Concrete proposals are needed to bring about full integration of the rail system, with real protections for workers and an end to private operators, argues EDDIE DEMPSEY
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Cuba’s triple troubles: pandemic, blockade and economic crisis
Buffeted for six decades by the US economic blockade and recently having had to cope with restrictions due to Covid- 19, the economy is deteriorating. Government leaders recently outlined remedial steps for the 'new normal' in Cuban socialism, reports W T WHITNEY JNR
A recent Union Street blaze showed firefighters at their best, but years of underfunding and job losses are stretching the service to its limits, writes JOHN McKENZIE
As the STUC gathers in an election year, the message to politicians is clear – continuing managed decline is unacceptable to Scotland’s workers, says ROZ FOYER
Inspired by Ireland’s success, Equity urges all parties to support a basic income for artists that could unlock talent and boost the economy, says MARLENE CURRAN
A major new report highlights the the dire state of our prison system – and demands urgent action from government, explains PHIL FAIRLIE
Dangerous conditions and political inaction still define the salmon industry, where BFAWU is pressing hard for change, says SARAH WOOLLEY
THE UN’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) reported in October that the region “is experiencing its worst economic crisis in a century” and that Cuba’s GDP this year will be down at least 8 per cent.
Tourist income, remittances, foreign trade and tax collections have fallen. Oil and gasoline shortages, the result of US sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela, have stressed the economy.
Public spending on health care, unemployment compensation and pensions are up; 150,000 state workers and 250,000 private-sector workers have been idled. Effects of the US economic blockade compound matters, with restrictions affecting the tourist industry, foreign imports and access to foreign currency and loans.
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CLAUDIA WEBBE says the US is tightening the noose to destroy Cuban socialism — the need for immediate, international solidarity is urgent
On January 29, US President Donald Trump declared Cuba an ‘unusual and extraordinary threat’ to US national security and tightened the blockade against the island nation MANOLO DE LOS SANTOS reports
The US attack on Venezuela raises grave threats to Cuba and the region, writes NATASHA HICKMAN of Cuba Solidarity Campaign
Where normally only the US and its ally Israel vote to strangle Cuba economically, there have been special efforts to slander and isolate the besieged socialist island nation year — so we must redouble our solidarity, writes TARIQ ANDERSON