Lansing, MI – In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the world, UPS Teamsters are concerned about the lack of safety precautions taken by the company. While UPS workers were deemed essential workers, there has been little to no effort on the part of UPS to make the workplace safe from the virus. There has been no scale-back of operations to only essential or critical packages, there have been no additional jobs created for cleaning and sanitizing work spaces, and any efforts to supply the work force with cleaning and hygiene supplies has been at the discretion of local managers and supervisors on a case-by-case basis.
San José, CA – The U.S. Senate has failed twice to pass a Republican-backed economic stimulus bill worth over a trillion dollars ($1,000,000,000,000). Opposition to the bill comes from its top-down (or in the 1930’s Great Depression term, ‘trickle down’) approach. The bill would provide hundreds of billions of loans to corporations that would not have to be paid back, just as in the loans made to U.S. auto makers after the financial crisis in 2008. It would also give direct cash handouts, with almost half of all households getting half of what middle and higher income households would get.
New Orleans, LA – Transgender community activists in Louisiana put together a crisis fund. It gives cash to trans and gender non-conforming people hit hardest by COVID-19.
Federal Reserve takes extreme measures to protect wealthy
San José, CA – Last week the financial news was dominated by the falling stock market, which had its worst week since the 2008 financial crisis. But behind the scenes the U.S. Federal Reserve, or Fed, was working feverishly to prevent another financial crisis, taking actions not even done during the 2008 crash.
Portland, OR – The Portland Rent Freeze Coalition, made up of concerned people and progressive organizations, disrupted a COVID-19 response press conference on March 17 here in Portland to demand that all rent payments due during the statewide shutdown be cancelled.
Washington, DC – According to a March 20 report from the Korean Central News Agency, the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has formed the Central Emergency Anti-Epidemic Headquarters to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The headquarters is also tasked with summing up experience and popularizing achievements in the fight against the illness.
San José, CA – On Thursday, March 19, the Department of Labor reported a surge of applications for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits as the COVID-19 pandemic began to bite into the economy. For the week ending March 14, a seasonally adjusted 281,000 claims were filed, up 70,000 (or one-third) from the week before and much greater than the predicted 220,000. A National Public Radio poll also conducted last week showed that 18% of all households had already lost income from layoffs or reduced work hours.
Minneapolis, MN – As the number of confirmed cases of the viral illness COVID-19 approaches 200,000 worldwide, we can already see how differently issues of public health and human needs are treated in socialist countries vs. capitalist countries.
The following statement was written by the Labor Commission of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), representing trade unionists across the United States.
San José, CA – U.S. stocks plunged sharply right after the opening bell and ended more than 7% lower as the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 2000 points, March 9. So swift was the fall that within minutes so-called circuit breakers developed after the 1987 stock market crash kicked in, halting trading for 15 minutes. Stocks tried to bounce back but ended the day lower.
Minneapolis, MN – Worldwide, cases of COVID-19 have broken the 100,000 mark. There are more than 400 cases in the United States, a number that is rising every day. That number is likely much higher, but test kits remain in short supply.
San José, CA – On Friday, March 6, the Labor Department reported that 273,000 new jobs were created in January, driving the unemployment down to 3.5%. But despite this strong job report, U.S. stocks fell again; the broadest S&P 500 was down 50 points or about 1.75%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is made up of 30 large companies, fell less than 1% as investors may have felt larger companies are safer havens. But the real flight was to bonds, with the ten-year U.S. Treasury Bond interest rate falling to another record low of 0.75%.
Coronavirus fear strikes back after a day of gains
San José, CA – On Thursday, March 5, the day after U.S. stocks soared on hopes that a Biden presidency would be better for Wall Street, economic worries about the new Coronavirus (COVID-19) drove down stocks again. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 1000 points, or 3.5%, with other averages falling a bit less. Interest rates on the ten-year U.S. Treasury Bonds fell to another record low of less than 0.92%, showing both fear among U.S. investors and expectations of weaker economic growth.
Minneapolis, MN – Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s Political Secretary Steff Yorek stated today, March 4, “As COVID-19 spreads here in the United States, the potential exists for the corporate health care system to be overwhelmed. American capitalism has developed a health care system that’s poorly equipped to do basic public health. There is no profit in disease prevention.”
San José, CA – On Tuesday, March 3, the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, cut interest rates by one-half of one percent. This emergency action was taken between the regular Fed meetings every six weeks. This was the first time that the Fed had acted between meetings since the financial crisis in October of 2008.
