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A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE vol. 71/no. 36 October 1, 2007 Justice for the Jena 6! Minnesota meat packers Drop the charges now! rally to defend union We stand with the thousands march- ing in Jena, Louisiana, and in solidarity NLRB calls decertification election actions across the country on September 20 to demand justice for the Jena Six. These six Black youths face felony charges with possible decades-long prison terms because they stood up to racists who hung nooses at their high school. Far from an “innocent prank,” Editorial nooses are aimed at terrorizing Blacks and anyone else who gets “out of line” in capitalist society. They recall decades Militant/Tom Baumann September 19 picket line outside Dakota Premium Foods preceded rally backing meat of legal and extralegal violence—from packers there defending their union from a company decertification drive. Klan lynchings to cop riots. The harsh prison sentences hang- BY REBECCA WILLIAMSON Premium Foods beef slaughterhouse ing over the heads of the Six are all SOUTH ST. PAUL, Minnesota, here. The plant is organized by the too familiar for millions of working September 16—The National Labor United Food and Commercial Workers Relations Board (NLRB) announced (UFCW) Local 789. The Daily Town Talk/Tia Owens-Powers people caught up in the capitalist “jus- July 31 march through Jena, Louisiana, de- tice” system. Black men are more than September 12 that a union decertifica- The election will take place at least manded justice for six Black students. Continued on page 9 tion election will be held at the Dakota Continued on page 9 Jena 6 fight resonates widely As we go to press... Seventy unionists from the Twin County, and Municipal Employees BY JACQUIE HENDERSON day in the fight for justice for these Cities area, including workers at Local 3800, currently on strike against HOUSTON, September 14— men, called the Jena Six, when a state Dakota Premium Foods, rallied across the University of Minnesota. Thousands of people throughout appeals court threw out the felony the street from the plant after work. Earlier in the day, a delegation of southern states and beyond are mo- conviction against Bell. The judge Among the unions represented were six Dakota workers went to the com- bilizing to demonstrate September 20 ruled that Bell, who was 16 at the time the Teamsters, Service Employees pany offices on their lunch break to in Jena, Louisiana. They are demand- of his arrest, should not have been International Union, United demand management allow union ing freedom for Mychal Bell and that tried as an adult. Transportation Union Local 660, representatives into the plant and felony charges be dropped against District Attorney Reed Walters said and American Federation of State, stop harassment of union activists. five other Black Jena High School he would appeal the decision to the students. state supreme court. Bell could still A small victory was registered to- Continued on page 4 White House: Meat packers Campus meeting on Cuban 5 Iraq ‘drawdown’ union sues ICE part of long-term over Swift raids draws students, others in D.C. troop presence BY JOE SWANSON BY janice lynn ried out violent attacks on Cuba from AND SETH GALINSKY WASHINGTON, D.C., September the United States. BY doug nelson DES MOINES, Iowa—The union 12—Some 175 students and others at- Weinglass explained how defense Achieving Washington’s goals in that represents workers at five of six tended a meeting today hosted by the lawyers had argued unsuccessfully for a Iraq will require a long-term military Swift & Co. meatpacking plants tar- Howard University Law School on the Continued on page 7 presence, President George Bush, geted in a massive immigration raid last case of five Cuban revolutionaries being Gen. David Petraeus, and U.S. am- December is suing the federal immigra- unjustly held in U.S. jails. bassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, have tion police. The event was the first in a series of Underdevelopment all said in recent speeches. The three The United Food and Commercial public events about the case in the area. have also ratcheted up pressure on Workers (UFCW) filed the suit They are part of a month of stepped-up magnifies impact of Iran, and to a lesser degree Syria, September 12 in a U.S. district court in activities in an international campaign Indonesia quakes citing those governments as a major Amarillo, Texas. It charges that the U.S. to build support for the Cuban Five. problem for U.S. interests in Iraq and Immigration and Customs Enforcement “This is the first time in history BY paul pederson the Middle East. Continued on page 8 that we’ve seen a conviction on espio- September 16—At least 12,000 homes In a September 13 speech, Bush nage charges without a single piece of in Indonesia’s Sumatra island were de- supported Petraeus’ recommendation classified documents,” said Leonard stroyed in a series of earthquakes that to Congress days earlier to reduce Weinglass, one of the attorneys for the began September 12. The first quake U.S. troops in Iraq to their “pre-surge Also Inside: Cubans. Weinglass was the featured registered 8.4 on the Richter scale. It level”—from 20 to 15 combat bri- speaker at the event. “Of 20,000 pages was followed the next day by two more gades—over the next nine months. Activist fighting deportation of documents that were seized, not one that registered 7.1 and 7.8 along with an “Long-term U.S. ground force viabil- speaks at N.Y. forum 2 was classified.” estimated 60 aftershocks. ity will benefit” from such a draw- Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo The destruction of life and infrastruc- down, said Petraeus, the top U.S. 51 arrested in Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Fernando ture was magnified by the underdevelop- military commander in Iraq. Both he Iowa immigration raid 4 González, and René González have ment of Indonesia stemming from cen- and Bush warned against “premature” been locked up in U.S. jails since 1998. turies of direct colonial rule, followed troop reductions and made no further Che Guevara: ‘Revolution needs A federal court in Miami convicted and by decades of imperialist exploitation projections. an entire people mobilized’ 6 sentenced them on frame-up charges and misrule by local capitalist regimes. Petraeus said his recommendation in 2001. The five were in the United The economy of Indonesia is dominated was based on the progress U.S. and Socialist candidates campaign States monitoring counterrevolutionary by Australia, Japan, the United States, allied forces have made on the ground at Australia protest 8 Cuban-American groups that have car- Continued on page 5 Continued on page 9 Political activist fighting deportation speaks at N.Y. forum BY gabriel garcía said, “the fight by 12 million undocu- Socialist Workers Party, pledged con- and martín koppel mented workers across the country for a tinued support for Toro’s fight against NEW YORK—At a Militant Labor general amnesty.” He pointed to the im- deportation. He explained that the Forum held here September 7, political portance of the May Day mobilizations same profit drive by the capitalists that activist Víctor Toro described his fight by immigrant workers the last two years, has drawn millions to this country as a against deportation. Two months earlier and the example of Elvira Arellano, who, source of superexploited labor was the he was arrested by immigration cops although recently deported to Mexico, one responsible for the recent deadly while on a train in upstate New York, continues to speak out for the legaliza- mine collapse in Utah. In both cases, he returning from California, where he had tion of the undocumented. said, the result has been resistance by campaigned for the legalization of un- Toro also backed the struggle of working people and discussions on how documented workers. Peruvian workers who emigrate to his to fight most effectively. Toro, a founder of the community native Chile. “They are bombarded by He pointed out that growing numbers group Vamos a la Peña del Bronx, propaganda that Chile is a land of op- of immigrant workers are losing their has been active in support of immi- portunity. The reality is that nearly one fear and joining struggles, both for the grant workers, in defense of the Cuban million Peruvians are forced to work legalization of the undocumented and

Revolution, and other political work there for wages of $2 a day.” fights to organize or strengthen unions Militant/Paul Pederson since he arrived in the United States in Paul Pederson, who spoke for the to defend safety and dignity on the job. Víctor Toro is fighting deportation 1984. Noting the approach of September 11, he said that while the media focuses on ‘Offside’ shows women in Iran challenging restrictions the attacks on the World Trade Center, the date also marks the bloody U.S.-backed Offside, 2006, 88 minutes, directed military coup that overthrew the gov- by Jafar Panahi. ernment of Salvador Allende in Chile in 1973. He explained that, as a member of IN REVIEW the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR) in Chile, he opposed the Pinochet By Cindy Jaquith regime’s reign of terror, was jailed, and Offside is an Iranian film that pres- later left the country as a political refu- ents a refreshing, fun look at how young gee. Today he remains without papers women in Iran are challenging restric- because the Chilean government claims tions on their rights—in this case, the he is officially classified as “dead.” right to go to soccer games. Now, Toro said, he was ordered to In Iran, soccer games are open only appear at a deportation hearing on to men, but more and more women are September 12 in an immigration court demanding the right to get into the sta- in Buffalo, six hours away. He said he dium—and a growing number are sim- Women who try to sneak into soccer game in Iran cheer from captivity in the filmOffside was trying to get the hearing moved to ply sneaking in. Director Jafar Panahi’s asked each of them to come up with their ing and swearing.” The women reply, New York City, where it would be easier movie was inspired in part by his daugh- own disguise to get into the game. “We promise not to listen.” for supporters to attend. ter’s attempt to get into a soccer game. The film follows six young women One of the young women insists she Several days after the forum, Toro Panahi directed The Circle, which who try to sneak into a soccer sta- needs to go to the bathroom, which told the Militant he had won that initial also deals with women’s rights and oth- dium to see a game between Iran and turns into an amusing escape attempt. legal battle, “thanks to the support I’ve er social issues. His preferred method is Bahrain. We see one of them arriving She eventually returns to the pen, having received.” He is now awaiting a new to cast untrained actors and actresses, on a minibus of soccer fans. Young men watched part of the game, because she’s court date in New York City. rather than professionals. In Offside, he on the bus can tell she is female, but they worried that the soldier in charge of the “This is part of a broader fight,” he cast young women with no training and decide to keep quiet because they don’t female prisoners will get into trouble for want to hurt her chances of getting in. her escape. He’s an Azerbaijani peasant She eventually gets caught, as do four who is due to be released from the ser- other women. Soldiers place them in a vice and anxious to get back to his farm pen just outside the stadium bleachers. and ailing mother. Until this unexpected They can hear the game, but can’t see it. episode, the Azerbaijani soldier feels Then a sixth prisoner arrives. She had only irritation at the young women who connived to get a military uniform and he sees as well to do idle people out to Free the Cuban Five! made it all the way to the officers’ box. have fun. A stepped-up international campaign to win freedom The women berate the soldiers for de- Right before the conclusion of the for the Cuban Five was launched September 12. In the nying them their right to see the game. game, the female prisoners are loaded pages of the ‘Militant’ you can read about these five The soldiers have a hard time coming up into a minivan to be taken to the Vice revolutionaries locked up in U.S. jails and the fight to with reasons why the women should be Squad. In the course of their trip to jail, banned. At one point they argue, “There Iran wins over Bahrain. See the movie win their release. Don’t miss a single issue! are lots of men in there. They’ll be curs- for the rest.

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2 The Militant October 1, 2007 March on Washington opposes war in Iraq BY sam manuel at the civil disobedience action. City au- WASHINGTON, September 15— thorities also harassed march organizers Some 15,000 people marched here today in the weeks leading up to the demon- against the war in Iraq. It was the first stration, issuing fines and breaking up a of three major antiwar actions slated to press conference. Brian Becker, national take place this fall. coordinator of the ANSWER coalition, Most participants came from eastern the principal organizer of the action, told states, with smaller groups from the the rally that the city has issued $40,000 West and Midwest. The spirited march in fines against the group for putting up included many youth. flyers and posters. “This is my first march,” said Lisa The antiwar march was led by a group Mitchell-Brooks, 36, a software pro- of uniformed Iraq war veterans march- gram manager from Bronx, New York. ing behind a large U.S. flag. There was also a prowar rally of about 700 orga- Militant/Ben Joyce “I got tired of throwing things at the TV September 15 demonstration in Washington was first of three major antiwar actions this fall and cursing Bush and Cheney.” nized by the rightist outfits Gathering of This was the second protest in as Eagles and Free Republic that featured tiwar marchers. They held signs reading almost leading to a fight. many weeks for Morgan Thomas, 19, speeches by retired military officers. “No surrender! No retreat!” and “Save Many antiwar marchers interviewed a political science student at Howard Later the prowar demonstrators lined Iraqi Lives! Stay the course!” Groups of considered the demonstration a success. University and a member of the campus one side of Pennsylvania Avenue be- rightists also confronted antiwar protest- Georgia State University student Zack Amnesty International chapter. Morgan hind police barricades, taunting the an- ers on the Capitol grounds, in one case Continued on page 9 said she heard about the demonstra- tion from flyers on campus “and at the Jena Six rally a student urged people to Foreclosures add to grind on working class come.” BY Olympia Newton drop is even greater when cuts in ben- Foreclosure proceedings began on one Thomas was referring to a campus The percentage of U.S. homeowners efits are factored in. percent of all mortgages in Michigan rally of 1,500 students last week in sup- facing foreclosure hit a record high in A September 3 report by the during the second quarter of this year. port of six Black high school students in the second quarter of 2007, and more United Nation’s International Labor Michigan, the center of the U.S. auto Jena, Louisiana, who face long prison than 5 percent of all mortgage payments Organization said the United States industry for decades, leads the coun- terms. Many participants in today’s were delinquent, according to statistics “leads the world in labor productivity.” try in unemployment, at 7.2 percent in antiwar march carried signs or wore T- released September 6 by the Mortgage The report found that workers in the July. Ohio is fifth, with 5.8 percent. The shirts demanding “Drop the charges! Bankers Association of America United States work more hours—an national unemployment rate in August Free the Jena 6!” (MBA). average of 1,804 per year—than those was 4.6 percent. “It’s good to see so many young peo- While this crisis affects millions, it in most other advanced capitalist coun- ple here,” said James Bynum, 66, a re- hits working people especially hard, tries. They also produce more per hour tired high school teacher from Portland, given the bosses’ grind on living stan- than workers in any other country ex- UAW, GM in Oregon. “I had to take a red-eye flight dards and working conditions. cept Norway. At the heart of this “pro- but this crowd is very encouraging. Prices of many basic necessities are at ductivity miracle” is the degree to which Impeaching the Bush bunch is the only all-time highs. Food prices jumped 4.2 bosses have succeeded in speeding up contract talks way to end wars.” percent in the 12 months ending in July. production and forcing fewer workers to By Chauncey Robinson Bynum’s sentiments on impeachment A gallon of milk is up 51 cents on aver- do the same amount of work at the ex- September 18—The United Auto were echoed by many speakers at the age since February. A bushel of wheat pense of safety and job conditions. Workers union (UAW) continued ne- rally. “The only thing that can stop Bush is up 60 cents since January; a gallon of The capitalists have combined these gotiations with General Motors Corp. and his gang is impeachment,” said gas, 20 cents higher than a year ago. assaults on the working class with mas- (GM) today as its 73,000 members at former U.S. attorney general Ramsey These trends come on top of the sive financial speculation to stimulate GM plants nationwide went to work for Clark. squeeze on wages, benefits, and job economic growth. But the growth isn’t the fourth day under an expired agree- Other speakers emphasized lobbying. conditions for the U.S. working class based on expanding production. The ment. Cindy Sheehan, who became a that began more than two decades ago. speculation on housing is now begin- One of the central issues in the ne- prominent antiwar activist after her son Faced with declining profit margins, the ning to unwind. Working people bear gotiations is retiree health care. GM is Casey was killed in Iraq, was among the employers have pushed—and in many the brunt of the effects of this process. asking for a fund for retirees, aimed speakers promoting civil disobedience. industries, succeeded—in forcing work- Because of the grind on wages, benefits, at cutting billions of dollars in GM’s She encouraged participation in a “die- ers to work faster, longer, and with fewer hours, and conditions, workers have a health-care costs. The company would in” at the Capitol following the march. benefits. much thinner cushion to absorb ups and give a certain amount of money to the “We need to lay our bodies on the line Average earnings for workers in the downs in mortgage payments and gro- fund and the union would take over re- and shut down schools, federal build- United States have steadily declined cery bills. sponsibility for it. The UAW has asked ings and Congress,” she said. from the mid-1970s to today. Real The largest percentage jump in fore- for job guarantees in exchange. Cops used chemical spray against weekly wages do not match levels from closures and delinquencies comes in the The trust would be invested and would people participating in the “die-in” as 40 years ago. When adjusted for infla- category of home loans known as sub- grow and shrink based on the success of they attempted to cross a police bar- tion, the median hourly wage dropped prime. Such loans are overwhelmingly those investments and how much is paid ricade. Some 189 people were arrested 2 percent between 2003 and 2006. This extended to individuals with few assets out. Retirees could face higher health- who have previously been denied credit. care costs or a complete loss of cover- Banks and other lending agencies have age if the fund runs out of money. Along lured thousands of cash-strapped work- with health care, the two sides have yet militant labor forums ers into the schemes, raking in massive to come to an agreement on wages and CALIFORNIA NEW JERSEY profits off the high fees and interest “cost-cutting.” The changes that GM is San Francisco Newark rates. seeking range from getting fewer work- Socialist Candidates Speak Out. Speakers: The Political Legacy of Thomas Sankara. Adjustable rate loans also account for ers to take on more jobs to outsourcing Lea Sherman, Socialist Workers candi- Speakers: Mike Taber, Socialist Workers Party; date for mayor of San Francisco; Chauncey Ingrid Franco, Young Socialists. Fri., Sept. a big share of the delinquencies and fore- work deemed not directly related to Robinson, SWP candidate for sheriff; 28. Dinner, 7:00 pm; program, 8:00 pm. 168 closures. Through such loans workers building vehicles. The company also Gerardo Sánchez, SWP candidate for dis- Bloomfield Ave., 2nd Fl. Tel.: (973) 481-0077. can buy a home with little or no money wants to cut the cost-of-living allowance trict attorney. Fri., Sept. 28. Dinner, 6:30 p.m.; panel, 7:30 pm. 3926 Mission St. Tel: down and low initial payments. After a and gut the union’s Jobs Bank, through (415) 584-2135. TEXAS couple of years the interest rates—and which members get most of their take- Houston monthly payments—reset. But there is home pay while laid off. Free the Cuban Five! Speakers: Tom Kleven, IOWA professor, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, no accompanying “reset” of wages. An Strike preparations began at GM Des Moines Texas Southern University; Steve Warshell, estimated 2.5 million people risk fore- plants across the United States on Fascism: What It Is and How to Fight It— Socialist Workers Party candidate for controller. closure in the next 18 months when their September 14. Lead negotiator for the Fri., Sept. 28. Dinner, 6:30 pm; program, 7:30 Lessons from the Past Century. Speaker: monthly mortgage payments jump. Chuck Guerra, Socialist Workers Party. Fri., pm. Donation: $5 dinner, $5 program. 4800 W UAW Cal Rapson wrote in a September Sept. 28, 7:30 pm. 3707 Douglas Ave. Tel: 34th St., Suite C-51A. Tel: (713) 688-4919. The highest rates of foreclosures na- 13 note to members that “a strike might (515) 255-1707. tionwide are in Ohio and Michigan— well be unavoidable” if the union didn’t states whose working populations have make more progress in negotiations. MINNESOTA calendar been deeply affected by capitalist “re- This June, the UAW agreed to a con- Minneapolis WASHINGTON, d.c. structuring” of the steel and auto indus- cession contract with Delphi Corp., Defend the Jena Six! Fri., Sept. 28. Dinner, Stop the War at Home & Abroad. National tries. The percentage of homes in Ohio GM’s largest parts supplier, that includ- 6:30 pm; program, 7:30 pm. Suggested dona- march, Sat., Sept. 29. Tel: (212) 633-6646. tion: $5 Dinner, $5 program. 1311 1/2 E Lake www.TroopsOutNow.org. Sponsors: Troops in serious delinquency or foreclosure is ed major cuts in wages, plant closings, St. Tel.: (612) 729-1205. Out Now Coalition and others. more than twice the national average. and the elimination of the Jobs Bank. The Militant October 1, 2007 3 New York campus meeting builds Young Socialists This column is written and edited by O’Shaughnessy said that neither capi- members of the Young Socialists, a rev- talist party is offering any alternative to olutionary socialist youth organization. the course at home or abroad. He said For more information contact the YS at the recent hearings in Congress show 306 W. 37th St., 10th floor, New York, the rulers are committed to staying in NY 10018; tel.: (212) 629-6649; e-mail: Iraq for the long term. [email protected]. “Young people are asking what is the cause of imperialist war? Who ben- efits?” said Joyce. “Most importantly, Young Socialists what can be done?” IN ACTION Joyce explained that the YS, along- side the Socialist Workers Party, fights By Casey Logan to build a movement of workers, farm- CLINTON, New York, September ers, and youth in the United States ca- 13—“What’s behind imperialism’s pable of taking power out of the hands spreading wars and financial disorder?” of the exploiters and building a system Militant/Ben Joyce was the title of a program at Hamilton based on human solidarity, not the dog- YS contingent at September 15 antiwar march in Washington, D.C. Young Socialists built this and other antiwar actions at a September 13 event at Hamilton College in Utica, New York. College sponsored by the Young eat-dog morality of capitalism. Socialists here today. “The YS will be in Washington, D.C., their spirits. They continue to resist, as in local elections this fall and the 2008 A dozen people, including eight stu- on September 15 and 29 to demand millions of Cubans have, against impe- presidential elections. dents, attended. The event was chaired ‘Not one penny, not one person for rialism for almost 50 years.” “The problem is bigger than one per- and organized by Chris Batchelder, 19, Washington’s wars,’” said Joyce. “We During the discussion, several stu- son,” said Batchelder. “There’s a system a student at Hamilton College. Speakers invite all those who oppose the imperi- dents asked what the YS thought about in place running on profit and exploita- included YS leaders Ben O’Shaughnessy alist war drive to join us.” running in elections and what party tion and there is a need to change the from New York City and Ben Joyce, a In addition to antiwar actions, Joyce young people should vote for. system to make any sort of change.” student at the State University of New said the YS is reaching out on campus- O’Shaughnessy responded that com- After the program several students York at Albany. es to build meetings in defense of the munists use capitalist elections to reach signed up for more information about “Iraq is the most important front for Cuban Five as part of an international out broadly to working people and youth the YS and to get involved in protest ac- U.S. imperialism in its multi-theater war campaign of stepped-up activity to win with a working-class alternative. He tions. Batchelder invited those present to that extends from Iraq and Afghanistan their release. said that the YS campaigns for and runs join others organizing on campus to at- to the Philippines and beyond,” said “The Cuban Five are an example for on the Socialist Workers Party ticket in tend an antiwar action in Syracuse, New O’Shaughnessy. “The wars abroad are revolutionary-minded young people to- local, statewide, and national elections. York, on September 29. an extension of the continued assaults day,” said Joyce. “Their will to continue He encouraged all youth repulsed by “Hopefully this is the start of a sus- on the working and living conditions of to fight has not been broken behind bars, the bipartisan course being carried out tained YS presence on campus.” said workers and farmers here at home.” despite attempts by the rulers to break to vote for the Socialist Workers ticket Batchelder. Jena 6 fight resonates due to ‘racism that exists today’ Continued from front page right to sit under a schoolyard tree where Movement, other civil rights organi- “Some people say they are surprised be charged in juvenile court. Four of only white students sat. Following the zations, and dozens of student organi- about what happened there. I’m not,” the remaining defendants were 17 at assembly, he sat under it. The next day zations across the country have spo- Zadia Murphy, a member of the cam- the time of the arrest and are not af- three nooses were hanging from the ken in defense of the Jena Six. pus NAACP chapter and the Council of fected by the judge’s ruling. tree. White students who hung them re- On July 31 people from other Ethnic Organizations at the University “It’s great that the court struck down ceived suspensions of three days. Louisiana cities, as well as from of Houston, told the Militant. “They the first conviction,” Sterling Kokroko, Five days after the incident, Black Texas and other states, came to a rally have exposed the racism that exists to- 26, a student from Texas Southern students organized a sit-in under the in Jena. Last month Jena high school day, and not just in Jena.” University, told the Militant. “But this is tree to protest the light suspensions. students wearing “Free the Jena 6” t- about racism right across this country. The day of the sit-in, the district shirts were told over the school public Amanda Ulman, Socialist Workers We are demanding freedom for all the attorney addressed an emergency address system that the shirts were Party candidate for Houston mayor, Jena Six. Drop all the charges. It is cru- school assembly. He told the protest- banned from school. contributed to this article. cial that we be there next week.” ing African American students they The Jena Six students were arrested should stop making a fuss about the following a December 4, 2006, fight “innocent prank.” He threatened that 51 arrested in Iowa immigration raid with a white student. The fight fol- if they did not, “I can take away your By Kevin Dwire “The companies need us,” said a lowed months of racist harassment lives with a stroke of my pen.” CLARION, Iowa, September 15— woman who works in a hog confine- and attacks against Black students. Harassment increased in the follow- Immigration and Customs Enforcement ment facility and asked that her name A year ago, African American stu- ing months. On December 1, a Black (ICE) agents arrested 51 workers during not be used. “My husband is a midwife dents in Jena, a central Louisiana city of student was beat up by whites at a party. raids on six DeCoster Farms egg pro- to the pigs,” she joked. “He takes care 3,000, began campaigning to challenge The next day a young white man pulled cessing facilities here September 13. of them when they give birth. I tell him, racist practices at their school. At an a loaded shotgun on a Black student, “They came around 9:35 a.m. I got what would the company do if we didn’t Aug. 31, 2006, school assembly a Black who disarmed him. No charges were a call on my cell phone that the migra come to work for a week or two? They student asked if Black students had a filed against the white man, but the was there,” a worker who asked to can’t raise the pigs without us.” Black youth was later arrested. remain anonymous told the Militant. In 2001 and 2006 immigration cops On December 4 another fight oc- “Cops in unmarked cars had sur- arrested more than 120 workers during Chicago rally: curred. Justin Baker, a white student, rounded the egg farm together with raids on DeCoster facilities. According was injured, treated at a local hospi- the migra about two minutes before. to the Des Moines Register, the recent ‘Defend Jena 6!’ tal, and attended a school social later We got into a car and took off and raid “was a follow-up to a 2003 action CHICAGO, September 16— that day. Six African American stu- ran into the police right way. When against Austin ‘Jack’ DeCoster, the Melissa Bell and Marcus Jones, dents were arrested and charged with we took off, the migra followed us. company’s owner, who pleaded guilty in parents of jailed Louisiana high attempted second-degree murder and Another car with workers got stuck, federal court in Sioux City to two counts school student Mychal Bell, ad- conspiracy to commit murder. Their but we managed to get away.” of aiding and abetting the continued em- dressed a rally of 500 here today bail was set from $70,000 to $138,000. “I think the raids are racism,” he said. ployment of illegal immigrants.” at Whitney Young High School. They were all expelled from school. “We just want to work.” As part of the plea bargain reached Bell is one of the Jena Six. Bell went to trial first. His pub- ICE spokesperson Tim Counts in that case, DeCoster, who got five The rally was sponsored by the lic defender called no defense wit- said that most of the workers, who are years’ probation, agreed to a five-year Chicago chapter of the National nesses and an all-white jury rapidly originally from Mexico, Guatemala, program that enables ICE to inspect the Action Network (NAN). Al convicted Bell of aggravated assault. Honduras, and El Salvador, “will end up company’s records and facilities unan- Sharpton, NAN founder, spoke. being deported. Our agency has deter- nounced. “We are going to Jena and we are The charge carries a possible 15-year not going to back down until we sentence. mined they are in the country illegally.” In 2002 DeCoster Farms agreed to have all the charges dropped,” he Relatives of the students formed The farmland around Clarion is dot- pay $1.5 million to women workers who said. He also announced plans to the Jena 6 Defense Committee, ap- ted with egg processing and hog con- were raped and abused by supervisors. build a march in Chicago against pealing for support around the coun- finement operations, many owned by According to Rural Migration News, the police brutality. try. The American Civil Liberties DeCoster Farms. Some workers told the women said that supervisors “sexually —Dennis Richter Union (ACLU), the NAACP, National Militant that they are paid $7.00 an hour. assaulted female employees and threat- Lawyers Guild, Millions More Others get paid piece rate. ened to kill those who complained.”

4 The Militant October 1, 2007 California laundry workers strike for union Canada forestry workers firm in two-month strike By Beverly Bernardo and Ned Dmytryshyn PORT MCNEILL, British Colum- bia—“We have to fight to hang on to our unions because without them, we have nothing,” said striking forestry worker Lois Williams, a scaler and a member of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1- 2171, in a September 15 interview. Since going on strike July 21, 7,000 unionists on the British Columbia coast have maintained picket lines. They have affected the operations of Island Militant/Dan Grant Timberlands, Interfor, and 31 other com- September 14 picket line of striking forestry workers in Powell River, British Columbia. panies represented by Forest Industrial Relations Ltd. (FIR). The workers are she said. striking to end management’s ability The USW is also fighting to bring the to impose shifts and use nonunion con- expiration date of the coastal workers’ tractors. Safety is also a key issue—43 contract in line with that of the interior Militant/Dean Hazelwood forestry workers were killed on the job forestry workers. Strikers explain this COMMERCE, California—Striking laundry workers and their supporters in 2005. will enable them to fight as one union— held a spirited picket line and rally here September 15. These workers at “The companies just want to push something they lost with a 2003 govern- Prudential Overall Supply organized by UNITE HERE have stopped work production,” said logger Wendy Clarke. ment-imposed contract. “We need to get to back striking workers at the company’s Vista and Milpitas, California, “All they care about is their sharehold- that common date back in 2009,” said plants. “The workers at the other plants want a union and the compa- ers, not the workers.” Clarke, co-chair Jack Miller, a logger and union safety ny is trying to intimidate them,” said Lily Villanueva, who works in the of Local 1-2171’s strike committee in representative here in Port McNeill. Commerce facility. “There is lots of abuse. It is very hot in the plant and In addition to maintaining picket lines, they are told not to drink water so they won’t have to go to the bathroom. Powell River, had just returned from the strikers have carried out actions Whether or not you get a raise is up to the supervisor. We went out in monitoring the movement of log booms solidarity with them.” by nonunion contractors hired by on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine —WENDY LYONS Interfor in Jervis Inlet. “We will be con- Coast. USW members and spouses tinuing and stepping up these actions,” blocked a nonunion truck for Western Forest Products (WFP) from taking lumber in Port Alberni September 12. More than 300 rallied outside the WFP Indonesia: earthquakes’ impact magnified headquarters in Duncan September 7 to Continued from front page Indonesia’s government began efforts ing for modern communications. demand FIR get back to the bargaining and other imperialist powers. to build a network of tsunami warning In one village the warning siren did table. WFP is the largest player in FIR. “Almost 75 percent of houses on the systems along the coast following the not work due to a power outage. The In Port McNeill, more than 100 coastline along a 10-kilometer stretch 2004 disaster. Government officials village was hit by a small tsunami. A strikers and their supporters marched are badly damaged and collapsed,” claim the system will be fully functional radio and Internet early warning system September 5. A September 25 action Frans Karal, a local official, told the by 2008. in Padang, one of the hardest-hit cities, is aimed at getting women out to show press. An estimated 15,000 buildings But the warning systems that have also failed. support for the strike. Union members have collapsed or been seriously dam- been installed so far played little or no According to official government sta- want to counter antistrike material sent aged. Agence France-Presse reported role in minimizing the social catastro- tistics, more than one-fifth of Sumatra’s by the companies to union households. September 15 that rescue workers are phe this time. population has no access to electricity. For further information, contact USW still scouring the rubble to search for The fundamental problem is the lack More than half live in villages without Local 1-2171 in Port McNeill at (250) victims feared trapped. of electricity and infrastructure, includ- a telephone. 956-4312. The official death toll is 23. Another 88 are reported injured. Both figures are expected to increase. Hundreds of thou- sands of people living along the coasts 25, 50, and 75 years ago have fled to the higher ground. The island has 1,100 miles of coast along the Indian Ocean. In December 2004, an undersea earthquake near the northwestern coast sent a massive tsu- October 1, 1982 September 30, 1957 October 1, 1932 nami rippling across the Indian Ocean. Unarmed civilians gunned down in An outraged world public opin- All eyes on Gillespie, Illinois! On More than two-thirds of the 230,000 their homes, women and children round- ion finally compelled President October 3 the first conference of the people killed in that disaster were in ed up and driven away in cattle trucks, Eisenhower to send federal troops to Progressive Miners of America will northern Sumatra. wounded patients murdered in their hos- escort the nine Negro school children go into session in this mining town. As in 2004, the impact of this most re- pital beds—the entire world has reacted into the Little Rock High School. This will mark the high point of the cent disaster is amplified by centuries of with shock and anger at the appalling The pressure compelling Eisen- first phase of our activities in the imperialist domination. Indonesia, and images of the massacre in West Beirut. hower’s about-face was both national Illinois coal fields. Sumatra in particular, are rich in natu- Denying “any blame whatsoever” for and international. In this country the Then will begin the second phase ral resources—oil, gas, palm oil, rubber, the massacre, the Israeli government Negro people were aroused to an an- of our work—the steady, plugging, lumber, gold, and numerous other min- said that those charging it with complic- ger surpassing even that caused by day-to-day work of getting subs, erals. Much of the country’s wealth is ity in the deed were leveling “a blood the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett making contacts and mouth-to- today siphoned off by monopolies and libel.” Till two years ago. mouth discussions. In this work the giant banks in the imperialist centers. But the Israeli cabinet formally ap- [W]hen [Arkansas Governor Orval] Militant must be our best and ever- This system is propped up locally by proved the entry of the rightist forces Faubus did withdraw the National present spokesman. Our present Indonesia’s ruling class of landlords and into the Palestinian refugee camps. Guardsmen from Central High distributions are good but whether capitalists. Israeli troops escorted the killers to the School, it was with the certainty that a miner gets two successive issues The country’s debt to international place of their crime, backed them up the Negro children would still be kept is a hit-and-miss proposition. If our banks equals 45 percent of its gross do- with tanks, and lighted their way with out—this time by a racist mob. policy is to be made clear to the min- mestic product. The imperialists use this flares. The most informative account ap- ers, especially the more advanced unpayable debt as a mechanism to fur- President Reagan said he was “hor- peared in the New York Post (Sept. miners, they must get and read the ther extract the country’s wealth. rified” by the massacre. But the Israeli 24) which said: Militant regularly. The majority of Indonesia’s 235 mil- invasion of Lebanon was fully support- “There was ample evidence today The solution of the problem is to lion people survive on less than $2 a ed by Washington from the very begin- that the segregationist mob at Central get subs for the miners. We have a day, and 18 percent on $1 a day or less. ning. HS yesterday had organization and list of miners who want the Militant The 80 million-plus people in the latter The Israeli phosphorous bombs, clus- leadership. Prominent in the crowd but cannot afford even fifty cents category “spend a quarter of their earn- ter bombs, and high explosive shells that was Jimmy Karam, State Athletic for a half-year sub. Just as fast as ings on rice, which has risen in price by had caused nearly 50,000 casualties in Commissioner, operator of a profes- we hear from you we will begin to more than a third in the past year,” the Lebanon even before the latest massacre sional strike-breaking service and transfer those names to the Militant Economist reported in September 2006. were all made in the USA. close friend of Gov. Faubus.” mailing list.

The Militant October 1, 2007 5 ‘A revolution needs an entire people mobilized’ Che Guevara speech, ‘To be a revolutionary doctor, you must first make a revolution’

Below is an excerpt from Che Guevara ate a new type of human being. If each Talks to Young People. It is one of sev- one of us is his own architect in doing eral titles from Pathfinder Press on so, then creating that new type of human Cuba’s living revolutionary example being—who will be the representative highlighting the communist course of of the new Cuba—will be much easier. Ernesto Che Guevara. The excerpt be- It is good for you—those present here, low is from a talk given by Guevara on residents of Havana—to absorb this idea: Aug. 19, 1960, that inaugurated a series that in Cuba a new type of human being of discussions by Cuba’s Ministry of is coming into existence, one that can- Public Health. At the time the Ministry’s not be entirely appreciated in the capital, priority was the creation of a network but that can be seen in every corner of of rural hospitals and clinics to extend the country. Those of you who went to health care to the majority of peasants the Sierra Maestra on July 26 must have who had no access to regular services seen two absolutely unheard-of things: prior to the revolution. A system of free an army with picks and shovels, one that medical care was progressively intro- takes such pride in marching in the pa- duced and by 1963 covered the entire triotic celebrations in Oriente province country. We reprint it on the occasion of with its picks and shovels ready, side by the 40th anniversary of Guevara’s death side with the militia compañeros march- in combat in Bolivia on Oct. 9, 1967. ing with their rifles.[Applause] But you Copyright © 2000 Pathfinder Press, must also have seen something more Aleida March/Che’s Personal Archive. important: You must have seen some Reprinted by permission. Meeting with medical students in Havana, Cuba, Aug. 19, 1960. From right to left medical children who by their physical stature by Ernesto Che Guevara doctors and commanders of the Rebel Army Oscar Fernández Mell, Ernesto Che Guevara, appear eight or nine years old, but who Compañeros: This modest ceremony and José Ramón Machado Ventura. At far left is Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén. are nevertheless almost all thirteen or is only one among hundreds being held ing tirelessly to achieve something that lution. The isolated effort, the individual fourteen. They are the most authentic as the Cuban people celebrate day by could really be put at the disposal of hu- effort, the purity of ideals, the desire to children of the Sierra Maestra, the most day their freedom and the advance of all manity, but that would be a personal tri- sacrifice an entire lifetime to the noblest authentic children of hunger and pover- their revolutionary laws, their advance umph at the same time. I was, as we all of ideals—all that is for naught if the ef- ty in all its forms. They are the creatures along the road to total independence. are, a child of my environment. fort is made alone, solitary, in some cor- of malnutrition. But I find it interesting nonetheless. Through special circumstances and ner of Latin America, fighting against In this small Cuba with four or five Almost everyone knows that a num- perhaps also because of my character, hostile governments and social condi- television channels, with hundreds of ra- ber of years ago I started out my career after receiving my degree I began to tions that permit no progress. A revolu- dio stations, despite all the advances of to be a doctor. And when I started, when travel through Latin America and got tion needs what we have in Cuba: an en- modern science, when those children for I began to study medicine, the majority to know it intimately. Except for Haiti tire people who are mobilized, who have the first time came to school at night and of the concepts I hold today as a revolu- and the Dominican Republic, I have learned the use of arms and the practice saw electric lights, they exclaimed that tionary were absent from the storehouse visited—to one degree or another—all of unity in combat, who know what a the stars were very low that night. Those of my ideals. the countries of Latin America. Given weapon is worth and what the people’s children, whom some of you would have I wanted to succeed, as everybody how I traveled, first as a student and unity is worth. seen, have now been brought together in wants to succeed. I dreamed of being a afterward as a doctor, I began to come Then we get to the heart of the prob- schools where they are learning every- famous researcher. I dreamed of work- into close contact with poverty, with lem that today lies ahead of us. We al- thing from the ABCs right up to a trade, hunger, with disease, with the inability ready have the right and even the obliga- right up to the very difficult science of to cure a child due to lack of resources, tion to be, before anything else, a revolu- being a revolutionary. he with the numbness that hunger and un- tionary doctor, that is, a person who puts These are the new types of human be- relenting punishment cause until a point the technical knowledge of his profes- ings emerging in Cuba. They are being Guevara C is reached where a parent losing a child Talks to becomes an accident of no importance, as is often the case among those classes Young People in our Latin American homeland who have been dealt the heaviest blows. And I began to see there was something that Part of an 18-title series seemed to me almost as important as from Pathfinder Press being a famous researcher or making a substantial contribution to medical sci- ence: it was helping those people. The Cuban But I continued to be, as all of us al- ways are, a child of my environment, Revolution and I wanted to help people through in World my personal efforts. I had already trav- eled a lot—I was then in Guatemala, Politics the Guatemala of Arbenz—and I had Che Guevara Talks to Young People begun to make some notes to guide the is not ‘Che for Beginners.’ The conduct of a revolutionary doctor. I be- legendary Argentine-born revolu- gan to look into what was needed for me Militant / T.J. Figueroa tionary, who helped lead the first to be a revolutionary doctor. Cuban doctor and South African nurse in orthopedic ward of hospital in rural township in socialist revolution in the Americas However, the aggression came, the South Africa. Thousands of Cuban doctors volunteering all over the world are an example of the “new type of human being” created by the Cuban Revolution that Che talks about. and initiate the renewal of Marxism, aggression unleashed by the United speaks as an equal with youth of Cuba and the world.—$15 Fruit Company, the State Department, sion at the service of the revolution and born in isolated places, in remote points [John] Foster Dulles—they’re really of the people. Then we come back to the in the Sierra Maestra and also in the co- Also included in the series: From all the same thing—and by the puppet earlier questions: How does one do a job operatives and workplaces. the Escambray to the Congo they put in who was named Castillo of social welfare effectively? How does All that has a lot to do with the topic by Víctor Dreke; Cuba and the Armas—was named! The aggression one reconcile individual effort with the of our talk today: the integration of the Coming American Revolution was successful, since the people were needs of society? doctor or any other medical worker into by Jack Barnes; Our History Is not yet at the level of maturity the Cuban Once again we have to recall what the revolutionary movement. Because Still Being Written: The Story of people have reached today. So one fine each of our lives was like prior to the the revolution’s tasks—of training and Three Chinese-Cuban Generals day, I, like many others, took the road of revolution—what each of us did and nourishing the children, educating the in the Cuban Revolution; exile, or at least I took the road of flee- thought, as a doctor or in any other pub- army, distributing the lands of the absen- Making History: Interviews ing Guatemala, since that was not my lic health function. We must do so with tee landlords among those who sweated with Four Generals in Cuba’s homeland. profound critical enthusiasm. And we every day on that same land without Revolutionary Armed Forces; Then I realized a fundamental thing: will conclude that almost everything reaping its fruit—those are the greatest and 13 other titles. to be a revolutionary doctor, or to be a we thought and felt in that past epoch works of social medicine that Cuba has revolutionary, there must first be a revo- should be filed away, and we should cre- achieved. WWW.PATHFINDERPRESS.COM

6 The Militant October 1, 2007 Cuban academics attend Pathfinder at Latin American Studies meeting Latin American Studies conference in Montreal

BY Sam manuel as he reported that in response to that MONTREAL—Opposition to the exclusion, LASA’s board had approved U.S. government’s hostility toward a resolution not to meet in the United Cuba marked the 27th International States again until the policy of refus- Congress of the Latin American ing to grant visas to Cuban academics Studies Association (LASA), held here is changed. September 5–8. LASA, a U.S.-based ac- Just weeks before LASA’s 2006 con- ademic association, moved its meeting gress in Puerto Rico the U.S. govern- to Montreal after Washington blocked ment denied visas to all 55 Cuban schol- Cuban academics from attending the ars who had planned to attend. In 2004 last several congresses in the United all 65 Cubans planning to attend that States and in the U.S. colony of Puerto year’s LASA meeting were informed Rico by denying them visas. just 10 days before that they would be This year the largest delegation of barred from entering the United States. Militant/Arnold Weissberg Cuban academics and writers ever to In 2003 only 60 of the 105 Cuban aca- MONTREAL—Tomás Diez Acosta (second from right), author of October attend a LASA congress spoke on pan- demics scheduled to attend LASA’s con- 1962: The “Missile” Crisis As Seen From Cuba, speaks at a September 8 els, gave workshops, read poetry, and gress were given visas. lunch break meeting and book signing at the Pathfinder Booth at the Latin showed Cuban films. The main speaker at the opening ses- American Studies Association (LASA) Congress in Montreal. Acosta partic- Ricardo Alarcón, president of Cuba’s sion was Canada’s Governor General ipated in the general mobilization of Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces National Assembly, was a featured Michaëlle Jean. She spoke about the during the crisis. His book was the best-selling Pathfinder title at the LASA speaker. He appealed to the academ- Canadian government’s “collaboration” congress. ics, writers, and researchers present to with governments in Latin America in Participants in the congress bought 32 Pathfinder titles and 14 copies of support efforts to win the release of five “reestablishing democracy” in Haiti. La Gaceta de Cuba, a magazine of the Union of Artists and Writers of Cuba Cuban revolutionaries being held un- Canada has some 100 cops in Haiti as that is distributed by Pathfinder. Other top sellers at the meeting included justly in U.S. jails. part of an international “peacekeeping” We Are Heirs of the World’s Revolution by Thomas Sankara, leader of the “We want to especially welcome our mission. 1983–87 revolution in Burkina Faso; Marianas in Combat: Teté Puebla and Cuban colleagues who are attending this Jean never mentioned Cuba, with the Mariana Grajales Women’s Platoon in Cuba’s Revolutionary War; The congress in unprecedented numbers,” which Canada has diplomatic and trade First and Second Declarations of Havana; Sexism and Science by Evelyn said outgoing LASA president Charles relations. In one of the workshops Elena Reed; and several copies of New International, a magazine of Marxist the- Hale at the opening session. Hale report- Diaz from the University of Havana ex- ory and politics. ed that 120 Cuban academics and writ- plained that while Canada has normal —SAM MANUEL ers were in attendance. He also said that relations with Cuba it joins with the of the 5,000 participants in the congress, United States and the European Union 1,200 were from Latin America. to pressure Cuba. aggression by Washington against commit espionage and murder commit- “We are meeting here because of the Alarcón spoke to a packed room Cuba, which has cost thousands of ted no crimes. They were in the United U.S. government’s action last year in of more than 800. It was the largest Cuban lives and countless economic States to gather information about the denying visas to the entire Cuban del- session of the congress and had to be hardships. activities of organizations that have egation to our last congress,” Hale said. moved from its original location. He He explained that the five Cubans carried out attacks against Cuba from Participants in the congress applauded called for an end to the decades-long framed up on charges of conspiracy to Florida, Alarcón said. The four-day meeting included more than 1,000 workshops and panels. Howard University hosts Cuban 5 event Scholars from across the United States Continued from front page defense attorneys argued for throwing who preferred not to give her last and Latin America, including from change of venue just a few miles north to out the convictions. “We are waiting name. Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Ecuador, Fort Lauderdale. In Miami the “chances for a decision we hope will vitiate this Law student Alexandra Gormely, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, and for a fair trial were virtually zero,” he injustice and begin to set the record 23, said she came because “I’m not so Brazil, made presentations. The next said, due to the number of counterrevo- straight,” said Weinglass. hot on things the U.S. government is LASA congress is schedule to take place lutionary Cuban Americans there. The meeting was chaired by Kurt attempting to sweep under the rug.” in June 2009 in Rio de Janeiro. A three-judge panel threw out their Schmoke, dean of the Law School and convictions on this basis in 2005. The a former mayor of Baltimore. full 12-judge court later reversed the In response to a question from the U.S. hostility toward Cuba decision and reinstated the convic- audience, Weinglass urged people to tions. join Free the Five defense committees At a Federal Appeals hearing last to get out the word about this case. marks Florida custody case month (see September 10 Militant), “I thought the meeting was excel- BY RUTH ROBINETT agent who aggressively recruited Cuban lent,” Roland Blackman, 24, a law stu- MIAMI—The state of Florida is baseball players to defect. According to U.S. denies visas dent from Atlanta, told the Militant. challenging Rafael Izquierdo, a farmer the Miami Herald, he did this by “stalk- Blackman said that he had heard in Cabaiguán, Cuba, over custody of ing the star-studded Cuban team around to wives of Cuban 5 about the case before. “I believe Cuba his 5-year-old daughter. The U.S. gov- the world from Tokyo to Millington, September 12—The Interna- has the right to protect its interests,” ernment’s hostility toward the Cuban Tennessee.” He profited from commis- tional Committee for the Freedom he said. Revolution permeates the case. sions on his clients’ multimillion-dollar of the Cuban Five reported that “You have to be optimistic,” law The Florida Department of Children professional contracts. the U.S. government denied visas student Detravius Bethea, 30, said in and Families (DCF) took the girl and On September 12, Cohen threw out today to Olga Salanueva and Adri- an interview at a reception after the her 10-year-old half brother into custody key pieces of the state’s case. Earlier, ana Pérez, wives of two of the im- meeting. “They might have a chance in December 2005 when their mother, Cohen dismissed the state’s charge that prisoned Cuban revolutionaries. if it is moved out of Miami.” He add- Elena Perez, was unable to care for awarding custody to Izquierdo would Two days earlier, mayors of ed that building support for the case them. Perez and the children immigrated amount to “child abuse” because it 13 California cities—including and for other frame-up victims was from Cuba to the United States in 2005 would damage the five-year-old to re- Berkeley, Pasadena, Richmond, important. He and other students are after winning a visa lottery. Eighteen move her from a wealthy foster home Salinas, and Santa Cruz—sent a planning to travel to Jena, Louisiana, months ago, DCF placed the children in and return her to Cuba. letter to the Justice Department to support the Jena Six—Black stu- foster care with Joe and Maria Cubas, DCF is trying to get the court to rule calling for the visas to be granted. dents facing jail sentences for alleg- a wealthy Cuban-American family in that Izquierdo abandoned his child after Salanueva, who is married to edly fighting with white students after Coral Gables, Florida. The DCF is ar- allowing his wife to immigrate with her. René González, and Pérez, mar- nooses were hung from a school yard guing for the court to grant permanent Perez wants the girl returned to him. ried to Gerardo Hernández, have tree. custody to the Cubas family. “Believe me, if it was up to me, it been trying for eight years to visit “I came because you don’t hear ‘‘The United States is reluctant to would be a lot easier,” said Cohen, re- their husbands in jail. Washington about these cases in school when repatriate a child to a communist coun- ferring to the burden of proof required has denied them visas every time try,’’ said Judge Jeri B. Cohen. under Florida law to rule that a parent they have applied. people are being wrongfully con- abandoned their child. —CINDY JAQUITH victed,” said Sasha, 26, a law student Joe Cubas gained notoriety as a sports

The Militant October 1, 2007 7 Socialist candidates campaign at Australia protest BY LINDA HARRIS theaters of the so-called war on ter- SYDNEY, Australia—Alasdair ror,” said Poulsen. “And we call for all Macdonald and Ron Poulsen, Com- Australian troops and cops out of East munist League candidates in the up- Timor and the Pacific.” He encour- coming federal elections, campaigned aged protesters to attend a Militant at a September 8 protest here against Labor Forum that evening opposing the Asia-Pacific Economic Coopera- Australian and New Zealand imperi- tion (APEC) summit. alist intervention in the Pacific. Some 10,000 people joined the Macdonald, 26, a meat packer and demonstration. The right to protest member of the Australasian Meat became a key issue as a massive po- Industry Employees’ Union, pointed to lice operation was mounted to lock the number of youth who had joined the down half the city center during the protest. “To the young people here today APEC forum. The forum was attend- who want to fight against war, racism, ed by government leaders from the 21 police brutality, and the destruction of APEC member states, including U.S. the environment, I explain that these president George Bush. are the consequences of capitalism. I “We call for the repeal of all ‘anti- encourage young fighters to join the terror’ laws, say no to special police Communist League campaign. powers, and defend the right to pro- Militant/Bob Aiken “We join protests to demand the re- Ten thousand protested the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Sydney, Australia. test,” said Poulsen, campaigning at peal of the antiunion WorkChoices laws the demonstration. “We also call for troops home”; “Defend workers’ rights”; leader Kevin Rudd, who calls for scal- and to fight for safe working conditions. an end to the federal government’s and “Stop global warming.” It was orga- ing down Australian forces in Iraq. We say that safety is a union ques- takeover of Aboriginal communities nized by the Stop Bush Coalition. Bush said it was impossible to sepa- tion—no worker has to die on the job,” in the Northern Territory.” Prior to the APEC summit, Bush rate the war in Iraq from the war in Macdonald said. Macdonald was asked Rows of cops lined the march route, and Prime Minister John Howard an- Afghanistan, which Labor supports. about climate change, one of the issues blocking every side street with riot nounced agreements to strengthen “The Communist League de- being discussed at APEC. He answered buses. Backed up with a water cannon the close military alliance between mands the immediate withdrawal of that it is the bosses who are responsible purchased for the event, the police cor- the United States and Australia. Bush Australian and all ‘coalition’ troops for destroying the environment in their doned off the park where the final rally also met with Labor Party opposition from Iraq, Afghanistan, and all other never-ending quest for profits. was held. The New South Wales gov- ernment said the security “overkill” was necessary “to protect our city.” Despite Union files lawsuit against immigration cops police warnings of a violent protest, the march was largely peaceful. The protest Continued from front page any laws were handcuffed for hours and have photographs of the bruises she suf- had as its official demands “Bring the (ICE) agents unlawfully detained work- denied access to phones, bathrooms, le- fered during her detention. She told the ers and violated their constitutional gal counsel, and their families. Des Moines Register that she was never rights during the raids. According to ICE, 274 of the people advised of her rights to remain silent or The UFCW lawsuit asks that ICE arrested during the raids were charged to counsel or permitted access to an at- carry out any future raids in accordance with identity theft or other crimes un- torney. Books with “the due process clause and equal related to violating immigration laws. One of the workers at the Greeley, of the Month protection guarantee” of the Fourth Nearly all were convicted. Colorado, plant, Sergio Rodriguez, told and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Of those arrested for being in the the Associated Press that he was taken PATHFINDER Constitution. country illegally, 649 had been removed from the plant and detained for about 12 READERS CLUB 25% The lawsuit also demands that the from the United States as of March 1, hours at a Denver detention center be- discount SPECIALS Department of Homeland Security and the most recent numbers available. fore federal officials found out he was ICE pay damages to the workers. Two Marshalltown Swift work- a legal permanent resident. Rodriguez, Their Morals and Ours ICE agents arrested 1,297 workers at ers, Michael Ray Graves and Alicia 46, said he unsuccessfully asked offi- by Leon Trotsky, John Dewey the plants, but union officials have said Rodriguez, are among eight people cials six times to use the telephone. He Explains how morality is rooted in named in the federal civil rights law- also said he was handcuffed tightly us- the interestsOctober of contending social more than 12,000 workers were de- classes. tained against their will during the oper- suit. Union officials expect at least three ing temporary plastic handcuffs that left $15. Special price: $11.50 ation. The plants raided were in Cactus, times that many to testify against the marks on his wrists for more than two In Defense of Texas; Grand Island, Nebraska; Greeley, federal agents. weeks after his arrest. Socialism Colorado; Hyrum, Utah; Marshalltown, In the lawsuit, Rodriguez said she “Work is not a crime, and workers was held for six hours, and “assaulted by Fidel Castro Iowa; and Worthington, Minnesota. do not leave their constitutional rights $15. Special price: $11.50 UFCW officials said that some work- and battered by at least one ICE agent.” at the plant gate,” UFCW International ers who weren’t accused of breaking Union officials told the press that they President Joseph Hansen said. Aldabonazo: Inside the Cuban Revolutionary Underground 1952–58, a participant’s account by Armando Hart if you like this paper, look us up $25. Special price: $19 Where to find distributors of the E-mail: [email protected] optusnet.com.au Militant, New International, and a full NEW JERSEY: Newark: 168 Bloomfield display of Pathfinder books. Cosmetics, Fashions, and Ave., 2nd Floor. Zip: 07104. Tel: (973) 481- CANADA the Exploitation 0077. E-mail: [email protected] ONTARIO: Toronto: 2238 Dundas St. of Women UNITED STATES W., #201, Postal code M6R 3A9. Tel: (416) CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles: 4229 NEW YORK: Albany: Tel: (518) 929- 535-9140. E-mail: [email protected] by Evelyn Reed, Joseph 4786. E-mail: youngsocialists518@gmail. 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8 The Militant October 1, 2007 Editorial War in Iraq Continued from front page Join defense efforts for Jena 6! in weakening al-Qaeda. Since last January, when Washington launched ues to this day. Continued from front page the largest escalation of the war since the 2003 in- This legacy is an enormous strength for the work- seven times as likely to be imprisoned as whites. vasion —what the rulers call a surge—more and Blacks make up 41 percent of the prison population, ing class today, as fights against deteriorating safety more Sunni tribal factions have joined occupation but just 13 percent of the overall population. conditions, declining wages, and antiunion assaults forces in fighting al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda’s brutality Racism permeates the entire capitalist system. become more and more pressing. Workers who are against civilians of all backgrounds has earned In the workplace, the employers profit from pay- Black will be an indispensable component of the it a growing hatred. This, along with the group’s ing Blacks less and forcing them into the dirtiest, fighting political vanguard of the labor movement in disruption of commerce, has led many bourgeois most dangerous jobs. This discrimination helps drag the sharpening class battles ahead. factions that had either previously allied with or down the working conditions of all workers. Bosses When asked by a reporter in 1965 if he was try- tolerated al-Qaeda to now see it as their most im- foster anti-Black prejudices in an attempt to keep the ing to wake Black people up to their oppression, mediate problem. class divided and to prevent workers from fighting Malcolm X replied, “No, to their humanity, to their This unanticipated opening for Washington together for better conditions. own worth, to their heritage.” prompted the occupying army to redefine its allies But the racist oppression the rulers mete out is Five decades ago, workers and peasants in Cuba and adjust its tactics. Petraeus called this change only one side of the story. Workers who are Black woke up to their humanity. They took political pow- “the most significant development of the past eight have a long political record in the United States of er out of the hands of the exploiters and made a so- months.” playing a leadership role in mass struggles that is cialist revolution. With that act, they eliminated the The U.S. military has increasingly recruited and disproportionately weighty compared to their num- material roots of racist oppression. Today, workers assisted these Sunni forces, many of which previ- bers in the working class as a whole. This record be- and peasants in Cuba have a powerful tool to combat ously fought the occupation. As a result, a number gins in the closing years of the U.S. Civil War and the racism—a government that represents the interests of Sunni tribal leaders outside Baghdad are gaining postwar battle for Radical Reconstruction, through of the majority. influence in the provinces as they drive al-Qaeda the battles that built the unions and the industrial As Cuba’s toilers learned, the capitalist rulers will out. labor movement, through antiracist struggles dur- never correct injustice of their own accord. Joining Competition for power and resources among ing World War II. The mass civil rights and Black mobilizations in defense of the Jena Six can help ex- wealthy layers in Iraq remains deeply divided along liberation struggles from the mid-1950s through the pose this frame-up and make the rulers pay a high national, tribal, and religious lines, and this devel- early 1970s had a social and political impact on the political price for the blatant racism they foster. opment helps fuel the process toward greater re- working class and the labor movement that contin- Justice for the Jena Six! Drop all the charges now! gional autonomy in the country. Three-quarters of Iraqis belong to one of 150 tribes. Iraqi Kurdistan has been largely autonomous for some time. Minnesota meat packers rally for union Petraeus also described how U.S. ground forces Continued from front page violation of our Union Contract and also against na- are targeting “Shi’a militia extremists” he claims 60 days from the date of the announcement. In the tional labor law for unionized work places,” the flyer are supported by Iran. He accused the Iranian meantime, workers are stepping up their fight to said. “We must stand together over this outrageous Republican Guard Corps’ Qods Force of arm- keep the union in the plant. attempt to separate us.” ing and training insurgent Shiite militias in Iraq. “All of us have to vote for the union,” said kill floor For its part, management is stepping up efforts “Iran, through the use of the Qods Force, seeks worker Argelia Dias. to get the union out. Hours before the union found to turn the Iraqi Special Groups into a Hezbollah- “No more stalling—justice now!” reads the leaflet out about the NLRB decision, management held a like force to serve its interests,” he said. The Iraqi for a September 19 protest in front of the plant. It lists meeting in the plant with the workers. Plant manager Special Groups militia is a faction of Muqtada al- what workers are fighting for in a new contract as Steve Cortinas said they wanted the election held Sadr’s Mahdi Army. Petraeus said coalition forces “slower lines and adequate staff,” “wage increases,” as soon as possible. He said the company had given have captured fighters and leaders of such militias, “union access to the plant,” and “an end to blatant raises every year for the past 14 years, except for one. including a senior Lebanese Hezbollah operative. harassment of union stewards and leaders.” No discussion was allowed after Cortinas spoke. Iraq’s cabinet suspended the license of private Local 789 activists are building the protest by talk- “Like management said, take a look at the last 14 military contractor Blackwater September 18 after ing to coworkers and contacting other unions. They’ve years and that’s exactly what we have to explain to some of its mercenaries reportedly killed at least also made announcements and passed out flyers at workers,” said Dias. “For them to take a look at the eight civilians and wounded 13 in west Baghdad events in the community. They promoted the action real history.” The pro-union newsletter Workers’ September 16. Blackwater is now restricted to the at a benefit for members of the American Federation Voice cites the case of Miguel Gutierrez, a worker “green zone,” which includes the U.S. embassy and of State, County and Municipal Employees on strike who had almost 10 years seniority. In a recent com- Iraqi government offices. at the University of Minnesota and at a Mexican pany meeting, Gutierrez said there were no raises Crocker defended Blackwater, which has more Independence Day celebration. before workers won a union contract in 2002. Other than 1,000 personnel in Iraq. He said there was “The protest is very important because you can workers have reported there were no raises for five “simply no way” Washington could do without see the union there, and the union is us, the work- years. such agents. More than 30 U.S. security contrac- ers,” said Dias. “We have to be there and support The meat packers have been working under an ex- tors have been killed, he added. each other.” pired contract since the end of June, when the com- In a September 10 statement to Congress, On September 7, the company denied union repre- pany launched its decertification campaign. Crocker gave one example that sheds some light on sentatives access to the plant. Pro-union workers on conditions faced by Iraqi working people. “Many the kill and deboning sides passed out a flyer during Rebecca Williamson is a trimmer at Dakota Premium neighborhoods in the city [Baghdad] receive two break September 14 protesting this. “This denial is a Foods and a member of UFCW Local 789. hours a day or less from the national grid,” he said. Iraq’s minister of electricity said it would take $25 LETTERS billion over nine years to meet electricity demand. Troy Davis has agreed to hear his appeal in At Bilsthorpe colliery in This is to update readers on Troy November. Davis’ website is www. Nottingham a technique known as Antiwar march Anthony Davis, who won a stay of troyanthonydavis.org. “skin-to-skin working” was used Continued from page 3 execution from the Georgia Board Cheryl Goertz where roof bolts were used where Papageorge, 18, came with a carload from Atlanta. on Pardons and Paroles on July Atlanta, Georgia a new roadway was driven di- This was his third march, which he said went well 18, just 24 hours before he was to rectly alongside an older working. and was spirited. “Petraeus’ report was an attempt be executed for a murder he didn’t In 1993 the roof collapsed, killing to sedate the gains made within the antiwar move- commit. (See article in August 20 Safety in the mines three miners. ment,” he said. “[Hillary] Clinton and [Barack] Militant.) The Militant supplement in The National Union of Obama are just trying to win votes, and it has noth- The Georgia Supreme Court August 2007 described the danger- Mineworkers “does not accept the ing to do with human lives or why we should get ous retreat mining methods that concept of roof bolting as substitute out.” were used at the Crandall Canyon for orthodox support,” according to Quentin Miller, a student at the University of the correction mine where six miners remained The Hazards of Coal Mining. District of Columbia, said he had considered joining An error appeared in the trapped underground. Jim Spaul the military to help pay for school but decided not September 24 Militant (is- I worked at a number of UK col- London, England to after two friends were sent to Iraq. Miller said he sue 35) in the article on a lieries where different methods plans to march again on September 29. An antiwar strike by members of the were used. The letters column is an open march in Washington, D.C., that day is sponsored by American Federation of In 1969 coal bosses changed the forum for all viewpoints on the Troops Out Now Coalition. State, County and Municipal method of support from steel gird- subjects of interest to working Another antiwar coalition, United For Peace and Employees at the University ers to roof bolting. This system is people. Please keep your letters Justice, has called regional protests for 10 cities of Minnesota. The number cheaper than using more conven- brief. Where necessary they will October 27. of unionists walking out tional supports, and mining unions be abridged. Please indicate if was 1,245, not 3,500. have long been skeptical about the you prefer that your initials be Maura DeLuca and Osborne Hart contributed to safety of it. used rather than your full name. this article.

The Militant October 1, 2007 9