Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, UMass Amherst withholds vacation payouts, leaves precarious workers without summer pay, evicts workers and their families from university housing, and threatens job cuts. ISG interviews a member of the graduate student union, who says: “A living wage, access to safe and affordable housing, decent healthcare and paid-time off, represent not excesses, but a right to dignity.”
Author Archives: Independent Socialist Group
Capitalism’s Response to COVID Infects Higher Ed: Graduate Student Workers Fight Back!
Universities around the country are using the pandemic to justify further cuts and austerity for already low-paid graduate student and adjunct instructors. But higher ed workers, especially unionized graduate students, are fighting back!
Amidst Pandemic, Anti-Racist Movement Reignited by Killer Cops
by Jai Chavis and Nicholas Wurst (TCU/IAM Local 1089, personal capacity) On May 25th, police in Minneapolis choked George Floyd, an unarmed black man, to death. His killing was disturbingly reminiscent of the NYPD killing of Eric Garner in 2014. A released video recorded by bystanders shows Floyd repeatedly pleading “I can’t breathe” as hisContinue reading “Amidst Pandemic, Anti-Racist Movement Reignited by Killer Cops”
Oppose the Coup in Venezuela: Only International Solidarity Can Defeat U.S. Imperialism
While workers across the world suffer from COVID-19 and economic hardship, the U.S. and its allies continue their attempts to overthrow the democratically elected President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela. The Independent Socialist Group opposes such imperialist attacks. Learn more about the recent coup attempt and the history of U.S. imperialism in Latin America in our latest article.
New era of capitalist turmoil and social upheaval opens – only a socialist alternative offers a way forward
The partial re-opening of the economy is not going to avert an unprecedented economic, social and political crisis. Although the data is unreliable and not 100% accurate, it all points to a crisis unparalleled since the 1930s.
Reopening the U.S. Safely: Putting Our Health Above Profits
As Trump bails out his capitalist friends, workers are forced to sacrifice their health to keep the economy running. Americans are struggling to decide “do I work and risk infection or stay home and lose income?” We need a plan for combating the pandemic and safely re-opening the economy that doesn’t risk workers’ lives. Workers can organize for a safe re-opening and a new, socialist system that prioritizes people over profits.
Coronavirus Strikes; So Do We!
Despite record levels of unemployment, workers from diverse sectors of the economy have turned to collective action, fighting not only for a living wage and safe working conditions, but for their right to live! Amazon warehouse workers, Whole Foods workers, nurses, meat packers, bus drivers, nurses, and more are all sending a message to the capitalists – we won’t die for your profits!
The Case For Fare-Free Public Transit
The American public transportation system is chronically underfunded and mediocre at best. Depending on our broken public transportation system hurts working people who must pay more and more to use a system that keeps getting worse and worse. It’s time for us to fight for a better public transportation system—one that is designed by and for the workers that operate and use it. It’s time to make public transportation better, and that starts with making it fare-free.
International Workers Day – CWI Organizes Around the World
The global shutdown didn’t stop the workers’ movement and the Committee for a Workers’ International from celebrating International Workers Day on May 1st! The pandemic and economic crisis made this day of traditional struggle more important than ever. Check out the international rallies that ISG members spoke at on May 1st about how to organize the fight for universal free healthcare and job protection in the US!
No to Furloughs! Fight for PPE and Hazard Pay for Hospital Staff!
Multinational Healthcare Corporation Tenet furloughs nurses at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Worcester, MA during the pandemic.
Independent Socialist Group 