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April 27, 2003 | Issue 367
FRONT AND BACK PAGES
Our answer to the bosses' trade summit: Solidarity!
"Solidarité! Solidarity with the people of the whole world!" Tens of thousands of protesters returned to this chant again and again as the smell of tear gas filled the streets of Quebec City in April.
Thousands march in Washington, D.C.
Don't let Bush take our abortion rights
Some 15,000 women and men turned out for the first national abortion rights demonstration in almost a decade.
SPECIAL FEATURES
A city explodes in anger at racist police violence
Rebellion in Cincinnati
"They shot him down like a dog." So said one man about 19-year-old Timothy Thomas was gunned down by Officer Steve Roach. SW reports on the police rampage that led to the rebellion--and what it means for the fight against racism.
Politicians use McVeigh to win support for executions
The real face of America's killing machine
The circus atmosphere surrounding the impending execution of Timothy McVeigh is disgusting enough. But ooliticians like John Ashcroft want to use McVeigh's execution to rehabilitate the death penalty.
Should Blacks be compensated for the crime of slavery?
Behind the furor over reparations
Major private and public institutions made fortunes from the slave trade and slave labor. How can we make them repay the debt they owe to Black people today?
An international workers' holiday
The story of May Day
Although May Day was founded to honor a historic U.S. labor struggle, few workers today know its origin. Socialist Worker looks at how this holiday grew out of the struggle for the eight-hour day.
WHAT WE THINK
Tensions between China and the U.S.
Headed for a showdown?
The spy plane crisis with China exposed the hypocrisy of the U.S. government. But underlying this recent crisis is growing tension, as both countries compete for influence and markets in Asia.
NATIONAL NEWS
CEO pay still shooting up as layoffs start to hit
Living like kings
With layoff announcements hitting right and left, U.S. workers are expecting tougher times ahead. But don't expect CEOs to share the pain. Their pay is rising at record levels.
Bush's budget rip-off
Bush promised that his budget would make his $1.6 trillion tax cut "affordable." And it will--but only by stealing billions from the poor, the sick, the elderly and kids.
Edison for-profit school scam exposed
The scandalous performance of an elementary school run by the for-profit company Edison Schools has exposed the reality behind the politicians' hype about school "reform."
Axing coverage for birth control
Bush's new budget will end required birth control coverage for 1.2 million federal workers and their dependents.
Youth crime frenzy created by media
Anyone watching the news would think that crime is on the rise--especially among minority youth referred to by the media as "super-predators." But a recent report proves that this is a myth.
Why did Mississippi vote on state flag lose?
An attempt to remove the Confederate flag symbol from Mississippi's state flag failed in a referendum. Why does this symbol of hate still fly?
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Middle East pushed to brink of war
Ariel Sharon's reign of terror
In the space of a few days, Ariel Sharon ordered the bombing of Lebanon, threatened war with Syria and ordered an invasion of Palestinian Authority territory in Gaza.
Workers in Bolivia threaten May Day general strike
Unrest is spreading in Bolivia as workers prepare for a planned May Day general strike against government attacks.
Daewoo autoworkers face brutal police attack
Police in South Korea stepped up their assaults on autoworkers outside of Daewoo's Bupyong auto plant in Inchon.
COLUMNS
WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?
Pundits smear the women's movement
Fashionable caricature
Three decades have passed since the heyday of the women's liberation movement, yet media pundits continue to use any excuse to deride it.
THE MEANING OF MARXISM
Why society became divided into classes
For most of our history, human societies knew "no soldiers, no gendarmes or police, no nobles [or] kings, no prisons." How did everything change?
Inside the system
Wrong time to do the right thing; The Mercedes gap; It's breakfast time with big brother; Can't we get along; Heard it through the grapevine
ON THE PICKET LINE
"We've been patient for far too long"
Washington state workers begin rolling strikes
After days of fruitless talks, 19,000 members of the Washington Federation of State Employees started rolling strikes across the state.
Merit pay mars NYC city workers deal
After working for nearly a year without a contract, 125,000 unionized city workers are voting on an offer that contains pay raises designed to cover the bitter taste of the poisonous pill of merit pay.
On the picket line
Northwest Airlines; Delta Airlines; Hollander Home Fashions; Bay Area hospitals; Columbia University; NYC organizing
NEWS FROM THE STRUGGLE
May Day events focus on immigrant rights
Learn what activists across the country are preparing for events to celebrate May Day, the international workers' holiday.
News and reports
Gas shutoffs delayed in Chicago; D.C. General; Stop charter schools; Madison gay rights; Solidarity with the Palestinians; California power protest
SW READERS SPEAK OUT
Cold Warriors in patriotic frenzy over China
Spy plane hypocrisy
Washington's response to the crash-landing of its EP-3 Navy spy plane reeked of hypocrisy.
"New economy" workers are taking it on the chin
I work at Cnet.com, an Internet company which is unique in the industry because it actually makes a profit. But recently, Cnet announced it was laying off 10 percent of its workforce--about 190 people.
Letters to the editor
Washington budget crisis hits poor hardest; Making profits from human guinea pigs; The ugly reality of welfare "deform"; I've seen abuse in N.Y. prisons; Bush's voucher plan would hurt teachers and students
REVIEWS
Ken Loach's movie shows the struggle to win justice for janitors
Bread and roses
British socialist film director Ken Loach's Bread and Roses, which opens in the U.S. in May, is a fantastic movie about the real-life struggle of Los Angeles janitors to unionize and win dignity.
How the Bush gang got down and dirty in Florida
Jake Tapper skewers the hypocrisy and ruthless calculation that dominated both campaigns during the post-2000 election brouhaha in his new book, Down and Dirty: The Plot to Steal the Presidency. | 
