USA/Canada

Melanie H Morin reports in Niwhts’ide’ni Hibi’it’en (The Ways of Our Ancestors): “In 1897, drunken miners shooting their guns, blowing tinhorns and ringing the church bell broke down the doors of Gitxsan homes looking for women, though reserves were off-limits to Euro-Canadians. The federal Indian Agent — a representative of the Canadian government on First Nations reserves who enforced the racist Indian Act law from the 1830s to the 1960s — had no control over the situation and was told by Gitxsan leaders that ‘protection of the law [seemed] to exist only for the Whites and not for them, and...

The “pro-labour, pro-union” US President Joe Biden has ratified a deal for rail workers to break a national strike that was due to hit on the 9 December. The deal ends a stalemate in negotiations between four out of the 12 US rail unions that have been ongoing for three years and affects 120,000 rail workers. The deal ensures pay increases of up to 24%, but spread over five years. It also fails to add a single extra paid sick day to the zero currently provided, and many workers feel it risks turning the railroad into a “revolving-door job” with long-term job cuts. A handful of “progressives”...

Twitter right now is weird: a funeral wake where the subject is still alive, just. Its chaotic breakdown since 27 October, has been livestreamed to an audience of millions through leaked emails, saluting emojis, Titanic memes, and spicy tweets from senior leadership. On Wednesday 16 November, Elon Musk, currently live action role-playing as a tech CEO with one of the world’s largest social media platforms, issued an ultimatum to the remaining workers at Twitter. In the email, Musk invited staff to be part of “hardcore” Twitter 2.0: long hours, aggressive deadlines, and engineers revered above...

The number of people dying in pregnancy or shortly after giving birth in the UK has risen sharply, with maternal health inequality widening further. Women living in the most deprived areas were more than twice as likely to die as those in the most affluent parts of the UK, the report found, a disparity that has significantly increased. The latest report from an Oxford University research unit has found that 229 women died during pregnancy, or in the first six weeks after, from pregnancy-specific causes, in 2018-20. This was a 24% increase on 2017-19. Maternal deaths have been increasing in the...

“Xi is a great gentleman. He’s now president for life. Maybe I’ll want to give that a shot.” During the course of his two hour long rambles which pass for speeches, Trump often makes favourable references to Chinese dictator Xi Jinping. At one rally recently he spoke approvingly of the way Xi’s regime “dealt” with alleged criminals”: a “speedy trial” invariably leading to a death sentence, followed by the executioner’s bullet getting mailed to relatives of the deceased. Trump’s liking for despots and their ways is well known. He’s also a big fan of Kim Jong Un, and then there’s the highly...

Doug Ford, the right-wing “Progressive Conservative” premier of Ontario, Canada, has backed down on anti-union legislation after a union fightback. “We harnessed our collective power when it was needed most. Ontario workers, and especially the brave CUPE education workers, defended the right to strike for all people in Canada,” said Patty Coates, Ontario Federation of Labour President. And more: “Until education workers bargain a fair collective agreement, we will not stand down; we are ready to fight”. On 4 November, education workers in OPSEU-SEFPO, another union, walked out in solidarity...

Just when you thought what passes for recent political life in the United States couldn’t sink any lower, it has. The attack on 82 year old husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi by a conspiracist, which resulted in him receiving a fractured skull, hasn’t met with universal condemnation. Completely unsubstantiated anti-LGBT slurs have been spread instead, claiming Pelosi knew his attacker. Unsurprisingly, Trump himself gave credence to this gross falsehood, as did kindred scumbag, Elon Musk, who spread it on his newly acquired Twitter platform. Twitter has seen an upsurge in far right hate...

America’s midterm elections take place on Tuesday 8 November. According to polls, Republicans are likely to win the House of Representatives and may win the Senate. The Democrats have controlled both chambers since 2020. The results may well impact on the Ukraine war. In May, the House of Representatives voted 368-57 in favour of a $40bn aid package to Ukraine. All 57 votes opposing the aid were from Republicans. If the Republicans take either chamber, or both, support for Ukraine is likely to weaken. That will strengthen Putin and make Russian withdrawal from Ukraine more difficult. The US...

The anti-union, right-wing state government is attempting to crush strike action by poorly paid school support staff in Ontario, Canada. The workers, who are cleaners, school secretaries, librarians and teaching assistants, are members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). Inflation in Ontario is now around 7% and the union is demanding a wage increase of 11.7% (the equivalent of about £2.10 per hour). The state offered 2.5% for the poorest paid workers, and less for others; negotiations broke down last month. CUPE has 55,000, mainly women members, in Ontario schools. Doug Ford’s...