The USA has been hit by a ‘Striketober’ of industrial action across a range of sectors: from healthcare to construction; carpentry to coal mining; media to communications; snack foods and cereal manufacturing. In all, 100,000 workers voted to authorise strike action this month.

On Friday 28 May, forty thousand people gathered on Prešeren Square in Ljubljana to protest against the reactionary policies of Janez Janša. In a way, the protest is a culmination of social movements that began even before Janša’s round of austerity measures in Slovenia. Trade unions; civic, student and academic organisations; as well as the Levica (Left) party, took part in the protests.