July 11, 2020, Kewaunee, WI

Photos: Wisconsin Bail Out The People Movement

July 11, 2020 Photos: Wisconsin Bail Out The People Movement

https://www.facebook.com/wibailoutpeople.org/

Venezuela Solidarity Campaign

Orinoco Tribune

Statement by Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, President of the Republic of Cuba, during Global Leaders Day of the International Labor Organization’s Summit on COVID-19 and the world of work – https://bit.ly/3eh8Un2

Photo: Estudios Revolución

Mr. Director General;

Excellencies, Heads of State and Government;

I feel honored to bring to this virtual Summit the voice of Cuba, a small developing country, where workers in power struggle on a daily basis to achieve all justice, which was the dream and a commitment of the founding fathers of our nation.

Today, as has been always the case throughout the last 61 years, Cuba is sharing the serious new challenges facing the International Labor Organization as it enters the second century of its existence.

The impact of COVID-19 adds to the challenges that the world of work was already facing, under the harsh rules of the market, which will undeniably have devastating consequences on the crises generated by this pandemic in all countries’ economies.

Unemployment has increased several times over. Lack of social protection is on the rise, as are inequality and poverty.

But we should not deceive ourselves. The terrible impact and nefarious consequences of the pandemic around the world are not only a result of this lethal virus. Years of neoliberal policies and savage capitalism, subject to market laws, are the root cause of the serious global situation.

According to experts, 305 million jobs have already been lost and the livelihoods of 1.6 billion workers are jeopardized. Hundreds of millions of persons will soon be joining the ranks of those who are already suffering the inequalities of an unjust international economic order, and whose survival is certainly at stake.

These times are extremely serious and demand concerted action. No government, worker, or employer, can afford to stand by doing nothing. The colossal endeavor we must undertake demands solutions in the greater interest of workers’ rights.

Those who create jobs, particularly small and medium producers, will also require assistance.

It is imperative to consolidate social dialogue in the process of defining and implementing policies to confront and recover from the pandemic.

Mr. Director General:

Cuba, a small nation that has been coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, is suffering the brutal, opportunistic tightening of the economic, commercial and financial blockade policy imposed by the United States, intended to severely limit our trade and access to fuel and hard currency.

Despite the ever-growing worldwide call to end it, the blockade imposed on Cuba has not only been maintained since this epidemiological threat struck the entire planet, but has escalated its criminal harassment of an entire people, viciously punishing all Cuban families.

A midst this suffocating economic warfare, our government has implemented actions to protect the health of an entire people; maintain employment rates and defend labor rights and guarantees for all, as these have been the main pillars of our social project.

A total of 36 labor, salary and social security measures have been implemented. Distance working and tele-commuting are increasing; some workers have been re-assigned to other jobs and salaries have been guaranteed for workers who remained at home, caring for their young children and elders, as well as persons with poor health or who have not been reassigned to another job; more than 240,000 self-employed workers have been exempted from paying taxes; the payment of pensions has been maintained and social workers are providing special attention to vulnerable families, among other actions.

No one has been left unprotected. Appropriate conditions now exist to initiate the recovery process and move toward a new normality, based on the widest possible participation of the people in the decision-making process.

Mr. Director-General:

International cooperation and solidarity are today more necessary than ever. Nothing is worth more than a person’s life. This is a fundamental principle of the Cuban Revolution, and the foundation of our international cooperation in the fields of health and education, and every other area that contributes to human dignity.

That is why we strongly reject, condemn and repudiate all unilateral coercive measures imposed on sovereign nations like Cuba, Venezuela and others that are today suffering the most cruel, massive punishments for having chosen a political or social system different from those of dominant economic powers. These measures are inhuman and should be eliminated, all the more so in the context of the current pandemic, when sanctions mean genocide.

Given its mandate, the International Labor Organization, with a record of work supporting social justice, the promotion of decent employment and the protection of the human rights of workers, can contribute to helping labor leave behind the crisis caused by COVID-19.

Cuba, as a founding country of this organization, reiterates its willingness to continue strengthening the indispensable multilateralism, solidarity and international cooperation, and remains committed to continue guaranteeing the protection of workers’ rights and move toward the construction of a more just world.

Work is a sacred right and value. As was expressed by the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, and I quote: “…only by working will it be possible to move forward; only by working will it be possible to produce the goods that the country needs; only by working will it be possible to produce more food; only by working will it be possible to address the country’s most pressing challenges.”

Thank you, very much.

Extract from Mining Review 2nd Year No. 11 (1949)
The highlight of this 1949 issue is the visit of American actor and singer Paul Robeson to Woolmet Colliery near Edinburgh. Robeson was also a renowned (and often persecuted) left-wing political activist and he made several visits to British mining communities. On this occasion he sings “I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night” for miners in the canteen, a song about an American trade unionist who was allegedly framed on a murder charge and executed in 1915. Robeson had long been something of a hero to the British mining community, ever since he starred in the film Proud Valley (d. Pen Tennyson, 1940) as an American sailor stranded in Cardiff who finds work in a Welsh colliery (the newsreel opens with a short clip from the film).

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https://fighting-words.net/2020/07/07/covid-19-infection-rates-surge-while-millions-are-forced-back-to-work/

By Abayomi Azikiwe

There were more than 55,000 new COVID-19 cases reported in the United States on July 2.

These figures represent a pattern of a rapid escalation of people being sickened by the potentially deadly disease which has killed nearly 130,000 individuals since March.

Overall in the U.S., there have been approximately 2.8 million confirmed cases, far outstripping the total number in any other country. During the first week of July, the number of COVID-19 cases surpassed the record for infections in one day previously set by the South American state of Brazil. Despite this perilous situation involving public health which has economic and social implications, the administration of President Donald Trump at present largely ignores the plight of those impacted by the pandemic.

Trump stated during recent campaign speeches in Oklahoma and Arizona, two states with escalating cases, that he is encouraging his appointees to limit the number of tests being given aimed at identifying those with the disease. The president has refused to wear a mask in public even though members of his own White House Task Force on COVID-19 repeatedly advised that this is an effective means to slow the spread of the pandemic.

Researchers at John Hopkins University in Baltimore indicated that generally cases are growing in 40 states. However, the largest concentration of illnesses is centered in the South, southwest and west coast regions of the country.

States such as Arizona, Texas, Nevada, California and Florida are breaking records formerly established in previous months such as March, April and May. The escalations in COVID-19 cases are taking place amid a major effort to “reopen” the U.S. economy.

This reopening has been encouraged by the White House and its political supporters who have never accepted the recommendations of healthcare professionals and scientists. Trump initially described the pandemic as a hoax and later sought to attribute the spread of the virus to the People’s Republic of China and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The White House accused Beijing of not reporting the extent of the spread of COVID-19 in its early phase. This allegation has been refuted by the Chinese government as well as the WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In addition, to these false charges, Trump has also said that the WHO favors China in any dispute with Washington.

Nonetheless, these boisterous and unfounded claims by the Trump administration cannot conceal the deteriorating situation in the U.S. Hospital staffs are stretched to the limit with rapidly increasing numbers of patients being admitted to Intensive Care Units (ICU).

An article published by CNBC on July 2 says of the present situation that:

“Arizona reported a record spike in new cases and deaths on Wednesday (July 1), recording nearly 4,900 new coronavirus cases and at least 80 new deaths, according to the Hopkins data. Arizona’s intensive care units were at 89% capacity as of Tuesday, according to the state’s health department.  Gov. Doug Ducey rolled back the state’s reopening plan Monday, closing bars, gyms, movie theaters and water parks. The state has since reported a surge in its positivity rate, or the percentage of total tests that are positive, from a low of 4.9% in May to 20.1% in June, he said when announcing the rollback.”

To further ignore the reality of a continuing public health emergency, Trump praised the government statistics which reported that 4.8 million jobs had been created during the month of June. No mention was made of the fact that many people are being forced back to their jobs under extremely unsafe working conditions….

MKE Unite x Chalk The Fiserv Forum