El potencial revolucionario 12

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! Dec. 3, 2009 vol. 51 No. 48 50¢ From Berkeley to UCLA Students fight tuition hikes By Caleb T. Maupin Hall”—in memory of Bunchy Carter and John Huggins, two leaders of the Black Panther Party who were gunned WoRkERS WoRLd SALuTES In the early hours of the afternoon of Nov. 19, more down inside the building in 1969 under provocation th than 2,000 students stood outside the office of the Uni- from the FBI. the 40 anniversary versity of California’s Board of Regents. As it became The statement from the UCLA students who have oc- clear that a motion to raise UC tuition by 32 percent had cupied the building proclaims, “We choose to fight back, of the Nat’l Day of passed, the students screamed in outrage. Outside the to resist, where we find ourselves, the place where we meeting and all across the state, students began to fight live and work, our university.” They continue to hold Mourning back. their ground despite being Tasered and tear-gassed. One From inside the building, the regents could hear the student’s leg was reportedly broken during police-initi- Free students’ angry cries as they were held hostage inside the ated violence, according to an internet blog published Native Political building. Because of the enraged protest at their deci- from inside the occupied building. sion to increase tuition by nearly one-third of its already At UC Santa Cruz, two buildings are under student oc- Prisoner– steep costs, it was three hours before the regents felt they cupation. The occupiers have issued a list of 32 demands could safely leave the building. Fourteen students were on the administration, including the end of Taser use by LeoNard arrested outside the regents’ office as they defied police campus security officers and an official apology from the PeLtier orders and blocked the doorways. board for the recent drastic decision. (www.studentac- As the regents left the building escorted by armed po- tivism.net) lice, other cops held back booing and yelling students. An occupation is also taking place at UC Davis, where Students surrounded the van in which the regents were students have taken control of Mrak hall. Dozens have to leave, preventing it from leaving for 45 minutes. reportedly been arrested at this campus. While state and federal governments continue to bail In solidarity with students at the UC schools, students LYNNE STEWART out banks and provide other subsidies to the wealthy, walked out at Fresno State University, while others Unjust incarceration 3 the UC system budget has been cut by more than $800 briefly took control of a building at San Francisco State million. Two thousand university employees have been University. laid off amid the economic crisis, and it seems things will A call for a National Day of Action to Defend Edu- WWP NATIONAL CONFERENCE TALKS only get worse as further tuition hikes, fee increases and cation on March 4 continues to gain support. Student 2 layoffs ensue. groups across the country, as well as academic organiza- Building solidarity Hundreds of students walked out of school at UC tions and educators’ associations, have endorsed the call Lessons from Pittsburgh 5 Berkeley in protest of the increase. Three students were for mass protests on that date. Mass fightback 6 arrested on the morning of Nov. 21 for “burglary” at The revolts taking place across California today may Wheeler Hall, the largest classroom building on the cam- be preparation for the massive revolts soon to come, as Struggle of women workers 6 pus. Then 41 other students occupied a classroom all students demand their right to education, which is un- Palestine in global context 8 morning and afternoon, hanging a banner out the win- der attack by the forces of finance capital and the federal, dow that read “32% Hike, 1900 Layoffs, NO Class.” Late state, and local governments they control. Health care: reform & socialism 9 that evening, police had to remove the classroom door The writer is a Fight Imperialism, China—a world power 10 from its hinges to get inside and arrest all 41 people, who Stand Together organizer in Cleveland. Crisis in Africa, Americas 11 exited the building to a cheering crowd of hundreds who had gathered outside and demonstrated in solidarity the Photo:_INdyBAy.org entire day. Police, in full riot gear, used rubber bullets and night sticks to “maintain control” over the huge crowd. Elsewhere at UCLA, two dozen students barricaded themselves inside Campbell Hall shortly after the vote was announced. The students, still occupying the hall as of Nov. 22, have renamed the building “Carter-Huggins

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oN STRIkE! • South Asian autoworkers • Canadian nickel workers 7 HoNduRAS Sham elections condemned 9 Page_2_dec._3,_2009_ workers.org

Task of a Party: WORKERS WORLD this week ... Building class solidarity  In the U.S. Workers World Party held its 50th anniversary velopment. It was never a Students fight tuition hikes ...... 1 Workers World Party National Conference, Nov. 14-15, question of picking which Building solidarity ...... 2 in New York City. Excerpts of plenary talks are being legitimate struggle to de- The mis-incarceration of Lynne Stewart ...... 3 printed in upcoming WW issues. The following excerpts fend or support when it are from a talk given by WWP Secretariat member, involved the struggles of Activists protest killing of Muslim leader ...... 3 Monica Moorehead. View this entire talk at www. workers and the oppressed Ten years of struggle for housing ...... 3 workers.tv. in this country or around First ‘cash-for-kids’ now ‘cash-for-jobs’ ...... 4 the world. It was never a Detroit disabled activists fight service cuts...... 4 hen I was first introduced to Workers World Party question of whether the Where is our economic bill of rights and justice for all? ...... 4 in the early 1970s in Norfolk, Va., it was in the af- leaders of these struggles W On the picket line ...... 5 termath of the assassination of political prisoner George shared a common world Jackson, the Attica rebellion and the COINTELPRO ww_Photo:_g._duNkEl view or not with us or other Lessons from Pittsburgh...... 5 Monica Moorehead genocidal war on the Black Panther Party. like-minded formations. It Mass fightback ...... 6 While my involvement with the Norfolk Party branch was about and remains today primarily about which side Struggle of women workers ...... 6 was educational and rewarding, especially where the you are on—is it the side of the bosses and bankers, who Health care: reform & socialism ...... 9 struggle against racism was concerned, there was some- view the world as their private domain to make profits at thing holding me back from taking a leap forward in be- the expense of human needs, or is it on the side of those  Around the world coming a Party member. fighting for their democratic rights, for their national lib- Workers demand pay in Ontario ...... 4 Then came along a life-altering moment that forced eration, for sovereignty and even for socialism. Indian autoworkers disrupt ‘global value chain’...... 7 me to look at Workers World Party in a whole different Striking Canadian miners take the struggle global ...... 7 light. That moment was the 1974 March Against Racism Other examples of class solidarity in Boston, because I began to understand why a revolu- Fighting for working-class solidarity is the antithesis Tour depicts Israel’s abuse of Palestinians ...... 8 tionary party is needed. of racism, national oppression, women’s oppression and Palestine in global context ...... 8 The Party saw Boston as an important battleground in lesbian, gay, bi and trans oppression—all of which are Palestinian analyst addresses NYC meetings ...... 8 the ongoing struggle against racism within U.S. capitalist dangers to building solidarity within our class. And for a Sham elections proceed in Honduras ...... 9 society. And therefore, the Party understood the neces- Marxist-Leninist party to abandon this principle of fight- China—a world power ...... 10 sity of mounting a political struggle against the forces of ing for class solidarity, especially the right to self-deter- Revolutionary response from Africa to Americas ...... 11 racist reaction not only in South Boston but throughout mination of oppressed nations, is tantamount to falling  the country. The Party wanted to send a clear message prey to opportunism, class collaboration, sectarianism Editorials with this mobilization that wherever racism rears its ugly and demoralization. Job loss and rise of hunger ...... 10 head, it will be militantly opposed. Our Party has avoided these dangerous traps through-  Noticias En Español Workers World Party understood that in order to go out our 50-year existence, like organizing a defense against this growing tide of racism, where buses filled with committee in support of Black activists Robert Williams El potencial revolucionario ...... 12 Black school children were being stoned by white racists, and Mae Mallory, who defended their right to armed where Black men were being beaten in broad daylight self-defense against the KKK in North Carolina back in in the streets, that it would take a broad multinational the early 1960s. united effort to turn this situation around. This involved Our Party was the first left tendency in the U.S. to hold Workers World a national campaign to show that the Black community of a solidarity demonstration for Palestine during the June 55 West 17 Street Boston and its allies were not isolated and alone. 1967 war against Arab countries launched by the Zionist New York, N.Y. 10011 Workers World Party did not let its modest numbers state of Israel backed by U.S. imperialism. This demon- Phone: (212) 627-2994 of cadre or lack of resources stop it from doing what was stration, which was viciously attacked by pro-Zionists, Fax: (212) 675-7869 necessary to not only fight against racism just because was held in virtual isolation when anti-war movement E-mail: [email protected] it was the right thing to do, which of course it is. Fight- forces refused to support a call for unity initiated by our Web: www.workers.org ing racism also means building class solidarity in order to Party chairperson, Sam Marcy, to support Palestine’s Vol. 51, No. 48 • Dec. 3, 2009 advance the struggle for real economic justice and even- right to self-determination. Closing date: Nov. 24, 2009 tually class emancipation. And it is Workers World Party that can both defend an Activists put aside any political differences under the African-American president against racist and neofascist Editor: Deirdre Griswold banner of “Say No to Racism” and defending the right of attacks and, at the same time, not let this historic mo- Technical Editor: Lal Roohk Black people to go to any school they want without fear of ment for the Black masses stop us from calling for all the Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, racist attack. The Party had taken these political demands U.S. troops to leave Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq and Leslie Feinberg, Kris Hamel, Monica Moorehead, and put into practice the Leninist conception of defend- at the same time defend colonized peoples fighting by Gary Wilson ing the right of self-determination of an oppressed nation. any means necessary to get imperialism off their backs. West Coast Editor: John Parker The Boston march was the defining moment for me There is another important aspect to building class Contributing Editors: Abayomi Azikiwe, that helped me to take a gigantic leap forward to join the solidarity and that is without dedicated, class-conscious Greg Butterfield, Jaimeson Champion, G. Dunkel, Party in 1975. The Boston march and countless other ex- revolutionaries, there would be no party. But revolution- Fred Goldstein, Teresa Gutierrez, Larry Hales, amples go to the heart of what a revolutionary, working- aries are first and foremost human beings living under David Hoskins, Berta Joubert-Ceci, Cheryl LaBash, class party should be all about—doing everything that is a class society and are subject to all kinds of prejudices, Milt Neidenberg, Bryan G. Pfeifer, Betsey Piette, necessary to unite and hold our class together even if it contradictions and backwardness similar to our class. Minnie Bruce Pratt, Gloria Rubac means going against the tide of political reaction; even if But just because revolutionaries are not perfect, does it Technical Staff: Sue Davis, Shelley Ettinger, it means going it alone in certain situations. This is the mean that they can’t make a contribution to the class Bob McCubbin, Maggie Vascassenno acid test of a revolutionary party. struggle within a party? Many people join a workers’ par- Our founding members who are no longer with us— ty, including myself, not because we have read all of the Mundo Obrero: Carl Glenn, Teresa Gutierrez, Sam Marcy, Vince Copeland and Dorothy Ballan—left writings of Marx or Lenin or because we can speak with Berta Joubert-Ceci, Donna Lazarus, Michael Martínez, this powerful legacy of doing everything in our power great confidence or because we understand every impor- Carlos Vargas to show by example what it takes to build and maintain tant development. Supporter Program: Sue Davis, coordinator a revolutionary party with all the ebbs and flows of de- Continued on page 11 Copyright © 2009 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium join us National Office Buffalo, N.Y. Durham, NC Rochester, N.Y. without royalty provided this notice is preserved. 55 W. 17 St., 367 Delaware Ave. [email protected] 585-436-6458 Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly Workers World Party New York, NY 10011 Buffalo, NY 14202 [email protected] except the first week of January by WW Publishers, (WWP) fights on all 212-627-2994; 716-883-2534 Houston P.O. Box 595 San Diego, Calif. issues that face the Fax (212) 675-7869 [email protected] 55 W. 17 St., N.Y., N.Y. 10011. Phone: (212) 627-2994. [email protected] Houston, P.O. Box 33447 Subscriptions: One year: $25; institutions: $35. Letters working class and Chicago TX 77001-0595 San Diego, Atlanta to the editor may be condensed and edited. Articles can oppressed peoples— 27 N. Wacker Dr. #138 713-861-5965 CA 92163 Black and white, Latin@, P.O. Box 424, Chicago, IL 60606 [email protected] be freely reprinted, with credit to Workers World, 55 W. 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Subscription information is at www.workers.org/email. If you would like to [email protected] Philadelphia [email protected] php. know more about Boston 284 Amory St., Detroit P.O. Box 23843, Washington, D.C. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y. WWP, or to join us in Boston, MA 02130 5920 Second Ave., Philadelphia, these struggles, P.O. Box 57300, POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 617-983-3835 Detroit, MI 48202 PA 19143 Washington, DC 20037 contact the branch near- Fax (617) 983-3836 313-459-0777 610-931-2615 [email protected] Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., 5th Floor, est you. [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] New York, N.Y. 10011. workers.org_dec. 3, 2009 Page 3 The mis-incarceration of Lynne Stewart By Iyanna “Nana Soul” Jones the Bail Out the People Movement. The New York sendoff was also attended by City Coun- cilmember and longtime supporter of On Nov. 19, longtime civil rights attor- Lynne Stewart, Charles Barron. ney Lynne Stewart was ordered by Judge “Lynne Stewart would never do any- John G. Koeltl to turn herself in to begin thing that would lead to the harm of any serving a prison sentence for her 2006 human being on this planet,” said Bar- conviction for conspiracy and providing ron. “Lynne Stewart will always be free material support to terrorists. no matter how much you imprison her Amidst a backdrop of chants of “Free because you can jail a revolutionary but Lynne Stewart!” and “We love you Lynne!” you can’t jail the revolution.” and swarmed by supporters, friends and Also in attendance was Attorney Leon- family members, Stewart issued a state- ard Weinglass, who said: “The Lynne ment outside the U.S. District Court in Stewart case is the case that’s going to New York before being taken into custody. mark this era as the era of the war on ter- On Nov. 17, the United States Court of rorists, which includes the war on law- Appeals for the Second Circuit had re- yers who defend those who are accused of voked her bail and ordered her to surren- terrorism. To put her behind bars when der forthwith, but stayed the order until 5 no one was injured, no one was harmed, p.m., allowing Stewart’s attorneys to file when those who produced the torture Ralph Poynter, Lynne Stewart, IAC’s Sara Flounders. an application for a stay. The application memos, those who produced the war are was denied. The three-judge panel of the going free and even prospering is really Pam Africa, Minister of Confrontation it will achieve the opposite effect: inspir- Second Circuit also vacated the original the irony of our time.” for MOVE and co-chair of International ing more lawyers to stand up to a fun- 28-month sentence imposed on Stewart While the demonstration resonated Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia damentally flawed legal system, fight and remanded the case to the original tri- with a contagious fighting spirit, a few Abu-Jamal, both headquartered in Phila- against racism and classism, partner with al court with an order for the trial judge tears mingled with the farewells. Stew- delphia, was optimistic. “These people grassroots community-based organiza- to consider additional factors in Stewart’s art’s soulmate of several decades, Ralph made a huge mistake but it’s a plus for tions, hold the justice system up to the case that could lead to the imposition of a Poynter, who is also co-founder of the the movement. She will be the voice of standards it professes to adhere to, and much longer sentence. New Abolitionist Movement, kept a posi- the voiceless while she’s in there.” most importantly, follow in the footsteps Upon hearing the news Stewart replied: tive outlook for those who turned out to Others are angry that Stewart, a grand- of Lynne Stewart. “Okay, we’re going to prison, folks! I want say goodbye to the radical “People’s Attor- mother, is serving any time at all, due to For many, this is not a goodbye. Rath- to remind you all that today was the day ney.” Poynter said: “It’s a sad moment for her recent 70th birthday, her battle with er, it is a new beginning in a continuous that Joe Hill was executed. And you know me and a sad moment for the Black com- breast cancer and her partner Ralph’s struggle for justice against oppression, what he said? Don’t mourn me, organize!” munity and the poor and for anyone who battle with skin cancer. With the upcom- and, as has been the case for decades, The trial of Joe Hill—a union organizer needed representation by a lawyer and ing holiday season, it would seem that Lynne is at the helm, rendering the bars and activist executed before a firing squad could not afford it. We are all hurting but the decision is somewhat vindictive. that seek to contain her voice and influ- for the alleged murders of two men—was we will continue to struggle until Lynne is Stewart believes her case is a trumped- ence invisible. reportedly fraught with inconsistencies back to carry that struggle for us.” up maneuver to warn attorneys with a Before she went into the courthouse and miscarriages of justice, paralleling Many see Stewart’s incarceration as a penchant for social justice away from someone asked whether she had the med- the case of modern-day political prisoner boon, particularly for those who are be- taking on the government. Says Stewart: icine she needed for her cancer treatment. and death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, hind bars without adequate legal repre- “I believe the larger implications are that Lynne replied: “I have the love of you good whom Stewart also supports. sentation. And though she was disbarred this is a warning shot for other lawyers. people and your strength and support. It In attendance at the Stewart rally Nov. upon her indictment, Stewart will un- Don’t advocate for your clients in a vig- will be all the medicine I need.” 19 were roughly 300 protesters from a doubtedly play the role of jailhouse law- orous, strong way or you will end up like For more information on Lynne variety of organizations including In- yer, acting as a mentor and advocate to she did. Disbarred and in jail.” Stewart visit lynnestewart.org. Iyanna ternational Action Center, WBAI, Art- those on the inside for whom justice is But there is little fear that the plan Jones can be reached at iyannajones@ ists and Activists United for Peace and hard won if at all. will work. In fact, the consensus is that blackwaxx.com. While U.S. Attorney General speaks in Detroit Activists protest killing of Muslim leader By Abayomi Azikiwe District contained language which de- friends of Imam Abdullah, members of spected Detroit Muslim leader. ... They Editor, Pan-African News Wire scribed Imam Abduallah as a radical with Masjid Al-Haqq and others protested have arrested 10 other Muslims on wild Detroit links to political prisoner Imam Jamil against the killing of the Muslim leader charges and media hysteria reminiscent Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. and the government prosecution of the of the Counter Intelligence Program U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was Rap Brown. other defendants. (COINTELPRO) that tried to destroy Dr. the keynote speaker in downtown Detroit Imam Al-Amin is currently serving a Imam Luqman’s son, Omar Regan, Martin Luther King Jr., the Black Panther on Nov. 19 at the first awards dinner for life sentence in federal prison after being expressed his appreciation for the work Party, the American Indian Movement the Advocates and Leaders for Police and framed in 2000 for the killing of a deputy being done by MECAWI in organizing a and others.” Community Trust, an organization that sheriff in Georgia. Al-Amin was the for- political response to the assassination. This statement went on: “United States consists of 50 groups representing the mer chair of the Student Nonviolent Co- Members of the family of Imam Luqman jails are filled with victims of frame- Arab, Muslim, African-American, Asian ordinating Committee during 1967-68, have set up a Web site, Detroit10.org, to ups, and death row inmates are legally and civil-rights constituencies along with and was a victim of the FBI’s counterin- build a legal defense campaign in support lynched. Political prisoners languish in 50 officials from local, state and federal telligence program—COINTELPRO. of the defendants. lock-up such as Mumia Abu-Jamal, Leon- law-enforcement agencies. Outside the ALPACT dinner, Michi- In its call, MECAWI proclaimed: “We ard Peltier and the Cuban 5—all victims of For 13 years, ALPACT has promoted it- gan Emergency Committee Against War Don’t Dine With FBI Killers! The AL- police frame-ups. This is no time to break self as a medium for dialogue between the & Injustice members, the Detroit MLK PACT dinner at the Ren Cen comes at a bread with the FBI.” Detroit community and law-enforcement Committee, Latinos Unidos, family and time when the FBI has shot down a re- Continued on page 5 officials. The ALPACT dinner was co- chaired by FBI Special Agent in Charge Andrew Arena of the Detroit Field Office Picture the Homeless and Nabih Ayad, chair of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. The dinner came in the aftermath of Ten years of struggle for housing the assassination of African-American Muslim leader Imam Luqman Ameen Picture the Homeless held a fundraising The meeting honored three activists, in- Abdullah, who was killed by FBI agents in public meeting at Judson Memorial Church cluding the late Lewis Haggins, a PTH founder; Dearborn, Mich., on Oct. 28. in New York City on Nov. 17, PTH’s 10th anni- Jean Rice, a PTH board member; and Brenda Another 10 members of the Masjid Al- versary. Hundreds of supporters came out to Stokely, a leader of the New York City Coalition support this dynamic grassroots organization. in Solidarity with Katrina/Rita Survivors. New Haqq mosque, led by Imam Abdullah, PTH advocates direct action such as takeovers York City Councilperson Charles Barron pre- have been indicted on criminal charges of abandon buildings to reinforce the demand sented Stokely citations from Councilperson alleging illegal firearms possession, deal- that housing is a right, not a privilege. Letitia James and New York State Assembly- ing in stolen goods and tampering with The main slogan of PTH, whose leadership person Inez Barron, for her longtime work for vehicle identification numbers. A 44-page includes homeless people, is: “Organizing for housing rights. criminal complaint issued by the FBI and justice and respect: Don’t talk about us. Talk —Report & photo by Monica Moorehead the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern with us.” Page_4_dec._3,_2009_ workers.org First ‘cash-for-kids,’ now ‘cash-for-jobs’ By Betsey Piette Thomas Baldino, a political science public jobs are expected to be given only among lawyers, court employees and teach er at Wilkes-Barre University for 20 after a bribe. If you don’t put the thousand school officials that enabled the judges. As if the “cash-for-kids” scandal that years, and Robert Wolensky, a Luzerne dollars in the envelope, someone else will In February 2009 the judges were giv- has two former Luzerne County judges County native who now teaches sociology because they are as desperate as you.” en 87-month prison sentences after they under indictment on racketeering charges at the University of Wisconsin, linked this Meanwhile, former judges Mark A. agreed to plead guilty to honest-services wasn’t enough, now reports of another patronage system to the coal companies Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conohan fraud and tax evasion in a deal with pros- pay-back scheme are surfacing—this one that once dominated this region. (Phila- face 48 federal racketeering and related ecutors. However, in October a federal elsewhere in northeastern Pennsylvania’s delphia Inquirer, Nov. 16) charges after receiving $2.8 million from a judge rejected the agreement on grounds coal region, where prospective teachers “The Depression started here early, developer of two privately run juvenile de- that the former judges were not fully ac- were forced to shell out up to $5,000 to when the coal companies started laying off tention facilities in Luzerne County. The cepting responsibility for their crimes. secure a job. the miners in the 1920s,” Wolensky said. two allegedly accepted these kickbacks The jurists then switched their pleas to So far six school board members in the “People became desperate for jobs, and the in exchange for conducting perfunctory not guilty. They were later indicted. They Wilkes-Barre Area School District and the only jobs were with the local governments.” hearings that sent thousands of teenagers now await trial on racketeering charges. Hanover Area School District have either Patronage, where local politicians hand to these facilities for minor offenses. Whether they will ever be brought to pleaded guilty or are under indictment out jobs to relatives and friends, is a wide- On Oct. 29, a Pennsyvania Supreme full justice remains to be seen. On Nov. on charges that they accepted bribes for spread practice. In this case, Baldino said, Court ruling tossed out 6,500 juvenile- 20 U.S. District Court Judge A. Richard hiring teachers and other employees in “Patronage moved into pocket-lining.” court cases tainted by this scheme, after Caputo ruled that Ciavarella was immune their districts. In an economy where jobs “This is an outgrowth of the fact that finding that the rights of these young peo- from civil lawsuits in the alleged kickback are hard to come by, this apparently long- every coal company had to have its own ple, including access to lawyers, were sys- scheme because much of his conduct oc- standing practice meant that prospective town so it could control laws and taxes,” tematically trampled. A state commission curred inside a courtroom. Currently more teachers had to either pay board members Wolensky said. “These towns survive to- was also established to investigate what than 400 plaintiffs are named in a class- or look elsewhere for work. day, and each is a little fiefdom. … Many the panel labeled “a conspiracy of silence” action case seeking monetary damages. disabled activists fight DETROIT. service cuts At a Nov. 18 news conference called by the disabled rights organization Warriors on Wheels, members of the group spoke out against the Detroit Department of Transportation using unsafe transportation providers for seniors and disabled residents. By failing to pay the Metro Lift contractor Veolia Transportation, the City has instituted a replacement operation of small subcontrac- tors and taxicabs that not only downgraded service, but will mean the loss of jobs of more than 100 para-transit drivers, most of whom live in Detroit. Outside the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, Warriors on Wheels were joined by blue-uniformed drivers, officials from Teamsters Local 243 and the Rev. Bullock from Rainbow-PUSH. The city of Detroit’s actions are the tip of the privatization iceberg slamming into the city work force. Small, independent, non- union subcontractors, favorites of the current city administration and the banks, are demanding cuts despite the desperate situation faced by Detroit residents. These cuts continue the push to lower wages and income for working people. —Report and photo by Cheryl LaBash Where is our economic bill of rights & justice for all? By Dolores Cox person can now be designated a “terror- of Rights.” It is also known as the “Second without a job were not free. ist.” U.S. political prisoners are referred Bill of Rights,” with reference to the Bill of Contained in President Roosevelt’s A famous U.S. patriot of the Revo- to as enemies of the state when fighting Rights contained in the U.S. Constitution. Economic Bill of Rights are the following: lutionary War against Britain, Thomas for their civil and human rights. Entitle- Roosevelt, a politician from a ruling- the right to a useful and remunerative job, Paine, is quoted as saying, “These are the ments to housing, jobs, quality health class family who made some concessions and to earn enough to provide adequate times that try men’s souls.” But for mil- care and a decent education are viewed as to U.S. workers in order to rescue the food, clothing and recreation; the right of lions of oppressed people in the U.S. and privileges reserved only for some, not as capitalist system, saw the existing con- farmers to earn a decent living for their globally, these times are also a continua- human rights for all. stitution as proving inadequate to assure families; and of small businesses to be tion of the realities of their lives that have So while the imperialist U.S. govern- equality in the pursuit of happiness. His free from unfair competition and domi- existed for eons. Today’s economic crisis ment engages in wars in the Middle East, solution was an economic bill of rights nation by monopolies at home or abroad; and political situation are just another including embargoes, and threats to Latin which would raise the standard of living the right of every family to a decent home, chapter in the history of their injuries. America, Africa and elsewhere, the war for the disenfranchised and marginalized adequate medical care, and the opportu- The end of U.S. pre-emptive wars of economy and capitalist greed here at and would establish prosperity for all re- nity to achieve and enjoy good health; the aggression and occupation is nowhere home have created the biggest crisis since gardless of “station, race or creed.” right to adequate economic protection in in sight. Neither is the end of poverty or the Great Depression of the 1930s. He saw that there were people in the old age, sickness, accident and unemploy- racism. The rights of workers, Indigenous During World War II, U.S. President country who were “ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill- ment; and the right to a good education. peoples and lesbian, gay, bi and trans Franklin D. Roosevelt made a proposal housed and insecure.” He said that true Roosevelt’s bill of rights was never im- people continue to be ignored. to Congress in his January 1944 address. individual freedom cannot exist without plemented prior to his death in the spring New U.S. federal laws have been enact- He suggested that it was time to imple- economic security and independence; of 1945 or since. Where do we go from ed to curtail civil liberties, and the average ment what he called “The Economic Bill that people in need who were hungry and here? According to Roosevelt, “After the war is won, we must be prepared to move Windsor, Ont. forward in implementing these rights.” . Well, we can’t afford to wait until after current wars are over. And because these Auto workers demand pay, target Comerica Bank times are truly trying, now is the time to move forward to demand our rights. By Bryan G. Pfeifer Catalina Precision Products had abrupt- day, seven days a week, to ensure that the Now is the time to end poverty, stop fore- Detroit ly shut down the two plants, named Aram- multimillion dollar machines inside the closures and evictions, fight for housing co and Aradco, last March and at that time plant aren’t taken out. rights, and for the rights of all workers to Workers from the Canadian Auto Work- the CAW workers occupied their plant in Because of the CAW’s direct action, living wages. We can’t wait for some future ers Local 195 and their allies blockaded an effort to get wages and severance pay there is now a temporary suspension of date for quality health care and education, two plants by forming a human chain on that was owed to them. The plants made the auction. The workers are stepping up nor wait for the rights of undocumented Nov. 16 in Windsor, Ontario, to prevent parts for Chrysler. The worker’s struggle the pressure to get the money owed them. workers to be protected. We must say No the viewing of machines by potential buy- at that time won them $400,000 (Cdn.), Denying the funds is a violation of Ontario to institutional racism, and the oppression ers. The next day the workers physically but the 80 workers from the two plants labor law. The CAW is also demanding that of women, LGBT people and Indigenous shut down a scheduled auction for the ma- are still owed $2.4 million (Cdn.) accord- the workers should be the first creditors— peoples worldwide. We have to continue chines at a local hotel by taking over the ing to the CAW. the first to be paid—and not the main bank fighting for the freedom of political pris- auction room. Windsor is right across the The CAW members and allies are pres- Comerica. oners. And demanding the end of the wars border from Detroit. ently monitoring the two plants 24 hours a Continued on page 10 that are draining our economy is a must! workers.org_dec. 3, 2009 Page 5 On the Picket Line A job is a right Two-day strike of grad teaching Lessons from Pittsburgh assistants wins in Ill. The Graduate Employees Organization, Local Excerpts from a talk by Sharon and leadership of the Black commu- 6300 of the American Federation of Teachers/ Black at the WWP National Confer- nity itself. Illinois Federation of Teachers, voted Nov. 17 to ence, Nov. 14. View this entire talk at Reviving Dr. King’s legacy for full end its two-day strike at the University of Illinois www.workers.tv. employment gave those in the Black at Urbana-Champaign. The GEO won a tentative community who wanted to struggle agreement, which must still be approved by 2,600 job is a right! We’re going around jobs an avenue to do so during GEO members, with gains in all four of GEO’s con- Ato fight, fight, fight! a period when the historic election of tract demands. The contract provides for a 10-per- This is more than just a demand. the first Black president weighs heav- cent wage increase over three years, raises in the It is a concept based on the fact that ily in people’s consciousness. minimum salary, increases in UIUC’s contribution we, the working class, produce every- That was one aspect of the ques- to health-care premiums reaching 75 percent in the thing. There isn’t a single thing in this tion. The other was about challenging third year, and an additional two weeks of unpaid auditorium that wasn’t made or built the movement—particularly the anti- parental leave. GEO negotiators forced UIUC by workers. It is our social, collective war and anti-globalization forces. Ini- to drop regressive proposals for furloughs, “in- labor that gives everything its value. tially the challenge was to take on the kind” payment, rescission of grievances related to It’s on this basis that a job is a prop- struggle for jobs—but ultimately it was discrimination, and a “scope of agreement” clause erty right. about “Who would come to the Hill that would have prevented GEO from reopening It is the contradiction between and stand in solidarity with the com- bargaining if there were changes in employment this socialized labor and the privately munity?” conditions. GEO negotiators also pushed back owned means of production by a para- In essence the jobs march was not UIUC’s attempt to further erode tuition waivers sitic class—for profit only—that is at the only about jobs—it was also an anti- for GEO members. Calling this “a major victory for very root of the present economic crisis. racist march. Sharon Black______ww_Photo_g._duNkEl labor in the state of Illinois and the United States,” We have a right to seize and occupy Challenging the movement, wheth- brought together poor white Southern GEO also took a stand “with higher education labor the plants and the workplaces! er mild in manner or bold, turned out workers, who were newly jobless and unions across the nation opposing the ongoing cor- We have a right to stay in our homes to be the right thing and it should be homeless, with Black workers. This poratization and privatization of our public higher rather than let the banks foreclose noted that even if their numbers were was probably the first time in their education system.” (www.uigeo.org) them! small, the very best of the movement lives that the whites had marched un- In 1937, Frances Perkins, Franklin did come, including many white youth der a Dr. King banner. It was in the Part-time faculty win D. Roosevelt’s Labor secretary, rec- who were attracted on the basis of crucible of the struggle that unity was historic first contract in Md. ognized that workers had a property what we stood for. forged. It took members of Services Employees Lo- right to their job. She was responding Understanding the national ques- We cannot leave the white workers cal 500 bargaining committee, which represents towards the latter part of the sit-down tion and the fight against racism will to the racists and the ultraright! part-time faculty at Maryland’s Montgomery strikes and plant occupations of that become even more important as the The fact is that the entire working College, two years of organizing and negotiating period. She proclaimed this under the capitalist crisis deepens in this coun- class is deeply indebted to the most to win a decent contract. By mid-November they hot breath of the mass struggle. try and virulent racism and anti-im- oppressed, whether it is the immigrant had won raises in compensation, job security and On our Party’s 50th anniversary it’s migrant sentiments are whipped up by workers who revived May Day along a new commitment to address pay inequity and important to reflect on how our legacy the ultraright. with the militant tactic of sitting in lack of benefits. Part-time faculty teach nearly half guides us in today’s struggles, espe- We ourselves have to be keenly and occupying the Republic Windows of all classes at the college. As part-time English cially the recent Jobs March and Tent aware of it as we deepen our fight and Doors factory, or the revolution- professor and Local 500 bargaining team member City at the G-20 Summit. against the capitalist government— ary Black workers who forged the fight Victoria Baldassano told the Nov. 18 Union City, One of the keys to its success that that we will simultaneously need to be in the auto plants and so much more. online newsletter of the Metro Washington AFL- is so much a part of our Party’s legacy ready to be on the front lines of fighting In the book, “Solidarity Divided,” CIO, “Together we’re changing the status quo and was grasping the connection between racism directed against Obama, who there is a story about an exchange be- standing up for ourselves and for the students who the national question and the class symbolizes for the right wing the gains tween a Service Employees Interna- depend on us.” The contract is the first collective- question. made by Black people. tional Union staff member and a repre- bargaining agreement for part-time faculty in any There is so much that can be said What the Tent City highlighted is sentative of the South African Congress institution of higher education in Maryland. about all of the work that went into that the best way of conducting the of Trade Unions. To the question of community outreach: the door-to- class struggle is to be aggressive in what is the role of the unions, the SEIU Workers protest Bissell door distributions, the meetings with fighting racism and promoting the delegate exclaimed, “To represent the key Black activists, and of course the leadership of the most oppressed. interest of its members.” The COSATU firing after voting union mobilization’s relationship with the It’s as Comrade Sam Marcy said a member diplomatically corrected him, After 70 warehouse workers in Joliet, Ill., told Rev. Tom Smith of the Monumental long time ago, “If white revolutionar- “The role of the union is to represent Bissell vacuum cleaner bosses on Oct. 29 that Baptist Church—particularly his cou- ies fight hardest against racism and the entire working class.” they had voted for representation by the United rageous act of opening up the church in support of the national question, it Workers can no longer afford to Electrical Workers, they were all fired on Nov. 6. grounds for the Tent City in the histor- will afford the oppressed comrades the fight alone industry by industry, re- The workers, with the help of UE and its affiliate ic Hill District—Pittsburgh’s African- opportunity to push the class struggle gion by region, or even country by Warehouse Workers for Justice, have filed state American community. harder.” country in an era of capitalism that has and federal charges against Bissell for violations There was a complex political strat- This same formulation can be gone global. of workers’ rights, including minimum wage laws. egy involved that called for opening equally extended to the masses. The unions must fight for the entire “This company has no respect for our rights,” said up and facilitating the involvement The Jobs March and Tent City working class. forklift driver Daniel Millan. “We will fight to force Bissell ... to follow the law and treat workers with dignity.” The workers have been organizing rallies, pickets and defense meetings throughout Illinois. ent company. The Workers Rights Supporters even picketed Bissell headquarters in Consortium, which represents Protest killing of Muslim leader Grand Rapids, Mich. Though Bissell has said it will USAS members at 170 universi- continue to pay the workers through Jan. 9 to com- ties, negotiated the agreement Continued from page 3 selective prosecutions and frame-ups. ply with federal laws mandating severance pay, the with Russell in tandem with union The MECAWI statement demanded However, Holder refused a request workers are determined to win their jobs back. To leaders in Honduras. Russell also justice for Imam Abdullah and a real from the Council on American-Islamic sign a petition demanding the workers’ reinstate- agreed to stop opposing unioniza- independent investigation into his Relations for a special meeting to dis- ment, visit ueunion.org. tion at its seven other plants there. death; freedom for the Detroit 10; an cuss the killing of Imam Luqman and This victory comes after 10 years of end to the ICE raids and deportations; other issues. Holder said that he had Anti-sweatshop movement wins organizing by USAS to get univer- freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal, Leon- a scheduling conflict that did not al- fight for Honduran workers sities to adopt detailed codes of ard Peltier, the Cuban 5 and all politi- low him to meet with the community leaders. The anti-sweatshop student movement in this conduct for the factories used by cal prisoners; and the end to racial pro- Imam Dawud Walid, the executive country won a huge victory for international licensees like Russell. As Moises filing, harassment and police killings. director of the CAIR Michigan office, solidarity on Nov. 17, when sportswear company Alvarado, president of the Hondu- The Nov. 19 protest was covered by stated on the “Fighting for Justice” Russell Athletic agreed to rehire 1,200 Hondu- ran union, told the Nov. 18 New the Detroit Free Press, Michigan Pub- Nov. 22 radio program aired over 1310 ran workers after closing its factory last January York Times: “For us, it was very lic Radio, the Michigan Citizen, the AM, “We had sent a letter to Attorney when the workers unionized. Since then United important to receive the support of Huffington Post and a film crew from General Holder requesting a meeting.” Students Against Sweatshops had lined up 89 col- the universities. We are impressed Eastern Michigan University that is MECAWI is working with the Abdul- leges and universities to sever or suspend licensing by the social conscience of the shooting a documentary on the life of lah family to launch an online petition agreements with Russell—some worth more than students in the United States.” In Imam Abdullah. campaign demanding justice for the $1 million. Among many other activities, USAS light of the current political crisis in Inside the ALPACT dinner, Attor- late Muslim leader as well as dropping picketed the NBA finals to protest the league’s Honduras, with sham elections set ney General Holder was reported to all charges against the Detroit 10. licensing agreement with Russell and knocked on to take place supported by U.S. im- have emphasized the Obama admin- Read more at panafricannews. Warren Buffett’s door in Omaha, Neb., because his perialism, this victory is a welcome istration’s opposition to racial profil- blogspot.com. company owns Fruit of the Loom, Russell’s par- development. ing and the targeting of Muslims for Page_6_dec._3,_2009_ workers.org Local initiatives, coalition building, national actions for jobs not war

Excerpts from a talk by John Parker economic crisis. building of local coalitions against the from Los Angeles to the WWP National However, these battles are war, sometimes with different names, but Conference, Nov. 14. View this entire part of the broader political in many cases with our leadership. With talk at www.workers.tv. struggles representing more our party’s excellent analysis of what was than just those individual most needed for our class at that time, the My state of California and city of Los workers but in fact our entire best of the progressive movement joined Angeles both had a terrible unemploy- class. By fighting for a mora- with us to form a national coalition which ment rate of 5 percent in 1999. As of Sep- torium against foreclosures was able to incorporate the strengths of tember of this year it’s gotten worse with and evictions along with each participating organization and focus 12.3 percent in the state and 10.4 percent providing some immediate our energies—making the effectiveness of in Los Angeles. These are record high needs for those fighting to that coalition great. numbers and it’s a national phenomenon stay in their homes we make Now, however, and partly because of that must be addressed. the few resources in time, actions of some organizations in the an- A major role of communists through- people and money far greater ti-war movement refusing to build more out history has not necessarily been fixat- than their sum. deeply into the working class, the media ed on building a large party, but one that In Los Angeles, we have have been able to dampen the anti-war was capable of leading the working class been successful in helping to movement by ignoring it. ww_Photo:_g._duNkEl in a direction towards revolution. lead one of the largest union locals of the John Parker Building local Bail Out the People One of our tasks must be to help our Service Employees International Union Movement chapters not only can make a class win its confidence back through in that direction and there exists the op- Building international solidarity has powerful national organization with great struggles for its immediate needs, not portunity to expand that struggle into city great potential in Los Angeles. This is influence. It is a way to effectively build only to defend our class against those who council chambers and perhaps the mayor’s where coalition building could be most the forces that will stop the war. When threaten the survival of its members, but office demanding an immediate moratori- productive because there are so many we have a march for jobs that makes it also to help fight off attempts at dividing um. Whether we are successful or not, the immigrant rights coalitions that should clear that the main obstacle to spending our class. struggle will strengthen our class and be be working together, whose members on jobs is spending on war, now you’ve How does that play out locally? The a healthy contribution to the building of a are most acutely effected by the jobs cri- got the remedy to rebuild the anti-war comrades in Detroit can attest to the fact national march for jobs in Washington. sis, whose family members are part of movement—a movement fortified with that after successfully fighting off an evic- In addition to our own initiatives we unions like SEIU and the hospital work- the steel of workers, especially workers tion, the neighborhood participants get must begin building coalitions of sincere ers unions, and who have family mem- of color, especially women workers, espe- galvanized. Even folks who once may progressive organizations searching for a bers extorted into joining the military to cially LGBTQ workers. have looked at each other as strangers or way to effectively come to the defense of gain either citizenship status or supposed Our class needs to behave more like a maybe even adversaries can’t help but feel our class. economic security and who, like their disciplined army which engages in battles a close connection after such a win and In some cases, a coalition of just three Black sisters and brothers, are militar- not simply based on desire to engage the want to continue fighting together. We’ve organizations that have a base in our ily occupied in their communities by rac- enemy anytime and anywhere, but to cal- also had that experience in Los Angeles class can become a powerful force in any ist police. All of these communities have culate and coordinate the most effective with some of the few battles we’ve won city and a basis for rapid growth with ac- their oppressions exacerbated by a lack actions. fighting off foreclosures. tions that reach farthest in visibility and of jobs. And, given our history in helping Our leadership is powerful. We utilize But, if strengthening our class confi- influence. to build Black and Brown unity, we have the knowledge acquired from classless, dence and even desire for unity were sole- Our class also needs to be able to recog- the respect and trust necessary to initiate communal society through slave, feudal ly based on the number of evictions we nize its friends and allies. Our class needs united action. and capitalist society culminating in the can fight it would not be successful. For to recognize its members here in this We know how successful we were in science of Marxism. We are well-equipped every one that we win probably thousands country as well as in its reflection cast in building a national coalition against the to help guide our class tactically and stra- more occur during this unprecedented overseas waters. war after 2001. This was started with the tegically towards revolution. Women workers and the capitalist crisis

Excerpts from a talk by Phebe and is now an economic czar in Obama’s ers had free reign, attempting to divide Eckfeldt from Boston at the WWP administration. the workers and misdirect their anger. National Conference, Nov. 14. View this Summers opened up the doors of Har- The No Layoffs Campaign is fighting for entire talk at www.workers.tv. vard to the likes of Goldman Sachs and justice for Ravi Raj, an immigrant from Citigroup, who ran like pigs to the trough India who has been the victim of racist he economic crisis is hitting women and began gobbling up Harvard’s $37 bil- abuse by his manager. He was recently Thard, particularly because they are al- lion endowment fund. Funds that were framed up and fired by this manager. ready starting out with lower pay, mostly supposed to be used for education were About one month after the layoffs, part-time work, few or no benefits and gambled away on the stock market. The newspaper headlines proclaimed that long hours. Women make 77 cents for ev- Harvard Management Co., which man- Goldman Sachs had doled out billions in ery dollar a man makes, but African-Amer- ages the endowment, functioned like a bonuses to their executives. Layoffs equal ican women make only 63 percent of what Wall Street trading operation. A high- profits was the lesson. white men make and Latinas make 54 level Harvard Management Co. manager On top of layoffs, if a worker left they percent of what white men make. Thirty- could make $35 million in a good year. were not replaced and this meant one nine percent of poor people in the U.S. are During this exact same period, mainte- person doing the job of two or three work- women. And no wonder, women comprise nance workers at Harvard were eating ers. Staff assistants used to work for one 68 percent of workers making minimum in soup kitchens and picking food out of faculty person, maybe two at most, but wage or lower. Add to this the increasing garbage cans for their families because now they are at the beck and call of four costs of childcare, food, transportation, they were not paid enough to live on. This or more faculty. One or two maintenance utilities and health care, and women are was all exposed because of the struggle of workers now have to clean entire build- ww_Photo:_g._duNkEl struggling to survive, and not only eco- the Living Wage Campaign, a coalition of Phebe Eckfeldt ings by themselves, sometimes without nomically. Without a job or income many workers and students. access to elevators or air conditioning. women are forced to remain in abusive But their orgy of speculation came to 3650), were laid off. Many of them were Temps who receive no benefits have had relationships. The stress of living under an end in 2008 when the economic crisis women and many were older workers, their terms extended over and over in vi- capitalism means struggling with depres- hit and the bubble burst. Goldman Sachs some of whom were months away from olation of our union contract. Work that sion and other mental health issues. and Citigroup lost $11 billion in endow- retirement. Workers began telling our No used to be done by full-time unionized I would like to use Harvard University, ment funds. This is when the war against Layoffs Campaign (a group that activists workers is now being done by students. where I work, to illustrate how the cur- the workers stepped up. Even though they within our union formed) that if you were The aim of the No Layoffs Campaign rent capitalist economic crisis is affecting still had $26 billion in the endowment a person who stood up in the workplace, is to build a coalition that includes labor, women. To do so we have to go back a few fund, Harvard began crying poverty. To you were first on the list for layoffs. One the community, students and the left. We years to the reign of Lawrence Summers, protect their profits and save money, they Black woman worker who came to a No need this kind of coalition nationwide. who was president from 2001 to 2006. began to take it out of the hides of the Layoffs Campaign protest rally was two We need to unleash the force of militant, This is the same Lawrence Summers workers. months shy of retirement when she was class-conscious women. We need to bring who insulted Black professors and said In June, 275 workers in our union, the laid off. She was targeted, she said, be- our sisters into the struggle—into the that women were not smart enough to Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical cause she had fought back when her man- Women’s Fightback Network, the Bail understand math and science. The same Workers (American Federation of State, ager had called her a racist slur. Out the People Movement and Workers person, who was head of the World Bank, County and Municipal Employees Local A climate was set where racist manag- World Party. workers.org_dec. 3, 2009 Page 7 INDIA. Militant autoworkers disrupt ‘global value chain’ By Martha Grevatt leader Prem Kumar. (Bloomberg News, billion worth of products, an amount the gral part of the global corporate empires Nov. 13) Indian government hopes to increase sev- of the companies they serve as if they Recently, at three General Motors and When the strike began, Rico had scabs enfold by 2015. were owned directly by them. Ford plants in the U.S. and Canada, pro- running production, and the company Labor resistance may upset the exploit- “Like the vassals of the feudal lords, duction was temporarily brought to a was able to supply its customers. Howev- ers’ apple cart, however. they gather around IBM, General Elec- standstill. This time, however, the cause er, on Oct. 18 fighting broke out between “People”—i.e. corporate people—“are tric, Motorola, Procter & Gamble, Nike, was not sagging car sales but an event strikers and those crossing the picket line, suddenly looking at India with an eye Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, and most of halfway around the world. and a union supporter was killed. From of suspicion and concern,” said Vikas the Fortune 500, in addition to the Eu- Workers at Rico Auto Industries, Ltd.—a then until the strike’s end there was no Sehgal, a Chicago-based partner at Booz ropean and Japanese transnationals, and 25-year-old Indian auto parts manufactur- more production. & Co. “When a single company’s strike are granted a share of the surplus value— er that aspires “to be preferred supplier to New worker demands included the ar- jeopardizes the global value chain, the i.e., profit—extracted from the growing Original Equipment manufacturers across rest of company officials responsible for country suffers in the long run.” (Bloom- global networks of wage slaves.” the globe” and “to be [a] billion dollar en- the killing, 2.5 million rupees in compen- berg News, Nov. 13) For autoworkers here, the existence of terprise by 2011”—held a 45-day strike that sation to the deceased worker’s family, and What is this fragile “global value chain?” this vast supply chain means that on any ended this month. (ricoauto.com) rehiring 16 workers fired for the strike. In the recent book “Low Wage Capital- given vehicle rolling off the line are the The strike began in September, with On Oct. 20, some 80,000 workers at ism,” Fred Goldstein explains that “the fingerprints of hundreds of thousands of union recognition topping the list of de- 60 companies in the Gurgaon-Manesar basis for the new global restructuring is workers around the world. Any component mands. The union, formed by the All industrial belt staged a one-day sympathy the creation of hundreds of thousands of on that vehicle—even the tooling and ma- India Trade Union Congress, also de- strike to support the workers’ demands. large, medium, and small capitalist firms chinery that produce that component—can manded higher wages, better food in Worker militancy in India as a whole is that compete to serve the giant monopo- be made anywhere in the world. This gives the cafeteria, and an end to the hiring of rising, with 1.5 million workers involved lies. These suppliers are linked to the giant the bosses tremendous leverage against temporary employees. While permanent, in strikes in 2008, compared to 1 million corporations in a variety of relationships. the working class. By threatening to move full-time workers at Rico earn an aver- in 2007. Last year and again this year an Some serve to make one or a few compo- production across borders and oceans they age of 11,000 rupees (less than $250) per auto parts manager was beaten to death nents. Others make entire commodities can scare union workers into giving up month, temporaries only make 4,000 ru- by angry workers. and are committed to only one monopoly concessions and scare unorganized work- pees per month. The strike ended Nov. 5 with an agree- or one industry. Others do design or en- ers away from unions altogether. From 1990 to 2006 wages in India ment to reinstate nine fired workers and gineering work. Still others do partial or On the other hand, the Indian auto- rose only eight-tenths of 1 percent, while to sit down and discuss the other issues. even complete assembly work, and so on. workers have demonstrated that the levers productivity increased almost 5 percent. “But what they all have in common is work both ways. Workers at one plant who Between 2006 and 2007 prices rose 9 Links in the capitalist “global value chain” that they are modern-day vassals of the manufacture a certain necessary compo- percent. Labor costs in the Indian auto parts in- giant lords of capital. They are vassals in nent—in this case a single transmission “How can [workers] secure themselves, dustry are low, about one-tenth of what the sense that they are dependents. Their bracket—were able to close three entire educate their children and feed their fam- U.S. auto parts workers make. Compa- relationship to the monopolies may be plants of two Fortune 500 manufacturers ilies on such meager wages?” asked strike nies like Rico currently export about $3.5 contractual, but they are as much an inte- on the other side of the world. Striking Canadian miners take the struggle global By Gavrielle Gemma This is the heart of capitalism’s drive: attempts to whip up prejudice. nesia, Mozambique, New York and Aus- Raise productivity, reap huge profits, The USW is now an international tralia. Information on the strike is posted Nearly five months into a strike of destroy workers’ living standards and union, having merged with UNITE, a in four languages on the IMF Web site. 3,500 nickel workers at the Vale opera- run to any part of the world where they union in England and Ireland. It has The USW Web site has resolutions against tions in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, the can maximize profits. If Vale succeeds in joined the International Metalworkers U.S. military aid to Columbia, to Free the struggle is moving to New York City. The Canada it will begin a new worldwide as- Federation and the International Federa- Cuban 5 and many other issues. United Steelworkers is asking for every- sault to keep lowering wages and working tion of Chemical, Energy, Mine and Gen- There is no question this is a genuine one to join a busload of striking miners conditions. eral Workers Union, and works closely attempt to break through the previous at a protest at the Waldorf Astoria, Park The stakes are big for all workers with CUT in Brazil. The USW is moving confines of narrow trade unionism in the Avenue and 50th Street, on Dec. 3 from 6 around the world as this strike is attempt- ahead with a still larger union federation U.S. and it and the Vale strike both de- to 8 p.m., when Vale CEO Roger Agnelli ing to challenge that capitalist process, called Workers Uniting that is building serve the support of all progressives. Such is receiving a “Global Citizenship Award” which has gone on unstopped for de- ties around the world. a breakthrough is inevitable as the global from the Business Council for Interna- cades. The workers are not only fighting USW President Leo Gerard—originally socialization of labor comes into sharper tional Understanding. the Vale Co. but also the capitalist govern- from the Sudbury mines—said: “Global- and sharper conflict with the private own- Brazil-based Vale is the second larg- ments, federal and provincial, which have ization has given financiers license to ex- ership of the means of production under est mining company in the world. It has encouraged its attacks. ploit workers in developing countries at capitalism. $22 billion cash assets. Vale made $13.2 Vale is moving ahead with an unsafe, the expense of our members in the devel- If Vale and the banks refuse to resolve billion in after-tax profits and $4.1 - bil scab operation protected by the govern- oped world. Only global solidarity among the strike and the capitalist state inter- lion in profits from the labor of the Ca- ment. Union pickets have been targeted workers can overcome this sort of global venes to protect private property and nadian miners and processors (all in with investigations, subpoenas on 40 exploitation wherever it occurs.” prevents the workers from stopping the U.S. dollars). workers and firings. Strikers on sick leave Derek Simpson, general secretary of scabs, new strategies and tactics will have The 30-degrees-below-zero tempera- have been told they will lose benefits un- UNITE, points out that Vale is backed by to develop to meet that challenge. This tures in Sudbury will begin soon, but less they scab. Office workers have also Wall Street. He said, “Our mission is to could be sitting in, massive intervention miners, families and communities are been threatened to force them to scab. advance the interests of millions of work- by workers, coordinated strikes against pledging to heat up the fight—globally. Vale said miners from Brazil were com- ers throughout the world who are being Vale or other steps. Thousands of other workers have lost ing up to scab. The USW knew this was a shamefully exploited.” Information for this article came from jobs because the mining and processing lie because it had been in communication There have been anti-Vale protests in FairDealNow.Ca (Vale strike), and the operations are the center of the economy with the Brazilian miners’ unions from Brazil, Mexico, Seoul, Madrid, Germany, Web sites of the USW, IMF, the UCEM in Sudbury, Ontario; Colborne, Ontario; the beginning and rejected the company’s Sweden, London, New Caledonia, Indo- and Labor Notes. and Voisey’s Bay, Newfoundland. Vale, which bought the operation from Inco several years ago, has attacked LoW-WAgE CAPITALISM by Fred Goldstein seniority, wages, defined pension bene- What the new globalized high-tech imperialism means for the class struggle in the U.S. fits and the “nickel bonus” and insists on Timely new book describes in sweeping detail the drastic effect of new technology on the a two-tier contract for newer employees. working class and global capitalism’s restructuring in the post Soviet era. It uses Karl Marx’s law The “nickel bonus” is a profit-sharing of wages and other findings to show that these developments not only continue to drive down contractual benefit when profits rise wages but are creating the material basis for future social upheaval and the end of working-class above a certain percentage. This bonus compromise and retreat, and must end up in a profound revival of the struggle against capital. got miners, their families and the com- HIgH TECH, LoW PAY by Sam Marcy with introduction by Fred Goldstein munities through tough times over the A Marxist analysis of the changing character of the working class decades. Though Vale was making a prof- Re-issued for WWP’s 50th anniversary. As wages fall and joblessness rises, this book is as on target it in Canada, workers were denied the today as when it was first published in 1986. Marcy explained how the high-tech revolution de- bonus. stroyed high-paying jobs while it changed the social composition of the working class, bringing The workers and union have proven the more of the oppressed into workplaces, raising the potential for more solidarity and struggle. issue is not profitability. Vale’s position is The new introduction by the author of Low- Wage Capitalism explains the roots of the current to decrease wages to workers in Canada to economic crisis, with its disastrous unemployment, which has heightened the need for a the lowest levels elsewhere. The union’s working-class resurgence. position is to raise Vale workers’ wages Available online at leftbooks.com and at bookstores around the country around the world. Page_8_dec._3,_2009_ workers.org Tour depicts Israel’s kafkaesque punishment for Palestinians By Audrey Hoak Jaradat, a former political prisoner, pro- some form of torture. A judicial hearing could hardly evoke a greater nightmare. Philadelphia vided an informative and in-depth look at is then held, presided over by a military Like conditions for most prisoners in Is- the use of arbitrary torture, isolation and judge and attended by the military pros- raeli jails, conditions for those held under A national tour organized to highlight other forms of political repression. The fo- ecutor, the accused individual and their administrative detention are deplorable. the use of administrative detention, an cus of his talk was Israel’s use of this cruel lawyer, if they have one. Prisoners suffer from inedible food, poor inhumane punishment aimed at Palestin- and unusual punishment against nearly 1 The charges are often secret or based health care and little protection from the ian political prisoners, visited a number of million Palestinians in the occupied Pales- upon secret information and therefore no elements in open-air prisons. The cloth- U.S. cities from Nov. 3 to Nov. 20. Admin- tinian territories since 1967. defense is possible. A sentence of up to six ing they wear is what they were arrested istrative detention is a cruel form of arrest This practice was initiated by the Brit- months can be imposed with no cap on in, often stained with their own blood. that offers the accused man, woman or ish in 1945 and used against both Jews the number of times it can be extended. Visitation rules are arbitrary and subject to even child no charges to dispute, no trial and Palestinians in the occupied territory. Since not all extensions are accompanied transmutation by the Israeli military, and and no limit to their maximum sentence. The Israeli state finely honed its depraved by a hearing, the prisoner may be the last visitation requests are frequently denied. Organized by the Palestinian Commu- edge to be used against Palestinians after to learn of it. The impact of administrative detention nity Network and the Palestine Solidarity the June 1967 war, during which Israel For example, a prisoner who has served on the prisoners is pretty clear, but the Group, the tour featured Ala Jaradat, pro- seized the West Bank and Gaza. a total of six years on extended sentences, crippling impact on communities is also gram manager of Addameer Prisoners’ Administrative detention is a con- each of three months, has experienced 24 a terrible burden. Families gather to wel- Support and Human Rights Association venient way to round up civil and political chances for release. Even when released come a detained loved one, only to have based in the West Bank city of Ramallah. activists, teachers and union leaders. Al- there is no guarantee that the next order an extension block their homecoming. On Nov. 13, Jaradat gave a presentation though it shares similarities with regular for arrest won’t be made just outside the The hopes, dreams and work of commu- in Philadelphia entitled, “Israel’s Palestin- arrests that include the possible demoli- prison gate or at the first roadblock check- nities striving for basic human rights are ian Prisoners, America’s other Guantána- tion of homes and use of torture, it differs point. That’s a lot of dashed hopes for the disrupted and derailed. Clearly it’s a form mo: A Report on the Conditions of Pales- in its totally arbitrary nature. Neither type prisoner and her or his loved ones. of collective punishment. tinian Prisoners.” Jaradat’s reference to of incarceration rules out use of the other There is a system of appeals. However, Held at the University of Pennsylvania, the U.S. stems from its annual contribu- and many people have experienced both. in 2007 detainees submitted 2,368 ap- the meeting was co-sponsored by Penn for tions of $2.25 billion in military aid to Here’s how it works: A military order is peals. The courts accepted only 33. By Palestine, and endorsed by the Philadel- Israel, a huge subsidy which helps cover issued against a person and the arrest is comparison the prosecution submitted phia International Action Center, Sustain, the costs of military courts that oversee made. There is an eight-day window for appeals in 241 cases and the court accept- Philadelphia Jews for a Just Peace, Philadel- administrative detention. interrogation, which routinely involves ed 161. Franz Kafka’s novel “The Trial” phia Against War and Socialist Action. Palestine and the global class struggle The following excerpts are from a talk massacred, bombed, imprisoned and Arab and Iranian oil once provided 60 by Bill Cecil at the WWP National Con- called “terrorists and fanatics” for simply percent of the overseas profits of the For- ference, Nov. 14. View the entire talk at wanting to go home, for wanting to live in tune 500; it made ExxonMobil, BP and www.workers.tv. peace and freedom in their own land. ChevronTexaco the richest companies on For 61 years, the racist, apartheid set- earth. Today the same Wall Street bank- Perhaps no international struggle is tler state called “Israel,” erected on the ers that plunder the U.S. Treasury while more intertwined with our Party’s history ruins of their towns and villages, has been throwing workers out of their homes suck than that of the people of Palestine. In the supplied with an endless stream of dollars trillions of dollars in tribute from the cor- 1960s and 1970s, we and the most mili- and sophisticated weapons of mass de- rupt feudal regimes of the Arabian Penin- tant Black liberation forces stood almost struction by both Republican and Demo- sula. The big arms contractors depend on alone in the U.S. in defending the Pales- cratic administrations. sales to that part of the world. tinian and Arab people against the U.S.- Look at Gaza, where we traveled in July But any Arab regime could be swept armed and -funded Israeli war machine. with the Viva Palestina medical aid con- away by the people as suddenly as the We went to giant anti-war demonstra- voy: this small island of freedom that is at Shah of Iran was in 1979. Instead of en- tions, whose leaders refused to criticize the same time the biggest prison on earth. riching Wall Street bankers, their oil Israel, with banners and flyers condemn- A small sliver of land where 1.6 million Pal- wealth could build schools and hospitals, as it did in Iraq before the U.S. invasion, ing the war against Palestine. We fought estinian women, children and men are de- ww_Photo:_g._duNkEl off Zionist gangs that attacked our events nied food, medicine and the right to travel Bill Cecil as it has done in Iran since 1979 or is do- with lead pipes and gas bombs and, in the by an international conspiracy between aid to the people of Gaza, and both the ing in Venezuela today. It could provide face of media-fanned anti-Arab hysteria, the U.S., Israel, Western Europe and U.S.- White House and the U.S. media were the material basis not only for an inde- we distributed hundreds of thousands of allied Arab regimes; an array of forces not completely silent about this brazen act pendent, unified Arab nation but also for flyers explaining the Palestinian people’s unlike that faced by revolutionary Haiti in of international piracy. All because the an ALBA-type alliance of the entire Afri- struggle on the streets of New York and 1804 or the workers of Paris in 1871. Palestinians of Gaza dared to practice de- can-Asian region. other major cities. Look at the rain of U.S.-made bombs mocracy, to cast their votes for Hamas, a To maintain its obsolescent position at Why did we take this question so seri- and missiles unleashed on Gaza in De- party that refuses to relinquish the Pales- the center of the global capitalist econo- ously? Because no people on earth have cember and January, a slaughter that tinian people’s Right to Return. my, the U.S. capitalist class can only rely been more attacked and vilified by the even the U.N.’s Goldstone Commission What crime have Palestinians commit- on force and destruction. Israel is noth- U.S. ruling class and its media than the was forced to condemn as a war crime, ted? Like the people of Iraq and Afghani- ing but a giant U.S. military base dividing people of Palestine and the Arab and Is- and look how the U.S. Congress and ad- stan, of Somalia and Iran, they were born Asia from Africa, a loaded gun pointed at lamic world in general. ministration rushed to condemn and in a region that holds three-fifths of the the Arab people, an “unsinkable aircraft In the 61 years since they were driven block any action on that report. known reserves of oil, the world’s most carrier” in the words of Alexander Haig, from their homes by European settlers Look how former U.S. Congresswoman profitable commodity, a region that cor- Ronald Reagan’s secretary of state. who called themselves “Israelis,” the Cynthia McKinney was kidnapped at sea porate America must keep oppressed and In the words of Hugo Chávez, “Why was Palestinian people have been occupied, by Israeli commandos for trying to bring divided. the state of Israel created? ... To divide. To impede the unity of the Arab world. To as- sure the presence of the North American empire in all these lands.” When the Palestinian people demand Palestinian analyst their right to return home, they not only challenge U.S. control over the entire re- gion. They raise an issue that shakes the addresses NYC meetings very foundations of monopoly capitalist power: the fundamental right of a dispos- Dr. Adel Samara, editor-in-chief of the cies of the Israeli state, of the relationship sessed people to take back what was sto- quarterly magazine Kanaan, veteran writer between U.S. imperialism and Israel, and of len from them. This is the right the people and leading Arab-Palestinian thinker, spoke internal developments of the class struggle to meetings at the Solidarity Center in New in Palestine. Al-Awda New York sponsored of Zimbabwe and South Africa are also York on Nov. 19 to address the question: “A the meeting. fighting for. It is the right of Native and Year After the Gaza Massacre: Where Is the The following night Dr. Samara spoke at Black and Mexicano people in this coun- Struggle For Palestine Heading?” a Workers World forum in the same venue, try, of workers whose homes and jobs Dr. Samara took up the relationship of focusing on a class analysis of the situation have been stolen by the banks. forces in the world and in the Middle East in Palestine. The cause of Palestine is the cause of ww_Photo:_BrENdA_SANdBurg region, including an examination of the poli- Dr. Adel Samara —John Catalinotto the workers and oppressed everywhere! workers.org_dec. 3, 2009 Page 9 Despite worldwide condemnation Sham elections proceed in Honduras By Teresa Gutierrez and brokered a “National Reconciliation Davis is a former hundred people de- Agreement.” special counsel to tained in 100 days, On Nov. 29, the illegal “government” of The agreement required the reinstate- President Bill Clin- over 600 people Honduras will hold national elections in ment of President Zelaya by Nov. 5. But ton, represents the beaten and injured total violation of all norms by which dem- just a few days later, the State Depart- Hondu ran Latin in hospitals, more ocratic and legal elections are held. ment reversed its position, declaring that American Business than a hundred It is clear to all that conditions for fair, Washington would recognize the election Council, and lobbied murders, and count- free and transparent elections do not exist results with or without the restoration of Secretary of State less numbers of peo- in Honduras. President Zelaya. Hillary Clinton heav- ple subjected to tor- The elections occur after five months of This is a complete slap in the face of ily on Honduras. He ture directed against ww_Photo:_lEIlANI_dowEll a political and social crisis that came as a not only President Zelaya and the heroic has spent much me- citizens who dare to result of the illegal ouster of democrati- Honduran people, but of progressive and dia time demonizing and ridiculing Presi- oppose the regime and express their ideas cally elected President Manuel Zelaya on justice-loving people everywhere. dent Zelaya, blaming him for the crisis. about freedom and justice in peaceful June 28. In his place the coup installed a The U.S. government has taken a huge His characterizations often have a racist demonstrations. All this converts the No- reactionary ruling-class representative, step backward in presenting a façade of tone and are out-and-out lies about Hon- vember election into an anti-democratic Roberto Micheletti. support for even bourgeois democratic duras. exercise under an uncertain state of law- Since then, the National Front of Resis- values. It has raised the question of wheth- Davis wrote in the Nov. 9 Wall Street lessness with military intimidation for tance Against the Coup has led a massive er Washington is reverting to policies Journal: “The U.S. government needs to large sections of our people.” people’s resistance that has lasted contin- resonant of the most archaic and colonial- ... endorse the results of the Nov. 29 pres- The National Front Against the Coup uously for more than 146 days. It demands type mentality of the period of “manifest idential elections. ... Once that happens, has called for a boycott of the elections. not only the restoration of President Zela- destiny” in the early 1800s. Mr. Zelaya will be irrelevant, a footnote Candidates are withdrawing left and right. ya, but a new constitutional assembly that How can the U.S. government support as a president who thought he was above At the same time, Micheletti has threat- reflects the interests of the masses, not the elections held under a gun, where most the constitution. And then, on Jan. 27, a ened those encouraging the boycott with multinational corporations. candidates, who never even had a chance new president will be sworn into office. ... lengthy prison terms. The military is de- The Zelaya administration had ori- to campaign, are now withdrawing out of That will restore to normalcy the proud manding that mayors compile a list of ented itself toward Venezuela and Cuba, embarrassment? little constitutional republic that has al- people who are against the coup, amount- not Washington, forever earning the ire of The Republican and right-wing hawks ways been a loyal and reliable friend of ing to a systematic profiling of resistance. Wall Street and the Pentagon. are in a tizzy over this position. South Car- the United States.” Most Latin American governments are The November elections take place olina Senator Jim DeMint announced on Davis is wrong. Honduras is not the refusing to recognize the elections. What with the full complicity of the U.S. govern- Nov. 5 that he was withdrawing his oppo- country it was before June 28. It will nev- was the U.S. response to that? ment. In fact, without the heavy-handed sition to two State Department nominees er return to the days Davis longs for. W. Lewis Amselem, the Obama repre- intervention of the State Department, the as a result of President Barack Obama’s Progressive and revolutionary forces in sentative to the Organization of Ameri- elections might not have proceeded at all. reversal of his administration’s “misguid- and out of the country all remark on the can States, said, “I’m not trying to be a After several months of negotiations ed Honduran policy.” new level of consciousness and militancy wiseguy, but what does that mean ... in that included many national and inter- For the most part, the Democrats are of the movement in Honduras today. There the real world, not in the world of magi- national sectors, neither the Constitution not much better. Just as on health-care is no going back for the Honduran masses. cal realism?” nor President Zelaya were ever restored. reform or jobs, they cave in to the right But there is considerable danger in That is a racist comment. Latin Ameri- The elections continue despite this chaos. and raise hardly a peep, with an exception Honduras. In a Nov. 14 letter to Presi- cans and the workers and oppressed of In October, the State Department here or there. Case in point is the state- dent Obama, President Zelaya stated that the world are building a new reality. It is hur ried ly sent a delegation to Hondu- ment by a key ally and friend of the Clin- he would not legitimize the elections by one the U.S. had better get used to; there ras, brought Micheletti back to the table tons, Lanny Davis. coming back in. He wrote: “Thirty-five is nothing magical about it. Health care in crisis The urgency of reform and socialized medicine The following excerpts are from a Democratic supermajorities in the House mand and it is the right demand for right talk given by Fight Imperialism, Stand and Senate would open the way for mean- now. The maximum demand is a system Together organizer, David Hoskins, at ingful health care reform. that can only come with working-class the WWP National Conference, Nov. 14. One year after the historic 2008 elec- power—and that is socialist medicine. View this entire talk at www.workers.tv. tion we now know that these hopes for On Feb. 25, 2007, 12-year-old Dea- change have very little chance of being re- Socialist medicine is monte Driver died in Maryland after in- alized in the halls of Congress. The House what workers deserve fection from an abscessed tooth spread to recently passed a severely flawed bill that Socialist medicine is a medical care his brain. His mother, Alyce Driver, had redistributes tax money away from poor system that is publicly financed and ad- spent a considerable amount of time prior and working class people into the coffers ministered. Hospitals and clinics are to his death trying to find dental care for of the big insurance companies, mandates state-operated with doctors and nurses her children. millions of the uninsured to purchase pri- working as public employees. Although Alyce Driver was a working vate insurance, thus delivering insurance The Cuban Revolution in 1959 set the mother, none of her jobs in a bakery, con- companies a captive market, and yet still stage for socialist medicine in that country. struction or home health care provided manages to leave 17 million uninsured. Cuba’s Constitution guarantees free insurance for her family. Despite the disappointment in the health health care as a right of all citizens. Cu- On June 19, 2008, 49-year-old Esmin reform legislation making its way through ba’s infant mortality rate of five deaths Green was videotaped as she writhed and Congress, there is a valuable lesson for per thousand live births is lower than that then died on the floor of a Brooklyn psy- workers and the oppressed when evaluat- of the U.S., where there are seven deaths chiatric emergency waiting room where ing the actions of the present government. per thousand. Cuba has twice as many ww_Photo:g.duNkEl: she had been waiting for 24 hours to be The Democratic Party is not the an- David Hoskins physicians per capita as the U.S. and life seen by a doctor. swer. It is not a vehicle for reform and expectancy there is two years higher than There is a desperate need for quality uni- electing Democrats is not a strategy for for All, which is a single-payer system of the average for all of the Americas. versal health reform in the United States. advancing working class demands. With a national health insurance that removes Socialist medicine in Cuba has accom- Almost every statistic you can imagine popular first-term president, a filibuster- private insurance companies as arbiters plished all this while spending just $251 points to the dire crisis in health care. proof Senate and a 79-seat advantage in of who does and does not receive ad- per capita on health care compared to More than 50 million people living in the House, the only reason the Democrats equate care. $7,129 per capita in the U.S. Cuba has the U.S. lack basic health insurance. An- have not waged a serious fight for mean- H.R. 676 is the Improved Medicare for protected the integrity of its health care other 25 million are underinsured. ingful health care reform, the only reason All bill. It has 88 congressional co-spon- system even while enduring a punitive A July report from Families USA de- they haven’t used their majorities to pass sors and labor endorsements from 308 economic blockade by the U.S. tailed how rising insurance premiums health reform, is because they do not want union organizations in 44 states, includ- These achievements by Cuba demon- and increased unemployment have inter- to, because they are a capitalist party and ing 22 state AFL-CIO affiliates. strate that only socialist medicine—and sected to push the number of uninsured it is not in their interest to do so. It is a progressive piece of legislation, by way of getting there socialism itself— up by 44,230 people each week. At our Party’s 50th anniversary confer- and its passage would represent a big vic- can provide workers with the health care The examples of Deamonte Driver and ence it is appropriate to say that there is a tory for workers and the oppressed. The revolution they deserve. Esmin Green illustrate that every single party worth building that can lead a fight proposed program covers everyone with We invite you on the 50th anniversa- number has a human face. for free quality health care for all and that comprehensive medical services and pre- ry of Workers World Party and the 50th Given the severity of the crisis, many in is Workers World Party. scription drug coverage. The patient is anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, to the progressive movement hoped that the There are reforms worth fighting for. not charged any co-pays or deductibles. stand with us and demand free quality election of President Obama and the new One such reform is Improved Medicare Single-payer represents a minimum de- health care for all. Page_10_dec._3,_2009_ workers.org

WORKERS WORLD editorial How China became Job loss and rise a world power Excerpts from a talk given by WWP of hunger Secretariat member, Deirdre Griswold, at the WWP National Conference, f the test of any society is its ability closure. This is up from one in 10 at the Nov. 14. View the entire talk at www. to care for those most in need, U.S. start of 2009, and the highest on record workers.tv. Icapitalism is failing dismally. Not since 1972 when the Mortgage Bankers t was an earthshaking event when, only are over 15 million adults suffering Association began keeping track. Rising Ion Oct. 1, 1949, after the defeat of the from record unemployment, but a De- unemployment, not subprime loans, ap- U.S.-supported Kuomintang army, Mao partment of Agriculture report released pears to be driving the increase. Zedong addressed a huge crowd in Ti- on Nov. 16 found 17 million U.S. children These statistics show the impact of a ananmen Square and said, “The Chinese unable to consistently get enough to eat. succession of jobless economic recover- people have stood up.” The revolutionary A separate study published in the ies in 2000, 2002 and under way today. war had liberated the peasants from the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent While corporate profits and productivity tyranny of the landlords and the work- Medicine in November found that about are at all-time highs, record numbers of ers from capitalist exploitation. It had an half of the children in the U.S. will be on U.S. workers and their families are sink- enormous impact on world events—and food stamps at some point during their ing deeper into poverty, primarily due to on Workers World Party. childhood. The study states, “One in the lack of jobs at a living wage. While our party was officially formed a ww_Photo:_g._duNkEl three children and 90 percent of all black While the crisis of abject hunger is decade later, the worldview of its founders Deirdre Griswold children—ages 1 through 20—will use the global—a UNICEF convention this week was first expressed in a 1950 document by the right under Deng Xiaoping, you have program.” found nearly 200 million children are Sam Marcy on the global class war. to see the world context. In all, the USDA study found 49 chronically malnourished—the statistics At that time, the Soviet Union was con- Beginning in the 1950s, the U.S. threat- million people are hungry and getting for the U.S. may be the most astounding sidered the leader of the international ened both China and the Soviet Union hungrier. This is nearly 15 percent of all simply because of the vast wealth gener- communist movement. Both the USSR with nuclear war. By the mid-1950s, the households, the largest number recorded ated here compared to underdeveloped and People’s China were helping defend USSR under Khrushchev tried to bring since the agency began collecting data in and even some other developed nations. the Democratic People’s Republic of Ko- about an accommodation with the U.S. 1995. Among these numbers, 12 million In many underdeveloped nations, rea against a massive invasion and war by under the slogan “peaceful coexistence.” adults and 5.2 million children experi- widespread hunger may be attributied U.S. imperialism. Relations between the two huge social- ence severe hunger, going days without to the lack of food resources, but more Marcy’s document recognized that the ist countries became strained as Moscow eating. often it results from World Bank and Chinese Revolution represented a fun- made agreements with Washington on The study found that the number of International Monetary Fund policies damental change in class forces and that nuclear arms at the expense of China. households in which children face “very that turn food-producing countries into the new state rested on the working class In 1960 Soviet technicians who had low food security”—government-speak food importers to benefit agribusiness in and was oriented toward the building of been helping China with many infrastruc- for being forced to skip meals by lack of the U.S. Under globalization, agricultural socialism. ture projects were suddenly withdrawn. money—is up to 506,000. This is a 56 land has also been diverted for other The working class of China was then By 1962, the U.S. was already waging percent increase over the previous year. uses. very small. In the course of the revolution- war against the revolutionary movements Women are among those hardest hit. In the U.S., however, it appears to be ary war, the Communist Party had built in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The USDA statistics show that house- a case of hunger in the midst of plenty. what it called a “bloc of four classes” that The Chinese Communist Party by this holds with children headed by single There is no shortage of food on super- included not only the workers, peasants time had opened a debate with the Soviet mothers have the highest rate of hunger- market shelves—only an ever increasing and petty bourgeoisie but also elements of leaders, accusing them of watering down related problems. shortage of jobs that would allow work- the capitalist class not aligned with either Leninist doctrine on the rapacious nature Drexel University hunger expert Mari- ers to afford to buy it. Japanese or Western imperialism. of imperialism and failing to give the lib- anna Chilton said: “This is a catastrophe. If ever there was a time for a massive Marcy argued in the left movement eration movements the help they needed. This is not a blip. This recession will be jobs program like the Works Progress here at the time that all who were for so- Here in the U.S., China’s attempts to in the bodies of our children.” (Philadel- Administration during the Great Depres- cialism, for workers’ power, should stand revive revolutionary Marxism and Lenin- phia Inquirer, Nov. 17) sion of the 1930s, which put millions with China and the other workers’ states ism and champion the national libera- The impact of record unemployment back to work and paid them enough to against domestic reaction and imperialist tion struggles won adherents, especially is also being felt in the housing market put nutritious food on the table, that intervention. among the youth and in the Black move- where one in seven loans is now in fore- time is NOW. Marcy’s analysis proved correct. The ment. Our party vigorously supported Chinese Communist Party moved for- China on these questions. ward with expropriating the propertied But the split in the world movement Windsor, Ont.. classes. It inspired the masses of people took its toll. The Chinese leaders made a to create social forms of production in the grave error when they took their polemic countryside as well as the cities. against the policies of the Soviet leaders Auto workers demand pay The first issue of Workers World news- much further and characterized the USSR paper in 1959 contained an article on Chi- as “social-imperialist.” This derailed much Continued from page 4 jor creditor, looking to sell off or auction na titled “Hail the Communes!” The com- of the world movement. It precluded any “Ontario labor standards afford the off the assets in both of these facilities in munes were a tremendous step forward efforts to have a united front against the right to severance and termination pay in order to attempt to recoup any debt Cata- in the effort to raise up the peasantry and real imperialists and actually laid the basis circumstance such as these. However, the lina owes them. Yet the workers, both increase productivity so that China could for a turn to the right inside China itself. inaction of the Ontario government to en- union and salary staff, have not received feed its hundreds of millions of people. In the 1970s, while the war in Vietnam force the provision of the legislation is a a penny from this employer or Comerica,” After liberation from the bloodsucking was still raging, China invited President disgrace,” said Gerry Farnham, president said Farnham. landlords, farmers had begun to build col- Richard Nixon to Beijing. It was a move of CAW Local 195. Comerica received $2.3 billion in bail- lectives where labor was pooled and their that shocked and demoralized many in The workers’ next major action will be out funds from the federal government in product shared. But the communes went the movement here. It was a prelude to a press conference and rally at Comerica 2008 through the Troubled Assets Relief much further. They were a higher form of China’s later “opening” to Western invest- Bank, 500 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, Program. social organization. They brought schools ment and allowing the capitalist market on Nov. 24 at noon. Members of labor- Solidarity statements can be e-mailed and clinics to the countryside. They pro- to operate there. community-student organizations in to [email protected] or called in to vided child care and made it possible for A revolutionary workers’ party cannot Metro Detroit and beyond are mobilizing 1-519-253-1107. See http://www.cawlo- women to join social life on an equal basis close its eyes to political issues like these, to build this internationalist event. cal.ca/195/ for more information. Sup- after centuries of the deepest oppression. particularly a party in the very center of “We are targeting Comerica because porters can also call Comerica at 1-800- They incorporated small manufacturing world imperialism. What happens in Chi- they are the ones holding the purse 292-1300 to demand that the CAW with agriculture and taught new skills. na is of the greatest consequence to the strings for Catalina. Comerica is the ma- workers be paid. The communes provided the elemental workers and the oppressed peoples here. necessities of life—food, shelter, cloth- In this world capitalist economic crisis, ing—from the cradle to the grave. capitalist demagogues like Lou Dobbs get In the 1960s, China kept moving to the paid to make sure that the workers’ anger In defense of CUBA left under the leadership of Mao Zedong. is turned against immigrants and China This new book is a compilation of 25 articles by Leslie Feinberg Eventually it would launch the Great Pro- instead of against the bosses here who lay about how the Cuban Revolution has worked to overturn letarian Cultural Revolution, an attempt them off or cut their wages. prejudice against same-sex love from the colonial and imperial to uproot privilege and a growing bureau- China’s growth in the last two decades eras. The articles are part of the Lavender & Red series from cracy. At the same time, it championed has been the most dynamic in the world. Workers World weekly newspaper. The never-before-compiled revolutionary movements, especially in The working class has grown by several information offers a factual vista on the trajectory of progress the many countries trying to break the hundred million people. The standard of of the Cuban Revolution. It’s a must-read to understand the bonds of colonialism and neocolonialism. living of the masses has risen, but so has revolutionary process required to uproot prejudice. To understand why this leftward move- the wealth of the new bourgeoisie. Available from Leftbooks.com or bookstores around the country ment was thwarted and China moved to Who do we credit for this rapid devel- workers.org_dec. 3, 2009 Page 11

opment? The capitalists who invested in China to make a quick buck? Or the revo- From Africa to the Americas How China became lutionaries who pulled China out of the middle ages, ended illiteracy, achieved the beginnings of industrialization, and brought millions out of famine and an A need for a revolutionary a world power early death by organizing the masses to change their conditions of life? China’s rapid growth is proof that a response to the current crisis centralized and planned economy, even one that has allowed market forces to op- Excerpts from a talk by Abayomi gained through natural resource and agri- erate, is vastly superior to capitalist anar- Azikiwe from Detroit at the WWP cultural exports, the decline in demand in chy. Not only has production soared but National Conference, Nov. 14. View the West resulting from rising unemploy- the infrastructure is being modernized, this entire talk at www.workers.tv. ment and impoverishment of the working including medical care. In the current class has created massive job losses and world H1N1 epidemic, China has regis- frican-American people have borne food deficits. tered 30 flu deaths, compared to 4,000 in Athe brunt of the burgeoning econom- This economic downturn has been the the U.S. Such quick action is impossible ic downturn. A recent report issued by the most striking in countries that are closely when medical care is shackled to produc- U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of La- allied with the U.S., such as Ethiopia, So- ing profits for private corporations. bor Statistics states, “Since the start of the malia, Nigeria and Egypt. Oil exports from The leaders of the Chinese Communist recession in December 2007, the number Nigeria have not prevented social unrest Party have gambled that they can contain of unemployed persons has risen by 8.2 or political instability. Recently this West the growing capitalist class and keep it million, and the unemployment rate has African state, which had been for years under control. But the world capitalist grown by 5.3 percentage points.” the major exporter of crude oil from the economic crisis is affecting China, espe- This same report goes on to point out: continent to the U.S., experienced a near- cially in its export-oriented businesses. “Among the major worker groups, the ww_Photo:_g._duNkEl collapse of its financial sector quite similar Abayomi Azikiwe However, China’s stimulus plan, which unemployment rates for adult men (10.7 to what is taking place on Wall Street. goes directly to producing jobs, has soft- percent) and whites (9.5 percent) rose In Somalia, U.S. imperialist interference ened the effects of the crisis. in October. The jobless rates for adult Michigan during the present decade. has resulted in a civil war, mass dislocation At the same time, the class struggle women (8.1 percent), teenagers (27.6 per- An article published in The Nation of civilians, and the collapse of the agri- has also surged in China as workers cent), blacks (15.7 percent), and Hispanics points out, “Black homeowners have been cultural and fishing industries, which had fight against layoffs and poor working (13.1 percent) were little changed over the hit particularly hard by the mortgage sustained the population for years. The conditions— especially in the privately month. The unemployment rate for Asians crisis, largely because predatory lenders resistance movements inside Somalia that owned sector of the economy. Strikes and was 7.5 percent, not seasonally adjusted.” have been steering them toward subprime have risen up to fight against imperialist demonstrations are on the rise, along with Therefore, we see that changes in the loans for years, even when they could af- domination have prompted the U.S. to or- plant occupations and even direct action labor market as a direct result of the cri- ford prime rates.” ganize the largest military and naval build- by work ers against their bosses and man- sis have maintained the historically high- With the rise of unemployment, fore- up around the Gulf of Aden and the Indian agers. er unemployment rate among African closure and eviction rates among African Ocean in the region’s history. Under the We continue to stand with China Americans but at the same time narrowed Americans, we have also seen an increase guise of fighting “piracy” and “terrorism,” against imperialist threats, attempts to the traditional gap between unemploy- in repressive actions carried out as state the U.S. has established a military base in carve off areas like Tibet and Taiwan, and ment rates between African Americans policy. There has been an epidemic of Djibouti and dispatched flotillas of war- domestic reaction. And we stand with the and whites in the U.S. African Americans who have been bru- ships off the coast of the Horn of Africa. Chinese workers, who have become bold- The higher unemployment rate for Af- talized and killed by law enforcement, in- The U.S. Africa Command (Africom) er in fighting for their rights. rican Americans is closely related to the cluding Oscar Grant in Oakland, the Jena recently coordinated war games in Gabon We say no to China-bashing, whether disproportional impact of the so-called 6 in Louisiana, Robert Mitchell in Detroit and the Gulf of Guinea. Multinational oil it comes from CNN or from backward “subprime mortgage problem,” which ex- and the brutal assassination of Imam firms are competing among themselves elements in the union movement here. posed the façade of capitalist expansion Luqman Ameen Abdullah, which took to prevent the People’s Republic of China Above all, we are dedicated to building a during the previous decade and acceler- place outside Detroit. from making significant investments in revolutionary workers’ movement in the ated the near-collapse of the international There are over 1 million African Amer- the exploration and export of the recently U.S. that can undo this highly militarized, system of finance capital during 2008. In icans imprisoned in the U.S. Black and discovered oil deposits belonging to the imperialist regime that is holding back all the majority Black city of Detroit, people Latino/a women and men constitute well nation of Ghana. humanity, so that our class everywhere have been severely affected by the decline over half of the prison population in the The only solution to the problems of will be free to control its own destiny and of the auto industry and the loss of hun- U.S. Racial profiling is conducted as nor- underdevelopment and exploitation in build a workers’ world. dreds of thousands of jobs in the state of mal law-enforcement procedure where Africa is for the workers and farmers to even prominent African Americans in gov- break with imperialism. Promises made Task of a Party: ernment, business, entertainment and even by the U.S., Britain, France, the European law enforcement are subjected to harass- Union, the World Bank and the Interna- ment and possible serious injury or death. tional Monetary Fund have proved worth- Building class solidarity The ongoing attacks against the Mus- less. Aid agencies based in the imperialist lim community in the U.S. are justified states cannot solve the problems of food Continued from page 2 ing workers’ party inside the most power- by the state and corporate media utiliz- deficits and the lack of health care services The main criteria for joining a party is ful imperialist country in the world, which ing the false notion of “Islamic extrem- without a fundamental transformation of not solely because of our hatred for the ain’t easy. Many others gallantly have ism.” Imam Luqman’s assassination and the post-colonial societies and their sub- capitalist and imperialist system and ev- tried and failed. the trumped-up charges brought against ordinate relationship with the capitalist erything that is rotten about it but because We are about taking the lessons we members of his mosque are carried out in states and the multinational corporations. we want to fight tooth and nail against this have learned from those before us and an effort to justify the occupations of Iraq Our focus in the coming period must barbaric system, not as individuals but as using them to push today’s struggles for- and Afghanistan, and the spreading of the be centered on the demands related to one, until this system is finally overthrown ward as we face the biggest political crisis wars into Pakistan as well as the Horn of shutting down the war machine in Iraq, by the workers of all nationalities and in ever, which rests upon the biggest capital- Africa and its surrounding waterways in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Korea, its place will be a humane system of social- ist depression since the 1930s. Our Party the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Latin America and throughout the globe. ism where every human need will be met can’t carry out this challenge alone, just as The anti-war and peace movements In taking a clear position against all forms in the absence of racism, war and poverty. the movement can’t do it alone. It will take must link the rising Pentagon budget to of U.S. militarism we inevitably enhance Being a comrade in Workers World an historic upsurge of the working class to the intensification of the exploitation and the alliances between workers and the op- Party means not taking our relationships turn around the mood of pessimism and impoverishment of the majority of working pressed in both the capitalist states and for granted but rather being sensitive to reaction. But the workers cannot carry people and the oppressed inside the U.S. the post-colonial nations. each other’s special oppressions and chal- out their historic mission of seizing power The outmoded slogans utilized by Domestically we must continue our lenges and to find positive ways to build in a spontaneous way. They will need a unconscious elements within the labor support for labor actions such as the sit- and strengthen class solidarity from with- workers’ party with class conscious lead- unions which utilize national chauvin- in that took place last year at the Repub- in. Sam, Vince and Dotty were exemplary ership, and political and organizational ism and racism that is masked with slo- lic Windows and Doors plant in Chicago. examples of what it takes to build a fight- tools to help lead the way. gans such as “Buy American” and “Protect In Detroit we linked the struggle against American jobs” have done noth- foreclosures in the case of Loren Parker, MarxiSM, reparaTionS ing to advance the interests of who was threatened with eviction by the the working class inside the U.S. Bank of America, with the plant occupa- & the Black Freedom Struggle The African condition tion carried by the UE workers. An anthology of writings from Workers World newspaper. and the world economic crisis If we have learned anything from our Edited by Monica Moorehead. Includes: With reference to Africa, the experiences with the Moratorium NOW! • Racism, national oppression and self-determination • Black labor from current crisis in the capitalist- Coalition and the Bail Out the People chattel slavery to wage slavery • Black youth: repression & resistance imperialist states has had a Movement in the present period, we will • Black & Brown unity: Pillar of struggle for human rights & global justice! tremendous negative impact understand that there is no substitute for • Are conditions ripe again today? 40th Anniversary of the 1965 Watts by thrusting over 50 million the difficult work of addressing the con- Rebellion • Racism and poverty in the Delta • The struggle for Socialism is key people back into poverty. With crete needs of the people. When we do this, • Domestic Workers United demand passage of a bill of rights the continued dependence by there will be a qualitative leap in our efforts • Reparations for Africa & Caribbean the former colonial states on to end the current economic crisis and to Available at Leftbooks.com and bookstroes around the country the foreign exchange earnings build a socialist society and world. Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los países uníos! Problemas políticos y el potencial revolucionario

Extracto de la charla pronunciada mientras las ventas bajaron. en una campaña que amenaza al estab- por Fred Goldstein, miembro del ¿Cómo puede suceder esto? En lecimiento capitalista. Secretariado, durante la Conferencia parte fue el programa ‘Efectivo Nacional del Partido Workers World / por Chatarras’ subsidiado por el El inevitable despertar Mundo Obrero en Nueva York Nov. 14-15. gobierno. Pero la gran noticia es Todos estos ataques inevitablemente que Ford despidió a 53.000 tra- fomentarán un despertar de la lucha. Ya omos un partido de luchadores/ bajadores/as y cerró quince plan- debajo de la nube oscura de la reacción Sas, pero también debemos analizar tas desde el 2006. Lo cual quiere hay rayos de luz empezando a brillar. La cuidadosamente lo que está pasando a decir que para poder mantener las lucha de los/as trabajadores/as de Re- nuestro alrededor y la dirección en que ganancias, la industria automov- public Windows and Doors que ocuparon las cosas se dirigen. ilística está reduciendo la produc- su fábrica fue una gran inspiración y un Utilizando el Marxismo es la guía más ción porque no pueden vender ob- modelo para el futuro. Tuvo un impacto segura. Marx nos mostró hace más de 150 teniendo ganancias. sobre los trabajadores/as de todas par- años que conforme el capitalismo crece, ¿Pero qué pasa cuando la indu- tes, no solamente en los Estados Unidos. llevaría a más y más trabajadores a una stria automotriz cierra sus plan- La larga y heroica lucha de los/as traba- red de producción socializada en todo el tas? Significa que los vendedores jadores/as de Stella D’Oro demostró el mundo. Pero toda la economía, los me- de automóviles cierran. Las comu- espíritu de resistir. Los/as trabajadores/ Mo_Foto:_g._duNkEl dios de producción y los servicios serían nidades son destruidas. Más que Fred Goldstein as del transporte de SEPTA en Filadel- propiedad privada y manejada para las esto—se pierden trabajos en las fia han ganado una victoria, así como ganancias de los dueños. fábricas de repuestos, acero, cau- pudiera existir, están fuera de la cadena también los/as trabajadores/as de la SK Marx mostró que la tendencia de los cho, vidrio, plástico, pintura, telas, micro- de producción y no son una fuente de ga- Tools después de una lucha de nueve se- capitalistas en búsqueda del máximo de chips, producción de robots y demás. Los nancias, entonces los capitalistas las de- manas del Local 743 de los Teamsters. ganancias era hacer más y más eficiente mecánicos, vendedores y trabajadores/as jan al margen. Todo tiene que ver con las El Movimiento pro Rescate del Pueblo la maquinaria—más tecnología, com- de oficinas pierden sus empleos. ganancias. llevó a cabo la Marcha por Empleos en putadores, programas para computado- Este efecto vicioso afecta a casi todas ¿Qué hace que esta crisis sea diferente Pittsburgh durante el G-20 para llevar la res, robots, etc.; poner más destrezas de las industrias, cadenas de tiendas, cen- a las crisis previas en los pasados 70 años crisis del desempleo a la conferencia del los/as obreros/as en las maquinarias, tros comerciales, restaurantes, porque desde la Gran Depresión? En el pasado G-20. Eso fue seguido por una Marcha reduciendo así la necesidad de éstos/as el sistema de ganancias ha alcanzado el los capitalistas han usado expendios mili- por Empleos en Boston. Hubo una mar- y reduciendo también las destrezas nec- punto donde los/as obreros/as se han tares, recortes de los sueldos, inversio- cha de unas miles de personas organiza- esarias para entonces pagarles menos y hechos tan productivos/as en la creación nes de dinero en los bancos, creación de da por los sindicatos que irrumpió una obtener más producción. De esta manera de riquezas que son despedidos/as de sus burbujas—la burbuja de la tecnología, la reunión de la Asociación Americana de logran más y más plusvalía. empleos. Conforme el capitalismo pau- burbuja de la vivienda, y otras aventuras Banqueros en Chicago. Marx también mostró que esta tenden- periza a los/as trabajadores/as, ¿quién capitalistas. Pero estos medios de solu- El movimiento estudiantil está empe- cia histórica del capitalismo llevaría a la va a comprar los automóviles? El siste- cionar la crisis han sido agotados. Eso es zando a organizarse en la lucha en con- eventual pauperización de los/as obre- ma destruye sus propios mercados. El lo que es diferente. tra de los recortes en el presupuesto de ros/as y sus familias y tarde o temprano capitalismo está alcanzando el límite del educación, y redes de estudiantes-traba- pondría más presión sobre el sistema ter- sistema de explotación. Los problemas jadores/as están empezando a organizarse. minando en un colapso y en condiciones El gobierno y los expertos buscan in- Regresando al presente: Cuando la so- para una revolución. cesantemente señales positivas. Una señal ciedad se hace más y más pobre, y la crisis Las tareas ¡Este es el proceso que ahora estamos positiva para ellos es que “sólo” 510.000 se profundiza para los/as trabajadores/as La tarea de nuestro partido es poner- viendo! trabajadores/as perdieron sus empleos y las comunidades, la base material de re- nos a la altura de las circunstancias para El sistema capitalista en realidad nun- el mes pasado. Pero ellos no dicen cómo belión y lucha está siendo creada. enfrentarnos a los retos de esta nueva ca tuvo una recuperación económica nor- cerca de 30 millones de trabajadores/as o Pero a causa de las décadas de ataque y época de crisis profunda y del desper- mal desde la Gran Depresión. Sobrevivió sub empleados/as serán puestos a traba- por la severidad de la crisis, toma tiempo tar de la lucha. Nuestro objetivo ha sido un movimiento de huelga pre revolucio- jar en una economía en contracción. para que los/as trabajadores/as y oprimi- siempre el de construir un partido de la nario entre los/as trabajadores/as yendo Esto afecta no sólo a los obreros/as em- dos/as se rebelen en gran escala. Nadie clase trabajadora. Es la clase trabajadora a una guerra mundial catastrófica la cual pleados/as, sino a los/as jóvenes, madres sabe cuándo ni dónde esa rebelión va a la que hace que todo se mueva, hace todo mató a más de 50 millones. solteras recibiendo beneficios públicos, empezar. Pero a causa de la demora, las lo de valor. Ahora mismo hay una recuperación los/as envejecientes; afecta a todos/as corporaciones y las fuerzas reaccionarias, Queremos hacer todo lo posible para sin empleos profunda, y esto es sólo el aquellos/as que no son propietarios/as. racistas, anti-mujer, anti-lesbiana, anti- fomentar la resistencia a la crisis, la lucha comienzo. Hay muchas crisis más en el Para los capitalistas los jóvenes, en es- gay, -bi y -trans, están ganando la may- por empleos, la lucha contra las ejecucio- horizonte. pecial los jóvenes negros/as y latinos/as, oría de las luchas políticas y económicas. nes hipotecarias, y la lucha por el cuidado Para tener una idea de hacia dónde son completamente superfluos/as. Los Sobre todo, está el constante atentado de salud, la educación y para salvar el me- va la crisis capitalista para los/as traba- patronos no tienen empleos para ellos/ del establecimiento capitalista que teme dio ambiente. Pero el propósito principal jadores/as y para la sociedad en general, as. Ellos/as no pueden ser explotados/as una rebelión, de dividir a la clase traba- es siempre para socavar el orden social tomemos el ejemplo de la recuperación para obtener ganancias. De modo que el jadora incitando al racismo, sexismo, la capitalista. de la Ford Motors. La Ford fue de una capitalismo no se preocupa por ellos/as. intolerancia y el chauvinismo anti-inmi- Para el sistema capitalista no hay otra pérdida de miles de millones de dólares a Las madres que reciben beneficios es- grante. salida a la crisis que profundizarla. Para amontonar mil millones en ganancias du- tatales, que están haciendo el servicio de Todos estos problemas surgen del la clase trabajadora y los/as oprimidos/as rante el último trimestre. Recordemos sin incalculable valor de criar a sus hijos, una hecho de que los/as trabajadores/as y el hay una salida, el camino de la lucha y la embargo que estas ganancias subieron función sin la que nuestra sociedad no movimiento en general no están todavía movilización de las masas. LIBERTAD PARA LOS CINCO CUBANOS Nuestra tarea como partido es luchar por un nuevo orden socialista en el cual LIBERTAD PARA LOS CINCO CUBANOS este enorme aparato productivo global será propiedad y se operará por las manos de Libertad para los los/as trabajadores/as, la fuente de toda cincos compatri- riqueza, y su propósito será para las nece- otas cubanos que sidades humanas y no para ganancias. defendieron a su ¡Abajo con el capitalismo! ¡Viva el so- país del terrorismo cialismo! ¡A construir el Partido Mundo y gue ahora están presos en EE.UU. Obrero y construir un mundo de los/as por evitar muertes trabajadores/as! en la isla. Ver www.lowwagecapitalism.com para la presentación completa. Gerardo Hernández Hernández Nordelo, Ramón Labañino Nordelo, Salazar, Rene Ramón González Sehwerert, Labañino Antonio Guerrero Salazar, Rodríguez Rene y Fernando González Llort. González Sehwerert, Antonio Guerrero Rodríguez y Fernando