APRIL 13, 1979 50 CENTS VOLUME 43/NUMBER 14

A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY/PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WORKING PEOPLE

By Doug Jenness MIDDLETOWN, Pa., April 4-The nuclear accident and near-meltdown at Three Mile Island have profoundly shaken the lives of working people here. For them and their children, things will never be the same. Hundreds of thousands in central Pennsylvania-and millions more throughout the country-have had the danger of nuclear power seared forever into their consciousness. Virtually every aspect of their lives has been horribly disrupted-and they are drawing deep -I lessons from the disaster. They have learned that the utilities, the t 0 ,.~ nuclear industry, and the Democratic and Republican politicians lied to them. Not once, but over and over. Lied as a matter of course ~ when they promised that nuclear power was safe, that the accident was under control, that low-level radiation was harmless, that food and water were not being contaminated. For millions, confidence in the capitalist government has been shaken more than any time since the Vietnam War and Watergate; and even more so for those most directly affected. The lesson has been driven home that nu­ clear reactors are inherently unsafe. As one nine-year-old boy told us, "Me and my whole

precor family think the plant should be shut down for In the shadow of the nuke: King family of Middletown, Pennsylvania·, good. They should all be shut down, all of them!" tells of their ordeal. See page 3. Also inside: special section on the People have learned that the government cover-up at Three Mile Island, pages 13-20. Continued on next page 'Nuke threat shows arroquln we need labor party' goes. on trial Worki people keep_ tountry runntng---­ tor his lite work· pe shoul n Deportation hearing country opens in Houston - Andrew Pulley, Socialist Workers Party candidate -PAGE 9 for mayor of Chicago. See pages 6-8, 13. In Our Opinion VOLUME 43/NUMBER 14 APRIL 13, 1979 CLOSING NEWS DATE-APRIL 4

government's crass disregard for the mental government-is being discussed by many an­ anguish, health, and economic losses of tinuke groups. Some are weighing a march on workers and farmers, who are the overwhelm­ Washington for later in April. Abolish the ing majority in this heavily industrialized Major local or regional actions are set for area. April 28 in Colorado and New Mexico and for death penalty! Three Mile Island has been a shattering June 3 in Cincinnati; Cleveland; Shoreham, The 480 people on death row in this country experience. But it has also been a radicalizing New York; and many other cities. are constantly tortured by threats of execution one. Opinions have been changed overnight as A central task now is to win support for and last-minute reprieves. But for John Evans, anger mounts against what has happened. these actions in the labor movement. Antinuke the appeals have just about run out. As we go The massive, rapid growth of antinuclear groups can solicit union endorsements and to press, he is scheduled to die in the electric sentiment-the determination by millions that offer to provide speakers to interested unions. chair April 6 at the state prison in Atmore, they and their families should never have to Local union activists can introduce resolu­ Alabama. The capitalist media have tried to face this danger again-has thrown the Carter tions, propose that their unions sponsor de­ ignore what may be the first execution in the administration and the giant energy corpora­ bates or other educational activities, and orga­ United States in more than two years. But tions on the defensive. Carter has reportedly nize their co-workers on the biggest possible working people have a vital interest in the fate felt compelled to drop from his upcoming scale to join the protests. of John Evans. "energy crisis" speech proposals for faster Employer arguments that nuclear plants are Murder by the state-and that's what it is­ licensing of nuclear plants. Other capitalist necessary to provide jobs will have to be is a weapon of terror aimed against the labor politicians have for the first time-under this patiently exposed for what they are-as fraud­ movement and the oppressed. intense pressure-expressed "reservations" ulent as the claim that nuclear power is The ruling class tries to obscure the real about nuclear energy. "clean" and "safe." ISSUe. But while the administration's plans for A powerful working-class antinuclear move­ It denies that racism is involved, because driving ahead with nuclear power have suf­ ment will put the responsibility on the govern­ Evans happens to be white. But Blacks are fered a major blow, the fact remains that the ment not only to shut the nukes down but also: represented on death row at a rate almost five government has not ordered the shutdown of a • to provide accurate, truthful information times their proportion in the population. single nuclear plant. It is still determined to on the continuing danger from escaping radia­ Like others before him, Evans says he keep these deadly plants open and to build tion; prefers to die rather than suffer the torture of more. • to grant full compensation-including Alabama's brutal and inhuman prison system. medical care, moving expenses, lost earnings, Under cover of a blue-ribbon inquiry, a few But the issue is not Evans's "right to die." It is and property-value losses-to workers, more token "safeguards," the government whether the state has a right to kill. farmers, and small businesspeople victimized clearly hopes to let the public furor blow over It is no accident that the capitalist rulers are by Three Mile Island and other nuclear acci­ and then proceed with business as usual. trying to quietly reinstitute the barbaric death dents; and Until, of course, the next catastrophe. penalty at the same time they are stepping up • to provide jobs at full union-scale wages Those who favor an end to nuclear power their attacks on the working class in every and retraining where necessary for all workers and nuclear weapons now have an unprece­ displaced by the shutdown of the nuclear other area. dented opportunity and historic obligation. From the Haymarket martyrs, to Joe Hill, to industry. That is to vastly step up education and action, The steelworkers, Teamsters, auto workers, Sacco and Vanzetti, the death penalty has to organize the burgeoning antinuke sentiment and other unionists in this area are more than been used to terrorize all those who dared to into an effective political response that can ready for such a campaign. So are their stand up for the rights of the exploited. halt this deadly peril. brothers and sisters across the country. Capitalism's answer to those who demand That means above all carrying the educa­ The Militant, the only working-class news­ social justice is the hangman's noose, the gas tional campaign against nukes to the Ameri­ paper to respond to the Three Mile Island chamber, and the electric chair. The labor can workers in their millions and to their mass crisis with an emergency effort to get out the movement should demand: organizations, and unions. The challenge is to truth, will continue to spread the word about Stop the executions! link up with the growing antinuke forces the nuclear danger and what strategy is Abolish the death penalty! inside the unions and begin to rally the power needed to fight it. of the labor movement-the only power that A campaign to get this and future issues of can stop the nukes-into this fight. the Militant into the hands of working people In the weeks ahead local protest actions is one of the best answers we can give to the have been set for scores of cities. These are an ... nukes ongoing cover-up of the nuclear peril, the important initial step toward getting out the Continued from front page capitalist peril, to humanity. knew far in advance about safety hazards at truth and drawing new forces into action. Three Mile Island-and hushed them up. They Their impact can be magnified by coordinat­ have gotten a better idea of who this govern­ ing and focusing the actions nationally. Help get out the truth: Order a bundle of ment serves; that it is dedicated to defense of This imperative political need-to mount a Militants to distribute to your friends and co­ corporate profits, not to the safety and lives of united show of strength that gives expression workers. Send $1.75 for a bundle of 5; $3.50 for ordinary people. to the new rise of antinuke sentiment and 10; or $8.75 for 25 to Militant Circulation Office, This has been especially shown by the directs it squarely into demands on the 14 Charles Lane, New York, New York 10014. Militant Highlights This Week The Militant Editor: STEVE CLARK Associate Editors: CINDY JAQUITH ANDY ROSE 5 Tributes to Evelyn Reed Crossroads, South Africa Business Manager: ANDREA BARON 6 Andrew Pulley campaign Editorial Staff: Peter Archer, Nancy Cole. Fred Ernest Harsch reports from inside South Africa on the fight by Feldman, David Frankel, Osborne Hart, Shelley 10 Texas rally backs Marroquin Black squatters to survive racist attacks. Pages 21-22. Kramer, Ivan Licho, Omari Musa. August Nimtz, 12 Actions demand abortion rights Harry Ring, Dick Roberts. Priscilla Schenk. Arnold Weissberg. 13 Special nukes section Published weekly by the Militant, 14 Charles Lane, 23 Ernest Mazey: 1929-1979 New York, NY 10014. Telephone: Editorial Office, (212) 243-6392; Business Office, (212) 929-3486. 24 Class struggle & gay rights 26 Va. NOW backs USWA strike Correspondence concerning subscriptions or changes ot address should be addressed to The 27 How bosses rip off 'aliens' Militant Business Office, 14 Charles Lane, New York, N.Y. 28 In Brief Class struggle & gay rights 10014. What's Going On What is the road to winning lesbian and gay rights? 29 The Great Society How does this struggle fit into developing class battles Second-class postage pa1d at New York, N.Y Union Talk Subscriptions US. $15.00 a year; outside US. in the U.S. today? Pages 24-25. $20.50. By first-class mail U.S. Canada, and 30 Our Relfolutlonary Heritage Mexico $42.50. Write for surface and airmail rates Letters to all other countries. For subscriptions airfreighted to London then 31 Learning About Socialism posted to Britain and Ireland £2.50 for ten issues. If You Like This Paper ... £5.50 for SIX months (twenty-four issues). £10 for one year (forty-e1ght issues). Posted from London WORLD OUTLOOK to Contmental Europe £4 for ten issues. £8 for six months (twenty-four issues), £13 for one year 21 Crossroads, S. Africa, struggle (forty-e1ght 1ssues). Send checks or international money orders (payable to Intercontinental Press account) to Intercontinental Press (The Militant) P.O. Box 50, London N1 2XP, England. S1gned articles by contributors do not necessar­ Abortion rights now! ily represent the Militant's views. These are ex­ Demonstrations across the U.S. and around the world demand pressed in editorials. halt to government attacks on abortion. Page 12.

2 In the shadow of the nuke Middletown family tells of ordeal By Nancy Cole talking about the school closing on with their lights flashing, all kinds of MIDDLETOWN, Pa.-When La­ Friday," she says. trucks. Then at midnight they started voynne and Bill King built their home Because their home is so close to the pounding in 'No Parking' signs. We in 1973, a few hundred yards across plant, she didn't want the school dis­ didn't know what they were doing. I from Three Mile Island, they didn't trict sending her kids home. But they thought they were setting up some give the nuclear reactor there a second did it anyway. A frightened Lavoynne kind of system. I didn't know. thought. left her job at a department store and "They left again the next day." Now the young couple, along with rushed home. Not knowing is one of the biggest their sons Billy, twelve, and Scott, complaints of communities close to the nine, think of little else. 'Kids were scared' plant. They have lived a nightmare ever "I knew it was about radiation," "We have not had one official come since March 28, when the "general says Scott of the ruckus caused at to our door and say this or that. They emergency" bulletin at the plant was school. "Kids were scared. Two kids have not been here or at any house issued. were crying. They were mostly scared around here, as far as I know. It's They have already "voluntarily about their animals-their dogs and upsetting." evacuated" their home twice. cats and hamsters." And that includes President Carter, And they never know whether the A day or two before, Scott said, the who dropped in at the plant-and left latest commotion virtually outside teacher had read to the class-without just as quickly-on April 1. their door is a signal for the final explanation-a letter about Metropoli­ evacuation. tan Edison's dumping of contaminated Carter Sitting in their living room April 3, water into the river. "Well, he pulled up in his limousine," Lavoynne, Billy, and Scott were inter­ The night they closed the schools, Scott explains. "He talks about [gas] shortages, and he drives this big li- vit~wed by the Militant. Several hours the Kings left and went to stay with . , later we returned to take a photo of the Lavoynne's mother. But Saturday mous1ne. banner Bill had planned to make for night, believing things had improved, "The kids really notice," Lavoynne their front yard after he got home from they returned. It turned out to be the laughs. "They said either he'll come on Militant/ Arnold Weissberg his job as a steel hauler at the Bethle­ worst night thus far. a ten-speed or in a Volkswagen be­ Seabrook, New Hampshire, 1977. La­ hem Steel plant in Steelton. "I was scared," she recalls. "They cause of the energy-and here he voynne King urges protests against The hand-lettered sign painted on a had maybe eight or ten police cars Continued on page 11 nuclear plants around the country. sheet had atfracted so many reporters to their door that they had taken it down. But they held it up for us. It read: "Thank you, Met Ed. Co. For all of the mental anguish, inconvenience, lower Steelworkers hit nuke threat STEELTON, Pa.-George Burkett The company is letting the bosses union, United Steelworkers Local property value, and higher electrical works at the huge Bethlehem Steel take their vacations now." 1688, should and will discuss the costs." nuclear accident. plant here and lives in Elizabeth­ The company has agreed that Their home is the closest one to the Will they take a stand against the town. Both towns are less than ten Burkett and others in similar situa­ plant. From the Kings' vantage point nuclear plant reopening? miles from Three Mile Island. tions can take off work-but without on top of a slope, there's no escaping "What I think and what they do is pay. "Who knows," he said, "if we'll the four monstrous cooling towers on Burkett's wife is pregnant. He's two different things," he answered. even have a job when we get back." Three Mile Island. From their front worried. "But they should be getting some yard, the towers appear stark and "We went to my mother's, but "It was just two weeks ago they good answers." overpowering across the river. that's only about fifteen miles away. said it couldn't happen-not in a Bethlehem, Bronya says, has been Lavoynne King's main concern is We need to get further away." million years," noted Bill Bronya, checking the plant for radiation. her children and what this threatened Burkett wants to take a couple of who also works at Bethlehem. "Now "Supposedly, even at the part of the disaster will do to their lives. After weeks off from his job. "I've got two it's been a miilion years. steel plant closest to Three Mile that, her concern is their home­ weeks vacation coming, but the com­ "I was asking the union rep what Island, they say there's no radioac­ whether they can stay in it and what it pany won't let me take it," he told our union thinks of this accident," tivity. But they might just be saying will mean for the property value, the Militant. "Why can't I take it? Bronya went on. He thinks his that to keep us happy." -N.C. which represents their life savings. "I was at work when they started Protests against Three Mile are worldwide By Fred Murphy On March 31 the youth organization of its nuclear-power program, which is Switzerland on February 18. A The Three Mile Island accident has of West Germany's ruling Social already the most ambitious in Europe. massive propaganda campaign by the spurred fresh protests against nuclear Democratic Party demanded that all The government-controlled television government and the nuclear industry power internationally. fourteen operating nuclear plants in network lost no time in broadcasting a led to the narrow defeat of a proposal Fifty thousand persons rallied in the country be shut down. documentary film purporting to show that would have given persons living Hanover, West Germany, on March 30, Demonstrations have been reported that French reactors are much safer within twenty miles of a proposed or protesting construction of a nuclear at a number of nuclear plants in Japan than those in the United States. existing nuclear plant the final say waste dump. The action had been in recent days. That country has eight over its operation. planned for some time, but its numbers reactors of the type that is threatening But French trade unions are calling were swelled as news of the impending the Harrisburg area. for a re-examination of the Giscard Forty-nine percent of Swiss voters disaster in Pennsylvania spread across In France, women in the small town government's plans. Fran~ois said "yes" to this proposal; those who Europe. of Chooz near the Belgian border Mitterrand, leader of the opposition voted "no" are undoubtedly having Demonstrators came to Hanover locked up the mayor in the city hall for Socialist Party, is calling for a halt to second thoughts in light of the Three from a number of European countries. several hours to protest government nuclear-plant construction, and a new Mile Island accident. Their slogan-"We all live in plans to expand a nuclear plant there. national organization has just been Antinuclear activists in Canada are Pennsylvania"-could well become the The Three Mile Island accident came formed to press for a referendum on planning to hold a demonstration on watchword of the international move- just as the French government was Giscard's nuclear program. April 6 at the Ontario Hydro reactor ment against nuclear power. preparing to launch a major expansion A similar referendum was held in site near Toronto.

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THE MILITANT/APRIL 13, 1979 3 Militant sales campaign against nukes By Peter Seidman their regular weekly orders-and Despite having to dodge all kinds of As soon as news of the disaster at planned to sell these papers in half the local gumshoes, socialists have . al­ Three Mile Island began to emerge, the usual time. San Francisco took 2000; ready sold 166 supplements-including Socialist Workers Party and Young Philadelphia, 1000; Boston, 800; Albu­ many at plant gates-in the Harris­ Socialist Alliance started planning an querque, 600. burg area. emergency response. As this Militant goes to press, most These plant-gate sales have an espe­ Millions of people would be looking areas have had the supplement for less cially important objective. One of the for the truth about the hazards of than twenty-four hours. But initial central messages of the Militant cover­ nuclear power-and all they'd be get­ results confirm the interest in what the age is the need to bring the power of ting was lies from the government, Militant has to say about this national the labor movement into the fight industry, and the big-business news emergency. against nuclear power and nuclear media. Philadelphia sales director Laurie weapons. Since the Militant dated April 6 had Perkus reports that supporters there Louisville socialists sold fifteen at been completed right before the news sold 400 supplements in the first one shift change at the giant GE plant hit, we decided to put together an twenty-four hours. Nels J'Anthony, there. A similar number were sold at eight-page special section that could be SWP candidate for city council, sold the Brooklyn Navy Yard Tuesday printed in advance and sold without seventy-five papers himself. "We sold morning. Twenty-three were sold at the waiting for the next week's issue. (It in subways, at street corners, at work big Ford Plant in St. Paul, "an all time appears as pages 13-20 in this Mili­ places. And a lot, about 100, at The record for Militant sales there." tant). China Syndrome," Perkus said. Interest in the supplement among A team of Militant reporters was Byron Ackerman, who organizes ntercontinental Press-I nprecor working people is no surprise, of immediately dispatched to the Harris­ sales in San Francisco, seemed barely Doug Jenness of SWP Political Commit­ course. One young Black steelwor~er burg area, while staff writers in New able to contain his enthusiasm. "We're tee went to Middletown to help organize at the Bethlehem plant in Steelton, York prepared background articles. going to town," he told me Wednesday 'Militant' coverage and SWP's antinu­ Pennsylvania, spoke for thousands By Saturday, March 31, SWP morning. "We got the papers at noon clear campaign. when he told our team, ''I'm tired of branches and YSA locals were discuss­ yesterday. Now we've sold 413. And I being lied to for the last week. I'm glad ing how they could use the supplement. still haven't heard how seven plant­ to see someone telling the truth." Within twenty-four hours they were gate sales went so far today." Readers will notice that we aren't calling back greatly increased bundle when we first arrive at the plant publishing in this issue our usual sales orders. As of Monday evening the Oakland gates," he said. scoreboard for our ten-week spring Branches were readying special branch had already sold more than 100 "For example, at one steel plant, we drive to sell 100,000 copies of the sales at plant gates, campuses, papers, and Berkeley, more than 160. sold eleven in a few minutes at the 6:30 Militant and Perspectiva Mundial. We working-class neighborhoods, and Morgantown reports selling 150 papers a.m. shift change before nervous com­ felt the best use of space would be to showings of the movie The China Syn­ in the first twelve hours. Minneapolis pany officials and cops came and report on sales of the special antinukes drome. and St. Paul, also 150. In Los Angeles, chased us away." section, which has given an enormous Teams of socialists were preparing to "Five of us sold 100 papers at two The same authorities who'll do no­ boost to the entire spring drive. go to the Harrisburg area, where they showings of The China Syndrome." thing to protect people's lives and The ability of the SWP and YSA to would sell the paper at many big The supplement is also getting a health suddenly become very anxious get out this supplement-and the re­ plants. good response in the Harrisburg area. to "protect" them-from the Militant. sponse it has already gotten-offer By Monday morning the supplement "The bosses and cops don't want peo­ Schwartz said his team had sold inspiring proof that in the remainder was roaring off the press. The total run ple here to read the Militant," special sixty papers in an hour and a half as of the drive we can make big strides was 25,000 copies. sales team member Mike Schwartz told Harrisburg Community College re­ forward in increasing the Militant's Most branches more than doubled me. "But workers snap up the paper opened this morning. readership among industrial workers. Three Mile Island disaster: who pays? By Arnold Weissberg In fact, a grand total of only 600 The State Crisis Intervention Center ter is for nuclear power," she said. "He MIDDLETOWN, Pa.-Tens of thou­ families have received any money at in Harrisburg said over the weekend came down here to tell us, 'good job, sands of lives have been disrupted by all. that half its calls came from elderly good job.' Talk about a gas shortage, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. Insurance, it turns out, pays only the people who wanted to leave the area he should have saved his gas and Workers laid off. Families fleeing their relocation expenses for government­ but were too poor. No help for them stayed in Washington." homes. And potentially, major medical ordered evacuation. And the only peo­ from Met Ed. Robin Jobanelly, Baker's daughter, expenses if and when radiation-caused ple Gov. Richard Thornburg has told "Because I'm not pregnant or don't explained, "The insurance company diseases begin to show up. to leave are pregnant women and have a preschool child, I can't leave," told me after it was all over, I could The news media give the impression preschool children living within five said Jackie Baker. I met her at the bring in proof that .I have a school-age that insurance companies for Metro­ miles of the runaway reactor. Hershey evacuation center, where she child and get reimbursed." So maybe, politan Edison are passing out cash The government's refusal to order a was visiting her daughter and son-in­ months from now, Robin and Leonard right and left to compensate for the full-scale evacuation has saved Met Ed law and their child. Jobanelly will get a few dollars. disaster the company's reactor has and its two insurance companies tens Baker is not impressed with Presi­ Many companies in the area have brought about. Not so. of millions of dollars. dent Carter's assurances. "Jimmy Car- Continued on page 11

Pa. farmers face uncertain future By Arnold Weissberg "They say that coal pollutes the assurance it was safe. I wasn't a "The small farmer never really ANNVILLE, Pa.-The rolling air," Brandt went on. "But you can scientist, I told them. gets out of the debt hole," Brandt farmland of Lebanon County in clean that up. You can't clean up "I just don't know," Jake ans­ commented. Their farms are mort­ central Pennsylvania is some of the radiation." wered sadly. gaged to the hilt. Three Mile Island most fertile in the country. Driving Many farmers in the Three Mile Farmland around here sells for up has thrown their entire livelihood through it, it's hard to imagine the Island danger zone are worried. In­ to $5,000 an acre, Brandt told me. into jeopardy, as well as their lives. fields, still brown and waiting for spectors have been around checking But nobody is saying who would State authorities have suggested spring, as a wasteland. the milk for radioactive iodine. The cover the farmer's losses if crops, that if an evacuation becomes neces­ But the Three Mile Island nuclear government keeps saying it's safe, animals, or land are poisoned by ra­ sary, farmers with livestock to feed plant could do it. A core meltdown, but nobody will explain exactly dioactivity. and milk will be "advised" to stay which is still possible, would release what the test results mean. Most likely nobody would. Federal behind. a huge amount of radioactivity into A Middletown farmer told a repor­ law limits insurance liability in a "We understand that we have to the atmosphere and poison hundreds ter for the New York Times that a nuclear accident to about $600 fight the elements of nature," one of square miles. Even a less catastro­ milk test in York County-where million-a tiny fraction of the poten­ farmer said. "But is this one of phic accident could contaminate people had complained of a metallic tial damage from a meltdown. nature's elements?" vast areas. taste in their mouths-came up with Jake Brandt's farm here is only a reading of ten. "We don't even twelve miles from Three Mile Island, know what ten means," he said. and he's worried. No one has been out to Jake "I saw what happened to Hiro­ Brandt's place at all. shima," Brandt said. "I know what By now some farmers have heard radiation can do. I've seen the pic­ about a uranium fire in Windscale, tures of land where everything is England, more than twenty years destroyed." ago that contaminated 200 square Brandt farms 500 acres. He owns miles of farmland and forced the 80 and leases the rest, raising mostly dumping of a half-million gallons of soy beans, corn, and pigs. milk. "That accident never should have As Jake and his wife Dotty talked happened," he told me. "With the about the possible threat to their possibility of so many people getting land, she suddenly asked, "Jake, hurt or killed, they should find a new what about your garden?" way" of generating electricity. He turned to me, hoping for some JAKE BRANDT Militant/ Arnold Weissberg

4 Teamsters battle Carter wage guidelines

By Shelley Kramer ·. ~~ .:: .. options-mediation, arbitration, legis­ portray Teamsters as overpaid and At midnight March 31, the Teams­ lation, or Taft-Hartley. underworked, like all union members ters' National Master Freight Agree­ Carter and the trucking bosses have they've been fighting an uphill battle ment, covering some 300,000 truck been running the same tag-team race to defend their wages and working drivers and dock workers, expired. against the Teamsters since negotia­ conditions. Despite every effort, Carter had failed tions opened in December. What Teamsters want would strike to force the nation's biggest union to The Master Freight Agreement was all working people as bare necessities: swallow his austerity wage "guide­ immediately singled out as a make-or­ • Cost of living. The Teamsters lines." break test of Carter's "anti-inflation" are owed fifty-eight cents an hour in Over the previous weekend, Teams­ program. The ruling class knows full cost-of-living increases under their ex­ ters voted by an overwhelming major­ well that if the Teamsters win a vic­ pired contract; Carter is trying to make ity to authorize strike action, should tory over the guidelines, it will inspire some of this money count toward the 7 their negotiators fail to reach an accep­ the rubber, auto, and electrical workers percent guidelines. Teamsters are de­ table settlement. Citing Carter's well­ who soon follow them into contract manding that the new COLA be calcu­ publicized threat to stop a national talks. lated on a semi-annual instead of the shutdown with a Taft-Hartley injunc­ But despite Carter's threat to imme­ current annual basis. tion, Teamster President Frank Fitz­ diately deregulate trucking-and simmons called selected strikes at heavy-handed government pressure on • Safety. Last year more than 900 seventy-three companies. But anger at the union officialdom-Teamster lead­ drivers died on the road. The union is Carter and the bosses is running so ers did not dare take a 7 percent seeking to amend the MFA so that high within the union that Teamster settlement to their ranks. drivers can refuse to take out unsafe pickets began to fan out beyond these The employers' last wage-and­ rigs. designated targets. benefits proposal reportedly stretches • Hours. A seventy-hour With lightning speed, the 500 truck­ the 7 percent limit to 30 percent over workweek-at straight-time pay-is ing companies that bargain through three years. Denying the obvious fact the norm for over-the-road drivers. In Trucking Management Incorporated­ that 30 percent just doesn't equal the part for greater safety, Teamsters want and haul about 30 percent of the na­ 22 percent sought by the administra­ restrictions on compulsory overtime tion's freight-locked out their workers tion, Marshall explained, "We have to and double-time pay. They are also in "self-defense" April 1. "We are evolve interpretations to fit new situa­ demanding guaranteed forty-eight­ complying with the administration's tions as they come along." hour stretches of time off. anti-inflation program," was the justi­ This "new situation" included the The real "danger" to working people fication TMI chief J. Curtis Counts .•.d<_. fact that the government released offered. figures right in the midst of the is not a Teamsters' strike to win these Teamster pickets outside Roadway Ex­ modest demands. On the contrary, our On cue, Carter began to beat the press terminal In Milwaukee. Teamster talks that show prices rising drums for a Taft-Hartley injunction. at a whopping 15 percent while bosses wages, jobs, health, and safety will be The Teamsters-like the miners and rake in record 26 percent profits. endangered only if the Teamsters lose. rail workers last year-are accused of ing regulations. This allows the bosses Settling for 10 percent wage increases If the Teamsters succeed in busting placing the "health and safety of the to legally hire independent owner­ a year-let alone 7 percent!-leaves through Carter's guidelines, they will entire country" in danger. By holding operators during the strike, a move Teamster wages trailing far behind. strengthen the resolve of all unionists out for their rights, says the govern­ designed to set truckers against one "Our members can read too," said to fight back. That's why the labor ment, they will cause mass layoffs, another. union negotiator Roy Williams, ex­ movement and its allies should line up consumer shortages, and spiraling pri­ Now, according to Labor Secretary plaining why union leaders would behind the Teamsters and stand ready ces. Ray Marshall, the administration is have a hard time heading off a strike. to close ranks against any government Carter used the lockout to lift truck- considering its strikebreaking Despite the media's campaign to strikebreaking move. Iran referendum: gov't wins hollow victory By David Frankel government, the Central Committee of the masses. dum. They demand the immediate Official figures on the vote in the Turkoman Councils, which called the Bazargan wants to be able to point election of a sovereign constituent March 30-31 referendum in Iran are boycott of the referendum, declared: to the referendum as a mandate for his assembly-not the type of body not expected for weeks, but the govern­ "Our abstention, contrary to the unelected government. He hopes to planned by the government as a ment of Prime Minister Mehdi Bazar­ propaganda put out by reactionaries, is break the momentum of the Iranian rubber stamp for a secretly written gan has already begun to lie about not in order to strengthen the rule of revolution and restore control by the constitution, but an assembly that the results. imperialism [or] the treacherous shah, capitalist government over the workers would freely debate and act on all the The outcome of the referendum was as our claims to the land usurped by and peasants in the name of the Is­ problems facing the Iranian people. rigged to begin with. There was no the agents of the previous regime lamic republic. way to vote against the hated mo­ proved." But the working masses-including And the Trotskyists say that such an narchy without voting in favor of an Kurdish leaders also called for a those who voted in favor of an Islamic assembly can only guarantee the undefined "Islamic republic." Choice boycott of the referendum. The consti­ republic-have not given up their de­ rights of the workers·and peasants, the was restricted to a simple yes or no on tution for the proposed Islamic repub­ mands. They will continue to fight for liberation of women, and self­ whether an Islamic republic should be lic is being written behind closed doors the social advances they desire. determination for the oppressed na­ established. by a secret committee appointed by Iranian Trotskyists in the Hezb-e tionalities, by going forward to the Claiming that 98 percent of those Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. As Kargaran-e Sosialist (Socialist Work­ establishment of a workers and pea­ eligible to vote had turned out on the Sheik Ezzedin Hosseini, a Kurdish ers Party) opposed Bazargan's referen- sants republic. first day of the referendum, one inte­ leader, noted in a letter to the Tehran rior ministry official hailed the out­ daily Ettela'at, he supported a boycott come as an "overwhelming victory for because the "exact nature of the Is­ Islam." lamic republic was so unclear and, Tributes to Evelyn Reed (1905-1979) However, there seems to be little particularly, as there is no mention of NEW YORK CITY doubt that the claims of a huge turnout the autonomy of Kurdistan and the are inflated. In fact, fearing that par­ lawful rights of the people of Iran." Sunday, April 8, 3:00 p.m. ticipation would be embarrassingly Bazargan has made public appeals Marc Ballroom, 27 Union Square West low, Bazargan moved at the last min­ to the Kurds, the Turkomans, and the (between 15th and 16th streets) ute March 29 to extend the voting from Baluchis to stop their struggles for one day to two. He had good reason for autonomy. In a March 29 statement SPEAKERS: his fears. Khomeini mentioned Zahidan, the cap­ Willie Mae Reid, Socialist Workers Party candidate for Vice-president ital of Baluchistan, and Ardebil, an Even as the polling was in progress, in 1976 government troops were battling Turk­ Azerbaijani city, as other areas of un­ oman fighters demanding autonomy in rest. James T. Farrell, Novelist, Author of Studs Lonigan the northeastern city of Gonbad-e­ But the struggle of the oppressed Kavus. nationalities is only the sharpest ex­ Connie Harris, Leader of International Marxist Group of Britain pression of the dissatisfaction of the The fighting in Gonbad, according to Karolyn Kerry, Longtime member of the Socialist Workers Party a report in the March 28 New York masses. Although the Bazargan re­ Times, began when government forces gime has taken some progressive anti­ Mary-Alice Waters, Editor, Intercontinental Press/lnprecor "opened fire on Turkomans who had imperialist measures, and has been forced to retreat from attacks on the gathered to call for a boycott of the CHAIR: coming national referendum.... " rights of women and the kurds, it has Jack Barnes, National Secretary, Socialist Workers Party As with most of the oppressed minor­ done virtually nothing to improve the ities in Iran, the national oppression of conditions of the workers and peasants the Turkomans is tied together with inside Iran. SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA their exploitation as peasants. Much of Instead, Bazargan is resisting de­ Sunday, April 22 mands for wage increases; opposing their land was taken away under the For more information call (415) 824-1992 monarchy and given to court favorites. the right of the workers to assert their In recent weeks the Turkomans have control over industry through elected been taking back the stolen land and committees; trying to lay off "excess" LOS ANGELES setting fire to farm buildings to make workers; refusing to support the rights Friday, April 20 sure the big landowners understand of the poor peasants against the big For more information call (213) 582-1975 they should go. landlords; and trying to prevent the Answering attacks by the Bazargan extension of social services needed by

THE MILITANT/APRIL 13, 1979 5 Socialist cam~gn winds u~ Chi. rally focuses on need for labor party By Bob Schwarz and Chicago certainly isn't Sherwood CHICAGO-Chants of "No nukes, Forest. Chicago is a gigantic industrial No nukes!" resounded through the hall city, with a population that is over­ as Hattie McCutcheon opened the final whelmingly working class. rally of the Socialist Workers Party "And there is no Robin Hood who is mayoral campaign on April 1. going to solve the problems we face The program began with announce­ today. No single person, no savior. ments of upcoming demonstrations Only the organized power of working and meetings to protest the nuclear people can do it. threat at Three Mile Island near Har­ "We are saying in this campaign risburg, Pennsylvania. that we think this power can be orga­ Then McCutcheon introduced Betsey nized in a party of labor. And we are Stone, a member of the SWP Political going to help make this happen. Committee, who helped organize the "Harrisburg shows what this system 1975 Chicago campaign when the SWP has in store for working people. Harris­ ran Willie Mae Reid for mayor. That burg came on top of a capitalist eco­ campaign, the first socialist mayoral nomic crisis that will continue: infla­ ticket to get on the ballot here in tion, unemployment, and other attacks decades, won a wide hearing for the on working people. SWP and is still remembered by many "The most important thing to us is Chicagoans. winning people to our party and to a Comparing the Pulley campaign socialist perspective for solving these with that of 1975, Stone said, "This problems. year we've gotten to speak to more "This means that no matter what people, and we are getting a better our vote is on Tuesday, we will con­ hearing. sider this campaign to have been a "This country has seen important gigantic success. We are organizing for changes since 1974. We've seen one the future. We represent the future. attack after another on the standard of And things are going our way." living of working people, and workers Stone was followed by the main are beginning to react to this through I ill speaker of the rally, Andrew Pulley. Militant! David McDonald their unions. SWP leader Betsey Stone: Socialist Ideas are getting better response than ever Pulley was greeted with loud applause "This has meant that our most fun­ before. and more chants of "No nukes!" [See damental ideas make sense to more facing page for Pulley's speech.] people," Stone said. "Particularly our Following Pulley, prominent local view that the unions should build a "Pulley always asks, what about the the issue, despite the crisis in Harris­ antinuclear activist Ed Gogol spoke labor party to take on the Democrats thousands of Teamsters who live in burg. and announced plans for a protest and Republicans." Chicago, who are fighting to protect Stone quoted from the Sun- Times march April 14. Stone pointed out that at debates their paychecks from inflation? editorial endorsing Democrat Jane The rally also heard greetings from with the other candidates, Pulley was "What about funding for the schools, Byrne, which criticized what it called Susan Browne, chairperson of the Chi­ not only listened to seriously, but often and desegregation? What about the Pulley's "simplistic slogan of tax the cago Young Socialist Alliance, and it got the best response. Equal Rights Amendment?" banks and corporations and give the sent a telegram to INS Director Leonel "Pulley always brings up the ques­ Stone pointed out in particular the money to the poor." Chicago, the Sun­ Castillo calling for political asylum for tions they would like to avoid, and TV debate watched by hundreds of Times complained, "is no Sherwood Hector Marroquin. these just happen to be the questions thousands, in which Pulley spoke out Forest; Pulley is no Robin Hood." An appeal for funds by SWP candi­ that are of burning concern to working strongly against nuclear power. The "I agree with them on two points," date for city treasurer Manuel Barrera people. other candidates remained silent on Stone said. "Pulley isn't Robin Hood, netted more than $2,000. Pulley talks to steelworkers, Teamsters By Bob Schwarz One new supporter of the Socialist by fifteen supporters at the afternoon and form a party based on our own and John Studer Workers Party in St. Louis was so shift change at U.S. Steel's South interests and our own organizations. CHICAGO-On the final weekend of inspired by the campaign that she Works. That is, to build a labor party." the socialist mayoral campaign here, organized a car load from that city. The week before, half a dozen Five panelists fired questions at the supporters of Andrew Pulley turned She asked to join the SWP as soon as workers from the plant had gathered candidates. Pulley was asked by Elea­ out on the streets of Chicago to get out she gets back. at a nearby apartment to discuss nor Elam, representing the League of the word. Some came from as far away A highlight of Saturday's campaign­ issues in the campaign with Pulley. Women Voters, which sponsored the as Pittsburgh and Kansas City. ing was the distribution of literature A similar meeting with Pulley was debate, about his tax proposals. held at a bar acros& the street from Pulley answered: "The Sun-Times Danly Machine Corporation. The meet­ explained why it did not endorse me by ing had been publicized through a saying that my proposals are 'too leaf1et distributed to steelworkers in simplistic.' That is, every time some­ the plant by campaign supporters. one asks me how will money be gotten Monday evening, Pulley campaigned to clean up the snow, provide full at a meeting of the overwhelmingly employment, to rehabilitate the cities, Black 29,000-member Local 743 of the to solve all the problems that exist in Teamsters union. His statement sup­ Chicago, I say tax the rich. porting the Teamsters' strike, carried "Well, the answer is very simple. on the front page of the Militant, When the rich want to fight a war, received an especially friendly re­ they tax working people. When they for mayor sponse. want to do all the things they have in Dear Brothers and S1sters, their plans to do, they get the money 1am asking tor your vote on Apnl 3. I am the only serious Workir_lg people * * * from us. choice working people have in th1s election keep the country Jane Byrne will not bring solut,ons to our problems. For 16 "It appeared to me that Andrew "I say that it's about time that the years she was a Silent partner 1n "Boss" Daley's racist, running-- repressive administration working j.>eople Pulley won the debate." That was the interests of working people come ahead Republican Wallace Johnson IS a millionaire h1mself. He should run the doesn't represent change e1th€r judgment of John Madigan, the chief of that of big business. And the only Both the Democrats and Republicans represent b1g business. They favor tax cuts tor the corporations and CO\Rltry~~ political commentator for WBBM way of getting the funding necessary cutbacks on social serv1ces. They do noth1ng to end high radio, Chicago's CBS affiliate. to provide the services is to tax the unemployment. They favor a big m1l1tary budget to protect the WOt"kers profits of their business tnterests abroad. They demand that Madigan was referring to the March rich." wage 1ncreases for working people be no more than 7 percent when mflahon is 15 percent' 29 TV debate between Pulley, the So­ Analyst Vernon Jarrett, a Black I'm appealing to you to join with me. I'm campa1gn1ng for e SHUT DOWN ALL NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS a total break w1th the DemocratiC and Republican parties.l"m cialist Workers Party candidate for columnist for the Chicago Tribune ca!hng for the format1on of a Labor Party. based on the e END INVESTMENT OF CITY FUNDS IN RACIST SOUTH mayor; Jane Byrne, the Democratic asked, "What would a socialist mayor un1ons. wh1ch c3.n f1ght tor all work1ng people AFRICA The un•ons are the largest and most poweriul orgamza­ candidate; and Wallace Johnson, the be able to do in a city like Chicago?" t•ons of working people 1n Ch1cago. A large percentage of e END JOB DISCRIMINATION AGAINST VETERANS: Republican. Pulley responded: "One of the main un1on members are Black. We shouid use the power of our Cancel all "bad paper · Equal JOb opportun1t1es tor all unions not only to defend ourselves on the job, but also to vets. regardless of discharge The prime-time debate reached an issues in my campaign is the idea that fight back on the political level We need a Labor Party wh1ch For a real amnesty to all opponents of the Vietnam war can fight 1n the interests of all v1ctims of the rule of the r~ch the Sears Suit which tries to p1t women, Blacks, estimated TV audience of 250,000. In labor needs to build its own party There are solut1ons to our problems. A vote for me is a Ag~mst Lat1nos and veterans against each other vote for a break with the part1es of the nch _A vote tor me 1s a addition, it was broadcast simultane­ based on the trade unions, not only in vote for the following program ~ '"•e '""'"""~" p~ ously on five radio stations and was Chicago but also nationwide. e FOR THE RIGHT OF EVERY PERSON TO A JOB: retelevised by Channel 11 after the "Certainly, if I tax the banks they Create JObs by ending forced overttme and shortening the evemng news. will attempt to f1ee someplace. But I work week, with no reduction in pay Andrew Pulley is a steelworker and a union activist 10 ~~e~':;'orkers Lo 1066. P. has pa a ted 1n Pulley kicked the debate off by stat­ believe working people here in Chicago ~ ... ~ rega ing: "The central idea that I am pro­ will demand that if the owner leaves, moting in this campaign is the need the money remains. for working people-the majority of "But Lincoln could not have abol­ Full-page ad run the day before the election, In Chicago's major Black community people in Chicago-to break from the ished slavery in South Carolina and paper, the 'Daily Defender.' Democratic and Republican parties Continued on page 8

6 'Workers must take society's destin in their hands' The following are excerpts from a speech by Socialist Workers Party mayoral candidate Andrew Pulley at the Chicago campaign rally April 1.

The Republican candidate, Wallace Johnson, has said that the world is divided into "givers" and "takers." Johnson, who is a millionaire banker, describes himself as a "giver" not a "taker." Well, I would divide the world be­ tween those who are takers and those who are being taken. Throughout this election campaign the Socialist Workers Party has addressed the inter­ ests of those who are being taken. Democrat Jane Byrne has cam­ paigned under the slogan "One Chi­ cago." But in reality there are two Chicagos: One is the Chicago of the superrich, of the bankers and giant corporation owners, which she repre­ sents. The other is the Chicago of the working class, where the overwhelm­ ing majority is. It's where the Blacks and Latinos are. And it includes not only those who are working, but those who are looking for work. My slogan in this campaign has been, "Working people keep the city SWP mayoral candidate Andrew Pulley addresses April 1 wind-up campaign rally In Chicago running. Working people should run the city." We have made it widely known that there is a working-class position on down the road, should be shut down as thing malfunctioned. It didn't work. That is why Washington sided with every question. On the tax question. well. And now radioactive gas, is being the shah of Iran against the Iranian On inflation. On unemployment. On You know, the capitalists who built spewed into the atmosphere. masses. That is why Washington fa­ schools. On nuclear power usage. On that Morris dump-after realizing they And there is a horrible danger that vors apartheid in South Mrica and every single issue you have to choose don't know how to control the radioac­ the radioactive fuel will melt down. opposes the revolution of the Black between positions that will benefit tive wastes-have decided that they There is a possibility of hydrogen gas majority. Yes. Carter's human rights either the working class or the super­ don't want to own it anymore. They exploding, sending radiation every­ program is a fake. rich. have told the state of Illinois that "this where. Human rights begins at home. And The central political proposal we is your property. You pay for it. You If it goes, tens of thousands of the first thing is the right of the living have made throughout this •campaign clean it up." people-perhaps even hundreds of to live. The inalienable rights to has been that labor should build its These are some sorry, animal­ thousands of people-could be killed breathe uncontaminated air. But that own political power. That labor needs minded people. They have made maxi­ right away. And many more would die does not concern Carter, Byrne, or a labor party, based on the trade mum profit from us. The tax dollars in the future from leukemia and Johnson. For them, the profits of the unions, to champion the political posi­ that have been taken from us have cancer. And a vast area would be superrich are worth the risk. tions that are in its favor. been used to subsidize these power uninhabitable for years. companies. Then the power companies There are over seventy nuclear Labor needs its own party No nukes! have made money off us by charging plants now operational in this country. That is why labor must seize the The events in Harrisburg make it high rates. Then, when they produce The Chicago area has the largest con­ government. The working class must clear that now is the time to move in this waste, they say the waste is not centration of nuclear plants. If one grasp the fate of human society. Be­ that direction. One of the main issues theirs but the government's. So govern­ melts down or blows up, Chicago is cause unlike the greedy profiteers, the on which I've campaigned has been ment comes back to us for more tax history. Even without a major catas­ workers have no interests in making the need to shut down all the nuclear money to help them deal with the trophe, our cancer and leukemia rate is war or continuing nuclear power. plants immediately. The nine plants waste. sure to rise because radioactive mate­ Workers do have an interest in clean surrounding Chicago, the ten others Now let us look at the Three Mile rial travels on highways and railroads air, job safety, and the continuation, if under construction, and the radioac· Island problem. What's happened to and from the plant. Moreover, radia­ you will, of human beings. tive dump at Morris, just a few miles there in Harrisburg? Put simply, the tion leaks out of the Morris dump. Labor needs its own party. Some Yet, according to federal energy tsar unions have already discussed this. James Schlesinger, "The benefits of Last summer, Douglas Fraser, the nuclear power outweigh the risks." head of the United Auto Workers, Carter agrees. And of course, so do the talked of a "one-sided class war" of the SWP polls 15,000 votes power companies. rich against working people. That war By Bob Schwarz "We have seen this in real life­ continues. CHICAGO, April 4-With only a from the handshakes; the smiles; Worth the risk? Because of increased competition few precincts left to report, official from people telling us, 'We're with from abroad, the American capitalists How can they say it is worth the tallies show SWP mayoral candidate you brother,' 'You're doing a good are trying to get more profits from the risk? Andrew Pulley receiving 14,996 job'-not only from Blacks, but hides of American workers. They are The oil companies, the power com­ votes, 1.8 percent of the total. More increasingly from whites. squeezing us tighter and tighter. The panies are in business to make profit than 82 percent went to Democrat cost of living is now climbing at a rate "Working people are beginning to regardless of the cost to human health Jane Byrne. of 15 percent a year. Gasoline has hit consider the ideas we are raising, and lives. And President Carter, like At a campaign celebration Tues­ one dollar a gallon in Chicago. Food, even if they vote for someone else all Democratic and Republican politi­ day evening, campaign manager housing, and medical costs are sky­ who's against their interests." cians, represents the interests of the rocketing. Bobbie Bagel described the media superrich, including the nuclear power coverage this campaign won. "We The unions can play a big role in Chicago SWP chairperson John industry. started with a press conference in Studer, speaking about the party's removing the capitalists' hands from It is frightening to think that these January where the reporters plans to continue campaigning for our throats. The unions can knock that same ruling rich here in America, who straggled in almost by accident. And socialism, reported that since 11 a.m. hand away. have hidden from us the dangers of we finished with Pulley walking out that day, 175 copies of the special nuclear power and who are so ready to of his voting booth facing every Militant supplement on the nuclear sacrifice our well-being for their prof­ Teamsters vs. government network in the city. time bomb in Harrisburg had been its, also control the nuclear bombs, How can they do this? The Teams­ "As a result, hundreds of sold in Chicago. which are even deadlier weapons of ters, who are out on strike, and other thousands of people have heard the Wednesday wrap-up coverage on destruction. workers facing the expiration of con­ views of the Socialist Workers Chicago's all-news station, WBBM, The billions in military spending are tracts this year, should fight to break Party-the party that is the future of reported that Pulley viewed his cam­ not used to defend our interests. They through Carter's recommended wage­ this city and of the country." paign as a success. "It gave him a are not used to defend you and me increase limit. They should tell Carter Pulley told the packed room at the platform to explain his idea of a new from outside attack. Rather, this mil­ to take his 7 percent and jump in the downtown Boackstone Hotel about party, a labor party, to get the itary might is used to oppose uprisings lake. Unions should fight for what the growing receptivity to the ideas working man and woman in of the oppressed and working people in they can get. They should seek escala­ his campaign had sought to pop­ America out from under the thumb other countries, to protect U.S. busi­ tor clauses so that when the cost of ularize, especially the idea of a labor of the Democratic and Republican ness profits abroad. U.S. foreign policy living goes up, so will our wages. party. parties." has zero to do with democracy any­ To fight effectively, the Teamsters where. Continued on next page

THE MILITANT/APRIL 13, 1979 7 ... Pulley: 'Labor must build its own party' Continued from preceding page and other unions must take a further step. They must run candidates for office, and build a labor party. Because every time we fight the employers, we also find that we must fight the gov­ ernment as well. It is the federal government media­ tors who are really negotiators in disguise for the rich. These are the ones who, according to the Teamsters, are driving a hard bargain. It's the Democratic Party, through Carter, that is threatening to impose the antilabor Taft-Hartley Act against the Teamsters. The same thing hap­ pened against the miners' strike. The miners fought back. They told them where to go with their Taft-Hartley. Every strike by its very nature is in reality a strike against the govern­ ment. We are forced to fight the gov­ ernment because the government inter­ venes against the strikers. So we need a labor party to fight back. Not only for the unionists, but for all working people. A labor party that can mobilize Black groups, lati­ nos, students, women's groups, and small-business people. Everyone who is victimized by the ruling rich. Now if you know anything about the labor movement, you know that this Striking steelworkers at Newport News: 'The unions can knock the capitalists' hands from our throats.' Militant/John Cobey will take some changes. The situation that exists now is that the ranks do not control what the labor officials do. Many members do not even have the 17,000 shipyard workers in Newport rail workers, and so forth. These Auto Workers, while speaking to the right to vote on their union contracts. News, Virginia. In the Old Confeder­ unions have vast power. They have the O'Hare Local of the Postal Workers, I And the memberships have no say acy, Black and white workers on one potential to shut this city down. urged them to take steps immediately over what candidates the officials en­ side are battling it out with the com­ To fully utilize this power, we as to run labor candidates. This is one of dorse. pany and government on the other. workers must first recognize that we've the main points members of the Social­ Right now Jane Byrne is receiving Unions have also begun to fight got that power. Then we need to adopt ist Workers Party will be conveying. tens of thousands of dollars from the around more social issues. Unions a political course to use that power to after the April 3 election. labor unions in this city. This even marched for the ERA. Unionists are get what we need. We need to form a The campaign does not end on April includes public workers, who Byrne speaking out against nuclear power. party of labor. The formation of a 3. It just goes into another phase. We has said should not be allowed to And now we see the United Steel­ labor p'arty would signify the political will continue to raise in our unions and strike. workers union resisting the racist awakening of a sleeping giant. elsewhere the message that the world But the unions are changing. The Weber suit. Yes the Steelworkers union In order to move toward political can be better than it is. That there is a stepped-up rulers' offensive-the speed­ supports affirmative-action quotas to power for labor we've got to begin now. better fate for humanity. And that in up, inflation, worsening safety condi­ make up for present and past discrimi­ The idea that labor needs its own order to realize this, working people tions, forced overtime, high unemploy­ nation. political instruments has been the must organize their own party to take ment, cuts in social services, the threat In Chicago, one-third of all people central idea that' the Socialist Workers power. of nuclear power-all these things are are involved in manufacturing. There Party has been seeking to convey in Those of you who recognize that compelling the unions to change. are big unions of steelworkers, this campaign. today should join us, join the Socialist One expression of this is the strike of truckers, postal workers, auto workers, While speaking to Local 534 of the Workers Party . ... campaigning for socialism in Chicago Continued from page 6 working people, but as an institution equal-time rule? How could they square coverage given Byrne and Johnson he left it standing elsewhere. In the end, designed to protect the property rights their nonpartisan status and their could not beat Johnson?" it's going to take a fundamental of the rich and the present political pleas for public donations with playing change. And the only thing that can system. political favorites?" * * * bring that about is a political party of "I'm for replacing the whole thing." When Channel 11 finally agreed, the Channel 11 wasn't the only media labor on a national scale." Kurtis: "The whole thing being the SWP asked Cassel to ·get confirmation. outlet forced to include the SWP cam­ Jarrett misunderstood. "In other system?" After Channel 11's Richard Bowman paign. The Sun- Times and Tribune, words, we wouldn't have any altera­ Pulley: "Right." confirmed, Cassel reports, "I congratu­ Chicago's two major dailies, each dis­ tion of the structure of our political Kurtis: "But would you replace pres­ lated Channel 11 for acting in accord cussed Pulley along with the Republi­ system, of our economic way of doing ent chief Jim O'Grady then?" with good public policy. can candidate in their editorial things, in the city of Chicago?" Pulley: "Well, yes, he would go with "'Policy?' he gasped. 'Oh no. This endorsements of Jane Byrne. Pulley answered, "Yes you would. I it." was no "policy," just a one-shot deci­ Most campaign reports on TV and in would propose my tax plan before the Kurtis: "Go with it?" sion.' What Channel 11 will do next the newspapers included some mention city council. If the majority of the Pulley: "He would go with every­ time, or even this time had Byrne or of Pulley's activities or positions. And people in this city vote for me as mayor thing else." Johnson balked, Bowman would not both dailies quoted Byrne media strate­ I would utilize that as a mandate to Kurtis had chuckled and Pulley had venture to say. gist Don Rose calling the SWP vote the carry out these policies. I would mobil­ smiled. But Pulley was completely se­ "Fair enough," Cassel writes. "Yet "unknown factor" that would affect ize people in Chicago, in the labor nous. having rescued one third-party candi­ Byrne's margin of victory. movement, the Black community, and date from the unseen pits of off-night Influential Black columnist Lou women, to see to it that their will is * * * Nielsen ratings, Channel 11 should Palmer reported in the Black commun­ implemented. Getting into the Chicago TV debate think very carefully before tossing ity weekly Metro News, "I think I am "I'm convinced that the people of was seen as a major victory for the them all back come next election. detecting a pattern, if not a trend, in Cleveland and New York, and else­ Socialist Workers Party, not just in · Apart from troublesome legal ques­ the mayoral election. More and more where, who have had economic prob­ Chicago but nationally as well. tions, public policy is at stake. Voters Black people are indicating that they lems will be inspired by our example "For the first time in memory a are entitled to choose among candi­ will vote for Andrew Pulley, the Black here and emulate it.'' televised, major candidates debate will dates on their merits. And if that is Socialist Workers Party candidate. An­ Bill Kurtis, an anchorman on Chan­ include a third-party candidate," Doug how democracy is supposed to work, drew Pulley, despite the uncertainties nel 2 television, was another panelist. Cassel reported in a half-page column Public Television (and all major me­ Black people have about his party, He concluded his evening news cover­ in the Chicago Sun- Times on the day dia) should represent the candidates talks the kind of talk Blacks and other age of the debate that night by report­ of the debate. fairly and equally when covering the poor folks can identify with. Whenever ing as one of the highlights Pulley's Cassel is an attorney with Business news. he appears before a Black audience he response to a Kurtis question. Kurtis and Professional People in the Public "Critics ... will say that third par­ picks up new votes." referred to the following exchange in Interest. In the column he tells how the ties are rarely serious contenders, so The election edition of the Metro the debate: SWP first found out from columnist Irv why waste prime time on them? But News recommends a vote for Pulley. Kurtis: "Mr. Pulley, who would you Kupcinet that the debate would ex­ this is a self-fulfilling prophecy. In When the Sun- Times tried to ignore appoint police chief?" clude Pulley. 1975 the Socialist Workers Party may­ Pulley in their Sunday election round­ Pulley: "I haven't given any thought "Kup's column alerted Pulley's cam­ oralty candidate, Willie Mae Reid, got up, a protest meeting with editorial to that question. I don't think that one paign manager.... Immediately she almost 17,000 votes, close to the staff members brought a change in the person is going to change the main badgered the League of Women Voters number cast for Wallace Johnson in later editions. Ten column inches on role or character of the police depart­ and Channel 11, cosponsors of the the recent Republican primary. Who is Pulley's position were added under the ment, which I view as not an institu­ debate. Why not include Pulley? What to say that if Andrew Pulley got any­ headline, "Pulley: Place Power in tion designed to protect the rights of about fairness, democracy, and the where near the TV and newspaper Workers Hands." 8 Marroquin on trial for his life Socialist tells his story at Houston deportation hearing By Harry Ring charges against him. The police ac­ HOUSTON, April 3-Hector Marro­ cused him of terrorist acts and armed quin went on trial for his life today. robbery. The socialist and trade unionist took Today at the hearing these false the stand in his own behalf on the charges were effectively refuted by opening day of the Immigration and evidence introduced in the form of Naturalization Service hearing to de­ wage vouchers, rent receipts, and pur­ termine if he will be deported to Mex­ chase receipts establishing that Marro­ ICO. quin was living and working in Hous­ Marroquin, who is demanding politi­ ton at the time of the allegedly cal asylum in the United States, faces committed terrorist acts in Mexico. falsely asserted, Marroquin said, that to see my documents. The Socialist imprisonment, torture, or death if the The charges against him suffered Rivera had been a "guerrilla." Workers Party is in the forefront of the Carter administration succeeds in de­ their heaviest blow when X-rays were Later, a school librarian was assassi­ fight for democratic rights." porting him to Mexico. introduced confirming that he was in nated. The police immediately charged Cross-examination of Marroquin The hearing opened in an INS court­ Galveston, Texas, recovering from a that it was the work of "guerrillas." was done by INS trial attorney Daniel room that seats only twenty-five spec­ major auto accident when he was There were more arrests, more reports Kahn. As Marroquin was describing tators, including the press. Despite the supposed to have been robbing a half­ of torture. . the widespread hunger in Mexico, fact that more than twice that number million pesos from a factory in Mexico. Then Marroquin's picture appeared Kahn interrupted: "Did you ever starve sought admission, INS Judge James Testifying for nearly six hours, Mar­ in the Monterrey paper, El Norte, and to death?" Smith refused to move the case to a roquin explained the facts of his case. the police charged that he was part of Marroquin stared at him and re­ larger courtroom. He grew up as one of ten children in a "conspiracy" that had resulted in the sponded, "No, I wouldn't be here." To establish an atmosphere of intim­ a family living in the border town of slaying. Considering Marroquin's assertion idation, INS cops started out by insist­ Matamoros. His father, a low-paid Thoroughly frightened by the frame­ of widespread hunger among Mexican ing that spectators provide identifica­ customs worker, died when he was a up charge, Marroquin and his wife, children, Kahn inquired if this wasn't tion to gain admission. When youth. "We were always poor," Marro­ Maria Garcia, consulted with relatives. really more of a social problem than a Marroquin's attorney, Margaret Win­ quin explained. Marroquin's first reaction was to get political one. Wasn't it really a prob­ ter, objected to this, the judge backed Marroquin entered the university at a lawyer, turn himself in, and prove lem for groups like the World Health off on his blatant interference with the sixteen. For three terms in a row, he his innocence. Relatives consulted sev­ Organization? right of public trial. had the top grades in his class. eral lawyers. They all agreed there was Earlier, when Marroquin was des­ But despite protests, cops continued Meanwhile, he had been radicalized no way he could do this. He would be cribing police atrocities, Kahn had with an electronic search of each per­ by the actions of the Mexican govern­ jailed and tortured until he "con­ interjected to explain that police bru­ son entering the courtroom. ment in the infamous 1968 Tlatelolco fessed." tality exists in all countries. "What," Marroquin, twenty-five, fled to the massacre. Five hundred students were Marroquin fled across Mexico to he asked, "does that have to do with United States from Mexico five years killed and many more jailed and tor­ Baja California. He stayed there for a political persecution?" ago after frame-up charges were le­ tured. period. But when his picture appeared Apparently dismayed to learn that veled against him because of his politi­ At the university in Monterrey, Mar­ in local papers, he decided to seek Marroquin did not support the U.S. cal activities. His demand for political roquin plunged into campus political asylum in the United States and made government, Kahn asked him if there asylum in the United States has won life. his way across the border. was any country in the world that he significant support from iabor and As student struggles for democracy did support. other organizations. Yet last De­ mounted in Mexico, he said, so did Marroquin talked about the Cuban cember, the INS rejected his asylum government repression. A number of Undocumented worker revolution and the social gains made appeal and set the deportation trial. demonstrations were savagely at­ Because he was undocumented, he by the workers and peasants there. tacked by cops and gangs of thugs had to take a job as a helper in a Did he approve of the use of Cuban Marroquin's story organized by the government. Houston bar, working eight hours a troops in Angola, Kahn asked. As a student activist at the Univer­ Then in January 1972, police raided day, seven days a week for $1.80 an "Yes," Marroquin replied. He ex­ sity of Nuevo Leon in Monterrey, Mar­ a Monterrey apartment complex where hour. Meanwhile, he followed the Mon­ plained the revolutionary role played roquin fled in 197 4 after being falsely many students lived. terrey press and saw the cops were by the Cuban forces in helping to charged with "conspiring" to bring Marroquin, who was nearby, saw the escalating the charges against him. defeat the reactionary U.S.-backed in­ about the assassination of a school police arrive. He entered the building Even as he lived and worked here, they vaders from South Africa who were librarian. and saw two cops dragging a wounded were charging him with committing trying to crush the Angolan liberation He entered this country as an undoc­ student down the stairs by his feet. crimes in Mexico. movement. umented worker. While he was here, It was Jesus Rivera, Marroquin's Risking capture, he made several What about the way the Castro the Mexican press trumpeted new closest friend. Rivera died. The police trips back to Mexico to consult with forces came to power, Kahn demanded attorneys about the possibility of re­ to know. Did Marroquin approve of turning to expose the charges against that? Wasn't it by "force and vio­ him. lence''? Finally, on returning to the United Marroquin explained that the mur­ ~Marroquin is innocent' States from a trip in September 1977 derous Batista dictatorship left the HOUSTON-Hector Marroquin repression he would face if he he was apprehended at the border, and Cuban people no choice but to rise up had welcome support from members returned. served three months in prison for against it. of his family on his opening day in Maria Garcia, Marroquin's wife, seeking to enter the country under an Suppose then, Kahn asked, the presi­ court. His mother and three of his testified on his behalf. She con­ assumed identity. dent of the United States became like sisters traveled from Mexico to at­ firmed in her testimony Marroquin's It was at this time that the major Batista. Would you then favor the tend his trial. story of how he had decided to flee public campaign was launched to win same kind of overthrow here? Marroquin's sister Lilia said they Mexico only after lawyers insisted him political asylum in the United The American people have every had come because they had not seen there was no way he could get a fair States. right to defend themselves against him for a long time and because they trial. Earlier Marroquin had come in con­ ruling-class violence, Marroquin re­ support his fight for asylum. She declared from the witness tact with the Socialist Workers Party sponded. Many people in Mexico know stand: "Hector is innocent. He is and soon joined it. Later he also joined "Do you think capitalism and impe­ about his case, Marroquin's sister being persecuted for crimes he did the Young Socialist Alliance. rialism is the enemy?" Kahn asked. said. They sympathize with him not commit. If deported, he would Looking directly at the judge, Marro­ "Yes," Marroquin replied, "I do." because they are aware of the face torture or death." -H.R. quin declared, "When I joined the Apparently wearied by the encoun­ Socialist Workers Party, no one asked ter, Kahn responded, "That's all."

THE MILITANT/APRIL 13, 1979 9 200 demand asy_lum Texas rally backs Marroquin Why no HOUSTON-Two hundred people rallied here March 31 demanding polit­ ical asylum for Hector Marroquin, the asylum for trade unionist and socialist facing deportation to Mexico. Held on the eve of Marroquin's hearing before the Immigration and Hector? Naturalization Service, the rally drew The following people from as far away as San Anto­ are excerpts nio, Dallas, Austin, and New Orleans. from the speech Houston participants included Chi­ hy Socialist cano activists and trade unionists from Workers Party the ARCO refinery, and the Southern National Com­ Pacific Railroad. mittel' member The rally gave an ovation to Marro­ Olga Rodriguez quin, who described how he had been at the March 31 RODRIQUEZ framed up because of his political f"'~ """ rally to defend Hi,etor Marro- activism. He cited the impressive sup­ .~. port for his case by major unions and .;. quin. others concerned with human rights. What are the rE'al reasons why His attorney, Margaret Winter, cited Hector has been denied asylum and documents baring the illegal disrup­ tion program conducted by the FBI in faces a dPportation hearing? Some say the reason that the U.S. Mexico against political dissidents government rt>fusps to grant Hector there, including Marroquin. asylum, refuses to speak out against Of the hearing, Winter declared: "We the brutal repression of workers and are going to do more than prove Hec­ ca mpesinos in Mexico. is because tor's right to asylum, more than defend Hector's life. We're going to put on trial Carter wants Mexico's oil. To speak out would off1·nd the Mexican gov­ the United States government and the Mexican government!" ernment and make it harder to get Jose Alvarado, a member of the Militant/Harry Ring tlw oil, according to this argument. Sunbeam Lodge of the Brotherhood of Marroqurn holds up poster listing those who have been 'disappeared' by the But Cart<>r. lib· other U.S. presi­ Railway Carmen of the U.S. and Can­ Mexican government. dents before him, was silent on the tortun•s, disappearances, jailings, ada, declared that it was the responsi­ bility of all working people to defend and murders in Mexico long before Marroquin. In doing so, he said, they are aware of Marroquin's case and She blasted the Carter administra­ thl' discovery of huge oil reserves in would be defending their own rights, support his fight for asylum because tion's record on human rights in Mex­ that country. In fact, Carter and those of their Mexican brothers and they recognize that it will be a blow ico and throughout Latin America. past administrations have actively against repression in Mexico. abetted the Mexican government in sisters, and the rights of the oppressed Other declarations of support for The rally listened silently as Delia its drive against the democratic and exploited everywhere. Marroquin's right to asylum were Duarte de Ramirez described the atroc­ rights of th!• vast majority of Mexi­ To vigorous applause, he concluded made at the rally by attorney Ben ities suffered by her family at the can peoph·. with the time-honored labor declara­ Levy, veteran civil libertarian and hands of the White Brigades, a gang of The simple truth is that neither tion: "An injury to one is an injury to member of the Democratic Socialist political killers sponsored by the Mexi­ Carter nor his predecessors havt' all!" Organizing Committee; and Father can government. ever given one whit of concern about Marroquin's assertion that his life Edward Salazar, regional director of One of her sons was kidnapped by human rights anywhere m the would be jeopardized if he did not win PADRES, an association of Catholic the Brigades in June of 1977. Several world. asylum was given powerful corrobora­ priests seeking social justice for His­ months later her second son was The reason Carter doesn't want to tion by two speakers from Mexico. panics. gunned down by the Brigades. Then, give Hector asylum is not because he One was Rosario Ibarra de Piedra, The meeting was chaired by Ger­ the son's widow was arrested and is worried about offending the Mexi­ founder of the Mexican Committee to trude Barnstone, the civil liberties taken to a notorious military detention can government. On the contrary, Defend Political Prisoners, the Politi­ activist who is treasurer of the Marro­ Cart!•r's so-called human rights pol­ cally Persecuted, "Disappeared," and camp. quin defense committee. Exiled. She was held there for five months icy has nothing to do with humanity Piedra said the committee has won and severely tortured. Two weeks after An appeal for funds was made by or rights. It has to do with profits­ steadily mounting support from her release, she died as a result of her Sister Victoria Zuniga, a member of and protPcting profits. workers, students, and peasants prison ordeal. Hermanas, an organization of socially The U.S. government fears that throughout Mexico. "This," Duarte de Ramirez con­ concerned nuns. the Mexican peoplt• will decide to do There is good reason for this, she cluded, "is why I am here in support of In response to her appeal, the au­ exactly what the Iranian people are explained. "In Mexico," she declared, political asylum for Hector Marro­ dience contributed $535. Of this, $70 trying to do today, or what the "there is not one single worker, one quin." came from a group of workers at Cuban peopll' did twenty years ago: single peasant, one single student who Olga Hodriguez, a national leader of Hughes Tool Company, and $125 from to take control over their own lives has not, at one time or another, been a the Socialist Workers Party also spoke. a group of rail workers. and dPstiny and to end U.S. corpo­ victim of government repression." rate control over their economy. Thousands of Mexicans, she said, American imperialism wants, needs, and will do everything in its power to safeguard and extl'nd the Messages of support ability of the U.S. corporations to Below are excerpts of solidar­ for Hector Marroquin. We have sent exploit Mexil'o and its people. Yes. Marroquin ity messages read at the Hector a telegram to Leone! Castillo indicat­ They want a licPnse to rob and steal Marroquin defense rally March ing our concern about the possibility Mexico's rPsources, including its oil 31 in Houston. of violation of Hector Marroquin's and gas. That is why they help meets with human rights. maintain in power tlw Mexican gov­ The Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Pete V. Tribley, President; Harvey ernment and its White Brigades, its oil workers Workers International Union has W. Zorbaugh, Executive Director; torture chamber:-;, its military camp HOUSTON-Sixteen people, long fought for improvements in the 111aryland State Teachers Associa­ Number 1. its system of frame-ups, mostly oil workers from three ma­ area of human rights. While recog­ tion spies. and disruption of political ac­ jor refineries and chemical plants nizing that many countries have tivity. here, atV·nded a house meeting suppressed the rights of workers to PADRES supports your request for Our country's rulers are vt:ry con­ with Hector Marroquin March 25. join in unity in formulating a struc­ political asylum. cernt>d that American working pt>o­ They are member:-; of the Oil, ture to collectively bargain for We hope that justice Is on your ple be· kept in tlw clark about the Chemical and Atomic Workers wages, hours, and working condi­ side and the matter Is settled pernicious role the U.S. govt•rnmen t Union, and an· employed at the tions, we alHo recognize the struggle quickly. pla~·s all over Latin Amt>rica­ AHCO Refinery, Phillips, and Shell of others who continue to fight for Trinidad Sanchez. S.J.. Bro. PA­ including and especially in Mexico. Oil. freedom in other areas. DRES Executive Director This government maintains the Tlw meeting was at thP home of We support the united efforts to ability of U.S. corporations to rake Debby Leonard, an active unionist assure that Hector Marroquin is I express my solidarity with all of in billions of dollars off the backs of at the AHCO plant and a Marro­ granted a fair trial in Houston, you gathered here today on behalf of the Mexican, Chilean, Dominican, quin supporter. Texas, on April 3rd, a trial that is Hector Marroquin, to protest this Nicaraguan, and Argentine people. Marroquin explained the issues free of the political influence of this infamous attempt to deport him. It is responsible for the suppression in his case, and then there was government and the government of Angela Y. Davis of the struggle of millions for politi­ discussion and questions. Mexico. cal and economic justice-for social­ Almost all of the workers took L. Calvin Moore, Citizenship/ Le­ ism. literature on the case to distribute gislative Director, Oil, Chemical, For the U.S. rulers, profits come to shopmates and friends. and Atomic Workers Messages of support were also before human needs, here in this Three of the unionists partici­ received from Rep. Ronald V. Del­ country and around the world. This pated the next day at the ARCO The Maryland State Teachers As­ lums, Kate Millett, Edward Asner, is the most ruthless, callous, inhu­ plant gate in a distribution of leaf­ sociation, an affiliate of the Na­ the Guardian newspaper, U.S. Rep. man class we have ever seen. lets for the March 31 Marroquin tional Education Association, sup­ Mickey Leland, Anne Braden, and rally. ports your efforts to obtain asylum Robert and Michael Meeropol.

10 Judge refuses bond reduction for Marroquin By Harry Ring "A bed," Marroquin responded, "a HOUSTON-Immigration and Natu­ desk, some books, and a little clo­ You feel that when something like this ralization Service Judge James Smith thing." is built, the people building it know denied a motion April 2 to reduce Turning to Marroquin's publicly de­ ... Middletown what they're doing. You just kind of Hector Marroquin's outrageously high clared membership in the Socialist Continued from page 3 put your safety with them and trust comes in a limousine." bond of $10,000. The government Workers Party, Kahn asked what kind them." What did Lavoynne think of Carter's forced Marroquin's supporters to pay of a socialist organization it was-a That trust disappeared about the visit'? the ransom sum in 1977 in order to free "Norman Thomas-type" or a "Marx­ same time that the flashing lights on "To sum it up in one word: politics. ~he socialist activist from jail. Smith Lenin-type"? cop cars appeared-and the disruption He had to make a showing here. also rejected proposals for third-party On learning that the SWP supported of their lives began. "He wasn't in town very long. He custody of Marroquin. The Socialist the views of Marx and Lenin, the made his appearance-that's what it Workers Party, the Marroquin Defense prosecutor sought to establish that this seemed to me, just an appearance. I Committee, and the U.S. Student Asso­ meant Marroquin was a "communist" Antinuke protest thought he would try to take a tour of ciation each offered to assume respon­ who favored "force and violence" and She recalls last year's protests the area, talk to people here," she sibility for Marroquin if he were re­ therefore was not worthy of reduced against the plant by Goldsboro resi­ continued. leased without bond. bond. dents on the other side of the island. "There has not been anyone from The INS ruling was made without a Marroquin patiently explained that "I thought they were really dumb, TMI [Three Mile Island] or any pretense of serious consideration of the he was a proponent of socialist demo­ because I thought nothing is ever congressman-nothing-around to issue. While Marroquin's attorney, cracy. While he fully supported the going to happen. Those people who run talk to people." Margaret Winter, was presenting her right of workers to defend themselves the plant are too smart, they know too "He says he knows everything about summation, the judge was preparing against capitalist iolence, he ex­ much about what's going on. it," Scott says of Carter. "But he his decision. When she concluded her plained, he was an opponent of indi­ "But I was the dumb one." doesn't, because he doesn't go to peo­ summation, he read his decision. vidual terrorism. To those people who live in other ple's houses and talk." The INS trial attorney who opposed Kahn returned to the same theme in areas where there are nuclear plants "I don't think any politicians at this the bond-reduction proposal, Daniel questioning Olga Rodriguez, southwest operating or under construction, she point are interested in what people Kahn, was a poor caricature of a field organizer for the Socialist advises, "If they value what they have, think," Lavoynne continues. "I just McCarthy-era witch-hunter. Workers Party, who testified as a char­ if they think a lot of themselves, they think that money is the big thing­ should protest it." Seeking to establish that Marroquin acter witness for Marroquin and made they're just worried about how much was not a person of financial status, he the SWP custody offer. Like most residents affected by the money it's going to take." demanded to know if Marroquin pos­ He did likewise with Jane Roland of nuclear accident, King has no love for Met Ed's insur~nce company. The day sessed a burial plot. the Marroquin Defense Committee, Can't trust government "I'm not thinking about dying," and Gertrude Barnstone, Houston before, she called the insurers ~o find "If you can't go to your government, Marroquin responded. treasurer of the committee. Barnstone out if she was eligible for compensa­ who can you go to? If you can't trust Well then, did he have a Master was an elected member of the Houston tion for some of the evacuation ex­ people who are supposed to be for you, penses. Mter all, they live the closest Charge card? School Board for five years and served it hurts. This is what we feel." to the plant and have felt it necessary Marroquin conceded he did not. on the boards of the YWCA and the She believes that "someone has got to leave twice so far. What property did he possess? Texas American Civil Liberties Union. to be responsible" for the property "The man said, 'No, but if you are damage and other losses due to the forced to evacuate, just give us a call accident. and we'll see that you get some money "Why should we, the people, take the to go.' loss'? Somebody definitely made a mis­ "I have to evacuate, and I'm going to take, and they have more money than go up there and get money? He's got to us." be kidding!" The Kings still owe $17,000 on their She has heard reports that insurers home. But even if they could get a fair refuse to say whether homeowners will price for it, she's not sure they would be reimbursed if anything happens to want to move unless forced to. their property. "So if we had to evacu­ "This is our home. It has a lot of ate and could never come back, they memories. We had it built, and we did might never give us a penny." the yard-seeded it ourselves and Even the little insurance money planted trees and everything. We put a handed out to pregnant women and lot of time into it that can't be re­ families with preschool children can't placed." begin to replace what they've lost, she When they decided on this site for says. their home, she says, "I imagine that "What about the mental anguish we had heard of the dangers, but we they have gone through? They're not never thought anything could happen. making any restitution at all for that."

When she went to see the insurance company, Noon said, "the man told ... who pays me, 'Things are hard, aren't they?'" Continued from page 4 Her sister, Anna Manning, also has shut down, laying off thousands of a rent problem. Manning's husband, a workers. Insurance doesn't cover lost member of the United Auto Workers, wages. works at Fruehauf truck body plant in The utility's own employees don't get Middletown. At least he did, until treated any better than the general Fruehauf decided to shut down for a public. Two pregnant clerical workers while. Now the Mannings have no who normally work on Three Mile income, and they just moved into a Island haven't been coming to work new, higher-rent apartment. because of the radiation leaks. A local television station interviewed Met Ed has given them the choice of a man who had fled the reactor danger having their pay docked or losing zone with his wife. vacation time. No wages. While they were gone, their house Priscilla Noon, a Black woman who was burglarized. The insurance com­ works in a nursing home that evacu­ pany sent them to the welfare office. ated all its patients several days ago, Welfare said it couldn't help them. is out of a job indefinitely. She's not Met Ed, with the willing assistance INS offices picketed being paid, although she is the sole of the state and federal governments, On the eve of Hector Marroquin's the picket line. Castillo had ignored support of her ten-year-old son. is trying to shift the economic burden deportation hearing, his supporters an earlier request to meet with Mon­ She goes to the Nuclear Regulatory of the Three Mile Island disaster onto picketed offices of the Immigration signor Rice and Marroquin support­ Commission briefings every day, hop­ the backs of local working people and and Naturalization Service (INS) ers to discuss the case. ing to find out what's going on at farmers. As a further insult, the com­ demanding political asylum for the In Mexico, demonstrations were Three Mile Island. "It seems like every­ pany will seek a rate hike to cover the socialist activist. held in front of the U.S. embassy in thing they are saying today is a repeat cost of electricity it has to buy from Leone! Castillo, INS director, was Mexico City and the U.S. consulate of what they said yesterday," Noon other utilities. confronted with a picket line in in Monterrey. told the Militant. Working people and farmers should Pittsburgh March 30 organized by "I went to the unemployment office not have to finance Met Ed's mistakes. the Marroquin Defense Committee. Other U.S. picket lines took place and they gave me some forms and told The company built a nuclear power Msgr. Charles Owen Rice of the St. in New York City, Los Angeles, me to come back next week," Noon plant that wasn't safe, deliberately Anne's Catholic Church, together Portland, Albuquerque, Phoenix, said. endangering tens of thousands of lives with other committee members, held San Francisco, Philadelphia, Bos­ Noon had to skip her April rent. "It for one reason alone-profit. a news conference and then joined ton, Houston, and Washington, D.C. could be two weeks without a penny," Let Met Ed and the government foot she explained. the bill.

THE MILITANT/APRIL 13, 1979 11 March 31 actions demand abortion rights In response to a call issued by the International Coalition for Abortion Rights based in London, women around the world participated in an International Day of Action March 31. From the Iron Range of Minnesota to Paris, France, they demanded abortion rights and an end to forced sterilization. Following are reports of some of the demonstrations that took place in the United States. In future issues of the 'Militant' we will report on the actions in other countries. Iron Range: FuN Steelworkers A~ .\,,~~.~· \.··),\{ r·· ·~ march for and r,~o~r abortion rights ~ By Ilona Gersh 11 VIRGINIA, Minn.-On March 31 NUK some 200 women and men marched from the courthouse to Virginia Hospi­ MilitanV Lou Howort tal in support of abortion rights. New York City. Demonstrators were angered by attacks on abortion and by nuclear danger In nearby Harrisburg. Many of the marchers wore the jackets of United Steelworkers locals marchers chan ted on their way from featured on all local television stations. 1938 and 6115. Local193.S endorsed the the United Nations to a rally in Union Protests demonstration and members of both Square March 31. Cheered on by • In Oakland, California, 175 sup­ locals-women and men-served as bystanders all along their route of porters of abortion rights picketed the monitors along the line of march. march, the demonstrators were in other offices of Birthright, a wing of the anti­ "I hope the endorsement of my local demanding abortion rights, medicaid abortion "right to life" movement. The is a sign that in the future the whole funds for abortion, and an end to cities pickets were protesting the false and labor movement will back abortion forced sterilization. Contingents • In Pittsburgh 100 rallied in misleading information Birthright dis­ rights,'' Local 1938 spokesperson ranged from welfare rights supporters Market Square for abortion rights. tributes about abortions. Peggy Keefe told a rally preceding the to antinuclear activists. Sponsors included Pittsburgh Campus Sponsors of the action included the march. NOW, First Pittsburgh NOW, Pitts­ Coalition to Defend Reproductive Sponsored by the March 31st Rights, San Francisco and East Bay Also speaking were representatives Coalition for Reproductive Rights, the burgh Committee for Human Rights, Young Socialist Alliance, American NOW, American Federation of State of the various organizations sponsor· march and rally were endorsed by County and Municipal Employees Lo: ing the action. They included the Min­ dozens of organizations. Civil Liberties Union, and New Ameri­ can Movement. cal Hi60, California Health Action nesota Abortion Rights Council, Demo­ Coalition, Women's Health Center, and cratic Farmer Labor Party Feminist Rally chairperson and Coalition of Labor Union Women President Joyce • In Atlanta 50 picketed outside Women's Health Collective. Caucus, Farmer Labor Association Grady Hospital to protest the cut-off of Caucus, Iron Range National Organi­ Miller pledged continued union support for women's rights. "CLUW is 100 abortion funds to poor women. Follow­ • In Kansas City the University of zation for Women (NOW), and the ing the protest a teach-in on reproduc­ Missouri Women's Union sponsored a Socialist Workers Party. percent involved in this movement," she said. tive rights was held at Georgia State panel discussion March 30. Forty-five The demonstration was covered by University. The day's events, spon­ people heard speakers from NOW, all three television stations and fea­ Rally speakers included Denise sored by the Abortion Rights Move­ Planned Parenthood, and the Young tured prominently in the local newspa­ Fuge, New York National Organ­ ment of Women's Liberation, were Socialist Alliance. pers. ization for Women; Pauline Haynes, American Indian Movement; Kate Mil­ lett; and Terry Josephs, Social Service Employees Union Local 371. Ballo.: 'Women's concerns Also, Jennie Lifrieri, Catholics for a Free Choice; Ruth Messenger, New are labor's concerns' York City Council; Meredith Tax, Com­ By Yvonne Hayes paid, undervalued, and underem­ mittee for Abortion Rights and BALTIMORE-About sixty-five ployed. Union women earn at least Against Sterilization Abuse; and Dr. trade-union women and men at­ 40-70 percent more than non-union Sandra Turner, Committee of Interns tended a "Salute to Working women, but only about 10 percent and Residents. Women" conference here March 31. are organized." Held at the United Steelworkers The conference was chaired by Local 2609 hall and sponsored by Bobbie Spiegler, a member of USWA the local's Women's Advisory Com­ Local 2610. Other speakers were Boston: 2,000 mittee, the conference focused on the Ruth Haynes, an international orga­ relationship today-and nizer for the Amalgamated Meat­ historically-between the women's cutters and Butcher Workmen, and demand right movement and labor movement. Barbara Bowman, a member of the Sara Barron, a retired member of 2610 Women's Advisory Committee. to choose the Amalgamated Clothing and Tex­ Haynes spoke on the Equal Rights By Jeannette Tracy tile Workers Union, was particularly Amendment and pointed to the up­ BOSTON-Some 2,000 abortion well qualified to speak on the history coming activities of Labor for Equal rights activists marched four miles of working women. Barron was Rights Now, a Virginia union­ through downtown Boston to the State elected a union shop steward at the initiated coalition, as a model for House March 31. Marchers included age of fourteen in 1916. In 1918 she carrying forward the ERA struggle. contingents of Iranian women, and marched in Washington to demand Bowman took up the threat that Black women from neighboring Rox­ women's suffrage. Later Barron the Weber case poses to affirmative­ bury. helped to organize the CIO. action gains. Women, Blacks, and "Our union stood for equal rights unionists must band together to Speakers at the reproductive rights from the beginning," Barron said. defend these rights, she said, be­ rally included Rev. Linda Brebner, "But we had to educate the men. cause they strengthen the entire Religious Coalition for Abortion "Here it is 1979," she continued, labor movement against its enemies. MilitanV Stu Singer Rights; Linda Gordon, author of "and I see all these women working Local 2610 President Dave Wilson Steelworkers Local 1938 endorsed Women's Bodies, Women's Rights; in auto factories and steel mills. We showed conference participants a March 31 demonstration In Virginia, Marlene Stevens, a Roxbury commun­ should say to men, 'You have gained .slide show his local has prepared on Minnesota. ity representative; and Karen Lindsey, from this.'" the Newport News shipyard strike. feminist writer. Alice Camara, president of Balti­ "If you don't believe there's a The protest action was sponsored by more National Organization for conspiracy to keep down unionism," the Abortion Action Coalition, South­ Women, spoke on the developing he said, "look at how much coverage N.Y.C.: 1,500 Middlesex NOW; Socialist Workers alliance between women and labor you've seen in the press of the strike Party, New American Movement, and today. in Newport News." Working people say 'fight back' International Socialist Organization. "The concerns of the women's have to get the word out themselves Endorsers included representatives of movement are the concerns of the through support activities, he told By Pat Mayberry District 65 of the Distributive Workers labor movement," she said. "Eighty the conference to enthusiastic ap­ NEW YORK-"They say cutback, we Union and Local 880 of the Hospital percent of women workers are under- plause. say fight back!" 1s what 1,500 Workers union. Why labor should take the lead

Three Mile Island Militant/Arnold Weissberg

The following statement was released one at Three Mile Island. But the administra­ that radiation levels are "quite safe for all April 1 by Andrew Pulley and Nora Da­ tion did nothing-except to hush it up. Just as concerned" and that the top priority of the nielson. Pulley is the Socialist Workers the government has hushed up and lied about authorities is "the health and safety of the Party candidate for mayor of Chicago the hazards of nuclear power-, for decades. people." and a member of the United Steelworkers So now the accident the public was always Yet the day before, speaking in Wisconsin, of America Local 1066. Danielson, SWP assured was "impossible" has happened. The Carter vowed that nuclear power plants "will mayoralty candidate in Philadelphia, is a horrible possibility remains that a meltdown be continued." member of the Brotherhood of Railway or explosion could still send deadly clouds of The disaster at Three Mile Island proves and Airline Clerks Lodge 518. radiation over the surrounding cities and coun­ that nuclear energy is totally unsafe, that tryside. "Atoms for Peace" is a myth, and that all The Carter administration and the Demo­ Even if this most terrible outcome is averted, nuclear reactors and processing plants, both cratic and Republican parties bear full respon­ no one knows how many people, including commercial and military, should be closed sibility for jeopardizing millions of lives in the workers exposed in the plant itself, have been down immediately. Three Mile Island nuclear accident. harmed by the radiation that has already As one worker who lives in the shadow of Government inspectors knew months ago escaped. the Three Mile Island plant said, "It's like about problems in the cooling systems of On April 1 Carter flew into Middletown, living with a rattlesnake. Sooner or later it's Babcock and Wilcox reactors, including the Pennsylvania, just long enough to proclaim Continued on next page

13 campaign to improve their competitive posi­ tion by squeezing more profits out of \Vorkers ... time bomb in this country. Continued from preceding page As every worker knows, they have launched going to bite you. You just don't know when." a war on many fronts to accomplish this. It State and federal officials; the Metropolitan includes speedup, reversing on-the-job health Edison Company and its owner, General Pub­ and safety rules, forced overtime, higher taxes, lic Utilities; the Nuclear Regulatory Commis­ and cutbacks in social services. sion; and the scientist-hirelings of the employ­ Wages are held down by Carter's 7 percent ers have lied from the beginning about what is guidelines while prices soar at 15 percent a happening. year. They are lying now. They contradict each Laws protecting the environment are rolled other, they contradict themselves, and they back under the pretense of fighting inflation. refuse to give the American people straight The employers are out to weaken and if answers. Scarcely a person now believes a possible destroy the unions-the chief obstacle word they say about this accident. to their goals. Thousands who live near the crippled reac­ Part of this offensive is the rulers' attempt to tor are showing how much confidence they prepare us to accept the use of American have in the official promises of safety-they military might to defend their interests in are fleeing the area. other countries-especially where they are From its very beginning in the 1940s, the under attack now by the workers and peasants development of nuclear energy has been of Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle cloaked in secrecy. The dangers have been East. either denied or downplayed. The nuclear industry is part of the employ­ Why the secrecy? Why the lies? ers' war drive from top to bottom. The nuclear The capitalist class doesn't dare tell the industry originated with the race to develop truth about nuclear energy any more than and use the atomic bomb during World War II. they do about how they plan shortages and fix Today it services the entire nuclear arsenal, prices. To tell the truth, they would have to L~ 1ll~ MI!-I(A Nf R~~lf. which the Pentagon sees as essential to its war say: mms. "We took billions of dollars from taxes paid CARTER: Tells Middletown residents not to worry, So we are faced with seventy operating by working people to finance the research and while he pushes for more nukes around the country. commercial reactors-each capable of repeat­ development of nuclear weapons and nuclear ing the crisis of the Three Mile Island plant­ energy. along with scores of processing plants, reac­ "We knew all about the hazards. But we At the same time he promises to keep us tors, and waste depots directly related to suppressed or censored reports on the likeli­ informed, Carter has imposed an unprece­ military purposes. hood of catastrophic accidents, cancer epidem­ dented censorship order barring the Progres­ ics, birth deformities, and other consequences sive magazine from printing an article about The disaster at Three Mile Island will give we didn't want the public to know about. the hydrogen bomb. The Democrats and Re­ tremendous impetus to the rapidly developing "We fired scientists who got too nosy. We publicans are desperately pushing for more antinuclear movement-not only in this coun­ didn't hesitate to kill people like Karen Silk­ secrecy, not less. try but throughout the world. Millions, maybe wood who threatened to blow the whistle on The Socialist Workers Party says that the tens of millions, more people are now con­ the nuclear danger. entire record from both government and pri­ vinced that nuclear power should be stopped. "We need nuclear weapons to police the vate industry on nuclear energy-every secret Protests have already begun, and we can be world for U.S. corporate interests. study and hearing, every technical and finan­ sure the actions planned for later this spring "And there are big profits to be made from cial detail, every medical record-should be will be much larger than originally expected. nuclear energy." opened up for public scrutiny and debate. The Socialist Workers Party is participating This is what the employers and their biparti­ The labor movement should take the lead in in and helping to make these actions as san representatives in Washington would say fighting for this. Meanwhile nuclear power successful as possible. The solidarity the Ger­ if they told the truth. But they don't. should be stopped cold. man antinuke demonstrators expressed this In his Middletown speech, Carter declared Just as the doubletalk about what happened week in their slogan, "We all live in Pennsyl­ he would take personal responsibility for "tho­ at Three Mile Island reveals the destructive vania!" should be the watchword for all of us. roughly informing the American people" about and antidemocratic nature of capitalist rule, so The key to success for the forces organizing the lessons of the disaster. Democrats and do the disastrous implications of the accident. against nuclear power is to link up with those Republicans in Congress are already talking Three Mile Island is not an exceptional inci­ in the labor movement who are opposed to about a blue-ribbon investigation. dent. It epitomizes the nightmarish prospects nuclear power and to win the entire labor We have no reason to trust those who have of capitalist society today. movement to this fight. That's where the covered up the nuclear danger for all these The employing class and its insatiable drive strength lies to make this fight victorious. years. for profits are taking us down a road to catas­ The antinuke resolutions adopted by Meat trophe: Cutters District 2, by the United Auto Workers Runaway inflation and mass layoffs can in Ohio, by Steelworkers District 31 in overnight shatter the lives of millions .of Chicago-Gary-along with the formation of working people. antinuke committees in some unions-show Monopoly-rigged shortages of key commodi­ the growing sentiment inside the labor move­ ties can trigger price explosions. ment. Young workers will be sent to die in other The struggle against nuclear power and all lands-not to defend their own interests, but its hazards is part of the overall struggle those of the bosses. against the capitalist catastrophe that threat­ Imperialist wars threaten to lead us to a ens the entire working class. nuclear holocaust. That catastrophe can be prevented only if This threat of catastrophe is sharpened by the working class organizes itself and its allies the fact that the capitalists in this country to take political power away from the capital­ face stiffer competition from their counterparts ist rulers, who are willing to risk the fate of in Western Europe and Japan. Since the 1974- humanity in their drive for profits. DANIELSON PULLEY 75 depression, they have been on a stepped-up To carry out this struggle for power the working class will have to break from the war parties, the nuclear energy parties, the capital­ ist parties-'-the Democratic and Republican twins. Join the fight ... We need a labor party based on our own organizations, the unions. A labor party will • for a labor party, for a government run by Name be an antiwar party, an antinuclear party, a and in the Interests of working people Address ______party that fights for the rights of Blacks, • for a society free from racism, sexism, City ------Latinos, and women. inflation, and unemployment State ______Zip There is a force greater than nuclear power: Telephone ______the political power of the labor movement. • for a world without war and devastation of That is the power and authority of the Send to: SWP, 14 Charles Lane, New York, New our environment overwhelming majority of the American peo­ York 10014. ple. Once it is mobilized to take control out of the hands of the profit-hungry minority, it can 0 ~~~:~~=~ ~~ ~2;:ri~~r a copy of Prospects ~r • th SWP immediately close down all the nuclear plants 0 I want to join the ~ocialist Workers Party JOin e and dismantle all the nuclear weapons. 0 Please send more mformat1on Three Mile Island shows the urgency of the task. Nothing less than the survival of human­ ity is at stake. 14 Steelworkers exP-lain Labor's stake in fight against nuke threat By Dick McBride My union, Steelworkers Local 1010 Workers exposed to radiation at the at Inland Steel in East Chicago, Indi­ Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New ana, has filed a petition with the Hampshire die from leukemia more Nuclear Regulatory Commission to than four times as frequently as the deny a permit to the Bailly nuclear national average. They die from all plant that is under construction near cancers at twice the national average. Gary. We expect to be joined in this by In the western United States, ura­ the steelworkers of Local 6787 at Beth­ nium miners suffer disproportionately lehem's Burns Harbor plant, which is from lung cancer and related diseases. right next to the Bailly site. The Karen Silkwood case is reveal­ Local 6787 is also considering filing ing how nuclear workers risk their a lawsuit challenging the Bailly eva­ lives daily in unsafe plants. cuation plan-which would require Now the Three Mile Island nuclear that some steelworkers remain at accident threatens the lives and prop­ Burns Harbor to keep the blast furnace erty of thousands of working people going if there was a nuclear accident! and their families throughout south· Last year USWA District 31, which eastern Pennsylvania. represents 118,000 steelworkers in the On April 1, four days after the acci­ Chicago-Gary area, went on record dent at Three Mile Island began, I opposing the development of nuclear talked with Norton Sandler and Geoff power. District 31 Environmental Di­ Mirelowitz. Both work at Bethlehem rector Mike Olszanski told me April 1 Steel's Sparrows Point plant in that the Three Mile Island accident "is Baltimore-the nearest metropolitan all anybody is talking about" in the area to Three Mile Island. steel plants around Gary and Chicago. "I had my radio on at work Thurs­ "People are coming back and saying day night when they announced that 'Hey, you were right,' when the district they were considering evacuating a took its antinuclear position last year. million people from around Harris­ There were a few people around who bi.'rg," Sandler said. were skeptical at that time, but now "The first reaction was jokes-which it's clear that an overwhelming major­ way is the wind blowing, is your car ity of people feel we were right." gassed up, and so on. But as the news Other unions have also gone on kept coming in, people got more se­ record against nuclear power in recent rwus. months. "What came up over and over in the On March 5 the executive board of plant," Sandler said, "was the need for District 2 of the Amalgamated Meat workers to regulate and control things Cutters and Butcher Workmen un­ like nuclear power-take them out of animously voted to oppose "the con­ the hands of the rich. Because the struction, manufacture, operation, ex­ people who own these power plants portation or proliferation of additional now are willing to sacrifice a million nuclear power plants." lives rather than tell the truth." Meat Cutters District 2 includes the Mirelowitz told of a discussion some state of Pennsylvania and seven other three weeks before the Pennsylvania mid-Atlantic states, as well as Puerto accident. "One person had a friend or a Rico. relative who worked at a nuclear plant Last October a United Auto Workers and had told him how safe they are. So Community Action Program conven­ his idea was that nuclear power is OK. tion in Ohio adopted a motion citing "I was on with the same crew Friday the dangers of nuclear power and night [March 30-two days after the calling on state officials to "enact an accident] and someone said to the guy immediate moratorium on licensing who had been talking about how safe and construction of nuclear power the plants are, 'Now look!' plants in Ohio, if definite scientific "And he answered, 'Yeah, we ought safeguards cannot be provided, and to just shut them all down.'" MilitanVMike Moser implement a procedure for phasing out Mirelowitz said Baltimore steel­ Big business reaps huge profits from dangerous nuclear plants. Steelworkers are all existing facilities now operating or workers are fast becoming aware of joining the fight to 'just shut them all down.' under construction in the state." two things: "First, everybody knows These and similar resolutions mark that the Susquehanna River flows into a welcome break from the pronuclear, Chesapeake Bay. And the other thing pro-employer positions expressed by everybody knows is that there's a with the governor," Sandler said, "and George Meany and the AFL-CIO hie­ nuclear plant right near Baltimore at that the governor had" said things were rarchy. They point the way toward Dick McBride is a member of United Calvert Cliffs." under control. Then everybody was increased involvement by organized Steelworkers Local 1010 at Inland "People laughed when the radio an­ really ready to head for their cars and labor in the movement to end nuclear Steel in East Chicago, Indiana. nounced that Carter was in contact get out of town!" power and nuclear weapons. Tragedy from 1950s Utah nuke tests By Ed Berger found the leukemia death rate in south­ buy the silence of the sheep ranchers will cause cancer if inhaled. SALT LAKE CITY-Authorities are ern Utah between 1950 and 1964 was by offering to set up a desert range Other shorter-lived radioactive ele­ telling the people of Pennsylvania not 50 percent higher than expected. nutrition research project. Brower was ments were also found in the soil. to worry, that fallout from the Three The 1965 Utah leukemia studies were a county agricultural agent in the area Officials sought to minimize the dan· Mile Island plant isn't dangerous. Ra­ hidden from public view for fourteen at the time. gers of these poisons by saying they diation levels are low and harmless, years. Federal agencies also conspired One young woman in southern Utah were now far less radioactive than industry-paid scientists say on TV. to keep other evidence out of the spot­ told Brower her hair fell out after a when they were first found. Try telling that to the fallout victims light. radiation cloud passed over her home. That means, of course, that Utah in Utah. In 1953, for example, 4,300 sheep She also developed lesions that healed residents have been subjected to abnor­ Between 1951 and 1958 the U.S. that had been grazing downwind from only slowly. mally and dangerously high levels of atomic tests in Nevada died. Some of military set off at least ninety-seven Dr. John Gofman, once the AEC's radioactivity all these years. the animals had been as far as 120 atomic explosions above ground in leading expert on the biological effects More than 400 people-surviving miles from the test site. cancer victims and relatives of those Nevada. The radioactive debris fell on of radiation, says that the govermnent who have died-have filed claims Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. The sheep received a dose of radioac­ canceled atomic tests if the wind was against the federal government. tive iodine up to 1,000 times greater blowing toward Los Angeles or Las Children born in southern Utah dur­ Pam Burchett, Socialist Workers than the maximum allowable for hu­ Vegas-but not if it was blowing to­ ing those seven years died from leuke­ Party candidate for mayor of Salt Lake mia two and a half times as frequently mans. Ewes had spontaneous abor­ ward sparsely populated areas of Utah tions and showed burn-like lesions on and Nevada. City, is demanding full compensation as children born before or after. for all the fallout victims. Throughout Utah, approximately fifty the face, neck, and ears. The majority of lambs were born dead or stunted, As recently as 1974 the plutonium "The government should provide children died from leukemia who other­ level in Utah topsoil was found to be free, lifetime medical care for those wise would be alive today. and ewes died either during lambing or a few days later. 3.8 times higher than anywhere else in whose lives it has so callously blight­ This was one of the grisly findings of The Atomic Energy Commission the country. Plutonium, one of the ed," she told the Militant. a study conducted by Dr. Joseph Lyon, said the sheep died of natural causes. most fiercely radioactive of all ele­ "The cover-up of the effects of the a University of Utah epidemiologist, ments, is a byproduct of atomic explo­ atom tests must end," Burchet said. and three associates. Dr. Stephan Brower, a Brigham sions and certain types of reactors. It "The time is long overdue to open up The Lyon study confirmed a sup­ Young University professor, charges is used in the production of nuclear all the records of the federal atomic pressed 1965 government report that that the federal government sought to weapons. A speck of plutonium dust agencies for public inspection.''

THE MILITANT/APRIL 13, 1979 15 ver -up at Three Mile lsi By Nancy Cole news conference at Middletown's Bo­ and Arnold Weissberg rough Hall. MIDDLETOWN, Pa., April 1-Fear It is "quite safe for all concerned," he and disbelief grip central Pennsylva­ told townspeople, who have suffered nia as the possibility of a devastating through a mire of confusing reports core meltdown at a nuclear plant sev· and outright lies from plant and gov­ eral miles from here has yet to be ruled ernment officials. out. Unabashedly taking the side of the And anger. No one told people here nuclear industry, Carter proclaimed it that anything like this could happen. "too early yet to be making judgments And now that it has, no one is telling about the lessons of this nuclear inci­ them what is going on. dent." All they really know is that at any "Well, the people of this town are time they may be evacuated from their passing judgment," Middletown resi­ homes on two hours' notice. Thou­ dent Darlene Snyder told the Militant sands have already fled, in addition to shortly after Carter's appearance here. several hundred pregnant women and "And so are the ones over in Royal­ children staying in nearby evacuation ton, especially the ones in the five-mile centers. [radius of the plant]-let alone my The federal government has refused mother down in York Com-ity and to take any steps to prevent a recur­ people all over the world." rence of the Three Mile Island acci­ dent. There are now seventy-two nu­ 'He didn't say anything' clear power plants licensed to operate As for Carter's assurances of safety, in this country, many of them of a type Snyder declared, "That's about all he similar to Three Mile Island. Six are did say. He didn't say anything about identical to it. what's happening up there. He could Both President Carter and Nuclear have stayed and answered some ques­ Regulatory Commission Director of tions, but he rushed right out." Operations Harold Denton have re­ Snyder, wearing a T-shirt saying, fused to order the immediate shutdown "Middletown Is Where It's At," is of a single reactor. "scared the thing's going to blow up" but reluctant to pick up and leave 'Postpone the question' because of the disruption for her fam­ Denton, responding to a reporter's ily and her husband's job. question at a news conference, said he "I think they ought to shut them all 140,000 people live within ten miles of runaway nuclear plant wanted to "postpone the question of down,'' Snyder firmly said. And if they the other six [identical] operating reac­ try to open up Three Mile Island tors until I have a better feel for what again, she says, they're going to have happened here." trouble from Middletown residents. the plant," a resident told the Militant. School student Ann Chapman. "I don't How long it will take Denton to That is the prevailing view here, "This really woke up everybody." want them to open any of them. And I acquire "a better feel" remains un­ where few people paid much attention "Seems like they didn't take any­ don't think they're telling us all that's known. Meanwhile, another Three to the four gigantic towers that loom body into consideration," Christine going on." Mile Island could happen any time. over the surrounding community­ Cox said. Cox lives in Steelton, a town Plain speaking and truth disap· Seeking to shore up Washington's until the March 28 bulletin informed adjacent to a giant Bethlehem Steel peared long before Three Mile IslanC: rapidly waning credibility, President residents of a general emergency at the mill within ten miles of Three Mile began leaking radioactivity. Carter visited the facility April 1 and plant. Island. then held a short, no-time-for-questions "We'd drive by and not even notice "Get rid of it," said Middletown High ... The cover-up The cover-up began three months ago, after a Nuclear Regulatory Com­ mission inspector filed a report on the Carter censors nuke data Three Mile Island plant's cooling By Dick Roberts not need second-hand information New York Times, the magazine system-the failure of which would On March 26 a federal district gathered by a reporter. "argues that the information in the lead to the present disaster. judge in Milwaukee granted a gov· Governments that do not manu­ article is needed by the American The NRC inspector recommended ernment motion for an injunction facture nuclear weapons have ruled public to permit intelligent discus­ that problems with the cooling system prohibiting the Progressive maga.• this out for political and financial sion of policy issues pertaining to be brought to the attention of the zine frc:>m publishing an article on .reasons. They also are not going to the possible dangers to the environ­ Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. the hydrogen bomb. learn anything from a magazine ment of nuclear production and un­ He was overruled by his superiors. This sweeping denial of freedom of article that the government itself derground testing, health hazards to So, early on the morning of March the press-unprecedented under the admits has no secret or classified workers in nuclear plants and issues 28, a steam pump apparently failed, U.S. Constitution-is intimately information in it. in the strategic arms talks." triggering the failure of another pump linked to the disaster at Three Mile .· The real target of this kind of The democratic rights of working that circulates cooling water to the Island. For it is the government's secrecy is the American public. In people-to free speech, a free press, reactor's core. policy to envelop in secrecy all that the government's view, working peo­ access to the truth, and the freedom At 6:50 a.m. Metropolitan Edison has to do with the production of ple are not to be trusted with the to organize and act in our own declared a "general emergency." The nuclear power and weaponry. facts about nuclear production. We interests-are more and more intol­ state police relayed the declaration, This ·is passed off· as keeping se­ might learn too much about the erable to the capitalist government. adding that no radiation had been crets from foreign powers. But that hazards involved. But as Three Mile Island shows, released. is clearly absurd. Foreign govern­ In defending itself, Progressive these are exactly the rights we must At 9 a.m., Met Ed also said there had ments that themselves manufacture magazine emphasizes this aspect of have to prevent a future nuclear been no radiation leak.· sophisticated nuclear weapons do the case. According to the Ma.rch 24 catastrophe. An hour later, "no leak" became "a small leak."

Intercontinental l'fl'@ ®t! m•: mm "' m N 11 Inti"-' Help spread the truth ... -""11\.lltl'O tll~fN111 ~IJLUIIE41/NIIIIIItE~11 Press/ THE MILITANT The big-business news media have joined with the Carter administration and the • •o~·•• ~' ~•"""'"'"' > ""'""HFD'~ ''"',.. ,..,... or'"' w~•••N<, ""'"" lnprecor nuclear industry to conceal the facts about the Three Mile Island crisis. It's part of . A _weekly magazine of interna­ their ongoing cover-up of the deadly hazards posed by the entire nuclear industry. Runaway inllation: The Mi/itant..:._which doesn't have the backing of big business or millions in tional political and news analysis. advertising revenues-is making every effort to get out the truth. Our team of how we can light back Three months, $6. Send 75• Socialist urges: Support the Teamsters! eyewitness reporters in the Harrisburg area is exposing the government-industry lies cents for sample copy. and telling what workers there are thinking and doing about the disaster. P.O. Box 116 Village Station, New This special effort places a big financial burden on a working-class weekly. We York, N.Y. 10014 need your donations. And we need your help in getting out the Militant to working people from coast to coast. Won't you give us a hand? Perspectiva

The Militant, 14 Charles Lane, New York, New York 10014 Mundial D Enclosed is a donation of $ ____ A Spanish-language socialist biweekly, carrying news of the D I'd like to subscribe (one year, $15; six months, $8.50; ten weeks, $2). Enclosed is $ ____ antinuclear movement and other struggles. Three months, $2. Send Name 50 cents for sample copy. Address ------­ P.O. Box 314 Village Station, New City, State & Zip York, N.Y. 10014.

16 ~nd: on-the-scene report side. The venting continued for ninety Nobel Prize-winning biologist Ernest Sternglass lashed out at the minutes. George Wald, speaking at a Harrisburg government's and Met Ed's efforts to Thursday night the Nuclear Regula- news confer~~ce _Thursday o~ganized minimize health hazards of radioactive tory Commission chimed in. "The dan- by the Mobihzabon for Survival, ex- emissions. ger is over for people off site " the NRC plained that ''every dose of radiation is "The community should stand up declared. ' an overdose. A little does a little harm, and scream," Sternglass said. "This is But the next morning, an NRC and more does more har~." a long-term, creeping thing. People spokesperson admitted there remained Federal standards require that av~r- don't just fall down like flies." a "potential" for a disastrous core age yearly exposure for the entire A group called Three-Mile-Alert is meltdown. population be limited to 170 millirems. tentatively planning a demonstration Meanwhile, Thursday night, Met Ed ~ith Three Mi~e Isl~~d. emissions be- for Sunday, April 8, at 2 p.m. on the dumped 400,000 gallons of radioactive mg me~s~red m ad)ommg Goldsb~ro steps of the state capitol in Harrisburg. water into the Susquehanna River at 20 mllhrems an hour; th~ potential For more information call (717) 233- without telling the public. Just hours for d_ange~ous exposur~ I~ ~Igh. . . 3072. earlier, the NRC vigorously denied the Keith Kirk, a West Vug1ma physici~t Last year, Three Mile Island was dumping would take place. who came here at the request of anh- cited seventeen times for safety viola- nuclear power activists, took his own tions. None were deemed "serious" by 'Why should we tell you?' readings on Friday morning and found federal officials. When asked by reporters Friday why some as high as 7,000 times the normal So now at least 140,000 people-the there had been no public announce­ levels. number living within a ten-mile ment, Met Ed Vice-president John But Saturday morning, top NRC radius-face a nuclear disaster. Herbein arrogantly declared, "I don't official Harold Denton reassured that As disabled steelworker Edward know why we need to tell you every­ the odds against anyone getting Keitch commented, "We'd better thing we do." cancer were "five to one." straighten this out before we get That has served as the motto for Unless, of course, there's a melt- killed." both government and Met Ed officials down. Then, Denton said, "a certain during the entire crisis. number" of cancers could be expected. On Friday the cover-up fell apart. Met Ed officials vented radioactive Antinuke activists steam several times, driving radiation That the cover-up failed is due in readings above the plant up to 1,200 large part to the efforts of the antinu­ millirems an hour. clear activists in the Harrisburg area Gov. Richard Thornburgh "advised" and their success in bringing the nu­ everyone within a ten-mile radius to clear power issue before the public. stay indoors and keep the windows "This is the last nuclear accident the shut. He also "advised" pregnant American people will tolerate," Chaun­ women and young children to leave the cey Kepford of the Environmental area. Coalition on Nuclear Power told a Also on Friday, the Nuclear Regula­ news conference March 30. Forty-five minutes later, Lt. Gov. tory Commission announced that there Kepford's group has petitioned the Villiam Scranton, Jr., joined the cover­ was, indeed, a risk of a fuel meltdown. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to ;J. "There is and was no danger to The effort to keep "the Harrisburg close all pressurized water reactors­ ublic healih and safety ... there was Syndrome" under wraps had failed. about half of all U.S. nuclear reactors. , small release of radiation to the But the government still won't talk The group charges that the Three Mile nvironment. All safety equipment about the long-term health hazards Island accident showed that these :mctioned properly," Scranton as­ from the radioactive emissions. reactors all violate federal safety ~rted. How much radiation have area resi­ standards. P-'f'teen minutes after that, the Three dents been exposed to? What effect will At another news conference on --~ ~sland plant began automatically it have on them? It's impossible to get March 29 sponsored by the Mobiliza­ ;nting radioactive steam to the out- a straight answer. tion for Survival, radiation expert Dr. SAFE LEVEl. Nuclear refugees-angry and scared HERSHEY, Pa., Apr. 1-The Her­ suggested to them that Three Mile They will always worry now about conference brought more people out shey Arena is usually the home of a Island might put their lives, their the children, and never know if it into the streets this afternoon. professional hockey team. But since children's lives, and their homes in can all happen again. "Is the community invited?" asked last Friday, it's the home for danger. -A.W. a resident in the drug store. "I didn't hundreds of refugees from nuclear Many of the refugees fled homes in get my engraved invitation." radiation. Harrisburg, more than ten miles They weren't. Last Friday, Pennsylvania Gov. from the reactor. Middletown Across the street from borough Richard Thornburgh "suggested" "I've got two children, and I'm not hall, residents gathered on the that pregnant women and young taking any chances," a seven­ youngsters roped-off sidewalk. The crowd grew children living within five miles of months-pregnant Black woman from to several hundred by the time Car­ Three Mile Island leave the area. there told me. ter arrived. learn fast "We're just here to see the presi­ Young and old people are espe­ "I'm thinking of them." She added MIDDLETOWN, Pa., April 1- dent, and after that we're getting the cially sensitive to radiation. So are that she was nervous about the idea When residents of this town of hell out of town," a woman told her fetuses. of ever going back to where she had 10,000 picked up their Sunday pa­ child. The two communities nearest the lived. pers at Judy News this morning, One child who hasn't left town is plant are Middletown and Golds­ Truck driver Roberto Gonzalez they were handed a notice from nine-year-old Brent Burger. "We're boro, both small, populated mostly lived thirteen miles from the runa­ Mayor Robert Reid. all ready," he told the Militant. "Our by poor and working people. Both way reactor. But he and his wife and "In the event of an evacuation, car is packed, shoes and every­ are within five miles of Three Mile three children are going to stay in these are the pick-up points for peo­ thing." Island. Hershey, he said. ple who do not have transportation Disasters have a stark way of The state set up emergency facili­ Gonzalez believes the situation at to leave the borough!!!" Eight sites raising consciousness. And that in­ ties for the evacuees at the Hershey Three Mile Island is worse than around town were listed. cludes children in this situation. Arena. Metropolitan Edison and the govern­ Behind the news counter, a "You've got to be crazy to work in It's a makeshift arrangement ment have admitted. woman was explaining over the that place," commented Brent, who down on the hockey rink, leaving no Gonzalez is not the only man in phone to a customer why his paper reels off terms like "meltdown," privacy for the refugees. Families the place. Many fathers and hus­ hadn't be~n delivered. "All the kids "contamination," and "gas bubbles" sleep side by side on cots. "Home" is bands came to Hershey with their left town," she said. "You'll have to like his multiplication tables. a small area separated from other families. come in and get your paper." He watches TV a lot lately to learn "homes" by cartons. One of them was a man with three Three miles from the Three Mile the latest news. children, who had worked on con­ Island nuclear plant, Middletown "Yesterday I was watching 'B.J. The Red Cross serves meals. struction at the Three Mile Island has become the focus of interna­ and the Bears' when a news bulletin Showers and the toilets are in the plant. tional attention during the past about [Gov. Richard] Thornburgh's locker rooms norm':llly used by the "They tell you it's safe, but this week. latest evacuation orders came on," hockey teams. makes you wonder," he said. His One-third to one-half of the towns­ he said. Brent's mother works in a Today there were about 100 people family left their Middletown home people have already left. Most clothing factory nearby, his father using the emergency facilities. Red Friday at Thornburgh's suggestion. churches didn't open their doors this in a garage. Cross volunteers said there is a "We're scared," his teen-age morning. A 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew "Me and my whole family think constant turnover as refugees seek daughter said. "Even before they has been in effect since Friday the plant should be shut down for better accommodations. told us to leave. Then we got more night. good," he declared. The people who remain are the scared." Those left on the streets are cease­ And what about the other seventy­ ones who can't afford to go any­ Families will continue to sleep lessly approached by reporters-who one in other parts of the country? where else. under wool emergency blankets, on outnumbered visible residents today "They should all be shut down, all The people I talked to were angry emergency cots, till someone decides by about five to one. of them!" and frightened. No one had ever it's OK for them to go home. Plans for President Carter's news -N.C.

THE MILITANT/APRIL 13, 1979 17 From mining to deadl}! wastes Can nuclear power ever be safe? By Fred Murphy If the melting is not stopped, the tor wastes and reprocessed into fresh The accident at the Three Mile Is­ hundred tons or so of intensely hot fuel fuel elements. But the few reprocessing land nuclear plant has millions of and waste can cause a steam explo­ plants that were built failed miserably, people across the country asking, "Can sion, bursting the concrete-and-steel and it is unlikely that more will be the nuclear industry ever be made containment building around the reac­ tried in the near future. safe?" tor. Because there are no reprocessing Our answer is, "No." To see why, plants, each nuclear reactor must store let's start \\i.th how nuclear plants Meltdown its own spent fuel on site. The deep work. If this is somehow avoider;i, the fuel pools in which the wastes are kept are Atomic power is based on a unique can still burn straight through the fast filling up. natural process called fission-the bottom of the building. In either event, But even if the fuel could be repro­ splitting of atoms. When a sufficient huge quantities of radioactive debris cessed, the waste problem would re­ quantity of a radioactive fuel-usually are spewed into the environment, con­ main unsolved. uranium or plutonium-is brought to­ taminating a wide area as wind and What cannot be reused must be gether under the proper conditions, water carry the deadly materials away. buried. None of the various proposals this fission becomes self-sustaining A long-suppressed ] 964-65 report by for this have in any way been proven and generates large amounts of heat. the Atomic Energy Commission found effective for the extremely long-term that the consequences of such a "melt­ isolation required. How reactors work down" accident could amount to 45,000 So even if the whole nuclear industry Water is pumped through the hot, deaths, 100,000 injuries, long-term con­ were shut down today, the huge quan­ fissioning fuel of a reactor to generate tamination of an area the size of tities of wastes already produced will steam. The steam drives a turbine to Pennsylvania (!),and up to $280 billion pose an enormous problem for genera­ produce electricity. in damage. tions to come. The fission process is halted by The Three Mile Island accident inserting special rods into the fuel core. proves beyond doubt that such catas­ Government bail-out As the rods are pulled out, the reactor trophes can and will happen. Indeed, The only "solution" the Carter ad­ heats up and power production can Carter energy adviser Jack O'Leary ministration has come up with is a begin. told a 1977 conference in Washington plan for the federal government to buy Once a reactor has been in use for a that "between now and the year 2000 used fuel rods from the power compan­ certain period of time, however, insert­ there would be a serious core meltdown ies and take responsibility for dispos­ ing the control rods does not lead to a of a nuclear reactor." ing of them. This lets the industry off complete cooling down of the core, Yet the Carter administration has Inside the reactor. Once In operation, the hook and forces working people to because of the radioactive waste pro­ continued to press for stepped-up use of this core must be continually cooled or foot the bill with our tax dollars. ducts that accumulate there. Reactions nuclear power. a meltdown will occur. Nor has the government proven any in the wastes keep them so hot that more capable of handling wastes than they must continue to be cooled for Fuel cycle private industry. In fact, the worst months after being removed from the Nuclear dangers are by no means these poisons completely from the en­ accident involving high-level wastes reactor. limited to catastrophic accidents at vironment. occurred at the military's nuclear com­ So whether the reactor is in opera­ operating plants. Other parts of the The normal operation of nuclear plex in Hanford. In 197:3 a tank leaked tion or not, if the flow of cooling water "nuclear fuel cycle" also present grave reactors in power plants results in more than 100,000 gallons of its through the core is blocked-perhaps threats to human life. releases of low-level radiation. There is fiercely radioactive contents into the because of a broken pipe or a pump The cycle begins with the mining growing evidence that the effects of soil only a few miles from the Colum­ failure-the fuel and wastes can over­ and processing of uranium. this have been gravely understated by bia River. That was in addition to heat and melt. Mining releases radioactive radon the government. some 300,000 gallons that have es­ Nuclear plants are equipped with gas into the environment, with deadly A recent study by Dr. Thomas Man­ caped in other accidents at Hanford. several kinds of emergency core cool­ effects. An estimated 16 percent of U.S. cuso of the University of Pittsburgh The Columbia River has been labeled ing systems to guard against such an uranium miners who worked under­ showed that the incidence of cancer "the world's most radioactive river." event. But as the Three Mile Island ground between 1946 and 1968 will and leukemia among workers at the accident shows, their reliability is develop lung cancer as a result of the government's Hanford, Washington, Shut them all down! highly questionable. radon they inhaled in the mines. nuclear weapons complex was consid­ All the dangers described here-from Radioactive residues, called tailings, erably higher than the national aver­ mining, milling, reactors, and wastes­ are a waste product of uranium mill­ age. These workers had been exposed accompany not only the nuclear power ing. Some 26 million tons of these to small doses of radioactivity for industry but also the Pentagon's far­ tailings are piled up at twenty-two extended periods of time. flung apparatus for producing atomic Pa. accident sites throughout the western United bombs and missile warheads. And in States. Gamma rays from the main Wastes-eternal nightmare that lies the danger not only of some not the first radioactive component of these wastes, The most mammoth nuclear problem catastrophic accident but also of the Three Mile Island is not the first radium, can cause cancer. of all involves the intensely radioac­ deliberate, calculated use of nuclear major accident or near-miss at a In a number of areas, the sand-like tive wastes that come from spent nu­ weapons by this country's rulers. That nuclear plant: tailings have been used as building clear fuel and from the government's could bring about the total destruction • December 1952: Partial fuel materials. In Grand Junction, Colo­ bomb-building industry. of life on this planet. meltdown and release of more than rado, for example, an estimated Millions of gallons and tens of thou­ Perhaps someday human beings will 1 million gallons of radioactive 300,000 tons of uranium tailings were sands of cubic feet of these deadly achieve such giant scientific advances water inside the NRX experimental used in the construction of more than substances have been produced since as to make possible the safe use of test reactor at Chalk River, Onta­ 700 homes, businesses, churches, and the beginning of the Atomic Age. More nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. no. schools. and more scientists are coming to But it is more likely that a rational, • October 1957: Uranium fire in Colorado Health Department statis­ agree that there is no way to store socialist society will concentrate in­ the British government's weapons­ tics show that residents of Grand them safely and permanently. stead on harnessing safer, simpler, production reactor at Windscale, Junction have an acute leukemia rate The most fiendish waste product of and cleaner energy sources. England. Farmlands were contami­ that is twice the average for the state all, plutonium, remains radioactive for For the present, our survival requires nated over a 200-square-mile area; as a whole. half a million years and must be kept that all nuclear plants be shut down, more than a half-million gallons of As milled uranium is further pro­ isolated from all living things during that the production of nuclear weapons milk poisoned with radioactive io­ cessed into fuel, highly radioactive that entire time. be halted and the present stockpiles dine had to be dumped. matter may be accidentally released. The government and the nuclear destroyed, and that the entire • January 1961: U.S. govern­ Even the most complex procedures industry once had high hopes that the government/big-business nuclear com­ ment test reactor at Idaho Falls, have proven insufficient to isolate plutonium could be removed from reac- plex be dismantled. Idaho, went out of control. Three workers were killed, one of whom was impaled on the reactor ceiling by a control rod. containment structure • October 1966: Partial melt­ ocean down at the Fermi breeder reactor near Detroit. Nuclear explosion was narrowly averted. • March 1975: Fire at Browns Ferry plant in Alabama destroyed control cables for many safety de­ vices, including emergency core cooling system. By rigging up a makeshift cooling apparatus, oper­ ators managed to avert a melt­ down. condensor cooling water These are some, but not all, of the most dramatic nuclear mishaps. In a recent two-year period, there were some 2,000 "reportable" accidents at nuclear plants in the United States alone. Susanna Natti Pressurized water reactor, similar to the one at Three Mile Island

18 ENERGY PROFIT DRIVE Why \1\a.shington pushes nuclear power By Dick Roberts Through their manipulation of world oil supplies As word of new radioactive leakage at the Three during the Iranian oil strikes in the last quarter of Mile Island plant came over the wires March 30, 1978-in which they promoted an oil "shortage" Energy Secretary James Schlesinger was present­ scare, although the evidence is that no shortage ing the Carter administration's viewpoint on nu­ ever existed-the five top U.S. oil companies reaped clear power to a congressional committee in Wash­ the following profit increases: Exxon, up 48 percent; ington. Gulf, up 45 percent; Mobil, up 10 percent; Standard Nuclear power "continues to be an essential Oil of California, up 33 percent; and Texaco, up 72 element" in the nation's drive for energy indepen­ percent. dence, Schlesinger said. He declared that the "his­ The oil companies have another reason to foster toric record" of nuclear power was "excellent." He massive oil imports at this time: they want to pump said the risks in light-water reactors like that on this oil out of the Middle East before more revolu­ Three Mile Island were "relatively trivial" when tionary upheavals like in Iran threaten to take it compared to coal or oil generating plants. out of their control. Just before the Three Mile Island disaster began, As to reserves in the United States, in 1974 the the Carter administration was evidently planning Ford Foundation's "Energy Policy Project" calcu­ to launch a major offensive in favor of nuclear lated that there are 200-400 billion barrels of undis­ power production. The cover was to be the new covered recoverable onshore and offshore oil here in "energy crisis" scare Washington has tried to whip addition to what is already known. The upper figure up around the Iranian revolution. Major articles in exceeds the entire known reserves of the Middle the business press outlined the need for such a East. campaign. For natural gas, the Ford Foundation's figures "One by one, the lights are going out for the U.S. were much higher: 1,000 to 2,000 trillion cubic feet. nuclear power industry," Business Week magazine Present U.S. natural gas production is less than 1 complained in a special report December 25. "Reac­ percent of the upper figure, tor orders have plummeted from a high of 41 in 1973 to zero this year." Coal Fortune magazine began a series of articles with In addition, there are immense reserves of coal. In the headline: ''It's time to end the holy war over fact the oil companies themselves have bought up nuclear power." "Today," said Fortune, "the U.S. some of the largest coal companies, as well as much

gets 12 1/ 2 percent of its electric power from seventy­ uranium, in order to extend their control of energy two nuclear generating plants. This is already resources. Today oil companies mine 17 percent of enough to make a vital difference when foreign oil the coal and 25 percent of the uranium in the supplies are pinched or when coal miners stage a United States. lengthy strike." The railroad companies also own large amounts of coal. Carter plan Continental Oil owns Consolidation Coal, the From the beginning, the Carter administration JAMES SCHLESINGER second-largest coal producer. In 1976, a year of has been trying to steamroller the growing opposi­ major coal output, Consol produced 50.6 million tion to nuclear energy. The appointment of James tons of coal. Yet Consol's reserves in the same year Schlesinger showed where the White House stood. from nuclear energy production? were listed as 14.3 billion tons of coal. Schlesinger was previously head of the Atomic At the center of this process are two of the main There are enormous reserves of coal. But the Energy Commission, then secretary of war, and bastions of American industrial capitalism: West­ American ruling class refuses to invest in the always an outspoken advocate of nuclear power. inghouse and General Electric, the corporations pollution-control equipment needed to convert coal In his first major energy address in April 1977 involved with the AEC's development of nuclear safely into energy, and in the upgrading of the Carter made it clear that nuclear power production technology from the beginning. railroads necessary to transport coal. had a green light: "We must ... increase our From the 1890s GE and Westinghouse were key There is plentiful natural gas and a considerable capacity to produce enriched uranium fuel for light­ sectors of the financial empire of J.P. Morgan and amount of oil. But these are kept in reserve to a water nuclear power plants," he said. Company. This powerful banking group, now cen­ greater or lesser extent as the companies strive to ''We must also reform the nuclear licensing proce­ tered around the Morgan Guaranty Trust, also raise gas and oil prices to the limits. dunes," Carter maintained. He complained, "It controls AT&T, U.S. Steel, and a number of rail­ Finally, nuclear energy-the most dangerous should not take ten years to license a plant." roads. As well, it controls a host of electric generat­ industrial enterprise today-is promoted because of "Reform" meant making it much more difficult to ing companies. the vast profits that lurk in this industry press questions about safety and environmental Westinghouse and GE themselves sell three­ Contrived shortages, soaring fuel bills, hazards to hazards during the licensing process. fourths of the reactors produced in this country. workers in the industry and the public at large, and Washington's concern for nuclear power stems They sell nuclear reactors abroad. And they control now the ultimate threat of nuclear disaster-this is from both military and economic necessities of a considerable amount of the uranium necessary for what capitalist control of the energy industry has American capitalism. The momentum for nuclear nuclear production. brought us. power initially came from the production of atomic The other two companies that manufacture nu: It is time that energy production was reorganized weapons. The "Atoms for Peace" program was clear reactors are the Babcock and Wilcox division from top to bottom-under the control of working launched by the newly founded Atomic Energy of the ,J. Ray McDermott, and Combustion Engi­ people, not the private profit drive. Commission in the early 1950s to promote nuclear neering. development. Its very name betrayed one of the purposes: Profits Les_sons for the production of nuclear power for energy could help These monopolies stand to gain immense profits distract attention from the relentless production of from the continued construction of nuclear power fight against nukes nuclear weapons for the Pentagon's deadly arsenal. stations. This flows from the huge amount of Nuclear reactors had to be built to supply pluto­ capital involved in the production of nuclear plants. nium for atom bombs. If they could also be sold to Today a 1,000-megawatt unit costs close to $1.5 Out Now! A Participant's Account of the public as a miraculous new energy source, so billion. the American Movement against the much the better. Under this guise the AEC poured According to Business Week, the "most hopeful" Vietnam War massive subsidies into such corporations as General industry and government projections for nuclear By Fred Halstead. The dramatic story of the Electric and Westinghouse for nuclear research. growth in the next decade call for 180 new plant antiwar movement, told by one of its central orders. That is some $270 billion worth of plants! leaders and organizers. Monad. 759 pp., cloth $30, Secrecy It is this enormous potential investment and paper, $8.95. From the beginning this process has been potential profit that keeps the pressure on for the shrouded in secrecy. The government, the corpora­ development of nuclear power-not the supposed And for reading on the hazards of nuclear tions making nuclear reactors, and the utilities running out of fossil fuels in the United States. power . .. conspired to conceal the dangers of nuclear produc­ In fact the continental United States is abund­ tion. antly rich in energy sources, above all in coal and Nuclear Power by Walter Patterson. Penguin Book, When Schle:.;inger headed the AEC, for example, natural gas. 302 pp., $3.50 in 1971-73, it conducted a survey of safety problems The energy shortage myth has been drummed up The Poverty of Power by Barry Commoner. Ban­ in nuclear reactors. "The large number of reactor to aid Washington in removing price controls on tam Books, 297 pp., $2. 75. incidents, coupled with the fact that many of them domestic oil and natural gas. The oil companies had real safety significance ... raises a serious have deliberately cut back U.S. oil production, The Silent Bomb, ed. Peter Faulkner. Vintage, 382 question regarding the current review and inspec-· hoarding the oil for a time when they can sell it at pp., $3.95. tion practices both on the part of the nuclear deregulated world market prices. We Almost Lost Detroit by John G. Fuller. Ballan­ industry and the AEC." The AEC kept this report Despite their flag-waving calls for U.S. "energy tine, 288 pp., $1.95. secret. It came to light through the efforts of the independence," the U.S. oil giants reap vast profits Union of Concerned Scientists in 1974. from the import of oil from OPEC (Organization of Order from Pathfinder Press, 410 West Street, New Meanwhile> nuclear energy became a growing Petroleum Exporting Countries) producers. These York, New York 10014. Please include $.50 for factor in the production of electricity. Why? Because U.S. corporations-along with a handful of Euro­ postage, $.75 if order for more than one book. of a shortage of other energy sources? Or because of pean oil trusts-control the distribution and sale of the immense profits U.S. capitalism stands to gain OPEC oil.

THE MILITANT/APRIL 13, 1979 19 Thousands protest 'We all live in Pennsylvania'

New York, March 30 Militant/Anne Teesdale By Osborne Hart march on the federal building. On picketed the federal building, calling The demonstration will take place "We all live in Pennsylvania!" April 22, protesters will rally at the for the closing of the Wolf Creek plant. Friday, April 6, at the headquarters of chanted 50,000 antinuclear demonstra­ PEC Limerick nuclear power plant in Protests are also scheduled this week Con Edison at 14th Street and Irving tors at a rally in Hanover, West Ger­ Limerick, Pennsylvania. for: Denver, Toledo, Cleveland, Place. It will be cosponsored by the many March 30. • Chicago/Gary-One hundred Atlanta, Los Angeles, Albany, Am­ New York Mobilization for Survival. The protest was organized against people, including members of United herst, San Diego, Milwaukee, Albu­ The numbers to call for further infor­ plans for a nuclear waste dump, but Steelworkers of America locals 1010, querque, New Orleans, and Washing­ mation are: NYC SHAD Alliance (212) the nuclear accident at the Three Mile 1066, and 6787 participated in a picket ton, D.C. 533-0796; NYC Mobilization for Survi­ Island plant in the U.S. became the on March 31 demanding a halt to val (212) 673-1808. automatic focus for the action. construction of the Bailly nuclear In the United States, antinuclear power plant. Another action is planned By Bennett Satinoff activists and organizations mounted a for April 7 at the Bailly site, which is NEW YORK-The news March 30 of Antinuke forums rapid response to the events in Penn­ located near the Bethlehem Steel plant. increased danger at Three Mile Island brought out a quickly built protest of DETROIT sylvania. Quickly organized demon­ • Minneapolis-150 picketed NO NUKES: AN ACTION PERSPECTIVE. strations and emergency meetings Northern States Power, calling for the 1,500 people in Washington Square Speakers: Stan Hills, Arbor Alliance and Young were held in cities across the country. closure of two nuclear power plants. Park. Socialist Alliance; Marvin Fried, Sale Energy The protesters held a rally in the Coalition of Detroit. Fri., Apr. 8, 7 p.m. 6404 Antinuclear activists mobilized to • Raleigh, North Carolina-An Woodward. Donation: $1.50. Ausp: Militant Fo­ express their outrage and to organize emergency meeting of the Kudzu Al­ park and then marched to the showing rum. For more information call (313) 875-5322. immediate actions against nuclear liance was held April 1 to plan a picket of China Syndrome in Times Square. Chants of "No more nukes! Shut them LOS ANGELES: EAST SIDE power. Profit-gouging utility compan­ and other actions against nuclear NUCLEAR POWER: WHAT IT IS AND HOW ies owning nuclear plants have become power. down!" and "No more Hiroshimas! No TO STOP IT. Speakers: Dr. Irving Lyon; Lou targets for protest actions. Activists more Harrisburgs" attracted many Martin, South Coast Alliance lor Survival; Jim • St. Louis-A demonstration was Odling, Alliance lor Survival, Socialist Workers are also leafleting and holding im­ held at the Callaway nuclear power onlookers to join the march. Party. Thurs., Apr. 12, 7:30p.m. 2554 Saturn Ave. promptu rallies at showings of the plant on April 1. A debate on nuclear From Times Square, 200 people Huntington Pk. Donation: $1.50 Ausp: Militant antinuclear film The China Syndrome. power April 5 will pit Union Electric marched to the TRIGA nuclear reactor Forum. For more information call (213) 582-1975. As we go to press, antinuclear acti­ (owners of the Callaway plant) at Columbia University. There NEW YORK vists have organized news conferences, against antinuclear activists at Wash­ hundreds of people leaving a campus SOCIALISM AND THE ANTI-NUCLEAR demonstrations, and meetings in more concert and others from nearby dormi­ POWER MOVEMENT. Speaker: Paul Mailhot, ington University. April 24 St. Loui­ Young Socialist Alliance National Executive than twenty-five cities in opposition to sans for a Safe Environment will pro­ tories joined a picket line. Committee. Wed., Apr. 18, 7 p.m. NYU Loeb the continued use of nuclear energy. test at Union Electric's stockholders' The president of Columbia Univer­ Student Center Room 411, 566 LaGuardia Pl., sity, Dr. William J. McGill, was forced Washington Sq. South. Ausp: YSA. For more • Connecticut-On April 7 a major meeting. information call (212) 533-2902. demonstration is planned in Groton, • Phoenix-Mobilization for Survi­ to announce that he would "go to the the launching site of the Trident nu­ val is organizing for an April 7 demon­ faculty of engineering with a very OAKLAND-BERKELEY strong request to not go forward with NO NUKES! A PANEL DISCUSSION. Fri., Apr. clear submarine (the largest nuclear stration at the state capitol demanding 6, 8 p.m. 3264 Adeline St., Berkeley. Donation $1. sub in the world). that Arizona Public Service stop con­ the reactor-to terminate this develop­ Ausp: Militant Forum. For more information call • Boston-The Clamshell Alliance struction of the power plant outside ment." (415) 653-7156 or 261-1210. and others mobilized a demonstration Phoenix. TRIGA may be the first nuclear PHILADELPHIA of 3,000 on the Boston Commons and • Detroit-The Arbor Alliance will reactor that is a casualty of the Three NO TO NUCLEAR POWER: THE THREE MILE marched to the governor's house April picket Detroit Edison April 5. ISLAND DISASTER. Speaker: Arnold Weissberg, Mile Island disaster. Students vowed stall writer lor the Militant; others. Fri., Apr. 6, 8 1. The Student Coalition Against • Louisville-Two hundred de­ to continue fighting TRIGA until it is p.m. Univ. of Pennsylvania, Houston Hall, 3417 Nukes plans an April 4 demonstration. manded a halt to the construction of dismantled. Spruce Street. Donation: $1. Ausp: Militant Fo­ • Philadelphia-A daily vigil at the Marble Hill nuclear plant March The rally and ma-rch coincided with rum. For more information call (215) 927-4747. the Philadelphia Electric Company 31. An emergency meeting was held to a highly successful weekend confer­ PITTSBURGH (PEC) will continue until the crisis at plan further actions. ence here of the New York SHAD Alli­ THE CASE AGAINST NUCLEAR POWER: the Three Mile Island plant is over. • San Francisco Bay Area-More LESSONS FROM HARRISBURG. Speakers: ance. Brian Bergen, Mobilization lor Survival; Brett Two hundred demonstrated at the PEC than 300 demonstrated March 30 and There were over 400 people at the Merkey, USWA Local 12046 and former radiation offices on March 30 demanding that 31 at Pacific Gas & Electric Company. Saturday educational and organizing control technician at the Shippingport nuclear PEC shut down its nuclear plants. The plant; Mike Kocak, member of Militant reporting Activists are demanding shut-down of workshops of the conference. They team in Harrisburg. Fri., Apr. 6, 8 p.m. 1210 E. Keystone Antinuclear Alliance will the Rancho Seco plant. called a demonstration against Con Carson St. Donation: $1. Ausp. Militant Forum. picket the PEC board of directors April • Kansas City, Missouri-The Edison's nuclear power plant at Indian For more information call ( 412) 488-7000. 4. On April 8, demonstrators will Kansas City People's Energy Project Point.

dangers of nu- /{~ ~ young The vast major- clear power and ,.(._(b~~~ iai•ISI ity of people are the movement to +

2_t World Outlook News, analysis, and discussion of international political events

~v.ewitness account Crossroads, S. Africa: The struggle to survive By Ernest Harsch CAPE TOWN-Almost anywhere else in the world, Crossroads would be the sort of place one would want to move out of. But not in South Africa. The 20,000 African residents of the impoverished shantytown ten miles east of here are fighting for the survi· val of their community; they are strug­ gling to save their meager homes from demolition by the bulldozers' of white People of this South African supremacy. As crowded and flimsy as shantytown are fighting for sur­ Crossroads is, its inhabitants are de­ vival of their community. termined to stay there, because the alternatives-eviction to the barren rural reserves or the breaking up of their families-are simply unaccepta· ble. At a time when most open political activities against the regime have been suppressed, the fight being waged by the people of Crossroads has become a symbol of resistance ,for the entire Black population. A victory there would not only strike a blow at Preto­ ria's policy of forcible popuiation remo­ vals, but could also inspire Blacks elsewhere to once more press forward with their own struggles for political, refused to return to the Bantustans legally entitled to live here, the hous­ ments). The average income for family social, and economic rights. once their labor contracts expire. Since ing situation is so bad that they too heads in Crossroads is R35 (US$40.25) The regime realizes this, and is deter­ they cannot then get legal housing in have little choice but to crowd into a week. mined that Crossroads be stamped out, the established Black townships, they shantytowns. Many had previously About half of the men are in the despite recent conciliatory statements have little choice but to erect whatever been kicked out of their homes in Cape Cape Town area legally. The vast by some government officials. shelter they can, wherever there is an Town to make way for white residen­ majority of the women and children available patch of vacant land. The tial areas. are not. They have come for two main Defiance of apartheid result: rambling shantytowns, or The conditions in one of the Co­ reasons: to be with their husbands and "squatters' camps" as they are usually The very existence of Crossroads loured squatters' camps that I visited fathers and to escape the harsh condi­ called. were little better than those in Cross­ tions in the Transkei and Ciskei. stands in defiance of the regime's Some Blacks who might be legally racial and labor policies. Yet, ironi­ roads. eligible for township housing end up in Crossroads itself was first estab­ Women in Crossroads cally, it is a direct product of those squatters' camps as well, either be­ same policies. lished in February 1975, many of its There are many women in Cross­ cause the rents are too high in the early residents having been evicted roads from Cala, in the Transkei. In the South African scheme of townships or because there is simply things, Blacks are supposed to be from smaller settlements in the area. According to one of them, they left no housing available. rightless, underpaid laborers for the Ironically, it was officials of the local because there it is dry, and we go Although for many Blacks squatting Divisional Council who actually told hungry. The doctors are scarce, and white-owned industries and farms. No­ is the only acceptable alternative open them to go to Crossroads, a stretch of there is nothing to keep us there. Also thing more. From the time of the first to them, it has been decreed a "crime" land near the intersection of two main our husbands are in Cape Town. That white settlement here more than three in South Africa, punishable under the roads not far from D.F. Malan Airport. is why we are making our homes here hundred years ago, Blacks have been Illegal Squatting Act of 1951. At that time, the authorities viewed it in Crossroads." dispossessed of the vast bulk of their The phenomenon of squatting is as a temporary "transit camp," from Many of the inhabitants of Cross­ land. In their millions, they have been particularly acute here in the Western which those workers who were autho­ roads, including those who are here driven, by law and economic necessity, Cape. In this region, the government rized to be in Cape Town would eventu­ "illegally," have actually resided in the to seek work with white employers. has a strict policy of keeping out ally be rehoused in the townships­ Cape Town area for many years, aver­ At the same time, Blacks are denied virtually all Africans, except for mi­ and everyone else shipped off to the aging about eighteen years for the men virtually all political rights. This ena· grant workers. As a consequence, no Transkei and Ciskei reserves. and twelve years for the women. Con­ bles the ruling class to keep Black family housing for Africans has been The entire area in which Crossroads trary to government claims, they do wages extremely low and to hamper built in Cape Town since 1968, and the is located, between Cape Town and not regard the Bantustans as their Blacks from using their substantial migrant workers must live in barracks False Bay to the southeast, is known "homelands." social and economic weight to advance in the three recognized Mrican town­ as the Cape Flats. It is made up of Crossroads was built by the resi­ their political position, to challenge the ships around the city: Guguletu, sandy, low-lying terrain and offers dents themselves, out of materials that dominance of the white settler com­ Nyanga, and Langa. munity. little protection from the fierce winds they either bought or salvaged. On a A central aspect of this set-up is the In reality, of course, African families that sweep across the Cape Peninsula. visit to the shantytown one morning, I migratory labor system, under which do come here-and end up in the In winter, a heavy mist hangs over the was able to walk through extensive Africans in the Bantustans (rural re­ shantytowns. A number of settlements flats, accounting for a high incidence sections of it. All the housing is pretty serves) are allowed to work in the have sprung up over the past few of bronchial ailments among the large­ much the same. "white" cities, like Cape Town, on a years, including Modderdam, Unibel, ly Black population of the area. The shacks, called pondoks, are gen­ contract basis only-with no rights of Werkgenot, Elsies River, Lourde's Crossroads now houses some 3,000 erally very small, composed of one or permanent residency and without their Farm, and Crossroads. Mrican families, or about 20,000 per­ two rooms. With the exception of a rare families. Roughly half of all Mrican sons in all. brick structure, they are made of wood, workers in the country fall into this Coloured camps A majority of the adult men are corrugated iron sheeting, pieces of zinc category. There are also many squatters' employed in Cape Town, to which they or tin, cardboard, plastic, tarpaulin, or Conditions in the poverty-stricken camps inhabited by those Blacks who must commute daily. Some men and any other materials that offer a small Bantustans being what they are, how­ are classified as Coloured (of mixed women are self-employed within the measure of shelter. ever, many Black migrant workers ancestry). In fact, the majority of the settlement, as mechanics, dressmak­ Most of the pondoks have no glass have chosen to defy the law by bring­ more than 200,000 squatters in this ers, small-scale traders, or operators of windows, just square holes in the walls ing their families with them, or have area are Coloured. Although they are shebeens (illegal drinking establish- Continued on next page

THE MILITANT/APRIL 13, 1979 21 World Outlook

September 14, came a second, even ... Crossroads ....,., more vicious attack. Continued from preceding page Some 600 police and board officials to let some light in. Some have wooden had attempted to catch the people of floors, and many have their walls Crossroads by surprise, but they had covered with old newspapers, advertis­ been expected and the shantytown's ing posters, and other kinds of "wall­ home guards were posted around the paper" to help keep the wind and rain perimeter of the camp to sound the from blowing through the cracks. Most alarm. roofs are of metal sheeting or tarpau­ The authoritieH withdrew, but re­ lin, weighted down with stones and turned a few hours later in force. They bricks to keep the wind from lifting were armed with clubs, guns, and them off. police dogs. Residents of shacks were Cape Town winters can be bitterly dragged out and beaten. Tear gas was cold, and the only heating available in fired when crowds gathered in self­ the pondoks is from coal or wood defense. Johnson Ngxobongwana, the stoves. chairman of the Crossroads residents' Crossroads, not surprisingly, has committee and commander of the · few facilities. No one has running home guards, was beaten unconscious water or electricity. The only toilets are r. when he protested the attack. Amid the enclosed in pits in the back. Mter the panic, another 350 inhabitants were residents won a court ruling in 1976 arrested and carted off. declaring Crossroads an "emergency One resident of Crossroads, thirty­ camp," the local authorities grudg­ three-year-old Sindile Ndlela, was shot ingly provided eight water taps on the - to death by the police. He had just outskirts of the camp, twice-weekly - returned from the Transkei, where he garbage collection services, and a med­ had taken his wife for safety after the · .. ,. ical clinic....:..for which each household On September 14, 1978, racist regime tried to disperse community with guns, clubs, first mass raid a week earlier. Another must pay R7 (US$8.05) a month (an and pollee dogs. But residents fought back. resident, Evelyn Tshaba, was wounded amount that in some cases is even by gunfire. higher than in the official townships). Brigadier van der Westhuizen tried The conditions in Crossroads are not to blame the violence on the people of the worst of South Africa's shanty­ grip over the Black majority. allowing squatters to challenge demoli­ Crossroads themselves. "There is no towns. Many are flimsier and even In the words of one official of the Di­ tion orders through the courts. They doubt," he claimed, "that the squat­ more impoverished. In some respects, visional Council, it is difficult in shan­ also turned their attention to other ters' committee, the home guards and in fact, life in Crossroads is more tytowns like Crossroads "to control the squatters' camps in the area: Madder­ the spirit of resistance against laws bearable than in the officially autho­ influx of persons and these unstable dam, Unibel, and Werkgenot were flat­ and officials have led to confrontation rized African townships here. conditions could be a serious hazard in tened by bulldozers and their 30,000 and violence and the tragic loss of What is immediately striking about times of unrest." inhabitants rendered homeless (some life." Crossroads is a strong sense of com­ As the regime sees it, it is imperative eventually ended up in Crossroads). The Crossroads committee re­ munity solidarity. In the words of that the threat of Crossroads be blotted That left Crossroads as the largest sponded to a similar declaration by the Johnson Ndayi, a former unofficial out. surviving African shantytown here. Western Cape divisional commis­ "mayor" of Crossroads, "There is a Although the local authorities in­ The authorities decided it was time to sioner, Brig. J.F. Rossouw, who strong community spirit amongst the itially directed some squatters to move zero in on it once more. claimed that only "necessary" force people at Crossroads, who tend to help to Crossroads, they soon realized their New eviction orders were issued in had been used to "restore order." The one another in many different ways." mistake as the shantytown rapidly early 1978, and the police raids and committee pointed out in a statement, This results partly from the resi­ blossomed out of control. The first intimidation rose sharply. So did the "The police never restored order. There dents' common struggle to save their demolition moves against individual squatters' determination to stand fast. was perfect order before they came. homes, and partly from the fact that shacks began just a few months after Regina Ntongana, the head of the After they came there was no more they have some influence over at least the camp's establishment. Crossroads Women's Movement, af­ peace." It charged the police with certain aspects of their lives, unlike in What followed was a long period of firmed, "In 1976 we had trouble. When acting like "terrorists." the strictly-regulated townships, where harassment and intimidation designed they came into Crossroads, we ran. We the police are ever-present. to force residents out. Police conducted had to stay like baboons in the field 'We will not move' raids and searches to pick up people and then come back. A member of the committee also Organization whose passes did not contain the "This time we're not running. It's reaffirmed the residents' determination The development of a closely-knit proper authorization allowing them to our aim to stay. We'll stand in our to continue their struggle: "We will not community in Crossroads is reflected be in Cape Town. Some workers were houses." move, no matter what happens." in many different things. On their own arrested for "illegally" harboring their In June, after a series of raids in The resistance of the people of Cross­ initiative, the residents have set up a wives and children. Residents who fell which police shot at crowds and ar­ roads, and the widespread publicity thirty-member elected committee to behind in the payment of their service rested fifty persons, about 200 women and support they have won, forced the oversee the affairs of the settlement. fees were threatened with eviction. of Crossroads marched to the Bantu government to back down somewhat The area is subdivided into wards, Some pondoks were demolished. Affairs Administration Board offices from its immediate demolition plans. each with its own small committee. A to protest. When told that their pres­ On November 30, Minister of Plural neighborhood force, called the "home Police harassment ence in Crossroads was illegal, they Relations Pieter G. Koornhof, who is in guards," has also been established to One woman, in a letter to a friend, responded, "If we are told we are charge of overseeing policy toward patrol the shantytown against crime described the constant harassment: illegally here, that is bad. We did not Africans, said that the demolition and to warn residents of raids by the "The police are waking us up at night, make those laws; we will stay here." plans had been set aside indefinitely. authorities. The camp is kept relatively and they are waiting for us at the Koornhof refused, however, to discount clean of litter. [water] taps and even at the office Protest actions demolition entirely. He emphasized Since most of the men are away at when we go and pay our rents [service The following month, on July 30, instead that the residents of Cross­ work during the day, women play a fees]. So it is difficult to fetch water protest actions were held in several roads would be "persuaded" on a leading role in running the camp. They and pay rent." cities in South Africa, and in other "case-by-case" basis to move out "vo­ have also organized the Crossroads On several occasions, women were countries as well, to express support luntarily." Women's Movement to help fight the seized during the day, while their for the struggle in Crossroads. Some I visited Crossroads just a few days regime's demolition plans. husbands were away at work, and 4,000 persons rallied in Crossroads after Koornhofs announcement. There The people of Crossroads have built unceremoniously dumped with their itself. It was even reported that a was little rejoicing. The general con­ two schools, the Sisamiele lower prim­ children onto trains headed toward the group of students in Soweto, the huge sensus was that Crossroads had won a ary school and the Noxolo lower and Bantustans. Some managed to make African township outside Johannes­ temporary reprieve, but that the re­ primary school, which teach about 500 their way back to Crossroads. burg, were boycotting classes in solid­ gime still aimed to eliminate the settle­ students. Teachers' salaries are paid Utilizing a loophole in the Illegal arity with the squatters. ment, reverting for the moment to the by school fees raised within the shan­ Squatting Act, the residents of Cross­ The regime's stance hardened even old tactic of applying pressure on tytown and by donations from sympa­ roads won a partial victory in court in further. In August, Defence Minister individual families to get out, a process thetic groups in Cape Town and else­ June 1976 when they had the settle­ P.W. Botha (soon to become the prime of piecemeal demolition. where. Adult literacy classes have also ment declared an "emergency camp," minister) announced that Crossroads Nor has the threat of outright des­ been established. thus staving off the immediate threat would have to go. Brig. J.H. van der truction of the entire camp receded In addition, Crossroads has more of demolition. Westhuizen, chairman of the Cape very far. Given more politically favora­ than three dozen shops, seven However, the authorities at the same Peninsula Administration Board, pro­ ble circumstances, the authorities churches, a number of cooperative self­ time declared a freeze on the building claimed that if Crossroads were not would certainly try to rush in with help schemes, karate clubs, and soccer of any new shacks at Crossroads. The demolished, other squatters' camps their bulldozers to finish off Cross­ teams. During the day, it is bustling shacks were numbered to enable the would grow and spread. roads once and for all. with activity. inspectors to enforce the ruling, and a During the early morning hours of The struggle of the people of Cross­ The ability of the people of Cross­ "squatter control unit" would swoop in September 6, about 600 police, some of roads themselves will obviously be key roads to accomplish all this in opposi­ to knock down any 11ew ones that were them dressed in camouflage uniforms, to the settlement's survival. But inter­ tion to official policy could set an discovered. descended on Crossroads in what van national solidarity can do much to aid example to Blacks elsewhere. If Cross­ The people of Crossroads having der Westhuizen called a "police exer­ them. It already has. What is needed roads survives, the entire system of forced a temporary stalemate, the au­ cise." They kicked down doors, as­ now are stepped-up efforts internation­ "influx control" (the regulation of pop­ thorities eased up on the harassment saulted residents, tore up identity docu­ ally to halt this latest attack of the ulation movement from rural areas to for most of 1977. ments, and arrested about 450 persons. apartheid regime on Black rights. the cities) could be undermined, and In the meantime, however, they Many were subsequently fined. Crossroads must be saved. with it the white ruling class's firm moved to close the legal loopholes A little more than a week later, on From Intercontinental Press/lnprecor 1920-1979 Ernest Mazey: labor, civil rights fighter By Frank Loven Ernest Mazey, widely known among civil libertar­ ians as the longtime executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, died at age fifty-nine in Hawaii on March 19 following a heart attack and stroke at his home. He was convalescing from heart surgery when stricken. His life was devoted to the labor movement and to the cause of civil liberties. The youngest of four sons in a large working­ class socialist family in Detroit, Ernie grew up in the hard struggle ~f working people against the auto corporations. His father worked at the Briggs company, manufacturer of auto bodies for Ford. These, then, were the factors that shaped young Ernie's life: the good fortune to be born of a socialist family, and the need to be part of the working-class struggle for social equality. He was a fighter all his life against the injustices of capitalist oppression. Aa a youngster he was taught the basic laws of capitalist economy and the class structure of society by an uncle, Steve Mazey, who was a member of the Socialist Labor Party. Other members of the family were in the Proletarian Party, and in his early teens Ernie joined the Proletarian Youth and later be­ came a member of the party. He took ideas seriously and weighed their practical consequences. In 1937, at age eighteen, he and several others left the Proletarian Party because it gave political support to the Communist International, which his friends and he correctly identified with the crimes of Stalinism in the Soviet Union. One of Ernie's close friends, and his mentor at that time, was Fred Valle. In the course of his studies, Fred came upon a book by Leon Trotsky, The Revolution Betrayed, which explained the class fully abreast of rising prices. In the first UAW American Socialist, which ceased publication by the character and social base of the Soviet bureaucracy. contracts after the war this became a hotly debated end of the 1950s. Aa a result of this discovery, Fred and Ernie joined issue, and Ernie was at the center of it. Mazey drifted into collaboration with and support the Socialist Workers Party in 1938 in Detroit. In his reminiscences on UAW democracy, Frank of Democratic Party politicians. But his training in Marquart recalls "Town Hall" debates organized by the SWP had prepared him for his future work in Union and party leader him when he was education director of Local 212. defense of civil liberties. In later years Mazey often said that his political One debate was on the escalator clause. He des­ He had helped launch the SWP case against the education really began in the SWP. But his tests cribes it in his book, An Auto Worker's Journal, as Michigan "antisubversive" Trucks Law in 1952. He were in the union movement in the beginning. follows: was also one of the original organizers in Detroit­ He helped organize municipal workers, and at age "Ernest Mazey and Erwin Baur debated Tom area unions of the defense for James Kutcher, the nineteen he became president of Local 110 of the Clampitt and myself on the proposition ... At that legless war veteran who was deprived of his pension American Federation of State, County, and Munici­ time, the Trotskyists were the strongest advocates and all assistance by a vindictive government pal Employees. Later, he went to work at the Huck of wage escalation. I learned later that Leon Trot­ because of his SWP membership. Manufacturing Company, where he became chief sky first raised this issue as a 'transitional de­ steward and head of the bargaining committee, a mand;' he theorized that the employers would not Radulovich case unit of United Auto Workers Local 212. As a grant it, but in the course of fighting for it workers While active in these cases, the fight against the negotiator for Huck workers he won model con­ would become more radicalized. unconstitutional Trucks Law in particular, Mazey tracts in the auto industry, far better than any "When we debated the subject in Town Hall, the became associated with attorney Charles Lock­ others at the time. UAW was opposed to the escalation principle on the wood. And shortly after Mazey left the SWP a Recognized as a leader in UAW Local 212 and as ground that 'what goes up, must come down!' young man by the name of Radulovich was fired a Trotskyist, Ernie was elected to the SWP National Accordingly, the local officers were opposed to our from his job at the Detroit Tank Arsenal. Committee in 1944. holding the debate because 'it's against UAW Radulovich was told that the reason was his During World War II he was one of the UAW local policy!' I consulted the education committee and refusal to spy on the Socialist Workers Party, to leaders who championed the formation of a labor they agreed that 'the show must go on!' Ernest which he had been introduced by Mazey. He sought party. With his older brother Emil, who later joined Mazey and Erwin Baur are formidable debators .. advice from Mazey, and Charles Lockwood became with Walter Reuther to consolidate bureaucratic Clampitt and I got trounced." his attorney. The famous "Radulovich Case" began. control in the auto union, Ernie helped campaign When the Trotsky School for SWP leaders was It publicized the scandalous activities of Army for a labor party. The idea met with widespread organized in 1945 Ernie was among those chosen to Intelligence, the FBI, the Detroit police, and other popular support. It was the most effective answer to attend the first session. These comrades studied the government agencies. It won support in the UAW the anti-union decrees of the capitalist bipartisan Marxist classics for six months under the tutelage and from the ACLU. And it won. Radulovich got administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. of George Novack, Marxist scholar. For Ernie this his job back. Wartime inflation boosted prices, and the unions was one of his most satisfying and productive This case was the first of many battles for civil sought ways to overcome or circumvent the experiences. liberties and civil rights involving the SWP that government-imposed wage freeze. Trotskyists ex­ Ernest Mazey supported as an officer of the ACLU. plained that the only practical answer was an Antifascist campaigns These included defense of SWP members who were escalator clause in every agreement to keep wages He was in the forefront of antifascist campaigns harassed and detained by the Detroit police while organized by the Socialist Workers Party, both collecting funds for the Montgomery bus boycott, before and after World War II, mobilizing, whenever valuable assistance in gathering data on police necessary, UAW flying squads against fascist dem­ surveillance and break-ins of SWP headquarters, onstrations. defense of democratic rights of Young Socialist Alliance members in Detroit high schools, support He also helped bring out UAW forces to curb the to civil rights activists in the early 1960s, and aid in police-led 1943 racist riots against Blacks in Detroit. the antiwar movement. And in the years that followed, Ernie and his SWP Despite his disagreement with the politics of the comrade Ernest Dillard, one of many Black auto SWP during the entire latter half of his adult life, workers in our party at the time, were largely Ernest Mazey was an occasional speaker in the responsible for a campaign by the NAACP to 1960s at the SWP-sponsored Friday Night Socialist desegregate housing and public eating places in Forum in Detroit. Detroit. This was a decade before the Montgomery His association with the American Civil Liberties bus boycott and the rise of the civil rights move­ Union in a leadership and administrative capacity, ment in the South. which began in 1953, ended in 1974 as a result of In 1953, like many others during the reactionary policy differences within the organization. McCarthy witchhunts, Mazey began to question the This, however, did not terminate Mazey's active ability of the working class to lead society and to participation in the defense of civil liberties and in create the kind of political party necessary to the affairs of the union movement. In 1977, after an overthrow capitalism. This lack of confidence in the eight-year bout with cancer, he went to Chicago to historic role of the working class was expressed help the campaign of Ed Sadlowski for president of inside the SWP through a faction led by Bert the Steelworkers union. The Sadlowski campaign Cochran. was essentially a struggle for union democracy, a Mazey supported the Cochran faction and left the cause that Ernie Mazey was always identified with SWP to help publish and sustain a magazine, The in the auto union.

THE MILITANT/APRIL 13, 1979 23 -rhe class-struggle road democratic rights forward, because they are the only mass institutions specifically designed to represent the interests of working people against the employers, and are potentially the most powerful social instruments that exist. To win the support they need to do their job, the unions have to see them­ selves as responsible for fighting against every form of discrimination, including discrimination against ho­ mosexuals. This does not mean that all issues have equal political weight within an overall revolutionary strategy. Differ­ ent oppressed layers have greatly dif­ ferent social weights in the class strug­ gle. The oppression of women, for example, affects 53 percent of the population, the majority of them working-class. Blacks, latinos, and other oppressed nationalities consti­ tute massive components of the indus­ trial working class. Without the politic­ ization and mobilization of women and oppressed nationalities the transition to a workers government cannot be made. Therefore, the unions should not throw the same resources into the defense of gay rights that they must throw into the defense of women's Militant/Nancy Cole rights and Black or latino rights. At West VIrginia miners rally during 1978 coal strike. Their fight altered political climate In U.S., pushing back ruling class that the same time, unionists fighting for a Is responsible for all forms of discrimination, Including gay oppression. revolutionary strategy do not give an inch to reactionary antigay prejudice. The strategy that supporters of gay By Rich Finkel would not support a 1979 action. ing people increasingly resist this, rights need is similar to the strategy and Matilde Zimmermann After the march was called, a "Hin­ most effectively by using the only that fighters for women's equality and Over the weekend of February 23-25, terlands Caucus" was formed at the major weapon they have-their for the rights of Blacks need. It is a some 300 representatives of lesbian conference to oppose the proposal. umons. strategy that includes doing every­ rights, gay rights, and other groups Caucus supporters said a national The biggest obstacles to the employ­ thing possible to strengthen and pro­ met at a conference in Philadelphia. march would reinforce victimization of ers' achieving their goal are the tect the working class, the only class The meeting was called by the San rural areas by East and West Coast workers organized in the major indus­ whose interests lie in extending demo­ Francisco and Philadelphia Ad Hoc "cultural imperialism." A group of trial unions. In order to hamstring the cratic rights, the only class capable of Committees for the March on Wash­ lesbians from Philadelphia argued unions and beat down the expectations defending these rights against the ington, and the New York City Coali­ that any national action inevitably of the American working class, the class determined to take them away. tion for Lesbian and Gay Rights. oppressed the disabled and women rulers are challenging every right A gay rights movement whose tac­ Delegates voted 106 to 56 in favor of with children who could not afford through which working people can tics are based on this strategic under­ calling an October 14, 1979, march on transportation costs. defend their class interests: the right to standing must revolve around politics, Washington for lesbian and gay Among those who opposed the 1979 strike, to picket, to vote on a contract, not sexuality or "lifestyle." What rights. march call were Lois Reckitt, a promi­ to have a union shop. To deter people counts in this kind of movement is the nent leader of the National Organiza­ from fighting back, the employers willingness to fight for gay rights and What conference debated tion for Women, and Kay Whitlock, make more general attacks on demo­ all democratic rights, not the question The central debate at the conference former chair of NOW's Lesbian Rights cratic rights, including freedom of of with whom, how, or whether, a was between advocates and opponents Committee. assembly, speech, and the press. person has sexual relations. of a national march in 1979. This is aimed at establishing an Attempts to define a movement on Pro-march delegates argued in sup­ A narrow framework atmosphere of greater conformity and the basis of sexuality are an obstacle port of the tactic of mass demonstra­ But the central questions facing the weakening the self-confidence of all to the struggle. Such efforts lead to the tions. They polemicized against the conference were totally obscured by the oppressed or exploited persons. The illusion that the fight for gay rights dead-end approach of waiting politely fact that the debate took place within a antidemocratic assault must include will be carried out by a "gay move­ on the sidelines for courts and legisla­ narrow tactical framework. The ques­ attacks on personal freedoms that do ment" assumed to consist of individu­ tures to decide to outlaw discrimina­ tion of whether or not to march in the not directly stand in the way of the als who sleep with people of the same tion against homosexuals. national capital in 1979-around gay employers satisfying their profit sex. Eric Rofes, from the Boston newspa­ rights or any other issue-can only be hunger. Attacks on gay rights fall into Today the so-called gay movement per Gay Community News, told the decided by determining whether such this category. defined by sexuality includes people conference, "I've covered countless an action would be effective within the Anything that succeeds in blocking like bar and bath owners who profit marches over six years. In each case, overall course of U.S. politics today. this capitalist offensive strikes a blow from the exploitation and isolation of demonstrations have proven more im­ Unfortunately, the conference did not for the democratic rights of all. In this lesbians and gays. It includes real or portant than legislation." even address these broader questions. sense, events that seem to have no­ aspirant ruling-class politicians. It in­ Arguing for a march in 1979 rather In fact, the most striking political thing to do with gay and lesbian cludes gay preachers whose religious than in 1980, the election year, Luve­ fact revealed by the conference is the rights-such as the 1978 miners' strike, role is not a bit less reactionary than nia Pinson from Salsa Soul Sisters of isolation of the gay rights movement the Iranian revolution, the extension of that of more orthodox clergy. It in­ New York said, "Politicians will prom­ from the important class battles now the Equal Rights Amendment dead­ cludes individuals who insist that liv­ ise us anything to get elected. They unfolding in this country. It is these line, and the defeat of the right-to­ ing a certain "lifestyle" is the road to talk out of both sides of their mouth." battles that determine the relationship work-for-less referendum in Missouri­ victory in the fight for gay rights. Marc Rubin of the Gay Teachers of class forces within which all fights have represented big advances for the Attempts to substitute sexuality for Association spoke of the self­ against oppression take place. Only by gay rights struggle. Each of them politics lead to mistakes like identify­ confidence that past civil rights understanding this framework, and helped push back the class that is ing the enemy as "straight" society. marches had given him and other siding with the workers against the responsible for gay oppression and This is just as wrong and self­ participants. "Gay people need that exploiters and oppressors, can any every other form of oppression and defeating as the insistence of some now," he said. "They're not going to oppressed group fight effectively for discrimination. feminists that men are the enemy. The give us our bill." their rights. Only on this basis can a Each of these events changed the enemy of both gays and women is the Lined up against the march call were winning strategy be charted and then relationship of forces within which cutthroat, war-making, U.S. ruling national gay rights figures most appropriate tactics chosen. everyone fights for their human rights. class. closely associated with Democratic What are the lessons that can be Fundamentally, the political struggle Party politics. drawn from the Philadelphia confer­ to advance gay and lesbian rights, like Morris Kight of the Los Angeles ence? What is the strategy that can the fights for women's equality and for Lessons of July 9 Stonewall Democratic Club argued win full human rights for lesbians and the rights of oppressed nationalities, is The gay rights movement cannot that a national march would "bank­ gay men? a reflection of the struggle of class orient itself and break out of its current rupt" the gay community, and detract The fight for gay rights is part of against class. isolation unless it comes to grips with from local organizing. Steve Endean of and inseparable from the struggle to the real confrontation taking place in the Gay Rights National Lobby op­ extend the democratic rights of all Role of labor the United States today, which is a posed the march as ineffective in help­ Americans and to defend these rights The labor movement-ultimately class confrontation. The Philadelphia ing advance federal legislation. against ruling-class attempts to take even to survive-must develop a revo­ conference did not register any pro­ Delegates from Washington, D.C., them away. lutionary program for meeting the gress in this direction. and from Houston argued for a later Since the 1974-75 world recession, ruling-class offensive head-on and For example, although there was march date. Rev. Troy Perry, founder the U.S. ruling class, driven by the fighting for the democratic rights of discussion of the importance of the of the Metropolitan Community laws of capitalism, has been on an all. July 9, 1978, march for the Equal Church, did not attend the conference accelerating offensive to squeeze more The unions are the institutions best Rights Amendment, there was serious but informed the organizers MCC profit out of working people. But work- equipped to move the struggle for underestimation of what it took to 24 to winning gay rights make that march a political success. tactic and should not be elevated to a First of all, the size, character, and strategy. Unfortunately this is exactly militancy of July 9 would have been what happened at the Philadelphia impossible without the earlier success conference. of the coal miners in standing up to the One of the results is reflected in the attempt to break their union. That narrow way the demonstration is now victory affected the political climate of being publicized. For example, the the entire country, inspiring all those Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights fighting against exploitation. put out a leaflet for an April 1 meeting Secondly, it is important to under­ "to organize the New York City metro­ stand what the fight to win the ERA politan area for the march." The leaflet represents. It is the focal point today of reads: "All lesbians and gay men are the drive to bring the legal status of urged to participate in this meeting. women into harmony with the vast The major purpose of the march is to economic and social changes that have mount a powerful expression of lesbian occurred in the past three decades. and gay pride." The entire labor movement sees the This leaflet is directed exclusively at ERA as a question of elementary jus­ gay people, instead of appealing to all tice. Winning the ERA, will streng­ the potential supporters of gay rights. then the self-confidence and combativ­ And it focuses solely on the question of ity of the entire working class and gay pride, rather than raising political make it more difficult for the bosses to demands that can win wide support. Marie Kelley Bolstered by miners' battle, 100,000 turned out July 9 In support of Equal Rights transfer the burden of their economic crisis onto the shoulders of working Age-of-consent Amendment, a major political Issue and focal point of drive to win full equality for women. people, especially women. The Philadelphia conference adopted The Black population identifies with as the main theme for the national the ERA struggle as an integral part of march, "To end all social, economic, Saying that children have the "the antithesis of the fight for lesbian the fight for Black equality. legislative, and judicial oppression of "right" to "consent" to sex with adults and gay rights." lesbians and gay people." But one of is exactly like saying children should Thorstad and others argued vigor­ Test of strength the other demands approved by the be able to "consent" to work in a ously against this motion and in favor More and more the ERA is seen as a conference-to revise the age-of­ garment factory twelve hours a day. of a much vaguer motion expressing decisive test of strength over whether consent laws-poses a mortal threat to Don't some children "consent" to being "opposition to the sexual abuse of women will continue to move forward the struggle for gay rights. As long as used in brutal pornographic films? children by heterosexual or homosex­ on any front. There is broad recogni­ the movement does not decisively repu­ Don't child prostitutes "consent" to ual people." ("Peopie" was substituted tion that the outcome will affect every diate this demand, it will cut off the their miserable and terrifying exist­ for "adults" in this motion because one social force in the country. possibility of involving other social ence? Some of Thorstad's associates supporter said that children could also The July 9 march got further impe­ forces. argue that, at least for male young- sexually abuse each other.) tus when it became clear that the The age-of-consent issue has recently ·- sters, prostitution can be a freely But this is a fraud. We don't want political hirelings of the ruling class been foisted on gay rights organiza­ chosen and fulfilling "lifestyle." laws against child labor changed to had decided to kill the ERA and deal a tions by a small group called the North Laws designed to protect children simply outlaw vaguely defined "abu­ blow to the entire working class. American Man/Boy Love Association. from sexual and economic exploitation sive" child labor. Nor do we want Women and their allies were not will­ A central leader of this group is David by adults are historic acquisitions of "non-abusive consensual" sex by ing to take that. They were ready to Thorstad, who presents himself as a the working class and should be en­ adults with children OK'd. Both are march. "revolutionary socialist homosexual." forced. An anti-working-class, anti­ reactionary to the core. It was also important that the call Thorstad argues that supporters of child, campaign against the age-of­ for July 9 was issued by NOW, a gay rights must take up the fight consent laws has nothing to do with Strategy to win national organization with tens of against all age-of-consent laws. He has gay rights or human rights of any With the correct strategy, supporters thousands of members and hundreds distributed widely a manifesto in kind. It has no place in the struggle to of lesbian and gay rights can make of chapters. which he claims that there is "a war end discrimination against lesbians important gains in the fight against From the start, essential work was between the forces of sexual liberation and gay people. discrimination. There is more support done to draw the unions into the on the one hand, and the forces of After the Philadelphia conference for gay rights today than ever before, march. Black and Latino organizations sexual repression on the other," and adopted the demand, "Full rights for although educational activities remain were asked for support. that "man/boy love and cross­ gay youth, including revision of age-of­ essential. A Gallup Poll conducted in In contrast, supporters of a national generational sex have become the cut­ consent laws," a number of lesbian mid-1977 indicated that 56 percent of gay rights march did not even consider ting edge of that war." delegates who had supported the the population supported equal job the broader framework in which their The repeal of age-of-consent laws is a march threatened to walk out. Some of opportunities for gays. deliberations at the Philadelphia con­ reactionary demand, even though its them spoke from their own experience This sentiment can be expected to ference occurred. They failed to weigh supporters try to pass themselves off about the horror of sexual abuse of grow as the radicalization that gave thoroughly the political import of their as defenders of adolescents against children by adults. rise to the Black and women's libera­ demands, downplayed the narrow re­ legal victimization. A compromise was later adopted by tion movements, and has been deep­ presentation at the conference, and The campaign around this demand a mail poll of delegates. The poll ap­ ened by the defensive struggles of the underestimated the forces lined up has nothing to do with the totally proved a substitute demand: "protec­ American working class, spreads against the action. progressive stance of defending the tion for lesbian and gay youth from further into the labor movement. Un­ The tactic of a march on Washington right of teenagers not to be penalized any laws which are used to discrimi­ like the bosses, working people have can sometimes be extremely effective­ for their sexual activity. On the con­ nate against, oppress, and/or harass absolutely no material interest in cur­ when it flows from a correct political trary, the advocates of repealing age­ them in their homes, schools, and tailing democratic rights or tolerating strategy and an orientation to mobiliz­ of-consent laws are primarily adult social environments." discrimination of any kind. To the ing the forces that can really defend men who believe they should be unres­ However, while this demand does contrary, any discrimination hinders democratic rights. But it is only a tricted in having sex with children. not include the words "age-of-consent them. laws " it was described in the mailing . There is growing potential for win­ as a '"statement to replace and enlarge ning trade unions, women's organiza­ the concept of the 'Revise the Age of tions, and civil rights groups to sup­ Consent' motion." port of gay and lesbian rights as part It remains to be seen whether those of an unconditional defense of the who oppose all age-of-consent laws will democratic rights of all. This was interpret the substitute demand as shown by the International Women's encompassing their own reactionary Year Conference in Houston in 1977 views. What is certain is that the and by the opposition of a number of tainting of any action call with the California unions to the anti-gay and "cross-generational sex" issue will anti-union Briggs Initiative. make it impossible for organizations There are also a significant number like NOW, civil rights groups, trade of activists in the struggle for full unions, or socialists to endorse-and rights for homosexuals who want to correctly so. think politically and chart a course The Coalition for Lesbian and Gay that can win. They don't want to be Rights, which has initiated the build­ trapped in the swamp of the Demo­ ing of the march in the New York City cratic Party or drift off into petty­ area, has been publicly associated with bourgeois utopian "lifestyleism." They the demand for repeal of age-of-consent sense that the road forward must be a laws through statements by Thorstad political struggle, in harmony with the in which he was identified as a spokes­ broad development of social forces that person for CLGR. have the power to defeat those respon­ At a March 27 meeting, Michael sible for exploitation and oppression. Maggi, who is a member of the Social­ With a clear understanding of Amer­ ist Workers Party, proposed that ican politics, a correct evaluation of CLGR clear up this confusion by the greatly differing social weights of adopting a formal position "for the the various struggles of the oppressed, MilitanVLou Howort protection of male and female children and the place and importance of demo­ New York gay rights demonstration. More people than ever before see gay rights from sexual abuse by adults." His cratic rights in the fight of labor and struggle as part of fight for democratic rights. Education around this theme will lead motion characterized adults' having its allies, these gay rights activists can to growing support as radicalization of working class deepens. sex with children as exploitation and chart a winning strategy.

THE MILITANT/APRIL 13, 1979 25 ... USWA Continued from back page civil rights committees to hold forums on Weber at local meetings." Van Deusen also thinks civil rights committees and locals should take the initiative in organizing community meetings involving Black, Chicano, Puerto Rican, and women's organizations. After the conference, Rev. Isidore Booker, head of the Local 13000 civil rights committee, told the Militant, "We have only scratched the surface of the outcome" if Weber wins. There is no reason to be "apologetic" about the Steelworkers' position in this case, he said. Rather, it's time to "solicit more support on the local level." A leaflet circulating around the conference here showed one possible kind of local union activity. The civil rights committee of Local12770 in Troy, New York, printed up a statement on Weber. Sev­ eral other union civil rights committees in the area-in the steel, auto, and electrical industries­ have also distributed the Local 12770 flyer inside their plants. The role of the civil rights committees, what they should be doing and how they can do it most effectively, was the subject of much interest and Militant/Nancy Cole discussion here. Defending job equality, and solidarity with Newport News strikers were themes of first USWA civil rights In his remarks to the delegates, USWA Civil conference. Rights Director Frank Mont urged civil rights committees to "fight for your spot on the agenda at local meetings. And make your report so you can conference as a truly historic agreement that the moderators tried to limit the topics under discus­ make your membership aware of the activities of Steelworkers union can take credit for bringing sion. this so important committee." about. In the civil rights committees workshop, a Black When local civil rights committees accomplish all Yet with only a few statistics offered in a special woman from the Homestead mill in Pittsburgh they should to end discrimination on the job, "your report on the decree, it was seemingly laid to rest expressed the feeling of large numbers of delegates work is still not done," Mont said. "As long as there here at the conference. when she pleaded, "Couldn't we cut the speeches in is a grandmother sitting somewhere in a room "We are not at the point that we have proceeded the morning short so that we can add more to this?" deciding, 'Shall I eat today, shall I pay my rent, or to deal with all those matters that would conclude Local 1010 at Inland Steel in East Chicago, shall I buy heat today,' our work is not done. our particular point under the decree," John T. Indiana, had brought a resolution passed by their "As long as there is a Black child suffering in an Smith, an assistant to international vice-president 17,000-member local and forwarded ahead of time to inferior school, our work is not done. Leon Lynch, told the conference. the civil rights department. It called on the interna· "As long as there is some counselor telling a girl "The implementation committees have been tiona! to initiate an education campaign around she should go into nursing when she has the dismissed-only three are still in effect where there Weber in the pages of the union's newspaper, Steel aptitude and ability to be an engineer, our work is are lawsuits going on." Labor. When a Local 1010 member tried to read the not done. But the reported figures failed to show the extent resolution during the civil rights committee "As long as there is a Hispanic somewhere who of implementation of the decree. Under plant-wide workshop, the moderator cut him off. suffers because of the language barrier, our work is seniority-which is preserved in the basic steel In the Affirmative Action and Safety workshop, not done. contract-28,844 non-craft workers transferred the local's civil rights committee head Juanita "As long as someone is singled out because he is a since 1974. Jew or a Gentile, our work is not done." Holmes was able to read the resolution after work· The workshop on "Effective Civil Rights Com­ The one-in-five hiring requirement for women was shop participants demonstrably backed her up. mittees" attracted nearly 500 delegates. almost met, with 19.8 percent new production and Yet the content of the resolution was not reported One Black steelworker contended that the com­ maintenance hires since 1974 being women. But back to the conference in the workshop summaries. panies hired minorities because it looks good on that brought the total number of women in basic Despite the limitations of the conference, most paper, but then they turn around and fire them. steel from 3,828 to the present 9,52:1, only 5.2 delegates-whether they were angry over the way it A representative from the international legal percent of the total work force. was run or not-appeared buoyed by the commit­ department highlighted a problem faced by women No figures were offered whatsoever for implemen­ ment to civil rights shown there by union officials. steelworkt>rs-harassment on the job. tation of the goals for crafts training and hiring­ Their stance reflects the deep desire of the large "All members of the union have an obligation. to the most disputed part of the consent decree. number of Black and women union members for treat every other member the same," he said. Unfortunately, there was no time set aside for their rights and the growing understanding among "Intimidation of women and threats against them delegates to ask questions or contribute their id!:'as the white membership that racist and sexist practi­ are a violation of the [union] constitution, a on the consent decree. on Weber, or on most of the ces are a tool that can be used by the companies violation of how we should treat each other, and other important topics on the agenda at the con· against the whole union. also a violation of Title VII." ference. The conference provides encouragement and new The 1974 consent decree was the first major effort During the entire three days, delegates had the opportunities to those who want to make their in the steel indu;;try to tackle discrimination both in chance to speak for only two hours, during -four locals and civil rights committees more effective hiring and in craft jobs. It was lauded at the workshops held simultaneou;;ly. Even there the fighters for the rights of all workers.

'Weber' protests held Picket lines and meetings pro­ March 30 rally attended by more Va. NOW backs strike tested the Weber suit as the Supreme than one hundred people. Held at the Striking Newport News shipyard USW A locals :J~):l7 and -110~ passed Court began hearings on the case. Smith Steelworkers D.A.L.U. Local workers are continuing to win sup­ resolutions in support of the New· In Milwaukee, the Committee to 19ii06 hall, the meeting was chaired port in their battle with the Temwco· port News strikers. Local :39:37 also Reverse the Weber Case organized a by Local 19806 President Paul owned shipyard. voted to send a $200 donation to the Blackman. At its state convention in nearby strike fund. Speakers included representatives Virginia Beach April 1, the Virginia In Texas, Dallas-area USW A lo­ of the Milwaukee County Labor National Organization for Women cals 6:!12 and !1:112 passed resolu· Council; the director of District overwhPlmingly passed the follow­ tions in solidarity with the strike. Council 48 of the American Federa­ ing n·solution: USW A Local 2()09 at the giant tion of State, County and Municipal "Whereas our union sisters and Bethlehem Steel Sparrows Point Employees; Roberta Wood from the brotlwrs are constantly fighting plant in Baltimore is showing a slide USWA District :31 Women's Caucus; union-busting efforts in tht> South; pres!'ntation of the solidarity and Narciso Aleman of the Latin and marcb(•s and ralliPs in Newport American Uni(m for Civil Rights. "Whereas our friends, tlw Stet> I News. In San Diego, sixty people partie· workers, are currently in an unfair It has been pre;;pn ted at the local ipated in a picket line and news labor practice strike against th(' meeting, the Baltimore Central La­ conference March 28. The action was Newport News Shipbuilding Com­ bor Council, and at a working organized by the Labor/Community pany: and women's conference organized by Affirmative Action Task Force. The "~Vhereas the Steelworkers art> the Local 2609 Women's Advi;;ory task force is also planning a speak­ fighting for women's rights in affir­ Committee. out in support of affirmative action mative action and against the Weber Clevdand-area auto workers are April 29. case; also expressing their support And in Chicago, forty activists "Be it Resolved that the Virginia through slide presentations. The Ed­ Conference of thP National Organi­ ucation Committee of UA W Local Militant/Scott Breen organized by the USWA District :n Participants In New Orleans meeting Women's Caucus picketed the fed· zation for Women go on record in 4ill has shown the presentation to launched educational campaign era! building against Weber March support of thP Steelworkers." more than !100 auto workers in the against 'Weber.' 31. In right-to-work-for-less Arizona, greater Cleveland area.

26 How bosses rip off undocumented workers By Harry Ring ness places and found violations of employees more than eight hours a workers should be regarded by labor as For the first time, some facts and state labor laws at 90 percent of them. day. a beginning step in the right direction. figures are available showing the ex­ They checked out 999 garment shops "But they ask the workers, and the tent to which undocumented workers in Los Angeles. Ninety-two percent of workers lie," he said. "They claim they Given that kind of support and solid­ are ripped off by employers. them were paying less than the min­ work ten hours." arity, undocumented workers will dem­ With a $1 million grant from the imum wage. Failure to pay time-and-a­ The findings of the investigators onstrate their militancy and class con­ U.S. Labor Department, the California half for overtime was widespread. illustrate the extent to which employ­ sciousness. Division of Labor Enforcement sent Thirty-four percent of these shops ers are able to exploit the "illegal" Despite the best efforts of La migra out a team of thirty-five investigators didn't even have workers' compensa­ status of undocumented workers in and the sweatshop operators to stop to find out if employers of undocu­ tion to cover the employees. this country. Largely not unionized them, undocumented workers have mented workers were complying with In the restaurant industry, they and ever fearful of La migra, these organized and won union contracts in state labor laws. found that 64 percent were paying workers are at the mercy of the bosses. Los Angeles. They weren't. below the minimum wage and/or not The abuses they suffer should be of Over an eight-month period, three paying overtime. concern to all working people. Not only And in Arizona, undocumented teams checked out the Los Angeles In La Mesa, near San Diego, they as a matter of elementary solidarity, workers at the big Goldwater ranch, garment and restaurant industries and found widespread violation of the but also because the superexploitation organized by the Maricopa County light industry and fast food operations child-labor law, with children as young of the undocumented contributes to Organizing Project, conducted a fear­ in a San Diego suburb. as twelve working in fast food places. depressing the wages and working less struggle and have now won the All of these are known to hire mainly One restaurant operator denounced conditions of all workers. first union contract ever gained by undocumented field workers. undocumented workers. the investigators as "gangsters." He How should labor respond to this The investigators visited 3,800 busi- denied a charge that he was working With such an approach, the undocu­ burning problem? mented will prove a powerful ally in Certainly not by joining hands with advancing the interests of all workers. racism and reaction by demanding these several million workers be rounded up and deported. Or that the borders be sealed. Moves in that direction would only Making fuel racist hysteria and would give the ' bosses an even stronger hand in op­ the victim pressing the undocumented. These workers are here, and will the criminal remain here-with the exception, of A recent New York Times ac­ course, of the unfortunates who fall count of undocumented immigrants into the hands of la migra. And, driven in New York City includes the by hunger and want, more will con­ usual racist bunk about cost to tinue to find their way across the taxpayers. border. Example: An official of one hos­ The only positive way for the U.S. pital says they assume that the labor movement to deal with the issue bulk of their unpaid bills are run up is to take a stand in full solidarity with by the undocumented. He does the undocumented. concede, however, that "we have no That means, first of all, fighting for way of proving that." an end to their "illegal" status. That Perhaps the most imaginative would immediately lift the bm-;ses' club example of how the undocumented from over their heads. The unions cost the city money came from the should demand full rights-political, Office of Management and Budget. economic, and social-for the undocu­ The city schools incur a loss of mented already here. federal funds, a spokesperson ex­ And they should demand an end to plains, because "many illegal reactionary immigration restrictions. aliens are afraid to register their U.S. imperialism is responsible for the children in public schools." unemployment that drives Mexican How does that mean a loss of and other workers from their home­ money? lands. Explanation: Added teachers Tlw only "fair," nonracist immigra­ would not be hired to accommodate tion quota is no quota. There should be these children, more classroom an open bordPr! space would not be needed. The city And, of course, the unions must open could be collecting extra federal a big drive to organize the undocu­ money with negligible added cost. Militant/Walter Lippmann mented. Therefore, those dratted "illegal" Ending 'Illegal' status would lift the employers' club from over heads of undocu­ The stand taken by the International children are costing money by not mented workers. It could facilitate union organizing, higher wages and better Ladies Garment Workers Union in Los coming to school. -H.R. conditions for all workers. Angeles to defend and organize these Texas Chicano student conference draws 300 By Olga Rodriguez pact on your community." per Workers World. of Chicano youth are "personal, not and Miguel Pendas Or, he said, you can take the other Members of the Socialist Workers political." AUSTIN, Tx.-More than 300 Chi­ road-"being independent, creating Party and Young Socialist Alliance As a parting shot, right-wing leader cano youth gathered at the Tejas Chi­ our own agendas," whether through also refused to submit their literature AI Newton of San Antonio College cano Student Conference at the Uni­ the RUP or "some other political unit." for "inspection." Nonetheless, the Mili­ explained why he favored the suppres­ versity of Texas campus here February He urged the students to "visibly dem­ tant and other socialist literature sold sion of free .speech in the movement. 23-25. onstrate" the discontent they feel with well outside conference meeting rooms. Describing himself as a "student Participants came from all over their present social, political, and eco­ Saturday workshops overwhelm­ with a high grade-point average," Texas, including campuses as far nomic status. ingly passed resolutions in support of Newton said that the minds of Chi­ away as El Paso and Odessa, to dis­ The main issue at the conference Hector Marroquin, and adopted a mo­ cano youths are highly impressionable cuss the growing attacks on Chicanos turned out to be democracy and free tion put forward by students from El and must be protected against such and how they affect Chicano youth. speech in the Chicano movement. Paso in favor of free speech and nonex­ things as "nude pictures and Marxist A rally featuring Chicano leaders A right-wing faction at the confer­ clusion of ideas in the Chicano move­ literature." opened the conference. Speakers in­ ence with a slim majority on the pre­ ment. A statement condemning the unde­ cluded Ruben Bonilla, statewide direc­ siding committee voted to turn itself However, on Sunday, with total at­ mocratic procedures of the five tor of LULAC (League of United Latin into a screening committee. Anyone tendance shrunk to about 125, the members of the presiding committee American Citizens); Chicana feminist wishing to distribute literature was right wing managed to defeat by a majority was issued by Sylvia Lopez, Inez Tovar; Joaquin Avila of the Mexi­ required to first submit it for inspec­ very small margin the resolution in representing St. Mary's University, can American Legal Defense and Edu­ tion. Marshals were instructed that solidarity with Marroquin. and Andres Gonzales, representing UT cation Fund (MALDEF); and Dr. Ar­ their main task was to stop the distri­ Immediately after defeating the Mar­ San Antonio. The other two members mando Gutierrez, a leader of the Texas bution of "communist and socialist" roquin motion, virtually the entire of the minority later endorsed it. Raza Unida Party who was recently literature. right wing walked out, enabling the The statement _read in part: "Chica­ denied tenure in a racist and politically The presiding committee majority remaining assembly to pass resolu­ nos do not need to have anyone any­ motivated move by the university's banned the literature of the Hector tions on free speech, collective bargain­ where tell us what we can or can't administration. Marroquin Defense Committee. ing for farm workers, full rights for read, or what ideas we can or can't In his keynote address Gutierrez said Two East Austin barrio activists undocumented workers. discuss. . . . Exclusion, censorship that Chicanos have two choices in the who were scheduled to lead a workshop Leaders of the right wing argued and suppression of ideas . . . are fight to better the lives and conditions on prisoner abuse in Texas prisons against the farm worker resolution, deadly policies for our mouimiento. of their people. "You can register and walked out of the conference rather saying that such issues are of no They are the methods used by our vote Democrat or Republican," he said. than submit their literature to censor­ immediate concern to the Chicano oppressors who seek to divide us, pit us "You won't have any significant im- ship, as did supporters of the newspa- students. They held that the problems against each other, and defeat us."

THE MILITANT/APRIL 13, 1979 27 In Brief

their guns more." Quote unquote Johnson's lawyer will fil£• for a new trial and also requPst the 2,000 come to panel on socialism youth's release until "It's like living with a sentencing. ratt]esnake. Sooner or ]ater it's going to bite you. You just don't know when." LOUISVILLE SWP Worker liPmg near the FILES FOR BALLOT SPOT Three Mile Island The Louisville Socialist nuclear power plant. Workers Party filed more than 6,500 signatures March 29, fulfilling the legal re­ TERRENCE JOHNSON quirements for ballot status in TRIAL ENDS Kentucky. Liz Jayko, the SWP Sixteen-year-old Terrence candidate for governor, an­ ,Johnson was convicted March nouncPd the filing at a press 31 on charges of manslaughter conference in Frankfort, the and illegal use of a handgun, state capital. Militant/Charles Ostrofsky but acquitted on murder In· a statement to the press, Some 2,000 people, an overflow crowd, turned Camejo, Socialist Workers Party; and Michael charges. The convictions carry Javko said the successful drive out for a debate on the American socialist Harrington of the Democratic Socialist Organ­ a maximum sentence of to· gather these signatures movement March 31. The panel discussion, Izing Committee. twenty-five years in jail, a was achieved despite the held In New York City's Cooper Union, was minimum of five. attempts of anti-union, anti­ sponsored by a Dutch television station. Much of the discussion focused on Came­ The Prince George's County, Black, antiwomen forces to Featured (from left) were trade unionist jo's proposal that workers break decisively Maryland, trial stemmed from silence our campaign through Henry Foner; critic Susan Sontag; Gus Hall, from the Democratic and Republican parties the July 26 arrest of the Black violence." Communist Party; historian Henry Steele and form a labor party to speak and fight In In November 1978, a tear-gas youth and his brother, sup­ Commager; journalist I.F. Stone; Pedro their own Interests. posedly in connection with a grenade was tossed into an robbery earlier that evening. SWP election campaign rally. At the police station, Johnson Serious lllJury to rally was beaten and threatened. participants was avoided only these petitions today is a vic­ been used in the past by cops to clear plant be halted. CARE Fearing for his life, Johnson because Jim Burfeind, SWP tory for all working people in victimize Blacks and young and the Mobilization for Survi­ grabbed a policeman's gun and candidate for Congress, Kentucky." people particularly. val plan a demonstration for began firing. Two cops were quickly threw the grenade out April 8 against the plant. killed. Johnson and his of the room. VICTORY AGAINST CORPORATE "Gov. Brown stop Diablo," lawyers argued that he had The Louisville Police Depart­ CAR SEARCHES DOUBLESPEAK "Close San Onofre," and "No acted in justifiable self-defense. ment has yet to conduct a The Supreme Court has ruled The New York Times cor­ more Harrisburgs," were the Since the verdict was an­ serious investigation of the at­ that cops can no longer respondent in Middletown, chants of more than 100 people nounced, cops have been tack. arbitrarily stop cars at random Pennsylvania, notes in the in Los Angeles March 28. The making threats of vengeance, In her statement, Jayko said, to search them and check April 3 issue that because action took place at a $500-a­ clearly directed against the "I am running for governor drivers licenses. nuclear power is so "con­ plant fundraiser for Gov. Jerry Black community. The presi­ because I think that working The high court ruled such troversial," corporations resort Brown. Demonstrators were dent of the county police union people, Blacks, women, and searches violate the Fourth to code-words to present it to protesting the Diablo Canyon declared, "If anyone threatens farmers cannot depend on the Amendment protection against the public: Nuclear facility scheduled to a police officer in any way or Democrats and Republicans to unreasonable search and "Thus, what happened on open soon and the San Onofre pulls a gun on them in this protect our standard of living seizure. Three Mile Island . . . was an plant near Los Angeles. country, they better be ready to or protect our rights. . . . In Instead, the court ruled, 'abnormal evolution,' not an And on March 24, nearly 200 meet their maker. this election, the Socialist police may only stop a car if accident. marched and rallied at the "The men in this department Workers Party offers the only they have reason to believe the "It was a 'reactor excursion,' proposed site of the Yellow are fed up," he added. "I think alternative to those who want driver is violating the law. not a near disaster. It was a Creek Nuclear plant outside of they're going to start using to fight back. This is why filing Arbitrary car searches have 'transient event,' not a Iuka, Mississippi. The breakdown .... Mississippi Catfish Alliance, "'Now,' said the scientist which sponsored the rally, who was briefing some police plans future activities. officers here, 'in the event Moody Park 3 trial set there's an event.. UNITED AIRLINES By Miguel Pendas Many people arrested the police and restrict the NO MORE MECHANICS STRIKE HOUSTON-The trial of during the rebellion have right to protest in the city. HARRISBURGS! After rejecting two contract the Moody Park Three on already been convicted of Led by Mayor Jim McConn, Anti-nuclear power protests offers as inadequate, 18,600 trumped-up charges of such charges as arson, the city council, and Police continue in the wake of the mechanics and other ground "inciting a riot" is set to assault, and destruction of Chief Harry Caldwell, this Three Mile Island disaster. workers at United Airlines begin April 10. The property. drive has intensified since Four hundred demonstrators walked off the job at midnight three-Travis Morales, Morales, Herschi, and the Torres murder created a called for the "immediate shut­ March 31. Thomas Herschi, and Myra Youngdahl are in the People national scandal, exposing down of all nuclear facilities" The workers, organized by Youngdahl-were arrested United to Fight Police the Houston Police and "no new nukes" in Albany, the International Association after a cop riot that took Brutality, a group led by the Department's racism and New York, April 2. The action of Machinists and Aerospace place in May 1978 in Moody Revolutionary Communist brutality. was organized by the Capitol Workers, are demanding Park. The park is in Party. On March 26 the District Antinuclear Alliance. protection against the rising Houston's North Side The prosecution does not American Civil Liberties The Kansas City, Missouri, cost of living. Chicano barrio. claim the three physically Union filed two federal law Energy Project held a news "The main issue here is wage The cop riot led to a participated in any "riot." suits that challenge city conference and picket of the security,'' said Don Kramlich, rebellion in the Chicano Instead, the state claims, ordinances restricting the federal building April 3. lAM local president in the community against police they "caused" it by making distribution of leaflets and Forty members of the Chicago area. "We're going to brutality. Anger was certain statements. the use of city parks for Coalition for Safe Energy demand an unlimited cost-of­ particularly focused on the Conviction could result in rallies and demonstrations. picketed in downtown Toledo, living provision to keep pace stubborn refusal of local, jail sentences of up to April 2, calling for the closing with inflation." state, and federal authorities twenty years each. Supporters of civil of the Davis-Bessey plant. The union is demanding a to punish Houston cops The attack on the Moody liberties in Houston are Meanwhile, in Cincinnati, cent-an-hour increase every involved in the brutal Park Three is part of an demanding: Drop the the Citizens Against a Ra­ time the Consumer Price Index slaying of Joe Campos escalating campaign by city charges against the Moody dioactive Environment news rises three-tenths of a percen­ Torres one year before. officials to stifle criticism of Park Three! conference demanded the con­ tage point. The company had struction of the Zimmer Nu- agreed to wage increases for What's Going On

ALABAMA HOW TO STOP IT. Speaker: Vinnie SOUTH AFRICA: AN EYEWITNESS Longo, Socialist Workers Party. Fri., Apr. OREGON BIRMINGHAM ACCOUNT. Speaker: Anita Baltzersen, PENNSYLVANIA 20, 7 p.m. Place to be announced. Dona­ member of Socialist Workers Party, tra­ PORTLAND PHILADELPHIA AN EYEWITNESS REPORT FROM tion: $1.50. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. veled to South Africa in fall 1978. Fri .. NO NUKES. Speakers: representative WAR AND REVOLUTION IN AFRICA. SOUTHERN AFRICA. Speaker: Maceo For more information call (218) 749-6327. Apr. 20, 8 p.m. 373 University. Donation: Dixon, Socialist Workers Party National from Trojan Decommissioning Alliance; Speaker: August Nimtz, staff writer for $1.25. Ausp: Militant Forum. For more Sam Warden. Socialist Workers Party. Committee member, recently returned information call (612) 222-8929. the Militant; Tafa Taona Mahoso, member from tour of southern Africa. Fri., Apr. 13, ST. PAUL Sun., Apr. 15, 7:30 p.m. 711 N.W. Everett. of Patriotic Front of Zimbabwe. Wed .. 8 p.m. Lecture Room C Volker Hall, Univ. CHINA AFTER MAO. Speakers: Ri­ Donation: $1. Ausp: Militant Forum. For Apr. 11. 7:30 p.m. 5811 N. Broad St. more information call (503) 222-7225. of Alabama at Birmingham. Ausp: Univ. chard Kagan, professor of East Asian Donation: $1. Ausp: Militant Forum. For of Ala. Young Socialist Alliance. For more history, Hamline Univ.: Ted Farmer, pro­ more information call (215) 927-4747. information call (205) 322-6028. fessor of history. Univ. of Minnesota; NEW JERSEY Gary Prevost, professor of government, NEWARK ROLE OF RELIGION IN SOCIETY. St. Johns Univ. member of Socialist STOP CARTER'S NUCLEAR TIME Speaker: Kris Huget, Socialist Workers PITTSBURGH Workers Party. Fri.. Apr. 13. 8 p.m. 373 BOMB. Speakers to be announced. Party. Sun .. Apr. 22, 7:30 p.m. 711 N.W. STANTON STORY BENEFIT. Speak­ MINNESOTA University. Donation: $1.25. Ausp: Mili­ Thurs .. Apr. 12, 8 p.m. 11A Central Ave. Everett. Donation: $1. Ausp: Militant Fo­ ers: Ron Story: Mrs. Raglin. Fri., Apr. 13, IRON RANGE tant Forum. For more information call Donation: $1. Ausp: Militant Forum. For rum. For more information call (503) 222- 8 p.m. 1210 E. Carson St. Donation: $1. NUCLEAR POWER: WHAT IT IS AND (612) 222-8929. more information call (201) 643-3341. 7225. For more information call (412) 788-4000. 28 Compiled by Peter Archer The Great Society Harry Ring Unionists fight racist firing By Ray Hamilton taken against the lead man. SEATILE-Larry John­ Johnson immediately filed House-hunting?-In La Jolla, Califor­ TV can be relaxing to the point of putting son, a Black machinist at a grievance, demanding nia, 15,000 square feet featuring a two­ you to sleep. Lockheed Shipyards and reinstatement with full back story living room. Plus a swimming pool member of International pay. He also took his case to with a bridge over it. Also, "a sunken Association of Machinists A real consumer, that one-Federal Local 79's civil rights com­ cocktail area and bar looking out on Local 79, is fighting for his mittee, which voted to sup­ aides are probing Dr. Stewart Richardson, golden pool and ocean." The real estate rights after being fired in a port the case. former director of the Office of Consumer clear case of racist agent describes it as "friendly." $4.5 mil­ Affairs. It seems that while he was run­ A number of shipyard lion. discrimination. workers have helped John­ ning the agency he was also enjoying a Lockheed advertises itself $4,:300 contract to study its functioning. son distribute a leaflet at Sharp-Mercedes-Benz has decided to as an "equal opportunity plant gates explaining his do a station wagon. Base price, $2:3,900. employer." But words are case, and have circulated Doublespeak dep't (I)-"Sadat, Begin The first one went to a faculty person at cheap. After Johnson came petitions demanding he be ask for weapons-Mideast leaders appeal back from seeing the com­ the University of Florida's business rehired. to Congress for arms to keep peace."­ pany doctor about a school. He wanted a wagon that wouldn't Headline in Dallas Morning News. shoulder injury, his lead As a result, the news "rattle and roll." "Sure," he conceded, man accused him of wasting media has given the case some coverage. A television "the thing costs a few pennies, but I only company time and called buy Mercedes." Doublespeak dep't (11)- him a "Black-ass nigger." station filmed Johnson "WASHINGTON (AP)-President Carter leafleting at a plant gate. Johnson called the lead Slight confusion-Americans for Nu­ is seeking to accelerate underground test­ man a racist. Shortly The company has sent the clear Energy say: "Long unemployment ing of nuclear weapons while progressing afterwards, he was fired. No case to immediate lines; empty schools; cold and dark toward an agreement with the Soviets to arbitration. disciplinary action was homes; and a sad future for millions of ban such tests." Americans. This is the second Stone Age that radical antinuclear activists would Radiation? No problem-Of course 1980 and 1981, but balked at Aisha Audi, who is in her bequeath to the American people." If you there's no risk involved in nuclear tests, giving one in 1979. thirties, had served ten years of simply substituted "procapitalists" for but down in Mississippi, where they con­ Union members rejected ten­ a life sentence. She was suffer­ "radical antinuclear activists" it would be ducted underground bomb tests in the tative agreements reached ing from a heart condition, a pretty accurate assessment. 1960s, biologists recently found deformed February 2 and March 19. The spinal rheumatism, and ulcers. toads. National Mediation Board has Arrested in 1969 after wide­ Sociology department-Using ad­ arranged for a new round of spread Palestinian protests vanced electrode and computer tech­ Conservation program-"We should negotiations. against the Zionist occupation niques, sociologists have established that all walk more."-Rosalynn Carter. Meanwhile, in an effort to of the West Bank, Audi was divide airline employees, Uni­ accused of planting bombs, ted has laid off 13,300 pilots, none of which ever exploded. attendants, and others, and Twenty-eight-year-old Mi- has grounded all its flights. riam Shakshir is also ex­ Union Talk PROTESTS WIN tremely ill, suffering from PALESTINIANS' RELEASE heart and kidney disorders and Two Palestinian women pol­ severe ulcers. itical prisoners have been re­ The release of Audi and leased from Israeli jails, appar­ Shakshir was announced Solidarity with Steelworkers ently in response to March 15 by the Palestine Hu­ This week's column is by Glen Ar­ posted on the plant bulletin boards. It international protests. man Rights Campaign. nodo and Jeff Powers, members of caused such a stir that the company vice­ the education committee of United presidents met about it. Auto Workers Local 451. Finally, after our recording secretary 'Nation' hits informers ruling threatened to run off 800 copies and pass CLEVELAND-The labor movement them out at the plant gates, the company The recent ruling by the political party. An Attorney here is still feeling the effects of the coal gave in and allowed the leaflet to be U.S. Court of Appeals over­ General and several other miners' strike, even though it ended al­ posted. turning a contempt citation high officials went to prison most a year ago. When the miners were About 120 members attended the local against U.S. Attorney for their parts in that affair under attack, Cleveland unionists rallied meeting. A real sense of solidarity with General Griffin Bell received even though the intrusions to their cause. the strikers prevailed. We voted to make a major media coverage on the rights of Democrats financial contribution to the strike. throughout the United and other enemies of The old labor adage "an injury to one is Noting the difficulties the steelworkers States. Richard Nixon were bush an injury to all" took on new meaning. We Bell had been found in league compared to what the realized that we all had a stake in the in Virginia face because of the anti-union contempt for defying a F.B.I. did to the Socialist miners' fight. "right to work" laws there, our local president said that the UAW knows from federal court order to turn Workers Party. Today the fight for justice is centered in experience "when you don't have a closed over eighteen FBI informer "Why then should Griffin Newport News, Virginia. Shipyard shop, you've got one hell of a battle on files to attorneys for the Bell be able to get away with workers there are on strike to wiJ;I recogni­ your hands. Socialist Workers Party. The defying a Federal court tion of their union, the United Steel­ "They attempted to push through a court order was issued in the when Nixon et al. could not workers. course of the SWP's $40 do so? 'right to work' law in Ohio, and we de­ million suit against the FBI "Of several possible Our UA W local has initiated a cam­ feated it here," he said. "And we helped to and other government spy answers," says Neier, "the paign of support for the Newport News defeat the 'right to work' law in Missouri agencies. most plausible one is the strikers. last year." An editorial in the April 7 identity of the victims .... It all began when, as members of the For days after the local meeting, people issue of the Nation angrily The legal principle that education committee, we proposed that we would come up to thank us and congratu­ denounced the appeals court emerges IS less than go to Virginia and report back to our late us for what we had done in bringing ruling. The editorial was resounding. It goes membership. them news of the strike. written by Aryeh Neier, the something like this: An At­ We had no idea what to expect. But soon Next we took the presentation before the nationally prominent civiL torney General is not above after we pulled up to the Steelworkers' Cleveland UAW CAP Council, which rep­ liberties figure. the law, except in cases picket line, we knew we had done the right resents 60,000 UAW members. "First the good news," involving groups like the thing. Following our presentation, the council wrote Neier. "A United Socialist Workers Party." We told the strikers we were auto unanimously passed a resolution in sup­ States Court of Appeals has workers from Cleveland and that our local port of the strike. just 'unequivocally had sent us to show our support for the "Nobody can eat this resolution," de­ affirmled] the principle' that strike. A big cheer went up from the clared Local 420 President Joe Diamco. the Attorney General of the pickets. "These people need more than words." United States is not above the law. What we saw on that picket line was a He said his local had access to a tractor­ "Now, the bad news. The good picture of what the strike is all trailer truck and he would make it availa­ court doesn't mean it." about. ble to take food, clothing, and money to Neier points out that by Black and white workers, men and the Virginia strikers. overturning Jvdge Thomas women, were all united. Plant-gate collections are now planned Griesa's contempt citation Like our local, other unions had sent in many UAW plants, and a car caravan the court of appeals representatives to walk the line in solidar­ to Newport News is in the works. effectively upheld the at­ ity. We've shown the slides to other U A W torney general's defiance of Cops were everywhere. locals and to the National Organization the law. We got it all down on film. for Women Labor Task Force. It's clear from this, says When we got back to Cleveland, our We think this spirit oflabor solidarity is Neier, that there is a double local president suggested we make a leaf­ best summed up in the words of an auto standard being applied. "It let to publicize our slide presentation on worker who was present when we brought is jm;t a few years ... since the strike for the next local meeting. news of the strike to UA W Local 1200, the a President was forced from Apparently, our employer-the Linde 14,000-member local at Ford Brookpark. office for withholding infor­ Corporation of West Germany, believes it As we were leaving, he came up to us mation about illegal too has a stake in the strike. For three and said, "I have a family and I don't wiretapping against another GRIFFIN BELL days the industrial relations department have that much. But I'm willing to give held up approval for our leaflet to be five dollars. We all have to stick together."

THE MILITANT/APRIL 13, 1979 29 Our Revolutionary Heritage Letters

against the rule of the rich. Reed on women & draft Pulley for mayor! Unity is the foundation of I really appreciate what your successful liberation. Opponents of the Equal Rights organization is doing. It is A prisoner Amendment have argued that if the truly vital to the struggle. Missouri ERA were passed, women would be I support the socialist worker subject to the draft. and candidate Andrew Pulley Now that the Carter administration [Socialist Workers Party is considering reinstituting the draft, candidate for mayor of Commends Militant the question is coming up again: Does Chicago]. We as the oppressed passing the ERA threaten women I have long approved of the majority must realize the effect ideals and dedication of the with conscription? his victory in the election Socialist Workers Party, both In the fall of 1970, while socialist would have toward bringing leader Evelyn Reed was on a nation­ the organization and its about mass change. membership. The party fulfills wide speaking tour on women's liber­ He has taken a vital step in ation, this question was raised many a valuable function in exposing the uplifting of nations from people to new ways of looking times by her audiences. imperialist oppression. Reed, who died March 22, was best at world problems and national In my view, our support of issues as well. known for her Marxist study of the Andrew Pulley is our In a country where the work origins of women's oppression. In an contribution to the struggle of the socialist is perhaps interview with Caroline Lund, which appeared in the December 18, 1970, 'Militant,' Reed explained how she answered the question of women and the draft. Cuban militia women

This question came up in a discussion I had with women from Washington, D.C., Because of the nature of this capitalist who were very concerned about the way society, women may have to accept this the question of the draft had been intro­ punishment, as men have had to accept it, duced by certain senators into the Senate but I am convinced they will protest it discussion of the women's Equal Rights every step of the way. Amendment. Some of these women were uneasy about the whole matter of con­ Women are not about to take kindly to scription. They were concerned about the prospect of being conscripted into any being drafted and therefore were worried army that is carrying out an imperialist about the whole question of equal rights war-an army that is sent abroad to shoot because of the threat of the draft. down not only men but also women, Other women felt that there was some­ children, and older people in Vietnam. thing wrong with the whole way in which I doubt very much whether women are the question of the draft had been intro­ going to ever passively accept this kind of duced into the issue of equal rights for conscription. women. This issue of conscription is nothing but I explained that as a representative of a gun held at women's heads as a form of the socialist wing of the women's libera­ intimidation when they demand their tion movement, I do not support even the rights. conscription of men for an imperialist war like the one in Vietnam-a dirty war that Another point must be made here also. serves only the monopolists and the prof­ It is often said by men that women are iteers. too weak, fragile, biologically inferior, and But let's examine the question of why incompetent to undertake such "manly" men, including the senators who killed the matters as war. Militant/Wayne Glover Equal Rights Amendment, are asking In actuality, what we have seen women to accept conscription. throughout history is that women are It sounds to me like a kind of punish­ perfectly capable of shouldering arms and Weber's big lie ment for demanding equal rights. participating fully in a militia, as they The Supreme Court has nation. He'd make it really What women are demanding is full and have done in Cuba, in order to protect and started its hearings on the plain whose foot's on whose equal rights in all of the constructive, defend a government they support. productive, creative areas of work and Weber case, which puts be­ back. improving our lives and our human In Cuba, some women bore arms in the fore this arm of the govern­ Many workers today real­ values. battles when they kicked out the dictator ment the question of reverse ize that the bosses that own Now, you have some senators and other Batista. And today, many Cuban women discrimination. the companies that hire men coming forward and saying, all right, voluntarily bear arms alongside of men to, · That they even consider workers have their feet on if you want equal rights in all these protect the government of their own such a case, given the unem­ all workers' backs. They let constructive, productive fields, then you choosing. ployment figures for minori­ up on a few only to pit those are obliged to accept equal "rights" in all Often I feel that women are too much on ties and women, gives cre­ few against the majority. the destructive, hideous aspects of this the defensive concerning this question dence to the biggest lie since They do this to keep us from society. when they don't have to be at all. the origins of the myth of uniting and ganging up on the "happy slave." any one boss. Or, worse yet Look at what the Bakkes for them, ganging up on and Webers are trying to bosses as a whole, as a class pull in the courts. "Mr. opposed to the working Judge," they say, "I'm not class. trying to push Blacks, When we see that we're women, and Latinos out. I being shafted as workers, Our party is your party just don't want white males then we'll look for allies to be deprived of our among all other workers as rights" .... to be first and long as they're ready to or­ THE MILITANT is the voice of 0 I want to join the SWP. foremost. ganize a union. a strike, a White males are the over­ labor party to fight for our the Socialist Workers Party. 0 Send me ____ copies of Prospects for Socialism in America at $2.95 whelming majority of the rights as full members of the skilled work force, and Web­ IF YOU AGREE with what each. Enclosed $ ____ _ working class and as human 0 Please send me more information. er's saying to the judges, beings. you've read, you should join "Those Blacks, Latinos, and The strike of the United us in fighting for a world Name women aren't letting us Steelworkers union Local without war, racism, or Address white males have a chance.'' 8881-\ in the Newport News, And, so far, the white Virginia, shipyard is a good exploitation-a socialist City male judges and their fellow example of workers uniting world. State ______Zip commentators of the busi­ in their own interests as ness world repeat with a workers. Telephone straight and solomonic face, But until we do get an JOIN THE SWP. Fill out this SWP, 14 Charles Lane, New York, N.Y. "We don't want a perversion equal portion of those jobs coupon and mail it today. 10014 of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and rights, it's a lie to say by having discrimination that discrimination is in against white males." reverse. . . . It's going full It makes me wonder what speed ahead. Malcolm X would have to P.M. JOIN THE SWP say about reverse discrimi- Ne1c York, Neu) York

30 Learning About Socialism

harder than any other, in Deeper into the unions Europe or North America, I During its first years the Trotskyist movement in "specialists" attending to this function while the others think the task has required the United States was a small propaganda group. occupy the cheering section in the grandstand. Nothing is great dedication. And all of you Because of objective conditions, it was relatively more absurd and futile than such a party. Auxiliary organi­ and your organization are to be isolated from the working class and the day-to-day zations can and should be formed to enlist the support of commended. sympathizers and fellow-travelers. But the party of the I am concerned with events events in the class struggle. proletariat, to my notion, should be conceived as an organi­ in southern Africa. I am a But as American workers began to respond to the zation of activists with the bulk of its members-everyone member of the Association of impact of the economic depression of the 1930s, new Concerned African Scholars, a opportunities for socialists opened up in the trade­ eligible, in fact-rooted in the trade unions and other mass professional group dedicated to union movement. In the following article from the organizations of the workers. bringing about a just December 5, 1936, issue of 'Labor Action'-a fore­ At this point we always come to the old moth-eaten and resolution of the southern runner of the 'Militant'-James P. Cannon, the found­ utterly ridiculous contrast of theory and practice. There is Africa crisis. ing leader of the American Trotskyist movement, neither sense nor profit in such a debate, for the theory of We are a new organization. explained the necessity of revolutionists turning Marxism, as Engels explained many times, is a guide to The SWP has been engaged in toward these opportunities in the industrial working action. Let muddleheads argue which comes first and which this struggle for a long time, at class. is more important. As an all-around nuisance and futilitar­ a time when it was not much at As Lenin had earlier done, Cannon explains that ian the misnamed "Marxist" who mulls over theory in a all on the minds of most there can be no revolutionary theory without revolu­ vacuum is tied by the vulgar activist who is "all motion and Americans. tionary practice. The opportunities for winning no direction." Effective revolutionists unite theory with I commend you, your workers to socialism that Cannon saw in the mid- practice in all their activity. organization, and the Militant 1930s are even greater today. Engels fought on the barricades in his youth. Marx, the on the tenacity of your efforts formulator of the theory of the proletariat, devoted an and hope that our organization Not the least of the reasons for the renewed vitality and enormous amount of time to the practical work of organiza­ can do as well. > firm, healthy growth of the socialist movement in Califor­ Dennis Cordell tion in the First International, and he remained a revolu­ nia, is the newly developed activity of many of its members Assistant Professor tionary war horse till the day of his death, sniffing the Southern Methodist University in trade unions and the increased attention the party as a battle from afar. Lenin was a thinker and a doer. And Dallas, Texas whole is devoting to this field. Trotsky, the greatest revolutionary man of action the world The turn toward trade-union work means the turn toward has ever seen, elucidated problems of theory on a military new life for the Socialist Party in the West. It means train in the heat of civil war. reconstructing the organization on a proletarian founda­ The purposeful activism of the educated socialists must be 'Educational' paper tion. And that is what is needed first of all, if we are to be a directed primarily into the trade unions precisely because I am writing to express my real force in the class struggle and not a mere club of well­ they are the immediate connecting link with a broader circle appreciation for the prisoners' meaning people which never offends anybody, and which of workers and therefore the most fruitful field of activity. subscription that has been sent nobody ever thinks of taking seriously. When the socialist idea is carried into the workers' mass to me. I find the Militant It takes a fighting organization to make a revolution, and organizations by the militant activists, and takes root there, educational as well as an the place to build it is inside, not outside, the broad labor a profound influence is exerted upon these organizations. interesting paper to read. movement. That means, primarily, the trade unions. We still They become more aware of their class interest and their Writing this letter is my only have a long way to go to complete this necessary transfor­ historic mission, and grow in militancy and solidarity and way to thank you for this mation of the party. What has been done so far-and it is all effectiveness in their struggle against the exploiters. subscription. Keep up the good to the good-is, after all, merely dabbling. We will not really work. get down to business until we devote nine-tenths of our time At the same time, the party gains strength from the live A prisoner and attention to trade-union work. mass contact, finds a constant corrective for tactical errors Tennessee The trade unions are the elementary and basic organiza­ under the impact of the class struggle and steadily draws tions of the workers and the main medium through which new proletarian recruits into its ranks. In the trade-union the socialist idea can penetrate the masses and thus become struggle the party tests and corrects itself in action. It a real force. The masses do not come to the party; the party hardens and grows up to the level of its historic task as the Barred from Britain workers' vanguard in the coming revolution. On February 16 I flew to must go to the masses. The militant activist who carries the England to begin a three-week banner into the mass organization and takes his place on The trail-blazing work of the socialist activists in the vacation there. Upon arriving the firing line in their struggle is the true representative of California unions has opened a path for the party as a at Gatwick Airport, I was resurgent socialism. whole. There can be no doubt that the near future holds detained by immigration And it is not enough by any means to have a few great successes for the party if it follows that path. agents and subjected to one of the most insulting and humiliating experiences of my life. For nearly five and one-half hours I was subjected to interrogation. I was I You Like This Paper, Look Us Up subsequently denied entry into Where to find the Socialist Workers Party, Young Socialis: Alliance, and socialist books and pamphlets England. To quote the ALABAMA: Birmingham: SWP. Box 3382-A. Zip: Louisville: SWP, YSA, 1505 W. Broadway, P.O. Tel (919) 833-!l440. immigration officer, "I am not 35205. Tel: (205) 322-6028 · Box 3593. Zip: 40201 Tel (502) 587-8418. OHIO: Athens: YSA. c/o Balar Center, Ohio Univer­ satisfied that you will stay for ARIZONA: Phoenix: SWP. YSA. 1243 E. McDowell. LOUISIANA: New Orleans: SWP, YSA, 3319 S sity Zip 45701. Tel: (614) 594-7497. Cincinnati: only this limited period or that Zip: 85006. Tel: (602) 255-0450. Tucson: YSA, Carrollton Ave. Zip: 70118. Tel: (504) 486-8048. SWP, YSA, 970 E. McMillan. Zip: 45206. Tel: (513) SUPO 20965. Zip: 85720. Tel: (602) 795-2053. MARYLAND: Baltimore: SWP, YSA, 2117 N. Charles 751-2636. Cleveland: SWP, YSA, 13002 Kinsman no more than a visit is CALIFORNIA: Berkeley: SWP, YSA. 3264 Adeline St. Zip: 21218. Tel: (301) 547-0668. College Park: Rd. Zip: 44120. Tel: (216) 991-5030. Columbus: intended." St. Zip: 94703. Tel: (415) 653-7156. Los Angeles, YSA, c/o Student Union, University of Maryland. YSA, Box 106 Ohio Union, Rm. 308, Ohio State All indications seem to point Eastside: SWP, YSA, 2554 Saturn Ave, Hunting­ Z1p: 20742. Tel: (301) 454-4758. Univ, 1739 N. H1gh St. Zip 43210. Tel (614) 291- to the fact that my detention, ton Park, Zip: 90255 Tel: (213) 582-1975 Los MASSACHUSETTS: Amherst: YSA, c/o Rees. 4 8985. Kent: YSA, Student Center Box 41, Kent Angeles, Westside: SWP, YSA, 2167 W. Washing­ Adams St., Easthampton 01027. Boston: SWP, State University. Zip: 44242. Tel: (216) 678-5974. interrogation, and deportation ton Blvd. Tel (213) 732-8196. Zip: 90018. Oak­ YSA, 510 Commonwealth Ave., 4th Floor. Zip: Toledo: SWP, YSA, 2507 Collingwood Blvd. Z1p: were the result of two factors: I land: SWP, YSA. 1467 Fruitvale Ave. Zip: 94601. 02215. Tel (617) 262-4621. 43610. Tel: (419) 242-9743. am an entertainer, and I am Tel: (415) 261-1210. San Diego: SWP, YSA, 1053 MICHIGAN: Ann Arbor: YSA, Room 4321, Michigan OREGON: Portland: SWP, YSA, 711 NW Everett. 15th St. Zip: 92101 Tel: (714) 234-4630. San Union, U. of M. Zip: 48109. Detroit: SWP, YSA. Zip: 97209. Tel (503) 222-7225. Black. Two other immigrations Francisco: SWP, YSA, 3284 23rd St. Zip: 94110 6404 Woodward Ave. Zip: 48202. Tel: (313) 875- PENNSYLVANIA: Edinboro: YSA, Edinboro State detainees were Black, and were Tel: (415) 824-1992. San Jose: SWP, YSA. 942 E. 5322. MI. Pleasant: YSA, Box 51 Warrmer Hall, College. Z1p: 16412. Philadelphia: SWP, YSA. also barred from entering Santa Clara St. Zip: 95112. Tel: (408) 295-8342. Central Mich. Univ. Zip: 48859. 5811 N. Broad St. Zip: 19141. Tel: (215) 927-4747 England. Inquiries among COLORADO: Denver: SWP. YSA, 126 W 12th Ave. MINNESOTA: Mesabi Iron Range: SWP. P 0. Box or 927-4748. Pittsburgh: SWP. YSA, 1210 E. Zip 80204. Tel: (303) 534-8954. 1287, V1rgmia. Mmn. Zip: 55792. Tel: (218) 749- Carson St. Zip: 15203. Tel: (412) 488-7000. State friends and acquaintances in CONNECTICUT: Hartford: YSA, c/o Joe Carmack, 6327. Minneapolis: SWP, YSA, 23 E. Lake St. Z1p: College: YSA, c/o Jack Craypo, 132 Keller St. Zip the entertainment industry Univ. of Harford, 11 Sherman St. Zip: 06105. Tel 55408. Tel (612) 825-6663. St. Paul: SWP, 373 16801. revealed that this is a (203) 233-6465. University Ave. Zip 55103. Tel (612) 222-8929. RHODE ISLAND: Kingston: YSA, P.O. Box 400. Zip: DELAWARE: Newark: YSA. c/o Stephen Krevisky, MISSOURI: Kansas City: SWP, YSA, 4715A Troost. 02881. Tel (401) 783-8864. surprisingly common 638 Lehigh Rd. M4. Z1p: 19711. Tel: (302) 368- Zip 64110. Tel (816) 753-0404. St. Louis: SWP, TEXAS: Austin: YSA, c/o Mike Rose. 7409 Berkman occurrence among entertainers 1394. YSA. 6223 Delmar Blvd. Zip 63130. Tel: (314) Dr. Z1p: 78752. Dallas: SWP, YSA, 5442 E. Grand. traveling to England. FLORIDA: Miami: SWP, YSA, 8171 NE 2nd Ave. Zip: 725-1570. Zip 75223. Tel (214) 826-4711. Houston: SWP !Jal'id Jenkins 33138 Tel: (305) 756-8358. NEBRASKA: Omaha: YSA, c/o Hugh Wilcox, 521 YSA, 806 Elgin St. #1. Z1p: 77006. Tel: (713) 524- GEORGIA: Atlanta: SWP, YSA, 509 Peachtree St. 4th St., Council Bluffs, Iowa. 51501. 8761 San Antonio: SWP, YSA. 112 Fredericks­ Nezr York, New Yorh NE. Zip: 30308. Tel (404) 872-7229. NEW JERSEY: Newark: SWP. YSA, 11-A Central burg Rd. Zip 78201. Tel (512) 735-3141. ILLINOIS: Champaign-Urbana: YSA, 284 lllini Ave. Z1p 07102. Tel: (201) 643-3341 UTAH: Logan: YSA, P 0 Box 1233, Utah State Union, Urbana. Zip: 61801. Chicago: City-wide NEW MEXICO: Albuquerque: SWP. 108 Morning­ University Zip 84322. Salt Lake City: SWP, YSA, SWP, YSA, 407 S. Dearborn #1145. Zip: 60605 side Dr. NE. Zip 87108. Tel: (505) 255-6869 677 S 7th East. 2nd Floor. Z1p 84102. Tel (801) Tel: SWP-(312) 939-0737; YSA-(312) 427-0280. NEW YORK: Binghamton: YSA, c/o Larry ParadiS, 355-1124. Chicago, South Side: SWP, YSA, 2251 E. 71st St Box 7261. SUNY-B1nghamton. Zip 13901. Capital WASHINGTON, D.C.: SWP. YSA. 3106 Mt. Pleasant The letters column is an Zip: 60649. Tel: (312) 643-5520. Chicago, West District (Albany): SWP, YSA, 103 Central Ave. St. NW. Zip 20010. Tel (202) 797-7699 open forum for all view­ Side: SWP, 3942 W. Chicago. Zip: 60651. Tel: Zip: 12206. Tel (518) 463-0072. Ithaca: YSA, WASHINGTON: Olympia: YSA. The Evergreen (312) 384-0606. Willard Straight Hall. Rm. 41A, Cornell University. State College Library, Rm 3208. Z1p 98505. Tel points on subjects of gen­ INDIANA: Bloomington: YSA, c/o Student Activities Z1 p 14853. New York, Brooklyn: SWP. 841 Clas­ (206) 943-3089. Seattle: SWP, YSA. 4868 Rain1er eral interest to our readers. Desk, Indiana Univers1ty. Zip 47401. Indianapolis: son Ave. Zip: 11238. Tei: (212) 783-2135. New Ave. South Seattle Zip 9811 B. Tel: (206) 723- Please keep your letters SWP, YSA, 4163 College Ave. Zip: 46205. Tel: York, Lower Manhattan: SWP. YSA, 108 E. 16th 5330. Tacoma: SWP, 1306 S. K St. Zip: 98405. Tel: (317) 925-2616. Gary: SWP, P.O. Box M218. Zip St. 2nd Floor. Zip: 10003. Tel (212) 260-6400 (206) 627-0432 brief. Where necessary they 46401. New York, Upper West Side: SWP, YSA, P 0. Box WEST VIRGINIA: Morgantown: SWP, YSA, 957 S. will be abridged. Please in­ KANSAS: Lawrence: YSA, c/o Veronica Cruz, Kan­ 1299. Zip 10025 Tel: (212) 663-3000. New York: University Ave. Zip: 26505. Tel: (304) 296-0055. dicate if you prefer that sas Univ. 326 Lewis. Zip: 66045. Tel: (913) 864- City-w1de SWP, YSA, 108 E. 16th St. 2nd Fl. Zip: WISCONSIN: Madison: YSA, P 0 Box 1442. Zip: 2066. 10003. Tel (212) 260-6400. 53701. Tel (608) 255-4733. Milwaukee: SWP, your initials be used rather KENTUCKY: Lexington: YSA, P.O. Box 952 Univer­ NORTH CAROLINA: Raleigh: SWP, Odd Fellows YSA, 3901 N. 27th St. Zip: 53216. Tel: (414) 445- than your full name. sity Station. Zip: 40506. Tel: (606) 269-6262. Building, Rm. 209, 19 West Hargett St. Zip: 27601 2076.

THE MILITANT/APRIL 13, 1979 31 Tf·IE Mf111J.NT ' eber case threatens, our union & civil rights' Steelworkers conference vows to defend job equality By Nancy Cole President Lloyd McBride explained that before the PITISBURGH-"The Brian Weber case poses a affirmative-action job training plan at Kaiser, the real threat in turning back all the work this union facts of discrimination were there for anyone to see. has done, all the work you people here have done, "Had the government come in and looked at it, all the work people in this country concerned with the guvernment would have been obligated to issue civil rights have done," United Steelworkers Gen­ an order to correct the situation," he said. eral Counsel Bernard Kleiman told the first USW A "Because the government didn't, two courts said Civil Rights Conference held here March 27-29. the union and the company couldn't enter into a Weber is a white laboratory technician at the voluntary agreement. Kaiser Aluminum plant in Gramercy, Louisiana. "Our union is committed to what we did," Claiming "reverse discrimination," he filed suit McBride declared. "There was nothing else we could against the affirmative-action plan at Kaiser nego­ have done." tiated in the 1974 USWA contract. Many delegates had heard of the Weber case but The object of the plan was to increase the number were not aware of the dangers it poses for the of Black and women skilled craft workers. In 1974, USWA and the entire labor movement. Blacks held only 2 percent of these jobs and women In one of the conference workshops, "Reaching held none. Out to Our Human Family," Jane Van Deusen Two lower courts upheld Weber and the Supreme explained what had been done in New Orleans to Court began hearings on the case March 28. counter the threat. Van Deusen is a member of the In the midst of the conference here, top union civil rights committee of USW A Local 13000 at officials left to attend the hearings in Washington, Sticker distributed at conference. Kaiser's Chalmette, Louisiana, plant. D.C. "Individual steelworkers got together," she said, The outcome of the case, Kleiman explained in a fighting for union recognition against the giant "and contacted different unions, the NAACP, report back to the conference, "may be possibly the Tenneco comglomerate. Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the most important civil rights decision since the enact­ USWA organizing department director Elmer National Organization for Women. We were able to ment of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Chaddock captured this sentiment when he told the put together a rally to explain the danger of this "As we see it, what is at stake is our power to delegates, "Civil rights and organizing go hand in case." continue to move forward, to continue to implement hand." [affirmative-action] agreements, basically to treat Conference organizers painted a picture of the Van Deusen pointed out that the union interna­ our members with equity." United Steelworkers as the union that is and should tional had aided the effort by providing a speaker The Weber threat-and the conditions of discrimi­ be in the forefront in the fight for civil rights-not from the international civil rights department. nation that led to affirmative-action plans-was a just on the job but throughout society. "I'd like to suggest some things we can do to theme of this unprecedented gathering of 1,000 Speakers at the three-day conference included further the educational process we began here at steelworkers. AFL-CIO Civil Rights Director William Pollard; this conference," she said. "The international can The delegates were members of local union civil Coalition of Labor Union Women president Joyce send out the fact sheet included in the delegates kits rights committees. More than two-thirds were Miller; and Alfredo Montoya, executive director of to all local unions, along with any other literature Blacks, and there were several hundred women. the Labor Council for Latin American Advance­ available on the case. Another theme was solidarity with the strike of ment. "One good idea," she continued, "might be for the Newport News, Virginia, steelworkers who are In the keynote address the first day, USWA Continued on page 26 'Newport News is us' says USWA conference By Nancy Cole workers face when they try to exercise that conference delegates had just seen ers' tables to serve as huge collection PITISBURGH-"What time is it?" their right to a union. might inspire them to raise funds for receptacles. "Steelworkers time!" "We won the election fair and square the strike. He said any fund raising While the collectors were going That refrain, the favorite chant on by 1 ,500 votes, and now we are almost should be conducted through the auspi­ around, the delegates sang, "We're Steelworkers Local 8888's picket lines immersed in a legal quagmire," he told ces of their local unions and districts. going to roll the union on," with verses in Newport News, Virginia, was also the rally. Laurence Goodman from Local 7055 pledging to roll on over Tenneco and heard many times throughout the "We now have thousands and thou­ jumped up from the audience and the politicians if they got in the way of March 27-29 United Steelworkers civil sands and thousands of legal docu­ initiated a spontaneous collection. "I the union. rights conference. ments. That's the name of the employ­ see $1,000 right here in this room Counted on the spot, the collection The strike by Virginia shipyard ers' game. If we let them, they'll choke that's guaranteed to get there," he came to $1,095.85. workers for a union is a "life and death us on their legal documents. said, adding, "Newport News is us!" The film "88: Close the Gate" is struggle," said USWA Vice-president "I was never more proud of your A request by Lynch for volunteer available from the USWA Public Rela­ Leon Lynch in opening the conference. union and my union when we made collectors quickly brought more than tions Department, 5 Gateway Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222. Tele­ "88: Close the Gate!"-a USW A film the decision to 'close the gates.' The twenty people to the front of the room. on the Newport News strike-received normal course in this situation-and it Table cloths were stripped from speak- phone (412) 562-2400. an enthusiastic response from 1,000 is the employers' battleground-is to delegates attending a rally held during follow the legal route. And hope and the conference. pray that someday down the road After the film, Elmer Chaddock, you'll be officially certified. But even director of the USW A organizing de­ then that's not the end of the road. partment, declared: "There's no play Then they back you to the wall until acting there, and those clubs you saw you don't have any strength left." [the cops carrying] are four feet long. Chaddock explained that the Na­ Your union is engaged in a massive, tional Labor Relations Board, which is difficult struggle. We're going to win, now holding court-ordered hearings there can be no doubt." into the January 1978 USWA election Chaddock went on to express his victory, has eight thousand pages of belief that the "struggle at Newport testimony and evidence thrown in by News will prove to be a blessing for the the employer, Tenneco. It's the "old entire labor movement. delay and destroy tactic," he said. "Hundreds and hundreds of organiz­ "The message I want to leave here ing efforts have been crushed in recent today is that above all we must con­ years," he said. "The Newport News tinue to organize. . . . That's where strike is reminding the Steelworkers our strength comes from, that's where union, the labor movement, and the we replenish ourselves." Militant/Jon Hillson general public about the difficulties Leon Lynch then noted that the film Newport News strikers. labor solidarity is needed to help them win.