USA/Canada

Historic firsts just keep on coming in US politics. The attack on the US Capitol by far right insurrectionists. A US President twice impeached by the House of Representatives. That President in turn now facing multiple criminal indictments. The ejection of Kevin McCarthy as House speaker by his own party is also hitherto unprecedented event and underlines the situation that the Republicans in Congress are fast becoming a fractious nihilistic rabble. McCarthy had it coming though when he accepted it only needed one member to challenge his position. Judgement day duly arrived, when Mike Gaetz...

The US United Auto Workers (UAW) dispute rages on with Ford, General Motors (GM) and Stellantis (who subsumed Chysler). Strikes started on 15 September. The strikes remain highly targeted, with the union leadership dictating the strategy of which shops can enter the fold, and when, resulting still in only small fraction of the union membership being out on strike. Longer term, this could damage democracy in the union. Short term, the strike is having tangible, positive impacts. This last week saw a breakthrough tentative agreement with GM; the inclusion of electric vehicle (EV) battery...

Listing all the books, documentaries etc. about the Kennedy assassination would be impossible, as the pile continues to mount. Expect more to come: 22 November is the sixtieth anniversary of the events in Dallas. One film absolutely stands out, whatever its faults: Oliver Stone’s JFK , released in 1991, with Kevin Costner as New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison and Gary Oldman as the “not-so-lone” gunman Lee Harvey Oswald. Criticism of the film has ranged far and wide but, I suspect, for many people JFK is the version of events which still carries most resonance. The film focuses on the...

The UAW (United Auto Workers) strikes in the United States continue into their second week, and have now spread from 3 to 20 states, with 38 parts distribution centres now added to the mix. Despite being highly profitable outlets, most of these 38 centres are small shops, and so their introduction only adds another 5000 workers to the strike; 18,000 total in a union with over 140,000 autoworkers in the three affected companies; Ford, General Motors (GM), and Stellantis (who subsumed Chrysler). Although the UAW has yet to flex its full might, progress has been made, the most in negotiations...

Let me thank the UAW for standing up not only for your own members, but for the working class of this country. The fight you are waging here is not just about decent wages and working conditions and pensions in the automobile industry. It is a fight to take on corporate greed, and tell the people on top this country belongs to all of us, not just a few. There is a reason why a recent Gallup poll had 75% of Americans supporting the UAW. They are sick and tired of an economy in which the rich get richer while working families struggle and the most desperate sleep out on the streets. What this...

The next US Presidential Election is thirteen months away, and the winner will be either Joe Biden or Donald Trump, unless unforeseen circumstances cause one or the other or even both to drop out. This “choice” is deeply unpopular, with approval ratings for both candidates currently stuck at the low 40% mark. Far more popular than either Trump or Biden in America today are trade unions. They are said to enjoy 67% approval ratings among the public at large, and 90% among under-30s. There’s also high support for unions striking, whether it be film and television writers or United Auto Workers...

It is something like160 years since the citizens of Boston watched the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment march through the town on their way to fight for the Union in the American Civil War. There was something very special about the event: the six hundred strong 54th was one of the first all-Black regiments in the Union army. Glory (directed by Edwar Zwick, 1989) follows the 54th through its training period, its first combat experience at the battle of Antietam to the bloody assault on Fort Wagner, a Confederate stronghold at the mouth of Charleston harbour. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw...

Megan Rapinoe, prominent US women’s football player, widely regarded as the best woman footballer ever, has announced her retirement at 38. With her striking flash of short purple (or green) hair she had a dynamic presence on the field. She was a member of the US team which won the 2012 Olympics in London, and she played in the winning US team at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015 and 2019. She is one of the very few women (or men) to have ever scored twice direct from corner kicks. Off the field, Rapinoe was often in the limelight as a strong and vocal advocate of lesbian and trans rights and...

Today, in my view, is an historic day. For the first time in American history we have seen a president of the United States of America stand on a picket line and make it clear that he is supporting the working class of our country. And that is a very big deal. A week ago Friday, as some of you may know, I was also in Detroit, with the United Automobile Workers. I was there to stand up to the extraordinary level of corporate greed that we are seeing in the automobile industry today. In the first half of 2023, the Big Three automakers made a combined $21 billion in profits, up 80% from the same...

United Auto Workers union members at three production plants in the USA walked out on Friday 15 September following the expiration of a national contract with General Motors (GM), Stellantis (formerly Chrysler), and Ford (collectively, the Big Three). This is the first time the union has ever struck at all three companies simultaneously. Strikes in Missouri, Michigan and Ohio saw just 13,000 of the unions near-150,000 members at the Big Three walk out at midnight. The union leadership strategy is one of escalating action, that threatens to bring more shops out one-by-one for as long as it...