by Michael D. Yates Around the world, hundreds of millions of children ruin their lives at hard labor, while their parents do the same. Try an experiment. Go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website. Find a table with a list of occupations. Pick one out at random. Learn as much as you can about [...]
Many years have passed since the formation of the first labour union in 1790 and since the establishment of the first international workingmen’s association in 1864. The labour and union movement has traveled a long since then road paved with substantial achievements and very good results. The first and foremost issue that the appearance of [...]
Declaration of the Congress of South African Trade Unions International Solidarity Conference, Johannesburg, June 24-26, 2009. COSATU — Gathered at this historic International Solidarity Conference of COSATU are workers, activists and internationalists committed to a new and just world order, free from poverty, hunger and injustice. We have concluded two days of intensive engagements, critical [...]
At the moment, among the US workers there is a feeling of shock, disbelief, anxiety, fear and depression. But that will not last forever. There is a profound questioning of the very system taking place, and eventually, fear and frustration will be transformed into anger and a desire to take action. Many have sincere illusions [...]
FRENCH EXPERIENCE What are the broad lessons we can take away from the French experience? For one thing, the protests and strikes, and the organizing that made them possible, show that resignation, panic and “everyone for themself” are not the only possible responses to the onset of economic hard times. While people will often respond [...]
MICHAEL D. YATES We live in a complex, multiply-divided society. We are divided by wealth, by income, by education, by housing, by race, gender, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation. These divisions are much discussed; in the last two years, there have been entire series in our major newspapers devoted to the growing income divide. Even the wealth-flaunting [...]
Extracted from ILO’s Executive summary The world economy has been significantly affected by the financial crisis and prospects are the worst since the Great Depression. Already, the largest developed countries, notably those where the crisis originated, have entered into recession. Spill over to other countries was initially small, but several emerging economies are now being [...]
Interview with Argentine Economist Claudio Katz by Fernando Arellano Ortiz The exit from the systemic crisis of capitalism needs to be political, and “a socialist project can mature in this turbulence.” So says the Argentine economist, philosopher, and sociologist Claudio Katz, who also warns that the “global economic situation is very serious and is going [...]
The Crisis Will Be Profound and Prolonged . By João Pedro Stedile It’s been several months since the crisis of capitalism was unleashed on the international level, with its epicenter in financial capital and the US economy. Now we have more evidence that this crisis will be profound and prolonged, affecting all the peripheral economies [...]