• ECONOMÍA EN DECLIVE 12

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 58, No. 5 Feb. 11, 2016 $1 Lamont Monica Moorehead Lilly for President for V.P Polluters must pay for Flint crisis Editorial: What Iowa shows 10 GET THE LEAD OUT! By Kris Hamel Detroit

More horrors are being exposed daily by the corpo- rate-owned news media regarding the criminal water poisoning of Flint, Mich., residents. Up until now the media have gone along with Republican Gov. Rick Sny- der’s racist, reactionary program. , an important voice of the liber- al bourgeoisie, especially in an election year, published two editorials on Flint. The first on Jan. 22 was head- lined “Depraved Indifference Toward Flint,” followed by the command on Jan. 24: “Fix Flint’s Water System, Now.” The Times editorial board chose their words care- fully. “Depraved indifference” is not just extreme in- difference to human suffering or a psychopathic lack of empathy. It is also a legal term which — if allowed to be applied to Snyder and his lackeys — would remove from government immunity possible criminal charges of gross negligence and manslaughter. Many people in and outside of Flint are calling for Snyder’s resignation and arrest. The Democratic Party and liberal media, such as MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, have put the sole blame for this mass health and hu- manitarian crisis on Snyder and his administration. They knew about the lead for over two years, yet ignored Flint residents’ pleas concerning their water. Of course, all people and organizations of good con- science rightly should condemn every act by all those involved in the state’s racist, anti-poor inaction and in- difference toward the majority-Black city of Flint. Every single person responsible should be held crim- inally accountable. Every demand made by Flint resi- WW PHOTO: MARTHA GREVATT dents should be met. The criminal banks and General GM’s massive downsizing in the 1980s, Michigan lost hun- Motors must pay reparations to the community for the dreds of thousands of auto jobs. life-altering health and other damages that families and Flint, the former center of GM production and birthplace of individuals are facing. the United Auto Workers union, was hit hard. GM shut most The impoverished African-American community of its Flint plants from 1986 to 1988 and destroyed the city’s bears the brunt of Flint’s water genocide. So do the Lati- economic base. members organized no/a and other oppressed communities, along with poor a campaign then, demanding that Democratic Gov. James whites. Thousands of children, many facing permanent Blanchard declare both a state of emergency and a morato- brain damage, and their families face a lifetime medical rium on plant closings. We organized a large rally at Harris and social crisis. Auditorium and a national conference on plant closings at the The lead poisoning of the city’s water and its people UAW home local of the Flint sit-down strikes. is being condemned worldwide as a crime against hu- Activists invaded the National Governors Association meet- manity. “Flint” has become synonymous with what a Continued on page 5 Detroit, March 2005 capitalist government will allow that irreparably harms WW PHOTO: CHERYL LABASH its own people. But why?

How could this happen? Because of the moral turpitude of racist, reactionary Republicans? Because they are evil politicians who care • Grand jury flips for Planned Parenthood 2 nothing for the people they serve? That is probably very true, but that is not what caused the Fint water crisis. • Labor’s strategy for struggle 3-4 Under alternating Republican and Democratic gover- nors, cities in Michigan have been in economic decline for almost 40 years. Since the auto industry’s restruc- turing, which began in 1979 with Chrysler, and then • BLACK HISTORY MONTH 6-7 Subscribe to Workers World Vernon Dahmer; Claudette Colvin • Battling killer cops in Chester, Pa. 7 4 weeks trial $4 1 year subscription $30 Sign me up for the WWP Supporter Program: workers.org/articles/donate/supporters_/ • African president tried in imperialist court 8 Name ______• France: ‘State of Emergency’ 9 Email______Phone ______• Cuba-U.S. relations 9 Street______City / State / Zip______Workers World 212.627.2994 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl, NY, NY 10011 workers.org • A lawyer who fought the generals 10 Page 2 Feb. 11, 2016 workers.org Planned Parenthood vindicated Makers of fraudulent videos indicted

By Sue Davis anti-choice groups with ties to white-supremacist, racist,  In the U.S. right-wing groups, worked “in consultation” with CMP Get the lead out! ...... 1 In a dramatic turnaround, two of the right-wingers on the videos. Troy Newman, OR president and board who created a fraudulent series of videos designed to dis- member of CMP — who “retired” after the indictments Planned Parenthood vindicated on fraudulent videos . . 2 credit and ultimately destroy Planned Parenthood, the — defended Paul Hill, who was convicted of murder in Labor at the crossroads ...... 3 largest nonprofit health care provider for poor and work- the 2003 killing of Dr. John Britton and James Barnett Walmart strikers win at NLRB ...... 3 ing women in the U.S., were indicted on Jan. 25. outside a Pensacola, Fla., abortion clinic. OR said such The charges grew out of a two-month investigation murders are “justifiable” to protect the unborn. Newman NYC tenants confront realtors ...... 3 of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast by a Houston grand advocates and practices terrorism in many forms, includ- Supreme Court case threatens unions ...... 4 jury to determine if Planned Parenthood had engaged in ing stalking, harassing and intimidating clinic workers, Struggle over union at Bröd Kitchen ...... 4 the illegal sale of fetal tissue for profit. That is what the patients and escorts. deceptively edited videos created by the so-called Center Cheryl Sullenger, OR senior policy advisor, served time Iowa joins historic struggle for $15 ...... 4 for Medical Progress attempted to show when they were for attempting to bomb a clinic in San Diego and aided Flint water crisis grows: State, GM give no assistance . . .5 released last July. Scott Roeder, who killed abortion provider Dr. George Protesters demand answers in police shooting ...... 7 Once it became obvious to the grand jury that Planned Tiller in his church in Wichita, Kan., in 2009. Parenthood was blameless, the evidence revealed that The most alarming aspect of the fraudulent videos is ‘Justice for Dontay Ivy!’ BLM disrupts mayor’s speech . .7 the right-wing group CMP had engaged in many illegal that many right-wing legislators in Congress and various Michael Kennedy: A warrior in the courtroom ...... 10 practices — including falsely presenting CMP as a biolog- states, as well as reactionary presidential candidates, Methane leak endangers ...... 11 ical research group, registered with the Internal Revenue lauded the videos and promoted a national campaign to Service as a 501(c)3 nonprofit charity in order to receive defund Planned Parenthood. That would endanger ba-  Black History Month matters ...... 6 unlimited, anonymous donations. Rather, it is a front sic health care delivery for millions of poor and working Dahmer: Martyr of Mississippi Civil Rights struggle . . . .6 group for an anti-abortion sting operation. women, disproportionately women of color, immigrants, Two CMP videographers, David Daleiden and Sandra homeless women, young women, victims of domestic vi- Claudette Colvin: Catalyst for Montgomery Bus Boycott . 7 Merritt, were charged with second-degree felonies, which olence and terrorism, women living in rural areas, and  Around the world carry a 20-year sentence in Texas, for tampering with women with disabilities. Imperialists put former Ivory Coast president on trial . . .8 government records — creating phony driver’s licenses Planned Parenthood was also subjected to terrorism, in order to gain access to Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast including several instances of arson and three murders Free Mohammed al-Qeeq! Hunger strike spotlights G4S . .8 and interview providers there. Daleiden was also charged at a clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo.; a series of insulting Bangladeshi solidarity with BLM ...... 8 with trying to procure human fetal tissue for pay. Congressional hearings; and investigations in a dozen Workers challenge France’s ‘state of emergency’ . . . . .9 An article posted on Oliver Willis’ blog, “Who’s Behind states, which produced no charges. the Center for Medical Progress?” reveals the nefarious On Jan. 15, Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit in San Cuba: U.S. eases restrictions but levies fines ...... 9 web of anti-abortion, Christian zealots and domestic ter- Francisco federal district court against the CMP, alleging  rorists behind the misnamed “Center for Medical Prog- that the group, by setting up a fake tissue procurement Editorial ress.” (oliverwillis.com, July 30, 2015) company and using fake identities to set up private meet- What Iowa shows ...... 10 David Daleiden honed his skills creating fraudulent ings, engaged in wire and mail fraud violation, unlawful-  Noticias en Español videos as “director of research” for the virulent an- ly invaded Planned Parenthood’s privacy, and engaged in ti-abortion Live Action group, founded by Lily Rose in illegal secret recording and trespassing. ¿Qué impulsa las sacudidas a la economía? ...... 12 2004. The group produced a series of anti-choice videos While legal, safe abortion has been the law of the land from 2010-13 that accused abortion clinic providers and for the past 43 years, all women’s right to exert control workers of illegal and unethical practices. The videos and over their own bodies is far from guaranteed. This spring the organization have since been widely discredited. Wil- the Supreme Court is hearing the first case about abor- lis conjectures that it’s “actually possible” that CMP is a tion rights in 25 years. The struggle for reproductive jus- Workers World cover for Live Action. tice continues. 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl. Operation Rescue, one of the most vocal, reactionary Kathy Durkin contributed to this article. New York, N.Y. 10011 Phone: 212.627.2994 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.workers.org Vol. 58, No. 5 • Feb. 11, 2016 Closing date: Feb. 2, 2016 Editor: Deirdre Griswold Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, Who we are & what we’re fighting for Kris Hamel, Monica Moorehead; Web Editor Gary Wilson Hate capitalism? Workers World Party fights for a ­degrading people because of their nationality, sexual or Production & Design Editors: Coordinator Lal Roohk; ­socialist society — where the wealth is socially owned gender identity or disabilities — all are tools the ruling Andy Katz, Cheryl LaBash class uses to keep us apart. They ruthlessly super-ex- and production is planned to satisfy human need. This Copyediting and Proofreading: Sue Davis, Keith Fine, outmoded capitalist system is dragging down workers’ ploit some in order to better exploit us all. WWP builds Bob McCubbin living standards while throwing millions out of their unity among all workers while supporting the right jobs. If you’re young, you know they’re stealing your of self-determination. Fighting oppression is a work- Contributing Editors: Abayomi Azikiwe, Greg Butterfield, G. Dunkel, K. Durkin, Fred Goldstein, future. And capitalism is threatening the entire planet ing-class issue, which is confirmed by the many labor Martha Grevatt, Teresa Gutierrez, Larry Hales, struggles led today by people of color, immigrants and with its unplanned, profit-driven stranglehold over the Berta Joubert-Ceci, Terri Kay, Cheryl LaBash, means of production. women. Milt Neidenberg, John Parker, Bryan G. Pfeifer, Workers built it all — it belongs to society, not to a WWP has a long history of militant opposition to im- Betsey Piette, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Gloria Rubac handful of billionaires! But we need a revolution to perialist wars. The billionaire rulers are bent on turning Mundo Obero: Redactora Berta Joubert-Ceci; make that change. That’s why for 57 years WWP has back the clock to the bad old days before socialist revolu- Ramiro Fúnez, Teresa Gutierrez, Donna Lazarus, tions and national liberation struggles liberated territory been building a revolutionary party of the working Carlos Vargas class inside the belly of the beast. from their grip. We’ve been in the streets to oppose every We fight every kind of oppression. Racism, sexism, one of imperialism’s wars and aggressions. Supporter Program: Coordinator Sue Davis Copyright © 2016 Workers World. Verbatim copying Contact a Workers World Party branch near you: workers.org/wwp and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved. National Office Bay Area Houston Pittsburgh Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl. 1305 Franklin St. #411 P.O. Box 5963 P.O. Box 3454 [email protected] except the first week of January by WW Publishers, New York, NY 10011 Oakland, CA 94612 Cleveland, OH 44101 Houston, TX 77253-3454 Rochester, N.Y. 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10011. Phone: 510.600.5800 216.738.0320 212.627.2994 713.503.2633 585.436.6458 212.627.2994. Subscriptions: One year: $30; institu- [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] tions: $35. Letters to the editor may be condensed and Denver Lexington, KY Rockford, IL edited. Articles can be freely reprinted, with credit to Atlanta 284 Amory St. [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Workers World, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY PO Box 18123 Boston, MA 02130 617.286.6574 Detroit Los Angeles San Diego 10011. Back issues and individual articles are available Atlanta, GA 30316 [email protected] 5920 Second Ave. 5278 W Pico Blvd. P.O. Box 33447 on microfilm and/or photocopy from NA Publishing, 404.627.0185 Detroit, MI 48202 Los Angeles, CA 90019 San Diego, CA 92163 Inc, P.O. Box 998, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-0998. A Buffalo, N.Y. 313.459.0777 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 712 Main St #113B searchable archive is ­available on the Web at www. [email protected] 323.306.6240 Tucson, Ariz. Baltimore Buffalo, NY 14202 workers.org. 716.883.2534 Durham, N.C. [email protected] c/o Solidarity Center A headline digest is available via e-mail subscription. [email protected] 804 Old Fayetteville St. [email protected] Virginia 2011 N. Charles St. Subscription information is at workers.org/email.php. Durham, NC 27701 [email protected] 919.322.9970 Baltimore, MD 21218 27 N. Wacker Dr. #138 P.O. Box 34249 Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y. [email protected] Washington, D.C. 443.221.3775 Chicago, IL 60606 Philadelphia, PA 19101 P.O. Box 57300 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to [email protected] 312.229.0161 Huntington, W. Va. 610.931.2615 Washington, D.C. 20037 Workers World, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl. [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] New York, N.Y. 10011. workers.org Feb. 11, 2016 Page 3 Labor at the crossroads?

By Carl Lewis to return to work and ignore PATCO pick- opposed to social unionism, which takes When the union leadership was false- et lines. The results, clearly seen within a holistic approach to what unions should ly accused of instigating a wildcat strike, On Sept. 19, 1981, the AFL-CIO, under a year, were disastrous and foreboding. look like, i.e., mobilizing the constituent Transdev fired four officers of the local. pressure from the rank and file as well as Isolated by the lack of a proactive stance base, nonconcessionary bargaining, the However, if Transdev had done its re- union locals throughout the country, or- by the AFL-CIO, PATCO was outlawed fight against globalization of capital, in- search it would have found that Local 8751 ganized a Solidarity Day march in Wash- by the courts and the Reagan adminis- ternational solidarity with other workers, was not your typical union. The union ington, D.C., that drew over half a million tration. Active members were blacklisted especially in developing countries, and won its first contract in 1978 and has people. It was the first national demon- and marked against further employment an anti-capitalist framework for struggle. fought against the attempt to resegregate stration by organized labor in decades, that had anything to do with the profes- The AFL-CIO has a blind spot when it the schools. It has also built a rock-solid and perhaps the only one since. sion of air traffic control. comes to the Democratic Party and its bi- relationship with the parents of the chil- The events leading up to this march This also gave the green light for the partisan unity with the Republican Party dren, as well as community groups. Some were both historic and important. The ruling class to open up a barrage of at- and the ruling class on deregulation of 98 percent of the local’s 900 members are event that led up to the march was the tacks against the labor movement. Inter- the economy, cutbacks in social services people of color: Haitian, African-Ameri- strike, beginning Aug. 3 of that year, of estingly, the mouthpiece for the capital- and the privatization of jobs in the pub- can, Latino/a and Cape Verdean. 15,000 air traffic controllers, members ist class, the Wall Street Journal, stated lic sector, as well as the increasing ability The local has been involved with the of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers just as much in an Aug. 6, 1981, editorial, of capitalism to outsource industrial as anti-war movement, the struggle against Organization, who walked out and struck saying Reagan should break the strike well as high-tech jobs. Most important racism and support for Palestine, as well against their employer, the Federal Avia- “for all sorts of far-reaching reasons that are both parties’ alliance with the ruling as demonstrating for LGBTQ rights. This tion Administration. have absolutely nothing to do with rela- class on wars and imperialism and their past Dec. 23, members not only ratified Higher wages were not the central is- tions between the Federal Aviation Ad- promoting the idea that the working class a four-year contract, with back pay, but sue in the PATCO strike. The main issues ministration and PATCO.” It added that has a common interest with its employer. also won back the four fired union offi- were understaffing, which also impacted “more important are the commitments An exemplary model of social union- cers, who had faced red-baiting because on the safety of commercial airline trav- to rebuild military strength, to restore ism, on the other hand, can be seen in the some are members and leaders of Work- elers, forced overtime and stress-related the dollar to soundness, to cut taxes [on recent victory of the school bus drivers in ers World Party. illnesses, both physical and emotional, the wealthy, of course!] and regulations, Boston. In 2013, Veolia Transportation, This is not only a victory of the school that had forced many controllers into to resist Soviet imperialism [sic], and to now known as Transdev, contracted with bus drivers and their union but a victory either early retirement or long absences curb the wild ascent of federal spending.” the city of Boston to run the school bus- and a model for all unions and the work- from work. So there you have it. The die was cast es. It soon started violating central provi- ing class in general. Progressives and The response of the Ronald Reagan ad- and the script was written for defeats sions of the union contract of Local 8751 the left need to start from the bottom ministration was swift and brutal. Rea- in other labor struggles throughout the of the United Steelworkers of America. up in supporting and mobilizing unions, gan warned the workers that if they did 1980s and early 1990s. Notable were The modus operandi of the company was and using class struggle unionism as a not return to work within two days, he Hormel Meat Packing, where the Unit- to break the union. model. would invoke the anti-union Taft-Hartley ed Food and Commercial Workers re- Act and terminate all the workers. There fused to support Local P-9 in its struggle were to be no negotiations to end the against a 23 percent wage cut; the defeat strike, but only total surrender to all the of Phelps Dodge copper miners in Ari- Tenants’ rally confronts realtors demands of the government. The strikers zona, where after a three-year struggle rejected this extortion, and 12,000 work- the corporate giant carried out the larg- ers stood fast and remained on the picket est decertification in U.S. labor histo- line. Many participated in mass civil dis- ry, decertifying 35 locals in 13 different obedience, which led to dozens of arrests unions, an act that was declared legal by and imprisonment. the National Labor Relations Board; and the defeat of the Greyhound bus drivers, AFL-CIO failed to act represented by the Amalgamated Tran- Sadly, despite the outpouring of work- sit Union, when 12,000 workers walked ing-class support for the strike action off the job, as well as many other labor to defy the ruling class, reflected in the struggles where the ruling class was em- Solidarity march a month later, the AFL- boldened by the defeat of PATCO. CIO leadership became both hesitant and frightened. It put a brake on calls for Boston bus drivers and social unionism a general strike, as well as any further The systemic root causes of the crisis broader mobilizations of direct action in labor result from a number of factors, called by other unions. chief among them total reliance and de- In point of fact, the AFL-CIO told other pendence on the Democratic Party. This unions representing the airline industry is the model of “business unionism,” as Walmart strikers win at NLRB

By Chris Fry ers fighting for $15 an hour that set up this victory and will be essential to sustain it. Years of workers’ struggle against Jess Levin, spokesperson for the Walmart’s bosses led Jan. 21 to a Na- pro-union group, “Making Change at tional Labor Relations Board ruling Walmart” (MCAW), declared: “Not only is that Walmart must offer to reinstate 16 this a huge victory for those workers and fired workers who joined the “Ride for Walmart workers everywhere who contin- Respect” set of strikes in 2013. Those ue to stand up for better working condi- strikes culminated in a large protest at tions, but it sends a message to Walmart the company headquarters in Arkansas that its workers cannot be silenced.” (mak- organized by the union-supported group, ingchangeatwalmart.com, Jan. 21) A large multinational protest chanted large campaign contributions from them. “OUR Walmart.” Lawyers from the United Food and while mostly white men — “suits” — en- We reject Mayor de Blasio’s zoning plan The judge also ruled that Walmart Commercial Workers Union, which has tered the New York Hilton Jan. 21 for a for NYC that promotes luxury develop- must pay the workers all their back been supporting Walmart workers in realtors’ event. The Real Estate Board of ment, ... displacing more people of color wages, and that the company must hold their campaign for better pay, better New York’s 120th annual banquet began and working families, and eliminating meetings in 24 of its stores “to inform working conditions and a union, are rep- with a $1,100-a-plate dinner and fea- more affordable units than it claims to workers of their rights to organize under resenting these workers. tured New York Mayor Bill de Blasio as create. We call on all New Yorkers to join U.S. labor law.” (reuters.com, Jan. 22) Walmart is infamous for its low pay guest speaker. in a grass-roots alliance to stop Mayor de Of course, corporate executives for and bad working conditions. Many of its A statement distributed by the City- Blasio’s developer-led zoning plans.” Walmart, owned by the Walton family workers must supplement their pay with wide Alliance Against Displacement tells The protest demands called for pro- with a net worth of $144.7 billion, plan food stamps. One Walmart store went so of whole communities being evicted and tection against displacement. Unity was to appeal this ruling. All workers should far as to organize a canned food drive, destroyed, small businesses losing their strong and expressed in three languages. be aware that the NLRB has far too often asking Walmart customers to donate livelihood and working-class families For more information on follow-up plans, reversed its own rulings that aid workers. food to its store workers, rather than pay losing grocery stores: “We denounce the visit [email protected]. It was the struggle of the brave Walmart them enough for them to be able to buy underhanded deals between developers — Photo and report workers and indeed all the low-pay work- food themselves. and NYC elected officials who receive by Anne Pruden Page 4 Feb. 11, 2016 workers.org Supreme Court case threatens unions

By Jeremy Baumann of Teachers — with the goal of breaking lied outside the Supreme Court on both anti-union legislation is the American them. Propaganda used by CEAI against sides of the class picket line. “This is a Legislative Exchange Council. It was A current Supreme Court case will de- NEA and AFT has little to do with the people’s court,” stated CTA member and founded in 1973 by pro-segregationist, termine whether or not unions can con- unions’ positions toward public educa- supporter Maya Walker. “I worry that Illinois state House staffer Mark Rhoads tinue to collect fair share fees — the dues tion, but instead attack them for being with the wrong decision in Friedrichs, I and Paul Weyrich, a co-creator of the far- nonmembers pay in exchange for collec- pro-choice and supportive of lesbian, will not be able to advocate for my stu- right Heritage Foundation. Their initial tive bargaining benefits. gay, bisexual, trans* and queer teachers dents.” (neatoday.org, Jan. 12) intention was to eliminate environmen- The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral and students. (Trans* is used with an as- tal protection, workplace safety and min- arguments regarding Friedrichs v. Cali- terisk to indicate the spectrum of all the National wave to bust our unions imum wage laws. Rhoads and Weyrich fornia Teachers Association on Jan. 11. A different genders of people who do not In 2011, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker were proponents of apartheid South Af- ruling is expected no later than June 30, conform to the either/or of male/female and reactionary legislators started roll- rica and the former racist, settler-ruled the end of the court’s current term. or masculine/feminine.) ing back union rights by passing Act 10, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), prior to the The case started when Rebecca Fried- If the court rules on the side of Fried- which cut collective bargaining rights for country’s 1980 liberation by the Zim- richs, an anti-union kindergarten teach- richs, it would overturn its 1977 decision public sector workers, as of June of that babwe African National Union. ALEC’s er from Orange County, Calif., and nine in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, year. Walker signed a so-called right- roots are an example of how right-to- other teachers filed a suit against the which permits unions in states that al- to-work (for-less) bill, which prevents work legislation is directly tied to Jim CTA, an affiliate of the National Educa- low public sector collective bargaining unions from requiring all workers to pay Crow oppression. tion Association, on April 29, 2013. The to receive fees from nonunion members dues, in March 2015. As pointed out in a Jan. 21 WW article, plaintiffs are represented by the viciously that are equivalent to members’ dues, Since then unions in Wisconsin, par- “What are needed are People’s Assem- right-wing Center for Individual Rights since all workers in a fair share shop re- ticularly in the public sector, have lost blies to organize and educate workers and the bigoted Christian Educators As- ceive contractual benefits through union more than 50 percent of their member- on how to win wage increases and safety sociation International. representation. Union dues are used to ship. As anyone who has ever been in a measures and to raise their conscious- CEAI’s sole purpose is to raid members generate resources, communication and union knows, a loss of numbers weakens ness.” (tinyurl.com/wwWVaWorkers) from the two national teachers’ unions representative services. union power. The undermining of public The AFL-CIO should mobilize a na- — NEA and the American Federation On the date of the hearing, people ral- sector unions has been especially dam- tional march or several marches — along aging to the most oppressed workers: labor-community lines — well before the women of color. June 30 deadline. There should also be Currently, there are 21 fair share fee militant occupations to shut down Wash- states and 25 so-called right-to-work ington, D.C., as a way to put pressure on states. Since 2011 in Wisconsin, Michigan the Supreme Court justices. and Indiana have also adopted right-to- Conscious workers need to do all we work. Attempts have been made to turn can to educate and agitate against this Ohio into a right-to-work state, and they union-busting climate. We also need are now being made in West Virginia, to explain to union members how their where workers of all occupations are al- struggle is tied to the fight against na- ready among the lowest paid in the U.S. tional oppression and racist police kill- In West Virginia, private sector unions ings and discuss the significance of the such as the Steelworkers and Mine Work- movement. ers would be the hardest hit, since state We can take inspiration from the vic- and education employees already work torious Boston school bus drivers of under right-to-work conditions. A bill Steelworkers Local 8751, who just won that was introduced last year and could a 26-month battle against the rotten Ve- possibly be reintroduced this year would olia/Transdev Corp., or from the coura- eliminate payroll deductions; if passed, geous members of the Detroit Federation all members would be dropped from of Teachers and their current fight for union rolls. safe schools. A major lobbyist outfit behind many Smash “right-to-work”! No to racist of the right-to-work laws and all other Jim Crow! Struggle over union Iowa joins historic at Bröd Kitchen struggle for $15

By Mike Kuhlenbeck of workers in fast food, child care, home WW PHOTO: ANNE PRUDEN Des Moines, Iowa care and other trades started assembling By G. Dunkel which every right won by working people at Cowles Commons in downtown Des New York is under attack. Iowa joined the Fight for $15 when Moines at 5 p.m. Some carried signs and Against this attempted union-bust- the first fast food strike in state history banners proclaiming “STRIKE: Raise The owners of Bröd Kitchen on Man- ing, a strong coalition of trade union and erupted on Jan. 28, the day of the Repub- pay, live better,” “Fight for all workers” hattan’s trendy Upper East Side suddenly student militants as well as immigrant lican presidential debate in Des Moines. and “Come get our votes: #FightFor15.” announced on Jan. 14 that they would activists rallied outside Bröd’s new West Employees from across Iowa, a so- They chanted, “The people united will permanently shut down the unionized 4th Street store on Jan. 28. Between 200 called “right-to-work” state, walked off never be defeated!” and told all candi- bakery/restaurant the following day. This and 300 people were at the protest. their jobs that day to demand living wag- dates, regardless of political party, they threat to throw 19 workers out of their Their main slogan was “Stop es and the right to a union. McDonald’s will not receive workers’ support if they jobs was a clear attempt at union-busting. union-busting at Bröd Kitchen.” workers struck at a store on the northeast don’t support the fight for $15. The company made the announcement The rally was endorsed by New York side of the city at 6 a.m. and at another on The demonstration was organized by just as it was supposed to begin negotia- City’s Central Labor Council. Student East University Avenue at noon, followed the Service Employees International tions for the union’s second contract. The groups from both New York Universi- by a march and protest downtown. They Union and Iowa: Fight for $15, a project union represents primarily immigrant ty, which is close to the new Bröd, and were the first such actions in Iowa. of Iowa Citizens for Community Improve- and African-American workers, some of Hunter, close to the old Bröd, were From across the Midwest, hundreds ment. United Auto Workers unionists whom had left other jobs to work at Bröd. strongly present. were also there. Bröd is the new name of the Hot and Unions that came included Bricklay- Drivers in passing cars honked their Crusty bakery. In 2012 workers there ers, UNITE-HERE Local 100, United horns to express solidarity with the waged a historic unionization campaign, Food and Commercial Workers, Domes- marchers, who braced themselves against led by the Laundry Workers Center and tic Workers United, postal workers, NY Capitalism at the wind as they reached the Veterans shown in the award-winning documen- Taxi Workers Alliance, Brandworkers In- a Dead End Memorial Auditorium at the Events Cen- tary “The Hand That Feeds.” They fought ternational, TWU Local 100 and the Pro- Job destruction, ter at dusk. They chanted, “We work! We hard for a better life for themselves and fessional Staff Congress, as well as a class overproduction sweat! Put $15 on our checks!” all workers, forming their own union, from Union Semester, DC37 Local 768. and crisis in the Speeches in front of the auditorium the Hot and Crusty Workers Associa- Activist groups at the rally included the high-tech era were in both Spanish and English. Ter- tion, which won paid vacations, de facto CUNY Internationalist Clubs, Coalition rance Wise of Kansas City spoke about seniority, a union hiring hall and other of Black Trade Unionists, Families for For more information on these books and how workers in the restaurant sector crucial rights. Freedom, Street Vendor Project, People’s other writings by the author, Fred Goldstein, work long hours and still cannot afford By trying to wipe that out, Bröd’s own- Power Assembly, Crown Heights Tenant go to LowWageCapitalism.com basic needs, and noted, “We’re making ers are pushing forward a climate in Union, 99 Pickets and Justice First. Available at online major booksellers history.” workers.org Feb. 11, 2016 Page 5 Flint water crisis grows State, GM give no assistance

By Martha Grevatt high as 4,000 parts per billion. The fed- its “rainy day fund” to help Flint. Upon they try to get water. Seniors and people Detroit eral government considers 15 ppb cause taking office, Snyder created tax breaks with disabilities also face particular diffi- for concern. Free filters are ineffective at for corporations worth $1.7 billion annu- culties accessing water. As its two-year anniversary approach- levels above 150 ppb. ally. In just one year this giveaway would Flint’s tragedy is compelling. More es, the Flint Water Scandal keeps grow- The Flint River ran clean for thousands be enough to rebuild Flint’s water grid! celebrities, especially from the hip- ing. In April 2014 Flint dropped the De- of years. Industrial pollution, primarily A modest cut in the bloated Pentagon hop community, have become donors. troit Water and Sewerage Department as by General Motors, changed that. Nev- budget could rebuild aging water infra- Mosques, churches and synagogues all its primary water supplier and started ertheless — according to Virginia Tech structures, not only in Flint but for com- over the country have sent water, and drawing water from the Flint River, a de- University professor Marc Edwards, the munities across the country that could Black college sororities and fraternities cision made months earlier. The excuse water safety expert whose research team experience a similar disaster. Already have raised funds for Flint. for the switch — that this was cheap- confirmed the lead presence in Flint Sebring, Ohio, and St. Joseph, La., are Union members are arriving with er than renewing Flint’s contract with water — if anti-corrosive chemicals had seeing the same water issues as Flint. truckloads of water and filtration supplies DWSD — has come under fire. DWSD been added to the water, lead would not The dearth of state assistance has and delivering them door to door. Plumb- recently released communications from have leached from aging pipes into the meant that every person in Flint, a ers, who have been installing filters for 2013 telling Flint it would actually be water system. Black-majority city with a 40 percent residents at no charge, are now replacing cheaper to stay with DWSD! The cost of adding such phosphates poverty rate, must carefully conserve faucets that the filters don’t fit. Unions owe Last October, Flint finally hooked back to the river — a routine water treatment their ration of clean water. This is in Continued on page 11 up with DWSD, but this has brought no practice — would have been at most $150 Michigan, a state surrounded by four of relief to children or parents. Every pic- a day. Not adding phosphates, which coat the five Great Lakes, which Flint, Mich. 2016. ture speaks volumes. A mother is shown the pipes and prevent them from leach- hold 20 percent of the world’s bathing an infant in scarce bottled water ing toxic metals, has also been blamed freshwater. to keep him from getting a painful skin for copper poisoning and a Legionel- To make matters worse, rash. A parent’s skin is covered with le- la outbreak that has killed at least nine residents have been told that sions because there isn’t enough bottled Flint residents. they must pay for their poi- water to go around. Yet residents are only Now the cost-saving measure, driven by son — or have their service being told the water is unsafe for drink- capitalist austerity, has turned into a mul- disconnected. Once that hap- ing, not for bathing. tibillion-dollar blunder. The millions be- pens, Child Protective Ser- The world has seen the now-famous ing spent on bottled water, filters and now vices can remove children photos of the brown tap water that resi- recycling are the tip of the iceberg. The from the home. dents were told was safe to drink. In some water infrastructure, corroded beyond re- Not everyone can even get homes the water is still yellow after pass- pair, could cost $1.5 billion to replace. The clean water. Thousands of ing through a filter. People are snatching cost of providing proper nutrition, health Latinos/as live in Flint. Liter- up cases of bottled water faster than they care and extra help in school to 27,000 ature about the crisis has only are delivered. Those without cars are children under 18 is astronomical. been available in English. pushing shopping carts or carrying cases At the fire stations where on their shoulders in the cold and snow. Money exists to fix this catastrophe bottled water is distributed, UAW Local 15 fights GM Already the effects of lead can be seen In the face of this catastrophe, the signs are posted demanding plant closings, 1987. in children who are suddenly failing in state has come up with the paltry sum residents produce state IDs. school subjects that were a breeze for them of $28 million in aid. Gov. Rick Snyder So-called undocumented before, or whose bones ache, or whose im- says there needs to be further study be- workers do not have state IDs mune systems are compromised. It will be fore a decision can be made to replace the and could face deportation if years before the full impact on this city of pipes. Washington is sending only $80 100,000 is known, especially on children million to Michigan — an unforgivable Detroit demonstration at Conference under six and those whose mothers in- loan with only $17 million going to Flint. of Mayors meeting demands gested lead while pregnant. The state is sitting on a half-bil- Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm Lead levels in the water have tested as lion-dollar budget surplus and could use declare an emergency moratorium on foreclosures , Nov. 27, 2007. GET THE LEAD OUT! Continued from page 1 State Sen. Hansen Clarke. and most school boards in ing in Traverse City demanding the plant After countless demonstrations and those cities have been placed closings moratorium and set up a Tent home defenses, Granholm finally gave under emergency manage- City of the Unemployed, Underpaid and her reason for opposing the foreclosure ment by successive gover- Homeless on Lansing’s Capitol grounds. moratorium: “The banks wouldn’t like it.” nors, culminating with crim- A moratorium on foreclosures But Gov. Blanchard quietly allowed the The destruction caused by the banks’ inal Snyder. demanded during State of the plant closings to move forward. Flint’s predatory lending, on top of GM’s auto re- Not only are African State address, Lansing, Mich., auto workforce was reduced from 80,000 structuring, was the final blow to Flint’s Americans denied the dem- Feb. 3, 2009. union jobs to 8,000 today. financial solvency, with the city facing a ocratic right to vote and After its population declined from $40 million deficit by 2010. govern, for which millions 200,000 to 124,000 by the mid-2000s due fought and many died, but to auto restructuring, Flint was then hit Cancel the debt! emergency management dic- with a second corporate attack, this time In 2012, Snyder appointed an emer- tates that oppressed commu- by the big banks and financial institutions. gency manager for Flint. Formerly called, nities and poor whites must Flint residents, like those in Detroit, and rightly so, emergency financial man- suffer whatever is necessary WW PHOTOS: MARTHA GREVATT (TOP), CHERYL LABASH were targeted by the racist banks for agers — emergency managers usurp so the banks get their money. predatory subprime mortgage loans and elected officials’ powers. They have the Emergency managers are appointed mands on GM and the banks, who have refinancings, which led to massive home legal authority to bypass the state con- to oversee capitalist austerity against been silent in offering aid — even while foreclosures. While Flint was running a stitution, abrogate union contracts, lay the people. The same type of austerity is an outpouring of solidarity and generos- budgetary surplus as late as 2006, some off and reduce municipal workers’ wages imposed on people in Greece and Spain, ity has been displayed by workers, com- 24,000 additional residents were forced and benefits including pensions, cut and Flint and Detroit. The corporations pay munity activists and entertainers across out of the city because of foreclosures. privatize city services, and take other ac- nothing or get tax credits (or refunds!), the U.S. and beyond. Detroit experienced 65,000 mortgage tions against the residents and workers while the people starve or die to make GM, garnering big profits, should re- foreclosures in a two-year period and lost to ensure that the banks and financial sure the banks are paid. pay at least $4 billion to Flint, and the 240,000 residents. institutions are paid. It is not a question of “balancing” a banks should contribute at least $2 bil- WWP activists spearheaded a cam- That is their primary and singular budget or “saving” money. It is about lion more to rebuild Flint’s infrastructure paign in 2007 when the housing crisis goal. It does not matter what the cost and the most expedient way to give the most and housing stock, relocate residents and first manifested itself, demanding that devastation are to the population when money to the big banks. The Flint crisis pay for the long-term health care and ed- Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm this payback is carried out. shows this in sickening detail. To save a ucation needs of Flint’s 8,000 lead-poi- declare a state of emergency and place With the African-American and Lati- meager $60,000, state officials refused soned children. a moratorium on foreclosures and evic- no/a communities in Michigan and to use anti-corrosive chemicals to pre- Activists are planning a demonstra- tions, modeled on the 1930s moratorium across the U.S. having suffered the most vent lead contamination in Flint’s water tion outside General Motors world head- that existed in Michigan and 25 other with corporate restructuring and vic- system, and then covered up their geno- quarters in downtown Detroit to demand states during the Great Depression. We timization by the banks in the subprime cidal crime for over two years. the corporation be held accountable for got a bill for a two-year moratorium in- mortgage debacle, it is no accident that The demands of Flint activists must its role in the destruction of Flint. See troduced in the state legislature by then- every majority African-American city be met. But it is critical to also place de- moratorium-mi.org for details. Page 6 Feb. 11, 2016 workers.org BLACK HISTORY MONTH MATTERS

By Dolores Cox Black history exposes a truth about the week as a political and psychological quoted as saying: “History is a clock that humanity’s journey to the present. There weapon to counter the blatant racism people use to tell their political and cul- February is designated as Black History is an inescapable link between the histo- that Black people encountered in their tural time of day. A compass they use to Month. It is a reminder that Black lives ry and struggles of African peoples, en- daily lives. The week has been expand- find themselves on the human map of ge- do matter, have always mattered and will slaved and free, and the evolution of both ed to a month. Woodson is referred to as ography. It tells a people where they have continue to matter. It places focus on all U.S. and world histories and civilizations. “the father of Black History Month.” been and what they’ve been. But more persons of African descent throughout Black people are in and of Africa, the Today’s nationwide Black History importantly, what they must be, where the African Diaspora, celebrating their Americas and the Caribbean. Blacks have Month has the same purpose as Wood- they still must go and what they still survival, against all odds, of brutalities experienced the horrors of chattel slavery son’s because blatant racism still pre- must become. It is essential: a road map and inhumane acts experienced by them, and now wage slavery, producing profits vails. In 1933, Woodson wrote the for living. If they don’t know their histo- and also those who have been targets of with their bodies, brains best-seller book, “The ry, they can’t chart their future.” (hunter. racial hatred and violence for centuries, and their wombs, which Mis-education of the cuny.nyu) and have endured the permanence of shaped nations and econ- WW Negro,” in which he ad- Knowledge and understanding of racism. omies worldwide. The de- dresses Western phil- Black history rejuvenates those who are The truth is that without Black history struction of capitalism is Commentary osophical and ethical weary of the struggle to be free, and reju- there would be no world history. Black his- crucial to the destruction of racism. indoctrinations within their educational venates organizing and institution build- tory is not only a history of resistance and History books in a white supremacist systems, from kindergarten to the uni- ing. It celebrates and honors the ances- struggle. It is also a history that reveals culture erase and distort Black history. versity, particularly as they relate to mis- tors’ unrelenting quest for liberation and that European culture and capitalism African-American historian, educator conceptions, brainwashing and justifica- self-determination. were shaped by it from their very incep- and author Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875- tion of oppression of the “Negro” race. Despite it all, African descendants say: tion. Consider the African culture’s influ- 1950), the initiator of Black History Week African-American historian and “Still we rise! We shall overcome! We’re ence in math, science, art and astronomy. in the early part of the 20th century, used scholar Dr. Henrik Clarke (1915-1998) is still here! Lest we forget!” VERNON DAHMER 1908-1966 Unsung martyr of Civil Rights struggle By Abayomi Azikiwe If these documents had been turned over few Black people owned businesses. The enforcement organizations, prosecutori- Editor, Pan-African News Wire to these authorities — many of whom jobs he provided reduced Black flight to al agencies, and local, state and federal were Klan and White Citizens Council Northern cities and strengthened the courts to pursuing criminal cases against Vernon F. Dahmer Sr., a staunch functionaries — then NAACP members local community. Vernon Dahmer was a perpetrators of racist violence against NAACP activist and a close friend of the and contributors would have faced physi- generous man who believed in the power African Americans and other oppressed Student Nonviolent Coordinating Com- cal and economic retaliation by the white of a united community.” peoples. mittee, was killed on Jan. 10, 1966, in a ruling class. The attack on Dahmer and his family Congress never passed a federal an- Ku Klux Klan terrorist raid on his home By their actions, these racists aimed to was ordered by Sam Bowers, one of the ti-lynching law after numerous attempts at Kelley Settlement in Hattiesburg, Miss. force the NAACP out of existence as the most notorious KKK Grand Wizards during the early 1900s when mob vio- The Dahmer family had received nu- African-American struggle grew in influ- of the period. Consumed with virulent lence against African Americans was merous threats prior to his death. He ence — as exemplified by the Montgom- hatred of African Americans, Bowers, routine, resulting in thousands of deaths and Ellie Dahmer, his spouse, took turns ery Bus Boycott and the mass response to like the Klan’s early founders in the late and injuries. Today, neither the House of sleeping in order to guard the home. That the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till. 1860s, came from an affluent family Representatives nor the Senate has taken was not enough to ward off Klan attacks The African-American youth was killed whose members were involved in busi- any legislative action aimed at ending the that fateful morning when his small gro- in Money, Miss., in August 1955 while ness and politics. blatant state repression against people of cery store and home were invaded and visiting from Chicago. The New York Times on Nov. 6, 2006, color communities. firebombed at 2 a.m. NAACP state chapters defiantly re- the day after Bowers’ death, described the In the 1950s, Dahmer and other activ- fused to hand over membership rolls. morning of Jan. 10, 1966, when “Mr. Bow- ists, including Medgar Evers, were vic- Consequently, huge fines were lev- ers sent two carloads of Klansmen with timized for establishing an NAACP Youth ied against them, and organizers were 12 gallons of gasoline, white hoods, and Chapter in Hattiesburg. The “One Person threatened with imprisonment. The shotguns to the Dahmer house near Hat- One Vote: The Legacy of SNCC and the NAACP fought these attacks all the way tiesburg, Miss. … The burning gasoline Fight for Voting Rights” website noted to the U.S. Supreme Court in a landmark was tossed into the house; Mr. Dahmer, that this was a bold move by the organiz- case titled NAACP v. Alabama. whose lungs were seared, held attackers ers: “However, when its young president, The high court ruled in the NAACP’s at bay so his family could escape, then Clyde Kennard, tried to enroll at a segre- favor in 1958, noting that the state’s at- died later in the arms of his wife.” gated college, he was framed for a petty tempt to suppress the organization by The Times said Bowers was a “leader crime and sentenced to seven years in demanding its membership records vi- of the most violent and secretive divi- prison. When Kennard became seriously olated the Constitution’s guarantee of sion of the Ku Klux Klan, the Mississippi ill, his jailers refused to give him medical freedom of association. Other NAACP White Knights, which at its peak had up treatment. He died not long afterwards.” chapters in Southern states also gained to 10,000 members. … The F.B.I. attribut- Nonetheless, Dahmer continued to favorable court rulings. However, reac- ed nine murders and 300 beatings, burn- struggle for Civil Rights, serving as tionary attacks against the NAACP and ings and bombings to Mr. Bowers and NAACP president in Hattiesburg at a other Civil Rights groups continued into the group. ... On Feb. 15, 1964, he coaxed time when such a public stance made one the 1960s. 200 Klansmen assembled at Brookhaven, a target of the Klan and the White Citi- Miss., to join him in founding the Missis- zens Council. He was a proponent of uni- Klan targeted Dahmer sippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, versal voting rights and pledged his life to Teaching for Change’s website pub- an organization that defined itself in its Black History Month Matters: SUPPORT WW eliminating obstacles that prevented Af- lished remarks by Ladner prepared for unhesitating willingness to use violence.” rican Americans from gaining full access the 50th anniversary commemoration of Four unsuccessful attempts were made The heroic Black Lives Matter movement to the franchise. Dahmer’s martyrdom, hosted by the Clar- to convict Bowers for Dahmer’s murder, is the latest chapter in the centuries-long ion Ledger in Jackson, Miss., on Jan. 8. but the fifth trial in 1998 won a conviction struggle to end the brutal, genocidal his- Civil Rights groups vs. racist state govts She said, “In his short 58 years, Dahmer and life sentence. It was Ellie Dahmer tory of racism, starting with slavery, that Dahmer mentored SNCC organiz- launched voter registration drives, and and the Dahmer children who persisted permeates every aspect of U.S. life. How- er Joyce Ladner during her early years adhered to the philosophy that it was his in keeping the case in front of Mississippi ever, that continuing history of vicious op- when he took her to political activities responsibility to be his brother and sis- authorities. pression and criminal exploitation is not and demonstrations protesting legal ter’s keeper. Perhaps it was also his eco- Bowers died in a Mississippi prison at common knowledge today. segregation. During the late 1950s when nomic independence that made him a tar- the age of 82. Despite his death and that That’s why Workers World makes a big Ladner was a teenager, she learned first- get for the Ku Klux Klan.” of other Klan leaders, racist violence re- deal of Black History Month, as we com- hand about the dangers of Civil Rights Ladner explained that Dahmer “an- mains a stark reality in the U.S. well into memorate the many sacrifices and valiant activism when the NAACP was outlawed nexed large tracts of land, built a com- the 21st century. struggles of African Americans from slav- in Mississippi and other Southern states. mercial farm of cotton, owned a saw Racist killings, such as Dahmer’s, in- ery to the present day to eradicate institu- In 1956, several Southern states ini- mill, a planer mill, and a grocery store. spired SNCC leaders and others to adopt tionalized racism, root and branch, in this tiated legal actions against the NAACP, He hired his Black neighbors from Kel- Black Power and militant self-defense as country. saying the organization’s existence de- ley Settlement to work for him, thereby a political strategy in 1966. Five decades But, as you know from reading this fied state statutes. State governments carrying out his philosophy of being a later there is a resurgence of anti-racist newspaper, Workers World doesn’t just demanded the Civil Rights organization’s good neighbor. This was largely unheard demonstrations and urban rebellions. cover the Black struggle one month a membership lists and financial records. of in the fifties and sixties because very There is still strong resistance by law year. We write about it in depth all year, workers.org Feb. 11, 2016 Page 7

CLAUDETTE COLVIN Catalyst for 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott By Minnie Bruce Pratt Colvin was on her way to Booker T. Washington High School that morning. Many people think of Rosa Parks when School studies during February had they celebrate the victory of the 1955-1956 concentrated on the U.S. Constitution Montgomery bus boycott that ended seg- and she was thinking over these lessons PHOTO: MICKEY WELSH regation in U.S. public transportation. when a white rider boarded. No seats Claudette Colvin at 12 (left) and still defiant in 2005 But before Rosa Parks, there was a were available in front of her and other (above). 15-year-old African American, Claudette Black riders. Jim Crow law demanded In later interviews, she made clear Colvin, who on March 2, 1955, refused to that whites never sit behind African-­ that her anger and will to resist had been give up her seat on a city bus to a white American riders. building since her first memory of rac- rider. With her fierce and militant action, The bus driver yelled at Colvin to move but chanted over and over, “It’s my Con- ism, at four years old. She was radicalized she was the first person to commit civil toward “the back of the bus.” She decid- stitutional right!” at 13, when a 16-year-old schoolmate, disobedience in the boycott struggle. As ed, “I wasn’t gonna take it anymore,” and The cops charged her with violation Jeremiah Reeves, was tried and falsely one local organizer commented at the refused. As white cops were dragging her of the state segregation laws, disturbing convicted of raping a white woman. In time, Claudette “brought the revolution to by her arms off the bus and handcuffing the peace and “assaulting an officer” — Continued on page 11 Montgomery.” her, she answered none of their questions though she had been nonresisting. Protesters demand answers in police shooting

By Erica Mines, Matty Starrdust frontational demonstration where they minutes later, other police officers, in- police, some in the lobby refused to leave and Rufus Farmer would simply exercise their right to free- cluding both uniformed and plainclothes without Delphine Matthews and the oth- VERNON DAHMER 1908-1966 Chester, Pa. dom of assembly. On entering the build- cops, arrived. ers still meeting with the mayor. ing, most demonstrators quickly sat on For over an hour, the cops never spoke Rather than answering their concerns, Five people were arrested on Jan. 29 benches in the lobby, holding signs that with demonstrators. They allocated a police arrested five demonstrators, who after 25 protesters occupied the Chester, read “Justice for Frank McQueen” and space for media to interview one of the were released a short time later with ci- Pa., City Hall to demand answers about “Release the information.” investigators working with the Matthews tation offenses. It was later learned that the 2014 police killing of Frank McQueen. Unsung martyr of Civil Rights struggle A smaller group approached the re- family. None ever stated that the protest- Mayor Kirkland agreed to have the infor- The protest was organized by McQueen’s ceptionist to request a meeting with the ers’ assembly was unlawful. At no time mation requested by McQueen’s family mother, Delphine Matthews, and his sis- mayor. Within minutes, a staff person did the demonstrators block entrances to released in a week. ter, Phillisa Matthews. It had support from the mayor’s office escorted Delphine the building or interfere in any way with As protesters gathered outside the city from Black Lives Matter Philly, the Philly Matthews, other family members, two official business. jail following the release of the five, sev- Coalition for REAL Justice and other pro- private investigators, radio host Andre Meanwhile, during the meeting in eral Chester residents expressed their gressive organizations. Roxx, who had aided in getting Frank Mayor Kirkland’s office, a heated - ex support on learning what the action was Since June 2, 2014, when police riddled McQueen’s story on the air, and Asa Kha- change ensued between the mayor and about. Their solidarity was not surpris- the body of 34-year-old McQueen “exe- lif from Philly REAL Justice upstairs to Asa Khalif. Kirkland had to be restrained ing, given the demographics in Chester, cution style” with over 28 bullets, every meet with the mayor. by his staff members and Khalif was told where more than half of the 34,000 res- attempt by his family to retrieve informa- to leave the meeting, which he did. idents are African-American, most living tion has been blocked by the city of Ches- Police gather in building When Khalif rejoined the other dem- in extreme poverty. ter. Demonstrators hoped to meet with The building typically has just one po- onstrators in the lobby, he began to fill Chester, dotted with vacant lots and Chester’s newly elected mayor, Thaddeus lice officer on hand for security measures. them in on the meeting upstairs. At this abandoned houses, resembles a mini-De- Kirkland, to request release of informa- However, after Matthews and her sup- point, police detectives ordered everyone troit. Until very recently, Chester was a tion regarding McQueen’s death. porters were escorted upstairs by Chester to vacate the building, saying they were food desert with no supermarkets. The On arriving at City Hall, protesters city officials, additional law enforcement trespassing on city property and would heavily indebted school system is being agreed their action would be a noncon- began entering the building. Around 10 be arrested. privatized. City government, dominated With little to no understanding of the by four council members, seems com- exchange that had occurred upstairs, pletely detached from the people living demonstrators began to ask why, after in the impoverished communities sur- over an hour of peaceful assembly, was rounding City Hall. Kirkland, now mayor, it now unlawful, and what was the state still retains his position of 23 years as a of the others still in the meeting with representative in Pennsylvania’s General Kirkland. With a unified understanding Assembly. of police brutality and to ensure no one The authors of this article were was left behind in the hands of oppressive among the five arrested. ‘Justice for Dontay Ivy!’ BLM disrupts mayor’s speech

By Chris Fry New York, interrupted Albany Mayor Albany, N.Y. Kathy Sheehan’s “State of the City” ad- dress. Protesters hung banners from the Black History Month Matters: SUPPORT WW More than 100 protesters packed the ceiling behind the podium, one reading rotunda of the City Hall in Albany, N.Y., “Justice for Dontay” and the other “State every year. Our coverage includes the on the principle of self-determination: on Jan. 25 to demand justice for Dontay of Denial.” racist poisoning of water in the majority that oppressed people have the right to Ivy. Ivy, a 39-year-old Black man who suf- For 20 minutes, the crowd prevented African-American city of Flint, Mich., as fight to end all forms of inequality and in- fered from mental illness, was taking his Sheehan from speaking, chanting “No well as the daily cop murders of Black and justice — by any means necessary. regular nighttime walk last April 2 when justice, no peace!” and “Fire those cops!” Brown people all around the country. We If you appreciate that coverage and he was Tasered, clubbed and tackled by Then the crowd filed out, singing “I can’t also expose the criminal injustice system more, it’s time to join the Workers World several Albany cops. Ivy suffered a heart breathe,” a ballad inspired by the killing that allows killer cops to walk free — like Supporter Program. We established it in attack shortly after the assault and died. of Eric Garner at the hands of New York the one who arrested Sandra Bland in 1977 so readers could help us publish an- The cops admitted they had no reason City police. (timesunion.com, Jan. 26) Texas and the one who executed 12-year- ti-racist, working-class truth and build the to stop Ivy, yet none was charged with They held their own “State of the City” old Tamir Rice while he was playing with many campaigns needed to make qualita- any crime for his death. His killing has rally outside on the City Hall steps, where a toy gun in the park in Cleveland. Even if tive, revolutionary change that crushes sparked outrage from the African-Amer- they proclaimed that Albany is a place the cop who murdered Laquan McDonald capitalism and ushers in socialism. ican community and its supporters. Pro- where a Black man is “guilty until proven in 2014 in Chicago was indicted, he might Write checks to Workers World and testers have called for the firing of Albany innocent.” get a slap on the wrist like the cop who mail them, with your name and address, Police Chief Brendan Cox, as well as the “What I would like to hear is an ac- only served 11 months for killing Oscar to 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Floor, New York, arrest and prosecution of the cops re- knowledgment that this is what happens Grant in Oakland in 2009 in cold blood. NY 10011. Or donate online at workers. sponsible for Ivy’s death. and that we’re not making this stuff up,” WW bases our weekly coverage of the org/donate/. We are grateful for your Defying a large police presence, the said Sean Desiree, cofounder of the new- ongoing Black struggle here, and the one help in building the revolutionary press City Hall demonstration, organized by ly announced upstate Black Lives Matter in Africa to throw off imperialist chains, in the U.S. the Black Lives Matter chapter of upstate chapter. (twcnews.com, Jan. 25) Page 8 Feb. 11, 2016 workers.org Imperialists put former Ivory Coast president on trial

By Abayomi Azikiwe The Gbagbo administration made nu- this poses a challenge to the character of with the kidnapping and persecution Editor, Pan-African News Wire merous efforts to resolve disputes sur- the ICC, which is based at The Hague. of African leaders. Gbagbo is the high- rounding the 2010 national elections. Simone Gbagbo was tried in 2014 and est-ranking political official to be tried by Feb. 1 — The International Criminal Nonetheless, Paris, with the backing of sentenced to 20 years in prison by Ivori- the court, which was established through Court put former Ivory Coast President Washington and its allies in the regional an authorities under Ouattara. No mem- the Rome Statute treaty in 2002. Laurent Gbagbo on trial Jan. 28 in the Economic Community of West African bers of Ouattara’s Rally of the Republi- An ICC case against Kenya’s presi- Netherlands. This takes place nearly States, rejected peace overtures and a re- cans party have been indicted by the ICC dent, Uhuru Kenyatta, collapsed in 2015 five years after Gbagbo was overthrown count of the vote. or Ivory Coast prosecutors. after the defense effectively challenged by French paratroopers. Washington The imperialists and their allies in Defense attorney Jennifer Naouri said, the credibility of witnesses against him. backed the French intervention. Ivory Coast were determined to remove “Laurent Gbagbo continually sought solu- However, his vice president, William The imperialist states and their allies Gbagbo and his political party from tions to the post-electoral crisis, propos- Ruto, is still embroiled in a legal battle have committed egregious war crimes power. Consequently, they went to great ing for example that votes be re-counted. with court prosecutors, led by Gambian and crimes against humanity, such as the lengths to stage the coup that installed Ouattara didn’t agree to this.” (Reuters, national Fatou Bensouda. destruction of Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Ouattara. At present the West hails Ivory Feb. 1) Kenyatta was actively opposed by the Sudan, etc. These crimes have displaced Coast as a success story, since the impe- Gbagbo supporters in Ivory Coast and U.S. and Britain when he won the elec- 60 million people, creating the greatest rialist countries have been able to make a internationally have pointed out the bias tions in 2013. Both the British and U.S. number of refugees and internal and ex- deep penetration of its economy. of the proceedings. After the isolation governments, under Prime Minister ternal migrants since the end of World Gbagbo has pleaded not guilty to four and arrest of Gbagbo, his spouse and David Cameron and President Barack War II. Despite these crimes, none of the serious charges, including murder and other key leaders in April 2011, Western Obama, respectively, leveled threats imperialist leaders has been investigated rape, allegedly carried out by his support- nations immediately recognized Ouat- against Kenya, saying there would be or prosecuted by the ICC. ers under his directives. These occurred tara as the “legitimate head of state” in consequences if Kenyatta won the poll. From an historical perspective, out during clashes that resulted in 3,000 Abidjan. This same policy continues, At the 50th anniversary AU Summit in of all the former slave-trading and colo- deaths after disputes surfaced over the even though Gbagbo retains tremendous Ethiopia in May 2013, widespread criti- nial states, including the U.S. and many 2010 presidential election results. ICC support inside Ivory Coast. cism of the ICC and its failure to recog- NATO countries, none has paid repara- prosecutors in their opening arguments At the opening of the trial, hundreds of nize the sovereignty of African states tions to its former subjects. Nor have any on Jan. 28 told the court that Gbagbo un- members and friends of Gbagbo were at prompted calls for the AU to withdraw been held legally accountable for centu- leashed violence against his supporters the court. Many wore shirts with Gbag- from the Rome Statute. Numerous Afri- ries-long crimes that reaped billions in in order to remain in office. bo’s image, calling for his release from can states have not signed the agreement profits and resulted in the deaths of hun- prison in the Netherlands. and consider themselves not bound by its dreds of millions. Defense says trial motivated by politics In the same article, attorney Naouri conventions. In 2010, Gbagbo challenged Paris’ Lawyers for the defendants, who in- emphasized, “Gbagbo will never be able Although the U.S. and some European move to install Alassane Ouattara, a clude former first lady Simone Gbagbo to shed the image of an anti-French na- imperialist states do not recognize the former International Monetary Fund and youth leader Charles Ble Goude, are tionalist that has been stuck to him by supposed authority of the ICC, Western functionary and darling of imperialism, emphasizing the role of France in Ivory supporters of Alassane Ouattara. The capitals use the court as a tool of the for- as head of the West African state. Ivory Coast’s inability to resolve its own inter- French establishment will never accept eign policy imperatives of Washington, Coast is the world’s largest producer of nal problems. They argue that French him.” London, Paris and Brussels. In Libya, for cocoa and contains significant offshore military operatives arrested the former Gbagbo began his career as an aca- example, when the Pentagon, the CIA, oil and natural gas resources. president in a makeshift residence and demic, having earned a Ph.D. in history. NATO and their allies sought a legal ra- He was banned from his teaching post tionale for the massive bombing of the and imprisoned in 1971 for supposedly North African state in 2011, the ICC rap- lecturing in a “subversive” manner. idly indicted Libyan leader Col. Moam- Free Mohammed al-Qeeq! Left-wing ideologically, he became mar Gadhafi, members of his family and a trade union organizer among educa- other officials. tors during the 1980s. Gbagbo opposed According to the Feb. 1 Guardian news- Hunger strike turns spotlight on G4S the first Ivorian leader, President Felix paper, referring to the 26th Ordinary AU Houphouet-Boigny, a protégé of French Summit held on Jan. 30-31, “Members of Thanks to the Samidoun Palestin- neocolonialism who ruled the country for the African Union have backed a Kenyan ian Prisoner Solidarity Network for three decades. proposal to push for withdrawal from the the following report. Gbagbo helped form the Ivorian Pop- International Criminal Court, repeating New Yorkers took to the streets on ular Front in 1982 and was exiled to Eu- claims that it unfairly targets the conti- Jan. 22 and again on Jan. 29 to protest rope the same year. He returned in 1988, nent. Chad’s president, Idriss Déby, who the complicity of the G4S corporation only to be imprisoned again in 1992. was elected African Union chairman in Israel’s imprisonment, torture and Gbagbo took power through an electoral at the two-day summit in Addis Ababa, oppression of Palestinians, and to call process accompanied by a popular upris- criticized the court for focusing its efforts for freedom for imprisoned Palestin- ing in 2000. He ruled the country until on African leaders.” ian journalist Mohammed al-Qeeq. he was overthrown on April 11, 2011. Deby said, “Elsewhere in the world, January 29 was al-Qeeq’s 66th day of many things happen, many flagrant vi- ICC trial and African Union Summit olations of human rights, but nobody hunger strike. He is now shackled to a PHOTO: SAMIDOUN NETWORK bed in Afula Hospital in critical con- Protest targets G4S corporation, which profits This trial comes amid growing contro- cares.” Of the nine countries targeted by dition and has been denied access to from Israel’s brutal imprisonment of Palestinians. versy within the African Union and other the ICC, only one is not in Africa: Geor- independent medical care. tion and apartheid. nongovernmental forces over the charac- gia, a nation that was part ofthe former The Israeli military ordered Al-Qeeq Some 220 community organizations, ter of the ICC and its sole preoccupation Soviet Union. imprisoned under administrative deten- trade unions, faith and student groups tion for six months, renewable without from around the world, following calls charge. He has had no trial and any ev- from Palestinian prisoners and Palestin- idence against him is secret. Al-Qeeq ian organizations, have urged a boycott is the latest of a number of Palestinians of G4S. An international petition has es- – including fellow journalist Nidal Abu pecially urged the United Nations to stop Bangladeshi solidarity Aker – to undertake a long-term hunger doing business with this multinational strike against the use of administrative corporation because of the role it plays detention without charge or trial. Some in widespread torture and human rights 45 prisoners affiliated with the Palestin- abuses in Palestine and around the world. with ian leftist party, the Popular Front for In late January the Hollands Kroon the Liberation of Palestine, launched a municipality in The Netherlands rejected two-day hunger strike in solidarity with a contract with G4S following a campaign al-Qeeq, demanding his immediate re- by BDS activists, including the GreenLeft BLM lease. party, urging that G4S be excluded on hu- The Samidoun Palestinian Prison- man rights grounds. PHOTO: BACC er Solidarity Network has been holding G4S also runs prisons and immigrant weekly protests outside the New York of- detention centers in the U.S. and in many In solidarity and unity with the Black tion. Based only on his beard, they called fices of the firm G4S, the world’s largest other countries. Lives Matter movement and immigrants this Bangladeshi man “ISIS.” “security” company and second-largest Join Samidoun Palestinian Political under attack, the Bangladeshi American The People’s Power Assembly, Interna- private employer. G4S provides securi- Prisoners Solidarity Network every Fri- Community Council held a Town Hall tional Action Center, Why Accountabil- ty systems and control rooms to Israeli day at 4 p.m. as it pickets in front of the meeting in Parkchester, Bronx, on Jan. ity, Pakistan USA Freedom Forum and prisons, checkpoints and police training office of G4S at 17 West 44th Street in 31. The meeting followed the hospital- Guyanese American Workers United par- centers, placing G4S and its equipment at New York. ization of a prominent member of the ticipated and spoke, along with several the heart of the “matrix of control” that For more information, contact www. community, who had been attacked by religious leaders and community groups. governs Palestinian lives under occupa- samidoun.net. youths influenced by media demoniza- — Sara Flounders workers.org Feb. 11, 2016 Page 9 Workers challenge France’s ‘state of emergency’

By G. Dunkel States, speaking at New York Universi- ulates taxis and how it treats Uber cars. The French government, under the ty’s law school and getting an honorary The drivers then called off their strike. slogan “Je suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”), France’s government, with the back- doctorate in law and human rights from Farmers throughout France, especially mobilized a demonstration of reportedly ing of the majority of the French ruling the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. in the west and Brittany, have been pro- 1.25 million people and 50 heads of state. class, has used the reaction to two armed When she resigned, French television testing low prices and a market structure It was really a show of support for French attacks in and around Paris last year, one made a point of showing her wearing a that makes it uneconomical to produce imperialism, which has been intervening that cost many lives, as a pretext to im- helmet and riding her bicycle away from and sell their products. They also have militarily in North and West Africa and pose authoritarian rule through a state of the Hôtel de Bourvallais, the site of her been blocking roads with burning tires Syria, causing enormous damage and emergency. The French working class has ministry. She quipped that she wasn’t and other farm trash, as well as heaps of loss of life. Those in Paris who dared to responded by resisting this rightward going to use Uber, which is currently the manure. say “Je suis pas Charlie” (“I am not Char- lurch by a government that is “Socialist” target of a major protest movement in There has been no mention of invoking lie,” in the French vernacular) were either in name only. France by taxi drivers and other workers. the state of emergency, which theoretical- ignored or suffered serious reprisals. A reflection of this resistance was the ly would prohibit such protests. On Nov. 13, a coordinated series of at- Jan. 27 resignation of Christiane Taubira, Taxi drivers, farmers block roads, In a protest that was openly political, tacks in Paris and its suburbs killed 130 the minister of justice in Prime Minister protest ‘police state’ thousands of people marched in over 70 people. The day after the attacks, the Manuel Valls’ cabinet. Taubira said she The national taxi driver unions and French cities on Jan. 30 to demand an French government declared a “state of resigned because she could not support farmers made a much more direct chal- immediate lifting of the state of emer- emergency” which allows it to ban demon- the French government’s recent proposal lenge to the state of emergency. gency and to express their outrage over strations of all sorts, assign anybody it to remove French citizenship from any- Beginning with a few roadblocks in the government’s plans to revoke the wants to house arrest and conduct search- one convicted of a “terrorism-related” Paris on Jan. 21, taxi drivers extended French citizenship of those convicted of es and seizures without judicial oversight. offense. their strike throughout the major com- terrorism. It also mobilized over 100,000 gendarmes Even though polls say 75 percent of mercial centers of France, blockading The organizers — “We will not give (militarized cops) and soldiers to “guard” French citizens support strengthening major highways with their bodies. In Par- up” and “Stop the state of emergency” — transportation and mass transit. the security apparatus, the left in France is, they concentrated on the roads leading formed a coalition that included unions The state’s repressive apparatus put opposes the state of emergency, especial- to the major airports and fought with the like the CGT, the biggest workers’ federa- hundreds of people under various forms ly the attempt to remove French citizen- cops, setting fires and using smoke flares, tion, and the FSU, the main teachers’ or- of house arrest and made thousands of ship. to keep the roads closed. ganization, civil groups like “Housing Is a searches. Taubira is a Black woman who rep- French television showed men in busi- Right” and human rights groups. In Par- The right wing has used the attacks to resents French Guiana (Guyane) — a ness suits running on the shoulders of is, they marched behind banners reading target immigrants, especially Muslims, French possession in South America the highways, dragging their luggage and “State of emergency, police state” and including the new refugees coming from with the status of Overseas Department trying to make their flights. Air France “My France of liberties, where are you?” Syria. — in the French Parliament. She is not warned that the taxi strike could “greatly Parliament extended the state of emer- a member of the Socialist Party. Taub- disrupt” access to airports in Paris, Tou- Attacks become pretext for state gency for three months before the govern- ira’s political history includes running louse, Bordeaux and Marseilles. of emergency ment’s declaration expired. The govern- for president of France in 2002. She got After drivers’ union leaders met with In early January 2015, attackers had ment now says it wants to extend it from much publicity in 2012 by being the most Prime Minister Valls, he declared: killed 11 staff members and their securi- February to May. It also plans to modify effective spokesperson in Parliament for “There is a right to protest ... even ty guards at the office of Charlie Hebdo the country’s constitution to make states the right of all people to marry, which during a state of emergency. But violence magazine, which had satirized the proph- of emergency easier to declare and per- earned her the undying enmity of right- is unacceptable.” (Al-Jazeera, Jan. 26) et Mohammed. A few days later, an attack haps make them permanent. But these wing French politicians. Valls did promise to review the dispar- on a kosher supermarket called Hyper maneuvers are awakening resistance in Taubira is currently in the United ities between how the state taxes and reg- Cacher killed four people. the working class. Mixed signals on Cuba U.S. eases restrictions but levies fines

By Cheryl LaBash company,” this was a small project involv- rize U.S. citizens to receive medical ing a Qatari company’s hotel contract, but treatment in Cuba; and 12) allow the The U.S. Treasury and Commerce de- one “in which Cuba or its nationals had distribution of credits, loans and fi- partments on Jan. 27 jointly issued revi- an interest.” In the view of OFAC, ”the ap- nancing for the acquisition of prod- sions that would further ease trade and parent violations caused significant harm ucts in the U.S. market. Although it travel restrictions imposed on Cuba. to the Cuba sanctions program objectives seems the new regulations allow this However, just a week earlier, the Office because WATG-UK provided … architec- last point, without authorizing Cuba of Foreign Asset Controls (OFAC) had an- ture and design services in support of Cu- to use the dollar in international nounced the first fine this year for viola- ba’s tourism industry.” Torricelli Act; 2) allow travel to Cuba for trade, the actual implementation is tion of the U.S. blockade of Cuba. Perhaps more important to OFAC than tourism, barred by the Trade Sanctions questionable due to the risk of OFAC fines So, as of Jan. 27, Cuba can officially buy the fine is the international self-moni- Reform and Export Enhancement Act of and record keeping. some materials — although not agricul- toring put into place at WATG, to insure 2000; 3) lift the requirement for Cuba to With the increased flow of open trav- tural commodities expressly prohibited future compliance with U.S. unilateral pay in cash and in advance for U.S. agri- el to Cuba advertised and reported in by law — from the U.S. on credit. But what economic sanctions. cultural products stipulated by the Trade the corporate media, on Facebook and bank will risk advancing money if the reg- For the first time, though, the new Sanctions Reform and Export Enhance- throughout social media, there is an illu- ulatory arm of the blockade continues to regulations allow approval of exports to ment Act of 2000, and 4) lift the ban on sion of normalcy. It hides the fact that the mete out fines for trade with Cuba? Cuban state-owned enterprises, agencies transactions with nationalized U.S. prop- U.S. blockade by the economic giant just Just since Dec. 17, 2014, when a new U.S. and organizations that provide goods erties, set by the Helms-Burton Act. 90 miles to the north is still in place. policy toward Cuba was first announced, and services to the Cuban people. How- However, Obama can exercise his au- The only place in the world that U.S. Washington has fined about six U.S. and ever, this relaxation of restrictions ex- thority in the following areas: 1) autho- residents cannot freely travel to is still foreign entities an accumulated value of plicitly excludes tourism — emphasized rize the use of the dollar in international Cuba. All travelers departing on charter $2.8 billion for doing business with Cuba. by the Qatari hotel fine — as well as min- transactions; 2) permit Cuba to import flights or returning from Cuba through Going back further, to the beginning of ing and other extraction considered to be from third countries products with more Mexico or Canada are required to state the Obama administration in 2009, there revenue generators. than 10 percent U.S. components; 3) al- what license category they claim authoriz- have been 47 fines levied for violations of The U.S. blockade of Cuba, a web of low Cuban entities to open correspon- es their travel. Proposed legislation in the regulations against Cuba and other coun- laws and regulations woven over more dent accounts in U.S. banks; 4) end the House and the Senate — HR 664 and S299 tries, with an accumulated value of $14.3 than 50 years, has failed in its objective policy of financial persecution against — could finally end these restrictions, but billion. (Prensa Latina, Jan. 29) of starving the Cuban people into a re- Cuba; 5) not impede the granting of cred- demands must be made for that to hap- The first fine levied this year provides volt against the socialist revolution. But its or other financial facilities; 6) allow pen. Travel challengers with the Vencer- a striking example of the detailed extra- every strand that unwinds seems to also imports of Cuba’s exportable products or emos Brigade and Pastors for Peace have territorial reach of the U.S. economic encounter another knot. Now there will services; 7) authorize Cuban planes and fought for these rights over decades. war against Cuba. It’s a $140,400 fine as- be U.S. “wink-wink-nod-nod” tourism, boats to carry passengers, cargo and mail The Cuban authorities say that to com- sessed on $284,515 worth of architectur- along with simultaneous attempts to between the two countries; 8) authorize pletely normalize relations with the U.S., al and design work performed in 2009- choke hotel construction. direct exports of U.S. products to Cuba; Washington should lift the economic 2010 for a Qatari company by a British 9) authorize companies to invest in Cuba blockade, return the territory now ille- subsidiary of the U.S.-based WATG Hold- What Obama can and cannot do (international firms have submitted more gally occupied by the U.S. naval base in ings Inc. of Irvine, Calif. President Obama is barred from mak- than 400 proposals for investment in the Guantánamo Bay, stop illegal radio and For a company that OFAC character- ing changes in four areas. He cannot 1) al- Mariel Economic Zone); 10) remove the TV transmissions to the island, and sus- ized as “a relatively large and sophisti- low U.S. subsidiaries in third countries to limit on Cuban products that can be im- pend actions intended to subvert internal cated multinational architectural design trade with Cuba, which would violate the ported by U.S. visitors to Cuba; 11) autho- order in the Caribbean nation. Page 10 Feb. 11, 2016 workers.org

What Iowa shows

It would be rash to read too much into ly disenchanted with the system. This is the caucuses held Feb. 1 in Iowa, so far as turning into anger against the super-rich predicting the outcome of the next U.S. and their political pawns. In many cas- presidential election. Iowa is not typical es, it has led to activism around a sea of PHOTO: AMERICAN SERVICEMEN’S UNION of the country. Had those participating social causes, most of it progressive, al- From left, Pfc. Ernest Bess, attorney Michael Kennedy, Pfc. Guy Smith, Sp/4 Albert Henry, in the caucuses moved to the right, that though not all. Pvt. Ernest Frederick, Sgt. Robert Rucker, Sp/4 Tollie Royal. October 1968 at Fort Hood, Texas. might be dismissed as not representative Nowhere is the pain being felt more of the great masses of people concentrat- keenly than among the nationally op- ed in large cities. The U.S. as a whole is pressed peoples — Black, Latino/a, Indig- much more multinational, much more enous, Asian, Muslim, documented and Michael Kennedy, 1937-2016 people of color than Iowa. undocumented. All social indices show But the voters there didn’t move to the the devastating effects of racism and dis- right. Those in the Democratic Party cau- crimination in this country. A warrior in the courtroom cuses almost selected Bernie Sanders as This is where Sanders has been weak. the Democratic candidate, and the Re- And the Iowa polls showed it. The Black publicans pulled back somewhat from vote there, according to preliminary re- By John Catalinotto The relationship with Kennedy soon Donald Trump, whose racist, anti-immi- ports, went mostly to Clinton. aided the anti-racist struggle within the grant vitriol is exceeded in volume only Sanders’ focus on the workers — or Leftist political organizers and spokes- U.S. military. Some background: Follow- by his immense fortune. “middle class” — as a whole leaves out people of the late 1960s under attack ing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assas- Trump has positioned himself as an the tremendous inequalities that exist, from the authorities preferred a special sination on April 4, 1968, Black people outsider and a warrior against the putrid even after centuries of struggle by Black, attorney: one who would allow them to erupted in a righteous revolt in about establishment — as though his billions Latino/a and Indigenous people against bring out their politics in a trial, defend 100 U.S. cities. Some 22,000 federal did not put him square in the middle of oppression and even extermination at them like a tiger, work pro bono and still troops and 34,000 National Guard were that nest of vipers. the hands of the European settlers and find a loophole to win acquittal. deployed throughout the country, most From the point of view of reflecting their descendants. When Sanders talks Few lawyers fit that description. But one heavily in Chicago, Washington and Bal- the class struggle, the entire electoral about improving the economy, attacking who did was Michael J. Kennedy of the Na- timore, where they joined police actions process is very skewed. Some of the most the huge income disparity, tackling cor- tional Emergency Civil Liberties Commit- to repress the revolts. It was a bigger ver- militant actions being taken by low-wage porate criminals, it is all good. But it is tee, who died this Jan. 25 at the age of 78. sion of what happened in Ferguson, Mo., workers these days involve immigrants, not enough. For decades Kennedy represented in the summer of 2014. many of them undocumented. They are Without solidarity, no real progress leftist radicals and liberation fighters, Some 5,000 GIs from Fort Hood, Tex- not allowed to vote, so the impact they can be made by the working class in the including Black Panther Party co-found- as, were sent to Chicago in April 1968 with are having on organized labor and on United States against the ruthless ex- er Huey Newton, Weather Underground orders to shoot to kill any arsonist and class consciousness in general is not re- ploitation and oppression imposed every leader Bernardine Dohrn and the Native shoot to maim or cripple anyone looting. flected in the elections — except insofar day by the bosses and their repressive protesters who engaged in armed self-de- In August of that year, in preparation as it has raised a general consciousness of state. In this country, the biggest obstacle fense in 1973 at Wounded Knee, S.D. for antiwar protests at the Democratic oppression and the need for change, par- to solidarity has been racism and nation- Workers World Party’s respect for National Convention to be held in Chi- ticularly among young people. al oppression. Kennedy’s contribution grew through cago, thousands of troops at Fort Hood Yet, all this considered, we cannot ig- It’s a good thing that the Black Lives his excellent legal and political defense again received orders to deploy there to nore what appear to be distinct signs of Matter movement did not wait for the of organizers in the American Service- patrol Black neighborhoods. But the Afri- a shift in the political mood, reflected in elections before getting out into the men’s Union. The ASU, with WWP’s sup- can-American troops at Fort Hood want- the Iowa votes. streets and mobilizing against racist po- port, organized enlisted service people ed nothing to do with shooting people That Sanders, the Senator from Ver- lice terror and all the other injustices of in the U.S. Armed Forces during the war they considered their sisters and broth- mont who describes himself as a demo- this system. This is where any progress against Vietnam, with the goal of break- ers. On the evening of Aug. 23, some 160 cratic socialist, came within three-tenths will happen — for the same reasons that ing the chain of command between the Black GIs came together at Fort Hood to of a percentage point to edging out Hil- it took the Civil Rights Movement to Pentagon generals and the GIs. discuss how to refuse riot duty in Chicago. lary Clinton, a veteran of Democratic break down segregation as a legal system. Kennedy represented ASU chairper- At dawn the next morning, military Party establishment politics for decades, Workers World Party is running its son Pvt. Andy Stapp during Stapp’s field police arrested 43 of the Black troops, merits analysis. It probably came as a own candidates in this presidential elec- board hearing in January 1968. Through attacking and beating some of them. shock to many who have lived their whole tion — Monica Moorehead for president a series of questions, Kennedy let Stapp Alerted by sympathetic GIs at Fort Hood, lives in a political environment where so- and Lamont Lilly for vice president, both turn the hearing into a launching pad for the ASU organized publicity and legal de- cialism has been considered treasonous, African Americans — to emphasize that the union. Replying to a Kennedy ques- fense for the Fort Hood 43. The best law- if not downright satanic. the struggle against racism and national tion, Stapp said: “[GIs] want to be able yers, including Kennedy, were with the In Europe, where capitalism has been oppression is the key to any successful to sit on boards of courts-martial. They NECLC, which took the case. just as venal and murderous as in the uprooting of this decaying capitalist sys- want an end to racism in the barracks. In 1968, at the height of the Vietnam U.S., from the days of outright colonial- tem. We feel this is a good time to reach They want a federal minimum wage. War, GIs sometimes received four years ism to today’s imperialist stranglehold out, not just to get votes, but to inspire They want a right to disobey an illegal in jail just for handing out leaflets. Yet at over most of the world’s finances, a “dem- those who have had it with capitalism order. They want a right to elect their of- Fort Hood, the military officers feared ocratic socialist” in politics is no big deal. and need to know that building multi- ficers.” (The Bond, Feb. 18, 1968) provoking more struggle. So thirteen of The ruling classes there know how to co- national class solidarity will unleash the Stapp was thrown out of the Army, but the 43 were fully acquitted. And of the 12 exist with parties that “peacefully” com- power we need to win such a revolution- served no time, and the ASU grew to be convicted by special courts-martial, not promise with the system, hoping they can ary sea change. a powerful anti-war and anti-racist force. all received the full six months maximum. extract a few concessions. But in the U.S., Kennedy defended the six “ringlead- the expression of support for socialism ers,” who faced general courts-martial in of any kind by the voters has been totally October and possible five-year sentenc- suppressed since the days when Eugene MARXISM, REPARATIONS es. The GIs were able to take the stand. Debs ran for president from his jail cell Pfc. Guy Smith told the court: “I demon- in 1920. & the Black Freedom Struggle strated against Army policy here and in Sanders actually does not represent An anthology of writings from Workers World newspaper. Edited by Monica Moorehead. Vietnam. … There is racism and prejudice any party, which may be part of his Racism, National Oppression & Self-Determination here.” In his summation, Kennedy also Larry Holmes strength at this point in the race, when challenged the officers, saying: “The Ar- Black Labor from Chattel Slavery to Wage Slavery my’s racist policies are on trial. Indicate the political establishment is highly sus- Sam Marcy that you will work to end racism in the pect. He is an Independent, but running Black Youth: Repression & Resistance LeiLani Dowell Army.” (Workers World, Nov. 10, 1968) as a Democrat in the primaries. The Struggle for Socialism Is Key There can be no doubt that the deepen- Monica Moorehead The officers didn’t end racism. But they ing pain felt by large sections of the work- Domestic Workers Demand a Bill of Rights Imani Henry flinched: Two GIs got three months, two ing class and many in the middle class, Black & Brown Unity Saladin Muhammad got bad conduct discharges, and two were too, has influenced this electoral out- Harriet Tubman, Woman Warrior Mumia Abu-Jamal fully acquitted. They all considered it a come. Whether it’s health, joblessness, Racism & Poverty in the Delta Larry Hales victory for the Black GIs, the ASU — and debt, imprisonment, depression and de- Haiti Needs Reparations Pat Chin Kennedy. spair, the crumbling infrastructure, the Alabama’s Black Belt Consuela Lee Catalinotto and Stapp visited Fort growing climate crisis — the majority of Anniversary of the 1965 Watts Rebellion John Parker Hood in 1968 to organize support for the Fort Hood 43. the population have become increasing- Available at major online booksellers. BARRON SAHU GRAPHIC: workers.org Feb. 11, 2016 Page 11 Methane leak continues to threaten L.A.

By Scott Scheffer The Aliso Canyon reservoir — one of pounds per square inch. valves be installed on each well. Such Los Angeles the largest in the U.S. — lies more than The leak’s source is thought to be a measures would have prevented the di- a mile below the surface at the very rupture about 1,000 feet below ground saster at Aliso Canyon. In what is being called the most de- northern edge of Los Angeles. Its huge level. The cause could be corrosion from This leak is being called the worst at a structive environmental accident since capacity isn’t simply to meet the needs various chemicals used in the process, natural gas facility in California and may the BP Horizon oil spill, methane gas of Southern California’s population. Like vibration from earthquakes, or possibly have a 10- to 20-year negative impact on is continuing to escape from a three- the oversized warehouses of Walmart or even fracking. Engineers detected the global warming. Leaks and explosions month-old leak in Los Angeles. Amazon, the size of the reservoir enables sound of the leak from SS-25 four years occur throughout the country with more Although emergency measures by SoCal Gas, the utility that owns the site, ago, but apparently no orders to repair it and more frequency. Even the pipes that engineers and workers have slowed the to buy massive quantities of natural gas were issued. deliver natural gas to residential neigh- leak, higher than normal levels of meth- from other parts of the Southwest and as Workers are drilling a relief well to try to borhoods are decrepit. In recent years ane have now been detected in a wide far away as Canada when prices are low siphon off the gas where the pipe intersects deadly explosions have happened in area of the San Fernando Valley. Spikes and sell when prices are high. This helps with the top of the reservoir more than densely populated Philadelphia and De- in the levels of benzene and other known insure their approximately $100 million 8,000 feet down. Best estimates say they’ll troit. In 2010 a gas explosion in San Bru- carcinogens added to methane have been in annual profits. get there at the end of February, but it is no near San Francisco killed eight people detected in air samples by the Environ- In the months leading up to the discov- a huge engineering challenge and there is and destroyed 38 homes. mental Defense Fund. ery of the leak, the 63-year-old reservoir concern that if their calculations are only This crisis has occurred in the most Some 2,500 households have been was filled nearly to capacity. slightly off, they will miss the target. polluted region in the United States. It evacuated — including the family of Cal- The well that is leaking — called SS-25 SoCal Gas was recently forced to admit adds to the host of issues being raised by ifornia’s Secretary of State — and many — is one of 90 at the site. The gas is trans- that they lied to the California Division organizers in South Los Angeles fight- more are on a waiting list. Two schools ported from the reservoir to the surface of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources ing against environmental racism, like have been shut down and school buses through a 3-inch pipe, encased in two five years ago, claiming they replaced the high levels of lead in school playgrounds that serve communities as far away as more steel pipes of larger diameter. The safety valve on SS-25 back in 1979 when and oil fields spewing diesel fumes right Santa Barbara are being rerouted. Health outer casings are meant to be protection in fact they had removed it. They were next to residential African-American and symptoms reported include nausea, in case of a leak. But instead, SoCal uses then given permission to raise rates to Latino/a communities. nosebleeds, headaches and vomiting, and the steel casing to inject more gas down- cover the costs of safety upgrades. Environmental groups have done a re- there is concern that a huge explosion ward. At the time the leak was discov- How could such wildly dangerous markable job of keeping up the pressure and fire could occur. ered, the casing was pressurized at 2,600 practices be allowed? The federal De- regarding Aliso Canyon. There are now partment of Transportation has left reg- multiple class action suits, the California ulation of Aliso Canyon and similar stor- State Assembly has passed a resolution age facilities up to the states. California is calling for the closure of the Aliso Can- an energy-rich state where transnational yon Site, and U.S. senators from Cali- Claudette Colvin corporations make billions in profit every fornia are calling for a federal review of year. SoCal Gas is a division of Sempra SoCal’s practices. But as long as giant Catalyst for 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott Energy, one of the largest natural gas corporations are allowed to own and sell companies in the world. They send out natural resources for profit, the contest armies of lobbyists to turn back efforts between workers and communities will Continued from page 7 legal suit Browder v. Gayle, attempting to to strengthen regulations and make sure continue. The environmental movement a 1953 trial riddled with the racist fraud end segregation in public transport. Oth- that regulatory agencies are staffed by has to broaden, link up with the struggles and lies of segregation, he was ultimately er plaintiffs included Amelia Browder, a corporate-friendly bureaucrats. of unions and embrace the issues of en- sentenced to death. college-educated seamstress, and Mary Public pressure and union workers’ vironmental racism that plague working Colvin describes his conviction as “the Louise Smith, a teenager also arrested, struggles in many other states have led class communities. turning point” in her life. She plunged after Colvin and before Rosa Parks, for to frequent monitoring for leaks plus re- Private ownership of natural resources into political activity — attending ral- refusing to move to a segregated bus seat. quirements that safety casings be filled is a recipe for disaster. Energy belongs to lies, writing letters and raising money Colvin’s testimony in federal court was with concrete and operational safety the people! for his defense. She became active in the decisive as she entered into verbal com- NAACP, ultimately becoming the youth bat with racist attorneys. She specifical- secretary. ly named the sexual and racist abuse of By 1955, she had “formed a mission” for Black girls as part of her motivation to herself: She would become a lawyer and act. She spoke of her determination at the Flint water crisis grows fight for her freedom and that of her peo- moment she had been put in an adult jail ple — like Harriet Tubman. She was also cell and heard the key turn in the lock. Continued from page 5 soned water. Repairs to homes, applianc- ready for action that March morning. At that point, an African-American a debt to Flint. The 1937 Flint sit-down es and any belongings damaged by the Civil rights organizers, including woman in the audience began to sob un- strike, a 44-day occupation that forced tainted water must be made at no cost to Parks, had been advancing moderate de- controllably and had to leave the court- General Motors to recognize the United residents. Reparations must be paid for mands to white Montgomery authorities room. Auto Workers, was one of the most im- pain and suffering. to alleviate the racist verbal and physical One of the lawyers for the plaintiffs said portant milestones in U.S. labor history. GM and the bankers owe Flint. GM’s assaults on Black bus riders. later, “If there was a star witness in the Jim Crow hiring practices kept most jobs Racism-fueled austerity poisoned Flint Then Colvin’s arrest angered the entire boycott case, it had to be Claudette Col- off-limits to Black workers until the UAW Black community and made a boycott vin.” African Americans are still due repa- demanded equal opportunity on the as- seem possible. The three federal judges took 10 min- rations for the centuries of unpaid labor sembly line. The company abandoned But movement lawyers and organizers utes to decide, 2-1, in favor of Colvin and performed by their ancestors and for the Flint in the 1980s, closing plants and cut- were afraid they couldn’t win a boycott the other plaintiffs, that segregation in many years of racist Jim Crow segrega- ting 80,000 jobs while keeping high-tech lawsuit with Colvin as its public face. U.S. public transport was unconstitu- tion, discrimination, lynchings and state plants open in the white suburbs. GM left There was intense pressure under violent tional — a ruling upheld by the U.S. Su- violence that followed. Flint’s crisis would behind a toxic mess and used bankruptcy segregation to maneuver using the “re- preme Court, in a decision as momentous not have reached such epic proportions if to avoid the cost of cleaning it up. spectability politics” being challenged in as Brown v. Board of Education. it had occurred in a wealthy white sub- After GM left, the banks took advan- the current era by the Black Lives Matter By the time of the court case, Colvin urb. Now Flint deserves reparations for tage of Michigan’s emergency manag- movement. had become a single mother. Despite the the state’s racist and callous disregard for er law to make sure debt service was Colvin was a proudly defiant teenager. historic court victory, she was under law human life. paid first. The banks forced austerity Her background was thoroughly work- a felon, having been found guilty of the The water infrastructure must be re- on Black-majority cities like Detroit and ing class — her parents were a domestic false charge of assaulting a cop. Known built top to bottom, and every healthcare Flint, just as they do in Asia, Africa and worker and a gardener — rather than throughout town as “the girl who got ar- need created by this scandal must be pro- Latin America. Capitalist austerity drove professional. The white judge in her case rested,” she was unable to get steady work vided for. There must be a moratorium on the decisions that poisoned Flint. cleverly distorted her public image by in Montgomery, as violent white-suprem- water shutoffs, and the water department The banks and GM got bailed out. Let dropping all charges except for “assault- acist threats, murders and bombings must refund payments made for poi- them pay for the crisis they created. ing a police officer.” So organizers turned continued. from Colvin to Rosa Parks as the test case Colvin finally moved north to New York of civil disobedience. City, where she still lives, finding work WAR WITHOUT VICTORY there as a nurse’s aide until she retired. In by Sara Flounders A turn towards activism a 2005 interview, she said of her action: “By revealing the underbelly of the empire, Flounders sheds insight on Colvin continued to find her path to “Mine was the first cry for justice, and a how to stand up to the imperialist war machine and, in so doing, save action and defiance. On a personal level, loud one. I knew then and I know now ourselves and humanity.” she anticipated the “Black Is Beautiful” that, when it comes to justice, there is no – Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, movement by refusing to straighten her easy way to get it. You have to take a stand President, U.N. General Assembly, 2008-2009; hair “to try to look white.” and say, ‘This is not right.’ And I did.” Foreign Minister of Nicaragua’s Sandinista government. In political work, Colvin’s history-mak- Background information and quotes Available at all major online bookseller ing action was finally acknowledged when in this article are from Phillip Hoose’s PentagonAchillesHeel.com she became one of four plaintiffs in the book, “Claudette Colvin” (2009). Correspondencia sobre artículos en Workers World/Mundo Obrero pueden ser enviadas a: [email protected]

¡Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los paises unios! workers.org Vol. 58 Núm. 5 11 de febrero 2016 $1 Libertad para Oscar López Rivera, ¡YA! ¿Qué impulsa las sacudidas a la economía?

Por Sara Flounders resolver los ciclos tambaleantes de ex- ismo, para expandirse, debe encontrar sas ha entrado en una caída libre. pansión y recesión causados por la sobre- mercados en los que vender sus produc- Una de las más grandes y antiguas La clase obrera en EUA ha sufri- producción. La sobreproducción de toda tos con ganancias. Cuando no puede hac- corporaciones mineras de oro y cobre, do golpes devastadores desde la crisis mercancía está nuevamente sacudiendo er esto, todo el sistema mundial entra en la Freeport McMoRan, está en crisis económica capitalista del año 2007. Ahora los mercados financieros. una espiral de crisis. después de sacar grandes préstamos hace la amenaza de una nueva recesión se perc- La producción industrial y el ren- Los rescates no han tenido éxito en unos tres años para compras en petróleo ibe a través de los mercados ­financieros. dimiento manufacturero se han reducido poner en marcha a la economía. Años de y gas. Ahora con el exceso de petróleo, Los presupuestos municipales y es- al mínimo. tasas de interés de casi cero para estim- las acciones de la compañía han caído de tatales ya han sido recortados a nombre La caída en el precio del petróleo des- ular préstamos gigantes supuestamente $60 por acción a menos de $4. Freeport de la austeridad. Los servicios guberna- de más de $110 el barril en junio de 2014 para estimular la producción, puede que McMoRan, valorada ahora en $4.8 mil mentales, entre ellos los de hospitales, hasta debajo de $30 en la actualidad, ha hayan empeorado esta crisis capitalista. millones, está sobrellevando una deuda escuelas, bibliotecas, agua y alcantarilla- recibido una gran atención. Sin embar- Un periódico británico cita las palabras de $20 mil millones, por lo cual está re- do, han sido privatizados - vendidos para go, un colapso similar ha ocurrido en los de un funcionario de la Organización para cortando puestos de trabajo y todos los generar ingresos inmediatos necesarios productos industriales, acero, tuberías, la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económi- gastos de capital. Pero para cumplir con para pagar los intereses de los préstamos metales, carbón, oro, aluminio, zinc y los co: “La situación es peor de lo que era en sus pagos de la deuda, sigue producien- bancarios. El impacto de estas políticas principales cultivos alimentarios. 2007. El mundo se enfrenta a una ola de do petróleo, incluso a precios sumamente criminales se puede ver en el agua en- Desde el Año Nuevo, los mercados impagos épicos de deuda. Nuestra muni- bajos. (New York Times, 22 de enero) venenada de Flint y en las deterioradas bursátiles de todo el mundo han estado ciones macroeconómicas para combatir Anteriormente, durante las caídas de escuelas desde Los Ángeles y Detroit has- cayendo inexorablemente. Desde Dow las crisis, esencialmente han sido total- precios, los productores de mercancías ta Filadelfia. Jones de Nueva York y el S&P 500, hasta mente utilizadas”., dijo William White, el inmediatamente reducían la producción. Aunque se espera una nueva ronda las principales bolsas de valores europeas presidente con sede en Suiza del comité Pero esta vez, debido a sus enormes deu- de despidos, el número de personas que de Londres, París y Berlín, a los mercados de revisión de la OCDE y ex economista das, continúan inundando el mercado, participa en la fuerza laboral ha llegado de Dubái, Tokio, Hong Kong y Shanghái; jefe del Banco de Pagos Internacionales empeorando así la situación. a su nivel más bajo en 30 años a pesar juntos han perdido más del 20 por ciento (BPI).” (Telegraph, 19 de enero) del crecimiento de la población. Los de su valor, entrando en lo que se llama Capitalistas culpan a China salarios reales, estancados desde 1979, un “bear market” (mercado en la baja). Barcos ‘Zombi’ de sus problemas según un informe del Instituto de Política Una quinta parte de toda la riqueza Hay sobreproducción de mercancías, El exceso actual de mercancías a niv- Económica del 19 de febrero del 2015, no del mercado de valores en el mundo ha desde petróleo hasta los productos termi- el global está siendo atribuido a una han mejorado desde entonces. sido eliminada. Esto puede no afectar nados como juguetes, ropa y autos. Hay desaceleración en el crecimiento de la Las/os trabajadores cuya labor produce inmediatamente a la mayoría de las/os hasta un exceso de los grandes buques de República Popular China — la segunda toda la riqueza, han estado recibiendo trabajadores. Pero la manera de los capi- contenedores que mueven más del 95 por economía más grande y de más rápido una porción cada vez más pequeña del talistas lidiar con la pérdida de su riqueza ciento de los productos manufacturados crecimiento del mundo. valor que producen. El 56,3 por ciento de especulativa es de irse contra las/os tra- del mundo. El caos y la competencia despiadada la población de EUA está ahora viviendo bajadores que tienen menos de $1,000 o La industria del transporte marítimo del sistema capitalista en sí nunca es cul- de cheque a cheque, con menos de $1,000 $100 a su nombre. se enfrenta a su peor crisis en memoria pado. Por ejemplo, tanto corporaciones en cuentas corrientes y de ahorros combi- En su discurso sobre el Estado de la reciente, después de años de rápida ex- estadounidenses como alemanas han nadas. Y el 24,8 por ciento tiene menos de Unión, el presidente Barack Obama de- pansión alimentada por la deuda barata. agravado las condiciones en China en las $100 en sus cuentas. (Forbes, 6 de enero) stacó un aumento modesto en trabajos de La flota mundial se duplicó en tamaño de plantas que son empresas conjuntas. La Los salarios estancados y reducidos, servicio con los salarios más bajos - des- 2010 a 2013. (Reuters Business Insider, decisión de Volkswagen, GM y otros fab- junto al aumento de la productividad del de centros de llamadas hasta los restau- 20 de enero) ricantes significativos de automóviles de trabajo, han conducido bajo el capitalismo, rantes de comida rápida. Sin embargo, La competencia entre las compañías frenar su producción en China debido al a la extrema concentración de la riqueza cientos de miles de trabajadoras/es en la navieras ha impulsado la construcción de exceso de oferta mundial de automóviles, en manos privadas en una escala descono- industria pesada, la producción de en- una nueva generación de súper cargueros significó que cancelaran primero las bon- cida en la historia. Las 62 personas más ri- ergía, la banca y los servicios financieros que puede transportar 19.000 contene- ificaciones para las/os trabajadores en sus cas del mundo tienen ahora tanta riqueza - desde DuPont, Alcoa, John Deere y BP dores, en comparación a los buques ante- plantas. “Los bonos típicamente suelen as- como la población de 3,5 mil millones más hasta Morgan Stanley - ya han sido des- riores que llevan solo 5.600. Se necesitan cender a más de la mitad del salario neto pobre. (Oxfam, 17 de enero) Hace cinco pedidas/os en el último año. años para construir este tipo de buques. de las/os trabajadores de la línea de ens- años, 388 súper-ricos tenían este estatus Los pedidos fueron colocados cuando se amblaje”. (Reuters, 15 de septiembre, 2015) Rescate financiero profundizó la crisis criminal. La asombrosa concentración de esperaba una recuperación global com- Estas gigantescas corporaciones inter- la riqueza continúa sin cesar. Los economistas capitalistas, reti- pleta después de 2009. nacionales no solo cortan el pago que se centes a utilizar el término “recesión,” Las corporaciones navieras que finan- llevan a su casa las/os trabajadores de la Aniquilada una quinta parte han inventado un nuevo término para ciaron sus flotas con un 60 por ciento de línea de ensamblaje, sus horas de traba- del valor de papel denominar un período tan largo sin cre- deuda y con 40 por ciento de liquidez, han jo, los descansos y el número de turnos, La otra característica endémica del cimiento económico: “estancamiento visto desvanecerse esa liquidez. sino que ellos y otras grandes empresas capitalismo que Marx explicó hace 165 secular”. Se han celebrado conferencias Ahora, flotas “zombi” aceptan fletes a occidentales también cortaron miles de años se impone una vez más. El capital- internacionales y escrito numerosos tra- precios irrisorios sólo para poder seguir millones de dólares en los planes de ex- ismo - el sistema económico basado no bajos académicos sobre este tema. Es- a flote. Pero los propietarios no tienen es- pansión que tenían en China. Por supues- en la producción social, sino en la expro- tancamiento secular es un término muy peranza de pagar el capital en sus présta- to, todos estos recortes en inversiones piación privada - nunca ha sido capaz de difuso que oculta la realidad. El capital- mos. Los bancos tienen miedo de de- que fueron anunciados hace más de tres stapar estos préstamos porque entonces meses, tuvieron repercusiones sobre el se verían obligados a ponerlos en la lista mercado de valores chino. de pérdidas. Estos cortes abruptos han estimulado El Baltic Exchange, que ha estableci- el aumento de los esfuerzos para desarr- do tarifas de envío por más de dos siglos ollar unas relaciones y un comercio más y medio, dice que la situación que sus estable entre China, Rusia, América Lati- miembros enfrentan es sombría. na y África. Un artículo cubano titulado “Resistiendo las tormentas del siglo 21” Gigantes derribados por la deuda escrito hace pocos días, expuso que este Aún grandes empresas multinaciona- comercio que se está desarrollando ráp- les que han sobrevivido décadas de caos idamente es de beneficio mutuo. Para el capitalista en el pasado se tambalean año 2014, el valor del comercio bilater- ahora. Años de interés de casi cero por al entre China y América Latina era 22 ciento provocaron que muchas de las veces más de lo que había sido en 2000. mayores empresas mundiales de mer- (Granma, 19 de enero) cancías, asumieran enormes deudas para No se puede predecir cuán profunda invertir en una mayor expansión y en e insuperable será la crisis venidera, ni fusiones. Pero ahora que el precio de las qué la va a provocar. Pero la urgencia de mercancías ha bajado a la mitad o incluso que las/os trabajadores hagan sonar la a un tercio del valor que tenían hace un alarma y organicen una fuerte lucha está año, el valor de mercado de estas empre- fuera de discusión.