Unions Need to Lose More If They Want to Win More
The UAW’s defeat at a Mercedes plant in Alabama was crushing. It’s also the cost of waging risky, potentially transformative fights. If labor wants to win big, it can’t be afraid to lose big.
19512 Articles by: Yi San
Yi San is a freelance writer based in New York.
East Timor’s Fight for Freedom Holds Lessons for Palestine
In 1975, Indonesian dictator Suharto occupied East Timor. Despite the West’s support for Suharto, the people of East Timor won their independence 24 years later — and their struggle may be a precedent for Palestinian liberation today.
To Fight the Housing Crisis, Upzone and Build Public Housing
British Columbia’s housing crisis is among the worst in North America. Just as in other regions grappling with similar challenges, increasing density through upzoning for public and nonprofit housing is essential to tackle the crisis head-on.
Yes, Politics Obviously Belong on France’s Campuses
In France, student protests for Gaza have faced police repression and dire legal threats. But discussion is also being suppressed by the academic establishment, pushing a dogma of political neutrality that makes a mockery of its commitment to free inquiry.
Assassination Attempt Prompts Soul-Searching in Slovakia
Last week’s shooting of Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, is the product of a long intensification of political conflict. But beneath Slovakia’s overheated politics is a fundamental hollowness — and an impasse in the neoliberal order built in the 2000s.
The Art of the Green New Deal
Jobs to Move America is pioneering an innovative labor strategy that turns public investments in green infrastructure and manufacturing into opportunities for union organizing and better working conditions.
Worker Co-Ops Have a Role to Play in Socialist Strategy
Establishing worker-owned firms is no substitute for building a strong labor movement and a socialist presence within the state. But worker co-ops can play a key part in a broader socialist strategy, by making tangible the material benefits of cooperation.
Spain’s Socialist Party Has Survived but Is Still in Danger
Spain’s Socialist Party is Europe’s strongest center-left force, easily winning last Sunday’s Catalan elections. But it’s gaining at the expense of its own coalition partners, whose weakness risks bringing Pedro Sánchez’s broad-left government to its knees.
Walmart Is Still Putting Ebenezer Scrooge to Shame
Infamous for its starvation wages, Walmart just posted staggering first-quarter profits. The surge is a result of its strategic shift toward catering to affluent shoppers while its full-time workers continue to rely on Medicaid and food stamps.
Slavery, Capitalism, and the Politics of Abolition
Slavery in America, Brazil, and Cuba relied on capitalist markets, which supplied credit and demand for slave-made goods. The Reckoning, Robin Blackburn’s monumental history, offers a dizzying account of the politics behind this system’s rise and fall.
Israel’s Priority Is Killing Gazans, Not Freeing Hostages
This war would look very different if Israel’s principal aim was to free the hostages. But Israel’s assault on Gaza was never about the hostages.
How Union Reformers Passed the PRO Act in Vermont
The pro-union PRO Act is stalled at the national level. But in Vermont, union reformers took over the AFL-CIO and used it to win their own version of the bill.
The Law May Be Coming for Boeing’s Fraud
At the end of the Trump administration, Boeing cut a sweetheart deal to avoid prosecution for deceiving regulators about a faulty flight system that caused crashes. New allegations of greed and negligence may finally bring the company to justice.
This Isn’t the End for Mercedes Workers’ Union Fight
Opposed by management and politicians at every turn, Alabama Mercedes workers lost their union election yesterday. It’s a real setback — but the Mercedes workers say they won’t stop organizing until they get a union.
We Can’t Have a Fair Society Under Capitalism
Random chance governs far more of our lives than most of us are comfortable admitting. Fully appreciating the influence of luck on life chances should lead us to rethink our economic and political institutions from the bottom up.
The Anti-Colonial Marxism of Mahdi Amel
The Lebanese Marxist thinker Mahdi Amel was assassinated on this day in 1987. Amel developed a version of Marxism that was grounded in the experience of colonized societies, showing how class struggle converges with the fight for national liberation.
UC Workers Are Poised to Strike for Palestine and for Free Speech
In the University of California system, the union representing 48,000 grad students and other academic workers is about to strike in protest of repression of campus protests. It’s a watershed for labor and for the Palestine solidarity movement.
Soccer Under Israel’s Assault
Israel’s bloody attack on Gaza has been unsparing and unceasing. It hasn’t stopped the Palestine Football Association from playing soccer.
The Fight for Thuringia Is a Test for German Democracy
Head of the Alternative für Deutschland’s state branch in Thuringia, Björn Höcke is one of the far-right party’s most extreme leaders. He just got fined for using a Nazi slogan — but it might not hurt his chances of winning this fall’s Thuringia state election.
Americans Across the Political Divide Want a Federal Job Guarantee
A look at all the available survey data on public support for a job guarantee shows consistently strong support for the idea. It’s a winning idea for the Left.