The year 2017 had just begun when activists in the labour and progressive movements faced serious new challenges. Who would have guessed twelve months ago that the White House would be under the control of racists, misogynists and outright fascists? Or that millions of people would be banned from travel on the basis of their religious beliefs or country of origin, and that women’s reproductive rights would be under intense attack? Or that the Trans-Pacific Partnership and NAFTA corporate deals might soon be replaced by even harsher terms, unilaterally dictated by US imperialism?
Right-wing forces are on the rise here too in Canada, where the mood of cautious optimism following the defeat of the Harper government is dissipating. The global austerity drive for concessions, pay freezes, and cuts to pensions and benefits has not ended. Immigrant communities still face the murderous threats of racism and xenophobia, more pipelines are being built across the unceded territories of Indigenous peoples, and the promise of democratic electoral reform has been tossed into the trash. Instead of tackling urgent needs like low-cost housing and affordable child care, the Liberals are spending billions on new military hardware.
In this context, a strong socialist press in Canada is critical.
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Fortunately, this is only one side of the story.
Around all these issues and many others, the fightback is growing. Students are in the streets again, mobilizing for an end to tuition fees. The Idle No More movement, Black Lives Matter, and other voices of racialized people are demanding justice. Women are speaking out against attempts to return to the patriarchal chains of the past. Within the trade union movement, there is a growing realization that collaboration with the ruling class must be discarded, in favour of powerful, militant class struggle policies. As unchecked global warming looms larger, campaigns against tar sands extraction and corporate plundering of the environment are gaining new strength.
These struggles are never reported adequately by the mainstream corporate media. But here at People’s Voice we give in-depth coverage, using our pages to print interviews, statements and reports from the front lines of the fightback. While the corporate media tries to confuse and disorient, we provide facts, “news for people, not for profit.” And while media outlets across the country are hit by layoffs and closures, we keep publishing with the support of working people!
We need your support to keep publishing working class and socialist views.
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Our goal is to help direct popular anger against the capitalist system itself, and towards support for fundamental change – for a socialist future, in which working people own and control the economy, creating a world based on social justice, gender equality, liberation for oppressed peoples, environmental sustainability, and peace.
These struggles are expressed in many different ways, such as events and activities this month to mark International Women’s Day, which arose from movements of socialist women. The Women’s March on Washington in January kicked off a powerful storm of resistance against the misogynist bigots who want to push women back into the kitchens and bedrooms, take away workplace equity gains, and remove access to reproductive rights. The IWD issue of People’s Voice focuses on the fightback against capitalist patriarchy.
You can help build the press that fights for full equality for women.
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In April, labour organizations around the world will mark the annual Day of Mourning for Workers Killed and Injured on the Job. People’s Voice will feature special coverage of the dangers faced by workers, and the struggle to achieve better wages and working conditions.
And of course, on May 1st, International Workers’ Day, People’s Voice will pay tribute to the resistance by working people and our allies, in Canada and around the world. Our annual May Day issue will feature a wide range of reports on working class struggles, and greeting ads from trade unions, solidarity groups, and many other people’s movements. This issue will be distributed at marches, picket lines, demonstrations, forums, and other activities right across Canada.
The working class and its allies desperately need more media like People’s Voice at this difficult period of history. But this doesn’t happen by accident. It takes commitment and solidarity to help keep the working class press in print, and to raise the $50,000 we need every spring to continue. Our readers have been supporting us since 1922, when the first issue of The Worker came off the press, and we know that we can count on you again this year.
Thank you for your incredible support!
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In addition to donations by cheque or cash, we accept donations online. Every contribution is greatly appreciated. If you have any questions about how to make your donation, call our Vancouver editorial office, at 604-255-2041, or our Ontario Bureau at 416-469-2446.
