Biden y Putin 12 Juego de culpa 12 Guerra de clases de COVID 12

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 63, No. 13 April 1, 2021 $1

In the spirit of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Bessemer workers fight for justice By Monica Moorehead An important impetus for the Bessemer Amazon workers, besides demanding bet- A historic union election concluded ter working conditions and pay, has been March 29 after 5,800 Amazon ware- the COVID‑19 pandemic. It has been house workers, over 80% of them African reported that over 20,000 Amazon work- American, voted on whether to be rep- ers have contracted the virus due to unsafe resented by the Retail, Warehouse and working conditions inside the company’s Department Store Union in Bessemer, warehouse and distribution centers. Ala., near Birmingham. It could take When a corporation like Amazon nets weeks or even months before the outcome a profit of over $386 billion in 2020—​an of the vote becomes official. increase of 38% from the year before—​ If the majority vote is yes, this will be and its CEO and founder Jeff Bezos is the first union of Amazon workers to be worth $186 billion, there is no excuse for organized inside the U.S. But whether the any worker to be exposed to COVID in any Bessemer workers win or lose the election, Amazon plant, except for corporate capi- their attempt to unionize within one of the talist greed and callous disregard for the largest privately owned corporations in workers’ well-being. the world will inevitably cause a domino effect in worker organizing, not only for Dr. King and the 1968 strike 1 million Amazon workers to organize in April 4 will mark the 53rd anniversary the U.S., but for workers in other indus- of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin tries, be they full-time or part-time, to Luther King Jr. in 1968. Just days before organize as well. (tinyurl.com/z436k92j) he was shot on the balcony of his room PHOTO: JOSHUA KORITZ What is happening in Bessemer is hav- at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., Alabama Amazon warehouse workers with Sara Nelson (center), international president of ing tremendous international implications. King had supported the strike of 1,300 the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, and local worker leader, Jennifer Bates (second On March 22, Amazon workers throughout Black sanitation workers at the Memphis from right), at the RWDSU hall in Bessemer, March 17. Italy, organized by three unions, called a Department of Public Works, who were one-day strike that galvanized 30-40,000 demanding safe working conditions and malfunctioning truck they were working right to be organized by AFSCME. Instead workers and impacted Amazon’s entire better pay. These workers made a slave on. The city refused to compensate the Loeb overruled the vote, which led to logistics chain in the country. And work- wage of 65 cents an hour. families for their avoidable deaths. the strike. The Memphis police brutally ers in Germany have called a four-day What precipitated the Feb. 12, 1968, The strike might have been averted if attacked the strikers that Feb. 23. strike before April 4 at six Amazon sites to strike was that two sanitation work- the racist mayor of Memphis, Henry Loeb, Dr. King had hoped to announce a city- force the conglomerate to recognize collec- ers, Robert Walker and Echol Cole, had endorsed the resolution passed by the wide work stoppage in March to include tive-bargaining agreements. were crushed to death Feb. 1 by a local city council recognizing the workers’ Continued on page 4

Solidarity with Bessemer workers, Harlem, N.Y., March 20. Solidarity with Bessemer workers, Harlem, N.Y., March 20. WW PHOTO: G. DUNKEL

No to anti-Asian violence! 2, 3 Editorial Workers on the move 4,5 Voting rights resistance 10 North Carolina schools Washington state Amazon Oregon coffee shops Free Mumia: ‘It’s now or never!’ Which side are you on, Marty Walsh? Jamal Journal is back Berta Cáceres lives on 8 Women’s sports: inequality, solidarity 9 Virginia abolition victory The Commune vs. the state 11 Prison profiteers 6-8

U.S. anti-China smear campaign 3 Suez Canal capitalism 10 Page 2 April 1, 2021 workers.org Hundreds rally, march this week against racist violence ◆ In the U.S. Bessemer workers fight for justice ...... 1 Hundreds rally against racist violence . . . . . 2 Marchers protest anti-Asian violence ...... 3 ‘Keep Jing Fong open!’ ...... 3 Education workers organize the South . . . . . 4 Labor Secretary, which side are you on? . . . . 5 Amazon workers rally for Bessemer ...... 5 Oregon unions update organizing ...... 5 We must free Mumia! ...... 6 Death penalty abolished in Virginia ...... 7 COVID crisis and prison profiteers ...... 7 Megan Rapinoe: soccer star, activist ...... 9 NCAA exposed for sexist practices ...... 9

◆ Around the world ‘No to U.S. war threats against China!’ . . . . . 3 U.S. collaborated in Honduras’ murder . . . . 8 Suez Canal and capitalist greed ...... 10 Paris Commune: Icon of revolution ...... 11 ◆ Editorial WW PHOTO: MARTHA GREVATT Cleveland, March 28. Smash Georgia’s anti-voting law ...... 10

Hundreds of Clevelanders from the Asian American and Speakers, who addressed the crowd in Mandarin, ◆ Noticias en Español Pacific Islander communities, along with multinational Cantonese and English, represented the sponsoring orga- ¿Quién es el asesino? ...... 12 allies, rallied in the Asia Town neighborhood March 28. nizations as well as the InterReligious Task Force on Sponsors of the “Stop Asian hate” rally were the Cleveland Central America, the arts collective Shooting Without El juego de la culpa ...... 12 chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans, Ohio Bullets, and City Council Ward 7 which includes Asia El costo de la guerra de clases de COVID . . . .12 Progressive Asian Women’s Leadership, Asian Services Town. Dr. Shemariah J. Arki of the Ellipsis Institute for in Action, Asian Pacific Islander Public Affairs and Asia Women of Color in the Academy led everyone in Assata Town Cleveland. Shakur’s chant: “We are determined to fight for our free- The rally was one of dozens held across the U.S. the dom. We are determined to win. We must love and sup- weekend of March 27-28, some called by community port each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.” groups and many by the Answer coalition, demanding an A march through Asia Town followed the rally. end to racially motivated attacks targeting Asians, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders —Report by Martha Grevatt Workers World 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl. New York, NY 10011 Join us in the fight Phone: 212.627.2994 E-mail: [email protected] for socialism! Web: www.workers.org Vol. 63, No. 13 • April 1, 2021 Workers World Party is a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist and trans people are gunned down by cops and bigots on Closing date: March 31, 2021 party inside the belly of the imperialist beast. We are a mul- a regular basis. tinational, multigenerational and multigendered organiza- The ruthless ruling class today seeks to wipe out Editors: John Catalinotto, Martha Grevatt, Deirdre tion that not only aims to abolish capitalism, but to build a decades of gains and benefits won by hard-fought strug- Griswold, Monica Moorehead, Betsey Piette, Minnie socialist society because it’s the only way forward! gles by people’s movements. The super-rich and their Bruce Pratt Capitalism and imperialism threaten the peoples of the political representatives have intensified their attacks on Web Editors: ABear, Harvey Markowitz, Janet Mayes world and the planet itself in the neverending quest for the multinational, multigender and multigenerational Prisoners Page Editors: Mirinda Crissman, Ted Kelly ever-greater profits. working class. It is time to point the blame at—​and chal- Capitalism means war and austerity, racism and repres- lenge—the​ capitalist system. Production & Design Editors: Gery Armsby, Mirinda sion, attacks on im/migrants, misogyny, LGBTQ2S+ WWP fights for socialism because the working class Crissman, Ted Kelly, Sasha Mazumder, Scott Williams oppression and mistreatment of people with disabili- produces all wealth in society, and this wealth should Copyediting and Proofreading: Paddy Colligan, ties. It means joblessness, increasing homelessness and remain in their hands, not be stolen in the form of capi- S. Hedgecoke impoverishment and lack of hope for the future. No social talist profits. The wealth workers create should be socially Contributing Editors: LeiLani Dowell, G. Dunkel, problems can be solved under capitalism. owned and its distribution planned to satisfy and guaran- K. Durkin, Sara Flounders, Teresa Gutierrez, Joshua The U.S. is the richest country in the world, yet no one tee basic human needs. Hanks, Makasi Motema, Gloria Rubac has a guaranteed right to shelter, food, water, health care, Since 1959, Workers World Party has been out in the education or anything else—​unless they can pay for it. streets defending the workers and oppressed here and Mundo Obero: Teresa Gutierrez, Carlos Vargas Wages are lower than ever, and youth are saddled with worldwide. If you’re interested in Marxism, socialism Copyright © 2021 Workers World. Verbatim copying seemingly insurmountable student debt, if they even and fighting for a socialist future, please contact a WWP and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium make it to college. Black, Brown and Indigenous youth branch near you. ☐ without royalty provided this notice is preserved. Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published If you are interested in joining Workers World Party contact: 212.627.2994 monthly by WW Publishers, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10011. Phone: 212.627.2994. 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Philadelphia Marchers protest anti-Asian violence By Betsey Piette Under the motto #Philly4Solidarity, recipients of racist and misogynist ver- Philadelphia the event kicked off with a traditional bal and physical attacks. Mel Lee, direc- lion dance with drumbeats and crashing tor of the Woori Center, who read the Over 300 people gathered for a rally cymbals. Speakers shared stories of anti- names of the Atlanta victims to the crowd, and march against anti-Asian violence Asian racism they had personally experi- described having flashbacks during news and hatred March 25 at Vine Street Park enced. They dressed in black to mourn the coverage of the shooting: “I feel vulnera- in Philadelphia’s Chinatown. The grass- Atlanta shooting victims: Delaina Ashley ble, and I do not feel safe in this country roots protest galvanized people from mul- Yaun, 33; Xiaojie Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, I call home.” tiple Asian American and Pacific Islander 44; Yong Ae Yue, 63; Hyun Jung Grant, Many speakers called out for “break- communities in the region, along with a 51; Soon Chung Park, 74; Suncha Kim, 69; ing the silence” about the anti-Asian racially diverse crowd of supporters. The and Paul Andre Michels, 54. attacks that have become more prevalent crowd was overwhelmingly young people. Several women described being over the last year from Pennsylvania and New Jersey to California. Several linked these New York City demands to the broader upsurge against racism and police brutality that ‘Keep Jing Fong restaurant open!’ brought millions to the streets in 2020. Some signs and face- masks carried a picture WW PHOTO: JOE PIETTE ‘History of Chinatown’ mural provides of Xiao Zhen Xie, the background to anti-Asian violence rally, 75-year-old Asian woman Philadelphia, March 25. who fought back success- fully to defend herself when she was punched by communities’ long resistance to gen- a man in San Francisco. trification. The ‘History of Chinatown’ After the rally, demon- mural by Arturo Ho, on the wall of a strators marched to City nearby building, was commissioned for Hall, chanting “Enough Chinatown’s 125th anniversary in 1995. is enough!” and “Hate is It depicts the early arrival of laundry- a virus.” There protesters men in 1870 and subsequent history of observed eight minutes Philadelphia Chinatown through the fight of silence to honor the against “urban renewal” in the 1960s and A demonstration was held in New York City’s Chinatown March 25 to protest the mass firings of 180 Atlanta shooting victims. ’70s. The mural marks the location where restaurant workers when the Jing Fong restaurant closed. The workers are members of the 318 Restaurant Philadelphia is home protesters—carrying signs “Homes, not Workers Union. The owners of the restaurant are the Chu family, bankers and landlords in Chinatown and to around 120,000 highways!”—stopped bulldozers from the Lower East Side, Manhattan, N.Y. Asian residents. Vine demolishing buildings to construct the — Report and photo by Toni Arenstein Street Park pays trib- Vine Street Expressway, which now runs ute to neighboring Asian below the park. ☐

UNAC says ‘No to U.S. war threats against China!’ This slightly edited statement was administration on Chinese goods. In early American and Native protestors—​joined countries along with other medical aid. In issued by the United National Antiwar March, Secretary of State Blinken made by white working-class youth—​mobi- sharp contrast, the U.S. has failed to con- Coalition March 24. U.S. policy toward China absolutely clear, lizing in 2,000 U.S. cities, decrying U.S. tain the virus. It has recorded more deaths stating, “China is the only country with systemic racism and demanding Black and infections than any other country; its The Biden administration is inten- the economic, diplomatic, military and Lives Matter! The U.S. has no standing economy has not recovered. During the sifying its aggression against China. technological power to seriously chal- to demand of others what it denies to its pandemic the U.S. has increased sanc- The Pentagon’s new Pacific Deterrence lenge the stable and open international own poor and oppressed people. tions on countries that refuse to abide Initiative includes increasing U.S. mili- system, all the rules, values and relation- The U.S. threatens China, while its by Washington and Wall Street dictates. tary encirclement of China and deploying ships that make the world work the way “friends,” such as the brutal rulers of These have included increased sanctions nuclear missiles previously banned by the we want it to, because it ultimately serves Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, Haiti and on medicine and medical equipment. U.S.-signed Intermediate Range Nuclear the interests and reflects the values of the Israel, are spared any criticism since they These facts have not been lost on the peo- Forces Treaty. American people.” (Emphasis added.) support U.S. imperial policies around the ple of the world or people in the U.S. Recently President Biden met with In our view Blinken’s “we” refers solely world. leaders of Japan, India and Australia to the interests of the U.S. corporate elite, The right of self-determination known as the “Quad,” a military and not the people of the U.S. U.S. threats of nuclear war UNAC supports the right of oppressed economic alliance against China. The The “international system” Blinken Recently the U.S. Indo-Pacific nations to self-determination, that is, to Pentagon is calling for its annual Pacific refers to is the one that established the Commander, Adm. Philip Davidson, told be free from military intervention and budget to be doubled over last year’s mul- U.S. after World War II with unques- a Senate Armed Services Committee that economic domination. This includes tibillion dollar allocation. tioned military and economic superior- China is the only nation with the eco- their right to seek and accept aid from ity. The U.S. dollar was established as the nomic, diplomatic, military and tech- other nations to help defend their sover- U.S. military bases around the world world’s reserve currency. The U.S. cor- nological power to challenge the United eignty, as with Venezuela, Iran and Syria. During a recent visit to Japan, U.S. porate elite resent any challenge to their States. He stated, “I think the threat is It includes their right to be free from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and domination. manifest during this decade, in fact, in U.S. threats of war, regime change and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin threat- the next six years.” Davidson continued, intervention. ened to “push back” against Chinese U.S. ‘pivot to Asia’ “We absolutely must be prepared to fight We demand: End U.S. aggression “aggression.” This Chinese “aggressor,” we Today, the U.S. “pivot to Asia,” first and win should [this economic] compe- towards China! No to a new cold war! No note, has a single military base outside its established under the Obama adminis- tition turn to conflict.” Davidson’s “fight militarization of space! Ban U.S. nuclear borders, in Djibouti, Africa. tration, includes the presence of warships and win!” evinces an irrational threat weapons! Money for jobs and health care, In contrast, the U.S. military has more and massive military forces throughout of nuclear war. The U.S. and its British not war! End racist anti-Asian slander than 20 times the number of foreign mili- the Asia Pacific region. China has not junior imperialist partner are increasing and attacks! tary bases as all other countries combined reciprocated in the Gulf of Mexico or with their nuclear capabilities, while Biden and has its military in 172 countries. The military forces encircling U.S. borders. pursues Trump’s Space Force, threaten- UNAC is a broad national antiwar U.S. imperial arsenal includes mercenary ing to extend the arms race into space. organization with 160 affiliates in cities armies, death squads, Special Operations U.S. claims to champion democracy across the U.S. We are united in oppo- assassination teams, drone murder, as The U.S. claims to be the champion of COVID-19 and U.S. sanctions sition to all U.S. wars against working well as deadly sanctions, blockades and freedom and democratic rights around The COVID-19 crisis of this past year people at home and abroad. While our embargoes against some 39 nations. the world. Yet it has been challenged has been used to accelerate U.S. aggres- affiliates have a broad range of views within its own borders by the largest sion toward China. China was able to on the policies and practices of the gov- Biden’s focus on China democratic, human rights and anti-rac- employ decisive measures to contain and ernments of other nations, we stand Biden is keeping the nearly $1 trillion ist mobilizations of the modern era, with defeat the virus and return to economic together in defense of their right to be in punitive tariffs imposed by the Trump some 20 million Black, Latinx, Asian growth. It has sent its vaccines to poorer free from U.S. domination. Page 4 April 1, 2021 workers.org Bessemer workers fight for justice

Continued from page 1 rights with the struggle against poverty Starting in 1955, Dr. King began his and for economic justice. But his murder political activism with being the most vis- workers and students in solidarity with brought this effort to an abrupt halt. ible spokesperson for thousands of Black the sanitation workers, but a snowstorm people, who collectively participated in thwarted that effort, along with political From Memphis to Bessemer: the Montgomery Bus Boycott to end rac- factors. same struggle, same fight ist segregation on the buses, where Black Speaking before a mass gathering of Despite his bourgeois, pacifist and non- riders were relegated to the back of the 25,000 civil rights leaders and labor lead- violent views, Dr. King was willing to give bus at the behest of white riders. As Black ers in Memphis that March 18, King told his life to all aspects of social justice from people showed their power by walking to them: “You are demonstrating that we civil rights to workers’ rights. He under- work every day for a year and organizing can stick together. You are demonstrating stood that you can’t have one freedom their own car pools, they not only defeated that we are all tied in a single garment of without the other. Dr. King was expand- this local segregation edict but ignited the destiny, and that if one Black person suf- ing his political outlook beyond the U.S. modern day Civil Rights Movement. fers, if one Black person is down, we are when he criticized the criminal, imperial- A next big step happened 10 years later all down.” (tinyurl.com/66wjj45w) ist U.S. war in Vietnam. with the Selma to Montgomery march in WW PHOTO: TONI ARENSTEIN The night before his assassination In his powerful “Beyond Vietnam” March 1965 to demand voting rights for Staten Island, N.Y., rally for Bessemer April 3, King made his famous “I’ve been speech given April 3, 1967, at Riverside Black people. After the vicious beatings workers organized by Congress of Essential to the mountaintop” speech. On April 16, Church in New York City, Dr. King stated, and murders of martyrs such as Jimmy Workers and fired Amazon worker, Chris after his death, the strike ended with a “The bombs in Vietnam explode at home” Lee Jackson, Viola Liuzzo and Rev. James Smalls, March 30. tentative deal in relation to Reeb, the racist President Lyndon Baines between AFSCME growing poverty Johnson was forced to sign into law the organize. He would uplift the leadership and the city. in the U.S. Voting Rights Act three months after the role of Black workers against the racism King had hoped If Dr. King march and other mass protests. they face on the part of white managers that the success were alive today This bourgeois democratic right to and owners at Amazon, and he would of the Memphis and physically vote is now being challenged once again speak for the right to unionize for all strike would be able, he would by mainly right-wing Republican forces, workers, which has always been a chal- a springboard be in the streets who seek more and more voter suppres- lenge in the U.S. South. for his national with Black Lives sion amongst Black people and other peo- The Bessemer Amazon workers would Poor People’s Matter fighting ple of color in Georgia and elsewhere. have had an important friend and ally Campaign—​to against police Today, Dr. King’s voice would be in Dr. King, based on his heroic leg- link the ongoing brutality and among the loudest to show solidarity with acy of struggle for the most oppressed Sanitation workers strike, Memphis, Tenn., 1968. struggle for civil white supremacy. the Bessemer Amazon workers’ right to workers. ☐ Education workers organize the South By calvin deutschbein On Nov. 3, 1979, five of those organiz- The victory at Elon ties together edu- unionization and community solidarity all Elon, N.C. ers were killed in Greensboro by the Ku cation workers in that public system and limit the university’s discriminatory capac- Klux Klan, the American Nazi Party and private universities across six contiguous ities and offer the promise of education by Two years after voting by a 2-to-1 mar- various federal and local law enforcement counties through the central part of the workers for workers—​a threatening pros- gin to unionize, on March 4 the embat- agencies. The dead included Sandra Neely state, creating a strong regional commu- pect to the anti-Black, anti-woman and tled Elon Faculty Union finally forced the Smith, a nurse and the former student nity of workers organizing against efforts anti-worker status quo. greedy administrators of Elon University body president of Bennett College—​one by bosses, politicians and billionaires to to the bargaining table. EFU is Local 32 of only two Historically Black Colleges dominate these institutions. Next steps of the Service Employees Union, Workers for women. Others killed were Dr. James As the EFU prepares to negotiate at United Southern Region. Waller, Dr. Michael Nathan, William A victory over systemic white supremacy Elon, pressure has not let up. Elon din- Evan Sampson and Cesar Cauce. White supremacy—​which pervades ing and physical plant staff, alongside the A victory for all of us Every day of struggle for Black libera- every aspect of life in the U.S.—​can be Boldly Elon Solidarity Collective, are now The faculty union represents hundreds tion and worker power in North Carolina especially sharp in private education. demanding hazard pay for campus work- of adjunct and contingent faculty, a power- since 1979 has taken place in the context Many of the gains of the Civil Rights ers. This recognizes that all workers—not​ ful presence of organized educators on this of this horrific attack. Union victories at Movement to ensure just adjunct faculty—​ rural campus near Greensboro, N.C. The Elon University—including​ a now-union- adequate access to have shared interests university sits in one of the most reaction- ized School of Law—testify​ to the power people of color end up North Carolina is the against their greedy ary locales in the U.S., home to unusually of solidarity amid harsh conditions in interpreted through administration. violent voter suppression and family-sep- North Carolina and throughout the South. boards of trustees only state in the U.S. Students have aration actions by local law enforcement. and presidents, who demanded the res- U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, one Organizing the South approach the univer- where more workers ignation of Police of the leading architects of the Trump cam- Organizing educators is an uphill battle sity as if it were a real are employed in Chief Joseph LeMire. paign to disrupt the 2020 presidential elec- in a state where collective bargaining for estate company or He left his last job tion, is a trustee of the university and was public workers is still banned. Called “the the research arm of a education — the as campus top cop awarded Elon’s Medal for “Entrepreneurial Jim Crow law” by the North Carolina Public corporation guarded at University of Leadership” in 2017. Service Workers Union, UE Local 150, the by a private police University of North Wisconsin-Milwaukee But none of this was enough to over- ban originated in legal segregation. force. Carolina system — in 2019, after going come the power of a united working class. But recent significant victories in the In defiance of anti- along with neo-Nazis EFU’s victory came two days after a state in health care, education and public discrimination law, than by Walmart. who attempted to dis- solidarity action by students of the Boldly sector worker organizing—and​ the emer- U.S. universities rupt a Jewish commu- Elon Solidarity Collective, a group of stu- gence of powerful worker organizations continue to offer high nity event. dent organizations demanding racial, such as the Southern Workers Assembly paying jobs with benefits and job security Throughout North Carolina communi- social and economic justice at the uni- and Durham Workers Assembly, an ally disproportionately to white men. At Elon ties, the working class continues to unite versity. On March 2 during “Elon Day,” of the Elon Faculty Union—show​ the tide University, while the majority of full- and challenge the white supremacist, a major annual fundraiser, BESC staged is turning in favor of workers across the time faculty are still men, the majority of sexist operations of university manage- protests around campus against the South. part-time adjunct faculty are women and ment. And as EFU’s organizing committee school’s union busting. On Sept. 19, 2020, National Nurses gender-oppressed people—​with similar leader Anna Love has said, each victory is Facing a well organized union and a United won the “largest hospital union sharp disparities existing across lines of “a victory for all of us.” campaign to withhold donations because victory in the South since 1975” at Mission nationality as well. of the university’s anti-worker stance, the Hospital in Asheville. And in public edu- By exercising the maximum achiev- calvin deutschbein is a North Carolina- uprising within the Elon community left cation, the North Carolina Association able discrimination at every stage of the based education worker and member university administrators with no choice of Educators has been largely successful educational process, from admissions to of Workers World Party-Durham. In but to bargain. in winning school shutdowns and early costs to hiring, private universities pre- late 2019, hired by Elon University as vaccine access to keep education work- serve white patriarchal supremacy while an adjunct in Computer Science, calvin Alamance attacks on union organizers ers—​including teachers, facilities work- cultivating the appearance of “diversity” joined the Elon Faculty Union Organizing The victory at Elon—​especially in the ers and administrative staff—safe​ as the or “inclusion” through the use of adjunct Committee, supported student organiz- context of the Alamance County Sheriff’s pandemic rages on. The public sector gen- instructors. ing efforts, and participated in coun- Office’s racist attacks on voter registra- erally has been well organized, with UE Unionization offers higher pay, better ty-level campaigns against policing and tion, which included Elon organizers—​ Local 150 in recent years winning a $15 an benefits and better job security for adjuncts, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, must be seen in the historical context of hour minimum wage for public employ- limiting the university’s ability to divide voter suppression and Confederate efforts by the Communist Workers Party ees, including those in school districts, and conquer classroom instructors by race monuments. to organize textile mills there in the 1970s. municipalities and the UNC System. and gender. Student organization, faculty workers.org April 1, 2021 Page 5

WW Commentary Secretary of Labor, which side are you on? By Steve Gillis the Boston mayor refused, telling us, “The people are not ready for that, yet.” On March 23, after a bipartisan Senate backrub, Walsh’s last mayoral act before departing to the police and corporate attacks across the country, has clar- Boston Mayor Marty Walsh was confirmed as Biden’s Department of Labor was to order, under threat of ter- ified the old question: “Which side are you on?” So how new Secretary of Labor. Walsh—​previously president of mination, all union workers back into the Boston public will Walsh respond? the Boston Building Trades Council—​promised “a new schools—​more than 10,000 teachers, bus drivers and On March 30, the National Labor Relations Board era of cooperation between commerce and labor.” monitors, custodians, food service workers and admin- began tallying the union votes of nearly 6,000 predom- For nearly 40 years, I have been an elected leader of the istrative staff. Walsh ignored strenuous objections from inantly Black workers at an Amazon distribution center 1,000-member-strong Boston School Bus Drivers Union, every union; meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic surges in Bessemer, Ala., where close to half are women. But United Steelworkers Local 8751, a predominantly immi- again in Boston’s oppressed communities. Walsh waffled about this attempt to form the first-ever grant and Black local. During this time unions through- Most of Local 8751’s members have now been forced U.S. union in centibillionaire Jeff Bezos’ Amazon. In a out the U.S. have seen declining membership and been to flee the skyrocketing rents in Boston as million-dollar March 25 Washington Post interview, he said, “I’ve heard put on the defensive, while the government and corpo- condos rise on every corner. The Boston Globe reported that organizing drive is going on. I look forward to seeing rations broke unions beginning when President Reagan that Boston’s Black families have an average net worth what the result of that is.” Even President Biden has spo- fired every striking air traffic controller in 1981. of just $8, compared to $250,000 for white families. ken more strongly for the Bessemer workers. Walsh’s confirmation as Labor Secretary leads me to (Dec. 12, 2017) Walsh had not one word to say about Amazon’s ille- ask the same question we posed directly to him in his gal tactics in Bessemer—​captive audience meetings, mayoral office during life-or-death union struggles: The struggle calls the question Pinkerton-type lawyer interference, terminations of Which side are you on? Under the Trump years of police-state repression, union advocates, propaganda in the bathrooms and the During the first two years of Walsh’s mayoral admin- giant monopolies of the high-tech capitalist system like Unfair Labor Practice of “direct dealing” with employees istration—​2014 to 2016—​I and three other leaders of Amazon and Uber/Lyft destroyed their competitors and threatened at home. These are blatant violations of long-­ Local 8751 were fighting for our jobs after being fired spread like a virus. Now millions of gig workers and low- established labor that Walsh is now sworn to uphold. by the private school bus management company, Paris- wage workers, especially in oppressed communities, Catalyzed by the Retail, Warehouse and Department based Veolia/Transdev, in October 2013. It took us two depend on them for both employment and as consumers. Store Union in Alabama, now the Teamsters, building years to force Walsh to “take a side” and settle with the The struggle led by Black workers, facing off against trades and postal workers’ unions are talking of chal- union. His waffling occurred despite whispered lenging Amazon—​and have set their sights on promises made in response to two years of rank- Uber/Lyft. and-file pickets, mass solidarity actions, fighting With new Black, Indigenous, people of color and off a police frame-up, election of the four fired lead- women in leadership, labor councils coast to coast ers to the union’s top positions and finally a strike are reinvigorated. deadline. Right now is the time for every workers’ organiza- On May 31, 2020, Local 8751 was running the tion to force the question on Walsh and company—​ sound system during the Black Lives Matter march soon, perhaps even on the streets of D.C., with every to Boston Common following the police lynching of resource and with the most vigorous street and legal George Floyd. Walsh’s police department, assisted offensive actions we can muster, in solidarity with by forces of the state and federal government, fired Black workers on the front line—​“Which side are chemical weapons, violently arrested scores of peo- you on?” ple and rioted for hours against over 20,000 mostly young and peaceful protestors. Steve Gillis began driving a school bus in 1985, During our last contract negotiations held in has been a strike captain four times and arrested 13 Walsh’s “Eagle Room,” Local 8751 demanded times while representing the union. He is currently that the words “Indigenous Peoples Day” replace the financial secretary of Local 8751, having been “Columbus Day” in our paid holiday calendar. Steve Gillis (bottom row, far left) and the executive board of the Boston elected to terms as president and vice president While this is the pattern in every neighboring city, School Bus Drivers, United Steelworkers, Local 8751. from 2003-2015. Amazon workers rally for Alabama siblings By Jim McMahan came together to rally at Amazon Spheres, the company’s of the Bessemer workers to be represented by the Retail, Seattle international headquarters. The rally, organized by the Warehouse and Department Store Union could change Democratic Socialists of America, was called off the week the landscape for the equal rights of workers, just like the The rally to “Support the Alabama Amazon Workers” before after Seattle’s Democratic Mayor Jenny Durkan struggle of the Memphis, Tenn., sanitation workers over 50 was held here March 26 to boost the homestretch demanded its cancellation. She was likely acting under years ago. Gabriel Prawl, former president of International drive for a union by Bessemer, Ala., warehouse work- the pressure of Seattle property owner, Amazon. Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 52, spoke in sup- ers. There was a national surge of 53 support demon- The March 20 rally was held anyhow, in defiance, with port of the PRO Act—the​ Protect Union Rights to Organize strations March 20, along with worker strikes breaking 40 people. The second rally March 26 pulled much more Act—now​ introduced into Congress. out at Amazon hubs in Europe. There is optimism that support. Many unions and rank-and-file labor organi- After the rally the crowd marched at rush hour through the workers’ resilience in Bessemer has defeated all of zations, such as the Seattle Education Association and the “Amazon Empire,” a huge group of gleaming office Amazon’s anti-union tactics. But whatever the outcome UAW Local 4121, attended, along with anti-racist police towers with some AmazonGo stores on the street level. of the union election vote, it’s believed that a higher stage brutality groups. Marchers chanted: “I don’t know, but I’ve been told; in union organizing has been achieved. Speaker Nikkita Oliver, a city council candidate, spoke Bezos’ pockets are lined with gold,” before ending at In Seattle, more than a hundred solidarity workers representing Decriminalize Seattle. They said the struggle Amazon’s Whole Foods for a closing rally. ☐ Oregon unions update organizing By Johnnie Lewis are more optimistic about getting a fair claims hearing. Portland, Ore. The workers gained community support through picket lines and social media, on which they posted: March 17 marked the one-year anniversary of the historic “[We] avoided centering our organizing around the loud, sit-in of 27 fired Crush Bar Workers Collective members at demanding white men who attempt to police how the Crush Bar, a queer bar, and at Woody’s, an adjacent eatery oppressed go about their liberation. As workers re-entering owned by the same petty capitalist. (tinyurl.com/3cbpxzjv) this workplace [we have] a strong conviction to continue Doughnut Workers United PHOTO CREDIT: DWU In March 2020 both establishments were closed due to our struggle for positive change, [which] puts us in a fright- the COVID-19 pandemic, the workers fired and provided eningly precarious position, but nonetheless we’re hopeful. the COVID‑19 shutdown. (tinyurl.com/4dfpknd5) with no benefits. The workers demanded accrued sick- After all, look at how much we’ve already accomplished!” The company is punishing workers through arbitrary time payouts, half pay for scheduled hours and a rehire shift/hours limitations. plan. The owner had all the workers arrested and car- Workers win NLRB election Since the March 2020 shutdown and layoffs, the ried out of the bar and eatery by the notorious Portland On March 25, after a long hard struggle, Doughnut DWU has provided, through its GoFundMe Strike and police. But in the end they won their demands! Workers United, a local Portland union, secured the right Hardship account, union benefits for workers in need The CBWC remains strong a year later. Following the to vote for a union at the Old Town store of the Voodoo including alternative housing, food boxes and fresh mass layoff, the union provided benefits including food Doughnuts national chain. The right to an election for water during last September’s wildfires. boxes and funds from their GoFundMe account on a needs union representation is granted only by the NLRB. Before Oregon banned eviction, the union provided cash basis. In July 2020, workers filed Unfair Labor Practice As soon as the victory came, the company began its stipends to laid-off members for rent. The union is still pro- claims with a National Labor Relations Board appointed union-busting tactics by hiring five new workers, rather viding these benefits to members not rehired and for those by Trump. With Biden's newly appointed labor board, they than bring back workers who had lost their jobs due to having their hours cut as an anti-union tactic. ☐ Page 6 April 1, 2021 workers.org ‘It’s now or never’ We must free Mumia! By Larry Holmes Liberation struggle in the world. This is not to take any- thing away from Imam Jamil Al-Amin, Mutulu Shakur, These slightly edited comments were given during Ruchell Cinque Magee and all the other prisoners, polit- the March 18 Workers World Party webinar, “Mumia ical prisoners. Abu-Jamal: The Only Treatment is His Freedom!” Look at it this way. How can we possibly free these comrades, if we cannot free Mumia now, when his life is at risk behind those bars? The chances of him dying in prison are 100 times greater than if we can free him. And Mumia may be more renowned because he is a politi- he may have an opportunity to have a little bit of what’s cal prisoner, because of the circumstances around being left of his natural life. We’ve got to make it clear. framed up and the fact that they did it because they were This is the moment to everybody who is responsible—​ afraid of him, and they wanted to silence him. politicians, governors, prosecutors, the Democratic But Mumia’s more than a political prisoner. To know Party—​that if Mumia dies in prison, if you allow him Mumia, to have read not all of his works, but even just to die in a dungeon, then this will be an unforgivable a few of them, is to have insight into his revolutionary insult to the Black freedom movement. And anyone brilliance, his intellectual insight. He’s a Black work- who is complicit in this, you will share this blame, this ing-class, revolutionary intellectual. Mumia is a Black responsibility and consequences, and you will take them leader. He’s a bona fide global Black leader. I look at this to your grave. from the point of view of history. If we reach out to others, we must get them to under- At this moment we face the prospect of Mumia expir- stand this--that Mumia will walk out of that prison or, if ing behind bars, and we realize that we must act now. necessary, be rolled out in a wheelchair free, and not die We must look at it historically, because it will be remem- behind bars. That’s our revolution- bered what was done, what ary mission. At the moment, I can’t was not done, who did it, who Larry Holmes WW PHOTO: LIZA GREEN think of anything more important If we reach out to others, was unconscious, what was than that. we must get to understand their excuse? And, of course, A quarter of a century ago, in the summer of 1995, what the enemy did and how Mumia was facing an execution date. That date was Mumia: more than a this, that Mumia will the enemy responded. Aug. 17, [the birthday of Black Nationalist leader, political prisoner I truly believe, comrades, Marcus Garvey]. We had one mission—​for the move- The struggle to free Mumia is in walk out of that prison that after all this time—​ ment to stop the execution. And through mass mobili- one way or another linked to con- or, if necessary, be rolled and many of us have been zation, through a lot of unity and a lot of coordination, sciousness about all the other polit- involved in the struggle for we helped stop that execution. We did it. ical prisoners, because of his unique out in a wheelchair free many decades now— I first Since then, it’s been a long quarter of a century, status as an international political met Mumia in 1996—​that almost 26 years. We have raised a bold, never ending, prisoner in the struggle against white and not die behind bars. we must be prepared to bust sometimes frustrating and disheartening struggle to supremacy, racism, capitalism and That’s our revolutionary a move to take it to another free comrade Mumia, our political prisoner in jail, who imperialism in this country. This is level, to be prepared to make was almost killed fighting for the freedom of the Black how he’s known all around the world. mission. At the moment, sacrifices, sacrifices that I nation. A little more than 20 years ago, I can’t even speculate about or Now we face a similar situation in my view as one was privileged to share the stage with I can’t think of anything imagine. we faced in 1995, when there was an execution date for the late Ossie Davis, the actor, along more important than that. If we get the seriousness of Mumia on the calendar. with his partner, Ruby Dee. Ossie the moment, I believe we will We have to get him out of prison, comrades, and it Davis told a large crowd of thou- all be called upon, no matter must be now! There can be no hesitations. There can be sands of people in Madison Square Garden Theater in what we’re doing — and it’s all important business in no waiting. His health is such that Mumia’s birthday, May of 2000, the millennium, that it was the mission of the revolutionary struggle—to make some sacrifices about a month from this weekend [April 24] will proba- young radicals to free Mumia. A lot of those young peo- now. Because it’s an old cliche, but it was never truer: bly be his last if we do not free him. ple he was speaking to then are now middle age. For Mumia, it’s now or never. ☐ That says it all; that explains the critical moment that we’re in. Mumia must not be left to die in a dungeon. It’s what the police want. It’s what the Fraternal Order of Police wants. It’s what the oppressor wants. They wanted to execute him; they didn’t get that [in 1995]. So they stole 40 years of his life. Now, we must deny them the final victory of watching Mumia die in the dungeon.

‘By any means necessary’ Now, comrades, we have to do whatever is necessary, as Malcolm said, “by any means necessary,” to wake up the movement. A lot of good people, a lot of good lead- ers have come to Mumia’s support over the years, but they’re busy. They may not know about Mumia’s health. In this era of social media, we are bombarded with information. So we have to somehow blow away all that information that many of the forces around the world are bombarded with, to make it clear to them that right now we face another life-and-death moment. We especially must wake up the Black movement. And I’m talking about all the wings of the Black movement—​ the militant Black Liberation fighters of every generation from Black Lives Matter to those of us who are the veter- ans of the struggles of many decades ago, when we had the Black Panthers and all the other forces that led us to where we are now. This includes the ministers, the civil rights forces, the leaders—many​ of whom are still alive. We’ve got to get them on board and make them realize that we’ve all got to realize that this is the time to act. We are running out of time, comrades, so we’ve got to devise a plan. Part of that plan is already in motion. Many of you are working on the events that will take place, mass events, mostly in Philadelphia, around the birthday of Mumia near the end of April. We’ve got to come up with a strategy that brings all these forces together, not just in Philadelphia, but all around the country and all about the world with a conviction and a dedication to free Mumia. Mumia is our hero, comrades. He’s one of our icons. He’s the most renowned political prisoner of the Black workers.org April 1, 2021 Page 7

Death penalty abolished in WW Commentary former Confederate state By Gloria Rubac probably had high hopes for Houston her baby. He did make his- tory, but surely not what his On March 23, I was sad and gloomy all day as I am momma had in mind. He every year on this date—the​ day in 1993 that I witnessed became part of this group of a dear friend, Carlos Santana, be legally lynched by the five Black men who met the state of Texas. He was executed, even though he did not modern device of the elec- kill anyone. tric chair for the first time in But March 24, I heard the news that Virginia had Texas history. just abolished its death penalty. I smiled and let out a whoop and holler, thinking that this racist, terrorist After 413 years, Virginia practice must be coming to an end if a Southern, former makes history Confederate state could abolish it. My gloom was gone. March 24, outside the The capital of the Confederacy was a city in Virginia—​ correctional center in Richmond. And now one of the legacies of slavery, legal Virginia—​where 101 peo- lynchings, has been outlawed in Virginia. ple have been executed in “The symbolic value of a legislature sitting in the for- recent times—​Gov. Ralph mer capital of the Confederacy dismantling this tool of Northam signed a bill that racial oppression cannot be overstated,” said Robert ended the death penalty in Dunham, the director of the Death Penalty Information that state. It was a move that PHOTO: VIRGINIANS FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY Center. (tinyurl.com/2k63fydu) came sooner than expected Charlottesville, Va., 2015. Virginia’s death penalty, like other states in the South, even by people who have “has deep roots in slavery, lynching and Jim Crow segre- long been fighting to abolish the practice. in seceding from the Union. They take pride in being tough gation. Virginia explicitly provided different penalties for In 1991, the founders of Virginians for Alternatives on crime. Their old weapons of war like the death pen- white people and its enslaved population,” he continued. to the Death Penalty took the first steps toward ending alty are well-oiled machines used against people of color state-sponsored killing. and poor people. Texas was the 50 years of abolition work VADP commented on the ‘Virginia’s use of the death last state to allow phone calls I have been a prison abolitionist since the 1970s and bill: “Virginia’s use of the from prison, the last state to stop a death penalty abolitionist since I stood outside Texas’ death penalty dates back penalty dates back over executing kids. I hope others will death house on Dec. 7, 1982, when Texas carried out its over 400 years—​to 1608, 400 years — to 1608, when follow Virginia, but I know Texas first execution in the so-called “modern” era of a Black when Jamestown settlers takes pride in keeping their old man named Charlie Brooks. carried out the first recorded Jamestown settlers carried out racist system intact.” The more I visit prisoners, the more I learn about cap- execution in the then-Euro- ital punishment, the more I sit in courtrooms and see the pean colonies. In the cen- the first recorded execution More abolition in the South? parades of poor people, particularly Black and Brown turies since, amid periods in the then-European What the news in Virginia sig- people, taking plea deals, the clearer it is that this whole of slavery, Reconstruction nifies is that the number of states criminal injustice system must be abolished. and Jim Crow segregation, colonies. In the centuries abolishing the death penalty It has been proven time and again that racism and the Virginia has executed hun- in the U.S. continues. Twenty- death penalty work hand in glove. In fact, police in the dreds of people. Since 1976, since, amid periods of slavery, three states have now enacted U.S. South came about as a result of the slave patrols. Virginia has executed 113 Reconstruction and Jim abolition, and three more have Prisons in the South came about after the Civil War and people, a higher percentage moratoria on executions. That Reconstruction to incarcerate people so that they could of death row inmates than Crow segregation, Virginia is 26 states, a majority of the 50 be leased out to plantation and business owners, who any other U.S. state, and the states. needed workers to harvest their crops or dig in their highest number of state exe- has executed hundreds of But even more important, it mines. cutions second only to Texas. people. Since 1976, Virginia means that the Southern states, Don’t ever let anyone tell you that the lynchings after After 413 years, after 1,390 where most executions have the Civil War, during the high times of the Ku Klux Klan, executions, it is over.” has executed 113 people, been carried out, can change. weren’t connected to legal executions in the prisons. As The former Confederate states the title of a book on Texas history, “The Rope, the Chair Texas prison activist a higher percentage of have been taking down stat- and the Needle,” lays out, there was a direct develop- speaks on abolition death row inmates than ues and monuments honoring ment of capital punishment from illegal and legal lynch- In a phone call with the Confederacy. Now one of ings to today’s practice of executions in the South. Texas prison activist Nanon any other U.S. state, and the largest companies in the In late summer 1923, a bill was passed in Texas that Williams, he told Workers world, Amazon, has almost changed the method of executions from hangings in World, “I was on death row the highest number of state 5,000 majority Black workers in individual counties to using the new electric chair in one for over a decade and only executions second only to Bessemer, Ala., fighting to join a central location. On the first day that the electric chair got off because I was 17 when union. was used in Texas, Feb. 8, 1924, five African American arrested for a crime I did not Texas. After 413 years, after The days of Southern states men were electrocuted in Huntsville. Five men and all commit. So, I still sit here in executing its people could be were Black! prison, an innocent man, but 1,390 executions, it is over.’ heading to an end. The days of I have found their graves at the prison cemetery in no longer facing execution. I nonunion shops proliferating in Huntsville, and I visit them every so often. One man has applaud the state of Virginia. It certainly signifies chang- the South may be coming to an end. always stuck in my mind, because his name was George ing mentalities, especially for the South. Change is inevitable, and change is coming. There Washington. I think about his momma, and how she “At the same time, I fear that Texas may hold on to their is always light at the end of a tunnel, including in the named him after the first U.S. president, and how she views even stronger now,” said Williams. “Texas took pride South! ☐ COVID crisis exposes prison profiteers By Cindy Lou Miller release rate of incarcerated people. Bombs Solidarity, a group of activists (ICE) detention camps, hospitals and col- Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf promised inspired by the research of an incar- leges. For workers at Aramark, average “If you want to understand any prob- the release of 1,800, but only released cerated member, held a demonstra- pay is $11 per hr. The multibillion dollar lem in America, you need to focus on 159. Bruce Norris was paroled from SCI tion outside Aramark headquarters in company has been sued many times in who profits from that problem, not who Phoenix in December 2020 after serving Philadelphia. They decided that exposing the last 20 years—all​ over the country. suffers from that problem.”—​Dr. Amos 45 years. His commutation papers sat and naming some of the corporations the Wilson. (tinyurl.com/utdbphu6) unsigned on Wolf’s desk for a week. While Pennsylvania Department of Corrections The Company Store One of the main rules of caution about waiting, Norris contracted COVID‑19 and contracts to provide the services used by To supplement the lousy quality and avoiding COVID-19 has been social dis- died. incarcerated people might help up the limited portions of Aramark meals, tancing, which has proven to be impos- Protest marches, car caravans, vig- ante. incarcerated workers, with wages as low sible in crammed jails and double-celled ils, legislative visits, Zoom meetings, Aramark is the shameful company that as 19 cents an hour, are forced to use the prisons. The guards have brought the phone zaps and letter writing campaigns provides shoddy meals consisting of low- prison commissary. This harkens back to virus in from the outside world. have been held, raising that release is grade, poorly prepared “food” for 99 cents the sharecroppers and coal miners who Prison abolitionists across the coun- the answer to stem the prison spread a portion. Aramark also contracts with were forced to use the “company store.” try have been frustrated by the miniscule of COVID—​all to little avail. Food Not Immigration and Customs Enforcement Continued on page 8 Page 8 April 1, 2021 workers.org

Five years since Cáceres’ murder U.S. collaborates with Honduras’ coup regime By Ted Kelly Obama-Biden administration. One year before Obama turned the reins over to Donald Trump, on March 2, It has been five years since the assassination of Berta 2016, a squad of U.S.-trained, corporate killers-for-hire Cáceres—an​ environmental activist from the Lenca peo- assassinated Berta Cáceres. ple, a founder and leader of the Council of Indigenous and Popular Organizations of Honduras. Though some of her killers have been identified and convicted, the gov- One year before Obama ernments and corporations that hired and trained them remain unpunished. turned the reins over to They murdered Cáceres during a campaign to stop the Donald Trump, March 2, construction of a hydroelectric dam funded by a corpo- ration called Desarrollos Energéticos SA (Desa). Desa’s 2016, a squad of U.S.-trained, security chief was among the seven men convicted for her assassination. This killer, a former Honduran corporate killers-for-hire army lieutenant, along with one of his co-conspirators, received U.S. military training. assassinated Berta Cáceres. At the time of the killers’ arrest, the Guardian reported that the Cáceres hit was “an extrajudicial killing planned But there is now mounting pressure to stop U.S. by military intelligence specialists linked to the country’s collaboration with the coup government. Five U.S. U.S.-trained special forces.” Berta Cáceres Congressional representatives have proposed the Berta “Those who were captured and convicted were the Cáceres Human Rights in Honduras Act, which if passed weakest people within the criminal structure that would purportedly cut off U.S. funding sources for attacked my mom,” Cáceres’ daughter, Laura Zúñiga the Honduran coup government, according to USAID, Honduran security forces, “unless the Honduran gov- Cáceres, said last year. (Democracy Now, Jan. 17, 2020) mostly allocated through the Department of Defense. ernment investigates and prosecutes blatant human Workers World reported on Dec. 4, 2018: “The close rights violations by their police and military forces.” relationship among international finance capital, the Hillary Clinton protected coup (tinyurl.com/3jre5xen) Honduran military and local companies keeps wages Emails obtained by Wikileaks show the U.S. State It is unclear if this act would curb the violence com- and costs low and enables a transfer of the ‘savings’ Department covered for the coup government, protect- mitted against workers and Indigenous communities or back to Europe and the U.S. as profit. Local oligarchs ing it from the country’s own neighbors. “Clinton and whether it would only serve as a form of sanctions to and foreign bankers get rich, while the working masses her team worked behind the scenes to fend off efforts further starve and terrorize the Honduran people. And are faced with the choice of suffering at home or risking by neighboring democracies through the Organization it is unclear if the Biden administration would comply their lives to migrate to the U.S.” of American States to restore the elected president to with the act even if it did pass Congress. President Joe Biden’s tenure as vice president was power. ‘The OAS meeting today turned into a non- Now Secretary of State Antony Blinken was Vice bookended by his administration’s disastrous policy event—​just as we hoped,’ wrote one top State official, President Biden’s National Security Advisor from 2009 toward Honduras. In 2009, shortly after taking office, celebrating a strategy of slow-walking a restoration.” to 2013, during which time the U.S. gave the coup gov- President Barack Obama and then-Secretary of State (tinyurl.com/fjbc4bze) ernment over $350 million in aid. Hillary Clinton gave political cover to coup plotters who Secretary Clinton’s own memoir originally admitted, Current President Juan Orlando Hernández, a deeply deposed then-President Manuel Zelaya. “We strategized on a plan to restore order in Honduras unpopular figure inside Honduras who has faced tre- The coup government, headed by Roberto Micheletti, … which would render the question of Zelaya moot.” This mendous backlash from the working class, is the subject immediately directed violent repression at opposition section was removed from later printings of the book. of an ongoing corruption investigation due to his collab- groups and former members of Zelaya’s government. It Thousands of the migrants who took the long jour- oration with drug traffickers. Still, President Biden has harassed and assaulted diplomats from Venezuela and ney to the U.S. border fled the violence caused by the so far retained friendly ties with Hernández. ☐ Cuba and drove many left-wing politicians into exile or 2009 coup, only to end up deported or separated from hiding. Washington then funneled over $43 million to their children and held in cages built for them by the COVID crisis exposes prison profiteers Continued from page 7 no coincidence that many of our elders and political prisoners suffer from cancer. If they lack the funds, they must rely on When Mumia Abu-Jamal contracted family members—​meaning that families hepatitis C, SCI Mahanoy prison refused are forced to subsidize the prison system. to administer the treatment until they All items must come from the com- were sued and ordered by the court to do missaries, notorious for highly inflated so. Poor quality food, air and water caused prices. In many states prison commis- MOVE 9 member Delbert Africa to con- saries are operated by private com- tract cancer. Released in January 2020 panies. Keefe Group and Oasis after 42 years, his treatment had been Management Systems are two used so terribly botched that it could not be in many Pennsylvania prisons and jails. reversed. He died 6 months later. Many These private companies often pay a political prisoners have died mysteriously portion of their profits back to the host in prison or soon after their release. We prison. call this death by medical neglect. Food Not Bombs Solidarity launches campaign against prison WW PHOTO: JOE PIETTE By contracting with outside companies, profiteers outside Aramark in Philadelphia, March 15. The high cost of contact the PA DOC insures itself against litiga- Incarcerated persons and their families in Florida, where they are photocopied. free Zoom visits. However, since Zoom tion and grievances. If sued, they simply are forced to pay outrageous per-min- The people they were intended for are would not record the calls, the DOC refer the matter to said corporation, who ute prices for phone calls. Securus sent copies, while the original letter is on switched to Polycom, which records all usually has plenty of funds and lawyers on Technologies, which controls the record. Smart Communications is paid $4 visits. staff. Also, much of this info is hidden—​ phone service, has faced numerous law- million a year to maintain a searchable these corporations are protected by non- suits. Tom Gore, investor in Securus and database called MailGuard, which not Death by medical neglect disclosure clauses in their contracts. The multimillionaire owner of the Detroit only tracks incarcerated people but their Notorious for their shoddy services, DOC also benefits from kickbacks con- Pistons, was recently called out by Black friends, family and anyone sending them Wellpath and Corizon are two of the tained in some of these contracts. Lives Matter activists, who demanded he mail. (tinyurl.com/353skxsb) corporations contracted to provide health We challenge and call out these profi- pay reparations to their community after Pennsylvania incarcerated workers care on a by-the-hour basis. Doctors and teers who drain resources from our incar- scamming hundreds of dollars through are also charged an average of 25 cents nurses—​who visit the facilities only once cerated loved ones and their families. We these predatory phone charges. Calls are per email by Global Tele Link, whose or twice a week—are​ mandated to spend call out the systemic racism built into the also recorded. transmission and delivery times are a certain amount of time with a patient, “injustice” system. We are still building In August 2018, the PA DOC falsely measured in days. Tablets to send email who is charged $5 per visit. Aspirin is our campaign and deciding next moves, claimed that drugs were being sent must be purchased at the commissar- usually the prescribed medical remedy at but putting out information about these through the mail. In a no-bid contract, ies at pumped-up prices. All emails are 10 for an additional $5. leeches is a strong first step. DOC Secretary John Wetzel immedi- recorded. Many medical personnel people have ately hired Smart Communications Pennsylvania prisons have used the refused to believe the cries for help or offer Miller is a prison abolitionist and to handle mail. Letters and cards are now COVID‑19 pandemic to eliminate in-per- treatment to incarcerated people. When it organizer with Food Not Bombs sent to the company’s processing facility son contact visits. They initially provided is offered it is usually substandard. It is Solidarity and Mobilization4Mumia. workers.org April 1, 2021 Page 9 Megan Rapinoe: soccer star, political activist By Lyn Neeley used her injury as an excuse to not play her. She kept her contract, but she wasn’t allowed March 21—​Megan Rapinoe’s captivat- to play until a ruling was passed that made ing autobiography, “One Life,” traces how her players stand for the national anthem during upbringing and lifelong joy of playing soccer led games. to stardom and political activism. Rapinoe said she doesn’t regret kneeling Rapinoe has used her superstar status to but realizes that for Kaepernick, kneeling advance the fight of workers and the oppressed. during the national anthem meant the end In 2012 she joined the handful of professional of his career. For her, it eventually became a athletes who are out lesbians. In 2016 she took rebirth. She regrets that she stopped kneel- a knee during the national anthem protest- ing: “That’s something that I feel like I still ing police brutality and systemic racism. Now struggle with. I didn’t want to lose my job.” Rapinoe is fighting for equal pay for women. Rapinoe wanted to keep playing for the Rapinoe is co-captain of the U.S. Women’s national team, which gave her a platform National Soccer Team (USWNT) and has been from which to speak: “That was a really tough essential to their winning record: four Women’s decision. I mean, I think in one sense, I prob- World Cup titles, four Olympic gold medals ably made the right decision, because I sort and eight Concacaf (Confederation of North, of battled back and got to a level where I was Central America and Caribbean Association then undeniable. And then they had a really Football) Gold Cups. In 2018 she became the big problem on their hands, because I really Megan Rapinoe kneels during the U.S. national anthem before a U.S.- fourth woman to be named Sports Illustrated’s wasn’t going anywhere.” Netherlands match, Sept. 18, 2016, Atlanta. Sportsperson of the Year. In 2019 she won the Golden Cup for best player and the Golden Boot Equal pay for women award for best scorer at the Fédération Internationale de backlash.” She said it became clear to her that white Despite the fact that the men’s national soccer team Football Association tournament. supremacy was the system from which all other inequal- has never won a World Cup title, and the USWNT Rapinoe began reading about gay rights and the law ities flowed. She realized “fighting racism was also my has won four, men players make over four times what in 2011. During that time her skill on the soccer field fight,” and that “we’re not free until we’re all free.” women players make in salary. A woman’s minimum was making her a public figure. She started asking her- Inspired by Colin Kaepernick, Rapinoe took a knee in 2019 was $16,538 compared to men’s $70,250. self, why she was not out? And none of her gay team- during the national anthem in 2016 in Chicago and (tinyurl.com/4n679tss) mates out? She told her lesbian soccer friend Ali Krieger, again a few days later in Maryland. She recalled “the Working with members of the USWNT, Rapinoe has “There are young kids who are too scared to be them- furor was instantaneous and huge. Whew, were white been a leader in fighting for equal pay. In March 2019 selves, and if we keep hiding, it doesn’t make it normal people mad.” USWNT filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation to be in a lesbian relationship.” She was booed and jeered by fans. Trump and conser- for pay discrimination. In May 2020 a federal judge dis- In 2012 Rapinoe came out publicly in an interview vative commentators chastised her for disrespecting the missed the claim, but the team plans to appeal. with Elle magazine, “I feel like sports in general are still military. Her family in Redding, Calif., a conservative On March 24, National Equal Pay Day, President Joe homophobic, in the sense that not a lot of people are town, received hate mail; local bars tore down her pic- Biden invited Rapinoe to testify for the need to close out,” she said, “People want—​they need—​to see that tures. “I realized,” she said, “there is a particular kind of gender-based pay gaps. Rapinoe told the press, “I know there are people like me playing soccer for the good ol’ baffled outrage reserved by white people for other white there are millions of people who are marginalized by U.S. of A.” (tinyurl.com/zvtabe7d) people they consider to be ‘betraying’ their race, and that gender in the world and experience the same thing in week I felt the full force of it. People called for me to be their jobs.” And in her prepared statement, she wrote: On taking a knee fired from the team. My social media feed filled up with “The women’s national team has won four World Cup With the LGBTQ2S+ movement a jumping off point abuse.” championships and four Olympic gold medals on behalf for her politicization, she said that in 2015, “In the wake Rapinoe explained, “When I campaigned for LGBTQ of our country. Yet despite all this, we are still paid less of Ferguson, I read every piece on racial injustice that rights or pay equity, I had always been warmly received. than men—​for each trophy, each win, each tie, each came out in the press.” I knew racism was different.” time we play.” If that can happen to women “with the After reading how white supremacists razed the Black Rapinoe didn’t lose her big sponsorships like Nike, but brightest lights shining on us,” she added, it can happen towns of Tulsa and Rosewood, she realized that, “For she didn’t get any new sponsorships or opportunities. to women in any industry. (tinyurl.com/33fz3pmu). ☐ Black Americans there have never been gains without While recuperating from an injury, the soccer league

Women’s basketball NCAA exposed for sexist practices By Monica Moorehead The huge gap was brought home when a University detects infections. The method for the women’s tourna- of Oregon player, Sedona Prince, posted a March 18 ment in Texas is a rapid antigen test, which is cheaper March Madness is underway—​an annual two-and- Twitter video showing the lack of exercise equipment and generally provides quicker results but is less sensi- a-half week tournament that seeds 68 men’s basket- for women basketball players in the San Antonio, Texas, tive and more likely to yield false negatives.” (March 19) ball teams belonging to National Collegiate Athletic facilities where their Final Four games are played. The Some immediate changes were made to right some Association Division I. Culminating in the Final Four video showed there was only one set of barbells sitting of the wrongs, like providing more equipment for the playoff and a championship game April 3-5, the men’s in a large empty weight room. women players. But according to the players and their tournament will likely generate about $850 million, Prince then put up a video revealing the wealth of supporters, they plan to call for an investigation to help mainly through TV and cable revenue. elaborate equipment that male players have at their dis- bring about more permanent solutions before March Not even the pandemic has altered this huge abundance posal in Indianapolis, where they will be playing their Madness begins again in 2022. of sports riches, despite the lack of large crowds of fans Final Four games. The elaborately outfitted weight room To add to the list of grievances against the exploitative packing sports arenas to see their favorite teams play. was twice the size of where the women were expected to NCAA system, a number of male and female players are The astounding amount of revenue will go into the work out. wearing #NotNCAAProperty shirts. These express their coffers of the NCAA to cover scholarships and athletic Prince also posted a video showing the food the dissatisfaction at NCAA rules that do not allow them to programs. Not one player will be financially compen- women received—​soggy vegetables and unrecognizable profit off their likenesses being used—​whether their sated for their skills and popularity with fans. meat—compared​ to the gourmet food provided for their faces or their jersey numbers—​on the sports merchan- March Madness also exists for women’s NCAA bas- male counterparts in buffet style, including lobster, beef dise which brings millions of dollars into the NCAA ketball with 64 teams within the same time frame as filets, grilled asparagus and more. coffers. ☐ the men’s teams. That Final Four playoff and a cham- pionship game will happen April 2-4. But the women’s Demands for long-term solutions tournament is expected to bring in only $42 million in Prince’s posts created a firestorm of outrage revenue from TV and cable rights. This alone shows a and condemnation of the NCAA hierarchy’s sex- dramatic gap that exists between what the networks pay ism. Mark Emmert, the president of the NCAA to show the women’s and men’s events. whose salary is $3 million annually with added Gender inequities in revenue reflect how little value perks, was forced to apologize. is placed on women’s basketball—​and on women’s col- Emmert had to acknowledge that there were legiate sports in general. Only a struggle initiated by the “different methods” for COVID testing for the women’s liberation movement won Title IX—part​ of the men and women basketball players in their 1972 Education Amendments—that​ bars sex-based dis- controlled “bubble environments.” A New York crimination, including in sports, in any school or other Times article pointed out: “The method in use education program receiving federal money. at the men’s event in Indiana is called a poly- What is on paper is one thing, but any equal funding merase chain reaction test, or a P.C.R. test, between women’s and men’s sports programs has a which is considered the gold standard of virus Stark differences documented between equipment in women’s and long way to go. testing. It is highly sensitive and almost always men’s weight rooms during March Madness 2021. Page 10 April 1, 2021 workers.org

editorial Smash Georgia’s anti-voting law The Republican Party-dominated state government with two invented felonies—since​ no law exists denying outraged large majorities, according to polls. In its obvi- has pushed through a bill making Georgia the first state elected representatives the right to knock on the gover- ous inhuman cruelty, it mimics the laws that prevent to pass a broad anti-voting law. This law drags voting nor’s door. The video of the arrest went viral. people from giving water to their parched fellow humans protection for African Americans back to the racist Such a video disrupted Gov. Kemp’s “optics,” which migrating across the deserts in the U.S. Southwest. norms before the Voting Rights Act of 1965. already had problems. Photographs show six white men These new restrictions are also reminiscent of those Losing the national presidential vote and two Senate in suits flanking the governor as he signs the Jim Crow placed on Black people seeking to register to vote prior to seats terrified the Georgia Republicans into suppressing bill. A large painting hanging on the wall behind them the 1965 federal law, like the illegal poll tax or voting fee. Black voters. Other states have similar laws in the works. shows a plantation straight out of the slavocracy. One Those laws sparked resistance. And Georgia’s law Resistance has begun. There is already talk of moving can imagine the only restraint the suited white men cries out for massive resistance. baseball’s All-Star Game out of Atlanta this summer. A showed was to wait for the photographer to leave before Following her release from the Fulton County Jail, mass movement like the one that won the 1965 law can donning their KKK hoods. Rep. Cannon wrote on social media: “We will not live in still reverse this racist offensive and broaden voting and The new law includes the following points: fear, and we will not be controlled. … We have a right to other civil rights. our future and a right to our freedom.” • New voter ID requirements created for absentee While its sponsors deny the racist content of the We applaud Democratic Rep. Cannon’s courage. Still, ballots; Georgia law, it’s easy to demonstrate this by going we distrust the Democratic Party’s national leadership in • State officials can oversee local election boards; through the law point by point. We’d rather first thank a this struggle. Despite the president’s rhetoric attacking this • There will be limited ballot drop boxes; and courageous Black woman, Georgia State Representative law, and despite his party’s self-interest in expanding voter • Giving food and water to voters waiting in line Park Cannon, for tearing the cover off this law and turnout, we expect this other imperialist party to avoid a will be a crime. exposing its rot. serious confrontation with Republicans on this question. Rep. Cannon tried to confront Georgia Gov. Brian The first and third points inhibit voting. They espe- Like the Black Lives Matter movement of last summer, Kemp as he signed the bill—​in his private office. She cially obstruct voters in majority African American cities a new voting rights struggle needs to be independent of aimed to witness this historically reactionary act. and poor rural areas. Point two takes the development both big capitalist parties. Rep. Cannon knocked on the heavy wooden door to and monitoring of voting procedures away from majority Drop all charges against Rep. Cannon of Georgia! Kemp’s office. The visibly white Georgia state troopers African American cities and towns. Smash the Georgia voting suppression laws! ☐ stopped, handcuffed and arrested her. They charged her The fourth one about food and water has already

Suez Canal Capitalist greed confronts physics — and loses By G. Dunkel ULCVs were developed on an enormous The Ever Given had a crew of only scale to save labor costs and increase prof- 25 people, and since running a ship is a The Ever Given, a Panamanian-flagged, its. So to move all 18,000 of the 20-foot 24-hour, seven day operation, only 8 to Taiwan-operated, Japanese-owned, containers currently on the Ever Given by 12 crew members would handle the vessel German-managed, Indian-crewed Ultra truck would require at least 18,000 truck at any one time. This is a “human error” Large Container Vessel (ULCV), blocked drivers. To move them all by rail, a train accident waiting to happen. the Suez Canal in the early morning of would have to be 70 miles long. The drive to reduce labor costs—which​ March 23. Each day the canal was blocked After the ULCVs were developed, a is a capitalist’s way of saying reduce the cost $10 billion in international trade. whole infrastructure of ports and water- number of workers to a minimum while The only alternative route between ways had to be created because of their The Ever Given, aground in the Suez Canal, squeezing out maximum “productivity”—​ Europe (and the East Coast of the United size—​mostly with public money. For March 23. leads to catastrophic situations. States) and East Asia is around the Cape example, the Panama Canal, which uses Meanwhile, the whole debate in the of Good Hope. That route is 15,000 miles locks, required extensive renovation Given the tremendous area of the Ever press over the blockade of the Suez Canal, longer and requires two weeks to a month work. Ship crews, tugboat crews, dock Given exposed to wind, even with skillful raising the issues of “supply chains” and extra travel time, depending on the speed workers, crane operators—​all needed handling it is not surprising there was an “just-in-time inventory,” reflects the of the vessel. As of March 27, 369 vessels retraining for this new class of vessels. accident when the wind was blowing hard bourgeois view that providing safety or were still waiting to go through the canal, While the costs were public, the profits and visibility was low. producing “excess” inventory is a waste including 13 carrying livestock, where the were mainly private. In the March 27 gCaptain.com blog, of money. Already the spot prices for concern was providing food and water. Captain George Livingstone, who is a San petroleum products are gyrating, along The crisis in the Suez, an artery through ‘Bigger, better’ vs. the elements Francisco bar pilot, says, “When incidents with the prices of toilet paper and other which over 15% of the world’s trade flows, The Ever Given is 1,312 feet long (about occur at sea, the focus will be on human essentials. has been major news, covered in the as long as the Empire State Building error, even if there are underlying funda- Now the wealthy are losing big money, New York Times, BBC World News, Fox is high) and 194 feet wide. When fully mental flaws in concept or design.” His but it is workers who are working News, NBC News, ABC News, Reuters, loaded with containers, it weighs in at post makes it clear that the development long hours doing the dangerous job of the Sydney Morning Dispatch, Le Monde 240,000 tons. The top of the contain- of these ULCVs was done without much unblocking the Suez Canal. ☐ and CNN and many other sources. ers can be 150 feet (12 stories) above regard to the crew, safety or making these This level of coverage means the capi- the water line. Bigger ships are under vessels easier to operate. (tinyurl.com/ talists are stressing out. consideration! eye6dd9d) Is Workers World essential to you? Then support it now!

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The need for that becomes clearer every three (respectively) free subscriptions ing Workers World! ☐ workers.org April 1, 2021 Page 11 Paris Commune Icon of workers’ revolution for 150 years By John Catalinotto working-class leaders. had written the “Communist According to the revolutionary anar- Manifesto” in 1847—saw in An uprising in Paris on March 18, chist Louise Michel, at 8 a.m., the peo- the Paris Commune the first 1871, toward the end of the Franco- ple in Montmartre, and especially the historical experience of how Prussian War, burst open the structure women, begin to fraternize with the the working class could over- of 19th-century European capitalist soci- troops of the regular army. At first, there throw the capitalist ruling class ety. The 72-day social explosion in what was mutual fear. Then recognition. Soon and begin to run society in the would become the capital of the French there was solidarity. interest of all the oppressed Empire became the iconic blueprint for Michel wrote: “The Butte of classes. workers’ revolution. Montmartre was bathed in the first The living experience of the Lessons of the Paris Commune, estab- light of day, through which things were Commune showed that it was lished 46 years earlier, laid the ground- glimpsed as if they were hidden behind impossible for the working work for the 1917 Russian Revolution, a thin veil of water. Gradually, the crowd class and oppressed sectors of an event that dominated 20th-century increased. The other districts of Paris, the population to simply win class-struggle history. hearing of the events taking place on over Parliament and thereby After the 1789 French revolution exe- the Butte of Montmartre, came to our start building a new social cuted and deposed the French monarchy, assistance. system. The old government, opening the road to political power for the “The women of Paris covered the can- bureaucracy and armed forces were tied For anyone seriously interested in a capitalist class, France often set the pace non with their bodies. When their offi- by innumerable strings to the old ruling revolution that frees the downtrodden for social conflict and social change in cers ordered the soldiers to fire, the class. Only by destroying this old state and oppressed, these two works are indis- Europe. Uprisings took place in 1830 and troops refused.” (Nic Maclellan, “Rebel and building a new one, bound to the pensable. And they are based on the living 1848 that kept advancing the demands of Lives—Louise Michel”) working class, could society be changed. experience of the Paris Commune. the working class and city poor. The rul- The troops then arrested their com- By the end of the day on March 18, 1871, The Commune lasted only 72 days, but ing capitalists used the army and police to manding officers. By that evening, some most of the 50,000 rank-and-file troops they were great days, during which laws crush these uprisings. of these generals, who in 1848 had mas- of France’s regular army who had been in were passed protecting the workers, poor Marxists, anarchists and utopian sacred the workers, had been executed. Paris had either changed their allegiance and women and establishing a popular socialists—who aimed to eliminate Before midnight, the uprising had to the National Guard, deserted or been democracy. exploitation and create a society of equals seized the National Guard headquarters, withdrawn from the city, while most of The French ruling class government —needed to answer the following ques- the central police headquarters and Paris the French soldiers outside Paris were made what any French patriot would tion: Can an oppressed and exploited City Hall. The rebels held most of the city. prisoners of the Prussians. have to consider a “treasonous” deal class seize power and run society? This meant that within Paris, the with the Prussian generals. It ceded to the The Paris Commune was the first event Military mutiny gave birth National Guard was both the political Prussians the province of Alsace-Lorraine. in European history that answered this to workers’ power body directing the Commune and the The Prussians, in return, released the question. At dawn on that day, the central com- armed force keeping order in the city. The French prisoners of war—soldiers whom Setting the scene for the Commune was mittee of the National Guard had set out National Guard constituted the new state the bourgeois government used to drown the disastrous war that Louis Napoleon merely to defend themselves from a mili- power, which defended the unemployed, the Commune in blood. (nephew of the first Napoleon and tary coup. By midnight they had, de facto, the workers, and the small producers These troops had been held as pris- emperor of capitalist France from 1852- seized power. and shopkeepers, all of whom saw the oners far from Paris, far from the revo- 70) had begun against Prussia in the sum- This was Day 1 of the 72 days the Paris Commune as their government—a type lutionary Parisian workers. They came mer of 1870. By September, the Prussian Commune existed—the democratic rule of popular assembly, or what in Russia mostly from rural areas and remained army had taken prisoner 200,000 French of the poor, led by the working class. was called a council or soviet. brainwashed by the lies of the rulers, who troops and officers, including the emperor This uprising of Parisian workers was had moved their government from Paris himself. the essential prologue to the European Marx, Lenin analyzed lessons to Versailles in 1862. In May, these troops Political parties representing French revolutions of the 20th century. It was of the Commune obeyed their officers. They slaughtered capitalists deposed the emperor and set the first revolution in a European cap- Marx wrote of this in his pamphlet, the Communards who dared to defend up a French republic. To consolidate italist society where the wage work- “The Civil War in France,” published in Paris, including many of the women fight- their rule, they had to surrender to the ers—the working class or modern 1871. Marx’s pamphlet became the basis ers of the Women’s Union, who were the Prussians. proletariat, those who live by selling for key chapters of the pamphlet “State most resolute defenders of the Commune. The workers and poor of Paris, how- their labor power—succeeded in setting and Revolution,” which the revolutionary Thirty-six years later, the workers of ever, set up a National Guard that was up their own government and their own communist leader V.I. Lenin wrote in the Russia seized state power in that coun- more like a popular militia, refusing to state. summer of 1917 on the eve of the Russian try, using as a blueprint the experiences surrender Paris to the Prussian army. The The Commune could exercise its power Revolution, an event which was to shape of the Paris Commune. National Guard also began to defend the only within the city of Paris, the largest 20th-century history. interests of the Parisian workers against city and largest working-class center in the Lenin’s pamphlet provides a clear Catalinotto is author of “Turn the Guns the capitalists. By March of 1871 the con- centralized capitalist state of France. But explanation of why it was necessary to Around: Mutinies, Soldier Revolts and flict between the pro-capitalist National Versailles, where the French king had his smash the old state, which enforced capi- Revolutions,” which contains a chapter Assembly and the various revolutionary palace before 1789, was just 10 miles away. talist rule, and replace it with a new state on the Paris Commune. The works by workers’ organizations of Paris, concen- Commune rule arose in some of the other based on the rule of the working class. Marx and Lenin mentioned in the article trated in the National Guard, had reached major cities, like Lyon and Marseille, but Only then could one change society. are available free online. a boiling point. could not sustain itself outside Paris. And conversely, without support from The pot boils over the provinces, the Paris Commune was On March 18, the bourgeois (capi- unable to control the destiny of France. talist) assembly ordered 40,000 troops Nevertheless, the historical lessons from El costo de la guerra from what was left of the regular national this first workers’ revolution allowed rev- army to seize the 300 cannons held by olutionary leaders elsewhere to prepare to the National Guard in the hills of Paris, carry out revolution in the next century. de clases de COVID known as Montmartre. The operation The theoretical leader of the Continúa de la página 12 a desmoronarse. aimed to provoke a battle with workers International Workers Organization, En el capitalismo, el trabajo es la fuente that would lead to the mass arrests of Karl Marx—who with Friedrich Engels Trump, costarían casi tanto como todos de toda la riqueza. La presión para que los cheques de estímulo juntos. Estas los trabajadores vuelvan a trabajar es lo medidas dieron beneficios inmensa- que motivó a los políticos pro-capitalis- Turn the Guns Around mente mayores a las corporaciones y a tas a tirar la cautela de COVID al viento y Mutinies, Soldier Revolts & Revolutions un puñado de ultrarricos. aprobar sólo medidas mínimas de alivio by John Catalinotto A lo largo de la pandemia de coronavi- económico. rus, la mayor preocupación de la mayoría Los trabajadores necesitan que se les “If schools in the United States really wanted to impart de las corporaciones estadounidenses no garanticen unos ingresos mensuales historical truth, John Catalinotto’s ‘Turn The Guns Around’ ha sido el aumento del número de muer- dignos, que se les proteja contra los desa- would be required reading. He tells the true story of this tos, sino la caída de sus resultados. hucios y que tengan un acceso adecuado epoch. Few participants know more about the massive GI Los capitalistas pueden apostar en el a la alimentación y a la atención sanitaria, rebellion against the Vietnam War, the anti-war veterans’ mercado de valores y se beneficiarán de para que no se vean obligados a trabajar movement or the history of soldier revolts from the Paris las exenciones fiscales que les otorgan los en condiciones inseguras durante la pan- Commune to the Portuguese coup.” políticos lacayos. Pero sin trabajadores demia de COVID‑19 sólo para sobrevivir. – Pvt. Larry Holmes GI resister and organizer for the American Servicemen’s Union 1972-74 en el trabajo, que produzcan más riqueza Esto es lo que tienen los trabajadores en para los jefes de lo que éstos les pagan en los países socialistas. ☐ Available at online booksellers salarios, su sistema de beneficios empieza Correspondencia sobre artículos en Workers World/Mundo Obrero pueden ser enviadas a: [email protected]

¡Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los paises unios! workers.org Vol. 63 Núm. 13 1 de abril 2021 $1

Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores, 1971-2016 ¡presente! ¿Quién es el asesino? El 18 de marzo, el presidente estadou- matar gente. ¿Muestra alguna decisión apoyó el derrocamiento de Manuel Zelaya desastres causados por esta desastrosa nidense Joe Biden llamó “asesino” al pre- una aversión a matar? en Honduras. Este golpe desencadenó un guerra contra Libia. sidente ruso Vladimir Putin. En 2001, como senador estadounidense saqueo neoliberal de ese país centroa- Ya, con sólo 36 días de gobierno del Dado que nadie ha retirado este insulto por Delaware, Biden, nunca conocido por mericano. A su vez, muchos hondureños propio Biden, éste autorizó el ataque gratuito, suponemos que no fue una su valor político, se sumó al voto unánime fueron asesinados. Perturbó tanto la vida aéreo a Siria. metedura de pata de de apoyo a la llamada que muchos hondureños huyeron, tra- Independientemente de lo que opine Biden. Por el contra- guerra contra el terro- tando de emigrar a Estados Unidos. Biden sobre ese tipo de decisiones, ha rio, indica un aumento rismo. Esto condujo Mientras tanto, el gobierno de Barack demostrado que está dispuesto a matar. de la hostilidad de rápidamente a la inva- Obama/Biden deportó a muchos hondu- Biden hizo una campaña dura y frecuente Estados Unidos hacia editorial sión de Afganistán, reños y otros centroamericanos de vuelta para convertirse en presidente. Ser presi- Rusia, al igual que donde Estados Unidos a la América Central que Estados Unidos dente de Estados Unidos significa ser el las recientes conversaciones en Alaska sigue teniendo tropas 19 años después. había desbaratado. Esto provocó más jefe ejecutivo del imperialismo mundial. mostraron un conflicto en desarrollo con Muchos afganos han muerto. Las tropas muertes. Es la persona con la autoridad legal para China Popular. Tanto Rusia como China, estadounidenses también. En 2011, el vicepresidente Biden elogió dirigir el Pentágono, el Departamento de al igual que Estados Unidos, son poten- En el otoño de 2002, Biden fue presi- la guerra de la OTAN contra Libia. Esta Estado, la CIA y otros centros más som- cias nucleares. dente del Comité de Relaciones Exteriores guerra destruyó un país africano estable bríos de la política exterior estadouni- La primera pregunta que plantea este del Senado. Votó y habló en apoyo de la y próspero. Junto con las guerras en Siria, dense para supervisar la explotación de insulto es: ¿Es Biden un asesino? guerra contra Irak. Murieron millones de Irán, Afganistán y Yemen, el colapso libio la humanidad en interés de un relativo Revisamos el historial de Biden en iraquíes. También miles de tropas esta- provocó una nueva ola de migración hacia puñado de multimillonarios. importantes decisiones de política exte- dounidenses murieron. Europa. En esa ola mueren miles de per- Ser un asesino es parte de la descrip- rior en este siglo que tenían que ver con Como vicepresidente en 2009, Biden sonas cada año en naufragios, entre otros ción del trabajo. ☐ El juego de la culpa De los dos partidos políticos del gran más alto nivel, ¿es de extrañar que se des- pandemia, ya que el virus parece haber sobre estos dos sistemas que compiten capital en Estados Unidos, los demócra- borde hacia la violencia antiasiática den- saltado primero de los animales a los entre sí, uno basado en la propiedad pri- tas han sido considerados durante más de tro de Estados Unidos? Eso es lo que ha humanos allí. Lo que no se menciona es vada capitalista y el otro en la propiedad medio siglo como los más “liberales”, y los ocurrido en una confluencia de ataques que China ha hecho un trabajo increí- social de los medios de producción. En republicanos como los más reaccionarios. anti-mujeres y anti-asiáticos en las últi- ble para derrotar al virus y proteger a su China, la atención sanitaria es un derecho Pero cuando se trata de su actitud hacia la mas semanas. enorme población. humano; aquí, es una necesidad por la que China Popular, ambos irradian hostilidad. El grupo Stop AAPI Hate ha hecho un El sitio web Coronavirus Update debemos luchar y pagar continuamente. El gobierno de Biden seguimiento de casi informa de que, hasta el 21 de marzo, Ahora es el momento, más que nunca, está ampliando lo que 3.800 incidentes de China había registrado 90.099 casos y de solidarizarnos con nuestras hermanas hizo Trump para azu- odio, discriminación o 4.636 muertes, con una población de poco y hermanos asiáticos que están siendo zar el sentimiento anti- ataques a asiáticos en más de 1.400 mil millones de habitantes. atacados. Son el objetivo no sólo de chino, no con un vil editorial Estados Unidos desde En cambio, en Estados Unidos se regis- individuos odiosos, sino de un sistema discurso de odio sino marzo de 2020 hasta traron 30,5 millones de casos y 555.300 que valora la riqueza y la propiedad por con una política exterior antichina. Biden febrero de este año. Esa cifra está aumen- muertes, con una población oficial de 332 encima de las vidas humanas. ha impuesto ahora sanciones a 24 funcio- tando considerablemente. En Atlanta millones de habitantes. Dicho de otro Este sistema lucrativo necesita crear narios chinos, acusándolos de “coerción (Georgia), seis de las ocho personas ase- modo, con una población más de cuatro chivos expiatorios para la miseria que y agresión” en relación con Hong Kong, sinadas en un reciente tiroteo eran muje- veces superior a la de EE.UU., China ha provoca. La solidaridad de la clase traba- que Washington parece considerar como res asiáticas que trabajaban en salones de experimentado menos de 1/100 o el 1% jadora es el único antídoto real contra el parte de su propio territorio. masaje. de las muertes de EE.UU. por COVID‑19. odio engendrado por este sistema perro Con toda esta actividad antichina al Se está culpando a China de la Esta enorme diferencia dice mucho come perro. ☐

El costo de la guerra de clases de COVID El 22 de febrero, las muertes relaciona- desembolsarán más de lo que pediste. Eso Congreso. Tampoco lo es la financiación a marzo de 2020, cuando Trump firmó das con el COVID‑19 en Estados Unidos llena las arcas de sus patrocinadores en el de infraestructuras como las escuelas la Ley CARES de $2,2 billones rodeado superaron las 500.000. Desde entonces, complejo militar-industrial. públicas, la vivienda y el transporte. de los principales líderes del GOP. O otras 55.000 personas han muerto a Pero sugiere aumentar el salario El Plan de Rescate Americano de viaja a 2017, cuando Trump firmó la Ley causa del virus, y las cifras tienden a mínimo por hora a 15 dólares -lo que Biden, de $1.900 millones , firmado el 11 de Recorte de Impuestos y Empleos que aumentar. Se han perdido más vidas beneficiaría a más de 27 millones de tra- de marzo, fue descrito por el líder de la recortó los impuestos a las empresas en estadounidenses en esta pandemia que en bajadores- y los políticos lucharán en minoría de la Cámara de Representantes, $1,5 billones, lo que provocó que el gasto los combates de la Primera y la Segunda contra con uñas y dientes. Kevin McCarthy (republicano de deficitario alcanzara los $984.000 mil- Guerra Mundial juntas. Los políticos de California), como “demasiado costoso, lones y que el endeudamiento federal se El gasto militar ambos partidos bur- demasiado corrupto y demasiado liberal”. disparara. combinado de Estados gueses estaban dis- Lo calificó como “una lista de prioridades La Ley CARES y tres medidas más Unidos en esas dos puestos a ir a la guerra de la izquierda que son anteriores a la pequeñas aprobadas en 2020, con el grandes guerras fue editorial para bloquear la apro- pandemia y que no satisfacen las necesi- apoyo de ambos lados del pasillo, fueron un equivalente a más bación de un alivio lar- dades de las familias estadounidenses” elaboradas para asegurarse de que los de $5,07 billones en dólares del 2019. Y gamente esperado para los trabajadores durante un discurso en el hemiciclo el 10 mayores beneficiarios fueran las corpora- el gasto militar se ha priorizado desde de bajos salarios—​predominantemente de marzo. ciones y los individuos más ricos del país. entonces. El presupuesto militar de la gente de color, los inmigrantes, las En parte tiene razón: las necesidades Mientras que la Ley CARES dio pagos de 2020—​$721.500 millones—​fue la mujeres y los oprimidos de género—​ de las familias estadounidenses han sido estímulo de $1.200 a unos 159 millones mayor parte del presupuesto federal dis- porque la nueva legislación del COVID ignoradas durante décadas, y las disposi- de personas, esto fue un cambio pequeño crecional de Estados Unidos. incluía inicialmente el aumento del sal- ciones del proyecto de ley de Biden no van en comparación con los miles de millones En 2019, Estados Unidos gastó ario mínimo. lo suficientemente lejos para abordarlas. en exenciones fiscales adicionales entre- $35.400 millones en armas nucleares. Millones de personas que sobrevivieron gadas al 1% durante varios años o con los En las próximas tres décadas, los planes al COVID‑19 siguen enfrentándose a la Necesidades de los trabajadores costos totales de las guerras. de modernización de las armas nucleares pérdida de empleo y a los desahucios. Dos frente a codicia capitalista El Comité Conjunto de Impuestos del podrían costar hasta $2 billones. millones de personas pueden sufrir inse- Los políticos que votaron en contra Congreso descubrió que cinco disposi- Pidele al Congreso dinero para guridad alimentaria en Estados Unidos del proyecto de ley afirmaron que esta- ciones fiscales dirigidas específicamente gastar haciendo la guerra y/o produci- este año, pero aparentemente abordar ban motivados por la preocupación de a las familias más ricas, incluidos los endo armas nucleares y probablemente la hambruna no es una prioridad del aumentar la deuda nacional. Retrocede Continúa en la página 11