By MARTY GOODMAN The massive strike wave begun Dec. 5 in France against a proposed rollback of pension rights has slowed down. Disruptive strikes and giant marches of mostly public workers across the country topped over 1.5 million, but the leading edge of the movement, city and regional rail and bus workers, announced the end … Continue reading French Strikes Wane but Not the Outrage
By MARTY GOODMAN On December 5th, French workers walked off the job in massive numbers to protest a proposed attack on pension rights by French President Emmanuel Macron. The proposal would change the age required for public workers to receive full retirement benefits from 62 to 64. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe bluntly told the … Continue reading Workers Shut Down France to Defend Pensions!
By NEIL FAULKNER and PHIL HEARSE (Socialist Action publishes this article as part of the ongoing discussion on the meaning of the recent overwhelming Conservative Party election victory and the future prospects of the defeated British Labor Party of Jeremy Corbyn. The article originally appeared in the new publication Mutiny, http://www.timetomutiny.org) The British ruling class has … Continue reading British Election: A Victory for the Far Right. A Crisis for the Left
By ANN MONTAGUE On December 12th, 10.3 million people voted for the left Labour Party platform and for radical social change. But the numbers were significantly less than in 2017, which brought Jeremy Corbyn in as leader of the Labour Party. However, this smaller number was still much greater than the number of votes that … Continue reading Prospects for a Fighting British Labour Party
By DAVID KIELY The postal workers of SUD-Poste 92, in Haut-de-Seine, in the western suburbs of Paris, have won their 14-month strike, marking an end to one of the longest strikes in French history. During these long months the workers faced intense repression by the police, who worked hand in hand with the managers of … Continue reading French postal workers win 14-month strike
By OKDE-SPARTAKOS Greek section of the Fourth International Τhe Prespes agreement between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia imposes in the clearest manner the hegemony of the Greek state over the neighboring Macedonian state and constitutes an overwhelming diplomatic and political victory for the Greek bourgeois class. According to the agreement, the Republic of Macedonia … Continue reading Greece & Macedonia: Regarding the Prespes Agreement and the nationalist rallies
This is a statement issued by Anticapitalism and Revolution, a current within the New Anti-Capitalist Party in France. The birth of the “Yellow Jackets” movement is, after the 2016 strikes against the Labor Law reform, another symptom of a contained social anger that has finally blown up. The labor movement leadership, alongside those who spent … Continue reading ‘We need a general strike to fight Macron and his administration’
This interview with Pierre Rousset, a leading member of the Fourth International and the Nouveau Parti Anti-capitalist in France, is to be published in Chinese on the Borderless website, in Hong Kong. The English-language version was published at http://www.europe-solidaire.org/. Au Loog Yu - The French president Macron’s wanting to raise the gasoline tax is supposed to be … Continue reading The yellow vests struggle and the French crisis
By KJELL OSTBERG The outcome of the Swedish parliamentary election on 9 September confirms a general European trend: rising right-wing populism and a weakening Social Democracy. The traditional picture of Sweden as the home of a progressive social democratic welfare state has been fading away for several decades now. The outcome of the Swedish parliamentary … Continue reading Outcome of Swedish elections ‘confirms European trend’
By MARTY GOODMAN A showdown between capital and labor in France over the privatization of the national railroad will extend into the summer and possibly beyond. France’s nationalized railroad, SNCF, is a source of pride for most French people—and in particular, for rail workers, who recognize the landmark rights they’ve won by striking over many … Continue reading French strikes continue
By MARTY GOODMAN In a massive display of working-class power, workers throughout France walked off the job on March 22 and on April 3, launching a long-term series of one-day strikes. The strike wave is aimed at the anti-working-class attacks of the neoliberal French president, Emanuel Macron. The strike action gained tremendous force on March … Continue reading French workers and students on strike!
By JULIA CAMARA On March 8, International Women’s Day, over 5 million took part in an unprecedented “feminist strike” in cities throughout the Spanish state. They participated in two-hour walk-outs and rallied under the slogan, “If we stop, the world stops.” This article was first posted on March 10 on the Viento Sur website. The … Continue reading ‘The feminists are here’
On Oct. 27, the parliament of Catalonia voted for independence from the Spanish state. However, on the same day, the central government in Madrid, citing Article 155 of the constitution, dissolved the Catalan parliament and nullified its vote. Below is a response to those events, issued on Oct. 30 by the Izquierda Anticapitalista Revolucionaria (IZAR), … Continue reading Solidarity with the Catalan people! No to Article 155!
By Fourth International Bureau On 20 September 2017, the Civil Guard and the Spanish National Police arrested 14 senior officials of the Generalitat (the Catalan government) and carried out 40 searches of public buildings and private homes. A police operation then seized propaganda material of the CUP (Candidatura de Unidad Popular, the main party of … Continue reading 4th International: Defend the right to self-determination in Catalonia!
By MANOS SKOUFOGLOU — ATHENS — During recent years, the debate on Greece has not been just a debate among the other ones. The particular intensity of the crisis, of the capitalist attack and of the social fightback, as well as the emergence of a party of reformist origin that finally managed to take power, … Continue reading Greece, a story without the distorting prism of SYRIZA
By BARRY SHEPPARD In regard to the charges about Trump‘s collusion with Russia to throw the election his way, and Russian meddling in the elections, we can mention that the list of the elections in all the countries Washington meddled in is far too long to for this post. In fact, the U.S. is the … Continue reading Washington, Berlin and Moscow
By MITCH USMC 05-09 The author is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq and a member of Socialist Action. Can hazing build strong bonds in military, school, or athletic associations? No it cannot. The opposite is true. Hazing is about breaking down an individual to conform. Its about fear and obedience. It … Continue reading Stand with Greek soldiers against hazing
By ANN MONTAGUE The British Labour Party has emerged with more than 200,000 new members and 30 additional seats in Parliament. This has surprised the Tories as well as some of the Labour Party Members of Parliament (MPs), who were shocked to hear union members shouting, “We killed Blairism.” The party’s resurgence gathered steam with … Continue reading Britain sees an invigorated Labour Party and weakened Tories
By ANDY STOWE Elizabeth Windsor, the English queen, isn’t supposed to make political statements, but on June 16 she announced to the world that she thinks Tory Prime Minister Theresa May is a morally gutless coward and a useless leader. Of course, she didn’t quite put it that way. Instead, she met survivors of the Grenfell … Continue reading Grenfell Tower tragedy shows the Tory government is illegitimate
A displaced resident of the now destroyed Grenfell Tower in London told the press after the June 14 pre-dawn fire: “A building like that wouldn’t fly in a rich area. But because everyone here is poor and working class—that’s why it happened.” For years, residents of the 24-story tower block had complained to local government … Continue reading Grenfell Tower fire in London: Some quick facts
CHRIS HUTCHINSON interviews JEAN ROCH-FORT Emmanuel Macron, a French banker and longtime establishment politician, emerged victorious on a “third party” ticket in this year’s French elections. His victory follows the breakdown of the traditional center left and right capitalist parties through major corruption scandals. The candidate of the Republicans, a center right-wing party, Nathan Fillon, … Continue reading French election results: No choice for workers
By THOMAS WEYTS — BRUSSELS —Twelve thousand people took part in the demonstration here on May 24 against Trump and the world that he stands for and against NATO. As expected and hoped, it was a very diverse, lively, and militant demonstration. More than 70 organizations took to the streets against war and imperialist adventures, … Continue reading Belgium: Trump is not welcome, and neither is NATO!
By ANN MONTAGUE Women in Ireland are going on strike to protest the country’s ban on abortions. In Ireland it is a crime to have an abortion, and the procedure carries a 14-year prison sentence. There are no exceptions for rape or incest or when the fetus cannot survive outside the womb due to a … Continue reading Women in Ireland call March 8 strike
By Y. FIKRET KAYALI The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, barely rescued from the grave, may yet prove to be one of the walking-dead. The signature of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and those of his European counterparts on the document are, at this point, merely ceremonial. Before implementation, ratification votes must be held in Ottawa and … Continue reading Canada-EU trade pact still not a done deal
By PHIL HEARSE It is likely that the victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential elections will give new momentum to the right wing in world politics. As part of the discussion, we print this article from Phil Hearse, which appeared in Socialist Resistance, journal of the British section of the Fourth International. The international … Continue reading Trump and the future: commentary from Britain
