This week in history: April 28-May 4
Actors and museum workers strike; mass movement for socialism in Portugal; South Africa workers protest; Chinese communists mass trade union center
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Latest articles
Unison offers no opposition to Dorset National Health Service privatisation plan: Build a rank-and-file committee!
Over a more than hour-long Zoom meeting, union officials offered no concrete plan to halt the outsourcing of porters, housekeeping, catering, and estates staff into a SubCo, in a transparent privatisation operation.
•Rory Woods
National Education Union conference reveals growing opposition to Labour’s attack on education
Illusions promoted by the education unions that a Labour government would end more than a decade of austerity in Britain under the Tories, have rapidly dispersed.
•Tania Kent and Margot Miller
Australian election: How to vote for the Socialist Equality Party
SEP national secretary Cheryl Crisp explains in this video why our candidates appear on the ballot papers in Victoria, NSW and Queensland without their party affiliation.
•Socialist Equality Party (Australia)
A panel discussion with the Socialist Equality Party candidates in the Australian federal election
At the online meeting, this Thursday at 7p.m., SEP candidates will speak on the socialist alternative to war, austerity and dictatorship.
•Our reporters
SEP (Australia) candidate Mike Head speaks at election debate
The Socialist Equality Party candidate opposed the nationalism and militarism of the Labor, Liberal-National, Greens and pro-Trump “Trumpet of Patriots” representatives.
•Our correspondent
Sri Lankan prime minister’s false election promises in Karainagar
We warn working people not to believe Amarasuriya’s promises. What she stated is exposed by JVP/NPP government’s six months of austerity and police state measures.
•Dilaxshan Mahalingam, SEP candidate for Karainagar
Australian electorate of Calwell—a microcosm of the social and political crisis
The electorate is a microcosm of the social crisis caused by the onslaught on workers’ jobs and wages, presided over by Labor and the union bureaucracy.
•Morgan Peach, SEP candidate for the seat of Calwell
New German government prepares massive social cuts
Decades of social cuts by the SPD, the Greens and the Left Party, supported by the trade unions, have allowed the AfD to grow into the second strongest force in the Bundestag. Now the fascist party is needed to intimidate and suppress growing social and political opposition.
•Peter Schwarz
European powers denounce proposed US ceasefire in Ukraine
Behind the attacks on Trump in the European media lie bitter rivalries between Washington and the European imperialist powers over the plunder of Ukraine and trade war policies.
•Alex Lantier
Chicago Teachers Union’s “transformative” contract unravels, as mayor and school authorities prepare brutal cuts
The leaked plans completely vindicate the position of the WSWS, which warned that the CTU, the Democrats and media were concealing the real scope of the impending cuts.
•Joe Raymond, Jerry White
Mass starvation looms in Gaza as World Food Program says stocks have run out
After seven weeks of a full blockade of food, water, medical supplies and electricity, the United Nations World Food Program warned that it had delivered its last remaining food stocks to hot meal kitchens in Gaza, raising the prospect of imminent mass starvation for the enclave’s remaining population.
•Andre Damon
Arrest of Wisconsin judge: Trump’s dictatorship in the making
Trump has pardoned the fascist thugs who attacked the US Capitol, while arresting a judge who objected to an immigration raid in her courtroom.
•Patrick Martin
Teamsters rush to force through contract for CVS warehouse workers in California
Only days after workers voted overwhelmingly to strike, the Teamsters announced a contract and a snap vote, to the outrage of the rank and file.
•Marc Wells
Canada’s Conservatives threaten democratic rights and vow massive military build-up in Trump-style election campaign
It is a measure of how far to the right all the official parties of Canadian imperialism have moved that in many policy areas, the Tories’ far-right program is virtually indistinguishable from the platforms of the Liberals and New Democrats.
•James Clayton, Roger Jordan
War fatigue in Ukraine continues to grow amid peace talks
This report on the ongoing military and social crisis in Ukraine was submitted to the WSWS by Ukrainian journalists.
•Ukrainian journalists
Whooping cough cases surging towards 70-year high in US
The anti-science policies of Trump and Robert F. Kennedy are aiding the spread of long-suppressed childhood diseases.
•Bill Shaw
War tensions between India and Pakistan mount following terrorist attack in Indian-held Kashmir
In a further escalation, the two sides have repeatedly exchanged gun and artillery fire across the Line of Control that demarcates India-held Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistani-controlled Azad Kashmir,
•Wasantha Rupasinghe, Keith Jones
UK Starmer government sends Carrier Strike Group to Indo-Pacific amid raging global tensions
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer boarded the Prince of Wales as it prepared to leave UK shores at Cornwall, declaring, “We are sending a clear message of strength to our adversaries, and a message of unity and purpose to our allies.
•Robert Stevens
Kneecap rap group face down Zionist intimidation: “The young people at our gigs see through the lies”
Irish rap group Kneecap are being investigated by British counter-terrorism police. The move, part of an orchestrated campaign, is in response to the widespread support amongst young people for the group’s principled and determined opposition to the Gaza genocide.
•Steve James
Socialist Equality Party (UK) responds to British Foreign Office handwashing over Momodou Taal
The following letter was sent to British Foreign Secretary David Lammy by Socialist Equality Party (UK) National Secretary Chris Marsden on April 27, 2025.
•Chris Marsden
Australia’s militarist ANZAC Day held under the shadow of war
The event has always been a celebration of militarist reaction, but all the more so under conditions of the greatest threat of a world war in 85 years.
•Oscar Grenfell
VIDEO: SEP (Australia) candidate Morgan Peach speaks to SBS journalists
Peach spoke strongly on issues that are being covered up by every other party in the official election campaign, including the immense threat of a nuclear world war.
•Our reporters
New Zealand spy agency investigated victimised journalist
The Radio NZ journalist was vilified as a “Russian agent,” resigned amid a manufactured public furore and, in a sinister development, was investigated by the country’s spy agency.
•John Braddock
Trump administration lawyers admit they seized Mahmoud Khalil without a warrant
Immigration agents claimed Khalil needed to be arrested before a warrant could be produced because he was a “flight risk” and not “cooperative,” lies disproved by video of Khalil’s abduction taken by his wife.
•Jacob Crosse
FBI arrests Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge for obstructing ICE raid on undocumented immigrant
The FBI arrested Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan on Friday morning, and she was charged with obstruction and harboring a fugitive in connection with an immigrant worker, who appeared before her on April 18.
•Kevin Reed
International condolences on the death of Sri Lankan Trotskyist Nanda Wickremesinghe
“Comrade Wicks brought to the struggle for Trotskyism an immense array of political gifts. Possessed of an extraordinary intellectual curiosity, Wicks was immersed in the history of the international Trotskyist movement”—David North
•Our reporter
Michigan Attorney General announces FBI raids targeted pro-Palestinian protesters over “vandalism and property damage”
The raids were executed across Ann Arbor, Canton and Ypsilanti. No one was arrested or charged during the raids, but police and FBI agents seized electronic devices and personal belongings and briefly detained 11 individuals for interrogation.
•Luke Galvin
“Comrade Wolfgang made invaluable contributions to the struggle for socialism”
Wolfgang Weber, an outstanding fighter for Trotskyism and a longtime leading member of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGP) died on November 16, 2024. We are publishng here a message of condolence by the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in the US, Joseph Kishore.
•Joseph Kishore
The Nation, pseudo-left back UAW President Fain’s embrace of Trump tariffs
The most basic lie in The Nation’s article is that it is possible to create a “progressive” nationalist politics which benefit the working class.
•Tom Hall
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
China: BYD electronics manufacturing workers strike; India: Tamil Nadu power-generation workers walk out indefinitely; Pakistani health workers continue to protest privatisation; Australia: Public mental health workers strike again
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Pre-election polls predict halving of vote for Canada’s social democrats
Support for the NDP, which is fraudulently presented in the mainstream media as a party of the “left,” has plunged to under 10 percent—its lowest share in a quarter century.
•Penny Smith
São Paulo teachers continue strike for better wages and against school privatization
The attacks on education in São Paulo and around the world are part of the increasing shift of the world’s ruling elite towards war and fascism.
•Guilherme Ferreira
Major wildfire in southern New Jersey consumes over 15,000 acres
Increasingly dry conditions due to global warming compounded by reductions in forest management practices presage a dramatic increase in wildfire danger.
•Philip Guelpa
Moroccan dockworkers stop F-35 war plane components from reaching Israel
Anti-genocide protests which have taken place regularly in Morocco escalated to coincide with the arrival of the US-flagged Maersk Detroit and another container ship involved in the onward transit of the components to Israel, the Nexoe Maersk.
•Robert Stevens
Earthquake in Istanbul shows millions at risk
The ruling class and all its parties are indifferent to the fact that earthquakes and similar natural phenomena threaten millions of people. This shows that there is no other way out than for the working class to mobilise and take matters into its own hands.
•Hakan Özal
Workers and youth support SEP (Australia) election campaign
“All these parties, Labor, Liberal, whatever, it’s just a façade. At the end of the day they all want the same thing.”
•Our reporters
China demands withdrawal of all unilateral tariffs if US wants trade talks
Chinese government officials have said claims by the Trump administration that there are “active” discussions between Washington and Beijing are “fake news.”
•Nick Beams
Australian election: Labor’s posturing on penalty rates covers up real record on jobs, wages
Labor’s proposed change would not protect workers from the elimination or slashing of penalty rates through union-management agreements.
•Warwick Dove, SEP candidate for the Senate in NSW
India and Pakistan cascading toward war after New Delhi blames Islamabad for terrorist attack
Islamabad has warned that it will consider it "an act of war," if India makes good on its threat to cut off Pakistan's access to the water upon which its power grid and irrigation network rely.
•Keith Jones
Michigan autoworkers speak on tariffs as Stellantis pauses production of Jeep Grand Cherokee in Detroit
With Trump’s tariffs on auto parts set to begin May 3, the UAW has ignored or tried to downplay the mounting attacks on auto jobs.
•Shannon Jones
1 year since the arrest of the Ukrainian socialist Bogdan Syrotiuk
Exactly one year ago, the Ukrainian socialist and leader of the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists was arrested by the Ukrainian Secret Service.
•Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists
Souleymane’s Story, Xoftex and Where the Wind Comes From: “I don’t know why I came to France”
The phrase “precarious work” may be metaphorical in some cases, but in the unstable and perilous existence Souleymane leads the “precariousness” is real and ever-present.
•David Walsh
Trump rages as court rulings hamper his illegal actions
The legal setbacks have already prompted House passage of a law against “rogue judges,” while Trump for the first time attacked the Supreme Court publicly.
•Patrick Martin, Luis Marquez
In memory of Wolfgang Weber: A fighter for Trotskyism
The following remarks were delivered to a January 19 meeting by David North, chairman of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site.
•David North
Fight for a socialist movement of the working class to defend students, academic freedom and democratic rights!
More than 1,500 student visas have been summarily revoked, including at least four at Wayne State University. Campus workers who have spoken out against genocide are having their jobs terminated at the University of Michigan.
•International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) at Wayne State University
Spain’s PSOE-Sumar government to impose unpopular €10 billion military spending hike by decree
Sánchez plans to impose this increase by decree, bypassing the normal budgetary process, underscoring how militarism and war are inseparable from a drive to dictatorship at home.
•Alejandro López
Peru’s government responds to transport strikes with police state threats
The strike received overwhelming support from the population, which is increasingly hostile to the political setup in a country deemed by the World Bank as the fourth most unequal in the world.
•Cesar Uco
Taiwan’s social democrats and Stalinists counter Trump tariff hikes with calls for closer China-Taiwan trade relations
Whose “national interests” and “division of labor” do Taiwan’s social democrats and Stalinists embody?
•Shih-Yu Chou
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
Over 80,000 hotel, catering and hospitality workers in the Canary Islands walk out to demand pay increase; cost-of-living protests continue across Iran by pensioners and workers in shadow of growing US war threats; Nigerian teachers and council workers continue stoppage over minimum wage in Federal Capital territory
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As oligarch fortunes soar: The case for expropriating the billionaires
It is impossible to defend democratic rights or any of the social interests of working people without seizing the unearned wealth of the billionaire parasites.
•Patrick Martin
Fatal police shooting in Melbourne triggers widespread outrage
A critical shortage of affordable housing, grossly inadequate mental health services and escalating poverty rates have seen increasing numbers of homeless people in Footscray and other inner-city meeting points.
•Margaret Rees
More than 55,000 Los Angeles County workers set to strike
The struggle, taking place in the midst of mounting opposition to Trump’s authoritarian regime, is also a confrontation with both the Democratic Party machine that governs Los Angeles County and the SEIU bureaucracy.
•Marc Wells
Co-worker demands answers about death of Ronnie Adams at Stellantis Dundee Engine Complex
More than two weeks since the fatal accident, the company, UAW and state safety agencies have not released any new information.
•Jerry White
The climate change crisis and the Australian election
The Socialist Equality Party is the only party in this election telling workers the truth about the climate crisis and advancing the program needed to end it globally: socialism.
•Taylor Hernan, SEP candidate for the Senate in Victoria
Harvard files suit against Trump funding freeze
On Monday, Harvard University sued the Trump administration and demanded an injunction against the government’s cutoff of over $3 billion in grants that are vital to the ongoing research and educational work of the oldest university in the US.
•Kevin Reed
SEP (Australia) election candidate speaks on Brisbane community radio
Socialist Equality Party candidate for Oxley, Mike Head, appeared Wednesday night on 4ZZZ’s Queer Radio, hosted by Blair Martin.
•Our reporters
James Webb Space Telescope produces most detailed signature of the atmosphere of a planet beyond the Solar System
The boundless potential of astronomical discovery contrasts sharply with the backwardness and reaction promoted by Trump and the entire American oligarchy.
•Bryan Dyne
US-Philippine military drills: A “full battle test” for war with China
The war games are an immense provocation, a combined and coordinated simulation of war with China over Taiwan and the South China Sea.
•John Malvar
Plain-clothed ICE thugs kidnap Venezuelan men at Charlottesville, Virginia courthouse
Over 100,000 people have been deported and more than 113,000 have been arrested as part of Trump's mass deportation drive.
•Jacob Crosse
Israeli national security minister pledges to bomb food depots as Gaza blockade reaches 50th day
On Tuesday, Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attended a meeting with leading members of Congress at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club where he pledged to bomb food and aid distribution centers, claiming his proposals met with support on the part of the lawmakers.
•Andre Damon
13th US execution of 2025: Texas puts Moises Mendoza to death
The US Supreme Court denied Mendoza’s request for a stay of execution, clearing the way for his lethal injection. His attorneys had asked the high court to review a Texas Criminal Court of Appeals decision to deny a request that claimed Mendoza’s counsel at trial was ineffective.
•Kate Randall
“Dirty War” Pope blesses Trump administration hours before his death
The media’s praise of Pope Francis aims to place a last coat of “democratic” and “modern” varnish on the Catholic Church as it grants its blessing to the global turn to fascist and dictatorial forms of rule.
•Andrea Lobo
FBI raids homes of pro-Palestinian protesters across southeastern Michigan
Police broke down the door of at least one of the three raided residences and initially refused to show warrants for the assault.
•Barry Grey
Reinstate staff member Zainab Hakim and four student workers at University of Michigan!
This attack is part of U-M’s efforts to placate Trump in order to avert his threat to block billions in government grants, bowing in the process to the government’s drive to carry out an American version of Hitler’s Nazification of higher education.
•International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) at U-M
CDU-SPD coalition government agreement aims to further militarize German universities
One of the stated goals of the coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and SPD is the militarization of universities.
•Rosalie Arlova
Birmingham bin workers discuss way forward in their fight as strike enters seventh week
The bin workers’ uncompromising stance finds no reflection in the position of Unite’s top officials, led by general secretary Sharon Graham.
•Tony Robson
Two years on: Sudan’s civil war spreads amid worsening humanitarian disaster
As the gateway to the Sahara, the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, Sudan’s location gives it enormous geostrategic importance for imperialism.
•Jean Shaoul
Nanda Wickremesinghe (1939-2025): A lifelong Trotskyist leader
Nanda Wickremesinghe’s political life as a Trotskyist spanned nearly seven decades. Right until the end, despite ailments that forced him to withdraw from active party work, our comrade had never lost his revolutionary spirit.
•Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)
Greens leader refuses to condemn Australian Labor’s complicity in Gaza genocide
When he speaks before a national audience, Adam Bandt avoids even mentioning Gaza for fear that the mass slaughter of Palestinians will get in the way of the Greens’ aspirations for a coalition government with Labor.
•Oscar Grenfell
Trade war, economic crisis and the Australian election
In the current Australian election, the practice of deception centres on trying to cover up the global economic conditions—the breakdown of the entire capitalist order—under which it is being held.
•Nick Beams
New Zealand senior doctors vote for national strike
The first ever 24-hour strike by senior doctors is the latest in a rising struggle of medical workers against underfunding, under-staffing and low pay in the public health system.
•John Braddock
Venezuelan man disappeared to El Salvador by US immigration Gestapo after making wrong turn on bridge
Ricardo Prada Vásquez, a 32-year-old Venezuelan immigrant and father, legally in the United States, has apparently been disappeared to El Salvador after making a wrong turn on the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Detroit to Ontario, Canada.
•Jacob Crosse
Ukrainian forces on the ground in another Russian territory
Against the backdrop of the prospect of a US-brokered peace deal between the Zelensky and Putin governments, the Ukrainian military has launched another incursion into Russian territory.
•Andrea Peters
IMF says Trump tariff war to bring “significant slowdown” in global economy
IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva has said “trade policy uncertainty is literally off the charts.”
•Nick Beams
Film industry job losses, the bankruptcy of the unions and the fight for rank-and-file committees
Annual television production in Los Angeles declined by 58.4 percent in just three years.
•Hong Jian, David Walsh
Trade war against China fuels disruption for US ports, threatening job losses
The implications of multi-million dollar port fees will be nothing short of disastrous for workers inside the US and abroad.
•Joshua Rodriguez
Trump Education Secretary Linda McMahon unleashes debt collectors on millions of delinquent student loan holders
The US Department of Education, aiming to end federal loan support for students, has announced aggressive debt collection measures targeting nearly 10 million former students delinquent or in default on their college loans.
•Nancy Hanover
Oppose the visa revocations at George Mason University! Mobilize the working class in defense of democratic rights!
Fifteen international students have had their visas revoked and terminated at George Mason, as part of the Trump administration’s assault on democratic rights.
•International Youth and Students for Social Equality at George Mason University
White House replaces government COVID website with one promoting the Wuhan Lab Leak conspiracy
On Friday, April 18, the Trump White House replaced the COVID.gov site with a web page promoting the lie that the COVID pandemic was the product of nefarious activities conducted by China with the assistance of US scientists.
•Benjamin Mateus
As rents rise and social housing dwindles, new German government policies to exacerbate housing crisis
The next federal government will defend the interests of the property companies and ensure they continue to reap massive profits at the expense of tenants.
•Tino Jacobson, Markus Salzmann
Three men die in a fire that ravaged an overcrowded house in Queens, New York
The single-family home had been illegally converted into at least a dozen cubicle-sized “apartments” creating extremely dangerous conditions, to which the city building department turned a blind eye despite years of complaints.
•Philip Guelpa
Dorset National Health Service prepares mass transfer of staff to private subsidiary in cost-cutting drive
The move affects essential workers in housekeeping, catering, portering, estates, and health and safety roles, many of whom are among the lowest-paid staff in the NHS.
•Rory Woods, Robert Stevens
SEP (Australia) election meetings: The socialist alternative to war and austerity
We urge workers and young people looking for an alternative to the lies and misinformation of Labor, the Liberal-Nationals, the Greens and the media to attend.
•Socialist Equality Party (Australia)
Gold price surges as US dollar crisis deepens
Turbulence in financial markets has intensified with Trump’s threats to sack Fed Chair Powell, amid concerns that the lawlessness which has characterized every area of the administration could extend.
•Nick Beams
Mack Trucks layoffs and the fight for the international unity of workers against trade war
Workers need an international strategy to fight against Trump's trade war measures, which are already causing mass layoffs throughout North America.
•Jerry White
Australia’s housing crisis needs a socialist solution
The policies proposed by the parliamentary parties will do nothing to address the acute and worsening shortage of affordable homes.
•Warwick Dove, SEP candidate for the Senate in NSW
Workers Struggles: The Americas
On April 15, some 2,000 teachers rallied at Sao Paulo City Hall to oppose their conversion to contingent status. In Canada, a strike by 1,100 LifeLab medical technicians continues into its 11th week.
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Unite teachers, students and workers against Santa Ana, California layoffs and austerity!
The Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) in Southern California is poised to carry out a devastating assault on public education by eliminating the jobs of nearly 280 teachers and counselors by June 30, 2025.
•Marc Wells, Kimie Saito
Homeland Security blames US citizen for his false arrest; Minnesota father detained after “silent revocation” of student visa
Jose Hermosillo, a resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is at least the second US citizen arrested and imprisoned by immigration agents this month.
•Jacob Crosse
Veteran Sri Lankan Trotskyist Nanda Wickremesinghe dies aged 85
Nanda Wickremesinghe, known as Comrade Wicks, played a prominent role in the leadership of Trotskyist movement until his deteriorating health prevented him taking part in day-to-day political work.
•Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)
California Republican mayor calls for the extermination of the homeless
Rex Parris, mayor of Lancaster, just north of Los Angeles, claimed that homeless people were responsible for the vast majority of crime in his city, and said he would support a “purge” by the Trump administration.
•Marc Wells
USPS rural carriers contract sets stage for privatization
As expected, the deal is a virtual copy of the concessions-filled agreement imposed earlier this year on city letter carriers through binding arbitration.
•Tom Hall
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praises Texas doctor who exposed community to measles
When asked if he were suffering from measles, Dr. Ben Edwards confirmed, saying that his symptoms began one day prior to working in his clinic.
•Bill Shaw
Amid Australian election, hundreds of jobs threatened at Western Sydney University
In a warning of what is to come after the May 3 election, university administrations across the country have launched similar attacks in recent months, now targeting close to 3,000 jobs of academics and professional staff.
•Mike Head, SEP candidate for the seat of Oxley
Staff and students face unbearable conditions at Western Sydney University College
Colleagues are referring to “fast-food education” and “sausage factory learning.”
•Our correspondent
Vote No! Reject the concessions contract at ATI
After overwhelmingly voting down the first concessions contract, the United Steelworkers bureaucracy is again seeking to push through a second, largely unchanged, contract for the 1,000 steelworkers at ATI, formerly Allegheny Technologies Incorporated.
•Samuel Davidson
Video: Defend the Berlin4! Stop the deportation of genocide opponents!
Around 50 students and workers demonstrated in front of Berlin’s Humboldt University last Thursday against the impending deportation of four pro-Palestine activists.
•Our reporters
Opponents of the Gaza genocide successfully defend themselves in German courts
The Dortmund Labour Court found that the sacking of Ahmad Otham, who had supported Palästina Solidarität Duisburg (PSDU), by the state of North Rhine-Westphalian was unlawful. The Duisburg Regional Court stayed the proceedings against Jamal A, who was accused of “condoning criminal offences,” in reference to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023
•Dietmar Gaisenkersting
CWU update on USO pilots: defending profits to sacrifice workers' jobs, conditions and the mail service
The Communication Workers Union hierarchy is enforcing the USO’s dismantling, in partnership with Kretinsky, Ofcom and the British government.
•Tony Robson
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