Desde dentro de la pandemia 12

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 62, No. 14 April 2, 2020 $1 Wave of resistance Workers fight bosses for their lives By Sue Davis and Martha Grevatt months at Amazon. Warehouse workers at the DCH1 warehouse in All over the country, in the wake of the Chicago began demanding paid time coronavirus pandemic, workers are fight- off (PTO) in January after reading in the ing for and winning safer working condi- employee handbook that everyone work- tions, the right to stay home and income ing 20 hours or more a week was entitled protection. They are both unionized and to it. The company tried to claim only full- nonunionized and work in a range of time workers could collect PTO. Most of occupations. the workers at DCH1 are Black and Latinx. Below is a small sample of the scores When they met with the company, “They of worker actions taking place around talked to us like stupid workers who can’t the country. (Read the full report online read.” (Amazonians United) The work- at workers.org/2020/03/47342/. More ers’ group, DCH1 Amazonians United, coverage next week.) distributed leaflets and wore buttons As we are writing, workers at Amazon- that read “Amazonians United for PTO.” CREDIT: DCH1 AMAZONIANS UNITED owned Whole Foods are waging a Strike talk was part of the conversation. Amazonians United from Chicago warehouse meet with other Amazon workers from nationwide sickout March 31 over unsafe The campaign for PTO picked up around the world before social distancing restrictions. conditions. Instacart “Shoppers” steam when the COVID‑19 crisis hit, struck March 30. A national rent strike and Amazonians also began demand- On March 30 Amazon workers in a petition seeking “special bonus pool” for began April 1. ing protections to prevent the spread Staten Island, N.Y., walked off the job all the company’s employees. The conces- Worker anger has been building for of COVID‑19. On March 20, the com- there after seven workers fell sick from sion was time and a half pay in recognition pany issued a memo informing all COVID‑19. The organizer was fired. The of the hazards workers face by keeping Amazon workers—not just workers at 4,500 workers in the warehouse say stores open in the midst of the pandemic. DCH1—they were eligible for PTO. Amazon mishandled its response to the The coalition is still seeking paid sick With Amazon sales surging globally pandemic and want the entire facility leave for workers at high risk of infection, and warehouse workers in Spain and Italy closed for two weeks so it can be thor- paid family leave for workers with children testing positive for COVID‑19, more than oughly disinfected and sanitized. The at home from school but no access to child 1,500 workers around the world signed workers want pay during this time, as care and the right to wear gloves when a petition March 17 calling for stronger well as retroactively for those who stayed working cash registers. Workers complain workplace safety measures and paid sick home in fear for their health and safety. of still being sent home without pay for leave. Workers at an Amazon facility in (wuwf.org, March 30) refusing to work registers without gloves. Queens, N.Y., shut it down March 18 after Under the banner “We won!” on On March 27, members of Teamsters A national rent strike began April 1. a worker tested positive. (Washington March 20, the Coalition for a Trader Local 667 held a wildcat strike after Coverage in the next issue and at workers.org. Post, March 18) Joe’s Union announced a victory through Continued on page 6 With entrenched racism PANDEMIC EXPOSES CAPITALISM HBCUs hard hit Im/migrants in grave danger 3 by coronavirus NYC public workers 4 By Arielle Robinson Multiple professors were interviewed by Prisons are death traps 4, 8 Conversation U.S.—​a panel of academic The Philadelphia Tribune ran a March experts—​and gave their perspectives on Mumia: ‘Things fall apart’ 4 26 article exposing how the lesser-re- varying aspects of the current health crisis sourced Historically Black Colleges and facing the HBCUs. Asian-Americans speak out 5 Universities (HBCUs) in the United States A professor at Rutgers University, will take a harder hit than rich, predom- Marybeth Gasman, pointed out that ‘Stimulus’ bill 6 inantly white institutions (PWIs) during smaller HBCUs have few information closures due to COVID‑19. technology specialists, and therefore, with Low-wage workers 7 These realities cannot be separated the demand for students to work online Gilead pharma profits from crisis 7 from the old saying: “When America from their homes, remote-learning situa- catches a cold, African Americans catch tions will prove more difficult for students. EDITORIAL Solidarity with frontline workers 10 the flu,” in the centuries-old struggle Furthermore, since three-fourths against white supremacy, including in the of HBCU students, coming from Gender oppression 10 area of education. Continued on page 3

Indigenous resistance 5 Mass organizing to win socialism 9 Women resist fascism in India 11

Included: 4-page supplement Global struggle against COVID‑19 Page 2 April 2, 2020 workers.org

Oakland School Board cuts educational this week

◆ In the U.S. services, not school cops Workers battle bosses for their lives ...... 1 By Judy Greenspan budget into HBCUs hard hit by coronavirus ...... 1 March 4—Tonight the Oakland School Board made a school mental Oakland school board cuts ...... 2 decision to cut more than $20 million from student ser- and behavioral Im/migrants and COVID‑19 ...... 3 health and spe- vices and clerical staff, but refused to make any cuts in the Georgia ICE detainees stage hunger strike . . . . 3 Oakland School Police force. A last minute amendment cial education Caravan protests demand ‘Decarcerate now!’ . . .4 by Director Rosann Torres to lay off one-half of the school staff; and estab- police department failed by a close 4-3 vote. lishing commu- Mumia Abu-Jamal: ‘Things fall apart’ ...... 4 This vote came late in the night after a spirited rally nity oversight NYC public sector workers fight back ...... 4 of campus WW PHOTO: JUDY GREENSPAN outside and inside the board meeting, bringing together Asian-Americans speak out ...... 5 almost 10 years of organizing by the Black Organizing safety person- Organizer Jessica Black speaks at the Standing Rock win in court ...... 5 Project, involving Oakland teachers, families, clergy, stu- nel, along with Oakland school rally, March 4. dents and community members. community Trump attacks Mashpee Wampanoag lands . . . .5 Outside the board meeting where there were over 150 policing. BOP has linked this campaign to the overall When will the government checks come? . . . . .6 struggle of teachers, parents and students for economic people, Jessica Black, organizing director of BOP, recalled Solidarity with low-wage worker fightback . . . . 7 the legacy of Black community activism in Oakland. “We and racial justice in Oakland. (tinyurl.com/rhfgfkg) Gilead Sciences eyes COVID‑19 cash cow . . . . . 7 are going in as part of a history of Black folks, our ances- In a BOP statement released after the vote was lost, the tors, who have been fighting this fight for years . . . who group thanked the community for coming together and Prisoners, workers vs. pandemic profiteers . . . .8 have said enough is enough. We don’t want to wait; we speaking out at the board meeting. BOP also stated, “For Mass organizing to win revolutionary socialism . .9 us, [it] was a vivid example of how the school board is more want police eliminated from schools, and those funds Gender-oppressed: COVID‑19 and health services . 10 repurposed to things that are actually going to benefit interested in policing Black and Brown students than in pro- children.” tecting them and making courageous decisions to cut harm- ◆ Around the world Inside, at least 50 people made public comments at the ful policing departments and punitive discipline practices. A significant date in working-class history . . . . 8 meeting that had only one agenda item—​massive cuts “This is bigger than a campaign or an organization; it is in student services. Speaker after speaker appealed to a united front and together we have taken intentional steps Shaheen Baghs of India ...... 11 the board to instead end the school-to-prison pipeline by in creating Black Sanctuary in Oakland schools. WE are so ◆ Editorial defunding the Oakland School Police force. close!” According to BOP, their racial justice plan received The Oakland Unified School District is the only system more support than ever from both the community and the Solidarity with frontline workers ...... 10 in the 18 districts that make up Alameda County with its board at that meeting. own police force. According to OUSD data, Black students The Black Organizing Project is continuing its cam- ◆ Noticias en Español paign to lay off the police and restore the cuts to stu- make up 26 percent of the school population, but 76 per- Trabajadores de salud en Texas ...... 12 cent of students arrested. dent services. Check out blackorganizingproject.org and In September 2019, BOP presented a “People’s Plan for #EliminateSchoolPolice on Twitter. Police-Free Schools” to the school board, calling for the In another Oakland solidarity action, the activ- elimination of the Oakland School Police Department by ist Oakland Education Association recently passed 2020. The plan included restructuring campus safety per- a strong anti-imperialist, anti-sanctions resolution. sonnel as peacekeepers; reinvesting the $2.3 million police See www.workers.org/2020/03/46703/. Workers World 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl. New York, NY 10011 Phone: 212.627.2994 Join us in the fight E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.workers.org for socialism! Vol. 62, No. 14 • April 2, 2020 Closing date: April 1, 2020 Workers World Party is a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist people are gunned down by cops and bigots on a regular party inside the belly of the imperialist beast. We are a basis. Editor: Deirdre Griswold multinational, multigenerational and multigendered orga- The ruthless ruling class today seeks to wipe out Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, Martha Grevatt, nization that not only aims to abolish capitalism, but to decades of gains and benefits won by hard-fought strug- Monica Moorehead, Betsey Piette, Minnie Bruce Pratt build a socialist society because it’s the only way forward! gles by people’s movements. The super-rich and their Web Editors: ABear, Harvey Markowitz, Janet Mayes Capitalism and imperialism threaten the peoples of the political representatives have intensified their attacks on world and the planet itself in the neverending quest for the multinational, multigender and multigenerational Production & Design Editors: Gery Armsby, Sasha ever-greater profits. working class. It is time to point the blame at—and chal- Mazumder, Scott Williams Capitalism means war and austerity, racism and lenge—the capitalist system. Copyediting and Proofreading: Paddy Colligan, repression, attacks on im/migrants, misogyny, LGBTQ2+ WWP fights for socialism because the working class Sue Davis, S. Hedgecoke oppression and mistreatment of people with disabilities. produces all wealth in society, and this wealth should Contributing Editors: LeiLani Dowell, G. Dunkel, It means joblessness, increasing homelessness and impov- remain in their hands, not be stolen in the form of capi- K. Durkin, Teresa Gutierrez, Gloria Rubac erishment and lack of hope for the future. No social prob- talist profits. The wealth workers create should be socially lems can be solved under capitalism. owned and its distribution planned to satisfy and guaran- Mundo Obero: Alberto García, Teresa Gutierrez, The U.S. is the richest country in the world, yet no one tee basic human needs. Carlos Vargas has a guaranteed right to shelter, food, water, health care, Since 1959, Workers World Party has been out in the Supporter Program: Coordinator Sue Davis education or anything else—unless they can pay for it. streets defending the workers and oppressed here and Copyright © 2020 Workers World. Verbatim copying Wages are lower than ever, and youth are saddled with worldwide. If you’re interested in Marxism, socialism and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium seemingly insurmountable student debt, if they even make and fighting for a socialist future, please contact a WWP without royalty provided this notice is preserved. it to college. Black, Brown and Indigenous youth and trans branch near you. ☐ Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly If you are interested in joining Workers World Party contact: 212.627.2994 except the last week of December by WW Publishers, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10011. Phone: National Office Boston Durham, N.C. 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Oakland, CA 94609 [email protected] Philadelphia, PA 19101 New York, N.Y. 10011. 510.394.2207 610.931.2615 [email protected] [email protected] workers.org April 2, 2020 Page 3 Im/migrants and COVID‑19 Georgia ICE detainees stage Free them all now! hunger strike over COVID‑19 By Teresa Gutierrez By Arielle Robinson reporting that employees do not take Atlanta basic sanitary precautions, such as using When the demands gloves or hand sanitizer when entering of the progressive In a March 26 press release Project and leaving the facility. and revolutionary South revealed that Immigration and Stewart detainees say officers asked movements concur Customs Enforcement detainees at the them to ration one roll of toilet paper each with the demands of Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga., for two weeks, claiming nearby stores do those deep within the went on a hunger strike to bring attention not have enough toilet paper and other mainstream of the to COVID‑19-related issues in the jail. supplies. system, you know Georgia community organizers became On top of the previous issues, many things are chang- aware of the March 24 hunger strike in detainees have preexisting conditions ing. Who would have which about 350 prisoners in Stewart par- that make them particularly vulnerable to thought a few months ticipated. The goal was to raise awareness COVID‑19 if there were to be an outbreak. Overcrowded tent encampment in Matamoros, Mexico, on the ago that prosecutors, that they are inhumanely caged in an ICE banks of the Rio Grande, near Brownsville, Texas. judges, district attor- facility while coronavirus spreads in jails, ‘We don’t care if you get sick’ neys and doctors prisons and ICE detention facilities across Siembra NC reported that in meetings would be echoing the same demands of now! the country. held between ICE officials and about 62 activists and families of the incarcerated? Who can trust the justice system About 2,000 people are detained at detained immigrants on March 24, an ICE But that is exactly what is happening. under this sick system to determine who Stewart Detention Center, with 62 immi- officer allegedly explicitly said: “We don’t Well, almost. should be released and who should stay? grants sharing each housing area. care if you get sick. We don’t care if you On March 23, a joint statement from The only fair answer is to free them all “We’re just waiting to get infected!!” eat or don’t. It’s not my problem ... isn’t elected prosecutors dealing with the now, not just people determined to be Ventura Quintanar-Rico, 32, of Mexico going to change anything.” COVID‑19 crisis and people in custody “safer”—​as prosecutors are saying. told the undocumented Latinx rights group Project South reported that over 40 pointed out what many activists had To not do that today is imposing yet Siembra NC. “They’re not taking the most new detained immigrants were brought already said: COVID‑19 will hit particu- another fascistlike sentence on those basic coronavirus precautions here. If one into Stewart each day last week, and while larly hard those behind the walls. behind bars: “Get sick from COVID‑19 of us gets infected, all of us will. We are not their temperatures are taken, they are not The statement read: “There are 2.3 and possibly die; the government doesn’t able to stay 6 feet apart from each other, we tested for COVID‑19. CoreCivic, the owner million adults and children locked up give a damn.” share space with 62 people. We don’t want and operator of the private Stewart prison, in the U.S. in various systems of con- Conditions for prisoners before to die here and it usually takes 3 to 4 days claimed it had purchased testing kits for finement, including state and federal COVID‑19 were already deplorable. Basic to get medical attention.” COVID‑19, according to Project South. prisons, local jails, youth correctional items like soap or items for good hygiene Even before the U.S. outbreak of coro- Prisons and detention centers around facilities, and immigration detention are hard to come by. Medical services navirus, detainees in Stewart had diffi- Georgia are already reporting outbreaks centers. Far more cycle in and out of jail mirror conditions of the 1800s. culty accessing medicines they needed. and deaths from COVID‑19. Lee State on a daily basis; there are 10.6 million jail For migrants it is the same—​with the A man with diabetes told activists he has Prison reported six people testing positive admissions every year.” exception that they are far from their been asking the detention center for his for COVID‑19, with one death. Thirteen The judicial system, thoroughly rac- homeland, to boot. medication all week, with no luck. men are in medical isolation for flu-like ist, particularly targets Black and Brown Just like in regular prison, detained Detainees report asking for doctors symptoms, with two awaiting COVID‑19 people as well as those who do not have migrants have died while in custody, when they are sick and having appoint- test results, according to the March 27 documents to be in the U.S. many of them children who die from ments delayed for up to three days. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Indeed, capital can cross any border it easily preventable diseases such as the nearest hospital to Stewart is in Cuthbert, Inmates and guards at other state pris- wants, but a farmworker cannot! common flu. Ga., over 20 miles away. ons and county jails are reported to have At the beginning of the health care Despite the fact that today fewer peo- Detainees must eat from shared plates. COVID‑19. Two inmates at Atlanta’s fed- pandemic, immigrant and prison aboli- ple are apprehended at the border, the Up to 200 are squeezed together when it eral prison have tested positive for the tionist activists immediately pointed out American Civil Liberties Union points is time to eat. Stewart detainees are also coronavirus. ☐ that conditions in prisons and detention out that immigration detention has centers were ripe for the coronavirus to reached record proportions. take hold and spread. In fact, the hated Trump administration is facing growing Fascist Trump seizes the moment calls to not only free the detained but to As the COVID‑19 crisis develops, fas- HBCUs hard hit by coronavirus close all immigration courts. cist elements in Washington are using Continued from page 1 harder for certain HBCUs to pay off debt, According to NPR, “Immigration and the crisis to tighten control over society. as they are losing money as students find Customs Enforcement reported for the With regards to immigration, Trump working-class families with lower off-campus housing. first time this week that one of its work- used COVID‑19 to close the border. incomes, are eligible for Pell Grants, these With less government resources avail- ers has the virus that causes COVID‑19.” (New York Times, March 20) No lon- same students may not have access to able to them, HBCUs lack rainy day funds, (March 21) ger would migrants without documents Wi-Fi or laptops. This was also a concern and after the COVID‑19 crisis is through, In one prison in Massachusetts this who could easily fulfill the requirements of Gasman. For remote learning to work some may even risk closing. led detained migrants to go on a heroic for amnesty be allowed to come in. They successfully, students must have access to HBCUs also lack philanthropic funding, hunger strike. would no longer be taken into detention, laptops and reliable Wi-Fi. Some HBCUs with PWIs receiving $2.94 billion in dona- NPR reports that more than 3,000 but would immediately be sent home or are lending students laptops. tions in 2019 versus $43 million for HBCUs, physicians signed a letter urging ICE to would be forced to stay in Mexico. A professor from Howard University, according to Gregory Price, University of release detainees. One of those, Ranit Terrifyingly, unaccompanied chil- Ivory A. Toldson, echoed the concerns New Orleans economics professor. Mishori said, “The window of opportu- dren will be exempt from that and will about technology, saying many HBCU Systemically, Black families make much nity is rapidly, rapidly closing because I be taken and sent to detention. We must professors do not have adequate tech- less money than white families on average think we need to let them out before they sadly ask: Will they ever be seen or heard nology to be able to quickly move classes and find it more difficult to give back to become sick.” (March 21) from again? online. Again, some students may not their HBCUs. Since the beginning of his presidency, have quality internet connections. HBCUs that cannot financially with- Detention: a death sentence Trump had wanted to do all this, but HBCUs have smaller endowments stand the decline in enrollment and lack Migrants in detention are fleeing the courts had blocked him in order to than other institutions across the U.S. needed infrastructure, including empty unprecedented catastrophic conditions respect the right of due process. That As a result, many HBCUs rely on tuition leadership positions, may be at risk of back home. These conditions were cre- right is no longer being respected. from students and less on scholarships. If declining and eventually closing. ated by U.S. imperialism: climate change COVID‑19 has not only exposed the students are unable to access laptops or An example of an HBCU closing was and economic and foreign policies that weaknesses of a capitalist for-profit Wi-Fi, they may drop a class, leading to St. Paul’s College in Virginia in 2013. St. benefit Wall Street and the Pentagon are health care system. It exposes the weak- the university having less money than it Paul’s faced declines in enrollment and what force workers to flee. As migrant nesses of capitalism itself. already had. lost revenue. activists have said, “We are here because What must be done for migrants and Toldson commented that the interrup- Price pointed out that multiple HBCUs you were there.” all those detained? We must be clear: tions to fundraising efforts, closed dorms have been placed on probation by regional Nearly half of the immigrants detained No matter what “crime” was committed and lost money from bookstores and din- accreditors for being financially unstable. by ICE have been accused of no crime by those incarcerated—​if one was com- ing halls, which all institutions are facing, The COVID‑19 crisis may worsen the sta- other than civil immigration violations, mitted at all—​it is substantially more will hit HBCUs particularly hard, since tus of these HBCUs. and many might not have been held criminal to willingly let detained human they had less money to begin with. To deal with the situation of under- under previous administrations. beings get sick. Additionally, an HBCU with finan- funded HBCUs, some of the professors The statements from elected prosecu- Social distancing was the first line of cial issues may lead to them losing their call on the federal government for finan- tors and physicians called for the imme- defense for the masses. Opening up the accreditation status. Without this status, it cial assistance. One proposal is for a coro- diate release of some of the prisoners in detention centers and prisons is now the is “nearly impossible” to recruit students. navirus stimulus package that includes order to prevent a “catastrophe.” first line of defense for those detained. Some HBCUs are in debt, which is one providing $1,000 for every HBCU stu- And that is where activists and main- Free them all now! ☐ of the reasons these institutions may be dent, among other resources. Emergency stream officials depart. Activists are building new dorms for students. With relief for revenue loss for HBCUs was also demanding free them all and free them students having to leave the dorms, it is among the proposals. ☐ Page 4 April 2, 2020 workers.org Caravan protests demand ‘Decarcerate now!’ By Joe Piette workers and their family members at tickets on each vehicle’s windshield. None people in state prisons by expediting parole extreme and unnecessary risk. We took to of the officers involved, including Outlaw, processes, releasing elderly and medically A broad coalition of prison abolition the streets today to say we are not going wore protective gloves or observed social vulnerable people, and taking other com- activists took to Philadelphia’s streets in to let Pennsylvania leave our incarcerated distancing, essentially putting anyone mon sense measures. They demanded Wolf over 120 cars—​most with just one occu- loved ones behind.” receiving these tickets at risk. stop ICE from unlawfully detaining immi- pant—​to demand officials massively City officials admit there are two con- Drivers silenced their horns so that grants—including children—at the Berks decarcerate jails, prisons and detention firmed cases of COVID‑19 in their jail pop- demands could be read by two activists County Detention Center. centers in the wake of the COVID‑19 out- ulation. The Pennsylvania Department of standing on top of a car. Protesters want The #No215Jail Coalition includes break. Four separate car caravans—​deco- Corrections announced their first con- Mayor Jim Kenney to release pretrial peo- Abolitionist Law Center, ACLU-PA, rated with signs and banners—​circled City firmed positive COVID diagnosis in the ple, grant parole, lift detainers, end cash Amistad Law Project, Black Alliance for Hall, the Criminal Justice Center, Gov. state system. Immigration and Customs bail and prioritize the release for youth, Peace, Black and Brown Workers Co-op, Tom Wolf’s Philadelphia office and the Enforcement also revealed it has a con- elderly people and people who are medi- Black Lives Matter Philly, Decarcerate PA, federal court building near the Liberty Bell. firmed case in custody. cally vulnerable. Frontline Dads, Just Leadership, LILAC, Sarah Morris with the #No215Jail After first targeting four separate sites, They want Philadelphia’s First Judicial Movement Alliance Project, Philadelphia Coalition stated: “It is completely unac- the 120 vehicles converged on City Hall. District Court of Pennsylvania to immedi- Bail Fund, Philadelphia Community ceptable that elected officials have not For half an hour, after circling around the ately implement a process to allow mass Bail Fund, Reclaim Philadelphia, taken sufficient steps to release people in building, with drivers honking horns, cars release of people incarcerated in the city’s ShutDownBerks, Social Worker Action Philadelphia’s prisons, jails, and deten- then blocked several lanes on the north jails and juvenile detention centers. Network, Working Educators, Youth Art & tion centers.” Morris, who also represents side of the building. They also call on Gov. Wolf to release Self-Empowerment Project. ☐ the Youth Art and Self Empowerment Police, at the order of Philadelphia’s new Project, continued: “Their inaction is Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, putting thousands of incarcerated people, responded by placing $76 “double parked” ‘Things Fall Apart’

By Mumia Abu-Jamal subtext—“Praise​ me! Praise me! The great African writer, Chinua Praise me!’ Achebe, I believe, wrote a novel about While dozens the ravages of colonialism, which bore and then hun- the title “Things Fall Apart.” dreds die daily, He borrowed the title from the famed and thousands, tens of thousands fall Irish poet, William Butler Yeats, who ill. Trillions of dollars dry up like fruit wrote “Things fall apart, the center can- fallen from a tree, they fall rotten—​ not hold, mere anarchy is loosed upon unusable, gone like the wind. the world.” Politicians fill the air with words, but We see, outside our doors, our win- no solution is in sight. dows, a world we did not know, that now Several weeks ago. a pandemic came exists. to visit the world’s richest countries, and A silent, unseen disease gives vent to things fall apart. massive unease and unleashes unprece- From imprisoned nation, this is dented fear. Mumia Abu-Jamal. Political leaders pose and preen, say- ing little of substance, and even less of Transcribed from a March 27, 2020, PHOTO: JOE PIETTE Philly police target protesters while wearing no protective equipment. sense. audio recording on prisonradio.org. But in every utterance comes a fevered

Caught in COVID‑19 crosshairs NYC public sector workers fight back By a New York City public sector worker who worked at Elmhurst Hospital, died victims [of covid- 19], Harry Nespoli, san- Health and Safety Act which, like the March 30 of COVID‑19. itation workers’ union president and chair sanitation workers’ contract, guarantees The direct responsibility of Mayor Bill In addition, city government “is falling of the NYC public sector workers coalition the right to a workplace that doesn’t make de Blasio’s administration for danger- far short of the state’s edict that 75 percent in the Municipal Labor Committee, after workers injured or ill. ously reducing the size of work stations of nonessential workers telecommute, saying his condition was improving, com- The Occupational Safety and Health used by city public sector workers was prompting fears from union officials that plained, ‘It’s not right what they’re doing Administration also requires employers exposed last year in an article by Katie scores of city workers are being needlessly to New York City.’ ” to provide a workplace free of recognized Honan. (“New York City Shrinks Cubicles exposed to the coronavirus.” (Daily News, hazards. as Municipal Workforce Rises,” Wall March 19) Sanitation workers at risk Street Journal, July 7, 2019) Henry Garrido, executive director of Sometimes city sanitation workers Without struggle, there is no progress It revealed: “New York City has millions the American Federation of State, County, who finish their routes early but have not After six transit workers had already of square feet of office space to accom- and Municipal Employees District Council been adequately provided with masks and died of COVID‑19, John Samuelson, pres- modate its more than 305,000 municipal 37, the union representing nearly 150,000 gloves are forced to linger in dilapidated, ident of the Transport Workers Union, employees—​and a space-saving initia- city workers, said: “There appears to be a undersized garages and locker rooms told Channel 5 on March 29: “There tive aiming to cut the size of cubicles and lot of institutional resistance to working where it’s impossible to accommodate was a dispute about masks. The MTA make even more room for thousands of from home.” Garrido cited as an example six-foot social distancing. [Metropolitan Transportation Authority] new workers. a city administrative bulletin that says This is in violation of the Teamster said masks were inappropriate for transit “To make room for more work- workers who have “had close contact” union contract, which stipulates: “The workers to wear. It took weeks and threats ers, the city’s Department of Citywide (less than 6 feet for more than a few min- Employer and the Union shall conduct to the MTA to get masks. Our workers still Administrative Services changed its space utes) with someone who’s tested positive periodic inspection of all facilities which don’t have gloves. This subway system standards, cutting workstation sizes from for coronavirus “can keep working.” house Employees in order to ensure that is the greatest spreader of this disease. 6 feet by 8 feet or 6 feet by 10 feet to a One veteran worker at the Department all such facilities are adequately main- Whatever equipment we need better be standard 6 feet by 6 feet, city officials said. of Social Services who suffers from high tained and provide sanitary working there. We are not going to be used as can- This makes it very difficult for workers blood pressure and diminished kidney conditions. Where deficiencies are found non fodder.” to maintain the six-foot distance apart at function told the Daily News that when and/or repair necessary, the Employer TWU Local 100 also forced the MTA all times. he requested to work from home, citing will take steps to make such repairs to allow people to ride the buses for free, A city employee, who was ordered to advanced age and pre-existing condi- immediately. Since there is a large back- using the side exits/entrances to provide work despite the city shutdown, com- tions that put him at greater risk, his boss log of needed repairs … if the repairs can- safer social distancing and protect both plained to this reporter that it took denied the request, in violation of the not be made or funds are not available, passengers and bus drivers. People with municipal unions two weeks to success- Americans with Disabilities Act. and the conditions at the location are mobility disabilities can still board as fully force Steven Banks, of the city’s huge The Chief newspaper of March 30 fea- such that they constitute a hazard to the usual. Human Resources Administration (HRA), tured an article titled “Layoffs a Possibility life, health, or safety of Employees, the The MTA would do well to heed to rescind his order that had banned HRA in City and State Due to Virus’s Economic Employer will take immediate steps to Samuelson’s warning. TWU 100 has hit workers from wearing masks. This worker Toll.” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has transfer all Employees to a more suitable the bricks with great strikes in 1966, 1980 also said that an African-American female ordered agency heads to come up with location.” and 2005 in defiance of New York State’s administrative worker, a shop steward in a combined $1.3 billion in budget cuts. The New York City government is also anti-labor Taylor Law, which deems his union and of the Queens community According to The Chief, “One of those in violation of the 1970 Occupational Continued on page 7 workers.org April 2, 2020 Page 5 Asian Americans speak out against Trump’s racism By Betsey Piette hateful rhetoric directed at Latinx, African, movement accelerated in the late 1800s. people aren’t out of fear of being attacked.” Caribbean and Middle Eastern community Sinta Storms of Modero described Executive Director of VietLead Nancy In response to widespread reports members. … We will not be used to blame recent hateful acts in Philadelphia. At Nguyen stated: “We live in a white of anti-Asian racism, harassment and for the failings of our current system.” a Center City Wawa convenience store, supremacist, anti-Black, heteropatriar- violence, Asian Americans United Groups on the call included Asian a customer first asked an Asian cashier chal, capitalist system—​this is true for Philadelphia hosted a zoom gathering Americans United, the Cambodian where she was from, then deliberately much of the world due to globalization—​ on March 26 in solidarity with Asian- Association of Greater Philadelphia, moved to a different register. Passengers but it was perfected in the United States. American communities. CAIR (Council on American-Islamic on a bus yelled “Corona, corona” at an “We are living through a moment The event highlighted a “Collective Relations), Modero & Company (a group Asian woman until the driver made them where these systems are being struggled Statement Against Anti-Asian Bias and promoting traditional Indonesian cul- stop. Storms also raised the difficulty over. There was a myriad of efforts over the Targeting of Any Community,” which ture), VietLead, Victim Witness Services immigrants face applying for unemploy- the last decade—​the Black Lives Matter people were urged to sign. While criticiz- of South Philadelphia, the Woori Center ment benefits during the pandemic, espe- movement, Occupy’s 99%, the #MeToo ing the Trump administration for spear- serving the city’s Korean community, cially if they are undocumented. movement and more. As we speak, heading the current rise in anti-Asian bias, and representatives from City Council. Cambodian Association of Greater Congress is passing a $2.2 trillion relief the document emphasized: “This is not The Philadelphia region has nearly 25 Philadelphia staffer Sarun Chan detailed package. What was impossible just a few the first time our communities have been different Asian American Pacific Islander calls the group has received from people of months ago is about to be written law. targeted to divert attention from the real (AAPI) communities. all ages. “Many are simply afraid to leave “The Trump administration tries to crisis at hand: the lack of healthcare for all, Rob Buscher, with the Japanese home because they might be attacked or divert our attention and move the tar- a guaranteed annual income, access to edu- American Citizens League and profes- discriminated against. They believe the city get from their backs to ours. But we are cation, food, and all the rights that should sor of Asian American Studies at the is just sweeping reports of attacks under agents of history. We have critical roles be guaranteed to every person in commu- University of Pennsylvania, recounted the the rug. … Concerns run from online racist in the AAPI community to lead our people nities around the world.” U.S. history of anti-Asian bias. Repression rhetoric to physical attacks. In Virginia, an through what lies ahead. … Our will and Signers pledged to “stand together began in the mid-1800s against Chinese Asian family living in a neighborhood for fight to end anti-Asian violence must be across different communities—​Black, immigrant workers, followed by orga- over 15 years reported bullets shot through as strong as our will and fight and solidar- Brown, Indigenous, white and more—​ nized discrimination and violence against their window.” ity work needed to end white supremacy against anti-Asian bias, harassment and Japanese, Filipinos and later Koreans. and anti-Blackness—​because the system violence as well as the targeting of the ‘The ground is moving beneath our feet’ does not serve any of us poor and working class, people with dis- Mounting anti-Asian incidents Asian Americans United’s Wei Chen “The ground is moving beneath our abilities, immigrant and refugee, non-En- White supremacists in the U.S.—​build- described Chinese Americans being phys- feet—​this is our country—​and every glish proficient, LGBTQ [people] and ing on a foundation of genocide against ically and verbally attacked. “They are generation we are bolder, braver and have those in incarceration and detention.” Indigenous people and the enslavement of afraid to wear masks [that] offer some more capacities, tools and strategies to do Signers further pledged: “The cur- Africans—used​ anti-Asian bias to pit work- sense of protection. To not wear them is the damn thing.” ☐ rent administration has promoted ing people against each other as the union stressful because of health concerns, but Standing Rock win in court after years of perseverance Trump attacks Mashpee Wampanoag lands during pandemic crisis By Alison Cagle lawyers, who are based in D.C., vehemently pushed back. “They didn’t really have any good reasons,” says March 25—​This is a statement from Earthjustice Hasselman. “It was incredibly tone-deaf to demand an March 27, 2020—This​ is a statement from the Mashpee attorneys for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on the in-person hearing in the middle of a public health cri- Wampanoag Tribe on Trump’s attempted theft of recent legal victory against the DAPL permit to route sis. But the court handled it very fairly. Nobody was at Mashpee Wampanoag lands. the pipeline under the Missouri River, which was a disadvantage.” granted by the Trump administration. On the day of the hearing, Hasselman delivered his Message from the Chair: We will take action to case via phone, arguing that the Army Corps never fully prevent the loss of our land A federal judge struck down permits for the Dakota assessed the imminent danger to the Tribe should the At 4:00 p.m. today—​on the very day that the United Access Pipeline, even after COVID‑19 precautions led to pipeline rupture. Despite not being able to read the States has reached a record 100,000 confirmed cases of an unconventional day in court. courtroom or see the judge’s body language, Hasselman the coronavirus and our Tribe is desperately struggling For the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, there has never found ways to make the virtual accommodation work: with responding to this devastating pandemic—​the been any question of backing down from the fight to pro- Surrounded by fact sheets and regulatory citations taped Bureau of Indian Affairs informed me that the Secretary tect their homeland from the Dakota Access Pipeline. to the wall of his home office, Hasselman had everything of the Interior has ordered that our reservation be dis- Every year since 2016, the Tribal council has voted he needed to answer the judge’s questions. established and that our land be taken out of trust. Not unanimously to continue legal challenges to the pipe- The Tribe has persisted in challenging DAPL through since the termination era of the mid-twentieth century line, which shuttles 600,000 barrels of crude oil a day the ups and downs of court victories and setbacks. In has a Secretary taken action to disestablish a reservation. within a mile upstream from the Standing Rock reser- December 2016, the Obama administration put the Today’s action was cruel, and it was unnecessary. The vation. An oil spill into the nearby Missouri River would pipeline on hold—only​ to have President Trump reverse Secretary is under no court order to take our land out destroy the Tribe’s way of life. Earthjustice has repre- that order on his second day in office. Even after a fed- of trust. He is fully aware that litigation to uphold our sented the Tribe in its litigation. eral judge in late 2017 ordered the Army Corps to take status as a tribe eligible for the benefits of the Indian On March 25, the Tribe gained a significant victory into account the Tribe’s criticisms, construction contin- Reorganization Act is ongoing. after a federal court struck down a permit to route the ued. The Army Corps ignored that judge’s instructions. It begs the question, what is driving our federal trust- pipeline under the Missouri River, finding that the U.S. The massive 2016 gathering of Tribes and allies defend- ee’s crusade against our reservation? Army Corps of Engineers failed to consider the health ing Standing Rock Sioux territory from DAPL captured the Regardless of the answer, we the People of the First Light and environmental impacts to the Tribe in the event of world’s attention and attracted international media cover- have lived here since before there was a Secretary of the an oil spill. The court ordered the Corps to complete a age. It helped give rise to a global movement of Indigenous Interior, since before there was a State of Massachusetts, full environmental review, and it also asked each side to resistance to fossil-fuel infrastructure projects. since before the Pilgrims arrived 400 years ago. We have weigh in on whether the pipeline should be shut down The March 25 court ruling could be the beginning of survived, we will continue to survive. These are our lands, in the meantime. the end for the pipeline. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe these are the lands of our ancestors, and these will be the The legal victory vindicates the Standing Rock Sioux’s is now preparing to argue that DAPL should be shut lands of our grandchildren. This administration has come perseverance. After the Tribe’s initial stand inspired down while the Army Corps completes its review. and it will go. But we will be here, always. And we will not global solidarity and a halt to the pipeline’s construction, “This validates everything the Tribe has been say- rest until we are treated equally with other federally recog- the early wins were tragically reversed by the Trump ing all along about the risk of oil spills to the people of nized tribes and the status of our reservation is confirmed. administration, the oil started flowing, and the strug- Standing Rock,” says Hasselman. “The Obama admin- I will continue to provide updates on this important gle shifted to the courts. The Tribe stood their ground istration had it right when it moved to deny the permits issue in the coming days, as we take action to prevent the through four years of legal fight and counting. in 2016, and this is the second time the court has ruled loss of our trust status. “After years of commitment to defending our water and that the government ran afoul of environmental laws Kutâputunumuw; earth, we welcome this news of a significant legal win,” when it permitted this pipeline. We will continue to see Chairman Cedric Cromwell says Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Mike Faith. this through until DAPL has finally been shut down.” Qaqeemasq (Running Bear) “It’s humbling to see how actions we took four years ago (tinyurl.com/t3uph9d) ☐ (tinyurl.com/r5o4zwg) ☐ to defend our ancestral homeland continue to inspire national conversations about how our choices ultimately affect this planet. Perhaps in the wake of this court ruling Lakota People’s Law Project requests messages of solidarity the federal government will begin to catch on, too, starting by actually listening to us when we voice our concerns.” Send a message of solidarity to Standing Rock See tinyurl.com/rhu9edg and follow the Last week’s hearing took place despite unprecedented after the [Standing Rock Sioux] Tribe’s big court prompts to send a solidarity message to hurdles, as traveling to D.C. became too dangerous amid Dakota Access Pipeline win. Federal permits for Standing Rock. the COVID‑19 pandemic. Seattle-based Earthjustice DAPL have been revoked! For more on the Standing Rock struggle attorney Jan Hasselman cancelled his flights and hotels—​ Thank you for all you are doing to aid this see Stephanie Tromblay, “Women defend including a side trip to visit his mother in D.C.—​and struggle. The Tribe will now submit legal briefs Standing Rock and Indigenous Sovereignty.” requested to hold the hearing via teleconference. in an effort to stop the flow of oil. (tinyurl.com/vze6k5w) Yet heedless of the public health risk, Dakota Access’s Page 6 April 2, 2020 workers.org When will the government checks come?

By G. Dunkel claims were not processed. will be denied aid. these families, the government will have to New York Most states basically demand that the Since laid-off workers will need the cut a check. initial claim be made online through the money to put food on the table and other The families paid by check will all Almost every media outlet in the internet and then completed through a essentials, they will be unable to pay be poor, disproportionately Black and United States carried the news: 3.28 mil- telephone interview with an agent before many other bills by April 1 when monthly Latinx, with many headed by single lion claims for unemployment insurance a check is cut. bills arrive. mothers, who live paycheck to paycheck. (UI) were made the week ending March The $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has Some 53 percent of American households 21. This figure is the highest since the Relief, and Economic Security, CARES publicly promised that the $1,200 pay- have no savings accounts available for an Department of Labor began reporting Act, signed into law on March 27, prom- ments established by CARES to each adult emergency. Of that group, 61 percent can such figures in 1967. ises enhanced unemployment benefits—​ U.S. citizen and $500 to each dependent make ends meet for no longer than two The 281,000 claims for UI the previous $600 a week on top of the state payment, child will be made in three weeks. This is months with the cash they have on hand. week were the lowest in the past 50 years. with extended weeks of coverage. It also an ambitious goal. The Trump regime’s Janet Holtzblatt of the Tax Policy In New York City, which now accounts promises to include “informal” workers. record up to now is of being far behind Center, a Washington think tank devoted for roughly 5 percent of global COVID‑19 Unless the states’ bureaucracy processes what is needed. to studying the IRS, estimates that it will cases, there has been a 1,000-percent and accepts a claim, however, workers These payments could only be processed be at least two months for any checks to increase in unemployment claims from won’t find these benefits available. in three weeks for unemployed and other be cut in the best of circumstances. If the the second week of March to the third. The number of claims filed and workers who included information on their coronavirus starts to sicken more of the According to the New York Post, 2.7 mil- reported is definitely lower than the real 2018 or 2019 tax returns that allowed the federal workforce issuing the checks, even lion people accessed New York State’s number of workers laid off. The rules government to directly deposit funds that estimate looks optimistic. website during the week ending March establishing how unemployment insur- into their bank accounts. But 6.5 percent Unemployment insurance was won in 21 and 1.7 million calls were recorded. ance is going to be paid to gig workers, of all U.S. families, according to a 2017 the 1930s by a broad, progressive struggle It is left up to the states to handle part-time workers, tipped workers—​ study by the Federal Deposit Insurance by the working class, led by communists unemployment claims. In state after those who have been excluded from Commission, don’t have a bank account. A and socialists. The pandemic makes it state, there were reports of online serv- traditional unemployment compensa- full 25 percent are “underbanked,” mean- obvious that this struggle must be broad- ers collapsing due to the flood of calls and tion—have​ yet to be established. And, of ing the financial institutions they use, such ened to demand that the government telephone lines going down. California course, undocumented, agricultural and as credit unions, don’t offer all the services ensure everyone gets food, housing, med- officials believe that tens of thousands of domestic workers who have lost their jobs of a full-service bank. To deliver funds for ical supplies and utilities. ☐ Workers fight bosses for their lives Continued from page 1 riders who must use the rear door to Perdue workers walk out over enter and exit (exceptions for wheelchair sanitation, for extra pay learning a coworker had tested positive users) and not sit near the driver. After Close to 50 workers walked out of for COVID‑19. They said most of them portable toilets with hand sanitizers were a Perdue Farms plant in Kathleen, are afraid to touch anything in the mas- set up, more cleaning staff was hired and Ga., on March 23, after production sive Kroger warehouse in Memphis. bus cleaning protocols were established. workers had come in close contact Kroger is the country’s largest grocery Drivers are given gloves and disinfectant with people who tested positive for chain but refuses to offer hazard pay, wipes at the beginning of each shift and COVID‑19. Perdue Farms agreed which Safeway, Giant Eagle and other masks “upon request whenever avail- to do a “deep cleaning” of the chains have been paying. able.” (Labor Notes, March 18) plant every two hours and offered Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Bus drivers in Birmingham, Ala., four weeks of paid leave to work- Nurses at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx protest a “stay at home” order on March 22 that refused to work on March 23 due to ers who get sick with COVID‑19. lack of basic protective equipment, March 28. went into effect at midnight the next day. pandemic-related safety concerns. They (ucommblog, March 25) All “nonessential” businesses were ordered demanded masks and changes in line Nurses” and “We Risk our Lives to Save closed. The order, however, deemed hous- with social distancing standards. Now all Fast food fightback Yours #ppenow.” They have been told to ing construction “essential,” meaning con- 20 buses will only allow 15 to 19 passen- In Portland, Ore., on March 23, the use the same N95 mask for five days in a struction of new, expensive condos in areas gers to board depending on bus size. Each Burgerville Workers Union at the 92nd row. (New York Post, March 28) being gentrified would continue. bus has blocked off seats to allow social Avenue location walked out for one day. “We’re all at risk if we lack the supplies Construction workers in distancing for passengers and drivers. Their demands were: Two-week sever- we desperately need,” registered nurse Cleveland were being forced to con- Suspending fares allows passengers to ance pay for laid-off workers; $2-an-hour Kelly Cabrera said. “It’s a pandemic. If we tinue working without proper sanitation, use the rear door, except for passengers hazard pay; two weeks paid sick leave for get sick, our community gets sick. We are on jobs where “social distancing” was in wheelchairs. (wvtm13.com, March 23) ill workers; enhanced food prep area san- all people and our patients deserve bet- impossible. The workers, who argued that When over 100 Pittsburgh sanita- itation; and the maintenance of recom- ter.” (New York Post, March 28) their work is in no way essential and they tion workers arrived for their 5 a.m. mended “social distancing” protocols in In a March 17 press release the United should not have to work under unsafe shift on March 25 to find the doors locked, work areas. When management refused Farm Workers union reported: “The conditions, had been told by officials in they panicked and refused to work. They their demands, all union members walked United Farm Workers has sent an open Cleveland’s building trades unions that if had just learned that a coworker had to out, shutting down operations. letter to all agricultural employers and they took a voluntary layoff they could not be quarantined due to the coronavirus. So Two weeks prior, the restaurant chain, organizations urging them to take ‘pro- collect unemployment benefits. they rallied for nearly two hours outside with 40 stores in the Pacific Northwest active steps to ensure the safety of farm On March 23, workers reported to the Bureau of Environmental Services, and North Carolina, laid off 70 percent workers, protect buyers and safeguard work as usual at a construction proj- accusing the department of not alert- of its workers, closing its dining rooms. consumers.’ Those steps include extend- ect in a Cleveland neighborhood under- ing workers to the potential coronavirus Keeping its carry-out food service open, ing ‘state-required sick pay to 40 hours going a second wave of gentrification. exposure and demanding better sanitary the remaining workers were forced to or more,’ removing ‘caps on accruing sick Unwilling to continue working unsafely, protections. work in close proximity to each other. pay,’ ending the 90-day wait period many the union electricians walked off the job, The workers want masks, better gloves, The chain hadn’t responded by March 30. employers require before workers can while union plumbers began a sit-down. an additional pair of boots and hazard On March 20, McDonald’s work- claim sick time and ceasing to ask them Before morning’s end, and after workers pay in case they’re injured on the job. The ers in Los Angeles and San Jose, for letters from doctors when field labor- met with construction company manage- gloves they’re given don’t even protect Calif., walked off to protest the lack of ers use sick leave.” ment and union leadership, the workers their hands; most workers have been buy- soap, gloves and any training to protect Others walking out or threatening won the right to take voluntary layoffs ing surgical gloves since COVID‑19 began. themselves from COVID‑19, as well as walkouts include dockworkers, ship- and collect unemployment. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 25) shortened hours—essentially a pay cut builders and call center workers in Workers said they’re really under- Public workers strike for safety for these low-wage workers. On March various cities. staffed, with two people on trucks when 27, workers walked out at McDonald’s in This is just a harbinger of things to come. Detroit bus drivers refused to drive they’re supposed to have a third helper Durham, N.C., demanding safe work- If Trump thought workers were going to March 17 without safety precautions. during pickups. “All they care about is ing conditions, the right to refuse to work passively adhere to a directive to go back Driver Schetrone Collier summarized the picking up the garbage. They don’t even unsafely, hazard pay for those still work- to work “by Easter,” he gave that up. At the workers’ concerns: “(The CDC) already care about our health.” (Pittsburgh Post- ing and “pandemic pay” for those not rate the pandemic is spreading, it’s doubt- said not more than 10 people in a setting. Gazette, March 25) working. ful if the workers will go back on April 30. I carry 75 people at a time—on a bus yes- On March 20 several dozen sewer terday standing up around me. No hand maintenance workers in Cleveland, Every sector of the working Grevatt, trustee of UAW Local 869, sanitizer, no gloves from the depart- who service 39 communities in Cuyahoga class is resisting! retired last year from FCA after 31 years. ment.” (clickondetroit.com, March 17) County, walked off the job. They raised Nurses at Jacobi Medical Center in Sue Davis is a member of UAW Local Amalgamated Transit Union Local 26 safety concerns about being able to main- the Bronx, N.Y., staged a protest out- 1981, National Writers Union. Betsey backed up the drivers and the work stop- tain safe distance between co-workers side the hospital, demanding protective Piette contributed to this article, as did page won all their demands. With bus and the risk of infection when they go into equipment. Standing six feet apart, they Johnnie Lewis, retired journeyperson fares suspended during the pandemic, people’s homes. held signs reading, “Healthcare before meatcutter, UFCW Local 400. drivers have minimal interaction with Profits,” “Respect Public Healthcare Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org April 5, 2020 SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: Global struggle against COVID‑19 World impact of coronavirus— including peoples’ resistance

By Mirinda Crissman populations in the midst of this pandemic, Janice Okubo, a spokes- As of April 4, the World Health Organization reports person for the Hawai’i Department that thus far there are upwards of 1.05 million confirmed of Health, worries that a “stigma cases of coronavirus and over of 57,000 confirmed deaths, [is] developing against visitors in worldwide. These numbers likely reflect underreporting. Hawai’i.” Although current socioeconomic systems seek to push On March 24 at 8 p.m. Indian the most vulnerable people further into the margins, this Prime Minister Narendra Modi era has seen great solidarity and rejection of capitalist, announced a total lockdown for colonial and imperial responses to the COVID‑19 crises. three weeks to go into effect that People are stepping up to help one another—​to help midnight. Many were unable to ourselves. prepare for the coming weeks due Prisons, even on a good day, are deadly and provide to the timing of the announce- conditions for the swift spread of any disease. Conditions ment and the closing of shops. Family members fight cops after prisoners rebel in Rebibbia prison, Rome, March 9. in Italy, one of the countries hardest hit by the virus, have The country’s roughly 100 million sparked a wave of prison uprisings. Prisoners in Salerno transient migrant workers face increasing food scarcity. to sanctions be authorized for essential medical equipment were the first to rise up in early March, followed by inmates (theatlantic.com, March 25) and supplies. “The populations in these countries are in at Poggioreale in Naples on March 8. Roughly 900 prison- One of Europe’s largest informal migrant camps no way responsible for the policies being targeted by sanc- ers ripped out electrical cables and water pipes, tearing up in Moria, Greece, has 20,000 people living in an area tions, and to varying degrees have already been living in a four entire sections of Poggioreale. (msn.com, March 9) designed to house no more than 3,000 on an island that precarious situation for prolonged periods.” That same day saw uprisings in prisons in Alexandria, has six intensive care beds. Volunteers there are aware This has always been true of the people impacted by Foggia, Frosinone, Modena, Palermo, Pavia and Vercelli. of the conditions ripe for spread of the disease and are mostly U.S.-imposed sanctions in over a third of the By March 9, that spirit had spread and there was unrest working to raise awareness and improve hygiene. They world, not just in the face of a virus that respects no bor- in 22 other prisons, including major facilities such as were able to establish new food lines to prevent people ders. Cruelty has always been the point of sanctions, as Rebibbia in Rome and San Vittore in Milan. At least 6,000 from having to stand in long queues. (theguardian.com, even Bachelet admitted. inmates revolted around Italy, citing abysmal overcrowd- March 21) Despite harsh sanctions, China and Cuba have been ing and unsanitary conditions, and the lack of visits from At Vathy Camp in Samos, the Movement on the Ground, sending doctors, medicine and supplies across the world family and friends to help keep prisoners connected to the a Dutch nongovernmental organization, hung hand san- in the face of this pandemic. They consistently demon- outside world. (Corriere della Sera, March 10) itizer dispensers from trees. Mah-roof Sahffi of Kitrinos strate international solidarity with oppressed people. In Rio de Janeiro, quarantined Brazilians protested Healthcare says 80 percent of her consultations are for far-right President Jair Bolsonaro from their windows respiratory infections, from migrants needing to spend Solidarity not charity! and balconies with their voices and pots and pans. so much time around the fires they use to keep them- While conditions during this pandemic remain dire Bolsonaro had been seen March 15 encouraging and selves warm. Sahffi worries these complications leave the and will continue to worsen, people’s resolve to help one mingling with his supporters despite medical advice to migrants at higher risk for contracting COVID‑19. another survive remains strong. Mutual aid groups pro- stay indoors after being exposed to coronavirus during a French President Emmanuel Macron announced vide for and protect the vulnerable, including the elderly, trip to the United States. (theguardian.com, March 25) school and university closures, cancellations of major incarcerated, undocumented and unhoused. Since taking office in January 2019, Bolsonaro has car- sporting events, curtailing of public transit and closure of As Big Door Brigade, the Seattle-based activist collec- ried out attacks on Indigenous and Afro-Brazilian peo- tourist attractions on March 12. Yet Macron had decided tive, explains, “Mutual aid is when people get together ple, human rights, the arts and the Amazon Rainforest. to go ahead with upcoming March 15 elections while to meet each other’s basic survival needs with a shared The balcony protests are happening even in richer neigh- also limiting public gatherings to less than 100 people. understanding that the systems we live under are not borhoods that voted in favor of Bolsonaro. Many take Yellow Vest protesters defied Macron’s restrictions in going to meet our needs. … Mutual aid projects are a this as a sign of shifting class consciousness. Paris on March 14, marking 70 consecutive Saturdays in form of political participation in which people take Hawai’i saw car convoy protests on March 22. Many the streets. They have had many criticisms of Macron’s responsibility for caring for one another and changing signs demanded that tourists who came to quarantine government, including his push for pension “reform.” political conditions, not just through symbolic acts or on the island fly home. Dozens of tourists brought the (France 24.com, Reuters.com, March 16) putting pressure on their representatives in govern- virus with them, and many more, in panic, bought much United Nations ambassadors from China, Cuba, the ment, but by actually building new social relations that needed supplies. “Hawai’i is no. 1 in the U.S. for most Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, Nicaragua, are more survivable.” (bigdoorbrigade.com, March 16) multigenerational families living under the one roof. Syria and Venezuela banded together in solidarity to urge Mutual aid aims at solidarity, not charity. Charity is We are so vulnerable to rapid spread,” tweeted Khara U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to lift the sanc- the social service delivery strategy in the U.S. where aid Jabola-Carolus on March 16. (Hawai’i News Now) tions imposed on these countries and others. Sanctions from the rich comes in the form of crumbs with strings Hawai’i, like many other tourist-heavy areas, even saw kill those affected and are a detriment to the entire plan- attached. Charity often blames the poor and vulnerable a massive influx of rental properties return to the mar- et’s health. (foreignpolicy.com, March 24) for their conditions, while upholding the systems that ket because of the profits to be made off tourists using On March 24, U.N. High Commissioner for Human put them there in the first place. Airbnb. Rather than focus on the health of its Indigenous Rights, Michelle Bachelet, urged humanitarian exemptions Janelle Walter of Tacoma Mutual Aid Collective explains, “Mutual aid is community. Relying on each other builds trust and capacity. It removes the need for paternalistic approaches to aid, like we see with non- Venezuela needs solidarity profits and other state programs.” Building trust and capacity to solve problems and meet immediate needs are some of the most important social relations we need now more than ever to get ourselves through this moment and prepare us for the coming crises ahead. (mutualaidhub.org) By Michael Otto government on Feb. 13 at the International Criminal Court Some of the most prominent examples of mutual aid in Ibarra, Ecuador in The Hague, Netherlands. The country’s Foreign Minister United States history were introduced by the Black Panther Jorge Arreaza said the action was aimed at Washington’s Party—from​ free breakfast programs to health programs Worldwide demands for an immediate end to the crim- “unilateral coercive measures”—​sanctions—​which he that included acupuncture treatment for drug addictions. inal sanctions and economic blockades that impact Cuba, described as a “crime against humanity” and a “weapon Sex workers have built extensive mutual aid networks and Iran, Venezuela and Syria have gone unheeded, just as of mass destruction.” often contribute directly to those around them. the so-called international community also continues to One year to the day after a series of cyberattacks were Direct, material aid and analysis around shared condi- ignore Gaza during the COVID‑19 crisis. In fact, the U.S. launched against the Venezuelan power grid, a fire in the tions, combined with mass resistance in whatever forms is currently blockading ships carrying food and medicine main storage center of the National Electoral Council on conditions allow, are things that create a movement. This to Venezuela and trucks carrying medicines to Iran. March 7 destroyed 49,000 voting machines. A right-wing moment—and every moment—calls on each of us to Venezuela’s government led by President Nicolás group claimed responsibility for the latest act of terror. look to our neighbors and provide what we can, where Maduro initiated legal proceedings against the U.S. Continued on page 3 we can. ☐ Supplement, Page 2 April 5, 2020 workers.org Kerala mobilizes against pandemic By Joshua Hanks highest life expectancy (77 years) and Kerala has tested more people than any highest Human Development Index score other state in India. Its health authorities The COVID‑19 pandemic has affected (0.712 in 2015). (HDI is a statistical com- use the data from testing to thoroughly almost every region of the world. The speed posite index of education, life expectancy trace the contacts of infected individuals at which it spreads and the relentlessness and per capita income indicators.) and the locations where they have been. of the infection rate make it difficult to con- The resulting data are used to generate tain and dangerous to leave unabated. Kerala: mass movements lead the way maps that are widely distributed on social Some wealthy Western capitalist coun- In Michael Parenti’s book, “Blackshirts media and by a government app to the tries in Europe and North America have and Reds: Rational Fascism and the public, swiftly informing them of places had limited success in containing the virus, Overthrow of Communism,” he wrote: where they were potentially exposed to their hospital systems becoming rapidly “Consider Kerala, a state in India where the the virus. overwhelmed as death tolls mount. actions of popular organizations and mass The Democratic Youth Federation of Yet there are places with less devel- movements have won important victories India, an independent organization that oped economies than the over the last forty years acts as the mass organization for the Western capitalist coun- What Kerala, Cuba, against politico-economic CPI(M)’s youth wing, has begun to produce Flags of the Communist Party of India tries that have nonethe- China, Vietnam oppression, generating hand sanitizer. Some of the 4.5 million (Marxist) by the roadside in India’s Kerala less been able to mitigate a level of social develop- members of the Kudumbashree women’s state. and even contain the virus and the DPRK all ment considerably bet- cooperative are producing masks. The to a much better degree. have in common ter than that found in mass organizations of the CPI(M) have payments for the elderly, higher pay- China, Cuba, Vietnam most of the Third World, directed their energy to cleaning and dis- ments for a rural employment program, and the Democratic is leadership by and accomplished with- infecting public areas, while the Centre and canteens that prepare and distribute People’s Republic of communist and out outside investment. of Indian Trade unions, the largest trade subsidized meals. Payments for utilities Korea have all managed Though Kerala has no union federation in Kerala, has taken on like power and water and interest on debts to bring the virus under workers’ parties special sources of wealth, the work of sanitizing public areas. have been suspended. control through innova- that prioritize it has had decades of The global neoliberal capitalists have tive, swift, highly orga- communist organizing Quarantine centers reduce overcrowding spent decades attacking “big government” nized responses. So has the needs of the and political struggle These mass campaigns not only reduce that prioritizes public well-being over pri- India’s Kerala state, sit- people, including that reached and moved the spread of the virus, they also help edu- vate profits, denouncing countries from uated on the country’s large numbers of people cate the public at large. The government Venezuela to China to Vietnam as “author- southwestern coast. public health. and breathed life into the took over vacant buildings to use as quar- itarian” and lauding militaristic imperial- What Kerala, Cuba, state’s democracy.” antine centers for those who cannot safely ist powers such as the U.S. as paragons of China, Vietnam and the DPRK all have in Kerala has emphasized spending on quarantine at home due to crowded living freedom and “democracy.” common is leadership by communist and health care, with the number of govern- conditions or other issues. Everyone in the The COVID‑19 pandemic is exposing workers’ parties that prioritize the needs ment hospital beds (1.05 per 1,000) being quarantine centers receives free food and which systems are most capable of pro- of the people, including public health. close to twice the national average of .55 treatment, unlike in the U.S. where treat- tecting human lives, especially the lives of Since 1957 Kerala has been led by var- per 1,000. India’s private hospitals are far ment can cost thousands of dollars, thus the most vulnerable. This flies in the face ious leftist movements, including the too expensive for the majority of the pop- discouraging many from seeking testing of the narrative promoted by Western cor- Left Democratic Front since 2016. The ulation and cannot meaningfully contrib- and treatment and therefore exacerbating porate media and governments which cast LDF is a coalition of several communist ute to treating all those suffering from the the spread of the virus. the “free market” as uniquely efficient and and socialist parties centered around the disease, so the burden falls on state-run Kerala’s government has also set up productive: the only mechanism capable of Communist Party of India (Marxist)—​ hospitals. call centers staffed with mental health meeting society’s needs. Massive shortages CPI(M)—with​ over a million members. From 2006 to 2011, Kerala overhauled professionals who field calls from those of essential medical supplies in Western The CPI(M) was formed out of a split its health care system, modernizing and distressed and overwhelmed by the situa- countries seriously undermine capitalism’s from the older Communist Party of India expanding it to meet the needs of its popu- tion. So far they’ve conducted over 23,000 claims to legitimacy. in 1964 due to ideological differences pri- lation. During that same period, Western sessions. States and countries with proactive, marily emanating from the Sino-Soviet countries slashed health care funding as While the response of Prime Minister communist-led governments, despite split, which affected communist parties part of deep austerity measures in the Narendra Modi’s right-wing Hindu being less economically developed than the the world over. The CPI, however, is a wake of the 2008 global recession. nationalist government has been lacklus- Western capitalist powers—​which have member of the governing LDF and works The work done over previous decades ter at best, Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayi enriched themselves through centuries of constructively with the CPI(M) to achieve has prepared Kerala to confront the novel Vijayan, a politburo member of the CPI(M), colonialism and imperialism—​are able to the common aims of socialism. coronavirus pandemic. The government announced a $270 million relief package mobilize the masses to achieve social goals. Over the decades, Kerala’s leftist move- created the slogan “Break the Chain” as that shores up funding for the public health They cultivate social solidarity and a sense ments and governments have trans- part of a mass education campaign that care system. The fund also includes loans of shared interests and responsibilities that formed the state and greatly improved the encourages people to limit infection to families through the Kudumbashree allows them to confront disasters in a way lives of its 35 million people. It has India’s through proper isolation, social distanc- women’s cooperative, free food grains such that capitalist governments, despite their highest literacy rate (93.9 percent), ing, quarantines and sanitizing. as millet or rice, two months of pension massive resources, cannot replicate. ☐ ‘National security,’ Iran and the virus By Deirdre Griswold Pentagon see the deadly virus as an people of the United States. How on “opportunity” to take even more aggres- earth can picking a fight with Iran, and On Feb. 10, Donald Trump sent sive action against countries that have not maybe even going to war with it, serve the Congress a budget request for the coming bowed down to the dictates of the U.S. “national interests” of the people here? fiscal year that included $740.5 billion for imperialist ruling class. “national security.” Some of what they’re debating leaked Sanctions killing Iran This huge amount—​three-quar- out in an article by Mark Mazzetti and This U.S. debate about taking “aggres- Chinese medical workers have traveled ters of a trillion dollars!—​ignored the Eric Schmitt, datelined Washington, in sive new action against Iran” is happening to support Iran during the pandemic. COVID‑19 epidemic that was already the March 28 New York Times: “Some top at a time when “sweeping U.S. sanctions are Grassroots efforts include the Red Cross growing around the globe. officials, including Secretary of State Mike hampering Iranian efforts to import medi- Society of China donating COVID‑19 testing As of April 4, the U.S. has become the Pompeo and Robert C. O’Brien, national cine and other medical supplies to confront kits and other medical supplies to the Red country with the highest number of con- security adviser, have been pushing for one of the largest coronavirus outbreaks in Crescent Society of Iran. firmed cases in the world—​more than aggressive new action against Iran and the world.” (Washington Post, March 29) 310,000, and climbing rapidly. its proxy forces—​and see an opportunity The previously robust health care system in Pompeo and others in the administration So what is the government planning to try to destroy Iranian-backed militia Iran has already been drastically damaged are willing to send these soldiers to their to do with all that money allocated to the groups in Iraq, as leaders in Iran are dis- by many years of U.S. sanctions. deaths in a war over oil and profits. Pentagon and other institutions that sup- tracted by the pandemic crisis in their The Times article adds: “The debate Do these politicians really care about posedly protect us? country.” is happening as top Pentagon officials the health of these military servicepeo- Doesn’t the rapid increase in infected Iran has suffered almost half as many and senior commanders worldwide are ple—​other than begrudging what it people here qualify as a threat to deaths from the coronavirus as the U.S., also expressing growing concerns about would cost to replace them if they get sick “national security”? Instead of lavishing although it has only one-fourth the popula- coronavirus cases expanding rapidly in and die from the virus? huge resources on the military, shouldn’t tion. Yes, Iran must now certainly be “dis- the ranks, potentially threatening the The U.S. ruling class has treated Iran the U.S. be using the money to help peo- tracted” by the need to care for the tens of military’s ability to field combat-ready as an enemy ever since a popular revo- ple here—​and around the world—​com- thousands of Iranians infected. It must be troops.” lution in 1979 liberated its rich oilfields bat the virus? “distracted” by the pressing need to protect Their “concern” is not about the well-be- from control by U.S. and British compa- But that’s not what’s happening. Just the people from more suffering during this ing of the young people in the U.S. who nies. But Iran is not the enemy of workers the opposite. unprecedented global pandemic. have taken what often looks to be their here in the U.S. Our enemy is at home. ☐ Many in the government and the Iran has done nothing to hurt the only ticket out of poverty and joblessness. workers.org April 5, 2020 Supplement, Page 3 Editorial from Zimbabwe praises U.N. call to end sanctions

The Herald, Zimbabwe’s largest newspaper in Zimbabwe’s health emergency prepared- Harare, the capital, published the following editorial ness and response strategies. on March 27 commenting on the COVID‑19 pandemic Guterres aptly sums it: “This is the and sanctions. time for solidarity, not exclusion. … Let us remember that we are only as strong as With the coronavirus pandemic escalating every sec- the weakest health system in our intercon- ond and reaching unprecedented levels globally, it is no nected world.” time to play political games with people’s lives. We commend Guterres for speaking out The big brother mentality on the global political arena against sanctions. will not help us find socioeconomic solutions to the The world right now has very few rev- threats we are witnessing globally. olutionary firebrands of earlier times As Zimbabwe, a country that has paid a heavy price and extraordinary political figures that because of sanctions imposed by Britain, the U.S. and can speak for the downtrodden and the its Western allies, we gladly welcome an appeal which oppressed Global South. And, when influ- was issued this week [March 24] by the United Nations ential figures speak out boldly against (U.N.) Secretary-General António Guterres calling for sanctions, it is encouraging and it gives PHOTO: MONICA MOOREHEAD the lifting of sanctions on the country. the affected countries some hope. African Liberation Day march in Wachington, D.C., May 25, 2019. Guterres is right by urging powerful countries that The continued imposition of sanctions have imposed punitive sanctions on Zimbabwe, Iran, by Britain, the U.S. and its allies is essentially irrespon- And any attempts to prevent countries such as North Korea, Cuba and other countries to lay aside their sible, particularly now when Covid‑19 is killing people at Zimbabwe and Iran to access the assistance will be hate and other destabilizing measures in support of the a rate unseen in over a century. grossly inhuman and uncalled for. bigger battle against Covid‑19, “the common enemy that More than 472,000 people around the world have There is no justification for the continued existence of is now threatening all of humankind.” been diagnosed with Covid‑19, according to data col- sanctions by the U.S., Britain and its Western allies on The removal of the crippling sanctions will no doubt lected by Johns Hopkins University. More than 114,000 Zimbabwe. give the affected countries room to implement measures have recovered, while more than 21,000 people have All that the sanctions have done for the past decade at many touchpoints at very short notice to save lives. died. The figures are soaring every second. or so has been to cause suffering for innocent people. Covid‑19 came as a shock to an unprepared world. It It’s a vicious virus that knows [no] nationality or eth- Sanctions have now come to be abused as a tool to sub- is scary, challenging and demanding. nicity, or other differences between people. It attacks ject weaker nations to the whims of powerful countries. This is not the time to play with people’s lives. everyone and relentlessly—rich​ or poor. We all are seeing the pain and misery brought by Humanity matters regardless of race, creed, class, power, We all know that it is the most vulnerable—women sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Iran, North Korea and political ideology or other socioeconomic considerations. and children, people with disabilities, the marginalized, Cuba. Sanctions have hit Zimbabwe in all sectors hard. Global polarization will not help humanity. Zimbabwe, displaced and refugees—who pay the highest price when They have massively hit our manufacturing, commod- Africa and the world need solidarity more than ever to sanctions are imposed on other weaker countries. ities, agriculture, trade and finance, social services with help support the vulnerable in our midst. It brings untold hardships, devastating losses and the consequences for all aspects of ordinary life. Sanctions are a huge barrier for Zimbabwe and other collapse of the health care delivery system when epidem- Sanctions are counterproductive and will not help sanctions-hit countries to access essential medical sup- ics such as Covid‑19 attack us. solve the pressing problems in Zimbabwe. plies required to fight the pandemic. The U.N. has just launched an appeal for $2 billion in If anything, lifting them will help bring Zimbabwe Our health care system is fragile and the contin- international humanitarian aid to help poorer countries back to the family of nations and put it firmly on the ued existence of sanctions has severe implications on tackle the coronavirus pandemic. path to recovery and growth. ☐ Venezuela needs solidarity now more than ever Continued from page 1 sanctions would fit the definition of collective punish- March 19, Vijay Prashad and Paola Espada expressed ment of the civilian population as described in both the solidarity with Venezuela: “It is important to underline The people of Venezuela have weathered a perfect storm Geneva and Hague international conventions, to which the fact that the IMF made this denial at a time when the of crises since President Barack Obama declared in March the U.S. is a signatory.” coronavirus that causes Covid‑19 had begun to spread 2015 that the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was a The CEPR report was punctuated by a comment in Venezuela.” Noting that the IMF lists the Venezuelan “threat to U.S. national security.” In every scenario and in Associated Press reporter Matthew Lee elicited from U.S. foreign minister on its website, Prashad and Espada every case, the international media blame Maduro’s gov- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a Washington press went on: “The United Nations continues to recognize ernment for the disasters that continually plague the coun- briefing on March 11, 2019, during the week that Venezuela the Venezuelan government. That should be the official try, while ignoring the damage caused by U.S. sanctions. was disabled by the electrical blackout. Pompeo said: “The standard for the IMF to make its determination. But it Like hungry vultures, the mass media are focused circle is tightening, the humanitarian crisis is increasing is not. It is taking dictation from the U.S. government.” on the “frightening prospects” of the weaknesses in by the hour. I talked with our senior person on the ground Prashad and Espada wrote further: “On Monday Venezuela’s health care system and infrastructure as this there in Venezuela last night, at 7:00 or 8:00 last night. [March 16], the chief of the International Monetary Washington Post opinion piece reported on March 19: You can see the increasing pain and suffering.” Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, wrote a blog post on the “Hospitals in the United States and other developed Fund’s website; it represents the kind of generosity countries worry they may not have enough respirators IMF denies loan to fight COVID‑19 necessary in the midst of a global pandemic. ‘The IMF or intensive care beds to cope with the severely ill. But in The New York Times reported on March 17 that the stands ready to mobilize its $1 trillion lending capac- Venezuela, according to one survey, more than 30 per- International Monetary Fund “quickly rejected a sur- ity to help our membership,’ she wrote. The day before cent of hospitals lack power and water, and 80 percent prise request Tuesday by Venezuela for an emergency $5 Georgieva made this public statement, the Venezuelan lack basic supplies or qualified medical staff.” billion loan to fight the new coronavirus, which threat- Foreign Ministry sent a letter to the IMF asking for funds Poor people in the so-called “developed countries” ens to push its already battered economy over the edge. to finance the government’s ‘detection and response sys- are fearful about COVID‑19, while the veiled propagan- An IMF spokesperson said the request can’t be consid- tems’ for its efforts against Covid‑19.” dists in the corporate media conceal the humanitarian ered because there was no clarity among its 189 mem- The two writers explained: “In the letter, President and preventive approach to health care that will enable ber states on who it recognizes as Venezuela’s rightful Nicolás Maduro wrote that his government was ‘taking Venezuela, with the aid of China and Cuba, to serve all leader: Nicolás Maduro or [self-appointed] Juan Guaidó, different preventive measures and following through the people and to battle the pandemic. the U.S.-backed head of congress.” strict and exhaustive controls to protect the Venezuelan The Times quoted the IMF statement: “Unfortunately, people.’ These measures required funding, which is why Sanctions’ deadly impact on Venezuelans the Fund is not in a position to consider this request. As the government was ‘turning to your honorable organi- Various expert reports and articles have analyzed the we have mentioned before, IMF engagement with mem- zation to request its evaluation about the possibility of impact of the U.S. intervention against Venezuela. In ber countries is predicated on official government recog- authorizing Venezuela a financing line of $5 billion from the month following the cyberterror, Mark Weisbrot nition by the international community, as reflected in the the Rapid Financing Instrument emergency fund.’ and Jeffrey Sachs of the Center for Economic and Policy IMF’s membership. … There is no clarity on recognition Research (CEPR) published their report in April 2019, at this time.” Argentinian Marxist shows outrage which was titled “Economic sanctions as collective pun- In an official statement on March 18, Foreign Minister From Argentina, political analyst Atilio Boron expressed ishment: the case of Venezuela.” Arreaza commented: “$5 billion is equivalent to the money outrage in Resumen Latinoamericano on March 20: “The The CEPR report said: “The sanctions reduced the blocked by the U.S., U.K., Portugal and elsewhere for two famous ‘international community’ mentioned in order to public’s caloric intake, increased disease and mortality years. With that money, our health and food systems could harass Venezuela for the likes of Trump, Piñera, Duque, (for both adults and infants), and displaced millions of have been strengthened.” (tinyurl.com/rwzm3wo) Lenin Moreno and others of their ilk is a crude fiction like Venezuelans who fled the country as a result of the wors- Juan Guaidó, which does not even number 50 countries.” ening economic depression and hyperinflation. They Concrete solidarity with Venezuela He said the IMF rejection of Venezuela’s request “plunges exacerbated Venezuela’s economic crisis and made it Socialist Cuba, the nation whose name is synonymous it into the sewers of history.” (tinyurl.com/upyv5nb) nearly impossible to stabilize the economy, contribut- with international solidarity, received travelers with COVID‑19 will pass into history with all the other great ing further to excess deaths. All of these impacts dispro- COVID‑19 from the cruise ship Braemar and sent a med- plagues that the world has endured. To honor its victims, portionately harmed the poorest and most vulnerable ical team that included Dr. Luis Herrara, the scientist its survivors in the working class must respond to the Venezuelans.” who developed Interferon Alpha-2B, to aid the people crisis by mobilizing against the greatest threat to life on The report continued: “We find that the sanctions of Venezuela at the onset of COVID‑19. earth that humanity has ever confronted: the global sys- have inflicted, and increasingly inflict, very serious Thanks to China, Venezuela has 4 million test kits and tem of capitalism. harm to human life and health, including an estimate millions of doses of Cuban medicines to combat COVID‑19. In this time of crisis we must act in solidarity with of over 40,000 deaths from 2017–2018; and that these In a passionate article published in the Asia Times on Venezuela! ☐ Supplement, Page 4 April 5, 2020 workers.org China’s socialist planning and COVID‑19 By Sara Flounders Medical care exists for profit. Free or inexpensive test kits and medical supplies threaten the capitalist drive to The global COVID‑19 viral pandemic has exposed in profit out of every human transaction. Pharmaceutical, the sharpest light the contradiction between a globalized medical and insurance companies are the most profitable world economy and a still existing but archaic capitalist corporations in the U.S. today. Along with oil and so-called system based on the private expropriation of wealth and defense corporations, they dominate finance capital. resources. During the crucial two months when these vital sup- The relentless drive to reap a profit from every type of plies could have been quickly ordered or manufactured human interaction now stands exposed as the greatest and stockpiled, there was not yet a strong enough profit danger to the people of the whole planet. incentive to produce them. Medical facilities in the U.S. At the same time, China is sending enormous amounts operate on a lean ship-to-order basis. of assistance to countries desperate for medical and per- The unplanned and competitive nature of capitalist sonal protective equipment. These massive solidarity PHOTO: CHINA DAILY production distorts all social interaction. Wild specula- shipments demonstrate the superiority of China’s basic Some 130 tons of protected gear donated by China, tion and bubbles of quick profit are the norm. socialist planning. unloaded in Austria, bound for Italy. As the crisis became obvious to millions, anything China is sending by air, rail and sea needed medi- assumed to be in possible short supply was immediately cal equipment to 89 countries around the world. This $2 billion a day or $80 million an hour. hoarded for speculation. This has led to life-threatening includes test kits, face masks, protective clothing, gog- While offering no real assistance to any country, U.S. shortages of hand sanitizers, face masks, essential foods gles, forehead thermometers and ventilators. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blasted China and the and even toilet paper. Chinese medical workers and planeloads of essential countries that accept China’s aid, claiming: “The Chinese Who will pay and who will profit is the fundamen- supplies have already been sent to 28 countries in Asia, Communist Party poses a substantial threat to our health tal question in all capitalist relations. What is most 26 in Africa, 16 in Europe, 10 in the South Pacific and and way of life, as the ‘Wuhan virus’ clearly has demon- needed—​to fulfill people’s needs—​is not part of the nine in the Americas. This assistance is China’s most strated.” (Los Angeles Times, March 29) The Trump calculation. intensive and wide-ranging emergency humanitarian administration has also used the hardships of this global As early as January, the Trump administration’s own operation since the founding of the People’s Republic in crisis to tighten sanctions and increase threats on Iran medical experts identified a probable shortage of ventila- 1949. (China Daily, March 26) and Venezuela. tors as a critical problem. Yet “both the White House and the Federal Emergency Management Agency struggled 22 airlifts of medical supplies from China China’s ‘Health Silk Road’ to define what was needed, who would pay for it and how By contrast the United States, still the largest and The coronavirus is arriving in many countries that to solve the problem of supply chains.” (“Alliance with richest economy in the world, is overwhelmed by a com- have already suffered humanitarian crises caused by industry does Trump no good in quest for ventilators,” plete lack of planning and even the capacity to mobi- U.S. wars and sanctions, as well as natural disasters and New York Times, March 20) lize the population for their own survival. Reported climate change. So China is setting Knowing that nothing was actually COVID‑19 deaths in the U.S. now exceed those in China, up what it calls a Health Silk Road. happening to solve any of these prob- even though China has almost four times the popula- Skilled Chinese medical teams have The global COVID‑19 lems, Trump continued to make assur- tion and was the first country hit with this new disease. begun arriving in a growing number viral pandemic ances: “We are going to have plenty.” (worldometers.info/coronavirus, April 2) of countries, including Iran, Iraq, Many media reports have con- U.S. for-profit health corporations and government Italy, Serbia, Venezuela, Pakistan and has exposed in the firmed that the lack of testing kits agencies at every level are now turning to China to order Cambodia. sharpest light the arose from the manufacturers’ insis- essential supplies. This follows two months of racist rid- On March 11, as the COVID‑19 virus tence on exclusive contracts with icule, political attacks and rejecting offers of assistance abated in China, immediate assistance contradiction between guaranteed profits. Follow-through from both China and the World Health Organization. was also promised to countries in a globalized world and distribution plans were also Totally frustrated with the inability of any arm of the Africa. Equipment alone cannot over- totally lacking. Even how to keep a U.S. government to solve these essential supply prob- come the health crises in countries economy and a still count of test results was not worked lems, governors, mayors, charitable organizations, lacking a national health care sys- existing but archaic out in advance. nonprofit and sister-city groups, and major health com- tem. However, the 20,000 test kits, No planning for the population’s plexes have each started making their own trade deals 100,000 masks, 1,000 protective suits capitalist system needs, along with chaotic planning with Chinese corporations to get emergency shipments to be delivered to each African country based on the private for what is profitable, has created of supplies. will have a big impact. a crisis in every hospital in the U.S. The Federal Emergency Management Agency stepped On March 22, a Chinese medical expropriation of Private and public hospitals, compet- in and ordered 22 airlifts of supplies from China—​but team arrived in Serbia with its first wealth and resources. ing city, state and federal agencies, set up their distribution through profit-taking private shipment of 16 tons. The European local and national charities are now sector networks. On March 29, a commercial aircraft car- Union had denied any assistance to in bidding wars for existing supplies. rying 80 tons of medical supplies arrived in New York Serbia, citing U.S.-imposed sanctions. from China. It delivered 130,000 N95 masks, 1.8 million On March 27, 130 tons of protective gear from China Socialist planning is the answer face masks and gowns, 10 million gloves and thousands bound for Italy were unloaded in Vienna. How was China able to control the virus? How is it of thermometers for distribution in New York, New The China-Europe Express, a train line opened more now able to begin providing massive assistance to other Jersey and Connecticut. Similar flights to Chicago and than a decade ago, links 48 Chinese cities with Europe. countries on a global scale? Cleveland were planned for the next two days. (New York On March 28 the first freight train to leave China after two Clearly, socialist planning and large-scale collective Times, March 29) months of lockdown departed from Wuhan. Its 19 cars ownership of major industries, including the medical New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the state, which is were loaded with locally manufactured medical supplies. industry, have been decisive. now the epicenter for the coronavirus, is in urgent need Wuhan had been China’s hardest-hit city by the Even in small developing countries, socialist planning of 40,000 ventilators. Unfortunately, ventilators were COVID‑19 virus. Now it has a great deal of expertise and frees up the economy to meet domestic need and even unavailable. European corporations had already bought newly manufactured medical equipment to offer the world. make major contributions to other countries trapped by up the entire inventory of the largest Chinese ventilator Reuters reports that a shipment of a million masks and U.S. economic domination and archaic social relations. producer. gloves from China arrived in France on March 22. Look at Cuba. A country of only 11 million people, it sends more doctors to developing countries than does European Union also overwhelmed China develops diagnostic and treatment plans the World Health Organization. Cuba has also devel- The coronavirus has overwhelmed not only the United China’s National Health Commission has compiled oped and freely shared with the world a medication that States, the center of international finance capital. Other an invaluable set of diagnostic and treatment plans. It aids in treating those who test positive for COVID‑19: highly developed imperialist countries, including Italy, is sharing them, as well as other technical documents, Interferon Alfa-2B. Spain, Germany, France and Britain, are staggering with 180 countries and more than 10 international and Up to now the U.S. government has not only barred the under its impact. regional organizations. use of medications from Cuba, it has actually threatened They were also unable to respond effectively. In order The commission has also conducted in-depth exchanges countries that accept them. But as the death toll mounts in to revive their capitalist corporations and banks after the with the international community, holding about 30 video the U.S., demands for treatments and medical equipment 2008 global capitalist crash, the European Union had conferences on technical issues regarding the coronavirus may force changes in seemingly set-in-stone policies. imposed years of austerity and cutbacks in social pro- with more than 100 countries and regions. China has struggled to overcome past underdevelop- grams on member countries. after the 2008 global cap- One such video conference with the World Health ment by balancing different forms of central planning, italist crash. Now the EU is refusing to share assistance, Organization, held on March 12, shared China’s experi- local collective ownership, capitalist incentives and even with its member countries. ences with representatives from 77 countries and seven shared ownership with Western corporations and banks. None of these imperialist countries is offering any- international organizations. It was viewed online by At the same time, the Communist Party has maintained thing to the rest of the world as this extreme medical more than 100,000 people. broad political and economic control. It has guided crisis spreads to over 190 countries. national development plans and controlled what impe- Profit system creates disaster rialist corporations can and cannot do in China. Less than an hour of Pentagon spending In this global economy, why have offers of essential China is still a developing country emerging from With great fanfare, the U.S. government pledged testing equipment and medical supplies from China, and 200 years of colonial looting and underdevelopment. $62 million from the U.S. Agency for International even from the World Health Organization, been rejected But it has maintained steady development since its 1949 Development to address the pandemic. This is less than by the Trump administration? Communist revolution overturned archaic property what the Pentagon spends in an hour. The enormous It’s not only because of growing U.S. hostility to relations and imperialist domination. That revolution $746 billion Pentagon budget—much​ of which is a sub- China’s stunning level of development. Nor is it driven 70 years ago has made all the difference in this global sidy to oil and military corporations—consumes​ roughly only by right-wing ideologues. pandemic. ☐ workers.org April 2, 2020 Page 7 Solidarity with low-wage worker fightback By Steve Gillis Sanders movement. The thousands of rights! While our bosses and the rac- multinational, multi-age, multigender ist, fascist-minded, warmongering Tens of millions of workers in the drivers have seen their gig pay hammered Wall Street-pandering Trump gov- U.S.—over​ 90 percent in the private sec- in recent months while Wall Street lav- ernment are willing to spend $1 tril- tor—​ have no union. Under current anti- ished billions on app owners during lion per day to try to stave off total worker laws, our siblings who drive for initial public offerings of stock. These collapse of their international bank- Uber/Lyft aren’t even considered work- owners can and do “deactivate” drivers ing system, they don’t have squat to ers and are ineligible for meager unem- at whim, silencing dissent at the click of a offer the workers. ployment insurance payments. Drivers “terminate” icon. They are in embarrassing, criminally usual ruling-class script and aim straight and other gig workers are being told that Legally considered “independent con- negligent disarray and disunity and are for workers’ power over our own health some small fraction of them might be eli- tractors” who must pay for their own health scrambling, unable to stop the inevitable and economic well-being. gible for a token check sometime at the insurance, employer Social Security taxes, momentum of the collapse of their global The lessons taught by one of U.S. his- end of April—which​ wouldn’t cover half vehicles, maintenance, insurance, gas capitalist system of anarchic overpro- tory’s greatest labor leaders, Frederick a month’s rent for a one-bedroom apart- and tolls, etc., gig drivers loved the social- duction for profit and shortages of vital Douglass, for workers of chattel and ment in Boston. ist-identified Sanders movement demands human needs. wage-slavery conditions alike, are as In Massachusetts, Local 8751 has for Medicare for All, gig worker and union With the simultaneous emergency urgent today as in 1857: “Power concedes joined Uber and Lyft drivers organizing rights, and freedom from crushing student, health and economic crises constantly nothing without a demand. It never did as @DriveBIDG (the Boston Independent medical and consumer debt. They enthu- changing the landscape of the class strug- and it never will. Find out just what any Drivers’ Guild), @RideshareDriversUnite siastically packed Sanders rallies, cheering gle here in the belly of the beast and inter- people will quietly submit to and you have and @RidersDriversUnited to demand calls for a “revolution.” nationally, bold worker-based demands found out the exact measure of injustice gig drivers be recognized as workers, with Drivers are thoroughly discussing the today, backed by planned, creative, cou- and wrong which will be imposed upon rights to guaranteed pay from their bil- attempted crushing of their movement by rageous and militant actions tomorrow, them, and these will continue till they are lionaire app employers and survival ben- the Democratic and Republican parties and are already changing the balance of power resisted with either words or blows, or efits from local governments. their paid-for media. Drivers have decided in the workplace and in the street. with both. The limits of tyrants are pre- Drivers are discussing creative rolling it’s a good time to continue to fight. Our bosses, their governments and scribed by the endurance of those whom actions and have launched the petition, police agencies will try to take advantage they oppress.” “Massachusetts: Demand Coronavirus ‘Power concedes nothing of the crises to continue their relentless Relief for Uber and Lyft Drivers!” at without a demand’ drive to smash our unions and the mod- Gillis is the financial secretary of tinyurl.com/sjtqdnk. Now is the time to raise demands for est gains that generations have won. United Steelworkers Local 8751, the BIDG became a leading voice in the workers’ needs, health, sustenance and Conditions now inspire us to flip the Boston School Bus Drivers Union. Gilead Sciences eyes COVID‑19 cash cow By Betsey Piette treatments get FDA approval. In 2018, role in securing its “orphan” status. it could charge even more for Harvoni. the average price of developing an orphan In 2013, Gilead won FDA approval for a Research and development costs were As jobs are lost during the COVID‑19 drug was $98,000, compared to $5,000 new antiviral drug, Sovaldi, with a 90 per- not a factor. crisis, an overwhelming majority of work- for drugs without the designation. cent cure rate for hepatitis C, after acquir- Gilead’s price speculation resulted in ers and oppressed people in the U.S. have The number of COVID‑19 cases world- ing the drug by taking over its developer, heavy burdens for Medicare, Medicaid been worrying about paying bills and wide today is approaching 1 million. Pharmasset. Then Gilead raised the and the Bureau of Prisons, which were feeding their families. At the same time, While other companies are developing price to $1,000 per pill or $84,000 for a all limited by federal law in negotiating a major U.S. pharmaceutical company is generic forms of remdesivir, the orphan- 12-week course. Few could afford it. for lower drug costs. The result severely poised to turn this suffering into a cash drug status would give Gilead sole access Shortly after procuring Sovaldi, Gilead restricted access to the drugs for hep-C cow to boost corporate profits. to U.S. markets, and patients would be introduced its successor, Harvoni, at patients, whose lives depended on the On March 23, using the 1983 prohibited from buying lower-priced $94,500 per treatment course. In some new treatment. Orphan Drug Act, the Food and Drug generics. countries, generic versions of these drugs The study determined that even though Administration promised pharmaceutical Granting special status to Gilead cost less than $1,000 for an entire course Gilead knew its exorbitant prices would giant Gilead Sciences marketing rights for may have been in reaction to the of treatment. In the 21 months after intro- deny treatment to millions and create seven years for its antiviral drug remde- March 13 announcement that Cuba’s ducing the drugs, Gilead’s U.S. sales reve- serious financial burdens for Medicare sivir, seen as a possible treatment for the BioCubaFarma Business Group’s anti- nues soared to over $20 billion. and Medicaid, the company still went coronavirus. viral recombinant Interferon Alfa 2-B In December 2015, an 18-month fed- ahead. While shedding light on Gilead’s In using the rare orphan-drug status, (IFNrec) has been successfully used in eral investigation of Gilead concluded greed, the federal investigation offered no the FDA granted this $22.5 billion cor- China to cope with COVID‑19 in its early that Gilead had set the price of Sovaldi concrete action to stop it. ☐ poration exclusive rights to profit from stages. (tinyurl.com/ur4sa4n) IFNrec as high as the market would bear, so that remdesivir production, while enjoying tax was developed 40 years ago to treat AIDS. credits for research and development costs. Remdesivir had already received $79 mil- Price-gouging history lion in U.S. government funding related to Under intense public pressure, Gilead the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Africa. backed down. On March 25, the com- Hours before the announcement, pany announced it would ask the FDA Gilead told the New York Times that to rescind the orphan-drug designation. “overwhelming demand” left it unable to But it can still raise the price and exclude fulfill requests for emergency access to people from this much-needed medicine. remdesivir. After the FDA designation, Given Gilead’s history of over-pricing Gilead’s stock price immediately shot up. specialty drugs developed with govern- The orphan-drug designation was ment funds, it remains to be seen if this meant to spur drug companies to develop special status waiver will hold. There is treatments for rare illnesses—​those also a question whether Joe Grogan, a that impact less than 200,000 people. former Gilead lobbyist now serving on Fewer than 10 percent of rare-disease Trump’s coronavirus task force, had a

NYC public sector workers fight back

Continued from page 4 others are killed doing their job of collect- when he was assassinated. workers. It took almost 50 years for their ing garbage, clearing and plowing snow, Earlier, two African-American sani- families to receive their pension benefits. illegal all strikes by public sector workers. and making our communities cleaner and tation workers, Echol Cole and Robert During the two years after the New In New York, when sanitation workers healthier. Walker, had been crushed to death in one York City and Memphis strikes, sanita- were ordered earlier this month to service In 1968, two days after a New York of the city’s outdated trucks. Memphis had tion workers in Baltimore, Washington, a quarantined yeshiva where students had sanitation workers’ strike ended, the no facilities for Black workers to wash up, Charlotte, Atlanta, Miami and Corpus tested positive for the coronavirus, they predominantly African-American sani- change clothes or get out of the rain. Cole Christi all went out on strike. refused, even after being offered masks. tation workers in Memphis, Tenn., also and Walker had been sheltering from the Labor needs to employ Frederick Sanitation workers have a rich history walked out. The union on the ground was rain inside the truck’s barrel when its com- Douglass’ great rallying cry, “If there is of fighting for their safety. Their work AFSCME Local 1733. This was the famous pacting mechanism malfunctioned. The no struggle, there is no progress,” and is among the most dangerous of occu- “I Am a Man” strike, which the Rev. Dr. truck hadn’t been repaired because the city stop the bosses from using this pandemic pations. Many become disabled for life, Martin Luther King Jr. was supporting wouldn’t spend money on safety for these to avoid accountability for our safety. ☐ Page 8 April 2, 2020 workers.org

WW Commentary March 21: A significant date in working-class history By Jason Cohen men to fire upon peaceful civilians since on strike, and thou- for national liberation orig- he had worked with the brutal dictator, sands of people mobi- inated in the 1880s when March 21 is a profound day in the his- Anastasio Somoza, in Nicaragua. lized throughout the the Germans declared tory of workers’ struggles against colo- Knowing this, it is no surprise that any country, causing great “South West Africa” a pro- nialism and imperialism. On that day, demonstration by Puerto Rican national- alarm and enormous tectorate. As Drechsler, two major acts of brutality were commit- ists would be dealt with by force. To make economic damage to famed historian from ted against the working class: One was in matters worse, after the Ponce Massacre, the capitalist class. The the German Democratic Puerto Rico in 1937, and is known as the not one member of the police force regime in power called Republic, wrote in his stun- Ponce Massacre. The other attack, notori- faced punishment. In fact, Gov. Winship a “state of emergency” ning account cited above, ously known as the Sharpeville Massacre, remained in office for another two years on March 30 and began the creation of the German occurred in 1960 in South Africa. before the capitalists believed he was too arresting everyone colony during the period These two events were profound in much of a liability to keep in office. whom they considered from 1884-1903 ultimately many ways, which will be discussed in An outcome of the Ponce Massacre an anti-apartheid activist. State officials led to the dispossession of cattle and land this article. But the main point, on the was that an unsuccessful assassina- outlawed the Pan-Africanist Congress from the two dominant Indigenous groups: one hand, is that both massacres raised tion attempt was made against Winship and the African National Congress. the Nama and Herero peoples. the political consciousness of the masses in 1938. More importantly, the eyes of This horrific event opened up a new It was this economic dispossession in Puerto Rico and South Africa, which Puerto Ricans were opened through- era of struggle that eventually led to which united these two groups and began had wide-ranging effects on the struggles out the island. This was the most bla- the downfall of the apartheid state, as the first concentrated anticolonial revolts for liberation. tant example of state terrorism until the PAC created the Azanian People’s against the German colonialists. From On the other hand, this day is also nota- then. Instead of being dissuaded, the fire Liberation Army (POQO) and the ANC 1904 until 1907, the Germans orches- ble because on March 21, 1990, Namibia within the collective soul of Puerto Ricans created Umkhonto we Sizwe. Both were trated a holocaust to exterminate the was recognized as an independent nation burned brighter than ever. This fire con- military wings of their respective par- Indigenous Nama and Herero peoples, by the international community. That tinues to burn today, and will never be ties, which conducted guerilla warfare intending to fully stop any plans about or was the date of the victory of the libera- dampened. against the racist government. In the attempts to overthrow their colonial rule. tion struggle that had fought against the From Ponce to Jayuya to Vieques, the aftermath of both the Ponce Massacre But the will of the Namibian people white supremacist neocolonial regime in capitalists have mowed us down, but our and the Sharpeville Massacre—​in the never broke! They continued the struggle Namibia. After decades of fighting the resolve is absolute! face of brutal repression—the​ resolve of against racism and capitalism. And, in apartheid regime, the masses, led by the the working class was, and continues to 1990, the historical struggle for national vanguard party, the South West Africa White supremacist murders be, absolute until they realize their goal sovereignty was realized. People’s Organization (SWAPO), liber- in Sharpeville of liberation. In the struggle for Namibian libera- ated their nation. This same resolve could be seen among tion, one cannot ignore one of the most the powerful masses of occupied South Namibia breaks the yoke of colonialism important examples of proletarian inter- U.S. imperialist terror in Ponce Africa. In the face of a brutal white suprem- When describing the enemy of the nationalism. Alongside the SWAPO gue- The Ponce Massacre claimed the lives acist regime, thousands of African people Namibian people, Sam Nujoma, the rillas were soldiers and military advisers of 19 civilians and injured over 200 in congregated in front of the police station leader of SWAPO, wrote: “The social from the socialist Republic of Cuba. the violent foray. The massacre occurred in Sharpeville on March 21, 1960. This order which the Namibian people are Unlike the U.S. Army, which is only sent as the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party demonstration was organized in opposi- fighting to overthrow is a product of a to nations in the Global South to bring held a peaceful march in Ponce to cel- tion to the passage of draconian “pass laws” century of brutal colonial oppression and death, destruction and profits to their ebrate the anniversary of the abolition that required African people to obtain an exploitation.” (Preface to book, “Let Us capitalist overlords, the Cuban Army of slavery in Puerto Rico and to protest “internal passport” to travel from place Die Fighting” by Horst Drechsler, 1966) fought against the racists because they the unlawful detention of their heroic to place in their own homeland. This law On March 21, 1990, the people of knew that if their brothers and sisters in leader Pedro Albizu Campos. Then Gov. was just one of many that created a de jure Namibia declared complete victory and Namibia were not free, then no member Blanton Winship, a stooge who was hand- apartheid system not unlike that in the U.S. broke the yoke of apartheid. Their struggle of the working class was free. picked by the U.S. government, ordered South during the Jim Crow Era. Therefore, we must realize two things: police to open fire on the marchers and Not surprisingly, the white suprem- One is that the will of the multinational bystanders. acist regime ordered the police to open working class will inevitably lead to lib- Winship fought in the Spanish- fire on the peaceful protesters, resulting eration from capitalism as Karl Marx and American War, which in 69 deaths and hun- Frederick Engels noted in their timeless resulted in the trans- dreds of injuries. This book “The Communist Manifesto,” writ- fer of colonies, includ- brutal repression took ten in 1848. Referring to the working ing Puerto Rico, from the lives of women, men class, they wrote, “What the bourgeoisie Spain to the U.S. Where and at least 10 children. therefore produces, above all, are its own there is one stooge, oth- As people began to run grave-diggers.” The second is that inter- ers follow. One such for their lives, the police national solidarity is a necessity, espe- example was Francis continued to fire at them, cially for revolutionaries residing in the Riggs, a member of hitting many in the back, U.S., the belly of the imperialist beast. Winship’s administra- causing some to be per- One may wonder why this article is tion. Riggs was chief of manently paralyzed. composed of these three seemingly differ- police when the Ponce This massacre ent events which occurred decades apart. Massacre was perpe- released a wave of righ- The reason is that each one was a notch in trated. It’s no surprise teous rage across South the history of the working-class struggle. that Riggs ordered his Africa. Workers went Continued on page 9 Prisoners, workers vs. pandemic profiteers By Jim McMahan This is the 20th hunger strike for justice, with those in other state and federal pris- grown to a near mutinous pitch,” according Seattle and maybe the largest, to take place in the ons, are standing up against any “final to the March 23 Seattle Times. Tacoma prison in recent years. The pris- solution” in these concentration camps. The Boeing shutdown is for two weeks, Worker actions and organizing to save oners contacted La Resistencia, which is Even the U.S. Department of Homeland but could be longer. The workers are to lives during the coronavirus pandemic holding motorcade support actions for Security has described detention centers receive two weeks pay. have run into conflict with the capitalists’ them on March 30 and 31. like the NWDC as “tinderboxes” where Machinists at Boeing had been com- efforts to make all the profits they can The prisoners said in a press release: a spark can set off a terrible and rapid plaining for some time about the lack of during this crisis. “We want to be released because, in here, spread of disease among those detained. cleaning and sanitizing in the plants. A More than 300 imprisoned im/ there’s no protection from the virus. We South Everett worker said, “I have not migrants have joined a mass hunger are on a hunger strike because we know Boeing workers force seen a single employee clean inside of an strike in Tacoma, Wash., protesting a it’s not true that we will receive medical company shutdown airplane, where the majority of employ- coronavirus epidemic that is spreading care in the NWDC.” Boeing finally shut down all its ees spend their day working in confined within the Northwest Detention Center The strike is indefinite, with plans to Washington state plants after a Machinists spaces in groups of up to eight people.” (NWDC). The prison is run for profit by continue until the following demands are union (IAMAW) shop steward died from Boeing is slated to receive a multi-bil- the GEO Group under Immigration and met: 1) Provide humanitarian visas for COVID‑19 on March 22. The South Everett lion dollar chunk of the $2.2 trillion bail- Customs Enforcement control. those inside. 2) Reunite those inside with plant where the shop steward worked out plan just passed by Congress. As a La Resistencia, a local prisoner soli- their families. 3) Stop all deportation and had most of the 25 coronavirus cases at “national security” contractor, Boeing is darity organization, reports that detain- immigration proceedings until the pan- Boeing’s local facilities. The South Everett resistant to shutdowns and favored by ees are now striking in six other detention demic has concluded. plant, with 36,000 workers, was not shut Wall Street, but it can be forced to bend prisons in Georgia, Florida and Louisiana. Prisoners in detention centers, along down until “anger at management had under working-class pressure. ☐ workers.org April 2, 2020 Page 9

WW Commentary Mass organizing to win revolutionary socialism By Makasi Motema right-wing opportunism. the Bolsheviks who used forgiveness.” (tinyurl. The current farcical election pro- workers’ councils to drive com/ssxk3vg) Revolutionary change is coming. As the cess is all the evidence we need to sup- the radicalization of the This is the power of a ravenous capitalist class continues their port our analysis of the state. Bernie Russian proletariat in a highly organized mass ruthless plundering of labor value from Sanders, the democratic-socialist (who largely peasant-popu- base. But this power can working people, societal contradictions sounds so eerily like a social-democrat), lated country. In facto- only be achieved if the race toward a breaking point. in his attempt to secure modest- though- ries all over Petrograd, long-term work of deep The younger generation in particular life-saving reforms to our health care workers organized into organizing is the funda- is being driven into intolerable economic industry, has triggered an all-out effort political bodies to debate mental objective. This insecurity. People of color, always a target on the part of the Democratic National and determine their political and eco- type of base building is difficult and time of ruling class oppression, are increasingly Committee to stop his nomination. The nomic fate. This went beyond unioniz- consuming, but there is no other path to terrorized and brutalized by law enforce- Wall Street paymasters who deliver the ing. Workers’ councils, even without the socialist revolution. To turn away from ment at the border and in the inner cit- DNC’s marching orders have demanded sanction of the bourgeois government, building a mass base is to concede victory ies. Those who have struggled against that the party rally around a more pliant decided matters of life and death, war to the ruling class. gender violence, including trans violence, servant of the ruling class. and peace. They were a government and Building our base have endured a withering backlash from Socialism can never be achieved a state unto themselves—a​ workers’ state reactionaries waging legal battles against through a political process which is that fought for the interests of their class. The project of building a mass polit- bodily autonomy in the courts. funded and controlled by the capitalist This pattern held through the revolu- ical base in the U.S., where none cur- But all oppression breeds resistance. ruling class. To imagine any outcome tions in China, Vietnam, Korea, Cuba and rently exists, is daunting. But given the Over the last decade, political mobiliza- but the resounding defeat of the working many other nations. The political bod- need and the rapidly accelerating class tions have surged in a way not seen in gen- contradictions, the creation of such a erations. The working class is determined mass movement is more likely than not. to fight. Nothing less than the fate of the If Marxist-Leninists do not dive into this biosphere hangs in the balance of our cur- process, then our politics will not be rep- rent class struggle. The oppressed masses resented. Our unique perspective—​on of this country and the world have made the importance of anti-imperialism, the clear that should defeat be their fate, they importance of connecting and supporting will not endure it quietly. Ours is a fight for every struggle, the importance of interna- survival, and we shall not back down. tional solidarity—​is vital in combating Given the pivotal nature of the cur- the liberal strains in the left which seek rent period, what is the role of a Marxist- to divide the working class or promote a Leninist party? Has the time finally come national chauvinist vision of socialism. for a political vanguard to step forward In order to challenge the capitalist and lead the masses into struggle against class, we must unite workers in the most our capitalist masters? If the time is not vital economic sectors with those work- now, then when? ers who are most oppressed. We must do For a communist party, correctly diag- Makasi Motema speaks at a New York City rally against WW PHOTO: BRENDA RYAN this both to threaten the functioning of nosing the current political conditions and pro-fascist coup in Bolivia, Nov. 16, 2019. the capitalist economy and to show soli- the changing character of those conditions darity with the workers who are often the is of the utmost importance. The political class in such a tightly controlled process ies of the oppressed masses expanded to most radicalized. consciousness of the masses has acceler- is to engage in an exercise in self-delu- include peasant farmers, students and any In their eagerness to exploit as many ated dramatically in the past ten years, and sion. The management of our society by other group exploited by capitalism. But people as possible, the capitalists have such an acceleration calls for an equally the ruling class, which capitalists mock- the central principle—​of the oppressed given us an abundance of workers to unite dramatic adaptation in strategy. ingly call a “democracy,” is nothing more classes taking it upon themselves to build with. Workers in shipping and transpor- From the fall of the Soviet Union in and nothing less than a means of legit- a state of and for the oppressed—remained​ tation must be organized so that any gen- 1991, to the start of the Occupy movement imizing the dictatorship of the wealthy. unchanged. eral strike we launch will have teeth. To in 2011, socialism in all its various incar- We need not help the ruling class gild Even today, as a right-wing coup d’etat reach the bulk of workers, we must orga- nations was in decline. The expansion of their bloody crown. washes over Bolivia, there is massive resis- nize in the health care, education, retail, communist parties and the political orga- Our energy is better spent elsewhere. tance from the predominantly Indigenous restaurant and manufacturing sectors. nization of the masses were stifled by a The road to socialism lies through the supporters of the Movement Toward To target the largest sector of the econ- Western anticommunist consensus. The masses. It is only through the organization Socialism (MAS). How is it that impover- omy, real estate development, tenants neoliberal elite gloated that we had reached of the masses into a political base that a ished people can survive against the with- must be organized. And to reach the most “the end of history,” insinuating in Marxist socialist revolution can be won. This orga- ering and brutal violence of a racist coup oppressed, we must organize gig workers, terms that the class struggle had finally nizational process requires a vanguard regime? It is a direct result of the political migrant workers and sex workers. come to an end—with​ capitalists the victor. party to set it in motion and maintain its organization of the masses. Evo Morales Uniting the working class will not be Those communist and left-wing orga- momentum. and the MAS party have built a solid polit- easy. But when faced with a seemingly nizations of the period that were prudent The development of the masses into ical base. In the Chapare region of Bolivia, insurmountable obstacle, the revolution- understood the importance of survival. In a well-structured political body which every neighborhood is organized into a ary always steps forward, never back- such a hostile political environment, what increases in power until it is strong enough union that is part of a larger network build- ward. Our knees may buckle under the was of utmost importance was maintain- to challenge the capitalist state is the engine ing up to the regional level. heavy burden of our struggle, but this is ing ideological integrity and continuing a which has driven every successful socialist These unions plan infrastructure proj- a burden we may not shrug off. We must tradition of principled political agitation. revolution. It is how Lenin defined “dual ects, resolve land disputes and develop press on. Revolutionary determination To take the offensive when you are weak power”—​two competing power struc- political strategy. And when the coup will give us strength and our love of the and your opponent is strong is to court tures—​one controlled by the capitalists, swept through Bolivia, it was the neigh- people will set our direction. The chal- disaster. But there is a vital corollary to the other driven by the masses competing borhood unions that surrounded police lenge of organizing for a decade of rev- that rule: If you fail to seize an opportu- for legitimacy and hegemony. This inher- stations and routed the police, send- olutionary struggle stands before us. We nity once it materializes, you plant the ently unstable situation must result in rev- ing coup sympathizers into a headlong have no choice but to accept. seeds of your own destruction. olutionary struggle and the decisive defeat flight. The police have not returned, and But this power can only be achieved if The explosion of social movements in the of one party over the other. A failure to union leaders say they may only return we commit to the long-term work of deep last decade presents a tremendous oppor- commit to this process is a failure to com- if they “get on their knees and ask for organizing. ☐ tunity. The ruling class has shown its weak- mit to our obligation as revolutionaries. nesses and the working class is growing in During the period of socialist contrac- strength. The time for strategic defense has tion (1991-2011), the political conscious- March 21: A significant date come to a close. The working-class masses, ness of the masses could not support the and those who would seek to organize development and expansion of a mass Continued from page 8 machine. We, Puerto Ricans, are still strug- them, must take up the offense. That is the base. But conditions have changed, gling against U.S. colonialism. Although role of the vanguard party. and we must change with them. Protest Imperialism, colonialism and capitalism South Africa and Namibia may be inde- action—political​ agitation to intervene in are interconnected because colonialism pendent, they are still in the midst of a The state the political debate—​is now, and always and imperialism are just two of the differ- class struggle, which will one day fully wipe The belief that capitalism is irredeem- will be, a vital part of the communist ent forms of capitalism, depending on the away the inequalities and other vestiges of able and socialism is our only solution is struggle. But it is not enough. The soil of era’s material conditions. But they both the brutal apartheid system. spreading widely. the masses has grown fertile, and we are signify wealthy capitalist countries’ polit- In the end, we must learn from our But the means by which the capitalist obligated to dig our roots ever deeper. ical domination and economic exploita- ancestors’ struggles and fully realize that ruling class should be hurled from power tion of poor, oppressed countries. this capitalist monster can be defeated. Bolivia and the Bolsheviks is hotly debated. In a period of ideolog- The history of our peoples, whether The world may seem bleak at the moment, ical disharmony, the voice of Marxist- The history of socialist revolutions we are from Puerto Rico, South Africa or but there is no doubt that the working Leninists should ring out as clearly as is the history of political base building. Namibia, is connected because we all have class will persevere, and capitalism will a bell when it denounces and rejects Prior to the October Revolution, it was been stomped underfoot by the capitalist be smashed. ☐ Page 10 April 2, 2020 workers.org

editorial Solidarity with frontline workers

According to the World Health distancing from April 12 to April 30 in stay at home, such as sanitation workers, crisis has exposed an already crumbling Organization, as of March 31, the global hopes of reopening businesses as usual. restaurant workers who prepare food for health care system that cannot begin to numbers of the COVID‑19 pandemic are takeout and pickup deliveries, firefighters, meet the needs of the masses. According What’s ahead for workers? close to 755,000 confirmed cases and etc.? Then there are first-responder work- to the New York Times, there is already a over 36,500 deaths. The emphasis here With the $2.2 trillion stimulus package ers in hospitals—​EMS personnel, nurses, prediction that insurance companies will is “confirmed,” which means that there recently passed by Congress, a large chunk doctors, technicians, aides, orderlies, jani- be raising their health care premiums by at are untold numbers of people, possibly of this money will go to keep large corpo- tors, cooks, cafeteria workers and others—​ least 40 percent in 2021, due to the increas- millions, who are unaware that they are rations afloat and smaller businesses less many of whom work without protective ing costs of hospital care. (March 28) even mildly infected. so. But what about the workers who are gear or have to use the same protective Amazon workers at the JFK8 fulfillment Johns Hopkins University reported on suffering the most from the impact of this gear multiple times or are even wearing center in Queens plan a March 30 walkout March 31 that the United States leads the pandemic, with layoffs, evictions, shut- makeshift garbage bags to preserve their to protest the lack of protective gear, in world in confirmed COVID‑19 cases—​ offs, lack of medical care and more? Ninety gowns, which they were forced to reuse. response to a fellow worker testing positive numbering over 163,000, more than percent of these workers are slated to get A growing number of these health care for COVID‑19. Instacart workers, number- Spain, Italy and China. These numbers a one-time $1,200 in April from the gov- workers, many working 90-hour work ing 200,000, who do home-grocery deliv- are three times higher than the per capita ernment, hardly enough to cover any bills. weeks, are themselves becoming infected eries, also plan a nationwide strike March rate of China. The U.S. death toll is over However, workers without direct deposit with the coronavirus. Due to the shut- 30 to protect their health. Whole Foods 3,000. And health officials are predict- from the IRS will have to wait between 8 down of a number of New York hospitals Market workers are staging a sick-out on ing that the worst is yet to come as those and 16 weeks for a check in the mail. And over the past years, Manhattan’s Central March 31 to demand hazard pay and free numbers grow exponentially. will these checks be extended into the Park now has an outdoor makeshift hos- COVID‑19 testing. These work stoppages Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the months ahead? pital constructed with 14 tents. are just the first wave of struggles to come, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious The package also improves unem- These are frontline workers who are and they will need the solidarity of all of Diseases, who has been outspoken in coun- ployment compensation and expands not just verbally complaining about the us in creative ways, including social media, tering Trump’s despicable handling of this the group of eligible workers, but many terrible conditions they are working until the streets and other venues are open crisis, stated on CNN’s “State of the Union” workers will still not benefit. Others will under, along with the lack of care for their for mass protest. that upwards of 100,000 people or more in be waiting some time for those checks to patients, but they are in fighting, protest Make no mistake—​what is going on the U.S. could potentially die of COVID‑19 arrive, and in four months the expanded mode. These include nurses carrying with this virus is a failure of the entire in the coming weeks. (March 29) benefits will stop. signs reading, “Patients before profits” capitalist system that puts profits, private One can only speculate how many lives This emergency package does not pri- outside of Jacobi Medical Center in the property, war and occupation before the could already have been saved if there was oritize the needs of workers, which lit- Bronx, N.Y., on March 28. Some nurses needs of the people. But out of this crisis, enough equipment, including ventilators, erally border on life and death. Think were wearing bandanas to cover their workers are showing in a more conscious surgical masks, gloves, beds, etc., to deal about Macy’s announcement of layoffs of mouths in place of face masks. way that they are part of the global work- with the surge of patients in the U.S. 135,000 retail workers and how this will While close to three-fourths of a trillion ing class with the power to shut down Given the indeterminate length of this impact them and their families. dollars is being sought for so-called national production and the economy and help lay unprecedented crisis, Trump was forced And what about the status of “essential” security—​meaning the Pentagon—​by the the basis to bring about a socialist trans- to change his date of lifting a ban on social workers, who do not have an option to Trump administration, the COVID‑19 formation of society. ☐

For gender-oppressed people COVID‑19 complicates health care services By Sue Davis infection as well as restrictions in who may accompany the Food and Drug Administration under a so-called the laboring patient. There is increasing interest in deliv- “Risk Evaluation Mitigation Strategy,” which prohibits How are women and other gender-oppressed people, ering in birth centers or at home. However, only low-risk mailing drugs to patients. An experimental study in 11 especially those from 15 to 44 who are of child-bearing patients are eligible and there are relatively few places states involving in-home medical abortion consultations, age, being affected by the coronavirus COVID‑19? where these services are available.” run by the nonprofit group Gynuity, was set up in 2016 All women and nonbinary people will be impacted in with special FDA approval. It has successfully provided many ways—​including reproductive health care and Telemedicine available for contraception … remote abortions for 600 patients. rights, work on the job and on “the second shift” in the The role of telemedicine—​online, remote medical Under pressure from the pandemic, Dr. Grossman home and as members of society. care—​offers many advantages for obtaining contracep- hopes the FDA will lift the REMS “at least temporarily,” It’s essential to remember that Black and Brown tives. It keeps sick people from gathering, while protecting as will states that currently ban telemedicine for medi- people are always the hardest hit by all kinds of dis- both patients and practitioners and is much less expensive. cation abortions. ruptions in racist, sexist, anti-LGBTQ2+ class society—​ A March 18 article by rewire.news detailed information from nature’s hurricanes (think Hurricane Katrina) to about a number of telemedicine providers. Patients must Trump cuts in public health ‘exacerbate’ pandemic human-made economic crashes (think 1929 and 2008) fill out a questionnaire on a website or app and then receive Probably the Trump administration’s worst attack on to pandemics (think 1918). a prescription after a doctor reviews the information. sexual and reproductive health and rights is the “domestic Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, there is no Online sources include contraceptive provider PRJKT gag rule,” which went into effect last year on Aug. 19. The good news overall. But there are glimmers of hope and RUBY. The company, which prescribes and ships to 49 Trump revision of Title X regulations was that reproduc- possibility. states (except North Carolina), “has seen a 10 percent tive care and service providers at women’s health clinics Retired New York City midwife Ellen Catalinotto shared increase in patients in recent days.” CMO Dan Snyder could no longer offer referrals for abortion or provide abor- some good news with Workers World: “In a webinar held predicts that will continue. Pill Club, which ships to 50 tions in the same facility. This has had a profound effect by the American College of Nurse Midwives on March 21 states, but can only prescribe in 37, “reported a 30 per- on 4 million poor Medicaid recipients, including women participants learned that as of now data from China shows cent increase in the past week in prescriptions referred and gender-nonconforming people who are youth, people the virus is not transmitted from a pregnant woman to her to them from other pharmacies.” of color, those living in rural areas, survivors of domestic fetus and there is no evidence of the virus in breast milk. Co-founded by a pediatrician at Stanford Medical School violence and/or those living with disabilities. “Many expectant parents are worried about giving in California, Pandia Health, which presently prescribes Guttmacher Institute’s latest statistics on March 11 birth in hospitals. They are concerned about risk of in three states, but aims to partner with providers in 50, show that the gag rule has reduced Title X funding by at offers a virtual visit to a doctor for a prescription. Pandia least 46 percent after about 1,000 clinics left the network: Health Birth Control Fund offers financial assistance. “The Trump administration’s ongoing attempts to under- Planned Parenthood Direct, an app-based service in mine the [Affordable Care Act] and reshape Medicaid to 37 states, advises patients to contact a local care cen- better fit its conservative ideology have put the entire U.S. ter for financial help. Nurx, available in 37 states, also health insurance system on shaky footing in ways that may tests for sexually transmitted illnesses and will soon offer hamper the COVID‑19 response.” coronavirus testing and consultations for those who have The report continues: “And the administration’s been exposed and have symptoms. broadly discriminatory and xenophobic policies—​ including policies targeting people with low incomes, … But not for abortion care people of color, LGBTQ+ people and immigrants—​will Medical abortion care, which involves taking two pills, heighten the challenges of combatting an epidemic for is restricted in many states due to anti-choice bias and communities that are already marginalized.” not strictly medical science. As Dr. Daniel Grossman, an The report further warned that reproductive health abortion provider and professor of obstetrics and gyne- care advocates “need to guard against the possibility cology at the University of California, San Francisco, told that [anti-abortion forces] will seize the opportunity of rewire.news: “The effectiveness of medication abortions COVID‑19 to further restrict people’s fundamental rights

PHOTO: STRIVE done by telemedicine is pretty much the same compared and access to health care.” Activists demonstrate for reproductive rights for all gender- to having an in-person visit.” That warning came true in late March, when four oppressed people in Mobile, Ala., May 31, 2019. At present pills for medical abortion are regulated by Continued on page 11 workers.org April 2, 2020 Page 11

Boston IWWD Shaheen Baghs of India: Women lead the struggle! By Maureen Skehan supporters like myself who have realized it is possible to Boston rally, march and organize for the changes we need. Since the start of the campaign, I’ve been organizing with local The socialist origins of International Working socialist groups for the first time, and I will continue Women’s Day were celebrated March 7 by the Boston mobilizing with these organizations to fight for these International Action Center and the local branch of issues. This presidential campaign has exposed how the Workers World Party. A powerful program saluted both government and media have failed us. More people are the key role of student activists in the Sanders move- losing trust in the two-party system and we will see an ment in the U.S. and the courageous women-led uprising exponential growth in leftist organizations. No matter in Shaheen Bagh, Delhi, India, against repression and what happens with the Sanders campaign, this is just the anti-Muslim laws in that country. beginning! We will seize the moment!”

Women freedom fighters, past and present Shaheen Bagh: Women resist WWP youth activist and Team Solidarity singer After a panel of young women spoke, Padma and Shaheen Bagh protest in India. Kristin Turgeon greeted the crowd with a trilogy of songs Pratyush came forward—​members of the Boston dedicated to women freedom fighters. She honored Coalition whose goals are to work in solidarity with General Harriet Tubman, leader of the Underground activists in South Asia on justice and peace. They gave a fought the British are refusing to be criminalized and Railroad, who struck countless blows against slavery detailed account of events that birthed the Shaheen Bagh marginalized. Popular chants at the Shaheen Bagh pro- and freed hundreds of enslaved African people; Puerto uprising in India, which has sparked mass resistance tests include: ‘Speak up, we are all one! Inquilab zind- Rican Independence fighter Lolita Lebrón who opposed across the country and inspired women, working-class abad! Long live revolution! Long live love!’” U.S. colonialism and was imprisoned for 25 years for her and justice-loving people everywhere. She continued: “Today there is growing unity among the actions; and all working-class women. Turgeon closed The movement began on the evening of Dec. 15, 2019, people across religious and caste lines, with Dalits help- her set with a rousing rendition of the “Union Maid” when 15 to 20 women, many in hijabs, left their homes ing Muslims, while Kashmir is viewed as the Palestine of refrain: “I’m sticking to the union until the day I die.” and took to the streets in their Muslim-majority neigh- India. Bold and beautiful murals dedicated to the women Turgeon then shared a brief history of IWWD, born borhood of Shaheen Bagh. They occupied a major high- of Shaheen Bagh evoke the struggles of women in South through the life and death struggle of women garment way that led north to India’s capital of New Delhi. Word Africa and Palestine fighting racist apartheid settlers and workers in New York City in the early 1900s. She paid trib- quickly spread of their sit-down strike and more women passbook laws. The Chilean feminist anthem, ‘Un violador ute to women in unions who are still militantly striking joined. Many were mothers and grandmothers protest- en tu camino/A rapist in your path,’ has been translated by over a hundred years later for better pay, health care ben- ing for the first time. women and LGBTQ2+ people in India who are performing efits, protection from sexual harassment and winning. She What sparked their protest? News of a vicious attack by the song at protests, making it clear that the patriarchy also saluted Indigenous women and Two-Spirited people Indian police at the nearby Jamia Millia University, where are the rapists and they are the people responsible for the on the front lines to protect their land, water and national students were beaten, tear-gassed and shot with live bul- extreme violence against women.” sovereignty rights from murderous energy companies, pol- lets. Scores were arrested and the school ransacked. luters and perpetrators of violence. The students had been preparing for a march on the ‘Fighting spirit of women’ Turgeon concluded: “This is a period of change for capital to protest repressive and discriminatory changes Padma also recognized the All India General Strike of the entire working class worldwide. What better time in India’s citizenship laws, specifically aimed at Muslims, 250 million workers on Jan. 8, the largest in world history, than now to fight for housing, food, jobs, quality educa- passed by its Parliament on Dec. 11. The National Register when workers pressed demands for increases in the min- tion and universal health care for all? The revolutionary of Citizens (NRC), the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) imum wage, unemployment and social security benefits. struggles of women from India to Palestine and Africa to and the National Population Register (NPR) were laws The strikers also demanded, “Repeal the CAA Now!” Latin America and Asia will hasten the changes we are sponsored by the right-wing, Hindu-fundamentalist gov- On Feb. 23, as more and more women joined the fighting for here in the U.S. Let’s take this opportunity ernment of President Narendra Modi. protests, the Modi government orchestrated a bloody, to build a strong and united socialist movement that can The shocking violence inflicted on students, combined anti-Muslim pogrom. Police, backed up by hundreds of fight for the liberation of the entire working class and with the passage of discriminatory citizenship laws, was armed men, entered Delhi, killing over 50 people and self-determination for all oppressed people!” the spark that lit the fuse of the Shaheen Bagh women’s destroying thousands of homes, businesses, communal righteous resistance. spaces and mosques. From Sanders campaign into socialist action Pratyush explained: “In addition to targeting Muslims, Immediately after the violence, reminiscent of Akilah DeCoteau, a student at Northeastern University these citizenship initiatives are a mechanism for persecut- Kristallnacht (1938) and other Nazi pogroms against and organizer with Huskies for Bernie, shared why ing poor landless peasants and migratory workers as well. Jewish people in Germany, Modi met with visiting U.S. she became involved in the Sanders campaign: “I was There are several hundred million people in India, who as president Trump. As these fascistic leaders patted each attracted to Sanders’ message when he asked, ‘Why do migrant workers—especially​ Dalits [previously known as other on the back, they also signed new military deals we spend more than the next seven countries combined ‘untouchables’] and Indigenous—have​ no documents and aimed at encircling China. on the military? Why are we the only industrialized [would] become ‘illegal’ and ‘stateless.’ Thus, they can be The panelists showed video clips of the Shaheen Bagh country that doesn’t guarantee health care to all its citi- forced into detention centers for super-exploitation.” protests and marches led by women, LGBTQ2+ people zens?’ I wondered why, too!” Pratyush continued: “The idea of citizenship has colo- and youth in cities from Kolkata and Mumbai to London Decoteau continued: “Sanders stated it was time to get nial roots—​now people living in South Asia for thou- and Toronto. Pratyush shared a poem dedicated to the corporate influence out of politics, it was time for us to take sands of years are suddenly ‘illegal.’ In the northeastern workers of India and women of Shaheen Bagh. A lively on the military-industrial complex, the for-profit health state of Assam in India, where the National Register of discussion ensued, including about three recent city care industry, and to start investing in people, instead of Citizens was first implemented, the problem started with council resolutions passed in Seattle, Albany, N.Y., and bailing out Wall Street. I couldn’t have agreed more!” the forced migration of people during the British colonial Cambridge, Mass., demanding repeal of the NRC, CAA She continued, “Today, there are tens of thousands of occupation. This is a project of genocide in language and and NPR. Plans to pursue a similar resolution from the deed, with parallels to the historical violence and murder Boston City Council were discussed. of im/migrants, communists and Jewish people.” Padma closed the meeting: “The many Shaheen Baghs COVID‑19 complicates Padma opened her talk by thanking the IAC and WWP in India are a testament to the fighting spirit of women for their consistent anti-imperialist work and their many largely of Muslim faith who have galvanized other com- health care services decades of solidarity with poor and oppressed peoples munities to join them in demanding Modi’s government around the world. She went on to describe the difficult repeal the discriminatory CAA act. People from all walks Continued from page 10 conditions faced by women in India where the mater- of life who have joined these brave women are demand- nal mortality rate is 174 women per 100,000 live births. ing the right to dignity, to security of life, and an end to states—​Ohio, Texas, Oklahoma and Mississippi—​ Women are denied many basic rights, including access caste-, gender- and religion-based violence. Long live the asserted that surgical abortions should be banned to maternity care and day care. A crime against women Shaheen Baghs! Long live workers’ unity! The struggle because they were “nonessential” medical procedures. occurs every three minutes in India, with Dalit women will continue!” All leading national medical organizations protested, facing even higher rates of violence. Living in a patriar- On March 24, the government lockdown of New Delhi defending the right to abortion. Eleven states—​ chal country, most women have the added burden of no to check COVID‑19 was used as an excuse for the Modi Colorado, Hawai’i, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, state or property papers in their own name. government to send police to shut down Shaheen Bagh Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Padma shared: “In the Shaheen Bagh [protests], in the dawn hours and clear the site of all those who had Oregon and Washington—​affirmed that abortion was women of all ages, from 9 to 90, have come together been protesting the discriminatory citizenship laws for an essential medical procedure, a necessary component to resist the Indian government’s repressive citizen- over 100 days. (hindu.com). ☐ of reproductive justice for all gender-oppressed people. ship laws. The majority of women are homemakers and Though zealots in Congress tried to insinuate seamstresses who do odd jobs to support their children anti-abortion wording into the $2.2 trillion rescue pack- and families. They have refused to go home, stating, ‘We age, reproductive freedom advocates were able to scrub eat, sleep and live on the road.’” that out of the final bill. However, there is speculation Padma emphasized: “Women are leading the fight to that the Small Business Administration may not approve force the Modi government to repeal the CAA and NRC, loans to women’s health clinics that provide abortions. which threaten the rights of the most vulnerable in soci- ety, including Muslims, poor women, oppressed castes Part 2 of this topic will focus on women and gen‑ and LGBTQ2+ people. People are now using the con- der-nonconforming people at work on the job and stitution and Indian flag to tell the fascists, ‘Don’t take on“the second shift” at home and as members of society. away our rights given to us!’ People of Muslim faith who The IWWD celebration in Boston, March 7. PHOTO: WWP BOSTON 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. 62 Núm. 14 2 de abril 2020 $1 FOTO:RESUMEN LATINAMERICA Los EE.UU. acusan Presidente Nicolás Maduro de ‘narcoterrorismo,’ pero el pueblo venezolano lo defiende. Trabajadores de salud de Texas informan desde dentro de la pandemia

Por Workers World en Austin, Texas También hubo medicamentos y otros hasta que quedó muy claro que el alcance suministros que no pudimos reponer, y los de esta pandemia ya no podía evitarse. Los siguientes son testimonios ligera‑ fabricantes en los Estados Unidos tardaron En un solo turno clínico de seis horas, mente editados sobre la respuesta del sis‑ meses en aumentar la producción, mien- cada paciente con el que tuve contacto en tema de atención médica al coronavirus tras que el gobierno de los Estados Unidos la sala de emergencias era un paciente COVID‑19 de varios trabajadores que se negó a invertir en la reconstrucción de con afecciones preexistentes, con signos actualmente tienen trabajos en el centro Puerto Rico. Fui testigo de lo rápido que y síntomas de neumonía, como tos y fie- de Texas o han pasado sus vidas traba‑ nuestras operaciones podrían verse com- bre. Estos pacientes, que exhiben signos jando allí. prometidas, incluso detenerse sin el equipo reveladores del virus, fueron abordados necesario. Esto es exactamente lo que está sin un mayor nivel de aislamiento dentro Médico de Emergencias en Austin, Texas sucediendo hoy en Italia, y me temo que del entorno hospitalario. La respuesta de los hospitales del cen- es una señal de lo que vendrá para el resto En las últimas dos semanas, el sistema tro de Texas, hogares de ancianos y ser- del mundo que se centra más en maximizar de Servicios Médicos de Emergencia vicios de ambulancia ha sido hasta ahora Casos confirmados de COVID‑19 en Texas el las ganancias en lugar de salvar la vida de basado en subsidios, en el que soy estu- lo que esperaba de la medicina basada en 17 de marzo. las personas. diante clínico, solo había comenzado las ganancias. No se toman precauciones conversaciones para asegurarse de que con los pacientes a menos que tengan un ya estén infectadas debido a la proximi- Una enfermera que trabaja las máscaras N95 se ajustaran adecuada- caso verificado de COVID‑19. Para que se dad a varias ciudades grandes, y el período en el centro de Texas mente a los proveedores. El personal tam- verifique un caso, un paciente debe pasar de incubación se pasa por alto durante el Soy una enfermera registrada y trabajo bién discutió las preocupaciones sobre una serie estricta de preguntas y presen- triaje de personas en riesgo de infección. en un centro de crisis psiquiátrica del la falta de máscaras y la incapacidad de tación de síntomas antes de considerar la Los síntomas pueden ocultarse por com- centro de la ciudad. Más de la mitad de abastecerse de más a medida que la ola prueba. Las personas que dan positivo para pleto en niños pequeños y no se mantienen los pacientes que atendemos no tienen de esta pandemia creció lentamente a un la influenza pero tienen tos persistente no alejados de las poblaciones en riesgo. En el hogar. La organización para la que tra- aumento gradual. toman precauciones. La suposición es que mejor de los casos, podemos esperar que bajo está impulsada por el trabajo social El personal discutió continuamente si tiene una [enfermedad], entonces no lleguemos tarde a la ola de la enfermedad y hay pocas enfermeras licenciadas (RN). los problemas con el despacho, pero con puede tener la otra. cuando comprendamos las apuestas. Tengo 75 años y, por lo tanto, soy miem- una falta de continuidad en términos de Durante todo este tiempo, los trabajado- La gran población de jubilados y la acti- bro de una de las poblaciones vulnerables. respuesta a casos potenciales del virus, res de atención médica pueden o no usar tud descortés de todos, excepto algunos El liderazgo de la organización se ha algunas llamadas fueron respondidas con máscaras cuando están cerca del paciente. valientes Cassandras, significa que nos paralizado por todo esto. El jueves pasado múltiples unidades, otras con tripulacio- Las tiendas de triaje se instalan fuera de los estamos preparando para un momento a mi supervisora, que tiene cáncer y está nes individuales. hospitales, pero los trabajadores no usan difícil. [Cassandra era la hija de un dios tomando medicamentos de quimiotera- A partir del 13 de marzo, me informaron protección fuera de los guantes estándar griego dotado con el don de profecía pero pia, le dijeron que tenía que trabajar desde que mi educación clínica, así como todo de nitrilo, y no hay forma de aislar a los destinado a no ser creído.] casa. Pero no le dieron una computadora el departamento de profesiones médicas pacientes mientras esperan ser atendidos. portátil, así que regresó a trabajar al día de mi universidad, se habían suspendido Una ex enfermera del centro de Los trabajadores de la salud ya están siguiente. Luego, sus supervisores le dije- indefinidamente debido al virus. A partir Texas que vive en Alemania sobrecargados de trabajo gracias al deseo ron que buscara cómo podría trabajar sin de ahora, no puedo pagar el registro estatal de nuestros hospitales privados, hogares Uno de los primeros casos de propaga- tener contacto directo con pacientes. requerido para trabajar como EMT en el de ancianos y servicios de ambulancia ción comunitaria de COVID‑19 fuera de Se le ocurrió la idea de que podía usar estado de Texas y debo quedar en segundo para maximizar las ganancias [durante] China ocurrió en Alemania el 27 de enero. su oficina y ver a los pacientes por tele- plano ya que no puedo unirme a mis cole- COVID‑19, y eso solo empeora el problema. Sin embargo, no se sabía mucho sobre el med. He estado fuera del trabajo, pero gas profesionales de la salud que continúan En lugar de traer suficientes trabajadores brote en ese momento, y la gente no pare- tengo que volver a trabajar mañana. Mi ahogándose en un sistema que hace poco para atender la afluencia de pacientes, se cía preocupada. Lo que me sorprendió fue supervisor me llamó hoy para decirme para poner su bienestar, y mucho menos espera que trabajemos más rápido. que la persona que transfirió el virus no que la idea de Telemed fracasó porque el el del paciente, a la vanguardia. Los trabajadores de la salud, que inclu- tenía síntomas cuando interactuó con otros liderazgo no pudo encontrar una compu- Solo hoy, casi una semana después de yen limpiadores de instalaciones médicas, en la comunidad que luego se enfermaron. tadora portátil (¡otra vez!) Para que la use las prácticas de distanciamiento social, cocineros, encargados de registros y tra- Me ha sorprendido la falta de un sentido de para conectarme a Telemed. escucho informes anecdóticos de perso- bajadores de lavandería, no están siendo urgencia o voluntad de tomar en serio este Me dieron la opción, y me animaron nal médico y pacientes que reciben prue- evaluados, y la falta de alimentos garan- coronavirus, incluso hoy en día, a medida encarecidamente, a quedarme en casa, bas, en lugar de pruebas de detección, tizados, vivienda y estabilidad de ingresos que las fronteras de las principales nacio- pero no quiero dejar a mis compañeros de para COVID‑19. nos incentiva a ocultar los síntomas. Nos nes del mundo comienzan a cerrarse y los trabajo con poco personal. Tal como está queda en gran medida hacer una auto- bloqueos entran en vigencia, y aún hay tan- ahora, resulta que mi supervisor tiene una Conclusión investigación sobre el virus. En mi tra- tos defectos en toda la respuesta . infección de las vías respiratorias superio- COVID‑19 está enseñando a muchos bajo como [Médico de Emergencias], el Las personas con síntomas aún no se res (¡no, no la corona!), Así que usaré su que no tenemos más remedio que aban- único entrenamiento que hemos recibido están haciendo la prueba porque no han oficina y haré los gráficos, el trabajo con la donar la medicina basada en las ganancias en COVID‑19 es un video de 20 minutos viajado a China, pero el virus ha sido glo- computadora y otras cosas que no requie- en favor de la evidencia y la planificación publicado en línea que no es obligatorio. bal desde enero. La línea directa para que ren contacto con el paciente. Por ineptos centralizada. Las reformas sugeridas por Necesitamos más personas en el las personas llamen si creen que están que sean sus esfuerzos, el liderazgo parece políticos como Bernie Sanders son un trabajo; necesitamos un derecho a la infectadas en Berlín, Alemania, donde preocupado por mi seguridad. O eso, o comienzo, pero no alcanzan lo que necesi- vivienda, la alimentación y la atención vivo ahora, no tiene una opción para nin- saben que he dado instrucciones a mis tamos. La eliminación completa del motivo médica; necesitamos educación sobre el gún otro idioma que no sea alemán. Esta hijos adultos para demandar. de ganancias y el control completo de los virus; y, sobre todo, necesitamos que la es una de las ciudades con mayor diver- En cualquier caso, no veo el mismo nivel trabajadores sobre la atención médica nos especulación termine. sidad étnica en Europa, e incluso en una de preocupación por nuestra clientela por permitiría centrarnos en nuestra tarea más crisis requieren que solicite ayuda solo en parte de mi liderazgo organizacional, por importante: la salud del paciente. Escritura de un médico en su lengua materna. políticos locales o por el gobierno fede- Los trabajadores de la salud que se enfer- una zona rural de Texas Otra cuestión que veo como un pro- ral. El distanciamiento social y la buena man deben sentirse capaces y apoyados La experiencia clínica aquí se puede blema importante desde el principio fue higiene de las manos están a la orden del para actuar en interés de nuestros pacien- resumir en una palabra: inadecuada. Eso es la falta de suministros de equipos de pro- día. ¿Cómo haces eso si vives en un refugio tes y tomarse un tiempo libre, incluida la gracias a la falta de respuesta organizada, tección personal. Me mudé aquí desde el lleno de gente y estás en la calle todo el día? auto cuarentena prolongada si nos infecta- investigación y educación sobre COVID‑19. centro de Texas en octubre de 2019, donde mos con COVID‑19. Necesitamos pruebas Hay poca o ninguna comprensión por trabajé como enfermera registrada durante Un estudiante paramédico en Austin que estén disponibles para todos, especial- parte de nadie en cualquier nivel de aten- casi 20 años. Mi último trabajo antes de Como técnico médico de emergencia y mente para aquellos que nos preocupamos ción, desde los empleados hasta los médi- salir de EE. UU. fue en recuperación qui- estudiante de paramédico, he sido testigo por la salud de los demás. cos, sobre la naturaleza de esta epidemia rúrgica. Similar a la sala de emergencias, de primera mano del desmoronamiento La riqueza que generamos los trabaja- o cómo es cuantificable o cualitativamente este es un ambiente que requiere que haya de nuestra infraestructura de atención dores debería ir hacia cosas que nos man- diferente a la influenza. Han fracasado bolsas de ventilación manual a cada lado de médica a raíz de COVID‑19. Los sitios clí- tengan felices y saludables, no un absurdo constantemente en cada oportunidad de la cama. Después de que el huracán María nicos en los hospitales de todo el centro presupuesto del Pentágono de $700 mil brindar a los pacientes orientación y expec- devastó a Puerto Rico [creando una nece- de Texas redujeron al mínimo la propaga- millones u otro yate para los buitres capi- tativas adecuadas para el cuidado de los sidad extrema de suministros médicos], no ción inicial del virus y no pudieron imple- talistas que se aprovechan de los enfer- niños pequeños hasta los ancianos. pudimos reemplazar estos equipos vitales, mentar protocolos aumentados para el mos y heridos. ☐ Es probable que algunas personas aquí y muchos de ellos caducaron. control de infecciones durante semanas