Iron Ore Company workers on strike in Labrador, demanding end to two-tier conditions

Around 3:00 am on March 27, the close to 1,400 workers of Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) in Labrador City went on strike. They walked out mainly to oppose IOC employing a “temporary workforce” side-by-side with permanent workers doing the same work under drastically inferior working conditions. The workers do not accept that a mining giant such as IOC should force a section of workers to labour under substandard conditions. The strike vote took place Monday, March 26 in two membership meetings of United Steelworkers Local 5795, one in the morning and one in the evening, in which workers voted on the latest company offer.

CUBA 2018 & Beyond: New Challenges, Revolutionary Continuity

Thursday, March 29, 7pm
Room 1108, Mona Campbell Building
Dalhousie University, 1459 LeMarchant Street, Halifax, NS

Find out about Korea and join the work for peace

Public Meetings

Facebook, spy agencies and freedom of speech in Canada

BY PETER EWART*

There has been much noise these days regarding what is termed the “Russian threat” to elections in the US, Canada, and other countries.  To what extent this threat is real or, on the other hand, is being over-hyped for geo-political purposes remains a matter of debate for some, especially in the alternative media.

However, one thing is clear.  This “Russian threat” is being used to justify troubling measures that go against freedom of speech and other rights.  In response to this Russian threat, the federal government appears to be bypassing Elections Canada, the federal independent body responsible, at least in the past, for overseeing elections in the country.

Palestinian Museum’s digital archive project to preserve heritage

A three-year project by the Palestinian Museum will enable Palestinians to find and archive key historical documents | Ahmad Melhem, Al-Monitor

The Palestinian Museum’s digital archive will include photographic treasures Palestinians kept in their own homes to document them for future generations.

Nonsense about tariffs and trade and real wars: Is this any way to manage an economy?

Working people could do better than these constant crises and integration into the U.S. war economy | K.C. ADAMS

The Canadian steel and aluminum industries are in turmoil. They seem to be forever in chaos. Algoma Steel is almost always in Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) bankruptcy protection. The Aluminerie de Bécancour Inc. (ABI) smelter in Quebec has locked out over one thousand workers for months, demanding concessions from both workers and Hydro-Quebec, and to reduce supply to force higher prices for aluminum on the international market. Stelco steel plants in Hamilton and Nanticoke have only recently emerged from CCAA bankruptcy protection for the second time since 2006.

The Cuban people cast a vote for the future

A voter turnout of almost 83 per cent was recorded in Sunday’s general elections

Preliminary data indicates that 7,399,891 Cuban men and women came out to vote on March 11, a figure that represents 82.90 per cent of the electorate, which includes 8,926,575 individuals, according to updated registries.

What the US government is not telling us about those ‘sonic attacks’ in Cuba

The key victims were CIA agents. Not a single tourist was affected, and the island remains among the safest countries in the world to visit | PETER KORNBLUH*

Tourists ride classic convertible cars on the Malecon beside the US Embassy last October in Havana, Cuba | AP Photo / Desmond Boylan

(March 7) – When the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recently published a preliminary clinical evaluation of health problems suffered by US embassy personnel in Havana, the State Department seized the opportunity to reiterate a countrywide “health alert” on Cuba.

How is the President elected in Cuba?

The person who becomes the President of Cuba’s Council of State is chosen through a process that entails several steps, with the people and their elected representatives participating directly | YUDY CASTRO MORALES

The vote is an act that is more delicate that any other, since with it comes life, honor, and the future — José Martí

There is no need to dig through Cuba’s Election Law no.72, dated October 29, 1992, to find the answer. It is explicit, and Dr. José Luis Toledo Santander, president of the National Assembly of People’s Power Constitutional and Legal Affairs Commission, gets right to the point.

How do elections work in Cuba?

A general election is under way in Cuba to select deputies to the Parliament and delegates to the Provincial Assemblies.

The Cuban election system is different from all others that exist around the world, and is young institutionally. Established in the 1976 Constitution, which took effect on February 24 that year, the People’s Power structure has been in place for more than 40 years. Among the elements that characterize elections here is the term unity, essential for the protection of the country’s independence. The country is led by a single party, that is not electoral in nature, does not nominate candidates, but serves as the guiding force in state affairs and society.

Women as the heart and soul of a country

Rosario, by Cabrera Moreno | Granma

“Without women, the enormous work of the Revolution would not have been possible. Throughout these difficult years, there has been no economic, social or political task, there has been no scientific, cultural or sporting achievement, there has been no contribution to the defence of our land and the sovereignty of the Homeland, which has not relied on the invariably enthusiastic and patriotic presence of the Cuban woman. No one like her has made the greatest sacrifices in the special period (…) nor risen up such that her everyday effort becomes a feat.”

Fidel Castro Ruz | March 8, 2018 10:03:15

Nova Scotians speak up

Nova Scotia Liberals hand over decision-making in education to private interests | KEVIN CORKILL*

The Nova Scotia Liberal government is using Bill 72, the Education Reform Act, to legalize turning education over to private interests and by doing so destroying existing arrangements including the right of teachers and education workers, organized into unions, to negotiate their wages and conditions of work.

Sighting. Palestine photo review – February 2018

Photography and text documenting the reality of Palestine and Palestinian life, politics and culture during a month of the year

Palestinian women protesters call for an end to the electricity crisis outside Gaza’s sole power plant, 27 February | Yasser Qudih APA images

International Women’s Day 2018: All Out to Affirm Women’s Rights!

Edmonton, International Women’s Day 2017.

Monopoly media disinformation on Syria

How US media spin-doctored the Iranian protests

A new poll suggests recent mass demonstrations were not about Iran’s foreign policy | SHARMINE NARWANI*

Imam Khomeini Street in central Tehran, Iran | Shutterstock/Mansoreh

A rare glimpse into the inner workings of the American empire in the Middle East

As four former diplomats testify, the U.S. foreign policy elite still aims to dominate and control the Middle East for its oil and its strategic location. Iraq, Turkey, Kurdistan, Israel, Saudi Arabia – these are all just chips in the struggle for power by the country with the largest army in the whole globe | EDWARD HUNT* with additional graphics and captions by TS.

U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on December 14, 2017. Its agenda was “To receive testimony on U.S. policy and strategy in the Middle East.” | C-SPAN

(January 19) – In recent testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, four former U.S. diplomats provided remarkably candid commentary on recent U.S. involvement in the Middle East, revealing a number of the most closely guarded secrets of U.S. diplomacy.

Nova Scotia: Whatever it takes! Teachers stand up to McNeil liberals

February 27 marked a day of action in Halifax called “Nova Scotians Rise Up.” Around 1,000 workers from all walks of life, youth and students came together throughout the afternoon at the opening of the Nova Scotia legislature to denounce the anti-social agenda of the McNeil Liberal government and its attacks on rights.

The situation has come to a breaking point for Nova Scotia teachers, who are once again standing up to defend their rights under very difficult circumstances. The governing McNeil Liberals imposed a contract last year on 9,300 teachers, the ridiculously named Bill 75, the Teachers’ Professional Agreement and Classroom Improvements Act, where no agreement was reached with teachers and classrooms were not improved.

Resistance to anti-social offensive: ‘Nova Scotians Rise Up’

Working People Rally at Legislature to Defend the Rights of All | WORKER’S FORUM

Click to enlarge

February 27 marked a day of action in Halifax called “Nova Scotians Rise Up.” Around one thousand workers from all walks of life, youth and students came together throughout the afternoon at the opening of the Nova Scotia legislature to denounce the anti-social agenda of the McNeil Liberal government and its attacks on rights.

Shooting at School in Parkland, Florida: No means no! Enough is enough! Students organize for change

Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, those across the state and many more across the country are demonstrating and organizing themselves in the aftermath of the shooting there that killed 17 students and teachers and injured 14 more people. The students have taken up the slogan No Means No, demanding no more violence at their schools or in their communities, no more refusal by government to be accountable. Enough is Enough, The Time for Change is Now, Never Again, are among their demands. To make clear that they are not satisfied with minimal measures to solve the serious problem of violence in the U.S., they are declaring, We Do Not Want Your Coins, We Want Change!

Fifth anniversary of the death of Hugo Chávez

Long live the legacy of the founder of the Bolivarian Revolution | MARGARET VILLAMIZAR

Commander Hugo Chávez Frías (July 28, 1954-March 5, 2013)

March 5 marks the fifth anniversary of the passing of Comandante Hugo Chávez Frías, historic leader of the Bolivarian Revolution and President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela from 1999 until his untimely death on March 5, 2013.