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”
Category Archives: Economy
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”
Vote for Publicly-Owned Energy in Maine!
by Maine Branch, Independent Socialist Group On November 7th, Maine voters will be asked, “Do you want to create a new power company governed by an elected board to acquire and operate existing for-profit electricity transmission and distribution facilities in Maine?” The Independent Socialist Group supports the Pine Tree Power ballot question, and calls forContinue reading “Vote for Publicly-Owned Energy in Maine! “
ISG in Action: Railroad Workers United
by Nicholas Wurst & Claire BaylerWorcester, MASMART-TD Local 1473 (personal capacity) & Railroad Workers United (personal capacity) This article was originally published in Edition 13 (July 2023) of Socialism Today, the paper of the Independent Socialist Group. Subscribe to the paper to receive each issue in print and read the articles before they’re published online!Continue reading “ISG in Action: Railroad Workers United”
Workers Made to Pay for Bank Failures
Lauren Gamble Portland, Maine It has been a month since the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse and government-sponsored bailout, and now the working class feels its effects. A wave of layoffs and job losses is devastating Silicon Valley. 10,000 employees were laid off in March from Meta, Facebook’s parent company, on top of 11,000 jobsContinue reading “Workers Made to Pay for Bank Failures”
Why We Need Public Ownership of the Railroads
by Nicholas Wurst & Claire BaylerWorcester, MASMART-TD Local 1473 (personal capacity) & Railroad Workers United (personal capacity) In October of 2022, amid the highly contentious battle over the Class 1 freight railroad workers’ contract, Railroad Workers United (RWU) adopted a resolution calling for public ownership of the railroads. RWU is an activist organization of rank-and-fileContinue reading “Why We Need Public Ownership of the Railroads”
Interview with a Teamster: Union Busting & Corporate Maneuvers at UPS
by Nicholas Marcotte Ronan Foley has worked as a part-time package handler at the UPS hub in Shrewsbury, MA for over a year and is a member of Teamsters Local 170 and the Independent Socialist Group. UPS is not only one of the largest logistics companies in the world, but also is one of theContinue reading “Interview with a Teamster: Union Busting & Corporate Maneuvers at UPS”
SHOCKS TO THE SYSTEM: Workers Shouldn’t Pay for Banking Crisis
A bank run on Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in mid-March led to its collapse. It’s the second-largest bank failure in US banking history behind the collapse of Washington Mutual during the 2008 “great recession.” As panic from the collapse of SVB rolled through the system, the federal government closed Signature Bank in New York, resulting in the third-largest bank failure in US history.
Meet a Socialist – March 2023
by Angus McFarlandMaine Some years ago, my father died, and a few years after that, my son was born. As a carpenter, I couldn’t afford to take much time off for either event, so I worked, using methods taught to me by my father to support the life of my little son. His birth madeContinue reading “Meet a Socialist – March 2023”
The Forever Crisis of Capitalism
by B.W. SculosEdinburg, TXRio Grande Valley United Faculty, TFA, NEA member (personal capacity) Higher credit card and mortgage interest rates, rising cost of food and many other necessities at grocery stores, soaring energy prices, shortages of life-sustaining medications. These are the daily economic experiences of people across the United States and around the world. HoweverContinue reading “The Forever Crisis of Capitalism”
Independent Socialist Group 