Socialist Party of Southern Arizona

Collective bargaining sign at protest

Taken from the Socialist Party USA platform:

“The Socialist Party stands for the right of all workers to organize, for worker control of industry through the democratic organization of the workplace, for the social ownership of the means of production and distribution, and for international solidarity among working people based on common opposition to global capitalism and imperialism. We believe that the international organization of labor is the only way of combating the exploitation of workers in a global capitalist economy. Working people have no country, but rather an international bond based on class. Workers throughout the world have far more in common with each other across national boundaries than with their bosses in their own countries. Ultimately a socialist revolution must be an international revolution that cannot survive if confined to individual countries amidst capitalist imperialism.
We support the right of any number of interested workers in a workplace to form a union with no limits on the subjects upon which employees and unions may bargain with employers.

We support the right of public sector workers to strike.

We call for recognizing a union based on cards signed.

We call for the democratic control of all unions by their membership, and independent of employer domination and influence.

We support the right of all workers to engage in collective action and self-representation regardless of union status.

We support militant, united labor action including hot cargo agreements, and boycotts, factory committees, secondary and sympathy strikes, sit-down strikes, general strikes, and ultimately the expropriation of workplaces.

We support the right of workers to hold shop meetings on company premises, elect their immediate supervisors, and administer health and safety programs through the formation of shop councils.

We call for the repeal of the Hatch Act and the Taft-Hartley Act, the ‘hot cargo’ provision of the Landrum-Griffin Act, and all so-called “right-to-work” laws.

We call for the same benefits for part-time workers as for full-time workers.

We call for increased health and safety regulation of business, and for increasing the size and enforcement power of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

We support the creation of a fund for workers which would pay a worker’s full wages and health insurance as well as necessary educational and/or retraining costs if that worker loses a job due to environmental transition, down-sizing, corporate dismantlement, or capital flight.

We call for a 30 hour work week at no loss of pay, with six weeks annual paid vacation.

We call for unions to stop using union funds for electing candidates from the Democratic and Republican parties.

We call for the end of the decades-long exclusion of farm workers and domestic workers from receiving overtime pay”

{cc photo courtesy of Jessie Reeder on Flickr}

{source: Socialist Party USA}

NATO bombed building in Belgrade

Taken from Socialist Party USA platform:

“International Policy

The United States is the sole remaining global superpower.  The U.S. government uses its overwhelming military power to consolidate its strategic hold over the entire world and to defend and advance the interests of U.S. owned corporations as they exploit the working people and natural resources of the entire planet.  We stand in total opposition to U.S. imperialism and the current “war on terror” which is just another subterfuge for U.S. imperialism.

We call for the closing of all U.S. military facilities at home and abroad that train foreign military and paramilitary personnel.

We call for the United States to immediately and unconditionally withdraw its forces from Iraq and Afghanistan.

We call for an end to the U.S. occupation of the province of Guantanamo, Cuba.

We call for an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank-East Jerusalem and Gaza, and an end to all U.S. aid to Israel, as a precondition for peace.

We support an immediate cut off of all U.S. military aid to Colombia, and all other recipients.

We call for the abolition of the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and all other institutions of covert warfare.

We stand for unconditional disarmament by the United States.

We call for an international treaty outlawing all weapons of mass destruction, including the use of depleted uranium in conventional weapons.

We call for an immediate 50% cut in the military budget, followed by additional cuts, with the aim of rapidly reducing the military budget to less than 10% of its current level, with the “peace dividend” directed to essential social services and to the cost of cleaning up contaminated military sites.

We call for the disbanding of NATO and all other aggressive military alliances, and the closing of all overseas bases.

We call for the U.S. to pay off its debts to the United Nations, an end to veto power in the UN, and an end to permanent membership on the UN Security Council.

We call for a constitutional amendment requiring a binding vote of the people on all issues of war or military intervention.

We support the right of soldiers to form unions to represent their views and interests.”

 

{cc photo courtesy of The Advocacy Project on Flickr}

{source: Socialist Party USA}

Pollution

Taken from the Socialist Party USA platform:

“We call for public ownership and democratic control of all our natural resources in order to conserve resources, preserve our wilderness areas, and restore environmental quality.

The U.S. must immediately return to participation in international agreements, such as the Kyoto Protocol, limiting carbon emissions, and accept a major role in worldwide efforts to control global warming.

We call for placing full financial responsibility on private companies for prevention and clean up of their own toxic wastes and for full compensation of workers and residents adversely affected by environmental hazards.

We oppose policies that target minority communities for placement of local landfills, toxic waste disposal sites, or incinerators.

We call for strong, enforceable endangered species protection that focuses on habitat-centered protection for plants and animals.

We oppose any new nuclear power projects and call for the rapid phasing out of all nuclear power plants, and a ban on the export of nuclear technology.

We support the recycling of glass, metals, plastic, paper, and chemicals and the use of recycled materials for public works projects such as roadways, parks, and playgrounds.

We call for shutting down waste incinerators and phasing out landfills and especially oppose targeting minority communities for hazardous waste disposal sites.

We oppose open-pit mining operations and support the reclamation of land used by mining operations at the company’s expense.

We support large-scale environmental restoration efforts.”

{cc photo courtesy of epSos.de on Flickr}

{source: Socialist Party USA}