2021-12-11: News Headlines

Astra Taylor (2021-12-11). "Your Debt Is Someone Else's Asset" zcomm.org Calls Mount to Cancel Debt & Halt Wealth Transfer to the Rich…

Jonathan Silberman (2021-12-11). Clarks strike strengthens union, pushes back wage cuts. themilitant.com LONDON — After eight weeks on strike, workers at Clarks Shoes distribution warehouse returned to work Nov. 30, having succeeded in pushing back the company's demand to cut their basic wage by 15%. "It shows what can be done if we stick together," striker Nathan Pritchard told the Militant by phone. "It sends a message to others in similar situations. What hit me the most was us working together and the solidarity." | Citing economic challenges incurred during the pandemic, Clarks had announced new contracts, cutting hourly wages to 9.50 pounds ($12.57) for over 100 workers on "legacy" contracts, a cut of 1.

Martha Grevatt (2021-12-11). Rank-and-file democracy wins in the UAW. workers.org From Oct. 19 through Nov. 29, working and retired members of the United Auto Workers participated in a referendum vote on how they would elect their union's International Executive Board officers. The two choices were whether to continue the current delegate voting system, where the IEB is chosen by delegates . . . |

Seth Galinsky (2021-12-11). Join 'Militant' renewal drive, help get paper out to workers. themilitant.com Readers of the Militant, including members of the Socialist Workers Party and Communist Leagues in Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand, are gearing up for an ambitious drive to win The Militant is unique in looking at all political questions from the standpoint of the working class, whether it's reporting from union picket lines, explaining what's at stake in the fight against antisemitism, fighting to win support for a woman's right to choose to have an abortion or in defending rights cr…

WSWS (2021-12-11). "They are killing us": More flight attendants speak out about poisoned job uniforms. wsws.org Flight attendants from a number of airlines spoke about the toxic working conditions that they have been subjected to by their employers and the airline unions.

WSWS (2021-12-11). Meeting of the Network of Action Committees for Safe Education in Germany: "We are at the beginning of great mass struggles of the working class" wsws.org At the meeting, nurses, educators, workers and students presented a terrible picture of the consequences of the official coronavirus policies.

Vivian Sahner (2021-12-11). Help build working-class support in fight for woman's right to abortion. themilitant.com On Dec. 1, the U.S. Supreme Court began hearings on a case that challenges Roe v. Wade, its own 1973 ruling that decriminalized abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. A decision by the court isn't expected until next year. | In Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the court will rule on a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks, an arbitrary figure. | The state's attorney general, Lynn Fitch, argues that a woman's right to choose abortion should be tossed aside, saying "sweeping policy advances" allow women to "have it all," a career and a family. For Fitch, a divorced mother of thre…

WSWS (2021-12-11). "A lot of things come down to money": Race-based affirmative action and the furor over Canadian academic Carrie Bourassa's native identity claims. wsws.org The entire episode is a particularly foul expression of the consequences of race-based affirmative action, which is irreconcilably at odds with the interests of working people and the fight for social equality.

WSWS (2021-12-11). Threat to fire striking Kellogg's workers prompts nervous statement from Biden administration. wsws.org The short, eight-sentence statement is a clear sign of the nervousness within ruling circles that the move by Kellogg's could trigger a social explosion within the working class.

SAM (2021-12-11). Against Plutocrats, Platitudes — About Democracy — Will Always Be Pitiful. inequality.org

Patrick Brown (2021-12-11). New Zealand farmers unite, demand end to gov't attack. themilitant.com AUCKLAND, New Zealand — "Without farmers you will be hungry, naked and sober," read a placard on a tractor heading a caravan through Christchurch Nov. 21. The convoy was one of 70 across New Zealand in which tens of thousands of farmers and their supporters said, "Enough is enough!" | They were protesting an accelerating onslaught of new regulations adopted by the Labour Party government in Wellington that impose costs and mountains of paperwork on rural producers, in the name of protecting the environment. | Organized by Groundswell, which was formed by farmers in Southland last year, the action built on a…

Caitlin A. Johnstone (2021-12-10). Super serious news reporting: notes from the Edge of The Narrative Matrix. mronline.org Hi I'm a very serious news reporter. The Russians are controlling our thoughts with Facebook memes and scrambling our brains with invisible ray gun attacks. In other news, capitalism is working fine and our wars defend freedom and democracy. The government never lies. Here's Bob with the weather.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-10). Journalist Nada Homsi freed after 23 days of illegal detention in Lebanon. peoplesdispatch.org Homsi was in Lebanon working with US news outlet NPR (National Public Radio) when she was detained on November 16 after members of the Lebanese General Security Directorate raided her home…

Amy Goodman (2021-12-10). "Your Debt Is Someone Else's Asset": Calls Grow to Keep Student Loan Moratorium. truthout.org Image Credit: The Intercept | As calls grow for Biden to extend the moratorium on student debt, we speak with the Debt Collective's Astra Taylor and feature her new film for The Intercept, "Your Debt Is Someone Else's Asset," animated by artist Molly Crabapple. The $15 trillion in U.S. household debt is "a form of wealth transfer" from the poor to the rich, Taylor says. "People are in debt by design." | TRANSCRIPT: | This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. | AMY GOOD…

Isheka N. Harrison (2021-12-10). CEO Takes Leave After Firing 900 Employees Over Zoom, Accused Them Of Stealing Time And Only Working 2 Hours A Day: How Many Hours Are Employees Really Working at Home? moguldom.com The CEO of Better.com has taken leave "effective immediately" after firing over 900 employees on a Zoom call with no warning and later accusing some of stealing time. The mortgage company's Founder and CEO Vishal Garg sent a memo stating he was "taking time off effective immediately," according to Insider. The story went viral last …

The Socialist Program (2021-12-10). The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union — Lessons for Socialists. liberationnews.org The Russian Revolution in 1917 brought the Bolsheviks to power. For the first time in history the working class seized and held state power. What was the experience of the Soviet Union? How did it change global politics in the 20th century? What did socialism achieve and what caused the Soviet Union to fall in 1991?>

imperial.ac.uk (2021-12-10). Omicron – latest findings and commentary from Imperial experts. imperial.ac.uk Experts from Imperial College London and worldwide are working around the clock to understand the rapidly spreading Omicron variant of COVID-19.

rebekah (2021-12-10). Amazon Can't Bust Unions Forever. inequality.org

Newsroom (2021-12-10). 35.8 million face lean season food crisis in West Africa and Sahel. moderndiplomacy.eu Growing food insecurity that is already affecting tens of millions of people across West Africa and the Sahel, must not be ignored by the international community, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday. The alert comes as new data from the region indicated that almost 36 million people are expected to be acutely food insecure by the …

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