Brazil: Support the Flaskô workers! PDF Print E-mail
Written by In Defence of Marxism -- www.marxist.com   
Thursday, 11 March 2010
Flaskô is the last surviving factory of the Occupied Factories Movement of Brazil, after the heavy police intervention put an end to the almost five-year occupation at Cipla and Interfibra. The workforce has been demanding that the Lula government nationalises the plant, but with no serious reply. We call on our readers to urgently send to the Brazilian authorities resolutions supporting the Flaskô workers, with the following basic content.
 
Women’s struggle and the class struggle – Part one PDF Print E-mail
Written by Marie Frederiksen -- www.marxist.com   
Tuesday, 09 March 2010
One hundred years ago today, 99 women from 17 different countries attended the Socialist Women's Conference held in Copenhagen in the House of the People. In this first part, we look at the origins of Women's Day, the origin of women's oppression in class society, how capitalism lays the material foundations upon which the question of women's emancipation can be tackled as part of the struggle of the working class for the emancipation of the whole of humanity from class oppression.
 
"International Working Women's Day" -- by V.I. Lenin PDF Print E-mail
Written by V.I. Lenin   
Friday, 05 March 2010
This weekend marks International Women's Day, one of the most important dates for revolutionaries.  To celebrate this date, and to remind everyone of the revolutionary significance of this day, we publish here an address by Lenin, where he talks about the struggle against women's oppression and how this struggle was tied to the struggle against capitalism.
 
Lockout at the Journal de Montréal: Workers fight back against Quebecor PDF Print E-mail
Written by Ted Sprague   
Wednesday, 03 March 2010
The 24th January marked the one-year anniversary of the lockout at the Journal de Montreal newspaper. The 253 members of the reporting and office staff were locked out after a contract dispute over salary, benefits, and media convergence. The issue of media convergence is one that the union has been fighting against.
 
Defend Toronto transit workers’ right to strike! PDF Print E-mail
Written by Camilo Cahis   
Thursday, 25 February 2010
These days, it seems that not a week goes by without Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty threatening workers with some new cut or attack. His latest volley is aimed squarely at the workers of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) who have been the most successful in fending off attacks from the bosses and the government.
 
Toronto-Centre by-election: NDP makes gains, still more work to be done PDF Print E-mail
Written by Jennie Ernewein and Farshad Azadian   
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
The recent by-election in the Toronto-Centre riding offered the NDP an excellent opportunity to begin the provincial fight back against the cuts and attacks that Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals are promising. As we have written over the past couple of issues, the Liberals are vowing to attack public sector jobs and services in order to balance the massive $25-billion Ontario deficit. Although the NDP did not win the by-election, there were some positive signs that if the party adopts the correct slogans and platform, it can play a major role in organizing resistance to the bosses’ attacks.
 
Defend Montreal oil workers! Stop the closure of the Shell refinery! PDF Print E-mail
Written by Dimitri Gallos   
Friday, 19 February 2010
On 7th January, Royal Dutch Shell PLC announced its plans to shut down its refinery in East Montreal. Shell intends to transform the refinery, which currently produces 130,000 barrels a day, into a fuel terminal. The conversion will take roughly a year according to a spokesperson for the company. After the conversion, the Montreal East facility will receive gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel (most likely from Europe), which will continue to be distributed through Shell's nearby terminal in Montreal. This would be the second major oil refinery in Canada to close after Petro Canada shut down their Oakville refinery in 2005. The union that represents workers at the Shell refinery has already sounded the alarm that the company is trying to close down the plant in July.
 
Dawson College: Report from "The capitalist crisis and its effects on students" PDF Print E-mail
Written by Dimitri Gallos   
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
On 11th February at Dawson College in Montreal, the Dawson Socialist Club organized a discussion on the economic crisis and its effect on students. More than 20 students came out to hear Camilo Cahis, a member of the Fightback editorial board, who spoke on the issue. Although most students were from Dawson, there were also students from McGill, Vanier College, and CEGEP de Maisonneuve who came out.
 
The Vancouver Olympics: An expensive attack on democratic rights PDF Print E-mail
Written by John Haggerty   
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
This coming weekend sees the opening of the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.  Despite the images of natural beauty and pleasant ‘middle class’ life that will be broadcast to the world, Vancouver is a troubled city and B.C. is a troubled province.  Billions are being spent for a party that most of us are not being invited to.  And, the federal Tories are using the Olympics to distract workers from the real ails that are assailing us.
 
Canada accuses Venezuela of stifling democracy while Parliament remains prorogued PDF Print E-mail
Written by Camilo Cahis   
Friday, 05 February 2010
The Canadian minister responsible for the Americas recently made a short stop in Venezuela. While there, Peter Kent took the opportunity to express the Canadian government’s concerns over the “shrinking democratic space” in Venezuela. Kent’s concerns could be laughable if it were not for the real threat that countries like the US and Canada pose to Venezuela.  Many will remember that it was Peter Kent who most vocally supported the coup d'etat in Honduras this summer.  As well, it is Kent's Conservative government that has just suspended Parliament for the third time in as many years.