A related factor which has developed alongside working people being generally unable to afford to pay rent has been the rise of the prison system as one of the most stable forms of public housing. Over 2 million Americans are behind bars on any given day. Appropriately, the flyers Socialist Action members have been handing … Continue reading Gentrification book tour in Connecticut
On Aug. 26, tens of thousands of people bustled around Storrs, Conn., as classes began at University of Connecticut (UConn). This large university, known for its basketball team and parties, may not seem like a key area of the class struggle. However, in weeks and even months before the first day of classes, young Marxist … Continue reading Socialist students set ambitious program at University of Connecticut
By ERNIE GOTTA Dozens of SEIU members and supporters rallied in support of fast-food workers at a service plaza in Darien, Conn., on Aug. 28. These workers are fighting to reclaim potentially millions of dollars in stolen wages through unpaid benefits or the additional payment required by the Connecticut Standard Wage Law. 32BJ SEIU, the … Continue reading Connecticut service plaza workers fight wage theft
By ERNIE GOTTA and ERWIN FREED — STAMFORD, Conn. — Like any capitalist enterprise, hotel companies hate losing profit margins to benefit the workers who make them rich. Industry professionals debate about the type of model they need to make the most profit. Currently, hotels in the Stamford area are running on very lean models. … Continue reading Shifting the balance of power in hotels
By ERWIN FREED and ERNIE GOTTA The UFCW’s historic 11-day strike that involved over 31,000 Stop and Shop workers and covered all stores in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts came to an end on April 21. As covered at socialistaction.org (April 11), the demand of the union was to maintain all wage, benefit, and work … Continue reading After 11-day strike in New England — Stop & Shop workers win gains
By IVAN DOLPHY All across New England, workers in over 240 Stop & Shop stores have declared that they will not tolerate the attacks to their wages, benefits, and jobs being made during contract negotiations by their employer. Some 31,000 employees have moved to strike and join the picket lines at their shops. On April 11, … Continue reading Stop & Shop strike: One huge fist
By ERNIE GOTTA and ERWIN FREED — STAMFORD, Conn. — The stakes were high for Sheraton hotel workers during their union election her on Dec. 13. Sheraton workers won a stunning but close victory, 69 yes votes to 32 no votes, in the face of a vicious anti-union campaign by the Davidson company, which manages … Continue reading Victory in Sheraton hotel union election!
By ERNIE GOTTA — STAMFORD, Conn. — On Nov. 19, workers at the Sheraton Hotel here launched a public campaign to form a union. Over 100 workers celebrated their new union with embraces and cheers that filled the courtyard of the St. John’s Episcopal Church as they gathered before making their way to the hotel. … Continue reading Stamford hotel workers launch union drive
By ERNIE GOTTA Union hotel workers across the country are fighting and striking against an all-out offensive of hotel owners to crush the standard of living won through decades of struggle. In Chicago nearly all hotels in the city went out on strike. After three weeks, hotel bosses were ready to come to the table … Continue reading Conference presenters stand with Stamford hotel workers in contract fight
By ROZWELL SIMMONS — NEW HAVEN, CONN. — In a leaked memo published by The New York Times on Oct. 21, the Trump administration called for federal agencies to “define sex as male or female, unchangeable, and determined by the genitals that a person is born with.” Alarmed by this persecuting and transphobic policy, members … Continue reading ‘We won’t be erased,’ say Connecticut protesters for trans rights
By RUWAN MUNASINGHE — HARTFORD, Conn. — On Dec. 14, 2017, Hartford lost one of its greatest legends when 20-year-old Zoe Dowdell—also known as Gangstalicious—was shot and killed by New Britain police. Caleb Tisdol and Noah Young (also known as “Skinny), the others in the car, were convicted on various charges and are currently incarcerated. … Continue reading Justice for Connecticut police victims!
By ERNIE GOTTA The Connecticut Secretary of State’s office is threatening to rule Iraq War veteran Fred Linck, the Socialist Action candidate for U.S. Senate, off the ballot. Dozens of petitions are still in the hands of town clerks (likely containing hundreds of uncounted signatures), and a cursory examination of a sample of counted signatures … Continue reading Socialist Action candidate fights for Connecticut ballot status
By ERNIE GOTTA Hospitality workers from Local 217 Unite Here are hitting the picket lines across Connecticut this summer in solidarity with their coworkers waging contract fights at hotels in Hartford, New Haven, and Stamford. At a time when most unions are making concessions to the bosses, Local 217 has drawn a line in the … Continue reading Hilton hotel workers won’t back down!
By ERWIN FREED On May 8, CT Bail Fund called a rally outside of York Correctional Institute, a women’s prison in Niantic, Conn. Eleven other groups were listed as co-sponsors on the events facebook page and around 40 people showed up in solidarity. The rally was called in conjunction with the Bail Fund’s successful effort … Continue reading Connecticut rally in solidarity with incarcerated women
By UCONN YOUTH FOR SOCIALIST ACTION Since Oct. 19, 2017, University of Connecticut’s Graduate Employee Union-UAW Local 6950 has been in negotiations with the university administration for a second collective bargaining agreement. Under the leadership of university President Susan Herbst’s administration and the state appointed Board of Directors, the university has hired the union-busting law … Continue reading Negotiations stall at UConn, graduate employees organize sit-in
By DANIEL ADAM Ten years after the crash of 2008, a refreshing growth in unionization and militant strikes shows promise of developing into a new wave of working-class action. This follows years of struggle against police murder and a wave of protest that began with 4 million marching for women’s rights. Tens of thousands flooded … Continue reading Iraq veteran runs for U.S. Senate: Vote Socialist Action!
WEST HARTFORD, Conn.—On Feb. 24, around 170 crowded into the Elmwood Community Center here to hear, as the promotional material described the event, “Experts and activists exploring some of the toughest questions facing the climate movement.” Jacqui Patterson, the director of the national NAACP’s Environmental and Justice Program, told the stories of individual people of … Continue reading Connecticut activists assemble at Climate Justice Teach-in
By ERNIE GOTTA — STAMFORD, Conn. — Workers at the Stamford Hilton Hotel walked off the job Thursday, March 8, to strike for a good contract. They picketed in front of the entry way for nearly two hours, chanting, “No contract, No Peace.” [See the video: https://www.facebook.com/melissa.abbe.7/videos/10214115775642871/ ] Members of International Women’s Strike Connecticut joined … Continue reading Hilton hotel workers walk out for a good contract
https://www.facebook.com/VoteSocialistAction/videos/885658494938403/?hc_ref=ARQFzl8eBVDmvDIF3MDH6oLat2FdBy4OvopDYbUKRiXoKqMgGl5mO5aBi4_fiixC4C8&fref=nf By MITCH LINCK Fred “Mitch” Linck is the Socialist Action candidate for the U.S. Senate from Connecticut. I want to talk a little about what I learned from my time in Iraq, and how it can help us understand our situation today. By the time I was 17, there was no one who could … Continue reading Fred ‘Mitch’ Linck: Why I am running for U.S. Senator from Connecticut
By ERNIE GOTTA (Socialist Action) and WILLIAM LEWIS (Left Voice) On Monday, Dec. 4, workers at the Hilton Stamford Hotel voted overwhelmingly in favor of forming a union. With 110 for and only five against, it was a great victory for workers’ power and promises a better future for over 120 workers. The workers decided … Continue reading Victory! Hilton workers in Stamford, Conn., vote “yes,” form union
By UCONN YOUTH FOR SOCIALIST ACTION On Dec. 1, University of Connecticut (UConn) students organized a march and rally in response to their perception of the university administration’s inadequate action in relation to a white nationalist speaker on campus four days earlier. That night, Nov. 28, the UConn College Republicans hosted alt-right spokesperson Lucian Wintrich. … Continue reading UConn students respond to alt-right speech on campus
By CONNECTICUT STUDENTS — STAMFORD, Conn. — On Nov. 27, a delegation of students from across Connecticut arrived to tell management at the Hilton Hotel in Stamford that they stand in solidarity with the workers organizing a union. The union vote will take place Dec. 4 after three weeks of management’s anti-union intimidation campaign. We … Continue reading Students confront Stamford hotel management
By ERNIE GOTTA — STAMFORD, Conn. — It’s 9 p.m. on a Monday night, and Marvin Castaneda, a union banquet server at the Hyatt hotel, is making phone calls to Hilton hotel workers. Initially, he leaves messages. Any unrecognizable number the Hilton workers won’t pick up. They think it might be the company or one of … Continue reading Rank and file take on company intimidation meetings in Stamford union drive
Connecticut: ‘Solution is Socialism’ By KEITH LESLIE — NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — On Nov. 4, Socialist Action Connecticut and the Central Connecticut State University Youth for Socialist Action held their second annual conference, entitled “The Solution is Socialism.” More than 100 workers, students, and activists from as far away as Alabama turned out for a … Continue reading Educational conferences reflect growing interest in socialist ideas
