Category Archives: Solidarity

‘Why We Need Medicare for All’: Boeing Revokes Health Benefits for Striking Workers

“Like other wealthy countries we must guarantee healthcare to every man, woman, and child as a human right, not a job benefit. Whether you’re on strike or not, everyone is entitled to healthcare,” said Bernie Sanders.

By Edward Carver. Published 10-1-2024 by Common Dreams

Boeing revoked the company-sponsored healthcare benefits of about 33,000 striking workers starting Tuesday, drawing condemnation from progressives, who said it showed the need for a universal healthcare system in the United States.

The workers, who are mostly in Washington state and are represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), went on strike on September 13, and the corporation announced on its website that their healthcare benefits would expire at the end of the day on September 30.

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Climate Movement Says ‘Hurricane Helene Must Be a Wake-Up Call’

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“To those insisting that, ‘This is not the time!’ to have those other conversations, I say: This is exactly when we need to be having them,” said one climate scientist.

By Jessica Corbett. Published 9-29-2024 by Common Dreams

*Flood waters reach almost to the roof of this building in Biltmore Forest, North Carolina. Photo: Josh Griffith/X*

As emergency crews have worked through the weekend to rescue people and restore essential services across several southeastern U.S. states, green groups in recent days have pointed to the death and damage from Hurricane Helene as just the latest evidence of the need for sweeping action on the climate emergency.

Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph winds in Florida’s Big Bend region late Thursday, then left a path of destruction across hundreds of miles of Georgia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee. As of early Sunday, at least 64 people are confirmed dead—including at least two people in Virginia—though that figure is expected to rise.

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Green Groups Applaud 1 Million Public Comments Urging Biden to Protect Old-Growth Forests

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“The Forest Service should listen to the public and finalize policies that truly safeguard our oldest forests,” a coalition of environmental organizations advised.

By Brett Wilkins. Published 9-21-2024 by Common Dreams

The Avenue of the Giants is surrounded by Humboldt Redwoods State Park–which has the largest remaining stand of old-growth redwoods in the world–in Humboldt County, California. Photo: Kirt Edblom/flickr/cc

Green groups on Friday pointed to the more than 1 million public comments urging the U.S. Forest Service to protect old-growth forests from logging in urging the Biden administration to increase what critics say are inadequate protections for mature trees in a proposed federal amendment.

The Forest Service (USFS)—a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture—received massive input during four rounds of public comment on the National Old-Growth Amendment Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

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Ocasio-Cortez, Smith Push Bill to Create Social Housing Authority

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“Because we believe that housing is a human right, like food or healthcare, we believe that more Americans deserve the option of social housing.”

By Jessica Corbett. Published 9-18-2024 by Common Dreams

“It’s becoming nearly impossible for working-class people to buy and keep a roof over their heads. Congress must respond with a plan that matches the scale of this crisis.”

That’s according to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), who on Wednesday introduced the Homes Act in a New York Times opinion piece and an event with supporters of the proposal on Capitol Hill.

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Thousands of Autoworkers Protest in Brussels Amid Likely Audi Layoffs

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“Their anger is very legitimate, very understandable, especially since Audi is not very clear on its plans,” a local employment minister said.

By Edward Carver. Published 9-16-2024 by Common Dreams

*Thousands of workers demonstrated in the streets of Brussels on September 16, 2024. Photo: FGTB/X*

Thousands of autoworkers protested in Brussels on Monday following recent news that Audi, a subsidiary of the German automaker Volkswagen, would phase out production at its plant there, which is expected to mean layoffs for its roughly 3,000 employees by the end of 2025.

The phase-out announcement led to a labor dispute that’s shuttered the plant for the last two weeks, with some employees forming an encampment protest outside. The plant is expected to resume operations on Tuesday even though the core issues underlying the labor dispute, which some unions have characterized as a lockout by management, haven’t been resolved.

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‘Shame Must Change Sides’: Thousands March in France Against Sexual Violence

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The protests were organized in support of Gisèle Pélicot, who has become a symbol of feminist defiance in the country when she chose to make the rape trial of her husband and 50 other men public.

By Olivia Rosane. Published 9-14-2024 by Common Dreams

Thousands of people took to the streets in 30 French cities and Brussels on Saturday to protest rape and sexist violence and to support Gisèle Pélicot, a woman in her early 70s whose husband of 50 years is on trial for drugging her periodically and inviting dozens of men into their home to rape her while she was unconscious.

Pélicot has become a symbol of the fight against sexual violence in France when she decided to make the trial of her husband and 50 other men public to ensure that “no woman suffers this.”

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100,000+ People Across France March to Decry Macron’s ‘Denial of Democracy’

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“Expressing one’s vote will be useless as long as Macron is in power,” said one demonstrator.

By Julia Conley. Published 9-8-2024 by Common Dreams

*Protest against the selection of Michel Barnier as prime minister on September 7, 2024 in Nantes, France.. Photo: Lee/X*

In cities and towns across France on Saturday, more than 100,000 people answered the call from the left-wing political party La France Insoumise for mass protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s selection of a right-wing prime minister.

The demonstrations came two months after the left coalition won more seats than Macron’s centrist coalition or the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) in the National Assembly and two days after the president announced that Michel Barnier, the right-wing former Brexit negotiator for the European Union, would lead the government.

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After Weekend Walkouts, Hotel Worker Strikes Grow on Labor Day

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“We refuse to accept wages that can’t support our families. It’s insulting. And it ends now.”

By Jessica Corbett. Published 9-2-2024 by Common Dreams

*Workers from over two dozen hotels across the United States are on strike as of September 2, 2024, which is Labor Day. Photo: UNITE HERE! Local 30/X*

After approximately 10,000 hotel workers across the United States walked off the job over the weekend ahead of Labor Day, the strikes not only continued but grew on Monday, with employees of the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor taking to the streets.

In Maryland’s biggest city, workers with UNITE HERE Local 7 carried signs that said, “Respect our work,” “One job should be enough,” and “Make them pay.”

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Tribes Celebrate as Dam Removals Set Klamath River ‘Free’ for First Time in a Century

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“The biggest thing for me, the significance of the dam removal project, is just hope—understanding that change can be made,” a Yoruk activist said as the largest dam removal project in U.S. history neared completion.

By Edward Carver. Published 8-29-2024 by Common Dreams

*The Klamath River. Photo: Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington/flickr/CC*

Crews breached the final of four dams on a key stretch of the Klamath River on Wednesday, letting salmon run freely there for the first time in over a century and garnering tears from Indigenous activists who had campaigned for the dam removals for decades.

Together the four demolitions mark the largest dam removal project in U.S. history.

The Klamath, which runs from south-central Oregon into northwestern California, has long been bordered by Native American tribes—”Salmon People,” as they call themselves—that once relied on the protein-rich fish for about half of their caloric intake but were impoverished by the institution of the dams, among other white settler colonialist initiatives.

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Report Exposes ‘Systemic Abuse’ at For-Profit Migrant Detention Centers in Louisiana

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“These individuals have fled persecution and violence only to be thrown in ‘civil’ detention and left to fend for themselves in an abusive, profit-driven, and manipulative system.”

By Edward Carver. Published 8-26-2024 by Common Dreams

*The River Correctional Center in Ferndale, LA. Photo: ICE*

A coalition of rights groups on Monday released a report documenting “systemic human rights abuses” at migrant detention centers in Louisiana and called for an end to the use of for-profit facilities by U.S. agencies.

The 108-page report, drawn from more than 6,000 interviews at Lousiana immigrant detention centers since 2022, was produced by Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Human Rights, the ACLU, the ACLU of Louisiana, Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy, and the National Immigration Project.

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Occupy World Writes

The Movement Continues – Globally

Category Archives: Solidarity

“Like other wealthy countries we must guarantee healthcare to every man, woman, and child as a human right, not a job benefit. Whether you’re on strike or not, everyone is entitled to healthcare,” said Bernie Sanders.

“To those insisting that, ‘This is not the time!’ to have those other conversations, I say: This is *exactly* when we need to be having them,” said one climate scientist.

“The Forest Service should listen to the public and finalize policies that truly safeguard our oldest forests,” a coalition of environmental organizations advised.

“Because we believe that housing is a human right, like food or healthcare, we believe that more Americans deserve the option of social housing.”

“Their anger is very legitimate, very understandable, especially since Audi is not very clear on its plans,” a local employment minister said.

The protests were organized in support of Gisèle Pélicot, who has become a symbol of feminist defiance in the country when she chose to make the rape trial of her husband and 50 other men public.

“Expressing one’s vote will be useless as long as Macron is in power,” said one demonstrator.

“We refuse to accept wages that can’t support our families. It’s insulting. And it ends now.”

“The biggest thing for me, the significance of the dam removal project, is just hope—understanding that change can be made,” a Yoruk activist said as the largest dam removal project in U.S. history neared completion.

“These individuals have fled persecution and violence only to be thrown in ‘civil’ detention and left to fend for themselves in an abusive, profit-driven, and manipulative system.”

“To those insisting that, ‘This is not the time!’ to have those other conversations, I say: This is exactly when we need to be having them,” said one climate scientist.