Category: Uncategorized

Germany 1920: The Working Class Stood Up to an Authoritarian Regime

In the past two months the Trump administration has rampaged through the U.S. government, firing tens of thousands, destroying basic systems that have functioned for decades, ignoring court orders, attacking free speech and any type of dissent, eliminating entire departments and agencies, and removing any opposition to him, Musk, and their minions. In the face […]

Hands Off Mahmoud Khalil!

On the night of Saturday, March 8, Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student at Columbia University in New York City, was arrested by plain-clothed ICE agents to be deported. Although a federal judge has since blocked Trump’s attempt to deport Khalil, he is currently in custody in an ICE detention facility in Jena, Louisiana. He graduated […]

No More Kings: Leave Feudalism Behind!

Recently the official White House social media accounts posted an AI-generated image of Donald Trump wearing a crown with the text: “Long Live the King.” Many people understandably questioned if this really happened – it did and the images are still up today! It’s 2025 and it feels like we’re back in feudal times! This fake Time […]

We Stand Against Attacks on Trans People!

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. Healthcare workers around the country are expressing outrage over the Trump administration’s attacks on the health and safety of transgender people. In the last month, Trump signed an executive order barring institutions from receiving federal funding […]

El asesinato del CEO muestra la ira contra todo su sistema

El asesinato de Brian Thompson, director general de United Healthcare, ha sido recibido con una avalancha de ira contra la industria de seguros médicos. En todas las redes sociales, entre amigos, en los lugares de trabajo y más allá, la gente ha expresado su indignación por el hecho de que el sector de los seguros […]

Fall of a Family Dictatorship in Syria – What Next?

The stunning fall of Bashar Al-Assad took place in less than two weeks. On November 27, armed groups began an offensive in northwestern Syria, near the city of Aleppo. After retaking Aleppo on November 29, they advanced southward, and the army of the regime began to crumble. After taking two other key cities along a major […]

AHS Workers Gifted a Hiring Freeze for the Holidays

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. AHS sent out an email last week that most new hiring will be deferred until after the New Year. They gave a confusing explanation regarding AHS’s line of credit via Alameda County called the Net Negative […]

Elections 2024: We Need To Organize Our Forces

The November election is quickly approaching. Donald Trump and J.D. Vance for the Republicans will face off against Kamala Harris and Tim Walz for the Democrats. With all the issues facing us, and Trump’s 2020 attempt to overturn the election, many are pinning their hopes and fears for the future on the outcome. Trump and […]

Capitalism Pushes Workers and Patients to the Brink

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. It takes personal strength and dedication to work in a hospital, caring for people who are suffering through what are often the worst days of their lives. In a normal shift, a nurse might comfort a […]

Sea Level Rise Threatens Civilization

A recent technical brief from the United Nations spells out the frightening severity of the sea level rise which has occurred and what humanity is soon to face. According to the report, since 2000, “global-mean sea level has risen faster than over any prior century in at least the last 3,000 years,” even as the […]

Transphobia Hurts Us All – Inside and Outside of the Olympics

The 2024 Olympics played the same old tune of gender discrimination and transphobia. Despite it’s claim of being the “largest, gender equal sporting event in the world,” transphobia still managed to make its way to the games. Due to subjective ideas of who is and is not a woman, oppressive surveillance has for years been […]

Love Island USA: Capitalism’s Idea of Love

In its 6th season, the Peacock reality show Love Island USA has become the most-watched series in the United States. Millions have witnessed the ridiculousness of a highly choreographed presentation of romance under a system that works overtime to find profit in every aspect of life. Capitalism erodes genuine feelings of love by making us […]

Kamala Harris: Business as Usual

A lot has changed in the past few weeks. Right after Biden was finally forced to drop out of the presidential race and endorsed Kamala Harris as his successor, the Democratic Party received a jolt in the arm. They have been able to create some new buzz around Harris. The media is less critical of […]

Teamsters President’s Dead-end Politics

In most presidential election years, the heads of big labor unions usually endorse who the Democrats pick as their candidate, so when Teamster Union President Sean O’Brien announced he had accepted Trump’s invitation to address the GOP convention, it was a shock to many labor union officials and activists. The GOP shows its hostility to […]

Kamala Harris – When Someone Shows You Who They Are, Believe Them

Much has been made of Joe Biden stepping down as the Democratic Party presidential candidate and Kamala Harris being coronated as the new presumptive nominee. Many people welcome the fact that she is younger and far more coherent than Joe Biden, which is not saying much. Many welcome the fact that she could potentially become […]

Revolutionary University Series: No Climate Justice without Justice for Palestine!

Wednesday, June 12 @ 5pm PST / 8pm EST Increasing carbon emissions and rising global temperatures remain the backdrop to a year filled with horrific genocidal attacks on Palestinian people. Without access to clean water, clean air, and fertile soil, Palestinians face the threat of starvation and disease. They are left without any means to protect […]

We Resist Repression

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now General Newsletter. The rise in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation has met resistance. In at least Florida, Texas, Kentucky, and Alabama, hundreds took to the streets to protest state bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community. Students have led walkouts to demand justice against their oppression, like in Oklahoma where students […]

Our World is On Fire

New levels of extreme weather are wreaking havoc on millions. In the U.S., heavy rain in Texas damaged hundreds of buildings and required over 600 rescues. Severe storms in the central U.S. resulted in widespread destruction, power outages, and dozens injured. Southern Brazil experienced its largest climate catastrophe yet, with at least 78 deaths and […]

May Day: There Is Power in the Working Class

General Newsletter April 28, 2024 Download .pdf leaflet May Day: There Is Power in the Working Class In the 1880s, the United States was deeply unequal and divided. A few families owned the overwhelming bulk of U.S. wealth, and workers had to work up to 16 hours per day. Workers had no rights on the […]

Columbia Students Spark a Larger Uprising!

Since the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent genocidal war on Palestinians, many universities have experienced a simmering battle between those supporting Israel’s Zionist policies and those protesting them. Soon after Israel’s disproportionate response to the attack materialized and it became clear that their war was intended to destroy and displace people […]

Todos los días son Día de los Impuestos para la clase trabajadora

La gente piensa en el 15 de abril como el Día de los Impuestos porque es la fecha de cierre de los impuestos sobre la renta federales y estatales. Si recibes un reembolso, es sólo porque has estado pagando al sistema durante todo el año. Las personas de clase trabajadora pagamos durante todo el año, […]

¿Una semana laboral de 32 horas?

Hace algunas semanas, el senador Bernie Sanders presentó presentó oficialmente una nueva legislación que propone reducir la semana laboral a 32 horas, más allá de las cuales se exigiría el pago de horas extras, y sin reducción salarial para los trabajadores que ya trabajan a jornada completa. Una idea similar fue propuesta el año pasado […]

El desastre del puente de Baltimore no tenía por qué haber ocurrido

A la 1:28 de la madrugada del 26 de marzo, un enorme buque de carga, conocido como Dali, colisionó con el puente Francis Scott Key de Baltimore, lo que provocó en cuestión de segundos el derrumbe de la mayor parte de la estructura y la muerte de seis trabajadores de la construcción que estaban reparando […]

Speak Out Now General Newsletter: March 31, 2024

Download .pdf leaflet Baltimore Bridge Disaster Didn’t Have to Happen At 1:28 a.m. on March 26, a massive cargo ship, known as the Dali, collided with Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. In seconds most of the structure collapsed, killing six construction workers who were performing pothole repairs on the bridge. Before its collapse, the Key Bridge […]

The “Goon Squad”: A Symptom of U.S. Policing

So far, six police officers have been given 10 to 40 year prison sentences for the racist torture and sexual assault of two Black men in Rankin County, Mississippi. In January 2023 both men were beaten, tasered and sexually abused, and one nearly died during a so-called mock execution. The officers were part of the […]

Gaza: La hipocresía de EE.UU. en plena exposición

A medida que la temporada electoral se pone en movimiento, el Partido Demócrata se muestra desesperado debido a su descarado apoyo al genocidio en Gaza. Biden tiene un grado de aprobación muy bajo, y cada día pierde más votantes a medida que se intensifica el genocidio. Si las elecciones presidenciales se tuviese lugar hoy, es poco […]

Biden’s Budget: It Does Nothing for Workers, and It Won’t Inconvenience the 1%

When President Biden sent his proposed Tax and Budget proposal to Congress on March 11th, he claimed it would end the so-called “trickle down” government economic policies which favor the rich and big corporations. His actual proposals, however, show a huge gap between his rhetoric and the real policy of his administration. To manage the COVID […]

Speak Out Now General Newsletter: March 17, 2024

Download .pdf leaflet Corporations Report Record Profits by Squeezing Working People Looking at prices for basic necessities can make you want to cry. Since 2019, gas and housing costs are up 21%, a gallon of milk is up 30%, and a dozen eggs is up 97%. This doesn’t include the other necessities like heating, medical […]

U.S. Wants to Make an Example of Julian Assange

Any day now, a British court is expected to rule on Julian Assange’s final appeal of an order that he be extradited to the United States. If he is sent to the U.S., he will face prosecution under the Espionage Act, a 1917 law enacted during World War I specifically to stifle and punish dissent […]

International Women’s Day: Give Us Bread, But Give Us Roses, Too!

March 8th is International Women’s Day. This is a day to commemorate the working women who have struggled and fought to better their conditions. Today in the United States, the attacks on abortion and reproductive rights continue. The Alabama Supreme Court recently ruled that all “unborn children are ‘children’” and that an embryo in a […]

One year after the East Palestine, Ohio Toxic Train Wreck, Derailments are up Nationwide

The Norfolk Southern (NS) train wreck in East Palestine on February 3, 2023, brought to light the railroad companies’ appalling disregard for safety. Eleven cars carrying toxic chemicals went off the track and burst into flames. Five thousand people had to be evacuated. The National Transportation Safety Board said “the accident was 100% preventable.” Not […]

Anti-Worker Presidents Angle for Autoworker Support

This past week has seen both Trump and Biden angling to gain the support of striking autoworkers. Last Tuesday, Biden joined a picket line in Michigan, with much of the mainstream media a huge deal over Biden being the first sitting President to do so. He has called himself the most pro-union President ever. But […]

A Jail Cell is No Place to Give Birth 

Recently in Tennessee, a woman held at the Montgomery County Jail was forced to give birth alone in her cell, over an hour after seeking medical help. Only two nurses were sent to attend to the pregnant woman, but they were not present when she gave birth, and jail staff failed to immediately get her to a […]

Erie, Pa. Strikers Make Unusual Demands

In late June, 1,400 workers in Erie, Pennsylvania went on strike against the Westinghouse Airbrake Technologies Corporation, better known as Wabtec, one of the few U.S.-based manufacturers of railroad locomotives and train technology. We support them in their strike, which has some typical features of most labor conflicts. Demands for better pay and better treatment […]

Yes, It’s The System

The following is reprinted from Speak Out Now’s workplace newsletter at Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Station Agents face threats of attacks every day. No matter how alert and conscientious a worker is, an attack can seem to come out of nowhere. These can be deeply traumatic events, especially when a worker faces returning to […]

Online Town Hall: Sat. Mar. 11 at 4pm PST (7pm EST)

Good Housing is a Right! We have always had a housing crisis in this society. People with little or no money are not guaranteed a safe, comfortable place to live. The Covid pandemic meant that people lost jobs while rents were going through the roof. Government eviction-relief in response to Covid is now ending. What […]

Tenants and Workers: Similar Issues

This article is from the Speak Out Now newsletter at Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). Last week, the Oaklandside wrote an article about how the Coliseum Connections apartment building flooded during the storms on New Year’s Eve, forcing all residents to be evacuated. This apartment building was developed on BART’s land at Coliseum Station, and […]

Protesters Fight Back against Expanding German Coal Mines

Over 1,000 German police officers in riot gear used water cannons, batons, and brute force to remove at least 15,000 protestors from a coal mine in mid-January. This came after more than two-and-a-half years of activists working to prevent the destruction of another centuries-old village from being demolished for a coal mine. Protesters were removed and […]

Florida – Tragic Example of the Sickness of Capitalism

The tragic aftermath of Hurricane Ian has left a trail of death and destruction through southwest and central Florida, not to mention South Carolina. Cars were picked up and carried along like toys by the powerful storm surge, boats were piled in disorderly fashion on top of each other in and sometimes away from their […]

The Beijing Winter Olympics Are a Political Disaster

This article was written by Jules Boycoff and originally published at jacobinmag.com on February 4, 2022. It has been republished here with permission from the author. On the cusp of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, activists are ramping up their opposition to the games. Some are opposed primarily to the decision to host the games […]