Working Class Struggles

It had been only a few months back that the contract workers of Indian Oil Company had revolted in a wildcat strike. They were protesting the conditions of work for contract workers. The uprising inspired petro chemical workers in Surat where the same conditions were replicated. Now, the fire spreads from Panipat in Haryana to the streets of Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Noida is the so-called Millenium city of India, a poster child for neo-liberal growth. The militant protests of workers have made non-sense of this illusion of neo-liberal capitalist development.

Between Monday, March 16, and Saturday, April 4, a predominately immigrant workforce shut down one of the largest beef processing plants in the country. Beyond the “bread and butter” issues of wages, healthcare and safety this strike had much larger political implications about the ability of immigrant workers to organize and fight back against employer and government attacks in the workplace and community. The strike certainly raised questions about the difficulties workers face in winning contracts that deliver big economic packages and make meaningful long term gains. But what the strike lacked in financial impact it made up for as an example of fearless union members coming together from dozens of different ethnic backgrounds to stand up and fight.

The struggle by JBS workers in Greeley extends beyond the shop floor. The issues of immigration and human trafficking also play a central role in understanding the relationship between the JBS workers and the managers and owners. Meatpacking workers are a highly immigrant sector of the class, and close to 50 languages are spoken on the floor of the plant. In Greeley, a significant number of the workers are Haitian immigrants, protected by Temporary Protective Status (TPS), a program that is now under attack by the Trump administration.

Teachers state that there are serious disparities in wages and rights between them and the Italian teachers working at the same school. Despite performing the same work, Turkish teachers receive significantly lower pay, cannot benefit equally from social rights, and have suffered major economic losses in recent years. They also emphasize that they have not received any wage increases for the past three years, and that the proposed raise rates do not correspond to Turkey’s current economic realities.

The protests stands as one of the largest single action by workers anywhere in India. These are contract workers, many of whom come from rural regions of Bihar and North India, they come for a better life to Haryana. Their labour built up one of India’s fastest growing industrial regions. Yet, for their sacrifices, they aren’t given the basic respect of a regular pay.

There has been a general strike almost every year since the year 2010, yet the Indian capitalist class has grown only bolder in its attacks on the working class. It is important to understand why this contradiction exists, and to understand the general strike in context.

Despite all its steps toward authoritarianism, the regime fails to gain the consent of the masses. The labor-capital contradiction creating an undeniable crisis, and corruption is erupting in every field. Every new attack on universities further sharpens the anger of the youth against the regime.

San Francisco educators and school workers have won our first strike in nearly 50 years. The strike galvanized our entire union, garnered support from the City’s working-class, and forced a long-intransigent district to concede on our key demands for better working and living conditions.

Despite their union leadership’s betrayal, rank-and-file nurses refused to back down. Led by their executive committee, NYP strikers called an emergency rally at 11 a.m. on Feb. 11 by Herald Square. Around 100 nurses marched to the NYSNA Manhattan headquarters to protest the betrayal by their union leadership and chanted outside the building while their bargaining committee delivered a petition demanding accountability and an open hearing with NYSNA president Nancy Hagans. According to local executive committee president Beth Loudin, the petition had garnered over 1500 signatures from striking nurses overnight.

Today's resistance in Minneapolis builds on a legacy full of lessons on how to fight fascism and organize a general strike

Over 15,000 nurses from 10 hospitals have gone on strike, demanding improvements in worker and patient safety and better health benefits.

The immigrant rights movement today must have labor’s full participation in opposition to the Trump regime’s terror. The fact that a Teamster local like 705 is standing up for immigrant workers is important given that Sean O’Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, has consistently made disparaging comments about immigrants on his podcast.

Petrobras Violently Represses Strike at Refinery and Boaventura Energy Complex in Rio de Janeiro State Oil workers across the country began a national strike on the morning of December 15 in response to Petrobras’s third proposal for the 2025–2026 collective bargaining agreement. The decision to strike was made at mass assemblies held at all bases […]

In Portugal, the main trade union confederations, CGTP-IN and UGT, have called a general strike for December 11, 2025. This is the first joint strike by these unions since 2013, a clear sign of the degree of mobilization and dissatisfaction among workers in the face of a profound attack on their rights. The motto of […]

By ERNIE GOTTA Read here the news and views from the class struggle in the U.S. and internationally! This edition features news from Connecticut, Ohio, Kentucky, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. Auto workers in Conn. threaten strike at Cummins UAW Local 379 is demanding wage and health benefit increases, profit sharing, and job security at Cummins/Jacob […]

By ERNIE GOTTA Unionized federal employees are facing a real crisis due to serious attacks by the Trump administration. These attacks threaten the very existence of federal unions and collective bargaining rights that provide good wages and working conditions. This threat should put all union workers on notice. Why does Trump need to smash the […]