We Must Fight the Spread of the Coronavirus and Anti-Asian Racism!
There has recently been an increase in violence and harassment directed at Asian people, both around the world and in the United States. The assumption is that Chinese people, or Asian people more generally, are responsible for the creation and spread of coronavirus. This idea is absurd. Covid-19 has entered the U.S. and other countries […]
Autoworkers Walk Out in Response to COVID-19
The coronavirus has turned all of our lives upside-down. While all of the major sports leagues have been shut down, why are industries like the auto industry expected to continue pumping out cars? Various white collar employees have been told to work remotely from home but what protection is offered to the blue collar workers […]
France: After us, they have a go at our kids?
Coronavirus: inconsistencies at the top, discontent at the workplaces This post is translated from French from: https://www.convergencesrevolutionnaires.org/ High schools occupied by cops, kids gassed, teachers threatened… After us, they have a go at our kids?* Macron called on his troops to show “humanity”… after the Minister of Labour’s blunder in refusing to vote to extend […]
Coronavirus: inconsistencies at the top, discontent at the workplaces
On Tuesday evening, Edouard Philippe, after Castaner, Blanquer and Macron the night before, made his call for civism and “national union”. But all these representatives of power are much less comfortable when journalists relay the questions coming from the bottom of society as they still deny their own responsibility for the spread of the virus, linked to the damage done by their health policies.
Coronavirus Pandemic Reveals Just How Devastating the Greed of For-Profit Insurance Industry Has Become
For-profit insurers are in the business to make a profit. Period.
Go on Strike for Your Health and Safety
Now isn’t the time to blindly follow orders from bosses. To make sure our response to coronavirus is safe and just, workers need to take on-the-job action like sick-outs and strikes — as New York City educators have over the past week.
Climate Refugees: Made in the U.S.A.
Rain in the 2019-2020 season has been well below average in California, and the outlook for the rest of 2020 is for it to be drier than average, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. This would suggest that we’re headed for yet another dangerous fire season this coming summer and fall. Indeed, climate scientists […]
Newark: Poisoned Water and Poisoned Politics
For many years, Newark NJ has had a big problem with lead in its drinking water. Lead is hazardous and most dangerous to children. It can cause brain damage and many other serious problems. Two years ago, when Newark was about to be sued for exceeding federal standards for lead levels in the city water […]
International Women’s Day and the Harvey Weinstein Conviction
International Women’s Day, March 8th, was created over a 100 years ago through the demonstrations for women’s equality, particularly by the organized struggle of working women against their exploitation and oppression. Women have fought and won many battles since. But the struggle continues. Today, the Harvey Weinstein trial on sexual assault charges once again shows […]
Celebrate the Baltimore Uprising of 2015! Keep fighting racism!
This April marks the fifth anniversary of the Baltimore Uprising of 2015. Thousands took to the streets to protest the murder in police custody of Freddie Gray. Cops murdering African-American Baltimoreans was nothing new. But this was eight months after the Ferguson Uprising against the police murder of Michael Brown and in the middle of […]
The Battle Against Pension Reform in France
On February 29, the French government used an executive order to pass a widely-hated reform of the pension system, which is their equivalent of social security. The government of President Macron had attempted to sell this reform as one leading to “more equality,” eliminating the so-called “privileges” that workers in the public sector have won […]
Bezos on Climate Change – Covering Up the Truth
Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon and richest person on the planet, recently announced in an Instagram post that he is planning on donating $10 billion to combat climate change. “Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet. I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and explore new ways of fighting […]
A Viral Threat Turned into a Global Disaster
Two months ago, on January 15th, the second death from a virus was reported in Wuhan, China. Since then Wuhan and the coronavirus (Covid-19) have become household terms. More than 156,000 cases of infection have been identified and 5,819 deaths have been reported in 142 countries. Viruses are a part of the natural world but […]
[VIDEO] Climate Refugees: Made in the U.S.A.
Rain in the 2019-2020 season has been well below average in California, and the outlook for the rest of 2020 is for it to be drier than average, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
[VIDEO] Bezos on Climate Change – Covering Up the Truth
Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon and richest person on the planet, recently announced in an Instagram post that he is planning on donating $10 billion to combat climate change. “Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet.
[VIDEO] Newark: Poisoned Water and Poisoned Politics
For many years, Newark NJ has had a big problem with lead in its drinking water. Lead is hazardous and most dangerous to children. It can cause brain damage and many other serious problems.
[VIDEO] Celebrate the Baltimore Uprising of 2015! Keep fighting racism!
This April marks the fifth anniversary of the Baltimore Uprising of 2015.
Coronavirus is a Historic Trigger Event — and it Needs a Movement to Respond
Even in times of social distancing, building a collective, social response to the pandemic is our only salvation.
The Coronavirus Pandemic Proves That We Can Overcome the Climate Crisis—If We Want To
One positive takeaway from the world’s response to the coronavirus epidemic is that it’s entirely possible to successfully combat two other existential and intertwined global crises: climate change and air pollution.
“Capitalism is a disease hotspot”
Yaak Pabst interviews Monthly Review Press author Rob Wallace about the coronavirus pandemic
The Coronavirus Exposes a Sick System
The coronavirus (Covid-19) has spread to over one hundred countries, infecting more than 110,000 people and killing 3,825 people so far. There have been 554 confirmed cases and 22 deaths in the U.S. Scientists from around the world are warning that the virus poses a serious global threat and will spread to a significant number […]
West Oakland’s McClymonds High School – A Sacrifice Zone Or A School?
Since February 20th, McClymonds High School in West Oakland has been shut down because Trichloroethylene, or TCE, was found in the groundwater. TCE is a chemical used as solvent to remove grease from metal parts used in industry. When TCE evaporates into the air, it can be toxic, can cause headaches, rashes, cancer, nerve damage, […]
Trump and Modi – Two Rotten Peas in a Pod
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a visit from Trump on February 24 while violent anti-Muslim riots raged in Delhi. Trump congratulated Modi on what a good job he was doing in India, almost as good as Trump thinks he is doing in the U.S.! We can certainly see the similarities between Modi and Trump […]
49.3 and as Many Reasons to Revolt
this post is translated from French from: https://www.convergencesrevolutionnaires.org/ Just ten minutes! This is how long it took the government to decide to push through its pension reform in Parliament, hoping to put an end to almost four months of social protest, something that had not been seen in France for years. The decision to resort […]
Victory In Richmond Against Coal
Since 2013, the Levin Shipyard in Richmond, CA has been shipping coal, mined in Utah, as well as petroleum coke, primarily from Phillips 66 in Rodeo, to Japan and other Asian countries. Every week, roughly 200 uncovered freight trains have rolled through working class residential neighborhoods in Richmond to reach the terminal. If covered, the […]
The United States – Land of Plenty? Not if You Need Meds.
The comedian John Oliver on his show Last Week Tonight recently did a feature about US health care costs. It turns out that the mark-up on medication is so high, the Utah-based insurance company PEHP saves money by paying their customers up to $500 to fly from Salt Lake City to San Diego and then […]
Disney – When You Wish Upon a Lawsuit
Recently the Walt Disney Company went after a Berkeley elementary school for showing The Lion King at a PTA fundraising event, fining them $250 for copyright violation – more than a third of the money they had raised. This situation is especially ironic, because the only reason parents and teachers have to do their own […]
UC Santa Cruz Graduate Students’ Wildcat Strike Gains Support
Graduate students at U.C. Santa Cruz (UCSC) are on strike from teaching for the second week in a row, with the support of undergraduates. They are fighting for a cost of living adjustment (COLA) that would lift the burden of sky-high rents. This is a wildcat strike, meaning a strike without the formal authorization of […]
Bloodshed in Gaza – No to Israeli Violence and Occupation!
A little more than a month after the Trump administration unveiled a so-called peace plan for Palestine/Israel, the Israeli army has launched attacks against the Palestinians in Gaza. Once again Israeli rockets and missiles rain down on the captive population of Gaza, while homemade rockets are fired by Palestinians into Israel. Attacks began after a […]
Algeria: One year later, Hirak is still here!
The Algerians say that it is not simply a question of changing one president for another, it is the regime itself that needs to be changed.
Elections 2020: Who Will Decide Our Future?
Many people are looking at the primary election on March 3, Super Tuesday, as a way to change the situation in this country. They want to get rid of Trump – given who he is, what he has done, and what he might do. So the focus on the elections is – who can beat […]
The Climate Emergency (September, 2019)
Climate scientists have warned us that we are facing a planetary emergency which threatens the survival of most species on the planet. Yet the world’s most powerful governments and corporations insist on staying the same catastrophic course.
Canadians Show us our Collective Power!
Massive protests by indigenous Canadians and their allies have shut down many of the main railway lines across Canada – in solidarity with the resistance of the Wet’suwet’en Nation to an oil pipeline being built on their traditional land. The pipeline, which is being built by TransCanada Energy, will cost 4.7 billion U.S. dollars. That’s […]
The Latest in the Harvey Weinstein Case
Jury negotiations began for Harvey Weinstein’s multiple allegations of rape on Tuesday, February 18th. Though more than ninety women have come forward claiming they were sexually harassed or assaulted by the movie mogul, only two cases have been brought before the court. The defense claims all sexual encounters were consensual, ignoring the testimonies of multiple […]
Housing is a Human Right!
Five Oakland women took over a vacant house in November so they and their children could sleep with a roof over their heads. The owner of the house, a southern Californian company named Wedgewood, invests in housing in 18 states. They “flip” houses like the one in Oakland to make profits. They said the Oakland […]
Capitalism & Socialism
We live in a time of extreme contradictions. On the one hand, our civilization has eliminated smallpox, brought us cell phones, robotics, and space travel, and boasts immense resources and wealth.
New NAFTA is a Climate Disaster: Why does Warren Vote Yes?
Elizabeth Warren’s campaign messaging proclaims that she will take climate change seriously. Her campaign website decries, “… right now, Washington refuses to lift a finger without permission from the fossil fuel industry. That’s dangerous and it’s wrong. We need a government that makes different choices — a government that will stop handing out enormous tax […]
Climate Disruption, Migration, and the Rise of Walls (February, 2020)
As global warming accelerates, tens of millions of people are displaced all over the world every year. In response, governments have intensified their construction and expansion of border walls along with their criminalization of immigrants. And the U.S. only leads the charge in these dehumanizing policies. Join us to discuss these important issues with Todd […]
Super Bowl: Bringing People Together
A feeling of excitement was in the air for some of us in the Bay Area as the 49ers tried to win their sixth Super Bowl titles against the Chiefs, and their first since 1995. While the 49ers played well for most of the game, the Chiefs came from behind in the 4th quarter to defeat […]
No Blanquer baccalaureate, no poverty pensions
The majority of RATP’s railway workers had to end the indefinite strike that began on 5 December against pension reform. But the response to the government’s attacks that began two months ago is not over. The thousands of firefighters who demonstrated in Paris on 28 January, the hospital strike on 14 February, and the mobilisation […]
The movement continues, it’s Macron who’s running out of steam!
“If we had really blockaded for 45 days, then Paris would be a mess in the truest sense of the word,” a Paris sewer worker told Le Monde last Friday. A majority of the sewer workers of Paris, who lose on average 17 years of life expectancy, have been fighting against the pension bill since […]
Australia in Flames
The fires raging in Australia since December are the most recent face of the climate crisis. Still burning today, at least 30 people have been killed, thousands have fled their homes, and the air has filled with dark, choking smoke. At least one billion animals are estimated to have died! As many are badly injured, […]
MLK Day: The Struggle Continues
On January 20 working people around the country will celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The holiday remains a symbol for one of the most profound struggles in the history of the U.S. – the struggle of the Black population during 1950s, 60s and 70s. This explosive revolt shook every corner of society, inspired […]
Edouard Philippe pretends to back down: the fight goes on!
After 38 days of strike action, Édouard Philippe dropped a bone to the so-called “reformist” unions, CFDT being the main one. He followed the advice of his party representatives, worried about their re-election, and especially afraid of a possible extension of the strike. So, goodbye to the “pivotal age”, which aims to a decrease pensions […]
No to US War on Iran!
The U.S. drone strike on January 3 that assassinated Iran’s top military general, Qassim Suleimani, along with five other commanders of the Iran-backed militias in Iraq, has led us to the brink of war. Iran launched a careful response – more than a dozen missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq, killing no one and attempting […]
France: All Together, Against Macron and his World, Against the Power of the Rich
Translated by Speak Out Now: www.speakoutsocialists.org Translated from Convergences Révolutionnaires – Special Issue; December 2019; www.convergencesrevolutionnaires.org At the Élysée and Matignon palaces, the officials residences of the government officials, December 7-8 was “hot”: Édouard Philippe summoned his main executives in special sessions, Transport State Secretary Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, Minister of Health and Insurance Agnès Buzyn, Budget […]
All together: General strike shuts down France
On Thursday, December 5, hundreds of thousands of workers in France went on strike against the proposal of French president Emmanuel Macron to raise the age of retirement and carry out cuts to workers’ pensions. Strikers included workers in the bus and subway lines, railroad and airlines, hospitals, postal workers, government employees and cultural workers. […]
December 5: Take down the “first in line”
It is starting to smell like trouble, all the way to the heads of state. Macron and his ministers are doing everything they can to stop the spread of the revolt after the December 5 strike. So they let out the same old tunes: that the strikers are “privileged“, who fight to “preserve inequalities“. Such […]
The World in Upheaval!
Workers, students and other exploited and oppressed people are fighting back against those who rule them all over the world. People have taken over the streets, gone on strike, or done whatever it takes to say “NO!” to their victimization by the ruling powers in Chile, Hong Kong, Haiti, Peru, Lebanon, Puerto Rico, Sudan, Iraq, […]
On December 5, all against Macron and his policy
On Saturday, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in thirty cities to protest violence against women. Their anger at the government’s inaction and lack of resources in the face of domestic violence and feminicide adds to the anger of young people against precariousness, of hospital staff against understaffing and low wages, of Yellow Jackets against […]