For Solidarity: Maintain lockdown to save lives

Support essential workers! Give them PPE! Beware Slackening the Fight against COVID-19  The lockdown against the spread of COVID-19 is, among other things, a piece of class struggle. Workers socially distancing themselves and limiting their exposure to essential workers (keeping supermarket shopping to an absolute minimum and following distancing guidelines) are acting together to save […]

COVID-19 and the Crisis: a socialist response

Shomi Yoon gave this talk to a national meeting of the International Socialists discussing our organisation’s response to this emergency on April 3. At this stage, we’ve had one person pass from Covid-19 in New Zealand. The number of confirmed and probable cases is 868.Community transmission remains minimal at 1%. We won’t know whether the […]

Pandemic, the Left, and Workers’ Power

In the face of the economic and public health crisis triggered  by the coronavirus pandemic, the US left oscillates between mutual aid efforts and parliamentary impotence. We need to take part in workers’ struggles today and prepare for the coming upsurge.  There are over 140,000 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 in the US, but the actual […]

We need solidarity and socialism to confront this disaster

The COVID-19 pandemic is running out of control and wreaking havoc all around the world. It is clear now that we are facing not just thousands of deaths, but hundreds of thousands or more.  Elderly people are being found dead in their homes, unable to reach medical care. Young people are turning up to hospital […]

Italian workers strike to force action on the coronavirus pandemic

Italian workers have gone on strike to shut down the country as the death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic surpasses 7,500 – mostly in Lombardy, the main industrial region in the north-west of the country. Despite the government’s well-publicised lockdown, it has been business as usual for many sectors of the economy. Last week, the […]

The State of Emergency: Musings on the Capitalist State

Today the Ardern government formally declared the State of National Emergency and the Epidemic Notice that we were told to expect as we enter the Level 4 lockdown. The government will have the powers to use the police and the armed forces to enforce the lockdown. Parliament has been adjourned for nearly five weeks. In […]

The politics of the virus

Socialist Alternative is an Australian socialist organisation. This speech was given at a video conference of Socialist Alternative’s national committee on 22 March. Mick Armstrong is a founding member of Socialist Alternative and is a member of the organisation’s national executive. There can be no overstating the significance of this horrific crisis for humanity. The death […]

At last: Action against COVID-19

At the Prime Minister’s press conference today announcing Level 4 lockdown Jacinda Ardern said, “If community transmission takes off in New Zealand the number of cases will double every five days. If that happens unchecked our health system will be inundated and tens of thousands of New Zealanders will die.” Ardern reminded the media that […]

Labour’s COVID-19 response package: Not enough for workers

When the Labour-led Coalition Government revealed its first fiscal response package to the COVID-19 pandemic I was, at first, jubilant. The pessimist in me had been expecting austerity, expecting cuts and sell offs. This package is definitely not that. $12.1 billion in spending and 4% of GDP – great! But as the afternoon continued and […]

Shut it Down! – A social response to COVID-19

Firstly, it has been inspiring to see the messages of solidarity and the networks that have sprung up around the country to support those in isolation. This solidarity is essential at any crisis – but more so now that our society will likely have to shut down, as it already has in many other countries. […]