Following the 6 May election earthquake in Greece, which saw a hammering of the pro-austerity parties and a huge rejection of the ‘Troika’ (IMF, ECB and EU), the main parties failed to form a coalition government. Attempts by the Greek president to oversee a ‘national unity’ government or to form a “government of technocrats” also failed. Crucial new elections will be held no later than 17 June.

As a teacher of economics at Seattle Central Community College and a member of the American Federation of Teachers Local 1789, Sawant has seen firsthand the devastating effects of the cuts to public education. As an organizer with Socialist Alternative she has been an activist in the Occupy Wall Street movement and an advocate for social justice for workers, women, LGBT people, and immigrants.

On 18 – 19 April the Dail will discuss the Medical Treatment (Termination of Pregnancy in Case of Risk to Life of Pregnant Woman) Bill 2012. This is the first time that a positive proposal to legalise abortion in Ireland has been initiated and in that sense it is a truly historic step forward. Of course it is long overdue and we fully recognise that it is merely a very tiny first step, but it is important nonetheless.

On 31 May Irish voters are asked to vote on the European fiscal treaty. This video explains what the treaty is about.

Ordinarily May Day should have offered opportunity for workers to pose their demands and agitation before the government. Unfortunately, this is not the case. In most cases, the workers, smartly and colourfully dressed in various trade union attires, usually struggle to impress the government representatives as if there would be an award for the best performance of the march. However, in Osun state a good number of workers did not even wait to participate in the march past as they had walked out on the governor in protest at his failure to make a commitment on the full implementation of the minimum wage.

Yesterday, in a historic victory for the gay and lesbian rights movement, President Obama came out in favor of same-sex marriage rights. While this change in rhetoric is a positive step forward, we must step up our calls for real policy changes to end the continuing violence and legalized persecution facing LGBTQ people.

Following the massive struggle over pensions in 2010 many French workers, youth and other layers turned their attention to preventing Sarkozy’s re-election. But this election did not just see a personal vote against the arrogant, rude, “bling-bling” Sarkozy. It was also a rejection of the attacks he had presided over and a reaction to the mounting impact of the economic crisis on working people.

The parliamentary election results in Greece were a political earthquake, a crushing repudiation of the pro-austerity parties and the ‘Troika’ (International Monetary Fund, European Union and European Central Bank). This follows years of austerity measures that have led to a collapse in living standards, 51% youth unemployment and mass poverty.

Statement of Gauche Révolutionnaire, CWI France, on the second round of the French presidential elections.

May Day (International Workers’ Day) is an opportunity for celebrating the militant internationalist traditions of the working class movement, converging with the explosive struggles of today. 1st May this year is as a key date in the calendar of living struggles and movements. The CWI believes that these struggles - from Greece to Chile, Nigeria to Tunisia - not only represent the inevitable explosive response to the current crisis. They also signal the emergence of a social force capable of reducing to rubble the plans of the international ruling class to pauperise workers and young people. The organised working class, mobilised in the fight for a genuinely socialist alternative, can transform society.

With long-term real sustained growth ruled out in the next while, this recovery will be unable to bring back the confidence and stability that existed before 2008. Instead, it can prepare the way for new shocks and changes, resulting in a further breaking of illusions in capitalism and the political system as more workers and young people see their hopes and dreams shattered as the present shaft of light at the end of the tunnel is extinguished. While this will be very painful for workers and the poor, it will create even more favorable conditions for the growth of socialist ideas.

Immigrants’ rights movements have won significant reforms over past decades. But the movement today must build a united movement for full legal rights among wider layers of the working class and other social movements, or else it will have to continue to rely on the two major parties to negotiate and renegotiate the terms of immigrants’ indentured servitude. This strategy is needed today more than ever due to the deep crisis of the economy and the capitalist system, which drives both parties to exploit immigrants for cheap labor.

While we are allegedly in a “recovery,” mass layoffs and corporate bankruptcies are occurring in sector after sector of the workforce, including the postal service, American Airlines, Archer Daniels Midland, Kodak, and Procter & Gamble. Unemployment remains at a staggering 24 million when part-timers who want full-time work are included.

I am running against the Democratic Speaker of the House, Frank Chopp, for the state House of Representatives in the 43rd District in Seattle to build a stronger movement that fights for the needs of regular working people and the poor. The Democratic and Republican Parties represent the interests of the 1%, and I believe it is essential that we, the 99%, have our own representation.

The war in Afghanistan was launched after 9/11 under the stated goal of ending Al Qaeda’s terrorism. Ten years later, it is clear that the real U.S. motive behind continuing the war is to expand U.S. imperialism into the energy- and resource-rich region. The U.S. government hopes not to leave until it constructs a reliable pro-U.S. government, police, and military in Afghanistan. It has, however, utterly failed to do so.