Life of early socialist agitator • • . 9 THE Economic crisis in Philippines 13 Chicanos back Watsonville strike 19

A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE VOL. 49/NO. 49 DECEMBER 20, 1985 75 CENTS S. Africa: unions back divestment; 12 freedom fighters win release New labor Racist federation frame-up in front line for treason of struggle collapses

BY FRED FELDMAN BY NORTON SANDLER The founding of the Congress of South An important victory was scored De­ African Trade Unions (COSATU) marks a cember 9 when the South African gQvem­ big step forward for the forces fighting to ment was forced to drop charges against 12 put an end to the racist apartheid system. of 16 leaders of the United Democratic With an estimated 500,000 members in Front (UDF) on trial in Pietermaritzburg. more than 30 unions. COSATU is the The racist apartheid regime had charged largest union federation in South Africa's the 'defendants with high treason, ter­ history. rorism, and fulfilling the objectives of the The founding convention, which con­ African National Congress. cluded with a massive rally December l. Outlawed in 1960. the African National placed COSATU in the front lines of the Congress has massive popular support in battle for a democratic , nonracial South South Africa. Africa. It expressed strong support for an Under South African law, persons con­ international economic boycott of the racist victed of treason can be executed. regime. The UDF is a nonracial anti-apartheid coalition of 600 groups with a combined The gathering declared the federation to membership of over 2 million members. be nonracial -open to workers of all col­ Since its founding in 1983, it has organized ors. It projected the goal of establishing a massive protests against the apartheid re­ single union for each of South Africa's in­ gime. dustries. Defendants in the trial included Archie . ) An indication of the impact COSATU is Elijah Barayi (left), president of newly formed Congress of South African Trade Gumede and Albertina Sisulu, copresi­ already having came just a few days later Unions; Zinzi Mandela, daughter of Nelson Mandela, in protest against jailings in dents of the UDF. Albertina Sisulu is mar­ when the World Council of Churches met South Africa. ried to ANC leader Walter Sisulu, who has in Harare, Zimbabwe. The church organi­ been in prison for 21 years. zation issued a strong appeal December 6 After the dismissal of the charges, the for economic sanctions against South Af­ dent Ronald Reagan, British Prime Minis­ pointed out that the U.S. and British gov­ UDF leaders charact~rized their trial as an rica, heeding calls for divestment by ter Margaret Thatcher, and others have jus­ ernments "tell us they are against disinvest­ attempt to "criminalize and immobilize the COSATU Secretary General Jay Naidoo, tified opposition to economic sanctions by ment because the Black people would opponents of apartheid." National Union of Mineworkers Secretary claiming to sympathize with Black workers starve, but Black people have been starving When they arrived back in Johannes­ Cyril Ramaphosa, and others. ~ who might lose their jobs. here since the first white settlers arrived in burg, several of the fom1er · defendants The strong stand for divestment at COSATU President Elijah Barayi, an 1652. were greeted by a crowd chanting, "Viva COSATU's founding convention was a employee of a Transvaal gold mine, de­ ··coSATU is in full support of divest­ UDF, viva Sisulu, viva Gumede." blow to the white minority regime. Presi- flated that hypocritical pose. Barayi ment," Barayi stated. " I think this at least has been a crushing COSTU's stand is a bold one. Advocacy victory for us," Sisulu told the crowd. of divestment is a criminal offense in South Activism against apartheid, she said , Africa. "has never stopped, but this will help keep Nicaragua labor protest hits The COSATU convention has called for it going.'' a national minimum wage with cost of liv­ The trial of the UDF leaders was seen as ing increases, pointing out that South Af­ South Africa's most important trial since new US.-backed aggression . rica's employers made "massive and un­ the 1964 conviction of Nelson Mandela, realistic" profits by paying starvation Sisulu, and other leaders of the African Na- BY BILL GRETTER wages to workers. It said it would fight to tional Congress. ' MANAGUA, Nicaragua Some have company books opened "so that When it opened October 21 , the regime 30,000 indignant Nicaraguans, organized workers could see exactly how the wealth was facing widespread protests over the ex­ by the country's main trade union federa- they have produced is being wasted and ecution of Black poet Benjamin Moloise. misused by the employers' profit system." Since then, there has been growing de­ Interview with leader of COSATU denounced "all unequal and fiance of the apartheid system. On De­ discriminatory treatment of women at cember I, 10,000 unionists rallied to cele­ Nicaraguan work, in society, and in the federation ." It brate the founding of the Congress of South union federation, page 4 Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 7

lion, demonstrated here at the U.S. em­ bassy December 6. They were protesting the shooting down of a Nicaraguan army Calif. refinery blast kills 3 helicopter on December 2 by mercenaries armed and organized by the U.S. govern­ BY JOETTE BAITY fireball 400-500 feet high at temperatures ment. CARSON, Calif. - Three refinery up to 5000° F . Pieces of metal were found The Nicaraguan government has re­ workers are dead and more than 40 others atop buildings a block away from the refin­ ported that 14 Nicaraguan soldiers were injured - some criticall y - after explo­ ery. killed in the helicopter crash. The aircraft sions and fire devastated the No. I re­ One ARCO worker told reporters that was shot down 'near the Sandinista army former unit at Atlantic Richfield Corpora­ the initial explosion "felt like Vietnam. I base of Mulukuka by a SAM-7 surface-to­ tion's (ARCO) refinery here December 5. just looked to see where it was going, and I air missile. It had been supplied to the State officials are calling it the worst re­ went the opposite direction.'' mercenary Nicaraguan Democratic Force finery disaster in Southern California his­ A construction worker from Houston by the CIA. Sandinistas explained. The tory. ARCO and other Los Angeles area oil was climbing a fence "to get out of there. counterrevolutionaries have not previously refineries have bad an alarming number of When I was almost to the top, it blew and used this weapon. accidents and fires in recent years, with a blew me over the fence and out into the Militant/Bill Gretter The Sandinista Workers Federation mounting death toll. street." He suffered cut hands. Nicaraguan militia members. Union (CST) sponsored the protest demonstra­ The December 5 disaster at ARCO oc­ Many of the other construction workers l.eader told 30,000 at prote..cot that Nicara­ tion. CST General Secretary Lucfo curred when a line containing gasoline weren' t so lucky, suffering severe bums. guans are prepared to fight against CIA­ Jimenez told the angry crowd: under high pressure burst. The highly Scores of construction workers had been · organized war. Continued on Page 15 flammable hydrocarbons ignited into a Continued on Page 3 Interest in 'Militant' coverage of garment pact

BY ARLENE RUBINST EIN as a result of regular sales outside creases. It also introduced two-tier told him that what's in this paper is with a three-year wage freeze. LOUISVILLE, Ky.-The Mil­ the plant. Many workers picked up provisions in bonus payments and what is happening to me," she "We don' t make what we deserve itant's coverage of the Amalga­ copies of the special Miliram sup­ in vacation rights and other bene­ said. to begin with," he said. mated Clothing and Textile Work­ plement on the freedom struggle in tits. These provisions will give A majority of workers who read Other workers described the ers Union (ACTWU) contract with South Africa distributed by a team new hires less than other workers. the article enjoyed the opportunity pressures they felt when the bosses the cotton manufacturers got a at the plant in September. While some coworker-S argue to learn more about the contract announced that the plant would friendly response from garment When the contract article ap­ you can't knock having more and get some of their questions an­ shut down permanently if the con­ workers at three area shops. peared, we made a special push to money in our pockets now, others swered. Many began to discuss it tract wasn't signed. Socialist garment workers from get it around. It prompted a lot of looked ahead to the future and the with each other. The team at Derby Cap was im­ ACTWU Local 496 at Enro Shirt discussion on the job. The only impact 24 months of frozen wages At two other plants that are not mediately struck by the small will have on them and on their covered by the national agree­ number of workers entering the families. ment, our sales team met garment plant, compared to the last time One worker felt strongly that workers who are dealing with we sold there. We learned that SELLING OUR P·RESS accepting a two-year wage freeze some of the same issues in local many workers were laid off and also weakens our union's ability to contract fights. that others were working short AT THE PLANT GATE bargain for more in the future. Across the river in New Al­ weeks. Another coworker commented bany, Indiana, gannent workers at We also learned that it was a that Enro could afford the 25- M. Fine and Sons expressed common opinion among the work­ Co. participated in sales at that other news about the contract had cents-an-hour increase in the third mixed feelings about their new ers that they had gotten the worst plant and at two others. The sales been a sketchy report presented to year from the interest it made by contract. Some workers we talked of it in their contract negotiations. allowed us to share experiences a union meeting. The contract was holding onto the bonus money with fel t that a victory had been They had received a 10-cent in­ with other garment workers and to ratified almost unanimously. until. the end of each of the first won. The union forced the com­ crease in their hourly wages, but, get a better picture of the common The Militant's assessment ofthe two years. pany to raise their initial offer of a in exchange, the employer was no problems we face. contract was that it represents a One new hire said she ap­ $250 bonus to $500. longer paying for health-care At Enro a handful of our co­ setback for our union because it preciated a newspaper that stuck A shipping and receiving clerk coverage. workers have bought the Militallf introduced the payment of lump up for all workers. who bought the Mililanr. how­ We sold four copies of the Mil­ before. Others have seen the paper sum bonuses instead of wage in- "I showed it to my husband and ever, expressed his fru stration itant. S. African union federation challenges apartheid

Continued from front page COSATU. SACTU favored the effort to Strikes spread to other cities, as well. workers, textile workers, and others began declared that "women workers experience form a new federation. Th¢ Black Allied Workers Union to be organized. exploitation as workers and oppression as (BAWU) , founded in 1972, began to grow The defeat in early 1976 of the South Af­ women and that Black women are further Savage blows rapidly. BAWU emerged as part of the de­ rican invasion of Angola, in which the An­ discriminated against on the basis of race." By the mid- 1960s, a network of racist veloping Black Consciousness movement. golan government had the aid of thousands COSATU resolved to set up a subcom­ laws and brutal repression effectively de­ which expressed the growing self-assertion of internationalist Cuban volunteers, in­ mittee to promote women's rights. prived Black workers of the right to or­ of the Black masses. spired South African Blacks. Students in The federation announced it would ganize. strike, or protest. The Chemical Workers Industrial the Black townships initiated a massive boycott the government's Johannesburg Forced deportations to Bantustans (de­ Union, Metal and Allied Workers Union, popular upsurge later that year. This gave a centenary celebration next year. Instead, solate reservations for Africans) expanded National Union of Textile Workers, and further impulse to union organization. the unions would organize a program "to the number of migrant laborers to more others gained strength. In the wake of the upsurge, a majority of highlight I 00 years of exploitation and op­ than 2 million. They were barred from the South African rulers came to the con­ pression in Johannesburg and especiall y in bringing their families with them. A sys­ The strike wave also split the Trade clusion that the apartheid system needed to the mining industry.'' tem of labor bureaus in the Bantustans Union Confederation of South Africa be modified if it was to survive. forced migrant Black workers to accept any (TUCSA), which had gone along with the Setback for apartheid job on whatever terms were offered. apartheid laws. A number of Coloured and New labor law The formation of COSATU marks a high During the decade before 1973, there Indian officials in one of the white-domi­ In 1979, the regime adopted a new labor point in the battJe of South Africa's Black were few strike ljattles. Apartheid dealt nated· parallel unions set up for Blacks by law allowing for government recognition workers to claim their rights. I! marks a savage blows to the Black masses. TUCSA split to form an independent auto of labor unions that registered with the workers' union. setback for the rulers' dream of guarante­ During those same years. however, the government. The employers had pressed eing the white bosses a disenfranchised, rapid expansion of industry and mining­ Unions of metal workers, transport Continued on Page 14 rightless, migrant, and disor&anized force paid for in Black blood and superexploited of cheap labor. labor- laid the basis for a powerful chal­ The regime banned recognition of non­ lenge to the racist system. The number of racial unions in 1954 as part of the package Black workers rose to as many as 8 mil­ Harvard rally for abortion ·right s of racist legislation that consolidated the lion. apartheid system. The government set out This undermined the regime's attempt to BY LYNNE FAIN It renected NOW's initial success in or­ to crush all independent unions based on prevent the development of massive, rela­ CAMBRIDGE. Mass. - As part of a gani zing student activists in the fight for the Black population. In particular, it tively permanent concentrations of Black campaign to build the National March for abortion rights. Participants came from aimed to break the nonracial South African workers in the cities. Today, I I million of Women's Lives, National Organi zati on for Boston University, Tufts, Northeastern, Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), the 24 million Africans live - under Women President Eleanor Smeal spoke to University of Massachusetts, Harvard, founded in March 1955. SACTU worked strictly segregated conditions - in urban some 350 activists, mostly from area cam­ Orandeis, Wellesley. and other campuses. alongside the African National Congress areas in the 87 percent of South Africa re­ puses. at Harvard University. Boston NOW President Jennifer Jack­ (ANC) and other organizations to protest served by law for whites. "We are detern1ined to show that we arc man explained that "building the campus the imposition of apartheid. SACTU was The abysmally low Black living stan­ the real majority on women's ri ght to keep an early supporter of the Freedom Charter, campaign is important in defending the dards imposed by apartheid inevitably abortion safe and legal,''· Smeal told the issue and feminism itself.·· adopted by a congress of anti-apartheid or­ spurred efforts to fight back. November 17 rally. NOW is sponsoring ganizations in 1955. two abortion rights marches-on March 9 NOW is reaching out to young women By the mid- 1960s. SACTU had been Strike wave in Washington, D.C., and on March 16 in on campus, who have a major stake in de­ driven underground , although it was not In 1973, a strike wave began in Durban. Los Angeles. fending abortion rights. formally banned. One of its unions, the By the end of the year, 100,000 workers The rally was organized by the Radcliffe Smeal urged everyone to begin organiz­ Food and Canning Workers, survived had participated in strikes in that city. win­ Union of Students and the Boston chapter ing to maximize participation in the East openly and participated in founding ning wage increases and other gains. of NOW. and West Coast national marches.

The Militant tells the truth - Subscribe today! The Militant That's the way you'll get facts about Washington's war against working people at home and abroad: from Closing news date: December II, 1985 South Africa, El Salvador and Nicaragua, to embattled Editor: MALIK MIAH Managing editor: workers and farmers in the United States. Read our pro· MARGARET JA YKO posals on how to stop the U.S. government's support Business Manager: for the apartheid regime in South Africa , its interven­ LEE MARTINDALE tion in Central America and the Caribbean, and the em­ Editorial Staff: Rashaad Ali, Susan Apstein, Fred ployers' offensive here. Read our ideas on what it will Feldman. Andrea Gonzalez. Pat Grogan, Arthur take to replace this system of exploitation,. racism, and Hughes, Tom Leonard. Harry Ri ng. Norton Sandier. sexism with a system that's in the interest of working Published weekly except one week in August and the people. last week of December by the Militant (ISSN 0026- At the plant gates, picket lines, and unemployment 3885), 14 Charles Lane. New York, N.Y. 10014. Tele­ lines, the Militant is the re, reporting the news, par­ phone: Editorial Office, (2 12) 243-6392; Business Of­ fR[l . , ticipating in the struggle. To subscribe today, fill out the fice. (2 12) 929-3486. attached coupon. Cor respondence concerning subscriptions or changes of address should be addressed to The Mili- · Enclosed is : u $3 for 12 weeks n $15 forb months tant Business Office, 14 Charles Lane, New York, somnJ STOP o $24 for 1 year o A contribution N.Y. 10014. . Name ______Second-class postage paid at New York. N.Y. POST­ lfRIU ._ APARnlll MASTER: Send address changes to The Militant, 14 Address------'=------­ Charles Lane, New York, N.Y. 10014. Subscriptions: U.S. $24.00 a year. outside U.S. $30.00. By first-dass City/State/Zip ------mail: U.S .. Canada. and Mexico: $60.00. Write for air­ - NOW. Telephone ______mail rates to all other countries. Signed articles by contributors do not necessarily rep­ Union/Organization ------­ resent the Militant's views. These are expressed in edito­ rials. Send to Militant, 14 Charles Lane. New York. N .Y. 10014

2 The Militant December 20, 1985 Boston hotel workers defeat concessions elimination of paid holidays; and an in­ ment's concession demands. watched on television each night as hun­ crease in the room quota for room atten­ One leaflet explained, ''Boston hotel dreds of hotel workers packed into the dants. workers will not accept the concessions lobby of City Hall for hours, chanting, ral­ The union was able to defeat virtually all that have been demanded of workers across lying, taping union banners onto the walls, concessions demanded of them without the country." Tt continued, "Hotel workers and singing union songs. being forced on strike. The hotel workers have been historically underpaid and un­ also registered gains on some of their key dervalued. They need to move forward and Solidarity grows demands for advances in their social rights not step backward." As negotiations went into the final on the job. . In addition. the local focused on hours. the hotel workers were joined by Management backed off at the last min­ mobilizing to fight for a "social agenda," in dozens of supporters from area unions and ute. following a one-day extension of the addition to its economic demands. Central political groups. Unionists from United strike deadline to allow for i'inal negotia­ to this agenda were demands for affirma­ Auto Workers District 65, International tions. Local 26 President Dominic Boz­ tive action in promotions. moves to stem Union of Electronic Workers Local 201, zotto reported to hundreds of cheering local sexual harassment, and increased child­ and International Ladies' Garment Work­ members at 12: I 0 a.m. that a successful care facilities for women workers. ers' Local 3 11 came. They were joined by agreement had been reached. activists form the Central America Solidar­ The hotel management coalition arrayed 'Whatever it takes' ity Association and Black church leaders. Shortly after midnight, Bozzotto re­ against the union included the nine union­ With only 10 days ieft before their con­ ported to the crowd that the union had won. ized hotels in Boston, backed by five other tract expired, over 1,500 members and hotels that are not union-organized but that supporters of Local 26 jammed into the Ar- · Wage increases of 6 percent a year for each of the next three years, increases in com­ traditionally pass gains won by the union lington Street Church for a rally. The par­ pany-paid health insurance premiums, and on to their employees. ticipants reflected the multinational com­ other economic advances were made. The Behind the scenes stood the giant insur­ position of the union - Latinos. Haitians, union retained a 30-day probationary ance firms that own and direct the hotels­ West-Indians, U.S. Blacks, Asian-Ameri­ period against hotel demands that it be tri­ led_ by the John Hancock and Prudential cans, and others. pled. They won Martin Luther King. Jr. 's Life Insurance companies. Workers repeatedly chanted the union's slogan for the contract fight: "Whatever it birthday as a paid holiday. Membership fights for 'social agenda' takes, for as long as it takes." The hotels agreed to an aggressive af­ firmative action program, especially in Company efforts to roll back the wages In addition to union President Bozzotto, opening up better-paying "front of the and working conditions of the maids, bar­ speakers induded Arthur Osborne, presi­ house" jobs to Blacks, Latinos, and Asian­ tenders, porters. and hotel restaurant work­ dent of the Massachusetts State AFL-CIO; Americans. They agreed to hold regular ers that make up Local 26's membership and Lucille Dickus, representing Local 34 seminars and take other steps to counter Mobilization of union's ranks defeated were held off by a determined and impres- . of the Federation of University Employees, sexual harassment. The hotels were held to virtually all bosses' concession demands. sive mobilization of the union's ranks. The an .affiliate of the same International as the a three-year contract, as opposed to one local's membership is more than one-half Boston hotel workers. covering five years. women, with significant percentages of She spoke of the successful struggle of The union was able to cut back on man­ BY GARY COHEN Blacks, Latinos, Haitians, Asians, and re­ her clerical workers' local against Yale agement's demand for a two-tier wage sys­ AND JOHN STUDER cent Portuguese immigrants. University. Dick us stressed the important tem for the first year. Nevertheless, the BOSTON, Mass - On December 2 the The local published a special issue of its role of women workers in t~at fight. local voted to accept a four-month starting 4,000 members of Local 26 of the Hotel, paper to outline the concession demands of Also offering support were Tom Evers wage of $5 before new hires· wages would Restaurant, Institutional Employees and the hotels and to prepare to mobilize the president of the Massachusetts Building go up to the current average level of $6. 15. Bartenders Union voted overwhelmingly to union to fight against them. This paper, Trades Council, and a number of area pol­ Hotel workers felt that the contract - approve a new contract. This represented a like most of the local's publications. was iticians. which was ratified overwhelmingly - had successful culmination of their militant ef­ printed in five languages - English, The last two days of the negotiations ­ successfully countered the overall conces­ forts to defeat hotel management's de­ French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Viet­ including the one-day extension of the mands for deep concessions. strike deadline - were conducted at Bos­ sion drive of the hotels. · namese. One Black worker at the City Hall rally, ton City Hall . The hotels had demanded wage cuts The paper and special leaflets drawn up Steven Washington, told the Mifitam that The mayor shuttled back and forth be­ across all classifications; a five-year con­ both for the membership and for the rest of the local's approac:;h to the contract fight tween the union and the hotels' tract; a longer probationary period; de­ the labor movement to inform them about was expressed in the fact that everything negotiators. creases in health, welfare, and pension the battle shaping up highlighted the local's from local meetings to contract bulletins benefits; cuts for banquet workers; the determination to fight against manage- Workers throughout the Boston area was translated into the languages of the membership. .. "It was the most beautiful thing I have seen," he said. "It shows we care about us Explosion was 'like an earthquake' and others. In short, we show that manage­ ment had better beware: we shall have vic­ Diane Jacobs is a machinist and tory." maintenance mechanic at the ARCO re­ finery in Carson, California. She 1s a member of Oil , Chemical and Atomic UN picket line hits Workers Local 1-1 28. Jacobs was work­ ing in the machine shop when the first U.S.-organized war explosion occurred. This is her descrip­ against Nicaragua tion of what happened. BY CLAUDIA HOMMEL BY DIANE J ACOBS · NEW YORK - Demanding that the CARSON, Calif. - lt was sh011ly be­ U.S. government end its war against Nica­ fore 10 a.m. when suddenly we heard a ragua, 60 activists participated in an early huge boom, and the ground shook. My first morning picket line outside the United Na­ thought was that it was an earthquake. tions and the U.S. Mission December 9. · Like all those around me , I immediately The demonstration was called in response ran for the exit. As I did, I saw the win­ to the shooting down of a Nicaraguan dows lining the roof glowing red. Other ex­ helicopter by mercenaries organized by plosions followed. Washington. It turned out that the blast had occurred ·A SAM-7 surface-to-air missile was at a processing unit very near the machine used to down the helicopter December 2. shop. As we ran out. we could feel the heat All 14 Sandinista soldiers aboard were at our backs. A giant fireball filled the sky. killed. This is the first time such missiles Many of us were wondering if the explo­ have been deployed in Latin America. It sions would spread. represents an escalation of the U.S . -backed Standing across the street from ihe refin­ war against Nicaragua. ery, the workers watched the emergency Francisco Cano from Nicaragua's Farm helicopters fly in to pick up the most in­ Workers Association (ATC), who is visit­ jured. ... ing the United States, responded to Reagan We heard that one of those killed had Speed-up contributed to explosion that killed three workers and injured 40 others at administration charges that Cuban pilots only eight days to go before retiring. Atlantic Richfield Corporation's refinery in Carson, California. were flying the helicopter. He told a De­ Another had just started training. He was cember 8 meeting here: "We know very 19 years old. well how to defend ourselves and how to ARCO likes to boast about its supposed pilot our own helicopters. The U.S. war good safety record. In a small ceremony, 3 die in Calif. refinery disaster has forced us to learn." management awarded everybody in my de­ The protest began outside the United Na­ partrr....

December 20, l985· · - The Militant 3 -Why Nicaraguan workers are supporting state of emergency measures Interview .with general secretary of Sandinista Workers Federation

and the Militam. It is scheduled to appear Q. Whr does the CST fa \'Or the slaU' of La Pren.1·a is completely free to circulate. Introduction in PM in the Dec. 30, 1985. issue . Below. emergency measures? In fact. I would even say this: for unionists. On October 15 the Nicaraguan workers· we print a full translation of the interview. it"s important to have an exchange of opin­ A. As you know. we are the victims of a and peasants' government reinstated a The translati on is by the Miliwnt. ions. in order to improve the re volution. war· that has now been going on for more series of state of emergency measures. We want an exchange of opinions. We than four years. It puts the revolution in a Their purpose is to combat counterrevolu­ don't want t'o hear only opinions favorable very difficult situation economicall y. For tionary terrorism and destabilization at­ Jimenez to the revolution: we also want to hear criti-' example. imag ine what it means to us that tempts, which are p.art of the war the U.S. cism of the revolution. in order to advance .Question. Bej01:e you wke up the .swte every time wages are increased -as they government · is sponsoring against this the revolution. That's why we're happy of emergency itself. could you describe to have been three times this year, even in the small country. The measures give the with the democratic electoral process that us what conditions were like for Nicara­ midst of this war- then inflation is just country's police the power to arrest and we carried out with the National Assembly, guan trade unionists under the Somoza re­ · that much worse. hold without normal constitutional guaran­ and with the open hearings where we're gime? And on _top of that, we have to be ready tees persons suspected of sabotage. assas­ going to be able to discuss the new con­ to mobilize ourselves in the Patriotic Mili" sination, and other counterrevolutionary Answer. I think it's important to begin stitution.-1 tary Service lSMPJ or in the Sandinista attacks on the Nicaraguan people. by mentioning that at the point when we But that's not the same as allowing the In declaring the measures, the govern­ Military Reserves.' In the SMP. the first overthrew the dictatorship. only 7 percent revolution t<> be sabotaged by enemy ment explained some of the illegal actions contingents of demobilized youth are now of the workers were unionized. Only 7 per­ aoents who are clearly infiltrated into the returning victorious. They're returning just b • that made the state of emergency neces­ cent ! This was logical, of course, because at the point when they've completed the rearguard of this great war we're wagmg. sary. For example. the police had just bro­ Somoza ran a dictatorial government. tremendous task of putting Reagan's im­ ken up a plot to bomb public facilities fre­ Unions weren't just an inconvenience for 'Mercenaries are being annihilated' perialist mercenaries on the defensive quented by workers in the capital city of the military dictatorship, they were a real strategically. And new contingents are pre­ These sectors can see that the mercenary Managua. The conspiracy had been or­ danger. So the approach they took was paring to go off to replace them. forces are being a nnihilated. You too can ganized by the Nicaraguan Democratic very firm; they smashed any move to or­ see that they really are being annihilated. Force (FDN), the main U.S.-backed ganize strikes. 'Survive to win the war' Last year_we couldn't even harvest the co_f­ mercenary group, whose commanders are For example, I remember very well the We have to spend as much as necessary fee in many parts of the country, and m ex-Qfficers of the National Guard of dic­ first strikes of construction workers, which to win the war. And we've chosen to do other places harvesting it was a real mili­ tator Anastasio Somoza. I participated in . The National Guard that. In a serious, responsible, and pre­ tary operation. although we did bring in the Somoza ruled Nicaragua until July I 9, showed up arn1ed with clubs and rifles. meditated way, we have decided to survive harvest. 1979, when he was overthrown by a popu­ And they broke their clubs over the work­ in order to win the war. When I say .. we'' You as repo rters can now go to the cof­ lar insurrection of the Nicaraguan workers ers' heads. fee farms, and you can compare what you and peasants, led by the Sandinista Na­ And I remember May Day, toward the see this year with the previous year. This tional Liberation Front. very end; 1978, if I'm not mistaken. Of ,, ______The Nicaraguan government also shut year we can say that we're in a favorable course there was a preinsurrectional situa­ position to get in the coffee crop. That's · down a provocative newspaper being pub­ tion in Nicaragua at the time. We knew that State of emergency is why we always talk about production and lished illegally by an office of the Catholic we were preparing for the decisive battles church hierarchy. The paper attacked Nica­ weapon to tie hands of de fense as a single task. Because if we had against the dictatorship. But still we said to not put the mercenaries on the defensive; ragua's right to defend itself from the U.S.­ ourselves, "We have to turn out .in the imperia lis~ agents . backed mercenaries and urged youth to we would not be able to harvest the coffee. streeis for the working class on May Day." And while the mercenaries are being evade the draft. Of course it was very difficult to have a ------~-----'' liquidated. what is imperialism planning? Earlier this fall. COSEP. the Nicaraguan public May Day event outdoors. In other Imperialism is trying to find ways to revive big businessmen's association, tried to events previously we had been attacked here, I'm refetTing to the workers' move­ the mercenaries. who are in a strategic de­ hold a public meeting to honor a landlord­ with tear gas. etc. ment. The workers· movement has the mercenary killed in I 980 while carrying choice of saying, "Look, instead of invest­ feat. So we went ·to the Don Bosco Church. Of course this strategic defeat is going to out terrorist actions against the revolution. When we got there the entry was blocked ing 25 percent of our resources in defense. cost us more lives and blood, and still The meeting was banned. off by National Guard patrols. But we said, give it to us in the form of a wage in­ The state of emergency measures also crease." greater sacrifices. In the coming year we're "Okay, we can't let them mess with our going to have to devote even more effort to prohibit strikes. Opponents of the Nicara­ May Day event." So we tore the grates off But we say, " No. it's better to invest that this. We' re going to have to go all out- to guan revolution in the United States ha~e the windows, and thousands of workers 25 percent in military defense. because that hit the mercenaries with crippling blows 'charged that this is proof that the Sandtms­ went in. Then the Guard attacked, and way we can maintain the revolution, and tas repress trade unionists. throughout the country. Because we can some of our people were taken prisoner. we will never again have the Somoza dic­ say now that we're dealing crippling blows The Sandinista Workers Federation Others were able to ger out through the tatorship in Nicaragua." We've chosen the (CST), Nicaragua's largest union federa­ in some areas, but in other areas that's still windows. I escaped with a gro~p of about policy of bare survival in order to win the not the case. tion, has come out strongly in favor of the 10 people, with the Guard following us. war. state of emergency. On November 21 in They set up a 30-millimeter machine gun Why do unionists take this approach? So then what happens? Some internal Managua, CST General Secretary Lucfo and began firing. Almost a whole platoon Because we're in agreement with this point agents of imperialism think that because Jimenez gave an interview to Perspectiva of National Guard troops arrived armed of view when we confront problems of sup­ there are economic problems - serious Mundial, the Spanish-language sister pub­ with Galil and M- I 6 rifles. And in the end , . ply or wages, or other social problems of economic problems, in fact - that people lication of the Militant. In the interview, of the 10 compaiieros in that group, only the revolution. This is the course that we are discontented and the revolution is Jimenez explained the CST's stand and an­ one or two came out alive. have chosen. weak. That's what they think. They don't swered the accusations that the state of So with the military dictatorship, it And we don't do it out of an abstract idea realize that this is the alternative that we emergency measures are antiunion. wasn't even possible to celebrate May Day of "defending our power.'' For many ourselves have chosen - to survive in The interview was conducted in Spanish in Nicaragua. That's the kind of thing that people, maybe for most people in the order to win the war. by Bill Gretter and Cindy Jaquith of the we have to compare to the present situa­ United States. to speak of "defense of po­ Managua bureau of Perspectiva Mundial tion. Some of these agents of imperialism, the litical power" is somewhat abstract. For us most important ones, are in COSEP. And it's not abstract, it's concrete. It means the some are officials of the church hierarchy. possibility that next year we will have but they're nothing more than mouthpieces much less difficulty harvesting the coffee, for the counterrevolution. Notice, how­ cotton, and sugar, which we use to buy the ever, that I said "some" because I don't things we need to survive. These are our want to confuse some church officials with sources of foreign exchange income. So the large number who are for the people this, concretely, is our hope as workers. and for the revolution. And I don't want to As you can see, the state of emergency is confuse COSEP with the thousands of the judicial context that didn't exist before. compaiieros who are producing for the rev­ It is the judicial context which, through this olution. But there are some, and we can't immense sacrifice, the people and the leave their hands free. We can't leave them working class are able to develop our strug­ free to sabotage the gigantic effort of the gles and to avoid abuses by the imperialist working class and the combatants. agents. I mention the abuses, because there are For example, there was the case of a ~pokespeople for the counterrevolution newspaper put out by these enemies, these who exist here. La Prensa is, for all practi­ agents of imperialism. It was an illegal cal purposes, a representative of the mer­ paper, flagrantly violating the estabished c'enaries, a mouthpiece for the Reagan ad­ laws. We cannot permit this: that at the ministration. same time that we're struggling to develop There's an open debate here. And i,f the the revolution, there's a newspaper that's sabotaging our efforts. And I'm not talking ~bo ut La Prem.-a. 2 presses the views of Nicaragua's big landlords and capitalists. ·:\. In November 1984 N{caragua held elections I. The SMP is Nicaragua's military draft , for president, vice-president. and national con­ which all men age 17 to 24 are req uired to regis­ stituent assembly. The National Assem bly is ter for. Recently, Reserve Mil itary Service was currently drawing up a constitution for Nicara­ also instituted . Men age 25 to 40 must register gua. Political parties and mass organi zations, for the Reserves, and some will be called up for such as the CST. have presented their proposals Militant/Bill Gretter active service. along with the SMP draftees. for the document. The drafting process will also Workers at a Managua metal fabrication factory sign up for ser vice i~ army r~serv~s. include open hearings with the Nicaraguan Jimenez points out that working people have chosen .to def~nd revolutiOn and 1ts gams 2. La Prensa is a daily newspaper published il) people to gather their proposals on what the against U.S.-inspired war- regardless of the sacrdices 1t may take. Managua that opposes the re volution and ex- constitution should contain .

4 The Militant Decembef 20, 1985 mercenaries want to come back to the cap­ had a day of activities. and discussed what ital of Nicaragua , they can do so. They can to do about the problem of the debt. put down their arms. and they can come back. If they .want to. they can try to con­ T he state of emergency in our case is to vince us. They can try to do political work block the agents of imperialism. so they here, if they 're able to. Why don ' t they do don't have their hands free to sabotage the it? Because they know they wouldn't suc­ revolutionary process. It's so that we as ceed. workers can devote ourselves to deepening The revolution opened the doors to them the revolution. to come back. And who came back? The There are people who believe that in young men who were tricked and sent off Nicaragua there are soldiers on every street to the mercenaries when they tried to avoid corner; people can't move around freely; ' the SMP. The newspapers have reported on there's a curfew. So it's imponant for you those who have gone to Honduras, sup­ to clarify for readers in the United States posedly to get away from the danger of the and elsewhere that this is not the case. war, and what happened to them is that Really. the state of emergency is a weapon they were sent to the mercenaries instead. in the hands of the workers. It's like a rifle - a political rifle. It's like the SMP, a Right to strike weapon in the hands of the workers to con­ Q. What about the right to strike? front the imperialist aggression on all MilitantJ Bill Grettcr fronts. A. I have to tell you that this is a con­ CST leader Lucio Jimenez dl!ring interview We think that public opinion internation­ tradictory thing. This is noi the first time ally will see how valuable this measure .is. that we have had the right to strike sus­ I'm sure it won't be understood overnight. pended. You may recall this. since you've class. The strikes were not desirable, but of many basic consumer goods for the But public opinion internationally - and 5 been established in Nicaragua for some neither were they repressed . workers. the workers- will understand when they time. As you remember. the right to strike Now we're going into the state of But if someone says. " Let's stop infla­ evaluate it after it's been in force for a year. had been suspended. and it was reestab­ emergency again . The right to strike is sus­ tion," that can't be done. It's not caused by They'll see how the revolution has ad­ lished in the summer of 1984 at the begin­ pended . Once again. we ·do not want the revolution. Our inflation is imported. vanced. even in the midst of the war. 4 ning of the election campaign period. strikes. because they can be used by the because the products that we buy abroad That' ~ what's important. But even with the right to strike sus­ agents of imperialism as a pretext to de­ are more and more expensive. and the I think it would be good for you to take pended, there were strikes. They were pro­ stabilize the revolution. goods we sell are cheaper and cheaper. up the state of emergency now. and then hibited. th ey were illegal, but nevertheless We do not want strikes. Really. what we And if we add on top of that the war thut take it up again after a year. And evaluate there were s trike ~. And the workers were want is to avoid delays, (or exa mple. in the Yankees have imposed on us. and arc it. Because we arc not suggesting that not punished . getting machetes. That's what we want. imposing. then we have a situation that's people should accept it uncritically. Strikes are prohibited now. just as they Because if we don't get machetes, we beyond our contr() J. The working class un­ were before. What is the contradiction? It's won't be able to get in the sugar harvest. derstands this. What they don't understand I'm sure th at when we sit down again to that the working-class movement, the What we want is to avoid delays in get­ is if the problems that we do control arc not evaluate what' s happened with the state of workers as a whole. are one thousand per­ ting the supplies we need. so we won 't fall resolved. That's how we see the right to emergency. not every a year from now, let 's cent convinced that strikes are not our behind in the cotton harvest. What we want strike. say six months from now, we will see that weapon at this time . They're not our is for the trade unionists in France. which In our proposal for the new constitution, we have really made a great contribution to method of struggle. is where we get John Deere machinery. to we put forward the right to strike as a right the international struggle of the working Just imagine what would happen if all help us get the repair parts we need for our in Nicaragua. Intrinsically in the revolu­ class. Because we're going to consolidate the coffee pickers went on strike. What equipment so we can work. That's what we tion. there is the right to strike. We say that this revolution. And we're going to come want - to be able to work. strikes are a last resort. and should only be out victorious against the greatest military ______Of course. we have to make an effort to used for e-x traordinary reasons. That's why power in the world. That's our revolution­ ,, ary contribution to the working class. convince the comparieros who support the we say it's contradictory. Beca use at the other trade union currents. And we have to same time that it clearly is a right , it's a The workers' movement convince our own trade union comparieros right that we try not to usc; because the Solidarity from U.S. ullionists has chosen policy of too. who go out on strike when they think enemies of the revolution can take advan­ Q. What kind of solidarity do you need that they have no alternative. Whether or tage of it. most from tradt> unionists in the United bare survival- in order not to have the right to strike is a decision States? 'A political rifle' for the working class itself. It 's something A. What we say is this: We know that to win the war . that we have taken on. Now to conclude this idea, it's important ______,, WI! have a lot of friends in the United to point out that the state of emergency in So for us. the state of emergency is a States. But we also know that we have Nicaragua is not the same as a· state of weapon to tie the hands of the imperialist enemies- Reagan is the first of them. So emergency in other countries. For exam­ would we do? Where would we get foreign agents. As for the right to strike. what we the primary solidarity is for U.S. citizens ple, during the continental day of action exchange income? have to do, and arc doing, is to move to who know about Nicaragua to tell the truth. We know what strikes can do. When we solve those problems that the revolution against the foreign debt. if you recall , there And for those who don't know. to pay no were incidents that even included deaths in went on strike in the past. we did it to de­ can solve, so that the revolution is not re­ attention to the enemy propaganda, but to some Latin American countries. b Here we stabilize the Somoza dictatorship. We did sponsible for the problems that aren't try to find out about the revolution it to spark the insun·ection. It was not a solved. firsthand , particularly by visiting here. We strike for a wage increase . For example. we realized that some want them to come to Nicaragua, find out When we called for the general strike in basic consumer goods were increasing in 5. The Worker!> Supply Center!> arc large s t ore~ with a variety of goods for sale to workers at what's going on. and become spokes­ I 979 we did it as an initial step - to de­ price by as much as 300 percent between people for what a true revolution is. We stabilize the Somoza regime politically, so­ prices below those charged in the private mar­ the time they left the factory and the time kets. A~ a result of a campaign by the CST. wan t them to understand what the revolu­ cially, and economically. And then later they arrived in the Workers Supply Centers prices on the goods in these cente r!> were fun her tion is. in order to tie Reagan's hands when we called for the insurrection. Of course by or commissaries. The war is not responsi­ reduced a significant amount this fall. he tries to intervene against· us . · · that time we had already made the military ble for this. This is our problem. What are preparations, and we had thou ands of men 6. The continental day of action. a prote~t we doing? What is our struggle? We have against the Latin American foreign debt, was on ~trations. strikes. and other activities. In under arms in Nicaragua. to get those prices down. And we have suc­ held on October 23. Hundreds of thousands of Ecuador. two workers were killed by police Every worker in our country understands ceeded in reducing significantly the prices unionists throughout Latin America held dem- during the protests. this, So if the workers go on strike, they do it only in extraordinary cases. It might be. for example, that they have been trying to get a meeting with some government offi­ Nicaraguans ready to bring in coffee harvest cial. and the government official won't show up. Or they've been trying to express BY HECTOR CARRION some 30,000 farm workers who regularly bring in almost half of Nicaragua's foreign their opinion, let 's say. about the manager MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Enthusiasm pick coffee. exchange income. of the company, and nobody pays attention is running high among the Nicaraguan The Nicaraguan Committee In Solidarity The coffee harvest will last from De­ to them. Then they resort to what we might people as they organize to participate in With the Peoples (CNSP) announced that this year's coffee harvest. cember through February. Thousands of call desperate measures. some I ,200 volunteers from 15 other coun- . workers and students have already de­ The strikes we 've had were not numer­ Some 30,500 volunteers are expected to tries will join the harvest. The CNSP is ex­ parted from the capital city of Managua to ous. They were isolated cases. And we pecting eight brigades fron1 the United participate, many of them for the duration th e northern part of the country. where went out to help the workers to find a solu­ of the three-month harvest. Just from the States, four from Canada, and · other most of th e coffee plantations are located. tion, for themselves and for the rest of the brigades from Austria, Belgium, Spain. Sandinista Youth, some 19,000 students Last year hundreds of acres of coffee working class. For them , in the sense of re­ have volunteered to go. Five thousand gov­ Greece, Italy, France, and Luxembourg. In solving their problem. And for the rest of addition, internationalists residing in Nica­ could not be picked because of the terrorist ernment workers from the National Union activities of the U.S.-backed counterrevo­ the working cla ss in the sense of settling it of Employees. 3.000 from the Sandinista ragua will form a M aurice Bishop Brigade. named after the slain leader of the Grenada lutionaries in the!>c areas. This year the as soon as possible to get production back People's Army. and 1.500 from the Minis­ revolution. blows dealt to these cowras by the San­ to normal. try of the Interior will also panicipate. What can we conclude from all this? Coffee is the main source of export in­ dini!>ta army have crea ted better conditions to harvest the coffee. Many mercenaries That under our conditions, with the right to The Sandinista Worker" Federation come for Nicaragua. It is expected th at have been killed and others driven back strike suspended, there were strikes. It was (CST). which organizes the big majority of some 55.000 tons will be harvested. and across the border to their bases in Hon­ not the desirable thing for the working Nicaraguan industrial workers, is sending a out of this. 45.000 tons will be export qual­ more modest number of members on the ity. dura ~. The price of coffee this year on the inter­ But the Nicaraguan people are not taking 4. The state of emergency was lin;t in~tituted in full-time brigades because of the need to national market is better than in previous any chances. For more protection. the San­ 1982 as part of Nicaragua's defense against the maintain production in the factories. Most mercenary war organized by the U.S . govern­ CST members will be picking coffee on years . Henry Matus. director of coffee pro­ dinista army has deployed many troops ment. In mid-1984, the government temporarily Sundays, after completing their week 's duction in the Ministry of Agrarian De­ around the coffee plantations. and workers lifted some of the rewictionl>. including the ban work. velopment and Reform, reported that each and !'> tudcnts participating in the coffee har­ on strikes, duri ng the country's election cam­ hundred pounds of coffee is worth $140 vest in the areas close to Honduras are paign period. All these volunteers are in addition to and that the income from coffee alone will armed with AK-47 automatic rifles.

December 20, 1985 The Militant 5 -BUILDING ANTI-APARTHEID AND ANTIWAR ACTIONS---- Oakland, Calif. ; Philadelphia, 400 demand Pa. ; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Rahway, N.J.; Richmond, Va.; Rochester, U.S. out of N.Y.; Rockland County, N.Y.; Central America, San Francisco. Calif.; San Jose, Calif.; Santa Cruz, Calif.; South Africa Stockton, Calif.; Washington. D.C.; Westchester County, N.Y.; BY LAURA FLICKER Wilmington, Del. ; Youngstown, SEATILE - More than 400 Ohio. people marched here on · ·'fi~ f~~" lkm-oir <'4! ..,. November 16, demanding "U.S. out of Central America and South >t 4- ·'t t .t A " _. Africa." The action was organized ' Trinidad workers by the Northwest Action for rally against Peace, Jobs and Justice, which co­ ordinated the April 20 national day apartheid, debt of antiwar protest held here earlier this year. Several thousand workers and The rally at the Labor Temple farmers rallied October 23 in Port was endorsed by some 75 commu­ of Spain, Trinidad, to protest the nity and antiwar groups and sev­ . Militant Latin American foreign debt, eral union locals. Four hundred march November 16 in Seattle, Washington. Speakers at rally pointed to connection be­ South African apartheid, and con­ Leo Robinson of International tween U.S. government support to apartheid in South Afrjca and U.S. government war against Nic­ ditions facing Trinidadian work­ Longshoremen's and Warehouse­ aragua. ing people. men's Union Local 10 condemned The rally was the highlight of a Washington's funding of the "in­ "national day of sacrifice and sol­ ternational pimps" in Nicaragua tween racism here, U.S. support have acted: idarity." Demonstrators con­ who destroy health-care clinics. to apartheid, and Washington's ll states pass verged on the capital city of that He pointed to the solidarity his backing of the oppression or the divestment bills Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Caribbean country by car and union local has extended to the Af­ Palestinian people. He condemned Massachusetts, Michigan, Min­ truck caravans from several re­ rican National Congress (ANC) by the recent assassination of Alex According to Dumisani Kuma­ nesota. Nebraska. New Jersey. gions of the island. Some workers donating $2,000 to them. Odeh, an ADC leader in Califor­ to. project director for the Ameri ­ New Mexico, Rhode Island, Wis­ from the island of Tobago took Two representatives from the nia. can Committee on Africa, "Right consin. part, too. ANC, Basil Freeman and Adela Edgar Lopez from Casa El Sal­ now 40 states have passed or are Atlantic City. N.J .: Berkeley. Represented at the event were Makuka, gave greetings and urged vador Libre urged opposition to debating divestment bills. This is Calif.; Boston, Mass.; Boulder. members of 18 unions and farm­ continued solidarity with their the U.S. intervention in El Sal­ the second-most-discussed legisla­ Colo.; Burlington, Yt.; Cam­ ers' associations, as well as many struggle against apartheid. vador and talked about the recent tion in the country. second only to bridge, Mass.: Charlottesville. unemployed working people. The coordinator of the rally , strike wave there. raising the drinking age.'' Ya.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Cuyahoga Major speeches were· given by Gerry Condon of Veterans Against union leaders in the sugar, oil , and Linda Layton, president of In­ Under pressure from th.e grow­ County, Ohio; Davis, Calif. ; East Intervention in Central America, aviation industries and by the pres­ ternational Association of Machin­ ing fight against apartheid, II Lansing, Mich.; Fort Collins, said, "They beat the drums for na­ ident of the National Food Crop ists Local 2202, representing states and the Virgin Islands. as Colo.; Gainesville, Fla.: Grand tional patriotism and chauvinism Farmers Association. workers who recently struck well as at least 35 citi es and a half­ Rapids, Mich.; Hartford, Conn.: and try to whip up" prowar senti­ The rally adopted resolutions Alaska Airlines for 12 weeks. also dozen counties. have barred or · and Jersey City, N.J. ments in order to ready the U.S. calling for boycotting sports and spoke. limited their investments in com­ public for intervention in Central Also. Los Angeles. Calif.; cultural events with ties to South Those interested in finding out panies doing business in South Af­ America. Madison, Wis.: Miami, Fla.; Africa and for a one-day general about future activities can write to: rica. Amed Amr of the American­ NWAPJJ, P.O. Box 84061, Seat­ Middletown , Conn.; Montgomery strike against the antiworker prac­ Arab Anti-Discrimination Com­ tle, Wash .. or call (206) 328- The following is a listing of County, Md.; Newark, N.J.; New tices of the Trinidadian employ­ mittee (ADC), drew the links be- 245 I. ' states, cities, and counties that Orleans, La.; New York. N.Y.: ers . Anti-apartheid protesters arrested at Winn-Dixie

BY KATE DAHER most of Thanksgiving in jail. AND FRED WHITE The sit-in is part of a boycott organized ATLANTA- On November 27, the by the SCLC after SCLC/Women found day before Thanksgiving, 20 anti-apartheid canned peaches and pears imported from fighters were arrested in Decatur, Georgia. South Africa on the shelves of the super­ They were sitting in at a Wino-Dixie super­ market chain. market to protest the sale of canned fruit Significant support for the nine-week­ and frozen fish imported from South Af­ old boycott has come from labor unions, nca. church groups, women· s rights organiza­ Among those arrested were: Southern tions, and peace and anti-apartheid activ­ Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) ists in I 0 of the 13 states where W inn­ President Joseph Lowery, Evelyn Lowery, Dixie has its 1, 262 stores. and their daughter Cheryl; Paul McLen­ At a rally and press conference on nan, Amalgamated Transit Union; DeKalb November 21 to denounce Winn-Dixie's County Commissioner John Evans; and support for apartheid, Herb Mabry, presi­ State Representative Douglas Dean. dent of the Georgia State AFL-CIO, de­ Foes of South Africa regime sit in at Winn-Dixie's Decatur, Georgia, store. All those arrested spent the night and clared, "We have rio alternative than to join with SCLC and ask the people of this na­ tion to boycott Wino-Dixie until they take these products off the shelves." FSLN's constitutional proposals in 'IP' Atlanta's Labor Council president, "The Sandinista Front [FSLN] be­ throne" and only the "landlords, Richard Ray , said, "We must tell everyone in this country of the atrocities taking place lieves that formal constitutional rich merchants, bosses, and bank­ in South Africa. For a corporation such as status should be accorded to the ers had the right to exercise politi- rights for which the heroic people Wino-Dixie to continue to sell its products of Sandino fought until they ca~~~~~~~~ presentation also ex- INTERCONTINENTAL is a disgrace. The labor movement is be­ achieved the revolutionary triumph plains the continuity between the PRES$ hind this effort, and we will overcome." on July 19, 1979, and for which the FSLN's program before the over- ::;"'"'::;;·~-....:..= '·'----:i -==:=::-:=--'--"':::.:·=-..=---..,;; ,::::;,:;;;; ·Lowery pointed to Wino-Dixie's poli­ people continue to fight, defend­ throw of Somoza and the accom- cies in the United States as a reflection of ing these rights from foreign ag­ plishments of the revolution in its its support for apartheid, calling the outfit gression. first six years. El Salvador "antilabor, anti-Black, and anti women." "The blood of the peasants, work­ Hector Recinos Two days later 100 people from the·Na­ ers, Indians, youth, women, and Intercontinental Press is a biweekly • Returns to Address tional Organization for Women (NOW) children ... demands a constitution that carries more articles, docu­ tl4 Union Conference and SCL<; picketed the chain store in At­ that formalizes the eradication of ex­ ments, and special features on world :=.oo::.:::..oo::::::::.;:~·!!::::.·;:: lanta during NOW's three-day national ploitation of man by man." politics -from Europe to Oceania board meeting. These words are part of the and from the Middle East to Central FSLN's contribution to the discus­ I'm delighted to join the picket line," America - than we have room for said NOW President Eleanor Smeal. "! sion of what kind of a constitution in the Militant. Subscribe now. is needed for revolutionary Nicara- think it is disgracefut what is happening in gua. Enclosed is D $7.50 for 3 months. South Africa, not only the killings, but also The full text of the FSLN state- D $15 for 6 months. D $30 for 1 the dehumanizing that is going on. It is ment, presented by President year. really a form of slavery." Daniel Ortega, will be published in Name ~ the next issue of Intercontinental ------All Economic Qtlll General Strike Protests Labor News Press, dated December 30. Address ______'lllde tt W1A. • · Regime's Austerity Moves The Militant stays on top of the . The FSLN proposal revi~ws the . City __ State __ Zip __ most important developments in the h1story of class oppress1on up labor movement You won't miss any through the Somoza regime, dur- Clip and mail to Intercontinental of it if you subscribe. See the ad on ing which time "feudal, mercantile, Press, 410 West St., New York, NY page 2 of thi:? issue for subscription and capitalist monopoly was on the 10014. rates.

6 The Militant December 20. 1985 Jim Crow system in U.S. South and apartheid in South Africa Excerpts from 'New International'

The feature article in the latest issue of The Jim Crow system in the U.S. South the magazine New International is a re­ offers a useful analogy to apartheid. That port by Jack Barnes, national secretary may seem to contradict what we noted ear­ of the Socialist Workers Party, on "The lier about the unique character of apart­ Coming Revolution ·in South Africa." heid. But it does not, if the analogy is used That report was discussed and correctly. The Jim Crow parallel is particu­ adopted by the National Committee of larly useful for us in the United States since the SWP at its August meeting. it relates the struggle in South Africa to the The report discusses the national, Bob Adelman historic battle that working people here Civil rights demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama, during 1960s. Movement tti.at democratic revolution that is unfolding lived through, fought, and won only re­ in South Africa and the role of the work­ overthrew segregation in U.S. South stressed parallels between Jim Crow system of cently - in the 1950s and 1960s. legally sanctioned tyranny over Blacks and apartheid system in South Africa. ing class and the peasantry in that revo­ The Jim Crow system at its fullest de­ lution. It also takes up the leadership velopment was the attempt in the states of role of the African National Congress the old Confederacy to institutionalize, The civil rights movement used to stress rights battles in the 1950s and 1960s with­ (ANC) and the impact the South African codify in law, and make permanent the ex­ the parallels between Jim Crow and apart­ out challenging the state structure of U.S. revolution is having, not only in Africa, propriation and oppression of Black people heid, between Selma, Alabama, and imperialism itself. but on workers and farmers throughout - the freed slaves and their descendants Johannesburg, South Africa. This reflected This is where the analogy between apart­ the world, including in the United - by separating them from all economic, a reality. South Africa was not really so far heid and Jim Crow reaches its limit. Apart­ States. social, and political activity engaged in by away. heid is the legal institutionalization of the The Militant is running brief excerpts white people. It was, by its very nature, in­ The logic of the Jim Crow system was complete expropriation of the African from the article to encourage readers to tended to be all-encompassing. Its purpose not to return to chattel slave labor. N_o, the people; it is state control over every aspect pick up this issue. was to make it as difficul_t as possible for logic of Jim Crow, fully developed, was of their labor and life. The African peoples The section below compares South Af­ Blacks to become free farmers and to make apartheid: the subjugation of Blacks as an there had a history of thousands of years of rican apartheid to the "Jim Crow" sys­ it impossible for them ever to compete on estate, with no right to own land, and no productive life on the Jan~, and develop­ tem of institutionalized racism that an equal basis with white workers in selling right to compete on an equal basis with ment of culture. Their tools, their land, and existed in the U.S. South until the 1960s their labor power to the capitalists. white workers in the sale of their labor their cattle were stripped from them first in and was destroyed by the massive civil Jim Crow segregation was imposed and power. (Lenin stressed the "startling simi­ bloody wars of conquest, and then by the rights movement. perpetuated through force an.d violence or­ larity" between the .conditions of Blacks in institutionalization and enforcement of ganized both by the state and by extralegal the South at the beginning of this century apartheid rule. means, such as the Ku Klux Klan terror and those of the peasant estate in tsarist Having been forcibly robbed of their units. From the smashing of Radical Re­ Russia. Black sharecroppers, he noted , land and tools, the African peoples were construction in the late 1870s to the victory were "exploited by former slave-owners in swept into the mines and factories, and of the civil rights movement almost a cen­ feudal or semi-feudal fashion. " ) onto the capitalist plantations, as proleta­ tury afterwards, it was hard to find a sheriff The parallels between the South African rians. But they were hot free proletarians. in the U.S. South who was not also an or­ struggle and what workers and farmers in They got all the worst that came with being ganizer of the local Klan. The state-au­ this country fought for, conquered; and made propertyless: they lost all they thorized force and violence and the ex­ today jealously guard help to explain the owned, and were driven from their land. tralegal force and violence went hand-in­ depth of the identification of many U.S. But they gained none of the freedoms that band. working people with the current battles in under other conditions have historically Denial of citizenship rights - centered South Africa. accompanied prol'etarianization: freedom around denial of the right to vote-was es­ Nonetheless, the apartheid system goes from being tied to the land; freedom to sell sential to the maintenance of this legally beyond what the architects of Jim Crow in your labor power on the market on an equal sanctioned tyranny over Black workers and the South were able to implement. Unlike basis with all other workers; freedom to farmers. This, too, was enforced by a com­ apartheid, Jim Crow segregation did not change jobs, to pack up and move from one bination of legal institutions (such as poll become completely intertwined with the part of the country to another, or even taxes, literacy tests, and segregated jury entire state structure in the United States. It abroad, seeking work under the best condi­ lists) and night-riding terror against those was the product of the bloody defeat of tions and for the highest pay available; who tried to break through these barriers. Radical Reconstruction in the states of the freedom from all the reactionary encumbr­ That is why the battlecry of "One man, one old slavocracy. As a result, the Jim Crow ances, restraints, and prejudices of feudal vote!" became so central to the civil rights system could be smashed by mighty civil society. struggle - a slogan that is echoing back Apartheid regime forces Blacks to carry today from the cities, townships, and coun­ identification passes. tryside of South Africa. Apartheid foes win release Invaluable for anti-apartheid activists! Continued from front page charges pending against them in this case African Trade Unions (COSATU). Two are all members of the South African Al­ days later, 40,000 attended the funeral for lied Workers Union, which belongs to the The fall 1985 J 2 people who had been murdered by the newly formed COSATU union federation. cops near the capital city of Pretoria. After Another 22 leaders of the UDF also have the funeral , Winnie Mandela, a leader of treason charges pending against them. New the anti-apartheid struggle, defied a gov­ ernment ban and gave her first public International speech in 25 years. Twenty thousand attended a funeral in The dynamics of the Black township of Mlungisi December revolution in South 7 in protest over·another police massacre. Africa is featured in Elijah Barayi, the newly elected president the current issue of of COSATU, addressed the crowd. New International, a Several leaders of the UDF were arrested magazine of in October 1984. The arrests followed the Marxist politics and coalition's success in organizing a boycott theory. Fighters of August 1984 elections to powerless against apartheid, Tht Future &longs chambers of parliament for Coloured. and in the United States to the Majority Indian representatives. Africans were and other Speech by Oliver Tambo barred from voting. countries, will find Why Cuban Volunt~rs The elections were an attempt by the valuable material Are in Angola government to divide the Black population h ere in equipping Speeches by Fidel Castro and preserve white minority rule. The themselves majority of Indians and Coloureds refused politically to carry to participate in them. . on the struggle. Articles and speeches by: jack Barnes, a leader of the Socialist Workers Party; Oliver Other UDF defendants, including Sisulu Tambo, president of the African National C~ngress of South Africa; Cuba's and several trade union leaders, were swept President Fidel Castro; and Ernest Harsch, managing editor of up in raids in February. The cops also ran­ Interncontinental Press. Reprints South Africa's "Freedom Charter." sacked the offices of churches, trade unions, and community organizations. Send $5 p lus 75 cents handling and postage to New International, 14 Charles All 16 defendants were held without bail United Democratic Front led last year's Lane, New York, N.Y. 10014. until May. successful boycott of elections to apart­ .Four defendants that still have frame-up heid parliament.

Decembe~ 20~ ·l-9SS The· Militant 7 Bill White: 40 years in socialist movement Dedicated revolutionary fighter, unionist, and opponent of racism

The following article is reprinted from ernmenrs war effort through a "no-strike came the Socialist Workers League. It was campaign against the hotel 's racist man­ the November 25 issue of Socialist Voice, pledge." Supporters of the Stalinist bu­ declared illegal under the Defense of agement. a biweekly newspaper that reflects the reaucracy, which had taken over the Soviet Canada Regulations in 1939. Four decades later, inspired by the rising views of the Revolutionary Workers Union after the death of Soviet leader Vla­ Under conditions of illegality, the work anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, League of Canada, the sister organiza­ dimir Lenin and the forced exile of his of Bill and his comrades helped lay the Bill said with typical optimism: "It [the ra­ tion of the U.S. Socialist Workers Party. close collaborator Leon Trotsky, were be­ groundwork for the ·first pan-Canadian cist apartheid system] can't last' much hind the proposal. Trotsky supporter Paddy conference of Trotskyists, which took longer. The workers are going to take BY JOHN STEELE Stanton took the floor to explain that the phce in Montreal in 1944. The decisions of over." On October 9, Revolutionary Workers no-strike pledge would ultimately weaken the conference resulted in the launching of Sick with silicosis, the fatal lung disease League (RWL) member Bill White died in the. defense of the world's first workers the Revolutionary Workers Party (RWP), he contracted in the mines, Bill was unable Vancouver. state and the struggle for socialism in the Canadian section of the Fourth Interna­ to work after 1971. Nonetheless, along , Under the impact of the first decade of Canada. After discussions with Stanton, tional, in 1946. with his union, then the United Steelwork­ the October 1917 Russian revolution and Bill joined the Trotskyist group in Prince The RWP was the direct descendant of ers, Bill fought a landmark battle, forcing the hardships of the Great Depression of Rupert and became a communist. 'That's the 192 1 communist party, and there is a the B.C. Workers Compensation Board to the early 1930s, Bill became a staunch when I changed from a rebel looking for a direct line of continuity between the RWP recognize his illness as an occupational dis­ working-class fighter and revolutionary cause to a revolutionary with a cause," he and the RWL, which was formed in 1977 ease. unionist, which he remained to the end of explained. through the fusion of three revoluttonary ·Bill was inspired by the 1979 decision of his life. Bill was among a small number of revo­ parties. The work of Bill and others of his the RWL to take on the job of building a Bill, who was Black, was born on April lutionary workers active across Canada de­ generation ensured that the thread of com­ Marxist current inside the major pan-Cana­ 7, 1913, in Aberdeen, South Dakota. As a fending the communist perspective upheld munist continuity was not broken. dian industrial unions. He saw this as a child of six in Winnipeg, where his father by Trotsky against Joseph Stalin after the Bill was a determined fighter against ra­ guarantee that in the years to come a Marx­ worked as a railway porter, Bill was drawn death of Lenin. In 1928, under Stalin's cism. The July-August 1947 issue of the ist workers party would be built with the into the 1919 general strike. Bill and his pressure, central leaders of Canada's first RWP's paper Labor Challenge reported on capacity to lead the workers and farmers to childhood companions did their part to aid communist party, formed in 1921 , were a racist attack that he was the victim of. political power. the strikers by throwing their collection of expelled for 'Trotskyism," as they were in "The Jim Crow eviction of a Negro worker During his final years, Bill used his con­ marbles under the hooves of the RCMP's the United States. and his wife from a Vancouver hotel is ar­ siderable skills as an educator to pass on [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] horses. In 1934, Canadian Trotskyists formed ousing vigorous protests from workers his experience and knowledge to the In his teens, while working at a sawmill the Workers Party of Canada (WPC). It here." Bill , along with the Mine, Mill and younger members of the RWL taking their in Thunder Bay, Bill helped build the In­ was one of five parties that called for the Smelter Workers at the Britannia Beach first jobs in industry. His decades-long dustrial Workers of the World. In 1933 at formation of tire Fourth International , mine where he worked, the Boilermakers contribution is a solid and irreplaceable the time of its foundation , he joined the which was established in 1938. Shortly be­ in North Vancouver, and the Vancouver part of the foundation of tbe communist Cooperative Commonwealth Federation fore the start of World War JI , the WPC be- Labor Council, carried a strong public movement being built today. (CCF), the forerunner of the NDP [New Democratic Party, Canada's union-based labor party]. At the age of 22 he was a member of the Bridge Ri ver mi ners' union St. Louis: UA W ends Chrysler strike in British Columbia. At the outbreak of World War II, along with many other young workers, Bill found BY JIM GARRISON suit, charging the company with breach of distribute the "bonus" checks on Monday himself in the Canadian army. Following AND JOE ALLOR contract. . As second-shift workers began to morning before the union's vote on the his stint in the army, he found work as a ST. LOUIS-Members of United Auto arrive for work at Chrysler's neighboring contract proposal. riveter in the government-run shipyards at Workers (U A W) Local ll 0 voted Plant I , strikel"s picketed the gates, urging On returning to work, many workers ex­ Prince Rupert [British Columbia]. He be­ November 25 to approve the local agree­ workers to support their demands. Plant l pressed the view that they had made some came a member and leader of the Boiler­ ment at Chrysler's Plant 2 here by a margin is organized by UAW Local 136. To show gains as a result of the strike. They also feel makers' union. of 77 to 23 percent. The ratification ended solidarity with Local I 10, about one-third that the real test of the contract will come in In the wake of the invasion of the Soviet a three-week strike by some 3,000 workers of the workers stayed away from work that the day-to-day implementation. Union by Hitler's army. a sharp con­ at the plant. evening. Chrysler was unable to operate Workers in Plant 2 know that behind troversy erupted in the union over a pro­ The agreement is the first contract the plant. Strikers from Loca,l 110 ex­ Chrysler's talk of "new beginnings in team posal that workers support the Li beral gov- negotiated with the local since Plant 2 pressed· their intention to return to Plant l work" there lies a constant battle to side­ reopened in 1983 following a three-year and picket again the following Monday. step even the limited gains of the new con­ shutdown. The operating agreement in The company reopened negotiations tract. As if to underscore that view, the ACLU calls on Congress force during the last two years was marked over the weekend, and the union an­ company announced a speedup on the as­ by a drastic reduction in job classifications nounced a tentative agreement on Sunday sembly line, adding two cars per hour, or to prevent U.S. gov't and seniority rights in comparison with ear­ morning. Chrysler announced that it would 30 more each day over the two shifts. lier agreements and with most other local assassination of Qaddafi contracts in the industry. Chrysler manage­ ment had portrayed the expired operating Do you know someone who reads Spanish? BY GEORGE KAPLAN agreement as part df their "New Concept" The American Civil Libetties Union has in auto production to increase efficiency. asked that a Senate committee take "effec­ While the contract does not restore work 'PM' on FENASTRAS convention tive steps" to prevent the assassination or rules to the conditions existing prior to the Libyan President Muammar el-Qaddafi by Three hundred members of the plant closing in 1980, important steps have the U.S. government. National Trade Union Federation been taken to push back management's The ACLU statement was in response to of Salvadoran Workers (FENAS­ "New Concept" schemes. Job classifica­ the virtuall y public ''covert" operation TRAS) were able to convene their tions, which had been reduced to 10 in being carried out by Washington against 17th convention in early 1983, were expanded to 27. This compares the government of that North African coun­ November in t he capital city of Sindicatos sudafricanos: try. with more than 70 classifications recog­ nized in previous agreements. San Salvador. por un boicot al apartheid The "covert" operation was recently The victory that this represents given the green light by President Reagan, Union members also regained the right for the Salvadoran labor move­ the Washington Post reported November 3. to use their seniority to gain preferred job ment was underscored by the fact assignments as they become open in the It is based on a CIA study suggesting , that the meeting was attended by among other things, that '"disaffected ele­ plant. Previously, the company had sole authority to assign jobs according to their representatives of most of the ments of the [Libyan} military could be other trade union federations in spurred to assassination attempts .... " own criteria. Returning seniority rights strengthens the union. El Salvador, as well as represen­ In a letter to Sen. David Durenberger, tatives of human rignts organiza­ who heads the Senate Intelligence Com­ The union also won specific language tions and 40 international obser­ mittee, the ACLU stated: prohibiting the reassignment of workers for vers and journalists. "We urge your committee to look into purpose of harassment. This has been a the possibility that the administration has, common experience in the past two years Hector Recinos, a well-known in effect, secretly suspended its public pos­ when workers have stood up for their rights trade union leader, was also able ition with respect to assassination." or were otherwise considered "problems" to return to the country briefly for According to the Washington Post, "The by their foremen. the convention. in the U.S. and around the world. ACLU letter also asked whether Reagan's Other gains resulting from the struggle The current issue of Perspectiua jSuscribete ahora! approval last year of preemptive strikes included the right to an expanded union Mundial covers the FENASTRAS against terrorists might cover an attempt to presence in the plant, with four commit­ convention. It a lso reprints ex­ eliminate Qaddafi ." teemen on the plant floor instead of three cerpts from a speech by Cuban According to the Post , a majority of the Subscriptions: $16 for one and greater flexibility in scheduling vaca­ leader Fidel Castro, where he dis­ Senate Intelligence Committee suppo11ed year; $8 for six months; Intro­ tions. cusses the feasibility of the pro­ ductory offer, $3.00 for three the operation against Qaddafi 's govern­ Tile turning point in the strike occurred ment. posal by the president of Peru for mo nths. on November 21 when Chrysler broke off limiting the huge foreign debt negotiations and announced that members that burdens the semicolonial 0 Begin my sub with current of Local 110 would .not receive payments countries. Subscribe to the due them the following day. The $2, 150 issue. Young Soc.ialist they were owed was the "bonus" Chrysler Name ------­ workers received for ratifying the national Monthly revolutionary youth paper Perspectiua Mundial is the Address covers the contract negotiated with the company in fight against apartheid, Spanish-language socialist maga­ Washingtons' wars, and racism. October. City/State/Zip The following morning, strikers - zine that every two weeks brings $3 for one year. angered by Chrysler's "bonus" blackmail you the trut h about the struggles of Clip a nd mail to PM, 408 West St., Send to: Young Socialist, 14 Charles - demonstrated at the plant. Workers en­ working people and the oppressed New York, NY 10014. Lane, New York. N.Y. 10014 tered the plant and demanded their checks. UA W officials announced they would fi le

-8 The Militant December.,JO, .J.9.85 International Socialist

Review Supplement to the Militant December 1985 Kate

BY ERLING SANNES Richards In 1895 after his release from Woodstock prison, Selected Writings and Speeches of Kate Richards Eugene Debs visited the family , and O'Hare heard him OtHare. Edited by Phillip S. Foner and Sally M. Mil­ speak about the plight of the railroad workers. His talk ler, Louisiana State University Press. Available from had a profound effect on her, and she "became convinced Midwest Distributors, Box 4642, Kansas City, Mo. that there was something radically wrong wi th a govern­ 64109. Paperback: $9.95 plus 85¢ postage. ment ·and public opinion that would permit the jailing of so fine a young man merely because he had tried to better From widely sca!lered manuscript collections, old rad­ O'Hare: the conditions of oppressed workers." ical newspapers, and other sources. Foner and Miller have assembled many, but by no means all, of the First female member of lAM speeches and writings of Kate Richards O'Hare, the most In 1894, O'Hare went to work as a bookkeeper in a renowned socialist woman of the "golden age'' of the • small Kansas City machine shop where her father had Socialist Party in the United States. earlier obtained employment as a machinist She soon Kate Richards O'Hare covered more territory and de­ found she was more interested in mechanics and became livered more speeches on socialism than any other mem­ p1oneer an apprentice despite the machinist union's male-only ber of the party, with the possible exception of Eugene V. . . policy. The men laughed at her, teased her, and gave her Debs. She spoke in every state, as well as in Canada, the dirtiest, greasiest work in the shop. But she success­ Mexico, and Britain. She was one of the first people and fully completed the apprenticeship and before the tum of one of only a few women to be convicted and sentenced the century became the first woman member of the Inter­ to federal prison under the 19 17 Espionage Act. national Association of Machinists. Dubbed ''Red Kate" by her opponents, she was re­ One night after returning from a union meeting, she garded by many as the foremost woman orator in Amer­ socialist heard a man talking on the street comer about the need ica. Eugene Debs referred to her affectionately as the for working men to have a political party of their own. voice of the voiceless. She found out from a bystander that the man was a No biography of her has ever been published, and socialist. A few weeks later at a socialist lecture, she Foner and Miller's book is a significant contribution be­ heard Mother Jon!!S. the famed labor organizer, discuss cause it is the first attempt to renew popular interest in the the need for workers to have their own political party. life of this remarkable woman. After the meeting she asked Mother Jones to tell her agitator about socialism and was introduced to some of the Kan­ Born in Central Kansas sas City socialists. who gave her a supply of books to O'Hare was born on March 26, 1876. on a stock farm read. One of the books was Karl Marx's Communist in Central Kansas. The year 1876 was one of the worst of Manifesto. o·Hare later described her first meeting with the long depression that began with the 1873 panic and Mother Jones as one of the mileposts in her life. lasted until 1879. Those years were marked by hard times Years later she said her interest in the labor mov.ement for workers, who faced mass unemployment and drastic develo.ped when she experienced labor problems wage .cuts, and for farmers, who began protesting high firsthand. It was those years working in the machine freight rates and low prices. The ground was fertile for shop, standing for hours before a whirli_ng lathe or over a revolt, as farmers and workers began to realize they had hot forge or wielding the hammer over the anvil, that a common enemy- the bankers, railroads, and packing- brought her in contact with the wage-earning class. Of houses. . those years. she wrote: ' O'Hare's parents, Andrew and Lucy Richards, were "I saw the wage system in all its accursedness. There I not poor people when they left Kentucky some 10 years saw men. dumb and paralysed with an unsatisfied long­ earlier to homestead in Kansas. They had brought with ing for the brush, the pen. the soil. or for the whispering them what in those days was a comfortable fortune of be­ forest. bound to a lathe or forge. in the roar of machinery tween$ LO,OOO and $15,000 in livestock and equipment. that is music to him who loves it and hell to him who As a child, O' Hare learned from her father. a partially hates it. I saw men ... fall to miserable, servile, cringing disabled Civil War veteran, that he pad fought to destroy slaves, afraid to hold up their heads and say they were chattel slavery and that his grandfather had served with men because some man had it in his power to take their George Washington all through the rev.olution. fighting means of life away - not only theirs but that of their for freedom and independence from Britain. wives and babies. 1 saw fathers robbed of two-thirds of Andrew Richards struggled to make a success of his the products of their labor and little children's lives farm , but conditions grew more and more desperate. At coined into profits .... 1 could stand it no longer, so I the age of II , O ' Hare's happy. carefree childhood on the hung up my cap and went out in the fight for SociaJism." Kansas plains ended abruptly when the 1887 drought and depression completely devastated the family. Founder of Socialist Party Childhood memories of her father's face, gray and set, In 1899 O'Hare joined the Socialist Labor Party. along and her mother's tear-filled eyes when the last of the cat­ with her father. She later left the SLP. In the summer of tle were sold and the bouse dismantled haunted her for 190 I she became a founding member of the Socialist the rest of her life. Party of America. O'Hare attended a training school for· Forced off the farm, her father moved the family to party workers Where she met and married fellow student Kansas City, where he took up the life of a wage earner in Frank P. O' Hare, an Iowa-born socialist from St. Louis. the poverty-cursed section of the city. She never forgot After their man·iage in January 1902. they set out on a that first long, bitter-cold wi nter in Kansas City when her lecturing and organizing tour that took them through father brought horne $9 a week to provide for the needs of Kansas and Missouri and into the Pennsylvania and West a family of five children. Virginia mine fields where, along with Mother Jones, The wretched poverty. misery, hunger, and want of they organized for socialism and raised money for the hundreds of men, women, and chi l dr~n tramping the striking miners' relief fund. streets begging for food and shelter was seared upon her · With no money to return home. they went on to New memory and remained with her throughout her life as "a York City. O'Hare worked in various factories and picture of inferno as Dante never painted." sweatshops to get" facts about child labor and exploitation Her fa!her was a follower of the Henry George single­ of women in order to make her propaganda more effec­ tax movement, and the Kansas City group met at the tive. In 1903 they returned to Kansas City, where she Richards' home. As a young teenager, O'Hare often at­ served as an organizer and ..labor spy" for the Armour tended their meetings. where she wa-s introduced to such packinghouse workers. Between 1904 and 1908, the books as Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward, Ignatius O ' Hares farmed in Oklahoma Territory. O'Hare aggres­ Donnelly's Caesar's Column, and Henry George's Prog­ sively defended Indian rights from corporate ·'grafters" ress and Poverty. and worked as an organizer lecturing on socialism in iso­ lated mining communities and remote rural hamlets. Not Earling Sannes of Bismarck. North Dakota, has clone ex­ able to make a living on their small farm , they returned to tensive original research on Kate Richards 0 ' Hare. Continued on next page

December 20, 1985 The -Militant -9 Intern-ational Socialist Review · Decem ber ISR/2 ------Continued from previous page Kansas City with their four small children in 1908. O' Hare entered the first of her many political contests · when she ran as a socialist for Congress from the Second District in Kansas in 1910. long before women had the constitutional right to vote. In 1916 she was the fir~t woman to have ever run for the United States Senate. In January 1912, O'Hare was elected by referendum to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Socialist Party. In April of that year she was elected ~ecretary of the International Socialist Bureau over incumbent Morris Hillquit. Hillquit took the defeat bitterly and prevailed upon the NEC to withhold party funds to pay for her trip , to the London meeting of the bureau in December 1913. Hillquit and his right-wing following voted to have Vic­ tory Berger (with his expenses paid) accompany her. Debs was elated that she was to be the first American woman to hold this prestigious position and gave her money to make the trip. In London, her record of enrolling farmers from the Great Plains states so impressed the European socialists that she was invited to return to France the following year to advise French Socialist Party leaders on how she had been able to convince American farmers and workers that they·were exploited by the same class. In April 1919, she again defeated Hillquit for the pos­ ition of International Secretary by a referendum. (John Reed was elected international delegate.) Jn 1916 and again in 1920 she was a candidate for the party's vice­ presidential nomination. Popularity second to Debs' During the summer months O'Hare toured the south­ western stat.es speaking at Socialist encampments that iu­ tracted crowds averaging 5,000 people, who came from as far away as 70 miles, often by covered wagon, for the week-long meetings. The program at these encampments included the singing of socialist songs, classes in history A newspaper in 1919 published this photo with following caption: "Down at the Jefferson City, Missouri, prison and economics-, and many speeches. The classes, no mat­ they say the ' whipping post' is a thing of the past. There are those, however, who shake their heads. Here is a pic-· ter what their label , always concerned socialism. After ture of whipping posts at the prison where Kate O'Hare is serving her five-year sentence." O'Hare had been in­ the speeches, talk would go on far into the night around dicted and convicted in 1917 under Espionage Act for opposing U.S. government in World War I. campfires. · After five days of protracted and spirited sessions, the for interfering with the war effort and obstructing the She was at her finest at these encampments; her popu­ committee produced a statement, under O' Hare's capa­ draft. She was sentenced to a five-year prison term in the larity was second only to Debs'. She knew farm prob­ ble leadership, that reflected her ferocious opposition to Missouri State Penitentiary beginning on April 15, 1919. lems firsthand, and she could speak the language of the war. The introductory paragraphs of the statement, A number of leuers from the judge sitting on the case debt-ridden dirt farmers that came to listen to her. One of known. as the "St. Louis Proclamation;· are just as appli­ to the Department of Justice document the collusion be­ her comrades, Oscar Ameringer, writing of the encamp­ cable to the world today as when 0' Hare and her commit­ tween the judge, the prosecutor. and the Department of ments, said, "To these people, radicalism was not an in­ tee wrote them almost 70 years ago: Justice. In one such document the judge acknowledged tellectual plaything. Pressure was upon them. Many of "The Socialist Party of the United States in the present that he was aware at the time of the trial that the indict­ their homesteads were already under mortgage. Some grave crisis solemnly reaffirms its allegiance to the prin­ ment itself was defective. In another document tpe Jus­ had already been lost by foreclosure. They were looking ciple of internationalism and wo&king-class solidarity the tice Department informed the judge during the trial that for delivery from the eviction monster whose lair they world over and proclaims its unalterable opposition to the while "we have been unable to secure anything specific saw in Wall Street. They took their socialism like a new war just declared by the government of the United States. on her that would be a violation of federal law-nothing religion.'' "Modern wars as a rule have been caused by the com­ would please this office better than to hear that she got Of "the many economic. political, and social issues mercial and financial rivalry and intrigues ·or the life." In another letter the judge referred to her as "one of O'Hare dealt with during her long writing and speaking capitalist interests in the different countries. Whether the most dangerous characters in the United States.·· She career, the problems of women received most of her at­ they have been frankly waged as wars of aggression or "has no equal in the matter of poisoning the minds of the tention. Her entire adult life was devoted to improving have been hypocritically represented as wars of "de­ struggling masses unless it be Debs," he said. the lot of women. She railed continuously against the fense,' they have always been made by the classes and In May 1920 her sentence was commuted. This was in capitalist system as being responsible for the exploitation fought by the masses. Wars bring wealth and power to response to an effective nationwide campaign organized of women, unhealthy and unsanitary working conditions, the ruling classes, and suffering, death, and demoraliza­ and conducted by her husband, Frank, and Roger inadequate wages, the degradation of women prisoners, tion to the workers. Baldwin of the National Civil Libe11ies Bureau, forerun­ women's inequality before the Jaw, and denying women "They breed a sinister spirit of passion, unreason, race ner of the American Civil Liberties Union. the right to ch()ose. abortion and otherwise control their hatred, and false patriotism. They obscure the struggles Her rights to full citizenship were later restored by own lives. of the workers for life, liberty, and social justice. They President Calvin Coolidge. tend to sever the vital bonds of solidarity between them Fighter for women's suffrage and their brothers in other countries, to destroy their or­ After prison She was a militant supporter of woman's suffrage. She ganizations, and to curtail their civil and political rights On her release from prison, O'Hare resumed 1-arty worked witti the National American Women's Suffrage and liberties. work, writing a column in The New Day and selling out Association and participated in numerous suffrage rallies "The Socialist Party of the United States is unalterably on a hectic national lecture tour. It was just like the old and campaigns. She served on the Women's National opposed to the system of exploitation and class rule days, when she would be on tour for months at a time Committee of the Socialist Party and in 1913 led 500 which is upheld and strengthened by military power and speaking in city after city all over the United States. In women marchers as the grand marshal of the socialist sham national patriotism. We, therefore, call upon the the first year following her release from prison, she gave ~ section of the massive suffrage parade in Washington, workers of all countries to refuse support to their govern­ lectures in 120 cities, covering practically all of the D .C. She never viewed the ballot as an end in itself. She ments in their wars. The wars of the contending national United States east of the Rockies, and wrote and pub­ insisted that women had to have the ballot as a weapon in groups of capitalists are not the concern of the workers. lished two books, In Prison and America's Prison Hells, the c.lass struggle to wipe out the curse of the wage sys­ The only struggle which would justify the workers in tak­ as well as numerous newspaper and magazine articles. tem. ing up arms is the great struggle of the working class of But, according to her.son, Victor O'Hare, her years in Although her close contact with Black women in the world to free itself from economic exploitation and prison convinced her of the need for a massive crusade to prison Jed her to see them as victimized by society be­ political oppression, and we particularly warn the work'­ expose the evils of the prison system, and it wasn' t long cause they were workers, women, and Black. her posi­ ers against the snare and delusion of so-called defensive before almost all of her time was devoted to working for tion on economic, political, ·and social equality for warfare. As against the false doctrine of national pa­ prison reform. Blacks generally followed the pos.ition of her Second In~ triotism, we uphold the ideal of international working­ In 1922 O'Hare, along with her husband. organized temational and Socialist Party colleagues, most of whom class solidarity. In support of capitalism, we will not the Children's Crusade. a march on Washington by the did not acknowledge the special problems facing Blacks willingly give a single life or a single dollar; in support of wives and children of imprisoned opponents of the war to as an oppressed nationality in addition to the exploitation the struggle of the workers for freedom we pledge our demand amnesty. they experienced as workers. all. ..." Later that year she moved with her family tO Leesville, With her own beliefs bolstered by an official position Louisiana, where they joined the Llamo Co-operative Against imperialist war of the Socialist Party, O' Hare continued her relentless Colony. While at the colony. she assisted in the founding O'Hare was an outspoken opponent of U.S. participa­ opposition to the war by traveling throughout the Uoited of Commonwealth College, a socialist-oriented school tion in World War I. She chaired an important 15-person States presenting her antiwar lecture, "Socialism and the for workers' education. She moved with the college to , committee that drafted the party's position on the war at War." Wherever she went, the crowds grew larger and Mena, Arkansas, in 1925, where she served as dean of the emergency convention of the Socialist Party that met larger- in Globe, Arizona, she spoke to I 0,000 people. women and was active in organizing teachers. in April 1917. She defeated Hillquit for the position of After moving to California in 1928, she was active in chairman by almost two to one. (For Hillquit any defeat Arrested for espionage Upton Sinclair's "'End Poverty in California"' movement. was a bitter experience, but to be defeated twice in two After delivering the same speech for the 76th time, in In 1937-38 she lived in Washington, D.C.. where she years by a woman was more ihan Hillquit and his right­ Bowman, North Dakota, on July 17. 1917. she was ar­ served on the staff of Congressman Thomas Amlie of wing clique could stand. They retaliated by failing to .rested and indicted by the federal government under the Wisconsin .. come to her defense when she was arrested later that sum­ 19 17 Espionage Act. She was found guilty in a kangaroo­ She continued to write and speak on the need for prison mer under the Espiof!age Act.) court trial in Bismarck, North Dakota, in December 1917 Continued on ISR/4

10 The Militant December 20, 1985 December ISR/3 u.s. government's • The International Socialist Review received the fol­ Hopi people included a large shared section of land lowing article from Eric Holle. He is an associate of ongo1ng war known as the Joint Use Area (JUA). It was in the JUA, the Rocky Mountain Peace Center in Boulder, Col­ on Black Mesa, in 1950 that Peabody Coal discovered orado. the richest coal fiel·d in Ari zona. At that time, John Boyden. former archbishop in the BY ERIC HOLLE against Mormon church and a lawyer from the U.S. Attorney's In modem industrial America, the natural world is office in Utah, appeared on the scene. Although five of someth(ng apart from our everyday ex istence, an isolated the ten Hopi villages refused to hire him. the BIA made pocket, museum-like, that one visits all too rarely. Re­ him the attorney for the Hopi nation in 1952. Boyden turning home after the annual 10-day ''wilderness experi­ worked diligently for years. convincing the tribal council ence,.." many of us no doubt wish we could live in a way Navajo, to sign leases with energy companies. When Peabody that would integrate our daily li ves more into the natural signed a lease with the Navajo in 1964 to mine coal on world. We live, essentially, apart from the earth. Black Mesa. they needed a lease from the Hopi as well, Most of the indigenous peoples of the world, before and Boyden successfully railroaded one through. While their cultures were so heavily impacted by contact with representing the Hopi tribal council, he also did legal European "civilization," lived in tune with the earth. The Hopi peoples work for Peabody. concepts of parks or wilderness areas were foreign and unnecessary because they lived in harmony with their en­ Role of Mormon church vironment, and wild nature was a part of their daily exis­ As a subsidiary of Kennecott Copper Co. , Peabody tenc.e. Native people no more needed· national ·parks than was controlled by the Mormon church. Influential mem­ eagles need.air traffic control. bers of the church played key roles in the leasing game­ In parts of the Navajo and Hopi reservations in n,orth­ Stewart UdalL as secretary of the interior. signed the ern Arizona, native people still live in the old ways, Peabody leases, and Morris Udall, Stewart's brother, in­ where rocks, trees, springs, and animals are sacred, and troduced a bill to exempt Indian lands from environmen­ the ties to the land are so strong that to leave the land is to tal protection laws. vanish altogether. Medicine women like 82-year-old Black Mesa is a sacred area to the traditional Dine and Irene Yazzie pray and offer yellow and white corn pollen Hopi; the Hopi use it as a burial ground, and believe that for all living things, including vegetation , humans, four its destruction will set the stage for the destruction of the leggeds (animals). birds, and insects. earth. The Dine call Black Mesa the Female Mountain, a Pressure from the U .S. government and the Mormon symbol of the balance of nature which it is their duty to church has caused the loss of much traditional homeland, protect. But Black Mesa has been desecrated almost creating poverty, overcrowding, overgrazing, and other • beyond belief; the juniper and pinon covered sandstone hardships. But the people remain tied to the land, still Flag.. ~ ~:.tlt: t±L} .·· r has been drilled. ·blasted. and bulldozed into a huge sea~. speaking their native tongues, .and refusing to yield to Sixty-five thousand acres are mined. Much of the coal is harassment by the U.S. government. The traditional Dine ,. ~ ~z~ ··.:.. J;: sent by rail to the Navajo Generating Plant in Page, (Navajo) and Hopi have never signed treaties with the 35 miles . : ·. : ~ .:.. h Arizona, and the rest is sent in a slurry pipeline to the United States. Their culture could teach us a great deal Mohave Plant in Bullhead City, Arizona. The extensive about living lightly on the earth and defending the earth Four Corners area of ·Southwest showi ng Navajo, water required for the sluiTY pipeline (3 million gallons against those who would exploit it. Hopi reservations. Forced division by U.S. govern­ per day) has caused Hopi and Navajo wells to go dry, and the situation is worsening as the water table drops. Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act ment of Joint Use Area and resulting relocations of Indians is scheme to further open up tribal lands to Use of Black Mesa coal in Southwest power plants has Public Law 93-531 tells these people they have to corporate plunder of natural resources. reduced atmospheric visibility to about one-half of what leave. Also called the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act, it was 15 years ago. Three hundred and fifty tons of sul­ it was passed in 1974 and promoted by Sen. BaiTy Gold­ phur compounds and 2 10 tons of nitrogen compounds are water and Rep. Morris Udall , both of Arizona. On the establish a tribal council. Although voting was alien to released each day by the Four Corners power plant alone, .surface, the law deals with a supposed "land dispute" be­ the Hopi - their Kikmogwi (spiritual leaders) ~1 sed a causing a tremendous increase in acid rain and acidifica­ tween the Navajo and Hopi people and pretends to form type of consensus decision making - and they showed tion of ground and surface water. The environmental ef­ a just settlement. In reality, it is simply an attempt to little interest in forming a council. a bogus vote was held fects on global ecology of such activity are largely. un­ force the people to leave the land and open it up to mas­ and the constitution and tribal council were established. known. Reclamation of such arid lands is virtually im­ sive and destructive mineral exploitation. lt will, if car­ This imposed fonn of government completely ignored possible, leading the National Academy of Science to ried out, be one of the largest forced relocations in his­ the role of spiritual guidance in Hopi culture, and was ·propose declaring the Joint Use Area and the other Four tory , removing some 13,000 people from their ancestral boycotted by more than 80 percent of the people. Never Corners lands a "National Sacrifice Area." homeland. recognized by the traditionals, the council was largely The wealth from mineral exploitation goes into the To begin to understand the situation, we' must study dormant until 1948 when the Bureau of Indian Affairs pockets of people like John Boyden, who received a mil­ the history of land-grabbing in the Four Comers area of (BIA) attempted to revive it to sign oil and gas leases. lion dollars from the Hopi tribal council alone. The tribes Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico and the im­ At that time, Hopi religious leaders wrote to President are paid only a few cents per ton for their coal, and many position of tribal councils on the people. Political bound­ Harry Truman proclaiming their sovereignty and refusing traditional people living near the mines suffer the en­ ades and private land ownership have always been for­ to lease their sacred soil. Protests have continued until vironmental consequences but don't have electricity eign concepts to the Navajo and Hopi tribes. The Hopi this day, and are certain to continue· in the future. themselves. The electricity is consumed by the sprawling maintained permanent villages on the mesas, with small In 1970 the Hopis wrote to President Richard Nixon: neon cities of southern Arizona and southern California. farms nearby, and the Navajo were pastoral, traveling 'The white man, th~ough his insensitivity to the way of Peabody Coal was the only energy company able to get with their flocks between summer and winter homes. Nature, has desecrated the face of the Mother Earth. The mineral leases in the Joint Use Area; neither tribal coun­ Any conflicts that may have existed between them were white man's advanced technological capacity has oc­ cil alone was legally allowed to lease it. This created settled peacefully. Trading and intermarriage were com­ cun·ed as a result of his lack of regard for the spiritual years of legal hassles for the BIA and energy companies. mon. path and for the way of all living things. The white man's John Boyden began in the 1950s to find_ a way to get In 1892, the U.S. government drew a rectangle on a desire for material possessions and power has blinded around this obstacle. and essentially created the Navajo­ map one degree l9ng and O[le degree wide, and called it him to the pain he has caused Mother Earth by his quest Hopi "land dispute.'' the Hopi reservation. The reservation boundaries did not for what he calls natural resources ... . The path of the Boyden also filed a land claim, supposedly on behalf consider traditional land use or topography, and excluded Great Spirit has become difficult to see by almost all of the Hopi , which resulted in a loss of millions of acres the original Hopi homeland and the farming village of people, even by many Indians who have chosen instead for very little money. Both the traditionals and progres­ Moencopi. Evidence exists that the Hopi reservation was to follow the path of the white man." In spite of such pro­ sives have. to this day. refused to touch this money, say­ tests, the BTA reorganized the tribal council with pro­ created in part to allow legal action against white people ing that their homeland can never be sold. who were helping the Hopi resist kidnapping of their development "progressives," who signed mineral leases children by Mormons and the U.S. government. Chil­ with Peabody Coal Co. Congress mandates 90% livestock reduction dren were being taken for "Americanization" at board­ Puppet role of tribal councils The year 1974 found Boyden .in Washington. D.C.. ing schools. In any case, the reservation was clearly lobbying for a bill to divide the Joint Use Area and get on The history of the Navajo tribal council is similar. In established to give the U.S. legal power over the Hopi with mineral leasing. At the same time, Evans and As­ and their land. 1921 Standard Oil discovered oil on Navajo land and pro­ sociates. a Salt Lake City public relations firm , fabri­ As federal troops arrived and traditional leaders were posed a lease deal. Seventy-five Navajo elders unani­ cated a range war on the reservation and wrote speeches arrested, a split occurred among the Hopi. A few wanted. mously rejected the deal, so the BIA created a "tribal for Hopi tribal councilmen about the "land dispute." an agreement with the whites, while most made no con­ council." When three men were persuaded to sign a lease Evans and Associates also represented WEST, a co.nsor­ cessions. Originally called "friendlies'' and "hostiles,'' they were made the tribal council. tium of 23 utility companies with interests in Southwest the two groups today are called "progressives" and "trad­ The tribal councils of the Navajo and Hopi have con­ power plants. itionals." The wealthiest and most powerful Hopi family tinued to this day as puppet organizations maintained and All the sleazy activities of Boyden and his accomplices today are descendants of Emory Sekaquaptewa. who was funded by the BIA for the principal purpose of signing paid off: Congress passed PL 93-531 . which split the kidnapped as a child and ·' Mormonized ." mineral leases with energy companies. The councils do Joint Use Area 50-50 and ordered a barbed wire fence In the 1930s President Franklin Roosevelt appointed as not have the support of the majority of the people. but the constructed to separate the Navajo and Hopi. It also man­ commissioner of Indian affairs an anthropologist, John U.S. government has shown no interest in liste ning to the dated a 90 percent reduction in livestock, which for many Collier, Sr. He in turn chose Oliver La Farge, a novel­ traditional leaders. ist, to persuade the Hopi to adopt a constitution and The reservation system impose.d on the Navajo and Continued on next page

December 20, 1985 The Militant 11 l'nte.rnational Socialist December ISR/4 Review------U.S. gov'l ongoing war against Navajo, Hopi peoples

Continued from previous page was their only livelihood. This stock reduction was sup­ posedly to protect Hopi lands from overgrazing, but where else in the West has the U.S. government shown any concern for overgrazing? The law also placed a freeze on construction or build­ ing improvements 0!1 property within the JUA. Residents can actually be arrested for simply patc'bing a hole in their roof. The traditional people have no legal recourse, be­ cause all lawsuits have to go through the tribal councils. Morris Udall has recently admitted that the stock reduc­ tion and construction freeze were instituted to "persuade" the Navajo· to leave their land. As fencing proceeded, about 100 Hopis and 10,000 Navajos were told by the Relocation Commission estab­ lished by the act that they had to move. The traditional Navajo refused. saying that the land was their sacred homeland. In Navajo language, the closest word for relo­ cation means to vanish altogether. In 1979 they sent a letter to the U.S. government say­ ing: "The Dine Nation o f Big Mountain wishes to inform the various Federal agencies that the sacred laws of the Dine give no a.uthorlty for the Federal Government and its related agencies to intrude and disrupt the sacred lands of Big Mountain. We demand that the Federal Govern­ ment remove all Government equipment and personnel for the area of Big Mountain by Nov. 6. 1979. Any equipment left or that is in the Big Mountain area is sub­ ject to confiscation by the Independent Dine Nation .... " The Navajos also stated, "We further declare our right to live in peace and harrnony with our Moqui (Hopi) neighbors, and cooperatio n between us will remain· un­ changed." The Bureau of Indian Affairs' attempts to enforce li vestock reduction have met massive resistance, as have its attempts to complete the last fi ve miles o f fence. Even 80- and 90-year-old men and women have been arrested Peabody Coal's Black Mesa strip mine in Joint Use Area. Indian tribes are paid but a few cents per ton for coal while defending their homeland. mined here. Huge profits are raked in by energy companies, which have ruined the landscape and spread massive power plant pollution throughout region. National Academy of Sciences has its solution: declare it all a "National Aim is to force Navajo ofT land Sacrifice Area." The Relocation Commission's job is to force or coerce the Dine to leave their lands. The few who have done so Shultz, Defe nse Secretary Caspar We inberger. two ers, has carried this message to the United Nations and to have found life exceedingly difficult in racist porder former C IA directors, W . Kenneth- Davis (a forrner Washington more than once. his message seems to go un­ towns. Many are swindled out of the housing promised to Dechtel vice ~ pres id e nt appointed by Reagan to the heeded. them and are prohibited from returning to their home­ number two slot in the Department of Energy), and a Multinational energy corporations have a history of be­ lands. High rates of alcoholism and suicide are the result . number of men who served in the Reagan campaign or­ g inning their explo itive and destructive developments The Relocation Commission is currently the object of ganization. around the world by first " pacifying" or sometimes bla­ congressional investigation regarding their fraudulent Big Mountain is center of resistance tantly exterminating the native inhabitants. Today. the dealings with relocatees. More than one commissioner U.S. government and these corporations are waging war has resigned in disgust at the unworkability of the act and Bi·g Mountain, near the center of the Joint Use Area, is against the earth and its people in the Four Corners area. its severe impacts on the people. where much of the resistance to relocation is concen­ As 'the Fourth Russell Tribunal. on Rig hts of lnaians in PL 93-531 requires all those who refuse to move to be .trated. In April 1984 at the .l Oth annual survival gathering the Americas, determined in the Netherlands in 1980 , PL forcibly removed by July 1986. This will prove to be a at Big Mountain , I heard Navajo elders and Hopi spiritual 93-531 is an act of genocide. If it is carried out, and the difficult task for the U.S. government. In the words of leaders discuss the relocation and reaffirm their commit­ traditional people removed fro m the ir land, the way will 62-year-old Ruth Benally, "We won't stop [resisting]. me nt to stay on the land and act as its guardians. Fo r three be c lear for energy corporativns to lay waste to more of I've lived here all my life. Big Mountain is sacred to us. days they talked about their respect for the land, the the earth, and create another " national sacrifice area." lt is where we collect our herbs and medicines. When the plants and animals, sacred springs, and religious sites time comes, if we don't have any other choice, we are and about the hardships placed on them by the attempts at The war agai nst the Navajo and Hopi must be stopped; going to use our fists . No matter how small I am, I 'II relocation. They made it clear that the land is central to the people and the area are one, and they cannot and must fight all the way to the e nd." Pauline Whitesinger says, " I their spiritual. cultural. and physical needs and that they not be separated. The Re location Commission should will never lea ve this land. If they come to move me, they would never leave. There is no connie!' between the have its funding terminated , PL 93-53 1 should be re­ can shoot me right here." people. They do not want the coal or uranium to be taken pealed, and we must recognize and listen to the tradi­ A military solution to the government's problems en­ out of Mother Earth - ''it is part of her 11esh." Although tional leaders of Native Americans, not tribal councils forc ing relocation is a very real possibility, recalling the Thomas Banyacya. translator for the Hopi spiritual lead- composed of prodevelopment puppets . events at Wounded Knee in 1973. President Reagan's personal emissaries to solve the "dispute," Secretary of Interior William C lark and Ri chard Morris, have stated that those refusi ng to leave would "be declared as tres­ Kate O'Hare: pioneer socialist agitator passers .. .. The evictio n could be enforced by U.S. Marshals and the U.S. military.'' Continued from ISR/2 * Many of the misconceptions regarding the situation on reform and especiall y for the abolition of the contract­ the reservations are the result of the media's and the gov­ labor system. I have drawn upon the following materials in preparing ernment's failure to recognize traditional tribal leaders .. In 1939 Go vernor Culbert Olson appointed her assis­ this article: Neil K. Basen. "Kate Richards O' Hare: The Instead, they pre fer to deal with people like Peter Mac­ tant director o f the California Department of Penology. ' First Lady' of Socialism." 1901 - 1917, Labor History Donald or Abbott Sekaquaptewa , who were tribal chair­ where she inaugurated many reforms o f that state's 2 1 (Spring 1980 ); David A. Shannon. " Kate Richards men for the Navajo and Hopi until 1982. prison system. She continued to agitate for prison reform O'Hare-Cunningham." Notable American Women, 1607- M~cDon ald, head of the Counc il of Energy Resource until her death on Jan. 12 , 1948. at 71 . /950: A BioJ?raphical Dictionarv 0 Vols., Cambridge, Tribes (CERT), is one of the wealthiest Indians in the Writing to her family from prison on Labor Day, May 1971 ); Me lvin Dubovsky. " Kate Richards O' Hare Cun­ United States. He is proud of the fact that the Navajo tri­ 1, 1919, she told of Emma Goldman- the anarchist ningham. Dictionary of American Biography. Supple­ bal c;ouncil, under his leadership. opened up much reser­ leader who was imprisoned with her - g iving her a piece lllt!llf. 1946-1950 (NY , 1974): Kate Richards O'Hare, vation land to massive oil, coal. gas, and uranium ex­ of red ribbon to wear: Letters from Kat(' Richards 0 ' Hare ro Her Family ploitation. The Mormon Sekaquaptewa family is among " It was a strange sight, yet typical of our capitalist sys­ (Girard, Kansas: Frank P. O'Hare . 192 1), on fil e at the most affluent of the Hop is,, with the largest cattle herd tem. The dirty, grimy shop .. . the weary-eyed women. Oberlin College. Oberlin. Ohio; Kate Richards O'Hare, of all , and is committed to using Joint Use Area lands for in ugly. shapeless convict garb, each bending to the task. Ku zbasing in Dixie (Newllano, Louisiana: The Llano ranching and mining. (Mineral leasing provides all the dumb. silent, and hopeless. Yet in two hearts. at least. Publications. 1926); Castleton Papers. Eugene V. Debs funding for the Ho pi tribal counci l. ) burned the fires o f revolt. and over two hearts there Collection. Box 3, T ami1itent Lihrary: The Convioion of Just a few of the corporate connections between the g lowed the tiny knots of red ribbons . worldwide insig nia Mrs. Kate Richards O'Hare and North Dakora Politics Reagan administration and Peabody Coal make c lear the of human brotherhood .... Some day I shall stand with (NX: National Civil Liberties Bureau, 19 18): Depart­ government's interest in removing the people and pillag­ the comrades o f all natio ns in the New International. and ment o f Justice Records . National Archives; Kate ing the land. An antitrust ruling agai nst Kennecott Cop­ 1 shall want to wear it in memory of this May Day ...." Richards O'Hare. Crime and Criminal.v (Girard, Kansas: per in the 1 970~ left Peabody in the control of six multi­ Kate Richards O ' Hare did not li ve to stand with her Frank P. O'Hare); interviews with Victor E. O'Hare. national corporations: Newrnont Mining Corp .. Williams comrades of all nations and wear the red ribbon that she Jan. 23. 1984, and Sept. 8. 1985: Frank P. O ' Hare Pa­ Co., Bechte l Corp .. Boeing. Fluor. and Equitable Life cheri shed for the rest of her life. But her pioneering work pers, Missouri Histori cal Society. St. Louis. Missouri: I Assurance Society. Bechtel. to c hoose one example, has in advanc ing the class struggle lives on as an importalll wish to thank Victor E. O'Hare. the last surviving child built the Sout~wes t power plants that use Peabody coal. link in our revolutionary heritage. Her fighting spirit is an of Kate Ri chards O ' Hare. for graciously g iving permis­ Affiliated with Bechte l are Secretary of State George inspirtion to revolutionary workers the world over. sion to quote from his mother's letters from prison.

12 The ·Militant December 20,-1985 Economic crisis in Philippines: 'Made in USA' Imperialist bankers play key role

BY WILL REISSNER States, and Sumitomo from Japan. Mass demonstrations in the Philippines These four banana growers raise their regularly express their anger at the "U.S.­ crop, all of which is exported to Japan, on Marcos dictatorship." 66,000 acres of Mindanao. At the same time, daily lines form at the Del Monte and Dole also have vast hold­ U.S. embassy as Filipinos seek to emigrate ings in tomatoes, coffee. livestock feed. to the United States. There is a backlog of cattle-raising, deep-sea fishing , rice, glass more than 440,000 Filipinos who have ap­ manufacturing, land development, and Manila slum. Filipino workers and farmers are carrying the burden of imperialist­ plied to join over one-half million of their banking. imposed economic crisis. compatriots already li ving in the United States. The two largest export crops, sugar and Both the protests and the emigration re­ coconuts, are dominated by Fi lipino as the Bell Trade Act. which was drafted in a thriving domestic industry -the Philip­ flect Washington's tremendous continuing capitalists and form the basis for much of the U.S. Congress. · pines has about the same population as weight in the former U.S . colony. the wealth of the Filipino ruling class . . The Bell Trade Act, which was passed in France. For 300 years, the Philippines had been Sugar production is concentrated in the months before the United States gave The big brake on the size of the Philip­ a colony of Spain. As the 19th century large plantations and employs 500,000 the Philippines independence, was de­ pine domestic market is the abject poverty drew to a close, revolts against Spanish co­ field workers, who are kept in line by signed to protect the interests of U.S. in­ of the masses and the concentration of lonialism were under way in Cuba and the plant~r-controlled private armies. vestors. wealth in a few hands. In 1970, for exam­ Philippines. _ Filipino nationalists had Although sugar is grown on more than It was eventually also passed by the ple, the top 5 percent of the population launched an armed struggle against 33,000 farms, just 600 of them control Philippine congress, after heavy-handed controlled 25 percent of the national in­ Spanish rule in 1896. 26.2 percent of the sugar land. Since 1977 pressure from Washington. The U.S. gov­ come. But before the Cuban and Filipino pat- sugar marketing has been monopolized by ernment insisted that the Bell Trade Act be In addition, the traditional Filipino rul­ -- riots could win their independence, the Roberto Benedicto, a crony of dictator Fer­ adopted "as is" by Manila, and Washington ing class owes its wealth and power to its Spanish-American War broke out in 1898. dinand Marcos. Benedicto has used his made release of reconstruction funds from control over the land and to agricultural ex­ By the end of that year, Spain was de­ position to amass a vast fortune. . the U.S. Rehabilitation Act contingent on ports to the U.S. market. These oligarchs feated. Coconut production primarily takes Philippine approval of the measure. had no interest in a land reform that would A treaty between Spain and the United place on small farms, often cultivated by Under the terms of the Bell Trade Act, boost the purchasing power of the rural States gave Washington control over tenant farmers who must tum over as much free trade between the Philippines and the masses, who still make up 70 percent of the Spain's remaining colonial possessions. as two-thirds of their crop to the landown­ United States was extended for eight years country's population. Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines er. after independence, followed by 20 years Nor did the oligarchs have an interest in became outright U.S. colonies. Cuba In the coconut industry, as in the sugar of gradually increasing tariffs. foreign currency controls or protection of gained formal indepenaence, although the industry, marketing of the crop is The act also gave the U.S. government newly established local industry. The plan­ U.S. Congress had veto power over all ac­ monopolized by a Marcos crony, Eduardo power over the value of the currency of the ters. after all , sold to the U.S . market and tions of the new Cuban government. Cojuangco, whose family began building nominally independent country and en­ earned dollars. And they would much its fortune with vast rice lands. Cojuangco, The Filipino insurgents battling Spanish forced the right of U.S. corporations to rather use their dollars to buy higher qual­ whose cousin Corazon married Marcos op­ rule initially welcomed U .S. intervention send profits out of the Philippines. Accord­ ify foreign goods than the protected prod­ ponent Benigno Aquino, also heads the in the fighting. They expected that a U.S. ing to the act. "the value of the Philippine ucts of local industries. victory over Spain would result in indepen­ San Migue.l Corp. , the largest company in currency in relation to the United States A heavy blow to the import substitution the Philippines. dence for the Philippines. dollar shall not be changed, and no res.tric­ policy was dealt in 1962, when Washing­ The present neocolonial structure of the When it became clear that they had ex­ tions shall be imposed on the transfer of ton forced the Philippine government to Philippine economy reflects a conscious changed one colonial master for another, funds from the Philippines to the United end import and foreign exchange controls. many Filipinos continued fighting. policy of the U.S. government both before States, except by agreement with the Pres­ The U.S. government acted in response to It took Washington two years of bitter and after Philippine independence. ident of the United States." complaints by U.S. investors seeking tore­ In particular, the present economic counterinsurgency warfare before resis­ patriate their profits and U.S. exporters structure reflects decisions made in the im­ tance to U.S. rule· in the Philippines was 'Parity Amendment' frustrated by protectionist measures. mediate postwar period, when the Philip­ crushed with the capture of insurgent ln order to receive reconstruction aid, pines had just receive9 its independence. leader Emilio Aguinaldo in 190 I. the Philippine government was also forced IMF and World Bank Direct U.S. colonial rule had a drastic Postwar 'reconstruction' to add a ''Parity Amendment" to the coun­ The vehicles chosen by W.ashington to impact on the Philippine economy. The es­ try's constitution, giving U.S. citi zens apply the pressure were the International World War II temporarily broke the tablishment of free trade between the new equal ri ghts with the Philippine citizens in Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The close economic ties between the Philip­ colony and the United States in 1909 rein­ the economic sphere. IMF forced Mani la to carry out a severe 9e­ pines and the United States. forced a pattern wherein the Philippines Under the 1947 Military Bases Agree­ valuation of the peso relative to the dollar. The Japanese military attacked the grew sugar, tobacco, copra, and other ag­ ment, Washington got a 99-year lease on a The rationale was that this devalution Philippines one day after the attack on ricultural products for the U.S. market, number of military facilities in the islands, would improve Philippine foreign currency Pearl Harbor. Japanese rule over the is­ while the free entry of U.S. manufactured with the proviso that these facilities would holdings by lowering the price of Philip­ lands would last until October 1944. goods into the Philippines prevented the be administered as if they were part of the pine exports and discouraging imports, The years of Japanese occupation broke development of domestic industry. territory of the United States. which now became much more expensive the trade links that had tied the Philippines Access to the U.S. market for agricul­ This web of continued U.S. control over in peso terms. and the United States since free trade was tural products spurred the development of vital sectors of Philippine life made many Big agricultural interests. such as the established in 1909. large-scale plantation agriculture. The per­ Filipinos question whether the country had sugar planters, reaped a bonanza from the When trade with the United States be­ centage of farmers working as tenant actually gained its independence in 1946. devaluation. Their sales to the U.S. market came impossible during the war, much of sharecroppers doubled between 1900 and The windfall of dollars into the Philip­ continued as before . But their dollar earn­ the existing economic structure fe ll into 1935, as the plantation owners increased pine economy dried up in 1949. leaving the ings could now be exchanged for many decay. In particular the sugar plantations, their holdings. country without the foreign currency more pesos than previously. totally dependent on the U.S. market, had Many of the present ruling families of needed to continue purchasing imports. The impact of the devaluation was se­ fallen into ruins during the war years. the Philippines - the Kalaws, Laurels, As a result of this crisis, the Philippine vere on Filipino workers. who saw their In addition. the Philippines suffered tre­ and Aquinos, for example - had been government got U.S. permission to impose real incomes drop 10 percent between 1962 mendous physical damage in the course of leading planter fami lies during Spanish foreign currency controls, under which no and 1964, and on Filipino manufacturers, the· U.S. reconquest of the islands from the rule who went over to serving the new co­ foreign payments could be made without who now had to pay more in pesos for their Japanese. lonial power, vastly enriching themselves the prior approval of the Central Bank. and imported raw materials and whose dollar­ in the process. Rehabilitation of the economy was a all exporters were required to turn their for­ denominated loans now required far more pressing task in the immediate postwar eign currency earnings over to the govern­ pesos for repayment. U.S. agribusinesses years. But the large inflow of U.S. dollars ment in exchange for Philippine pesos. An estimated 1.50Q Filipino manufac: . U.S. corporations were quick to follow in the immediate postwar period- from As a result of the foreign currency cri sis turers were forced into bankruptcy by the the flag to the Philippines, and continued to spending by U.S. troops, U.S. government and the inability to continue importing con­ 1962 devaluation, while others survived maintain vast holdings in agriculture and payments of salaries to local personnel. sumer goods, a local "import substitution" only by entering joint venture agreements mining after the Philippines gained formal veterans' benefits for Philippine soldiers, manufacturing industry developed in the with foreign capitalists. independence in 1946. and war damage payments - was squan­ 1950s. The impact of the devaluation on man­ In the rubber industry. for example. dered on impo~ of consumer goods. The Although much of it simply invol ved as­ ufacturing can be seen by the fact that the three U.S. giants dominate 97 percent of prewar patterns of the Philippine economy sembly, finishing. or packaging of im­ number of manufacturing jobs in 1969 was Philippine rubber production. B.F. Good­ were reestablished. ported components, as a category man­ virtually the ::;a me as it had been in 1963- rich established its first plantations on the This neocolonial "reconstruction.. had ufacturing increased from 8 percent of na­ 1.3 million. island of Basil an in 19 19. Goodyear came two causes: the corruption and venality of tional income in 1949 to 18 percent by Nevertheless. the tariff protection for in 1929, and Firestone followed in 1957. the Filipino ruling class. particularly the 1965. Filipino manufacturers that had been estab- U.S. corporations also account for 99.8 planters. whose wealth and power was This import substitution could not. how­ 1ishcd in 19.57 continued to provide some percent of Philippine pineapple sales. Del based on the U.S . connection , and Wash­ ever. generate a sustained industrialization protection for local industry . Monte began pineapple production on the ington's determination to reimpose a. neo­ of the Philippines. For ~ustained indus­ But the lifting of currency controls and island of Mindanao in 1926, while its ar­ coloni al economic structure on the Philip­ triali zation to take place, major structural the devaluation in 1962 were only the chrival, Dole, an·ived only in 1963. Be­ pines. changes would have been necessary in opening shots in the World Bank- IMF tween them they now grow pineapples on Filipino society. campaign to open the Philippines to greater more than 40.000 acres on Mindanao. U.S. economic control The biggest s ingle constraint on inuus­ ·penetration hy U.S. capitalists. The banana industry is also totally con­ The vehicle for U.S. control over the trialization was the small size of the When Ferdinand Marcos was elected trol led by foreign corporations: Del Monte, newly independent island nation was the domestic market. Certainly there arc president in I 906. he instituted programs to Dole, and United Fruit from the United 1946 Philippine Trade Act. usually known enough people in the Philippines to sustain Continued on Page 16

DecembeF 20,, 1985 Th6 ~Militant 13 S. Africa union federation backs divestment lifted. The right to join unions was ex­ The rise of the mass anti-apartheid strug­ tended to workers assigned to Bantustans gle made possible the forging of the feder­ and to workers from other countries. James ation on the basis of militant struggle ~ Motlatsi, president of the National Union against apartheid. of Mineworkers, is a migrant worker from The African National Congress, the van­ Lesotho. guard liberation or-ganization of the South On Aug. 8. 1981 , the first talks on creat­ African freedom struggle, also backed for­ ing a new federation of democratic unions mation of COSATU . were held. ANC stand Doubling of membership In a Jan. 8, 1985, address marking the Since that meeting, the number of union­ ANC's 73rd anniversary, President Oliver ized workers has more than doubled. Tambo said: "During this anniversary year, The number of strikes has tended to in­ let us consolidate the gains we have thus crease as well, rising from 106 in 1978 to far registered. We need to intensify our ef­ 394 in 1982. By September 1984- when forts to form one united, democratic trade the current anti-apartheid upsurge was just union federation. No democratic trade beginning - there had already been more union should be excluded from such a fed­ strikes than in the previous record year of eration. 1982. The biggest single addition to the union "We must harness the collective strength ranks was the formation of the National of the working class, not merely to im­ prove the immediate economic conditions Members of South African National Union of Mineworkers Union of Mineworkers in 1982. The NUM now reports more than 250,000 members, of that class but to bring about democratic 100,000 of whom are paid up in dues. change in our country." Continued from Page 2 exclusively Black unions- SAAWU sup­ The NUM recently split from the Coun­ The advance of the South African nonra­ for changes that would make it easier to ported the Freedom Charter's goal of a cil of Unions of South Africa, stating that cial unions has had an impact on the feder­ recognize, negotiate with, and gain some nonracial South Africa. SAAWU became CUSA was not seriously pursuing the unity ations that collaborate with the racist rul­ control over the new unions that were de­ nonracial, although its membership re­ negotiations. ers. Both the openly racist, whites-only veloping. mains overwhelmingly Black. Another issue that divided unionists was South African Confederation of Labor and · Registered unions could enforce con­ The issues that led to the split in BAWU the degree to which the unions would par­ TUCSA, which collaborates closely with tracts, carry out legal strikes under ex­ continue to be debated in the South African ticipate in the anti-apartheid struggle. the regime and the employers, have lost ,tremely limited circumstances, institute members. labor movement and in the broader South Debate role in struggle dues checkoff, and appeal against unfair African liberation struggle. The advocates When TUCSA adopted a resolution in labor practices to government courts. of a nonracial South Africa have steadily Some, such as the South African Allied 1983 calling on the government to suppress Workers Union, were deeply involved in The law also barred unions from politi­ gained ground, as can be seen in the range independent unions that had refused to re­ of unions that united in favor of nonracial the political struggle against apartheid gister with the government, the 54,000- cal activity, proposed tight government from the beginning. FOSATU's central surveillance of their finanees and internal unionism in COSATU. COSATU's mem­ member South African Boilermakers Soci­ ber unions - which organize the decisive leaders, on the other hand, tended to coun­ ety, which has both Black and white mem­ structure, and barred strike pay to union terpose building strong shop-floor organi­ members. majority of unionized workers - are all bers, and the 25 ,000-member Motor [ndus­ nonracial. Some have whites in leading zations to active union involvement in the try Combined Workers Union withdrew. Growing support to the new unions pre­ positions. anti-apartheid battle. The Boilermakers' leaders have attended vented the government from either estab­ The apartheid regime aimed especially some of the discussions that led to the for­ lishing tight control over those that regis­ Two significant unions -the Council of savage repression at those unionists who mation of the new federation, although tered under the new laws or suppressing Unions of South Africa and the Azanian became involved in mass protests. they have not yet decided to join. those unions that refused to register. Confederation of Trade Unions-have not Thozamile Gqwetha, president of tbe esti­ yet joined the new federation. They have As a radio broadcast from the African In 1979, the Federation of South African mated 50,000-member SAAWU , was ar­ between 100,000 and 150,000 members. National Congress put it December 2, the Trade Unions (FOSATU) was formed by a rested on at least nine occasions and tor­ Both cite their opposition to COSATU's formation of COSATU "was greeted with number of the new industrial unions. It in­ tured. stand for nonracial unions as one of their much jubilation by the entire struggling cludes unions in the textile, auto, chemi­ When the regime dropped treason reasons. people of our country because it lays the cal, and other industries. charges against 12 anti-apartheid fighters main foundation stone for the unity of the The Black Consciousness current played Another group of unions formed the December 9, it continued to press the working class in South Africa, the main a part in forming many unions. But today Council of Unions of South Africa (CUSA) treason frame-up against four SAAWU leading force of our national liberation rev­ its positions have become an obstacle to or­ in September 1980. CUSA, unlike leaders. olution. " FOSATU, favored an exclusively Black ganizing and uniting the millions of still But repression has not been restricted to leadership for the new unions. unorganized Black workers and uniting the those unions most active in the anti-apart­ South African working class and its allies heid movement. The apartheid regime's UAW loses vote Why nonracial? along nonracial lines to challenge the em­ troops and cops can be counted on to help In 1979, a split in the Black Allied ployers and their apartheid state. the employers in any tabor conflict. in Arizona Workers Union had resulted in the forma­ By 1981 , the government was forced to tion of the South African Allied Workers' further recognize the right to organize, United Democratic Front certification election Union (SAA WU). While BAWU had iden­ while continuing to try to restrict the The differences over political action tified with the Black Consciousness current unions. The ban on nonracial unions, against apartheid were indicated in the re­ MESA, Ariz. - Production workers - including holding positions favoring which it had been forced to ignore, was sponse of different union bodies to the for-. . seeking to organize a local of the United mation of the United Democratic Front, the Auto Workers (UA W) in the McDonnell anti-apartheid coalition that united 600 or­ Douglas Corp. helicopter plant here lost a ganizations with 2 million members. Some certification eJection held ·November 8. Paperworkers reject merger with OCAW 20 unions, including SAAWU , joined the The vote was 293 for the union and 571 UDF. against. BY VIVIAN SAHNER posed increase in the member-to-delegates The CUSA voted to endorse both the The organizing drive has been a chal­ ST. LOUIS- At a special convention ratio. The proposed change would have de­ UDF and the National Forum, an opponent lenge to the union-busting of this giant here on December 3, delegates from creased the number of delegates at conven­ of the UDF and the Freedom Charter. aerospace company: Activists in the or­ United Paperworkers International Union tions. Union officials had argued that the FOSATU did not join either the UDF or ganizing committee plan to try again in the locals voted down a proposal to merge with change was necessary because they had the National Forum. future. Officials of the UA W have filed the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers trouble finding large enough convention In reality, tl'le struggle for union rights charges of unfair election practices against union (OCA W). The measure, which offi­ facilities. and the broader struggle against the apart­ McDonnell Douglas with the National cials in both unions had expected to be ap­ Several delegates spoke against a provi­ heid system have always been intertwined. Labor Relations Board. proved, was soundly defeated in a roll-call sion that required dues payments from Broad community support, including Originally Hughes Helicopters, Inc. , the vote with 14 ,803 votes cast against and members collecting sick and accident ben­ boycotts, has played a part in winning company moved its Apache helicopter pro­ 5,396 in favor. A simple majority would efits. They said they would lose members many strikes. duction from Culver City. California, to have established the United Paper, Energy over the issue. The upsurge of the anti-apartheid strug­ union-free Mesa, a rapidly expanding sub­ and Chemical Workers Union. After more than an hour of discussion, gle in 1984 and the brutal repression in the urb of Phoenix. The California plant was In August, OCAW convention delegates delegates called for a vote. While the four . townships drew many more unions into organized by the Carpenters' union. Work­ narrowly approved the merger proposal. It largest locals threw their combined I ,691 prominent roles in the anti-apartheid strug­ ers transferring from Culver City took a $6- passed only after a second vote was taken, votes behind the measure. the result was gle. to $7-an-hour pay cut. failing to win the required two-thirds never in question as hundreds of delegates McDonnell Douglas bought the plant in majority the first time. from locals across the country voted no. Transvaal strike 1984 and plans to make the Mesa facility At both conventions, opposition to the Officials from both unions were clearly On Nov. 5 and 6, 1984, FOSATU, the headquarters for its entire helicopter proposal focused on provisions in the pro­ surprised by the outcome. CUSA, and UDF affiliat~s organized an production. All the other McDonnell posed new constitution. None of the delegates who spoke dis­ anti-apartheid strike of I million workers in Douglas aerospace plants are union-or­ puted the wisdom of a merger with ganized. The company went all out to pre­ After two hours of speeches by union of­ Transvaal Province, which includes Johan­ OCAW. They agreed with the claims of vent its outpost in the ··sun belt'' from be­ fi cials urging merger. one delegate after nesburg and Pretoria. This was the biggest union officials that a merger would result coming union. another wok the floor to voice opposition. political strike in South Africa's history. in a bigger. more powerful union, better The strikers demanded an end to army and They hired 200 workers before the elec­ Delegates angrily pointed out that a able to defend itself against the escalating police repression in the Black townships. tion and promoted hundreds more. They number of provisions in the proposed con­ government. and corporate attacks. release of political prisoners. an end to in­ eliminated wage control points and raised stitution were proposals that had been In fact, after the proposal was voted creases in rent and bus fares, and the resig­ wages 35 cents an hour across the board. raised and voted down at the last Paper­ down, a delegate made a motion to direct nation of all members of the government­ At the same time. McDonnell Douglas workers convention in September 1984. Paperworkers officials to continue talks established Black community councils. threatened that, if the workers voted union, Delegates from small locals opposed the with OCA W. The motion won wide The ranks and the overwhelming major­ the company would take away benefits, provision that would have left it up to the applause but was not brought to a vote be­ ity of leaders of the new unions know that force us out on strike, and would fire and International Executive Board whether to cause Paperworkers President Wayne there can be no future for unionism in never rehire us. provide. transportation funds for delegates Glenn said he appreciated the sentiment be­ South Africa unless the apartheid structure to special conventions. Their locals. they hind the motion. but OCAW wasn't having -from the Bantustans, to institutionalized This article was written by a member ofthe argued, needed these funds to send even a convention for three years, and it was dif­ job discrimination, to the pass laws, to the VA W in-plam organizing committee at the one representative to such gatherings. ficult to see how merger talks would pro­ white minority government - is disman­ McDonnell Douglas plqnt iri Mesa , They also voiced disapproval of a pro- ceed. tled. Arizona.

·· 14 · The Militant · D«em~ : lo; -1985 Nicaragua carries·out demobilization of first wave of draftees BY BILL GREITER perialism surely would have been able to MANAGUA, Nicaragua - In Spanish, make headway with its plans." In that case, cachorro means cub. In Nicaragua, the Ortega pointed out, rather than fighting to "cachorros of Sandino" are the nation's push the mercenaries back at the borders, heroes. They are the young draftees of the Nicaragua would now be fighting to defend Patriotic Military Service (SMP) who have the cities themselves. been striking big blows against the U.S.­ Nicaragua, he said , "is fighting for backed mercenaries, as Nicaraguan Gen. peace when we take up arms, fighting for Augusto Cesar Sandino did against the peace when we confront the mercenaries." U.S. marines who occupied this country Nicaragua is "defending self-determination half a century ago. and independence, freedom of expression, On December 2 the first of the "cubs of health and 'housing, land for the peasants." :Ill! Sandino" were demobilized from the army "The sooner we defeat the mercenary Barricada after defending Nicaragua's sovereignty forces," he added, "the closer we will be to "Cubs of Sandino" who fought contras for two years in mountains of northerp Nica­ for two years in the mountains and jungles. peace." ragua. Here they sign last forms before their release to return home. Thousands of people jammed the Pfaza of 'The first days were difficult," said the Revolution here to welcome them - Lizandro Ubeda, speaking for the de­ dier Edgar Zamora, beaming. Perched on head of the household, the only son. home. mobilized veterans, "but we never gave up the knapsack on his back was a brilliant There's a draft deferment for that, so I Filling the plaza on all sides were the and we never surrendered. We have com­ green parrot from the mountains of north­ didn't have to go. But I volunteered. Once mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters pleted this mission. Now we arc ready to ern Nicaragua, where he had spent the last you decide to support the revolution you waiting to greet their cubs. And in the mid­ meet the new challenges that the revolution two years. can't let anything stand in your way." dle, in a formation of two squads, stood presents us. Now we are ready to join the "What will you do now?" I asked. In one comer of the plaza 50 young re­ I ,000 soldiers. Reserve Military Service. uniting with the "Go back to school," Zamora said. ''I cruits were singing and chanting exuber­ In one squad. carrying their knapsacks rest of the people to create a wall that will got out of high school before I went into the antly. "We are not really brand new re­ and rifles and wearing the traditional Nica­ defeat an enemy invasion." The Reserve SMP. Now I am going to college to finish cruits," 22-year-old Franco Cardenal raguan mountaineer's hat that has become Military Service is a new branch of the my studies. And, of course, continue to explained to me. "We have been up north their trademark, were the soon-to-be-de­ army. All men between the ages of 25 and participate in the tasks of the revolution: in Jinotega for a month already. We came mobilized draftees. 40 arc required to register for it. picking coffee and cotton, and helping to down for the symbolic act of receiving the In the other squad. in khaki uniforms After the military band had played t.he train the military reserves.'' rifles.'' and caps, still without rifles, were the new Sandinista anthem to conclude the event, "I feel great,'' said 19-ycar-old Henry The new cachorros were in high spirits. recruits wl'\o will replace 'them. the commanding officer gave one final Martinez, "although life in the mountains They had guitars with them and were sing­ Lizandro Ubeda. one of the soldiers order. was pretty hard. Now I just want to get ing revolutionary songs. At one point they being demobilized gave the order to the "Fall out!" he called. Chaos erupted in home and see my mom. It has been two all .started leaping into the ai r, chanting, new recruits: "Attention! Left face! For­ the center of the plaza as the crowd years since I've seen her.'' Martinez lives "Anybody who doesn't jump up and down ward, march." streamed in seeking sons, husbands, and in Muy Muy, in .Matagalpa Province. is a counterrevolutionary." The new draftees advanced toward the friends. "What kind of work does your family do Then they marched off, still singing, to ranks of the outgoi ng fighters, continuing " Imperialism never expected that we there?" I asked. the army trucks that would take them back to march through them until the two squads could pull this off," said demobilized sol- " I don't really have a family . I am the to the mountains. were mixed in alternate rows. "Left face!" Ubcda shouted. As they turned, each new recruit was brought face­ to-face with the soldier he would replace. Terror attack hits children ·during 'Purisima' Holding out their rifles. the departing soldiers spoke: " Incoming brother soldier, MANAGUA. Nicaragua - Twelve Purlsima events were over. Barrit-ada. the make of the church's orticial silence in re­ I tum over to you this rifle with which I people, mostly children, were wounded by Sandinista National Liberation Front'!> sponse to this criminal attack. Should we have completed my two years of Patriotic shrapnel when a bomb exploded in :t daily. described the holiday as a ucccss, call it shocking? Military Service. for you to fight as San­ church in Rivas, December 3. Ri vas is a "despite the effons of some sectors of the "Not really ... Barricada concluded. "In dino and !Sandinista National Liberation city in southwestern Nicaragua. Catholic church hierarchy and some politi­ four years. their silence in the face of coun­ Front founder] Carlos Fonseca did. It is The counterrevolutionary crime wa the cal sectors." But, the paper asked in an terrevolutionary crime. has become your duty now to continue with this task.'' only serious incident marring Purfsima. a editorial. "why doesn't the hierarchy ron­ habitual. There is no 'longer anything Grasping the rifle. the new recruits an­ Catholic holiday traditionally celebrated demo the crime in Ri vas'? What can we shocking about it." - B.G . swered: "I, the incoming soldier, swear by here. our heroes and martyrs. to the poor and Dr. Alfonso Teran Hidalgo. director of working people , to carry this rifle where the hospital in Rivas, compared the act to you did, with courage and honor as you atrocities carried o ut by the National Guard did." of dictator Anastasio Somoza, who was Nicaragua hits U.S. aggression "Attention!" the commanding officer or­ overthrown in 1979. dered again. "Forward, march!" This time "That was a time of barbarism," Teran Continued from front page better learn to respect it!" it was the now-demobilized veterans who Hidalgo commented. "It seems that some "The imperialists should not believe.that "Of course, the FSLN supported this marched away to take their place on the people now want to bring it back." The the Nicaraguan people are unprepared. Do demonstration." 23-year-old Alfredo other side of the plaza. doctor put the blame on "imperialism they think we're going to turn out in the Ramirez said . " It's the party that's in the The crowd broke out in wild applause as [which) wants to intimidate the population streets in disarray, trying to figure out what lead. At times like this you never see the the precise exercise concluded. so they won't participate in their religious to do? What have these six years of strug­ other parties. And the Sandinista Defense "One army of all the people!" they holiday." gle been for? Committee in each neighborhood or­ chanted, together with 'the soldiers of both Father Jose Antonio Fernandez. noted "The people here know how to fight," he ganized to get people here." squads. that the bombing ''happened just at a time continued. "We have the guns. and we're Despite his militia uniform, Ramirez is a when some sectors were trying to make organized. We have the unity, conscious­ truck driver, not a soldier, he said. 'One more victory for revolution' people believe that Purisima would not be ness, and determination to win." "No, we're all soldiers here," inter­ "Our enemies hoped that this day would celebrated." The crowd was outraged by the merce­ rupted Socorro Zeled6n. "Some of us use never come," President Daniel Ortega told He was referring to the fact that several nary attack, but self-confident and discip­ rifles and some don't; some are in the army the crowd. "They hoped that none of the weeks ago, opponents of the revolution lined. and some are in the Sandinista Defense young people would return from the moun­ began circulating rumors that Purisima cel­ "This is an act of repudiation,'' said a Committees- but we're all soldiers." tains; or that the youth in the cities would ebrations would be prohibited this year be­ housewife with two sons in the army. Washington's use of the SAM-7 missile, refuse to join the armies. cause of the state of emergency the govern­ 'They'd better not mess with us ... " said Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, "They would have preferred to see the ment recently decreed. " . .. or dare to come in here like they is as serious an action as the mining of Nic­ plaza empty and desolate. Instead it is In a press conference November 23. did in Grenada," said an 18-year-old man aragua's ports by the CIA nearly three filled today with the combative presence of Commander Omar Cabezas. the Ministry who works at the Pepsi-Cola factory. years ago. Now. he said, "the United the young men who have completed their of the Interior's chief of internal order, an­ "It's a warning to the Yankees,'' said an States is mining the airspace of Central military service." swered these rumors. "The state of office worker wearing a militia uniform America. and they are threatening to do so Under Nicaragua's 1983 law on Patriotic emergency has absolutely nothing to do and carrying a briefcase. "We're on the throughout the continent." Military Service, men between 18 and 25 with Purfsima," he said, explaining that alert. We're ready." Ortega responded to the U.S. justifica­ years old can be drafted for active service. everything that is normally part of the "We're moving forward with the [San­ tion for the attack- the claim that Cubans Women and younger men are allowed to Purfsima celebration would be allowed. dinista] Front." said members of a group of were in the downed helicopter and that Cu­ volunteer. The law specifies a period of "How has Purisima always been cele­ market women in brightly colored dresses bans make up the backbone of the San­ service of two years. Since the first SMP brated, at least in my home town?" he and white aprons. dinista army. "This is a common tactic of recruits were inducted into the anny two asked. "The people go out in the streets. "We will never go back to being slaves. the United States.'' he said. 'They resort to years ago, they were now due to be de­ Some go in cars, some go on foot. Some go like we were under the dictatorship," said the supposed presence of thousands of Cu­ mobilized. alone. some go in groups. Some carry -49-year-old Antonio Gutierrez.. He carried bans to cover up their own terrorist actions Carrying through that demobilization on guitars, some don't. Purisima will be a poster he had made. showing Uncle Sam and paralyze world public opinion." schedule, and at the same time strengthen­ exactly the same as it has always been." he being crushed by the Nicaraguan people. Ortega stated that there are Cuban mili­ ing the nation's defense with fresh recruits. sajd. "Exactly." "With SAM's or without SAM's we will tary advisers in Nicaragua, although far is seen here as a major accomplishment, Cabezas explained that religious free­ defeat Uncle Sam," it said. fewer than the U.S. government claims. given the intensity of the war organized by dom is and will be guaranteed in Nicara­ Young couples with children on their The talk about Cubans. he explained, is to Washington. In his speech to the rally, gua. And he warned that the Ministry of shoulders participated. And a middle-aged justify sending more aid to the counterrev­ Ortega characterized it as "one more vic­ the Interior would take action against those woman marched with her son. carrying a olutionaries, or to try to create the condi­ tory for the revolution, in defense of the in­ who spread rumors designed to create the large red and black flag of the Sandinista tions for a direct intervention by U.S. terests of the people. impression that religious persecution exists National Liberation Front (FSLN). She troops. because ·'it's well-known that the "If thousands of young people had not in Nicaragua. stretched it out as they passed the embassy. mercenaries can never defeat the Nicara­ answered the call," he continued, "im- · On December 8, whe.n the main "This is our flag,'' she shouted. ·'and you'd guan people."

The. MiUtant 15 -THE GREAT SOCIETY------'------~

.Good as the prez said he was $525,9QO in IOUs. He was just being tolerant - that the CIA was not guilty of a $2, 150 to buy the incumbent - Soon after the Grenada inva­ White House chief of staff, pro-Soviet bias. Meanwhile, Sen. LotJisiana Dem a shotgun. First sion, William Ingle drew warm Donald Regan, was "horrified" Malcolm Wallop, a Wyoming Re­ we thought it was to deal with his praise from Reagan as a classic Seems qualified - Biographer that anyone was offended by his publican, insists the Soviet Union opponent, but he ran unopposed. free enterpriser. He had borrowed Edmund Morris, who will .pocket comment that most women didn't has succeeded- in planting a rank­ $3 million for writing the life of Sounds like capitalism - Work­ understand arms control or other ing do~ble agent in the cloak-and­ Reagan, includes among his previ­ summit issues. It was not, he as­ dagger outfit. ers lose 500 million days a year be­ ous credits science fiction. radio sured. "intended as a putdown." cause of pain. Way 6n top of the list scripts, and advertising copy. · Of juice and justice - Steven are headaches and backaches. Sounds reasonable - " My Zantop of Juci-Rich Products, was All for the best - " ft looks like ·Harry Was he there? - "Six workers newspaper decided to back me be­ indicted for selling Dallas-area . another merry year for toys ... . who thought they were participat­ cause I own it." - Guatemalan schools thousands of gallons of Two-income families,· which Ring ing in a radiation-free drill at an presidential candidate Jorge Car­ adulterated orange juice and spend more on their children, are Alabama nuch:~a r plant . . . were pio explaining why£/ Grafico was lemonade. If convicted, he faces a on the rise. And the population's contaminated by a radioattive liq­ devoting page after page to articles year in the country jail, max. increased lifespan means more uid that had been used to increase extolling his campaign. Which would be okay if they grandparents on the prowl for $350,000 from the government to the realism of the exercise. 'We served him some of the o.j. every gifts. Then there are the high set up a toy factory in Grenada. try to make it as realistic as we Could it be Casey? -CIA di­ morning. number of divorces, with the re­ Now he's pleaded guilty to fraud. can,' said the director of the rector William Casey met with sulting step-parents and step­ It seems the factory operated just Alabama Bureau of Radiological Sen. Jesse Helms to try to reassure Irate voters? - Rep. Jerry grandparents- more potential toy long enough to leave the feds with Health." - News item. the North Carolina Republican Huckaby's campaign fund spent buyers."- News item. Economic crisis in Philippines 'Made in USA'

Continued from Page 13 In the period following the imposition of With the World Bank-IMF strategy Unemployment has doubled in the past encourage foreign capitalists to set up in­ martial law, the World Bank assumed ef­ fi rmly in the saddle. it is worth asking how year, and industrial production has de­ dustries in the Philippines, using cheap fective control over 'Philippine economic well this model works and whether it is rel­ clined. Filipino labor to assemble goods for ex­ policy. evant for the rest of the semicolonial Over the past two years, the gross na­ port. world. While the World Bank was happy with tional product of the Philippines has shrunk In 1969 Marcos ran for a second term as At .the end of President Marcos· first Marcos' new concessions to foreign by 10 percent. World Bank analysts predict president. His victory, following the most term in office. just as the World Bank and capitalists in the export-oriented field and that individual consumption cannot return corrupt and violent election in Philippine IMF were consolidating their hold on with the suppression of wages as a result of to 1982 levels before the 1990s. history. set the stage for more direct inter­ the martial-law repression against the trade Philippine economic policy. the country's vention by the World Bank and Interna­ union movement, the imperialist agency foreign debt stood at about $1.9.billion. While the workers and peasants in the tional Monetary Fund into the Philippine continued to press Marcos to further dis­ A decade and a half later, the country's Philippines are experiencing real suffering economy. mantle tariffs protecting local industry. foreign debt is estimated to be between $24 in the ·current economic crisis. Marcos and In his successful attempt to buy the 1969 In 1979 the World Bank and IMF made a and $26 billion, and repayment of principal his cronies have feathered their nests and election, Marcos had exhausted the Philip­ veiled threat to reconsider their financial on the foreign debt has been suspended are well taken care of. RaulS . Manglapus, pines' foreign currency reserves, and he support to the Marcos regime unless new since October 1983. who was foreign minister of the Philippines had ro turn to the IMF and World Bank for steps were taken to eliminate protection of Sharply depressed prices for coconut in 1957. recently noted that Marcos' polit­ new funds. the Philippine domestic market . . products and sugar have . caused foreign ical career "has culminated in the accumu­ These imperialist institutions agreed to currency earnings to plunge and have led to lation of documented tens of billions of lend Marcos money, but only on the condi­ The Marcos regime promised to cut the widespread misery in the countryside. dollars worth of properties in the hands of tion that he carry out another drastic de­ number of protected industries by two­ Some 37 percent of the Filipino labor force his family and his cronies in the United valuation of the peso. thirds and s ignificantly lower tariffs on the is dependent on those two crops for their States alone.. , As with the 1962 devaluation, the 1970 remainder. livelihood. From Intercontinental Press devaluation cut the living standard of workers, drove many local industries into --CALENDAR------bankruptcy, and provided a bonanza for the sugar planters. The 1970 World Bank- IMF bailout of MISSOURI OHIO WASHINGTON, D.C. Marcos opened the door for more direct St. Louis Cleveland War and Revolution in Africa. A socialist imperialist control of his economic poli­ Adapt or Die. Video film on South Africa. The Middle East: Who are the Real Ter­ educational weekend. cies. Sat., Dec. 21,7 p.m. 3109 S Grand , Room 22. rorists? Speakers to be announced Sat., Dec. Class I. "'The Fight to Overturn Apartheid," Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For 14. 7:30p.m. 15105 St. Claire Ave. Donation: The centerpiece of the World Bank-IMF Sat. , Dec . 14, I to 3 p.m. more information call (3 14) 772-4410. $2. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum, For more in­ policy was to destroy the remaining ves­ Class 2. "The Coming South African Revolu­ formation call (2 16) 451 -6150. tion ," 5 to 7 p.m. tiges of protectionism for Philippine indus­ Class 3. "Upsurge in Africa," Sun., Dec. 15 , try, a policy described as economic 12 noon. Speaker: Ernest Harsch, managing "liberalization," and open the country's NEW YORK OREGON editor of lmercominenral Press. Translation to doors wide to foreign capital and export­ Albany Portland Spanish. 3106 Mt. Pleasant NW. Donation: oriented industries. The Soviet Union Today: Myth and Reality. The Cuban Revolution and Cuban Life $1.50 per class; $4 for weekend. Ausp: A panel of students from the Soviet Union. Today. Slideshow and eyewitness account by Socialist Workers Party and Young Socialist Martial law Thurs .. Dec. 19, 7:30p.m. 352 Central Ave., Jill Fein , member of the Socialist Workers Party Alliance. For more information call (202) 797- Crucial to this strategy, which required 2nd fl. Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor and International Association of Machinists 7699. Lodge 751 ; and Dan Fein, member SWP and In­ the existence of a low-paid, docile labor Forum and Young Socialist Alliance. For more information call (5 18) 434-3247. ternational Union of Electronic Workers Local force, was the establishment of martial law 1002. Sat., Dec . 14, 7:30p.m. 2732 NE Union. by Marcos on Sept. 22, 1972. Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For 'Abortion is a U.S. ~usines s interests in the Philippines Manhattan more information call (503) 287-7416. were quick to hail Marcos' decree suspend- Marcel Khalife and AI-Mayadeen In Con­ Woman's Right!' ing democratic rights. . cert. Well-known Lebanese si nger and musical ensemble at fundraiser to construct a women's PENNSYLVANIA A pamphlet every abortion rights ac­ With the imposition of martial law, a and children's hospital inTyre, Lebanon, and Philadelphia tivist will find useful. Order from Path­ flood of World Bank-IMF loans entered reconstruct Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut. Cancel Latin America's Debt! Speakers: finder Press, 410 West St., New York, the country. Between 1950 and 1972, the Sun .. Dec. 15, 6:30p.m. Hunter College, 695 Linda Rand , Socialist Workers Party; others. N.Y. 10014. 95 cents. Please add 75 Philippines had received a total of $326 Park Ave. at 69th St., entrance between Park Translation to Spanish. Sat.. Dec. 14. 7:30 cents for postage and handling. Also million in loans from the World Bank. But and Lexington aves. Tickets: $10, $15. and p.m. 2744 Germantown Ave. Donation: $2. available in Spanish. Pathfinder between 1973 and 1981, more than $2.6 $25. Ausp: Middle East Philanthropic Fund . Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For more infor­ catalog available (free). billion in World Bank loans poured in. For more information call (212) 628-2727. mation call (215) 225-0213. -IF YOU LIKE THIS PAPER, LOOK US UP------Where to find the Socialist Workers Party, GEORGIA: Atlanta: SWP, YSA , 504 Flat NEW JERSEY: Newark: SWP. YSA. 141 Dallas: SWP. YSA. IJ2 N. Beckley Ave .. Zip: Young Socialist .Alliance, and socialist Shoals Ave. SE. Zip: 303 16 Tel: (404) 577- Halsey. Zip: 07102. Tel: (20 I ) 643-3341. 75203 . Tel: (214) 943-5195. Houston: SWP. bookstores. 4065 . NEW YORK: Capital District (Alban)•): YSA . 4806 A im ed:~ . Zip: 77004. Tel: (7 13) ILLINOIS: Chicago: SWP. YSA . 3455 S SWP .. YSA. 352 Central Ave. 2nd tloor. Zip: 522-8054. ALABAMA: Birmingham: SWP, YSA. Michigan Ave. Zip: 60616 . Tel: {3 12) 326-5853 12206. Tel: (5 18) 434-3247. New York: SWP. UTAH: Price: SWP. YSA . 23 S. Carbon 205 18th St. S. Zip: 35233. Tel: (205) 323- or 326-5453. YSA, 79 Leonard St. Zip: 10013. Tel: (2 12) 219- Ave .. Suite 19. P.O. Box 758 . Zip: 84501. Tel : 3079. KENTUCKY: Louisville: SWP. YSA , 809 36 79 or 925-1668. Socialist BoPks. 226-8445. (801) 637-6294. Salt Lake City: SWP. YSA , ARIZONA: Phoenix: SWP. YSA. 3750 E. Broadway. Zip: 40204. Tel: (502) 587-84 18. NORTH CAROLINA: Greensboro: SWP, 767 S. State. 3rd lloor. Zi p: 84 111. Tel: (801) West McDowell Road #3. Zip: 85009. Tel: LOUISIANA: New Orleans: SWP. YSA. YSA, 22 19 E Market. Zip: 27401. Tel : (9 19) 355- 112 4. (602) 272-4026. 3207 Dublin St. Zip: 701 18. Tel: (504) 486- 272-5996, VIRGINIA: Tidewater Area (Newport CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles: SWP. YSA , 8048. OHIO: Cincinnati: SWP. YSA , 4945 Pad­ News): SWP. YSA , 5412 kJTerson Ave .. Zip 2546 W. Pico Blvd . Zip: 90006. Tel: {2 13) 380- MARYLAND: Baltimore: SWP. YSA. 2913 dock Rd. Zip: 45237. Tel: (513) 242-716 1. 23605. Tel: (804) 3H0-0 133. 9460. Oakland: SWP, YSA, 3808 E 14th St. Greenmount Ave. Zip: 21218. Tel: (30 1) 235- Cleveland: SWP. YSA, 15 105 St. Clair Ave. WASHINGTON, D.C.: SWP. YSA. 3106 Zip: 94601. Tel: (415) 261-3014. San Diego: 0013 . - Zip: 44110. Tel : (2 16) 451 -6150. Columbus: Mt. Ple

16 The Militant December io, 1985 'Steeltown': a San Francisco Mime production

BY SONJA FRANETA The talented San Francisco Mime Troupe has created a musical comedy out of an unlikely subject-the effect of plant closings and layoffs on steelworkers and their families and community. Steeltown, a two-act play writ­ ten by Joan Holden- a member of the troupe - boldly challenges aspects of the capitalist system. The Mime Troupe is one of the very few and certainly the most well­ known political theater groups in the United States. "Agitation, education , and entertainment. not neces­ sarily in that order" is how one trouper describes their aim. Established in 1959 and boosted by the antiwar IN REVIEW movement of the '60s, the Mime Troupe's subject matter has always been political and their style radical. They have performed in parks and at demonstrations. They have become internationally known and they Michael Bry speak enthusiastically of their visit t<> Cuba a few years Scene from Steeltown: wildcat strike. Local union president (left) and shop steward in confrontation over walk­ ago. The play they toured there was also the last play they out. toured in the United States and Europe- Americans or Last Tango in Huahuatenango about the liberation strug­ steward in the same plant, 30 years earlier. Now she is ones who lead a wildcat strike, a challenge to the no­ gles in Central America. taking college courses, learning about art and economics, strike pledge agreed to .bY the labor bureaucracy during After seeing the performance of Steelrown in New and trying very hard to get her husband to turn down that the war. This is a lively scene. accented with union songs York, I interviewed three of the troupe's members for the all-consuming overtime and enjoy himself a little. and lyrics such as ''We're standing with the union, 'cause Militant - Audrey Smith , Dan Chomley, and Eduardo In the end, Annabelle leaves Joe. He is sitting at the the union stood by me .. , Robledo. Because they want to bring political theater to kitchen table with his huge "Man of Steel" medal hang­ The local president, played by Eduardo Robledo, is the people, Charnley told me, they decided to do a play ing around his neck, his arm bandaged up because he lost portrayed as someone torn between loyalty to the workers about the economic crisis and "perform it in the industrial f1is finger - and his job. at the plant on the one hand and the demands by the Inter­ belt." They took Steeltown to steelworkers in East We also meet Louie, a young Latino laid off from the national officialdom to take control of the situation on the Chicago and meatpackers in Madison. They also per­ plant. He is· frustrated and cynical and has just about lost other. The play is straightforward about how the Lmi on formed in a Baltimore union hall. it. Linda, his wife, comes home from work only to learn officialdom buckled under the pressures of the war years, The Mime Troupe received mixed reactions. Gener­ that they are losing their house. But she hangs on to anal­ making concessions that affect working conditions and ally, people Iik e the play. Smith said that people have most giddy optimistic attitude about their rapidly de- union power to this day. come up to her after seeing her performance of Rose, a teriorating situation. . The love story between Joe and Annabelle, who is woman steelworker, and said things like, "I know that Despite the humorous slant, I found it hard to laugh at played by Joan Mankin. is woven through the strike woman you played; she's been working next to me for 20 some of these basically harsh scenes. The rest of the play scenes. There's a very finely done mime scene when Joe years." was much more enjoyable. agrees to help Annabelle make signs fo r the strikers at her The characters in Sreeltown are drawn with broad The second act bursts into song like an authentic '405 little trailer home. The way Joe and Annabelle, awk­ strokes but sometimes ring a little too true to workers ­ musical -the dancing and stylized singing change the wardly attracted to each other. squeeze past each other­ especially those who have found themselves in similar mood of the play. This act shows Joe and Annabelle and conveying the small space they're in- is skillfully and situations. Chomley told me a steelworker mentioned to Louie's father in Steeltown on the day the war ends. The · entertainingly done. him after one performance that he found it painful to women have been working in the plant but have been get­ The music goes from blues to jazz to Andrews Sisters watch him on stage. ting slowly pushed out to make room for the men return­ and the versatility of the troupe members is quite impres­ The play opens in the present in a typical town that has ing from the war. Joe arrives on the scene in a cri sp white sive. Some play several roles. As I watched the trouper been bu.ilt around a big industrial plant- ''Steeltown,'' sailor suit and an innocent look - he's a "war hero" and who plays the Filipino worker in the· s~cond act, 1 California. Joe Magarack, played by Chomley, is a mid­ he gets a job at the plant pretty quickly because of that. realized he was the same person who did a beautiful sax dle-aged steelworker who wheezes and coughs and gets The scenes at the steel plant are superb showing t.he solo earlier in the show. all wound up about his job. He wants to work all the women steelworkers on the job, leaders of their union but 1 don't think Steeltown ranks with the best of the Mime overtime he can get. not just for the money, but because beginning to realize the company will be pushing out Troupe's works. but the subject matter and the variety of he's bought the idea it will keep the plant open. more and more of them. themes introduced made for a thought-provoking and en­ Unfortunately, as we fi nd out at the end of the act, this The women are proud of their work and their economic tertaining evening. I was glad to :>ee energetic and crea­ is beyond his control and the plant closes anyway. The independence. They challenge the institution of over­ tive people deal with a seri ous question of the day: portrayal of the brutality of the capitalist system comes time, which had been established during the war. Now The New York performances were the last leg of their through in this act. that the war is over, overtime should be over - they tour with Sreelrown , but the troupe continues to produce Annabelle, Joe's wife, was a steelworker during chant ''Eight-hour day, no cut in pay!" new plays. There is also a movie about them called World War Il - we see her in the second act as a shop When one of t~e women gets fired , the women are the Troupers that may show up in your city. Icelandic unions call boycott of S. Africa goods

Continued from back page tatives of the Icelandic Federation qf and the worthless reforms it bas carried the African National Congress, and other · And on November 24 a new South Af­ Labor, Federation of State and Municipal out onJy aim at maintaining the rule, political prisoners be released from prison rica solidarity organization was estab­ Employees, Retailers Association, and the privileges, and interests that whites in South Africa. . lished. Meeting at the offices of the· Ap­ Grocer Division of the Retailers Associa­ enjoy and at guaranteeing companies' One of the most important pillars of the prentice Union, the new group plans to step tion. in which consumers and merchants access to super-cheap labor. This situa­ white minority government is those foreign up anti-apartheid efforts. were urged to avoid South African prod­ tion will not be altered except by abolish­ investments and transnational corporations ucts starting the middle of next month. ing the apartheid regime. It cannot be that finance the buildup of the army and Workers' federations in different coun­ reformed." police in South Africa. By breaking these Icelandic Federation tries have imposed a ban on handling of links. this pillar would be swept away from South African products. among them Nor­ under the apartheid regime. of Labor resolution way, Finland, and Sweden. Progressive and fa ir-minded people The People's Alliance pledges its sup­ around the world are joining the growing port to the cause of the Black majority by, supporting With these actions an answer is given to and broad movement that is demanding an among other things, pressuring the govern­ the call of the oppressed majority of the end to the apartheid system in South Af­ ment of Iceland to carry out trade sanctions dockworkers' action South African nation. Such actions are rica. against South Africa, which it, along with considered the only way to have influence The National Meeting of the People's other governments, has agreed to. The following resolution - "The case on South African government authorities Alliance calls attention to the fact that the of South Africa".- was unanimously and thereby to avoid an all-embracing vast majority of the people of South Africa adopted by the central committee of the bloodbath in the country. enjoy none of the most elementary Teamsters, UFCW Icelandic Federation of Labor (ASi) on At the request of dockworkers in Sun­ bourgeois democratic rights. Those in­ October 30. The ASI is Iceland's equiva­ dahofn. [the port}, the workingmen's union habitants of the country who are not white strike Southern Calif. lent to the AFL-CIO. The translation of Dagsbnln [Dawn] adopted a ban on un­ are prohibited by law from owning any this and People's Alliance resolution is loading and loading of ships sailing from land except the barren wastes of the so­ grocery chains by Kormakur Hognason. and to South Africa. The central committee called "homelands" (Banstustans). of ASf declares its support to this decision Conti~ued from back page The violence and oppression, the lack of and requests other trade tmions to make the The African National Congress is recog­ rights, that the Black majority has to live ·necessary requirements in support of these nized as the leading organization within the ion competition in the southern part of the state. under meets growing ·opposition among actions. country by the Black majority. and it en­ civilized nations. joys growing recognition abroad. Speakers from the Bakery Workers, the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers, and At sessions of the United Nations ap­ At the same time that the People's Al­ the Screen Actors Guild gave greetings to . peals for the isolation of South Africa have People's Alliance liance declares its support to the African the rally. and representatives of the Com­ been adopted. Bishops of the Nordic coun­ resolution National Congress, it urges the govern­ munications Workers of America contrib­ tries [Denmark, Finland. Iceland, Norway, ment of Iceland to follow the example of uted a check for $5,000 to the two unions. and Sweden] and the Nordic workers' fed­ Adopted unanimously on November 9 the government of Sweden and other gov­ United Auto Workers Local 148 an­ erations have urged actions. Many nations, by the Seventh National Meeting (Con­ ernments in recognizing the African Na­ nounced it would host a Christmas party among them the United States and the Nor­ vention) of the People's Alliance, the tional Congress as the legitimate represen­ for the famili,es of the strikers. dic countries. have imposed trade sanc­ biggest workers' party in Iceland. tative of the oppressed Black majority in Everyone at the rally was urged to join tions. An accompanying appendix, which S.outh Africa. the picket lines at the supermarkets and not In the daily newspapers last week an ap­ was also adopted, read in part: "The vio­ The National Meeting adds its support to to shop at Lucky, Safeway, Hughes, Vons, peal was published by the official represen- lence that the apartheid regime practices the demand that Nelson Mandela, leader of Alpha Beta, Ralphs, and Albertson's.

December 20, 1985 The Militant 17 -EDITORIALS------First manifesto of Spear of Nation, New U.S. attack on Nicaragua ANC's armed wing December 16 marks the 24th anniversary of the Fourteen Nicaraguans died December 2 when U.S.-or­ prove living conditions, develop economically, and founding of Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Na­ ganized counterrevolutionaries shot down their helicop­ strengthen its defense. tion), the organization that became the armed wing of ter. The contras brought the helicopter down with a The U.S. rulers, on the other hand, occupied Nicara­ the African National Congress (ANC), the vanguard "SAM-7, a hand-held antiaircraft missile. Nicaragua gua with troops for years, imposed dictators for half a organization of the South African revolution. Nelson charged that the weapon had been provided by the CIA century, and ruthlessly exploited the country's labor and Mandela, South Africa's best-known freedom fighter, and branded this first use of it a .new escalation of the resources. They brought death and disease, not health was a founding leader and commander-in-chief of the U.S.-backed aggression against their country. services and medical care. And now they have organized new group. The downing of the copter was also the occasion for a a bloody war. A series of explosions at government instaUations propaganda barrage by the Reagan administration. This Shultz and those he speaks for see Nicaragua as a on Dec. 16, 1961, marked the emergence of Um­ was aitried at building support for the U.S. -sponsored "cancer., because it is determined to end decades of ruin­ khonto we·Sizwe. The manifesto excerpted below was war against Nicaragua and providing Congress with the ous U.S.-imperialist domination and to reconstruct Nica­ issued on the same day. pretext to vote for an open flow of U.S. arms to the con­ raguan society in a way that will improve the life of the The excerpts are reprinted from The Struggle Is tras. This would replace the present "humanitarian" aid people- without regard to how this will affect capitalist My Life,- a collection of speeches and writings by Net- to the mercenary exiles. profiteers. The main peg of the new propaganda blast was the To defend their right to do this, the Nicaraguan people claim that a Cuban pilot and copilot were among the ca­ ~ave responded with heroic determination to the unre­ sualties on the helicopter that was shot down. lenting contra attacks, and they have dealt the invaders OUR This was denied by Nicaragua. telling blows. In an appearance before a congressional committee, That's why even Washington concedes there is no REVOLUTIONARY Elliott Abrams, the State Department's principal Latin realistic prospect of the contras overthrowing the govern­ American gun, falsely asserted that Cuban advisers are ment. In four years of fighting, these ruthless, well­ HERITAGE now "the backbone" of Nicaragua's army and are directly armed thugs have not been able to hold a single town or ·involved in the fighting. Abrams claimed there are now · stri~ of land in Nicaragua. 2,500 Cuban military advisers in Nicaragua. But the contras are expendable mercenaries as far as son Mandela. The book also contains ANC docu­ "You now have Cubans fighting, not just in Africa, but the U.S. rulers are concerned. As they die in battle, they ments. The Struggle Is My Life is available from on the mainland of North America," he dramatically de­ are being replaced by new hires. Pathfinder Press, 410 West St., N.Y., N.Y. 10014, for $4.95 plus •75 postage and handling. clared. The unending flow of U.S. firepower permits the con­ He told the committee he hoped these "revelations" tras to do a lot of damage in their murderous forays into would contribute. to more congressional support for mili­ Units of Umkhonto we Sizwe today carried out Nicaragua from their Honduran sanctuaries. planned attacks against Government instaUations, par­ tary aid to the mercenaries. Burning, looting, kidnapping, raping, and murdering, ticularly those connected with the policy of-apartheid and Abrams' declaration was promptly echoed by Secre­ the contras have made countless hit-and-run attacks on race discrimination. tary of State Shultz, who branded Nicaragua •·a cancer in small towns and villages. Umkhonto we Sizwe is a new, independent body, the region" and declared that, on the basis of the alleged Of a population of some 3.5 million, nearly a quarter formed by Africans. It includes in its ranks South Afri­ disclosure, Washington migh·t take "further steps" toes­ of a million Nicaraguans have been left homeless by cans of all races. calate the contra war. He declined to specify what the these sneak attacks. Umkhonto we Sizwe will carry on the struggle for "steps" would be. · Of the 3,652 people who have died at the hands of freedom and democracy by new methods, which are nec­ He did indicate the administration might ask Congress these CIA-trained killers, more than 350 have been essary to complement the actions of the established na­ for a prompt vote to supplement the present $27 million women and children. tional liberation organizations. Umkhonto we Sizwe in allegedly humanitarian aid to the contras with open More than 4,000 people have been wounded and an · fully supports the national liberation movement, and our military allocations, The present aid authorization ex­ additional 5,000 kidnapped. members, jointly and individually, place themselves pires in March. Schools and health centers have been a special target under the overall political guidance of that movement. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega charged that of the counterrevolutionaries. In a country that, for the It is, however, well known that the main national lib­ Washington's decision to supply the contras with the first time, is trying to educate and improve the health of eration organizations in this country have consistently SAM-7 missile represented a "terrorist escalation'' of its its people, 321 schools and 50 health centers have been followed a policy of non-violence. They have conducted intervention in Central America. destroyed. themselves peaceably at all times, regardless of Govern­ Shultz formally denied the CIA had provided the By continuing to exact so grisly a toll over a protracted weapons to the contras. "Somehow or other, they got ment attacks and persecutions upon them, and despite all period, Washington hopes to impose massive hardships Government-inspired attempts to provoke them to vio­ hold of them," he said. and demoralization on the Nicaraguan people to create lence. They have done so because the people prefer The Nicaraguan government has explained that there the conditions to overthrow the revolutionary govern­ peaceful methods of change to achieve their aspirations are 700-800 Cuban military advisers in the country. Nic­ ment. And-Washington is building up a massive military without the suffering and bitterness of civil war. But the aragua has every legal right to utilize as many Cuban mil­ machine in neighboring Honduras to prepare for a possi­ people's patience is not endless. itary advisers as it wants. ble direct invasion of Nicaragua. The time comes in the life of any nation when there re­ The 1979 Nicaraguan revolution, which overthrew the The Nicaraguan people, however, are standing firm main only two choices: submit or fight. That time has U.S.-backed dictatorship of An&stasio Somoza, allowed against this unrelenting attack. The demonstration at the now come to South Africa. We shall not submit, and we Nicaragua, for the first time, to act as a free, sovereign, U.S. embassy sponsored by the Nicaraguan labor move­ have no choice but to hit back by all means within our . independent nation. The Sandinista government is a ment- 30,000-strong- that we report on this week is power in defense of our people, our future, and our free­ legitimate one that enjoys the support of the big majority just one sign of that. dom. of Nicaragua's workers and farmers. The Nicaraguan people deserve the solidarity of work-· The Government has interpreted the peacefulness of Cuba's role in Nicaragua is in sharp contrast to that of ing people in this country. the movement as weakness; the people's non-violent pol­ Washington. The revolutionary government of Cuba has Emergency demonstrations protesting the downing of icies have been taken as a gr~en light for Government never attempted to dictate foreign or domestic policy to the Nicaraguan helicopter were held in several cities. violence. Refusal to resort to force has been interpreted Nicaragua or any other country. Cuban volunteer skilled (See story page 3.) As Washington escalates its war, such by the Government as an invitation to use armed force workers and professionals are helping Nicaragua im- protests should be multiplied nationwide. against the people without any fear of reprisals. The methods of Umkhonto we Sizwe mark a break with that past. We are striking out along a new road for the liberation of the people of this country. The Government policy of force, repression, and violence will no longer be met 'Right-to-life' tries murder with non-violent resistance only! The choice is not ours; it has been made by the Nationalist Government, which Two murderous attacks against abortion clinics have Right-wing opponents of abortion rights have engaged in has rejected every peaceable demand by the people for taken place in the last two weeks. increasingly frenzied actions. including attempts to enter rights and freedom and answered every such demand On December 2 a package bomb was delivered by mail the clinics and physically prevent women from getting with force and yet more force! to the Feminist Women's Health Center in Portland, Ore­ abortions. · Umkhonto we Sizwe will be at the fron t line of the gon. Police described the bomb as an "anti-personel de­ Others have held fetuses in their bare hands and thrust people's defense. It will be the fightin.g arm of the people vice" powerful enough to kill several people. It was de­ them in the faces of women entering the clinics. against the Government and its polices of race oppres­ signed to go off when the package was opened. Last spring and summer, outrage at the bombings and sion. Let the Government, its suppor•ers who put it into It was only the vigilance of a clinic staff member who demands for action by women's rights supporters re­ power, and those whose passive toleration of reaction thought the package looked suspicious and called the sulted in the convictions of anti-abortion terrorists in keeps it in power, take note of where the Nationalist Gov­ police that averted death or severe injury. Florida, Alabama, and Washington, D.C. ernment is leading the country! A search by postal authorities then resulted in the sei­ Maximum pressure should be brought to bear now to We of Umkhonto we Sizwe have always sought- as zure of three bombs destined for two other abortion demand a thorough investigation and the arrest and pro­ clinics in the Portland area and an office of Planned the liberation movement has sought- to achieve libera­ secution of those responsible for these most recent, po­ tion, without bloodshed and civil clash. We do so still . Parenthood in Beaverton, Oregon. tentially deadly, attacks. On December LO, in the late . .afternoon, a bomb We hope- even at this late hour - that our first actions The campaign of violence against abortion clinics is will awaken everyone to a realization of the disastrous exploded in the bathroom of the Manhattan Women's designed to sow fear and to intimidate women from seek­ Medical Center in New York City. situation to which the Nationali&t policy is leading. We ing safe, legal abortions. Right-wing opponents of abor­ hope that we will bring the Government and its support­ In response to an anonymous phone call warning tion are emboldened by the broadside attack against abor­ people to get out of the clinic, police began a hurried ers to their senses before it is too late, so that both the tion rights by the government, the courts ~ and Congress. evacuation of the building. Government and its policies can be changed before mat~ According to Robert Creighton, special agent in These bombings underscore the importance of putting ters reach the desperate stage of civil war. We believe our charge of the New York office of the Federal Bureau of maximum effort into building the ''National March for actions to be a blow against the Nationalist preparations Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the blast "certainly Women's Lives" demonstrations scheduled on March 9 for civil war a_nd military rule. could have killed someone" if they had been in the bath­ in Washington, D.C., and on March 16 in Los Angeles. In these actions, "we are working in the best interests of room. These actions -called by the National Organization for all the people of this country - black, brown and white These incidents are the most serious in a new round of Women -deserve the support of all those who have a - whose future happiness and well-being cannot be at­ right-wing attacks on abortion clinics and the constitu­ stake in defending women's rights and opposing reac­ tained without the overthrow of the Nationalist Govern­ tional right to abortion. tionary attacks on abortion- the labor movement, Black ment, the abolition of white supremacy, and the winning In November, two abortion clinics in Louisiana were and Latino organizations, antiwar and anti-apartheid ac­ of liberty, democracy, and full national rights and equal­ hit by arson attacks. burning one clinic to the ground. tivists, and every supporter of women's rights. ity for all the people of this country.

18 De~em.,er 20, 1985:. : Chicanos; Mexicans back Watsonville strikers The following is a guest column by Rick Trujillo, a organize farm workers in the United States. fion to the workers but kept the UFW out of the fields. member of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 in In the 1960s and early 1970s. the UFW's efforts to The officialdom even went so far as to bring in goons to San Jose, California. unionize farm workers received national and interna­ bc;at up UFW strikers and break strikes. tional attention. Farm workers are among the most ex­ The massive support the UFW received from working "Huelga. Huelga. Huelga!" (Strike.) ploited workers in this country. They receive starvation people. however. forced the Teamsters officials to pull That's what you hear on the picket lines outside the wages and work in the worst conditions. The majority of back and leave the fields. But the divisions between the farm workers in California are Mexicans. Many have no two unions continued to ex ist. papers. The growers use racist _violence by the cops and The Watsonville strike is a step toward healing these the threat of deportation by Ia migr(l to squeeze every­ divisions. UFW members march with the Teamster-led thing they can out of these workers. strikers against the food processing companies. ·BASTA6 The strike in Watsonville has itself begun to be seen as The UFW's organizing drive was seen as a movement. a social cause by Chicanos and Mexicans throughout YA! not only for better wages and working conditions, but to California. bring dignity to these especially oppressed and exploitee! Andrea Gonzalez workers. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the League of United. Latin American Citizens, While the UFW was orgamzmg in the valleys of and ·MEChA. the statewide Chicano student organiza­ Richard Shaw Co. and Watsonville Canning in Watson­ California. Chicanos and Mexicans in the cities, inspired tion. have all come to the support of the strikers. ville, California. by the massive civil rights movement of Blacks, began to In the Mexican and Chicano communities of Watson­ The strikers, members of Teamsters Local 912, are organize to fight for their rights. Most Chicanos and ville. grocery stores are donating food for the strikers. overwhelmingly Mexican and Chicano. So the language Mexicans in Calilfornia have worked in the fields them­ Churches have organized support committees. These of the strike is Spanish. selves or have relatives working in the fields. They iden­ committees have tried, so far unsuccessfully, to pressure The workers were forced out on strike when the com­ tified with the UFW. They adopted it as their cause - or­ the all-white city council to pass a moratorium on evic­ pany tried to impose a 20 to 35 percent pay cut; a two-tier ganizing picket lines and boycotts of nonunion produce tions of strikers from their homes. High school students wage system; abolition of the eight-hour day; severe re­ to pressure the growers to sign contracts with the UFW. and their teachers have joined the strikers on the picket ductions in medical coverage; and givebacks in vacation lines. Watsonville is only a few miles outside of the Salinas time, sick leave, and holidays. The Spanish-language radio features reports - from Valley. Salinas is a center for the UFW today and was the strikers' point of view - on the strike. These stations The strike began September The cops and the Immi­ important in the early organizing drives. These cannery 9. nave issued appeaJs for aid for the strikers. gration and Naturalization Service (Ia migra) have been workers know firsthand the impact of the UFW. They see mobilized to try to intimidate the strikers, 13 of whom it as the union they helped to build, the union that is pat1 The stakes in the Watsonville strike are high. The food have been arrested on trumped-up charges. of their struggle against national oppression. processing companies hope with 1his strike to set the stage to drive down wages in the food processing indus­ But morale is high in Watsonville. The workers are de­ The UFW has responded to the call for solidarity from try throughout the state. termined to fight for a decent contract. the Teamsters local. UFW members have mobilized for The strikers predict that this battle will go on for a The strike has won support from unions across the solidarity rallies with Local 912. UFW President Cesar while. The companies are trying to starve them into sub­ state. Chavez has visited the Watsonville strikers. mission. Tbe support of one union- the United Farm Workers This solidarity between the UFW and Teamsters Local But Local 9 12 has the solidarity of the union move­ (UFW) -has been especially important in boosting the 912 is significant. ment in Northern California. The strikers have also won strikers' morale. the support of Ia raza - the Mexican and Chicano During the UFW·s organizing drives, the Teamsters people. Many of the strikers, like Mexicans and Chicanos national officials worked with the growers to break the They know from the experience of the UFW that this is across California, had been active in Ia causa - the so­ drive. The Teamsters officials signed sweetheart con­ a powerful combination. They are confident and deter­ cial movement that developed around the UFW's drive to tracts with the growers. These contracts gave no protec- mined to win. Two-tier wages hit temporary workers harder

BY MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER power. and Manpower sends us our checks. And if we "You are what they want to do to everybody here," a The tem1 "two-tier" refers to the practice of hiring don' t like making just $5. 19 an hour. then talk to Man­ woman in the lunch line told me. "They'll just fire us and workers at a lower wage than current employees make. power. replace us with people who will work for half the When I moved to Pittsburgh recently and began look­ There's frequent discussion on the job about why the mOiiey. " ing for work, I expected I would get a job where I would company bothers to go through Manpower. Why not hire We work for $5. I 9 an hour because there are mile after hire on for lower pay. But what I hadn't anticipated is the new folks directly and save the money they pay to mile of closed plants in this area. This is cot)sidered a how two-tier exploitation is made worse when you work Manpower to provide the service? good wage for somebody looking for work. As the Man­ Most people realize, however, that even· if Westing­ power bosses never tire of telling us, there's plenty of house pays $10 an hour for our work, they come out people out there who would love to be making what ahead by paying no benefits. The New York Times noted you're making. AS I SEE IT this in an October 24 article called ''A Boom in Tempo­ All this makes for a tough time for everybody. The rary Work.'' temp is tryi ng to scratch out a living. The permanent The Times noted that employment of temps has workers are feeling the threat to their jobs. as a "temporary" employee. climbed from 400,000 a day to 700.000 in just the lasi Bur to me, there is one more aspect that is like rubbing Every morning I report for work at Westinghouse three years. Why? "Face it ," says a personnel officer. salt in the wound. Electric's nonunion West Mifflin plant. The 20 people on "Labor costs are a major item. You are not paying the Some readers might be thinking, well. you make half my line make replacement parts, mostly for New York same fringe benefits to temporaries." the money, you put out half the work. Not so. City and other cities· subways. Thirteen workers make Nor the same base wage rate in many cases. I might Of course. there are the usual supervisors dogging you between $ 10 and $1 I an hour. Seven of us, including my­ add. all the time. But Westinghouse has come up with a way self. make $5.19 an hour with no benefits. (That's not There are other factors. The guy sharing my work­ to make sure the temps are their own hardest bosses. exactly true. In March I become eligible for hospitaliza­ bench, another temp, says if Westinghouse loses its big From the dozens and dozens of temps they have, Wes­ tion for myself, my wife, and my son. for $108 a month New York City contract to General Electric, as is ru­ tinghouse will hire a few to become permanent employ­ that I pay.) We "temps" won't be paid for Christmas or mored, the first layoffs would be the temps. "We aren't ees at full pay and benefits. So what happens is that most New Year's holidays, either. as ' real ' as the Westinghouse workers." he said. "It's temps bust their butts to produce, to shine, to catch the We all do exactly the same work and are evaluated ea~ier.for them to get rid of us." eye of a supervisor. They not onl y try to be the most pro­ with exactly the same standards. As the Times puts it, " It is faster and less costly to ductive temp. but to out-prod.uce the permanent workers. This gross division of the work force is rationalized by eliminate temporary workers than to cut back permanent I had been working a couple of weeks when I read the the company·in this way: All Westinghouse employees staff members when business falls off." Times article on temps. I had a weak laugh when I read are treated the same. But we new hires don't work for Some workers see that the temps not only have their the close of their story. They said that to "control their Westinghouse. We work for Manpower Temporaries. own problems, but the company's use of us is a threat to own destinies ... in the future, more people will simply Manpower is our boss. We send our time slips to Man- the permanent workers as well. - choose to work as temps .. , -LEITERS------U.S. hypocrisy were revoked on Hawaii. Anyone New York recently recommended People with AIDS The Militant speCial prisoner Gage & Tollner, a landmark fund makes it possible to send The following is a quote of sev­ there who did not volunteer to help I liked the Milital/l's recent arti­ with this nation's cause was Brooklyn restaurant. The review reduced-rate subscriptions to eral paragraphs from a letter by cles on AIDS. Just one point: Out recommended that you go for prisoners who can't pay for Michael Winks to the editor of the thrown in jai I. " here at least, the term "AIDS lunch, or "travel with an armed them. Where possible the fund Pittsburgh Post Gazelle concern­ The letter points well to the victims" is seen negatively. re­ guard at night.., also tries to fill prisoners' re­ ing the recently declared state of hypocrisy of the U.S. govern­ placed by ·'people with AIDS" quests for other literature: To emergency in Nicaragua. ment. But it also needs to be ("PWAs"). The City Sun, a Black weekly. help this important cause, send "The reality of Nicaragua is that pointed out that the U.S. suppres­ had a proper res ponse. It said: "Of M.M. sion of civil liberties during World your contribution to: Militant the country is under intern·at and course, the message here to the Seattle. Washington War II and now were and are in the Prisoner Subscription Fun·d, 14 external pressure from the United magazine's predominantly white service of big-business domina­ Charles La.ne, New York, N.Y. States and its surrogates. Ronald yuppie readership is: ' If you really 10014. Reagan has made it clear that his tion of the world whereas the Nic­ must have din-din in the bowels of 'Spider Woman' goal is the overthrow of the Nica­ araguan state of emergency is in Brooklyn . . . you should know I really liked your review of the service of the survival of work­ raguan government. that the Black ruffians crawl out of Kiss (~{the Spider Woman. I didn't The letters column is an open ers' and peasants' power in that "Let's look back at the one time their holes at night just to attack particularly find the performances forum for all viewpoints on sub­ country. America's soil was touched by you. So bring your own ruffian ­ as good or the story as provocative j ects of general interest to our foreign invaders - Pearl Harbor. Caroline Lund or borrow dad's - to make sure as Harry Ring did. but J agree with readers. Please keep your letters After the invasion civil liberties Piusburgh. Pennsylvania things are safe. · " his assessment of the opinions of brief. Where necessary they will The paper tabbed it "Racism a those who criticize the film as be abridged. Please indicate if Ia carte." antigay or anticommunist. you prefer that your initials IRead the Militant I 'Racism a Ia carte' H.C. J.W. be used rather than your full A minireview in the magazine New York, New York Indianapolis, Indiana name.

December 2~, 1985 The Militant 19 . THE MILITANT 2,000 rally to back grocery workers Teamsters, meat cutters fight S. Calif. companies

BY JEANNIE FRANKEL "Never have so many peoP.le in Southern LOS ANGELES - Striking Teamsters California been affected as in this dispute. and meat cutters received a boost in their Everyone can relate to the issues of job se­ fight to defend their unions and their jobs at curity and the two-tier wage system," said a rally here Decemb~r 7. Close to 2,000 Jerry Veracruz from Teamsters Local630. union members and supporters tumed out Rally speakers also denounced the all­ to soUdarize with the grocery workers, who out propaganda war launched by the super­ are under vicious attack by grocery chain market chains and the big-business media owners. against the striking workers. The media has The strike began over a month ago when covered up the viciousness and greed of the the Teamsters and United Food and Com­ employer attack while slandering the strik­ mercial Workers (UFCW) struck 164 Vons ers, charging them with violence, poison­ grocery stores and warehouses in Southem ing food, and causing illness by planting Califomia. Six other chains responded stink bombs in stores. with a lockout. Twenty-two thousand There have been bomb threats to union workers are now either on strike or are halls and instances of scab truckers running locked out at over 900 stores. through picket lines injuring pickets. The The demands being made by the Food capitalist media has not covered these inci­ Employers Council (FEC) represent an all­ dents. out attack on the workers and their unions. On Thanksgiving eve, there were news­ The FEC is demanding the right to open paper headlines about food banks and shel­ new warehouses outside Teamsters juris­ te rs not receiving Thanksgiving food diction and to subcontract to nonunion supplies for the needy because of the companies. They are also demanding two­ strike. What was not as well-publicized tier wage agreements, with much lower was the fact that · the Teamsters im­ wage scales for new hires. mediately offered to deliver the food for free to the food banks and shelters. The From the UFCW they are demanding a FEC rejected the offer. new classification of worker called "meat clerk," who would do 70 percent of the The supermarkets claim they need to re­ duce wages so they can better compete work now done by meat cutters and meat wrappers at $4 to $6 an hour less pay. The with small drugstores and convenience stores. In a full-page ad in seven newspa­ guaranteed workweek would be reduced pers. they also blame UfJions for driving up from 40 to 20 hours. food prices. Rally speakers were cheered again and Jerry Menapace, UFCW International again as they pointed to the seriousness of vice-president , explained at the rally who this attack and the need to continue to really profits from high food prices. He fight. cited the huge profits the struck chains Militant Mike Riley, Intemational vice-president have made every year and pointed out that Some of 2,000 union members and supporters who rallied December 7 in solidarity' of the Teamsters, described it as an attempt all major supermarket chains in California with Teamsters and members of United Food and Commercial Workers union under to "push 30 years of collective bargaining are organized, so there is almost no nonun- attack by grocery chain owners. down the drain." Continued on Page 17 Icelandic unions call boycott of S. Africa

BY MALIK MIAH penny paid for products from South Africa crimes of apartheid. Special educational land's equi valent of the AFL-CIO), INSI, REYKJAVIK, Iceland-Since Novem­ in the world is. in effect- consciously or materials were published and taken to and the lcelandic General and Transport ber l5 dockworkers in this Nordic island­ unconsciously - support to the apartheid union gatherings, campuses, and other Workers' Federation. of which Dagst>run nation of 240,000 people have refused to policy of the government in Pretoria. The places. Teach-ins were also organized. is an affiliate. unload goods arriving from South Africa. money received for one orange in Iceland The INSi, which has over 3,000 mem­ Only the Independence (Conservative) This militant anti-apartheid action came a is enough for one bullet for the armed bers, mostly in their teens and early 20s, Party and its youth league refused to sup­ few weeks after a visit to the docks by forces of the \Vhites, the armed forces that put out special literature on South Africa. port the tour. The Independence Party is Aaron Mnisi, a representative of the Afri­ now use guns against the people that de­ A South African student leader was also the biggest capitalist party and generally can National Congress (ANC) of South Af­ mand freedom." brought to Iceland on tour during spring supports the foreign policies of the u:s. rica. Mnisi, the ANC representative in Scan­ 1985. She toured for two weeks and spoke government. Mnisi had told the dockworkers at the dinavia, resides in Copenhagen, Denmark. to meetings of apprentices and high school Mnisi kept a busy schedule. In addition SundahOfn (the port) October 17, "Every He was on a broadly sponsored tour of lee­ students, and was interviewed by the na­ to many media engagements and speaking land, October 15-22. tional press and other media. to the dockworkers, he addressed several In September the Youth League, an af­ meetings. After hearing Mnisi's description of filiate of the People's Alliance - the He spoke to workers at a fish-processing apartheid and what the South African biggest workers' party in Iceland - began plant during their cOffee break. These people are fighting for, the dockworkers an educational campaign aimed at convinc­ wqrkers, part of the all-important fishing adopted a resolution requesting that the ing people not to buy goods from South Af­ industry, asked numerous questions about governing body of Dagsbrun (Dawn- the rica and merchants not to sell them. Youth the conditions of working people in South union of unskilled workers that the League members wenr to shopping centers Africa. Most of these processing workers dockworkers are members of) organize a with buttons and posters to carry out this are women, and the wages are some of the ban on unloading of South African prod­ campaign. Article~ were written in the lowest in the country. ucts or loading of ships destined for that People's Alliance daily newspaper. M_nisi also spoke at the convention of country in Reykjavik harbor. The high point of the solidarity effort to INS I and met with leaders of the two union .Dagsbrun adopted such a ban, which date was the Mnisi tour. He was the first federations - the ASf and the Federation we'nt into effect November 15. (Resolution ANC representative to tour Iceland. of Municipal and State Employees. These is reprinted on page 17 .) The tour won broad sponsorship. In ad­ two federations includ-e all the unions in the Active solidarity for the Black majority dition to the People's Alliance, his visit country. in South Africa and against the racist apart-· was sponsored by the Social Democratic Mnisi also met with the prime minister, heid system began here about a year ago. ft Party; the Progressive Party, one of the two Steingrfmur Hermannsson. and other repre­ coincided with the new upsurge of the free­ capitalist parties that make up the current sentatives of the Progressive Party; the par­ dom struggle in South Africa itself. lcelandic government; the youth affiliates liamentary group of the People's Alliance; In the fall of 1984 the National Associa­ to these three parties; the Women's'Siate; and the bishop of Iceland, who pledged his tion of Students, the Apprentice Union of and the Barattusamtok S6sialista - Mili­ support to the anti-apartheid fight. Iceland (INSI), and the church relief in· tant Socialist Organization, Icelandic sec­ After Mnisi's tour, the national conven­ stitution organized what is called the NOD tion of the Fourth International (an interna­ tion of the People's Alliance meeting here project. This project was part of a bigger tional organization of revolutionary November 7-:- 10 adopted a strong anti­ project organized by similar organizations socialists). The People's Alliance, Social apartheid resolution. It called on the in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Nor­ Democratic Party, and Women's Slate Icelandic government to carry out trade _ Dagsbrun way. hold seats in parliament. sanctions against South Africa. (See ANC leader Aaron Mnisi addressing The aim of the NOD project was to help Trade union sponsors included the page 17.) · dockworkers in Reykjavik, Iceland. educate lceland's working people about the Icelandic Federation of Labor (ASi - Ic~- Continued on Page 17

20 The Militant December 20, 1985