Thread by @EvanBlake17

📢 Mobilize the working class behind Chicago teachers!

73% of #Chicago teachers voted to stop in-person learning, in defiance of local, state and federal Democrats who have implemented a reckless back-to-school campaign as #Omicron surges. 1/ wsws.org/en/articles/20…

The bold initiative taken by Chicago #teachers marks a major turning point in the class struggle. It has drawn support from workers worldwide, who are increasingly fighting to stop #COVID19 and save lives as the 3rd year of the pandemic begins. 2/ wsws.org/en/articles/20…

According to burbio.com, 4,783 schools across the US have been forced to begin the semester remotely, including in Detroit, Atlanta, Cleveland, Newark & Milwaukee. Teachers in San Francisco & Oakland, CA, have organized wildcat sickouts. 3/
cai.burbio.com/school-opening…

As took place at the start of 2021, the entire political establishment and corporate media are denouncing Chicago teachers. Many have called for mass firings akin to Ronald Reagan's 1981 suppression of the strike by 13,000 PATCO air traffic controllers. 4/ wsws.org/en/articles/20…

The ruling class and all of its representatives have declared war on the working class. With over 850k Americans killed by COVID-19, and as #Omicron pushes official daily infections above 600k and hospitalizations once again above 120k, they are letting the virus rip. 5/

In flagrant violation of all principles of public health, they now consciously seek to infect masses of children, their families and their communities. The policies being pursued have acquired an increasingly fascistic character. 6/

Claim that schools are safe are lies. COVID-19 spreads through aerosols that can linger in the air for hours, making overcrowded and poorly ventilated classes hotbeds for infection. K-12 schools are consistently the highest source of outbreaks. 7/ wsws.org/en/articles/20…

Most disturbing is the surge in child hospitalizations, which are now growing at more than 2X the rate of the peak reached during the Delta surge, during which over 500 children died from COVID-19. Well over 1,000 children could die in the US during the Omicron wave. 8/

The proper response of the working class to the ruling elites’ global "herd immunity" strategy is to prepare a general walkout and refuse to work under unsafe conditions. The stand taken by Chicago teachers must become the rallying point for all class-conscious workers! 9/

The ruling class refuses to implement lockdowns or other public health measures because they impinge on their profits. Having amassed over $2.1 trillion since the start of the pandemic, the billionaires lie that there is no money to fight the pandemic. 10/ wsws.org/en/articles/20…

This naked class warfare must be responded to through collective action from workers in every industry and every country. The vast wealth of the pandemic profiteers must be impounded and distributed to the workers who produced this wealth, as provisions during lock-downs. 11/

Public health measures, including mass testing, contact tracing, the isolation and quarantine of infected/exposed people, the rapid vaccination of the world population, travel restrictions and more, must be fully funded in every country. 12/ wsws.org/endcovid

The necessary conclusions must be drawn from this experience. Financial interests cannot be the arbiters of life and death. Only a mass movement of the working class, supported by principled scientists, can implement the strategy of global elimination. 13/ wsws.org/en/articles/20…

The mechanism through which the policy of Zero COVID will be implemented is the building of a global network of rank-and-file committees, independent of the pro-capitalist unions and political parties, and fighting to unify workers across every industry and internationally. 14/

All workers and scientists determined to put an end to the pandemic and save lives, view this page and fill out the form to join/build a committee at your school or workplace. Organize to prepare for the coming wave of mass struggles to save lives!
15/15
wsws.org/en/special/pag…

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