the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Nov 8, 2021
First it was 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave that was supposed to be a “centerpiece” in President Biden’s “Build Back Better” portion of the budget bill. Then it got whittled down to 4 weeks. Then it got taken out altogether, and then put back again. And now it has been put on hold, along with a whole host of other “human infrastructure” measures—for Congress to decide upon, allegedly, sometime in mid-November.
The U.S., the richest country in the world, is one of six countries in the world of 193 countries with no national paid family leave. It’s the only industrialized country that doesn’t guarantee workers paid leave.
And for months the public has been presented with the perspective that there are either a few Democratic Party politicians or that it is the Republican Party that have sabotaged this legislation from passing.
False. The real reason why paid family leave, or ANY HUMAN SERVICE, is first to be cut from this system’s budget in this wealthiest country in the world is that its price tag is one that the REAL decision-makers in this capitalist system—the corporations, the banks, and Wall Street have no intention of paying. After all, they can’t make a profit off workers staying home and caring for their newborns or elders. And get paid to do so from public money, which the capitalist class wants all for itself. No, they are not about to come up off any of the wealth they obtain by exploiting workers’ labor.
The working class itself is the only class that has the power, when it is organized, to guarantee that the wealth workers produce goes for what is needed. Like quality family care. Like paid family leave.