After already securing agreements for deep spending cuts earlier this year, House Republicans are poised to force a government shutdown to demand even more austerity. Democrats seem ill-prepared to stand up to the GOP’s hostage-taking.
Chicago Is About to End the Subminimum Wage for Tipped Workers
Brandon Johnson, the labor-backed mayor of Chicago, is poised to deliver his first major victory: scrapping the subminimum wage for tipped workers.
France’s Crackdown on Islamic Dress in Schools Is a Crude Attack on Muslims
France’s education minister has banned girls in public schools from wearing the abaya, a loose-fitting Islamic dress. Emmanuel Macron’s government is whipping up conflict over identity — but ignoring the real problems that face France’s underfunded classrooms.
So Far, Britain’s Employers Have Been Winning the Class War Over Inflation
Since inflation started rising, British capitalists have been raking in massive profits while workers have suffered a disastrous wage slump. Yet the Bank of England still wants to boost unemployment in case workers develop their fighting strength.
Europe’s Migration Deal With Tunisia Is a Humanitarian Disaster
In July, the European Union announced a deal with Tunisia to police migration. The deal allowed the EU to outsource the dirty work of repressing migrants — but it’s done nothing to hide the mounting numbers of desperate people dying in the Mediterranean.
US Autoworkers on Strike
The United Auto Workers, headed by a new reform leadership, have started strike action against the Big Three automakers.
The United Auto Workers Have Officially Escalated Their Strike
The UAW strike just got bigger. The union announced this afternoon that workers at 38 GM and Stellantis locations would join the walkout — and the pressure tactics are already working, with Ford making significant concessions at the bargaining table.
The Vast Fortune of This Auto Boss Is More Than Enough to Make Your Blood Boil
As autoworkers are worked to the bone and face factory closures, dynastic billionaire and Stellantis chairman John Elkann is hanging out on his yacht and attending fancy art galas. No wonder the UAW is on strike.
The UAW Has Disrupted Business as Usual. And They May Turn Up the Pressure Tomorrow.
The UAW has given the Big Three until noon tomorrow to make progress at the bargaining table or face a strike escalation. One week in, the historic walkout has already left politicians and bosses alike scrambling amid an utterly justified worker action.
The UAW Strike Is Bringing Out Republicans’ True Anti-Worker Colors
The UAW strike has put the GOP in a bind: keep pitching themselves as pro-worker or reveal their rhetoric as a masquerade. Yesterday, presidential candidate Tim Scott chose to say what Republicans actually think: “You strike, you’re fired."
Telling the story of a slave revolt in ancient Rome, the 1960 film Spartacus was penned by two blacklisted Communist writers. Its arrival in theaters was a middle finger to the McCarthyist witch hunt in Hollywood and publishing.
The United Auto Workers Have Officially Escalated Their Strike
The UAW strike just got bigger. The union announced this afternoon that workers at 38 GM and Stellantis locations would join the walkout — and the pressure tactics are already working, with Ford making significant concessions at the bargaining table.
The Vast Fortune of This Auto Boss Is More Than Enough to Make Your Blood Boil
As autoworkers are worked to the bone and face factory closures, dynastic billionaire and Stellantis chairman John Elkann is hanging out on his yacht and attending fancy art galas. No wonder the UAW is on strike.
Black Workers in the US Have Been at the Forefront of the Fight for Freedom
The story of the African-American working class is the story of democratic struggle: of pairing the fight against racism with the fight against economic exploitation to push the US to become a freer and more just society.
Google Is on Trial for Violating Antitrust Law. The Verdict Is Unlikely to Change Much.
Google is now on trial for illegally building a monopoly over online search — but given the weak state of US antitrust law, the company is likely to emerge unscathed. To check Google’s power, we need to bring it under public, democratic control.
Ursula K. Le Guin was born on this day in 1929. She used science fiction to explore the failures of capitalist society — and the alternative worlds we could build in its place.
Did Thomas Friedman Forget About the Iraq War?
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman was one of the loudest cheerleaders for the war in Iraq. His condemnation of Putin’s “war of choice” in Ukraine — a horrific act of aggression, like Bush’s war — could be a word-for-word rebuke of what he wrote then.
Eric Adams Is Playing a Dangerous Game With Migrants
New York City mayor Eric Adams is simultaneously pushing austerity and declaring that migrants will “destroy” the city by straining its public services. These are perilous flames to fan, and the biggest fan belongs to the mayor.
Ireland’s Working Class Is Still the Key Force for Social Change
Irish politics has been shifting toward greater class polarization in recent years, defying academic predictions about the death of class. The modern working class has taken a new shape, but it still has the potential to mobilize for radical change.
The UAW Has Disrupted Business as Usual. And They May Turn Up the Pressure Tomorrow.
The UAW has given the Big Three until noon tomorrow to make progress at the bargaining table or face a strike escalation. One week in, the historic walkout has already left politicians and bosses alike scrambling amid an utterly justified worker action.