2021-05-06: News Headlines

_____ (2021-05-06). Report Finds Low Wages Make Food Workers Want To Quit. popularresistance.org Following the passage of stimulus packages with aid for workers like expanded unemployment benefits, politicians and business owners have wrung their hands over a supposed worker shortage as people refuse to return to work, as they say. A new report pushes back on that narrative and shows that actually, it's more likely low wages offered by businesses that are causing workers to want to quit. | The report by One Fair Wage finds that 53 percent of restaurant workers have considered leaving their jobs during the pandemic, and 76 percent of restaurant workers cite low wages and tips as the reason for leaving the ind…

WSWS (2021-05-06). Half of Canada's population less than $200 away from insolvency as billionaires' wealth surges. wsws.org While working people have confronted widespread impoverishment, illness and death, Canada's capitalist elite has seen its wealth soar during the pandemic.

Combined Sources (2021-05-06). Massacre of protesters and economic crisis push Colombia workers to strike. peoplesworld.org Colombia is in the midst of another general strike, with unions saying the government has failed to listen to demands for emergency measures to deal with rising poverty and hunger. Monday night's massacre of protesters by police in the city of Cali have further enraged the democratic and people's movements in the country and garnered …

Staff (2021-05-06). "Monumental Moment": U.S. Backs Waiving COVID Vaccine Patent Rights After Months of Blocking Talks. democracynow.org The Biden administration has announced it now supports temporarily waiving the intellectual property rights for COVID vaccines, in what the World Trade Organization is calling a "monumental moment." India and South Africa first proposed the waiver in October, but the United States and other wealthy nations blocked the WTO from even opening negotiations on the proposal. Supporters say the waiver is critically needed to increase the rate of vaccine production for the Global South as COVID-19 rapidly spreads in India, Latin America and other regions where few vaccines are available. Biden's support for the waiver is…

Kenny Stancil, staff writer (2021-05-06). $152 Trillion. That's How Much Wealthy Countries 'Drained' From the Global South Since 1960. commondreams.org "Poor countries are developing rich countries, not the other way around." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/imf_argentina.jpg

Imani Countess (2021-05-06). As Zimbabwe's Workers Fight for Justice, It's Time for a Fundamental Rethink of U.S. Policy. counterpunch.org This is "no longer business as usual," declares Peter Mutasa, President of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). "Unions are going to be united." According to Mutasa, the situation in the country is dire, with basic salaries at or near the poverty line and workers unable to meet basic expenses. The COVID-19 shutdowns and

Fight Back (2021-05-06). FRSO in Twin Cities celebrates May Day. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – Over 50 people came together May 2 to socialize and for a short program at a local park pavilion celebrating International Workers Day. The event came on the heels of a 1000-person May Day march in Minneapolis. | Jess Sundin started out the program for FRSO, stating, "The capitalist class does nothing to justify their power over us. They literally let half a million people die of COVID this year – one of the worst death rates in the world, despite the tremendous resources to prevent that. They wanted us to say 'thank you' for a few stimulus checks, while hospital CEOs laid off health care worker…

Mitty Owens (2021-05-06). Impact Investing: a Ruse or a Means to Reducing Inequality? counterpunch.org As an African-American, 30-year veteran of community development and social justice struggle, my entry a few years ago into the "space" of financial dealings — even among socially responsible-oriented folks — was quite an adjustment. Pretty white; much more corporate feeling; driven by numbers (i.e. financial "performance" and "returns," albeit with an eye towards "doing

Maya Evans (2021-05-06). The Drone Revolution Comes to England. zcomm.org As cities and towns are faced with rising poverty, homelessness and drug addiction, the authorities respond with more social control…

Robert Reich (2021-05-06). Robert Reich: The Republican Rebrand, Exposed — OpEd. eurasiareview.com The Republican Party is trying to rebrand itself as the Rubbish. Republicans can spout off all the catchy slogans about blue jeans and beer they want, but actions speak louder than words. But let's look at what they're actually doing. | Did they vote for the American Rescue Plan? No. Not a single Republican in Congress voted for stimulus checks and extra unemployment benefits needed by millions of American workers. | So what have they…

_____ (2021-05-06). Whistleblower Groups Push Congress For Stronger Whistleblower Protections In AML Act. popularresistance.org On April 30, nonprofit organization the National Whistleblower Center (NWC) sent a letter to members of Congress advocating for stronger whistleblower provisions in the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Act of 2020. The letter is cosigned by the National Whistleblower Legal Defense and Education Fund, Public Citizen, Government Accountability Project, Project On Government Oversight, Whistleblowers of America, and ACORN 8. | "The essence of money laundering is to hide the source of ill-gotten wealth," the letter states. "Without insider information, this multi-trillion dollar highly corrupt international business canno…

Matt Colburn (2021-05-05). South Carolina's governor loyal to the rich during pandemic. liberationnews.org McMaster's political program during the pandemic reveal where his loyalties lie; in keeping the flow of profits into the hands of the state's ultra-wealthy uninterrupted.

The Socialist Program (2021-05-05). In the News: Socialist tactics and Biden's economic program. liberationnews.org Why did Biden feel compelled to use his address to Congress to speak to the needs of working people? How can socialists intervene in a moment like this to intensify the class struggle?>

Staff (2021-05-05). "Millions of Lives Are at Stake": Pressure Grows on Biden to Back WTO Waiver on Vaccine Technology. democracynow.org Pressure is growing on the Biden administration to support a temporary waiver on intellectual property rights for COVID-related medicines and vaccines at the World Trade Organization. India and South Africa first proposed the waiver in October, but it was blocked by the United States and other wealthy members of the WTO. Big Pharma has also come out against the proposal and has lobbied Washington to preserve its monopoly control. More than 100 countries have supported the waiver, which they say is critical to ramp up production of vaccines, treatments and diagnostic tests in the Global South. Ahead of the kickoff…

IDN (2021-05-05). Conquering Poverty In America Is Possible — OpEd. eurasiareview.com By Jonathan Power* | Adam Smith who in 1776 wrote "The Wealth of Nations", the Bible of capitalism, which has become the standard economics text for over two centuries, was quick to single out monopolistic tendencies as the most important tool in undermining the virtues of capitalism. It kept the poor poor. The laws that give these capitalists their freedom to exploit the marketplace, so-called rent-seeking, "may be said to be all written in blood". At the moment, Amazon is in the firing line for practicing such practices. Indeed, a majority of Silicon Valley companies rent-seek. Big pharma companies, like Pfi…

Staff (2021-05-05). Pressure Grows on Biden to Back WTO Waiver on Vaccine Technology. truthout.org Pressure is growing on the Biden administration to support a temporary waiver on intellectual property rights for COVID-related medicines and vaccines at the World Trade Organization. India and South Africa first proposed the waiver in October, but it was blocked by the United States and other wealthy members of the WTO. Big Pharma has also come out against the proposal and has lobbied Washington to preserve its monopoly control. More than 100 countries have supported the waiver, which they say is critical…

Staff (2021-05-05). No Worker Shortage: Report Finds Low Wages Make Food Workers Want to Quit. truthout.org Following the passage of stimulus packages with aid for workers like expanded unemployment benefits, politicians and business owners have wrung their hands over a supposed worker shortage as people refuse to return to work, as they say. A new report pushes back on that narrative and shows that actually, it's more likely low wages offered by businesses that are causing workers to want to quit. | The

WSWS (2021-05-05). Thousands of Istanbul electricity workers launch wildcat strike. wsws.org Bedaş workers went on a wildcat strike on Friday, defying an official ban on strikes in the industry, against poverty wages imposed by a pro-company union.

CNA (2021-05-05). Wealthy Corporations Back Equality Act Stripped Of Religious Freedom Protections. eurasiareview.com Federal LGBT legislation that excludes important religious freedom protections has the backing of over 400 American corporations with trillions of dollars in annual revenue. | More than 400 companies, including dozens of Fortune 500 companies, have joined a business coalition in support of the Equality Act, the LGBT advocacy group Human Rights Campaign said on April 27. | The Equality Act would add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories under federal civil rights law, where race is currently protected. | The legislation also prevents religious freedom claims from being made by individua…

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