CORE represents the response of rank and file teachers to the City of Chicago’s attacks on their union and on public education.

More than 26,000 telecom workers in Pakistan have been on indefinite strike since 16 August. They are demanding a 50% increase in wages as announced by the government for the public sector. These workers in the semi-privatised telecom industry started their protest campaign and partial strike earlier in August, but the telecom authorities refused to accept the demand.

With 1.4 million current members and 200,000 retirees, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is one of the biggest unions in the U.S., representing as the name implies, public workers at every level except for employees of the Federal government.

In the film Capitalism: A Love Story, Michael Moore points out that the richest 1% of the American population owns more financial wealth (net worth minus net equity of a home) than the bottom 95% combined. A more recent study using data from 2007 shows the top 1% owning 48.4% of the non-home wealth, while the bottom 95% owned only 20% (politifact.com). There are different ways to crunch these numbers, but in any and every case it’s clear that the rich are getting richer while working people and the poor are left behind.

The 28-day strike of 1,500 nurses and professional/technical staff, represented by the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP), beat back a long list of concessionary demands at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. Significantly, the hospital backed off its proposed “gag” clause which threatened staff with discipline and fines for any negative public statement about Temple. Further, the administration was forced to reinstate a limited dependent tuition benefit after illegally eliminating it unilaterally in March 2009. (For details on the settlement, see my May 21 article in labornotes.org).

In the largest nurses’ strike in U.S. history, 12,000 walked out of 14 Twin Cities (Minnesota) hospitals on June 10th, and are set to strike again. Prepared by months of big informational pickets, billboard ads, and internal organizing, the 24 hour strike was solid. The chants on the large and lively picket lines were frequently drowned out by honking cars showing the broad public support.

State legislatures nationwide have slashed billions of dollars from public education as they deal with revenue shortfalls brought on by the economic crisis. According to a report from the National Conference of State Legislatures, the 50 states must close over half a trillion dollars in deficits by 2013, which could include laying off an estimated 100,000-300,000 teachers this year.

Strikes by workers at Honda-affiliated factories in southern China’s Guangdong province have shaken the ‘sweatshop of the world’. The fighting example of the Honda workers, many in their teens or early twenties, has spawned a spate of copycat strikes across China as migrant workers at foreign-owned companies especially, slaving for notoriously long hours and low wages, demand pay rises, improved conditions and “restructured” trade unions.

In the largest nurses’ strike in U.S. history, 12,000 walked out of 14 Twin Cities (Minnesota) hospitals on June 10, and are set to strike again. Prepared by months of big informational pickets, billboard ads, and internal organizing, the 24-hour strike was solid. The chants on the large and lively picket lines were frequently drowned out by honking cars showing the broad public support.

Among the most advanced struggles for the future of education across the country is taking place in Chicago. For several years a new opposition caucus in the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) called the Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE) has organized and mobilized teachers, parents and students to confront the big business agenda for education in Chicago, dubbed Renaissance 2010.

A representative of Socialist Alternative debated a representative of the Tea Party movement at the May 8, 2010 Northwest Socialism Conference in Seattle. Watch the video here!

Justice newspaper, Labor Notes and SocialistAlternative.org have chronicled the strike and victory of hospital workers at Temple University in Philadelphia. The labor movement has been riddled with defeats, and this strike is a shining example of well-organized workers’ struggle for a better future. Strike leader and Socialist Alternative National Committee member Marty Harrison recently provided this exclusive interview.

After a hard-fought, month-long strike at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, the nurses and technical/professional staff can proudly say, “We won!” Union members’ determined solidarity and their support from the community, the broader labor movement, and political leaders beat back concessions demanded by the hospital on union rights, wages, and working conditions.

In 2010, there are three corporate candidates for Massachusetts Governor: Deval Patrick, Charlie Baker, and Tim Cahill. All differ on some issues but agree on a basic program: cut, slash and layoff.  Jill Stein, of the Green/Rainbow Party, stands out as being against the big business agenda, for living wage jobs and guaranteed quality health care rather than the Massachusetts mandated insurance scam.

Only a few weeks ago, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) announced their endorsement and co-founding of a new political party in North Carolina entitled the “North Carolina First” Party (NC First). Currently NC First is petitioning to gain the 85,000 signatures necessary to become a state-recognized political party, an extremely difficult but accomplishable task. On the surface, this looks (and is promoted) to be a bold move by the largest public sector union in the United States to give a stronger voice to working people. Unfortunately, this initiative falls into familiar political trappings.