Obama on Labor Day: No measures to address jobs crisis

Original article, Obama on Labor Day: No measures to address jobs crisis, by Joe Kishore and Jerry White via World Socialist Web Site:

In a speech delivered to mark Labor Day in the US, President Obama made clear that there will be no significant government measures to address the most severe jobs crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

But what about the highly touted $50 billion Obama's announced for infrastructure repair? Well...

Speaking in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Monday, Obama trumpeted a plan for investment in infrastructure and transportation as a significant jobs program. Despite efforts by the media to play up the announcement, it quickly emerged that the administration is simply asking Congress to reauthorize a bill that is routinely passed every five years. His proposal for spending is little changed from previous years.

The $50 billion is 'front loaded' from money already in the pipeline. Yes, it's better under the circumstances to go ahead and use the money, but what happens when those monies are spent? Will Obama have the political backing to up the ante? It doesn't look like he will, even if the Democrats retain control of the House and/or the Senate. The $50 billion is an election year political ploy juggling already earmarked money. It's smoke and mirrors.

Obama’s rejection of any serious jobs program is part of a conscious class war policy. Two years after the financial crisis and the multi-trillion dollar bailout of the banks, the administration is spearheading a campaign by corporations to sharply increase the exploitation of the working class, using the “new normal” of mass unemployment to force workers to accept lower wages, longer hours, and more brutal working conditions.

I'll let you read the rest of the article. There may be a few friends of workers in the Obama administration and the Congress. Both have shown through their relative inaction during the economic crisis that the majority are more concerned for the bosses and bankster frauds. Both major parties are wedded to financial and business interests for it to be any different. Until workers reach the conclusion that their interests are not served by either party nothing will change. Will another few years under a Republican Congress help to change workers' minds? And will a metaphorical bloodbath in November help to move the Democrats to the real left? The answer to both questions will help to show what direction the country will be taking in the next few years.

Indianapolis GM workers pressured to vote on wage cut

Original article, Indianapolis GM workers pressured to vote on wage cut, by Andre Damon via World Socialist Web Site:

In an effort to circumvent the overwhelming vote by Indianapolis GM stamping plant workers against his demand for a 50 percent wage cut, JD Norman, the prospective buyer of the plant, is stepping up pressure on workers to sign a petition calling for a revote.

The pressure comes not only from JD Norman, but from the Indianapolis Stamping Plant's own union! Of course, since it's a GM plant, the UAW bureaucracy has a vested interest in seeing the plant sold, since they're part owners. The workers of Local 23 have a contract that says that their wages aren't to be changed should the plant be sold. They've voted not to reopen the contract, and they voted not to have the UAW bureaucracy renegotiate. The bureaucracy went behind their backs, and is now striving for a revote.

Norman called a meeting of auto workers Sunday to discuss the details of his proposal, which would cut the pay of production workers from $29 an hour to $15.50. About 50 workers, together with their families, came to the meeting, out of 660 workers currently employed at the plant.

The meeting was held at Lucas Oil Stadium. This should tell you something about JD Norman's concern for the economic well being of the workers. The cost for renting the stadium's meeting room(s) could have been cut by meeting at a less expensive location. But, the families were allowed to cavort on the football field that the Colts play on. I guess one could say that holding the meeting there went toward paying off the monstrosity which is the stadium.

Norman’s presentation followed a union meeting last month where workers drove UAW international representatives from their local union meeting, after the UAW violated an earlier vote, passed 384-22, barring any negotiations with the corporate raider. The UAW has presented Norman as the savior of workers who would keep open the plant, which GM has scheduled to close next year as part of its bankruptcy restructuring.

The goal, of course, is to have JD Norman make lots of money, while the workers (who, by the way, actually do the work at the plant) get shafted. It's Capitalism at it's finest. The sad point is that the Capitalist's economy is in such a shambles that temporary workers will be happy to take the lower wage simply to have a job. That's the Capitalist Way: Keep workers unemployed long enough and they'll come running for any job you offer. In a sense, you can't blame the unemployed workers. After all, they have to feed, clothe and house their families. However, when it comes time to upgrade their work conditions, they'll face the exact same situation that Local 23's workers are facing now. They're selling out their future by supporting (those that do) selling out Local 23 now.

I'll let you read the rest of the article. It's sad and disgusting that the UAW bureaucracy is part of this sham. They're acting as part of the ownership class, not as a union. If a union doesn't work in the interests of it's workers (who, by the way, are the reason that the union exists in the first place), then it can't really be called a union at all. This should be a lesson for everybody. The Capitalist bosses are out to screw their workers however they can. They have co-opted the UAW into their partners in attacks upon the union membership. The goal, of course, is to browbeat workers to such a point that there isn't any opposition to whatever decisions the bosses make.

The workers of Local 23 are fighting not only for their jobs and economic security, they're fighting for ours as well. Each victory by the bosses takes us further down the road to economic ruin (not that we haven't gone pretty far down that road as it is). The only power able to fight the bosses is a strong, organized working class. Every bit of pressure that the bosses apply has to be met in kind. If not, then the bosses win. It's as simple as that.

Millions join strikes in South Africa—this is how to beat bosses

Original article, Millions join strikes in South Africa—this is how to beat bosses, via socialistworker.org.uk:

Two million South African workers were set to stage a general strike on Thursday
of this week, in support of 1.3 million public sector workers who have been
striking for more than a fortnight.

Mzwandile Makwayiba is one of the leaders of South Africa’s biggest and most militant public sector union, Nehawu. He spoke to Socialist Worker about the strike

“In South Africa there are two kinds of people—those with money and those without. Those without are the vast majority.

Unaffordable housing, poverty wages and sky-high inflation are crippling workers.

We are struggling to survive—that is why we are on strike. I was a hospital worker and I know how difficult conditions are. In the Gauteng province [Johannesburg] alone we need an
additional 6,000 nurses.

The government paints a picture of strikers as selfish. But it is the working class that is suffering—it is our hospitals and schools that are underfunded. That is why workers are prepared to come out in solidarity with us on Thursday.

We had a strike in 2007 and we were worried that workers could not afford to strike again, but this year it has been even more effective.

As workers we know we only have two weapons—our unity, which we must not allow to be splintered, and our ability to fight.

I would say to workers in Britain: our fight is your fight. We are fighting a global battle against neoliberalism, against the bosses who want to force us to pay for their crisis.

If we are prepared to fight hard, and we stand united, we can win.”


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following should be read alongside this article:

South Africa: The faultlines in the ANC’s alliance

Private sector strikes take off in South Africa

South Africa: Fury on the streets as action spreads

© Socialist Worker (unless otherwise stated). You may republish if you
include an active link to the original.

This is good news, actually. Workers around the world are coming to the conclusion that the bosses are against them. Even here, in the US, you hear the rumblings from the population. The question is how will those rumblings be channeled?

The bosses are betting that reactionaries, like Glenn Beck and the Teabagger crowd, will be able to channel those rumblings back into the status quo. That's the whole point about the 'Tea Party' movement. It's not revolutionary, it's reactionary. It's what may well be the last gasp of neo-liberalism and Capitalism, and the bosses know it.

The other way that this discontent can be channelled is by the workers (and the unemployed) banding together to fight the bosses. That the economy has failed is quite evident. The great experiment of letting the bosses and bankster frauds hoard the reigns of power in the US has proven to be a catastrophe, as we should have known it would be. The interests of the workers and the bosses are opposite. The bosses stand for the few, while workers stand (or at least should) for the rest.

The question is which path we shall take? Only time will tell as the game plays out. The two major parties in the US are beholden to the bosses and bankster frauds (yes, there are a few - too few - decent politicians left). Every move they make is aimed at insuring the status quo be maintained. Until this changes, we are beholden to the bosses and bankster frauds as well. The choice is clear, and the choice is ours.

As US “recovery” collapses, White House rules out social relief

Original article, As US “recovery” collapses, White House rules out social relief, by Barry Grey via World Socialist Web Site:

Recent weeks have seen a collapse in US home sales, a weakening of manufacturing activity, an upward trend in jobless benefit claims and, on Friday, a downward revision of second-quarter gross domestic product growth from 2.4 percent to 1.6 percent.

The article notes that the 1.6 percent figure is below the level needed to lower unemployment. That the GDP numbers have been revised downward shouldn't be surprising. It's a PR game, you see. Announce 'high' numbers and then do the actual tabulating and watch them go down. The 'high' numbers get the headlines, while the real numbers get pushed back and don't have the impact. Don't be surprised if next quarter's numbers, due out before the election, have the same downward revision.

USA Today reported Monday that the recession has resulted in one in six Americans relying on government assistance to survive. Over 50 million people are on Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor and disabled. That is an increase of at least 17 percent since the recession began in December 2007.

Ir'a not a failure of the Obama administration (although, to be sure, they are failing). It's a failure of the Capitalist system. To be successful, Capitalism needs an expanding economy. This is true of any economic system that we have tried so far. The problem is that Capitalism isn't designed to support the population when there is a contraction. The system is designed so that the bosses get rich and hoard their money when the contraction comes, damn everybody else. We're seeing this right now. Voting in either of the Capitalist parties won't change a thing, unless we have the 'creative destruction' of a great war (which would then allow the expansion of the economy due to the rebuilding of those counties devastated by said great war).

Two years after the eruption of the financial crisis, precipitated by the recklessness and criminality of Wall Street, the chasm separating the financial elite and everyone else has grown wider than ever. The New York Times reported Tuesday that the rebound on Wall Street has led to a further polarization between rich and poor in New York City. While the median pay of managerial workers was up 11 percent from three years ago, the median weekly pay of non-managers had fallen 10.4 percent, to $472.

The response of the Obama administration and the entire political establishment to the collapse of the so-called “recovery” is to reject out of hand any significant spending to generate jobs.

This is the kicker, of course. There's plenty of wars for the Capitalist wars and occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq. There's plenty of money to bail out the bosses and bankster frauds. There, of couse, is no money to bail out the general population. We now see that the Democrats are as in thrall to the bosses and banksters as the Republicans are, not that we didn't already know this.

I'll let you read the rest of the article. Grey makes the point that social unrest has started, albeit slowly here in the US. The right in the US stands to make strong gains in the coming election, despite the fact that they were in charge in the period that finished bringing on the collapse of the economy. The Democrats have shown that their policies are equally as bad as the opposition. The problem is that we have a two party system here in the US, and both are tied to a failed economic system. The question is how far down the depressionary hole we'll have to fall before there is a sustainable economy again, and what type of economic system we'll follow once the bottom is reached. The likelyhood is that we'll keep the Capitalist system and have to play the same game we have been playing, but with reduced resources and opportunity for economic expansion. We have to decide if this is the best we can look forward to.