By Jacob Aguillard A recent ice storm and freezing temperatures have created extremely difficult and deadly conditions for millions of Texans. Record low temperatures caused over 4 million Texans to lose power and exposed again just how capitalism fails and exploits the working class. In Texas, a state where “about 56 percent of Texas’ energyContinue reading “Texas Ice Storm Hits Working Class Hardest”
Category Archives: News & Analysis
Global capitalism at most perilous since 1930s
The following is an article that was originally published on socialistworld.net, the website of the Committee for a Workers’ International on January 13th by Robin Clapp, Socialist Party of England and Wales For over a year, the Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc across the globe, causing over two million deaths and unleashing enormous economic and socialContinue reading “Global capitalism at most perilous since 1930s”
St. Vincent’s Nurses Authorize Strike – ISG Stands in Solidarity
Worcester Independent Socialist Group (ISG) stands in solidarity with union nurses at St. Vincent hospital who voted Wednesday to authorize a strike. Workers everywhere, including essential nurses, have real power in the workplace, and using that power is the only reliable way to win adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), safe staffing ratios, and COVID-19 protections.Continue reading “St. Vincent’s Nurses Authorize Strike – ISG Stands in Solidarity”
Hunts Point Grocery and Logistics Workers Give Bosses a Bloody Nose
On the night of January 17, 1,400 workers at the Hunts Point Produce Market in the Bronx called a strike, organizing a 24/7 picket line at both entrances to the workplace. The workers, members of Teamsters Local 202, were in negotiations with the company for a new contract. The workers wanted a $1 per hour raise and additional personal and sick time. The company only offered a 32 cent raise.
No Evictions! Fight for Housing Justice
The coronavirus pandemic has been grossly mishandled in capitalist countries throughout the world, and as a consequence, it has had devastating effects on the lives of millions of poor and working people. In the United States, millions of people who were laid off or furloughed in the early months of the pandemic remain unemployed, and costs for essential products and services like food have risen. Tens of millions of Americans have lost whatever degree of economic security they had before the pandemic. One consequence of this is that there are millions of people who are behind on rent and in danger of getting evicted once the federal eviction moratorium (or temporary ban on evictions) is lifted, which is currently set to happen on March 31st.
Trump’s Out – What Next?
Trump’s loss has been a relief to many Americans. There is mass anger at the actions of his administration from deploying the Department of Homeland Security against protestors, to massive tax cuts for the rich, to continued austerity for public services such as cutting SNAP and the Low Income Energy Home Assistance Program, alongside bailouts and tax cuts for corporations, and more. Any defeat of a right-wing figure can be seen as positive, but Biden’s election is far from a victory for the working class. Biden represents the same capitalist interests as Trump.
Solidarity with St. Vincent Nurses
Starting on January 6th, nurses at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, MA began informational pickets to raise public awareness of contract negotiations and place pressure on the hospital’s owner, Tenet Healthcare. Although nurses in Massachusetts experienced problems with understaffing and unsafe patient limits for some time, the COVID-19 pandemic exasperated existing problems. Furthermore, St. VincentContinue reading “Solidarity with St. Vincent Nurses”
Biden’s “Progressive” Cabinet: An Attack on the Working Class
by Christopher Chace The Biden administration’s cabinet nominations offer a first glimpse at what the new administration is planning beyond the vague promises of press briefings, Tweets, and stump speeches. Some liberals insisted that Biden could be “pushed left” towards a progressive agenda. But looking at the history and role of the Democratic Party, weContinue reading “Biden’s “Progressive” Cabinet: An Attack on the Working Class”
Worcester City Council Ignores Community, Approves More Police Funding
But while the previous extra quarter of a million dollars allocated was ridiculous, the plan put forward at the City Council meeting this Tuesday, January 19th, was insidious. The request: $150,000 for an expansion of “ShotSpotter” acoustic shot detection surveillance—and for “ShotSpotter Connect,” a “predictive policing” technology that aims to use artificial intelligence and the data from a city-wide surveillance network to, in essence, “predict crime before it occurs.”
ISG Statement on Biden’s Inauguration
January 20th, 2021 marked the inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden. After the past four years of vicious attacks on organized labor, immigrants, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and women, and 10 months of unending capitalist crisis in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people will breathe a sigh of relief at Donald TrumpContinue reading “ISG Statement on Biden’s Inauguration”
Independent Socialist Group 