Nick Ward Wants to Join Chicago’s Socialist Caucus on City Council
The Chicago City Council’s Socialist Caucus has five members. Nick Ward wants to join them. We spoke to the socialist candidate about his campaign.
19561 Articles by: William G. Martin
William G. Martin teaches at SUNY-Binghamton and is co-author of After Prisons? Freedom, Decarceration, and Justice Disinvestment (2016) and a founding member of Justice and Unity for the Southern Tier; he covers local justice matters at www.justtalk.blog
The New US Military Budget Enriches Private Contractors at the Cost of Human Well-Being
Congress will soon vote on an $850 billion military budget that would lavish over $400 billion on private contractors. It would be a massive redistribution of wealth to for-profit hands — at the same time millions of workers are struggling to pay the bills.
This World Cup Needs the Spirit of Sócrates
In the 1970s and ’80s, Brazilian footballer Sócrates used his sport as a vehicle to challenge military dictatorship and fight for democracy. Qatar’s ugly World Cup needs more of that heroic spirit today.
Australia’s New Industrial Relations Bill Could Be Good News for Unions
After decades of stagnant wage growth and the collapse of enterprise bargaining, Australia is in crying need of industrial relations reform. The Labor Party’s Secure Jobs, Better Pay Act promises this — the question is whether it can actually deliver it.
Canada’s Business-Class Brain Trust Is Warning About Labor Unrest
As Canadian workers face down rising living costs on stagnant wages while corporate profits soar, the country’s financial press is raising the alarm over a coming “labor Armageddon.” Such a reckoning would be both unsurprising and fully warranted.
The Railway Labor Fight Is an Object Lesson in Democratic Party Hypocrisy
Joe Biden’s betrayal of railworkers is a case study in everything that’s wrong with the Democratic Party: a party that talks about workers’ rights while governing in the interests of capital.
Railroad Bosses Gave Millions to Congress to Defeat Their Workers
The booming railroad industry has delivered multimillion dollar payouts to CEOs and shareholders in recent years. The industry has also shoveled millions of dollars into campaign contributions — no wonder Congress knocked down pro–rail worker legislation.
By Fighting for Paid Sick Leave, the Railworkers Are Fighting for All of Us
Paid sick leave is a right we all deserve — and an urgent public health issue. Win or lose, we’re indebted to the railworkers for their fight to achieve it.
Railroad Engineer on the Imposed Contract: “It Really Fell Short of Railroad Workers’ Needs”
We spoke with a train engineer about President Biden undemocratically forcing a union contract on rail workers, the failures of rail unions’ leadership during negotiations, and why he thinks progressives in Congress should be “commended” for their role in pushing for seven paid sick days.
Europe Needs to Radicalize Its Climate Policies in Response to the Energy Crisis
The EU is watering down its tepid plans for ecological reform as energy prices soar. The Left has to escalate the struggle for social and environmental justice in Europe and oppose attempts to shift the burden of climate chaos onto the Global South.
Is Peet’s the Next Big Coffee Shop Unionization Push?
It’s not just Starbucks anymore: workers at two California Peet’s Coffee stores announced their intention to unionize. The worker-driven model at the heart of Starbucks Workers United is spreading.
The Road to American Socialism Runs Through California
Socialists have unique advantages in California, where a “jungle” primary system elevates the top two candidates to the general election regardless of party affiliation, and the Republican Party is moribund. Let’s take advantage of it.
Faced With Rising Inflation, States Are Protecting Investors, Not Workers
Rising inflation doesn’t affect everyone equally. The way this current bout of inflation is playing out isn’t a law of nature but a result of political decisions to protect investors while hanging workers out to dry.
Even After Dobbs, Abortions Still Haven’t Plummeted
The Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade was a blow to reproductive rights. But fortunately, new data suggest that most of those seeking abortions still seem to be getting them.
In Germany, Declining Workers’ Rights Are a Life-and-Death Issue
The death of cleaner Refat Süleyman at a Thyssenkrupp steel plant has put the spotlight on Germany’s exploitation of migrant workers. It’s also a story about deregulation — and how outsourcing is letting corporations cut corners on working conditions with impunity.
How Unionizing Sparked a New Sense of Possibility in Me
When my coworkers and I decided to organize a union at our workplace, we had a whole list of tangible goals we hoped to achieve. But organizing also gave me something more ineffable that I’d been desperately missing: a sense of hope.
The Iranian Protests Are the Latest Phase in a Long Cycle of Popular Unrest
To understand today’s protests in Iran, we need to look at the history of the Islamic Republic since 1979. Iran has a tradition of popular mobilization with few parallels in the modern world, and that tradition underpins the current wave of discontent.
We Should Go Beyond Liberalism, Not Abandon It
The eminent philosopher Raymond Geuss wants us to think about ways of being that exist entirely outside of liberalism. But the most feasible egalitarian project is not one that rejects liberalism, but one that goes beyond it — through democratic socialism.
Zara Workers in Spain Just Went on Strike — and They’ll Probably Do It Again
The owner of Zara is worth $50 billion, and this year net profits at Zara’s parent company Inditex increased 41 percent. Workers are demanding a bigger share of the profits they created.
Democrats Were Dithering on Railworkers’ Rights. The Left Just Forced Their Hand.
Democrats were ready to throw railworkers to the wolves, letting even Republicans outflank them on labor rights. But thanks to a last-minute legislative push by Bernie Sanders and his allies today, railworkers may be getting the sick leave they’re demanding.