North America
The Many Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, and the Atlantic Working Class in the Eighteenth Century
Article on class struggle and compositon in the period leading up to and during the American revolution, showing how the struggles of sailors and slaves drove the movement to national liberation.
Introduction
Pirate utopias: Under the banner of death, 1640-1820
An interesting look at the life and times of pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries. This article explores the somewhat libertarian and communalist values which guided the life of a pirate during those years.
"In an honest Service, there is thin Commons, low Wages, and hard Labour; in this, Plenty and Satiety, Pleasure and Ease, Liberty and Power; and who would not ballance Creditor on this Side, when all the Hazard that is run for it, at worst, is only a sower Look or two at choaking. No, a merry Life and a short one shall be my Motto" - Pirate Captain Bartholomew Roberts.(1)
Trinidad: Nurses on work-to-rule
Nurses have been told to work to rule at medical institutions from today.
It came yesterday as the Public Services Association criticised what it called the "reckless behaviour" of Health Minister John Rahael following the dismissal of two of the nurses involved in an incident during where baby Justin Paul was burnt at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex.
Making a killing - Christian Dewar
Article detailing links between big business and the Nazi regime during World War II.
Many Americans are probably not aware of the great extent to which U.S. corporations collaborated with the Nazi war machine during WWII. Ultimately, the international corporations, the lawyers, bankers and financiers who collaborated with the Nazis prevailed. They exerted tremendous influence to thwart investigators delving into their seditious activities after the war.
Anti-capitalist actions around mass transit in San Francisco, 1993-1995
A personal account of some actions towards encouraging a "culture of non-payment" in a big city public transit system.
In the spring of 1993, San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan launched an attack on the living standards of the city’s working class by demanding a fare increase of 25 cents per ride on MUNI. MUNI is San Francisco’s main public transit system, made up of motor coaches, trolleys, metro trains, and the world-famous cable cars, with approximately 686,000 passenger boardings every weekday.
Dividing and conquering the working class with drug testing: Hawaii teachers, coercion and a failure of working class solidarity
This is a piece written by an anonymous teacher in Hawaii in response to the teachers' union accepting a contract with mandatory drug testing in exchange for a raise.
In a historic blow to workers’ rights, and working class solidarity in Hawaii, the members of the Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA) have been coerced into voting to relinquish basic rights to gain a needed pay raise. The contract they agreed to provides for 4% raises over each of the next two years, with other supplements amounting to an 11% pay raise over two years.
Detroit bus drivers on wildcat strike
All of Detroit's bus drivers walked out yesterday over concerns about safety and crime.
About 800 bus drivers of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 26 were involved in the stoppage.
Union president Henry Gaffney said that the strike grew from his members' frustration with the growing dangers on the unpatrolled buses - two drivers were assaulted in the last two days.
Oakland dockers honour anti-war picket lines
Oakland Port anti-war and labor protesters close SSA terminal for the day. ILWU 10 & ILWU 34 members refuse to cross lines.
Dozens of anti-war protesters including the leadership and many members of the Oakland Education Association (OEA) joined the picket lines this morning and in the evening of the SSA (Stevedoring Services of America) shipping terminal in Oakland, California to protest the war and the lack of funding for schools in Oakland.
Junior doctors strike in Barbados
Junior doctors at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) are planning to take industrial action today.
The National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) and the junior doctors decided yesterday that all elective surgery would be stopped today, including those at the polyclinics. However, union president Walter Maloney said last night people with chronic problems would be treated.
Bahamas sick-out may end
For the second day in a row, staff members in the engineering department at the Princess Margaret Hospital called in sick yesterday in protest at a delay in their hazardous pay.
However, all "sick" employees may be reporting for duty as usual today after discussions with management, who assured workers that the hazardous pay was on the way, said sources working in the Maintenance Department.
"They had a meeting with management, [the protest] was only for two days and everyone should be back [Thursday] morning," the source told The Guardian.
