By Rail or Pipeline, Oil Deadly for Workers

The week of February 16 was a banner week for oil catastrophes — oil train derailments in West Virginia and Ontario, Canada, and a refinery explosion south of Los Angeles.
In Ontario, a train carrying Alberta tar sands crude derailed and exploded. In West Virginia, a train carrying light, volatile crude from the huge Bakken oil fields in North Dakota, derailed in the town of Mt. Carbon. At least 15 cars were set on fire, and at least one house burned down. It took five days to put the fires out, forcing an evacuation of many homes, and potentially contaminating a river used for drinking water.

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Europe, Middle East Conflicts Threaten U.S. Imperialism

U.S. imperialists recently suffered three major setbacks which intensify global rivalry and thus threaten wider war. In Ukraine, significant territorial gains by pro-Russian forces have U.S. rulers scrambling to arm their Kiev puppet regime. In Yemen a Shiite group friendly with Iran has seized power. Yemen borders Saudi Arabia, the oil-rich cornerstone of the U.S. worldwide empire. In addition, ISIS has swept through parts of Syria and has captured one-third of Iraq where it routed the Iraqi army. Lastly, the U.S. and European Union imperialist rivals are squaring off against Russia. Amid these ramped-up war threats, the international working class has no stake in taking any bosses’ side. The workers in Russia, U.S. and the EU pay the price through lower
living standards, displacement, and death.

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Students and Faculty Stand Up vs. Racist Administrations

BOSTON, January 27 — On a bitter cold day with a major snowstorm brewing, a group of students at Roxbury Community College — boldly standing up to the administration’s naked attack on their education — rallied outside the Academic Building, reaching hundreds of fellow students and others with their fliers, petition and passionate voices. A few days into the new semester, they were protesting larger class sizes and cuts to dozens of sections and many low-enrolled courses. Roxbury is a mainly Black and Latin community college and these cuts are a racist attack on students.

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Fight vs. Racism Gives Campus New Life

INDIANA, February 9 — The Fall semester of 2014 saw a growth and renewed focus on political work on campus. This is a look into the rebuilding process of Progressive Labor Party’s presence here. Through involvement in battling racism on campus and in our neighborhoods — mainly regarding the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and murder of 43 students in Ayotzinapa, Mexico — the war against global capitalism has gained more forces.

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Haiti: Workers, Students Battle for Survival

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haïti, February 8 — Since early February, the streets have been filled with barricades, burning tires and burnt-out vehicles in efforts to demand lower gasoline prices. These actions follow a series of struggles over the last couple of years against the high cost of living.

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Racist Foreclosures Turn Workers into Economic Refugees

DETROIT, MI, February 7 — Thousands of workers here, employed and unemployed, retirees, the indigent and the disabled, were forced to appear at Wayne County show-cause hearings to try to keep their homes out of foreclosure. They were almost all Black. There were so many foreclosure notices that the hearings had to be held in Cobo Center, where just two weeks earlier the racist auto bosses spent millions unveiling their new cars at the annual Auto Show.  

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Oil Workers Strike: Everyone Out, Stop ALL Scabs

On February 1, 3,800 oil refinery workers launched a health and safety strike against the deadly combination of outsourcing, short staffing, and forced overtime. The strikers are members of the United Steel Workers Union (USW), which represents 30,000 oil industry workers, at 63 refineries, oil terminals, pipelines, and petrochemical facilities. They produce 65 percent of U.S. oil.

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East Africa: Students, Workers Fight vs. Racism and Sexism

EAST AFRICA — Due to capitalism, the majority of students here regularly miss lunch or dinner, receive poor quality of food and healthcare, substandard accommodations, and limited access to electricity and water. Likewise, the capitalist curriculum fails the new generations’ aspirations and potential. This is naked capitalism. However, from April through October 2014, students at a Teachers’ College have been fighting back against racist theft and utter disregard of students. We have also been fighting back against the sexist denial of education to girls in a rural town.

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Class Struggle Rages in India

Workers are fighting determined battles against the bosses in India, a country with almost one-fourth of the world’s population, more than the Western Hemisphere plus Europe combined. PLP is growing roots and winning workers to our international party, and for communist revolution.

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Legal Service Workers’ Strike Targets Racism

NEW YORK CITY, February 5 – “Millionaire Wall Street lawyers on MFY’s [Mobilization for Youth] board…believe that only wealthy people deserve highly trained, experienced legal professionals and attorneys. We reject that vision. We are fighting for our clients!” That was the message from one paralegal as more than 200 workers and professionals braved frigid temperatures to picket MFY Legal Services. The 56 striking attorneys, paralegals, and secretaries from this office are represented by the Legal Services Staff Association (LSSA)/UAW Local 2320.

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