by Miranda AlpertSharon Teachers Association / Massachusetts Teachers Association (personal capacity)Boston, MA There has been a recent wave of strikes by members of the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA), part of the National Education Association (NEA). Although public-sector strikes are illegal in 37 states, including Massachusetts, educators in Brookline, Malden, and Haverhill in 2022, as wellContinue reading “Defying the ban on Massachusetts public sector strikes”
Category Archives: News & Analysis
Why Labor Unions and the Working Class Need a Workers’ Party
by Peggy WangMassachusetts Teachers Association/Association of Professional Administrators (personal capacity)Boston, MA Workers have been making headlines by unionizing, striking, and making militant demands. But winning first contract agreements is taking longer, corporations like Amazon refuse to negotiate at all, and only one in ten US workers are in unions. Corporations use their vast amounts ofContinue reading “Why Labor Unions and the Working Class Need a Workers’ Party”
Meet A Socialist: Vicki
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”
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”
Meet a Socialist: Richard
by Richard ValdesWorcester, MA I live in Central Massachusetts and I work as a lab analyst in the biopharmaceutical industry. I’ve only recently considered myself a socialist, as I’ve always been very left-leaning, but I never took the initiative to really establish my political beliefs. I certainly never sought out a way to meaningfully actContinue reading “Meet a Socialist: Richard”
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”
Independent Socialist Group 