Another week is in the books, complete with new horrors and challenges and advancements into the never-before. From Washington, D.C. to Milwaukee, the people at the top made new bids at class warfare, but workers are continuing organizing for the largest strike in decades. Everyone under the sun is feeling the heat of climate change, and new legal developments show the only path forward for a dignified working class is through solidarity, not help from above.
Climate Change Brings Heat To Milwaukee And Beyond As Earth Faces Hottest Day On Record (Spoiler: Hotter Days Ahead)
According to meteorologists, July 3 brought the planet the hottest day on record, and then temperatures climbed again July 4, breaking the previous day’s record and giving the people of Earth a glimpse into the future climate crisis.
Area residents who did not get the chance to get outside and experience the heat for themselves will likely not have to wait long for a new record, though, as average temperatures continue to increase worldwide—bad news for many (extreme heat kills more Wisconsinites than any other weather disaster).
The record heat comes just after wildfires across Canada brought toxic air over the city, putting residents at risk and leading to various closures throughout Milwaukee. On top of this, southern Wisconsin now faces moderate-to-severe drought conditions, straining infrastructure and harming crop yields.
It is no wonder then that reports at the end of June pushed back against previous claims that Wisconsin and the American Midwest would become a “climate haven” as the products of man-made climate change fell on much of the region. No, even Giannis and the Bronze Fonz will feel the shocks of the climate crisis.
Supreme Court Issues Spate Of Anti-Democratic Rulings, Promising Hard Times For Many In Milwaukee
Meanwhile, national developments promise dark days ahead for many area residents. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that more than 40 million Americans will no longer receive up to $20,000 of student loan forgiveness promised by the Biden Administration, a move set to have a major impact on Wisconsin’s workers, many of whom will be unable to afford many of the basic pleasures that give life dignity.
The court also ruled to end Affirmative Action and the ability of colleges to use race as a specific factor in their admissions processes (notably exempting military institutions), which will undoubtedly become a hurdle for working-class students of color seeking continued education and allow systemized racism an unchecked role in the future of higher learning, as if it needed any help.
In a blow to LGBTQIA+ rights, the court ruled that businesses could discriminate against queer folks after a website designer refused to serve a same-sex couple. Millions of people across the country now fear increased hostility and the threat of discrimination as their rights fall to the wayside of ideology.
Collectively, these rulings—the written decisions of fewer than ten (unelected) people concerning the fates of millions—spell struggle for workers recovering from the COVID-19 crisis, and are a step backward in protecting the rights of people against the destructive whims of capital.
Signed State Budget Affirms Wisconsin Working Class Is No Priority For Powers That Be
State-level politics this week did not fare workers much better.
Gov. Tony Evers signed the Republican-penned state budget, cementing nearly $500 million in mental health program cuts alone across the next two years and rolling back even modest attempts at addressing the crisis conditions surrounding mental health in Wisconsin.
Milwaukee residents, who are already facing rumors of an increased sales tax to make up for austerity governments and their infrastructure cuts from years past, are gearing up for more exploitation by politicians in both Madison and Washington who are more interested in slashing numbers than in keeping up with the needs of the state’s workers and their families.
Evers did offer 51 partial vetoes to the budget before he signed it, which allowed him to reshape some provisions. For example, he removed a hyphen and the number “20” from a line to increase the window for more public education spending, and he lowered a tax cut for top earners.
These simple tricks, as clever as they may seem, are an indictment of the state government as it exists. Millions of people are relying on the figures in power for a vision so bold as to meet the basic collective needs of our society, and the governor’s technocratic response is laughable in that context: a teacher’s red pen alone will not muster the political will to bring about material gains for the working class, no matter how many headlines it garners.
UPS Strike To Disrupt Daily Life As Bosses Refuse Decent Contract For Workers
Negotiations between UPS and the Teamsters collapsed as the largest nationwide strike in decades draws nearer. Union officials say UPS offered their workers an “unacceptable” contract before walking away from the table early July 5.
In Milwaukee, local workers held practice pickets to take back the fruits of their labor Thursday.
Workers are demanding increased pay, improved benefits and dignified working conditions. Union leaders say UPS spent $8.6 billion in stock buybacks and $45 million in executive pay in 2022 alone.
340,000 workers and additional supporters are prepared to take to the picket line in August. If the bosses do not offer workers a fair contract, these full and part-time workers will go on strike August 1 after 97% of workers agreed to do so in a June vote. This will cripple the movement of goods in the United States, and perhaps then the bosses will better realize the value of their workers.
Officials say no additional negotiations are scheduled at this time.
Nation Takes To Celebration In Spite Of Oppression
All in all, though, the status quo politics that created the strike conditions, the budget, the Supreme Court rulings and the climate crisis, received praise from “sea to shining sea” during the July 4 holiday.
People shot off fireworks and watched other people shoot off fireworks and covered their yards in flags, all as their government moved to further the oppression of millions, capital in a costume called “liberty.”
As this week ends, it remains up to the workers of this city, not mustered ideas of patriotism or national allegiance, to face the coming week of ongoing material struggle. The future, though colored by history, will not remain shackled by powdered wigs and parchment paper and spangled flags. If the week’s headlines are any indication, these are failing to meet the moment.
Who else but the working class is powerful enough to take on the never-before?
