Wisconsin: For a General Strike Now! (tags)
A law challenging the very existence unions of government workers has just been rammed through the legislature in Wisconsin. In addition, wages have been slashed by up to 10 percent to make up for cuts to health insurance and pensions. The labor movement and workers nationwide and internationally are vividly aware of the stakes. There has been a lot of talk in the last three weeks about a general strike. The Wisconsin South Central Labor Federation even voted to authorize one. But now that the moment of truth has arrived, the union bureaucrats have gotten cold feet. They are doing everything to prevent strike action and instead to divert anger at this vicious law into a drive to recall Republican senators, to be replaced by Democrats, whose “alternative” budget bill would also have drastically slashed wages and benefits. There should be no delay: this is the hour for powerful labor action. A general strike is needed to shut down Wisconsin now!
Support the Protests says Ohio Socialist Senate Candidate (tags)
Dan La Botz, the Cincinnati school teacher who joined the Ohio race for U.S. Senate last month, issued a statement today supporting the national day of protests over the crisis in education. He also called for the creation of system of free, quality public education such as some states, such as California, had in the 1960s. “The Obama administration and the U.S. Congress provided trillions in grants, loans, and federal insurance to banks and corporations for the bailouts,” said La Botz. “The total military and war budget comes to almost $750 billion dollars. The President’s proposed education budget is just under $50 billion dollars. The Obama government provided hundreds of times more money to the bankers than it will to teachers and students, and it will spend 15 times more on arms and war than on our children’s education. Obama proposes more loans for college students, loans that will saddle more families and students with more debt. We don’t need loans—we need free education.”