by Vicki PProvidence, RI I suppose you could say I was a typical liberal when I first started to become politically engaged; I understood that “voting is important,” but I didn’t really try to understand how politics touches our everyday lives beyond that. For example, I was a black kid growing up in Warwick, RhodeContinue reading “Meet A Socialist: Vicki”
Author Archives: Independent Socialist Group
We Need Our Unions to Take Up Socialist Ideas to Make a Breakthrough
Stand together and build a new political party for working people Image: ISG members and other supporters at the Teamsters picketline outside an Amazon warehouse in Norwood, Massachusetts (October 2023) In the last few years, our unions have made important gains in organizing and contract struggles. Public support for unions is up to 71%, butContinue reading “We Need Our Unions to Take Up Socialist Ideas to Make a Breakthrough”
Labor Calls for a Ceasefire, Next Steps to Stop Genocide in Gaza
By Jacob BielskiSpringfield, MA On February 16th, “Seven national unions and over two hundred local unions today formed the National Labor Network for Ceasefire (NLNC) to ‘end the death and devastation’ in the Middle East, and to expand support for the ceasefire among unions nationally.” In doing so, these unions outflanked many Democratic politicians byContinue reading “Labor Calls for a Ceasefire, Next Steps to Stop Genocide in Gaza”
Why We Need Public Ownership of the Railroads
Originally published April 2023. Updated April 2024. by Nicholas Wurst & Claire BaylerSMART-TD Local 1473 (personal capacity) & Railroad Workers United (personal capacities)Worcester, MA Check out publicrailnow.org and railroadworkersunited.org/support-public-ownership for more info. In October of 2022, amid the highly contentious battle over the Class 1 freight railroad workers’ contract, Railroad Workers United (RWU) adopted aContinue reading “Why We Need Public Ownership of the Railroads”
All Out for a Railroad Strike!
by Nicholas WurstSMART-TD Local 1473 & RWU Steering Committee (personal capacity)Worcester, MA Railroad workers cannot afford another drawn-out, “business-as-usual” bargaining process. BNSF and Union Pacific railroads carried out mass layoffs this past winter, and the corporations are attempting to eliminate freight conductors and implement one-man crews. We need to fight, all-out, for the future ofContinue reading “All Out for a Railroad Strike!”
May Day 2024: The Labor Movement Needs Socialism
This article was originally published in Issue 17 (April-May) of Socialism Today. Pick up a copy today! International Workers Day is a socialist holiday started by US unions during the struggle for the eight-hour workday in the late 1800s. It was adopted by the socialist Second International in 1904 as a day to “demonstrate energetically…forContinue reading “May Day 2024: The Labor Movement Needs Socialism”
Freighter Collision Collapses Francis Scott Key Bridge, Fight for Workers Safety and Job Security
By Jacob Bielski & Claire Bayler (former Baltimore dockhand)Springfield & Worcester, MA On Tuesday, March 26th, the Dali, a 985-foot-long cargo ship, collided with and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which spans the outer Baltimore Harbor in Maryland. Authorities shut down traffic after hearing the ship’s mayday calls, but eight maintenance workers on breakContinue reading “Freighter Collision Collapses Francis Scott Key Bridge, Fight for Workers Safety and Job Security”
Government Shutdown and Debt Ceiling: What Workers Need to Know
B.W. Sculos & Ashley RogersRio Grande Valley United Faculty, TFA, NEA member (personal capacity)Edinburg, TX / Philadelphia, PA On March 8, the Senate postponed a partial government shutdown by passing another temporary funding bill continuing the 2023 budget. The threat of a government shutdown, including furloughs of many government employees and the closure of vital services, isContinue reading “Government Shutdown and Debt Ceiling: What Workers Need to Know”
Hundreds of Thousands Vote Against Gaza War in Democratic Primaries: A First Step Toward Breaking with Pro-War, Capitalist Parties?
by Jacob BielskiSpringfield, MA In protest of the Biden Administration’s support for the Israeli state’s invasion, bombardment, and starvation of Gaza, 101,067 voters cast “uncommitted” ballots in the Michigan Democratic Primary on February 27th. The campaign sparked a grassroots movement on Super Tuesday when 16 states and the US territory of American Samoa held theirContinue reading “Hundreds of Thousands Vote Against Gaza War in Democratic Primaries: A First Step Toward Breaking with Pro-War, Capitalist Parties?”
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2024: Solidarity with Gaza and all victims of war!
The potential power of working-class women in the US is huge. In the last 10 years we have seen mass demonstrations against Donald Trump, in defense of women’s and abortion rights, and opposing violence against women. Working-class women are playing major roles in recent strikes and unionization battles in the education, healthcare, service, entertainment, andContinue reading “INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2024: Solidarity with Gaza and all victims of war! “
Independent Socialist Group 