AOC, Ilhan Omar, Ro Khanna, Jamaal Bowman, & Cori Bush ALL voted to impose the contract that rail workers rejected. If the 7-sick-day resolution fails in the Senate, they'll have done exactly what Biden did – betrayed workers in favor of the bosses.
BREAKING: House passes bill imposing a rail labor agreement with no guaranteed sick days—the first of two rail bills they're voting on today.
Vote was 290-137. The House will now vote on a separate bill that includes paid sick days.
Cornel West is running for President as a left independent, anti-war candidate. His campaign has enormous potential to challenge the billionaire class, but to succeed, it will need to develop into a mass grassroots political force.
I'm all in for
@BernieSanders
because we need a political revolution against the billionaire class, an Organizer-in-Chief prepared to build the movement of millions needed to win far-reaching change. I strongly support Bernie's fight for Medicare for All and for a Green New Deal.
Beto O’Rourke gets boo’d off stage at
@SocialistHTX
’s
#RoeOverturned
protest. The crowd is chanting: “Voting blue is not enough, Democrats we call your bluff!”
Thousands protested at the federal courthouse in Houston against the
#Roe
decision, demanding that Biden & the Dems codify Roe. Working people must protest, strike, & walkout to force the reversal of this decision & win back abortion rights!
"If a small revolutionary socialist organization in Seattle can beat the wealthiest corporations in the world here, again and again, you can be sure that the organized power of the wider working class can change society."
.
@cmkshama
- Seattle's socialist city councillor - explains why she's joining
@DemSocialists
. Capitalism is in crisis and we need a mass, united socialist movement.
The Squad did not
#ForceTheVote
on Medicare4All & not one of them voted against Pelosi for Speaker. After Pelosi’s total stimulus failure, this is unacceptable. The establishment is killing us and we can’t be afraid of open conflict with them in defense of working people!
Workers and young people can’t afford to go down this road of false hopes again in attempting to reform the Democratic Party. We need systemic change, and Cornel West’s campaign offers an opportunity to fight back.
Anyone with illusions in a "pro-labor" Biden administration or Democratic Party need to look no further than today’s vote. This wholesale betrayal of working people confirms what we already knew: this is the party of the rail corporations and the bosses.
#TyreNichols
murder shows what millions of working-class people already know: the whole system is guilty. We need mass protests to end racist policing, especially the violent "hotspot policing" that Dem party politicians have embraced across the country.
7,100 nurses in NYC in several key hospitals went on strike starting at midnight Sunday, continuing through today, for safe staffing ratios, pay rises that exceed inflation & more. 🧵
Politicians in both major parties have guzzled campaign $$$ from Norfolk Southern for years. If we're going to beat this corporation, we can't rely on big money politicians on either side of the aisle.
"I call on every other elected socialist, labor leader, & movement leader to join me in the call for a democratic mass mvmt, new mass orgs of struggle, & a break from the rotten Dem Party which has enabled the right-wing war on bodily autonomy."
@cmkshama
There's no return-to-normal, play-nice politics that gets us out of this! Our ONLY defense is a mass, multi-racial, working class movement. The leadership for this won't come from the Democratic Party whose "resistance" almost gave us four more years of Trump.
THIS is what we mean when we say the far right isn't going anywhere! This riot will end & this election will be certified but this far right vigilantism is just the beginning. The only defense against this is a mass movement of MILLIONS of working people. Let's get organized.
It took a mass movement to win
#RoeVWade
and it'll take a mass movement to defend it. We need protests & direct action in EVERY city and town! Socialist Alternative will be organizing actions this week & we invite all other orgs to join us. Follow here for a list of events.
Socialist Alternative statement on the Supreme Court's decision to overturn
#RoeVsWade
.
Thread below of emergency protests happening TONIGHT across the country, with more to be added. Follow your local SA branch for updates & action conferences!
The issue with AOC’s stunt at the
#MetGala
is that she does these performative gestures, but never actually fights. While she was wearing this dress, her party slashed their own proposal to
#TaxTheRich
. We need a warrior for the working class, not an influencer.
Biden's
#COVIDReliefBill
is all but law. It will bring some immediate relief to millions of Americans, but NO long-term gains for working ppl were won. The Squad is silent today & put up NO fight for $15 or against limits on who gets stimulus checks...
Leader of Starbucks union drive in Memphis Nikki Taylor is being FIRED. This is retaliation plain & simple. We need rallies in every city where Sbux workers are organizing.
@SBWorkersUnited
should call a mtg of OC's nationwide 2 discuss actions to demand Nikki Taylor is re-hired!
Being fired for “policies” that I have never heard of. Never been talked to about before. Never had a write up about and all of a sudden it’s an offense to get fired over! This is an outrage! They are firing the entire committee!
Check out this video of Ervin Boyd, grillmaster at Big E's Gangsta Grille, saying why he supports the
@BAmazonUnion
and why Amazon workers should Vote Yes!
"A socialist can't be a strike breaker. This should result in expulsion from DSA. Failing that, the Squad’s betrayal of workers becomes DSA’s betrayal."
@cmkshama
Anyone with illusions in a "pro-labor" Biden administration or Democratic Party need to look no further than today’s vote. This wholesale betrayal of working people confirms what we already knew: this is the party of the rail corporations and the bosses.
“We have the power to shut everything down. Starbucks workers just made it happen. It only happened because they exercised their power to strike” -
@cmkshama
Wealthy nations are not only hoarding vaccines, they're actively preventing poor countries from producing their own.
@cmkshama
is putting forward a resolution to the Seattle City Council demanding Biden stop blocking vaccine Intellectual Property waivers.
Healthcare workers at Tufts Medical Center WALKED OUT today in protest of attacks on
#RoevWade
. Socialist Alternative
@SocialistBoston
helped organize. WORKPLACE ACTION will be crucial to winning this fight! Solidarity ✊
The residents of East Palestine deserve a hell of a lot.
They deserve the right to stay – with ongoing free blood+urine testing, Medicare for life, thorough home cleaning, etc.
And they deserve the right to leave – with a massive buyout from NS.
Demonstrations are kicking off across the country with thousands turning out to defend abortion rights! Photos from Socialist Alternative members rallying in Philadelphia and at the steps of the Supreme Court building in DC 👇
The CDC’s new quarantine guidelines amount to: whatever your boss wants. Responding to pleas from big business, like Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian, the CDC halved its recommended quarantine time from 10 days to 5 days for positive cases. Their only condition: you’re not symptomatic. 🧵
Rather than use their new majority in the Senate to address the health and economic crises, the Democrats tried (and failed again) to convict Trump. It's of course important to hold public officials to account, especially when they do something like inciting what we saw on 1/6...
As Biden lands in Ukraine to pledge hundreds of millions more to the war, his administration and the Democrats are lining up behind Norfolk Southern to lie and cheat the residents of East Palestine who don’t even know if they can safely stay in their homes following the disaster.
Working people, unions, and socialists need to get organized NOW (independently of the Democratic Party) to fight the far right AND for $2K stimulus checks, Medicare For All, a Green New Deal, cancellation of student debt, and more!
"This victory is a vindication for a class-struggle approach to elected office, an example of successful independent working-class politics, and it is full of lessons for working people and the socialist left."
“We are not the ones sowing division - we are the ones fighting for the unity of the working class, the overwhelming majority in US society - against this rotten system.”
@Kshama_SC
Amazon showed its teeth in Bessemer, using every tool at their disposal to crush the union drive. We urgently need to draw out the lessons of this defeat and put them into action when Round 2 against Jeff Bezos kicks off.
Biden's pledge to join UAW pickets is a testament to the powerful pressure built up by the
#UAWStrike
!
But we should be clear: by "win-win" he means for the auto manufacturers and his 2024 chances. Not autoworkers.
Socialists face enormous challenges and opportunities in the years ahead, and we plan to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with DSA comrades in these looming battles as we debate the way forward to victory. Read more about the launch of our SA caucus:
Socialist Alternative and
@cmkshama
stand in solidarity with the 120k rail workers fighting for a fair contract with paid sick days, affordable healthcare, wages that keep up with inflation, and fixes to severe staffing + safety crises facing rail workers!
The clock read 7:30 pm on Thursday, but it was high noon in the Twilight Zone when a video went up on social media in which "democratic socialist" Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a beauty guru lobby the public to help deregulate the cosmetics industry.
This is the first win the Squad has scored against the Democratic establishment since Biden took office. The key reason? They relied on direct action and mobilizing their supporters rather than backroom negotiations. We need much more of this from them.
Join ALU THIS SUNDAY at 3pm either in-person or virtually on the Socialist Alternative Facebook as they hold a rally in advance of this critical vote. Hear from
@cmkshama
,
@BernieSanders
, and other workers discuss how to beat Amazon AGAIN on Staten Island!
Today activists won a landmark victory forcing Biden to reverse course on big pharma vaccine patents.
@cmkshama
put forward a first-in-the-nation resolution calling on him to do this and it was spreading to cities across the country. When we fight, we win!
In 1917 the U.S. railroads were nationalized. In the following 3 years, competitive waste was eliminated, train cars were updated, wages rose, & the 8hr workday was formalized for rail workers. Then the gov't handed the keys back to the billionaires.
Enough broken promises, it's time for working people to take a stand!
"We pledge not to vote for Democratic Party politicians if they fail to go all out to codify and defend
#RoeVWade
. Instead, we will commit to build a left alternative."
Sign on today!
On the campaign trail, Biden promised that "Within 100 days, I'm going to send to the United States Congress a pathway to citizenship for over 11 million undocumented people." Now, he's using executive action to ensure speedy construction of Trump's border wall.
Solidarity with the tens of thousands of union workers taking historic strike action today, shutting down the 2nd largest school district in the US! What happens in LA is a national reference point for teachers & the labor movement. From
@wrkrsstrikeback
:
Socialist Alternative members across the country have been out in the streets proudly demonstrating with workers, students, and the Palestinian community against the Israeli regime's barbaric assault on the people of Gaza.
Amazon will do anything to crush the union. They fired organizers & lied to workers. The fight to
#UnionizeAmazon
can't be won without strong organizing committees, armed with clear demands, prepared to confront the boss on the shop floor – not the courts.
BREAKING: Workers at Amazon's ALB1 warehouse will not join the Amazon Labor Union. Ballots cast in the warehouse's union election over the past week had 206 votes for joining and 406 votes against.
In this challenging time for the left in the U.S. and internationally, we need comradely discussion & debate about the way forward, not bureaucratic silencing by leaders. We stand with all DSA members who oppose the recent decision of the NPC.
"The time is now. History has called us to this moment." Reverend Ryan is organizing at Amazon with
@CarolinasEmpow1
. Check out his takeaways from Labor Notes 2022:
This is the most important thing happening in the country right now. When workers in one workplace stand up and fight back, it inspires other workers to stand up & fight back. That’s how we win, when workers stand up and fight back.
-Elan,
@SocialistBoston
& labor organizer
That all but one
@DemSocialists
-endorsed rep voted to kill the strike shows that progressives have not pushed the Dems left – the opposite has happened, with members of the largest socialist organization in the US now on record as having sided with the bosses at a crucial moment.
Pinning hopes on the Democrats, after watching them promise to codify Roe for decades, feels like a hostage situation. This moment cries out for an all-out struggle to build a party of our own that actually fights for the interests of women.
A group of
@DemSocialists
/ Socialist Alternative dual members, including
@cmkshama
, are proposing amendments to two resolutions for the DSA National Convention. Each one needs 100 signatures from DSA members in order to be heard for debate. Give them a read and consider signing!
Kshama Sawant is the marxist Seattle city councilmember who spearheaded the movement to tax Amazon, win a ban on crowd control weapons during the BLM movement, and win a $15 minimum wage in first major city in the country in 2014. She’s now under attack.
Socialist Alternative endorses the
#ForceTheVote
campaign. We should not shy away from open conflict with the corporate controlled Democratic Party leadership!
#M4All
#M4A
Amazon Air Hub workers in Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky have officially voted to launch a campaign to fight for a union and $30/hour! Read their statement here:
Biden sending 31 modern tanks to Ukraine is meant to escalate the war. This comes after the Dems approved an $858 billion "defense" bill - the kind of $ that could feed 35mil hungry Americans, double K-12 spending, or make college free.
Exit polling shows HUGE support for M4A, green energy spending, $15 min wage. The millions that voted Trump out will need to continue fighting for what we need. As covid19 rages and millions face unemployment, eviction & hunger, we have to go beyond what Biden is willing to give.
While Derek Chauvin sits on trial for murdering George Floyd, another innocent Black man is killed by the police just ten miles away. No matter what Democrats would have us believe, the fight for Black lives is far from over.
Capitalism gives rise to the far right, alongside the other social & economic problems we face.
We need a mass working class
#fightback
✊✊🏽
If you are serious about changing the world, 2020 may be the year for you to join Socialist Alternative!
👇👇
BREAKING: Kyle Rittenhouse has just been acquitted on all charges for killing two people and injuring a third in Kenosha, WI.
This verdict should put the final nail in the coffin that the courts can save us from the far right. THE SYSTEM IS GUILTY.
Credit for Chauvin’s conviction goes to the mass mvmt last summer. The same establishment that presided over Floyd’s death sacrificed a “bad apple” to stave off a reignited mvmt. But long lasting justice requires more than 1 conviction, we need a struggle for fundamental change!
If Starbucks workers succeed in unionizing it'll be the most impt private-sector organizing victory in decades. Starbucks has a long record of union-busting and bad faith negotiation over the last 40 yrs. To beat them we need to know what we're up against.
"Progressives in Congress have never been in a better position to force their priorities onto the agenda. Had they wielded this power the way conservative Democrats like Joe Manchin did, they could have won a stimulus bill with actual long-term gains for working people."
Rather than using her invitation to
#COP26
to expose the capitalist interests that drive US climate policy (or lack thereof) and join mass protests,
@AOC
is in Scotland doing damage control for the bruised Democratic establishment who’ve dropped nearly their entire climate agenda
From coast to coast, union members, socialists, Black Lives Matter activists, and Amazon workers rallied to send the message that workers in Bessemer deserve better conditions, living wages, and a union to fight for these things. 👏🏼 (Bessemer, AL, Boston, Oakland, Dallas) (1/3)
From
@cmkshama
, a response to
@DishRagNews
:
Socialists cannot confine ourselves to cheering from the sidelines in emerging workers' struggles. We need real solidarity, and that means fully engaging ourselves, and socialist ideas, in the fight!
Boston coffee workers voted for a union last year, but their bosses stalled negotiations. So they organized synchronized 7-minute work stoppages across their 4 locations – and as well as going viral on TikTok, won immediate concessions from their employer.
The details of the TA that have been published so far point to a resounding WGA victory. As millions of workers in the US look to labor organizing as a promising way forward, much can be learned from the example of the writers’ powerful strike.
Kshama
@cmkshama
leaves office undefeated, having won four elections despite every attempt by the city’s wealthy, pro-corporate forces to unseat her and the class-struggle politics she represents.
🔗 Lessons From 10 Years Of A Socialist In Office
The lessons from this defeat, which felt like the tragic echoing of Bernie’s two defeats, is that if the left is going to win, we need to make a jailbreak from the thoroughly pro-corporate Democratic Party.
Logan Swan, a Seattle union ironworker and member of Socialist Alternative, explains why the next step for Bernie supporters should be donating and getting involved to help build the movements of workers organizing for relief amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
So did the Democrats kill $15/hr back in March because it wasn’t high enough? We’re looking forward to seeing a $45 an hour federal minimum wage in the Build Back Better plan! 🙃
President Biden: “I’m going to create good-paying union jobs. Not $12 an hour, not $15 an hour, but $45 an hour and up with good benefits, so you can raise a family on and build the middle class out.”
3 key lessons from
#ALU
's victory at
#Amazon
1) Clear, concrete demands like $30hr starting wage
2) Meticulous, audacious, relentless shop-floor organizing.
3) Made it clear the needs of workers & the needs of billionaires are forever at odds
#1u
#UnionStrong
@cmkshama
#LDJ5