While the attitude of protesters were generally one of growing militancy and radicalism, many of the events were organized by the trade unions and other Democratic Party-affiliated organizations, which are seeking to derail opposition to Trump.
In Washington D.C., New York City and elsewhere, trade unions and other groups falsely tried to present the Democratic Party as a defender of the working class, offering the stage and microphone to representatives of this big business party of imperialism and war.
The dissolution of UAWD is further proof that the anti-working-class actions of the UAW bureaucracy are not the result of merely “bad” policies, but express the social interests of the apparatus itself. It also confirms the program advanced by socialist autoworker Will Lehman, who ran against Shawn Fain in the 2022 union election on a platform to abolish—not reform—the bureaucracy and transfer power to workers through rank-and-file committees.
Those signing include: Christy Moore, David Holmes, Dexys, Fontanes DC, Leftfield, Massive Attack, Mogwai, Orbital, Doves, Ash, Paul Weller, Primal Scream, Pulp, Ren, Sleaford Mods, Idles, Enter Shikari, Softplay, Super Furry Animals, Brian Eno, Mary Wallopers, The Pogues, Thin Lizzy and many more, no small number of whom have themselves publicly opposed the Gaza genocide.
Reform originates in [Nigel] Farage’s earlier UK Independence Party and the Brexit Party (which became Reform UK in 2021). It has only been able to make a breakthrough due to the abandonment of any defense of the working class by Labour and the trade unions.
The SEP has campaigned for the formation of rank-and-file committees, controlled by workers, and completely independent of the union apparatuses, as the only means of developing a unified industrial and political fight against the ongoing onslaught on jobs, wages and working conditions.
The surge in military spending has been relentless over the past decade, rising by over $1 trillion, from the $1.67 trillion total in 2015. But this is only a down payment. The imperialist powers have unveiled further huge increases to their war budgets with the aim of ensuring their share of the spoils in the new redivision of the world among the major powers.
Union speakers could not openly discuss the [ongoing Australian federal] election, because to do so would require an explanation of why they continue to back Labor, which has spent the past three years demonstrating its pedigree as a pro-war, big-business government that is totally hostile to the working class.
From the outset, the SEP has warned workers, youth and poor that the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)/National People’s Power (NPP) government called the election to strengthen its hand to implement austerity measures dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
These include the privatization/restructuring of over 400 State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), higher taxes on working people and funding cuts for basic public services like education and health. The result will be the destruction of hundreds of thousands of jobs as well as the slashing wages and working conditions.
Miller’s threats to conduct mass militarized raids are already being put into effect. In a display of force reminiscent of US combat operations in Fallujah or Kabul, more than 15 heavily armored ICE vehicles descended on a residential neighborhood in Irvine, California, Thursday morning. Dozens of armed agents swarmed a home— not in response to a violent crime but over allegations that posters had been placed on wooden poles.
14. Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific:
- South Korea:
Industrial Bank of Korea workers maintain protest for higher pay
About 600 food-delivery riders and truck drivers hold a demonstration convoy in Seoul calling for fair pay and protection of rights for platform workers
- Nepal:
Police in Kathmandu brutally attack striking teachers
- India:
Telangana university assistant professors protest for higher pay
Blinkit grocery delivery workers in Uttar Pradesh strike against poor working conditions
Unions at 12 major sea and river ports call a nation-wide strike for May 20 in opposition to government moves to place the ports in private ownership
- Pakistan:
Municipal workers in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa protest overdue wages
- Australia:
BAE shipyard workers in South Australia continue rolling stoppages
Operating theatre technicians at Royal Hobart Hospital strike over staffing
Striking Noosa council workers in Queensland locked out
UGL Transmission construction workers in Queensland strike for improved offer
- New Zealand:
Nearly 1,000 home support workers walk off the job for two hours to protest chronically low pay and an attempt by their employer to claw back staff conditions
20. Free Ukrainian socialist and anti-war activist, Bogdan Syrotiuk!
Internationally, major artistic figures such as Roger Waters and Ai Wei Wei as well as historians such as Mario Kessler and Christian Gerlach have supported the campaign to free Bogdan Syrotiuk. Many political tendencies have also condemned his imprisonment and called for his release, despite their political differences with the Trotskyist movement. These include Jill Stein from the Greens in the United States, and several groups and websites in Russia and Turkey. Most recently, the website of the Socialist Laborer Party in Turkey, and that of the Partisan Defense Committee, which is affiliated with the Spartacist tendency, have issued statements in support of Bogdan.
21. San Francisco, California city legal resources for immigrants needing help
