Pakistan: workers’ rally organised in Karachi by RWF to demand higher wages

RWF Karachi – 30 August 2023 A huge workers’ rally marched from Hospital Chowrangi to Dawood Chowrangi in Landhi, an industrial area of Karachi, under the banner of Red Workers’ Front, to demand higher wages in the face of grinding poverty and sky-high inflation. Wages are miserably low in Pakistan. Despite historic inflation of more than 50 percent and currency depreciation of around 100 percent in two years, the official minimum wage is stagnant, at around Rs. 25,000 ($78) per month. This is insufficient to support even one person, although…

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The birth of dialectics in Ancient Greece

Sean Ledwith 27 August 2023 Red Traces The inspired insights of the first materialists in antiquity laid the foundations of modern science, as Sean Ledwith describes Marx and Engels both had a lifelong interest in the ideas, events and personalities of ancient Greece. Conventional historians often like to talk about the so-called ‘Greek Miracle’ lasting from about 700-300 BCE in which many of the foundational concepts of the Western world first emerged. Pioneering developments in disciplines as diverse as architecture, drama, philosophy, poetry, political science, and sculpture were made by…

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UFL press release on the Inland Revenue Amendment Bill

The President of the United Federation of Labour, Swasthika Arulingam, has filed a Special Determination Action on behalf of her Union challenging the constitutionality of the Inland Revenue Amendment Bill which was placed in the order paper of Parliament on the 8th August, 2023. The Petitioner has stated nearly half the account holders of the EPF funds do not even pay taxation while they are earning as some of their salaries are as low as Rs. 21,000. Hence the Parliament has no mandate to pass a legislation which would impose…

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【學生發起MeToo遊行 從網路到現實、你不孤單】

圖/文:王子豪 8月27號,「台灣MeToo遊行」從台北西門町出發、繞行台北車站前。遊行由8名學生發起,一些相關議題的團體、政黨到場遊行、短講,但未參與活動籌辦。主辦單位表示,希望把MeToo的聲音從網路帶進現實,也希望讓受害人知道自己並不孤單。 發起的學生,是沒有舉辦遊行經驗的素人,沒有老牌大型團體的動員力,遊行現場人數不多,約莫百人。但卻有許多志工前來協助,主辦人之一的鄭國廷表示,大約有30名志工,是看到遊行訊息後就來幫忙的,「大多的志工都是今天才見到面的」,甚至有來自屏東的志工。鄭國廷認為,這代表有很多人關心這個議題、想做些什麼。 鄭國廷說,台灣MeToo運動在媒體上,後來聚焦在名人加害者身上;但他認為,MeToo運動更應該關注在「權力不對等」的結構性問題。另外在網路上,有愈來愈多的人勇於講出自己的經驗,但這些人卻要承受很大的壓力、甚至是輿論訕笑攻擊。鄭國廷認為,制度的改善、保護受害人…等,都是需要再努力的方向。 鄭國廷表示,在校園內也會有MeToo的討論,也會關注校內性平機制等校內制度問題;但他認為,學生運動應該要與社會運動有更多連結,所以會想走出校園、舉辦實體的遊行。也希望喚起社會意識終止性暴力、並讓受害人知道自己不孤單。 主辦人之一的鄭益瑄表示,還沒有討論未來要做什麼,「但我們的布條刻意不寫年份」,不排除未來繼續舉辦的可能。 (本文及捐款連結在留言區)

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‘The Surrender of the Second International in the Emancipation of Women’ by Clara Zetkin from Communist International. Vol. 6 Nos. 9-10. April, 1929.

Zetkin with Volga German workers at “Sarpintrest” in Krasnoarmeysk. 1925. A substantial essay by Clara Zetkin tracing the historic successes and failures of the Socialist International in support of women’s emancipation in an effort contextualize the then differences that existed between the Communist International and the Second in the post-war period. From one who was there. ‘The Surrender of the Second International in the Emancipation of Women’ by Clara Zetkin from Communist International. Vol. 6 Nos. 9-10. April, 1929. THE inaugural congress of the Communist International in March, 1919, in…

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‘공교육 멈춤의 날’ 행동에 참여하는 이유

원주의 한 초등 교사 9월 4일은 서이초 교사 49재이고, ‘공교육 멈춤의 날’ 행동은 서이초 교사를 추모하기 위한 것이기도 하다. 학부모의 ‘악성 민원’이 관심의 초점이 되고 있지만, 서이초 교사는 과도한 업무 때문에도 괴로워했다. 내가 근무하는 학교에서도 8월 23일까지 전체 교사의 절반 이상이 ‘공교육 멈춤의 날’ 행동에 참여하겠다는 의지를 밝히셨다. 내가 행동 참여를 제안하며 동료 선생님 한 분과 이야기를 나눴는데 그분이 하신 말씀이 기억에 남는다. “내가 신규 발령이 난 10년 전에도 그 지역에서 목숨을 끊은 신규 교사가 한 명 있었다. 비록 언론의 관심을 받지는 못했지만 말이다. 언론을 통해 서이초 교사의 죽음이 널리…

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