Americas

On June 29, the workers of Flasko received good news: the federal judge José Maria Barreto Pedrazolli, from the Campinas/SP circuit, ruled that the electricity company CPFL should reestablish electricity supply "in the face of clear danger of damage" to the factory.

The Workers International League enthusiastically endorses ANSWER's May 31 call for a peaceful, legal, united front antiwar demonstration. The basic unifying slogan "End the War Now!" can effectively mobilize the millions of workers and youth who want the war ended immediately.

After weeks of political show-boating, the Democrats have voted to continue the war in Iraq. Editorial for the American Socialist Appeal no. 31.

After years of Bush’s open-ended war on working people at home and abroad, many on the “left” are desperate for an alternative. For many, that alternative is Barack Obama, a Democratic Senator from Illinois. However, far from being a “progressive” alternative, Obama is at his core a typical representative of the bosses’ political parties.

In this video interview (in Spanish), Serge Goulart, the national coordinator of the Occupied Factories Movement in Brazil gives an overview of the latest situation of the struggle against the decision of the Lula government to organise a judicial-police intervention against CIPLA and Interfibra and the attacks on the workers at Flaskó.

This audio file, recorded on the 11th June at the Socialist Appeal London aggregate, hears Rob Lyon talk on the National Question in relation to the current and historical situation in Quebec.

The court appointed administrator at Cipla has been at it again. After being expelled from Flasko after an attempt to sack the Factory Committee there, he has now threatened to “crush” the workers. Facing pressure from all side, the workers at Flasko are standing firm in the defence of workers’ control, their jobs, and their factories.

Miner’s Memorial Day took place this past weekend on Vancouver Island to celebrate the memory of Ginger Goodwin and the struggles of the miners. A good contingent of youth were present to take part in meetings and discussions.

June 24, 1967, entered the memory of the Bolivian people and of the entire world as one of the cruelest episodes in history. The Mineworkers Trade Union Federation of Bolivia (FSTMB) sent us a message commemorating these events. See also in Spanish.

 

The war in Vietnam, which completely transformed the situation in the U.S.A., did not begin in a planned way. The U.S.A. was sucked into it almost by accident. It began with a covert operation, the sending of officers and “advisers” to prop up an unpopular and corrupt government against its own people. This is the usual style of U.S. imperialism! The regime of Ngo Dinh Diem was guilty of vicious repression in South Vietnam. Buddhist monks burned themselves alive in protest. Finally, Diem was assassinated by his own generals.

 

This year’s U.S. Perspectives will bring up to date key aspects of last year’s extensive World and U.S. Perspectives documents. In the past 12 months, the contradictions of the world capitalist system have continued to build up, resulting in violent explosions of the class struggle in one country after another, and preparing even more explosive developments for the coming period.

Flasko workers have successfully defended their factory for a second time. You can see video footage of yesterday’s event and read an appeal from the workers for solidarity in defending the factory and their jobs.

Today the major industrialized country with the highest proportion of working days not worked due to strikes or lockouts is Canada, the only OECD country with a higher rate is crisis-ridden Iceland. The high strike rate in Canada is now leading to further radicalisation as workers in the manufacturing sector begin factory occupations against plant closures. Canadian workers are setting the pace; the world will follow.