Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

SanJoséCA

By staff

San Jose, CA – The San Jose district of Freedom Road Socialist Organization has had an explosive first few days of the FRSO General Membership drive, which officially launched on October 15. By October 18, San Jose has already reached 28% of their district goal for the entire month-long drive.

FRSO San Jose began the first week of the drive with near-daily tabling sessions, sometimes tabling twice on the same day in different locations throughout the community. Their most successful tabling experience was at the No Kings protest in downtown San Jose on Saturday, October 17, where they received over a third of their total sign-ups so far.

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By Masao Suzuki

San Jose, CA – On Wednesday, October 14, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor related its monthly report on consumer prices. According to the report, average consumer prices measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.6% in September, much more than the 0.4% increase in August. Over the past year, prices rose 3.7%, another increase from the year over year increase in August, which was lower at 3.4%.

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By staff

San Jose, CA – The San Jose district of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization is launching their FRSO General Membership drive with an ambitious schedule of 30 tabling events in 30 days. Each week, members will set up FRSO tables throughout the community to educate people about FRSO and recruit them to General Membership. FRSO San Jose plans to table regularly in diverse locations including East Side San Jose, San Jose State University campus, the nearby city of Gilroy, and more.

Going into the first official day of the General Membership drive on October 15, FRSO San Jose has already held many lead-up tabling events to train and prepare. In the pre-drive lead-up period, San Jose has already surpassed 10% of its ambitious district goal for the entire month-long drive.

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By staff

Zionist drives car into crowd at pro Palestine rally.

San Jose, CA – On the evening of Wednesday, October 7, a Zionist drove his car onto the sidewalk and directly into a crowd of pro-Palestine protesters that included families with young children. San Jose police then allowed the assailant to drive away without citing or detaining him.

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By John Duroyan

San Jose, CA – At noon, October 7, two dozen students rallied at San Jose State University to commemorate three years since the escalation of Israel's genocide against the Palestinian people, and to honor Palestinian martyrs. The rally was led by the San Jose chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.

Other organizations in attendance included the Muslim Student Association, MEChA, Students for Quality Education, and Students for a Democratic Society.

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By Masao Suzuki

San José, CA – On Wednesday, September 16, the Federal Reserve Bank, widely called the Fed, raised short-term interest rates by one quarter of one percent (0.25%). The Federal Funds Rate, or the interest rate for overnight loans between banks, is now in a range of 3.75% to 4%.

The main concern of the Federal Reserve is that the inflation rate has gone up from the beginning of Trump’s term. In February of 2025, the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, the most widely used measure of inflation, saw average prices up 2.4% from a year earlier. But as of August 2026, average prices were up 3.4% from a year earlier, up about 1% since Trump’s second term began.

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By staff

San Jose, CA – On the evening of Thursday, September 17, over 40 people gathered in the streets of downtown San Jose to demand an end to the war of aggression against Iran.

Chants like, “Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation!” and “Trump wants war, Trump wants oil, hands of Iranian soil!” could be heard echoing through the streets of downtown and around city hall.

Emer Martin of Vigil for Gaza spoke to the crowd, “We support Iran, from the heart of the corporate tech military empire, because we know what it has in store for us too. They have shown us what they’ve done to Gaza they will do to anyone who gets in the way of a capitalist project.”

Martin went on to say, “All the workers of the world should get on board with Iran now and reject the years of propaganda!”

Panda Shim from Students for a Democratic Society at San Jose State University said, “We want an end to sending young Americans to die for absolutely nothing. And until the U.S. gets their hands off the Middle East, until there is justice, there shall be no peace in the streets!”

Akubundu Amazu of the All African People’s Revolutionary Party said, “Iran knows their friends and they know their enemy. This is why they stand with Palestine, Hezbollah and Yemen against the U.S. and Israel. We must all stand together on the right side of history because that is the only way we are going to win,” said Amazu.

Jack McCann, member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, addressed the crowd, “Gas and diesel prices are reaching record highs. It is estimated that this war has cost on average one billion dollars a day”

McCann continued, “Our government, in its conscious choice to prioritize bombs over babies, jails over jobs, has forfeited its right to exist. It is our job, the people of the United States, to unite all who can be united to overthrow the monopoly capitalist class. To bring an end to endless wars, we must bring an end to the system of capitalism.”

Philip Nguyen of San Jose Against War highlighted the organization’s divestment campaign targeting the city of San Jose, saying, “We are calling out the four city council members that voted to keep money invested in companies complicit in Israel’s genocide and ICE terror.”

Nguyen continued, “We will be continuing to escalate and will keep fighting until we win divestment – and we deal a material blow to the U.S. war machine and Israel!”

The crowd took to the streets and marched along a populated pedestrian path to supportive bystanders and car honks.

#SanJoseCA #CA #AntiWarMovement #Iran #Palestine

By Masao Suzuki

San José, CA – On Tuesday, September 8, President Trump announced an escalation of his trade war with Canada with 50% tariffs, or taxes on imports, from Canada, for cheese and dairy products, furniture, golf carts, hides and leather, motorboats, paper, steel, and aluminum. The tariffs are to start Tuesday, September 15. In addition, Trump is banning Canadian motorcycles, beer, wine and liquor, as well as other products, to start in three weeks, on September 29.

This was in response to Canada’s retaliation to Trump’s original tariffs on Monday, September 7, of 15% to 50% on $20 billion of U.S. products, designed to match Trump’s initial tariffs on $20 billion of Canadian goods. In addition, Trump announced that U.S. tariffs on Canadian-made cars and car parts would go to 50% come January 1, 2027.

While the tariffs only cover a small share of Canada-United States trade, about 5%, this pattern of escalation could threaten trade with the United States’ second-largest trading partner after Mexico. But Trump’s verbal attacks and insults, such as that Canada should be the 51st state of the United States, and renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America”, has meant that almost three quarters of Canadians back their government’s resistance to U.S. demands. In contrast, only about 25% of Americans think that Trump should stick to being tough on Canada.

These new tariffs, and the price increases that they cause, are part of the growing unhappiness of Americans with their economic situation. The University of Michigan’s preliminary consumer sentiment index for early September, released on September 11, fell to 47.8 from 51.7 in August. This was lower than any economists had predicted.

#SanJoseCA #CA #Economy #CapitalismAndEconomy #Canada #TradeWar #Trump

By Tim Phan

Solidarity rally in San Jose, California.

San Jose, CA – On September 10, over 50 students, faculty and other campus workers rallied for labor rights on San Jose State University campus. Organized by the recently formed San José State Labor Coalition, the action sought to build solidarity with regards to core issues facing laborers such as low wages and hazardous working conditions.

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By Drusie Kazanova

San Jose, CA – On September 7, around 150 workers and their allies gathered at San Jose City Hall for a Labor Day rally and march. Organized by the San Jose May Day Coalition, the theme of the action was “Labor Fights Back,” and the program highlighted local unions that are waging ongoing campaigns and contract negotiations.

Unions represented at the protest included the Santa Clara County Association of County Educators (ACE), Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 265, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 21, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Locals 2015, 1021, and 521, and the South Bay Labor Council which represents over 110 different unions.

The program was emceed by Megan Sweet, rank-and-file member of ATU 265, and Riju Krishna, president of ACE.

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By Ethan Maruyama

A protester holding signs.

San Jose, CA – On September 2, San Jose State University intended to host Northrop Grumman at the Fall ‘26 Business, Financial Services, and Logistics Job and Internship fair. Northrop Grumman, a weapons manufacturer which maintains $3 billion in contracts with the Defense Department, is a target for Students for a Democratic Society’s (SDS) ongoing campaign demanding SJSU cut ties with war profiteers.

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By Uriel Magdaleno

 'Can't stop, won't stop' at the San Jose commemoration of the 56th Chicano Moratorium

San José, CA – On Saturday, August 29, around 200 attendees and vendors came out to commemorate the 56th Chicano Moratorium in San José.

The 56th Chicano Moratorium was held in Backesto Park, where a new mural that featured local San José activists had been put up by Alfonso Salazar, after a long fight for Chicano representation in the park. Activists say it was important to hold it at Backesto Park to continue the Chicano struggle in San José.

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By Mateo Deal

San José, CA – On August 20, the second day of the fall semester, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) led a protest on the San José State University Campus. SDS has been leading a “No Tech for Genocide” campaign for several years, demanding that university administration cut all ties with weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin. San José State University has maintained ties with Lockheed for decades, including hosting specific engineering master’s programs tailored to send students straight to working as weapons designers.

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By Drusie Kazanova

San Jose, CA – On August 9, around a dozen people gathered in front of MLK Library in San Jose for a vigil to demand justice for Corey Ruiz, a 34-year-old African-American man who was murdered by the police on July 22 in Madison, Wisconsin. Community members brought flowers, candles and signs with slogans like, “Justice for Corey, jail killer cops” and “Justice for victims of police violence.”

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By Masao Suzuki

San José, CA – On Friday, August 7, the Bureau of the Labor Statistics (BLS) of the Department of Labor reported that the U.S. economy had lost 23,000 jobs in July. This was much lower than what economists had estimated, which was of a gain of 80,000 jobs. To make matters worse, revisions to the reports for May and June showed that 100,000 fewer jobs were created than reported earlier.

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By staff

San Jose, CA – On July 12, around 75 community members rallied together at the Mexican Heritage Plaza after the Community Service Organization San Jose (CSO San Jose) called an emergency action to protest the ICE murder of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas and to demand an end to the political repression directed at Los Angles immigrant rights activist Nadia Topete.

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By staff

San Jose, CA – On Wednesday, July 8, around two dozen people rallied at the corner of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library against Trump’s relaunching of the U.S. war against Iran.

Signs depicting children murdered in the Minab school bombing by the U.S. were laid out on the steps in from of the library. Protesters held signs saying, “No war on Iran” and “Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation.”

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By Masao Suzuki

San José, CA – The job market slowed sharply in June, to only 57,000 net new jobs, less than half the monthly increases in April and May. In addition, these two reports were revised downward a total of 74,000 new jobs. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics released the report for June 2026 on July 2.

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By Philip Nguyen

San Jose, CA – On Friday, July 3, around two dozen people gathered for a rally and march starting at Dr. MLK Jr. Library to stand against the U.S.’s endless investment and participation in war across the globe, currently including but not limited to, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and Palestine.

The crowd chanted, “Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation” and “Israel bombs, U.S. pays, how many did they kill today?”

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By Tim Phan

San Jose , CA – On June 30, San Jose State University Professor Dr. Sang Hea Kil of the Justice Studies Department held a victory rally after her arbitration allowing her to return go with full backpay. This came after a protracted campaign where she bravely resisted her firing due to her vocal disapproval of the U.S.-Israeli genocide in Palestine. She was the first tenured professor to be fired from a public university for speaking against the genocide in the wake of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

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