The Birth of the Strike
Why are strikes called "strikes"? The answer goes back 250 years, to the birth-pangs of the working class.
Search Result(s) for: “working class”
The Hard Green Line
The Canadian Green Party's fight against pro-union legislation shows the dangers of an environmentalism that's not rooted in the working class.
Joe Biden’s State of the Union Didn’t Offer Much for the Working Class
Last night, Joe Biden sounded like he was about to declare World War III. He won’t, thankfully — but he also won’t do much for working people.
Lebanon’s Spectacular Economic Collapse
After 2008, Lebanon’s oligarchic elites engineered a financialized boom that fueled inequality and lined the pockets of bankers. Now its economy has imploded, leaving the country’s working class to foot the bill.
Chicago Teachers vs. Billionaire Privatizers
The Chicago teachers' strike is about who will shape Chicago: billionaires who buy politicians to privatize schools, or working-class communities who want affordable housing, decent jobs, good schools, and justice. Here are some of the private equity barons and luxury developers in Chicago whom the teachers are up against.
Troy Jackson’s Politics Are Rooted in Maine Logger Struggles
Maine Senate hopeful Troy Jackson’s history is a case study of something the Left often discusses but rarely sees: a working-class politician who emerged from workplace organizing struggles and used his power to advance pro-worker policies.
How Morena Turned Anti-Corruption Politics Into Class Politics
Anti-corruption politics was key to the landslide victory of AMLO’s Morena party in Mexico. Morena branded neoliberalism a form of upward redistribution, rallying the working class under the banner of republican austerity against the excesses of the rich.
A Strike Surge in Manitoba is Challenging Wage Repression
Workers in Manitoba, Canada, the home of the historic Winnipeg General Strike, are striking to fight against wage repression. This resurgence of working-class strength will impact the province’s upcoming election.
Italy’s Election Is Dominated by Postfascists — but the Left Is Raising Its Head
The once mighty Italian left failed to enter parliament in any of the last three general elections. As the far right makes yet another breakthrough, it’s high time the Left organized around working-class Italians’ deep economic malaise.
How Football Made the Working Class
In premodern England, peasants organized football games over enclosed land. Today, fans have gotten together to buy teams from corrupt owners. The beautiful game has always shaped the culture of the popular classes, despite moneyed influences.
The German Left Needs to Speak to the Working-Class Majority
This weekend, Germany’s left-wing party Die Linke meets for a congress to respond to its recent electoral decline. For too long, the party has soaked in the language of activist subcultures — and voters have lost faith that it’s serious about wielding power.
Georgia Socialist Candidate: “I Want to Be an Organizer Bringing People to the Capitol.”
Gabriel Sanchez is a democratic socialist campaigning for Georgia state house. Raised in a working-class family, Sanchez is running in a district that went for Bernie Sanders but is represented by a moderate Democrat who takes money from Lockheed Martin.
The Boss Is Right to Talk About Class
Bruce Springsteen recently accused the Trump administration of taking “sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers.” He rightly attacked the administration’s favorite lie: its claim that Trump represents the working class.
Last Night’s GOP Insanity Proves How Much the Two Parties Need Each Other
The lunacy on display at last night's Republican National Convention is what keeps frightened liberal voters satisfied with the meager crumbs of progress offered by the Democrats — and the meagerness of those crumbs is what keeps working-class whites inside an increasingly lunatic GOP.
Canada Just Voted for More of the Same
Canada’s federal election replaced a Liberal minority government, with nothing on offer for workers with . . . a Liberal minority government, with nothing on offer for workers. Neither establishment party offers working-class communities a brighter future.
Trump Will Lower American Workers’ Standard of Living
For workers, Donald Trump’s second term promises to make America worse. With deportation threats, union busting, and disastrous tariffs, his economic agenda will ensure that working-class Americans pay for his political theatrics.
The Ruling Class Is Uncancelable
If the late Dick Cheney’s Never-Trump rehabilitation is any indication, Larry Summers’s public-facing career is far from over — despite not just his Jeffrey Epstein ties but his principal role in laying waste to America’s working class.
If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want to Be Part of Your Picket
The teachers’ strike wave that has swept the nation since last year hasn’t just reinvigorated working-class militancy — it’s also produced some excellent picket line music and dancing. On the occasion of the teachers’ strike in Chicago, we rounded up the best of them.
How the Democrats Traded the New Deal for Neoliberalism
In 1992, Bill Clinton ran for president promising to “end welfare as we know it.” This rightward turn was part of a broader attempt by the Democrats to craft a “progressive neoliberalism” — whose “progressivism” included abandoning its working-class base.
New York’s Left Eked Out a Few Victories in an Otherwise Dismal Austerity Budget
Socialists and progressives won a few key demands in the New York state budget battles. But overall, Gov. Kathy Hochul rammed through an awful budget that will make life much worse for the state of New York’s working class.