AUSTRALIA $1.50 · canada $1.50 · france 1.00 euro · new zealand $1.50 · uk £.50 · u.s. $1.00 INSIDE Ethiopia war threatens wider conflict in Horn of Africa — PAGE 4 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE vol. 84/no. 47 November 30, 2020 Gag orders by Brutal gov’t Fight for gov’t public works ‘social media’ killing spurs program to create jobs now! bosses attack new protests political rights in Belarus by brian williams by Roy Landersen Growing restrictions and monitor- Thousands gathered at Minsk’s ing of political views by censorship Square of Change and elsewhere officials at Facebook, Twitter and across Belarus Nov. 15 to demon- other “social media” are a danger to strate against the cop killing of Ro- political rights. Liberal thought-con- man Bondarenko. He had been one of trol overseers have interfered with or the hundreds of thousands protesting blocked comments and sites that run the regime of President Alexander the gamut from tweets by President Lukashenko and his Aug. 9 rigged Donald Trump to a Facebook page presidential elections. about a conference on solidarity with Bondarenko, a children’s art teach- the Cuban Revolution. er and former soldier, was beaten to “Social media,” which is supposed death four days earlier after he tried to be a neutral location where any- to prevent plainclothes cops from re- one can express an opinion or start moving the red-and-white emblems a conversation group, already poses of anti-government protests put up in Some 8,500 families, 17 times more than last year, waited up to 12 hours in huge lines to get a serious threat to working people. It a playground. turkey, canned goods and other food for Thanksgiving at North Texas Food Bank in Dallas. facilitates police and government spy- “We will not forget. We will not ing on individuals and groups. As the forgive!” chanted protesters. Many Working people need our Gov’t lockdowns deepen class struggle heats up, workers fight- held placards that read, “I’m go- own party, a labor party jobs, wages, health crisis ing to build and strengthen unions ing out,” the last words Bondarenko and for Black and women’s rights can wrote on an internet chat line before Working people need our own po- by terry evans be targeted. going to the playground. Riot police litical party, a labor party, that we can Nine months into a deadly pandemic, Under the pressure of liberal and using tear gas, rubber bullets and use to defend our interests, indepen- workers, farmers and small proprietors middle-class radical organizations, stun grenades attacked crowds of dent from and politically opposed to of all kinds face a deep and intertwined the bosses at Twitter, Facebook and people protesting the killing. Over the Democrats and Republicans, the crisis of jobs, wages, safety and health. other sites — who make millions 1,200 demonstrators were arrested, Millions are without jobs. Food banks from running them — have put po- as well as 23 journalists. are overrun, especially heading into Continued on page 9 “Before, the deaths of protesters Editorial Thanksgiving. The few remaining sup- were made to appear like accidents,” twin parties of the capitalist rulers. plemental government aid programs are Maryna Arabei, originally from Be- Alternating in office for decades, Continued on page 6 Fall Campaign to sell larus and now a graduate student at whoever is “out” claims to be the par- the New School in City, ty of “change.” Each exists to protect Militant subscriptions told the Militant Nov. 14. She was par- the interests of the exploiting ruling and books Continued on page 7 Continued on page 9 ‘Militant’ calls on Sept. 26 - Nov. 24 (week seven) Indiana officials Sub Subs Books Books Country quota sold quota sold Join push to go over quotas for UNITED STATES to overturn ban Albany 70 62 70 48 Atlanta 70 68 70 73 new readers of ‘Militant,’ books at Wabash prison Chicago 110 93 110 99 BY MAGGIE TROWE by seth galinsky Dallas 30 25 30 24 Members of the Socialist For the second time in a year, Indiana Lincoln 12 10 12 10 Workers Party and the Com- prison officials are preventing Kevin Los Angeles 90 81 90 83 munist Leagues in Austra- “Rashid” Johnson from getting his sub- Louisville 80 78 80 76 lia, Canada, New Zealand scription to the Militant. Johnson, who is Miami 25 20 25 15 and the United Kingdom are incarcerated at the Wabash Valley Cor- New Jersey 70 66 70 63 in the final stretch of the fall rectional Facility, informed the Militant New York 85 85 85 80 2020 international drive to he was given a notice that a recent issue Oakland * 85 73 95 90 expand the circulation of the Continued on page 6 Philadelphia 25 27 25 22 Militant. They are organizing Pittsburgh 40 33 40 36 to go over their goals of sell- Seattle 85 64 85 60 ing 1,200 subscriptions and Twin Cities * 30 30 25 22 the same number of books by Inside Washington * 60 50 60 53 SWP leaders and other revolu- Teachers union supports SWP Total U.S. 967 865 972 854 tionaries by the time the drive disclosure fight in Washington 2 ends Nov. 24. Prisoners 25 33 The interest among work- Thousands in Indonesia UNITED KINGDOM ing people in the Militant and protest new anti-labor law 3 London 40 38 40 36 books — as well as contribu- Manchester 35 36 35 34 tions to the SWP’s $120,000 Cliff Joseph, fighter for Black Total U.K. 75 74 75 70 Party-Building Fund, which is Militant/Lisa Potash artists, Pathfinder Mural 7 organized simultaneously with Rachele Fruit, SWP candidate for U.S. Senate, talks Canada 85 78 85 91 with Quinton Goolsby in Macon, Georgia, Oct. 10. the drive — reflects the grow- –On the picket line, p. 5– New Zealand 25 24 25 16 ing desire to learn more about this, quotas are higher than during the Pennsylvania nurses strike the roots of the capitalist economic Australia 25 22 25 17 party’s spring drive. over patient safety, wages and social crisis and what can be done With a week to go, the international Total 1,202 1,096 1,182 1,048 to defend our interests. Because of Continued on page 3 Dominion strikers in Canada SHOULD BE 1,200 1,050 1,200 1,050 ratify pact, end 12-week strike *Raised goal Teachers union supports SWP disclosure fight in Washington by john studer college authorities to turn over names, The Socialist Workers Party’s re- addresses, ages and other personal in- cent success in preventing disclosure formation of campus employees. They of the names and addresses of its pres- say they want the information to try and idential electors in Washington state get workers to quit the union. continues to hold. And additional sup- Government officials in Washington port for the fight to prevent disclosure state and in Seattle have a long history keeps coming in. of enacting and using campaign and On Nov. 9 Annette Stofer, president other disclosure laws against the So- of American Federation of Teachers cialist Workers Party, other third parties Seattle Community Colleges Local and political groups, as well as public 1789, wrote the SWP campaign ex- unions like the AFT. tending the union’s support. The SWP has fought to win exemp- “The Executive Board of AFT Seattle tion from having to disclose the names Local 1789 wishes to express our sup- and personal information of its cam- port for your efforts to get an exemp- paign supporters on the city, state and tion from disclosure of personal contact federal level. Through political and legal information for your 2020 candidates efforts, the party has amassed thousands and campaign personnel,” Stofer wrote. of pages of evidence of threats and at- Members of AFT Local 1789 organized a walkout in 2016 during contract negotiations at tacks against those who’ve signed peti- Seattle Central Colleges. The local’s executive board wrote to support Socialist Workers Party’s “We agree wholeheartedly that you fight to stop Washington state officials from publicly disclosing names and addresses of SWP have a right to protect the names and tions, made contributions, campaigned electors. The union has been fighting its own battle against attempts by a notorious anti-labor addresses of your members from those for or otherwise aided its candidates. group to use state disclosure laws to gain access to personal information on campus workers. who may wish to cause harm. We also During the SWP’s successful law- understand the necessity of upholding suit against the FBI in the 1970s and Washington state, long dominated by dent in Longview, Washington, dur- freedom of association and the right to ’80s, the spy agency was forced to ad- liberal Democrats, have fought relent- ing the union’s bitter struggle against a privacy in those choices. mit to having used some 1,300 inform- lessly against having to grant the party union-busting drive by megagrain ex- “We wish you success in your legal ers against the party, placing wiretaps exemption from disclosure, claiming porter EGT Development. case. That success is important to all of and carrying out more than 200 bur- it is necessary for “transparency,” re- “The government has no right to dis- us who might become the target of at- glaries into its offices, and organizing gardless of the attacks it might lead to close this information of these people,” tacks on personal freedoms. We must Cointelpro disruption efforts against against the SWP or others. he said. “This Republic we live in gives defend the voice of a wide variety of the SWP and its members. Even when the Seattle Ethics and US freedom from tyrannical overreach. political opinions. It is intolerable that The SWP’s Seattle office was fire- Election Commission in 2005 finally To even suggest disclosure is shameful.” some seek to shut down political partici- bombed in 1984. While petitioning granted the SWP an exemption from Support has also come from other po- pation by threats and intimidation,” she and campaigning for the party’s 2020 filing the names and other informa- litical groups. The affiliate said. “Please reach out if there is more presidential ticket of tion on their campaign contributors in Oakland, , wrote Nov. 16 that we can do to support you.” and Malcolm Jarrett, SWP supporters after an eight-year fight, commission to say it “wishes to inform the Socialist Members of this AFT local are famil- received death threats, both in person members complained that they were Workers Party that it has our organiza- iar with what is at issue. They’ve been and on the phone. One caller said he forced to do so by court rulings that tion’s full support in its legal battle to fighting for years efforts by the notori- would burn their headquarters to the “set the bar so low.” prevent the State of Washington from ously anti-union Freedom Foundation to ground and kill everyone in it. The Socialist Workers Party is the disclosing publicly the names and ad- use the state’s disclosure laws to force Still, authorities in Seattle and only party to ever win exemption from dresses of its presidential electors.” the Federal Election Commission. In a Writing to the SWP, the Green’s Dale defeat for political rights, the commis- Baum noted his organization is “in com- sion voted to revoke that exemption in plete agreement with its Seattle fight to 2017, claiming attacks against the party win political space for the working class were now largely a thing of the past. to debate, organize, and campaign.” “The fight here has been an important ‘Gov’t has no right to disclose this’ contribution to winning political space “I find it unbelievable to think that the for the working class,” Seattle SWP Defend Cuba’s revolution! End US embargo! names and addresses of Socialist Work- leader Mary Martin told the Militant. “It ers Party presidential electors would helps expose these ‘disclosure’ laws for Washington, with the back- ever be disclosed!” wrote Dan Coffman, what they are — an attack on political ing of the U.K. government, the retired ex-president of International rights aimed at making it more difficult has recently escalated its Longshore and Warehouse Union Local for unions and working-class parties economic war against Cuba, 21, Nov. 11. Coffman was ILWU presi- like the SWP to fight effectively.” and slandered Cuba’s inter- national medical volunteers. Latin America, Caribbean: For one year send The ‘Militant’ has defended The Militant $85 drawn on a U.S. bank to above address. Vol. 84/No. 47 Africa, Asia, and the Middle East: For the Cuban Revolution from one year send $85 drawn on a U.S. bank to Militant/Catharina Tírsen Closing news date: November 18, 2020 above address. 1959, when workers and “Hands off Cuba!” actions took place in Editor: John Studer Canada: For one year send Canadian $45 farmers took power, to today. London, above, and Manchester, Nov. 7. to the Militant, 7107 St. Denis #204, Mon- Managing Editor: Terry Evans treal, Quebec H2S 2S5. Editorial volunteers: Róger Calero, Seth Ga- United Kingdom: Send £30 for one year SUBSCRIBE TODAY! linsky, Emma Johnson, Martín Koppel, Roy by check or international money order Landersen, Jacob Perasso, Brian Williams. made out to CL London, 5 Norman Road (first floor), Seven Sisters, London, N15 Published weekly except for one week in 4ND, England. January. NEW READERS NAME Republic of Ireland and Continental Business Manager: Valerie Johnson Europe: Send £85 for one year by check or international money order made out to CL q.$5 for 12 issues ADDRESS The Militant (ISSN 0026-3885), 306 W. 37th London at above address. Street, 13th floor, New York, NY 10018. France: Send 100 euros for one year to Telephone: (212) 244-4899 Diffusion du Militant, BP 10130, 75723 RENEWAL CITY STATE ZIP Fax: (212) 244-4947 Paris Cedex 15. E-mail: [email protected] New Zealand and the Pacific Islands: q.$10 for 12 weeks PHONE e-mail Website: www.themilitant.com Send NZ$55 for one year to P.O. Box Correspondence concerning subscriptions 13857, Auckland 1643, New Zealand. q $20 for 6 months UNION/SCHOOL/ORGANIZATION or changes of address should be addressed Australia: Send A$70 for one year to P.O. Box . to the Militant, 306 W. 37th Street, 13th 73 Campsie, NSW 2194 Australia. floor, New York, NY 10018. Clip and mail to the militant, Submissions to the Militant may be pub- q $35 for 1 year 306 W. 37th st., 13th Floor new york, ny 10018. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY. lished in the newspaper in print and digital . Or subscribe online at: www.themilitant.com POSTMASTER: Send address changes to format. By submitting, authors represent that their submissions are original and the Militant, 306 W. 37th Street, 13th floor, consent to publication in this manner. 12 weeks of the Militant outside the U.S.: Australia, A$10 • United Kingdom, £4 • New York, NY 10018. Canada, Can$7 • Caribbean and Latin America, US$10 • Continental Europe, £8 • Signed articles by contributors do not France, 8 euros • New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, NZ$7 • All other areas, US$16 SUBSCRIPTIONS: United States: For necessarily represent the Militant’s views. (Send payment to addresses listed in business information box) one year send $35 to above address. These are expressed in editorials.

2 The Militant November 30, 2020 Join push to go over quotas Continued from front page Rosenfeld reports he subscribed to effort is at 1,096 subscriptions, 1,048 the Militant, got a copy of Are They Rich books and $83,564 received for the Because They’re Smart? by SWP Na- fund. tional Secretary and gave The Socialist Workers Party 2020 $5 “for the movement.” Then, just be- ticket, headed by Alyson Kennedy for fore she left he contributed a further $5. president and Malcolm Jarrett for vice In Georgia, U.S. Senate races are president along with a couple dozen lo- going to a Jan. 5 runoff election. cal candidates, set an example of what is Rachele Fruit, Socialist Workers possible when working people organize Party candidate for U.S. Senate there, independently of the capitalist parties. will keep campaigning, distributing They won respect while campaigning the party’s platform and encourag- on doorsteps, at taxi lines, Walmart ing working people to break from the parking lots, factory gates and labor ac- Democrats and Republicans and build tions, even in the first weeks of the pan- a movement capable of taking politi- demic lockdowns, telling the truth about cal power into our own hands. what workers face and explaining what “We’re continuing to get a great re- we are capable of fighting for. ception,” Fruit told the Militant Nov. 17. “The party’s 2020 election platform Around the country Socialist Work- Militant/Ilona Gersh Alyson Kennedy, SWP 2020 presidential candidate, talks with Shawn Washington at Ford Motor remains a powerful tool,” SWP Los An- ers Party branches are looking toward plant gate Oct. 28 in Chicago, about why workers need to break with voting for Democrats or geles branch organizer Norton Sandler running candidates for mayor, governor Republicans as the “lesser evil.” “You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t,” he said. told the Militant. It’s not a set of ideas to and other offices that come up for elec- win votes, but an action program with tion in 2021, efforts that will strengthen way. We have about $80 in hand so far.” Members of the IUE-CWA at the demands that workers and our unions the party’s year-round work. From Louisville, Kentucky, Ned large GE appliance complex in Louis- can fight for today. From a public works Measel reports, “The number of first- ville bought 13 copies of the Militant program to put the unemployed back to First-time fund contributors time contributors is up to 19, including from SWP members distributing the pa- work at union-scale wages, to cutting Many of the workers subscribing to four Walmart co-workers and 10 people per at a shift change Nov. 13. The union the workweek with no cut in pay to pre- the Militant and getting books by SWP who kicked in after we discussed poli- members have voted down the compa- vent layoffs, its proposals are aimed at leaders and other revolutionaries want tics with them on their doorsteps.” ny’s contract offers twice in the last two preventing the bosses from putting their to contribute to the Party-Building Fund Measel said the “second wave” of months. (See article on page 5.) crisis on our backs. when they hear about it. COVID cases in Kentucky and across After the drive ends, party branch- “We’re using back issues of the In Georgia, party members are “be- the country makes many workers re- es will continue bringing the Militant Militant with the action program in it, coming more alert to the opportunities ceptive to the party’s call for workers and books by revolutionaries to work- to good effect,” Sandler said. He and to win contributions when campaign- to fight to take control of production, ers, farmers and small proprietors Freddy Huinil used those issues to talk ing at workers’ doorsteps,” Lisa Potash, including all aspects of health and across the country and building soli- to working people at a Walmart parking Atlanta fund organizer, told the Mili- safety, out of the bosses’ hands and darity with strikes and social strug- lot last week and sold two subscriptions tant. “We decided to ask more workers for mass production of the latest med- gles. To join the efforts or to make a and three books. to contribute when we knock on their ications to be administered at no cost fund contribution, see page 8 to con- In ’s Lower East Side, doors and set a goal of raising $100 this to those afflicted with the virus. tact an SWP branch near you. SWP member Tamar Rosenfeld spoke with a health care worker who belongs to 1199SEIU union. He described how Thousands in Indonesia protest new anti-labor law bosses at the health facility where he works have been laying off workers de- BY BASKARAN APPU The bill was pushed through by The main Indonesian trade union spite the desperate need for more health AND LINDA HARRIS the administration of President Joko federations called a three-day nation- care facilities during the pandemic. SYDNEY — Hundreds of thou- Widodo, who claims the law is aimed al strike Oct. 5 to protest the bill. Con- sands of workers and students took to at creating jobs by cutting red tape, tingents of workers marched in prov- How do we get to a labor party? the streets across Indonesia Oct. 5 to easing restrictions on foreign invest- inces across the country and were met “I told him we need a labor party protest the passage of anti-labor legis- ment and improving labor “compe- with water cannons and tear gas. Over based on fighting unions,” Rosenfeld lation that day. Dubbed the “Omnibus tiveness” — a code word for eliminat- 3,800 protesters, including strikers, said. “Not a vote-catching machine, Law,” it amends more than 70 exist- ing labor protections. Indonesia is in were arrested. but an instrument of the working class ing laws, including ones that protect- the midst of its worst economic down- Actions against the law have con- that we can use to debate, decide and ed wage workers. turn in two decades. tinued. The unions are demanding organize year-round to fight for things “It is clear it is anti-worker legisla- There were 7 million unemployed parliament revoke the law and at the we need.” tion. It will replace the current labor even before big pandemic layoffs of same time called for an 8% increase When he asked how that can be ac- law, which was won through struggle,” 2.8 million workers, especially affect- in the minimum wage. complished, Rosenfeld said it would Listyowati from Kalyanamitra, a Jakar- ing the tourist industry. Government- “What workers hate the most is come out of labor battles as more work- ta-based women’s organization, told the ordered lockdowns have hit street that the wages will be set by hourly ers come to realize from those experi- Militant by phone. She pointed out the vendors, domestic workers and day rate instead of a monthly rate and that ences that they need a party of their own. example of the removal of limits on how laborers particularly hard. Over half employers will not be required to pay long workers can be employed as con- of the workforce in Indonesia is esti- severance pay,” Surya Anta, a human tract workers. “We fear that some work- mated to work in this “informal” sec- rights activist and former political pris- Socialist Workers ers may end up being casual workers for tor, which had few legal protections oner, told the Militant from Jakarta. Party Fund Drive life,” she said. even before passage of the new law. Switching to an hourly rate will mean Sept. 26-Nov. 24 (Week 7) workers will lose holiday pay and other benefits, he said, Area Quota Collected adding that under the new Albany* $7,700 $4,850 law bosses will more easily Atlanta $11,000 $8,368 be able to fire workers. Chicago $13,000 $5,282 “Women,” Listyowati told Dallas $2,750 $1,850 the Militant, “get laid off first Lincoln $325 $210 because they are not treated as Los Angeles $12,500 $6,544 the main wage earner.” Under Louisville* $5,400 $5,201 the new law maternity leave Miami $3,750 $1,920 for wage workers will no lon- New York $15,500 $12,103 ger be guaranteed, she said. N. New Jersey $6,000 $4,840 The overwhelming majority of Oakland $12,750 $10,115 women in Indonesia are con- Philadelphia $3,500 $3,335 tract or “informal” workers. Pittsburgh $3,000 $2,100 A solidarity rally was held Seattle $12,500 $8,193 outside the Indonesian Con- sulate in the Maroubra sub- Twin Cities $4,250 $3,559 urb of Sydney Oct. 9. Mem- Wash., D.C. $6,000 $4,595 bers of the Maritime Union Other $500 of Australia joined the action Total $119,925 $83,564 IndustriALL Global Union to show their support for Should Be $120,000 $105,000 workers in Indonesia resist- *raised quota Hundreds of thousands demonstrated in Indonesia to protest new anti-labor law passed Oct. 5. Sign at left reads, “Reject the Omnibus Law,” which makes it easier for bosses to fire workers, avoid paying holiday pay. ing the Omnibus Law.

The Militant November 30, 2020 3 Ethiopia war threatens wider Atlanta solidarity vigil with protests in Nigeria conflict in the Horn of Africa bany Roy L dersen neighboring Sudan. “Scores, likely After two weeks of bloody military hundreds” of day laborers resident conflict that has already displaced in southwestern Tigray, mainly eth- thousands of civilian refugees, Ethio- nically Amhara, were “stabbed or pian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed an- hacked to death” with machetes Nov. nounced a “final” offensive Nov. 17 12, Amnesty International reported. against the Tigray People’s Liberation Abiy claimed the massacre was car- Front that rules in the country’s north- ried out by TPLF forces, but this was ern Tigray state. The fighting threat- denied by the Tigray rulers. ens a broader civil war, which could The Ethiopian government says the fuel instabilities across Ethiopia and TPLF is “endangering the country’s in other countries of the strategically existence,” and appointed its own new important Horn of Africa at the mouth head of the Tigray region Nov. 13. It of the Red Sea. issued arrest warrants for the current The war comes after two years officials there. of mounting tensions as the TPLF, Militant/Susan LaMont based among a small minority of Colonial intervention in the region ATLANTA — “We’re here to honor the lives lost in Nigeria,” Victor Bomi Ethiopia’s people but long dominant Ethiopia was one of only two Afri- told a protest outside the Nigerian Consulate here Oct. 30. “Even one Nige- in the country’s politics, clashed with can countries that successfully resist- rian life lost is too many — too many killed by SARS, by the police, by govern- the Abiy government’s drive to unify ed colonization by the British, French, ment forces.” Thousands have marched in Nigeria in recent weeks demanding Ethiopia and exploit the impover- Italian and other European powers the dismantling of SARS, the acronym for the notorious Special Anti-Robbery ished country’s developing capital- when they carved up the continent. Squad, hated for its use of torture, murder and illegal arrests. ist economy. In particular, the TPLF But as one of the most diverse coun- Some 70 workers, students and professionals from Atlanta’s large Nigerian leaders refused to go along with tries in Africa, it has numerous tribal community attended the candlelight vigil, above, called in response to the Abiy’s efforts to forge a centralized divisions and over 100 languages. Oct. 20 army and police attack on a protest against SARS at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, Nigeria, that killed at least 12 people and injured others. Though Nige- party out of the ethnic-based coali- The TPLF led an insurgent coalition rian President Muhammadu Buhari announced Oct. 11 that he was disband- tion that has governed Ethiopia for of ethnically based liberation fronts to ing the squad, few believe that will be more than a change in name. the past three decades. take power in 1991. The broad front At an open mic at the vigil, participants stressed the importance of over- Airstrikes and a ground offen- ousted the military regime that had coming regional, religious and tribal divisions and forging unity to build soli- sive were launched by the Ethiopian ruled Ethiopia since 1974 when it darity with the protests in Nigeria. military against the TPLF after Abiy overthrew the Washington-backed Sam Manuel brought greetings from Rachele Fruit, Socialist Workers Party claimed it had “crossed the last red Emperor Haile Selassie. candidate for U.S. Senate. “The courageous demonstrations in Nigeria and line” by attacking a federal military Alarmed at the revolutionary over- those here are part of a worldwide struggle of working people to change the base and seizing heavy weapons Nov. throw of Selassie, and its impact on conditions of oppression and exploitation we face,” said Manuel. 4. Federal forces claim to have made U.S. imperialism’s growing sway over The Nigerian government claims it is investigating the Oct. 20 massacre, significant inroads into Tigray. the region, Washington pressured the but on Nov. 6 the country’s central bank froze the accounts of 20 protesters. The Ethiopian military said it car- neighboring Somali regime to invade Immigration officials have confiscated the passport of at least one protest ac- ried out “surgical air operations” Nov. Ethiopia’s Ogaden region in 1977-78. tivist to prevent her from leaving the country. 17 on military targets outside the Ti- They hoped to topple the new regime, — Susan Lamont gray capital Mekelle. The TPLF said which sought and received help from a dam and a sugar plant had been hit revolutionary Cuba. With this aid, and there had been civilian casualties. Ethiopia defeated the invasion. almost three decades. culture and education poured in from Tigray TV showed damage in resi- As part of the coalition that over- In 2018 a monthslong popular revolt the Gulf states, Saudi Arabia, China, dential areas of the city. threw the military regime in 1991, targeting the dominance of the TPLF Turkey and the U.S. The Tigray rulers announced a the Eritrean Peoples’ Liberation forced the resignation of the govern- In particular, significant natural state of emergency and retaliated with Front won Eritrea’s independence ment. Abiy, from the Oromo, the gas resources have been discovered rocket attacks, including across the from Ethiopia. country’s largest ethnic group, prom- in the Ogaden, and both Beijing and border hitting the airport in Asmara, Over time, layers of landlords and ised to unify and develop the country. Ankara have invested heavily in the Eritrean capital. capitalists in Ethiopia used the eth- He led the new ruling coalition. their development. The TPLF claims Eritrean tanks nic divisions of different language He freed political prisoners, lifted Beijing’s investment and loans in and soldiers have crossed the border, groupings as distinct bases of support the ban on opposition political par- Ethiopia have reached more than dou- which runs through disputed terri- while profiting from exploiting the ties and ended the longstanding state ble that of the U.S. rulers, in what has tory. Abiy had won the Nobel Peace peasants and workers. The federated of emergency. been one of Washington’s main allies Prize last year for negotiating the end state of Ethiopia is based on nine self- in the area. These rivalries play a role to decades of fighting and tensions governing ethnic territories reflecting Abiy moves to centralize power in the country’s political divisions. between Ethiopia and Eritrea, largely these divisions. After having purged many Tigray The prospect of the war spiraling out along the Tigray-Eritrea border. Despite Tigray only having about officials, Abiy dissolved the govern- of control has raised alarm throughout Hundreds of fighters have been 5 million of the country’s 116 million ing coalition last year. His goal was the region among the competing capi- killed in the current battles. Civil- people, the Tigray front leadership a top-down merger into a single na- talist investors. Attempts to intervene ian casualties are disputed, but over dominated the coalition, as well as tional nonethnic party, the Prosperity with offers of “mediation” by various 30,000 refugees have already fled to the government and the military, for Party, which the TPLF refused to join. imperialist and other African powers He has increasingly cracked down on have been resisted by both sides. political rights. While Ethiopia remains one of the poorest countries in Africa with a yearly per capita income of $850, it is militant today one of the fastest growing. Abiy sought to accelerate this development labor by opening up to foreign capitalist investment. Billions of dollars of fi- forums nancing in ports, rail, airports, agri- C alifornia Los Angeles Discounted books The Fight of a Small Ohio Bakery Against the Wealth, Power and Class for prisoners Privilege of Oberlin College. Speaker: Bill Arth, Socialist Workers Party. Sun., Pathfinder Press offers books at a 50% Nov. 29, 5 p.m. Donation: $5. 2826 S. discount plus $2.75 shipping per order. Vermont Ave., Suite 1. Tel.: (323) 643-4968. Prisoners can mail their prepaid orders to: Pathfinder Press, PO Box 162767 Iillino s Atlanta GA 30321-2767 Chicago Friends and family members can The Conflict Over Nagorno-Karabakh: order for them online. For more info: The Bolshevik Revolution Showed Road Forward in Transcaucasus. Fri., Nov. 27, www.pathfinderpress.com 7:30 p.m. Donation: $5. 1858 W. Cermak Road, 2nd floor. Tel.: (312) 792-6160. Militant/Mike Shur

4 The Militant November 30, 2020 on the picket line Pennsylvania nurses strike over patient safety, wages Dominion strikers in Canada sions. Now all we have is a 401(k). And ratify pact, end 12-week strike with this latest contract it wouldn’t start The over 1,400 workers at Dominion for new hires until they’ve already been grocery stores in Newfoundland, who working for the company for a year.” belong to Unifor Local 597, voted to end Starting pay at GE is $14 an hour. their spirited 12-week-long strike. Workers got an additional $1.50 of “ap- Voting on what Loblaw, Dominion’s preciation pay” starting Aug. 24, but this parent company, called its “final” con- has since ended. tract proposal was conducted on the Dino Driskell, president of Local picket lines Nov. 9-13. After approving 83761, told WDRB-TV he was “kind the pact, the unionists returned to work. of at a loss” about why the members re- The strike had shut down all 11 Domin- jected the contract. ion stores in the province. In the proposed contract, production Workers struck after overwhelmingly workers hired before October 2005 rejecting the company’s offer of a 1 Ca- and maintenance workers hired before nadian dollar an hour wage increase (76 June 1, 2009, would receive a one-time cents) over three years, after Dominion hourly raise of 50 cents this year and a ended the CA$2 hourly wage increase it $1,500 bonus in December, with only a had earlier instituted as pandemic pay. $1,000 cash payout for each of the last Militant/John Staggs Strikers fought to reverse the cut and to two years of a three-year contract. Pro- Nearly 800 nurses, members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff increase the number of full-time work- duction workers hired between 2005 Nurses and Allied Professionals union, began a two-day strike Nov. 17 ers, 60 of whom had been cut by the and 2017 would receive a $1 raise, the at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, over inadequate company in 2019. $1,500 December bonus, and 50-cent staffing levels, patient safety and low wages. The union has been in nego- The striking workers “had an em- raises the next two years. tiations over a year for their first contract. A strike has also been authorized ployer who refused to budge and gave “When an employee has worked at at two major Philadelphia hospitals organized by the union, Einstein Medi- them a final offer, essentially threaten- the park five years, he should be able to cal Center and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. ing many more months back on the pay his bills,” Anil Khadka, a Building — Janet Post picket line, without moving on their of- 3 technician, told the Louisville Couri- fer,” Chris MacDonald, Unifor’s head er-Journal. “Gas, food, insurance — it’s negotiator, told the media. “Ultimately, still going up. The pay’s not going up” here have had enough. Ninety-four per- The strike, initially called for three members decided they were ready to go enough to cover it. cent voted for a strike called by their weeks, is now extended until Christ- back to work.” Loblaw is the largest pri- Many workers are also dissatis- union, Unite, to oppose the job cuts. mas Eve. vate employer in Canada. fied with the high cost and low cover- Up to a dozen workers joined two “Eighty-one workers are initially age of the health insurance plan. “We The new four-year contract is back- picket lines Nov. 6, the first day of the on strike, then a further 11, with more voted down the contract twice because dated to October 2019. According to action. joining the strike as days go by,” said we want better medical insurance and CBC News, the offer included pay in- The union’s fight takes place as work- Porter. “It’s already having an impact more pay,” José González told Militant on production.” creases starting at 35 cents an hour and ers across the country face mounting worker-correspondent Maggie Trowe job losses and the impact of the govern- Many of those on strike are not hit going up to an extra CA$1.35 an hour by Nov. 11. “The owners are trying to make ment’s new lockdown. The extension by the immediate job cuts, but join the the end of the contract. On a one-time more profits by holding us down.” of a furlough scheme, which provided action nevertheless, recognizing that an basis, any part-time clerk who has more “Maybe they think on $14 an hour we government funds to bosses to cover injury to one is an injury to all. than two, but less than three years of can pay the $4,000 medical insurance 80% of furloughed workers’ wages, has Union banners opposing the job cuts service and has not worked 2,001 hours deductible,” Heather Blair told Trowe at masked some of the effects of this crisis. are displayed throughout this town of will move up to minimum wage (now the plant gate. “We’re fired up about the Bosses at Rolls-Royce aim to cut 11,000, and motorists frequently honk in CA$12.15) plus 40 cents. More than half insurance!” 9,000 jobs out of a workforce of 52,000 support of the strike as they pass pickets. the workers at Dominion now earn the The GE plant has seen record demand worldwide. In August they announced The impact of the job cuts “on the minimum wage. for home appliances during the govern- the Barnoldswick site will cease making town is immense,” Porter said, “from Loblaw will also add 22 new full-time ment-imposed lockdowns. wide-chord fan blades for jet engines by how it will affect several manufac- positions, with those who had lost their — Kaitlin Estill the fall of 2023. turers that supply this plant to local full-time jobs given priority. That means “They are saying 350 jobs are to shops and businesses.” 80% of the workforce will remain part Rolls-Royce jet engine workers go,” union convener Mark Porter told Messages of support can be emailed time. Workers will also receive a com- strike to stop job cuts the Militant. “We’re not sure about the to [email protected]; or pany gift card of between $50 and $500. BARNOLDSWICK, England — Af- long-term viability for the rest.” Bosses sent to Mark Porter, Unite Union Office, The vote totals weren’t announced. ter being furloughed, prescribed a 10% “made the announcement under the Rolls-Royce, Skipton Road, Barnolds- From the Local 597’s Facebook page wage cut and now facing 350 job losses, cover of the coronavirus pandemic, ex- wick, BB18 5RV, England. postings, it’s clear some workers are workers at jet engine maker Rolls-Royce pecting us not to take action,” he added. — Hugo Wils and Pete Clifford frustrated with the result. It’s also clear they appreciated the public support they got, and look forward to future battles. — Beverly Bernardo 25, 50, and 75 years ago Unionists at GE in Louisville reject company’s contract offer LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Members of International Union of Electrical December 4, 1995 December 4, 1970 December 1, 1945 Workers-Communications Workers FORT MADISON, Iowa — “This is The renewed bombing of North Viet- DETROIT, Nov. 21 — The biggest of America Local 83761 at GE Appli- a tremendous victory,” said Mark Cur- nam adds to the long list of barbaric industrial strike in the nation’s history ances here voted down the bosses’ sec- tis following the decision by the Iowa crimes committed by U.S. imperialism started at 11 o’clock this morning when ond contract offer by 57% on Oct. 29. Board of Parole to release him from against the Vietnamese people and con- 225,000 members of the CIO United They had rejected their first offer Sept. prison. “I always knew this day would firms that Washington has been guilty Automobile Workers poured out of 102 16 by 87%. Many told the Militant they come, but it wouldn’t have happened of perpetrating one more cruel hoax on General Motors plants to fight for a 30 needed and deserved more. The plant without all the people who wrote let- the American people. percent wage increase. employs 4,100 workers. ters, showed up for parole hearings, The escalation was being mapped Angered by the refusal of the cor- “We are extremely disappointed that sold pamphlets about my case, and at the very time all the preelection talk poration to negotiate in good faith and employees did not vote to accept the campaigned for my release.” about “peace,” “phased withdrawal” goaded beyond endurance by company most recent proposed contract,” the The frame-up of Curtis began in and “Vietnamization” was going on. provocations, the GM workers have met company, which is owned by Haier, said March 1988. In the midst of a fight The very notion that Washington has the corporation’s union-busting tactics in response to the rejection. “For the sec- against the arrest of 17 immigrant work- any other perspective than to try to with the grim determination to fight it ond time, the proposal was unanimously ers at the meatpacking plant where he wrest some kind of military victory con- out on the picket lines. endorsed by the IUE-CWA negotiating worked, Curtis was arrested by the Des stitutes the essential feature of the hoax. Beneath the strikers’ determination team at the local and national levels.” Moines, Iowa, police. A longtime union What is involved is a course of action to win their wage increase and settle “With this latest contract, I’m wor- activist and member of the Socialist determined by the imperialist character accounts on grievances, lies the moral ried about the new workers. The work- Workers Party, Curtis was beaten and of the U.S. that drives its efforts to crush general concern for preservation of their ers coming in are going to get slaugh- falsely accused of attempting to rape a the Vietnamese liberation forces, to seek union. The GM workers feel that they tered,” Aaron Little, a GE Appliances Black teenager. He was railroaded to to contain and roll back the revolution- are banner-bearers for all labor, that their production worker since 2012, told this jail in a September 1988 trial. Curtis has ary process throughout Southeast Asia. strike is a gigantic test of strength which worker-correspondent during a shift won broad support among unionists, Now more than ever: Bring the Gls both Big Business and organized labor change Nov. 13. “We used to have pen- farmers, fighters for social justice. home! everywhere are watching carefully. The Militant November 30, 2020 5 Gov’t lockdowns deepen crisis Continued from front page El Paso, Texas, as hospitalization rates set to run out by the end of the year. And there soar. Nurses report COVID-19 pa- state and city governments are moving tients are being left to die with minimal to impose new lockdowns on produc- efforts to resuscitate the worst affected. tion, trade, restaurants, retail and jobs. “There’s not enough nurses to take care Governments at all levels and the of all the patients that are coming in,” owners of the nation’s hospitals, drug Idali Cooper, a nurse at Hospitals of monopolies, nursing homes and the rest Providence Memorial, told KFOX-TV. of the for-profit health industry are little better prepared for the current surge in ‘Health care’ crisis under capitalism coronavirus infections than they were After years of hospital closures, es- in the spring. While a special treatment pecially in rural areas, and the refusal helped President Donald Trump when of management to sacrifice profits to he got infected, no effort has been store equipment and medicine for a sec- made to mass produce the doses need- ond wave, hospitals in many states are ed, and hospitals are seeking to restrict already close to capacity. The closest Reuters/Ivan Pierre Aguirre its use. Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of intensive care unit for anyone with CO- Hospital workers move bodies into refrigerated trailer in El Paso, Texas, Nov. 16. Shortage of a similar antibody drug that Trump VID in Kearny County, Kansas, is now beds, staff, equipment in for-profit hospital system increases toll of coronavirus pandemic. received, is charging the government a six-hour drive to Kansas City. had no hand soap, which was on “back- everywhere are cutting workers or slash- $1,250 for each dose. Washington In Idaho, patients who need joint re- order for over a month.” And the bosses ing their hours and pay. More working bought 300,000 doses, enough for only placements, hysterectomies and any at the nursing facility failed to separate people face plummeting incomes at the one week of new infections. elective surgery requiring an overnight those infected from those who weren’t. same time prices of gasoline, meat, eggs One thing is clear, working people stay are being turned away from hos- and other necessities are rising. will get as little protection from the pan- pitals. Patients suffering heart attacks Workers face lockdowns, job cuts In Dallas, 8,500 families — 17 times demic, unemployment and rising prices have had to wait hours to get necessary For the first time since the beginning that of previous years — waited for up from a Joe Biden administration as we treatments at hospitals in Utah. of the pandemic, the number of unem- to 12 hours on line to a city food bank to do today from that of President Trump. Given the failure of hospital bosses ployed workers who have been perma- get a Thanksgiving food basket. This week Biden appointed oncologist to train and hire sufficient numbers of nently laid off exceeded those who are The capitalist media is full of news Ezekiel Emanuel to his coronavirus task medical workers, North Dakota Gov. on temporary layoff. about Biden, Trump and what the 2020 force. Emanuel expressed his callous Doug Burgum has instructed medical Retail chains have shut down 47,000 elections mean. The liberal media, like disregard for health care for the elderly personnel infected with COVID-19, but stores and more closures are threatened. the New York Times, are flabbergasted in an October 2014 article in The Atlan- who are asymptomatic, to keep work- At the same time, new lockdown re- that larger numbers of workers — Cau- tic magazine, where he wrote that they ing, even though they are carrying the strictions are being imposed by many casian, Black, Hispanic and Asian — are “feeble, ineffectual, even pathetic,” contagious disease and can spread it in state governments. In Philadelphia, voted for Trump than in 2016. They and urged everyone over 75 to refuse hospital rooms, as well as in restrooms Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney’s health say it shows working people, as Hillary medical treatment to prolong their life. and cafeterias. department announced Nov. 16 the bar- Clinton said, are “deplorables.” The cap- Workers and farmers need to join to- In Langhorne, Pennsylvania, some ring of any indoor gathering or event, italist rulers see us as a dangerous class. gether to organize and fight to defend 800 nurses at St. Mary Medical Cen- public or private. All libraries, muse- The Socialist Workers Party explains ourselves. The action program pre- ter went on strike Nov. 17, in an ongo- ums, colleges, high schools and gyms that workers and farmers are the only sented by the Socialist Workers Party ing fight over inadequate staffing levels have been ordered to shut their doors. productive classes. We make everything candidates during the 2020 campaign combined with inadequate pay. Nurses at Einstein Medical Cen- we consume and use. We are the future. remains as timely and necessary as ever. Elderly residents, who are packed into ter and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Workers need to fight for jobs, to be The SWP says workers and our unions some 15,000 nursing homes across the Children in Philadelphia are planning working side by side with fellow work- need to fight for a government-funded country, face the highest COVID infec- a strike vote over conditions similar to ers, to be able to fight together as a class. public works program to put millions tion rates since August, especially with those facing fellow union members in This is the only road forward to solve to- back to work at union-scale wages to the virus spreading to more rural areas Langhorne. Will city authorities try to day’s economic, social and health crises build the hospitals, schools, housing and where there are fewer medical services. shut down their picket lines? — all products of the workings of the other things we need. And for universal The capitalist rulers have long con- In response to new lockdowns, bosses dog-eat-dog capitalist system. government-guaranteed health care for sidered the elderly disposable, since all from cradle to grave. they can no longer profit by exploit- To carry this fight through to the end, ing them. In some states governments we need our own party, a labor party, to ordered nursing homes to take in CO- ‘Militant’: End Indiana prison ban speak out for all those exploited and op- VID-19 patients. Continued from front page the Indiana Department of Correc- pressed by capitalism and to fight to take Georgia state officials finally - ac had been “disallowed due to safety and tion, had told Goldstein that the im- political power into our own hands. knowledged this month that residents security of facility.” The notice did not poundment at Pendleton “was deter- Medical workers are inundated in stricken with COVID in July at the Riv- even say which issue of the Militant had mined to be in error. Staff have been erside Health Care Center in Covington been banned. retrained in the matter.” Johnson later learned it was issue no. “Seems Wabash Valley staff never Books workers …ABOUT BUILDING THE ONLY KIND need today… 44, with a banner headline, “Vote So- got the memo,” Johnson wrote the Mili- OF PARTY WORTHY OF THE NAME cialist Workers Party.” In violation of the tant Nov. 5. They “are using the exact “REVOLUTIONARY” prison system’s own regulations, the no- same vague and invalid basis for ban- The Turn to Industry: tice does not say what officials object to. ning your paper that was previously Forging a Proletarian Party The Militant is challenging the sup- overturned.” Officials are also suppress- by Jack Barnes $8 with a subscription pression of the paper and demanding the ing his subscriptions to the San Fran- Tribunes of the People ban be overturned, as it does whenever cisco Bay View and Socialist Viewpoint. and the Trade Unions prison authorities impound an issue. These bans come after Johnson filed a by Lenin, Dobbs, Marx, Trotsky and Barnes At the end of last year, when John- number of complaints with prison staff. $7 with a subscription son, a leader of the New Afrikan Black “The Militant will not stop defend- Malcolm X, Black Liberation, Panther Party, was held at the Pendleton ing its rights nor those of prisoners to and the Road to Workers Power Correctional Facility, officials impound- read literature of their own choosing, by Jack Barnes $10 with a subscription ed four issues of the paper. Johnson has and to form their own opinions about SP ECiaL OFFER been transferred repeatedly, from Vir- what can be done about the deepening ginia to Oregon, Texas, Florida, back to crisis working people confront today,” $25 FOR THREE BOOKS at top Virginia and to Indiana, and faced ha- said Militant editor John Studer. “Pris- left With a Militant subscription rassment from prison authorities. oners can count on the paper to defend Those earlier impoundments were constitutional rights.” The Jewish Question reversed after the Militant’s lawyer, Back the fight to overturn suppres- PLUS A Marxist Interpretation David Goldstein, contacted the Indiana sion of the Militant and support John- by Abram Leon $12 with a subscription Department of Correction and letters son’s right to read whatever he chooses. 20% Red Zone: Cuba and the Battle protesting the ban were sent by Bishop Write to Chief Counsel Jon Ferguson, off Against Ebola in West Africa Dennis Lyons from the Gospel Mission- Indiana Department of Correction, 302 All OTHER by Enrique Ubieta $12 with a subscription: ary Church in Louisville, Kentucky; W. Washington St., Room E-334, India- Pathfinder Are They Rich Because They’re Smart? Walmart workers in Illinois and Ken- napolis, IN 46204, or via email at JFer- books Class, Privilege, and Learning under Capitalism tucky; and others. [email protected]. Send a copy to by Jack Barnes $5 with a subscription Jon Ferguson, chief legal officer for [email protected] See distributors page 8 or visit pathfindeRpress.com

6 The Militant November 30, 2020 Killing spurs Belarus protests Continued from front page Bondarenko, including miners and ticipating in a march of 80 people that other workers at the huge Belaruskali ended with a vigil for Bondarenko potash complex. outside the Belarus Consulate in New “All the guys from our company… York. “This one everyone saw [on were shocked by what had happened,” video clips]. It was outrageous.” said Aleh Strelchyk, who served with Masked men were photographed Bondarenko when they were con- beating Bondarenko as he lay on the scripts in a special forces army unit. ground and then dragging him into a “The authorities are to blame for ev- police van. He was taken into police erything that happened to him.” custody before being sent to a hospi- Over 17,000 have been detained tal in a coma. He died from brain in- for periods of time, and more than juries the next day. 500 tortured since demonstrations The interior ministry denies respon- demanding Lukashenko’s resigna- sibility for Bondarenko’s death, alleging tion spread across the country from he was killed in scuffles with civilians. August on. Workers joined strike ac- His sister, Volga Kucharenka, posted the tions in many factories in September, Belsat video refuting authorities’ claims. outraged at the regime’s brutal efforts Thousands in Belarus lined streets of Minsk, above, and across country Nov. 13, forming soli- to repress the demonstrators. The darity chains in memory of Roman Bondarenko, art teacher and former soldier, who died after When news broke of the killing, brutal beating by government cops. Workers organized minute of silence outside factories. thousands attended vigils around the numbers participating in protest ac- country to honor his memory. Motor- tions has recently declined, but anti- been long waiting for take place, until Public displays of the red-and-white ists stopped traffic. Many hundreds government actions continue. people feel free,” Mariya Shakuro told opposition colors continue. Some formed “solidarity chains” on streets Lukashenko has jailed or exiled Al-Jazeera Nov. 16. The 29-year-old managers at state factories and other outside universities and hospitals with prominent leaders of the opposition to worker in a furniture manufacturing institutions refuse to implement gov- red-and-white Belarusian flags and his 26-year rule, from rival bourgeois plant had been detained for 10 days ernment edicts to dismiss or discipline portraits of the murdered protester. politicians to workers strike leaders. after an Oct. 11 demonstration. She workers who took actions that slowed Workers walked out at a number of But actions to end to his rule “will said her detention “is a small price to down production or delayed rail ser- plants to join a minute of silence for continue until the changes we have pay for freedom.” vice in protest against the regime. Cliff Joseph, fighter for Black artists and champion of Pathfinder Mural BY Sam manuel beth Artists Housing in Manhattan’s ATLANTA — “The Pathfinder Mu- Greenwich Village, just a few blocks ral proudly stood as a beacon of hope from the mural site, for a meeting of for all who had the good fortune to see 100 to protest an attack on the project its light,” artist Cliff Joseph said at a by city authorities. June 1996 meeting marking the nearly 10-year history of the mural. Joseph ‘Power of art belongs to the people’ was part of an international team of art- “We’re involved in a fight, but I ists who painted the six-story celebra- believe the mural is going to be com- tion of working-class struggles around pleted. We’re not going to let anyone the world on the walls of the New York prevent that from happening,” Joseph City building where Pathfinder’s offices said at the meeting. “The power of art and print shop were located. belongs to the people. I think the estab- Joseph died in Chicago Nov. 8. He lishment knows the power of art and was 98. what it can mean to a people in their His keen sense of the injustices of struggle against oppression.” capitalist rule began early in his life, an In the high-tempo final weeks of its obituary from the Aaron Galleries in completion, artists from Cuba, Can- Glenview, Illinois, which handles his ada, Argentina, South Africa, Iran, works, makes clear. After witnessing New Zealand and other countries were the horrors of war while in the army, he Mural painted on wall of Pathfinder Press offices and print shop in New York in the late 1980s. plying their skills on the wall. When I concluded that soldiers on the other side expressed my concern about complet- are “more like us than different.” That and writings of Socialist Workers was formed in 1969 in response to a ing everything on time, Joseph replied observation greatly influenced the anti- Party and other revolutionary work- Metropolitan Museum of Art show- that all those people working togeth- war subject matter of his artwork. ing-class leaders, including Castro, ing entitled “Harlem on My Mind,” er showed the power of this project. From 1987 to 1989 some 80 artists Che Guevara and Vilma Espín, lead- which disregarded the work of several “We’ll get done,” he said. from 20 countries worked on what was ers of the Cuban Revolution; Nel- prominent Harlem artists. By 1996 the mural and the wall it popularly known as the Pathfinder Mu- son Mandela, the central leader of In 1963 Joseph and his wife, Ann, was painted on had irreversibly dete- ral Project. The finished mural depicted the fight that overthrew apartheid in attended the March on Washington, riorated from sun and weather dam- a large printing press turning out litera- South Africa; Black rights fighter and where Martin Luther King Jr. was one age. The mural had to be removed in ture surrounded by paintings of revolu- working-class revolutionary leader of the featured speakers. Joseph paint- order to repair the building. tionary fighters and historical working- Malcolm X; Thomas Sankara and ed a portrait of the civil rights leader Many in Greenwich Village and be- class battles. The paper coming out of Maurice Bishop, who led popular in the mural, and another of Steve yond remember the mural. A Sept. 24 the press quoted Cuban revolutionary revolutionary governments in Burki- Biko, a leader of the fight against the article posted at VillagePreservation. leader Fidel Castro, “The truth must not na Faso and Grenada; Karl Marx and apartheid regime in South Africa. org concludes, “Despite the contro- only be the truth, it must also be told.” Frederick Engels, founders of the Among Joseph’s many works is a versy, many supported and admired Pathfinder publishes the speeches modern communist movement; U.S. 1972 painting “The Attica Crucifixion,” the mural, including workers and working-class and Socialist Workers which depicts a prisoner behind bars neighborhood residents.” Party leaders James P. Cannon, Far- of crosses. On Sept. 9, 1971, prisoners Joseph recalled the time when the rell Dobbs and Jack Barnes; and V.I. took control of part of Attica prison in mural was attacked by the editors of Lenin, Leon Trotsky and other lead- upstate New York and held several the New York Post and right-wing col- ers of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. hostages in order to negotiate for bet- umnist Patrick Buchanan in 1989, and Finishing military service after the ter conditions. Their slogan was, “We later vandalized with paint bombs. second imperialist world war, Joseph are men. We are not beasts, and we “There are those who opposed its studied art at Pratt Institute in Brook- will not be driven as such.” Four days message,” Joseph said. “Today, Path- lyn, New York, graduating in 1953. later, on orders from the governor and finder is organizing its honorable re- He was the first African American prison officials, hundreds of heavily moval with the carefulness and love member of the American Art Thera- armed state cops and prison guards in which it was created.” Those of us py Association. assaulted the prisoners, killing at least who shared in that work will always Joseph was a co-founder of the 29 of them and 10 hostages. remember his example. Black Emergency Cultural Coalition, Joseph was an early and steadfast Militant/ which worked to promote works by supporter of the Mural Project. In Janu- Sam Manuel was the director of the Cliff Joseph at 1988 meeting on the mural. African American artists. The group ary 1988 he secured the gallery of West- Pathfinder Mural Project.

The Militant November 30, 2020 7 Workers need fighting program for jobs, protection from inflation The Transitional Program for So- that collective agreements should as- cialist Revolution by Leon Trotsky sure an automatic rise in wages in re- is one of Pathfinder’s Books of the lation to the increase in price of con- Month for November. The excerpt be- sumer goods. low is from the document “The Death Under the menace of its own disin- Agony of Capitalism and the Tasks of tegration, the proletariat cannot permit the Fourth International.” In drafting the transformation of an increasing the document in 1938, Trotsky drew section of the workers into chroni- on the program and strategy of the cally unemployed paupers, living off first four congresses of the Commu- the crumbs of a disintegrating society. nist International, led by V.I. Lenin The right to employment is the only and the Bolshevik Party in Russia. serious right left to the worker in a He also collaborated with the leader- society based upon exploitation. This ship of the Socialist Workers Party in right today is being shorn from him preparing the resolution, which be- at every step. Against unemployment, came the basic programmatic docu- “structural” as well as “conjunctural,” ment of both the SWP and the world the time is ripe to advance, along with movement it helped lead. Copyright © the slogan of public works, the slogan 1977 by Pathfinder Press. Reprinted of a sliding scale of working hours. by permission. Trade unions and other mass organiza- tions should bind the workers and the unemployed together in the solidarity 1937 sit-down strike at GM in Flint, Michigan, won union recognition and pay raise. The 1930s of mutual responsibility. On this basis Books of labor upsurge posed fight against twin scourges of unemployment and high prices. The“ right to employment is the only serious right left to the worker in a society based on exploitation.” all the work on hand would then be divided among all existing workers the month should be drawn into the revolution- any other time with the danger of be- in accordance with how the extent of ary movement. The present epoch is ing cast into the pit of pauperism. They the working week is defined. The aver- by Leon Trotsky distinguished not because it frees the must defend their mouthful of bread, if age wage of every worker remains the The strategic task of the Fourth revolutionary party from day-to-day they cannot increase or better it. same as it was under the old working International lies not in reforming work but because it permits this work There is neither the need nor the week. Wages, with a strictly guaran- capitalism but in its overthrow. Its to be carried on indissolubly with the opportunity to enumerate here those teed minimum, would follow the move- political aim is the conquest of power actual tasks of the revolution. separate, partial demands which time ment of prices. It is impossible to ac- by the proletariat for the purpose of The Fourth International does not and again arise on the basis of concrete cept any other program for the present expropriating the bourgeoisie. How- discard the program of the old “mini- circumstances — national, local, trade catastrophic period. ever, the achievement of this strategic mal” demands to the degree to which union. But two basic economic afflic- Property owners and their lawyers task is unthinkable without the most these have preserved at least part of tions, in which is summarized the in- will prove the “unrealizability” of considered attention to all, even small their vital forcefulness. Indefatigably, creasing absurdity of the capitalist sys- these demands. Smaller, especially ru- and partial, questions of tactics. All it defends the democratic rights and tem — that is, unemployment and high ined capitalists in addition will refer to sections of the proletariat — all its social conquests of the workers. But it prices — demand generalized slogans their account ledgers. layers, occupations, and groups — carries on this day-to-day work within and methods of struggle. The workers categorically denounce the framework of the correct actual, The Fourth International declares such conclusions and references. The that is, revolutionary, perspective. In- uncompromising war on the politics of question is not one of a “normal” colli- Books sofar as the old partial, “minimal” de- the capitalists, which to a considerable sion between opposing material inter- Novemberof the Month mands of the masses clash with the de- degree, like the politics of their agents, ests. The question is one of guarding structive and degrading tendencies of the reformists, aims to place the whole the proletariat from decay, demoral- PATHFINDER decadent capitalism — and this occurs burden of militarism, the crises, the ization, and ruin. The question is one 30% at each step — the Fourth International disorganization of the monetary sys- of life or death of the only creative and READERS CLUB discount SPECIALS advances a system of transitional de- tem, and all other scourges stemming progressive class, and by that token of mands, the essence of which is con- from capitalism’s death agony upon the future of mankind. If capitalism The Transitional Program for tained in the fact that ever more open- the backs of the toilers. The Fourth In- is incapable of satisfying the demands Socialist Revolution ly and decisively they will be directed ternational demands employment and inevitably arising from the calamities by Leon Trotsky The bridge of transitional demands against the very foundations of the decent living conditions for all. generated by itself, then let it perish. that leads from today’s conditions bourgeois regime. The old “minimal Neither monetary inflation nor sta- “Realizability” or “unrealizability” and consciousness of wide layers of program” is superseded by the transi- bilization can serve as slogans for is in the given instance a question of workers to the conquest of power tional program, the task of which lies the proletariat, because these are but the relationship of forces, which can by the proletariat. in systematic mobilization of the mass- two ends of the same stick. Against be decided only by the struggle. By $17. Special price: $12 es for the proletarian revolution. a bounding rise in prices, which with means of this struggle, no matter what Out Now! Under the conditions of disintegrat- the approach of war will assume an its immediate practical successes may A Participant’s Account of the Movement in ing capitalism, the masses continue to ever more unbridled character, one be, the workers will best come to un- the United States against the live the impoverished life of the op- can fight only under the slogan of a derstand the necessity of liquidating by pressed, threatened now more than at sliding scale of wages. This means capitalist slavery. $30. Special price: $21 Humanism and Socialism by George Novack $12. Special price: $8.50 if you like this paper, look us up Revolution and Where to find distributors of the NEBRASKA: Lincoln: P.O. Box 6811. AUSTRALIA Militant, New International, and a full Zip: 68506. Tel: (402) 217-4906. Email: S ydney: Suite 103, 124-128 Beamish Counter-Revolution display of Pathfinder books. [email protected] St. Campsie. Postal Address: P.O. Box 73 in Spain UNITED STATES N EW JERSEY: 3600 Bergenline, Suite Campsie, NSW 2194. Tel: (02) 8677 0108. by Felix Morrow 205B, Union City. Zip: 07087. Tel: (551) 240- Email: [email protected] The Spanish revolution of the CALIFORNIA: Oakland: 675 1512. [email protected] 1930s showed way out of wars, Hegenberger Road, Suite 250. Zip: 94621. CANADA N EW York: New York: 306 W. 37th St., economic crises of capitalism but Tel: (510) 686-1351. Email: swpoak QU EBEC: Montreal: 7107 St. Denis @sbcglobal.net Los Angeles: 2826 S. 13th Floor. Zip: 10018. Tel: (646) 434-8117. was betrayed by Stalinist, anarchist forces. Email: [email protected] Albany: 285 #204 H2S 2S5. Tel: (514) 272-5840. Email: $17. Special price: $12 Vermont. Suite 1. Zip: 90007. Tel: (323) [email protected] 643-4968. Email: [email protected] Washington Ave. #1R. Zip: 12206. Tel: (518) Racism, Revolution, 810-1586. Email: [email protected] FRANCE Reaction, 1861-1877 FLORIDA: Miami: 1444 Biscayne PENNSYLVANIA: Philadelphia: 2824 Paris: BP 10130, 75723 Paris Cedex 15. Blvd., Suite 215. Zip: 33132. Tel: (305) 929- Cottman Ave., Suite 16. Zip: 19149. Tel: Email: [email protected] The Rise and Fall of Radical Reconstruction 8966. Email: [email protected] by Peter Camejo (215) 708-1270. Email: philaswp@verizon. GEORGIA: Atlanta: 777 Cleveland net Pittsburgh: 5907 Penn Ave., Suite 313. N EW ZEALAND $17. Special price: $12 Ave. SW Suite 103. Zip: 30315. Tel: (678) Zip: 15206. Tel: (412) 610-2402. Email: Auckland: 188a Onehunga Mall, Leur Trotsky et le notre 528-7828. Email: [email protected] [email protected] Onehunga. Postal address: P.O. Box 13857, (Their Trotsky and Ours) ILLINOIS: Chicago: 1858 W. Cermak TEXAS: Dallas: 1005 W. Jefferson Blvd., Auckland 1643. Tel: (09) 636-3231. Email: by Jack Barnes Road, 2nd floor. Zip: 60608. Tel: (312) 792- Suite 207. Zip: 75208. Tel: (469) 513-1051. [email protected] $12. Special price: $8.50 6160. Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] UNITED KINGDOM Join Pathfinder Readers Club KENTUCKY: Louisville: 1939 WASHINGTON, D.C.: 7603 ENGLAND: London: 5 Norman Road for $10 and receive Goldsmith Lane, Suite 134. Zip: 40218. Georgia Ave. NW, Suite 300. Zip: discounts all year long (first floor). Seven Sisters. Post code: Tel: (502) 882-1041. Email: louisvilleswp@ 20012. Tel: (202) 536-5080. Email: N15 4ND. Tel: 020-3538 8900. Email: gmail.com [email protected] [email protected] Manchester: 329, Order online at WASHINGTON: Seattle: 650 S. Orcas www.pathfinderpress.com MINNESOTA: St. Paul: 1821 University Royal Exchange Buildings, 3 Old Bank St. Offer good until November 30 Ave. W Suite S-106A. Zip: 55104. Tel: (651) St., #120 Zip: 98108. Tel: (206) 323-1755. Post code: M2 7PE. Tel: (0161) 312-8119. 340-5586. Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

8 The Militant November 30, 2020 Editorial Workers need a labor party Continued from front page housing, schools and other families against those of workers and farmers. Nei- things workers and farmers ther of them can be turned into a political force for need. working-class interests. Our unions need to fight for a It is indispensable for workers to build our own sliding scale of hours and wages party — not one that runs for office every few to stop any further layoffs and years, but a party that organizes and champions the effects of runaway prices. our struggles for jobs, higher wages, union rights Cut the workweek with no cut and safer working conditions, 365 days a year. One in pay! For cost-of-living claus- that builds working-class solidarity and points to es in every contract that raise the interests workers across the world hold in com- pay and retirement benefits to mon. A party that fights against the bosses’ efforts offset every rise in prices. De- to turn our youth into cannon fodder for their im- mand immediate federal unem- perialist wars abroad. ployment benefits at union scale Such a party would attract all those outraged by for all those thrown out of work. the devastating impact of the unfolding crisis, re- SWP campaigners joined Militant photos: Above, Ved Dookhun; inset, Tony Lane Socialist Workers Party 2020 candidates set pulsed by the indifference of the capitalist rulers to other workers finding ways to example for working people, joining labor the conditions workers face, and attracted to find- stand up to bosses’ moves to struggles, including, above, striking ship- ing ways to stand up to and push back the bosses’ force workers to work in unsafe yard workers in Bath, Maine. Inset, SWP assaults. conditions. They explained that presidential candidate Alyson Kennedy, left, The Socialist Workers Party 2020 candidates to protect our health and safety, talks with dispatcher Janet Sanchez at D.C. truckers’ protest against low rates, onerous offered an example of what a labor party would workers need to wrest more and regulations May 13. Workers need to build a do. They told the truth about the crisis the capital- more control of production out labor party to advance our struggles. ist rulers have wrought and the brutal conditions of the bosses’ hands. workers face. They advanced an action program As workers exercise increasing control of produc- It would place the protection of the natural en- of resolute working-class struggle to change them. tion we’ll learn more about our capacities and come vironment in the hands of those whose labor pro- They joined picket lines of striking fruit packers, to recognize that it is possible for our class to run the duces all wealth, not those who live by the plun- protests by truck drivers, strikes by shipbuilders in entire economy in the interests of the great majority. der of resources and the exploitation of others. Maine, demonstrations against cop brutality and Through these struggles we will gain self-confi- It would give working people the most powerful many other actions, on and off the job, and built dence and increasing class consciousness. We’ll be- weapon possible to lead forward the struggle to solidarity with those battles in the interests of the come, as Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara put it, eradicate racism, the subjugation of women and working class. new men and women, capable of taking our destiny all other oppressive relations inherited from class The SWP campaign said workers need to orga- into our hands. society, once and for all. nize to fight growing employer attacks today on our These battles are the road to building and using a Changing administrations in Washington will not jobs, wages, working conditions and our health. On labor party to chart a course to take political power halt the debilitating effect of mass unemployment, this course we can build and use union power on our out of the hands of the capitalist rulers and establish nor the deadly effects of a for-profit, class-divided own behalf, and for all workers, farmers and others a workers and farmers government. health industry. But united, disciplined and deter- suffering blows from the employing class. Doing so would open the door to a different class mined action by workers and farmers — something Millions need jobs today! We need to fight for alliance holding power, one that would use the pow- the bosses and their two parties always tell us is im- a government-funded public works program to put er of its own state to make cradle-to-grave health possible — can do so. millions to work at union scale, building hospitals, care for all a reality. That’s what we need to fight for.

Gag orders by ‘social media’ bosses are attack on political rights Continued from front page ing they were “militarized social movements.” writes for Struggle for Socialism and is a national litical censors and “fact checkers” to work decid- Yoel Roth, who has been designated as “head co-chair of the National Network on Cuba, had her ing what’s politically correct and what should be of site integrity” at Twitter, said in a blog that his personal Facebook page deactivated Oct. 28. Un- flagged or shut down. goal is “to limit the spread of potentially harmful like “Stop the Steal” groups, LaBash had joined in What Facebook administrators did to the “Stop and misleading content.” But he doesn’t say a word calls for liberals and radicals to “Occupy the streets” the Steal” Facebook group is a good example of how about his own political record of railing against if it looks like Trump is trying to steal the election. the right to freedom of speech is being attacked. The Trump’s presidency. “This is no idle threat,” Struggle for Socialism wrote, “Stop the Steal” Facebook page was created at 3 p.m. Twitter officials went so far as to shut down theNew “Trump has his own paramilitary police, Homeland Nov. 4 by 30-year-old Kylie Jane Kremer, who runs York Post’s account Oct. 14 for a story the paper ran Security, the support of the most virulent and reac- an organization called Women for America First. The on business dealings in Ukraine by Hunter Biden, Joe tionary police departments, and a myriad of violent, presidential election had taken place the day before in Biden’s son. Also closed were the accounts of White racist, vigilante-type groups.” a very tight race between Trump and Joe Biden with House spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany, the “Team LaBash said other groups that had joined with her inconclusive results in several states. Trump” campaign account, and that of Politico jour- to call for a protest on Nov. 4 in Baltimore along these The group uploaded a video showing a crowd out- nalist Jake Sherman. This attack on freedom of the lines had been shut down as well. side a polling station in Detroit, charging that “Biden press was reversed two weeks later when, under pres- is stealing the vote.” Within 22 hours, the group had sure, Twitter restored the Post’s account. Censoring Cuba solidarity event amassed over 320,000 users, making it “one of the The point here is not whether Trump, his sup- Facebook political censorship has also been ex- fastest-growing groups in Facebook’s history,” ac- porters, or anyone else is right or wrong. The Con- tended to include supporters of the Cuban Revolution. cording to the New York Times. stitution gives everyone the right to express their On Oct. 29 Facebook deleted the National Network Facebook then promptly deleted the group from its opinion, and this is important for the working class. on Cuba’s events page for a Nov. 14-15 online soli- system, just 23 hours after it had begun. This group Instead, liberal “do-gooders” like those on social darity with Cuba conference. The page reported on was organized around “delegitimization of the elec- media have anointed themselves to determine what panels being held on “After the U.S. Elections: For tion process,” charged Facebook spokesman Tom is “politically correct.” Normalization! Why We Must End the Blockade on Reynolds, attempting to explain its disappearance. But, as the experiences of the Socialist Workers Cuba!” and “Saving Lives Campaign — Bringing “They were flagging our posts,” Kremer told the Party and other proletarian fighters has proven, when- Cuba’s Example to the U.S. and Canada During the Times. “This is what they do, they censor.” ever censorship like this starts up, it inevitably ends Global Pandemic.” These self-appointed online political censors up being aimed at the working class. It is the working And it listed speakers, including José Ramón have joined in the four-years-long effort to oust the class that needs free expression to discuss and debate Cabañas and Josefina Vidal, Cuba’s ambassadors Trump administration, something they hope the a fighting way forward. to the U.S. and Canada; Fernando González, presi- election has accomplished. Biden himself said he Just like pro-Trump forces, Cheryl LaBash, who dent of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the favored Facebook censoring Trump’s “threatening Peoples; and doctors, elected officials, and labor behavior and lies.” and religious figures. Both Facebook and Twitter officials have begun ‘Militant’ Prisoners’ Fund To justify this decision, Facebook censors said, “fact checking” and placing disclaimers on com- The fund makes it possible to send prisoners reduced “We don’t allow symbols, praise or support of danger- ments they don’t agree with. They did so for Trump’s rate subscriptions. Send a check or money order pay- ous individuals or organizations on Facebook.” tweets where he called mail-in ballots “fraudulent.” able to the ‘Militant’ and earmarked “Prisoners’ Fund” The idea that public forums that extend a plat- Twitter banned all political advertising leading to 306 W. 37th St., 13th Floor, New York, NY 10018. form to Cuba’s ambassador to the U.S. should be up to the election. In August, Facebook bosses an- Or donate online at www.themilitant.com arbitrarily shut down is a dagger in the heart of nounced the removal of 14,200 online groups, claim- freedom of speech.

The Militant November 30, 2020 9