For 30 years, American workers have been under assault. For decades, there were very few fight backs, and even fewer successes. Between 1973 and 2007, private sector unionization decreased by over 75 per cent and wealth inequality increased by 40 per cent. Strike levels fell to record lows. Politically, things shifted ever further to the right as the Democrats and Republicans fell over each other to carry out the wishes of the capitalists.

On Tuesday, November 8th, Ohio workers went to the polls and repealed Gov. John Kasich’s (R-OH) infamous, anti-union Senate Bill 5 (SB5). The lopsided 61%-39% vote represents a major victory for organized labor, which harnessed its significant resources to help achieve the victory. Labor spent $2.6 million to send out 825,000 pieces of mail, flyer over 3,000 worksites with over 4.1 million leaflets, and knocked on over 1 million doors.

Rather than wither away, Islamophobia has only become stronger as we are gripped with political and economic crisis. As with other forms of xenophobia, it functions to identity “boogiemen” in order to deflect blame away from the failure of capitalism to deliver. In this way it is remarkably similar to the function of anti-Americanism in the Muslim world.

On November 2,Oakland saw one of the biggest demonstrations in years with different sectors of the working class coming together to make their voices heard and successfully shutting down one of the biggest ports in the United States. It was a clear indication that the U.S. workers are reaching the limit of what they can take. However, the media did very little to report on these actions; instead it focused on the graffiti, smashed windows and confrontations with the police that involved a small minority, a small and unaccountable group at its fringes. This is a blatant attempt to demonize the movement and to present a violent image of it as a movement headed by anarchists and

On October 25, people on the streets were confronted by hundreds of riot police launching anti-riot grenades. Plumes of tear gas rose as protesters fled from the rubber bullets of the police. The scene we have described was not in the streets of Tunis, Cairo or Homs, but occurred in the streets of Oakland, California in the United States. On that Tuesday, the police forcefully evicted the occupation taking place in Oscar Grant plaza, renamed so after the police killing of Oscar Grant on New Year’s Eve 2009 in the city of Oakland.

The mainstream media has made much ado about the fact that #OccupyWallStreet does not have a unified, cohesive message. In trying to belittle it, they smugly point out that the occupy movement is an amorphous and heterogeneous mix of people. Every shade of political opinion and ideology is present: Makhno anarchists and Ron Paul libertarians; Trotskyist socialists and New Age neo-hippies; Anonymous and Zeitgeist; atheists and hard core believers; the homeless and those who have quit their jobs to become full time protesters against unemployment.

The comrades of the Workers’ International League in the United States have been intervening in the #Occupy Wall Street movement since the very beginning. Here we publish several reports from comrades around the United States on the movement and their intervention within it.

A letter from a student at New York University (NYU), Cecillia Gingerich, who was a member of the University of London Marxist Society while studying in London in the spring of 2010. She is now a participant in Occupy Wall Street and in her letter gives a first hand account of her experience of the movement from the beginning.

Yesterday Wall Street was rocked by a mass demonstration of over 15,000 people protesting against “corporate greed.” The crowd jammed the square and stretched for blocks along Broadway. This unprecedented protest was a manifestation of the mood of anger, bitterness and frustration that has been accumulating for years in American society, which had already previously erupted in the big demonstrations and walkouts in Madison, Wisconsin, culminating in the occupation of the Capitol.

“Enough is enough! We are the 99%!” This is the sentiment being expressed by the brave youth now occupying Freedom Plaza in New York City, just a few feet away from Wall Street. This is the pent-up feeling of millions—no—billions of people around the world. Enough unemployment! Enough war! Enough poverty! Enough discrimination!

To the courageous protesters, facilitators and sympathizers of the #occupywallstreet movement! Your bold action, inspired by the movements in Egypt, Greece, and Wisconsin, is a great effort in trying to capture the imagination of millions  of workers and youth around the world who are dissatisfied with the status quo. It shows that there exists in this country a layer of committed left-wing activists who are ready to challenge the injustices of capitalist society. As allies of the movement, we would like to offer our perspective.

According to a Harvard Medical Study published in 2009, nearly 45,000 people a year die in the United States  from preventable illnesses which go untreated due to lack of medical insurance. This represents approximately one person every 12 minutes, and serves as a huge counterexample to American claims of having “the best Healthcare system in the world.”

A deal to raise the debt ceiling has now been reached, after weeks of incredible fear-mongering on the part of both bosses’ parties and Wall Street, and will reach the President’s desk by the deadline on August 2nd.  The contents of the final agreement remain rather vague, but the broad outline is enough to make clear what it means for workers in the U.S. 

On Friday, June 24, 2011, the NY State Senate voted to legalize gay marriage in New York State. This is a victory for democratic rights!  Marxists oppose all forms of discrimination, including discrimination based on sexuality and gender. The fact that marriage laws discriminate against same-sex partners is just the latest in the struggle for equality and democratic rights for the LGBT community under capitalism.

As ratings agency Moody's considers the possibility of cutting the US AAA debt rating, concerned that the US could default on its debt obligations, we publish a recent editorial statement of the US Socialist Appeal on the forthcoming wave of massive cuts in public spending in the United States. As the article points out, “the capitalists must impose a new normality on the U.S. working class. The crisis of their system means that small cuts or adjustments are no longer enough. The hatchet is out now...”

On Monday, June 20, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a massive class action sexual discrimination lawsuit filed against Wal-Mart by a group of current and former women employees. This blow against the rights of these 1.5 million workers should come as no surprise. Even a cursory review of legal history shows that the courts have a long tradition of siding with big business over workers. And no wonder: most of the supposedly “impartial” judges are very political indeed, most of them having been appointed by one of the two corporate parties!

Many believed it wouldn’t actually happen, but the Minnesota state shutdown is here. The political game of chicken being played by the Republicans and Democrats over the budget has plunged the state into crisis.

Over 100,000 turned out for the March 12th mega rally in Madison, a city of only 230,000. The mood was incredible. It was very moving to see the once-dormant mass of the population, including all sectors (nurses, teachers, firefighters, etc.), out on the streets, many for the first time in their lives, trying with fresh breath to find their voice.

With Republican governors across the country carrying out a vicious and open assault against organized labor, many trade unionists and their supporters are looking toward the Democratic Party as a refuge from the anti-worker barrage. The Democrats pose as “friends of labor,” and are frequently on the stage at pro-union and solidarity rallies from Madison, WI to Keokuk, IA. But where they are in power, for example in New York and California, they are carrying out essentially the same policies as the Republicans.

We publish here the notes used by John Peterson, National Secretary of the WIL, as the basis for his introduction to the discussion on "Perspectives for the Class Struggle in the United States" at the 2011 WIL Marxist National School. We recommend it be read in conjunction with the U.S. Perspectives 2010 document approved at the WIL's last National Congress.