Tag Archives: COVID-19

Our global economic system is broken. Are we headed for a mass revolt?

How long can billionaires continue to amass wealth while the world’s poorest struggle to buy food?

By Paul Rogers Published 5-28-2022 by openDemocracy

While it has long been blatantly obvious that the global economic model is not working for all, the rate of accumulation of wealth by a small minority is now breathtaking – if not totally obscene.

With the situation only being worsened by the economic impact of the Ukraine War – which has come on top of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic – could we be headed for mass revolts sparked by a desperate need for change? Continue reading →

‘Tax the Rich,’ Say Millionaire Activists Protesting at Davos Amid Record Wealth, Inequality

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“As someone who has enjoyed the benefits of wealth my whole life I know how skewed our economy is and I cannot continue to sit back and wait for someone, somewhere, to do something,” said one demonstrator.

By Brett Wilkins Published 5-22-2022 by Common Dreams

Activists Marlene Engelhorn and Phil White demand that the rich get taxed at a May 22, 2022 protest outside the World Economic Forum conference in Davos, Switzerland. (Photo: Patriotic Millionaires U.K./Twitter)

As some of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful people—sans the usual Russian oligarchs—descend upon the swank Swiss ski resort of Davos for the start of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting on Sunday, a multinational coalition of millionaires of conscience took direct action to demand that governments #TaxTheRich.

Activists from Patriotic Millionaires, Patriotic Millionaires U.K., taxmenow, and the 99% Initiative, who protested outside the elite compound, had a message for conference delegates: “Extreme wealth is eroding democracy,” and taxing the rich will “reduce inequality and help deal with the cost of living scandal playing out in multiple nations around the world.” Continue reading →

Millions More Kids Going Hungry Since GOP, Manchin Killed Expanded Child Tax Credit

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“Even brief disruptions in access to food can have lasting consequences,” wrote the authors of a new analysis of worsening hunger among U.S. families.

By Kenny Stancil Published 5-20-2022 by Common Dreams

Screenshot: NBC 5

A new analysis out Friday confirms that the number of U.S. households with kids that report not having enough food to eat has surged in the months since corporate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia joined Senate Republicans in refusing to extend the expanded Child Tax Credit benefit beyond mid-December.

Data from the Household Pulse Survey (HPS), a nationally representative internet survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, shows that from April 27 to May 9, 15% of households with children reported food insufficiency—defined as sometimes or often not having enough food to eat in the past week. In early August, the percentage of families with kids that reported struggling with hunger was roughly 9.5%. Continue reading →

Investigation Shows Hundreds of US Cops Being Trained by Far-Right Extremists

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“Bad training is instilling bad behavior,” said one criminal justice reform advocate.

By Kenny Stancil Published 5-6-2022 by Common Dreams

Photo: Tony Webster/flickr/CC

Hundreds of cops across the United States have been taught by individuals who espouse far-right extremist views, according to a new investigation that was published Friday to sound the alarm on a burgeoning and unregulated private training industry.

Reuters identified five law enforcement trainers who have been hired by police and sheriffs’ departments nationwide despite their support for right-wing militia groups, including the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and Three Percenters; the QAnon conspiracy, which baselessly claims that Democrats and Hollywood stars belong to a cabal of Satanist pedophiles and cannibals; and former President Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen. Continue reading →

Workers Mark May Day With Pro-Labor Protests Worldwide

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“It’s a May Day of social and civil commitment for peace and labor,” said Daniela Fumarola, head of Italy’s CISL union.

By Jessica Corbett Published 5-1-2022 by Common Dreams

Immigrants and allies marching in Washington DC on May 1, 2022. Photo: United We Dream/Twitter

Workers and labor rights advocates across the globe came together Sunday for demonstrations marking International Workers’ Day, or May Day.

Organizers held about 250 actions across France, many pressuring newly reelected French President Emmanuel Macron to ditch his plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 65. Reuters reported that “marchers carried banners reading ‘Retirement Before Arthritis,’ ‘Retirement at 60, Freeze Prices,’ and ‘Macron, Get Out.'” Continue reading →

After Amazon and Starbucks, what’s next for revamped US labor movement?

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Workers across the country are beginning to reverse a 40-year decline of labor organising. But deeper problems remain

By Aaron White Published 4-29-2022 by openDemocracy

Starbucks employees protesting outside the Magnolia Dr. location in Tallahassee, FL. Photo: Ethan B./Wikimedia Commons/CC

“Starbucks has this image of being a progressive company that takes care of its employees. But really that hasn’t been the case,” Will Westlake, a barista at a Starbucks in Buffalo, tells openDemocracy.

Will got a job at Starbucks nearly a year ago, and was one of nearly 50 people from the Buffalo New York region – as part of Starbucks Workers United – to sign a letter in August asking then-CEO Kevin Johnson to support a fair union election. Continue reading →

Thousands of Sutter Health Nurses Stage 1-Day Northern California Strike

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“We’re tired of being ignored and left without the resources we need to care for our patients,” explained California Nurses Association.

By Brett Wilkins Published 4-18-2022 by Common Dreams

Nurses and healthcare workers at Sutter Health’s Solano Medical Center in Vallejo, California participate in a one-day strike on April 18, 2022. (Photo: California Nurses Association/Twitter)

Thousands of nurses at 18 Northern California Sutter Health hospitals and medical facilities on Monday began a one-day strike to protest what their union called the healthcare provider’s refusal to address “proposals about safe staffing and health and safety protections” amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

More than 8,000 members of California Nurses Association (CNA)—a National Nurses United (NNU) affiliate—and CNA-affiliated Caregivers and Healthcare Employees Union are participating in the action, according to NNU. Continue reading →

Rights Groups Herald Reported End to Cruel Title 42 Expulsions

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“Title 42 was never about public health and safety,” said Rep. Juan Vargas. “It was implemented to deny due process to people seeking refuge and protection.”

By Kenny Stancil. Published 3-30-2022 by Common Dreams

Photo: BanderasNews

Human rights defenders on Wednesday welcomed the White House’s reported plans to soon end the use of Title 42, a public health measure both the Biden and Trump administrations used to turn away asylum-seekers at the southern border for the past two years.

The Wall Street Journal, which obtained a draft of the order that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans to issue later this week, reported Wednesday that the agency “is taking the step because ‘there is no longer a serious danger’ that migrants would introduce or spread Covid-19 inside immigration detention facilities.” Continue reading →

‘Utter Travesty’: Uninsured Americans Will Now Be Charged $125 for a Single PCR Covid-19 Test

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Government funding cuts to key pandemic programs forced by GOP opposition arrive as progressives in Congress renew their push for Medicare for All.

By Jon Queally. Pubihed 3-26-2022 by Common Dreams

Employees operating a testing center at the Walmart Supercenter in Elizabethville, PA. Photo: Governor Tom Wolf/flickr/CC

A major testing company in the United States announced this week that it will now charge people without Medicare, private coverage, or other insurance a $125 out-of-pocket charge to receive a Covid-19 PCR test—a fresh example of how the U.S. remains an outlier among wealthy nations for refusing to provide universal healthcare for its people.

According to ABC News, Quest Diagnostics, one of the largest testing companies in the country, has decided that those “who are not on Medicare, Medicaid or a private health plan will now be charged $125 dollars ($119 and a $6 physician fee) when using one of its QuestDirect PCR tests either by ordering a kit online or visiting one of the 1,500 Quest or major retail locations that administer the tests, such as Walmart or Giant Eagle.” Continue reading →

Progressives Vow to ‘Fight Like Hell’ as California Single-Payer Bill Withdrawn

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“We are not gonna give up on our patients,” said California Nurses Association president Sandy Reding. “We are there when they take their first breath, we are there when they take their last breath. We will prevail.”

By Brett Wilkins. Published 1-31-2022 by Common Dreams,

Advocates for A.B. 1400, California’s single-payer healthcare bill, pose for a photo at one of the numerous automobile caravan rallies promoting the measure. (Photo: National Nurses United)

California progressives on Monday expressed shock and outrage as a bill that, if passed, would have delivered single-payer healthcare coverage to the nation’s most populous state was withdrawn from a highly anticipated floor vote in the state Assembly.

Minutes before A.B. 1400—the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act—was scheduled for a floor vote in the California State Assembly, co-author Ash Kalra (D-27) pulled the measure from consideration. Monday was the last day for the bill on the legislative calendar. Continue reading →

Occupy World Writes

The Movement Continues – Globally

Tag Archives: COVID-19