Australia: Labor accuses schools of fraud to justify disability education cuts
More than 300 independent schools have been forced to repay $12 million in disability funding already, forcing the sacking of teachers and support staff.
Carolyn Kennett•
Educators Rank-and-File Committee
The Educators Rank-and-File Committee is an international network of educators, students, parents, and workers fighting for workers power in the schools, to stop the capitalist destruction of public education and eliminate COVID-19.
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UK National Education Union closes down strike ballot, allowing Labour government to impose below inflation deal
The trade union bureaucracy promotes the dangerous illusion that the replacement of Starmer with Burnham represented a step change to the left and provides “hope”, that the Labour Party will listen, and that Burnham is “on our side".
Tom Pearce, Tania Kent•
Australia: Empty launch of Thriving Kids underscores Labor’s assault on children with disabilities
What the Albanese government actually launched on October 1 was a helpline and a website—no therapies, no allied health professionals, no individualised plans.
Carolyn Kennett•
The IIT Bombay suicide and the crisis facing India’s youth
The suicide of Sahil Wakode, a Dalit student at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, has exposed the brutal institutional atmosphere behind India's most celebrated educational institutions, and sparked militant student protests.
Kranti Kumara•
Tania Kent•
Ioan Petrescu•
Kaye Tucker•
Committee for Public Education•
Phyllis Steele, Renae Cassimeda•
Aviation workers vote to establish rank-and-file committee, launch independent workers’ inquiry into death of Montreal Airport ramp worker Oscar Robayo
Robayo, a 39-year-old employee of the French-based multinational Samsic, was crushed to death by the nose gear of an Airbus A350 at Montréal-Trudeau International Airport on August 24.
Our reporter•
Pennsylvania USPS workers form rank-and-file committee: “We call for a struggle that unifies all postal workers”
The postal service—a product of the American Revolution—has been systematically bled over decades by both Democratic and Republican parties. We have been forced to operate like a profit-making company despite the clear intention by the Founding Fathers to have the mail system as a universal right to all in the name of having an informed society able to fight back against tyranny.
Southern Pennsylvania Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee•
“Attacks on postal workers are accelerating, and the official channels have proven incapable of stopping them”
St. Paul USPS workers found Rank-and-File Committee
The future of the Postal Service will not be decided in our favor if workers remain isolated and passive. Our strength lies in our unity.
St. Paul Processing and Distribution Center Workers Rank-and-File Committee•
Postal Workers: Refuse to withhold ballots! Defend mail-in voting and the post office!
We refuse to carry out any order to withhold, delay or “verify” mail-in ballots. We will not be the instrument of the disenfranchisement of the American people.
USPS Workers Rank-and-File Committee•
The Railroad Workers Rank-and-File Committee•
Health Workers Rank-and-File Committee•
Pierre Lajeunesse•
National Steel Car Rank-and-File Committee•
Industrial Workers Rank-and-File Committee•
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the term “rank-and-file” mean and where does it come from?
“Rank-and-file” is originally a military term. It refers to the lower “ranks” of soldiers, who literally stand in lines or “files”. These soldiers have a different set of interests in preserving their lives than the officers or “brass” who prosecute the wars on behalf of the ruling elite.
Rank-and-file committees are of, by and for the rank-and-file workers, who have a different set of interests in preserving their lives than management, the bosses, the politicians, and the trade union apparatus, who send workers to die while defending the profits of the ruling elite.
Is it legal to build rank-and-file committees of educators and other workers to stop the spread of COVID-19?
Yes. The formation of rank-and-file committees is 100% completely legal under the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
The right to freedom of speech means you can say whatever you like about what you agree or disagree with. Freedom of association, also covered under the first amendment, means you have the right to associate with others who share your views, for political ends. You also have the right to petition the government for redress, to make demands on the government and tell them what you want them to do.
Does HIPAA law prevent schools or workplaces from disclosing information about the spread of COVID-19?
No. HIPAA has an exception for disclosures to prevent and control the spread of disease, but the state is deliberately not invoking this exception in order to conceal information from workers, so that they can pretend that what they are doing is safe when it’s not.
Rank-and-file educators have the right to know who’s gotten sick, where, when, and what happened. Rank-and-file committees have to demand this information, and have to share it with other workers as a matter of collective self defense.