By STEVE R. JOHNSON Plans to reopen schools are being questioned by the international working class as the novel coronavirus continues to spread across the world.
Category: Coronavirus
Unemployment Skyrockets, So Does Hunger
By BARRY SHEPPARD The Labor Department recently released figures for the unemployment rate for April, saying that the rate was 14.7 percent, the highest since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Labor Department said that because of how it classifies workers, the real figure could be 20 percent. These figures reflect the situation as … Continue reading Unemployment Skyrockets, So Does Hunger
The “New Normal” and Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine
By MARTY GOODMAN Today only 51.3% of American adults have jobs – the lowest number on record, lower than the Great Depression. We have passed 80,000 coronavirus deaths.
The “moron” Trump’s COVID-19 capitalist cure: Back to work!
By JEFF MACKLER "A quick succession of unhealthy and short-lived generations will keep the labour market as well supplied as a series of vigorous and long-lived generations." - Karl Marx
May Day Protests Call for Workers’ and Immigrant Rights and Housing Protections; U.S. Predicts 3,000 Deaths per Day
By BARRY SHEPPARD May Day saw significant actions by workers in essential companies serving the general public during the shutdown.
Free them all! Empty the prisons! Let our people go!
Why are so many in jail? Here is the fightback narrative: America is a racist nation, founded on the principle that billionaire and multimillionaire white men are created equal, and therefore should have equal opportunities to make super-profits from an exploited workforce of lesser humans, namely working people.
Corporations and the Pandemic: Bandits at the Till
By JAMES FORTIN With assistance from their Democratic and Republican co-conspirators the corporate bandits have stuck up the nation.
Layoffs skyrocket, Virus deaths soar, Opposition grows
By JAMES FORTIN At a news conference on April 9, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the economy was deteriorating “with alarming speed” – not particularly newsworthy to the already-informed ranks of the recently unemployed, now numbering over 17 million. The same words also tragically apply to the ongoing spread of COVID-19 through the U.S. and the rest of the world.
Death Toll Worse Than Reported in the U.S.
By BARRY SHEPPARD One week ago, the official death toll from COVID-19 in the United States was 3,700. Today, April 7, the number has risen to well over 12,000. But this underestimates the real figure.
Workers Say “No” to Virus, Defy U.S. Navy
By JAMES FORTIN Shipyard workers at Bath Iron Works (BIW) called-out from their shifts March 24 in response to company demands they work during the COVID-19 pandemic even after a worker there had tested positive for the disease. Nearly 60% of the company’s workforce of 6,800 simply did not come in, according to Tim Suitter, … Continue reading Workers Say “No” to Virus, Defy U.S. Navy
Pandemic Explodes, Capitalist Economy Tanks
By JAMES FORTIN Now that the COVID-19 contagion has spread to the 4 corners of the globe, the unpreparedness of the capitalist state, and the outright disregard by the ruling class for the fate of the working people of the United States, has come into full view. Underlying a perfect-storm scenario is the certain emerging … Continue reading Pandemic Explodes, Capitalist Economy Tanks
Cuba: A Model of Solidarity in Covid-19 Fight
By NICK BAKER While the U.S. damns its population with reluctant and haphazard “free market” responses to a global pandemic that demands comprehensive, organized, centrally directed action, Cuba is showing the world a different route. It is carrying forward the legacy of its legendary revolutionary doctor with what the British newspaper the Independent called last … Continue reading Cuba: A Model of Solidarity in Covid-19 Fight
Capitalism’s coronavirus response: Bail out the rich!
By JOHN POTTINGER Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap off tall buildings in a single bound! Superman? No, it’s the U.S. and the world capitalist economies. Or is it? As more states and more counties mandate stay-in-place orders more and more people are out of jobs to the … Continue reading Capitalism’s coronavirus response: Bail out the rich!
Statement of Socialist Action National Committee: Coronavirus threatens the lives of billions
By JAMES FORTIN and JEFF MACKLER As the devastating novel coronavirus (COVID-19) literally threatens the lives of billions of the earth’s people, two truths about the contagion remain unchallenged: All nations are ill-prepared for the arrival of the virus, and once it lands, despite herculean efforts in some cases, little can be done to stop … Continue reading Statement of Socialist Action National Committee: Coronavirus threatens the lives of billions
China Coronavirus Challenge Spreads to World Stage
By JAMES FORTIN As the novel coronavirus continues to dominate the concerns of health officials around the globe, two truths about the contagion have remained unchallenged: Nations are ill prepared for the arrival of the virus and once it lands, cannot readily stop its spread despite herculean efforts in some cases to do so. As … Continue reading China Coronavirus Challenge Spreads to World Stage