Leftist Victories In Europe

It seems that the pendulum has begun its return back to the left side of the political spectrum in Europe.  This was evidenced via the upset victory in France by Socialist Party Candidate, Francois Hollande.  Hollande has been a staple of the Fench Socialist Party for the last fifteen years who was able to capitalize(pun intended) on anti-Sarkozy and anti-austerity sentiment throughout the country.

In Greece, while the faux-leftist PASOK's suffered heavy losses in parliamentary elections, the coalition of actual leftist groups, Syriza, placed second, winning an unprecedented 51 seats in parliament. 

Hopefully, this signals the beginning of a new leftist movement in the Eurozone. 

In SOlidarity,

Joseph

WFTU Opens Office in South Africa

Here's to hoping they open an office in the US to show America what a real trade federation looks like!

Here's the press release:

http://www.wftucentral.org/wp-content/2012_12_14_announcement_secretariat_new-africa-regional-office.pdf

For more on the World Federation of Trade Unions, go here:

 http://www.wftucentral.org/wp-content/2011_12_what-is-the-wftu.pdf

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Labor Unions' Constitutions Still Harbor Anti-Leftist Bias

I'm in the early research stage of an article on the anti-leftist bias that still exists within the labor movement.  The AFL-CIO, and many of their affiliate unions have language that barres anyone with "authoritarian or totalitarian views" from holding office.  This is a thinly veiled allusion to those who publicly espouse views that are in line with Communism, as well as Socialism in general.  While it is a well known fact that the AFL-CIO was purged of it's most militant members during the McCarthy Era, it is very seldom mentioned that a lot of these policies are still in place.

This causes many of our most militant members today to hide their beliefs in order to be successful in the labor movement.  I hope to gather information and statements from several sources in order to have a thorough discussion on this subject, which is very important to the future of our movement.

In Solidarity,

Joseph