Crisis económica en desarrollo 12

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 61 No. 4 Jan. 24, 2019 $1 Elected Venezuelan gov't beats back coup attempt

By John Catalinotto U.S. Vice President Mike Pence immediately Pence, Bolton, Pompeo attack Maduro denounced Maduro’s taking office as illegitimate. Pence Guaidó then got further verbal support from Pence, Bulletin, Jan. 22—The Venezuelan Ministry of Defense and Trump lost the popular vote in the U.S. election in National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary announced today that the Bolivarian Armed Forces had 2016, but that did not stop this arrogant attack on the of State Mike Pompeo. That means he has the bless- repelled an attempted attack on their facilities in Caracas. Venezuelan president. ing of the most aggressive militarist faction of U.S. At 2:50 a.m. local time, "A small group of assailants On Jan. 11, a politician with little name recogni- imperialism. assigned to the zone commando No. 43 of the Bolivarian tion inside Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, who headed the One can hardly imagine any administration other National Guard, betraying their oath of allegiance to the now defunct National Assembly, said he was ready to than the one in Washington openly and unasham- Homeland and its institutions, moved on two military assume the responsibilities of executive power. Since edly calling for the overthrow of a sovereign elected vehicles, then broke into the headquarters of the urban this sounds exactly like he was calling for a military government. security outpost located in the town of Petare, Sucrem, coup, he was arrested on Jan. 13. Continued on page 11 removing a cache of weapons of war and kidnapping under threat of death, two officers and two national guard members of the aforementioned outpost," said Captain Gerson Soto Martínez, commander of the Macarao police Women take to the streets coordination post. (Telesur English, Jan. 22) The captain also said that the criminals surrendered and were captured, their weapons recovered, and they are providing information to intelligence agencies. The Bolivarian Armed Forces categorically rejected the acts of the low-ranking officers of the National Guard. While the immediate coup attempt appears crushed, it takes place amid a growing effort by U.S. imperialism and reactionary forces in Latin America to overthrow the legitimate Venezuelan government, using sanctions, sub- version and economic sabotage to impoverish the masses. Under those conditions, those who oppose imperialism and colonialism should consider any steps the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela uses to defend itself as legitimate.

Jan. 21—U.S. imperialism and its lackey governments in this hemisphere, with the strategic collaboration of West European imperialism, have opened up an inten- sified attack on the sovereign Bolivarian government of Venezuela and its president, Nicolás Maduro. The new offensive began Jan. 6 when the 14-country Group of Lima, formed in 2017 allegedly to peacefully resolve conflicts within Venezuela, voted 13 to 1 to pre- vent representatives of the Venezuelan government from entering their countries. Only the new Mexican govern- WW PHOTO: BRENDA RYAN Women and gender oppressed people rallied and marched in hundreds of cities on Jan. 19. Here, GABRIELA USA ment led by President A.M. Lopez Obrador voted against delegation of Filipino women at Foley Square rally in New York. See article, page 3. this shameful declaration. The regimes running the other countries—Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and St. Lucia—did the bidding of their local oligarchies and U.S. Reviving Dr. King, the radical 2 imperialism. President Maduro was inaugurated Jan. 10 for his sec- ond term, based on his overwhelming electoral victory Mumia supporters: 'Release the evidence' 4 last May, when he got over two-thirds of the votes cast. Even taking into consideration the low turnout in the May election, Maduro had a stronger electoral victory than In prison for life 4 did right-wing presidents, including Mauricio Macri in Argentina, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Iván Duque in Colombia. Gov't shutdown—Who gets paid? 5

Teachers walk the picket line 6 Subscribe to Workers World ☐ 4 weeks trial $4 ☐ 1 year subscription $30 Political prisoners 9 ☐ Sign me up for the WWP Supporter Program: workers.org/donate Name ______Editorial: Don't blame immigrants 10 Email ______Phone ______

Street ______City / State / Zip ______Tunisia, Morocco 9 Workers World Weekly Newspaper workers.org 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10011 212.627.2994 French left and Yellow Vests 10 Page 2 Jan. 24, 2019 workers.org Reclaiming the radical legacy this week of Martin Luther King Jr. By Minnie Bruce Pratt Keynote speaker ◆ In the U.S. Gail Walker The legacy of the historic Black Civil Rights and Freedom emphasizes Reclaiming radical legacy of Dr. King ...... 2 Movement, and the contributions of the Rev. Dr. Martin radical politics Women’s marches hit all forms of bigotry ...... 3 Luther King Jr., were remembered in the U.S. on Jan. 21 of Dr. King Mumia supporters say Philly DA hid evidence . . .4 in thousands of small and large events. Noteworthy was at Detroit the highlighting of the radical foundations of MLK Day by celebration. Life imprisonment for profit is the crime . . . . .4 emphasizing Dr. King’s condemnation of the devastation WW PHOTO: Federal shutdown: Who gets paid, who doesn’t? . .5 MARTHA GREVATT of U.S. wars, racism, imperialism and capitalism. L.A. teachers strike for future of public education . 6 In Detroit, Gail Walker, keynote speaker at the 16th Oakland teachers stage wildcat ...... 6 annual Martin Luther King Day event, emphasized King’s radical legacy. Walker, executive director of the Hundreds rally at Detroit auto show to save jobs . 7 Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization/ A slice of Hell ...... 7 Pastors for Peace, contrasted King’s actual, radical pol- On the picket line ...... 7 itics to the sanitized portrayal most people in the U.S. Free Ahmad Sa’adat & all Palestinian prisoners! . .9 hear about. Walker also paid tribute to her late father, IFCO/PFP founder and previous director, the Rev. Lucius Appeal for Iranian journalist held in U.S . . . . . 9 Walker. ◆ Around the world Despite bitter cold leading to the cancellation of a planned march, hundreds attended the spirited indoor Venezuela gov’t beats back coup attempt . . . . . 1 rally called by the Detroit MLK Day Committee and spon- Massive strikes grip Tunisia, Morocco ...... 9 sored or endorsed by over 50 community and labor groups. French struggles: Where are leaders of left? . . . 10 Committee organizer Abayomi Azikiwe chaired the rally, which was opened by the host, Father Near of the ◆ Editorial historic St. Matthew’s & St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church. Also speaking were Sean Crawford, a General Motors Who’s really to blame ...... 10 worker whose plant is slated for closure; and Rev. Bill ◆ Noticias en Español Wylie-Kellerman representing the “Gilbert Seven” — Poor People’s Campaign members arrested for blocking Crisis económica en desarrollo ...... 12 the downtown streetcar Q Line, so-named for billionaire Quicken Loans owner Dan Gilbert. WW PHOTO: VIVIANA WEINSTEIN Other speakers were UNITE-HERE President Nia In Denver, 20,000 people marched. Winston, whose union waged a successful strike against Over 5,000 people marched from Garfield High School Marriott’s Book Cadillac hotel; Aurora Harris, poet and into downtown Seattle on the 37th annual MLK Day. representative of the Lecturers Employee Organization, This year’s theme was "Affirmative Action = Justice." which fought for and won a decent contract for nonten- Affirmative action in Washington state was overturned in ure faculty at the University of Michigan; youth organizer 1998 by two arch-racist leaders with corporate backing, Jonathan Roberts; and Detroit School-Board-in-Exile using ballot initiative I-200. member Elena Herrada. Continued on Page 5 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

Workers World Party is a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist people are gunned down by cops and bigots on a regular Vol. 61, No. 4 • Jan. 24, 2019 party inside the belly of the imperialist beast. We are a basis. Closing date: Jan. 23, 2019 multinational, multigenerational and multigendered orga- The ruthless ruling class today seeks to wipe out Editor: Deirdre Griswold nization that not only aims to abolish capitalism, but to decades of gains and benefits won by hard-fought strug- Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, build a socialist society because it’s the only way forward! gles by people’s movements. The super-rich and their Monica Moorehead, Minnie Bruce Pratt; Capitalism and imperialism threaten the peoples of the political representatives have intensified their attacks on Web Editors: Ben Carroll, John Steffin world and the planet itself in the neverending quest for the multinational, multigender and multigenerational ever-greater profits. working class. It is time to point the blame at—and chal- Production & Design Editors: Gery Armsby, Capitalism means war and austerity, racism and repres- lenge—the capitalist system. Jayla Hagans, Sasha Mazumder, Scott Williams sion, attacks on im/migrants, misogyny, LGBTQ oppres- WWP fights for socialism because the working class Copyediting and Proofreading: Paddy Colligan, sion and mistreatment of people with disabilities. It means produces all wealth in society, and this wealth should Sue Davis, S. Hedgecoke joblessness, increasing homelessness and impoverishment remain in their hands, not be stolen in the form of capi- and lack of hope for the future. No social problems can be talist profits. The wealth workers create should be socially Contributing Editors: G. Dunkel, K. Durkin, solved under capitalism. owned and its distribution planned to satisfy and guaran- Fred Goldstein, Martha Grevatt, Teresa Gutierrez, The U.S. is the richest country in the world, yet no one tee basic human needs. Berta Joubert-Ceci, Betsey Piette, Gloria Rubac has a guaranteed right to shelter, food, water, health care, Since 1959, Workers World Party has been out in the Mundo Obero: Redactora Berta Joubert-Ceci; education or anything else—unless they can pay for it. streets defending the workers and oppressed here and Alberto García, Teresa Gutierrez, Carlos Vargas Wages are lower than ever, and youth are saddled with worldwide. If you’re interested in Marxism, socialism Supporter Program: Coordinator Sue Davis seemingly insurmountable student debt, if they even make and fighting for a socialist future, please contact a WWP it to college. Black, Brown and Indigenous youth and trans branch near you. q Copyright © 2019 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium Contact a Workers World Party branch near you: workers.org/wwp without royalty provided this notice is preserved. National Office Buffalo, N.Y. Houston Salt Lake City Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly 147 W. 24th St., 2nd floor 335 Richmond Ave. P.O. Box 3454 801.750.0248 except the last week of December by WW Publishers, New York, NY 10011 Buffalo, NY 14222 Houston, TX 77253-3454 [email protected] 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10011. Phone: 212.627.2994 716.883.2534 713.503.2633 San Antonio 212.627.2994. Subscriptions: One year: $30; institu­ [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] tions: $35. Letters to the editor may be condensed and Atlanta Charlotte Knoxville, Tenn. San Diego edited. Articles can be freely reprinted, with credit to PO Box 18123 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Workers World, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY Atlanta, GA 30316 Cleveland Minneapolis Tucson, Ariz. 10011. Back issues and individual articles are available 404 .627.0185 P.O. Box 5963 [email protected] on microfilm and/or photocopy from NA Publishing, [email protected] [email protected] Cleveland, OH 44101 Inc, P.O. Box 998, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-0998. Pensacola, Fla. Washington, D.C. Austin 216.738.0320 [email protected] A searchable archive is available on the Web at [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Philadelphia www.workers.org. Boston Detroit West Virginia P.O. Box 34249 A headline digest is available via e-mail subscription. 284 Amory St. [email protected] [email protected] Philadelphia, PA 19101 Subscription information is at workers.org/email.php. Boston, MA 02130 Durham, N.C. 610.931.2615 617.522.6626 804 Old Fayetteville St. [email protected] Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y. [email protected] POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Durham, NC 27701 Portland, Ore. Bay Area 919. 322 .9 970 [email protected] Workers World, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl. [email protected] [email protected] New York, N.Y. 10011. workers.org Jan. 24, 2019 Page 3 Coast to Coast Women's marches hit all forms of bigotry

By Kathy Durkin Mashpee and Aquinnah Wampanoag peo- ple and the movement to eliminate racist Tens of thousands of protesters marched depictions, from sports mascots to the big- in 89 cities around the world on Jan. 19 in oted Massachusetts flag. conjunction with the third annual Women's Kristin Turgeon, representing the March in Washington, D.C. The massive Women's Fightback Network, highlighted demonstration there two years ago — to her struggles as a young disabled woman protest Donald Trump's inauguration as facing the challenges of "inaccessible train president — along with coordinated actions stations, streets and buildings; an extremely across the U.S., marked the largest protests high rate of unemployment; and a lack of in U.S. history. Millions participated. In education, to the point where people don’t solidarity, actions were held around the know how to communicate with us.” She globe. stressed that the answer to capitalist-caused This year, U.S. demonstrations took racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism and place from coast to coast to protest the rac- war lies in forging unity and fighting for a ism, xenophobia and misogyny emanating socialist society. from the White House and to demand rights Munro and Turgeon voiced support for for women, people of color, workers and the Palestinian people and connected their gender nonconforming people. However, struggles to those facing Indigenous, nation- there were deliberately divisive racist and ally oppressed and poor workers in the U.S. Islamophobic slanders against Women's WW PHOTO: BRENDA RYAN Other speakers included fierce women lead- March Inc. leaders of color. Disabled women hold action Jan. 19 inside New York’s Grand Central Terminal. ers from Black Lives Matter, im/migrant Spurious, bogus attacks were leveled by rights, LGBTQ and young women's move- the corporate media and Zionist and other with various slogans. Palestinian people to U.S. abuse of migrants ments; Black and Jewish civil rights organi- right-wing forces against Tamika Mallory, Speakers, mainly longtime activists and — and called for solidarity. Congressperson zations; and elected representatives. Carmen Perez-Jordan and Linda Sarsour women of color, called for the shutdown to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, well-known fem- Denver: 'No to Trump's wall!' for alleged “anti-Semitism.” They were also stop and federal workers to be paid. They inist organizer Gloria Steinem and actor criticized for supporting Palestinian rights. raised many women’s issues and promoted Christine Lahti also spoke. About 80,000 people turned out at the Sarsour, who is proudly Palestinian and the rights of LGBTQ people. The need for Workers World Party was there in a con- Women's March in Denver. Members of Muslim, is recognized as a strong defender an intersectional women's movement was tingent with the People's Power Assembly/ Indigenous nations and many other peo- of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions stressed. Perez-Jordan reiterated that she NYC, Gabriela, the International Working ple of color and sexual orientations were campaign exposing Israel as an oppressor and the other women leaders condemned Women's Day Coalition and International among the mostly young protesters. Signs of the Palestinian people. anti-Semitism, homophobia and transpho- Women's Alliance. With them were demanded equality, and many expressed Even though many march organiz- bia. Mallory stated her solidarity with her Honduran activists holding placards calling anger at Trump and the Republican Party for ers around the country had supported Muslim, Latinx, Asian, disabled and Jewish for solidarity with the Honduran resistance their mistreatment of migrants and demands women Democratic candidates running sisters. and honoring murdered Indigenous leader for government funds to erect a barrier wall for Congress in the midterm elections, the Three Jewish speakers addressed the and environmentalist Berta on the southern border with Mexico. Democratic National Committee caved crowd: Abby Stein, a transgender woman Caceres. in and dropped its sponsorship of the and rabbi; Yavilah McCoy, founding mem- A powerful Non-March Washington demonstration in response to ber of Ayecha, an advocacy group for for Disabled Women held the attacks. A rival group, Women's March Jewish people of color; and April Baskin, a inside Grand Central Alliance, which organized separate marches Women's March, Inc. steering committee Station after the Unity Rally in some cities, did not address racism, xeno- member. demanded rights for people phobia and Islamophobia. Near the stage, Indigenous women held with disabilities, including However, Planned Parenthood stayed a banner calling attention to the number of accessible subway trans- strong, among many other groups, as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, portation. Rise and Resist did Randi Weingarten, president of the Girls and Two-Spirits. organized it and Women's American Federation of Teachers, who is March NYC supported it. Jewish. Solidarity at New York's Foley Square People's Power Assembly/ Around the country, marchers lined up In New York City, there were three pro- NYC participated. with one grouping or the other. In some cit- tests. The Women's Unity Rally held near The Women's March ies, there were two actions. Unfortunately, government buildings in Foley Square Alliance, the group that a few marches were cancelled. Women's drew between 4,000 and 5,000 people. had split from the Women’s WW PHOTO: VIVIANA WEINSTEIN March, Inc. mobilizations stressed the It was organized by the Women's March Unity Rally over the bogus Denver Womyn’s March, Jan. 19, brought importance of leadership by women of color NYC, which was affiliated with the D.C. charge of anti-Semitism, was organized by out tens of thousands. in over 200 sister actions. protest, and by the New York Immigration Katherine Siemionko, a former Goldman In an interview with CBS, Sarsour said Coalition. It brought in a myriad of issues, Sachs vice president. It held a march on Seattle: ‘Indigenous women the real controversy should be about a pres- struggles and forces, including im/migrant Manhattan's Upper West Side. and girls matter’ ident who cages migrant children, shuts rights, sexual abuse, and workers' and down the government, sides with white LGBTQ rights. Boston: 'Until all voices are heard' In Seattle, a large contingent of Indigenous supremacists and is complicit with the war The spirit of solidarity permeated the Gathered behind a beautiful red banner people led the mile-long Womxn's March of on Yemen. (Jan. 17) multinational, multigender, multigenera- that declared, "No More Stolen Sisters!" the 20,000, which was peppered with signs and tional crowd. Maya Edery of Jewish Voice Indigenous people's contingent, organized banners on various issues. Unity march in Washington for Peace stressed: “We should always be by the United American Indians of New The next day, 500 Indigenous people and Tens of thousands of people gathered following the leadership of those most England (UAINE), led the crowd of thou- their supporters marched to Seattle City at Federal Plaza in Washington. Many in impacted by oppression, and this rally sands through Boston's streets. The theme Hall in the MMIWG2S March. Rally leader the multinational, multigender and mul- really uplifts the leadership of women of of this Women's March was “Until all voices Earth-Feather Sovereign of the Colville tigenerational crowd traveled there to color, which is why I chose to be here.” are heard.” Confederated Tribes said: "There's an unde- support inclusivity and equality for all (Gothamist.com, Jan. 20) UAINE leader Mahtowin Munro opened clared war against our people, especially women. The appointment of misogynist As Women's March NYC director Agunda the rally with an impassioned speech, toward our women, and especially from the Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court Okeyo spoke, a right-wing Zionist seized the focusing on the epidemic of Murdered and corporate cartels which dig up and destroy had motivated some women to participate. microphone to disrupt the rally, but was Missing Indigenous Women, Girls and Native lands." Government workers showed their anger quickly escorted offstage. Okeyo refused to Two-Spirits (MMIWG2S). She connected At the spirited rally, marchers drummed at the government shutdown and withheld be silenced. this racist, anti-women violence to the rise and sang the song of the American Indian paychecks. Some political figures promoted voting of white supremacy, coupled with the con- Movement. Abigail Echo-Hawk, author of a A Jewish Women of Color contingent as the means to make social change. Many struction of pipelines on Indigenous lands. study by the Urban Indian Health Institute, led the march. Hand-held signs supported other speakers stressed the need for an Munro further addressed the colonial reported on the thousands of missing and the Los Angeles teachers’ strike, as well as intersectional women's movement, led by border violence impacting migrant women murdered Indigenous women, adding that im/migrant rights and women's reproduc- women of color, low-income workers, immi- and their families and demanded that "this many city police departments do not clas- tive health. Some signs stressed that Black grants and LGBTQ people. genocidal U.S. government policy must sify Indigenous women in compiling their Lives Matter. Other placards opposed Representatives of the National Domestic be stopped." She called for action to sup- reports. ☐ Trump's border wall and the shutdown. Workers Alliance and other labor groups port Indigenous peoples' resistance across Contributors to this article include Jim A group of high school students, wearing attended and spoke. Speakers denounced the globe, from Palestine and Puerto Rico McMahan, Monica Moorehead, Viviana the hijab, chanted, “Refugees are welcome all forms of bigotry. A Palestinian-Jewish to Chile and British Columbia. She gave Weinstein and the Workers World Boston here!” Other Muslim women carried signs speaker linked Israel’s oppression of the support to struggles for land rights by the bureau. Page 4 Jan. 24, 2019 workers.org Mumia supporters call out Philly DA for hiding evidence

By Ted Kelly for the delay. Philadelphia Midway through the press conference, it was learned that Tucker had issued an Supporters of former Black Panther amended Post Conviction Relief Act order and political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal one day earlier so the Commonwealth held a press conference on Jan. 15 to must verify by a supervising attorney the denounce the highly suspicious, delayed location and status of boxes 1 through 29 release of new evidence related to Abu- referenced in the DA’s Jan. 3 correspon- Jamal’s case by the office of Philadelphia dence. Tucker further stipulated that his District Attorney Larry Krasner. court would maintain jurisdiction over Addressing a room packed with media the boxes and that previous discovery and activists in West Philadelphia, Mike orders in April and June of 2017 would Africa Jr., son of recently freed MOVE remain “perpetual.” 9 members Debbie and Mike Africa Sr., ‘Evidence of cover-up of a frame-up’ and attorney Rachel Wolkenstein, who represented Abu-Jamal in a 1995 appeal, Rachel Wolkenstein stated: “These WW PHOTO made clear what Mumia’s advocates have boxes were secreted away. They were Michael Africa Jr. and Sister Empress Dr. Phile Chionesu known for decades: Authorities are hid- hidden. There’s only one reason you hide at Jan. 15 press conference for Mumia. ing evidence to keep this innocent man boxes. You hide them because you are behind bars. hiding evidence of Mumia’s innocence … excluded from the jury and being denied Peebles, whose organization supported As Workers World reported earlier evidence of the cover-up of a frame-up.” the right of representation—even the Krasner’s campaign for district attor- (“Philly DA reveals hidden Mumia files Tucker’s ruling hinges on the involve- self-representation he requested. ney in 2017, stated: “DA Krasner needs after court ruling,” Jan. 14), the DA’s ment of former Pennsylvania Supreme Witnesses in the case were coerced, to come forward and do what’s right. office made the fantastical claim that Court Justice and DA Ronald Castille, threatened or given promises to get When he was campaigning, he came to on Dec. 28—one day after Philadelphia a virulent racist and hanging judge. them to lie outright about Abu-Jamal. the African-American community for Common Pleas Judge Leon Tucker’s rul- Castille’s desire to execute alleged “cop Wolkenstein noted: “The U.S. Justice support. We were there when he needed ing granting Abu-Jamal new rights to killers” was so notorious that he became Department as well as then District votes, so Krasner, return the favor.” She appeal his unjust conviction—Krasner the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court case Attorney Ed Rendell were absolutely per- urged people to confront Krasner when- personally stumbled across half a dozen in 2016, Williams v. Pennsylvania, which sonally and politically involved in the fal- ever he speaks in public and demand he boxes filled with evidence related to the set new legal precedent that it is uncon- sification of the confessions that Mumia do right by Mumia. case in a previously “inaccessible” storage stitutional for a judge to rule on an appeal supposedly made and did not make when Never before has there been more room while looking for office furniture in in a case they were previously involved in. he was critically ill and in the hospital and abundant evidence of the cover-up of the the bowels of the office building. As Wolkenstein explained: “Judge could not speak.” frame-up. The charges against Mumia The boxes were marked “Mumia” or Tucker found that this has the appear- Tucker’s ruling means that all this fla- Abu-Jamal must be dismissed immedi- “Mumia Abu-Jamal” on one side and ance of bias and impropriety, and was as grant misconduct can be brought before ately and our brother must be released. on the other “McCann,” referring to for- such a violation of due process rights to an appellate judge. And it’s clear that Every day that this case languishes in the mer Assistant District Attorney Edward have what’s considered a fair and impar- Philadelphia DA Krasner has been with- arcane bourgeois legal process means McCann, who had close ties with the tial tribunal whether at the trial level or holding evidence that could aid in that another day has passed that an innocent Fraternal Order of Police. at the appellate level. This is a very broad appeal. man sits, sleeps and lives in a cage. Larry Krasner and his assistants then finding that goes way beyond Mumia.” Black Panther Alumni Association For nearly 40 years, Mumia has been kept this bombshell revelation secret for The ruling will allow Abu-Jamal to member Paula Peebles; Deacon Matthew the voice of the voiceless, echoing from a full six days before officially notifying re-appeal his conviction before a new Smith with the National Action Network; within the darkest dungeons of this Judge Tucker and Abu-Jamal’s current panel of the PA Supreme Court on all the Sister Empress Dr. Phile Chionesu, orga- prison nation. The time has long since attorneys, Judith Ritter and Sam Spital, issues that were brought up over 20 years nizer of the Million Women’s March; and come for Mumia Abu-Jamal to be free, so that these hidden documents had been of litigation, including being denied a jury Rowan University Professor Sandra Joy his voice may be heard even clearer out- uncovered. They offered no explanation of his peers when African Americans were also spoke at the press conference. side the walls that now confine him. ☐ Life imprisonment—for profit—is the crime

By Ted Kelly in Florida where the mail is opened and their visitors since the lockdown, either. Frackville, Penn. photocopied. The facsimiles are then While these lockdown measures were returned to the respective prisons in supposed to be lifted after 90 days, just When Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf Pennsylvania. in time for inmates to break bread and ordered an unprecedented statewide lock- This costly process has caused prison- take pictures with their families for the down of prisons last summer, the state’s ers to receive mail as late as two months fall and winter holidays, the state arbi- Department of Corrections claimed that after correspondence was sent. It also trarily extended the ban. Photos and food the crisis was prompted by prison staff poses serious constitutional issues, as won’t be allowed back into visitors’ room becoming sick from illicit drugs somehow correspondence between prisoners and until sometime this Spring, authorities smuggled into state facilities. It was just their lawyers is also opened and pho- say. And the microwave that was in the a coincidence, the authorities said, that tocopied by prison authorities, thereby visiting room to heat up commissary food the lockdown was ordered in the midst of negating any pretense of the right to items like small frozen pizzas has been a national strike by prisoners to demand private counsel, as outlined in the Sixth permanently removed. improved conditions and pay for their Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. labor. Moreover, prisoners are never noti- Prison activist for 25 years speaks out Now, over six months later, fied when their outbound mail has been “They’ve made the innocent pay the Pennsylvania authorities in Harrisburg opened or rejected. Grounds for rejection piper for everyone else,” says Bryant have admitted that toxicology reports are sometimes as simple as writing the Arroyo, folding his hands in front of him. showed only one prison staff employee recipient’s first initial instead of the full “Including my family.” PHOTO: BENJAMIN IRVING was exposed to anything resembling ille- name. More commonly, letters are sent Arroyo is an indefatigable 47-year-old Bryant Arroyo has spent 25 years behind bars. gal drugs. Multiple prisoners in various back by Smart Communications without prison activist. Mumia Abu-Jamal once corrections institutions across the state any indication of the reason why. dubbed him “the world’s first jailhouse The continued crackdown on prison- have claimed that it is the guards them- environmentalist” for his successful cam- ers’ rights after the 2018 lockdown is an selves, not prisoners or their visitors, who Lockdown measures persist paign to cancel a $100 million plan to act of “deliberate maliciousness, imposed are responsible for the smuggling of illicit In Frackville State Correctional Facility build a toxic coal plant near the Frackville on whimsical pretenses,” says Arroyo. drugs into facilities. in central Pennsylvania, the lobby and facility. Twenty-five years ago he was sen- “They could have addressed the alleged Despite these revelations, the visiting room look much the same today tenced to life without parole for a crime issue like any other time this cropped up.” Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has as they did last July. Rows of vending he didn’t commit. He has led a boycott Arroyo has suggested that if prison already signed a $4 million contract with machines that were previously stocked of the new third-party mailing system, as authorities were truly concerned about Smart Communications, a corporation with snacks and drinks for visitors to pur- well as against the draconian new visita- drug smuggling and didn’t just use the that profits from mass incarceration by chase and consume with their loved ones tion policy. As he has said previously, “I’m lockdown as a way to disrupt the strike posing as an expensive middleman for stand empty, six months after their con- not going to subject my grandchildren to activities in Pennsylvania prisons, they all prisoner correspondence. Currently, tents were raided by corrections officers this.” (“Inmates in Pennsylvania prisons could have easily used existing protocols all prisoner mail in Pennsylvania must for “safety reasons.” No prisoners have launch boycott of prison profiteers,” WW, to address such events. There is already be forwarded to the third-party facility been allowed to take photographs with Sept. 25) Continued on page 8 workers.org Jan. 24, 2019 Page 5

Furloughed and unpaid federal workers line up for free, hot meals at the World Central Kitchen FEDERAL SHUTDOWN: in Washington, D.C. Over 4,400 meals were served on Jan. 16. Who gets paid and who doesn’t By Betsey Piette the median net worth of U.S. Congress fall under the Department of Homeland interests. The NSA, the U.S. government’s members was $1.2 million and continuing Security, and not Defense, they were not surveillance tool, is also exempt from the As the longest federal government to grow, at the same time that net incomes extended the same protection so they are shutdown. Wiretapping phones, collect- shutdown in U.S. history enters month for most workers in the U.S. were on the not receiving paychecks. ing mega amounts of electronic commu- two, Trump and congressional leaders decline. The recent November election Trump announced Jan. 17 that all U.S. nications personal data, and tracking the appear incapable of resolving the cri- may have resulted in some lower-income diplomats and other State Department whereabouts of people through their cell sis they have created, and unwilling to people being elected as representatives in employees would be called back to work, phones are all seen as “vital” to the inter- do more than repeatedly trade barbs the House, but by and large it remains a as money had somehow been found to ests of protecting the capitalist class. or blame each other for the crisis. But millionaires’ club. guarantee their salaries. Given recent The budget of the U.S. government’s then, unlike some 800,000 federal The majority of political appointees are stock market fluctuations, it appears other major spy network—the Central workers, neither Trump nor members of also guaranteed to be paid by the Office that Trump wants to assure his friends Intelligence Agency—is largely hidden Congress have been financially hurt by of Personnel Management, which con- on Wall Street that he can protect their from the public record, so it’s not pos- the shutdown. siders them to be “entitled to the pay of overseas investments. sible to know if any staff (other than Salaries of the president and his office their offices solely by virtue of their status In the 2018 budget, and proposed janitors, etc.) are impacted by the shut- staff, including appointees, members of as an officer, rather than by virtue of the again for 2019, the military brass received down. It is probably safe to guess that the Congress and Supreme Court justices, hours they work.” While 400,000 federal everything they wanted and more—$700 answer is no. are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution workers are forced to work without pay, billion in 2018 and $716 billion this year. Shutdown = war on workers and will be uninterrupted throughout the political appointees get paid whether or Contrary to Trump’s recent claims, this shutdown. While some Congress peo- not they show up for work. increased funding is not going to raise In reality, Trump’s government shut- ple have said they will forego being paid GIs’ pay. It is lining the pockets of top down is a war on workers, and not just War and espionage essential during the shutdown, it is their choice to executives of weapons contractors like those employed by the federal govern- to ruling class make. Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and ment. Meeting the needs of the popula- No one is forcing Trump, his staff or The administrators of this capitalist more. This benefit for the rich comes tion for food security and safety, health the members of Congress to work without state aren’t the only ones whose incomes on top of massive cuts in the tax rate for care, education, housing, environmental pay or risk losing their jobs. None are liv- are protected from the impact of the corporations. protection and public safety are not con- ing paycheck-to-paycheck like 78 percent extended shutdown. In September 2018, sidered “essential services” by the capital- Assistance for food, housing, of all U.S. workers, according to a Jan. legislation was passed to guarantee fund- ist class. water called ‘nonessential’ 11 report by Forbes.com. No one in the ing for a few select programs considered To Trump and members of the bour- White House or in the halls of Congress “essential” to the capitalist state. While programs like WIC programs, geois ruling class, the functions they faces the loss of food and housing security This advance funding protected two housing assistance, Indigenous people's value most, and have sustained funding resulting from the extended shutdown. key areas of state repression: the National health care, and protection of food and for, are the tools of state repression, both In fact, a majority of the members of Security Agency and the Department water are treated as “nonessential” ser- domestic and international. Congress, including both Republicans of Defense, which funds the military. vices, spying on the entire civilian pop- The shutdown lays bare the true reason and Democrats, are millionaires. In 2016 Because 43,000 Coast Guard employees ulation is seen as “vital” to ruling-class for the existence of the capitalist state. ☐ Reclaiming the radical legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Continued from page 2

The effort to restore affirmative action through ballot initiative I-1000 was summarized by former State Rep. Jesse Wineberry. He announced that 380,000 signa- tures had been gathered and approved to bring I-1000 before the legislature and the voters. Some of the most blatant forms of discrimi- nation allowed since the overthrow of affirmative action include the loss of $3.5 billion in contract jobs for people of color and women. As part of commu- nity pushback, the march was preceded by a career opportunities fair, two dozen activism workshops and a rally. A broad coalition of activists, workers, students and community members came out in Oakland, Calif., in the fifth annual event to “Reclaim the Radical Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” Organized by the Anti Police-Terror Project, the event’s multiple actions commemorated the 10th anniversary of the police murder of Oscar Grant, a young Black man who died at the hands of Bay Area Rapid Transit police. Grant’s murder sparked resistance to police terror in the entire WW PHOTO: JUDY GREENSPAN Bay Area. Oakland march was joined by Causa Justa, a migrant workers organization. Beginning with a sunrise ceremony, the day included a militant march through downtown Oakland past the police department, city jail and the fight against racism, the migrant rights move- occupied the plaza for 10 hours to mark the anniversary court buildings. Led by a sound truck driven by ment and the growing struggle against gentrification of Grant’s murder. ☐ APTP activists and supporters such as Third World in the city. Resistance, the march echoed with chants against Later at Oscar Grant Plaza, people’s assemblies were Contributing to this article were Judy Greenspan, white supremacy and racism. Speakers tied together held on a multitude of resistance issues. Organizers Martha Grevatt and Jim McMahan. Page 6 Jan. 24, 2019 workers.org

L.A. teachers’ strike ‘A struggle for the future of public education’ By Sue Davis revenue to boost funding for education the district during the 2008 recession, real estate. statewide. according to a Jan. 19 article in The Nation. Charter schools in L.A. drain $600 Some 30,000 Los Angeles public Not only have teachers been walking They responded by forming the Union million annually from public education school teachers and professional staff picket lines in front of their schools Power caucus. Inspired by the successful funding. in the country’s second largest school as well as at City Hall, they have also 2012 Chicago Teachers Union strike, the Ultimately the struggle in L.A. comes district went on strike Jan. 14, marching prepared meals for their students. With caucus has been working with CTU and down to preserving public education through the rain from City Hall to the Los donations from neighborhood grocers other union reformers ever since. with adequate funding and staffing Angeles Unified School District office a and union funding, they are making UTLA’s strategy is based on what for the masses of working and poor mile away. The rain did not dampen their brown-bag lunches for students who some unions refer to as “bargaining for people. L.A. teachers are fighting spirit, their unity or their overwhelming depend on meals they receive at school. the common good.” The Nation article against for-profit privatization—what support from the city’s diverse working- In an act of solidarity, the National explains: “[T]he idea of introducing a Jan. 10 article in Capital & Main calls class communities, filled with many Football League Players Association sent demands in collective bargaining that “radical restructuring,” which seeks to people of color, whom they serve. aggressively dismantle traditional For the first time in 30 years the public education. teachers, majority women and mostly An arch advocate of radical restruc- women of color, went out on strike. turing, LAUSD Superintendent Austin Represented by United Teachers Los Beutner was appointed to his post in Angeles, they had battled LAUSD for May. He was hired based on his success nearly two years without a contract, in the capitalist financial world, despite through months of bad-faith bargain- lacking experience in education. ing with many unfair labor practice While Beutner hasn’t yet revealed his charges. plans for the district, he did hire Cami The union calls the strike “a Anderson, who, as superintendent struggle to safeguard the future of of Newark, N.J., schools, instituted public education.” a business plan called the “portfolio During 12-hour days beginning model,” which included closing neigh- Jan. 17, UTLA has been negotiating borhood schools, replacing them with with the LAUSD board to hammer charters, and mass firings of teachers out such issues as using the district’s and principals. $1.9 billion unrestricted reserves to PHOTOS: UTLA The Capital & Main article points fund smaller class sizes; more nurses, L.A. teachers are walking picket lines in first strike in 30 years. out that Anderson was driven out by counselors and librarians; more a revolt of angry parents and wonders support for special, early, bilingual and pizzas to teachers at several schools “so benefit the community as a whole, not why Beutner and the LAUSD board think adult education classes; and empowering they could be sustained and continue to just the union’s membership … has been a the portfolio model would work better in parents and educators by strengthening strike.” (CBSLA, Jan. 18) Local businesses way not just to revitalize stagnant unions L.A. than in Newark. Local School Leadership Councils. have been delivering food to picket lines, but to reinvigorate interest in the public “They don’t see the unchecked growth While bargaining has been behind including hot coffee, bagels and tacos. sector as a whole. It also means that when of largely unregulated charter schools closed doors at City Hall, with Mayor In another Jan. 19 L.A. Times article, teachers take to the streets, they have as a problem, despite more and more Eric Garcetti mediating negotiations, the UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl told parents willing not just to join them, but evidence that charters discriminate Jan. 19 L.A. Times leaked that LAUSD a rally that the strike has “stunned our to take risks of their own.” against [students with disabilities], has already agreed to new hiring. That naysayers.” Asking the crowd, “If you’re The major issue that continues to loom increase racial stratification and on means the strike has already won some a boxer, do you know what you do?” He at the bargaining table—not just in L.A. but the whole do not perform better than recognition of the union’s demand for answered: “You double down and keep on for school districts all across the country traditional schools. On the contrary, they fully staffed schools and smaller classes. punching.” over the last decade—is the lucrative, prof- view charter expansion as elemental to Meanwhile, Los Angeles County super- it-driven charter school industry. Charter the future of the district.” visors have agreed to find up to $10 mil- Struggle of public schools vs. charters schools not only leach millions of dollars It’s way too soon to predict how this lion to expand district nursing services Caputo-Pearl and other current union out of public education funding but also critical issue will play out in L.A. But for next year, and Gov. Gavin Newsom leaders became determined to revitalize commandeer huge amounts of square foot- having widespread community support has agreed to use an increase in state tax the UTLA after mass layoffs destabilized age in taxpayer-funded, school-building for the teachers is a definite plus. ☐ Oakland teachers ready to strike

By Judy Greenspan teachers despite threats from district students and teachers was held in front East Oakland. No schools are targeted to Oakland, Calif. heads of retaliation and no pay. of the district building. close in the more privileged Oakland hills. Teachers and students from all over Kehinde Salter, a teacher at Fremont, Jan. 20—As a large banner was Oakland rallied early in the morning at asked, “Do you know what’s supposed Teachers and students stage sick-out hoisted today on the walls of the union Oakland Technical High School. A large to be a right in this country? Public Teachers at Roots International headquarters, President Keith Brown contingent came from East Oakland education!” She went on to criticize Academy, a public middle school, recently of the Oakland Education Association schools. After picketing for an hour, the the privatization of education and the received notice that their school would announced a strike vote will take place demonstrators—led by Fremont High refusal of the system to adequately fund be closed in June and both students and from Jan. 29 to Feb. 1. The banner read: School, one of the schools on the district’s public schools. Teachers from more than teachers would be consolidated with "Oakland teachers ready to strike!" closure list—took off for the school a dozen schools addressed the crowd, another school. This was done without On Jan. 18, hundreds of Oakland district office in downtown Oakland. describing their poorly funded schools consultation with the teachers, students teachers took their contract fight to the Many passing cars honked their horns in and deteriorating working conditions. or neighboring community. streets to demand that the school district solidarity, showing community support While the rally was going on, students Roots is a neighborhood school. Roots bargain fairly and meet the demands of for Oakland teachers is high. began taping signs and post-its on the teachers and students participated in teachers, students and the community. The march ended in front of Oakland doors of the district offices. Students today’s sick-out. Students testified about Their “sick-out” was a one-day wildcat Unified School District headquarters. and community members pounded on how their teachers have supported them strike action—not authorized by the Teachers and students began a strong drums, chanting, “We are Oakland, stop and helped them be successful. Roots Oakland Education Association—boldly picket line there that spilled over into the the school closures” and “The people, teachers invited everyone to protest at the taken by high school and middle school street, and a speak-out and teach-in of united, will never be defeated.” Others Jan. 23 school board meeting when the chalked slogans on the sidewalk in front school closure will be under discussion. of the building. The sick-out was an indication of the tre- Their demands mirrored the bar- mendous energy and potential of teacher gaining points of the OEA. Teachers in and student activism against attacks on Oakland earn at least $11,000 less than public education. After the sick-out, hun- teachers in other Bay Area school dis- dreds of teachers, students and community tricts. Lower wages are forcing many members, led by local artists, made signs teachers to leave Oakland and move to and banners at the OEA headquarters. The other areas where they can afford to live. messages from this weekend are “Keep Contract demands include smaller class teachers in Oakland” and “Oakland teach- sizes, more school nurses and a smaller ers are ready to strike.” ☐ students-to-counselor ratio. The wildcat action also protested Greenspan is an Oakland middle district plans to close 24 public school teacher and OEA member who WW PHOTO: JUDY GREENSPAN Oakland teachers fight for higher pay and better working conditions. schools—most of them in the flatlands of participated in the Jan. 18 sick-out. workers.org Jan. 24, 2019 Page 7 Hundreds rally outside auto show to save jobs On the By Martha Grevatt invited to participate in the protest, but Detroit declined. The UAW held a candlelight vigil a block away from the show prior to the coalition Detroit’s well-heeled had to pass through a rally. Many autoworkers and community sup- picket ine By Alex Bolchi and Suel Davis gauntlet of hundreds of protesters this year to porters attended the vigil and then marched get to the annual black-tie event known as the as a group to the auto show. Chanting “GM got North American International Auto Show. bailed out, we got sold out,” they massed right Before it opens to the public, the show hosts outside the doors to the show at one point. Farmworker walkout stops pay cut a “charity preview.” Billed as “the hottest night A global contingent of GM workers from this winter,” it allows attendees to get a sneak Brazil and Canada joined Ford and Fiat The 1,800 mostly Latinx farmworkers who pick Halo mandarin oranges peek at the latest new vehicles—if they can Chrysler workers from Metro Detroit and else- and clementines for the Wonderful Fruit Company in Kern County, Calif., afford the $400 ticket. where. The retirees’ chapter of UNIFOR Local have successfully forced the bosses to retract a pay cut—which would have The demonstration on Jan. 18, called by 222, which represents a GM plant in Oshawa, reduced their earnings from $53 a bin to $48. On Friday, Jan. 11, these the Detroit Coalition for a Green New Deal, Ont., that faces closing, sent a bus to the rally. contract workers walked off the job. They showed up on Monday to protest came together in response to General Motors’ Many angry workers rode the bus with the at the Halo plant in Delano. (Los Angeles Times, Jan. 14) announcement of plant closings in the U.S. retirees. Workers won by spreading word of their protest on social media and and Canada. Members of CSP Conlutas, one of the GM also inviting the United Farm Workers to join the picket. After four days, In addition to demanding that the plants workers’ unions in Brazil, also came to Detroit the company agreed to restore the higher pay rate. UFW leader Armando in the states of Michigan, Ohio and Maryland to attend the protest and various meetings. Elenes noted: “This is another example of how when farm workers orga- as well as in Ontario, Canada, not be shut- This union has militantly and successfully nize together to defend themselves, we win!” Before ending the strike, the tered, the coalition is demanding “green jobs.” fought mass layoffs. workers announced that they “stand in solidarity with the United Teachers Protest organizers advocate the use of “emi- The same day as the protest, Oshawa GM of L.A. and their strike for a fair union contract.” nent domain” to seize the Detroit Hamtramck workers drove around their plant and stopped Assembly Plant (DHAM), not only to save trucks from getting in and out for two hours. A jobs but to combat climate change by building day earlier UNIFOR members at Inteva, a low- General Mills workers vote union green products such as solar panels, wind tur- er-wage parts firm that supplies the Oshawa bines, and buses and trains for mass transit. plant and DHAM, held a one-day walkout to The 520 sanitation, production and maintenance workers at the General GM plans to discontinue its greenest vehi- protest the closings. Mills cereal plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, voted Jan. 9 to join the Department cle, the electric hybrid Volt, built at DHAM, Workers are not going to let GM destroy Store Union (RWDSU) Local 110 after they realized the company was whit- in favor of highly profitable trucks and sport their livelihoods without a fight. ☐ tling away their benefits and using temp agencies to exploit cheaper labor. utility vehicles. Having the company cut the number of workers’ absences from five to three The coalition, initiated days a year pushed them to organize. (Minnesota Star Tribune, Jan. 10) by Democratic Socialists In a Local 110 statement, General Mills worker Tim Sarver said, "I’m of America, also included proud to say I’m now part of the RWDSU and I know everyone who works Autoworker Caravan, a alongside me knows that representation from the union will change our rank-and-file autoworker future here. It’s about time General Mills workers had a real seat at the table organization that has with the company and we’re ready to get to work on a fair contract." The demonstrated outside the RWDSU, with 100,000 members nationwide, is affiliated with the Food and auto show on many occa- Commercial Workers (UFCW) and represents workers at a nearby Quaker sions. Over two dozen Oats plant. organizations endorsed the action. Congressperson Rashida Tlaib spoke at the rally. Florida McDonald’s workers strike Both the United Auto for safe working conditions Workers union and WW PHOTO: MARTHA GREVATT Canada’s UNIFOR were Brazilian autoworkers join protest outside Detroit event. After a New Year’s Eve attack on a McDonald’s cashier in St. Petersburg, cashiers, cooks and custodians there and in Tampa and Orlando restau- rants held a wildcat strike on Jan. 8, in partnership with Fight for $15 and Black Lives Matter. They demanded store security protocols, protection for A slice of Hell: Working at workers and a voice for the mostly Black and Brown women workforce. Gail Rogers, a Tampa worker who helped organize the walkout, told WFLA-TV, “I’m going on strike because at McDonald’s we’re subjected to all types of Villa Italian Kitchen behavior that has no place at work — from physical attacks and armed rob- beries, to sexual harassment, to racial discrimination. We won't back down By Mike Kuhlenbeck The cramped kitchen would overheat from until McDonald's takes responsibility for protecting all workers on the job.” Des Moines, Iowa the pizza ovens displayed out front and old (Newsweek, Jan. 8) stoves hidden in the back. A massive steel The first taste of Hell in my working life table, a giant freezer, electronic dough mix- was in the fall of 2012 when I was hired as a ers, overpacked cupboards and two large sinks part-time dishwasher and cook at Villa Italian leaking water made it difficult to move around. NYC area car washers collect Kitchen in the Merle Hay Mall food court. Supplies were stored on a large space above Villa opened its first location in New York the freezer. The only way to reach these items stolen wages City in 1964 before expanding into a national was to climb a rickety ladder with rusted franchise. For years the restaurant had been a wheels. I always feared using the ladder in case Some 88 car wash workers, including immigrants from the Dominican hot spot in the mall, but Merle Hay had fallen the bottom steps gave out or I lost my balance, Republic, Mexico, Nigeria, Mali and El Salvador, will receive as much as on hard times. potentially causing me to hit the floor or crash $90,000 in back pay as part of a more than $5 million wage theft settlement Retail suffered after the financial meltdown onto a hot stove. with the owner of four car washes in Manhattan, the Bronx and Elizabeth, of 2008, and the prevalence of online shop- The first time I burned my hand during a busy N.J. The men worked outside with chemicals and water under brutal con- ping continues to damage retail. This has led lunch service, I grabbed the first aid kit with my ditions in all kinds of weather, with no meal or rest breaks, for $4 to $5 an to store closings, layoffs and fewer customers. good hand from its place on the wall next to the hour — well below the minimum wage. The settlement covers employment Mall employees were expected to work more sink. I opened it only to discover it was empty, from 2007 through 2014, when court-appointed trustees were put in place for less and with a smile. with the exception of a few bandage scraps. to manage the car washes and pay a legal wage. (amny.com, Dec. 20) By age 23, I had graduated college with a Above the first aid kit was a sign depicting a journalism degree and student loan debt. Job stick figure falling backward. It was a mocking openings in my field were scarce, and I needed reminder of how bosses blame workers if they Frontier pilots fight for, win work. A couple of my friends working at Villa are injured on the job, calling them “careless,” helped me secure an interview with the man- meanwhile ignoring the dangerous conditions five-year contract ager and I was hired the same day. and the breakneck pace demanded of kitchen I was grateful, at first. As a former customer, workers. After almost three years of contentious negotiations, Frontier Airlines it did seem strange that the restaurant rarely The top reasons for youth worker injury and its pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, signed a five- kept the same staff for more than a month. Not and illness, according to the Occupational year working agreement on Jan. 10, which went into effect Jan. 16. The con- long after I started, I realized why they didn’t Safety and Health Administration, are unsafe tract includes an average 53 percent across-the-board pay increase, along stick around. equipment, inadequate safety training, inade- with a $75 million ratification bonus. “Frontier pilot compensation now quate supervision, pressure to work faster and reflects the pilot market,” said Tracy Smith, chair of ALPA’s Frontier Master Entering ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ stressful conditions. Executive Council. “Our new contract retains superior work rules, sched- The kitchen was hardly built for efficiency, As defined by OSHA, workplace hazards uling flexibility and improves our retirement, benefits and job security.” ☐ let alone safety. Continued on page 8 Page 8 Jan. 24, 2019 workers.org Life imprisonment—for profit—is the crime

Continued from page 4 bills, SB942 and HB135, respectively, that tampering was revealed. Since then, Mill “No matter glass, concrete or steel. would eliminate “life without parole” sen- has voiced support for prison reform Nothing can hold back my love for my a “two-strike” policy where individuals tencing in Pennsylvania, thereby enabling movements. Arroyo says this is the per- daughter and her children. I conquered. who are caught passing contraband face thousands of inmates, including Arroyo, fect campaign for Mill and other promi- We conquered.” the indefinite suspension of their visita- the ability to appeal for parole. While nent musicians and activists to join. Shortly before our last meeting, tion rights. The third-party mailing sys- Arroyo is represented by the Innocence “Meek, it’s time to put your money Arroyo’s cell was shaken down by prison tem could likewise have been imposed in Project and is on a mission to clear his where your mouth is.” guards. Among other property they arbi- specific cases of misconduct, Arroyo says. name, he is meanwhile dedicated to mak- Meanwhile, Arroyo continues to try to trarily confiscated, corrections officers “I don’t need to tell you what the threat ing sure no one is sentenced to death by support his fellow inmates and be a good took down the photos and inspirational of no visits means for lifers,” says Arroyo, life in prison. father behind bars. In the 25 years since posters he’d hung on the walls. His last who speaks often of his inexhaustible love "Twenty-five birthdays, 25 Christmases, he was unjustly incarcerated, Bryant has cellmate was transferred to a different for his daughter, Genesis Hernandez, 25 New Year's Eves. Twenty-five of a lot become a grandfather. He tells stories of facility and no one has replaced him yet. whom he had to “raise from between the of things. If there's somebody who could how he had to meet his daughter behind It’s the first time Arroyo has been alone in bars.” say, 'Woe is me,' I'd say I'm pretty quali- a bulletproof window for five years before a cell for over 25 years. “There are times I think nobody’s pay- fied." Instead, Arroyo is intent on freeing her 18th birthday—obvious retaliation “It feels foreign and awkward. It’s ing attention except her. But whenever himself and freeing everyone subject to against the Arroyo family because of his weird, being alone,” Arroyo says. He there is a moment that, for whatever the form of modern slavery called mass advocacy for other prisoners. prides himself on never having been reason, you feel alone or abandoned or incarceration. He relates how photos of him and his thrown in the hole (solitary confinement), trapped in an uncomfortable situation, “For that reason, I am calling on daughter would sometimes be confiscated even after a quarter of a century. He has you are given a reminder of the people everyone to contact their local leaders by male prison guards. A disgusted but a monk’s calmness and the decades-long God has given you.” and representatives to support SB942 faultlessly calm Arroyo once retorted to foresight of what Mumia calls a “long-dis- The sound of his daughter’s laugh- and HB135. This is an all-hands-on-deck guards: “I’m not going to tell her why tance revolutionary.” Being alone, he ter, Arroyo says, always gives him that moment. I want better for everyone else you’re taking the photos away. You tell thinks about solitary confinement and the reminder. because I want better for myself.” her why.” An abashed guard returned the effect it has on prisoners. Arroyo also expressed solidarity and photos. “My wall is barren now. And I don’t End prison slavery—aka support for Philadelphia rapper Meek Arroyo also decries the sexist treat- have any tape to put the stuff back up. ‘life without parole’ Mill, who was recently a victim of the ment of female visitors who are forced But that’s okay. Because I’m getting out Arroyo’s newest campaign is dedicated “capricious and arbitrary” U.S. justice to remove their bras and undergarments of here, too. Slowly but surely.” to freeing all lifers from prisons. State system. Mill was released on “extraor- in order to pass through security check- Free Bryant Arroyo! Sen. Sharif Street and State House Rep. dinary relief” after his arresting officer’s points. “It’s cruel. It’s unusual. It’s per- Free Mumia! Jason Dawkins have recently proposed history of rampant abuse and evidence verted,” Arroyo says. Free em’ all! ☐

A slice of Hell: Working at Villa Italian Kitchen

Continued from page 7 the clock without pay, to clean the kitchen dismissed early to “offset labor costs.” Ongoing fight for $15 and prep the dough for the next day when It was customary to work three days in Villa at Merle Hay Mall has since for food service workers include hot the previous shift was unable to do it. This a row and have the next four days off. On closed, leaving only three locations in cooking equipment, sharp objects, heavy unpaid work, along with the uniform fee, better nights I worked from 5 p.m. until Iowa. The experience did not benefit me lifting, slippery floors and electricity. My was wage theft—the illegal pocketing of we closed at 9 and earned $30 before as an employee; it did educate me as a coworkers and I were exposed to these payment owed to me. taxes. On bad days, I would take off my worker-journalist. hazards on a daily basis. In 2012, the Iowa Policy Project apron and leave after working only two It turns out that I was not alone—millions released the document titled “Wage Theft hours for a mere $15. Starvation wages of my fellow workers share these grievances. in Iowa.” This report described rampant The other restaurants in the food court The same year I worked at Villa, the The hourly wage was $7.50, just 25 wage theft in industries such as food ser- ran on similar schedules—erratic, ran- Fight for $15 campaign was launched in cents above the state minimum. Even vice, causing “low-wage Iowa workers to domly assigned and seldom repeated. For New York City before going nationwide. back then it was not enough to support miss out on an estimated $600 million in me, the constant stress and lack of sleep led Workers are uniting across various sec- someone, especially when they’re only wages each year.” to physical and mental health problems. tors to secure a living wage, the right to permitted to work part time. After two weeks of minimal training A 2017 Mental Health America survey join a union, safer working conditions, My uniform was red with a black col- sessions and hard labor in the sweltering ranked food service among the “unhealth- benefits and dignity on the job. lar, a Villa emblem and the words, “Made kitchen, I was handed my first paycheck. iest” work environments. Many of the Skeptics have long said that “orga- Fresh Daily” printed on the shirt. During It came to a little over $75. Things went workers surveyed said their job negatively nizing the food service industry can’t be my interview, the manager said the cost downhill from there. impacted their personal relationships and done” or “hourly wages of $15 or higher of my uniform would come out of my they were burdened by “a constant fear of Recipe for misery are unrealistic.” Food service workers are paycheck, so I “wouldn’t have to worry losing their jobs” and engaged in “unhealthy proving the skeptics wrong. The Fight for about” paying for it. Despite being a “part time” employee, behaviors to cope with workplace stress.” $15 movement is only getting stronger. Far from being a favor, I discovered this job consumed my life. I never knew Exhaustion, social alienation, poor diet Thanks to these ongoing efforts, over this was illegal under Iowa Code 91A.5. what my schedule was until the last minute. and miserable pay are a recipe for depres- 5.3 million workers in 19 states and 21 cit- According to the Iowa Division of Labor: Sometimes I would wake up after a few sion. After two months I realized this was ies will see an increase in the minimum “Deducting the purchase price of uni- hours sleep to a phone message from my no way to pay my student loan debt or my wage this year. Nonunion workers are forms from an employee’s paycheck is not boss, leaving little time to get to work. bills, so I quit. organizing and more people are joining allowed if the uniform identifies the busi- There were times when I was “acciden- The way Villa treated me and my this struggle every day. ness through a logo or company colors.” tally” scheduled and was told to go home. coworkers was not unique but the norm Workers are hungry for revolutionary I frequently had to stay after work, off If there weren’t enough customers, I was for the restaurant business. change. ☐

Support Workers World Probably a thousand and one charities were asking you for donations at year’s Please send Workers World a supportive gift this year, so we can keep publishing end. As the new year begins, we also are asking for your support. these important stories. Help us publish online and on paper the only remaining But Workers World is not a charity. communist newspaper in the U.S. that’s still printed weekly and available at demon- Workers World is a valuable resource. And we do need your help. strations, picket lines, street corners and in prisons. We invite you to invest your Week after week, this newspaper brings you news and analysis from a revolution- hard-earned dollars today. ary socialist perspective. We cover all major national and international events from For the past 41 years, WW subscribers have helped maintain the paper by join- Pittsburgh to Baghdad, Harlem to Johannesburg, North Dakota to South Korea. ing the WW Supporter Program. For a donation of at least $75 or $100 or $300 For about 50 cents each week, you get the truth about how capitalism at home a year — and much more if you’re able — members receive a year’s subscription and imperialism abroad make the world a difficult, unhealthy, oppressive place live. to WW, a monthly letter about timely issues and five free subscriptions to give to Especially for workers and all oppressed people. friends. Write checks (either monthly or once a year) to Workers World and mail We cover peoples’ fightback from coast to coast. It could be a rally for trans them, with your name and address, to 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Floor, New York, rights in New York City or a celebration of Chicanx culture in San Diego. Or about NY 10011. Or sign up to donate online at workers.org/donate/ — it’s easy to Black women call center workers in Mississippi fighting for a raise and a union. set up monthly deductions. Or Indigenous history at the annual National Day of Mourning in Massachusetts. Know that we’re grateful for your help in building Workers World — for today You can’t find these news reports and analysis elsewhere! and for the future! workers.org Jan. 24, 2019 Page 9 Massive strikes grip Tunisia, Morocco

By G. Dunkel Organization of Local Municipalities, said dialogue with the government had been Around 700,000 Tunisian work- strained since 2007. ers—public employees and workers in “Many agreements reached with the state-owned companies—carried out a government in 2007 have not been imple- one-day general strike on Jan. 17. They mented,” he said. want a raise that keeps up with infla- UMT said in a statement that the strike tion and an end to the meddling of the was a “protest against the targeting of trade International Monetary Fund. union freedoms, the right to organize trade In Morocco, 150,000 municipal unions, the delay in social dialogue and employees joined civil servants work- the infringement on workers’ rights.” (Al ing for the district and other local gov- Jazeera, Jan. 18) All the unions involved in ernment institutions in observing a the strike asserted that workers need a sub- 24-hour strike to protest what they stantial raise, even though inflation is only called “catastrophic” working conditions. 1.5 percent, according to the International Negotiations between the local govern- Monetary Fund. ments and the unions representing the The union alliance in Morocco under- workers had broken down. lined its demands: “Despite the appeals In Tunisia, the strike was called by the launched by the unions, the minister of Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), the interior has remained resistant to the the largest and most powerful trade demands of the working class.” Striking public workers in Tunis jam the streets during 24-hour strike. union confederation in the country. In In Tunisia, the UGTT held a number Morocco, the strike was called by the of militant rallies, even in remote cities been putting pressure on the Tunisian of the UGTT, said the government is Moroccan Workers’ Union (UMT), the on the edge of the Sahara. Rail, bus and government to tighten spending on public under the dictates of the IMF and has Democratic Confederation of Labor, the air traffic stopped while schools, ports, service workers, which accounts for 15.5 chosen the difficult solution of confron- Democratic Federation of Labor and the hospitals, government offices and state percent of government outlays. According tation with public servants. He proposed General Union of Moroccan Workers. media were affected. to the IMF, this is one of the highest levels that the UGTT should directly negoti- Abdennacer Jamal el-Khabbouli, dep- The IMF, which advanced Tunisia a in the world. ate with the IMF. (Tunisie Numerique, uty secretary-general of the Democratic $2.8 billion loan in December 2016, has Sami Tahri, deputy secretary-general Jan. 19) ☐ Free Ahmad Sa’adat & all Palestinian prisoners! By G. Dunkel court. There he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for leading a prohibited organi- As one of the events opening the zation and “incitement.” International Week of Action to Free The PFLP is a major organization Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian prison- in Palestinian resistance to Israeli ers, a protest was organized here on Jan. occupation. From behind bars, Sa’adat 15 under the famous arch in Washington has been a leader in both the Palestinian Square Park. It was called by Samidoun prisoners’ movement and the Palestinian Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network. national liberation movement. He stands The crowd chanted, “From the river alongside nearly 6,000 fellow Palestinian to the sea, Palestine will be free!” and political prisoners as a symbol of interna- other slogans in support of justice for tionalist resistance to capitalism, racism, Palestine. A number of left parties and apartheid and colonization. organizations, including Workers World On Jan. 24, Khaled Barakat, the inter- Party, joined the demonstration, car- national coordinator of the Campaign to rying signs and banners in support PHOTO: BUD KOROTZER/DESERTPEACE Free Ahmad Sa'adat, will be speaking at a of the Palestinian struggle. Activists Support demonstration at arch in Washington Square Park. forum and discussion about the campaign distributed flyers about Palestine hosted by the International Action Center and Palestinian prisoners to pass- Front for the Liberation of Palestine. In 2006, he was seized from a Palestinian and Workers World Party. The forum will ersby, including information about the Sa’adat was arrested 17 years ago by Authority prison in Jericho, where he was be held at 147 West 24th St. in Manhattan case of Ahmad Sa’adat, the impris- the Palestinian Authority in the context of being held under U.S. and British guards, and starts at 6:30 p.m. ☐ oned general secretary of the Popular “security cooperation” with the Israelis. and brought before an Israeli military Appeal for Iranian journalist held in U.S.

By Taryn Fivek on the Black Lives Matter movement is The fact that the what earmarked her for state repression. U.S. is holding sev- On Jan. 13, U.S.-born journalist It is also likely that her kidnapping and eral Iranian citizens Marzieh Hashemi was arrested at St. detention are part of the ongoing effort captive as bargain- Louis Airport while on her way to visit a by the U.S. to crack down on the Islamic ing chips against the sick family member in Denver. Hashemi, Republic of Iran. Iranian government an African-American Muslim, has not Marzieh Hashemi was studying at the is not new. However, been charged with a crime. University of Louisiana when she came this is the first time Yet she was transported from St. Louis into contact with international students they have kidnapped to Washington, D.C., in chains, stripped supporting the Iranian Revolution of and held a U.S.-born of her clothing, given only a tee shirt to 1979. That revolution overthrew the U.S.- citizen in relation to wear, and offered pork meals in a disgust- backed torturer Mohammed Reza Pahlavi the Trump regime’s ing effort by her kidnappers to humiliate and ushered in an era of self-determina- crackdown on the and degrade her. Meanwhile, the U.S. tion for the Iranian people. After marry- Islamic Republic. government served subpoenas to her ing an Iranian, she migrated to Iran to In addition to the Marzieh Hashemi. children, who live in the United States, to work as a journalist. U.S. insistence that appear before a grand jury. She is best known as an anchor for the Canadian government turn over Meng immediate release of Marzieh Hashemi. The FBI claims she is being held as a PressTV, an international Iranian news Wanzhou, the CFO of Chinese company Online petitions can be found at both material witness for a criminal case and syndicate. Her stories prominently fea- Huawei—allegedly because she violated change.org/p/united-nations-join-saif- is not charged with anything. This means tured the Black Lives Matter struggle, the genocidal U.S. sanctions against oil- ali-to-release-marzieh-hashemi-it-s-not- that she can be held indefinitely. letting the world know about the Black rich Iran—this seems to indicate aggressive an-individual-issue-but-humanitarian/ It is no unusual thing for a Black community’s own struggle for self-de- maneuvering and a possible ramping-up of and http://tinyurl.com/y7cbcf44 woman, or any Muslim woman for that termination. Born and raised in New hostilities against Iran, one of the strongest We urge readers to sign them. Let’s matter, to be treated in such a disgusting Orleans, Hashemi was no stranger bulwarks against U.S. imperialism in the not stop until Marzieh is free! Hands and criminal way by the so-called U.S. to white supremacy and racism, and Middle East, Central Asia and worldwide. off Marzieh, her family, and the Islamic justice system. Some advocates voice sought to expose these crimes at every We join with the rest of the world’s work- Republic of Iran! ☐ legitimate concern that Hashemi’s work opportunity. ing class and oppressed in demanding the Page 10 Jan. 24, 2019 workers.org Where are leaders of the left in editorial the current struggles in France?

By Rémy Herrera However, do not forget that Jean-Luc Who’s really to blame Paris Mélenchon for more than 32 years was a mem- ber — general counselor, senator, minister! — of Dec. 28 — Many Yellow Vests say it over and over a Socialist Party that betrayed absolutely every- It is no exaggeration to say That better life, however, again: They have no leaders, and they don't want thing that could be betrayed regarding the hopes that the capitalist class in the is increasingly at risk as cap- them. Spontaneity has its virtues, and its charms, of leftist people. Moreover, his deeds chained the U.S. has, for well more than a italism replaces labor with certainly, but also its limits and its illusions — country to an ultra-capitalist European Union century, worked hard to instill machines. What workers here carrying the most terrible dangers. Contemporary — hidebound, pro-NATO, anti-democratic and fear and hatred of immigrants need to know is that it is the history has shown this time and again, from the hell-bent to destroy national sovereignty and the in order to divert attention profit system itself that is the German Spartakist Revolution of 1918-19 to the remaining social gains of the working class. from the real problems it cre- cause of such great instabil- uprisings of the "Arab Spring" in 2011. The exaggerated anti-communism of some of ates for those not born with a ity and growing misery today. If any popular uprising is to lead to concrete his close collaborators reminds us that for a time silver spoon in their mouth. That’s what is taking their jobs social progress, what it needs — in addition to the he was active in the International Communist In the early years of indus- — not immigrants. energy, determination and courage of the people Organization, a Trotskyist shock group that gave trialization, when the work- The irony is that the new — is unity, coordinated by a partisan fighting orga- France such "remarkable" men as a Lionel Jospin ing class was first organizing technology now pushing nization with a political program. — a Socialist Prime Minister who privatized as unions to fight for better pay workers onto the scrapheap However, the least we can say is that in today's much as the right had done before him — or a and working conditions, the could be used to make life France, during a generalized rebellion, the divi- Jean-Christophe Cambadélis — the ex-right arm powers that be targeted immi- better for everyone. An end to sions among progressive forces are extreme and of the "lamentable" Dominique Strauss-Kahn. grant workers for ferocious back-breaking labor? Great! sustained by the often more personal than political As he himself likes to repeat, Mélenchon's model repression. The Haymarket An end to repetitive, mind- quarrels among its leaders. This is a tragic division remains François Mitterrand — former president martyrs — four workers framed less jobs? Terrific! The abil- of the French left, which completely weakens it. of the republic (1981-95) who was decorated in his up and executed in Chicago ity to produce food, clothing Adding to that paradox is that this situation exists youth with a special award from Marshal Pétain, in the 1880s for deaths at a and shelter in abundance? at the very moment when a popular consensus is head of the Vichy puppet regime under German police-inspired riot during a Wonderful! building to reject not only neoliberal policies, but occupation during World War II. Mitterrand is massive rally for the 8-hour But not under capitalism. also President Emmanuel Macron himself. remembered as the one who introduced neoliberal day — were all immigrants. For every new robot or com- conservatism in France, on a par with Margaret Another notorious case puter-driven machine, more ‘France Unbowed’ Thatcher in Britain or Ronald Reagan in the U.S. involved Nicola Sacco and workers lose their skilled jobs. The leader best placed in the internal battle on This “unpleasant chore” of neoliberalism was Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian With the spread of advanced the left is probably Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the cur- implemented from 1983 onward by Prime Minister immigrants who were exe- technology comes the deskill- rent head of France Unbowed (France Insoumise). Laurent Fabius, a “socialist.” When he became cuted in 1927 after a notorious ing of more and more workers, Mélenchon had a significant accomplishment minister of foreign affairs 30 years later, Fabius frameup trial in Boston. the rise of the gig economy and when he won nearly 20 percent of the votes cast agitated to go to war against Syria! And it is "com- Trump’s ranting against a new kind of poverty based on in the first round of the presidential elections in rade Fabius" whom Mélenchon chose to support immigrants, to the point of part-time, temporary, low-paid April 2017. That was barely four points less than as the Socialist Party candidate in the 2007 presi- shutting down the government work that won’t cover rent, Macron, the candidate who was allowed to move dential elections. in his effort to get Congress food and transportation for into the presidential Elysée Palace. We understand that there is very little risk of to fund his $5.7 billion wall, one person, let alone a family. The Communist Party, despite some tenacious seeing Mélenchon as the head of France Unbowed follows in this long, sordid The early victims of anti-im- dissension, chose to rally to Mélenchon’s flag. In leading a possible break with capitalism. He is the tradition. This vicious bigot is migrant hostility in this coun- fact, he only lacked votes of his "old friends" to politician who in 1992 called for a "yes" vote on holding hostage both govern- try were often workers from come in first. These were, ironically, the Socialists the Maastricht Treaty, establishing the European ment workers and the services Europe who were “infected” on the one hand (whose candidate Benoît Hamon Union, because he thought he saw it as "the begin- they provide. with ideas of a better society obtained 6 percent of the vote), and the Trotskyists ning of a citizens' Europe." You can make some Yet even more painfully vic- based on sharing instead of — Nathalie Arthaud of Lutte Ouvrière who got 1 mistakes in life, but if you do it almost all the time, timized by this ruling-class exploitation. Many of today’s percent and Philippe Poutou of the New Anti- it sticks. campaign are the migrants immigrants, too, come with Capitalist Party who got 0.6 percent. themselves, and especially a history of organizing and With this electoral defeat swallowed and pain- French Communist Party and others their children. The news finally fighting the bosses in the coun- fully digested, Mélenchon was quick to seize the As the heir to a long history of heroic anti-fas- leaked out that small, vul- tries they left. Some of the best opportunity provided by the emergence of the cist and anti-colonialist resistance, the French nerable children were being organizers of low-paid work- Yellow Vests mobilization. It is true that he had Communist Party (PCF) retains a significant mil- snatched away from their par- ers here have been immigrants a great need to regain his popularity, seriously itant rank and file and still manages, to the best of ents at the border and held from Latin America and the tainted by a series of legal charges related in partic- its ability, several municipalities with popular and practically incommunicado for Caribbean, Africa and Asia. ular to his campaign accounts, which the corporate complicated sociological profiles. long periods. This has aroused You can be sure that the media enjoyed publicizing. Also an internal strug- But the erosion of its current leadership, which great sympathy in the hearts of bosses who put Trump in gle affected the leadership of his own movement, is largely reformist and whose strategy is narrowly many in this country and led to power know that. And while causing the resignation of several lieutenants. As a restricted to the electoral arena, has led the PCF on countless protests and demon- they often cringe at his out- result, after some hesitation, as early as November the most flattened and dull path, tailing the social strations to reunite them with landish behavior, they’re he posted on social networks his support for the democrats and replacing class struggle with the their parents. The most recent grateful for his anti-immigrant Yellow Vests and his intention to march among "struggle for posts." reports reveal the government rhetoric which is aimed at dis- them — but "discreetly." Once "at the vanguard of the proletariat," the PCF has not kept track of these chil- orienting workers here who Jean-Luc Mélenchon's political role has been, in is now under the control of leaders without convic- dren and doesn’t even know have every reason to fight these recent years, eminently positive for the collective tions. They follow the lead of social democrats who q how many are still separated. super-rich parasites. French left. And even beyond. His real talents as are themselves completely rudderless and who have Such disregard for families is a a public speaker have brought crowds together, become, for the most part, the worst neoliberals. crime against humanity. re-inspired them, The myriad of tiny parties that are authentically The billionaires who own set them in motion, communist and that revolve around the PCF — and this country do everything they given them hope against its leadership — are torn between being can to direct public anger away and instilled in "for" or "against" Yellow Vests. In other words, from the fact that their class is them once again their various positions on the ongoing mobilizations responsible for the growing the idea that pro- go unnoticed. misery workers face here. The gressive change for The leaders of the Trotskyist parties — singularly disgustingly super-rich badly the country is not numerous in France — are for their part surrounded need scapegoats and have only necessary, but by rivalries and sectarianism that border on ridi- made immigrants their target above all possible. cule, dividing them deeply and distancing them ever — even though the percentage Correctly, and further from the prospect of any political responsi- of recent immigrants in the better than any- bility, even local. Not to mention their lack of inter- population is at one of its low- body else, he has nationalist positions. est levels ever. formulated, sys- What about the environmentalists? Led by fer- It should never be forgot- tematized and rad- vent neoliberals, grossly masked (such as Nicolas ten that everyone here who icalized criticism Hulot, who was Macron's minister until September is not Indigenous or Black is of "the system." 2018, or the unspeakable Daniel Cohn-Bendit), they descended from immigrants. Finally, he has talked again about international- still have not understood that the most fundamen- Black people were dragged Yellow Vest demonstrators in France keep fighting ism, especially with regard to struggles in Latin tal cause of the devastation suffered by the environ- here in chains, but most of the austerity. America. In these particularly difficult times, it is ment is found in the capitalist system itself. Do they rest came willingly, looking for fortunate for the French left that a politician like need more time? a better life. him has been around. Continued on page 11 workers.org Jan. 24, 2019 Page 11 Where are leaders of the left in the current struggles in France?

Continued from page 10 "traditional" — currently represented by the Republicans upgrade pensions, but standardize the different pension — it has liquidated (with Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency) systems (as the government wants!); remove the Senate Finally, the leaders of anarchist movements remain its old interventionist and nationalist ideals to wallow — as if the problem were [only] there! — but count blank locked in the contradictions between useful activism at the feet of globalized high finance and U.S. warrior votes in elections. (during the occupation movements last spring, in par- hegemony. Also, create assemblies of citizens deciding laws by ticular) and an extraordinarily confused, if not counter- From the inevitable decay of these two distorted com- direct democracy, but allow referendums of citizens' ini- productive, program of action. ponents — the "false left" that was President François tiatives; increase salaries, but what about those of senior The people who are the foundations of these various Hollande's Socialist Party and the "new right" of Sarkozy executives and leaders?; increase social spending, but progressive forces are therefore, so to speak, left to their — with their interchangeable world views and programs, reduce assistance; adopt a real policy to protect the envi- own devices. And invited by their respective leadership their synthesis logically emerged: the "Macron fiction." ronment, but abandon the carbon tax; reduce gas and to maintain mistrust between all of them — even hate. That is, the ideal of the impossible bourgeois renewal. electricity prices, but without nationalizing the energy Of course, this is totally absurd and suicidal. The extreme right has always been the guard dog of sectors; abolish bank charges, but leave the dictatorial This sad observation is all the more terrible because capitalism. Every bourgeois ruling class in power nour- power of finance intact; regain national sovereignty, but entire sections of the impoverished French population ishes this bull mastiff with xenophobia, harsh criticism, remain in the European Union; etc., etc. are no longer represented by any of these left-wing and keeps it firmly on a leash. This perfect mess is mocked by the "experts" of the organizations. Will Macron be forced to release that dog against the bourgeoisie, who have fun pointing out the too many The ‘new poor’ French people in revolt when the time comes? The cap- blatant contradictions. What is important is elsewhere. italist class did this elsewhere a thousand times in the A point of no return seems to have been reached. For instance, the "new poor," as they are called, are 20th century. Common sense has emerged from the dungeon where immensely numerous, hit by unemployment and precar- it was held in chains. iousness. They are small family farmers crippled with The French left and the Yellow Vests A people in Yellow Vests has risen; a liberated, dem- debt, isolated, desperate; young people in the suburbs, The dark picture of the French left that is being drawn ocratic and extremely healthy slogan is invading tele- idle, ghettoized, abandoned by everyone except the here will not win clicks of friendship, smileys and thumbs vision sets, demanding that the rules of the game be police, drug traffickers and the rich Salafists [reactionary up. No doubt about it. changed. Finally. promoters of sectarian conflict]. This has happened even Unfortunately, this view is also likely to be shared by In 1789, the equally obvious scattering of the demands though these young people are most probably the safest a number of Yellow Vests, as well as by the distressed formulated in the "grievance books" by the peasants and bulwark against racism in the country and had already cohort of comrades who, out of disgust or exhaustion, sans-culottes — the people who produced the French risen up during the 2005-07 rebellions. have stopped being militants and instead have blended Revolution — did not in any way contribute to curbing Also among the new poor are immigrant families, left into the invisibility of the approximately 50 percent of its inevitability. on the margins of society; homeless, without a roof or a the French people who prefer to abstain from voting in Because in this anger that is rising and spreading all right; "untouchables," dehumanized; wandering ghosts, elections. over France, here and there we are discussing ... revolu- with faces distorted by the poverty we could see every- This inventory is not intended to offend, let alone tion. On blocked traffic circles, on picket lines, on social where, if anyone looked. demoralize. It should instead remind us of the need to networks, it is indeed revolution that we are talking And many others still. Are these a lumpenproletar- overcome divisions and unite progressives in the service about. iat? These are above all the millions of French people of people who are struggling and showing the way. It We are certainly a long way from that goal. Without whose lives have been sacrificed on the altar of modern aims to understand the rage that is driving people today sincere leaders of great stature, without an organized capitalism. and the reasons for their rejection of parties of the left. party, without a consistent program — and without the- How could the leaders of our left parties give up fight- The inadequacies of the progressive forces alone, how- ory, we should add — the great opening night of the rev- ing also for them? What happened in our ranks to con- ever obvious they may be, cannot explain, of course, the olution is certainly not tomorrow. vince us to give up so much? underlying reasons for the French rebellion — far from Meanwhile, the popular tabloids marvel at the exqui- Faced with the lamentable spectacle offered by this it. A complete change of system is required. site taste of "the first lady," Brigitte [Marie-Claude fragmented, nebulous left, the French bourgeoisie has On the left, however, few people say it very clearly: An Trogneux-Macron], including her Louis Vuitton dresses, adopted a velvet-glove approach, at least for the time exit from destructive capitalism is what is needed. trendy hairstyles and generous Presidential Palace being. Under these conditions, it is not surprising that Yellow receptions that make everyone "happy." The right — and the far right Vests — and large parts of the union rank and file with It seems like we’re returning to the time of Queen them — struggle alone. They mistrust even left-wing Marie-Antoinette who — at the sight of the Parisian The bourgeois right has certainly imploded. The politicians. masses in front of the Palace of Versailles who were component that we will call "centrist" — in the French Left-wing forces have no program to exit from capital- shouting that there was no bread left — yelled, "Let them case today, the Socialist Party — has sold its soul for ism — or even from the euro! No surprise then that the eat cake!” ☐ more than three decades (including the presidency of demands of the Yellow Vests are heterogeneous. They go Herrera is a Marxist economist, a researcher at the Mitterrand) by converting to the dogmas of neoliber- in all directions: lower all taxes, but restore the wealth Centre national de la Recherche scientifique (CNRS), alism and aligning itself in a combat position behind tax; lower employer charges, increase state financial who works at the Centre d’Économie de la Sorbonne, NATO's armies. assistance to companies, but develop the welfare state; Paris. WW staff translated this article. As for the other component of the right, which we call

Venezuela gov’t beats back attempted coup

Continued from page 1 the Maduro government, it is important imperialism since Chávez was first elected issued by the so-called ‘Lima Group,’ to keep in mind the following facts: in 1998. Venezuela faces hyperinflation … [whose position] corresponds to the The posture of this administration Venezuela is a target of world imperial- and shortages of goods, exacerbated by plan for the recomposition of imperialist makes it imperative for progressive forces ism because it sits on the largest reserves sabotage led by the oligarchy and the domination, advanced in Latin America inside the United States to defend the of petroleum of any single country in the bourgeoisie and by economic sanctions and the Caribbean by the United States sovereignty of Venezuela and thus defend world. imposed by imperialism. of America and its European allies, in the its legitimately elected government The Bolivarian governments in In his annual talk, Maduro, a former context of the sharpening of inter-cap- Keep in mind that Venezuela’s National Venezuela, first of Hugo Chávez and then bus driver, announced a fourfold increase italist and inter-imperialist contradic- Assembly no longer exists. It was declared of Maduro, are attempting to defend the in the minimum wage to attempt to tions for a new distribution of the world, null and void for ignoring a court order to country’s sovereignty and resources and counter galloping inflation. its natural wealth and energy sources. ... remove three legislators for voter fraud in use its wealth in the interests of the poor. “To achieve this goal, they propose to 2016; it was then effectively relieved of its Washington has long targeted these pro- Communist Party defends gov’t bury the social, political and cultural con- legislative responsibilities. gressive regimes. It backed a coup in 2002 The Communist Party of Venezuela quests of the Bolivarian process and the Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge that collapsed after a mass movement led (PCV), which has differences with the advances achieved by the correct patri- Arreaza tweeted on Jan. 16, “Venezuela by women workers and sections of the Maduro government over some parts of otic and anti-imperialist policy, led by demands respect for its democracy. While patriotic military rescued then-President its domestic program, nevertheless made President Hugo Chávez Frías. ... President Maduro calls for respectful dia- Chávez and restored him to power. clear that it will mobilize working people “To go in reverse, in spite of the incon- logue with the U.S., Secretary Pompeo Maduro himself was elected by a large in the cities and the countryside to defend sistencies, errors and omissions present and other extremist spokesmen look to majority and is the legitimate president, the government against imperialism. In in the direction of the Bolivarian pro- destabilize the country and incite vio- under the Venezuelan constitution, until a Jan. 7 statement answering the Lima cess, would be not to understand the his- lence. The Venezuelan people will defend 2025. Group, the PCV wrote: torical moment and to lose sight of the its sovereignty and its constitution.” None of this negates the problems “The Political Bureau of the PCV repu- main enemy: U.S. imperialism and its To avoid being submerged by a snow- faced by the Venezuelan economy, which diates and condemns the pro-imperial- European allies.” q storm of imperialist propaganda vilifying has been under relentless attack from ist and anti-democratic pronouncement Correspondencia sobre artículos en Workers World/Mundo Obrero pueden ser enviadas a: WW_MundoObrero@

¡Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los paises unios! workers.org Vol. 61 Núm. 4 24 de enero 2019 $1 Crisis económica en desarrollo: ¿política, sistémica o ambas?

Por Deirdre Griswold alimentos, el índice también se considera brutalmente a las/os manifestantes y hasta el punto en que se llega a la sobre- un indicador económico eficiente del futuro destruir su campamento. Esta operación producción. Los capitalistas que pueden 23 de diciembre—No hay duda de que crecimiento y producción económica. El militar comenzó durante la administra- expandir su campo de explotación sobre- el caos político en los EUA está contribu- BDI es considerado por algunas personas ción de Obama y fue continuada por la viven; los que no pueden, deben morir. yendo al aumento del pánico en la bolsa como un indicador económico importante pandilla Trump. Todos los capitalistas deben inten- de valores. porque predice la actividad económica Además, se espera que las ventas de tar hacerlo. Si bien pueden parecer un El cierre del gobierno por la exigencia futura". (Tradingeconomics.com) automóviles en los EUA el próximo año club de multimillonarios, en realidad de Trump de que el Congreso asigne $5 Las acciones en el BDI cayeron un 3 no lleguen a los 17 millones por primera son una manada de lobos que se atacan mil millones para construir un muro en la por ciento el viernes 21 de diciembre. Se vez en cuatro años. Todas estas cifras y mutuamente incluso cuando se unen para frontera con México, no sólo es obsceno espera que disminuyan cada trimestre proyecciones apuntan a tiempos más difí- degradar a las/os trabajadores. desde el punto de vista político, sino que durante el próximo año, de los actuales ciles para las/os trabajadores y pequeñas La Gran Depresión de la década de 1930 también afecta a toda la economía. $1.279 por acción a $939 en el tercer tri- empresas en los Estados Unidos. fue el resultado de una sobreproducción Lo mismo ocurre con la creciente hos- mestre de 2019. capitalista mundial. Esto llevó al colapso tilidad hacia China, como se ve con la Esta disminución anticipada en el envío Crisis capitalistas y sobreproducción de los mercados de valores en todos los imposición de aranceles por parte de la global es un indicador mucho más confia- ¿Qué es una crisis económica capi- países capitalistas desarrollados. Eso signi- administración Trump a cientos de miles ble de hacia dónde se dirige la economía talista? ¿De dónde viene? ¿Pueden las ficó el colapso de literalmente millones de de millones de dólares en productos chi- que el precio de otras acciones. medidas paliativas evitar que estos colap- empresas, corporaciones y bancos, que a su nos, que comenzó en abril pasado. Luego, sos periódicos ocurran? vez despidieron trabajadoras/es, produ- China impuso una cantidad igual de aran- Caen precios de productos básicos Tales preguntas han sido debatidas ciendo desempleo y sufrimiento masivo. celes a los productos estadounidenses, Al mismo tiempo, los precios de los por generaciones. Los analistas burgue- Los precios también cayeron, pero sin un afectando particularmente a los agricul- productos básicos como el petróleo tam- ses liberales, a menudo llamados "keyne- ingreso, ¿quién podría disfrutar de los tores en los Estados Unidos que producen bién se han desplomado. El petróleo es sianos" por el economista británico John precios más bajos? soja y carne de cerdo. Los precios de la particularmente sensible a las demandas Maynard Keynes, insisten en que la política Cabe señalar que, de todos los países soja y la carne de cerdo estadounidense generales de la actividad económica, ya del gobierno puede prevenir tales crisis. más grandes del mundo, solo la Unión ya han bajado. que alimenta las necesidades comerciales Su visión, llamada "teoría del subcon- Soviética, que había derrocado al capi- Pero estos choques a la economía que e individuales. sumo", sostiene que cuando a las/os tra- talismo, escapó del caos de la Depresión. se han originado a partir de los edictos Cuando la administración de los bajadores no se les paga lo suficiente para Con su economía planificada de propiedad políticos de la administración de Trump Estados Unidos impuso sanciones a Irán comprar los productos que producen, ocu- estatal, el desarrollo industrial de la URSS no son toda la historia. Hay muchos de manera unilateral, los productores de rre una crisis. Abogan por salarios y bene- de hecho se aceleró en la década de 1930. indicios de que el caos en los mercados petróleo en los EUA estaban encantados. ficios más altos como una forma de evitar ¿Qué acabó con ese colapso general del de valores refleja tendencias mucho más Steve Austin, de oil-price.net, escribió en estos colapsos periódicos del sistema. capitalismo? La Segunda Guerra Mundial. profundas en la economía capitalista. agosto que "la pérdida de 2,7 millones Esto parece ser un punto de vista pro La guerra más destructiva que el mundo de barriles diarios de Irán es un agujero trabajador/a, pero en realidad oculta ha visto. Y con ella llegó la destrucción Mercados bursátiles y enorme para los suministros mundiales de un punto de vista pro capitalista, ya que de muchos de los medios de producción precios de mercancías petróleo". Predijo que el precio del petró- argumenta que el capitalismo puede ser más antiguos, abriendo espacio para una Las acciones estadounidenses acaban leo se elevaría a 150 dólares por barril. domesticado y reformado. nueva ronda de desarrollo capitalista, a de terminar su peor semana desde agosto Más recientemente, otros analistas pre- Karl Marx y sus colaboradores recha- costa de cientos de millones de vidas. de 2011, cayendo un 17 por ciento desde dijeron que el crudo Brent, que se vendió zaron esta opinión. Marx mostró que las La lucha venidera sus máximos históricos. a 85 dólares por barril en octubre, podría crisis del capitalismo están integradas en Sin embargo, debajo de los altibajos de llegar a los 100 dólares. Todos deben el sistema. No provienen del subconsumo Ya sea que llegue tarde o temprano, otra la bolsa de valores, se esconde una cre- estar mordiéndose las uñas ahora. ¡El sino de la sobreproducción, y se repetirán crisis capitalista es inevitable. El dolor y el ciente evidencia de que la economía capi- crudo Brent se está vendiendo a $54 por mientras exista el capitalismo. sufrimiento que causará a la clase traba- talista va camino a una "corrección", un barril! El WTI, otro índice de los precios Marx argumentó que el subconsumo jadora, especialmente a los sectores más desplome, del tipo que ocurrió en 2008 o del petróleo, ha caído de $75 por barril a existía en anteriores sociedades de cla- oprimidos, por necesidad abrirá muchas algo aún peor. poco más de $45. ses. Tanto bajo la esclavitud como en el luchas nuevas y agregará ímpetu a los El sitio web tradingeconomics.com pro- Además, se espera que China compre feudalismo, las masas vivían en extrema movimientos progresistas existentes. porciona tablas detalladas sobre los precios poco o nada de petróleo crudo de los EUA pobreza, mientras que los ricos vivían en El establecimiento político capitalista, actuales y proyectados de las monedas, en 2019, citando la "incertidumbre polí- la opulencia. Las masas nunca ganaron particularmente el Partido Demócrata, acciones, mercancías y bonos. Como se tica" en sus relaciones con Washington. lo suficiente para comprar todo lo que intentará capturar y limitar estos movi- puede imaginar, reflejan los descensos en Los EUA ya mantienen un déficit récord producían y necesitaban. Sin embargo, mientos, argumentando que las reformas los precios que han ocurrido en muchas de $43 mil millones en su comercio con estas dos formas anteriores de opresión pueden resolver el problema. áreas de la economía en los últimos días, China, el cual ahora se espera que crezca de clase, por brutales que fueran, no pro- Por supuesto, las/os trabajadores especialmente en el precio del petróleo. aún más. dujeron crisis recurrentes de producción. deben luchar por reformas importantes. Pero ¿qué pasa con la perspectiva a Los bajos precios del petróleo pueden Las crisis de sobreproducción son una Necesitan salarios más altos e ingresos largo plazo? acabar con el negocio del fracking en característica únicamente capitalista. garantizados ahora, no en un futuro. Las proyecciones de precios para la Estados Unidos. El petróleo fracturado, Entonces, ¿qué es la sobreproducción? Necesitan atención médica asequible y mayoría de los productos generalmente en el que la roca se fractura por medio ¿Es solo producir más de lo que la gente escuelas eficaces. Se debe poner fin a la no son más que suposiciones fundamen- de un líquido presurizado, cuesta casi necesita? De ningún modo. Y si bien sig- ofensiva racista que amenaza las vidas de tadas. Los giros de la bolsa de valores, que $50 por barril el producirlo, por lo que nifica producir más de lo que el público las personas de color. Las/os inmigrantes se basan en la dirección anticipada de la no es rentable a los precios actuales. Esta puede comprar, también significa mucho necesitan encontrar un hogar seguro. Las economía, muestran cuán volátiles pue- podría ser una buena noticia para los más que eso. mujeres y las personas LGBTQ2S necesi- den ser tales conjeturas. ambientalistas y los pueblos indígenas, El sistema capitalista está impulsado tan que se supere la misoginia, la domina- Sin embargo, hay un indicador basado ya que el fracking es también el método por la necesidad de los propietarios de ción machista y la violencia sexual. en algo más importante: el Baltic Dry de extracción de petróleo más destructivo capital de capturar más mercado y, por Pero todas estas luchas reformistas no Index (BDI). El precio de las acciones en para el medio ambiente. lo tanto, ampliar su capacidad de produc- terminarán el problema básico. el BDI se basa en el volumen de bienes La gran lucha por el Dakota Access ción. "Expandir o morir" se encuentra en Para eso, estos movimientos populares que se enviarán durante el próximo año. Pipeline hace dos años involucró el sumi- el corazón de este sistema. pueden y deberán convertirse en parte de Este es un punto de referencia que indica nistro de petróleo hacia el este desde los Los capitalistas deben aumentar sus la lucha para acabar con el capitalismo, la dirección de la economía global. campos de fracking de Dakota del Norte. ganancias, no solo para tener un estilo que instiga y propaga todo tipo de discri- “Debido a que la mayor parte de los Cientos de manifestantes, invitadas/os de vida más rico para ellos mismos, sino minación y opresión. Solo la revolución productos secos a granel se compone de por naciones indígenas a venir a proteger también para volver a incorporar en sus social para acabar con el capitalismo materiales que funcionan como insumos sus amenazadas fuentes de agua, fue- negocios los medios para expandir la pro- puede erradicar las crisis económicas y, al de materias primas para la producción de ron arrestadas/os y heridas/os cuando ducción y así desplazar a sus rivales. Es hacerlo, redirigir nuestras energías para productos intermedios o terminados, como el gobierno federal envió a la Guardia esta competencia por el mercado la que satisfacer las necesidades de la humani- el concreto, la electricidad, el acero y los Nacional y la policía local para reprimir impulsa continuamente la expansión dad y el planeta. ☐