
Jim Larkin: Labor Prophet
Irish labor leader Jim Larkin’s combination of Christian faith and socialist zeal electrified the working class — and threatened to tear down the established order.
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Ronan Burtenshaw is the editor of Tribune.

Irish labor leader Jim Larkin’s combination of Christian faith and socialist zeal electrified the working class — and threatened to tear down the established order.

Born in rural Ireland and a veteran of the IRA, “Red” Mike Quill went on to form one of America’s most militant unions — and to stand side by side with Martin Luther King Jr in the fight against racism.

The Irish socialist and labor leader Jim Larkin, born 150 years ago this week, was an evangelist for the workers’ movement who preached a divine mission of discontent — and sought a final reckoning with the capitalist class.

The crucial context for the violence in Israel and Palestine is that the world’s longest occupation turned into a formal annexation, with not even the pretense of a process toward a Palestinian state. To achieve lasting peace, Israeli apartheid must end.

British rail workers are on strike against austerity. Unsurprisingly, mainstream media has unleashed an all-out campaign to demonize their union, the RMT — because they want to discourage other workers from following rail workers' example and fighting back.

War is nothing but organized killing, and there can be no justification for it. Today we must do what we can to support Ukrainian refugees and to show our solidarity with the brave protesters across Russia who insist that war is not carried out in their name.

Robert Tressell was a great writer whose class position meant he died without knowing the appreciation of his work.

Labour held on in Batley and Spen in spite of Keir Starmer's unpopular leadership, not because of it. An effective local campaign kept him as far away as possible. In thrall to focus groups and media groupthink, Starmer is still guiding Labour onto the rocks.

Keir Starmer has tried to blame yesterday’s election disaster on Jeremy Corbyn. But it’s Starmer whose leadership has hollowed out the party, refused to offer a compelling vision for change, and left many with little reason to vote Labour.

All across Britain last night, local Labour Parties passed motions opposing Keir Starmer's decision to deny Jeremy Corbyn the Labour whip — the broadest rebellion against Starmer's leadership to date. A civil war within Labour is escalating.

Keir Starmer’s baseless decision to suspend former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is a transparent attack on the Left. Labour members must fight it, or everything Corbyn stood for will depart with him.

Corbynism had a popular program — but not the popular insurgency it needed to fight for it.

From her earliest days as shadow education secretary, Labour leader Keir Starmer set about undermining Rebecca Long-Bailey — because her socialist politics and trade union loyalties were incompatible with his agenda.

Bernie Sanders took socialism out of the margins and into the American mainstream for the first time in generations. His contributions to the struggle for a better world cannot be overstated.

Today’s Labour leadership election is a defeat for the Left. But the real victory for our opponents would be watching the forces we have amassed in recent years scatter to the wind.

Boris Johnson's government has responded feebly to coronavirus, refusing to learn the lessons of other countries. Labour ought to be hammering the Tories for their inaction — and explaining why years of austerity are hobbling the NHS's response.

In last weekend’s election, a majority of Irish voters supported parties of the Left. That and other progressive triumphs signal a new beginning for Ireland.

It’s not enough for Labour leadership candidates to just say they’ll support radical policies. They need to prove they’ll fight for them — against big business, the political establishment, and the billionaire-owned press.

UK Labour MP and potential party leader Rebecca Long Bailey has spent her life immersed in Salford and its working-class life. The right-wing British press wants to undermine those politics by attacking the city. But Salford’s history reflects the best of British working-class culture.

Labour lost this election not because it was too much of a working-class party, but because it was too little of one in too many places. Our cause endures — and now is the time to steel ourselves for the next fight.