 Dear reader, Here are the latest articles published today on the World Socialist Web Site. Expand the Big Three autoworkers strike! For an industry-wide walkout, not phony "stand up strikes"! Nearly a week has passed since the contract for 150,000 Big Three workers expired last Thursday, and it is becoming increasingly clear that the "stand up strike" called by the UAW bureaucracy is much less a "strike" than a tactic aimed at weakening, dividing and isolating the rank and file to force through massive concessions. The United States launched a full-court press to promote the escalation of the war in Ukraine on Tuesday, with simultaneous appearances by US President Joe Biden at the United Nations and America's top military leaders at Ramstein, Germany, who pledged to continue the war "as long as it takes." Autoworkers have responded with enthusiasm to the editorial written by the Pennsylvania Mack Trucks worker and socialist candidate for UAW president in 2021. We say to all our fellow autoworkers: an all-out strike is the only way for the auto companies to know that we're not playing. The strike by autoworkers against the Big Three automakers is part of a growing international wave of struggles against inflation, concessions and job losses. There is every reason to believe Unifor will declare an "historic victory" before the day is out and try to ram through a sellout agreement by week's end. If they don't, it will only because they fear that so blatant a "sweetheart deal" with Ford—at the expense of autoworkers in both Canada and the US—will fuel a rank-and-file rebellion and a movement for a North America-wide strike. The CAMI plant in Ingersoll, where workers went through an extended shutdown in 2022 for retooling to build electric delivery vans, is set to be idle from October until spring time next year. There are growing signs in the region that the eastern Libyan authorities are preparing a bloody crackdown against protests in Derna. As Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso develop ties with Russia, the danger is mounting that the NATO-Russia war in Ukraine will explode across Africa. Political warfare between Trump-aligned members of the House Freedom Caucus and Speaker Kevin McCarthy over proposed spending cuts is driving the government towards a shutdown at the end of the month. The tens of millions of student loan borrowers who must begin making payments in October are confronted with confusion and lack of information from the privately-owned corporations that service their debts under contract with the US Department of Education. The UK government having to accelerate its booster programme in response to the spread of another concerning variant exposes the lies of the Conservative and Labour parties which proclaimed as far back as February 2022 that the pandemic was over, and all could "live with COVID." After facing enormous backlash on social media and on the picket lines, talk show hosts Bill Maher, Drew Barrymore, and Jennifer Hudson announced they would temporarily pause returning to their talk shows after the Writers Guild of America confirmed on Monday that they would resume negotiations with the major studios on Wednesday in the hopes of getting a deal "as soon as possible." Some 1,700 meatpacking workers overwhelmingly rejected a "final offer" four-year contract last Friday amidst an increasing wave of opposition from workers across the US. To prevent a widespread turnout which would increase the likelihood of the contract's rejection, the union limited in-person voting to during normal business hours, with workers having to drive hours to cast a ballot. The Bank for International Settlements has said in its quarterly review that "speculation is back," based on massive leverage with the potential to set off a crisis. To defend jobs at VW, rank-and-file action committees must be set up, bringing together all VW workers who are serious about fighting. These committees must be independent of the works councils and IG Metall union. The aim of this shabby maneuver was to block a strike at the Ford Oakville Assembly Plant and two smaller engine plants in Windsor, which would have seen Canadian and US autoworkers on strike together for the first time in decades. About the WSWS The World Socialist Web Site is published by the International Committee of the Fourth International, the world Trotskyist movement, and its affiliated sections in the Socialist Equality Parties around the world. Find out more about joining the Socialist Equality Party.
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