Why the exodus from Central America?
From the Editors | Issue: February | March 2019
The United States has played and still plays an active role in creating the conditions that force people to leave.
Labor
Shutdown: Government makes war on workers
From the Editors | Issue: February | March 2019
This shutdown is about the erosion of American democracy and the subversion of our most basic governmental norms. – Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
The America that can be
From the Editors | Issue: February | March 2019
Immigrants and U.S. workers face the same enemy: the capitalist class, whose only solution is to ‘divide and conquer.’
Migrant caravan
Laura Garcia | Issue: November | December 2018
We the workers of the United Sates, a country of immigrants, must fight to keep the gates open for our sisters and brothers.
‘We rise together, homie’ Latino workers walk out on racist boss
from the Editors | Issue: September | October 2018
Antoine Dangerfield, of Indianapolis, a welder for a construction contractor building a UPS hub, witnessed some old-school labor militancy on August 6.
Rise of the grassroots
from the Editors | Issue: September | October 2018
Fascism and the breakup of the old political party systems in the United States and Mexico resulting from pitting workers against high-tech robotics.
‘Big data’ makes enough-for-all economy possible
Dave Ransom | Issue: June | July 2018
Most important question — Who will own the robots? Now for the good news. Speaking to a Los Angeles policy institute recently, a prominent Chinese legal scholar, Feng Xiang, concluded that artificial intelligence (AI) is “the most momentous challenge” facing society today. Harvard-trained Feng is a professor at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, China’s top technology university […]
Half of jobs can be automated now
Tribuno Del Pueblo | Issue: June | July 2018
While the oligarchy debates, el pueblo pays the price “What are my grandkids going to do?” — David Patterson, winner of 2018 Touring Award. Even a winner of the year’s top prize in computing worries about oncoming joblessness in a society that rewards only work for pay. Google’s David Patterson hopes we figure it out […]
Teachers wave strike: A turning point
Richard Monje | Issue: June | July 2018
A striking Oklahoma teacher called the mushrooming struggle around public education “a turning point.” She is right. And it’s a turning point about more than education. This year we have seen sweeping, rolling statewide strikes by teachers that began in West Virginia and spread to Oklahoma, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arizona, with stirrings in […]
The moral side of the American workers
Tribuno Del Pueblo | Issue: June | July 2018
We have all seen the social face of fascism breaking into churches and schools and roaming through streets and rural roads in America. Fascism. To the immigrant population, fascism has the face of the ICE and border patrol agents. The ruling class is using its billionaire propaganda machine to foment a fascist culture that blames […]
In the hard struggle of revolution
Tribuno Del Pueblo | Issue: June | July 2018
We are in a worldwide revolution that dwarfs the American Revolution of 1776. Despite the din and chatter of sex scandals, probes of foreign meddling in our elections, saber-rattling over North Korea, trade wars with China, destabilization of the Middle East and support of murderous regimes around the world, the relentless attack on our […]
The Janus case is a call to arms for unions
Interview by Dr. María de Jesús Estrada | Issue: April | May 2018
Interview with President Tony Johnston, Cook County College Teachers Union Background Information: On Monday, February 26, the Supreme Court heard the Janus vs. AFSCME. Mark Janus sued AFSCME claiming that unions did not represent his political interests and that payment of Fair Share dues is a violation of free speech. The bill is supported by […]
New York Teamsters local joins sanctuary movement
Richard Monje | Issue: April | May 2018
In every corner of the United States, there are horror stories emerging as Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE) is captured ripping mothers and fathers from their children. They are terrorizing communities and workplaces as raids are planned and implemented without consideration for families or minors that are left at times unattended. Cities, counties and […]
The best of times, or the worst of times — our choice
Dave Ransom | Issue: April | May 2018
“It will soon be obvious that half our tasks can be done better at almost no cost by AI (artificial intelligence) and robots,” wrote venture capitalist Kai-Fu Lee to the technology community recently. “This will be the fastest transition humankind has experienced,” he said, “and we’re not ready for it . . . not ready […]
Robots come to the garment trade
Dave Ransom | Issue: April | May 2018
Ever since the industrial revolution took making clothes out of the cottage, the textile industry — spinning yarn, weaving cloth, and making garments — has provided hot, dirty, low-wage jobs that enriched only the owners and their financiers. Whether the work was done by the children of England’s “dark, satanic mills,” by farm girls […]
In memory of a comrade, a veteran fighter for a better world: Juan Torres
José Torres and Manuel Torres | Issue: April | May 2018
A veteran comrade, Juan Torres, passed away in January 2018. He was born and raised in the Rio Grande “Valley of Tears.” Juan labored in the fields during his youth as an adult In the Valley and in the summers migrated north. After graduating from high school, Juan joined the Marines and achieved the […]
Texas: As we battle forward unity will be our only weapon
Jose Torres and Manuel Torres | Issue: February | March 2018
Unity is our only weapon as we battle forward for clean and safe water, and the means to feed and clothe our families. Unity is also our only weapon to fight for our democratic rights —all of which are at peril with SB-4. Texas unemployment is the lowest in decades and one of the lowest […]
Stars acknowledge campesina support
Dave Ransom | Issue: February | March 2018
Alianza letter sparked Hollywood’s Time’s Up organization dedicated to low-income women who suffer sexual attack or harassment More than a thousand women have signed Hollywood’s “Time’s Up” letter against sexual abuse — including stars like Salma Hayek, Halle Berry, Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Eva Longoria, and Meryl Streep. They pay homage to the […]
Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, stands with Hollywood actors against sexual assault
Alianza Nacional de Campesinas Latina | Issue: February | March 2018
Even though we work in very different environments, we share a common experience of being preyed upon by individuals who have the power to hire, fire, blacklist and otherwise threaten our economic, physical and emotional security. Editor’s note: On Nov. 12, members of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas Latina wrote a letter of solidarity […]
Toward the Chicago Poor People’s Conference in 2018
From the editors | Issue: February | March 2018
Basing ourselves in the long history for justice and on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, we announce our plan to build citywide organizations in Chicago around the following five-point basic agenda. These five points are not meant to fully represent all our areas of concern, but they serve as a unifying beginning […]
‘People are freaking out!’
Dave Ransom | Issue: February | March 2018
Time to get ready, there’s a change a’coming “People are freaking out,” a Massachusetts auto mechanic told the Washington Post in December, describing the reaction among other mechanics to the oncoming end of their jobs. “Ninety percent of our industry has done nothing — absolutely nothing — to prepare.” What he says is true of […]
More jobs are going to the robots
Dave Ransom | Issue: February | March 2018
Car mechanics, drivers, real estate agents, security guards – is the last human work being homeless? Are you a car mechanic, a real estate agent or a security guard? Do you drive a delivery van, a taxi or a semi-truck? Are any of these your backup plan for keeping body and soul together? […]
NAFTA — the way corporate America exploits Mexico
Cathleen Williams | Issue: February | March 2018
Bi-National Conference chides Democratic leadership, as well as Republicans NAFTA is not about trade. That message resounded throughout the Bi-National Conference. Instead, it is about the complete corporate penetration and domination of Mexican and Central American society and economy, as corporate America shifts factories and services to Mexico, exploits its desperate work force and blames […]
‘Cancel NAFTA! Tear Down the Wall!’
Cathleen Williams | Issue: February | March 2018
Bi-National Conference brings together unions and workers from the United States and Mexico “I arrived in this country when I was eight years old. My parents were peasants in Mexico. In 1994, when the NAFTA agreement privatized the lands [the ejidos] in Mexico, they had no choice but to migrate to the United […]
Why the hunger strikes in detention centers?
Marú Mora Villalpando | Issue: September | October 2017
In the past months, immigrants detained in three different places on the West Coast have gone on hunger strike to protest their terrible conditions. One would think that under this new fascist regime, vulnerable people who have been used as scapegoats would not protest, especially while being processed for deportation. Nevertheless, hundreds of people in […]
Immigrants: scapegoat for economic ills
Tribuno Del Pueblo | Issue: September | October 2017
Ten people are dead after dozens, including children, were locked by smugglers inside a sweltering tractor-trailer. The truck was found at a San Antonio, TX Walmart. This horrific event testifies to how desperate people are to find work to feed their families and the imminent danger they face in doing so. The smugglers have been […]
A farmworker dies, workers strike at Sarbanand Farms
Interview by David Silva | Issue: September | October 2017
SUMAS, WA – Federal and State agencies began an investigation of Sarbanand Farms, after 70 H-2A farmworkers were fired for organizing a one-day work stoppage over horrendous working and living conditions. The final blow came when Ernesto Silva Ibarra was hospitalized. Then a group of workers marched to the Sarbanand office they were ordered to […]
A new farm worker union is born
David Bacon | Issue: September | October 2017
(These are excerpts of a larger article on this historic victory, that you can find in full in our website, tribunodelpueblo.org). Bob’s Burgers and Brew, a hamburger joint at the Cook Road freeway exit on Interstate 5, about two hours north of Seattle, doesn’t look like a place where Pacific Northwest farm workers can […]
‘Aliens’ – a divide-and-conquer target throughout U.S. history
Dave Ransom | Issue: September | October 2017
Many people new to the United States are confused when they are attacked. After all, isn’t this “a nation of immigrants”? That’s true. What’s also true is that politicians and capitalists have attacked immigrants as a way to divide and conquer the working class for at least two centuries. After dividing workers into black and […]
When will a humane decision be made?
Gloria M. Sandoval | Issue: September | October 2017
Immigrants are not footballs! On July 20, two U.S. senators, a Republican and a Democrat, introduced the DREAM Act of 2017 which would create a pathway to citizenship for thousands of immigrants brought to the United States as young children. There have been many bipartisan attempts at passing the DREAM Act. Not to […]
A cause, a banner, and a press
from the Editors | Issue: September | October 2017
In the pages of this issue, the reader will find articles that speak directly to the vision of what America can be: a land of opportunity, freedom, and equality for all. Beginning with “We the human family,” we have all been immigrants since our forefathers first set foot here from Africa. The unity ceremonies of […]
Trump’s immigration strategy: betting on people’s misinformation
Dave Ransom | Issue: September | October 2017
Most don’t know that you can’t migrate to the U.S. legally from Mexico When the Trump administration launched the most recent U.S. attack on “illegal immigrants,” particularly Mexicans, it bet on the ignorance of many Americans to make its charges believable and frightening. After all, somebody doing something illegal is a criminal, right? […]
Farmworker: “[You should know that] your tomato was picked with dignity”
Interview by Adam Gottlieb | Issue: July 2017
Adam Gottlieb from the People’s Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo interviewed Lucas Benitez, co-founder of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (C.I.W.) on March 22 about the purpose of the #BoycottWendys campaign to pressure Wendy’s to join the Fair Food Program (FFP). CHICAGO, IL – Physical abuse, verbal abuse, sexual harassment toward women – that was the daily […]
Puerto Rico: Behind the smokescreen of the plebiscite and bankruptcy
Pedro Ángel Rivera Muñoz | Issue: July 2017
By the time you read this press release, you will have learned about the results of the June 11 plebiscite vote in Puerto Rico. The purported objective of this inquiry is to put an end to the political colonial status of Puerto Rico, in place since the U.S. military invasion of this Caribbean island […]
Construction workers threatened by high-tech
Dave Ransom | Issue: July 2017
“There is something wrong with our system” — Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg They work with their hands as well as their brains, skilled workers in the construction trades, proud of what they build and their place in society — carpenters, electricians, ironworkers, laborers, plasterers, plumbers, pipefitters. Seven million are at work in the U.S. today, […]
Photos from May Day 2017
Ted Quant | Issue: July 2017
NEW ORLEANS – People of all ethnic groups celebrated May Day as they should: marching, protesting and with music.
Signs of political awakening
Interview by Tribuno Del Pueblo | Issue: July 2017
Automation, leveling of the middle class make socialism both necessary and possible TRIBUNO: Nativo, today, under these conditions, do you see positive signs of political awakening, where people are seeing their common interests? NATIVO: I do. I am actually optimistic in a strange, perverse way because of the leveling of the workforce under the Trump […]
Do the workers have leadership?
Baltazar Ávila | Issue: July 2017
It is well known by economists and specialists in the field that capitalism has entered a final phase. Its markets have been exhausted. Its raw materials have been exhausted. Its countries have revolted. The mass production of goods no longer finds enough buyers. Poverty grows while wealth becomes increasingly concentrated. Today, only eight mega-millionaires have […]
The root of the problem
Tribuno Del Pueblo | Issue: July 2017
With all the scandal and controversy surrounding President Trump’s first months in office, talk of war and terrorist attacks abroad, and state sponsored vicious attacks on the defenseless here at home — it is easy to get lost in the details. As a consequence, we don’t see what is underlying the rapidly changing political […]
Forging alliances
Interview by Cathleen Williams | Issue: July 2017
Cross-border organizing and a broad sanctuary movement bring our social class together Tribuno del Pueblo reporter Cathleen Williams interviewed longtime immigration-rights activist Nativo Lopez on a visit to the California state capital, Sacramento, in late May. TRIBUNO: Nativo, you are a leader of the organization, Hermandad Mexicana. Tell me about Hermandad Mexicana. NATIVO: […]
Robotics defines our times — and our choices
Dave Ransom | Issue: May | June 2017
Donald Trump’s immigration policy – attempting to divide working people against themselves and flush millions out of the country – looms large. But it is just a chapter in a much bigger saga. It’s the one in which we are all living, and over which we have the power to decide its outcome. As it […]
Facing a jobs ‘apocalypse’
Dave Ransom | Issue: May | June 2017
Trump’s immigration policies are accelerating the replacement of humans by robots Bruce Taylor is one of the biggest growers in California. Never a great friend of the workers whose labor has made his fortune, he told the AgTech Innovation Forum in Salinas recently that Trump’s immigration policies “are going to force us to solve […]
2017: The significance of May Day
Tribuno Del Pueblo / Laura Garcia | Issue: May | June 2017
Laura García interviews Richard Monje on the significance of May Day. He is the Manager Chicago & Midwest Region International Executive Vice President, Workers United. Laura Garcia: What is the significance of May Day in today’s times? Richard Monje: May Day signifies a very important moment for the working class. It’s a time to […]
Women in struggle and resisting
María Elena Martínez | Issue: March 2017
“Hunger knocks me down, but pride picks me up’ Hunger knocks me down, but my pride picks me up, affirms Juana Nicolas. Nicolas, who, after fleeing her native Oaxaca, arrived in Los Angeles to work as a nanny and domestic worker. Most domestic workers who do not understand their rights and who live in […]
‘An abundance of resources’ – high-tech innovators call for universal basic income
Dave Ransom | Issue: March 2017
The folks bringing us the high-tech revolution — a few of them at least — are saying that we not only face a jobless future, but that the solution is obvious: an abundance of resources shared by all with plenty of time to do interesting things and hang out with friends and family. What […]
Amazon’s bogus new warehouse jobs
Dave Ransom | Issue: March 2017
Four times as many store clerks likely to lose theirs Shortly after President Trump took office, demanding that companies create more jobs, Amazon announced it would be hiring 100,000 new workers. That sounded like good news, but what Amazon didn’t announce was how many retail-store employees its new workers would displace — perhaps as […]
The collusion among the IRS, Obamacare and national security
Irma Garcia, Jose Garcia, Workers United | Issue: March 2017
CHICAGO, IL – Beginning with the administration of President George W. Bush, the immigrant community has been under attack. The fall of the twin towers and the economic crisis that followed paved the way for large number of raids and the implementation of the Secure Communities Program (cooperation between ICE and local police departments). This […]
Robots: the end of jobs, the beginning of plenty
Dave Ransom | Issue: December | January 2017
It is finally hitting the national psyche that the rise of the robots means the end of jobs — and maybe of society as we currently know it. Techies like Martin Ford, who wrote the book “The Rise of the Robots,” have been predicting this for some time. So, for instance, has the League of […]
Holiday jobs are going to the bots
Dave Ransom | Issue: December | January 2017
Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart, FedEx, UPS are in a race to robotize; 80% cheaper If you have a holiday job this year, count yourself lucky, even though it’s temporary and doesn’t pay a helluva lot. Holiday hiring is down, and it will most likely drop again next year. Don’t blame the workers in China or […]
2016: An Election Like No Other
Tribuno Del Pueblo | Issue: December | January 2017
The U.S. has entered a political crisis. The oligarchy is attempting to divide us. We can win only if we unite. “Not my president!” With this slogan, thousands of people from New York to California, Minnesota to Texas — men and women, young and old, Latino, African American, and Anglo —have taken to the […]