The Unionization Wave Is Now Hitting Chipotle
Chipotle workers in Lansing, Michigan, have organized the first-ever union at the company. Could Chipotle be the next Starbucks, with unionization efforts spreading like wildfire?
19384 Articles by: Rob McIntyre
Rob McIntyre is a United Workers Union delegate at the Toll Kmart warehouse in Truganina.
Will Lula Get Another Chance to Transform Brazil?
The stakes are high in Brazil’s upcoming presidential election: four more years of the reactionary, corrupt, right-wing rule of Jair Bolsonaro or a return of the most transformative president Brazil has ever seen, Lula da Silva.
How Italy Lurched From Anti-Fascism to Anti-Politics
After 1945, Italy had strong left-wing movements and an anti-fascist consensus that stemmed from the wartime resistance. Since the 1990s, however, a corrosive “anti-political” mood has displaced anti-fascism, and the far right has been the main beneficiary.
How Socialists Should Think About National Independence Struggles
Fashionable academic theorists have dismissed the Marxist approach to nationalism as outdated and inadequate. But it remains an indispensable guide to national independence movements — urging support for them when they represent a challenge to capitalist rule.
The Struggle to Organize Farmworkers Has Been Going On for Decades
Despite high-profile victories in the 1960s and ’70s, farmworkers in the US have been poorly paid and heavily exploited for generations. They deserve the power of a union.
Ontario’s Premier, Doug Ford, Wants to Privatize Canadian Health Care
The Right broke Ontario’s health care system. Now they can’t wait to replace it with a parallel, two-tiered system that benefits the rich.
How Oakland Tenants Forced Their Landlord to Turn Over the Keys
The city of Oakland’s longest rent strike has ended in victory for tenants. They didn’t just win necessary repairs or rent control; they decommodified their housing, getting profit-motivated landlords out of the picture altogether.
The New A League of Their Own Takes on Jim Crow–Era Racism in Women’s Baseball
The new TV show A League of Their Own, about the true story of the WWII-era women’s baseball league, captures its racial segregation — with a central character based on trailblazing black women players who were forced to play in the male Negro Leagues instead.
Student Debt Relief Is Undermining the Military’s Predatory Recruiting Practices
The US military has a long history of recruiting poor people by offering benefits like free college. With Joe Biden’s partial student debt forgiveness, GOP war hawks are fretting that the military won’t be able to prey on desperate young Americans anymore.
The Right Is Trying to Stop Chile’s New Constitution
Over 80 percent of the Chilean electorate voted to replace the country’s dictatorship-era constitution. As Chileans head to the polls on Sunday to finally vote on the new constitution, the Right is stoking fears to prevent its passage.
Airbrushing Italy’s Fascist Past Is Helping Today’s Far Right
For three decades, revisionists have systematically turned Italy’s discussion of World War II away from Fascist crimes and toward the Italians killed by anti-fascist partisans. The effect has been to trivialize the Fascist past — and legitimize a new far right.
In San Antonio, a Socialist City Council Member Stands Against Austerity
Teri Castillo, a housing organizer and Democratic Socialists of America member, is fighting on the San Antonio City Council for public investment in housing, health care, education, utilities, and more. Castillo says the era of municipal austerity must end.
In Emily the Criminal, Crime Pays When Nothing Else Will
Aubrey Plaza’s title character in Emily the Criminal is trapped by crushing student loan debt, a punitive criminal justice system, and low wages. She, like so many other Americans, feels like she’s out of legitimate options — because she is.
Starbucks’s Relentless Union-Busting Campaign Won’t Stop Without Consumer Pressure
Starbucks is “fighting dirtier and dirtier all the time” in its attempt to smash the nationwide union drive, Starbucks Workers United field director Daisy Pitkin writes. Workers are organizing and striking — they need consumers to step up their support.
Yes, Canceling Student Loan Debt Is Justified. Canceling Medical Debt Would Be, Too.
Student loan debt shouldn’t exist. Neither should medical debt. The Biden administration’s cancellation of some student loan debt is justified — and canceling medical debt would be, too.
Eric Adams Has Declared War on Socialism. So Far, the Socialists Are Winning.
Socialists are becoming a problem for New York’s Democratic establishment. Mayor Eric Adams declared war on the socialist movement and endorsed candidates to challenge the Democratic Socialists of America. For the most part, he failed.
If Bernie Runs in 2024, His Campaign Should Build a Left Political Organization
The next Bernie Sanders campaign, if it happens at all, could be used to build an organization that helps transcend the Left’s current impasse. Bernie 2024 — but make it a new beginning instead of a last hurrah.
The Making of the Welsh Working Class
In 1910, Winston Churchill sent troops to the coalfields of South Wales to put an end to a strike. Though the miners were defeated, this episode radicalized the Welsh working class and helped sever ties between conservative Liberals and trade unions.
Chile Is Rewriting Its Constitution. Australia Should Too.
Australia’s constitution is outdated, antidemocratic, and has consistently blocked social democratic reforms. That’s why we need to rip it up and write a new one.
C. L. R. James Never Gave Up on His Dream of Revolution
C. L. R. James loved seeing workers take ownership of culture that was thought to belong to their betters. He believed in the creative talents of workers, just as he believed in their power to secure their own liberation without direction from above.