Autoworkers, educators and Amazon workers in US speak on International May Day rally
Workers who attended the International May Day Online Rally held by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) on May 1 told the
World Socialist Web Site that they were most struck by how speakers from many different countries described the common conditions confronting workers around the world and advanced a common international strategy for workers to fight the pandemic, social inequality, and the danger of war and fascism.
Several workers spoke about the opening report by David North, the chairman of the international editorial board of the WSWS and national chairman of the Socialist Equality Party in the US, who reviewed how capitalist governments around the world had refused to take the necessary measures to save lives during the pandemic because this would undermine the private accumulation of wealth by the world’s billionaires. Drawing the comparison to revolutionary
Striking NYU graduate students: “It’s people’s lives that we’re talking about here”
The strike of 2,000 New York University (NYU) graduate student-workers is nearing the end of its first week, and the strikers are determined to win higher wages and benefits and better working conditions. The NYU chapter of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) spoke to strikers on the picket line Thursday.
That same day, the efforts of the United Auto Workers (UAW) with which the Graduate Students Organizing Committee (GSOC) union is affiliated, to sell out the strike reached a new stage, with GSOC-UAW holding mediated bargaining sessions with the university, dropping demands and promoting Democratic Party politicians.
Pennsylvania school bus driver explains why she is coming to the International May Day online rally
Kathy, a school bus driver near Philadelphia and a leading member of the Pennsylvania Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, recently spoke with the World Socialist Web Site about why she is attending the International May Day Online Rally on Saturday and supporting the call for the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees.
She described the conditions teachers and support staff have faced in her school district during the pandemic and broader issues, including police brutality, inequality and the need for an international response by workers to the deadly disease.
US CEO pay soars during pandemic
For the majority of the population, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a catastrophe on a scale not seen since the Second World War. With a death toll over 586,000 in the US alone, millions of families have lost loved ones, as parents, spouses, siblings, and even children fell ill and succumbed to the virus in a matter of days. Millions more have survived an infection only to face debilitating long-term consequences to their health.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings President & CEO Frank Del Rio, right, joins applause as he rings the New York Stock Exchange opening bell. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)