· AUSTRALIA $1.50 · canada $1.00 · france 1.00 euro · new zealand $1.50 · sweden kr10 · uk £.50 · u.s. $1.00 INSIDE Bolivia: capitalist forces mobilize against gov’t measures — PAGE 3

A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE vol. 72 /no. 2 January 14, 2008 Pakistan: after Socialist Workers Party launches assassination, capitalist parties presidential ticket of Calero, Kennedy call for ‘nat’l SWP candidates announced in state and local races BY Olympia Newton unity’ gov’t NEW YORK—The Socialist Workers Party is launching its 2008 BY sam manuel election campaign, and campaign WASHINGTON—In the wake of supporters are hitting the streets to the assassination of former Pakistan win support for the working-class al- prime minister Benazir Bhutto, lead- ternative in the November elections. ers of her party and other capitalist Róger Calero, 38, is the party’s opposition forces are pressing for candidate for president of the United quick elections in order to form a States. Alyson Kennedy, 57, is its “national unity” government. The Bush administration is using the assassination to push Pakistani Biographies of president Pervez Musharraf to do Calero and Kennedy more in the “war against terrorism.” — p. 6 His regime has blamed al-Qaeda for List of the killing. Leaders of the main op- SWP candidates position parties have accused the — p. 6–7 government of a cover-up, and a pos- sible hand in the killing. Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan candidate for vice president. Calero, Peoples Party (PPP), was killed De- a writer for the Militant, and Ken- Militant/Paul Pederson cember 27 when assailants attacked nedy, a garment worker, are joined Socialist Workers Party candidates Róger Calero for president and Alyson Kennedy for vice president are presenting a fighting, working-class alternative to the capitalist parties. her motorcade following a rally in by more than 30 SWP candidates Rawalpindi. Her 19-year-old son, for local, state, and federal offices in Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, has been 12 states and the District of Colum- Special election campaign forums... named as her successor and chair- bia (see biographies of Kennedy and Militant Labor Forums across the United States over the January 4–6 and January man of the PPP. Her husband Asif Calero, and initial candidates’ list on 10–12 weekends will discuss the results of the Iowa caucuses, the New Hampshire pri- Ali Zardari is cochairman. page 6). maries, and what the Socialist Workers 2008 election campaign stands and fights for. Widespread protests against the Supporters of the socialist ticket For more information, contact ‘Militant’ distributors near you, listed on page 8! assassination that erupted in major will be campaigning at factory plant cities and in Bhutto’s home province gates, joining candidates’ debates, of Sindh have largely ended. Dur- participating in labor and other polit- ing the protests hundreds of banks, ical actions, and raising money from Profit drive Canada gov’t police stations, rail terminals, and workers. They will also be petition- factories were burned. Musharraf ing to get the SWP candidates on the Continued on page 3 Continued on page 7 of U.S. coal postpones New Orleans: workers protest bosses killed deportation plans to demolish public housing 32 in 2007 after protests By Steve Warshell to homeless workers living in a tent By Chris Hoeppner By Ned Dmytryshyn HOUSTON—Black and other city outside City Hall that they had SEATTLE—In mid-December two VANCOUVER, British Colum- working-class residents of New Or- one more week before eviction. more workers at coal mines in the bia—More than 1,500 people rallied leans held several protests in Decem- The attacks are the latest examples of United States were killed on the job, at the Vancouver International Air- ber against city plans to demolish the social disaster—caused by capital- raising to 32 the number killed by port December 10, compelling Ca- public housing. Municipal authorities ist greed and indifference—that has un- the coal bosses’ deadly profit drive in nadian authorities to postpone their responded with a police assault on folded in the Gulf region for more than 2007. moves to deport Laibar Singh to In- demonstrators. Cops also gave notice two and a half years since Hurricane A truck driver was killed Decem- dia. Many of the demonstrators were Katrina. ber 12 at the Bear Canyon No. 4 mine members of the Punjabi Sikh com- At the end of November, near Huntington, Utah. The unidenti- munity in the Vancouver area. New Orleans city officials, fied victim was a driver for Trimac Protest actions to support Singh along with the Housing Au- Trucking Co. The Bear Canyon mine were held the same day in Toronto thority of New Orleans and is operated by C.W. Mining Co. Continued on page 2 the federal Housing and Urban The trucker’s vehicle had got stuck Development agency (HUD), in the snow. A loader at the mine was decided to implement their preparing to pull it out when the driv- plan to demolish the city’s four er was crushed between the loader Also Inside: largest public housing devel- and the truck, a spokesperson for the China: the consequences opments, further reducing the Mine Safety and Health Administra- of Mao’s ‘Cultural Revolution’ 4 housing available to working tion (MSHA) told the Salt Lake Tri- people. The 4,605 low-income bune. Canada auto workers union public housing apartments Four months earlier, nine people ratifies no-strike deal 5 were slated for demolition and were killed in the disaster at the were to be replaced by 744 Crandall Canyon mine, near Hun- low-income public housing tington. SWP campaign will seek to apartments—barely 16 percent On December 14, David Neal, 57, renew disclosure exemption 7 of the previous number. of Dixie, West Virginia, died at a AP How to confront housing Homeless workers in New Orleans remove their belong- Nearly two-thirds of the Charleston hospital from injuries ings December 21 after local government gave notice of city’s rental housing stock was received in a fall 10 days earlier at crisis facing working people 9 eviction from tent city they set up in front of City Hall. Continued on page 3 Continued on page 2 Protests halt deportation Continued from front page ments for travel. International and and Montreal, reported Harsha Wa- Canadian refugee laws recognize the lia from the organization No One Is reality that refugees are often forced Illegal, one of the groups that has led to travel with false papers. the antideportation actions. “We will continue to organize Singh entered Canada in 2003 ap- further activities which will be an- plying for refugee status. In 2005 the nounced,” Walia said. “We encour- Indian-born worker suffered a stroke age people to support this fight by that left him a paraplegic. Despite his writing to Canadian immigration health and pending legal appeals, the minister Diane Findlay in Ottawa, Canadian government issued a de- calling on the Canadian government portation order against him for July to grant Laibar Singh refugee sta- 8, 2007. tus.” Rally organizer Harpreet Singh, Protesters at the airport surround- who works for Radio India in Van- ed the taxi carrying Singh, chanting couver, noted that as a result of com- slogans demanding that Ottawa let munity pressure Singh received two him remain in the country. In face stays of deportation. A petition with of this outpouring, border police said 40,000 signatures was presented to Singh would be allowed to temporar- Canadian parliament in support of ily stay in Canada. his right to remain in Canada. The action in support of Singh Organizations that have supported took place two weeks after a dem- Singh include the Canadian Labour onstration of 1,000 at the Vancouver Congress, British Columbia Hospital airport protesting the cop killing of Employees’ Union, BC Coalition of Robert Dziekanski, a Polish immi- December 10 protest at Vancouver airport prevented the deportation of Laibar Singh People With Disabilities, and the As- grant. sociation of Chinese Canadians for Last March defenders of South to the deaths of three Punjabi farm workers into the vehicle, the boss Equality and Solidarity Society. Asian immigrants held a rally in workers. A company van carrying 17 had taken out the regular seats and On his arrival in Canada, Singh Surrey, a Vancouver suburb, to pro- women workers to their jobs flipped replaced them with wooden benches said that he had used false docu- test the unsafe conditions that led over on the highway. To jam more without seat belts. Thirty-two miners killed last year in coal bosses’ drive for profit Continued from front page a state mine safety official told the Canyon mine. from pillars holding up the mine roof. the Mammoth 130 mine. The under- media. The general manager of the Utah The Crandall Canyon mine lies deep ground operation, located near the Neal was the eighth West Virginia state government’s Intermountain under a mountain. community of Mammoth in Kanawha coal miner killed on the job in 2007. Power Agency (IPA), James Hewlett, Murray’s lawyers opposed releas- County, is run by a Massey Energy wrote, “IPA believes that the public’s ing the records arguing that there was subsidiary. Crandall Canyon mine interest in obtaining information about no “public interest” in how Crandall Neal and another worker were on In a separate development, a Utah the Crandall Canyon mine outweighs Canyon was operated and that the the surface changing rollers on a sus- state agency rejected efforts by attor- petitioners’ interest in protecting in- disclosure could harm the company pended, overland conveyor belt. The neys for coal boss Robert Murray to formation that has little, if any, com- and give competitors an unfair advan- belt started moving unexpectedly and block the release of records relating mercial value given that the Crandall tage. Neal fell nearly 40 feet to the ground, to the August collapse at the Crandall Canyon mine is currently closed.” “This theory has a fatal flaw,” The Salt Lake Tribune had request- Hewlett wrote. “The Crandall Canyon ed a copy of the records from IPA. Mine has no customers and, therefore, The agency is a co-owner of the Cran- no competitors. It is difficult to un- dall Canyon mine with Andalex Re- derstand how current or former cus- sources, a Murray-owned subsidiary. tomers could use any of the disputed IPA operates several coal-fired power information to negotiate a better con- plants, buying coal from Utah mines tract when the mine cannot fulfill any Fight for safety through union power! and selling the electricity to Califor- contracts.” nia and Utah utilities. Andalex Resources was given 30

The ‘Militant’ tells the · AUSTRALIA $1.50 · cAnAdA $1.50 · fRAnce 1.00 eURo · new zeALAnd $1.50 · Sweden kR10 · Uk £.50 · U.S. $1.00 The Tribune asked for documents days to appeal before any records

Special supplement on truth about the results of response to Utah mine disaster relating to safety, engineering, and could be released. A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE vOL. 71/SUPPLEmENT AUGUST 2007 accidents at the mine. The request Murray-owned companies have the bosses’ profit drive Minnesota Safety is a union question! meat packers included information about “bounc- sued to block the release of other doc- against workers’ wages, fight drive No miner has to die! against union Answer bosses’ efforts to deflect blame for Utah mine cave-in es”—incidents in which pressure uments relating to the Crandall Can- By REBECCA WILLIAMSON With six coal miners trapped after a SOUTH ST. PAUL, Minnesota, cave-in at the Crandall Canyon (Genwal) August 8—Workers at Dakota Premium coal mine near Huntington, Utah, we benefits, and safety. Foods, a beef slaughterhouse here, join with other workers in saying: “No passed out copies of the newly reissued miner has to die!” The truth must be told from above causes coal to explode yon collapse as well. Workers’ Voice last week as part of their about the unsafe conditions facing min- efforts to beat a company campaign to ers at Crandall Canyon and elsewhere, decertify the union. The ‘Militant’ points to The Workers’ Voice is a newsletter Editorial produced by members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) why such disasters are caused by boss- Local 789 in the plant. It was “born es’ profit-driven disregard for safety, through the fight to bring the union into and why the only way to enforce safe Dakota Premium that broke out June 1, conditions on the job is through workers the need to bring union 2000, when we had a sit-down strike for organizing into unions. seven and a half hours to demand the To help get out the facts, we urge you company slow down the line speed and to get this special four-page issue of the subscription send $65, drawn on a U.S. stop forcing workers to work while in- Militant into the hands of fellow work-

jured,” said its most recent issue. ers and farmers as widely as possible. AP/Rick Bowmer Local 789 members decided to reissue Despite the statements by Murray Rescue workers exit a mine shaft at the Crandall Canyon mine outside Huntington, Utah, bank, to above address. By first class (air- power to bear in order to the newsletter as part of a campaign to Continued on page 2 August 8. Six miners have been trapped inside since a massive cave-in August 6. defend their union from decertification. The Militant Leading up to the expiration of the union contract June 30, pro-company workers Utah miners, relatives speak out on mail), send $80. began circulating petitions to get rid of Vol. 72/No. 2 the union. Bosses have been organizing enforce safety on the job. meetings, passing out anti-union propa- unsafe conditions before cave-in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East: Send Don’t miss a single issue! August 2007 ‘Militant’ supplement after Closing news date: January 2, 2008 $65 drawn on a U.S. bank to above address. cave-in at Crandall Canyon mine. Editor: Olympia Newton Canada: Send Canadian $45 for one-year Managing Editor: Paul Pederson subscription to the Militant, 2238 Dundas Washington correspondent: Sam Manuel St. West, Suite 201, Toronto, ON. Postal Editorial volunteers: Róger Calero, Code: M6R 3A9. SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Cindy Jaquith, Martín Koppel, Doug United Kingdom: £25 for one year by Nelson, Ben O’Shaughnessy, Jacob Perasso, check or international money order made and Rebecca Williamson. out to CL London, First Floor, 120 Bethnal Green (Entrance in Brick Lane), London, NEW READERS Published weekly except for one week in E2 6DG, England. NAME January, two weeks in July, and one week Republic of Ireland and Continental in August. Europe: £50 for one year by check or .$5 for 12 issues The Militant (ISSN 0026-3885), 306 W. international money order made out to CL ADDRESS 37th Street, 10th floor, New York, NY London at above address. 10018. Telephone: (212) 244-4899 France: Send 76 euros for one-year sub- RENEWAL Fax: (212) 244-4947 scription to Diffusion du Militant, P.O. Box CITY STATE ZIP E-mail: [email protected] 175, 23 rue Lecourbe, 75015 Paris. Website: www.themilitant.com Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark: .$10 for 12 weeks Send 400 Swedish kronor for one year to UNION/SCHOOL/ORGANIZATION PHONE Correspondence concerning subscriptions or changes of address should be addressed Bildhuggarvägen 17, 12144 Johanneshov, .$20 for 6 months to the Militant, 306 W. 37th Street, 10th Stockholm, Sweden. floor, New York, NY 10018. New Zealand: Send NZ$50 to P.O. Box 3025, Auckland, New Zealand. Clip and mail to the militant, Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY. .$35 for 1 year 306 W. 37th st., 10th Floor new york, ny 10018. Australia: Send A$50 to P.O. Box 164 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Campsie, NSW 2194, Australia. the Militant, 306 W. 37th Street, 10th floor, Pacific Islands: Send NZ$50 to P.O. Box 12 weeks of the Militant outside the U.S.: Australia and the Pacific, A$8 • United New York, NY 10018. 3025, Auckland, New Zealand. Kingdom, £4 • Canada, Can$6 • Caribbean and Latin America, US$10 • Continental SUBSCRIPTIONS: United States: for Signed articles by contributors do not one-year send $35 to above address. Europe, £12 • France, 12 Euros • New Zealand, NZ$7 • Sweden, Kr60 • All other areas, necessarily represent the Militant’s views. US$16 (Send payment to addresses listed in business information box) Latin America, Caribbean: for one-year These are expressed in editorials.

2 The Militant January 14, 2008 Pakistan assassination Continued from front page ing itself Pakistan Muslim League issued orders to security forces that (Quaid-e-Azam) split from Sharif in “all measures” should be used to halt 2002 and has been the backbone of the protests. Musharraf’s political support. Bhutto’s death has further compli- The U.S. government had urged cated efforts by Washington and cap- Musharraf to seek a coalition gov- italist forces in Pakistan to cobble to- ernment with Bhutto and others in gether a coalition government that is the capitalist opposition to counter stable enough to be a more effective advances by armed groups backed by ally in the U.S. government’s “global al-Qaeda on both sides of Pakistan’s war on terror.” border with Afghanistan. Since Bhutto’s PPP is the largest politi- Bhutto’s death officials at the U.S. cal party in Pakistan. Another bour- Embassy in Islamabad have made geois opposition party, the Pakistan overtures to Sharif, reported the New Muslim League (Nawaz), is led by York Times. Nawaz Sharif, also a former prime PPP leaders rejected December 30 minister. Both he and Bhutto come statements by Pakistani government from wealthy ruling class families. officials that the elections could be Both had been forced out of office on postponed for at least a month. Shar- charges of corruption and brokered if has also opposed any postpone- Reuters deals to go into exile. A group call- Continued on page 9 Supporters of Benazir Bhutto protest her assassination in Islamabad, Pakistan, December 29. Capitalist forces in Bolivia mobilize against gov’t measures BY róger calero tution that give greater autonomy to in- revenues from the provinces to a pen- and a house next to the Venezuelan con- Class polarization in Bolivia is inten- digenous groups, which are the major- sion plan for the elderly. sulate. The opposition has condemned sifying. Working people are seeking to ity in Bolivia. The four opposition-led Before the new constitution is en- the aid extended to Bolivia by the gov- defend government measures to exert provinces are more white and mestizo acted the National Assembly will need ernments of Venezuela and Cuba. more control over the country’s natural than the rest of the country. to approve the entire text of the draft, Attempts by the opposition to disrupt resources and improve living condi- Morales called the moves to set which will then be placed for a vote in a debate in the National Assembly on the tions. At the same time capitalists and up autonomous regions “illegal” and national referendum. draft constitution were met by mobili- landlords are organizing to undermine accused the opposition of seeking to One article in the draft constitu- zations of Morales supporters, includ- these gains. split the nation. Alejandro Almaraz, tion—limiting the amount of idle land ing miners who guarded the meeting Tens of thousands of workers and Vice Minister of Lands, labeled the one individual can own—did not win site. peasants rallied December 15 in La Paz, moves “a landlords’ uprising—back- the two-thirds majority required for ap- Morales has called for a “dialogue” Bolivia’s capital, in support of a draft ward and conservative—against de- proval by the National Assembly. That with the opposition. He proposed a constitution approved by the country’s mocracy.” article will be placed for a vote in the meeting with opposition governors on National Assembly on December 9. On The opposition has opposed land re- referendum, with voters deciding be- January 7. Five of the governors have form. As of June 2007, some 2.2 mil- tween a limit of 2,000 or 4,000 acres agreed to attend. Morales has proposed the same day, similar numbers joined lion acres of land had been distributed per person. holding a recall referendum for the opposition-led rallies against the new primarily to landless peasant and in- In late December a string of bomb- president’s office and for the nine state constitution. The right-wing rallies cel- digenous families, according to the ings hit the Bolivian Workers Federation governor seats. The proposal is cur- ebrated the declaration of “autonomy TeleSur website. The opposition has office in La Paz, the homes of several rently being reviewed by the National statutes” that would give the country’s also demanded a discussion on a gov- elected officials who support Morales, a Assembly, and the referendum could be four wealthiest provinces—Santa Cruz, ernment measure that diverts oil royalty residence for Cuban volunteer doctors, held as early as April. Tarija, Beni, and Pando—greater pow- ers over tax revenues, oil royalties, and police. New Orleans: protests against gutting of public housing Claiming that they produce Bolivia’s wealth, the capitalists and big landown- Continued from front page time when affordable housing is scarce, the relocated workers were previously ers complain that the measures adopt- destroyed or badly damaged in the 2005 the plan will cut back the stock of lower- kept afloat by federal rental assis- ed by the government of Evo Morales hurricane. In addition to the demolition cost housing and drive many Black and tance. Now some of these families are other working people out of the city. losing their benefits and are ending up amount to “subsidizing” the country’s of public housing, the Federal Emer- gency Management Agency (FEMA) They also point out that the buildings on the streets. A number are forced to poorer regions in the mountains. They has now announced that it will be clos- are brick structures that would outlast go from one cheap motel to another or also attack provisions in the new consti- ing its trailer parks in the region, evict- anything HUD builds in their place. to double up in other people’s homes. ing nearly 3,000 families. “Some city council members said Those lucky to have transportation The federal agency also we were the cause of crime and pov- are living in their cars. calendar said it will end financial erty,” said Sam Jackson, a 28-year res- “We have gone from pillar to post,” assistance for nearly 3,700 ident of B.W. Cooper public housing. Brenda Hickman told the Houston Celebrate the political life of more families who live in “But that’s far from the truth.” Jack- Chronicle. “I can’t see myself living Robert Simms, a communist private trailer camps. son attended the city council hearing on the streets.” Hickman, 59, was dis- militant for 38 years These moves led to the and the protests. “All the problems qualified from rental assistance after Robert Simms, an internationalist cadre and December demonstrations we face from the government’s fail- she broke up with her husband. He leader of the Communist League in Canada, died against the destruction of ure to maintain the buildings are the had been designated as head of the in Toronto December 3. He was 61. Join us in housing units. A Decem- result of either not enough funds or household and thus sole recipient for celebrating his life and political contributions to ber 20 protest during a those funds being stolen,” he said in a FEMA rental assistance. building the communist movement in Canada and city council meeting was phone interview. In the last month, the transfer of the internationally, to which Simms dedicated close to attacked by cops using On December 21 the city gave no- FEMA rental assistance program to four decades. chemical spray and stun tice of plans to remove all remaining HUD has displaced hundreds more. Speakers: Jack Barnes, national secretary, So- guns. After the police as- people from a tent city of homeless Many Houston landlords who previ- cialist Workers Party; Ben Joyce, Young Social- sault, the city council voted workers on the steps of City Hall. ously accepted FEMA funds are opt- ists National Steering Committee; Steve Penner, unanimously to go ahead The city’s homeless population has ing out of the HUD program that re- International Print Project volunteer; Michel with the demolition. nearly doubled since Katrina and now quires tenants to start contributing to Prairie, organizer, Communist League executive The federal and state stands at 12,000 people, according to their rent payments March 1. committee. John Steele, director of Pathfinder housing agencies want the local housing coalition UNITY. So far, 48 landlords representing Books in Canada, and Mary-Alice Waters, editor to demolish the build- The problem is worsened by a post- 68 properties have dropped out of the of New International, will chair the event, ings so wealthy develop- Katrina reduction in mental health HUD program, Spurgeon Robinson, Saturday, January 19 ers can take advantage of and drug abuse services. In addition, director of Harris County’s Disaster Reception 3:00 p.m.; program 4:00 p.m., tax credits and build new the number of shelter beds in the New Housing Assistance Program, told followed by a dinner “mixed-income”—less Orleans area has sharply dropped. the press. Hundreds of working-class Donation: program $10, dinner $15. working-class, less Black, Meanwhile, average rent for a tiny families with no money must now Location to be announced and more middle-class— “efficiency” apartment has jumped come up with security deposits to Further information: (416) 535-9140 neighborhoods that can from $463 to $764 a month. move once again. Messages can be sent to: [email protected] generate greater profits In Houston, the more than 100,000 Sponsors: Communist League and Young Socialists for real estate capitalists. relocated New Orleans residents also Farhad Karim in New Orleans con- Some critics note that at a face an acute housing crisis. Most of tributed to this article.

The Militant January 14, 2008 3 China: consequences of Stalinist ‘Cultural Revolution’ BY cindy jaquith In the countryside, peasants sought (Third in a series) to consolidate and extend the gains of With the victory of China’s socialist the revolution through the formation revolution in 1949, workers and peas- of small-scale cooperatives, whereby ants there removed from power the several families shared tools, animals, capitalists and landlords who blocked and labor to increase production and their progress toward a society free of living standards. This initiative was class exploitation and oppression. The endorsed by the government in 1951. door was now open to begin modern- But in 1955 Mao launched an ad- izing agriculture, developing indus- venturous course of administratively try, overcoming the legacy of social trying to speed up the pace of de- backwardness, and extending China’s velopment without the mobilization support to the worldwide struggle for or leadership of the rural and urban socialism. masses. The peasant-led cooperatives From the start, Washington and were replaced by bureaucratically other imperialist powers imposed tre- imposed “higher-stage” cooperatives mendous political, economic, and mil- in which party and government offi- itary pressures on the young workers cials, not those working the land, be- state. The U.S. government refused came the administrators. Some peas- to recognize the government, led by ants resisted the change, including by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). slaughtering their livestock. Beijing, 1967: people branded as “counterrevolutionaries” are publicly degraded, paraded Instead, it insisted that the capitalist In 1958 the CCP declared the “Great through streets wearing dunce caps with their names, during Mao’s “Cultural Revolution.” regime that Chiang Kai-shek had set Leap Forward, “a campaign to sup- up on the Chinese island of Taiwan posedly turn China rapidly into an in- little resistance, crushed the workers statues, plays by Shakespeare, anyone was the legitimate representative of dustrial giant under the slogan “Catch movement and massacred hundreds of wearing jewelry or sporting a “bour- the Chinese people. up with England in 15 years.” A siz- thousands of members and supporters geois” haircut. Many schools were Washington cut off trade with Chi- able segment of the rural population of the Indonesian Communist Party, closed for several years. The number na. U.S. troops in south Korea, Japan, was organized into industrial produc- the third-largest CP in the world. It of periodicals in the country dropped and Vietnam, plus the U.S. Seventh tion and construction. “People’s com- was the biggest defeat for the interna- 1,300 to about 50. Most books be- Fleet patrolling off China’s shores, munes” were decreed. Each such unit tional working class since the victory came unobtainable. The exception kept the revolution encircled. grouped together 5,000 peasant fami- of fascism in Germany in the 1930s. was the writings of Mao—books of In spite of this, major social changes lies who were to give up their private catechisms whose possession proved took place rapidly in the new China. homes and plots of land to live com- ‘Cultural Revolution,’ Red Guards one’s loyalty to the CP chairman, the Hundreds of millions of peasants won munally and work under near mili- Shortly after the disaster in Indo- very opposite of scientific socialism. ownership of the land they worked tary conditions. This policy followed nesia, the Mao leadership launched Thousands were killed in sharp and an end to debt slavery. The pro- the course of forced collectivization what it called the “Great Proletarian clashes between rival factions. Many duction of electrical power increased of land that the Stalin regime had Cultural Revolution” in China. It had party and government office holders by 400 percent, coal by 300 percent, brutally imposed on peasants in the nothing to do with advancing the pro- were removed and imprisoned, or textiles by more than 100 percent, and Soviet Union. letariat, culture, or revolution. Its goal publicly humiliated and brutalized. steel by more than 1,100 percent with- Families were pressed to set up was to purge Mao’s opponents from In 1969, once Mao felt his faction in the first decade of the revolution. primitive steel-making furnaces in party and government positions of was securely in control of the party, Working people also advanced their backyards and to collect scrap power and to consolidate his faction army, and government, he uncere- culturally. The number of children metal, including personal belongings, in control. moniously dumped the Red Guards, attending elementary school nearly to melt down. A productivity push also Millions of teenage youth were mo- many of whom were shipped off tripled from 22 percent in 1950 to 60 took place in the factories, with cal- bilized across the country into contin- to the countryside for a lifetime of percent in 1958. Women by the mil- lous disregard for workers’ health and gents of the “Red Guards” to root out forced “reeducation.” lions began entering social and po- safety. those branded as “capitalist roaders” While this destructive factional litical life. Curable diseases such as The Great Leap Forward was a di- and “bourgeois” elements. The tar- warfare raged in China, the workers polio, tuberculosis, diphtheria, and saster. Food grain production dropped gets were Mao’s political rivals, but and peasants of nearby Vietnam were tetanus were virtually wiped out. The from about 200 million to 150 mil- a wide range of cultural figures and battling half a million U.S. troops. accomplishments were dramatically lion metric tons from 1958 to 1960. intellectuals were the initial victims. Precious little political or material aid superior to those of neighboring In- Famine began to spread, claiming an Instead of an open debate on ques- was extended to the Vietnam libera- dia, which won independence from estimated one million lives. In indus- tions that sorely needed discussion— tion fighters by either Moscow or Bei- Britain in 1947 but, unlike China, re- try, the frantic drive for production from the Indonesia debacle, to how to jing. Both Stalinist regimes rejected mained under capitalist rule and im- led to a sharp decline in the quality of advance the Chinese economy, to the the pressing need for a united front perialist domination. goods produced. The backyard steel lack of workers’ democracy—Mao’s against the imperialist war, based on The previous article (see December furnaces made little usable steel but opponents were simply accused of be- the narrow interests of their respec- 24 issue) explained how the Stalin- wasted enormous amounts of labor. ing counterrevolutionaries seeking to tive bureaucratic castes. Mao died in 1976. In the subse- ist leadership of the CCP under Mao By 1959 the Mao regime was forced restore capitalism. quent power grab by competing bu- Zedong tried to restrain the mobiliza- to back away from that policy and the What followed was a giant assault on progress and culture. Following the reaucrats, his faction was ousted. But tions of workers and peasants and hold “people’s communes.” bureaucrats’ dictates, the Red Guards the new leaders of China were cut off a socialist revolution, until mount- arbitrarily went after anything they from the same cloth as the old. The ing imperialist threats led it to change Defeat in Indonesia deemed might deviate from “Mao next article will take up the develop- course. Once in power, the Commu- Not long afterward, the Stalinist Zedong Thought”: Greek and Roman ments that ensued. nist Party continued to give priority misleadership in China was respon- to the interests of a privileged mid- sible for a devastating defeat for the dle-class layer, not the working class working class, this time in Indonesia. For Further Reading and peasantry. It feared the initiatives As in many semicolonial countries, of the masses and sought to regiment the Indonesian toilers identified with Maoism vs. Bolshevism: The 1965 Catastrophe in Indonesia, China’s them, putting a lid on political discus- the Chinese revolution and looked to “Cultural Revolution,” and the Disintegration of World Stalinism sion of how to move forward. its leadership. By Joseph Hansen From the mid-1920s, the CCP had The Chinese CP advised the In- Following the Chinese revolution of 1949, many workers and youth in Asia and followed the line of the Communist donesian Communist Party to bloc elsewhere—inspired by that historic blow to imperialism—were politically International dominated by Joseph with the “progressive” wing of the misled by the Mao Zedong leadership. These articles, reports, and resolutions Stalin, adopting its zigzags between bourgeoisie represented by President explain the communist alternative to Mao’s Stalinist course, which in 1965 ultraleft adventurism and right-wing Sukarno. From the narrow nation- paved the way for a bloody CIA-backed coup in Indonesia. —$10 opportunism, depending on the pre- alist—as opposed to international- Capitalism’s World Disorder rogatives of the bureaucratic caste ist—perspective of the CCP, it was By Jack Barnes in the Soviet Union. Now in power preferable to maintain good relations “[T]he Stalinist regime headed by Mao Zedong made it itself, the CCP approached political with Sukarno, who had diplomatic impossible for the Chinese toilers to become as powerful questions from the narrow national- relations and carried out trade with a force as they could have been to advance the struggle for national liberation ist interests of the bureaucratic caste China, than to lead Indonesian work- and socialism in Asia and throughout the world,” Barnes writes. “To the degree it was consolidating in China. That ing people to organize for socialist the Maoist regime did influence fighters, it turned them away from proletarian meant putting the brakes on the work- revolution. internationalism toward petty-bourgeois nationalism.”—$24 ers and peasants who strove to place Politically demobilized, workers their stamp on the unfolding revolu- were unprepared in 1965 when Gen- tion. eral Suharto led a coup that, with WWW.PATHFINDERPRESS.COM 4 The Militant January 14, 2008 on the picket line N.Y. grocery workers lose Nantel said, “I would categorically deny union vote amid ‘migra’ threats that that’s the case.” Jim Moore, a Fresh- NEW YORK—Workers at FreshDi- Direct spokesman, said the company was rect, an online grocery delivery com- just complying with ICE regulations. pany, lost a union election December Workers rallied outside the ware- 22–23. In the weeks leading up to the house September 28 to protest the fir- vote, at least 100 workers quit or were ings of two prounion workers, Loreto suspended after management told them Gómez and Lonnie Powell. Earlier that they had to come up with proper work month, the company had handed out a authorization papers because Immigra- flyer warning: “Be smart: Don’t sign a tion and Customs Enforcement (ICE) union authorization card.” was going to inspect company records. —Dan Fein The election ballot contained choices of Teamsters Local 805, United Food New Zealand store workers and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Lo- protest 0% wage offer cal 348, or “no union.” The company AUCKLAND, New Zealand—Mem- claims that 80 percent of those voting bers of the National Distribution Union chose “no union.” Some 900 workers at (NDU) at Bunnings hardware stores the FreshDirect warehouse were eligible around the country have been protest- to vote. Five hundred truck drivers at the ing the company’s offer for no wage in- Workers at FreshDirect rally outside warehouse in Long Island the day before the union vote company voted in 2006 to join UFCW crease. Local 348. In Auckland, 30 workers and support- the CEO of Bunnings’ parent company, [$8.60] to NZ$12.00 [$9.20] in April Sandy Pope, president of Local 348, ers picketed the Botany Downs store Wesfarmers—a 61 percent increase when that becomes the legal minimum told the press that company lawyers for two hours December 15. Holding from last year. wage. The union announced that further might have invited ICE officials to scru- up placards to passing motorists, they The company’s only offer, reported industrial action was planned for the tinize workers in order to weaken the contrasted the bosses’ miserly wage union delegate Graham Chicken, was start of the new year. union drive. ICE spokesperson Kelly proposal to the NZ$6 million paid to to raise the starting rate from NZ$11.25 —Ruth Gray Auto workers union in Canada ratifies no-strike deal BY JOHN STEELE defending our current members for a the only way to get the union in, and that cism of the CAW-Magna deal was heard. TORONTO—Delegates to the Ca- sweet-heart Magna deal?” He warned, “high union density” in the auto sector “The OFL is not attacking us because of nadian Auto Workers (CAW) National “Other employers are going to want the “is critical to the future bargaining suc- the Magna deal,” he said. “It’s about the Council meeting, held here December same thing.” Local 222 represents work- cess of all workers.” NDP [New Democratic Party], that’s the 7–9, overwhelmingly voted to endorse ers at the giant General Motors plant in Responding to criticism from the real difference.” the union’s no-strike agreement with Oshawa. OFL and other unions, Hargrove The NDP is a social democratic party Magna International, the largest auto The majority of council delegates and pointed out that many other unions had linked to the unions and supported by parts manufacturer in Canada. About CAW officials who spoke in the day-long signed agreements at one time or an- the OFL. In the last federal and Ontario 25 of the more than 800 delegates op- debate defended the deal, calling it “in- other conceding the right to strike and provincial elections, the CAW promoted posed the controversial deal, the CAW novative,” a “foot in the door strategy,” accepting voluntary arbitration. “The “strategic voting” against the Conser- reported. and a step forward not only for the CAW danger to the labor movement does not vative Party by urging workers to vote The “Framework of Fairness” agree- but the for labor movement as a whole. come from this agreement,” Hargrove for many Liberal Party candidates. The ment gives the company’s approval for “At a tough time for auto assembly, said. “The threat comes from the Del- OFL and most of its affiliates maintained the CAW to unionize Magna’s 18,000 auto parts, and manufacturing workers phi Disease,” referring to the contracts their decades-long policy of backing the workers, while establishing a union in Canada, this decision creates a new recently approved by the memberships NDP. contract that bars Magna workers who window of opportunity for workers to of the United Auto Workers with GM, In November more than 250 work- join the CAW from striking and that im- be able to join our union,” CAW presi- Ford, and Chrysler in the United States. ers at Windsor Modules, a division of poses binding arbitration on unsettled dent Basil “Buzz” Hargrove told the del- The contracts make steep union conces- Magna, voted to join the CAW under union contracts. It substitutes traditional egates. Hargrove, echoed by other CAW sions, including a two-tier wage system the terms of the Framework of Fairness union stewards, elected by workers on officials, argued that since a 30-year for new hires. agreement. “I’m looking forward to our the shop floor, with “employee advo- effort to organize Magna had failed— Hargrove also noted that at recent future in the CAW,” Moe Soydanbay, cates” selected by Magna and the top only 1,000 workers, in four of more than conventions of other provincial labor the “employee advocate” at Windsor CAW leadership to work through joint 45 plants, are CAW members—this was federations across the country, no criti- Modules, said to loud applause. union-management “fairness commit- tees” in each plant. The CAW-Magna deal, which be- 25, 50, and 75 years ago came public last October, has generated widespread controversy in the labor movement. Less than two weeks before the CAW council meeting, delegates to the biennial convention of the Ontario January 21, 1983 January 6, 1958 January 7, 1933 Federation of Labour (OFL), which the DENVER—Five hundred people DETROIT—The most immediate and The military clique in control of CAW left several years ago, unanimous- were attacked by police, sheriff’s dep- urgent single problem facing the United the political fortunes of Japan has ly voted to condemn the deal to “send a uties, and a volunteer posse at a farm Auto Workers’ Special Convention this embarked upon the second phase of clear message to all employers that la- protest at the Baca County Courthouse month is the beginning of mass unem- its military adventure of conquest in bour will not give up the right strike or in Springfield, Colorado, January 4. ployment in the automobile industry. Northern China. Under some flimsy the right to democratic representation in Farmers had come from at least seven In Detroit last week, Chrysler work- pretext the Japanese army, navy, ma- our unions and our workplaces.” states to protest the court-ordered auc- ers were talking about a corporation rines, and air force has laid waste to CAW Local 112 at Bombardier Air- tion of a 320-acre wheat and milo farm statement that everything was “normal.” the city of Shanhaikwan. After a fero- craft has been one of the few locals to near Campo. The owner, Jerry Wright, How “normal” may be judged from the cious assault the Japanese forces with oppose the deal. “Without the leverage had missed two annual payments on fact that for the past month and a half, the use of armored cars, bombs thrown the right to strike provides, what other a $85,000 loan from the Federal Land Dodge workers here have been on a three from airplanes, cannonades, and all to- tools do workers have to back up their Bank and a $125,000 loan from the to three-and-a-half day week. From gether paraphernalia that goes with a demands at the bargaining table to im- Farm Home Administration. Dec. 20 to Jan. 7 the plant will be com- bombardment, the Japanese succeeded prove wages and working conditions?” Wright had earlier made payments to- pletely shut down. Ordinarily the winter in repeating their raid on Shanghai a asked Local 112 unionists in a leaflet taling $50,000 on the $85,000 loan. But months are times of peak production in year ago. The whole Chinese garri- distributed to the National Council del- due to a gigantic jump in interest rates, auto. In most years, relatively full em- son of 500 soldiers and about as many egates. “The right to strike is central to he now owes $86,000 even though he ployment provides Detroit workers with civilians, men, women and children the collective bargaining process and repaid more than half his original loan. their Christmas cheer. This year Santa is were annihilated, and the city reduced must never be given up,” the leaflet Wright told a rally outside the court- bringing lay off slips, instead. to smoldering ruins by these terrific said. house that the recession and federal At the local DeSoto plant the work- assaults. “CAW members at Magna should government policies including the em- force has been cut by 20% affecting The Japanese invasion will not stop have the same rights as other CAW bargo on the sale of American grain to workers with as much as seven years with the capture of this northern city. It members,” said CAW Local 222 presi- the Soviet Union has made it “totally of seniority in some cases. A total of is but another step in the campaign of dent Chris Buckley in opposition to impossible to pay my operating costs 60,000 workers in the Detroit area alone Japanese imperialists to carve a colo- the deal. “Has the CAW given up on and make my land payments too.” are “furloughed” for two weeks. nial empire out of Northern China.

The Militant January 14, 2008 5 Róger Calero, SWP candidate for president

Róger Calero, 38, is a writer for the A supporter of the Cuban Revolu- socialist newsweekly the Militant and tion, Calero attended an international an editor of its Spanish-language sec- conference in Havana in April 2007 tion, El Militante. in solidarity with the Cuban Five— Calero has been active for years in revolutionaries jailed in U.S. prisons the fight for the legalization of un- on frame-up charges since 1998. The documented immigrants. Mobilizing five were working to protect fellow along with hundreds of thousands of Cubans from right-wing groups that fellow workers on May Day in 2006 have launched violent attacks against and 2007, Calero marched to demand Cuba with Washington’s complicity. immediate, unconditional permanent Over the past year in New York, he residency for all immigrants. He has has helped build demonstrations for taken part in many actions against the freedom of the Five, against the police raids and deportations by im- police killing of Sean Bell, and for the Militant/Arrin Hawkins migration cops. immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops Róger Calero campaigns as candidate for U.S. Senate in New York in the summer of 2006. He has supported strikes and or- from Iraq and Afghanistan. In November 2007 he participated joined discussions and helped to get ganizing battles in factories and Calero has recently reported for the in the third Venezuela International revolutionary literature into the hands workplaces by workers resisting the Militant from Venezuela about strug- Book Fair and the second Cultural of working people fighting against the increasingly harsh conditions of life gles by workers and farmers for land, Festival in Solidarity with the People devastating consequences of capital- and labor being imposed by the boss- jobs, and improved living conditions. of Africa, held in Caracas. There he ism and its economic crisis. es and their government. As a result, Calero has become known to workers on the front lines of struggle in many areas, from meat packers across the Alyson Kennedy, Socialist Workers Midwest to day laborers in New York, cab drivers in Florida, and coal min- ers in Utah. Party candidate for U.S. vice president He was the Socialist Workers Party candidate for president in 2004. Two Alyson Kennedy, 57, is a garment local, their struggle became a pow- A long-time fighter against racism years later he led the SWP ticket in worker. A socialist and trade union erful example for working people of and discrimination, she was part of New York state, running for U.S. Sen- fighter for more than three decades, how to fight, at a time when the coal the fight to desegregate public schools ate. A member of the Socialist Work- she is a member of the Socialist Work- bosses’ profit drive has put miners in that erupted in Louisville, Kentucky, ers Party’s National Committee, he ers Party’s National Committee. unsafe—and too often, fatal—work- in the mid-1970s. Throughout the lives in the Bronx, New York. Kennedy has worked in coal mines ing situations. 1980s she promoted solidarity with In 2000, working as a meat packer in Alabama, Colorado, Utah, and West Kennedy helped build support for the battle in South Africa to get rid of in Iowa and then Minnesota, Calero Virginia. She first joined the United the Militant Fighting Fund, a labor the racist apartheid system. was part of a groundbreaking union- Mine Workers of America (UMWA) defense effort that defeated a harass- As a union miner, Kennedy was organizing drive at Dakota Premium in 1981. ment lawsuit filed by Co-Op’s own- actively involved in the Coal Employ- Foods in South St. Paul, Minnesota. From 2003 to 2006 Kennedy was a ers against several of the miners, the ment Project, an organization found- Through a two-year battle that began leading militant in a union organizing UMWA, the Militant newspaper, and ed in 1977 that championed women’s with a sit-down strike and won broad battle at the Co-Op coal mine outside scores of supporters of the unioniza- fight to get hired in the coal mines and solidarity in the labor movement and Huntington, Utah. The miners there, tion drive. opposed harassment on the job. She is local community, workers there won in their majority immigrants from Originally from Indianapolis, Ken- active in the fight to defend a wom- recognition of United Food and Com- Mexico, fought for UMWA repre- nedy joined the socialist movement in an’s right to choose abortion, and has mercial Workers Local 789 as their sentation to win safer working condi- 1973 in Louisville, Kentucky. In addi- helped defend clinics from rightist at- union. tions, an end to abuse by the bosses, tion to the UMWA, Kennedy has been tempts to shut them down. In recent months Calero has extend- and improved wages, which were $5– a member of the garment workers’ ed support to the trade unionists at $7 an hour at the time. union UNITE, United Steelworkers, Dakota Premium in their fight against In winning support for the struggle and other trade unions. In St. Louis, a company campaign to decertify the and explaining its accomplishments, she was the Socialist Workers Party Support Socialist Workers 2008 campaign! union. Kennedy and other Co-Op miners candidate for U.S. Senate in 2000. She SWP candidates across the United States Born in Nicaragua, Calero has lived spoke before unions and other or- now lives in Newark, New Jersey. in the United States since 1985, when ganizations in Utah, Arizona, New Kennedy has been active in the California John Hawkins, U.S. Con- Dean Debrosse, U.S. Con- his family moved to Los Angeles. He Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Cali- fight against imperialist war, begin- Lea Sherman, U.S. Con- gress, 1st C.D. gress, 10th C.D. joined the socialist movement there in fornia, Washington, and elsewhere ning with the movement against the gress, 8th C.D. Laura Anderson, U.S. Con- Michael Taber, U.S. Con- 1993. across the United States, as well as in U.S. war in Vietnam. More recently Gerardo Sánchez, U.S. gress, 4th C.D. gress, 13th C.D. In December 2002 Calero was ar- Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. she has joined demonstrations de- Congress, 12th C.D. Dennis Richter, U.S. Con- Pennsylvania rested by federal immigration cops The battle won widespread solidarity. manding an end to the U.S. wars in Michael Ortega, U.S. Con- gress, 7th C.D. Osborne Hart, U.S. Con- on his return from a Militant report- While the miners did not win a union Iraq and Afghanistan. gress, 34th C.D. gress, 2nd C.D. ing trip to Cuba and Mexico. He had Iowa James Harris, U.S. Con- Ryan Scott, U.S. Congress, attended a conference in Havana op- Diana Newberry, U.S. Sen- gress, 35th C.D. 14th C.D. posing the Free Trade Area of the ate Arlene Rubinstein, U.S. Americas—a pact aimed at extending Frank Forrestal, U.S. Con- Texas Congress, 37th C.D. U.S. imperialist domination—and a gress, 3rd C.D. Jacquie Henderson, U.S. Florida Senate congress in Guadalajara of the Con- Massachusetts Omari Musa, Mayor of Mi- Amanda Ulman, U.S. Con- tinental Organization of Latin Ameri- William Estrada, U.S. Sen- can and Caribbean Students. The U.S. ami-Dade County gress, 9th C.D. ate Immigration and Naturalization Ser- Margaret Trowe, U.S. Con- Steven Warshell, U.S. Con- William Leonard, State Sen- vice jailed Calero in Houston for 10 gress, 17th C.D. gress, 18th C.D. ate, 2nd Suffolk District days and began deportation proceed- Georgia Anthony Dutrow, State ings against him. Eleanor García, U.S. Sen- Minnesota Representative Dist. 138 Calero and his supporters fought ate Ernest Mailhot, U.S. Senate back. They won broad support from Washington Loretta Van Pelt, U.S. Con- Carlos Samaniego, U.S. Chris Hoeppner, Governor defenders of immigrant and workers Congress, 4th C.D. rights, and with the backing of the So- gress, 3rd C.D. Mary Martin, U.S. Con- Rebecca Williamson, U.S. cialist Workers Party, prevented his Jeanne FitzMaurice, U.S. gress, 7th C.D. Congress, 5th C.D. deportation, successfully defending Congress, 6th C.D. Washington, D.C. his right to live and work in the United Jacob Perasso, U.S. Con- Rollande Girard, State Rep- Seth Dellinger, Delegate to States. That victory set an example of gress, 7th C.D. resentative, Dist. 61B U.S. Congress how working people can fight to win, Illinois New Jersey Sam Manuel, City Council inspiring others to resist and beat back Betsy Farley, U.S. Senate Sara Lobman, U.S. Senate At-Large government attempts to deport them. Militant/Tamar Rosenfeld Alyson Kennedy, left, speaks with fellow participant in April 2006 “Changing Woman” conference in Farmington, New Mexico, an event that drew dozens of women miners.

6 The Militant January 14, 2008 Socialists launch campaign

Continued from front page take political power out of the hands ballot in as many states as possible. of the ruling capitalists and establish Truthfully explaining the unfold- a workers and farmers government. ing capitalist economic crisis and its consequences for the lives, job safe- Campaign in Northern California ty, and social conditions of working “The Socialist Workers campaign people is at the heart of the socialist demands the immediate, uncondi- campaign. The SWP campaign puts tional withdrawal of all U.S. troops forward demands to defend workers from the multiple theaters of Wash- and farmers from the attempts by the ington’s ‘global war on terror,’ from bosses and their government to shift Iraq and Afghanistan to the Philip- the burden of their decaying system pines and Somalia,” said Lea Sher- onto the backs of working people. man, a meatpacking worker in Fre- “Whether it’s Hillary Clinton, mont, California, who is the SWP Barack Obama, Rudolph Giuliani, candidate for U.S. Congress in Cali- Mitt Romney, or any other Democrat fornia’s 8th Congressional District. or Republican, no capitalist candidate “None of the other candidates pro- offers solutions for working people,” vide a perspective in the interests of said Kennedy in an interview. “They working people, who today are being are just looking out for the interests battered by the spreading world capi- of the rich. Working people need to talist financial crisis,” she added. organize to defend our own inter- Sherman’s opponents are Demo- ests.” crat Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of She said working people need the U.S. House of Representatives; their own political party—“a labor Republican Dana Walsh; and Cindy party based on a fighting trade union Sheehan, a well-known opponent of movement, to effectively fight for our the Iraq war who is running as an in- interests in the political arena.” dependent. The Socialist Workers campaign Sam Manuel is the Socialist Work- “advances a course that will unify ers Party candidate for City Council the working class in order to fight ef- At-Large in Washington, D.C. A vet- fectively and win,” Calero said. eran militant in the labor and Black He noted that rising prices and un- rights movements, Manuel, 58, has employment “are among the most ru- helped organize activities in defense inous problems facing working peo- of the Cuban Revolution. He has re- ple when capitalism has a financial ported for the Militant from New Or- crisis like the one developing today. leans, getting out the truth about the We call for a sliding scale of wages social disaster that has unfolded there and hours, so that when prices go up, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. wages go up to match. When unem- The SWP is running Rebecca Wil- ployment spreads, hours should be liamson, 26, for U.S. Congress in reduced with no cut in pay to spread Minnesota’s 5th Congressional Dis- the available work around.” trict. A member of the Young So- The socialist candidates for fed- cialists, Williamson is a meat packer eral, state, and local offices are also at Dakota Premium Foods in South raising demands that aim to unify St. Paul, Minnesota, and is active in working people worldwide. These United Food and Commercial Work-

demands point to the need to orga- ers Local 789. She has helped build Militant photos by (clockwise from top) Angel Lariscy, Eric Simpson, Eric Simpson, Ilona Gersh, and Tom Baumann nize a movement of millions that can actions against Washington’s wars 2008 Socialist Workers Party candidates, clockwise from top: New Jersey ticket of Michael abroad, and has been involved in Taber, Sara Lobman, and Dean Debrosse, running for U.S. Congress 13th C.D., U.S. Senate, fights to defend women’s rights. and U.S. Congress 10th C.D., respectively; Lea Sherman for U.S. Congress in California’s Eleanor García, 55, is running 8th C.D.; Gerardo Sánchez for U.S. Congress in California’s 12th C.D.; Betsy Farley for U.S. Support Socialist Workers 2008 campaign! for U.S. Senate from Georgia. Gar- Senate in Illinois; and Rebecca Williamson, left, for U.S. Congress in Minnesota’s 5th C.D. SWP candidates across the United States cía is a sewing machine operator in Bowdon, Georgia. She has marched SWP will seek to renew disclosure exemption California John Hawkins, U.S. Con- Dean Debrosse, U.S. Con- alongside fellow workers in street Lea Sherman, U.S. Con- gress, 1st C.D. gress, 10th C.D. protests to demand the legalization BY OLYMPIA NEWTON free association. The Federal Elec- gress, 8th C.D. Laura Anderson, U.S. Con- Michael Taber, U.S. Con- of all immigrants. The Socialist Workers Party cam- tion Commission (FEC) has since ex- Gerardo Sánchez, U.S. gress, 4th C.D. gress, 13th C.D. paign, which is now fielding candi- tended the exemption several times, Socialist Workers ticket in Florida dates in the 2008 elections, will pe- at roughly six-year intervals. Congress, 12th C.D. Dennis Richter, U.S. Con- Pennsylvania “Our campaign is part of the fight tition to extend its long-standing ex- Over the years the party has cited Michael Ortega, U.S. Con- gress, 7th C.D. Osborne Hart, U.S. Con- emption from disclosing the names police interference with campaign gress, 34th C.D. gress, 2nd C.D. for legalization of immigrants—La- Iowa tino, Haitian, and Asian,” said Mar- and addresses of campaign contribu- activities, firings of candidates and James Harris, U.S. Con- Diana Newberry, U.S. Sen- Ryan Scott, U.S. Congress, garet Trowe, 59, the SWP candidate tors. The exemption has been a gain campaign supporters, break-ins gress, 35th C.D. ate 14th C.D. for U.S. Congress in Florida’s Dis- that helps all socialists, independent at campaign headquarters, death Arlene Rubinstein, U.S. Frank Forrestal, U.S. Con- Texas trict 17, who is a sewing machine working-class candidates, unionists, threats against candidates, and hun- Congress, 37th C.D. gress, 3rd C.D. Jacquie Henderson, U.S. operator. and social protest activists to defend dreds of other incidents of harass- Florida Senate The Socialist Workers campaign their ability to organize and act with- ment as among the reasons why an Massachusetts Omari Musa, Mayor of Mi- Amanda Ulman, U.S. Con- in Florida is also running garment out harassment. exemption is necessary to safeguard William Estrada, U.S. Sen- ami-Dade County gress, 9th C.D. spreader Omari Musa, 63, for may- Under the 1971 Federal Election workers’ democratic right to partici- ate Campaign Act, candidates and cam- pate in elections. Margaret Trowe, U.S. Con- Steven Warshell, U.S. Con- or of Miami-Dade County. Musa, William Leonard, State Sen- paign committees are required to file Since the last extension, granted in gress, 17th C.D. gress, 18th C.D. a founding member of the National ate, 2nd Suffolk District Black Independent Political Party detailed reports listing the names, April 2003, such harassment has con- Georgia Anthony Dutrow, State in the 1980s, has joined protests in addresses, occupations, and financial tinued. Incidents include the Sept. Eleanor García, U.S. Sen- Minnesota Representative Dist. 138 Miami’s African American and Hai- contributions of those who donate 11, 2004, firebombing of the SWP’s ate Ernest Mailhot, U.S. Senate Washington tian communities demanding that more than $200 to their campaigns. election campaign offices in Hazle- Carlos Samaniego, U.S. Loretta Van Pelt, U.S. Con- Chris Hoeppner, Governor cops who have killed young Blacks The reports, which are open to the ton, Pennsylvania, and the firing of Congress, 4th C.D. Lisa Potash, Socialist Workers Party gress, 3rd C.D. Mary Martin, U.S. Con- in recent months be prosecuted and public, provide a convenient “en- emies list” for government agencies, candidate for Atlanta City Council Jeanne FitzMaurice, U.S. Rebecca Williamson, U.S. gress, 7th C.D. jailed. employers, rightist organizations, and president, from her meatpacking job Congress, 6th C.D. Congress, 5th C.D. To get involved with the socialist Washington, D.C. other enemies of the workers move- one week before 2006 municipal Rollande Girard, State Rep- campaign, contact Militant distribu- Jacob Perasso, U.S. Con- Seth Dellinger, Delegate to ment. elections. resentative, Dist. 61B tors listed on page 8, or: Socialist gress, 7th C.D. U.S. Congress The Socialist Workers Party first The current FEC exemption expires Illinois New Jersey Sam Manuel, City Council Workers National Campaign, P.O. won a partial exemption from the act at the end of 2008. The SWP has an- Betsy Farley, U.S. Senate Sara Lobman, U.S. Senate At-Large Box 31322, San Francisco, CA 94131, in 1979 on the basis of the measure’s nounced plans to petition in October or [email protected]. threat to First Amendment right to for an extension.

The Militant January 14, 2008 7 Marxism is a school of revolutionary strategy Below is an excerpt from volume 2 of tomatically, like the sun rises and sets, The First Five Years of the Communist but must be accomplished through hu- International, one of Pathfinder’s Books man beings, through the struggle of of the Month for January. This two-vol- human beings welded into classes. To ume collection contains speeches and replace a social class, governing an old writings by the Russian revolutionary society that has turned reactionary, must leader Leon Trotsky recording the ef- come a new social class which possess- forts led by V.I. Lenin and other central es the program for a new social order leaders of the Bolshevik party to build meeting the needs for the development a world movement of communist parties of productive forces, and which is pre- capable of leading workers and farmers pared to realize this program in life. But to overthrow capitalist exploitation and it by no means always happens when a colonial oppression. The excerpt below given social system has outlived itself, is from a July 1921 speech at a general i.e., has turned reactionary, that a new membership meeting of the Moscow sec- class appears, conscious enough, orga- tion of the Communist Party. Copyright nized enough and powerful enough to © Pathfinder Press 1972. Reprinted by cast down life’s old masters and pave permission. the way for new social relations. . . . On the contrary, more than once, it has hap- pened in history that an old society ex- Books of hausted itself, for example, the ancient Supporters of Bolshevik party on armored car in Moscow’s Red Square during armed slave society of Rome—and preceding the month uprising in November 1917, in which working people in Russia took political power. it there were the ancient Asian civili- gree attainable under the given system; cial, though sanguinary, political over- zations whose foundation of slavery By leon Trotsky opened up no room for the development Comrades, the internal causation and no new social system appears on the turns—conditions for a social revolution scene unless the economic premises nec- which replaces one economic system by of productive forces. But within this out- and lawfulness of historical develop- lived society there existed no new class ment was formulated for the first time essary for it have already been prepared another, are created only when the old by the old social system. This truth, social order no longer leaves room for strong enough to overthrow the slave- by Marxist theory. The theory of Marx- holders and institute a new, a feudal, ism, as Marx himself wrote in the intro- which is basic for revolutionary policy, the development of productive forces— unquestionably retains all its meaning this proposition does not at all mean that system, because the feudal system was, duction to his work Critique of Political compared to slavery, a step forward. Economy, established approximately as a guide for us to this very moment. the old social order unfailingly collapses But more than once has Marxism been as soon as it becomes reactionary in the In its turn, within the feudal sys- the following proposition with regard tem there was not always to be found to revolution: No social system departs understood mechanically, unilaterally economic sense, that is, as soon as it and therefore erroneously. Wrong con- begins to retard the development of the in the hour of need a new class, the from the arena until it has developed the bourgeoisie, to overthrow the feudal- productive forces to the maximum de- clusions may likewise be drawn from technological power of man. Not at all. the foregoing proposition. For while the productive forces consti- ists and to open the road for historical Marx says that a social system must tute the basic driving force of historical development. It has more than once leave the scene once the productive development, the latter nevertheless oc- happened in history that a given so- Books forces—technology, man’s power over curs not separate and apart from human ciety, a given nation, or people, or a of the Month nature—can no longer develop within beings, but through them. The produc- tribe, or several tribes and nations, its framework. From the standpoint of tive forces—the means whereby social living under similar historical condi- Marxism, historical society, as such, is man dominates nature—take shape, it tions, have run up against the impos- PATHFINDER an organization of collective man—man is true, independently of the will of any sibility of developing any further on a READERS CLUB 25% discount in the aggregate—for the purpose of in- single individual and are only slightly given economic foundation—slavery SPECIALS creasing man’s power over nature. Of dependent upon the common will of or feudalism—but inasmuch as no The First Five Years course this goal is not posed extrinsi- human beings alive to-day, because new class existed among them ca- ofJanuary the Communist cally by human beings, but in the course technology represents the accumulated pable of leading them out to the main International vol. 2 of their development they struggle for capital inherited by us from the past. . . . highway, they simply fell apart. The by Leon Trotsky it, adapting themselves to the objective But when the productive forces, when given civilization, the given state, the $28. Special price: $21 conditions of their environment and technology become too restricted within given society disintegrated. 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8 The Militant January 14, 2008 Editorial How to confront Support socialist ticket in ’08! housing crisis We urge you to support the Socialist Workers lionaires and win. Party 2008 election campaign, which has just The Socialist Workers candidates explain that facing workers launched its presidential ticket of Róger Calero not only do workers need unions on the job to mo- BY paul pederson and Alyson Kennedy along with candidates for bilize against the onslaught of the boss class and AND CINDY JAQUITH federal, state, and local office around the coun- its government. In the political arena we need a In a letter printed below, reader Dave Morrow asks try. You can get the socialist candidates invited labor party, based on a fighting union movement, why the Militant hasn’t “put forward any specific to speak before your union, school, or community to defend the interests of working people here and proposals to protect working people from the hous- group. Join campaigning teams on street corners internationally. ing crisis.” He suggests several demands aimed at and in working-class neighborhoods. Make a do- Calero and Kennedy have both been involved in the landlords, banks, and housing-related industries. nation. Order extra copies of the Militant to get political struggles that demonstrate the capacity The letter provides a useful opportunity to review the out the word on the socialist campaign. of working people to fight and win. In 2002 Róger place of the housing question and how Marxists ap- The Socialist Workers candidates are explain- Calero and his party defeated the U.S. govern- ing the working-class alternative to the Demo- ment’s attempts to deport him. That victory serves crats and Republicans, the twin capitalist parties as an example in the battle for the legalization of of exploitation, racism, and war. Millions today all undocumented immigrants—a life-and-death REPLY TO A reader sense the growing impact of capitalism’s world question for the labor movement. Alyson Kenne- financial crisis on working people: from sharply dy was among the leaders of a union-organizing proach it. rising fuel and food prices, to bosses telling us struggle at the Co-Op coal mine in Utah, in which The primary form of exploitation that workers face we must “choose” between jobs or safety, wages miners won broad labor solidarity in their effort is on the job—the appropriation by the capitalists of or health care, pension cutbacks or two-tier pay to win safer job conditions, an end to company the surplus value we produce. As wages are reduced, scales for new hires. From the decline or out- abuse, and improved wages. The dozens of deaths rents, debts, and other secondary forms of exploita- right denial of medical care, to banks foreclosing of U.S. miners in the last two years underscore the tion cut more harshly. But the battle with the boss on more and more workers’ homes. From deadly centrality of what that fight was about: to be safe, over wages, working conditions, and social benefits police assaults in Black, Latino, and other work- be union. remains the central arena of the class struggle. ing-class communities, to immigration raids and Working people need not choose between the The collapse of the giant bubble of debt specula- deportations. least of all evils. Why support a candidate you tion causing millions to face foreclosure on their The socialist campaign is the only one that don’t agree with? Whichever candidates end up homes is the latest product of a deepening crisis addresses working people with a truthful expla- winning the Democratic and Republican nomina- of the entire capitalist system. For three decades nation of this crisis and how it is caused by the tions, and whether one or the other takes the White workers have borne the brunt of an offensive by the normal operations of an economic and social sys- House in November, there is no question they will bosses. The unions keep weakening. Employers tem—capitalism—that is based on an irreconcil- continue to act in the bosses’ interests. Instead, have slashed wages, pension and health benefits, able conflict between labor and capital. The so- join a campaign with candidates that you support, and increased speedup. Inflation is taking a further cialists offer a program to unify the working class whose program is in your class interests! bite out of wages. and combat the efforts by the employer class to Get involved in the Socialist Workers Party To fight this socialists support struggles to organize make us bear the brunt of the unfolding capital- campaign! Contact the Militant distributor near- unions and to use union power. We champion the de- ist economic crisis. It is a strategy through which est you, listed on page 8, or the national campaign mand for a sliding scale of wages to combat inflation workers and farmers can take on the ruling bil- at [email protected]. and a sliding scale of hours to confront unemploy- ment. We call for a massive public works program to put millions to work at union scale building schools, housing, and hospitals. We point to the need for the unions to break with the capitalist parties and forge Pakistan: parties call for ‘unity’ gov’t a labor party. We explain that capitalist rule must be Continued from page 3 said U.S. military aid to Pakistan should be cut unless replaced with a workers and farmers government. ment, but one of his spokesmen said that a short Musharraf gets “serious” about fighting al-Qaeda. From this starting point, socialists join in struggles postponement “would be acceptable.” Sharif had NATO officials have urged Musharraf to continue against all the horrors and abuses of the capitalist sys- called for a boycott of the elections but switched military cooperation against armed Islamist groups tem. We extend labor solidarity to rent strikes, battles after a meeting at the Bhutto family estate. along the border with Afghanistan. Since October the against evictions, and other struggles that break out Sharif and the Bhuttos calculate that a vote held Pakistani military has been conducting a major mili- on housing. But we don’t appeal to workers as “ho- sooner after Benazir Bhutto’s death will result in a tary operation against Islamists in the Swat region, meowners.” Rather, we explain their exploitation as larger vote for the opposition. Musharraf undoubtedly using artillery and aerial bombardment along with workers and the centrality of their battle against the fears the same. thousands of troops. employer class. In condemning the killing of Bhutto, U.S. ambas- Meanwhile thousands of Pakistanis have fled the Attempting to come up with a list of immediate de- sador to the UN Zalmay Khalizad stressed the im- Swat region as the military has continued opera- mands around the housing crisis today takes us away portance Washington placed on piecing together a tions against Islamist groups, which have responded from this objective, tending to elevate this question coalition government in Pakistan. Khalizad called with sporadic suicide car bombings against Pakistani above the capitalist system that is responsible for it. on “moderates” to “come together to present a united troops. Middle-class reformers have historically taken a front against extremism and terror.” different approach to the housing question, seeking Democratic and Republican candidates have also a way to solve it under capitalism. Frederick Engels used the assassination to emphasize their qualifications the Militant took up their arguments in his pamphlet The Hous- to conduct the war on terror. Senator John McCain de- ing Question, where he demonstrated that reformers’ fended Musharraf as having “done a pretty good job” www.themilitant.com “solutions”—usually proposing a way every worker as an ally in fighting terrorism. Senator Barack Obama can have his or her own house— invariably led to bol- online stering the very profit system that caused the housing crisis. Home ownership, Engels explained, is one of letters the main ways the employers tie workers to the capi- Housing crisis sive if they were accompanied • As part of a nationalized talist system, entangling them in debt that conserva- I’m disappointed that the Mili- by specific demands. What ex- housing industry, limit rent tizes them and making them less mobile, less able to tant hasn’t put forward any spe- actly would a transformed la- and mortgage payments by combat the bosses. cific proposals to protect work- bor movement fight for? What working people to 10 percent Answering critics who demanded he offer “practi- ing people from the housing cri- would a workers and farmers of income (like in Cuba). cal” solutions on housing, Engels replied, “[I]t never sis. government do? • As part of a massive public entered my head to try to settle the so-called hous- An editorial on the housing cri- The following possibilities works program, build more ing question any more than to occupy myself with sis in the September 17 Militant occur to me: affordable housing for work- the details of the still more important food question. concluded, “The key to defend- • A moratorium on home fore- ing people. I am satisfied if I can prove that the production of our ing ourselves as a class . . . begins closures for working people. Dave Morrow modern society is sufficient to provide all its mem- with the fight to organize and • The government should offer Oakland, California bers with enough to eat, and that there are houses use union power. . . . Strength- low-interest fixed-rate home enough in existence to provide the working masses ening the fighting capacity and loans for working people. The letters column is an open for the time being with roomy and healthy living ac- self-confidence of the working • Open the books of the hous- forum for all viewpoints on commodation. To speculate on how a future society class is key to forging a move- ing and home loan industry. subjects of interest to working might organize distribution of food and dwellings ment capable of leading work- • Nationalize the housing in- people. Please keep your letters leads directly to utopia.” ers and farmers to take political dustry, under control of ei- brief. Where necessary they will That is why the Socialist Workers Party can- power.” ther (a) a class-struggle labor be abridged. Please indicate if didates are inviting their supporters to campaign It seems to me these points movement or (b) a workers you prefer that your initials be along the course presented in the coverage in this would have been more persua- and farmers government. used rather than your full name. week’s Militant. The Militant January 14, 2008 9