Australia: ACT Labor government slashes school budgets across Canberra
At least 58 of the territory’s 94 public schools will see their funding fall, with 37 facing cuts greater than 5 percent.
Kaye Tucker•
Educators Rank-and-File Committee
The Educators Rank-and-File Committee is an international network of educators, students, parents, and workers fighting for workers power in the schools, to stop the capitalist destruction of public education and eliminate COVID-19.
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Australia: The Victorian educators’ struggle—lessons of a sellout
After twice rejecting union-Labor government agreements and taking statewide strike action, a majority of Victorian public school educators voted to accept a fundamentally unchanged deal that entrenches four more years of untenable workloads, low wages and a worsening staffing crisis.
Committee for Public Education•
Trump administration moves to gut Head Start, including mandating English-only classrooms
A proposed rule would strip out some 1,400 Head Start standards, hand class ratios to the states and mandate English-only instruction, deepening the administration’s assault on poor and immigrant families.
Phyllis Steele, Renae Cassimeda•
Australian state Labor government bans pro-Palestinian teacher
A New South Wales educator has been barred from teaching over social media posts condemning Israel and expressing solidarity with the Palestinian resistance.
Erika Zimmer, Mike Head•
Philipp Frisch•
Kaye Tucker•
A WSU Rank-and-File Committee member•
Renae Cassimeda•
Sterling Oliver, Roger Jordan•
Postal Workers: Refuse to withhold ballots! Defend mail-in voting and the post office!
We refuse to carry out any order to withhold, delay or “verify” mail-in ballots. We will not be the instrument of the disenfranchisement of the American people.
USPS Workers Rank-and-File Committee•
Railroaders: Break the isolation of the National Steel Car strike! Refuse to handle NSCX cars! For a united, cross-border struggle across the railroad industry!
The struggle at National Steel Car cuts directly across the national divisions that the corporations, governments and union bureaucracies are trying to impose on workers.
The Railroad Workers Rank-and-File Committee•
Australian Health Workers Rank-and-File Committee demands freedom for Bogdan Syrotiuk
“This young man is immensely courageous in speaking out against war. His persecution is setting a precedent against anyone who opposes any war and a warning to all.” — Mental health nurse
Health Workers Rank-and-File Committee•
National Steel Car Rank-and-File Committee leader on the fight against piecework, union betrayal, and the path forward
The National Steel Car Rank-and-File Committee (NSC-RFC) was founded by shop floor workers in June 2023, on the eve of the last strike, after it became clear to them that the United Steelworkers (USW) bureaucracy would not wage a genuine fight for workers' demands.
Pierre Lajeunesse•
National Steel Car Rank-and-File Committee•
Industrial Workers Rank-and-File Committee•
USPS Workers Rank-and-File Committee•
Dylan Lubao•
Committee for Public Education•
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the term “rank-and-file” mean and where does it come from?
“Rank-and-file” is originally a military term. It refers to the lower “ranks” of soldiers, who literally stand in lines or “files”. These soldiers have a different set of interests in preserving their lives than the officers or “brass” who prosecute the wars on behalf of the ruling elite.
Rank-and-file committees are of, by and for the rank-and-file workers, who have a different set of interests in preserving their lives than management, the bosses, the politicians, and the trade union apparatus, who send workers to die while defending the profits of the ruling elite.
Is it legal to build rank-and-file committees of educators and other workers to stop the spread of COVID-19?
Yes. The formation of rank-and-file committees is 100% completely legal under the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
The right to freedom of speech means you can say whatever you like about what you agree or disagree with. Freedom of association, also covered under the first amendment, means you have the right to associate with others who share your views, for political ends. You also have the right to petition the government for redress, to make demands on the government and tell them what you want them to do.
Does HIPAA law prevent schools or workplaces from disclosing information about the spread of COVID-19?
No. HIPAA has an exception for disclosures to prevent and control the spread of disease, but the state is deliberately not invoking this exception in order to conceal information from workers, so that they can pretend that what they are doing is safe when it’s not.
Rank-and-file educators have the right to know who’s gotten sick, where, when, and what happened. Rank-and-file committees have to demand this information, and have to share it with other workers as a matter of collective self defense.