Here in the U.S., the working class continues suffering from right-wing anti-worker policies – cutbacks and privatization of public services and education, giveaways to for-profit health care and insurance corporations, outlawing collective bargaining and unions, curbing voting rights, etc. Few of us among the working class would mourn the death of right-wing figureheads like ex-President George Bush, or Wisconsin Governor Walker, or Florida Governor Rick Scott. Nor should we mourn for Margaret Thatcher after what she did to the working class in Britain.

Under her rule, the coal miners were some of many victims, with Thatcher declaring the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) as “the enemy within.” In 1984, the NUM waged a militant strike for over a year, fighting Thatcher’s privatizations and the closing of coal mines. In Thatcher’s Britain, a militarized police force beat the miners and their supporters off the streets. At least six picketers were killed during the great miners’ strike of 1984-85. Thatcher’s domination of the National Coal Board meant no work agreement, numerous mines closed and more than 20,000 miners losing their jobs. The NUM was gutted.

This should stand as a stark reminder to workers here in the U.S., union and non-union, where we have such a deep-rooted history of militant labor unionism amongst coal miners. The government is in the hands of the wealthy, they will use whatever means necessary to serve the rich.

Thatcher’s policies overseas were even worse. In response to the decline of the British Empire, Thatcher revived a racist and colonial foreign policy. This is the other great tower of her ‘contributions’ to humanity. For example, Prime Minister Thatcher declared the African National Congress a terrorist organization, opposed sanctions on racist apartheid South Africa and, in 1987, Thatcher’s spokesperson said in responding to a reporter that anyone who believed the ANC would ever rule South Africa was “living in cloud-cuckoo land.”

Thatcher was unlikely to win a second term as Prime Minister until she launched a completely unnecessary, but bloody war against Argentina over the tiny Malvinas islands, thousands of miles from Britain and right next to Argentina. Thatcher revived jingoism, the extreme nationalism of British imperialism, and won big in the next elections. In terms of arrogance, she puts the American Republican Party to shame.

So too Thatcher amped up the war on the people in the occupied six counties of Ireland. She unleashed death squads and brought in the shoot to kill policy, but Irish Republicans adapted. It was Thatcher who forced the Irish Hunger Strike, soon broadening sympathy and support for the Irish Republican movement throughout Ireland and the world. Bobby Sands and his comrades are being remembered throughout the world, and especially in Palestine, today.

Due to her anti-worker policies in Britain and her colonial approach to the rest of the world, Maggie Thatcher leaves a legacy of repression, misery and bloodshed. There is no sadness in her death, only the feeling of a burden being lifted and giving new energy to our determination to organize working people and the oppressed to take control of our destiny.

#UnitedKingdom #Imperialism #Remembrances #Europe #Ireland #Argentina #britain #Apartheid #workersStruggle #coalMiner #MargaretThatcher #NationalUnionOfMineworkers

Gainesville, FL – The Alachua County Wage Theft Task Force went before the Alachua County commissioners on March 12 to demand a solution to the wage theft epidemic in the community.

Faith leaders, workers and community organizers testified as to why Alachua County needs the protection of a strong ordinance (a local law) to protect workers from theft. On Jan. 8 the county commission directed staff to prepare a report on possible solutions to wage theft. The staff came back with three proposals: a strong Miami-Dade style ordinance, a weaker Palm Beach style ordinance, and what they called the Alachua County compromise.

The effort to pass a strong local wage theft ordinance in Alachua County is being complicated by Florida state politicians. State Representative Goodson’s HB1125 and state Senator Bradley’s SB1216 are bills that will outlaw the local ordinance that protects workers. These bills, written by and for the Florida Retail Federation, propose to exempt businesses that do over $500,000 in revenue per year. Under these bills, big business can continue to steal wages on a massive level without facing any penalty. These state legislature bills also limit the amount workers are able to recover, limiting it to disputed wages. Big business would face no penalties for illegal activity, and would provide nothing for damages or the time and effort to go to court. Instead of punishing the corrupt businesses for stealing workers’ wages, the bills would turn wage theft into a free 0% interest loan for the business.

The Florida Retail Federation tried unsuccessfully to pass similar anti-worker bills the previous two years. They also lost a lawsuit in federal court against local ordinances enacted to curb wage theft. Their various failed attempts only go to show the desperation that corporations will go to maintain their legalized theft of working people in Florida. It gives organizers more determination to build a movement that will win new protections for workers.

The anti-worker attacks by corporate lobbyists will not stop the Task Force in Alachua County. Due to the efforts of the task force, the county commission directed their staff to bring back a strong, Miami-Dade style ordinance for their approval at their next meeting. This ordinance is the best answer to the anti-worker bills written by the Florida Retail Federation. The Alachua County Wage Theft Task Force is resolved to protect the working people of Alachua County from both state politicians and the Florida Retail Federation.

#GainesvilleFL #workersStruggle #wageTheft #AlachuaCountyWageTheftTaskForce

Minneapolis, MN – The Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) held an event called “Celebrate the Fight for Justice!” here, June 30.

WRC is an organization of low-income families who fight attacks on poor and working Minnesotans.

Speakers at the celebration recounted the battles at the 2012 legislative session, where the Republican majorities in the House and Senate attempted to pass laws that would make life harder for people and families living below the poverty level. Speakers at the celebration emphasized that the struggle waged by WRC does makes a difference.

This year, they were successful in stopping most of the attacks proposed by the legislature. They stopped a move to reduce the time limit on public assistance to three years; stopped drug testing and criminal background checks of all aid recipients, and other attacks.

#MinneapolisMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #WelfareRightsCommitteeWRC #poverty #workersStruggle

The weak job creation was reflected in the rise in the official unemployment rate, which rose by one-tenth of one percent, from 8.1% in April to 8.2% in May. This rise in unemployment was concentrated among oppressed nationality workers: the unemployment rate for African Americans rose from 13.0% to 13.6%, and the unemployment rate for Latinos rose from 10.3% to 11.0% between April and May. In contrast the unemployment rate for whites stayed the same, at 7.4%.

There was even more bad news in other parts of the report. Average weekly hours of work fell by one tenth of an hour, as more people had to take part-time work because of the poor economy. The broadest measure of unemployment, which includes people at work part time who can’t find full-time work rose from 14.5% to 14.8%. In fact the survey of households (on which the unemployment rate is based, as opposed to the survey of businesses that provides the number of new jobs) said that all of the gain in jobs came from part-time work, as the number of fulltime workers actually fell in May.

300,000 more workers said that they had been out of work for more than six months in May as compared to April, and now make up almost half (43.8%) of total unemployed. The average length of unemployment rose from 39.1 to 39.7 weeks, or almost ten months.

The poor employment report was the third month in a row that job growth has slowed and shows a slowdown in the U.S. economy. From December of 2011 to February of this year, an average of more than 250,000 net new jobs were created each month. But from March through May, the average was less than 100,000 net new jobs a month. Contributing to this problem is the continuing loss of government jobs, down another 13,000 in May alone, and 161,000 over the last year. The biggest loss in May was in public education, which makes up more than half of government job losses for the month.

The future is looking increasingly grim as major corporations such as Hewlett-Packard are announcing job cuts of tens of thousands while government at all levels (federal, state, and local) are cutting back on jobs. With almost half the Euro-zone countries already in a recession and growing signs of economic slowdown in Asia and Brazil (Latin America’s largest economy), the world capitalist economy is showing signs of stagnation – slow economic growth coupled with high unemployment – while the danger of another worldwide economic crisis is rising.

#SanJoséCA #Unemployment #AfricanAmericans #Capitalism #Latinos #workersStruggle