New York, NY – On December 30, nurses at eight hospitals, including New York City’s largest, representing approximately 16,000 members submitted their ten-day notice to strike beginning January 9. As of Monday, January 9, all but three hospitals have reached a tentative agreement. This means that nurses represented by the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) are beginning their strike at four different locations.

Milwaukee, WI – The Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Healthcare Professionals (WFNHP) Local 5000 held a rally and picket outside of the Milwaukee home of Bernie Sherry, the CEO of Ascension Wisconsin, one of his many houses. The January 4 action was in response to the abrupt announcement of the December 23 closure of St. Francis Hospital’s Labor and Delivery (L+D) Unit.

Tallahassee, FL- On February 17, around 12 a.m., members of Students for a Democratic Society and Tallahassee’s chapter of Planned Parenthood were given trespassing warnings for speaking up against HB 5, an abortion ban bill that limits abortions to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. After HB5 was passed despite significant public opposition, organizers and students joined a chant denouncing the bill and were subsequently removed from the capitol.

Minneapolis, MN – The Women’s March organized a rally and march as a part the National Day of Action on October 2 to protest the anti-abortion law passed in Texas in June. Up to 10,000 people of all genders gathered at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden holding signs and banners expressing their outrage over the Texas law SB 8.

Arlington, TX – On September 1, the Progressive Student Union rallied 50 people to protest the recent attacks launched by Governor Greg Abbott and the GOP against women’s rights, and democracy. The most egregious of these attacks came in the form of an anti-abortion bill that sought to restrict the access to abortion in Texas to only the first six weeks of pregnancy, and made it a liable offense to offer aid in a woman getting an abortion in any way if it was beyond the first six weeks.

New York, NY – As the Delta variant rages through the U.S., a major Chinese publisher has signed a contract to distribute a timely book comparing COVID-19 responses in the countries' two systems: capitalism and socialism.

Oppressed nationalities hit more than twice as much as US whites

San José, CA – On Wednesday, July 20 the National Center for Health Statistics released their provisional report on lifespans in 2020. The report found that the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 600,000 people in the United States, lowered the lifespan by one and half years in 2020. This is the worst drop since World War II. Lifespans have generally increased over time, but this sets the trend back almost 20 years to 2003.

El Primero de Mayo empezó como una celebración de la clase obrera y su lucha heroica después de la brutal violencia de la policía en el año 1886. Los trabajadores que manifestaron en Haymarket lucharon en contra condiciones de trabajo bien peor y por una campana de un día de trabajo por ocho horas. Los atacaron la policía, con muchos trabajadores heridos y muertos, muchos de ellos eran inmigrantes, resultado de un evento infamoso llamado la masacre de Haymarket. El estado de Illinois tuvo un juicio y ejecutó cuatro líderes laborales, siempre recordado como los Mártires de Haymarket. Todavía, el espíritu de este día, el primer Primero de Mayo vive y está celebrado alrededor del mundo cada año.

International Workers Day is celebrated on May 1. Around the world, workers have accomplished many great things over the past year that we can be proud of. The ruling class, made up of monopoly capitalists, have tried their best to keep profits high at the expense of the people during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we’ve seen time and time again that the people can rise above the obstacles created by the 1% and bring about real change. On May Day 2021, it is important to reflect on the past year. We must also renew our efforts to end the rule of the monopoly capitalists and replace their broken, failed system with a system that benefits not the few but the majority of people – socialism.

Coon Rapids, MN – As SEIU Healthcare Minnesota members picketed on Wednesday, April 28 in front of Allina’s Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids Minnesota, they gathered up the crowd that included supporters from other unions and the community for a rally. At the rally, SEIU announced they were filing a 10-day strike notice, for a strike to begin on May 10, at all eight Allina hospitals, where SEIU represents over 4000 members.