On Tuesday, March 31, a meeting in San Francisco was held with longshore workers and others to discuss and explain the failings of the recent tentative agreement over a new contract between […]
ILWU Tentative Contract: Organize to stop concessions!
oaklandsocialist
The administrator of this blog site, I am a lifelong socialist and a retired carpenter and the former recording secretary and an expelled member of Carpenters Local 713. I was expelled for my leading role in the 1999 SF Bay Area carpenters wildcat strike as well as for his opposition to the union bureaucracy in general. I was one of the founding members of a small group called Labor Militant, which was the forerunner to Socialist Alternative. Along with a small group of others, I was expelled when that group started to adapt to the union bureaucracy. I have also visited the workers' movement internationally, including in Pakistan, Egypt (during the Arab Spring), Britain, Mexico and Chile (during the uprising there in 2020). Unless otherwise specified, I am the author of the articles that appear here. Although I am the main author, Oaklandsocialist welcomes articles on any issue that relates to the working class. Contact us at Oaklandsocialist@gmail.com.
Cliff Willmeng: Interview with a “Fractivist”
We interview Cliff Willmeng, one of the leading anti-fracking activists (“fractivists”) in Colorado. In this video, Cliff explains several points: How communities in Colorado are moving to ban fracking and, thereby coming […]
The “Team Concept” and the Race to the Bottom
There’s an article in today’s Wall St. Journal about the increase in outsourcing of work in the auto industry; increasing amounts of parts are being made in Mexico and other low wage […]
An Open Letter to Food And Water Watch
We have received this open letter to the Big Green environmental NGO, Food & Water Watch. It takes F&WW to task for taking credit (and money) for the activism organized by local […]
“This is not what I joined Socialist Alternative for.”
Today, more young adults think positively about socialism than do about capitalism. Sadly, socialism in general is lacking a public face. The one exception is Seattle city council member, Kshama Sawant, an open […]
Israel’s Election Results
Like every other struggle, the fight against racism is international. That’s doubly true for the State of Israel, which has accurately been compared with apartheid South Africa. And that’s why we should […]
Israel: What goes around comes around
Here is an interesting story from the Israeli daily newspaper Ha’aretz about the mistreatment of a sick elderly Jewish man in an Israeli hospital. (Note: You will have to register with Ha’aretz […]
Marxism and the Struggle in Greece
The Marxist economist Michael Roberts has an interesting and important piece on the economic plans of the present leadership in Greece and also the criticisms of the main left opposition there. The […]
Macron’s Law: “It’s called global capitalism for a reason.”
Some 40 years ago, this writer got into a debate in the Alameda County Building Trades Council with that council’s executive secretary. The executive secretary was pushing the line that our unions should […]
More on Netanyahu Speech
Here are some excerpts from a Financial Times article on the fallout from Netanyahu’s speech to congress – one arranged on a “partisan” Republican basis: “Ten Democratic senators with generally hawkish views […]