• AUSTRALIA$2.00 • BARBADOS $2.00 • BELGIUM BF60 • CANADA$2.00 • FRANCE FF10 • ICELAND Kr150 • NEW ZEALAND $2.50 • SWEDEN Kr12 • UK £1.00 • U.S. $1.50 INSIDE IRA bombings fuel debate in Britain THE MILITANT — PAGE 11 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE 1 VOL. 57/NO. 16 April 26, 1993 Mandela: murder won’t stop march to freedom in S. Africa Millions strike to ANC president condemn killing urges disciplined of Chris Hani protest actions

BY BRIAN WILLIAMS The following is the text of the address The assassination o f Chris Hani. a central to the nation that A NC president Nelson leader o f the African National Congress and Mandela delivered on South African tele­ general secretary of the South African Com­ vision April 13, 1993 — three days after munist Party (SACP), has evoked massive the assassination of A N C leader Chris protests by those fighting to advance the Hani. struggle for a democratic, nonracial, non­ sexist republic in South Africa. S ic 3lc In one o f the largest political protests in BY NELSON MANDELA South African history, up to 90 percent of Tonight I am reaching out to every single the country’s 6 million Black workers took South African. Black and white, from the part in a one-day strike April 14 to protest very depths of my being. Hani's assassination. The African National A white man, full of prejudice and hate, Congress (ANC) estimated that 1.5 million came to our country and committed a deed people also participated in 84 demonstra­ so foul that our whole nation now teeters on tions and rallies around the country that day. the brink o f disaster. A white woman, o f In the Black township o f Soweto the po­ Afrikaner origin, risked her life so that we lice opened fire on a peaceful demonstration AP/Wide World Photos may know, and bring to justice. this assassin. of 20.000. Five were killed, including the Rally in Soweto, A pril 14, to protest the assassination of Chris Hani. The cold-blooded murder of Chris Hani head o f the local A N C branch, and more has sent shock waves throughout the coun­ than 150 were injured. According to jour­ try and the world. Our g rie f and anger is nalists and other witnesses, the crowd was tant new progress was being registered in stepped out o f the car he had just parked in the tearing us apart. What has happened is a preparing to disperse when about 30 police­ multiparty talks aimed at setting plans for driveway of his home in Boksburg. a racially national tragedy that has touched m illions men began firing tear gas. shotguns, and the first-ever democratic elections to a con­ mixed suburb of Johannesburg. After neigh­ o f people, across the political and color pistols. Around the country at least 17 peo­ stituent assembly to draw up a post-apart­ bors reported the license plate o f the car driv­ divide. ple were killed, including 11 in Natal prov­ heid constitution. Forces hoping to derail en by the assailant, police arrested Janus/ Our shared g rie f and legitimate anger w ill ince, and hundreds more injured. these negotiations have recently carried out Walus, a 40-year-old white man who had em­ find expression in nationwide commemora­ A N C leaders accused the police o f "u n ­ several massacres. The talks have now been igrated from Poland about 10 years ago. tions that coincide with the funeral service. provoked brutality” in Soweto. The ANC postponed one week. According to the Sunday Times o f Johan­ Continued on Page 9 called another march for A pril 17 and the Hani is the highest ranking national ANC nesburg, Walus has "close links" to a neo- funeral for Hani two days later. Demonstra­ leader to have been assassinated in at least Nazi white nationalist group, the Afrikaner tions have also occurred in London, Mon­ several decades. Not since Steven Biko died Resistance Movement. The leader of this treal, New York, and other cities around the during a police interrogation in 1977 has such group, Eugene TerreBlanche. confirmed that U.S. Congress world. Many more are planned. a leading antiapartheid fighter been slain. Walus has been a member since 1986. The murder of Hani occurred as impor- Hani. 50. was gunned down A pril 10 as he Continued on Page 9 shows tactical differences on Abortion rights fighters outmobilize Clinton’s budget

BY GEORGE FYSON Operation Rescue at Florida clinic The detailed budget issued by the White House April 8 differs little from the outline BY THERESA KENDRICK that was made public in mid-February'. But AND LAURA GARZA while many in capitalist ruling circles warm­ MELBOURNE. Florida — Supporters of ly applauded President Bill Clinton's Feb­ abortion rights mobilized here April 10 to de­ ruary speeches, which focused on the need fend the Aware Woman Center for Choice. By for "shared sacrifice.” their debate over var­ 6:00 a.m. the sidewalk in front o f the clinic in ious budget provisions has grown sharper in this central Florida town was filled with 250 recent weeks. pro-choice activists. They successfully de­ In February Clinton made much of his fended access to the clinic and outmobilized plan to "jump-start" the economy, with fis­ Operation Rescue supporters, who had cal measures that he claimed w-ould create vowed to close it. 500.000 jobs in 1993 and 1994. The pro­ Among those who turned out wete high posal took the form of a $21.4 billion tax school and college students; workers, young break for companies purchasing new and old; veterans of previous clinic defense equipment and SI9.5 billion of special efforts; and many who were at their first spending on public works. abortion rights action. They came from all Posturing as opponents of "big spending” over central and south Florida. by the Democratic administration. Senate Operation Rescue had announced an Republicans organized a filibuster — an ef­ Easter weekend blitz at abortion clinics. fort to block action by prolonging debate for The day before, cadres of the rightist group days — to prevent passage o f the spending blockaded a clinic in nearby Fort Pierce, in portion o f Clinton's so-called stimulus pack­ violation of a court injunction. Police ar­ age. A number o f leading Democrats have rested 75 who took part in the blockade. Militant/Jim Kendrick also announced that they oppose the tax The antiabortion activists succeeded in Abortion rights activists defend clinic April 10 in Melbourne, Florida. credit to companies. closing the clinic for more than an hour. Whether or not C linton's package is The next day, however. Operation Res­ ta, Georgia. A group o f 10 students drove sev­ Christopher Erwen. 22. a student at passed in its original form or in a modified cue’s efforts failed. In Ft. Lauderdale more eral hours from the New College in Sarasota. Brevard Community College, was one of version, it is more for show than for any­ than 100 pro-choice activists met a handful o f The Florida International University-South those at the Melbourne clinic. He was thing else. The measure will not make a antiabortion pickets. C linic defense was also Campus chapter of the National Organization joined by his grandmother. The young man serious dent in the level of unemployment. organized in Orlando and Port St. Lucie. for Women (NOW) organized several car­ began volunteering as a clinic escort sever­ Today 9 million workers officially are un­ Clinic defenders traveled from Jacksonville, loads to jo in the 30 people who drove up from al weeks ago after he heard Operation employed. and at least another 8 m illion are Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, and even Atlan- M iam i earlier. Continued on Page 3 Continued on Page 12 How workers in Sweden won their rights — page 10 IN BRIEF. U.S. jets bomb Iraq donia, however, will be the first member country banned from flying its national Four U.S. Air Force fighter jets dropped flag in front of the UN headquarters build­ cluster bombs on an Iraqi antiaircraft artil­ ing. Washington and governments in the lery position over northern Iraq April 9. European Com m unity are expected to rec­ According to a Reuters report, at least one ognize Macedonia soon. Iraqi soldier was wounded in the attack. Washington claimed the Iraqis had tired France affirms ties to Germany antiaircraft guns and directed radar at the U.S. planes. Baghdad denied these charges. France’s new prime minister. Edouard This was the first U.S. assault since mid- Balladur. called for prioritizing Paris's eco­ January. when the outgoing Bush adminis­ nomic alliance with the government of Ger­ tration launched, and U.S. president Clinton many. He insisted that maintaining the continued, a scries o f bombings against Iraqi French franc's exchange rate relationship to m ilitary positions in southern Iraq. the German mark was “u national objec­ The I .S. government, with the support of tive." France will soon establish an inde­ French and British forces, has declared a pendent central bank similar to the Bun­ "no-fly" zone over areas of southern and desbank o f Germany, he said. nonhem Iraq. U.S. warplanes maintain a Balladur also pledged an extensive pro­ regular m ilitary presence over Iraqi skies to gram o f privatization o f state industry, and enforce it. In late March Washington suc­ said the money would be used to cut Fran­ In Tokyo, striking medical workers rallied outside the Women’s Medical College ce’s budget deficit. ceeded in winning support from the United April 7, demanding higher wages and hiring of more nurses. The rally was part of Nations Security Council for extending the a nationwide action by 170,000 nurses and other health employees. sanctions against Iraq for at least another 60 U.S. in no hurry to leave Somalia days. This move came shortly after the Clin­ In a visit to U.S. forces still stationed in ton administration announced it was drop­ Somalia, Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of missiles, according to an April 8 New York linking interest on savings to inflation, rais­ ping its demand that Iraqi president Saddam the Joint Chiefs o f Staff, stated that the Times report. U.S. officials oppose steps Iran ing benefits for the military, and maintaining Hussein must be ousted before economic 12,(XX) U.S. troops there have accomplished has been taking toward closer ties with price controls. sanctions would be lifted. their mission. He cautioned, however, North Korea. A 21-member delegation of “ We’re not in a hurry to get out o f here" by Iranian officials is currently in North Korea, Bonn to join Bosnia NATO flights U.S. aircraft makers want ban on the projected May 1 pullout date. The new the fifth such delegation to visit Pyongyang jet sales to Iran lifted A German constitutional court ruled 5-3 UN envoy to Somalia, retired U.S. Navy in the past year. that German military personnel can partici­ Facing increased competition from the admiral Jonathan Howe, said, “ It’s probably pate in the NATO military flights to enforce European consortium Airbus Industrie, two going to be a lot later than May 1.” Turkey threatens Armenia the no-fly zone over Bosnia. The ruling leading U.S. aerospace manufacturers, Boe­ Even after the majority of troops leave, Turkish president Turgut Ozal denounced backed the position of Chancellor Helmut ing and General Electric, are urging the the Pentagon plans to leave behind a “ quick the recent attacks by Armenian troops on Kohl, leader of the ruling Christian Demo­ Clinton administration to lift the U.S. ban reaction force” o f a few thousand U.S. sol­ Nagorno-Karabakh, the disputed majority- cratic alliance. Kohl contends that German on the sale o f aircraft to Iran. diers. Powell said he envisions a "battalion­ Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan. He stated participation in this mission does not violate Iran A ir plans to spend as much as $7 b il­ sized force” that might include both sea- that Turkey should have taken military ac­ the country's 1949 constitution, which bars lion this decade to replace aging airliners, in ­ based and ground troops, and could be in­ tion against Armenia long ago and called for the use of German military forces abroad. cluding 25 Boeing jets dating back to 1968. creased in size if the conflict in Somalia the use of force to roll back the Armenian German personnel make up more than 30 escalates. Last year the company agreed to buy 16 new occupation of Kelbajar province in Azer­ percent o f the 1,500 positions in the opera­ 737s from Boeing, but U.S. trade restrictions baijan. The Turkish foreign ministry also tions by NATO's E-3A Awacs planes, which prevent the deal from going through. Airbus UNITA gains threaten Angola condemned the UN Security Council for not are based on German soil. W ithout German — a consortium of French, German. British, taking a stronger stand against Armenia's participation. NATO’s flights over Bosnia Six months after having lost the elec­ and Spanish companies has begun to offensive against Azerbaijan. would be severely limited. The operation, tions in Angola, the National Union for move into this profitable market. which involves about 70 fighter planes from the Total Independence of Angola (UNI­ "We lose as many sales because o f our Yeltsin promises less austerity the United States, France, the Netherlands, TA). led by Jonas Savim bi, has expanded government’s actions as we do because o f its control to nearly two-thirds of the coun­ Despite calls by capitalist monetary insti­ and Britain, marks NATO’s first combat role foreign competition.” complained Joel try, the New York Times reported. In early tutions for stepped-up austerity measures in since the alliance was formed in 1949. Johnson, international vice-president of the March, after an eight-week battle in which Russia, President Boris Yeltsin — in an ef­ As NATO jets began patrolling Bosnian U.S. Aerospace Industries Association. at least 15.000 civilians died, UNITA took fort to win the maximum number of votes skies April 12. Serbian forces unleashed control of Huambo, Angola’s second larg­ in the upcoming A pril 25 referendum on his intense artillery attacks on Sarajevo and Iran seeks missiles from N. Korea est city. Recent news reports have cited rule — is raising wages, increasing spend­ Srebrenica. At least 56 civilians, including dozens o f cases o f brutality by U N ITA Iran is close to concluding a deal with ing, and issuing low-cost credits to state-run 15 children, were killed and 90 wounded in troops against fleeing civilians. North Korea to buy new intermediate-range industries. Yeltsin’s latest measures include the Srebrenica attack. Meanwhile, at the urging of Moscow and with the support of the Clinton administration, the UN Security Milwaukee’s water contaminated Council postponed voting on new economic Residents of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sanctions against Serbia until after the April have been ordered not to drink tap water, MILITANT 25 referendum in Russia. use it to brush their teeth, or wash food unless they first boil it for five minutes to Macedonia admitted to UN k ill a parasite that has contaminated the Up-to-date coverage of Macedonia, which declared its inde­ water supply. pendence from Yugoslavia a year ago, was Hundreds and perhaps thousands of M il­ the democratic revolution in South Africa approved A p ril 8 by the Security Council for waukee area residents have been stricken UN membership. The government of w ith a severe intestinal illness that causes The ‘M ilitant’provides weekly Greece had opposed this move, claim ing the diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever, and coverage on the latest developments name Macedonia implied territorial claims vomiting. Officials speculate that the out­ in the struggle fo r a democratic, by the former Yugoslav republic on the break is the result o f a high level o f runoff nonracist, nonsexist South Africa. northern Greek province o f the same name. from the area's dairy farms spilled into Lake You w ill fin d news about the In a compromise agreement, the Secu­ Michigan from the Milwaukee River, near multiparty talks paving the way rity Council agreed to admit Macedonia an intake pipe for the city’s water supply, fo r the election o f a constituent under the provisional name of “the Former which serves 800,000 people. assembly, the A N C ’s campaign Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia." Mace­ — BRIAN WILLIAMS rallies, the economic crisis facing working people there, the recent wave o f violence by forces that Bridgetown, Barbados. Asia: send $80 drawn want to derail negotiations, The Militant on a U.S. bank to 410 West St.. New York. Closing news date: April 14, 1993 NY 10014. Canada: send Canadian $75 for and much m ore one-year subscription to Société d’Editions Editor: GEORGE FYSON Don 1 miss a single issue! AGPP, C.P. 340, succ. R, Montréal, Québec Managing Editor: ARGIRIS MALAPANIS H2S 3M2. Britain, Ireland, Africa: £35 for Labor Editor: PAUL MAILHOT one year by check or international money SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Business Manager: GEORGE FYSON order made out to Militant Distribution, 47 Editorial Staff: Derek Bracey, Naomi Craine. The Cut. London. SE1 8LL, England. Conti­ Frank Forresta!. Martin Koppel. Sara Lob- nental Europe: £50 for one year by check or man. Stu Singer, Brian Williams. international money order made out to M ili­ tant Distribution at above address. 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2 The Militant April 26, 1993 Pro-choice youth rally in Birmingham

BY TIM MAILHOT impose anything on anyone. But I don't AND DENISE McINERNEY want my rights taken away." She stressed BIRMINGHAM. Alabama — Chanting that this was a peaceful counterdemonstra­ pro-choice slogans and singing "we shall not tion and that it was making the point that be moved.” 25 young men and women people support the right of women to have staged a counterdemonstration Saturday. access to abortion when necessary. She A pril 3, at the Summit Medical Center here. counted 45 cars responding to a "Honk if This is one of the clinics providing abortion you’re pro-choice" sign. services in Birmingham that have had large Another young woman, who had been antiabortion picket lines every Saturday for a patient at the clinic in the past year, said the past month. the antiabortion pickets had tried to pull Their aim is to discourage women seek­ her from the car when she drove in. "I ing care at the clinic through harassment and believe in choice strongly." she said. " I ’ve intimidation. A court injunction prohibits the had only three hours sleep but I will be rightists from blocking the driveway into the here all day." clinic or entering the clinic property. Be­ She noted that women don’t take abortion tween 50 and 100 antiabortion protesters lightly. "Women think about it when they're usually participate. A favorite chant since one day late w ith their period. They don’t the murder o f Dr. David Gunn has been. just say. ‘ Oh. I ’ ll go have an abortion.’ The "You ain't seen nothin' yet." main problem I with the antiabortion pick­ An increasing number of young men and ets! is they harass the patients." women have been showing up to defend Another woman said that in high school the clinic and escort patients in response she was antichoice. Her thinking began to Militant/Denise Mclnerney to the murder in Pensacola. Florida, as change after she moved away from home. Abortion rights supporters in Birmingham. Alabama, April 3. well. This was the first organized effort in "I couldn't handle anyone telling me what a while to move out of the clinic parking to do wdth my body. What's needed is more come increasingly aggressive in their intim i­ with the counterdemonstrators was met with lot and counter the antiabortion protesters legislation," she said. "People need to wake dation o f patients and clinic escorts, continu­ even louder chants and singing. on the street. up to the religious right.” ally singing, chanting, and praying, while Pro-choice activists exchanged names When asked why she was participating in The enthusiasm of the counterdemonstra­ massing around the entrance to the parking and phone numbers, and made plans to the counterdemonstration. Morgan. 22. said. tion had a definite dampening effect on the lot. This time every attempt they made to ha­ bring more friends out to help defend the "It needs to be done. I'm not trying to antiabortionists. In past weeks, they had be­ rass or preach to or engage in discussions clinic. Operation Rescue outmobilized at Florida clinics Continued from front page porters began gathering there Saturday, line of clinic defenders stood locked arm in worker had left the house and her three Rescue was operating a 12-week training A pril 8, at 8:00 a.m. arm. Tucci carried a child in his arms. Sev­ children were subjected to pounding on the school near Melbourne with 22 full-time They faced a court injunction recently eral others also had toddlers walking along door and screams for more than an hour participants learning tactics to shut down handed down that prohibits antiabortion as they began to picket and sing Jesus Loves before help arrived. Using state and local clinics. protesters from being w ithin 36 feet on the Little Children. Signs had been posted agencies Operation Rescue supporters have Erwen explained that he quickly learned three sides of the Aware Woman clinic. to want that an injunction was in force and filed many false complaints and malpractice about Operation Rescue's intim idation and The injunction limits noise such as chant­ lines had been drawn to mark the end o f the claims against doctors associated with the harassment. Soon after beginning as an es­ ing, singing, or yelling during hours when 36 foot limit. clinic. Since February 7. more than 10.000 cort he received death threats by phone. The abortions are being performed. Graphic For the next hour and a half, police ar­ calls have been placed in an effort to jam anonymous callers would say “We know pictures o f fetuses are also barred from rested protesters, leading them one or two the phone lines at the clinic and block access you are alone.” adding that his whole family being shown or passed out to those enter­ at a time to a van. placing those who went by those seeking service. would pay for his activity in defense of "the ing the clinic. limp onto a padded stretcher. As cameras Baird-Windle said that many doctors baby-killers." Keith Tucci. a leader of Operation Res­ rolled. Tucci protested that his child was have been scared o ff since David Gunn's A woman who works in a theme park cue. noted in a rally of 500 right-wing ac­ being manhandled and his rights violated. murder in Pensacola. But she added that in Orlando decided to get involved. "You tivists the night before that the group had Tucci. like the others arrested, was able to she was determined to keep her clinics reach a point you can't walk away from violated the injunction in front o f the M el­ hand his child over to others who were not open. it.” she said. "This is our right as women." bourne clinic that day and would do so again violating the injunction. Baird-W indle stressed the importance o f the next day. He said it was an infringement In Fort Pierce the day before. Operation mobilizing to keep the clinics open to de­ OR buys house across from clinic on free speech. Rescue had blocked the entrance to the c lin ­ fend a woman's right to choose. "Without ic. The protesters in Melbourne, on the other clinics there is no choice." she told an April Operation Rescue, which has blockaded Tucci. consciously defying the injunc­ hand, never tried to blockade the clinic. 9 rally of abortion rights supporters. “ And clinics and organized harassment campaigns tion. led about 45 o f the 100 protesters Instead they repeated again and again that without you there is no clinic." in many cities, bought the house across the gathered across the street onto the sidewalk they were defending free speech and were street from the Melbourne clinic. Their sup- in front of the Aware Women clinic where a simply praying on a public street. Debate on injunction Also speaking at the April 9 rally was Rightists pushed back in Melbourne Eleanor Smeal, former president of NOW. Rescue America fails to shut After pushing back Operation Rescue’s Smeal noted the use of violence and intim­ efforts in Melbourne, many of the clinic idation that characterizes the tactics of defenders traveled to the Aware Woman groups like Operation Rescue and Rescue abortion clinics in Britain clinic in Port St. Lucie, about an hour and a America, the outfit that was picketing the half south o f here, where abortions are per­ clinic in Pensacola when Gunn was m ur­ BY ANNALUCIA VERMUNT erx lay down in the driveway. Seventy clinic formed in the afternoon. It was expected that dered. For this reason, she stated, lawyers LONDON — The arrival of antiabortion defenders were quickly mobilized to keep Operation Rescue might attempt another sought an injunction to prevent blockade forces from the United States, Britain, and the clinic open. W hile the rightists were able blockade there. attempts at the Melbourne clinic. The in­ Ireland was met by protests organized by- to close the front door to the clinic, the back Dozens of disciplined clinic defenders junction issued by Judge Robert McGregor abortion rights activists. The rightists, or­ door remained open and patients were es­ repeatedly practiced making a corridor to covers Brevard and Seminole counties. ganized by the U.S.-based group Rescue corted in to their appointments. protect the entrance and methods for keep­ Smeal stated she hoped it could become an America, arrived in Britain March 27-28 to British police arrested Rescue America ing blockaders from crawling through the example and could be applied throughout spearhead a campaign to shut down abortion leader Don Treshman. Authorities served lines. Eventually a dozen right-wingers ar­ Florida and elsewhere. clinics. But each time the antiabortion forces him with a deportation order after the at­ rived and stood by the road far from the Some abortion rights supporters have mobilized, abortion rights activists organ­ tempted clinic blockade in London. The clinic entrance waving signs to passersby criticized aspects o f the injunction for in ­ ized to keep the clinics open. Watches were government said his presence was "not con­ and praying. fringing on free speech. The American Civil set up at four London clinics and a phone ducive to the public good." Treshman has The recent history of antiabortion protests Liberties Union stated it supported efforts tree organized to more rapidly mobilize been released on bail but must remain in marked by organized violence, intimidation, to narrow the scope o f the injunction, which forces for action. Britain to appear at an appeals hearing. and harrasxment o f clinic workers and wom ­ includes limits on passing out literature to Thirty defenders of a women’s right to A discussion has opened among de­ en who visit the clinics. Many abortion those entering the clinic, and on the kinds choose abortion gathered outside the Inter­ fenders of a women’s right to choose rights supporters don’t expect Operation of pictures on display, as well as noise lim ­ national Planned Parenthood offices in Re­ about the most effective way to beat back Rescue w ill go away. itations. gents Park. London. March 30 in prepara­ the antiabortion attack. At a March 31 Patricia Baird-Windle. owner of the Many abortions rights supporters w ill now tion for an antiabortion rally. Scores of po­ meeting to organize a response to the Aw are Women Center for Choice here, said be gearing up for a May rally in Pensacola, licemen quickly arrested 18 o f the prochoice rightists, some women recounted a similar that since its opening in 1977 the clinic has scheduled for 1 :(X) p.m. at the Judicial Center. activists on charges of failing to comply effort made by anliabortion activists in the become the focus of organized opposition People w ill begin assembling in Pensacola with an order to disperse. Twenty rightists United States more than two years ago. by rightists. The harassment got consider­ for the action at 10:30 a.m. showed up after the arrests and were allowed They argued that, like then, the current ably worse, she said, after the founding o f The rally w ill be the next major organized to hold their press conference. campaign was simply "imported” and Operation Rescue. In A pril 1989, several response to Gunn's murder and the contin­ On April I, the antiabortion activists set would soon go away. hundred people attempted to blockade the ued threats to blockade clinics in Florida. up a picket line at the Buckhurst clinic, on Others pointed to the changing situation clinic. For 26 months Baird’s house has Many of those who participated in defend­ the edge o f London. Patients trying to keep in Britain today, with the rise in racist been picketed daily. ing clinics A p ril 10 plan to spread the word appointments had to run a gauntlet to get attacks and other right-wing street actions. There have been 18 other instances o f in the coming weeks to ensure a strong into the facility. By April 3, however, abor­ They argued that it is important to mobi­ home harassment where right-wingers at­ turnout and send a signal that Operation tion rights defenders had organized 30 ac­ lize against the antiabortion forces and tempt to terrorize clinic workers and sup­ Rescue and Rescue America w ill be met tivists to defend the clinic. show the public support for a women's porters at their homes. They bang on doors wherever they go. The same day, 16 antiabortion demonstra­ right to choose. There was also some de­ and flash cameras and videos at whoever Those wishing more information on the tors went to a clinic in Birmingham. Six bate on whether to support the deportation answers, screaming that they must stop May 8 events can call (904) 224-3883 or barricaded themselves inside while 10 oth- order against Treshman. "baby killing." In one instance a clinic 477-0277.

April 26, 1993 The Militant 3 Iowa meeting shows progress in winning support for Curtis

BY MIKE GALATI (MCDC). pointed to the impact of immi­ AND JOANNE MURPHY grants arriving in the Midwest during the DES MOINES, Iowa — Supporters of last ten years and how the packing compa­ imprisoned unionist and political activist nies try to divide workers w'ho are from Mark Curtis rallied here A pril 9 to support Mexico and southeast Asia from those bom h is light for justice and prepare for the next in the United States. stage in the struggle to win his freedom. "1 believe the fundamental reason why Curtis is a former packinghouse worker Mark was framed up was because o f his who was framed up on charges o f attempted defense o f immigrant workers." she said. rape and burglary in 1988. At the time he "This is a central question facing our class was participating in a light with coworkers in the United States.” at the S w ift/M onfort meatpacking plant in Kaku gave a detailed description o f the Des Moines against an attempt by the Im ­ events o f the day Mark was arrested and migration and Naturalization Service (INS) beaten by Des Moines police. She described to illegally arrest and deport 17 immigrant the unjust aspects o f the trial where he was workers from the factory. convicted o f third-degree sexual assault and The rally registered some of the progress attempted burglary' and sentenced to 25 that has been made, both in winning new years in prison. Militanl/Chris Remple forces to support Curtis's tight and in giving Hazel Zimmerman, M C DC treasurer, Speakers at April 9 rally in Des Moines to win support for framed-up unionist Mark long-time supporters the confidence to po­ chaired the program and read a letter o f Curtis. From left: Kate Kaku, Andre Sledge, Victor Diaz, and Hazel Zimmerman. litically ehallange the pro-prosecution slan­ support from Curtis's lawyer. William der campaign being organized against Curtis Kutmus, who is preparing a federal appeal ued. describing the Sexual Offender Treat­ and those who support him. o f C urtis’s conviction. She also read from "Part of this thing about Mark being forced ment Program the Iowa prison system is One of the first speakers at the meeting, messages from Jake Edwards, second vice to confess his sins comes from behavior attempting to force Curtis to enter as a con­ which 75 people attended, was Andre president of UFCW Local 179 in Cherokee. modification,” Ervin said. “ O f course, if he dition for parole. Sledge, a member o f United Food and C om ­ Iowa, and from the South African Prisoner's confesses, that means he justifies his beating, mercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local Organization for Human Rights "Y ou're supposed to relinquish any asser­ he justifies his frame-up and he more or less 1149 who works at M onfort's Marshall­ (SAPOHR). tion that you're innocent," he said. "They spits on the labor movement. That’s what town. Iowa, plant. Sledge explained how he "On behalf of our membership SAPOHR want to degrade and humiliate you. We they'd like to have happen. had been convinced to support Curtis's expresses its support for the release o f Mark should oppose these kinds o f programs as “ They haven't broken him yet and I don’t fight. "The whole thing is a cover-up." he Curtis from prison," the message from the unconstitutional. think they w ill,” he added. said. "It's like in the packinghouse, they hide South African prisoners group said. "W hen the police and state prosecutors “ How long Mark Curtis stays in prison stuff. A guy gets his hand messed up. it's SAPOHR represents "the entire prisoners put Mark in jail, they had some very distinct does not depend on the authorities," Ervin because he didn't sharpen his knife right. population in the region of approximately goals," Sandler said. “They wanted to do said. “ It's in the hands o f those o f us who "They're putting the image out to Blacks 120,000 sentenced so-called common law damage to M ark's party. They wanted to support Mark Curtis and what we do to fight and Mexican-Americans that he is a racist, prisoners. 101.(MX) suspects, political pris­ damage the confidence of fighting workers. for the freedom of Mark Curtis. a fake, a phony." Sledge said, referring to oners, ex-prisoners [and] detainees." ac­ They wanted to break Mark as a fighting “ The state doesn't want to let him go,” the pro-cop campaign to keep Curtis in jail. cording to the message. worker, as a communist.” he continued. “ But I'm living proof that he "I don't believe that." "His further stay in prison and the time can be free. I did 15 years, but then I had Reach out to new forces When coworker Maurice Williams first he has already served is a transparent indi­ two life sentences plus 15 years.” Ervin was tried to introduce him to the Curtis case. cation to us that keeping him any longer w ill Describing the political work Mark contin­ paroled in 1983 after a long international Sledge said. “ I had a blind side. He showed not serve any good, either to him or society," ues to do in prison, Sandler concluded. “ They campaign on his behalf. me literature and 1 said no. no, no. So he the message said. haven’t succeeded in what they set out to do brought me a movie. When 1 saw that Norton Sandler, a National Committee to Mark or his party.” Curtis continues to be A pro-cop campaign movie. I really changed." Sledge said he member o f the Socialist Workers Party, an example to fighting workers, Sandler ad­ “ They’ re trying to keep him in prison and has since seen the video of Curtis's fight, which Curtis belongs to. called attention to ded. He urged supporters at the rally to reach ju stify why he’s there,” Ervin said. “ This is produced by Hollywood Director Nick these statements and others written recently out to introduce the Curtis case to fighting no accident, this is disinformation. This is Castle, live times. in answer to pro-prosecution forces. coal miners and other unionists; to youth and a pro-cop campaign. This is one of those Another UFCW member from the Mar­ "These people are much more informed others involved in activities in support o f the things you’ve got to beat down on the way shalltown plant addressed the rally in Span­ about what they are doing, where they stand South African freedom struggle; to defend the to beating down the prison doors and releas­ ish. "L ike many other Latino workers in this on this, and where it fits into the w orld." he Cuban revolution; and fight to defend wom­ ing Mark Curtis," he said. “ And I think we country." Victor Diaz told the meeting. "1 said. Because o f the worldwide depression en's right to choose abortion. can do this.” support the fight to free Mark Curtis. I think and attacks on workers' rights, youth and Lorenzo Ervin, president of Concerned Michael Tucker of the Communist that it is true he is a dangerous man because working people "take Mark's case more se­ Citizens for Justice in Chattanooga, Tennes­ League of New Zealand reported that sup­ he tried to unite all workers." riously today than before," he said. see. spoke from his experience of being a porters there are circulating literature pro­ Kate Kaku. Curtis’s wife and a leader of "Never believe that prison has anything political prisoner for 15 years after fighting duced by pro-prosecution forces, along with the Mark Curtis Defense Committee to do with rehabilitation." Sandler contin­ for Black rights in the 1960s. MCDC material. “ We're confident that the facts in M ark's case speak for themselves and w ill w in out,” he said. SOCIALIST CAMPAIGN IN THE NEWS "In recent months. Curtis supporters in the Pacific have been to Japan, India, and LOS ANGELES TIMES TUESDAY, APRIL 6. 1993 * the Philippines, as well as campuses and union gatherings in New Zealand and Aus­ tralia," Tucker reported. With unions, and wages and safety under attack, especially in Let the Working Class Take Charge the big meatpacking industry in New Zea­ arc now under attack. land, “ It’s little wonder many workers iden­ ■ Mayor’s race: Our problems The xenophobic anti-immigrant cam­ tify with Mark and what he did in the stem from a global crisis in the paign being advanced in this race stems union.” Tucker said. capitalist system; the solutions lie from the need of the capitalists to deepen Other speakers included Edna Griffin, the divisions between workers and find a longtime fighter for Black rights in Des in global unity of workers. scapegoat for the crisis faced by all. Any Moines; Robert Rothig, longtime supporter solutions that start with "we Americans” who is a member of the Dubuque, Iowa, L.A. ’93: or "we citizens" versus “them” is an By K IM ALLEN chapter of the NAACP: and Melanie Zim­ THE RACE attempt to tie down working people to the W hat residents of Los Angeles face is a capitalists who are responsible for exploi­ mer, a mechanic at Northwest Airlines in St. local expression of an economic crisis that FOR MAYOR tation of our class worldwide. Paul and International Association o f M a­ is engulfing economies from Germany to The unity of working people across chinists member. Zim m er read a message o f Japan, from Mexico to Zaire—it is the crisis national boundaries is key to mounting support from Native American film pro­ of the capitalist system worldwide. It is The Times invited all the city's mayoral effective fights against police brutality and ducer Chris Spotted Eagle. only in a world framework that we can candidates to describe their ideas fo r Los wars and for defending union and demo­ Participants contributed $1,650 at the begin to understand the causes of the Angeles. Their articles w ill continue to cratic rights. meeting to help fund the ongoing campaign problems we face and forge a way forward. ru n on thus page in the days to come. To have jobs for all, we propose a to win justice and freedom for Mark Curtis. There are no local solutions to the ravages ■ Today, Kim Allen reduction in the work week with no of an international system in decline. reduction in pay. combined w ith a massive What the other candidates for mayor public-works program. In order to over­ Mike Galati is a member of UFCW Local propose are measures that would advance only by calling for more police. come I he divisions the rulers impose, we 1149. He works on the k ill flo o r at M onfort's the interests of the ruling rich at the In the quest to increase their rate of must defend and extend affirmative action. Marshalltown meatpacking plant. expense of workers and youth. We are profits, the ruling rich are compelled to No more cutbacks in education, health care being told that immigrants are the problem drive back the gains made by working and social services. Instead of immigrant and that the cops are the solution. We are people in the social struggles of the bashing we need unity behind struggles Labor news in the M ilitant being asked to accept the deepening at­ past—the labor battles of the 1930s and like the drywallers' strike. We support the tacks on our standard of living as our ’40s. the c iv il-rig h ts movem ent, the right of immigrants to vote. The M ilita n t stays on top of the most "patriotic” contribution to rebuilding Los women's movement and the mass mobili­ We point to the only way out of the important developments in the labor Angeles. zations against the Vietnam War. It was curreni crisis: The working class itself has movement. It has correspondents who When confronted with the brutal beat­ through these struggles that working peo­ to organize society, not the wealthy few work in the mines, mills, and shops ing of Rodney King, institutionalized rac­ ple won the rights and standard of living who control things now. where the events are breaking. You that exists today. Social Security, public ism and the lack of justice for workers and won’t miss any of it if you subscribe. especially those who are latino or black— education, unemployment benefits—these Kim Allen, a railroad worker, is the See the ad on page 2 of this issue for the other candidates for mayor respond are some of the victories of our class that Socialist Workers Party’s candidate. subscription rates.

4 The Militant April 26, 1993 ‘Curtis wasn’t tried for crime of rape but for cause of justice for the oppressed’ Supporters of jailed Iowa unionist speak out against police frame-up

We reproduce below excerpts o f some of ligated to be fair. Let us all be fair to Mark Cur­ the recent letters sent by supporters o f Mark tis. Curtis’s light for justice to his defense com­ mittee. These letters answer attempts, made by Todd Garland those who claim Curtis is guilty, to pressure Executive Coordinator, Catholic endorsers o f his case to end their backing o f the defense effort. A political activist and Committee of Appalachia, union tighter. Curtis was framed up on false Whitesburg, Kentucky charges of sexual assault and burglary in March 1988. He was convicted o f those On behalf of the Catholic Committeeof Ap­ charges later that year and is now serving a palachia. I am writing to express our contin­ 25-ycar prison sentence. ued support for Mark Curtis and his struggle to he exonerated o f his false conviction. Every­ * 3k * day Mark Curtis remains in prison amplifies our belief that justice is not available for polit­ Jake Edwards ical activists who commit their lives to im­ prove the plight o f the worker. If Mark Curtis Vice-president, United Food and can be framed for his activist endeavors, so can Commercial Workers Local 179, any o f us. Cherokee, Iowa The ongoing slander campaign is added evidence of a concerted effort to further I'm writing to inform you of my contin­ malign not only Mark Curtis but also people uing support o f Mark Curtis’ release from who speak out in his support. We w ill not prison and hopefully his being exonerated back down from a few hurled epithets. We o f guilt in the crime o f which he’s been are however deeply disappointed that indi­ convicted. viduals and organizations are casting asper­ The whole case against him has stunk sions. rather than gathering facts. from the get-go, and the fact that he hasn't Physical evidence demonstrates that Mark been released to date in view o f his prison Curtis had no contact with the alleged victim. record tells me that he's in the pen for being Militant/Linda Joyce Test i mony demon stratcs that Mark Curt is was a unionist and a socialist. Pittston miners and their supporters sign Curtis defense petition at Camp Solidarity with friends at the time the attack reportedly Certainly w e’re all in trouble when the strike victory celebration in southwestern Virginia, April 21, 1990. happened. Finally, the young woman's de­ cops can fabricate such bullshit and thus scription o f her assailant in no w ay resembles manage to silence the advocates o f working passionate and altruistic man. He is a fighter lice misconduct, intimidation o f witnesses, Mark Curtis. Justice has been denied Mark people. for freedom and fairness, trying to obtain jus­ and mishandling and destruction o f evidence. Curtis. But worst o f all. the institution respon­ Mark Curtis is my brother as I am 2nd vice- tice for poor working people. It is tragic that the The police along w ith the District Attorney v i­ sible for providing justice orchestrated this president of Local 179 UFCW in Cherokee. only way the system can try to retard that prog­ olated all of the constitutional rights of Mr. travesty, has continued to hold Mark Curtis for Please forward my sentiments o f solidarity. ress is by framing and fabricating charges Hunt. The mishandling of cases like Mr. an inordinate amount o f time and continues to against a person who made those with power Hunt's and Mr. Curtis’s threatens our democ­ deny him parole. and money feel uncomfortable with their racy. None o f us is safe as long as this kind o f Miguel Orozco We add our voices to all those concerned greed and insensibility. 1 believe this is Mr. flagrant misconduct is allowed to go unchal­ w ith true justice. "Take these shackles from Curtis's real and only crime. lenged. “ Injustice anyw'here is a threat to jus­ Oscar Carcamo Mark Curtis, and set him free!" This case rises or falls on whether or not you tice everywhere." My support for Mr. Curtis Recently won victory against believe the police w ill lie and engage in mis­ remains strong and I join others who have * * * Immigration and Naturalization conduct by abusing their power and office. For committed themselves to work for the release Service, Seattle, Washington the past ten years. I have worked for the release o f Mark Curtis, a man o f the people, and a Letters in support of Mark Curtis s fight o f Mr. Darryl Eugene Hunt, a Black man who champion for justice. It is imperative we make for justice should be sent to the Mark Curtis We. Miguel A. Orozco and Oscar Carcamo was accused o f a sexist crime o f rape and mur­ sure we are on the progressive and fair side of Defense Committee. Box 1048. Des are aware o f the very sensitive issue of the sex­ der. He was awarded a new trial based on po- history. We may not always be right; we are ob- Moines. IA 50311. Fax (515) 243-9869. ual assault charges brought to Mark Curtis and finally the conviction o f such charges. Despite the fact that he was found guilty by the jury members, it does not mean he committed that N.J. socialist: Stop attacks on immigrants crime. We arc convinced that there are political motivations behind these actions, against peo­ BY JAY RESSLER Boyasko discussed the growing public fight for health care as an entitlement for all." ple like Mr. Curtis who in spite of origin or health crisis in the United States. She noted color are defending people's rights, especially NEW ARK. New Jersey — Speaking in Steve Marshall. Socialist Workers candi­ Spanish, garment worker William Coy in­ that New Jersey, home to I O of the 18 largest the rights of Latin American immigrants in this date for central Newark's 29th assembly troduced Mark Rahn. the Socialist Workers pharmaceutical companies, is the medicine country. district, and Marilce Taylor, who is running chest o f the United Slates. Yet some cities We are aware o f how the United States' candidate for governor o f New Jersey, to a on the socialist ticket for the second open in this state, including Newark, lead the legal system works. We, personally, were March 27 rally launching his election cam­ seat in the 29th District, also addressed the country in incidents of preventable infec­ victim s o f such a system. We do understand paign. Coy recounted Rahn’s record as a meeting. Nan Bailey, socialist candidate for tious diseases like tuberculosis. it, we just recently lived through it! We think political activist and working-class fighter state senate in the 28th District, and Dan and explained that like Rahn. he believes that Mr. Curtis deserves to be treated as a “ This is an outrageous situation." she said. Furman, running for the state senate in the fundamental social change is needed to de­ productive member of our society; he de­ "There is no reason for anyone to suffer from 17th District, were also introduced. fend the interests o f working people. Coy serves parole without accepting an acknow­ TB. not only here, but anywhere in the world. Participants at the meeting donated or and Rahn work at a garment factory organ­ ledgment o f guilt. The labor movement needs to organize and pledged 51,200 to the socialist campaign. ized by the International Ladies' Garment John Mendez Workers’ Union (ILGWU). Nearly 40 people participated in the meet­ Socialists win ballot spot in Texas Pastor, Emmanuel ing. which wrapped up a full day of cam­ paigning. Supporters of the socialist cam­ Baptist Church, paign gathered more than 3(X) signatures BY MATT HKRRKSHOFK Republicans, and other candidates who rep­ Winston-Salem, North Carolina that day on street comers in New Bruns­ AUSTIN , Texas — "We have made it pos­ resent the wealthy." wick. Irvington, and Newark to place the sible for a socialist voice against war. racism, Floyd is one o f 24 candidates who w ill be 1 have recently been informed o f a counter­ anti economic depression to appear on the movement and effort being sponsored by the Socialist Workers slate on the ballot. on the ballot. She w-as one o f only two N AA C P Boston Chapter, and some other In his speech to the rally. Rahn said w ork­ Texas ballot." said Rose Floyd, Socialist candidates to file petitions for that status Workers Party candidate for U.S. Senate. groups who wish to uphold the conviction of ing people need to overcome national and instead o f paying the fee. Mr. Mark Curtis. I find this effort most disap­ racial divisions and stand together to resist On March 31. Floyd filed 7,459 signa­ During the six-week petitioning drive, pointing and unfortunate because, as lovers o f the antilabor offensive by the bosses and the tures to win a slot on the ballot. Within campaign volunteers spoke to tens of thou­ freedom, we have a responsibility to seek truth government who demand more concessions hours, the Texas secretary o f state's office sands o f working people and youth at shop­ from facts because facts are indeed stubborn from unions and cuts in social benefits. notified her that she had been placed on the ping centers, plant gates, and college cam­ things. I, like many o f you, have investigated “The anti-immigrant campaign being ballot for the May I election. puses. the facts in this case. Even if Mr. Curtis was in­ whipped up by the government and big- This is the first time in more than a decade “We campaigned against the govern­ volved. his constitutional right to a fair trial, business media in the aftermath o f the World the Socialist Workers Party w ill be on the ment’s preparations for war in Bosnia and which would allow the facts and evidence to be Trade Center bombing,” Rahn said, "poses ballot in a statewide election in Texas. North Korea.” Floyd said, "and for the de­ examined, was grossly violated. Hence, you a threat to democratic rights." A team o f volunteers from around the fense o f the rights o f working people — cannot (find | him to be guilty by hook and Rahn reported on his participation the pre­ country joined Floyd's supporters here in the against the death penalty, in support of abor­ crook. vious weekend in a protest o f nearly a thousand massive petitioning effort. " I’d like to thank tion rights, in solidarity with the coal miners’ Yet. after reviewing the evidence in this people against anti-M uslim attacks in Jersey the many volunteers and the thousands o f fight for a decent contract. The response has case, I was convinced then, as 1 am now, that City, New Jersey, following the bombing. working people and youth who signed my been tremendous." Mr. Mark Curtis is innocent and that he is being Also speaking at the rally was Nancy petitions." Floyd said. Floyd announced plans to continue a vig­ tried, not for the crime o f rape, but for the cause Boyasko. the Socialist Workers candidate State law requires either a 54.(XX) filin g orous campaign in Texas. The candidate also o f justice and equal ity on behalf of the poor and for a state assembly seat in the 28th District, fee or 5.(X)0 signatures w ith voter registra­ plans to spend a week in the midwestem oppressed. There is nothing in his history or in which encompasses north Newark. East O r­ tion numbers to achieve ballot status. Floyd coalfields to bring solidarity to United Mine his record to suggest that he is a rapist. But he ange. and Irvington. A large number o f Hai­ condemned these requirements, saying. Workers of America members, learn from does have a long track record that tian and Spanish-speaking immigrants live "They bolster the undemocratic monopoly- their struggle, and report back to workers demonstrates Mr. Curtis is a very caring, com­ in these communities. on the elections held by the Democrats. here on this fight.

April 26, 1993 The Militant 5 Israeli regime turns West Bank and Gaza into ‘a massive prison’ for Palestinians

BY STL! SINGER tinian population in the occupied territories soldiers lo work on farms. Prisoners may ership over how to advance the fight for By closing o ff Gaza and the West Bank, has been virtually locked up by the Israeli also be used. The Peace Now organization self-determination, has led to a new wave the Israeli government is "transform ing the regime. In 1991, during the Persian G u lf in Israel protested against the use o f troops of violence against Israeli Jews, civilians as entire occupied territories into a massive War, Palestinians there were confined for six on private farms. well as cops and soldiers. collective prison and increasing resentment weeks to what amounted to house arrest A recent article in the Jerusalem Post On March 12 Israeli soldiers shot and and bitterness." said Hanan Ashrawi, a Pal­ through endless curfews. described the labor shortages the border killed Musa Heimoni. 15. during demonstra­ estinian leader from Ramallah in the West The sealing o f the border has inflicted seri­ closing has created in Israel. In the Gush tions in Hebron on the West Bank. They also Bank. Ashrawi has been the spokesperson ous hardships on Palestinians, who arc cut o ff K a tif area 1.500 Palestinians worked on wounded a 17-year-old Palestinian. The for Palestinian negotiators in the now-de­ from jobs, schools, medical care, and basic farms, the paper reported. A fte r two Israelis same day a Jew ish woman in the Gaza Strip funct M iddle East peace talks. supplies. Mohammed Jadallah. director of were killed, farmers tried to boycott Pales­ was killed with an ax and an Israeli soldier The government sealed o ff the Israeli bor­ the Union o f Health Care Committees, said, tinian labor and the government promised was shot to death outside Jerusalem. The Is­ ders to Palestinians from the West Bank and "In past closings o f the occupied territories, to provide 500 replacements. But only 350 raeli cabinet then voted to add 2,000 police Gaza March 30. Prime Minister Yitzhak people died because o f their inability to come replacement workers showed up. They had and offer incentives to Israeli employers to Rabin said the action was in response to the to [clinics and hospitals in] Jerusalem." to be paid S25 a day. compared to the m in­ hire Jewish workers rather than Palestinians. killings of 15 Israelis by Palestinians in the As many as 120,()(X) Palestinians from imum wage of S I5 a day Palestinians are Four Palestinians were killed and 50 in­ month of March. The Israeli action con­ these areas, which were conquered by Tel paid. The government paid the difference. jured March 22 in clashes with Israeli secu­ demned 1.8 million Palestinians to an indef­ A viv in the 1967 Arab-lsraeli war. enter the But the fanners needed more workers, so rity forces in Gaza. Among the dead wore inite confinement in the occupied territories. previous boundaries o f Israel every day. they called back 350 Palestinians. tw'o children. 10 and II years old. The same day. a young Palestinian went into a voca­ Cops and soldiers were authorized to About 60,(XX) are construction workers and Some fanners asked the government to tional high school in Jerusalem and stabbed shoot armed Palestinians on sight, whether thousands more are agricultural laborers. bring in workers from Thailand. The gov­ five Jewish students and a teacher. They all or not they were using weapons. Right-wing Closing o ff the West Bank and Gaza also ernment refused, citing the 11 percent un­ survived the attack. Jewish settler groups called for opening fire hurts the Israeli economy. Nonetheless, some employment rate in Israel. Rabin has called for high school students on Palestinians who throw stones, "even politicians and businessmen in Israel now ar­ to carry clubs. The prime minister com­ when no lives are threatened.” Government gue in favor of permanently stopping Pales­ Wave of violence plained that young Israelis are not as tough officials also called on Israeli Jews, includ­ tinians in the territories from working in Is­ Since the beginning o f the Palestinian as his generation was. ing high school students, to arm themselves. rael. Other Israeli capitalists object, however. uprising in the West Bank and Gaza known On March 23 a Palestinian man w'as At the same time the Israeli army contin­ Within days of the closing of borders, as the intifada in December 1987. more than seized by two Israeli settlers in the West ued attacks in Lebanon. On April I, Israeli many business owners convinced the gov­ 1.200 Palestinians have been killed. Twenty- Bank and put in their jeep. He then allegedly gunboats and helicopters blasted what they ernment to make some exceptions. On April six Palestinians, mostly youth, were killed stabbed and slightly injured one o f them. said were two Palestinian guerrilla bases in 4, the regime allowed in 1,200 Palestinian just in the month of March. The ongoing The man was subdued, his hands and feet northern Lebanon. workers, and a few days later another 3.000. brutality of the occupying forces, as well as were tied, and the army was called. Before This is not the first time the entire Pales- The government has also sent hundreds o f disagreements among the Palestinian lead- the army arrived another settler arrived on the scene and shot the 20-year-old Palestin­ ian man eight times, killin g him on the spot. The murderer was later arrested. Cuban writer meets youth, workers in France Two cops were killed March 30. The armed wing o f Hamas, a Palestinian orga­ BY JEAN-LOUIS SALFATI nization. claimed credit. Right-wing Jewish PARIS — “The Cuban revolution enables settlers responded by setting fire to a us in Cuba to achieve what capitalism has mosque and the government responded by never been capable o f anywhere in the closing o ff Gaza and the West Bank. w orld." said Cuban economist Carlos Ta- Hamas has carried out many armed at­ blada to 210 students at a meeting at the tacks over the past six months against the Jussieu university campus here. Everyone in occupying authorities and against Palestin­ Cuba has food, a home, the opportunity o f ed­ ians who they consider collaborators with ucation. and free health care. But the Cuban the enemy. The group has become the dom ­ revolution has done much more than that. It inant political force in Gaza. It attracts sup­ has been and still is a revolution in ideas. port using militant rhetoric and promising “'What they called Marxism in the Soviet to fight to return land stolen from the Pal­ Union and Eastern Europe long ago ceased estinians since the 1947 partition o f Pales­ to be a revolutionary' theory.” Tablada con­ tine. At the same time it advances a rightist tinued. "It was turned into a theory justify­ program, seeking the expulsion of Jews ing the privileges o f the bureaucracy that from Palestine; equaling democracy, social­ rules those countries. ism. and communism with “cultural impe­ "The Cuban revolution enabled Marxism rialism;” calling for second-class status for to regain its character as a revolutionary women; and defending capitalism. theory." Right-wing protests against Palestinians The meeting at Jussieu, one o f several in Israel forced Rabin to cut short meetings held in France, was the last stop o f a Eu­ with President Bill Clinton in Washington ropean tour organized by Pathfinder Press. Militant/Liiko Willms at the end o f March. Washington turned Before coming to France Tablada visited Carlos Tablada (with sunglasses) with workers at Alsthom factory near Paris. down Rabin's request for closer U.S.-Israeli Sweden. Britain, and Belgium. ties. The Israeli proposals had included the More than 850 people, youth and workers “ What can we do to help Cuba?" asked a students at the University of Lyons and 120 freer flow of military technology from in their large majority, came to listen to and crane operator who is an immigrant from people at a citywide meeting that evening. Washington to Tel Aviv and turning Haifa discuss with Tablada during his five days in Algeria. He was also interested in the paral­ A t the final meeting o f the tour, held into a home port for the U.S. Navy’s Sixth Paris and Lyons. lels between the Algerian and the Cuban March 13 in Paris, Tablada addressed an Fleet. The Cuban economist’s visit to this coun­ revolutions. Others asked what made the audience of 240 people and answered ques­ Clinton, however, backed the Israeli try was marked by the launching of Path­ Cuban people internationalist, what was the tions for more than three hours. stand on the expulsion of 415 Palestinians, finder’s French edition of his book, Che .396 o f whom are still in a no-man’s land in essense o f Guevara’s ideas, and whether the This meeting, organized by Pathfinder, Guevara: Economics and Politics in the southern Lebanon after four months. intensified agricultural production under was sponsored by 27 groups and associa­ Transition to Socialism. When Clinton met with Egyptian presi­ way in Cuba couldn’t endanger the environ­ tions. Among them were the French-Cuba "Tablada’s book has been available in dent Hosni Mubarak a week later he re­ ment. Eight workers bought copies of Association; French-Latin America; and the French since December 1992," reported Nat jected Mubarak’s suggestion to pressure Is­ Tablada’s book in the plant. National Antiapartheid Assembly, the main London, Pathfinder’s representative in rael into retreating somewhat on the expul­ On March 11 the Cuban economist was solidarity group in France supporting the France. “ By the end o f the tour, 193 copies sions in order to encourage Palestinians to invited to speak to the association B a il et democratic revolution in South Africa. Po­ had been sold in French, English, and Span­ rejoin the peace talks. Mubarak is scheduled Clefs (A Lease and a Key). This association litical organizations that supported the meet­ ish,” he said. “ To that we must add 95 copies to meet w ith Rabin in A pril. was organized by the 237 families o f African ing included the Revolutionary Communist o f the pamphlet Che Guevara and the Fight The recent wave of violence, combined origin who have been involved in a major League. Communist Organizing Commit­ fo r Socialism Today, containing the intro­ with the economic crisis, has intensified struggle for housing rights. For five months tee, Communist Party o f Chile, Revolution­ duction by Mary-Alice Waters to Tablada’s political polarization in Israel. W hile attacks they lived in a tent city they started at the ary Young Communists for Equality, and book." by rightist Jewish groups on Palestinians edge o f Paris, until they were evacuated by Vanguard Socialist Party of Morocco. Tablada’s meeting at Jussieu was spon­ have risen, the number of Israelis opting for the police at the end o f October. Since then sored by the three student unions and the The French Communist Party and its a negotiated settlement is also growing. A they have organized regular actions and African Student Solidarity Group. The head youth organization did not endorse the recent Wall Street Journal article described demonstrations demanding decent housing. o f the National Union o f French Students on event. Nonetheless, many members and ac­ young Israeli soldiers in basic training ar­ Fifty people came to hear Tablada. campus chaired the meeting. In addition to tivists o f these two organizations took part guing "that the Holocaust should make Is­ the students, dozens of professors came to Many o f the questions centered on Cuba’s in the various meetings w ith Tablada. Sev­ raelis more sensitive to harassment of Pal­ listen and ask questions. role in Africa. Tablada was also asked how eral helped to build the tour. estinians." Another Journal article quoted Students asked Tablada many questions. Cuba had dealt w ith the problem o f housing Tablada was interviewed by the world an Israeli teenager working at a shopping What are Che’s ideas? Are human rights after the revolution. He explained that after service of Radio France as well as two local mall who asked, "W hat does Rabin want respected in Cuba? What is Cuba’s electoral the revolution a law was passed lim iting rent radio stations. Quotidien de Paris, one o f from us?” He added that "kids in Israel are system — is it democratic? to a maximum o f 10 percent o f one’s salary. France’s main newspapers, ran an interview like kids in America, or anywhere else in At the GEC-Alsthom plant in Saint-Ouen, New housing had been built by voluntary w ith the Cuban author. the world. We like discos, playing basket­ just outside Paris. Tablada was invited by construction brigades between 1986 and ball and going to the mall. We’re not inter­ the factory committee, led by the General 1989. Since the collapse o f trade w ith the Jean-Louis Salfati is a member o f the Gen­ ested in learning hand-to-hand combat." Federation of Labor (CGT), to talk with former Soviet Union, however, there is a eral Federation of Labor (CGT) at the It is not clear whether the Mideast peace workers during their lunch break. After din­ severe shortage of materials. Construction Citroen auto plant in Aulnay, near Paris. talks, which are supposed to begin April 20 ing with several union leaders in the factory for new housing has come to a halt. In spite Derek Jeffers, a member o f the CGT at the in Washington w ill resume. Only the Israeli canteen, Tablada went to the factory library o f the serious economic crisis there were no GFC-Alsthom plant in Saint-Ouen. and Nat government has accepted so far to return to and spent two hours w ith 70 workers an­ homeless people in Cuba, Tablada said. London, a CGT member at the Renault plant the negotiating table on this date, which was swering questions. In Lyons, Carlos Tablada addressed 50 in Choisx-le-Roi. contributed to this article. set by Washington and Moscow-.

6 The Militant April 26, 1993 INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO W IN NEW READERS kViaERE SOLD: 21% 586 DRIVE GOALS: 2,800 MILITANT ■ 600 PERSPECTIVA MUNDIAL ■ 1,200 NEW INTERNATIONAL WE SHOULD BE: 25% 700 Step up sales for target week STAND END OF WEEK TWO BY NAOMI CRAINE sell the socialist publications at nu­ sold 24 copies o f the paper and one The PERSPECTIVA NEW MILITANT MUNDIAL At the end o f the second week in merous campaign speaking engage­ subscription to miners at Ashland INTERNATIONAL the international circulation cam­ ments. including "two forums for Coal Co. who had walked o ff the SOLD/GOAL SOLD/GOAL SOLD/GOAL paign, supporters o f the M ilita n t and mayoral candidates, a magnet job a few days earlier. The miners UNITED STATES other socialist publications have school, a meeting organized by stu- had been forced back to work by a Salt Lake City 34 75 45% 3 15 1 1 35 fallen slightly behind their court injunction, but were Washington. DC 26 75 35% 4 25 10 40 targets. eager to discuss their fight Cleveland 22 65 34% 0 4 5 25 At this point. M ilita n t and other labor struggles. Portland 5 IS 33% 0 2 0 10 subscription sales should he Workers in West Virginia Chicago 30 110 27% 5 25 0 35 at 25 percent o f the goal o f liked the M ilita n t's cover­ Baltimore 20 75 27% 0 10 0 25 Atlanta 19 75 25% 2 10 0 20 2.800; instead they are at 21 age on events in South A f­ Birmingham, AL 17 75 23% 3 10 2 20 percent. Sales o f the Span­ rica as well. Bockman said, Denver 1 5 20% 0 2 0 5 ish-language Perspectiva "We ran into a woman who Detroit 16 80 20% 0 *0 0 30 M undial and the magazine had bought a M ilita n t sub­ Houston 15 75 20% 2 20 8 25 .Yen International are also scription from a previous New Haven, CT 2 i0 20% 0 0 behind schedule as well. sales team. She said her Philadelphia 17 8S 20% 2 i t j 12 25 San Francisco 22 1 IC 20% 3 50 3 70 The M ilitant has set A pril teenage daughter had used New York 44 225 20% 16 75 0 95 17-25 as a special target the paper to prepare a report Boston 21 HO 19% 7 30 5 45 week to step up sales. An all on South A frica for class. Morgantown, WV 12 65 18% 0 5 5 20 out effort during that periixl Her teacher was so im ­ Miami 17 100 17% 13 35 12 50 will provide M ilita n t sup­ pressed w ith the inform a­ Newark, NJ 21 135 16% 5 45 0 70 porters around the world the tion that he asked her to Pittsburgh 12 80 15% 5 3 25 Des Moines, Iowa 1 1 85 13% 3 30 0 opportunity to pick up the bring the M ilita n t to school 40 Los Angeles 22 70 13% 25 85 6 95 pace and get back on or ahead so he could see it." Santa Cruz 1 8 13% 0 5 0 5 o f schedule by A pril 25. A member o f the Cana­ Seattle 10 80 13% 4 30 4 35 It w ill also he a chance to dian Auto Workers union at Twin Cities, MN 14 120 12% 1 15 0 30 begin reaching out broadly a Chrysler assembly plant St. Louis 10 90 11% 0 7 0 40 w ith New International, a near Toronto bought a copy Greensboro, NC 6 65 9% 3 7 0 30 Cincinnati 0 10 0% 0 2 0 Marxist magazine that fea­ o f New International no. 5 3 U.S. Total 447 2.273 20% 106 561 86 953 ture, in-depth articles on so that he could read the AUSTRALIA 6 30 20% 0 to 1 20 many issues covered in the M ilita n t article titled "The Coming BELGIUM 0 8 0% 0 4 0 10 M ilita n t and Perspectiva M ilita n t sales in Wellington, New Zealand. Revolution in South A f­ M undial. Sales o f New In ­ rica." He had already read BRITAIN ternational have lagged from the dents at C alifornia State Universi­ a couple of articles by the M ili­ Sheffield 7 35 20% 0 3 1 15 Manchester 6 35 17% 0 1 0 beginning. ty's Dominguez Hills campus, and tant's recent reporting team in 20 London 5 60 8% 2 5 5 25 an oil refinery plant gate. South Africa. He commented that Los Angeles gets head start Britain Total 18 130 14% 2 9 6 60 "Kim Allen, the Socialist Work­ a number of his friends think A f­ CANADA M ilitant supporters in Eos Ange­ ers mayoral candidate, will also rican National Congress leader Toronto 32 75 43% 2 IS 12 45 les are getting a head start on this ex­ travel to the Arizona coalfields with Nelson Mandela is selling out the Vancouver 23 70 33% 3 10 1 30 tra push. They began a special effort campaign supporters." to get out freedom struggle in South Africa, Montreal 18 65 28% 2 12 6 60 April 11 to take maximum advan­ the M ilita n t and talk to miners but he isn't so sure and wants to Quebec City 0 5 0% 0 0 0 2 Canada Total 73 2 i5 34% 7 37 tage o f the final days o f a Socialist there. Elliot writes. learn more. 19 • 37 FRANCE 0 10 0% 0 3 Workers mayoral campaign in that Sales teams to coal-mining areas A reminder to M ilita n t distrib­ 0 i0 GREECE 0 2 T city. They w ill use this effort to build continue to be a great opportunity utors: the scoreboard is based on 0% 0 0 0 4L a Socialist Workers 1993 campaign to engage in political discussions . subscriptions received in the busi­ ICELAND 3 10 30% 0 1 0 3 rally, which w ill take place twodavs Mary Nell Bockman, a garment ness office by the end o f Monday NEW ZEALAND Auckland 13 45 29% 0 1 before the April 20election. worker from New York, reports that each week. This is also the dead­ 1 10 Wellington 10 40 25% 0 1 1 10 Tim Elliot reports that M ilita n t on a recent trip through southern line for reports on New Interna­ Christchurch 3 25 12% 0 1 0 8 supporters in Los Angeles plan to West Virginia M ilita n t supporters tional sales. New Zealand Total 26 , 10 24% 0 3 2 28 PUERTO RICO 1 1 100% 1 to 0 10 SWEDEN 12 65 18% 4 20 7 20 Socialist conference in N. Carolina TOTAL 586 2.8S-« 21% 120 658 121 1.253 S H O U L D BE 700 25% 150 300 discusses world capitalist disorder IN THE UNIONS The PERSPECTIVA NEW BY VIVIAN SAHNER Young workers at the confer­ Questions at that class were also MILITANT MUNDIAL INTERNATIONAL GREENSBORO. North Caro­ ence also began plans to join in a directed toward Evan Roberts, a SOLD/GOAL SOLD/GOAL SOLD/GOAL lina — Talks and discussions, on youth brigade to Cuba July 1-15. striker at Trinity who was able to UNITED STATES topics such as South A frica and hosted by Cuba's Union of Young jo in w ith 70.(XX) steelworkers from UMWA 9 IS 60% 0 0 Cuba, the roots o f women's oppres­ Communists. eastern and western Germany in ACTWU 10 28 36% 5 12 0 20 sion. and the challenges facing the Participants also organized to Bonn March 26 to protest plans by UTU 25 80 31% 0 4 0 27 labor movement today, were part of jo in in a May 8 action in Pensacola, the German steel industry to cut UAW 24 85 28% 1 4 1 25 a busy weekend as nearly 100 peo­ Florida, to defend abortion rights. 30.000 jobs. USWA 22 85 26% 2 1 25 OCAW ple attended a socialist educational Betsy Farley. Socialist Workers Sam Manuel, who recently at­ 8 50 16% 1 4 2 18 IAM 13 90 14% 0 25 4 conference here A pril 9-11. candidate for city council in Bir­ tended an international anti­ 35 UFCW 3 56 5% 3 35 0 26 mingham, Alabama, opened the The conference also allowed the apartheid conference in South A f­ ILGWU 1 20 5% 5 20 0 15 participants, who came from seven class on the roots of women's op­ rica organized by the African Na­ U.S. Total 1 15 489 24% 17 80 8 176 states, to exchange experiences in pression by pointing to the example tional Congress, led the class on AUSTRALIA defending abortion clinics and vis­ of hundreds of abortion rights de­ South Africa. "The murder yester­ NUW 2 3 67% 0 0 0 0 iting the coalfields, where miners fenders who were mobilizing April day o f Chris Hani. the general sec­ AMEU 0 3 0% 0 0 0 1 are fighting for a decent contract. 10-11 in Melbourne. Florida, to retary o f the South African Com­ FPU 0 3 0% 0 0 0 1 Australia Total 2 9 22% 0 0 0 2 Steelworkers on strike at Trinity In­ keep the clinics there open. munist Party and a longtime leader BRITAIN dustries in Bessemer, Alabama, ad­ A broad discussion followed the o f the A N C ." Manuel said, "shows TGWU 2 6 33% 0 0 3 ded to the discussion, as did a group class, with questions ranging from that the final mile is not a smooth AEEU 1 6 17% 0 0 6 of young workers who took time women in combat to how to define road but a minefield." RMT 2 '2 17% 0 0 6 from the conference to jo in students when life begins and whether high At the Saturday night Militant NUM 0 2 0% 0 0 2 at the University o f North Carolina school students should be pushed to Labor Forum. Jack Barnes, national Britain Total 5 26 19% 0 0 17 at Chapel H ill who are lighting for take long-term contraceptives like secretary of the Socialist Workers CANADA an Afro-Am erican cultural center. Norplant. Marcus Royal, a young Party, spoke on the accelerating cri­ USWA 6 10 60% 0 2 0 2 ACTWU 0 2 0% 0 __ 0 1 The conference opened with a worker from North Carolina, ex­ sis o f world capitalism and the ex­ CAW 0 9 0% 1 _ 1 4 presentation by M ary-Alice Waters, plained why he thought affirmative panding political opportunities for IAM 0 6 0% 0 _ 0 2 president o f Pathfinder Press, who action for women was important: working people around the world. Canada Total 6 27 22% 1 2 1 9 went to Cuba in March to take part in "They have all the women at my job The audience donated $9,000 to a NEW ZEALAND a student conference at the Univer­ on the lowest-paid and hardest jobs, special fund to help produce two EU 2 5 40% 0 1 sity o f Matanzas. She described the but they told me not to worry new editions of the Marxist maga­ MWU 0 2 0% 0 1 economic hardships in Cuba today because I'm a man." he said. zine New International. One o f UFBGWU 0 8 0% 0 1 2 New Zealand Total 2 '5 13% 0 3 •t and how the Cuban people are or­ Following the conference a group these w ill cover the Nicaraguan SWEDEN ganizing to meet these challenges. headed out on a M ilita n t sales and re­ revolution and the other w ill deal Food workers 0 6 0% 0 _ 0 2 with today's world political situa­ Waters called on participants in porting trip to the coalfields in V ir­ Metal workers 0 5 0% 0 0 1 Greensboro to contribute to the ginia where there are Westmoreland tion. Transport workers 0 2 0% 0 0 — Pathfinder Books for Cuba Fund. and Pittston mines. The M ilitant Also discussed at the conference Sweden Total 0 13 0% 0 0 3 "What you do at this conference is newspaper has earned respect as a was the upcoming demonstration in im portant." she said. "Funds for valuable source of information for Washington. D.C.. A pril 25 for gay ACTW U — Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union; AEU — Amalgamated Engineering books in Cuba today are virtually the miners, stated laid-off miner and lesbian rights. Conference par­ Union; AMEU — Automotive, Metal and Engineering Union. CAW — Canadian Auto Workers: EU — Engineers Union: FPU — Food Preservers Union; IAM International Association of nonexistent." On the spot the audi­ John Hawkins at the conference ticipants all spoke of plans being Machinists; ILGWU International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union; MWU — Meat Workers ence donated more than $350, which class on labor struggles today. He made to attend. Union; NUM — National Union of Mmeworkers. NUW — National Union of Workers: OCAW — w ill go toward making donations of described how the miners didn't take Oil. Chemical and Atomic Workers; RMT — Rail. Maritime, and Transport Workers: TGWU Pathfinder books and other works by down their shanties alter winning a I ivian Saluter is a member o f United Transport and General Workers Union; UAW — United Auto Workers: UFBGWU — United Food. Beverage and General Workers Union; UFCW — United Food and Commercial Workers; revolutionary and working-class month-long strike against Peabody Steelworkers o f America Local 6221 UMWA — United Mine Workers of America; USWA — United Steelworkers of America; UTU leaders to libraries in Cuba. Coal Co. in Baltimore. United Transportation Union

April 26, 1993 The Militant 7 Life in a South African Black township

BY JOHN STEELE the night in the hospital. SOWETO. South A f­ People sometimes wait rica— More than a m il­ up to an h o u r fo r an lion and a half people live ambulance regardless in Soweto, a sprawling o f the seriousness o f the Black township south­ illness or injury. Some west of Johannesburg doctors, out of neces­ that originated w ith the sity, have turned their apartheid system in the houses into makeshift late 1940s. Coloureds — offices. those of mixed ancestry Soweto schools are under apartheid's racist grossly overcrowded, classification — and In­ with 3.000 students in dians were segregated in some secondary separate areas around Jo­ schools. They are ill- hannesburg. equipped: for example, It was the 1976 Sowe­ there are no computers to student uprising, in available for students. which even by official No school transporta­ figures more than 100 tion exists. Young pri­ young fighters were mary school students killed by South African have to walk long dis­ cops, that signaled the tances through Sowe­ beginning of the end of to's streets and open the apartheid regime. fields to get to school. Militant photos by John Steele Throughout the Those without elec­ Soweto shows true face of apartheid and capitalism in South Africa. Left: w orker’s home in Soweto. 1980s. Soweto's youth tricity use candles. were in the forefront o f Coal stoves for cook­ mass action campaigns o f workers and stu­ some with and some without electricity. work, had to leave Johannesburg by 7:00 ing are common. Some can afford batteries dents. These mobilizations forced the Many Blacks must sleep on the floor in p.m. to return to Soweto and the other Black to run appliances. Those with electricity regime in 1990 to unban the African Na­ these dwellings because o f overcrowding. townships around Johannesburg. Other­ pay exorbitant rates for poor service, de­ tional Congress and other antiapartheid or­ Nobody has privacy. wise they were picked up and jailed. spite the proxim ity o f the power station that ganizations. as well as to release Nelson In many areas the only “ services" are There is scarcely any industry in Soweto. services the entire Johannesburg area. Mandela and other political prisoners. overflowing portable toilets. Garbage col­ What little there is, such as cement block In February and March o f this year, lection is infrequent at best. factories and other light industry, is owned Local administration teachers and students shut down Soweto's The most modem buildings are govern­ by whites who live far from the township. Soweto is run by the Transvaal Provin­ schools for two weeks to protest the condi­ ment offices and the police station. There are few supermarkets or drug­ cial Association (TPA), an arm o f the apart­ tions they face under the apartheid educa­ Those who have jobs in nearby Johan­ stores. Most Soweto residents either pur­ heid government. In addition to being a tional system. nesburg have to get up very early in the chase food daily from small comer stands, center of corruption, swallowing up land morning to get a seat on the privately or in Johannesburg on the way home from rent, taxes, water, and electricity payments, Face of apartheid and capitalism owned minibuses that careen over the rut­ work. Playgrounds, sportsfields. commu­ it promotes the apartheid policy of divide Soweto shows the real face o f apartheid ted. potholed. often unpaved roads. Others nity centers, and cinemas are few and far and rule, among the Soweto population. For and capitalism in South Africa. It is made get rides or walk to the train stations to between. example, government employees get apart­ up of dozens of squatter communities catch what are now called "killer trains," ments and other privileges. composed of hundreds of thousands of because o f government-organized terrorist Education and health Many people in Soweto have been or­ one- and two-room tin and wooden shacks attacks on passengers that have taken place There is only one hospital for all of ganized since the mid-1970s. The struggles without electricity, toilets, or running wa­ over the past couple o f years. Soweto, as well as a few clinics. The unem­ they have waged through demonstrations, ter. There are also rows and rows o f tiny U ntil the late 1980s, all Blacks, except ployed have to pay $4 to see a doctor: the marches, and boycotts o f rent, school, and three- and four-room cement block boxes. those with authorized night passes for shift rates rise with income. It costs $21 to spend electricity payments have forced the regime to make concessions. Some areas have won monthly electric­ ANC youth well received in Boston, Detroit ity rates. In March, in response to a hard- fought boycott o f TPA administration fees, BY NEIL CALLENDER parties which receive at least 5 percent o f University, and the University of Detroit. a government committee recommended BOSTON — Two dozen working-class the popular vote. They explained the need They also spoke at Community High subsidizing up to 83 percent o f these fees. youth from the multinational and econom­ for what the ANC calls a "level playing School in Ann Arbor and McKenzie High ically depressed com m unity o f Chelsea, field” for free and fair elections. That in­ School in Detroit. In a number o f areas, residents have built comm unity toilets, showers, and water taps Massachusetts, near Boston, listened with cludes free political activity in the Bantu- The question-and-answer periods at all over the opposition o f TPA bureaucrats, and rapt attention to Thabo Mzilikazi, a leader stans. joint control over all the m ilitary of the meetings were spirited and lively, have forced the TPA to pipe water into these of the African National Congress (ANC) forces in the country, equal access to the reflecting the keen interest in the struggle facilities. Youth League, describe his experience of media, and a new electoral commission to in South A frica and how it relates to the imprisonment at the hands o f the South ensure a fair registration and ballot-count­ problems facing working people living in In one area o f Soweto, an association for African police. ing process. the area. the homeless was initiated by African Na­ M zilikazi said he was arrested at the age The South African youth also described a One question asked over and over was tional Congress (A N C ) activists last year. o f 13 on the basis o f a false accusation by campaign to enlist 23().(XX) volunteers to do about so-called Black-on-Black violence in The efforts of this organization have forced an informant that he knew someone who voter education around the country and to South Africa. Answering such a question the TPA to provide toilets for each shack tied South Africa for exile in Zambia. He explain the AN C 's program. This is needed, from a student at McKenzie High School, and to electrify the area. recounted that the police shot people in they said, because 70 percent o f the African Lillienfeldt said, “The television in South front of him, claiming they were his friends population is functionally illiterate as a re­ A frica portrays Blacks in the United States Support for ANC in order to terrorize him. He said that they sult o f the racist apartheid education system. as being rich and making their money o ff of The A N C has wide support in Soweto and tortured him by keeping him in total dark­ The three Youth League leaders urged crime. ... In our country Black-on-Black exists side by side with the civic organiza­ ness for weeks at a time. more collaboration between opponents of violence is a myth, a product of the media tions. the Congress of South African Stu­ Mzilikazi said many children and young apartheid in the United States and fighters whose purpose is to show that Blacks can't dents, and other groups. Many workers in people who suffered these acts o f barbarity in South Africa. They emphasized that the govern, trying to show that when the ANC Soweto are members of unions affiliated to became mentally disturbed. fight against racial oppression is an inter­ takes power that South A frica w ill descend the Congress of South African Trade For his part, he said, he made the deci­ national one. In an assembly of mostly into a bloodbath of tribal warfare. In actual­ Unions. sion to channel his anger into the struggle African-American. Haitian, and Latino ity. the violence is a product o f the apartheid The government, through its apartheid against apartheid. high school students, de Klerk said. "We system and w ill not end until apartheid ends. agencies, has populated a number o f migrant A t the end o f the meeting, M zilikazi and honestly believe that we will not be truly You should look at ‘Black-on-Black vio­ workers’ hostels with anti-ANC forces, the two other representatives of the ANC free until you are also free." lence' in this country through the lens o f our however. These hostels are reserved for m i­ Youth League touring Boston. Eldred experience in South Africa." grants who have been organized by the In­ de Klerk and L.undi Rasmeni. urged the A highlight of the tour was March 29, BY DAVID ALVAREZ katha Freedom Party, a group that works organization of the Chelsea youth ROCA the day Johnson and Lillienfeldt spent at closely with the apartheid regime and its (rock in Spanish) to send at least one person DETROIT — "Nineteen ninety-three Wayne State University. Omega Psi Phi, cops. A number o f shantytowns have been to the international youth conference the marks 81 years of struggle against racist a Black fraternity on campus, sponsored established for IFP-organized forces as well. A N C is projecting for June. The conference rule in South Africa." said Clayton the day-long event, hosting two public It is from the hostels in particular that gangs, is part o f the A N C campaign for a joint Lillienfeldt to 120 students at Community forums along with a reception. A repre­ with the complicity of the state security electoral front of all the democratic forces High School in Ann Arbor March 26. "It sentative from Rep. John Conyers' office forces, have carried out massacres in Soweto in the upcoming nonracial one-person, one- might also mark the year in which the first and a local official from the United Food and on the trains to Johannesburg over the vote elections, the first in the history o f democratic elections will be held in South and Commercial Workers union wel­ past few years. South Africa. A frica.” comed the youth leaders to Detroit during The two-day tour through Boston, That is how Lillienfeldt. a student leader a press conference on campus. The people of Soweto come from every region of South Africa and speak all lan­ March 31—April 1. visited two high schools and member o f the African National Con­ As a result of this tour participants are and four universities, including the Univer­ gress (A N C ) Youth League, began a five- discussing further ways to build support for guages of the country — Xhosa, Zulu, sity o f Massachusetts, the Massachusetts day tour here along with Lulu Johnson, the the ANC. including possibly organizing lo­ Tswana. and others. Unity in the struggle Institute of Technology, Suffolk University, organization's deputy president. Their visit cal participation in voter education bri­ for a democratic, nonracial South Africa has characterized Soweto for nearly two and Tufts University. Some 350 people at­ was part o f the Student-to-Student Empow ­ gades in South Africa.“ When the ANC decades since the 1976 upsurge. tended the meetings. erment Tour, a nationwide tour of Youth takes power in South Africa, it w ill be a The Youth League leaders explained in League leaders. victory not only for the majority of people This is why people here say, “ When each meeting the proposals o f the A N C for The youth leaders spoke to about 500 in South Africa, but for oppressed people Soweto sneezes South A frica gets a cold." elections to a constituent assembly, which people in the Detroit area and answered everywhere," said Lillienfeldt. It is why the apartheid regime does every­ will draft a new constitution, and for an questions about the current stage o f the thing it can to keep the lid in Soweto on interim government of national unity to struggle in South Africa at the University David Alvarez is a member of the United the resistance it has never been able to include on a proportional basis all political o f Michigan in Ann Arbor, Wayne State Auto Workers in Detroit. extinguish.

8 The Militant April 26, 1993 Mandela appeals for disciplined protests

Continued from front page lasting solution for our country — an returned to South Africa after three de­ Tomorrow, in many towns and villages, elected government o f the people, by the cades in exile, he said. ‘‘I have lived with there w ill be memorial services to pay hom­ people, and for the people. death most of my life. I want to live in a age to one o f the greatest revolutionaries this We must not let the men who worship free South Africa even if I have to lay country has ever known. Every service will war. and who lust after blood, precipitate down my life for it." open a Memorial Book for Freedom, in actions that will plunge our country into The body of Chris Hani will lie in state which all who want peace and democracy another Angola. at the F.NB Stadium. Soweto, from 12 noon pledge their commitment. Chris Hani was a soldier. He believed in on Sunday April 18. until the start of the Now is the time for all South Africans iron discipline. He carried out instructions vigil at 6 p.m. The funeral service will to stand together against those who, from to the letter. He practiced what he preached. commence at 9 a.m. on Monday. April 19. any quarter, wish to destroy what Chris The cortege will leave for Boksburg Hani gave his life for— the freedom of *Aet with discipline' Cemetery, where the burial is scheduled all o f us. Any lack of discipline is trampling on the fo r 1 p.m. Now is the time for our white compatri­ values that Chris Hani stood for. Those who These funeral services and rallies must be ots, from whom messages o f condolence commit such acts serve only the interests o f conducted with dignity. We w ill give disci­ continue to pour in. to reach out with an the assassins, and desecrate his memory. plined expression to our emotions at our understanding of the grievous loss to our When we, as one people, act together deci­ pickets, prayer meetings, and gatherings, in nation, to jo in in the memorial services and sively, with discipline and determination, our homes, our churches, and our schools. the funeral commemorations. nothing can stop us. Wc w ill not be provoked into any rash ac­ Now is the time for the police to act with Let us honor this soldier for peace in a tions. We are a nation in mourning. sensitivity and restraint, to be real commu­ fitting manner. Let us rededicatc ourselves To the youth of South Africa we have nity policemen and women who serve the to bringing about the democracy he fought a special message: you have lost a great population as a whole. There must be no for all his life: democracy that will bring hero. You have repeatedly shown that your ANC leader Chris Hani further loss of life at this tragic time. real, tangible changes in the lives o f the love o f freedom is greater than that most This is a watershed moment for all of us. working people, the poor, the jobless, the precious g ift, life itself. But you are the Our decisions and actions will determine landless. leaders of tomorrow. Your country, your rests on your shoulders. whether we use our pain, our grief, and our Chris Hani is irreplaceable in the heart people, your organization need you to act We pay tribute to all our people for the outrage to move forward to what is the only o f our nation and people. When he first with wisdom. A particular responsibility courage and restraint they have shown in the face o f such extreme provocation. We are sure this same indomitable spirit w ill carry us through the d ifficu lt days ahead. Millions strike to condemn murder Chris Hani has made the supreme sacri­ fice. The greatest tribute we can pay to his Continued from front page SACP, and ruling National Party. A p ril I and rapidly moved through its life ’s work is to ensure wc win that freedom Nelson Mandela, who was out of the Hani had been a member o f the A N C ’s agenda. Initially expected to last two days, for all our people. country at the time of the shooting, re­ National Executive Committee since 1975 the conference session was completed in turned immediately and addressed the na­ and served as chief of staff of Umkhonto just one. tion in a televised speech the evening of we Sizwe, the ANC’s armed wing, from "W e in the A N C can safely say the ne­ April 10. "The assassination of Chris Hani 1987-1992. The ANC suspended its armed gotiations process is firmly under way." ANC magazine is a heinous crime against not only his struggle in 1990. Hani was one o f the stated ANC secretary general Cyril Rama­ person and his family, but also against the ANC’s chief negotiators in talks with the phosa. "The process is now no longer provides analysis people of our country as a whole," said government. about procedures, but now about more sub­ Mandela in a statement issued the same South African president and National stantive issues, which w ill lead to a new day. “ (Hani) is a m artyr to the cause o f Party leader F. W. de Klerk condemned the constitution.” of struggle in justice and peace. His death demands o f killing and called for “ maximum restraint." Pointing to one of the advances made at us that we pursue that cause w ith even In a television interview April 11 he said the this session. Ramaphosa continued. “The South Africa greater vigor and determination. emotions stin-ed by H ani’s assassination question of violence can now be handled on “ D uring his very last days,” the A N C could threaten efforts to schedule the coun­ One o f the best sources o f information on a collective basis instead o f just the A N C president said, "he has been at the forefront try's first general election by universal suf­ and the government.” political developments in South A frica is the o f the campaign to end violence in the frage within 12 months. monthly magazine Mayihuye. published by country' and to encourage a spirit of toler­ "I want to say without mincing any words In other news, more than 300 workers the African National Congress. Now' in its ance among all our people and their polit­ that any suggestion of calling off the nego­ attending a March 26-28 COSATU confer­ fourth year. Mayihuye began to circulate in ical organisations. tiating process is to play into the hands of ence resolved to place the union federation’s South Africa after the A N C was unbanned "W ith all the authority at my command. the murderers,” declared Joe SIovo. chair­ full weight behind the ANC in the upcoming in February 1990. election campaign. "We w ill be embarking I therefore appeal to all our people to remain man o f the SACP and a member o f the Among the topics covered in recent isues on our own voter education programme to calm and to honor the memory o f Chris Hani ANC’s negotiating team. "This is their pur­ o f the magazine are: an interview w ith A N C ensure that as many workers go to the polls by remaining a disciplined force for peace," pose — to spike the negotiations.” president Nelson Mandela on the current as possible," said a statement issued by the said Mandela. Several rallies occurred April 12 in the status o f negotiations: discussions on the trade union organization. Leaders o f the ANC , SACP, and Congress Black townships around Johannesburg and future of the Bantustan "homelands": the of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Pretoria. In Soweto, police fired on a com­ On April 14, COSATU leaders plan to ANC's land reform and regional policies: jo in tly reaffirmed their resolve to press memoration service for Hani. killing one address meetings in thousands of COS­ the education crisis in South Africa; ANC ahead with the m ultiparty talks. They are man and wounding two women. ATU-organized workplaces throughout the election campaign activities; and women's demanding an international probe into A N C leaders also issued a statement con­ country. Plans are in the works to assist struggle for equality. demning revenge violence and racial at­ Hani’s assassination. local affiliates in responding to attacks by Printed in an attractive four-color for­ tacks. “ It is true that the person who pulled The ANC also denounced the police for employers on the central bargaining struc­ mat. Mayihuye provides news and analysis refusing a written request several months the trigger that killed Hani is white .. . tures. on South African politics not readily avail­ equally true is that a white person informed earlier to provide police protection for Hani, Marches are being planned for May 8 to able in the big-business media. Sub- who had survived two previous assassina­ the police o f the registration and the colour support public sector workers in their fight scriptionscan be purchased from its offices tion attempts in the early 1980s. o f the car that his murderer used and led to for a decent living wage and against the in Marshalltown. South A frica (see ad be­ his arrest. Therefore colour does not play a government-mandated cuts in social ser­ low). Copies are available fo r $3.50 at Assassination hit list role in this instance,” the statement said. vices to various communities. Pathfinder bookstores. — B.W. The gun used to k ill Hani was pan o f an arms consignment stolen from the South Progress in negotiations African air force headquarters in Pretoria in Meanwhile, progress continues to be 1990, according to the police. They also registered in multiparty talks aimed at reported finding a hit list in Walus’s apart­ scheduling democratic elections for a con­ ment naming “eight or nine" assassination stituent assembly. The negotiating forum, targets, including leaders o f the A N C . attended by 26 political groups, convened

To follow latest developments in the unfoldms democratic revolution in South Africa .. SWP message to ANC president Subscribe to Mayibuye, the monthly journal of the African National Consress The following message was sent April gle for a democratic, nonracial, and non­ 10 by Jack Barnes, national secretary sexist republic in South Africa. It is part To receive 11 issues of Mayibuye, complete the form below and send it along with payment to: of the US. Socialist Workers Party, to o f the efforts by those in South A frica who Nelson Mandela, president of the Afri­ are resorting to cowardly acts o f terror as MAyiBUYE can National Congress. Similar letters the South African people walk the final P.O. BOX 61884, MARSHALLTOWN, were also sent to the South African mile to freedom. JOHANNESBURG 2107, SOUTH AFRICA. Communist Party and the African Na­ We join you in demanding the prosecu­ tional Congress Youth League. tion and punishment to the full extent of Subscription rates: U.S., Canada, Latin America and Caribbean — $42, * * * the law not only of the individual who pulled the trigger but also of those who Australia and Asia — $36; Britain and Europe — £20; Dear Comrade Mandela, planned and organized the crime. South Africa — R33. The Socialist Workers Party of the In the United States, we pledge to re­ United States expresses its solidarity w ith double our efforts to work with others to NAME the African National Congress in face of win support and solidarity for the struggle the brutal and reactionary assassination of for freedom in South Africa for which Comrade Chris Hani, a member of the Chris Hani gave his life. ANC National Executive Committee and general secretary of the South African Fraternally, Communist Party, gunned down in front s/Jack Barnes, of his home earlier today. National Secretary, POSTAL CODE This cold-blooded murder is a loss to for the National Committee your organization and a blow to the strug­ o f the Socialist Workers Party INDIVIDUAL COPIES CAN A lSO BE PURCHASED AT PATHFINDER BOOKSTORES ON PAGE 12

April 26, 1993 The Militant 9 How workers in Sweden won their rights

BY CARL-ERIK 1SACSSON fought against piece-work and the STOCKHOLM. Sweden — employers' drive to increase pro­ "W e can’t afford our benefits,” was ductivity. These strikes strength­ the headline of a recent article in ened solidarity in the labor move­ the daily Dagens Nyheter by the ment and helped forge links be­ former social democratic minister tween unionized workers and o f finances. other sections o f the working class “ Everybody must sacrifice and involved in broad social struggles, pay because we all lived beyond like the fight for women’s rights. our resources in the 80s," he wrote, In the late 1970s and throughout repeating a theme constantly the 1980s, however, the employers pushed by most capitalist politi­ began to attack and reverse some o f cians in Sweden as well as in most these gains. Laws restricting the capitalist countries, from Bill Clin­ right to strike and strengthening se­ ton in the United States to Helmut niority rights were adopted. Kohl in Germany. During the 1980s bourgeois pol­ These arguments are not new. At itics in Sweden turned more the turn o f the century, when w ork­ shaqily to the right The capitalist ers in Sweden demanded the right postwar boom had come to ail end to organize in unions, the right to and the argument that "we can't af­ vote, the eight-hour day. health­ ford any big reforms" became fre­ care coverage, and economic pro­ quent in bourgeois political de­ tection against unemployment, the bates. Broad social reforms were Lars Kjellander/Imernalionalen employers and their political par­ put o ff the agenda. Only reforms d i­ Auto workers protest in front of Saab-Scania plant outside Stockholm in 1989. Workers in Sweden, and ties said such rights would ruin rected toward the middle class and internationally, have won social rights through struggles over the course of this century. Swedish commercial and industrial relatively privileged workers were life. The employers' association even discussed. SAP. however, could afford to lock out hun­ In 1933. the newly elected social demo­ charity “ fo r the poorest."That was the princi­ State subsidies for medical coverage and dreds of thousands of workers in the first cratic government approved unemployment ple in the 1948 decision by the government to child care were drastically reduced, affect­ decade o f the century in its attempt to crush insurance and public works programs. But give monthly family allowances for every ing working people most o f all. the rapid growth of industrial unions. The workers had to have worked a certain child, regardless o f the parents' income. Following the 1987 stock market crash, lockouts of those years produced enormous amount of time on the job and belong to a The social welfare system developed in the Swedish rulers began to question openly losses for the Swedish capitalist class. But union in order to receive any benefits. Sweden and most other industrialized coun­ all the social programs workers had won they were considered necessary because In 1937, follow ing a strike wave in Swe­ tries in Western Europe did not guarantee since World War 11. Most capitalist politi­ they helped drive Sweden into World War 1 den as well as in many other European rights for everybody. Farmers, who in the cians say they are no longer "affordable." on the side o f Germany. If Germany won countries, the labor movement won more 1950s comprised a big proportion o f the Social programs that constituted the "Sw e­ the war. rich possibilities for investment and rights, including two-week vacations, sub­ population, women who worked at home: dish dream" in the past are being slashed or profits would open up for the Swedish cap­ sidized school lunches, and dental care for and unemployed youth were not covered or taken away all together. italists. both in eastern and central Europe. children under 15. only partially covered by the social security History shows that workers and farmers The war didn't turn out that way, how­ The biggest strike in Sweden this century system. In addition, the amount of benefits in Sweden and internationally won these ever. Both the German and Russian rulers began in February 1945 follow ing the end was tied to income, reinforcing the wage social rights through struggles over the were defeated. A workers' and peasants’ rev­ of World War II. Some 125 .(XX) differentiation between different groups of course of this century. It was never primar­ olution brought the Bolsheviks to power in metalworkers struck for five months. This workers, between workers and farmers, men ily a question of whether or not the rulers Russia in 1917. A revolutionary upsurge strike and the radicalization in the labor and women, and young and old. The gap could afford these reforms. Whether these followed throughout Europe. movement forced changes in the Social was very striking in the national pension rights could be won, defended, or even The capitalist class in Sweden, confront­ Democratic Party's postwar program. plan and the sick leave payments, which arc extended was always a question of the re­ ing the possibility it might meet the same This program advocated that the state take based on income. lationship o f class forces. Naturally, the cap­ fate as its Russian counterparts and lose its more responsibility fo r the protection o f the A big proportion of the population still italist rulers could more easily make con­ hold on power, was forced to meet some of unemployed, the sick, and the elderly. These did not qualify for unemployment benefits. cessions such as social security reforms the demands of labor — the eight-hour day. benefits allowed workers to be free from the But the shortening o f the workweek affected when the postwar boom and profit rates the right to vote, and some protection for hated charity and relief agencies. Many re­ the entire working class. peaked than during the depression we are elderly and sick workers. tired, unemployed, and sick workers have This reform was completed by the end o f living through today. But. as history shows, The reforms the SAP and the bourgeois previously been forced to seek relief through the 1960s. Women's massive entrance into when the capitalist class's hold on political parties had said earlier would lead to the ruin such charity institutions. the labor market and a new wave of fights power is threatened, or when the employers of Swedish commercial and industrial life Access to free and quality medical care and for women's rights worldwide led to reforms meet concerted resistance by the labor were now adopted under the threat o f losing relatively inexpensive housing were among like childcare facilities, the right to abortion movement, they have to make concessions power to the workers and fanners, not only the demands workers won along with the re­ in 1975, and maternity and parental leave — whether profits are up or down. in Sweden but throughout Europe. The Rus­ duction o f the workweek from 48 to 40 hours. rights. sian revolution had changed the relationship The labor struggles o f the 1930s and 1940s A new strike wave swept the country, Carl-Erik Isacsson works at the Saab- o f class forces to the advantage o f the w ork­ established the right o f all workers to these from the miners' strike o f 1969-70 to the Scenia auto plant near Stockholm and is a ers and farmers. social rights. Workers would not depend on lumber-workers" strike in 1974. workers member o f the Metalworkers Union. In Russia, where workers and farmers ac­ tually took power, they extended these rights even further. In addition to the eight-hour day and the right to vote, the revolutionary gov­ Stockholm brewery workers resist speedup ernment enacted a radical land reform giving land titles to m illions o f peasants. Women BY CATHARINA TIRSEN workers because o f the hard work involved. than 25 workers had assembled. The presi­ won the right to abortion and divorce. STOCKHOLM. Sweden — One year ago More workers are being given temporary dent was asked why the company said it was Throughout the 1920s and early 1930s Pripps Breweries in Bromma outside this city jobs. The company sends workers home and transferring this worker. He replied that there there were frequent strikes and lockouts in launched a drive to increase productivity by handpicks those coming back according to was too little work and that the worker was Sweden. Unemployment, hovered between 25 percent, blaming stiffened competition, the ups and downs in beverage sales. A not qualified enough. 10 and 20 percent in the 1920s and increased mainly from abroad. This has led to attacks large percentage o f the mechanics are con­ This upset everyone. "Those are lies — in the early 1930s. The unions demanded on the union, which workers are resisting. tract workers sent in and out without notice there's plenty of work. Look at how many unemployment insurance and public works Workers who wash dirty bottles — a back­ and under constant pressure to work for less. contractors are w orking." one said. “ Several at union wages. They fought the employers’ breaking jo b in the basement o f the plant — Extra bonuses like free beverages for workers have retired recently and no one has efforts to lower wages through the threat of had their bonuses lowered. These bonuses work during weekends were taken away, replaced them. If they can do this to 1st van. unemployment. used to be higher than for other production given back after protests, only to be taken they can do it to any one of us. He’s done a away again. Taxi trips given to workers who good job. he’s never been given any warn­ begin work very early have been reduced. ings and they’ ve never complained about FOR FURTHER READING In one break room a sofa and comfortable him before,” he continued. chairs were replaced by hard uncomfortable Many other workers spoke. The union Revolutionary Continuity The Changing Face of chairs after a worker was found sleeping president promised to ask for negotiations. Marxist Leadership in the U.S. Politics there during night shift. In the meantime workers began to collect United States Working-Class Politics and the In March the company raised the price o f names on a petition. An overwhelm ing ma­ FARRELL DOBBS Trade Unions food in the canteen. Four unions repre­ jority of mechanics, electricians, and other (2 volumes) JACK BARNES senting workers in the plant wrote a protest workers signed. 35 in all. How successive generations o f fighters Building a revolutionary workers’ letter that ended, "F or the first time the "I'm very glad we did something about took part in the struggles o f the U.S. party in a world o f deepening capitalist labor movement, seeking to build a economic crises, wars, increasing trade company has done this unilaterally. Is this this," said a mechanic after the meeting. leadership that could advance the in ­ conflicts, antiunion assaults, and in ­ a sign of the times?” “ We have to stick together now." terests o f workers and small farmers. creasing pressure on workers’ rights Many workers boycotted the canteen for A couple of weeks later negotiations took Vol. 1: The Early Years. 1848-1917. and individual liberties. $18.95 several days. But the protest dwindled and led place. By then the union steering committee $15.95 Vol. 2: Birth o f the Communist Move­ to no change in prices. At about the same time had also prepared leaflets for a meeting be­ ment. 1918-1922, $15.95 the company infomied one o f the few' im m i­ tween the workers and the foremen on M on­ Teamster series grants in the shop that he would have to give day of the following week. On the Thursday FARRELL DOBBS Labor’s Giant Step up his jo b as a mechanic and start working before, the president told the transferred me­ Ih efirstw en tyyta rs of the CIO: 19)65$ A four-volume series on the 1930s The First Twenty Years of the washing bottles. The worker did not want to chanic there might be a solution. strikes and organizing drive that trans­ CIO, 1936-55 transfer, and went to the union office to ask The meeting was called off. At the begin­ formed the Teamsters union in M in ­ ART PREIS Labor’s for help. The president o f the local told him ning o f the next week the worker was in­ neapolis and the Midwest into a fight­ How the rise o f the Congress o f Indus­ the union could do nothing. ing industrial union movement, writ­ formed he would remain a mechanic. The trial Organizations (CIO) in the early Giant This sparked a big discussion. Many work­ ten by a leader o f these labor battles. 1930s transformed the U.S. labor company said it would pay him for a course Teamster Rebellion, SI-1.95; Teamster movement and left an indelible im ­ ers were upset at the treatment o f a coworker in Swedish and some training. Rower, $16.95; Teamster Politics, print on subsequent struggles o f work­ and worried that the company could do this to $16.95; Teamster Bureaucracy, $17.95 ing people for their rights. $23.95 anyone if they could get away with it. Work­ Catharina Tirsen, is member of Swedish Available at your local Pathfinder bookstore (see page 12) o r from Pathfinder. 410 West St.. New York. NY 10014. If ordering by mail, add $3.00 ers asked the union president to meet with Foodworkers Union Local 4 at Pripps postage for the first book and $30 for each additional ode them in the break room. When he came more Breweries in Stockholm

10 The Militant April 26, 1993 IRA bombings fuel debate in Britain on fight for Irish self-determination

BY JONATHAN SII,BERMAN News. "Several participants at the that "the U D A stressed that it regards as the MANCHESTER. England — Two young "Peace ’93' rally in Dublin's enemy not just republican organisations children were killed and 55 people were in O 'Connell Street on Sunday, 28 such as Sinn Fein and the IRA but also jured March 20 when the Irish Republican March, were physically attacked constitutional parties such as the SDLP. Army (IRA) exploded two bombs in War­ because they carried posters in which it described as part of a "pan-nation­ rington. 15 miles from here. This was the sec­ memory of civilians murdered by alist front.’ "Terrorist attacks by pro-British ond bombing in Warrington in recent weeks. the British army and RUC | Royal organizations accounted for the majority of The first explosion took place February 26 Ulster Constabulary! in the Six killings associated w ith the Irish conflict in when a gas storage tank was destroyed. The Counties" o f Northern Ireland. 1992. the Independent reported. bombings are part o f an ongoing campaign by "The Relatives for Justice or­ As a result o f such developments, there the IR Aon the British mainland. ganisation." the paper continues, is growing support for Sinn Fein's demand W orking people in factories, mines, and "were refused permission to ad­ that inclusive talks he convened immedi­ rail depots expressed their outrage at the dress Sunday's rally on the grounds ately. The IRA is meeting with Gordon bombings when they heard news o f the that it would be seen as 'political' Wilson, a senator from the south of Ireland casualties. At an engineering plant here, a and could cause embarrassment to and the father o f Marie W ilson, a victim o f worker who supports the fight for Irish self- the British government." a previous IRA bombing at Enniskillen. determination said. "Such acts make more The Dublin government's justice minis­ difficult the fight to get the troops out of Violence by loyalist forces ter. Maire Geoghegan-Quinn. welcomed Ireland.” Another worker asked, “ W hy does In fact, there has been an escala­ this meeting. Maurice Manning of the op­ the IR A target working people? What good tion in recent months o f sectarian position Fine Gael, knowm for its anti­ can that possibly do?” violence by pro-British paramilit­ republican rhetoric, also gave guarded sup­ Opponents of the fight for Irish freedom ary groups against Catholics. On port to the principle of talks with the repub­ were emboldened by the bombing to rail March 25 four Catholic workers in licans. The London daily Guardian has Victim of March 20 Warrington bombing against “ the bloody Irish.” "I'd bomb the lot the seaside town o f Castlerock called for inclusive talks. of them.” a worker said. The BBC radio were killed in a sinalc attack by the An alternative response has been put for­ news reported an attack on an Irish club in Dublin governments and other Irish political Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). Two other ward by columnist Conor Cruise O'Brien. Warrington. parties broke down in July 1992. The republi­ Catholics were killed the same day in other W riting in the March 26 Independent. Attempts by the governments in London can party Sinn Fein, which received one-third attacks. A UFF spokesperson said. "It's been O'Brien called lor the réintroduction of in­ and Dublin to whip up an atmosphere o f o f the Catholic vote in Northern Ireland last a good week so far — and it’s only Thurs­ ternment— detention without trial. The hysteria have not worked, however. Another November, was excluded from the talks. An day." British government introduced internment worker, who said she didn't have strong objective of London's anti-IRA campaign is A Sinn Fein councillor. Patsy Groogan. in Northern Ireland in 1971 but was forced views about Ireland, condemned the War­ to win support for the continuing exclusion of said o f the Castlerock killings, "These men to abandon the measure after mass protests rington bombing but found it "a bit much" Sinn Fein from any new talks. were regularly stopped and harassed by the in Ireland and Britain. O 'B rien said the that the British government was campaign­ Prime M inister John M ajor said o f the British forces. I have no doubt that this government should not repeat the mistakes ing against bombs and what the government Warrington bomb. “The wickedness of this behavior played a part in targeting these men o f this past experience but introduce "selec­ calls "men of violence." "They’ve dropped act defies belief. News o f this latest attack for assassination." tive internment." To be effective. O'Brien more bombs than the IR A ." she said. on men. women, children going innocently Another pro-British terrorist organiza­ said, internment would be needed on both The fam ily o f Jonathan Ball, one o f the about their business on a spring Saturday tion. the Ulster Defence Association, chose sides o f the Irish border. children killed in the Warrington bombing, w ill be met everywhere w ith sorrow and the same day to carry out firebomb attacks refused to allow representatives of the revulsion." Irish foreign minister Dick on the homes o f Sinn Fein and Social Dem­ Jonathan Silbennan i.s a member of the London and Dublin governments to attend Spring said that "param ilitary violence is the ocratic Labour Party (SDLP) councillors. Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical his funeral. biggest obstacle” to peace in Northern Ire­ The London Independent reported March 26 Union in Manchester. land. Both governments have since called Britain's war in Northern Ireland for reopening talks. For nearly 25 years London has waged a This propaganda campaign has been re­ low-intensity war in Ireland, where it occu­ inforced by the big-business media and PATHFINDER AROUND pies the North. The Labour Party govern­ capitalist politicians in other countries. ment first sent troops onto the streets o f Cardinal Basil Hume in Britain and Car­ THE WORLD Northern Ireland in 1969, faced with a mas­ dinal Cahal Daly in Ireland issued an un­ sive civil rights movement that demanded precedented joint statement condemning BY PAT SM ITH an end to discrimination against the Catholic such "outrageous acts perpetrated by a m inority in housing, education, and jobs. very small fraction.” Pathfinder, located in New York cated and Pathfinder director Steve Clark, Since then, more than 3,000 people have lost Broadcasting authorities canceled the with distributors in Australia, Britain, who w'as in Grenada to attend a confer­ their lives in the conflict. scheduled televising of a film. Hidden and Canada, publishes the works of ence, was asked to leave the country. In The government has introduced anti­ Agenda, which tells a fictional tale of police working-class and communist leaders April 1989, the government issued a de­ democratic laws, censorship, nonjury trials, frame-ups of Irish republican activists. of the worldwide struggles against ex­ cree banning 86 Pathfinder titles. and arrests without trial. Top British m ilitary officials were found to have ordered a shoot- New Consensus group ploitation and oppression. Pathfinder The Times lists some o f the prohibited bookstores are listed in the directory books, which include The Communist to -kill policy. Some o f London’s agents have A campaign of public meetings and dem­ on page 12. joined pro-British terror squads and carried onstrations for "peace" has been organized Manifesto, M alcolm X Talks to Young Pathfinder supporters in Iceland are People, and Che Guevara and the Cuban out murders and other atrocities. Many Irish by a group called New Consensus. One such Revolution. have been framed up by police, brutalized, public meeting o f 1,000 people was held making use of the recent publication of Che Guevara og Bardttan Fyrir Sosialis- and imprisoned. March 24 at Trinity College. Dublin. A few ma i Dag (Che Guevara and the Fight for Today discrimination against the Catholic days later, 10.000 people demonstrated in Socialism Today) by Mary-Alice Waters minority in the North — 650,000 out of a Dublin. There were similar marches of Many professors attending the National w ith a campaign to sell 100 copies o f the population o f 1.5 m illion — is as intense as 2.(MX) in London and Belfast. The media Ethnic Studies Departments conference in pamphlet by May 1. They have already ever. The government o f the United K ing­ claims these actions have been organized by Salt Lake City. Utah, in early March dom maintains a force of 18,500 troops in a lone “ 37-year-old mother o f three,” Susan sold 43 copies. stopped by the display of Pathfinder titles Northern Ireland, the highest troop deploy­ McHugh. McHugh has been lionized by the The publ ication o f the pamphlet was cel­ there. Table staffers report they sold $230 ebrated at a meeting cosponsored by the In­ worth of books. Top sellers were books ment since 1979. British press as the leader o f a new peace In the face o f the m ilitary stalemate and movement, while she insists “ I'm an ordi­ ternational Forums Association and the and pamphlets by Malcolm X and titles seeming intractability of the conflict, a wide nary mum, a housewife." Iceland-Cuba Friendship Association on women's liberation. Conference partic­ discussion is taking place on the future of In fact, the New Consensus group, of March 13. Five school libraries and two ipants also purchased six copies o f Geno­ Northern Ireland. Opinion polls consistently which McHugh is a leader, was formed in public libraries have so far purchased 12 cide Against the Indians and three books report a majority of people in Britain favor 1989 on the initiative o f the Workers Party, copies o f the pamphlet for their collections. by Che Guevara. Forty professors picked up copies of Pathfinder’s catalog; some troop withdrawal. an organization that emerged from a split in Pathfinder supporters in Iceland trans­ The rulers in Britain are seeking to pave the IRA in 1969-70 and which today cam­ lated the work, prepared it for publication, expressed interest in considering Path­ the way for a new political initiative. In the paigns against the Irish republican move­ and organized to have it printed locally. finder titles as part of the reading lists for context of economic depression they can ill ment. New Consensus founding members courses they teach. afford the $3 billion that the troop deploy­ include leaders o f pro-British parties in ment costs. They are concerned less with Northern Ireland — the Ulster Unionist The PEN American Freedom-To-Write maintaining the current constitutional ar­ Party, Democratic Unionist Party, and A lli­ Bulletin reported in its February/March Seventy-five people attended an event rangements than w ith establishing the best ance Party — and o f Fine Gael, which is issue on the literary association’s letter to at the Los Angeles Pathfinder bookstore conditions to exploit labor. today the principal opposition party in the the government of Grenada protesting its March 27 to celebrate the publication of When Ireland was partitioned in 1921, the Parliament o f Ireland. continued ban on more than 80 Pathfinder Habla Malcolm X. an extensive Spanish- key centers of industry were in the North, According to the republican newspaper books. The bulletin reports that PEN has language collection o f speeches by M al­ around Belfast. Today the key centers of An Phoblacht. New Consensus has received since received a letter from the Organiza­ colm X. and February 1965: The Final profitability are in the south, which has a funding from the government in London. tion o f American States, which received a Speeches, containing material from the population of 3.5 million and where Britain British prime minister John Major w'as a copy of the protest, saying it is consider­ revolutionary leader’s last month. faces s tiff competition from its U.S. and featured speaker at a New Consensus-organ­ ing the issue. Frank Greenwood, well known for a German rivals. ized memorial for the Warrington bomb vic­ The ban and continued protests against play he wrote about M alcolm X. saluted tims in London. Irish president Mary Rob­ it were also covered in the March 16 issue Pathfinder Press for its role in keeping M al­ London poses as force for peace inson was also on the platform. o f the Caribbean Times, a weekly news­ colm 's speeches in print. Piri Thomas, a The government seized on the U.S. president B ill Clinton sent a message paper published in London. poet and supporter o f Puerto Rican inde­ Warrington bomb to try to present itself as condemning those who "support and perpet­ The Caribbean Times explains that the pendence, flew' in from Berkeley. Califor­ the force for peace, sow further divisions uate" violence. battle against censorship in Grenada be­ nia. to take part in the event. He recalled among working people along national and The rallies and marches purportedly target gan in October 1988 when customs o ffi­ how the name o f Malcolm X was spreading religious lines through scapegoating the all political violence in Ireland and Britain. cials seized a shipment of books from a through the barrio when he got out o f Irish, and thereby pave the way for new- Many participants have been attracted to the Pathfinder representative. In March 1989 prison in 1957, an experience described in constitutional talks on its terms. actions on this basis. But according to Sinn another shipment of books was confis­ his book Down These Mean Streets. Previous talks involving the London and Fein’s newspaper An Phoblacht/Republican

April 26, 1993 The Militant 11 L. A. cops — MILITANT LABOR FORUMS The M ilitant Labor Forum is a weekly Clothing and Textile Workers Union. Sat.. April BRITAIN mobilize huge free-speech meeting for workers, farm­ 24. Reception: 6 p.m.. program: 7 p.m. 242 Wal­ ers, youth, and others. All those seeking nut St. Donation: S3. Tci: (304) 296-0055. Trans­ M an ch ester to advance the fight against injustice and lation to Spanish. What's Happening in Russia Today? Speaker: force before exploitation are welcome to attend and • Jonathan Silbcnnan. contributing editor. /Vew participate in these discussions on issues International. Sal.. April. 24. 6 p.m. Unil 4. 60 Shudehill. Donation: I I . Tel: 061-839 1766. of importance to working people. King verdict At the Militant Labor Forum you can AUSTRALIA express your opinion, listen to the views BY SANDRA PUCCI Sydney NEW ZEALAND of fellow fighters, and exchange ideas on The Accelerating World Capitalist Disorder. AND HARRY RING A uckland how best to advance the interests of w ork­ Speaker: Ron Poulsen. Communist league. Sat.. What Malcolm \ Means Today. Sal.. April 24. LOS ANG ELES — As the M ilita n t goes April 24. 6 p.m. Surry Hills Neighborhood Cen­ ers and farmers the world over. 7 p.m. l.a Gonda Arcade. 203 Karangahupe Rd. to press the verdict is not yet in on the tre. comer Collins St. and Norton St. Donation: Donation: S3, lei: (9) 379-3075. charges against the four cops who beat Rod­ WEST VIRGINIA S3. Tel: 02-281 3297. ney King. Meanwhile, a massive show of South Africa: White Regime's Final Hour: W ellington force by the various police agencies was M o rg a n to w n Cuba Today: Challenges Facing the Working F iji Miners Strike against Kmperer (¿old evident in Black and Latino areas o f the city. Socialist Campaign Rally. Speaker: Elizabeth Class. Classes. Sun.. April 25. 11:30 a.m. Surry Vline. Video. Sal.. April 24. 7 p.m. 23 Lariscy. Socialist Workers candidate lor Morgan­ Hills Neighborhood Centre, comer Collins St. Majoribanks St.. Courlena\ PI. Donation S3. Tel: As the verdict neared, all reports indi­ town City Council, member. Amalgamated and Norton St. Donation: S3. Tel: 02-281 3297. (4) 384-4205. cated that most w orking people in the Black and Latino communities did not want a repeat o f the antipolice riots that took place last year. Congress quarrels over Clinton’s budget At the same time, the form idable m o b ili­ zation of police forces made clear the deter­ Continued from front page nom ic program —-w h ich is 85 percent Times reported. mination of authorities to crack dow n with underemployed. what Ross Perot recommended in the cam­ Clinton accused Perot of ''rumor mon- harsh force on any protests or expressions The New York Times reported that paign ... — hasn't been endorsed |by Per­ gering" about relations between the White o f outrage at an un just verdict. among economists "the prevailing view is ot | since it's almost identical to the one he House and the m ilitary. Perot responded that the effect of a S30 billion stimulus ran on." Clinton complained April I. that Clinton had no moral authority on this Governor Pete W ilson ordered 6(HI Na­ over two years in a S6 trillion economy Despite the president's efforts. Perot subject because he had "ducked" m ilitais tional Guard troops to county armories. He would be marginal." Even bosses of cor­ lias sharply criticized the budget, stating sen ice. declared. "We intend to be ready to re­ porations that are expected to gain the that the "stimulus" package would create Senate Republican leader Robert Dole spond with whatever force is necessary." most from the package said it was too only temporary jo b s . The tension between hoped his light against Clinton’s ' stimu­ Similarly, Sheriff Sherman Block an­ small to make any difference to then busi­ C linton and Perot broke into the open in lus package" would appeal to Perot sup­ nounced deployment of special platoons of nesses. early April, halting "the tentative peace porters. "We believe our philosophy is deputies armed not only with their regular In another demagogic show. Senate Re­ that Mr. Clinton and his aides had culti­ pretty much what they voted for when weapons, but also with tear gas. pepper publicans earlier cast their minority vote in vated assiduously in hopes of attracting they voted lot Ross Perm Iasi November." spray, rubber bullets. Taser guns, and other favor of eliminating a central piece of Clin­ Mr. Perot's supporters." the New York he said. antiriot gear. ton's budget, the proposal to raise taxes on The Los Angeles Police Department the Social Security benefits of the most planned to have up to 6.5(H) cops out on affluent retirees. Clinton hopes to raise an JUAN ANTONIO BLANCO TOUR ITINERARY 12-hour shifts before the verdict was an­ extra S30 billion through this measure over nounced. the next five years. Blanco is a codirector of the Félix Varela Center in Havana. His tour in the United A recent poll by the Los Angeles Times States is sponsored by Global Exchange. He has already visited Baltimore: Washing­ Austerity program found that 50 percent o f the city's residents ton, D.C.: New York; and Boston. See article on page 16. felt there is great danger o f cops "overreact­ Clinton's attack on Social Security was ing" and inciting violence. central to his February budget an­ New England area Seattle nouncements. which amounted to the big­ A member of the United Auto Workers April 15 3:30 p.m. Class on U.S.-Cuba re­ April 23 12 noon Seattle University' gest austerity program since World War II. union who works at the big Alcoa plant here lations. Brown Univer­ 4 p.m. University of Washing­ While his proposal to raise taxes on the said that in conversations w ith coworkers, sity. Providence. R1 ton wealthiest Social Security recipients was who are mainly Black and Latino, sentiment 8 p.m. Yale University, New tied to other "tax the rich" rhetoric, the Bay Area is "near unanimous" that they do not want I laven, CT ultimate target o f these measures is working April 26 12 noon Talk and press confer­ to see a rerun of last year's outbreak. "They Chicago people, who depend on Social Security for ence. California State fear it w ill be costly." he said. “ The fear is April 16 12 noon Loyola University retirement. University. Sacramento that actions by even a few individuals could Public event (in Span­ Higher taxes on Social Security pay­ 7:30 p.m. Cal. State U.. Sacra­ trigger a police riot." ish, location to be an­ mento ments are one more step in the direction nounced) In the Latino comm unity there is deep o f "means testing" these entitlements, that April 27 7 p.m. New College Theater, April 17 7 p.m. Public talk (location to concern about police victim ization and de­ San Francisco is. having to submit to humiliating inva­ be announced) portation roundups by immigration cops. April 28 7 p.m. University of California, sions of privacy to prove one is poor April 19 10 a.m. De Paul University During the riots last year, about i.2(X) im ­ Berkeley enough to have access to these benefits. 3:30 p.m. Ctr. for Latin Am. Stud­ migrants were arrested anti deponed. April 29 7 p.m. Thunderheart Book­ Such measures would turn these benefits ies. University of Chi­ store. Monterey Community figures met with Police Chief into a form of charily rather than a right. cago W illie W illiam s seeking assurance that the Both Clinton and the Republicans have Portland area Los Angeles Immigration and Naturalization Service been courting Ross Perot, who has made April 30 Afternoon or evening would not be brought into the picture this budget cuts — in the name of "eliminating April 21 Afternoon Lewis and Clark College reception, (location to time. They received no such assurance. the deficit"— central to his campaigning 7 p.m. Portland State Univer­ be announced) both during and since the presidential race. sity Prosecution advanced pro-cop line Perot has also strongly advocated that April 22 3 p.m. Oregon State Univer­ sity. Corvallis. Oregon At the courthouse, in closing statements wealthy people such as him self not be enti­ to the ju ry A pril 8. the prosecution continued tled to Social Security. For more information call: (415) 864-4561 to press a pro-cop line. "I'd be more interested in why my eco- Prosecutor Steven Glymer declared. "Rodney King should have been arrested that night, and Rodney King should have IF YOU LIKE THIS PAPER, LOOK US UP gone to ja il.” He added, " I f these defendants hadn't beaten him, that’s exactly what would Where to find Pathfinder books and NEW YORK: New York: 191 7th Ave. Zip: Tel: 071-928-7993. have happened." distributors of the M ilita n t, Perspectiva 10011. Tel: (212) 727-8421: 167 Charles St. Zip: Manchester: Unit 4. 60 Shudehill. Postal M u n d ia l, New International, Nouvelle In ­ 10014. Tel: (212) 366-1973. code: M4 4AA. Tel: 061-839 1766. K im Allen and Kevin Jones. Socialist ternationale, and Nueva Intemacional. NORTH CARO LINA: Greensboro: 2000-C Sheffield: I Gower St.. Spital Hill. Postal Workers Party candidates for mayor and city S. Elm-Eugcnc St. Zip 27406. Tel: (919) 272- code: S47HA. Tel: 0742-765070. controller, took sharp issue with these state­ UNITED STATES 5996. ments. ALABAMA: Birmingham: 111 21st St OHIO: Cincinnati: P.O. Box 19484. Zip: CANADA South. Zip: 35233. Tel: (20.6) 323-3079 45219. Tel: (5 13) 221 -2691. Cleveland: 1863 W. Montreal: 6566. boul. Sl-Laurcnt. Postal "Rodney King did not avoid jail because C ALIFO RN IA: Los Angeles: 2.546 W. Pico 25th St. Zip: 44113. Tel: (216) 861-6150. code: H2S 3C6. Tel: (514) 273-2503. he was beaten." Allen said. "H e avoided Blvd. Zip: 90006. Tel: (213) 380-9460. 380- OREGON: Portland: 2310 NE 8th #1. Zip: Toronto: 827 Bloor St. West. Postal code: it only because the beating was videotaped. 9640. San Francisco: 3284 23rd St. Zip: 94110. 97212. Tel: (503) 288-0466. M6G IM I. Tel: (4.16) 53.3 - 4.324. If it weren't for that videotape, and the Tel: (41.5) 282-6255. PENNSYLVANIA: Philadelphia: 1906 Vancouver: 3967 Main St. Postal code: V5V subsequent protests against police violence CONNECTICUT: New Haven: Mailing ad­ South St. Zip: 19146. Tel: (215)546-8196. Pitts­ 3P3. Tel: (604) 872-8343. by thousands of working people. King dress: P.O. Box 16751. Bavbrook Station. West burgh: 4905 Penn Ave. Zip 15224. Tel: (412) w'ould have been but one more o f the Haven. Zip: 06516. Tel: (203) 772-3375. 362-6767. ICELAND Reykjavik: Klapparstig 26. Mailing address: countless unknown victims of brutality by FLORIDA: Miami: 137 N.E. 54th St. Zip: TEXAS: Houston: 4806 Almcda. Zip: 77004. 33137. Tel: (305) 756-1020. P. Box 233. 121 Reykjavik. Tel: (91) 1751.3. the cops." Tel: (713) 522-8054. GEORGIA: Atlanta: 172 Trinity Ave. Zip: UTAH: Salt Lake Citv: 147 E. 900 S. Zip: MEXICO "W hat these cops did,” Jones added, “ is 30303. Tel: (404) 577-4065. 841II. Tel: (801) .355-1124. Mexico City: Apdo. Postal 27-575. Col. part of the daily work of;» police department ILLIN O IS : Chicago: 545 W. Roosevelt Rd. WASHINGTON, D.C.: 523 8th St. SF. Zip: Roma Sur. Mexico D.F. whose basic reason for existence is harass­ Zip: 60607. Tel: (312) 829-6815. 829-7018. 2000.3. Tel: (202) 547-7557. ment and intimidation of working people IOWA: Des Moines: 2105 Forest Ave. Zip: WASHINGTON: Seattle: 1405 E. Madison. NEW ZEALAND through the use of force.” 50311. Tel: (515) 246-8249. Zip: 98122. Tel: (206) 323-1755. Auckland: l.a Gonda Arcade. 203 Karan- MARYLAND: Baltimore: 2905 C.reen gahapc Road. Postal Address: P.O. Box .3025. Tel: Meanwhile, authorities modified their WEST VIRGINIA: Morgantown: 242 Wal­ mount Ave. Zip: 21218. Tel: (410) 235-0013. (9) 379-3075. plan for a media “no-fly” zone. Initially, nut. .Mailing address: P.O. Box 203. Zip: 26507. MASSACHUSETTS: Boston: 7X0 Tremont Tel: (304) 296-0055. Christchurch: 593a Colombo St. (upstairs). police authorities asked the Federal Aviation St. Zip: 02118. Tel: (617) 247-6772. Postal address: P.O. Box 22-530. Tel: (.3) 365- Administration (FAA) to ban low-flying M IC H IG AN : Detroit: 7414 Woodward Ave. AUSTRALIA 6055. Svdnev: 19 Terry St.. Sum Hills. Sydnev media helicopters and planes across Los Zip: 48202. Tel: (313) 875-0100. Wellington: 23 Majoribanks St.. Courtenav NSW 20i(). Tel: 02-281-3297. ' Angeles County in the period following the MINNESOTA: Twin Cities: 508 N. Snelling PI. Postal address: P.O. Box 9092. Tel: (4) 384- verdict's announcement. Ave.. St. Paul. Zip: 55104. Tel: (612) 644-6325. BARBADOS 4205. MISSOURI: St. Louis: 1622 S. Broadway. Bridgetown: P.O. Box 891. Tel.: (809) 436- Responding to media protests. Police Zip: 63104. Tel: (314) 421-3808. SWEDEN 7723. Chief Williams said such curbs would be NEW JERSEY: Newark: 141 Halsey. Mailing Stockholm: Vikingagatan 10 (T-bana St requested o f the FAA for only "small areas" address: 1188 Raymond Blvd.. Suite 222. Zip: BRITAIN Kriksplan). Postal code: S-II.3 42. Tel: (08) 31 o f the city. 07102. Tel: (201) 643-3341. London: -17 The Cut. Postal code: SHI 8LL. 69 3.3.

12 The Militant April 26, 1993 GREAT SOCIETY

Bet you think he's a racist — America the Beautiful — Re­ shopkeepers often sought stores from his steel m ill because he making penalty payments have re­ "A lot of Mexicans have bad foot turning from Michigan to their w ith livin g quarters in the rear, liked to hear the sound of money paid less than a half-penny per dollar speed. It's a genetic-type thing. Florida home and running low on leading to the joke about the shop­ being made. (They also contended of the $133.8 million they owe.” — They have a different body type. cash. Mary A lice Wairc. 69. and keeper who became wealthy but he never saw a blast furnace until Associated Press. her husband stopped at a Tifton. turned down an opportunity to buy he died.) Georgia. Wal-Mart and turned in a Macy's because there were no Like squeezing out a bit more couple of items for a $13 refund. rooms in back. This came to mind It figures — "WASHINGTON juice — The chief honcho at Harry Mrs. Waire was busted for alleg­ when we read the obit fo r Andrew — More than SI million in bo­ American Airlines said the com­ Ring edly giving a false address, an o f­ Goodman, owner of the plush nuses were paid last year to 136 pany regularly consults with emi­ fense in Georgia when seeking a New York department store officials of the federal agency in nent restauranteurs on food prepa­ refund. She spent 44 days in ja il Bergdof Goodman. He had a charge of the savings and loan ration. One happy result: "Where and paid $300 in tines and court penthouse on top. cleanup " — Associated Press. we once offered freshly cut fruit costs. Meanwhile, the couple lost salad ... our fruit appetizers now Most all have good hands and their car and apartment. Housing stories (II) — Tum- That figures too— "WASH­ consist of melon slices, which give good rhythm. That's why they of-the-century steelworkers had it INGTON — More than 100 savings our customers more fruit ['?] — dance so w e ll." — Fred Uhlman. Housing stories (I) — Eu­ that early industrialist Andrew and loan defendants w ho escaped and save lots o f cutting and peel­ Baltimore Orioles baseball scout. ropean immigrants who became Carnegie built his mansion across long prison terms in exchange for ing in the kitchen." Australia Labor Party maintains hold on power

BY DAVID ADAMS The Kennett govern­ nationalist overtones, mem staffer said. "We're going to make SYDNEY. Australia — The victory of the ment has outlawed or the proposal results the centralized wage fixin g system so ir­ Australian Labor Party and the reelection o f legally restricted many from the Australian im ­ relevant by the next election, the | Liberal- Prime M inister Paul Keating in the March types of strikes, cut perialist rulers’ need to National Partyl coalition won't have 13 federal elections here stunned politicians overtime and holiday distance themselves anything to hit us with.” and pundits alike. Most commentators had pay rates, eliminated from the "m other " It is inevitable," Poulsen said, "that the predicted a conservative victory. state awards (statewide country." Britain, to fa­ rulers of Australia w ill come into more open “The unexpected result was important union contracts cover­ cilitate penetration of trade clashes with their imperialist rivals because o f what was revealed about the ing workers through­ the growing Asia-Pa­ around the world. Taking the lead from mood o f working people and politics in out a given industry), cific market by Austra­ Washington they w ill embark on more wars. Australia today." said Ron Poulsen, Com­ laid o ff tens o f thou­ lian capital. They w ill seek to 'solve' their problems by munist League candidate for Senate in New sands o f state em ploy­ "The Australian rul­ driving down wages, cutting social welfare, South Wales. Poulsen, a member o f the Food ees. closed 60 schools, ing class, in its drive to and changing work practices. But in this Preservers' Union, spoke at an April 3 M il­ and slapped a tax of weaken and divide the process they w ill meet growing resistance itant Labor Forum in Sydney on the Austra­ SI 00 a person on working class, is seek­ by the working class, which w ill have its lian elections. homeowners. ing to break w ith the chance to take state power out o f the hands The Australian Labor Party (ALP) has Poulsen said the re­ system of government- o f the warmakers. fonned the federal government for the past sistance to the attacks in regulated arbitration “To break with class collaborationism 10 years, first with Bob Hawke as prime Victoria is the most sig­ and carry out more di­ and seek a class-struggle alternative, minister, then Paul Keating. But with o ffi­ nificant development in rect attacks on the workers will have to go through the ex­ cial unemployment figures surging above 11 the Australian class unions,” Poulsen said. perience of Labor governments adminis­ percent — more than 1 m illion people — in struggle in years, fo l­ Affirming that this tering the attacks of the ruling class. the deepest recession since the 1930s, most lowing more than a de­ is a bipartisan ap­ Masses o f workers w ill discover what the Prime minister Paul Keating considered a defeat o f the ALP by the con­ cade of labor demobili­ proach by both Liberal Communist League election campaign ex­ servative Liberal-National coalition virtu­ zation under the “ A c ­ and Labor parties, he plained: that the Labor Party is not a party ally inevitable. cord." The Accord is a class-collaborationist pointed to a statement, quoted in the Busi­ for workers, but is an alternate party of social contract for industrial peace between ness Review Weekly and the Sun-Herald the bosses that has no other program but "The elections occurred during a world national union officials and the Labor gov­ newspaper. An unnamed Labor govern- capitalist war and depression.” depression." Poulsen said. "Australian im­ ernment. perialism, as a middle-ranking power, is caught between the sharpening conflicts Although the Labor Party government among the major capitalist powers, espe­ was extremely unpopular at the beginning 25 AND 50 YEARS AGO o f the election campaign, Poulsen said, cially the United States. Germany, and Ja­ (antifascist fighters, the first assassinated in "many working people looked at the Liberal pan." The need for Australian capitalism to New York, the others in the Soviet Union| Party's proposed 15 percent sales tax. cuts become more competitive against its trading THE was broken up by Stalinist thugs on April I . rivals in Asia, Europe, and North America in health-care benefits and education, and The noted refugee. Victor Serge, cabled a was a theme o f both major parties during the attacks on the unions, and then voted for the story from Mexico C ity to the New Leader. election campaign. Labor Party. Workers didn't trust the A LP to do anything for them hut expected it would MILITANT revealing that the GPU had inspired and d i­ Published in the Interesl of the W orking People Labor, Liberals: twin parties of capitalism do less against them." rected the attack, in the course o f which Julian April 29, 1968______p . . , , - u k Gorkin, a leader o f the Spanish POUM, was While 9 of 10 major daily newspapers Poulsen said the Labor and Liberal par­ stabbed and badly wounded in the head. ties "are the twin parties of capitalist rule. across the country editorialized for a Liberal NEW YORK — At the “Urban Crisis” The Liberals are directly run and funded Party victory, the ntling class did not use its CHO ICE 68 panel at Columbia University The meeting had been called by the Ibe- by the ruling class. The A LP is the party media to campaign against Labor as they on April 15, representatives of [Robert] rian-Mexican Cultural Center, organized of the labor bureaucracy. While in office have done in previous elections that led to Kennedy and | Eugene] McCarthy clashed and sponsored by Spanish anti-fascist refu­ throughout the 1980s the A LP has proven ALP defeat. Many capitalist politicians felt with Derrick Morrison, Socialist Workers gees living in Mexico, and those speakers that it is both a loyal servant o f big busi­ that the successive Labor Party governments Party candidate for Congress in New York's who were heard before the meeting was ness and a stable pillar of capitalist gov­ had been unable to make the necessary shift 20th congressional district. disrupted denounced the Stalinist terror to step up the rulers' assaults on working ernment." State Senator Thompson of Bedford- against political opponents. people. Many in niling-class circles, how­ Eighteen months before the election, the Stuyvesant, Kennedy's representative, drew " A t eight o ’clock." says Serge, “ a gang ever. were worried that in the light o f the Liberal Party formulated a detailed pro­ an analogy between Kennedy's program and o f about one hundred Communists laid siege labor upsurge in Victoria, the Liberals' pol­ gram. projecting a broadside attack on the Roosevelt's, which he said was designed to to the hall, broke down the iron door, and icies could unnecessarily provoke wide­ trade unions and the im position o f a 15 prevent "a revolution." This theme also burst into the Center looking for the speak­ spread industrial confrontation that would percent sales tax on good and services. dominated the talk by Robert Ginsberg, Mc­ ers to beat them up. be counterproductive to the capitalists' drive Poulsen said the Liberals were deliberately Carthy's representative, who emphasized to increase productivity. not vague about their plans, unlike the that what was needed to solve the crisis was “Armed with dubs and bits of broken norm fo r capitalist parties that stand in The media trumpeted the election result to give black people "the feeling that they furniture as well as knives and guns, they elections. "Confident of victory, the Lib­ as a “ mandate" for Prime Minister Keating are Americans . . . the right to fe e l that they formed a strong-arm squad, evidently re­ erals were determined to substantially shift to set his stamp on the government and its are governing themselves.” cruited o ff the streets, probably hired, and led by some Communist Party leaders who bourgeois politics further to the right and policies. Keating seized this opportunity to Morrison charged that the tw o Democrats kept shouting, ‘They are Germans, enemies secure a clear electoral mandate to carry hand-pick a revamped cabinet that foreshad­ had the viewpoint o f the rulers, that their of Mexico!” ’ out severe attack, on the w orking class.” ows a concerted shift to the right by the new "main intent was to try to get the ghettos Poulsen explained. government, coupled with the loyal collab­ quiet.” He said he had the viewpoint o f the Serge also reports that some o f the Sta­ oration of the trade union bureaucracy. Liberal leader John Hewson has at­ oppressed black people, who are trying to linists telephoned the police at the height of tempted to explain his party’s electoral de­ Prior to the elections, prominent econom­ win self-determination, just as the Vietnam­ the fighting and said that a body of workers feat by claiming its policies were not well ics commentator Max Walsh wrote in the ese are. was breaking up a fascist meeting which had understood. "But the fact is most workers Sydney Morning Herald that the incoming Senator Thompson asked Ginsberg where begun with shouts of "Vive Hitler! Vive understood only too well," Poulsen con­ government, regardless o f the party that McCarthy intended to find the resources to Franco! Vive Mussolini!" tinued. “especially as a major part of won, would have to “ do a Clinton." referring pay for his minimum income program. Following the riot Gorkin named Antonio Hewson\s program mirrored the policies to the US. president's ditching of campaign Though neither Democrat could offer any Mije, Juan Camerera, Julian Carillo and implemented by the Liberal state govern­ promises, and turn to proposals to cut the new source, Morrison proposed two huge Carlos Contreras as instigators o f the attack. ment o f V ictoria." social wage. Since Labor's reelection, the ones: the Vietnam war money that would be Contreras is a notorious Stalinist GPU financial press has been insistently demand­ freed if the U.S. withdrew, and the tremen­ hatchet man who was an active leader in the Union mobilizations in Victoria ing that Keating and his treasurer. John dous corporate profits that would be freed terror against anti-Stalinist workers in Spain Those policies have provoked the big­ Dawkins, take more drastic measures to "re ­ by nationalization of industry. during the c iv il war. gest mobilizations o f the trade union duce the government deficit." that is. slash movement and other working people and social welfare programs. This is the second time that Erlich and youth in more than a decade. Two one-day Alter memorial meetings have been attacked Ties with British monarchy THE MILITANT general strikes across Victoria involving PUailSHIO IN INI INTIIISTS Of TNI WOIKINO FIOFU by the Mexican Stalinists. According to the hundreds o f thousands of workers, as well Keating's proposal before the election for \ r -A Y HK \ New Leader, a Stalinist gang tried to vio­ Australia to dispense with fomial ties to the lently break up a meeting held by Polish as rolling work stoppages and mass dem­ April 24, 1943 onstrations of tens of thousands, have British monarchy and move officially to an socialist refugees at the Jewish Center of taken place there since last O ctober’s elec­ elected head o f state by 2001, the centenary A meeting held by Spanish refugees in Mexico three weeks ago. That time the at­ tion of the Liberal Party government, of Australia's federation, was relegated to a Mexico City to commemorate the deaths of tackers began the riot with the cry, "Death headed by Jeff Kennett. side issue in the elections. Apart from the Carlo Tresca. Victor Alter and Henryk Erlich to the Nazi spies."

April 26, 1993 The Militant 13 —EDITORIALS ------Should U.S. debt be canceled? A watershed moment in S. Africa Peter Buch, in his letter printed on the opposite page, raises a good question. If the U.S. government waves the "This is a watershed moment for all of us." said African For decades the apartheid system sought to keep the budget deficit like a club to press for cuts in social spend­ National Congress president Nelson Mandela in his nation­ masses o f South A frican people divided along race lines ing. should working people demand the federal debt be ally televised April 13 address on the cold-blooded murder — whites. Indians, Coloureds, and Blacks. The Bantustan canceled? A fter all, this debt is owed to bankers and rich of ANC leader Chris Hani three days earlier. "homelands" were set up to further divide the Black ma­ bondholders who make a killing from the interest payments “Our decisions and actions will determine whether we jority along so-called tribal lines. on those loans — payments that come out of the pockets use our pain, our grief, and our outrage to move forward The A N C has been in the forefront o f the fight against of workers and farmers. to what is the only lasting solution for our country — an this system, putting forward and winning mass support for The answer is no. There is a big difference between elected government o f the people, by the people, and for a nonracial perspective as the basis for the creation o f a the debt o f the U.S. government and the debt forced on the people." he said. democratic republic in South Africa. This is a precondition Third World nations by imperialist banks. Working peo­ “ Now is the time for all South Africans to stand together for the South African w orking class to recognize its class ple should join the international fight to cancel the Third against those who, from any quarter, wish to destroy what interests and lake its place at the head o f the democratic W'orld debt. But the U.S. government's debt is not our Chris Hani gave his life fo r— the freedom of all of us." movement on behalf of all the oppressed and exploited. concern — it's the problem of the employers and their The murder of Hani is a provocation aimed at reversing government. In the past year, this movement has taken major strides important steps forward that have recently been made Many union members are fam iliar w ith companies that forward, symbolized by the participation of 26 political toward the first democratic elections ever in South Africa, plead poverty and even declare bankruptcy, saying they organizations in the latest round o f m ultiparty talks, span­ based on one person, one vote. will go under unless workers make big concessions in ning the entire South African political spectrum, including The A N C is demanding elections to a constituent assem­ wages and working conditions. Unionists leam through for the first time the Conservative Party and the Pan bly and the establishment of a Transitional Executive experience that the bosses' debt problems — whether real Africanist Congress. Committee to preside over this process. In response to the or exaggerated — are not the union’s. They have no in­ most recent murderous efforts by reactionary forces to While Hani’s assassination was a blow calculated to terest in calling for the cancellation of the company's block this, millions of South African workers answered the disrupt the fight for a democratic, nonracist, nonsexist debts to its corporate creditors, nor do they gain from ANC's call for a strike on April 14. South Africa, the campaign o f mass actions being organ­ getting involved in the employer's bankruptcy court pro- The killings of peaceful demonstrators and others by ized by the A N C can reverse the effects o f this blow, by de Klerk's security forces during mass protests A pril 14 helping propel the struggle forward. were an attempt by the discredited white regime to pro­ "We know that you w ill march this last mile with us, w ill voke further violence and derail negotiations. The ANC's work with us to win a resounding victory in these elections," DISCUSSION WITH reaction to Hani’s murder, however, is making it hard Mandela told supporters from around the world gathered at for the tide of history to be turned back. Democratic- the International Solidarity Conference in Johannesburg just OUR READERS minded people the world over should demand that all two months ago. The challenges to the democratic revolu­ those responsible for the April 14 killings he apprehended tion that is unfolding in South Africa today make organizing ceedings. Why? Because it's the bosses' company, not and prosecuted to the extent of the law. this kind o f solidarity more important than ever. ours. Their profits increase at the expense o f our wages, and vice versa. Therefore, the labor movement's priority is to fight for the needs of union members and all work­ ing people, no matter how much the employers squeal about their financial woes. Oppose attacks on social wage Similarly, when the U.S. government — the richest in the world — cries about its budget deficit, working people should take the approach o f Malcolm X, who pointed out that President Clinton's detailed budget proposal, issued to cut still more. From conservative Democrats to Ross Black rights fighters aren't heard “ talking about 'o u r govern­ A pril 8. represents another step in the process the W hite Perot to the ultraright, they point out that even Clinton's ment is in trouble.’ They say. 'The government is in trouble.’ House launched earlier this year to push through major “deficit cutting" proposals will, by 1997. only succeed in " When B ill Clinton or other servants o f the rich appeal to cutbacks in the social wage. A t stake in the quarrels among paring the deficit back to the point where some S2(X) billion workers and farmers to worry about how to balance the bud­ senators and congresspeople is how much they can take is added to the total debt every year. Only by making far get. working-class fighters reply: "Paying the bondholders back from what working people have won through pre- more massive inroads in areas such as Social Security and and reducing the national debt is your concern; it’s not our vious battles over decades. Medicare can they move towards eliminating the annual debt. We, on the other hand, fight to defend and expand enti­ Clinton's so-called stimulus package is nothing but an deficit, let alone cutting back the debt itself, tlements like Social Security, Medicare, unemployment ben­ attempted facelitt by the administration. Giving the impres- These forces are demanding a total or partial cut in efits, and other social gains our class won through past strug­ sion he is lighting lor jobs, Clinton is trying to convince Clinton's “ stimulus package," a minor part of the overall gles, as well as championing the interests o f working people working people to go along with his proposed sacrifices. budget, representing about $30 billion in tax breaks for internationally." The demand to cancel Washington's debt I he tension is greater in this debate among capitalist business and expenditures on new projects. Clinton values doesn't serve that goal. politicians because the market system is now in an eco- this piece especially for its cosmetic effect, because it at The Third World debt to U.S.. European, and Japanese nomic depression. High annual budget deficits present a |east gives an appearance that he is waging a fight against bankers is a different matter. It’s not a fair deal among problem for the capitalists, hobbling their ability to com- unemployment. equals, as in the case o f a worker who lends a coworker pete with rivals around the world in tighter markets. The , , ... some money. Instead, it represents an economic relation­ accumulated debt from these deficits now adds up to more , ^ n g people cannot tie ourselves to the framework ship between imperialist powers and semicolonial coun­ than half a single year's total production from the U.S. of this debate concerning the budget, which links our future tries, between oppressors and oppressed. The world capi­ economy. The squeeze this puts on compels the U.S. rulers ^ declining fortunes of capitalism. Especially at a time talist economy is marked by unequal terms of trade. Rich to push much harder to take more out of the hides of of a depression we need extensions, not cutbacks, to Soctal industrialized countries like the United States monopolize working people Security, health care, and other entitlements. technology and control world markets and the distribution This is why Clinton was universally applauded in ruling The labor movement should resist the administration’s of goods. The prices they get for their industrial products circles for the pleas for "shared sacrifice” that he made assault on the social wage, and prepare for the coming keep increasing, while the prices that raw materials-pro- when issuing his budget outline in February. Since that battles in which far greater, and more disastrous, cutbacks ducing countries like Mexico get for their products tend to time many among the capitalist class have been pressing in living standards and basic protections w ill be posed. decrease. As a result of this exploitative relationship, semicolonial countries have been pushed into debt to imperialist bank­ ers. These banks have sucked almost $ 1CX) billion out of Latin America in interest payments over the past five years. Yet Latin America's foreign debt has actually increased — Sweden: austerity and resistance to S390 billion this year. The foreign debt plunder of Third World resources "Swedish model leaves stage." "Sweden. Buffeted by attacks on workers and farmers are provoking resistance. increases imperialist domination o f those countries. It is Recession. Starts Trim m ing Welfare State." "N ow Sweden Municipal workers have marched to protest layoffs and an attack on their national sovereignty and it directly affects faces being model of unemployment." These headlines, social cutbacks. Thousands have protested the anti-immi­ the standard of living of millions of working people. The once considered shocking, are now commonplace. grant attacks. W ith the expiration o f union contracts, w ork­ peoples of oppressed nations have a stake in defending Touted for decades as an example of a successful capi­ ers are preparing for further fights against the employers’ their national sovereignty. That struggle, which includes talist welfare state. Sweden has entered the vortex o f the concession demands. These developments coincide with the struggle to cancel the Third World debt, gives working worldwide depression. Unemployment has skyrocketed similar working-class struggles in Germany. Britain. people more elbow room to fight for their class interests from 3 percent in 1990 to 12 percent today. M ajor banks Greece, and other parts o f Europe. against the employers at home and abroad. The demand to have collapsed. During last year's currency turmoil in For decades, misleaders o f the labor movement w orld­ cancel the foreign debt of Third World countries is also Western Europe, the Swedish central bank raised interest wide had pointed to Sweden as a benign form o f capitalism fundamental in forging unity among workers in the United rates to an unprecedented 500 percent in a vain attempt to that workers should place their hopes in. But there is no States and other imperialist countries on the one hand and defend the country’s currency, which was finally devalued. such thing. Capitalism is showing its ugly face in Sweden working people in the semicoionial world. The capitalist rulers o f Sweden have unleashed a series o f as elsewhere, highlighting the universal crisis of the market The international bankers say cancellation of the foreign vicious attacks against working people. Big corporations system. The shattering of the illusion in the so-called debt w ill ruin them, arguing that working people w ill suffer like Volvo and Saab have thrown thousands onto unemploy­ Swedish model is one less obstacle for working people. the consequences. The answer to that argument is funda­ mentally political, not economic. When workers fought to ment lines, while the employed are working longer hours. The labor resistance to capitalist austerity in Sweden is reduce the workday to 10 hours and then to 8 hours, bosses The government has stepped up attacks on workers' social an example to workers everywhere. It underlines the fact wailed that this would push them to bankruptcy — maybe wage, slashing benefits for the jobless, social security, pen­ that there is only one way to fight the bosses' never-ending some bosses did go broke, but overall the successful sions. welfare, sick leave payments, child support, and hous­ demands for sacrifice: to forge a fighting labor movement ing subsidies, as well as raising taxes. The social democratic that champions the common interests of all working peo­ struggle strengthened the working class. Likewise, the needs o f working people justify canceling the Third World opposition is aiding this austerity drive. ple, beginning w ith the rights o f the most oppressed, debt. How to bail out the bankers — by cuts in military' The government is also whipping up a chauvinist cam­ particularly immigrants. Through such experiences in spending or some other source — is for the imperialist paign against immigrants. At the same time, the Swedish struggle, working people can be won to the only real governments to figure out. rulers are defending their imperialist interests abroad, de­ alternative to capitalism's wars, depressions, and racism: If the bosses and bankers declare that providing decent ploying troops in the form er Yugoslavia as well as Somalia. the perspective of replacing the rule of the rich with a living conditions for working people — here or abroad — As the Swedish "dream " becomes a nightmare, these government of workers and farmers. is incompatible with maintaining their profits and their system, then it is simply further proof that they are unfit to govern. The solution is to replace their rule with the only kind o f government that can run society in the interests o f humanity — a government of workers and farmers. — MARTÍN KOPPEL

14 The Militant April 26, 1993 Pennsylvania mushroom workers fight for union

This column is devoted to re­ most were from Puerto Rico. ment workers are not registered Day weekend. solidarizing with the strike. These porting the resistance by working Kaolin co-owner John Pia re­ with the government as required by On Christmas Eve o f 1992. the tactics were used during the 1984— people to the employers’ assault fuses to negotiate with Gutierrez or that law. U.S.-owned company Timex laid o ff 85 coal miners’ strike. on their living standards, work­ with the workers as long as they are Union attorneys also charged 170 o f the 340 workers at the plant During the April 2 strike by min­ ing conditions, and unions. on strike. violation of requirements that re­ for w hat they were told would be six ers and rail workers. Timex striker We invite you to contribute The many grievances o f the Ka­ placement workers be informed in months. Aftera two-week strike, be­ Sandra Wilson spoke at a rally in short items to this column as a olin workers begin with wage cuts writing in their native languages lieving the layoff issue was resolved, Manchester. She said that the mostly way for other fighting workers that occurred about a month ago o f of the existence of a labor dispute. workers returned to work. female work force at Timex around the world to read about 50-75 cents an hour. New hires now All the replacement workers are Following that confrontation, wouldn't say boo to a goose before. and learn front these important make the minim um wage o f S4.25 reportedly Cambodian and management demanded a pay freeze "They've gone from lambs to lions struggles. Jot down a few lines to an hour. A packer on the picket line Vietnamese brought in from Phil­ and a 10 percent cut in benefits. After and are now leading this dispute." adelphia. 94 percent o f the workers voted in Linda McCabe explained in an Charges of riot and criminal tres­ favor of action, management closed interview that the Tim ex workers pass were filed April 8 against the gales. When workers reported O N THE PICKET LINE had discovered who "w e " and who Gutierrez and 12 others. Gutierrez for work they were met by police "they" arc in the w orld and that the is now barred from talking with lines. A strike was called January 29 strikers are now "putting forward let other M ilita n t readers know who has worked at Kaolin for eight pickets or even walking or driving and was made official by the Am al­ our case so it doesn't happen any about what is happening at your years said his wages dropped from near Kaolin. gamated Engineering and Electrical workplace or in your union. If $6.25 to $5.50 an hour. Piece rates where else. A news conference was held Union (AEEl ). Management re­ there is an interesting political for pickers w ere also cut. April 9 in a park by the Kaolin plant sponded by firing the w hole work " It\ not just our fight; it's every discussion going on at work, we During the peak season from O c­ — the only place Gutiérrez is al­ force. The company has since re­ worker's.” she continued. "We are would like to hear about that too. tober through March, workers put lowed under the injunction. cruited 200 nonunion workers who speaking up and dow n the country in 60-65 hours a week. But during Several unionists and officials are bused through the picket lines to shop stewards committees. We the summer, the hours drop as low About 140 o f the 210 workers at from the United Steelworkers of each morning wearing balaclava want to build mass meetings in fac­ as 3 or 4 hours a day. Kaolin Mushroom Farms w'alkedoff America. International Union of hats to conceal their identities. tories to get out the truth about what the job here A pril 1 in Kennett “ The boss never lays us o ff so Operating Engineers, Brotherhood Since 1979 the Tory government has happened in Timex so all w ork­ Square. Pennsylvania, after the com­ that we can collect unemployment of Maintenance of Way Employees, has enacted a series o f antiunion ers can get the lessons and we can pany — the largest mushroom pro­ benefits," explained striker Luis and United Auto Workers expressed law's that restrict the right to picket build solidarity and stop manage­ ducer in the state — refused to rec­ Tlaseca. support. and hold solidarity actions. Other ment's attacks." ognize their newly formed Kaolin On the second day of the strike, laws place responsibility on trade For information on how to sup­ Messages of support should be Workers Union. private security guards and state union officials to police their mem­ port the strike, contact CATA at sent to; Timex Strike Committee. Kaolin workers approached the police in riot gear were dispatched bership or face sequestration of 215-444-9696. □ AEEU. 2. Union Street. Dundee. Farmworkers Support Committee to the picket line. That same day. union funds or imprisonment. Scotland. □ (CATA) earlier this year with com­ a county judge signed an order re­ Timex is demanding the police and plaints about conditions and wages. stricting the number of pickets. Timex strike in courts use these laws against the CATA invited Ventura Gutiérrez to The company charged strikers Scotland strikers. The following people contributed to assist the organizing effort. threatened nonstriking workers The Timex workers have main­ this week's column: Nancy Cole and Gutiérrez is from Organizing With­ with violence. More than 7.000 people partic­ tained daily pickets and have mo­ Roy Inglee from Philadelphia: and out Borders, a group that has On April 7 a federal judge ac­ ipated in an April 12 demonstra­ bilized for demonstrations and Helen War nock, a member of the worked mainly in California. Ari­ cepted Kaolin's claims that the tion called by the Scottish Trades marches outside the gates. More National Union of Rail. Maritime, zona, and Mexico. strikers are not covered by a federal Union Congress to support the than 5.000 people demonstrated and Transport Workers, and Ann Most mushroom workers in the law protecting seasonal agricultural strikers at the Timex plant in Dun­ there March 20. P¡under, a member o f the Amalga­ area are from Mexico, a change workers. The union had argued that dee. Scotland. Another support On March 29 police used road­ mated Engineering and Electrical from more than a decade ago when the agencies dispatching replace­ demonstration is planned for May side checks to delay workers Union, from Manchester. Britain. LETTERS S. African ‘Coloureds’ in the western Cape because there vored ending military were very few Africans there. By the segregation to weaken The reference to the so-called time the African population reached Jim Crow segregation “ Coloured" people o f the western significant proportions, the ANC in the South and else­ Cape Province of South Africa leadership was banned, jailed, ban­ where. undermine rac­ (A p ril 12 M ilita n t) omits most of ished, or driven into exile. The ANC ist divisions among the history o f the origins o f this itself was banned not long after. working people, and group. It is misleading to describe Joyce Meissenheimer increase the potential this group merely as being o f mixed Montreal. Quebec for united struggle. white and African origin. The demand to end When a motley crew o f white set­ Segregation in m ilitary the ban on gays is ba­ tlers from Holland. Portugal. Bel­ sically a consequence gium, and Poland arrived under the As Sara Lobman pointed out in of the destruction of auspices o f the Dutch East Indies her April 12 column, “ Whether or Jim Crow by the civil Company, the great African tribes not open gays in the military will rights movement in the were settled in the eastern part o f the weaken discipline is not our con­ 1960s. This inspired country, the nearest being the Xhosa. cern." But I don’t agree that "seg­ fights for women's The western region south o f A n­ regation on the basis o f color [in the rights and strength­ gola was inhabited by the Khoikhoin militaryl was purely a product of ened the hand o f every pastoralists and the Batwa or San racism. It had no objective basis." victim o f discrim ination and prej­ out the savings o f widow s and or­ abortion providers, and women hunters and gatherers. These were Color segregation in the m ilitary udice. phans and retired people whose who have abortions. Their acts o f the peoples whom the colonists at­ was not a product o f racist prejudice As Lobman explained, the start­ money the banks invested in those terror and intimidation, most nota­ tempted to exploit and from whom alone, but had an objective basis in ing point for workers is not the countries. Fidel Castro has ex­ bly distributing "Wanted" posters the first “mixed” offspring were the class struggle. It stemmed from conflicting estimates of the possible plained how the debt could be can­ o f abortion providers, set the stage bom. The settlers had great difficulty defeats dealt workers and fanners effect on the U.S. m ilitary o f ending celed without hurting people's sav­ for the murder of Dr. Gunn. Given trying to enslave these peoples and after the C iv il War and Reconstruc­ the ban. Opposing the ban is simply ings. merely by reducing the insane the anti-choice forces’ responsibil­ waged war against them to dispos­ tion, and the rulers' objective need part of the working-class fight level of armaments spending by the ity for his death, it seems appropri­ sess them of their lands. This, com­ to deepen and institutionalize divi­ against the imperialists and their rich countries. How about demand­ ate for pro-choice forces to file suit bined w ith imported disease, virtu­ sions and stratification among war machine. ing cancellation of the national against these groups w ith the inten­ ally exterminated them, driving the working people. Fred Feldman debt, at least that part o f it which tion o f impounding their assets and few remaining into the semidesert The segregated m ilitary helped Brooklyn. New York represents debts to the rich? impeding their operations. and desert regions o f the northwest serve this purpose, and was an effec­ Peter Bitch We should have no illusions Cape, Namibia, and the Kalahari. tive instrument of imperialist terror Cancel the deficit Oakland. California about the effectiveness of the In !657. the settlers took 250 and domination. A ll o f U.S. imperi­ bosses'courts; what ultimately hap­ slaves from a Portuguese ship com­ alism's major military victories, The recent article on "W hat Is the Dr. G unn’s murder pens w ill he the result o f massive ing from Angola. Thereafter, they from the war with Spain to World Deficit?” (March 19 M ilitant) was street actions, and the resulting bal­ imported slaves from what is now War II. were won by a basically Jim most welcome. It seems that the de­ The recent murder o f Dr. Gunn ance o f forces. This proposal is put Indonesia, and from Madagascar Crow segregated military. mand to lower the deficit is basically in Florida reminded me of a similar forward as supplement to. not a and Mozambique. The Indonesian The capitalist government or­ a demand to pay o ff the government incident some years ago. which substitute for. independent work­ slaves, called “Cape Malays" con­ dered the m ilitary high command to debt to the banks and insurance com­ might suggest tactics to employ in ing-class politics; nonetheless, it re­ stituted the largest number. They end segregation after World War II. panies. This is one "entitlem ent" that response to the current outrage. The mains a worthy goal for vanguard were Muslims who, to this day, in the face o f growing opposition to seems sacred and untouchable, incident was the murder of Mul- lighters. A fter all. if your paper can form a substantial portion o f the racist segregation. M ilitary segrega­ while Clinton joins Perot in attack­ ugeta Seraw. an Ethiopian im m i­ call for federal prosecution of the Coloured population, maintaining tion had become politically (and ing the Social Security entitlements grant. in Oregon by Nazi skinheads cops who beat Rodney King, you their religion and culture. therefore militarily) untenable in the that working people have won. affiliated with the White Aryan Re­ can certainly call for a federal suit A fter imperialist wars, from the changing balance o f class forces. The article concludes that the sistance. A fter some deliberation, a against the ultrarightist thugs who end o f the 18th century to 1906. de­ Opposing the change, top gener­ deficit is the problem o f the em­ federal court found the organiza­ murdered Dr. Gunn. feated the Xhosa, Zulu, and other als voiced crass racist prejudice and ployers and their government and tion. and its fiihrer, Tom Metzger, Jason Ram bo tribes in the east, and whites took fear that integrated armed forces that working people should resist guilty of violating Mr. Seraw's civil Claymont. Delaware their land and penned them up in m i­ would be a less reliable imperialist their efforts to make us pay for it. 1 rights by encouraging an atmos­ gratory labor reserves, it was virtu­ weapon. wonder if we could go further. phere of anti-Black terror, which set ally illegal for any but a very few A f­ Was their fear baseless? It would You have called for canceling the the stage for the killing. The court The letters column is an open ricans to come to the western Cape. be hard to prove this one way or the oppressive Third World debt, which fined them $12.5 million, substan­ forum for all viewpoints on sub­ These restrictions broke down and other. The U.S. rulers haven’t won the underdeveloped nations owe to tially hampering their operations. jects of general interest to our the first squatter camps emerged in a major war since World War II, but the big banks and financiers o f the In a similar vein, church fascists readers. Please keep your letters the late 1950's and early 1960s. the reasons fo r this run far deeper rich industrial countries and which such as Operation Rescue. Rescue brief. Where necessary they will The African National Congress and broader than just the ending o f helps to keep them underdevel­ America, et al have for years carried be abridged. Please indicate if (ANC), which set out to organize Af- military Jim Crow. oped. The bankers naturally claim out a scurrilious campaign of ha­ you prefer that your initials be ricans in particular, did not organize Class-conscious workers fa­ that canceling the debt would wipe rassment aimed at abortion clinics. used rather than your full name.

April 26. 1993 The Militant 15 „MILITANT Cuban author tours United States Appeals for emergency storm relief to Cuba, urges fight to end U.S. embargo

BY MARGRETHE SIKM Agriculture was hit especially hard by the But we are not starving. We have a socialist o f more open discussions. WASHINGTON. D.C. — The economic storm. Blanco said. "One billion dollars in­ economy, so we share the crisis equally. We “ Incredibly enough." he added, “ in this crisis in Cuba has been exacerbated as a vested in agriculture has been lost.” The have thinner slices, but the slices go to difficult moment the revolution is not fol­ result of the devastating impact of a hurri- problems w ill be severe in Havana, a city o f everyone." lowing a logic of repression, it is following cane-force storm that swept through that more than 2 m illion people, because the In the face o f this situation, he said, a logic o f real democracy — not Western Caribbean island and the eastern coast o f the surrounding agricultural areas that supply "caused by the disappearance of the rela­ democracy, but democracy for the people.” United States last month. the city’s population with fruit and vegeta­ tions we had with the former Soviet Union Asked about the relevancy o f the course This was the assessment o f Juan Antonio bles are largely destroyed. and Eastern bloc." the big m ajority o f the advocated by Emesto Che Guevara, an early Blaneo. w ho was on a tour stop here and in Blanco spoke to 150 people at the Beth­ population has responded with "solidarity, leader of the revolution. Blanco replied. “ If Baltimore at the beginning of April. Blanco, any United Methodist Church in Ellicott helping to bring the country out of the crisis. we didn't have Che’s ideas, we wouldn't be cofounder in Cuba of the Felix Varela Center City, Maryland, and to students at the U n i­ But some have reacted w ith delinquency and able to handle the crisis." for the Study o f Ethics, spoke on the versity of Maryland in Baltimore. He ad­ prostitution." Pointing to the course of voluntary labor challenges facing the Cuban people today, dressed meetings at the Institute for Policy Commenting on the repercussions o f the advocated by Guevara. Blanco said that including the light for food self-sufficiency. Studies and at the Institute for Advanced Soviet Union's collapse, Blanco said. "Ideo­ now “ 100,000 people in Havana volunteer He also spoke out against Washington's 33- International Studies at Johns Hopkins logically it had a beneficial impact on the Cu­ to work in the countryside for one month vear embargo of the country. University. Blanco's tour is organized by ban revolution. One o f the misfortunes we each year. O nly a moral principle, not ma­ Blanco is currently working on a book on Global Exchange, which has arranged vis­ had for too many years was that we imported terial incentive, allows us to handle this the demise o f the Soviet Union. He worked its of other academics from Cuba. a certain brand o f Marxism that was very dog­ crisis. We have a strong, high level of cul­ in Cuba's foreign m inistry from 1977 to The storm aggravated existing shortages, matic and narrow ly defined. Today I am w it­ ture and education, and strong defenses.” 1980. and at the United Nations with the said Blanco, adding that this was "a critical nessing more possibilities and more tolerance The other reason for the shortages in Cuba, N on-Aligned Movement until 1982. time in terms o f vitamins and caloric intake. for pluralistic points of view. There is a trend he said, is the U.S. embargo o f the country. This is “ an attempt to control the rest o f the w orld’s trade with Cuba," he stated. Blanco commented on the February 24 Activists plan summer aid caravan to Cuba elections in Cuba for the provincial and national assemblies, which he said he pre­ BY SELVA NEBBIA gation of religious leaders from Cuba. Ef­ Washington's embargo." ferred to call a referendum, since the vote NEW YO R K — "We are ready to go." forts are already well underway in various Those who would like to find out more and was “ overwhemingly for the social system said Rev. Lucius Walker to the group o f cities to collect materials and money. get involved in this project can contact Pas­ that we have, in favor o f the socialist option activists meeting here A pril 7 to plan the The first caravan, said Walker, “ was a tors for Peace, 331 17th Avenue SE, Minne­ and national independence.” second Friendshipment to Cuba, a caravan powerful experience, a way to share hope, apolis. MN 55414. Tel. (612) 378-0062; or "We thought a referendum on the revo­ that will transport humanitarian aid to the and an inspiration to the Cuban people, who Interreligious Foundation for Community lution at this critical moment was in order, Caribbean island this July. Walker, execu­ saw it not simply as aid but as a group of Organization (IFCO). 402 W. 145th Street. to see if and how large a part o f the people tive director of the Interreligious Foundation U.S. citizens who were w illin g to say no to New York. N Y 10031. Tel. (212) 926-5757. are with the revolution,” Blanco explained. for Community Organization (IFCO). is the About 99 percent o f the eligible voters cast main spokesperson for this effort, which a ballot. O f these ballots, only 7 percent delivered 15 tons of medicine, food, and were blank or spoiled. Politicians in Wash­ other aid to Cuba last year in protest o f the ington and right-wing Cuban-American U.S. trade embargo against that country. groups had called for abstaining or spoiling The Friendshipment is sponsored by the ballots as a show of protest against the IFCO project Pastors for Peace. Cuban government. "The caravan takes place at tut important Washington’s hostility to Cuba is a result tim e." said Walker. On top o f the hard eco­ of the Cuban people's refusal to give up nomic situation in Cuba, "a typhoon hit the is­ their sovereignty and independence from land in March and left thousands o f homes imperialism. The U.S. rulers “ can’t come to damaged, destroyed crops, and seriously da­ terms with the fact that they can’t control maged the country’s water systems." he said. and directly dominate a Latin American The group o f about 35 activists at the meet­ country. We represent not only the socialist ing included many who had participated in option, but the right of countries to deter­ the first caravan. Those who were part o f that mine their own future," he said. effort described how they drove vehicles car­ At every meeting Blanco asked his audi­ rying supplies from New York to Laredo, ence to demand that Washington end its Texas, and then into Mexico, setting up meet­ embargo. “ Your solidarity w ill help us get ings along the way to gain broader support through this crisis," he stressed. Some and explain the criminal nature o f Washing­ $1,500 was raised for medical aid to Cuba ton's more than 30-year embargo against during the tour stop. Cuba. Most said they were surprised at the positive reception they got along the way. Margrethe Siem is a member of United “ The first caravan involved 43 vehicles. Militant/Joo Peterson Transportation Union Local 1470. Pat Walker told participants at the meeting. This March 17 protest in M iam i against U.S. embargo of Cuba. Friendshipment will be Leamon from Baltimore also contributed to year we plan to send some I(X) vehicles “inclusive unitary effort," Lucius W alker said. People from M iam i will also take part. this article. carrying about 1 (X) tons of food." Two hun­ dred drivers w ill he needed to get the convoy to Tampico. Mexico. The goods will be shipped to Cuba from there. The plan is to Coal miners prepare for contract fight donate several buses, along w ith much- needed spare parts, to Cuba as well. BY STU SINGER at Buck Creek are among the Pyro managers meetings, where the workers heard a public Walker pointed to the opportunity to build Members of the United Mine Workers of indicted on felony and misdemeanor relations firm try to convince them what a on the previous experience and involve more America (U M W A ) are waiting to hear results charges for safety violations. great benefits package they have. According forces in each area including “ local groups, of negotiations on their new contract with According to Buck Creek strike coordi­ to m iner Joe Stanley, workers were not im ­ student clubs, and local solidarity organiza­ companies belonging to the Bituminous Coal nator Rudy Riva, the 70 miners on strike are pressed by the presentation. They were, tions." He stressed the need for the caravan to Operators Association, the main industry bar­ maintaining 24-hour picket lines. The 16 however, impressed by the company’s w ill­ reflect an “ inclusive, unitary effort [to] em­ gaining group. The contract extension agreed miners who have crossed the picket line are ingness to take a S35,000-an-hour loss in brace people who have different political per­ to by the union expires May 3. workingalong with management and pro­ production in order to talk them out of the spectives and different religious points o f de­ A t the same time, some important local ducing some coal, which is trucked out. union organizing effort. parture but have a commitment to ending the fights by miners are unfolding in West Vir­ The miners at the Ziegler Coal Company's Meanwhile, the UMW A support rally in St. embargo." Walker said Friendshipment orga­ ginia and Indiana. The UMWA and other Marrowbone complex in Mingo County, Louis is being publicized in coalfield com­ nizers w ill also attempt to involve people who unions are continuing to publicize a Solidar­ West Virginia, have won another round munities and nearby cities. UMWA Interna­ “ may not know much about Cuba, who have ity '93 Labor Rally, scheduled for April 24 against the company in their fight to bring the tional Executive Board member Bill no history of political work." in St. Louis, as part o f the fight for a contract. union into their mine. Brumfield from Illinois said, “ We're expect­ The aid project is being organized in "ev­ Miners at Buck Creek, the largest under­ Four hundred workers there walked o ff the ing a large turnout from a number of unions. ery major city around the country." Walker ground mine in Indiana, went on strike April job March 24 after the company announced A ll workers have been forced to take conces­ said, with plans for vehicles to follow 11 1 because o f the company's failure to nego­ cuts in benefits and bonuses. Four miners sions. Now it's time for us to stand up.” different routes. tiate a contract with them. The Sullivan, were fired. The other workers then went on The rally w ill start at 11:30 a.m., on Sat­ This time the project will be organized in Indiana, miners voted in October 1991 to strike until A pril 2. when the company agreed urday, April 24, at the May Amphitheater, M iam i, where there are many forces w illin g jo in the U M W A. Since then, negotiations on to reverse the firings. In the meantime, almost Kiener Plaza, 7th and Market St. For more to help, including "several Cuban-Ameri- a basic union contract have gone nowhere. 400 of the 435 miners signed union repre­ information call (217) 529-8301. cans with a strong commitment" to oppose Two of Buck Creek’s officials are former sentation cards. The U M W A is pushing the the embargo. Walker said. managers o f the Pyro mine in western Ken­ National Labor Relations Board to hold an Elizabeth Lariscy, a member of Amalga­ He suggested several ways supporters can tucky. That mine exploded in 1989. killin g election quickly to certify the union. mated Clothing and Textile Workers Union promote the caravan, including through 10 people. Pyro was recently fined $3.75 Gn A p ril 13 the company shut down the Local 347 in Morgantown. West Virginia, meetings set up in May for a visiting dele- m illion for safety violations. The two bosses coal preparation plant for five hours for contributed to this article.

16 The Militant April 26, 1993