Denver, CO – On Friday, September 29, United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 186, along with the AFL-CIO and other unions, held a rally at the Chrysler/Stellantis Parts Distribution Center where workers have been holding a picket line for the past week – since the auto workers strike expanded to the two Denver facilities.

The nationwide strike began on September 14, after the contract between the UAW and Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis expired. The UAW had previously voted by an overwhelming majority to strike against these “Big Three” automakers if they were not offered wages that would keep up with inflation.

Workers from several other unions joined the rally in solidarity with the striking auto workers, including members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Service Employees International Union, and Starbucks Workers United. Members of these unions took turns leading chants such as “What's outrageous? Poverty wages!” and “The unions, united, will never be defeated!”

Valerie Soto, a UAW strike captain, spoke to attendees about the union's demands of the Big Three, explaining how years of concessions had resulted in wages that haven't kept up with inflation, as well as a two-tier wage system that underpays newer workers. Soto declared, “We sacrificed to save the company, and now it’s time for them to pay us back. We are fighting to take back what was taken from us.”

Many attendees at the rally expressed the need for continued solidarity and support of the strikers. “Workers are stronger when we organize together, and we saw many different unions come support the pickets because we all realize that a victory for one worker is a victory for all workers,” said Keegan Estrella, a rank-and-file Teamster.

Workers held up signs that said, “UAW on strike,” “Record profits, record contracts,” and “United for a strong contract – end tiers” along the side of the road leading to the distribution center, where they received a steady flow of passersby honking in support. Spirits were high during the rally, with UAW members stating they were prepared to continue the strike until their demands were met.

#DenverCO #UAW #Strike #Solidarity

Milwaukee, WI – Outside the Mopar Parts distribution center in the Bay View neighborhood, striking workers of UAW Local 75 were joined in solidarity by a crowd of hundreds to aid in their contract fight against Stellantis. On the afternoon of September 27, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council (MALC) rallied workers, community members, and union leaders to the strike line. Representatives of this broad coalition included members of the CWA, Ironworkers, Teamsters, Educators, Laborers, UFCW, AFSCME, USW, and ATU, among other unions.

The distribution facility, a near century-long staple of the Bay View neighborhood and represented by a founding local of the UAW, has been targeted as a possible site for closure by parent corporation Stellantis. This is a part of a larger strategy by the Big 3 automotive corporations to cut labor costs and consolidate their holdings in the Midwest, at the expense of workers. On the picket line, workers are standing up against displacement from their homes, the constant reduction of their compensation in the face of inflation, and the possibility of being forced into an early retirement.

A crucial part of this plan by the Big 3 automotive companies is to maintain a tiered labor force. Nick Romano, the president of the Local 75 retiree’s chapter, spoke on the vital demand to eliminate tiers.

“There’s nothing worse than a union divider, than two-tier. There’s nothing worse! When that person comes in, they may be a little happy. After a period of time all it does is create divisions, arguments and animosity. So let’s get tiers out! They have got to go!” said Romano.

Local 75 workers led chants of “No contract, no parts!” and “When union jobs are under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!” to bring up the mood of the picketers on the rainy afternoon. Despite the gloomy weather, working class unity brightened the days of the workers and those gathered in solidarity. Romano, the head of the retired workers, impressed the long-term importance of solidarity among the striking workers in their fight.

“I can tell you this, the retirees wholeheartedly support the active workers. You came from us, and the future generations will come from you,” he said.

UAW Local 75 will be on the strike line from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every Monday through Friday until Stellantis comes to the bargaining table with a better offer. They welcome and encourage support from any workers who wish to join them in their fight for a contract that meets their needs.

#MilwaukeeWI #UAW #Strike #Solidarity

Since taking office in 2017, President Moïse has been making power plays, including firing judges and parliamentary officials, while reinstating a repressive national military that collaborates with Haitian police. Together, they violently repress Haitian activists who protest election rigging, lackluster COVID-19 aid, and political kidnappings. This current round of protests is a result of the state's failure to organize new elections in October 2020, so there is currently no legislature and not enough senators to function. Still, the Haitian people are showing resilience through 2021, despite increasing repression from the government.

Moïse intends to use his new power grab to gift to Haitian compradors, local business owners, and for a contract with Coca-Cola, where 21,251 acres of fertile farming land will be used not for food that will go towards Haitian people, but for stevia, a sweetener ingredient for Coca-Cola. In a country where there are food shortages, this is in direct betrayal of the needs of the Haitian people.

Activists will gather at 6 p.m. on March 29 in front of the Coca-Cola sign on top of the Olympia Building in downtown Atlanta. They are led by Community Movement Builders in Atlanta and partnered with Leve Kenpe Pou Ayiti.

Activists are targeting Coca-Cola landmarks in the city in order to send a message to U.S. corporations to back off Haiti, while showing solidarity towards the Haitian people. Atlanta is the home and birthplace of Coca-Cola.

This is an international day of action, with other demonstrations happening in Montreal, Canada; Caracas, Venezuela; San Juan, Puerto Rico, and more around the world. To get involved and plan a protest for your community, you can register your city at https://levekanpe.org/

#AtlantaGA #solidarity #GA

Chicago, IL – On day nine of the strike by 4000 members of the Service Employee International Union Local 73, September 22, picket lines were dispersed to multiple locations across the medical center campus. Workers gathered by the dock entrances of the hospital, the Outpatient Care Center, the College of Medicine Research Building, the dean’s office of the College of Medicine, the College of Dentistry, and the Clinical Science Building.

In an act of trade union solidarity, UPS workers who are members of Teamsters Local 705 refused to cross the picket lines. As a result, numerous deliveries were halted, doubtlessly causing panic among management in the respective labs, clinics and academic departments. As each brown package car truck turned around and drove away, the strikers cheered and chanted, “What do we want? A contract! When do we want it? Now! And If we don’t get it? Shut it down!” The strikers were elated that they were able to strike such blows against the employer.

Referring to the mood on the picket lines, occupational therapist Cathleen Jensen, a vice president of Local 73, said, “Striking workers are very defiant; they feel confident that they are winning. Some are applying for the hardship funds, donated by other unions and community supporters, because obviously people have financial concerns.”

In the first week of the strike, strikers had concentrated on displays of unity among service, clerical, technical and professional employees with marches around campus and rallies in front of the hospital, the heart of the strike. Also, the Illinois Nurses Association had struck for seven days, returning to work on Saturday without a contract agreement. With bargaining failing to produce significant results, the Local 73 strikers have escalated tactics.

Respect us, protect us, pay us!

In conversations on the picket lines, many workers repeated similar messages about the aim of the strike: their concerns for universal PPE (personal protective equipment, such as face masks), fair pay, an end to outsourcing good union jobs, and the bottom line of dignity and respect. Many picket signs read, “Racism is a public health crisis,” which is a challenge to the language of a pledge by health centers in Chicago that the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System signed. Most of the strikers are Black and Latino, and most of the nurses are also oppressed nationality, mainly Filipino. The nurses and workers who died from COVID-19 at the hospital were also Black, Filipino and Latino.

In the afternoon, 20 strikers joined the Reverend Jesse Jackson and other faith leaders in a ceremony at the office of Governor J.B. Pritzker, where they laid flowers in front of his door to honor the 200,000 victims of COVID-19. The workers were there to press the governor to intervene in the strike. The governor appoints the board of trustees, the bosses of UIC management.

Vice President Jensen spoke about reverberations throughout the labor movement in response to this strike. “When we win, it will give other workers courage. We know that the nurses at Rush Medical Center are watching us to see what happens. A lot of workers in healthcare are discontented.”

#ChicagoIL #SEIU #Teamsters #UPS #solidarity #Strikes #SEIUStrike #ServiceEmployeeInternationalUnionLocal73

Chicago, IL – On day nine of the strike by 4000 members of the Service Employee International Union Local 73, September 22, picket lines were dispersed to multiple locations across the medical center campus. Workers gathered by the dock entrances of the hospital, the Outpatient Care Center, the College of Medicine Research Building, the dean’s office of the College of Medicine, the College of Dentistry, and the Clinical Science Building.

In an act of trade union solidarity, UPS workers who are members of Teamsters Local 705 refused to cross the picket lines. As a result, numerous deliveries were halted, doubtlessly causing panic among management in the respective labs, clinics and academic departments. As each brown package car truck turned around and drove away, the strikers cheered and chanted, “What do we want? A contract! When do we want it? Now! And If we don’t get it? Shut it down!” The strikers were elated that they were able to strike such blows against the employer.

Referring to the mood on the picket lines, occupational therapist Cathleen Jensen, a vice president of Local 73, said, “Striking workers are very defiant; they feel confident that they are winning. Some are applying for the hardship funds, donated by other unions and community supporters, because obviously people have financial concerns.”

In the first week of the strike, strikers had concentrated on displays of unity among service, clerical, technical and professional employees with marches around campus and rallies in front of the hospital, the heart of the strike. Also, the Illinois Nurses Association had struck for seven days, returning to work on Saturday without a contract agreement. With bargaining failing to produce significant results, the Local 73 strikers have escalated tactics.

Respect us, protect us, pay us!

In conversations on the picket lines, many workers repeated similar messages about the aim of the strike: their concerns for universal PPE (personal protective equipment, such as face masks), fair pay, an end to outsourcing good union jobs, and the bottom line of dignity and respect. Many picket signs read, “Racism is a public health crisis,” which is a challenge to the language of a pledge by health centers in Chicago that the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System signed. Most of the strikers are Black and Latino, and most of the nurses are also oppressed nationality, mainly Filipino. The nurses and workers who died from COVID-19 at the hospital were also Black, Filipino and Latino.

In the afternoon, 20 strikers joined the Reverend Jesse Jackson and other faith leaders in a ceremony at the office of Governor J.B. Pritzker, where they laid flowers in front of his door to honor the 200,000 victims of COVID-19. The workers were there to press the governor to intervene in the strike. The governor appoints the board of trustees, the bosses of UIC management.

Vice President Jensen spoke about reverberations throughout the labor movement in response to this strike. “When we win, it will give other workers courage. We know that the nurses at Rush Medical Center are watching us to see what happens. A lot of workers in healthcare are discontented.”

#ChicagoIL #SEIU #Teamsters #UPS #solidarity #Strikes #SEIUStrike #ServiceEmployeeInternationalUnionLocal73

Caracas, Venezuela – A delegation of members from the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) arrived in Caracas, Venezuela last week. Their goals were to learn what they could from Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution, exchange views on effective education and to show solidarity with the students, teachers and social movements of Venezuela.

The trip falls on the heels of a union resolution that was passed by the CTU Executive Board and House of Delegates. The resolution calls for an end to U.S. intervention in Venezuela. Delegation member and CTU Area Vice President Sarah Chambers explains, “Through major economic hardships, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro never closed a single public school or a single health clinic. This stands in stark contrast to our experience in Chicago, where Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed 50 public schools and several mental health clinics in a single year.”

The teachers’ delegation met with leaders from the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Communes, Ministry of Education, Adult Education Teachers, and students, as well as on-the-ground activists.

One important meeting was when the delegation sat down with Vladimir Castillo, the Venezuelan Director of International Affairs. They learned that Chavez started to talk about socialism in 2005, at the World Social Forum in Brazil, and that a few years after 2007 and 2008, community councils emerged as a result.

Community councils are comprised of around 100 families living in the same area, which estimates to about 400-500 people in total. Chavez also had communes in mind as a fundamental part of the new state. Communes are organizations encompassing several community councils. When communes began, there were a lot of difficulties to channel funds to them. They were neither part of the state nor corporations. They were just organized communities not able to exercise the full strength of their power. The government ended up creating a new set of laws, the Popular Power Laws, which allowed the government to provide money to them directly, which resulted in government-empowered communes.

Projects received different amounts depending on the needs and the scale of the projects. The funds would go to a communal account under the direct responsibility of two members of the communes, the supervision of the commune board, and the community as a whole. This is to ensure that the funds are being managed correctly and going to the stated projects.

Castillo stated that it was easier to form communes in the countryside, since many were naturally working together to farm and to produce goods. This also came naturally to indigenous people, since they often live in collective communities working together. The essence of communes was to produce goods and services, to obtain sustainability, and to address community issues in order for people to improve their own living conditions.

Castillo also told the delegation, “Our world of justice and love in Venezuela includes 2.6 million families receiving housing units for free or for a symbolic price. This means that 10 million people were set free from a life of deprivation and discrimination in the barrios [marginalized housing]. Dignified housing is a Venezuelan right. The economic war has decimated our salaries. We earn an average of $40 dollars a month but we are resisting. If someone would tell you that they can live with $40 a month, you would think they are crazy. Here you can live with $40 a month since so much is free or subsidized. Most of our utilities and what we need to live is free or incredibly cheap, such as electricity, water, gas, gasoline and housing. Once you own a house you do not have to pay taxes on it. Another program the government is implementing is the CLAP – Production and Delivery Local Committees. Boxes with food, like rice, spaghetti, beans, powdered milk, cooking oil, corn flour, and wheat flour are delivered to 6 million families on a monthly basis. Our schooling, college and healthcare are also free. This is why you can live on $40 a day.”

The Venezuelan government has transformed their state budget to where 75% of the nation’s budget goes to social programs. “What country in the world does that?” asked CTU Math Teacher Valeria Vargas, “In the USA, 50% of our budget goes to war. Imagine if that money was put into education or health care? We had to strike for three days to get our charter school bosses to start to spend money on our students.”

Unfortunately, all is not rosy in Venezuela. The mainstream news is right that there are some issues in Venezuela, and the people we have interviewed are in agreement, but where they are wrong is who has created those issues. For example, thousands of people have died here because they do not have insulin. Who is the biggest vendor of insulin? The U.S.

U.S. and European sanctions against Venezuela have caused thousands of deaths. The U.S. imposes these sanctions on other countries too. If another country trades with Venezuela, the U.S. will threaten to cut off trade with them or impose sanctions on that country.

Before Chavez took over in 1998, 60 to 70% of the inhabitants were in poverty and 53% of the poor were in critical poverty. After the 14-plus years of Chavez’ leadership, 12-14% of Venezuelans were in poverty, and only 5% were in critical poverty. Social programs have not dwindled or stopped, they actually advanced. Money going to social programs actually increased and more houses being built to remove people from the poor shacks.

This is all part of “El Plan de la Patria” (the Plan of the Motherland) that was created collectively by Chavez and the Venezuelan people. Maduro is continuing to carry out this plan even under very difficult attacks.

With the help of Colombia and the U.S., the opposition created food and supply shortages before starting to direct violent actions with the intent to provoke a civil war, taking an old chapter from the U.S. imperialist playbook. They called them guarimbas, a Venezuelan name for hide and seek, where armed gangs began to burn tires and form barricades to block streets and entrances into neighborhoods.

Where did these guarimbas come from? From the financial pockets of the Venezuelan elite and the CIA. These groups paid impoverished people to carry out the violence that they were subjected to. For example, they would go into the barrios to find boys who were already in trouble or involved in violence or drugs. The CIA would provide the money to pay them.

Other participants included members of the middle-class neighborhoods, and radicalized university students. The Colombian paramilitaries were also involved in telling these armed gangs what to do.

The gangs would block access to the street, so people could not drive into or out of their neighborhood. People had to walk instead. Armed gangs would often make people pay to pass or they would threaten to kill them.

The Venezuelan government wanted to use peaceful measures to stop these armed gangs. Maduro publicly told the police that they could only use water and tear gas. First, the police would try to reason with them. If that did not work, they would use water or tear gas. Then, the police would wait a few days to see if they would leave. If the guarimbas continued, the national guard would intervene.

Eventually, many of these gangs would halt their criminal activities because ordinary people convinced them to stop, because they got tired of police and armed forces not confronting them, or because the opposition leaders stopped paying them, usually because they would steal the guarimbas money that the CIA funneled through them.

There were four different times where these guarimbas started. Each time, they would follow a period of extreme economic pressure on the Venezuelan people. First in 2008, then in 2013, followed by one almost immediately in 2014 and lastly in 2017.

The economic war was accompanied by cycles of the CIA pushing negative social media and news propaganda, followed by violence with the guarimbas. The CIA expected that the people would join these opposition forces, but it has never worked. Civil war did not happen; the people wouldn’t stand for it. They saw that the U.S.-backed opposition was violent and not for the people.

Dozthor Zurlen, a Venezuelan activist told the CTU delegation, “The U.S. wanted to remove the idea of socialism from our hearts and minds, but it only grew stronger. Even during these intense attacks, social programs only grew.”

The delegation has created a website where they are making posts from their trip. You can find it here: http://radicaleducatorcollective.org.

#CaracasVenezuela #Caracas #AntiwarMovement #Labor #OppressedNationalities #Venezuela #US #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #ChicanoLatino #solidarity #ChicagoTeachersUnion #Socialism #TeachersUnions #DonaldTrump

We don’t declare mutuality of suffering of our respective peoples to simply make the cynical point that the separation of Black families has failed to produce the same outrage. No, quite the contrary, we must see in this inhuman policy, in this crime against humanity, the need for unconditional solidarity – and the need to clarify and define who our friends and enemies are, to develop a conscious alliance between our oppressed peoples.

We must unequivocally unite in an act of solidarity with the families being separated at the Mexican border. Why? Because as freedom-fighters we must never allow the racist rulers of this land to define for us who our friends and enemies are. Racist concepts are reactionary, for the enemy is not a race, it is a system of capitalist oppression. The enemy extends its reach across the globe, irrespective of borders. Our solidarity for the oppressed must do the same.

Let us be clear. Standing in unconditional solidarity with the separated families at the Mexican border is not an act of charity. To quote the great African revolutionary Samora Machel, “It is an act of unity between allies fighting on different terrains toward the same objective.”

Frank Chapman is Field Organizer for the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) and a member of the Central Committee of Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

#ChicagoIL #ImmigrantRights #InJusticeSystem #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #Racism #solidarity #Antiracism #Antifascism #FrankChapman

Fight Back!: The Anti-War Committee Chicago recently put together a fundraiser to send activists to Cuba, could you please explain the purpose of the trip?

Westberry: Certainly. We went in order to attend the Fourth International Seminar of the World Peace Council. The theme this year emphasized the need to put pressure on the U.S. to close Guantanamo Bay and to assist in the political tasks of normalization of relations.

Fight Back!: Who else was in attendance?

Westberry: Three of us from Anti-War Committee Chicago as part of the United National Antiwar Committee, about 100 other Americans and 300 others from around the world, including Mexico, Canada, Ecuador, Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Palestine, Tunisia, Colombia, Germany, Japan and many other countries.

The conference was overseen by World Peace Council President Socorro Gomes and General Secretary Thanassis Pafilis, also in attendance were officials representing the Provincial People’s Power Assembly of Guantanamo province and Jose Ramon Balaguer Cabrera, head of the foreign relations Department of the Cuban Communist Party.

Fight Back!: So what was the first thing you noticed about the country?

Westberry: When we arrived in Havana, the very first thing we noticed was the patriotism and the hope the Cuban people have for the future.

Cuba is not like the rest of Latin America. In 1959 they won their independence from the U.S. and this revolution has been an integral part of the culture ever since. Instead of pushing products, billboards will ‘advertise’ for socialism! Che Guevara is easily the most common image of a personality on the island, the Cubans are so proud of their revolutionary history, it was like no other place we’ve ever been.

Fight Back!: Do you think the Cuban youth support their revolution?

Westberry: Like I said, there is a lot of hope for the future in Cuba that doesn’t exist in the rest of the Americas. Young people are able to attend primary school to university for free, to receive free health care and to be guaranteed a place to live. Cuban people we talked to sometimes admitted to being curious about life in the capitalist world, but were quick to head back to Cuba when they realized their family in Miami neglected to mention homeless people and for-profit healthcare!

Fight Back!: Do you think there is a possibility that the restoration of diplomatic relations with the U.S. will reverse the socialist revolution?

Westberry: No, no, no. I understand some progressives hold the position that the Cubans are compromising their revolutionary principles, so I’m just going to take a minute to go over how absurd that is.

The Cubans have been demanding normal relations with the U.S. since the 1959 revolution, to finally allow for the re-opening of embassies and at the same time have the Cuban Five returned to the island is a huge victory and shows that the U.S. is negotiating from a weak international position, not a position of strength.

Further, with normalization underway it will be a better situation for pushing for further demands, such as the lifting of the U.S. blockade, which I hope to see in our near future.

Cubans are not going to see our health care system and want to emulate it, if anything the increased numbers of American visitors to the island will leave them asking questions like: “Why do we still have corporate healthcare in the U.S.? Why do we still have homeless people in the U.S.?”

Ultimately the normalization of relations holds fewer possibilities for imperialism than progressive humanity.

Fight Back!: What is the most important thing progressives need to know about Cuba?

Westberry: International solidarity is some of the most important work you can be doing right now. There were 100 Americans on the trip, but next time we would like even more.

We need to take our people’s movements further and make anti-imperialism a core principle of our movement against war, this is the way to lasting peace and this is what will end the military stranglehold on Cuba.

Fight Back!: Could you explain a little about what International solidarity looks like concretely?

Westberry: We should first of all echo the demands being put forward by our Cuban comrades since the process of normalization began: First, the U.S. should abandon the military base in Guantanamo Province; second, the U.S. should abandon the blockade; third, the U.S. should abandon any attempts at anti-socialist agitation on the island and finally, the U.S. should pay reparations to the Cuban people for the economic damage caused by the embargo.

Being positioned as we are, in the U.S., it is important to organize actions around the specific demands being pushed by the Cubans. For instance, we should support and build the demonstrations which take place in Miami to support the Cuban demand to abandon Guantanamo base.

These are concrete examples of international solidarity, and like the campaign to free the Five, I expect we will see tangible results very soon.

#ChicagoIL #Cuba #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #solidarity #Blockade #Embargo

According to the report from Havana, Cuban officials told Syrian Health Minister Dr. Nizar Yazigi they were ready “to provide Syria with all its needs of medicine in appreciation of Syria’s support to Cuba during the unfair siege imposed on it.”

The report also stated, “Vice President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz affirmed earlier during meeting with minister Yazigi that Cuba’s support to Syria under the terrorism war waged against it is firm and that Havana is serious about offering all forms of support and aid to Syria in appreciation of its support to Cuba during its plight.”

#Cuba #AntiwarMovement #Syria #solidarity #Medicine #MiddleEast

Nosotros, Partidos Comunistas y Obreros, estamos siguiendo los acontecimientos en Grecia, la ofensiva de la Unión Europea, del capital y sus representantes políticos contra los derechos obreros y populares.

Nuestros partidos han apoyado las luchas de los trabajadores griegos y han expresado su solidaridad internacionalista y su apoyo hacia la lucha del KKE.

Durante muchos años, los gobiernos de ND y PASOK, en cooperación con la UE, el BCE y el FMI, han aplicado memorándums y duras leyes anti-populares con dolorosas consecuencias para la clase obrera y los sectores populares.

Hoy, el acuerdo anti-popular, el tercer memorándum, que fue firmado por el gobierno SYRIZA-ANEL, y apoyado por ND y el PASOK, con la Troika, mantiene las medidas anti-populares de los anteriores gobiernos e impone nuevas cargas a los trabajadores de Grecia, impuestos insoportables, la abolición de los derechos laborales y de seguridad social, las reducciones en los salarios y las pensiones, privatizaciones, etc., empeorando todavía más la situación de las familias de las capas populares.

Estos acontecimientos nos permiten extraer algunas conclusiones útiles para fortalecer la lucha popular:

-el capitalismo no puede ser humanizado. Genera crisis, desempleo y pobreza. En realidad, se ha demostrado que toda gestión del sistema agudiza los problemas del pueblo e incrementa los beneficios del gran capital.

-la UE es una organización reaccionaria e imperialista. La “democracia”, la “solidaridad” y la justicia social no pueden existir en su marco.

Los Partidos Comunistas y Obreros que firmamos este mensaje apreciamos la decidida y consecuente posición del KKE junto a la clase obrera y el pueblo griego por la abolición de los memorándums, contra el acuerdo anti-popular firmado por el gobierno de SYRIZA-ANEL (y el resto de partidos políticos burgueses) con la Troika (UE-BCE-FMI).

Nuestros partidos saludan la lucha de los comunistas de Grecia por los derechos obreros y populares, el derrocamiento de la barbarie capitalista y por el socialismo.

17/07/2015

1. PC de Albania
2. Partido Argelino por la Democracia y el Socialismo (PADS)
3. PC de Macedonia (ARYM)
4. PC de Australia
5. Partido del Trabajo de Austria
6. PC de Bangladesh
7. PO Bangladesh
8. PC de los Obreros en Bielorrusia
9. PC Brasileño
10. Polo Comunista Luiz Carlos Prestes – Brasil
11. PC de Bretaña
12. NPC de Bretaña
13. PC de Bulgaria
14. Partido de los Comunistas de Bulgaria
15. Unión de Comunistas de Bulgaria
16. PC de Canadá
17. PC en Dinamarca
18. PC, Dinamarca
19. PC de Eslovaquia
20. PC de los Pueblos de España
21. Movimiento Galego al Socialismo
22. Primera Línea, Galiza
23. Partido de los Comunistas EE.UU
24. Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad (FRSO) – EEUU
25. PC de Filipinas – 1930
26. Partido Comunista Obrero de Finlandia
27. Polo de Renacimiento Comunista en Francia
28. PC Unificado de Georgia
29. PO Húngaro
30. Partido de los Trabajadores de Irlanda
31. PC, Italia
32. Movimiento Socialista de Kazajstán
33. PC de Luxemburgo
34. PC de Malta
35. PC de Mexico
36. PPS de Mexico
37. Nuevo PC de los Países Bajos
38. PC de Noruega
39. Partido Comunista de Pakistán
40. PC Palestino
41. PP Palestino
42. PC de Polonia
43. PC de Puerto Rico
44. Partido Comunista de la Federación Rusa
45. PC Obrero Ruso
46. PC de la Unión Soviética
47. Nuevo Partido Comunista de Yugoslavia
48. Partido Comunista Sirio
49. PC Sudafricano
50. PC de Suecia
51. PC (Turquía)
52. PC de Ucrania
53. Unión de los Comunistas de Ucrania
54. Refundacion Comunista de Uruguay
55. PC de Venezuela

#Greece #PeoplesStruggles #solidarity #CommunistPartyOfGreece #Europe

Dear comrades,

We, Communist and Workers Parties are following the developments in Greece, the offensive of the European Union, capital and its political representatives against the workers'-people's rights.

We, Communist and Workers' Parties have supported the struggles of the Greek workers and we have expressed our internationalist solidarity with and support for the struggle of the KKE.

For many years, the governments of ND and PASOK in cooperation with the EU-ECB-IMF have implemented memoranda and harsh anti-people laws with painful consequences for the working class and popular strata.

Today, the anti-people agreement-third memorandum which was signed by the SYRIZA-ANEL government, supported by ND and PASOK, with the Troika maintains the anti-people measures of the previous governments and thrusts new burdens onto the workers of Greece, unbearable taxation, the abolition of social-security and labour rights, the reductions in wages and pensions, privatizations etc., worsening the situation of the families from the popular strata even further.

These developments allow us to draw certain useful conclusions in order to strengthen the people's struggle, such as:

Capitalism can not be humanized. It gives rise to crises, unemployment and poverty. In reality, it has been demonstrated that every kind of management of the system sharpens the people's problems and increases the profits of big capital.

The EU is a reactionary imperialist organization. “Democracy”, “Solidarity” and social justice can not exist inside its framework.

We, the Communist and Workers Parties which sign this message, appreciate the decisive-consistent stance of the KKE at the side of the working class, the Greek people for the abolition of the memoranda, against the anti-people agreement signed by the SYRIZA-ANEL government (and the other bourgeois political parties) with the Troika (EU-ECB-IMF).

Our parties salute the struggle of the communists in Greece for the workers'-people's rights, the overthrow of capitalist barbarity, for socialism.

1. CP of Albania

2. CP of Australia

3. Party of Labour of Austria

4. Algerian Party for Democracy and Socialism (PADS),

5. CP of Bangladesh

6. CP of the Workers of Belarus

7. Brazilian CP

8. CP of Britain

9. CP of Bulgaria

10. Party of the Bulgarian Communists

11. Union of Communists in Bulgaria

12. CP in Denmark

13. UCP of Georgia

14. Workers' Party of Hungary

15. Workers' Party of Ireland

16. CP of Macedonia (FYROM)

17. CP of Malta

18. CP of Mexico

19. Popular Socialist Party of Mexico

20. NCP of the Netherlands

21. CP of Pakistan

22. Phillipinese CP [PKP-1930]

23. CP of Poland

24. Russian CWP

25. NCP of Yugoslavia

26. CP of Slovakia

27. South African CP

28. CP of the Peoples of Spain

29. Syrian CP

30. CP (Turkey)

31. Party of Communists USA

32. Freedom Road Socialist Organization (USA)

33. CP of Venezuela

#Greece #PeoplesStruggles #solidarity #CommunistPartyOfGreece #Europe

Milwaukee, WI – On Dec. 18, nearly 100 people gathered at a local art studio on the South Side of Milwaukee for a fundraiser dedicated to the ongoing struggle of the Mexican masses against their corrupt government. With $5 admission at the door, all money raised was donated directly to the Comité de Padres de los Desaparecidos, an organization established by the parents of the 43 students from Iguala, Guerrero whose kidnapping and disappearance sparked the powerful mass movement that is gaining strength across México.

Since the disappearance of the 43 students, Milwaukee’s Mexican community has been moved and outraged by the repression occurring in their home country. The week of the disappearance, members of Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES) organized a candlelit vigil attended by dozens of people. Similar vigils and rallies have followed across the city, as the movement against the Peña Nieto government gathered steam. This fundraiser, organized by members of YES and allies in the community, brought together those forces in Milwaukee that have stood up with the people of México.

While the event had a somber tone as the 43 revolutionary students who had been taken from their families were remembered, there was also an air of festivity as the community gathered together. Local artists auctioned off paintings, the mariachi group Rondalla Voces y Guitarras de Milwaukee played for the audience, and Mexican restaurants along with the Riverwest Co-Op donated food for the attendees.

“The fundraiser was a huge success,” said Valeria Gonzalez, one of the event’s organizers. “We raised over $800 and we brought together many community members throughout Milwaukee who really care for our brothers and sisters in México. At this event, we showed the true value of solidarity — not just with money, but with the powerful conversations and the presence of caring people in our community.”

A series of speakers included labor activist and former candidate for Milwaukee County sheriff Angela Walker, event organizer Jorge Maya, and YES member Luscely Flores. Also in attendance were organizations in the city that have supported the struggle against the Peña Nieto government, including Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) and Workers World Party.

“I spoke tonight as a member of the Mexican immigrant community, as a student, as a worker and as a member of FRSO,” said Luis Gonzalez, who spoke for his group during the event. “With the Ayotzinapa comrades who lost their lives, a whole country has risen to demand justice. The continuous protests are moving towards ending the ‘War on Drugs’, ending the rule of the PRI and the other main political parties. In the U.S., it is our duty to support our comrades morally and materially and to demand an end to the War on Drugs and the U.S. government’s supply of weapons and training to the Mexican government.”

Based on the response of the community, more fundraisers will be planned for the future.

#MilwaukeeWI #Mexico #solidarity #Ayotzinapa #Americas

Milwaukee, WI – On Nov. 5, the self-proclaimed “fastest growing motivational movement,” #besomebody, met the world's fastest growing boycott movement on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Over 20 activists handed out informational fliers exposing the connection between SodaStream and the #besomebody “movement” which markets SodaStream's in-home soda machines. Activists educated fellow students on SodaStream's human rights abuses which include operating on an illegal Israeli settlement in the West Bank of Palestine.

Members of two Students for Justice in Palestine chapters held signs that read, “Don't drink SodaStream. Support Palestinian human rights. #besomebody against occupation.“During the action, activists from the Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition and Friends of Palestine met with #besomebody's founder, Kash Shaikh, and urged him to cut ties with companies that profit from the occupation of Palestine. Before a large group of activists Shaikh admitted, “I didn't do a very good job looking into their background,” referring to SodaStream, and said he was personally opposed to the occupation.

Actions and local campaigns against companies that sell SodaStream have been springing up over the last year as it becomes one of the primary focuses of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. A national week of action against SodaStream will coincide with ‘Black Friday’ later this month, focused on the retailer Target, demanding they withdraw the product and break ties with the Israeli occupation.

#Milwaukee #WI #Palestine #Divestment #Boycott #solidarity #SodaStream #besomebody #andSanctions #BDMMovement #MiddleEast

Sundin, along with other RNC protest organizers spoke at a Sept. 20 community discussion in Minneapolis, Minnesota hosted by Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #RepublicanNationalConvention2008 #civilDisobedience #StPaulPrinciples #massArrests #solidarity