Fight for Trans Rights and Safety for all LGBTQ+ People
Solidarity With Everyone Mourning the Loss of Juniper Blessing
I stand in solidarity with the family and friends of University of Washington student Juniper I stand in solidarity with the family and friends of University of Washington student Juniper Blessing. Condolences to all those mourning the loss of Juniper, who was brutally murdered recently in Seattle, while simply doing laundry. While the killer’s motivations remain unclear, this horrific act of violence is still another reminder of the dangerous reality facing LGBTQ+ people everywhere, even in a supposed sanctuary city like Seattle. It needs to serve as a call to action to renewedly fight for justice for all our trans and queer siblings.
We need to build mass movements of working people to fight back against the right-wing, anti-trans attacks, and to defeat the anti-trans bills being advanced around the country.
We All Must Stand With The Striking LIRR Workers
Solidarity with the 3,500 striking Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) workers, whose wages have not gone up in years and are justly demanding substantial wage increases and better healthcare terms. The MTA has forced their workforce to work for three years without a contract and without any wage increase. This is absolutely shameful. Every single worker deserves a dignified, stable and secure life.
Seattle Carpenters Take On Contractors, Confront Sellout Leadership
Originally published November 4, 2021
For three weeks in late September and early October, rank and file union carpenters in Seattle were at the sharpest point of class struggle in the American labor movement. After rejecting four tentative agreements where their leadership pushed hard for a “yes” vote, an embattled membership took bold, independent initiative. While the demands of carpenters for $15 per hour increase over a 3 year contract, paid parking, and fully funded benefits went largely unaddressed, through militant rank and file organization and action, carpenters won increases that will add up to over $100,000 dollars over the course of their careers.
Victory for Custodians at the Harborview Medical Center!
This statement was originally published from the office of Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant on March 7th, 2014. It is about their work with custodians at Harborview Medical Center who had been experiencing discrimination and harassment from their managers.
Social Security, Medicare: “Scrap the cap!”
On August 8, 2015, Councilmember Kshama Sawant celebrated the 70th anniversary of Social Security and Medicare at Westlake Park, alongside US Senator Bernie Sanders, State Senator Pramila Jayapal and others. Sawant highlighted the lessons from the historic struggle that won these essential programs and discussed how it applies to today’s movements for economic and racial justice.
Oracle Layoffs Show Why Tech Workers Should Fight to Elect Kshama to Congress
Thank you to everyone who joined us at the Tech Workers for Kshama national meeting. The energy was incredible, and we’re just getting started. During our discussion, one tech worker asked a question that I think is on every tech worker’s mind right now: how do we fight against the mass layoffs happening in the tech sector?
Barely 24 hours after our meeting, we saw exactly why this matters: on March 31st, between 20,000 and 30,000 Oracle workers, roughly 18% of the company’s global workforce, woke up to a cold five-line email from “Oracle Leadership” at 6am. No phone call. No meeting with HR. No warning from their managers. Just a message telling them their roles had been eliminated, that today was their last working day, and that their access to company systems had already been cut.
No to War on Venezuela!
Working people must completely oppose any war by the Donald Trump regime and U.S. imperialism against Venezuela. This assault on Venezuela is incredibly dangerous. Thousands of lives are at stake. This conflict is not in the interests of U.S. workers, the people of Venezuela, or the working class anywhere.
Seattle Housing Activists Win $29 Million for Affordable Housing
Housing activists in Seattle, organized into the Coalition to Build 1,000 Homes, scored a major victory, winning $29 million for affordable housing in the 2017-2018 budget. They pushed through a final unanimous vote in the City Council on November 21, despite fierce opposition from the city’s Democratic establishment.
Venezuela: No to Trump’s Threats and Sanctions
Trump is ramping up his campaign to overthrow the Maduro government in Venezuela. He has imposed crippling sanctions and is even threatening military intervention, continuing a bloody two-century history of U.S. imperialism asserting its “interests” in Latin America – in reality the interests of big business.
Reject the Whitewashing of Charlie Kirk’s Legacy & Fight Back Against the Right-Wing Assault
The killing of Charlie Kirk represents a dangerous moment in U.S. history.
The Trump administration and right-wing organizations are going all out to capitalize on Kirk’s assassination to attack working-class movements and the left. Already, we are seeing firings and political targeting of individuals just for voicing their views, including over a dozen teachers and professors who have been suspended or fired. The Trump administration is also gearing up to use Kirk’s killing as a pretext to double down on attacks against trans people.
Working people urgently need to fight back.
When State Democrats Go on the Attack, Union Rank-and-File Fight Back!
Hundreds of WFSE and other public-sector union members, Workers Strike Back members, and other working people filled the Washington State Capitol Building in Olympia on Wednesday, April 9 with chants of “No Cuts! No Furloughs! STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE!” to oppose $7 billion in budget cuts and anti-worker attacks proposed by state Democratic politicians.
Elect the socialist money can’t buy! Kshama Sawant for U.S. Congress
For a decade as the lone socialist on the Seattle City Council, Kshama Sawant led fighting movements that won historic victories like the nation’s highest minimum wage, the Amazon Tax, lifesaving renters’ rights, and countless others. Now, Kshama is running to unseat AIPAC-backed Democratic Congressman Adam Smith, one of those most responsible for the genocide and starvation in Gaza.
How Canadian Workers Won Healthcare for All and How We Can Win It Here
Free public healthcare has never been handed down by the billionaires or their political servants. In every country where it exists, working people won it through mass struggle and militant labor action, with socialists leading the way.
Cracks in the Trump regime: How to defeat the right-wing, anti-worker offensive
In the beginning of his second administration, Trump’s “flood the zone” strategy induced a state of shock-and-awe across the world due to the speed and scale of his attacks on working people. But now, things are looking precarious for Trump, as he faces obstacles and erupting divisions among his base of supporters. In some ways the Democratic Party is in even more dire straits, facing dismal approval ratings despite being out of power. Working people urgently need to fight back against both parties, and there are real openings for us to make gains, if we can understand the processes at play and what it will take to wage the most successful battles against the billionaires and their political servants.
Social Security, Medicare: “Scrap the cap!”
On August 8, 2015, Socialist Councilmember Kshama Sawant celebrated the 70th anniversary of Social Security and Medicare at Westlake Park. Sawant highlighted the lessons from the struggle that won these programs and discussed how it applies to today’s movements.
Reformist vs. Revolutionary Politics
On July 28, 2022, Bhaskar Sunkara, president of The Nation, facilitated a debate between Eric Blanc, author of recently released book Revolutionary Social Democracy, socialist City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, and Bryan Koulouris, of Socialist Alternative. What follows is Kshama Sawant’s introduction to that debate, which addresses crucial questions about the … Read more
Revolutionary Teamsters
Originally published July 2014. This article quotes heavily from Revolutionary Teamsters – The Minneapolis Truckers’ Strikes of 1934, by Bryan D. Palmer (Haymarket Press, 2014). After a decade of defeats and setbacks in the 1920s and early ‘30s, workers’ power and unionization rates were at a low point. Organized labor … Read more
VICTORY: Democrats withdraw their shameful attack on Seattle workers
City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth wanted to undermine the minimum wage victory Seattle’s workers won a decade ago. She was forced to back down under pressure from Workers Strike Back, Revolutionary Workers, and Seattle’s working people.
Workers Strike Back endorses Jill Stein at Inaugural Zoom Conference
On July 21, Workers Strike Back held its Inaugural National Zoom Conference, attended by more than 300 working people from around the country, to discuss the path forward to end the genocidal war on Gaza–including the crucial question of what working people should do during this year’s Presidential election.