Fighting to Stay Alive

The toilers of the world fighting just to stay alive in countries like Ukraine, Malaysia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Iraq, Turkey, Greece and the USA. What would stop all or most of the evil that hovers over the heads of these wage slaves would be good paying, safe jobs, good governments, which looks out for the toiler. But in order to get there, the world needs good peace-loving and smart leaders, not leaders or government officials who are bought by corporations. All toilers need to be educated in labor and government history, and must pay attention to what is happening with labor on a daily basis. One way is through the Militant newspaper and the column, “On the Picket Line” by Maggie Trowe, which relates the labor news from all over, like the dockworkers in the U.S. or chicken butchers in Israel, Walmart and Kellogg workers in the U.S., Canadian grocery workers and the steelworkers union is in a fight with Chevron at the Richmond refinery in the U.S. Jim Payne, Steelworkers Local, said in an interview that he was thankful for the federal agency that investigated Chevron’s Richmond refinery catastrophe two-and-one-half years ago. The 2012 fire, which endangered 19 workers and sent 15,000 residents to the hospital, was by shortcoming of regulations and a flawed Chevron safety culture. Jim especially agreed with the findings on the “stop work” authority, which gives workers the tools to stop work when needed to safety. This is one of the reasons unions are so important to the safety of workers and the community’s where the union members live and work. All toilers must keep fighting for job safety, wages, not less than $15 to $18 an hour, healthcare, pensions and free education to the bachelor’s level. These simple, but important elements in life are why we need strong unions and good labor laws, like card check. Thanks to the Jim Payne and Maggie Trowes of the world.