Freedom Socialist editorial — Lessons of Wisconsin
So-called right-to-work laws have made the U.S. South a bastion of low wages and working-class misery for more than 50 years. Now reactionary forces, bankrolled by big business and armed with lies, hope to extend
Freedom Socialist newspaper Letters to the Editor — April 2015
MIDDLE EAST Kurdish women I was glad to see something written in the paper about the current situation in the Middle East [The ISIS crisis, made by imperialism, Vol. 35, No. 6]. One thing that
LABOR WEATHER REPORT — A glance at how some workers and their unions are faring in the class struggle.
February 2015 — Where’s the aloha? Kaiser Permanente health workers in Hawaii strike for six days after management offers puny pay raises, tries to end guaranteed pensions for new hires, and refuses to address safe
Tesoro oil refinery workers demand right to clock out alive
The workers above are picketing their plant, the Tesoro oil refinery in Anacortes, Wash., on Valentines Day. They are members of United Steelworkers, which launched a national strike on Feb. 1, 2015, over severe safety
West Papua gains allies in its quest for self-determination, after decades of Indonesian oppression
New Guinea — the second biggest island in the world, lies to Australia’s north. Predatory colonialism by the Netherlands, Germany, England, Australia and Indonesia has devastated the way of life for hundreds of Melanesian indigenous
Guns versus butter: Why tanks trump food stamps in the federal budget
Though hardly front-page news, the proposed federal budget for 2016 boosts funding for the Department of Defense. Obama earmarked $534 billion to these U.S. warlords. Their base budget in 2000 was around $300 billion. His
AN URGENT ALERT — Nestora Salgado is on a hunger strike and needs your help
As we go to press, brave indigenous leader and political prisoner Nestora Salgado is protesting her illegal detention with a hunger strike. For nearly two years, Salgado has been held in a Mexican prison, without
For community control over the police! Now is the time to demand elected civilian review boards
After every sickening murder by cops, politicians and police chiefs shake their heads sadly and create another toothless police commission. From Ferguson to Baltimore and beyond, outraged protesters have lost their patience with the system.
From the archives of the Freedom Socialist — The incendiary legacy of Malcolm X: revolutionary internationalism
This article was written soon after Spike Lee’s 1992 movie Malcolm X inspired renewed interest in him. But this piece could have been written yesterday, as African Americans and their supporters protest the wanton murder
LGBTQ liberation: do recent gains mean full equality is inevitable?
Happy pride! The Supreme Court decision today (6/26) is a huge victory after the decades long battle to legalize queer marriage The article below written earlier this month by queer activist Gina Petry is more
“Right to work” lawsuit threatens all unions: Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association
In Washington state this spring, thousands of teachers walked off their jobs to protest chronic underfunding of public education. In Wisconsin in 2011, teachers were leaders in the historic occupation of the state capitol in
After the Netanyahu-Republican lovefest: What’s next for US relations with Israel?
Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu was elected Prime Minister of Israel for the third consecutive time on March 17. During his 9-year regime Israel’s economic situation has severely deteriorated. Israelis now suffer from massive privatization and outsourcing
Closing the gender pay gap: what will it take?
The battle for equal pay for women has gained attention recently, although it’s simmered for decades. In the 1950s, women got 60 cents for every dollar paid to men. Sixty years later, they still earn
Adjunct professors: academia’s overstressed, underpaid labor force
Like most adjunct professors, Mick Parsons, an instructor in Louisville, Ky., lectures at several institutions to earn a salary that works out to less than minimum wage, with no benefits. Adjuncts have short-term contracts and
The unstoppable fight for $15: Low-wage workers won’t take no for an answer
From the early scattered strikes against Burger King and McDonald’s, the movement for $15 an hour has blossomed, logging many small but growing victories in cities and states across the U.S. Equally thrilling, it is
I was a pieceworker for Google
Working in a call center is pure hell. I was hired by a company that manages the 24/7 call center that contracts tech support for Google, the developer of the Android operating system that runs
Freedom socialist book review — historical novel: of slavery and sisterhood before the Civil War
Who doesn’t love the story of a rebel? The tale of the Grimké sisters is just that. Two daughters of a plantation-owning, slave-holding family, they defied their roots and society to become outspoken abolitionists and
Freedom Socialist editorial — Charlie Hebdo: we got it wrong
In the previous issue of the Freedom Socialist, we carried a story called “The Charlie Hebdo furor: when free speech collides with defense of the persecuted” (Vol. 36, No. 2). Unfortunately, in a rush to
