World Socialist Web Site

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Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI)

31 October 2009

US wages and salaries rise at record-low levels

By Andre Damon, 31 October 2009

Employment costs in the US are rising at the lowest level in at least 27 years, the result of policies designed to lower the living standards of workers.

Washington pushes through deal with Honduran coup regime

By Bill Van Auken, 31 October 2009

With the intervention of the US State Department, the Honduran coup regime and ousted President Manuel Zelaya signed a deal Friday that legitimizes last June’s coup while betraying the demands of Honduran working people who opposed it.

US House leaders unveil health care bill

By Kate Randall, 31 October 2009

House leaders unveiled health care legislation Thursday that would slash hundreds of billions from Medicare and other federal programs, and contains a watered-down version of a government-run “public option.”

US makes cynical overture to Sri Lanka over war crimes

By Wije Dias, 31 October 2009

The US State Department has issued a report detailing Sri Lankan army atrocities in the final months of the country’s civil war. Its purpose, however, is not to bring war criminals to justice, but to boost US influence in Colombo.

France: Sarkozy escalates anti-immigrant campaign

By Pierre Mabut and Antoine Lerougetel, 31 October 2009

France’s minister of immigration and national identity, Eric Besson, has called for a nationwide debate on “national identity” following a month of unprecedented assaults on migrants and refugees, notably Afghans fleeing war and deprivation.

Québec Solidaire manifesto promotes nationalism and a “moral” capitalism

By Richard Dufour, 31 October 2009

Québec Solidaire recently issued a manifesto, “To End the Economic crisis: Go Beyond Capitalism?” whose title suggests that Québec Solidaire is questioning, if not radically opposing, the existing social order. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth.

New in German

Zukunft Opels wieder offen

Von Dietmar Henning, 31. Oktober 2009

Die neue Bundesregierung ist noch nicht im Amt, da steht die Übername Opels durch Magna wieder in Frage. Das Schicksal des belgischen Opel-Werks in Antwerpen scheint besiegelt, den deutschen Werken in Bochum und Eisenach droht die Schließung.

NS-Prozess gegen Heinrich Boere eröffnet

Von Elisabeth Zimmermann, 31. Oktober 2009

65 Jahre nach der Tat wurde am Mittwoch vor dem Landgericht Aachen der Prozess gegen den ehemaligen SS-Mann Heinrich Boere eröffnet. Dem 88-Jährigen wird vorgeworfen, 1944 als Mitglied eines Mordkommandos der SS drei Zivilisten in den besetzten Niederlanden erschossen zu haben.

New in French

La pandémie de grippe porcine et le libre marché

Par Tom Eley, 31 octobre 2009

L’administration Obama a confié les préparatifs nécessaires pour la pandémie de H1N1 aux sociétés pharmaceutiques alors qu’il assistait aux licenciements de travailleurs de la santé publique par les gouvernements régionaux et d’Etats. Il en résulte une sévère pénurie de doses de vaccin et peu d’infrastructure pour distribuer ce qui est disponible.

Perspective

Obama’s banker-friendly financial overhaul

31 October 2009

In the wake of a financial meltdown that precipitated the deepest recession since the 1930s, the Obama administration and Democratic congressional leaders are working to institute regulatory changes that avoid any serious constraints on Wall Street banks and financial institutions.

Earlier Perspectives »

Workers Struggles

Video: Ford workers speak out against concessions contract

31 October 2009

The WSWS spoke to Ford workers in Michigan as they prepared to vote on contract revisions agreed by the company and the United Auto Workers.

The way forward for Ford workers

Statement of the Socialist Equality Party, 29 October 2009

With votes tallied at factories employing more than a third of Ford’s 41,000 US workers, the concessions contract being pushed by the UAW appears headed for defeat.

No compromise possible in UK post strike
A political and industrial offensive against Labour government is required

Statement of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), 31 October 2009

Striking postal workers in Britain are involved in a fundamental political struggle, against not just Royal Mail but also the Labour government.

Canada: Vale Inco continues provocations against Steelworkers

By Carl Bronski, 31 October 2009

Management at Vale Inco’s mine, mill and smelting complex in Sudbury, Ontario are expanding their attempts to restart production in a bid to break a 110-day-old strike against the company’s rapacious concession demands.

Workers Struggles:
Asia, Australia and the Pacific

31 October 2009

The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.

History

European Trotskyists mark 70th anniversary of World War II
A battle for empire rooted in profound contradictions of capitalism

By Julie Hyland, 31 October 2009

The following is a contribution by WSWS Editorial Board member Julie Hyland to an October 11 meeting convened by the European sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International to consider the lessons of the Second World War.

Seventy years since the outbreak of World War II: Causes, Consequences and Lessons

By David North, 29 October 2009

The following is adapted from a lecture given by SEP National Chairman and WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North to meetings held in October in California and Michigan.

Arts Review

An exposure of corruption:
Afghanistan, on the Dollar Trail

By Mathew Benn, 31 October 2009

The documentary is a well-produced exposure of the plunder and criminality that has accompanied the “reconstruction” of Afghanistan since the 2001 US invasion.