Nine hundred and ninteen people died in Italy on Friday 27 March from Covid-19, the highest number of deaths anywhere in the world on a single day. Antonello Zecca is an organizer with the Sinistra Anticapitalista (Anticapitalist Left) in Italy. He has written extensively on Italian politics, social and labor movements, and the Left, many of his articles, including his most recent on the Covid-19 crisis, can be found at International Viewpoint. Here, Zecca replies to questions from No Borders News.
Right to strike “confined” in France
27 March 2020, byThere are a growing number of strikes and protests by workers to impose safer conditions or refuse non-essential work in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. See also “Mercedes Benz: peoples’ lives are worth more than profits”.
Mercedes Benz: peoples’ lives are worth more than profits
27 March 2020, byThere are a growing number of strikes and protests by workers to impose safer conditions or refuse non-essential work in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. See also “Right to strike “confined” in France”.
South African union demands action on Covid-19
26 March 2020, byThe South African government finally responded to calls to take stronger action to combat the coronavirus pandemnc and ordered a lockdown of the country from midnight on Thursday 25 March. This statement by Andrew Chirwa, president of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) Andrew Chirwa is the president of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) was issued on 21 March as Covid-19 infections in South Africa continued to rise and raises criticisms of President Cryil Ramaphosa of the African National Congress. NUMSA’s workers were in the front line of the fight to overturn apartheid and is today one of the nation’s most influential unions.[IVP]
Culture Wars and Class Wars
25 March 2020, byRecent articles on left-wing websites have deprecated the notion of ‘culture wars’, saying that the Left should avoid them and concentrate instead on class war. The basic idea being put forward is that we should avoid political and cultural clashes among the working class and potential allies, and concentrate on uniting workers against the bosses. Let’s build working class unity against the capitalists – and what right-thinking socialist could disagree with that?
Covid-19 crisis: give priority to reproduction over production
24 March 2020, byIn Volume I of Capital, Marx compares capitalism to a vampire which never stops sucking the life out of workers: with this image, he shows how the “natural” movement of capitalism is to consume labour power to the maximum, since ideally labour, to generate profits, should never stop, and be in operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Some notes on learning from AIDS activism for our responses to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
23 March 2020, byWhile living though the current Coronavirus/COVID-19 crisis I am struck by the connections between the AIDS crisis (which is also not over) and this health crisis. These connections are not often being made or remembered in the commentaries and analysis I have seen. At the same time there are also major differences between these two different health crises including mode of transmission, impact on people’s bodies and health and to some extent who is most affected. I was actively involved in AIDS organizing and activism in the 1980s and 1990s and have also been involved in documenting some of these histories. In this initial sketch I try to draw out some of what can be learned from the history of AIDS organizing and activism for the current pandemic. I know this is partial and limited but I feel an urgency to get it out there. Please feel free to add to it or critique it. It is intended to get discussion going.
1000 Covid-19 deaths in the Spanish State, no end in sight
22 March 2020, byAs of March 20, more than 1,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the Spanish State, placing it fourth behind only China, Italy, and Iran in both casualties and infections globally. Nearly one-third of the infections are located in Madrid and there is no end in sight, despite Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of the ruling Socialist Party ordering a national lockdown earlier this week. Here, Laia Facet, an organizer with the revolutionary socialist Anticapitalistas responds to questions from No Borders News and explains how the left, trade unions, and social movements, including the Spanish State’s powerful feminist movements.
Ecuador after the October strike
21 March 2020, byThis contribution was written by the Feminist and Ecosocialist Network, a sympathizing group of the Fourth International in Ecuador.
The Capitalist Pandemic, Coronavirus and the Economic Crisis
20 March 2020, by: A public health crisis
The coronavirus pandemic is a serious public health problem and the human suffering caused by the spread of this virus will be enormous. If it massively affects countries of the Global South with very fragile public health systems that have been undermined by 40 years of neo-liberal policies, the death toll will be very high. We must not forget the critical situation of the Iranian population, victim of the blockade imposed by Washington, a blockade that includes (...)