for introducing a different way of thinking about the world, about war, about human rights, about equality, for getting more and more people to think that way, and also for getting more people to realize that power, which rests so far in the hands of people with wealth and guns, ultimately rests on people themselves, [...]

by Rick Wolff, 23.12.09 The 2010 Statistical Abstract of the United States (and especially Tables 574 to 650), published by the US Census Bureau, provides many statistics that can update understanding of today’s working class and possibilities of its movement.  The Abstract counts 154 million people as members of the US labor force in 2008. [...]

by Rick Wolff     The transition out of feudalism to capitalism in Europe, mostly from the 17th to the 19th centuries, took multiple forms.  It was uneven as well, happening in different ways at different rates in different places.  Marx studied that transition’s various dimensions because they offered valuable lessons for the different transition [...]

World Federation of Trade UNIONS (W.F.T.U.) Announcement to the International Trade Union Youth Conference Lima, Peru – November 18-20, 2009 The organizing committee, the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP) and the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) call upon all affiliated and frieldy organizations to participate in this 1st International Trade Union Youth [...]

Speech by WFTU General Secretary George Mavrikos at the International Seminar on:”The Economic Crisis and the Role of the International Trade Union Movement”, 5-6 October 2009, Brussels 7 October 2009 Dear friends, We would like to welcome you to our Conference stressing that your presence here is very important for us. We believe that in [...]

Amidst the many failings and shortcomings of unions and the labor movement, there have been bright spots too. Not long after the first edition went to press, many unions joined the fight for global justice and against the uncontrolled globalization that had been driving wages and working conditions downward worldwide. The most famous struggle occurred [...]

Michael D. Yates The first edition of Why Unions Matter was published in 1998. In it I argued that unions mattered because they were the one institution that had dramatically improved the lives of the majority of the people and had the potential to radically transform both the economic and political landscape, making both more [...]

T.K. RAJALAKSHMI The ILO’s recent “World of Work Report 2008” has particular relevance given the current global financial and economic crisis. In India, the ILO report says, casual workers earn 45 per cent less than regular workers. THE World of Work Report 2008: Income Inequalities in the Age of Financial Globalization, produced by the International [...]

“First International” [The text of 1867 English edition of the Rules and Administrative Regulations which was approved by Marx and later used by him in subsequent work on these documents.] RULES Considering, That the emancipation of the working classes must be conquered by the working classes themselves; that, the struggle for the emancipation of the [...]

First  International Working Men’s Association [Written: October 21-27, 1864; First Published: Printed as a pamphlet in Inaugural Address and Provisional Rules of the International Working Men’s Association, along with the “General Rules”. London. Workingmen: It is a great fact that the misery of the working masses has not diminished from 1848 to 1864, and yet [...]