Thursday, April 30, 2020
Workers Fight Back in the Class War against COVID-19
Workers' only power is in withholding our labor.
Our votes mean nothing.
The democracy theater of holding elections is a rigged show.
The money establishment always wins.
May Day is a great time to strike.
Strike now, while the virus is hot!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=XTiVRY-t190&feature=emb_logo
USA: workers should shut down capitalism
Tom Trottier
22 January 2019
The glory days of American capitalism are over. Long gone are its youthfulness, enthusiasm, and idealism. The signs of extreme decay and senility are everywhere as the divisions within the ruling class are put on public display. The longest partial government shutdown in US history is just the latest example.
https://www.socialist.net/usa-workers-should-shut-down-capitalism.htm
At the time of writing [Jan. 2019], there is no end in sight to this game of political chicken, which has real consequences for millions of American workers.
The ruling class may have differences from time to time. But for decades, the growing wealth gained from the exploitation of the working class—both here and abroad—meant that there was plenty of money for the capitalist parties to make deals and pass legislation.
Under Trump, the government has been shut down three times, even though the Republicans controlled the White House and both houses of Congress for the first two years of his presidency. Trump had made a preliminary deal to keep the government funded and open. But in December, after the Republican House and Senate voted this through, Trump changed his position and demanded funding for his “border wall” as right-wing media personalities reminded him of one of his central campaign promises.
In the midst of this third shutdown, the Democrats took over the House of Representatives after riding a modest wave of anti-Trump sentiment in the last election. The latest polls show that his approval rating has dropped back down below 40 percent. Even “non-college educated whites”, a layer that voted heavily for him in 2016, have begun to turn against the president.
The shutdown and the wall
In the US Congress, flowery, semi-aristocratic language is typically used: “Madame chair, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina!” This language was based on an understanding that although different sections of the capitalist class can have conflicting regional and/or business differences, they are united against the vast majority of the population.
Over the last century or so, disagreements in government have been handled in a generally civil manner. But the ongoing breakdown in this civility is a reflection of polarisation in society. Both Trump and the Democrats feel they cannot compromise over whether to fund the building of a wall on the southern border. Or, put another way, they cynically believe they can gain more than their opponents through continued intransigence.
The Democrats and Trump have no disagreement on general federal spending—they both agree to cut and underfund social services, education, infrastructure, and anti-poverty programs. Even on the issue of “border security”, the Democrats are willing to give the president plenty of money for drones, surveillance, and militarisation.
And even though many of these Democrats have voted for barriers along the southern border in the past, now they are drawing a calculated line in the sand. Similarly, Trump had no problem approving previous budgets and appropriation agreements and only now is demanding that over $5 billion be allocated to his wall.
The only way to understand this is to look at the politics. Trump won the election promising his supporters good jobs and high wages, like America had in the past. Furthermore, he promised to invest in infrastructure, implement a better healthcare system, and to build a wall—funded by Mexico.
Two years into his administration, Obamacare is still in place, the high-wage jobs are few and far between, nothing is being done on infrastructure, and Mexico has said that it will not pay for the wall. Given his recent election setbacks, Trump feels he must deliver to his base, and the rabid right-wing media personalities constantly remind him of this. Hence, Trump has demanded money for his wall and is holding federal appropriations hostage.
Embed from Getty Images
The Democrats' opportunism
The Democrats have dug their heels in for similar reasons. The Democrats won the 2018 midterm elections by being “anti-Trump”. In the absence of a mass party of the working class, they benefited from the votes of many workers and youth who want higher wages, free universal healthcare, and education. They also voted Democrat to send a message of opposition to the racist rhetoric and immigration policies of the Trump administration—temporarily forgetting that Obama still holds the record on deportations.
The Democrats, as loyal servants of the ruling class, are not about to fight to significantly increase spending for the working class, nor do they fundamentally challenge “border security”. However, with the 2020 elections already in their sights, they want to appeal to those voters who gave them an additional 40 seats in Congress. They have therefore decided to oppose Trump's wall.
As soon as the Democrats took the position of Speaker of the House, they voted to accept rules known as Pay As You Go, or “PAYGO”. Having previously accepted Trump’s huge tax cuts for the rich, which ballooned the deficit, they have now decided that any spending proposals must be linked with the means to pay for it—either cuts to existing spending or new taxes.
Bernie Sanders, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, and Rashida Tlaib, who all identify as “socialist”, have opposed this. They have correctly stated that this is a legislative manoeuvre to deny the establishment of reforms such as free, universal health care. However, they remain committed to working with or within the Democratic Party. Needless to say, we believe this is a mistake. Instead, they should break with the Democrats and use their public profile to call on the labour leaders to do the same and to build a working-class party.
After one of the longest “recoveries” in the history of American capitalism, the federal budget deficit stands at roughly $856 billion and the national debt is around $22 trillion. Marxists agree that in order to fund reforms, the government cannot simply print money. But the main issue here is not legislative rules like PAYGO. It is about who owns and controls the industries that dominate society. There is plenty of wealth available to fund education, health care, higher wages, and to rebuild infrastructure, but this must be administered by public, democratic planning, not the market.
Consequences for workers
In the standoff between Trump and the Democrats, some 800,000 federal workers are either furloughed—out of work—or forced to report to work without pay. This affects workers in every state, including 70,000 workers in the Washington, DC area, more than 30,00 workers in California, and another ten states that each have between 10,000 and 30,000 workers without their pay checks. Federal agencies such as Treasury, Agriculture, Justice, Homeland Security, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and even the State Department are affected.
These federal workers are receiving the first lashes of the whip. It is estimated that 78 percent of American workers live pay check to pay check—given the high cost of housing, transportation, education, and healthcare, as well as the personal debt burden.
Going weeks on end without a pay check has caused much pain and suffering for these workers and their families, many of whom have resorted to appealing to the public for rent money on GoFundMe. In addition, workers employed by federal contractors, such as cafeteria, cleaning, and maintenance workers, among others, are out of work indefinitely with no hope of getting any back pay when the impasse is finally ended.
Americans who depend on these government services are also suffering from Trump’s whip. As an example, immigration court cases are more backed up than ever, and workers waiting for a tax refund must now wait longer. The world-famous Smithsonian Museums and National Parks are also closed or operating with severely limited access.
The ruling class owns the workplaces, factories, and the media, controls the government, and dominates society in general. But the working class is the overwhelming majority and nothing can be built or operated without its consent. The strength of the working class lies first and foremost in its unity. Teachers in Los Angeles have more in common with teachers in Buenos Aires or Tunis than with Trump or Pelosi. Autoworkers in the Midwest have more in common with Mexican and Canadian workers than with Schumer or McConnell.
We must reject the “border security politics” of the ruling class. Workers south of the border are no threat to “the security” of workers in the United States. What will strengthen and “secure” the lives of American workers is a united struggle across borders against the bosses. All workers, wherever they are born, whatever their status, must unite against the rich to win job security, living wages, free healthcare, and everything else we need. Together we can transform the US, the Americas, and the world.
Workers have the power to put an end to the endless nonsense we are forced to endure under capitalism. Already, there have been “sick-outs” by some 3,800 TSA workers, and growing protests by air traffic control workers. Imagine if they organised a total strike and appealed to the rest of the labour movement for support, starting with the airline workers. This would hit the ruling class’s bottom line hard and fast and they would force Trump and co. to reopen the government.
Reagan only succeeded in firing the air traffic controllers during the PATCO strike in 1981 because the AFL-CIO leaders left them isolated. But if public and private workers unite to fight back against the employers and their government, the long decline of organised labour could be quickly reversed.
'Owes an Apology to Every Essential Worker': Pence Under Fire for Refusing to Wear Face Mask at Mayo Clinic
"When I warned everyone in February that Pence doesn't believe in science and shouldn't be in charge of Covid response, I meant it," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
by
Jake Johnson, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/29/owes-apology-every-essential-worker-pence-under-fire-refusing-wear-face-mask-mayo
In violation of Mayo Clinic policy, Vice President Mike Pence refused to wear a face mask while visiting the organization's Minnesota headquarters Tuesday and interacting with patients and workers, drawing outrage from medical professionals who said he recklessly increased the risk of spreading Covid-19.
"It is a selfish display by Mike Pence disregarding Mayo Clinic policy by not wearing a mask," tweeted Dr. Rob Davidson, executive director of the Committee to Protect Medicare. "As an ER doc, on behalf of the staff with whom I work, I think he owes an apology to every essential worker keeping things going and trying not to get sick."
Video footage of a mask-less Pence walking around inside the facility and speaking with employees quickly went viral on social media. A Mayo Clinic spokesperson said Pence and his staff were made "aware of our policy regarding masking." Everyone in Pence's entourage except the vice president himself wore a face covering.
Watch:
CNN reported that Pence "did avoid shaking hands; he elbow-bumped instead with doctors and officials."
"But he was mask-less as he thanked workers, conferred with hospital administrators, and spoke with a Mayo Clinic employee who was donating plasma after being diagnosed with Covid-19 at the end of March," CNN noted.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that people wear masks in public, but it is not a federal requirement. President Donald Trump has not followed the CDC guidelines.
In response to outrage over his flouting of the Mayo Clinic's clear safety protocol, Pence told reporters that he didn't wear a mask because he is "tested for the coronavirus on a regular basis, and everyone who is around me is tested for the coronavirus."
"Since I don't have the coronavirus," Pence said, "I thought it'd be a good opportunity for me to be here, to be able to speak to these researchers, these incredible healthcare personnel, and look them in the eye and say thank you."
"When I warned everyone in February that Pence doesn't believe in science and shouldn't be in charge of Covid response, I meant it," tweeted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). "But I admit I did not have 'VP visits Covid patients without wearing a mask' on my bingo board."
Poll Shows Tens of Millions of Americans Would Avoid Covid-19 Treatment Over Cost Fears
"A country that puts people in this situation is not a country upholding its responsibility to its citizens."
Jake Johnson, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/29/poll-shows-tens-millions-americans-would-avoid-covid-19-treatment-over-cost-fears
A Gallup poll out Tuesday indicates that tens of millions of U.S. adults would avoid seeking potentially life-saving medical treatment for Covid-19 symptoms due to fears about their ability to afford the associated costs.
The survey results were viewed as an alarming though not surprising signal that America's uniquely expensive for-profit healthcare system—which has produced numerous horror stories of coronavirus patients being hit with massive surprise medical bills—could be forcing millions of people to forego medical care for the deadly and highly infectious virus.
"One out of every seven (14%) U.S. adults report that they would avoid seeking healthcare for a fever and a dry cough for themselves or a member of their household due to concerns about their ability to pay for it," Gallup found. "When framed explicitly as believing to have been infected by the novel coronavirus, 9% still report that they would avoid seeking care."
"This is terrifying," tweeted Bill Sweeney, senior vice president of government affairs with AARP Advocates."Adults under 30, non-whites, those with a high school education or less, and those in households with incomes under $40,000 per year are the groups most likely to indicate they would avoid seeking out care," Gallup reported.
Louise Aronson, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, said on Twitter "a country that puts people in this situation is not a country upholding its responsibility to its citizens."
According to a study released earlier this month by America's Health Insurance Plans, an insurance industry trade group, the average cost of coronavirus treatment for patients admitted to intensive care could exceed $30,000.
The terror that U.S. medical costs have induced in coronavirus patients was vividly captured earlier in April by New York City registered nurse anesthetist Derrick Smith.
In a viral social media post and subsequent press interviews, Smith told the tragic story of a man dying of Covid-19 who asked, "Who's going to pay for it?" as he was placed on a ventilator. Smith said he does not know if the patient survived but believes it is "pretty unlikely."
"I was very sad and honestly, a little horrified," Smith told CNN. "This demonstrates that we have a profound failure when one has to worry about their finances when they're dealing with much bigger issues that have to do with life or death."
The multi-trillion-dollar CARES Act that President Donald Trump signed into law last month included provisions aimed at requiring private insurers to make Covid-19 testing free for customers, but people could still be hit with large bills if they are tested by an out-of-network entity. Some major insurers, including Cigna and Humana, have vowed to waive out-of-pocket coronavirus treatment costs.
As for the tens of millions of people in the U.S. without health insurance—a number that is growing rapidly as mass layoffs continue—the Trump administration has vowed to use an unspecified amount of hospital funds from the CARES Act to cover coronavirus treatment costs for the uninsured.
Progressives argue that more systematic solutions are necessary to ensure that everyone in the U.S. is able to receive the treatment they need, for coronavirus and other ailments, without worrying about the potential costs.
In an op-ed for Politico on Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) made the case for his proposal to "empower Medicare to pay all of the healthcare costs for the uninsured, as well as all out-of-pocket expenses for those with existing public or private insurance, for as long as this pandemic continues."
The Health Care Emergency Guarantee Act, which Sanders introduced alongside Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) earlier this month, would provide "comprehensive coverage to far more Americans while saving taxpayers money," the Vermont senator wrote.
"At a time when many American families are waiting hours in food lines and are often unable to afford groceries, whatever amount of money is left in their pocket must be saved for the basic needs of their families, not exorbitant healthcare bills," said Sanders. "When so many of our people are struggling economically and are terrified by the possibility of becoming sick with the coronavirus, the government must take the burden of health care costs off the backs of working people."
Trump Labor Department Says It May Actively Defend Meatpacking Companies Over Workers in Covid-19 Lawsuits
"We have a president forcing hazardous meat plants to reopen, threatening workers' health. We have a Labor Department siding with corporations over workers' safety. Disgusting."
Jake Johnson, staff writer
16 Comments
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/29/trump-labor-department-says-it-may-actively-defend-meatpacking-companies-over
The stated mission of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is to protect workers, but the agency is signaling that it may actively defend meatpacking corporations against workplace safety lawsuits filed by employees who contract Covid-19 on the job if the companies show they made a "good faith" effort to comply with federal health guidelines.
But O'Scannlain and Sweatt said companies will have leeway to flout standards that they determine are not "feasible in the context of specific plants and circumstances," provided that they "document why that is the case."In a statement Tuesday shortly after President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA) to keep meat processing plants open amid the coronavirus pandemic, Solicitor of Labor Kate O'Scannlain and OSHA principal deputy secretary Loren Sweatt urged meatpacking employers to comply with the agency's non-binding safety guidelines.
"Where a meat, pork, or poultry processing employer operating pursuant to the president's invocation of the DPA has demonstrated good faith attempts to comply with the Joint Meat Processing Guidance and is sued for alleged workplace exposures," said O'Scannlain and Sweatt, "the Department of Labor will consider a request to participate in that litigation in support of the employer's compliance program."
Jordan Barab, former deputy assistant secretary at OSHA, said Wednesday that the Labor Department's statement constitutes "a free pass to meat and poultry processors."
In an interview on MSNBC Tuesday night, former OSHA senior policy adviser Debbie Berkowitz slammed her former agency for abdicating its responsibility to safeguard workers.
"There's a real price to pay for this kind of, I would call it government malfeasance," Berkowitz added."OSHA... has chosen—this is a choice—not to enforce any requirements in the meat industry to protect workers," said Berkowitz, who is currently the director of the worker health and safety program at the National Employment Law Project. "The [meatpacking] industry looked at these recommendations—they're voluntary—and in the end didn't implement them."
Meatpacking plants across the country have become coronavirus hot spots in April. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), the largest meatpacking union in the U.S., said in a statement Tuesday that at least 20 meatpacking workers have died of Covid-19 and more than 5,000 "have been hospitalized or are showing symptoms."
"The reality is that these workers are putting their lives on the line every day to keep our country fed during this deadly outbreak," said UFCW president Marc Perrone. "For the sake of all our families, we must prioritize the safety and security of these workers."
Critics warned that Trump's executive order mandating meatpacking plants remain open amid the pandemic could lead to another surge in Covid-19 infections and deaths among workers in the industry. According to the Washington Post, at least 20 meatpacking plants have closed in recent weeks due to coronavirus outbreaks at the facilities.
"We have a president forcing hazardous meat plants to reopen, threatening workers' health," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tweeted Wednesday. We have a Labor Department siding with corporations over workers' safety. Disgusting."
"Maybe this is too 'radical,'" Sanders added, "but we need a White House that protects public health during a pandemic."
Between January and early April, OSHA was flooded with thousands of worker complaints accusing employers of violating federal coronavirus guidelines and endangering employee safety by failing to provide adequate protective equipment.
But the agency, overseen by Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, has thus far refused to use its authority to force employers to comply with Covid-19 safety guidelines. OSHA is also massively understaffed with vacancies at 42% of its top career leadership positions, including such crucial spots as director of enforcement and director of whistleblower protection.
"OSHA's mission to protect workers in the most dangerous jobs has been seriously compromised under the Trump administration," Berkowitz said in a statement Tuesday. "The agency has essentially abandoned its responsibility to ensure that employers keep workers safe from Covid-19."
'Pathetic': Trump Says No to Additional Covid-19 Stimulus Checks, Backs Cutting Tax That Funds Social Security Instead
"Cutting payroll taxes does nothing to help seniors or the millions of people who just lost their jobs. It does, however, defund Social Security and Medicare—which is why Trump is obsessed with the idea."
by
Jake Johnson, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/29/pathetic-trump-says-no-additional-covid-19-stimulus-checks-backs-cutting-tax-funds
President Donald Trump on Tuesday expressed opposition to providing additional direct relief payments on top of the $1,200 checks that are slowly trickling out to eligible U.S. households, saying he would instead prefer to slash the tax that funds Social Security and Medicare.
"Well, I like the idea of payroll tax cuts," Trump said at a press conference when asked about the idea of authorizing another round of direct payments in the next coronavirus stimulus package as mass layoffs continue.
Watch:"I've liked that from the beginning," the president said. "That was a thing that I really would love to see happen. A lot of economists would agree with me. A lot of people agree with me. And I think frankly it's simple, it's not the big distribution, and it would really be an incentive for people to come back to work and for employers to hire."
Trump has floated the idea of a payroll tax cut several times in recent weeks—suggesting at one point earlier this month that the cut should be permanent—even though the move would not provide any relief for the tens of millions of people who have lost their jobs since mid-March.
"Economists don't actually agree with him," said Justin Wolfers, economics professor at the University of Michigan. "Payroll tax cuts are too slow and poorly targeted."
But a payroll tax cut would advance a longstanding objective of the conservative movement by striking a blow to Social Security and Medicare funding, advocacy groups pointed out. The CARES Act, which Trump signed into law last month, contained a little-noticed provision allowing employers to delay payment of the payroll tax for at least the rest of 2020.
"Unlike additional stimulus checks, cutting payroll taxes does nothing to help seniors or the millions of people who just lost their jobs," tweeted Social Security Works. "It does, however, defund Social Security and Medicare—which is why Trump is obsessed with the idea."
The president's opposition to additional direct payments comes as progressive lawmakers and activists are pushing for $2,000 monthly payments to all U.S. households for the duration of the Covid-19 crisis because the initial $1,200—for those lucky enough to have received it—was far from sufficient to cover basic expenses.
"Pathetic," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in response to Trump's remarks. "A payroll tax cut does nothing for the 26 million who lost their jobs. With rent due on May 1, we need to provide $2,000 a month to everyone until this crisis is over. If we can bail out corporations, we can make sure everyone has enough to pay for basic necessities."
Oil price rally belies hard Covid-19 realities
Oil price rally is being driven by irrational exuberance with little real good economic or industry news in sight
TIM DAISS
APRIL 30, 2020
https://asiatimes.com/2020/04/oil-price-rally-belies-hard-covid-19-realities/
While global oil prices rise after a historic collapse, there is little if any supply or demand indication that the speculative spike is sustainable.
As Big Oil companies’ first quarter (Q1) results start to stream in, it’s just as likely the bad earnings news leads to an even more profound drop into the single digits.
PetroChina and Sinopec both announced troubling pandemic-hit earnings in Q1, deflating certain hopes that China’s super oil majors might help to sustainably lift deflated global oil prices.
PetroChina, China’s largest oil and gas producer, reported a Q1 net loss of 16.2 billion yuan (US$2.29 billion), compared to a profit of 10.3 billion yuan over the same period last year.
The oil major’s Q1 revenue dropped some 14.4%, despite a 4% increase in crude oil production and an 8.7% rise in natural gas output. The company blamed its dismal quarterly results on the coronavirus and a “significant increase in instability and uncertainty.”
Sinopec, China’s largest oil refiner by capacity, reported a Q1 loss of 19.8 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) after a profit of 14.8 billion yuan over the same period a year earlier. Its refinery segment was hit particularly hard, as fuel demand in China collapsed due to Covid-19’s impact.
Both PetroChina’s and Sinopec’s Q1 2020 releases came the same day that global oil markets rallied, at least temporarily shrugging off the gloom and doom of recent trading sessions.
On Wednesday (April 29), global oil benchmark Brent crude rose some 8.5% to $22.80 per barrel. In early trading in Asia on Thursday, Brent nearly hit $25 per barrel.
US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, the world’s most actively traded oil futures contract, had an even better outing, increasing by a whopping 25% at one point on Wednesday before settling at $15.50 per barrel, a 15.5 % increase. Early Thursday, WTI continued its momentum, spiking another 14.5% to $17.15 per barrel.
Both price benchmarks, which have been hyper-sensitive to news headlines over the past two months, reacted to news that Norway, Western Europe’s largest crude producer, agreed to cut oil production by 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) in June, and by 134,000 bpd in the second half of 2020. It represents Norway’s first oil production cut in nearly two decades.
Oil markets, seizing any positive news it could grasp, also trended upward over the two sessions after drug marker Gilead Services said that the results of one of its studies indicated that the Remdesivir drug had a positive effect in treating the coronavirus.
Yet recent the oil price gains are premature and can’t be sustained given the ongoing oil supply and demand imbalance. Moreover, oil prices still haven’t found a floor and thus will likely see more whipsaw price spikes and plunges over the mid-term.
Global oil majors will see both earnings and profits continue to plunge going forward, a trend that will stress their balance sheets, deter new exploration and disrupt existing production, and drive down share prices and dividend payouts. Indeed, it’s not clear to some analysts Big Oil companies will ever regain their past financial and political clout.
For prices to find a floor and then trend upward, more and sustained oil demand is needed, all the while coming amid more oil production shut-ins as producers around the world are increasingly unable to pump so far beneath their breakeven price points.
Oil markets are in uncharted territory amid the worst demand destruction in history and the first global health pandemic in more than a century.
As much as 25-30 million barrels per day (bpd) of demand destruction is projected for April, with oil storage levels precariously close to full capacity, particularly in the US, currently the world’s top oil producer.
US oil stockpiles rose by 15 million barrels to 518.6 million barrels for the week ending April 17, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Storage at Cushing, Oklahoma, the largest storage facility in the country after the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, increased around 10% in a week to 59.7 million barrels, about 25 million barrels shy of its capacity.
While US oil inventory levels fill up in May, total global oil storage is projected to be full by June at the latest. The Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) reported earlier this month that worldwide crude stocks could rise by as much as 11.9 million bpd in the second quarter of this year.
In Asia, the problem is particularly acute. South Korea, with the fourth-largest commercial storage capacity in Asia, recently ran out of room to store more oil, media outlets reported on Monday. India, the world’s third largest oil importer after China and the US, is also reportedly nearing its storage capacity.
China, the world’s largest oil importer accounting for a massive 10% of global demand, has been seizing the opportunity of multi-year low prices to fill its own strategic and commercial oil reserves. They are expected to reach around 90% capacity by year’s end. Whether actual Chinese demand will return by then is another question altogether.
APRIL 30, 2020
https://asiatimes.com/2020/04/oil-price-rally-belies-hard-covid-19-realities/
While global oil prices rise after a historic collapse, there is little if any supply or demand indication that the speculative spike is sustainable.
As Big Oil companies’ first quarter (Q1) results start to stream in, it’s just as likely the bad earnings news leads to an even more profound drop into the single digits.
PetroChina and Sinopec both announced troubling pandemic-hit earnings in Q1, deflating certain hopes that China’s super oil majors might help to sustainably lift deflated global oil prices.
PetroChina, China’s largest oil and gas producer, reported a Q1 net loss of 16.2 billion yuan (US$2.29 billion), compared to a profit of 10.3 billion yuan over the same period last year.
The oil major’s Q1 revenue dropped some 14.4%, despite a 4% increase in crude oil production and an 8.7% rise in natural gas output. The company blamed its dismal quarterly results on the coronavirus and a “significant increase in instability and uncertainty.”
Sinopec, China’s largest oil refiner by capacity, reported a Q1 loss of 19.8 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) after a profit of 14.8 billion yuan over the same period a year earlier. Its refinery segment was hit particularly hard, as fuel demand in China collapsed due to Covid-19’s impact.
Both PetroChina’s and Sinopec’s Q1 2020 releases came the same day that global oil markets rallied, at least temporarily shrugging off the gloom and doom of recent trading sessions.
On Wednesday (April 29), global oil benchmark Brent crude rose some 8.5% to $22.80 per barrel. In early trading in Asia on Thursday, Brent nearly hit $25 per barrel.
US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, the world’s most actively traded oil futures contract, had an even better outing, increasing by a whopping 25% at one point on Wednesday before settling at $15.50 per barrel, a 15.5 % increase. Early Thursday, WTI continued its momentum, spiking another 14.5% to $17.15 per barrel.
Both price benchmarks, which have been hyper-sensitive to news headlines over the past two months, reacted to news that Norway, Western Europe’s largest crude producer, agreed to cut oil production by 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) in June, and by 134,000 bpd in the second half of 2020. It represents Norway’s first oil production cut in nearly two decades.
Oil markets, seizing any positive news it could grasp, also trended upward over the two sessions after drug marker Gilead Services said that the results of one of its studies indicated that the Remdesivir drug had a positive effect in treating the coronavirus.
Yet recent the oil price gains are premature and can’t be sustained given the ongoing oil supply and demand imbalance. Moreover, oil prices still haven’t found a floor and thus will likely see more whipsaw price spikes and plunges over the mid-term.
Global oil majors will see both earnings and profits continue to plunge going forward, a trend that will stress their balance sheets, deter new exploration and disrupt existing production, and drive down share prices and dividend payouts. Indeed, it’s not clear to some analysts Big Oil companies will ever regain their past financial and political clout.
For prices to find a floor and then trend upward, more and sustained oil demand is needed, all the while coming amid more oil production shut-ins as producers around the world are increasingly unable to pump so far beneath their breakeven price points.
Oil markets are in uncharted territory amid the worst demand destruction in history and the first global health pandemic in more than a century.
As much as 25-30 million barrels per day (bpd) of demand destruction is projected for April, with oil storage levels precariously close to full capacity, particularly in the US, currently the world’s top oil producer.
US oil stockpiles rose by 15 million barrels to 518.6 million barrels for the week ending April 17, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Storage at Cushing, Oklahoma, the largest storage facility in the country after the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, increased around 10% in a week to 59.7 million barrels, about 25 million barrels shy of its capacity.
While US oil inventory levels fill up in May, total global oil storage is projected to be full by June at the latest. The Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) reported earlier this month that worldwide crude stocks could rise by as much as 11.9 million bpd in the second quarter of this year.
In Asia, the problem is particularly acute. South Korea, with the fourth-largest commercial storage capacity in Asia, recently ran out of room to store more oil, media outlets reported on Monday. India, the world’s third largest oil importer after China and the US, is also reportedly nearing its storage capacity.
China, the world’s largest oil importer accounting for a massive 10% of global demand, has been seizing the opportunity of multi-year low prices to fill its own strategic and commercial oil reserves. They are expected to reach around 90% capacity by year’s end. Whether actual Chinese demand will return by then is another question altogether.
Trump orders meatpacking workers back on the job as opposition mounts to back-to-work campaign
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/29/pers-a29.html
29 April 2020
US President Donald Trump’s executive order invoking the Defense Production Act to force employees at meatpacking plants back to work marks a new stage in his administration’s confrontation with the working class.
Trump has refused to compel companies to produce emergency protective equipment and testing supplies despite widespread shortages of both. But when it comes to forcing workers to toil in unsafe and unsanitary conditions, Trump is mobilizing all the powers at his disposal.
The White House is seeking to set a precedent for enforcing a return to work while absolving corporations of any legal responsibility. The order will indemnify Tyson Foods and other meatpacking companies from lawsuits from employees who say they have been forced to work in unsafe conditions.
At least 20 meat and food processing workers have died from COVID-19, and 5,000 have been infected or quarantined. On Tuesday, several dozen workers walked off the job at the Smithfield Foods pork plant in Crete, Nebraska after the company reversed course and announced it would not close for cleaning, even though 48 workers at the facility tested positive.
From Kathleen, Georgia to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, meat processing workers have protested and walked off the job to demand proper protection and sanitation. These highly exploited workforces are disproportionately composed of immigrants from Latin America and east Africa.
With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to rage, infecting over three million people and claiming the lives of at least 216,000 globally, working-class opposition to the back-to-work effort being pursued by ruling elites, largely ignored by the media, is erupting all over the world.
The United States remains the epicenter of the pandemic, with more than one million cases and nearly 60,000 confirmed deaths. The world’s richest country, with less than five percent of the global population, now accounts for one third of all cases.
A recent series of polls shows that, despite the media’s promotion of small right-wing “back to work” protests, Americans overwhelmingly support stay-at-home orders and other social distancing measures. Last week, a Politico/Morning Consult poll found that 76 percent of respondents supported continuing restrictive measures for as long as necessary to curb the pandemic, even if it harmed the economy.
Garment workers in Selma, Alabama walked off the job Thursday, shutting down their plant after several workers at the facility contracted COVID-19. One worker summed up the general sentiment: “They don’t care about us. They just want us to work.”
On Sunday, 8,500 miles away, garment workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh took to the streets to demand two months back wages as they face starvation without any income. The global center of garment production had been shut down since March as workers refused to work in unsafe conditions.
Bangladesh continues to see a rise in the number of daily confirmed cases, and there are no indications that the pandemic is on the wane. Nonetheless, factory owners began reopening their plants this weekend, with most refusing to implement any safety measures, such as providing hand sanitizer or keeping workers apart at their workstations.
Wildcat strikes by autoworkers in Michigan, Ohio and Ontario shut down the auto industry in March, even as the United Auto Workers was negotiating with the companies to find ways to keep the factories running during the pandemic. Joint union-company plans to reopen the plants by the beginning of May have been pushed back two weeks as workers resist returning.
Just across the US border in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, thousands of maquiladora workers who build auto parts and consumer electronic components have gone on strike and protested to demand the closure of their plants with full pay. As of last week, thirteen maquiladora workers had died in the city, accounting for nearly half of all confirmed coronavirus fatalities.
The coronavirus is now spreading rapidly in Latin America. In late March, thousands of call center workers staged wildcat strikes throughout Brazil over unsafe conditions, declaring, “We will not die in our cubicles!” The strikes, which followed calls by Italian workers for a mass strike against one of the same major transnational companies operating in Brazil, was denounced by the union that purports to represent the call center workforce.
Workers employed by food delivery App companies struck in several cities in Brazil as well as in Ecuador, Argentina and Chile beginning on April 17, demanding safer working conditions and increased pay. The actions followed a similar strike in Spain.
Nurses quit en masse Monday to protest the lack of protective personal equipment and low wages at the Kommunarka hospital in Moscow, one of the main facilities for treating coronavirus patients in the city. While nonessential businesses were closed at the end of March and confirmed cases in Russia have been surging by the thousands every day, plans are already being drawn up by government ministers for a return to work.
So far, every measure taken by world governments under the guise of combatting the pandemic has been dictated by the interests of the ruling elite. Trillions of dollars have been transferred from the working class to the banks and corporations, fueling the massive rise of stock markets. After enriching itself, the ruling class is demanding that workers get back on the job to create the surplus value and profits necessary to underwrite these subsidies for the rich.
Workers demanding safe working conditions and the closure of nonessential industries cannot rely on the unions, which throughout the crisis have worked for the companies in an effort to keep as many workers on the job as possible and to stamp out signs of opposition.
To fight for their interests, workers must form independent rank-and-file safety committees in every workplace, independent of the unions, to organize and coordinate action with their brothers and sisters in every industry around the world to demand a scientifically and medically guided response to the pandemic.
These committees must raise the demand that there be no return to work at nonessential industries. Those workers engaged in work essential to the functioning of society must be guaranteed every protection. Full income must be guaranteed for all those workers who are laid off or furloughed for the duration of the pandemic. Workers must establish control over health and safety at their workplaces, in consultation with medical professionals, to ensure safe conditions.
Above all, this requires taking up the fight for international socialism, uniting all workers internationally across industrial, linguistic and national lines, a political perspective that is diametrically opposed to the capitalist ruling elite.
Niles Niemuth
China faces triple whammy amid Covid-19 crisis
Factory activity slows, export orders dry up and consumers worry about job security as the virus stalks the planet
By GORDON WATTS
APRIL 30, 2020
https://asiatimes.com/2020/04/china-faces-triple-whammy-amid-covid-19-crisis/
China faces a triple whammy as it cranks up the economy amid the Covid-19 crisis.
Factory activity is proving sluggish, international trade is facing “greater challenges” and consumer spending is shrinking because of unemployment fears.
With vast regions of the planet still in lockdown, the omens are ominous.
On Thursday, crucial Chinese data about manufacturing activity illustrated the bumpy road to recovery.
Official numbers released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the Purchasing Managers’ Index in April came in at 50.8 compared to 52.0 last month, which was down from analysts’ forecasts. A figure above 50 separates expansion from contraction.
“The spread of the pandemic is accelerating overseas, and global economic activity has contracted sharply,” Zhao Qinghe, a senior statistician at the NBS, said in a statement.
“[With] insufficient orders, China’s foreign trade faces greater challenges,” Zhao added.
Another survey published just hours later painted an even gloomier picture.
The Caixin/Markit PMI tends to feature a mix of small- and medium-sized companies compared to the National Bureau of Statistics poll, which concentrates on big businesses and state-owned enterprises.
‘Sharp fall’
For April, it dropped to 49.4 compared to 50.1 last month. But it was still above February’s reading of 40.3, the steepest fall on record.
“The sharp drop in export orders seriously hindered China’s economic recovery in April, although businesses were gradually getting back to work,” Zhong Zhengsheng, the director of macroeconomic analysis at the CEBM Group, said in a note accompanying the Caixin/Markit poll.
“Amid the second shockwave from the pandemic, the problems of low business confidence, shrinking employment and large inventories of industrial raw materials became more serious. A package of macroeconomic policies, as suggested in the April 17 Politburo meeting, must be implemented urgently,” Zhong added.
Indeed, these are unprecedented times. So far, more than 3.2 million people have been infected globally by Covid-19 with the death toll edging past 228,000.
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="540px" width="960px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
Major trading partners, such as the United States and Europe, have been badly hit along with leading Southeast Asia nations. The fallout will certainly descend on China and could crimp consumer spending for the rest of 2020.
Earlier this week, a study released by the People’s Bank of China gave a snapshot of household sentiment. Compiled in the first quarter, the PBOC polled 20,000 bank customers in 50 cities across the country.
Slightly more than 53% of those interviewed revealed that they would be saving more because of concerns about a virus “second-wave” and a deteriorating employment outlook.
A similar story has been reported in the United States and Europe as economies across the globe struggle with the Covid-19 catastrophe, threatening lives and livelihoods.
In China, this could lead to deflationary pressure and force Beijing to increase stimulus measures.
“We have already seen reports of China’s factories laying off workers due to foreign buyers withdrawing orders. Factories’ profits will fall throughout the supply chain in China. This will hit employment and wages and therefore domestic demand,” Iris Pang, the chief economist for Greater China at ING, the multinational bank, said in a note.
“Global demand is likely to remain weak due to high unemployment rates in major economies. China’s export orders from the rest of the world should be smaller on both a quarter-on-quarter as well as a year-on-year basis. This is confirmed by the very bad new export orders sub-index of the [official] manufacturing PMI at 33.5,” she added.
President Xi Jinping’s government is particularly concerned about struggling small- and medium-sized companies. They have borne the brunt of the pandemic and many are still in intensive care.
Creating 60% of China’s GDP growth, the private sector accounts for around 80% of urban jobs and includes legions of SMEs.
“Public records suggest that at least half a million firms [in China] were dissolved in the first quarter and more are likely to close shop,” Mark Williams, the chief Asia economist at Capital Economics, said earlier this month.
In turn, this will heighten anxiety about job security in the world’s second-largest economy.
Last week, a report released by The Economist Intelligence Unit predicted that urban unemployment, excluding 290 million migrant workers, would reach 10% this year compared to 3.6% in 2019.
“We estimate at least an additional 22 million urban workers will lose their jobs in 2020, pushing up the unemployment rate to around 10%. A further 250 million could experience wage cuts in the range of 10 [to] 50%,” the EIU said.
But that might be on the conservative side. UBS Securities reported that up to 80 million jobs have been lost in the service sector, industry and construction. “China’s labor market pressure may be the most challenging since the late 1990s and early 2000s,” it said.
Now, that is a chilling thought.
https://asiatimes.com/2020/04/china-faces-triple-whammy-amid-covid-19-crisis/
China faces a triple whammy as it cranks up the economy amid the Covid-19 crisis.
Factory activity is proving sluggish, international trade is facing “greater challenges” and consumer spending is shrinking because of unemployment fears.
With vast regions of the planet still in lockdown, the omens are ominous.
On Thursday, crucial Chinese data about manufacturing activity illustrated the bumpy road to recovery.
Official numbers released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the Purchasing Managers’ Index in April came in at 50.8 compared to 52.0 last month, which was down from analysts’ forecasts. A figure above 50 separates expansion from contraction.
“The spread of the pandemic is accelerating overseas, and global economic activity has contracted sharply,” Zhao Qinghe, a senior statistician at the NBS, said in a statement.
“[With] insufficient orders, China’s foreign trade faces greater challenges,” Zhao added.
Another survey published just hours later painted an even gloomier picture.
The Caixin/Markit PMI tends to feature a mix of small- and medium-sized companies compared to the National Bureau of Statistics poll, which concentrates on big businesses and state-owned enterprises.
‘Sharp fall’
For April, it dropped to 49.4 compared to 50.1 last month. But it was still above February’s reading of 40.3, the steepest fall on record.
“The sharp drop in export orders seriously hindered China’s economic recovery in April, although businesses were gradually getting back to work,” Zhong Zhengsheng, the director of macroeconomic analysis at the CEBM Group, said in a note accompanying the Caixin/Markit poll.
“Amid the second shockwave from the pandemic, the problems of low business confidence, shrinking employment and large inventories of industrial raw materials became more serious. A package of macroeconomic policies, as suggested in the April 17 Politburo meeting, must be implemented urgently,” Zhong added.
Indeed, these are unprecedented times. So far, more than 3.2 million people have been infected globally by Covid-19 with the death toll edging past 228,000.
Major trading partners, such as the United States and Europe, have been badly hit along with leading Southeast Asia nations. The fallout will certainly descend on China and could crimp consumer spending for the rest of 2020.
Earlier this week, a study released by the People’s Bank of China gave a snapshot of household sentiment. Compiled in the first quarter, the PBOC polled 20,000 bank customers in 50 cities across the country.
Slightly more than 53% of those interviewed revealed that they would be saving more because of concerns about a virus “second-wave” and a deteriorating employment outlook.
A similar story has been reported in the United States and Europe as economies across the globe struggle with the Covid-19 catastrophe, threatening lives and livelihoods.
In China, this could lead to deflationary pressure and force Beijing to increase stimulus measures.
“We have already seen reports of China’s factories laying off workers due to foreign buyers withdrawing orders. Factories’ profits will fall throughout the supply chain in China. This will hit employment and wages and therefore domestic demand,” Iris Pang, the chief economist for Greater China at ING, the multinational bank, said in a note.
“Global demand is likely to remain weak due to high unemployment rates in major economies. China’s export orders from the rest of the world should be smaller on both a quarter-on-quarter as well as a year-on-year basis. This is confirmed by the very bad new export orders sub-index of the [official] manufacturing PMI at 33.5,” she added.
President Xi Jinping’s government is particularly concerned about struggling small- and medium-sized companies. They have borne the brunt of the pandemic and many are still in intensive care.
Creating 60% of China’s GDP growth, the private sector accounts for around 80% of urban jobs and includes legions of SMEs.
“Public records suggest that at least half a million firms [in China] were dissolved in the first quarter and more are likely to close shop,” Mark Williams, the chief Asia economist at Capital Economics, said earlier this month.
In turn, this will heighten anxiety about job security in the world’s second-largest economy.
Last week, a report released by The Economist Intelligence Unit predicted that urban unemployment, excluding 290 million migrant workers, would reach 10% this year compared to 3.6% in 2019.
“We estimate at least an additional 22 million urban workers will lose their jobs in 2020, pushing up the unemployment rate to around 10%. A further 250 million could experience wage cuts in the range of 10 [to] 50%,” the EIU said.
But that might be on the conservative side. UBS Securities reported that up to 80 million jobs have been lost in the service sector, industry and construction. “China’s labor market pressure may be the most challenging since the late 1990s and early 2000s,” it said.
Now, that is a chilling thought.
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