When I first considered writing a retort to Curtis Rumrill’s piece, “Why These Wildcats Will Weaken Us,” I thought it best to refute his argument on the grounds of its many inaccuracies. A retort . . .
Category: Labor
The American Working Class, Coronavirus, and the Recession
This article was originally written for Viento Sur, a political magazine published in the Spanish state.
East Bay DSA: Solidarity with the UC Wildcat Strike Open Letter
Our hope was that this could be an official letter officially supported by the East Bay DSA, but that has not come together. Instead, we are issuing this open letter as individual members of the East Bay branch because we . . .
Looking Beyond Electoralism: Radical Municipalism in the UK?
Now that the dust has settled after the disastrous results of December 12th, it’s time to seriously reconsider the approach of the left in the UK. The electoral defeat of Corbynism has opened up a space for such analysis. As . . .
Strike statistics for 2019 are out. Is the strike wave continuing?
The 2012 Chicago teachers’ strike and the 2016 Verizon strike—the largest public sector and the largest private sector strikes in years, respectively—were warning shots.
After a short decline in strike activity in 2017, strike actions exploded in 2018 driven by West . . .
A Brief on the Metal Workers’ Strike in Turkey
Dear Friends,
Dear Comrades,
First of all, let us thank you at the beginning and once again, for your show of solidarity with the metal workers of Turkey.
The bargaining process which covered more than a hundred thousand workers was a candidate to . . .
Philly Educators Have a Chance to Make History
Members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) have a chance to improve lives of Philly school educators and students, challenging control of schools by corporate elites, as did Chicago teachers when they elected a new generation of leaders from . . .
Bern After Reading: Sanders and Socialist Strategy
In March of 2019, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) endorsed Bernie Sanders’ bid for President of the United States. DSA members voted on an advisory referendum that simply asked if the Democratic Socialists of America should endorse Bernie Sanders . . .
France at a Crossroads
The nationwide general strike in France, now in its record seventh week, seems to be approaching its crisis point. Despite savage police repression, about a million people are in the streets protesting President Macron’s proposed neoliberal “reform” of France’s retirement . . .
Review: “Tramps and Trade Union Travelers” by Kim Moody
Kim Moody, Tramps and Trade Union Travelers: Internal Migration and Organized Labor in Gilded Age America, 1870–1900. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2019.
Kim Moody has written another very interesting and provocative book on labor. His other books have generally been about contemporary . . .
review
The AFL-CIO’s Cold War
The Cold War was the period in the twentieth century, approximately between 1946 and 1991, where world politics were dominated by the confrontation between two blocs of states, led respectively by the United States and the Soviet Union. . . .
Continuing the Discussion on Black Politics
Replying to Cedric Johnson: I think Johnson over-diagnoses the problem. Where he sees danger, I see opportunity and where I see opportunity, he sees danger.
From the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to Black Lives Matter
On SNCC’s 60th Anniversary
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee began as an organization of students from black colleges in the South to integrate lunch counters that refused service to blacks. The tactic they used was the nonviolent direct action sit-in. What began . . .
Syndicalism’s Legacy and Left Labor Strategy Today
In the first two decades of the twentieth century, dissident revolutionaries built a rival tradition—the syndicalist movement.
Take My Benefits—Please!
Employment-based Health Care Has Become an Anchor Around the Neck of the U.S. Working Class
At the June 2019 House Ways and Means Committee Hearing on Medicare for All, Texas Republican Kevin Murphy lamented, “That great health care plan that your union negotiated for you? It’s gone. Banned under Medicare for All.”
Problems with an Electoral Road to Socialism in the United States
In a welcome sign, the recent revitalization of the socialist left, particularly the spectacular growth of Democratic Socialists of America, has revived debate about the road to socialism. Also, fortunately, the discussion, which has partially played out in . . .
The Puerto Rican Summer
The summer of 2019 will go down as a major moment in Puerto Rico’s history. Between July 10 and 25, street protests—unprecedented in their intensity, persistence, diversity, and size—led to an unprecedented result: The Island’s highest government official . . .
The Boeing and Volkswagen Debacles
Ruling Class Errors and Working Class Imperatives
The Boeing Company, a huge global, high tech aerospace corporation has stumbled badly with enormous adverse financial consequences. The Boeing Max 8 tragedy and other corporate tech blunders should encourage us, especially those of us in the labor movement, to . . .
How General Strike Rhetoric Became A City-Wide Reality
A review of Radical Seattle: The General Strike of 1919 by Cal Winslow (Monthly Review Press, 2020).
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