Archive | Commentary

The loss of 263,000 payroll jobs, coupled with a 0.1 hour decline in the average workweek, pushed the index of aggregate hours to 98.5, slightly below the 98.6 level in December of 1998.  Hours worked have now declined by 8.6 percent from the pre-recession peak.  In the 1981-82 recession the decline from peak to trough […]

  We have the power to stop the catastrophic budget cuts, fee hikes, and layoffs — but to save public education in California requires coordinating our actions on a statewide level. We invite all UC, CSU, CC, and K-12 students, workers, teachers, and their organizations across the state to participate in and collectively build the […]

“Iran must comply with United Nations resolutions,” declared President Obama. Iran is “as defiant as ever” say a chorus of corporate employees otherwise known as mainstream journalists.  Really!  Is Iran defiant for testing missiles for its military?  What military in the world fails to test missiles?  Is Iran defiant for reporting the construction of a […]

Maria Charles and David B. Grusky.  Occupational Ghettos: The Worldwide Segregation of Women and Men.  Stanford University Press, 2004, 400 pp.  $US 55.00 hardcover (0-8047-3634-0). There is a substantial body of literature showing that, across time periods and nations, men and women have tended to do different types of work.  While many studies suggest that […]

The Geneva meeting — despite the furious anti-Iranian spin by the Western media and the House vote for gasoline sanctions against Iran right before the talk — turned out to be, for once, a happy surprise: it resulted in an agreement that all sides can hail as a victory for them. Iran claims that it […]

I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked whether there is an Arab counterpart to Jewish Voice for Peace.  The implicit false assumptions behind the question are clear: Palestinians are violent; Jews seek peace but there is no one peaceful on the other side of the equation. Tell President Obama: Keep Your […]

Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel today held a one-day general strike to mark the ninth anniversary of the Jerusalem and Al Aqsa Day of 2000, when the Israeli police killed 13 Palestinian Arab protesters. Tens of Thousands Commemorate the Martyrs in Araba Tamra on the Morning of the General Strike Haifa on the Eve of […]

In the long tradition of Jewish working class involvement in and support for liberation struggles, IJAN-Labor stands in solidarity with the High Follow-up Committee for the Arab Citizens of Israel, the National Committee of Local Authorities, and all parties, movements and institutions of Palestinian civil society in Israel, who have called a general strike for […]

  Nick Clark: India says it’s adamant to finish off what it calls “leftist extremism” as its army prepares for an all-out assault on Maoist rebels. . . .   The conflict between the two sides has been going on for more than four decades, and now the government hopes an all-out assault would end […]

19 citizens and health care providers arrested, launching national mobilization for health care for all 29 September 2009, New York, NY — Citizens and health care providers today staged a sit-in at the offices of Aetna, one of the nation’s largest health insurance companies, in New York City (99 Park Ave @40th.  The action is […]

On September 15, 2009, New York City’s 3.2 million registered Democrats were eligible to vote in their Primary election.  Only 11 percent of them voted.  Excepting the mayoralty — virtually conceded to Michael Bloomberg, a nominal Republican and real billionaire — all important city posts were being decided since New Yorkers vote overwhelmingly Democratic.  These […]

The Mexican Preventive Police (PFP) are preparing to occupy the facilities of the Central Light and Power Company in Mexico City in an attempt to break the militant Mexican Electrical Workers Union (SME), according to a union press release.  The union warns that the quasi-military occupation of the plants could come within a week. The […]

Representatives of Iran and six of the world’s most powerful countries are scheduled to meet this week in Geneva, one of a series of events that increasingly looks like a rerun of the build-up to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. As we prepare for a barrage of anti-Iranian media spin, it would be good […]

The USA: Prisonhouse of Nations The United States deserves the title, the Prisonhouse of Nations:1 The US imprisons more of its citizens than any nation in the world.  As of midyear 2008, over 2.3 million US citizens were behind bars and the prison population continues to expand as a result of the growing inequality and […]

  We would like to bring to your attention the decision of the High Follow-up Committee for the Arab Citizens of Israel, the National Committee of Local Authorities, all parties, movements and institutions of civil society of the Palestinian minority in Israel, to declare a general strike on October 1, 2009 to mark the 9th […]

The following report on the 2009 AFL-CIO Convention in Pittsburgh is posted by Jerry Tucker, special correspondent to the Monthly Review and MRZine.  Tucker is a former International Executive Board Member of the UAW and a founder of the New Directions Movement within that union.  He is also a co-founder of the Center for Labor […]

This political crisis has more to do with manufactured “diplomatics” ahead of Thursday’s meeting in Geneva than with the facts.  The revelation by President Barack Obama that Iran is constructing a “secret” nuclear fuel facility, a few days after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) received a letter from the Iranians declaring that a new […]

Hooman Majd Answers the Nuclear Question Question: How do you respond to concerns over Iran’s nuclear ambitions? Majd: Stop worrying.  Don’t learn to love the bomb, but stop worrying.  First of all, Iran is so far away from having a nuclear weapon.  I know there are all these reports, these alarmist reports: Iran has enough […]

  The recently concluded Congress of COSATU among other things declared to the world that COSATU will campaign for PUDEMO to be recognised as the genuine representative of the oppressed people of Swaziland. Further, that PUDEMO must be given diplomatic status accorded all liberation movements in various countries. This is a bold and very revolutionary […]

  The momentous decision to reject any public option by the Senate Finance Committee today underscores how completely private insurance companies dominate Congressional activity.  The author of the bill for the committee, Liz Fowler, is herself a former VP of WellPoint, the nation’s largest private health insurer.  This highlights the importance of the single payer, […]