How to end nuclear threat . 3 THE Vietnamese visits homeland .. 8 Recession is worldwide . 12

A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY/PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WORKING PEOPLE VOL. 46/NO. 11 MARCH 26, 1982 75CENTS U.S. out of Central America! Demonstrate on March 27! Nicaragua New threats braces-for fuel protest U.S. attacks movement BY JANE HARRIS BY NELSON GONZALEZ MANAGUA, Nicaragua-Multi-mil­ In the face of the Reagan administra­ lion dollar CIA destabilization plans. tion's public plans to organize a CIA-led Terrorism. Bomb explosions. Threa­ invasion of Nicaragua and the recent tened blockades. Lies and slanders. Now bombing attacks inside Nicaragua, two bridges blown up by CIA-backed hundreds of antiwar activists have hit counterrevolutionaries. But nothing the streets to protest U.S. war moves. can stop the Nicaraguan revolutionaries These actions are helping to publicize from taking whatever steps are neces­ the national demonstrations against sary to defend themselves. U.S. military intervention in El Salva­ This was graphically demonstrated dor and Central America and the Carib­ here March 15. In response to the bomb­ bean on March 27. ing of two strategic bridges near the The planned protests include a march Honduran border, Commander of the on Washington, D.C., and support ac­ Revolution Daniel Ortega, coordinator tions in Los Angeles, ·San Francisco, of the Junta of National Reconstruction, Oakland, Seattle, Dallas, Denver, Tuc­ announced a governmental decree plac­ son, and Phoenix. ing the country on a state of emergency. In Chicago, on twenty-four hours' no­ "It is the duty of the revolutionary tice, 200 people picketed the federal government and the whole nation to building March 12. The picket was or­ turn our entire moral, political, social, ganized by the March 27 Coalition. In economic, and human energy toward de­ Cleveland thirty people picketed the old fense of the country and the revolution, federal building. In San Francisco the to stop these acts of terror and de­ Nicaragua Solidarity Committee is stabilization once and for all," read the planning a news conference and picket decree. line. Thousands gathered at the main gov­ Similar activities are being planned ernment office buildings to learn what Top: November 1981 protest in New York demands, "U.S. hands offEl Salva­ in New Orleans; Fort Bragg, North Ca­ steps will be taken to stop these attacks. rolina, and other cities. dor!" Bottom: Nicaraguan security chief Lenin Cerna displays dynamite They responded enthusiastically. "It's In addition, the National Network in seized from counterrevolutionaries. White House refuses to "confirm or de­ about time," the chant went up. "This is Solidarity with the Nicaraguan People ny" CIA involvement in sabotage attacks in Nicaragua. See editorial, page 18. what we have been waiting for." has called for a national conference in Displaying a photograph of the de­ Washington, D.C., on April·27. stroyed bridge over the Rio Negro, Orte­ Meanwhile, speakers for the March ga lamented: ''The machinery that was What workers are up against 27 rally in Washington, D.C., have been being used to build roads and schools finalized. will now have to be used to repair the At the pre-march rally beginning at bridges, cutting productivity in our ef­ as GM contract talks reopen 11 a.m. at Malcolm X Park, which is the forts to rebuild the country." assembly point for the march, schedulw! In view of this grave situation, Ortega BY GEORGE JOHNSON .e A media campaign that paralleled speakers include Dave Dellinger, pa<:l· continued, "We must now use both the General Motors, the largest auto GM's to convince auto workers that fist leader; Anne Braden, civil-rights law and guns to defend our government manufacturer in the world, is asking its their wages and benefits are too high. leader; Josephine Butler, D.C. State­ and revolution." workers to make concessions in wages The big-business-owned media unani­ hood Party; Nat Meyers, Progressive and benefits described as "nearly identi­ mously trumpeted exaggerations and On. the legal front, the government Student Network; Jovelino Ramo-s, Na~ cal" to those given up by Ford workers outright lies about auto workers' wages. decreed a suspension of the constitution, tiona} Council of Churches; and others. in mid-February. These lies accept as fact the auto barons' suspended news broadcasts on capital­ Scheduled to speak at the main rally Negotiations between GM and the claims of wage and benefit differentials ist-owned radio stations, and ordered at Lafayette Park in front of the White United Auto Workers (UA W) began af­ between American and Japanese auto pre-publication review of all newspa­ House are: a representative of the Revo­ ter the union's GM Council voted 299 to workers. pers and periodicals. Also suspended lutionary Democratic Front of El Salva­ 15 on March 11 to resume talks. They • A campaign by the government - was the broadcast of "opinion programs dor; Peggy Healy, Central America had broken off in January after GM be­ including both the Democrats and Re­ of political parties and all other organi­ coordinator for the Maryknoll nuns; came convinced its workers were not publicans - to convince workers that zations." Rev. Ben Chavis, National Black Inde­ ready to vote for concessions. sacrifice is necessary. Each of these measures is to remain in pendent Political Party; Rev. Herbert This rank-and-file resistance was re­ • A campaign for concessions by oth­ force for thirty days, at which time they Daughtry, National Black United flected in the GM Council's vote at the er corporations throughout the country. may be renewed if deemed necessary. Front; Robert Lopez, international rep­ time- 43 percent against reopening, as • A campaign by the UAW leader­ In explaining the reasons for the de­ resentative of the United Auto Workers; opposed to less than 5 percent on March ship to sell a takeback contract to the cree, the government pointed to the and Doctor Helen Rodriguez, leader in 11. union's members. UAW President Dou­ enormity of the U.S.-inspired conspiracy the fight against sterilization abuse. The pressures that caused this dra­ glas Fraser threatened that a strike was against the Nicaraguan revolution in Recent announcements of CIA inter­ matic reversal by the GM Council are the only alternative to givebacks. UAW recent months. vention in Central America and the Ca­ considerable. They include: officials organized a "back-to-negotia­ • the attempt to blow up the coun­ ribbean have increased the tempo of • A campaign by GM to convince its tions-with-GM" movement after the try's major oil refinery; public activities geared toward turning workers that their wages, benefits, and Ford contract was ratified. • the terrorist attack on an Aeronica out the largest possible participation on working conditions would have to be Most damaging of all, the UAW lead­ jet in Mexico City; March 27. slashed to make GM more competitive. ership appeared - accurately - to the • a bomb explosion that killed three Mario Salgado, from the Midwest re­ This campaign included initial demands membership as resigned to making con­ airport workers in Managua; gional office of the Committee in Soli­ for givebacks amounting to $5 per hour; cessions to the auto companies, and as • spyships on the Nicaraguan coast darity with the People of El Salvador anti-Japan movies shown to workers on unwilling and unable to put up a fight. and spyplanes overhead; (CISPES), reports that recently many company time; letters from the GM The Ford ratification, in the context of • the training and financial backing actions have been held in the Midwest to board chairman; closings of plants, with this coordinated- campaign, brought of mercenaries to overthrow the Nicara­ let people know about March 27. For ex­ threats of more; and raising of demands about the reversal by the GM Council. guan government; ample, 100 people participated in an ac­ for takeaways during meetings of so­ Opposition to concessions was organ­ • and openly announced plans to step tion in Ann Arbor, Michigan; a picket of called Quality of Worklife groups (a ized by the quickly formed Locals Op­ up CIA backing to opponents of the revo­ 100 took place in Il).dianapolis; a rally company scheme to speed up production posed to Concessions (LOC). This is a lution still living in Nicaragua. was organized in Madison, Wisconsin; and decrease absenteeism). Continued on Page 17 Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 4 Nicaragua braces for U.S. attacks

Continued from Page 1 Nicaragua's national university (UN­ their "government's participation in In the meantime, he said, "acts of this Commander Ortega explained that AN) the same evening when she told the such covert criminal acts," which are sort force our government to enact laws the decree is aimed against counterrevo­ students: "The aggressors, even with "contrary to the American people's own that protect the institutions, border, and lutionary supporters of U.S. attacks. It their military power, can't fight against desire for peace." internal security of our country." "will enable us to keep a check on-the the determination of our people. They reactionaries will undoubtedly use some can't measure our people's strength by other term - the media that, although computers." belonging to the people, is considered A few days earlier 300 leaders from 'privately owned' by some, and has been more than 100 unions participated in a serving as a mouthpiece for imperialism meeting with government officials to and the enemies of the revolution." discuss the role workers can play in case The Sandinista National Liberation of military attack. Also taken up were Front (FSLN) daily Barricada added, in other serious problems resulting from its lead editorial March 16, "the aim of the imperialist-caused financial this decree is not to arbitrarily restrict squeeze. These include the adjustment democratic rights, but to protect and de­ of salaries in accordance with the ability fend the revolution from those who have of factories to pay them, the high price of taken advantage of these liberties to water and electricity, and the shortage promote counterrevolution and the re­ of school supplies and uniforms. turn to a Somoza-type regime. . . . "The state of national emergency con­ FSLN appeal to Americans stitutes an indispensable initial step to­ Because Washington has a long histo­ ward linking all forces in the country in ry of lies intended to twist the minds of defense of our homeland. It must be ac­ American workers, Foreign Minister companied by a step-up in the organiza­ Miguel D'Escoto addressed a special tion of our people in the militias, more statement March 15 to "Americans of discipline in work and in matters of de­ good will." fense, patriotic attitudes on the part of H~ urged them to "reject and protest" businessmen and professionals . . . and above all by awareness of the fact that we are living in a historic mo­ ment.... " Tens of thousands join militia Even Alfonso Robelo, a leader of the capitalist opposition, conceded his BY ANTIGONA MARTINEZ America, we will know how to defeat I couldn't help but think that with so agreement with the emergency meas­ MANAGUA, Nicaragua - As I ap­ them. much energy and conviction, there's not ures. "There are clear signs that some­ proached the huge group of people "They can come in, but they will never an army in the world that could defeat thing very serious could happen in Nica­ standing in and around the auditorium, get out." the Nicaraguan people. ragua," he said. "I think that we must be the day after the bombing, I could al­ After her speech, the music, and an ready to defend the country." ready hear the chants, clapping, and announcement that the long-awaited siJlging of some very excited young peo­ shipment of the new notebooks were Thousands enroll in militia ple, all students of the UNAN, Nicara­ now ready for sale, we were organized Tardencilla gets a Nicaraguans are well aware that se­ gua's national university. into our different pelotones (militia hero's welcome rious measures- including massive de­ When I got a bit closer I was button­ units), ready to receive our first training fense preparations - must be taken to holed by a young compaftero out of session. BY JANE HARRIS counter the stepped-up U.S. attacks. breath and talking very fast. My group had some 150 people - MANAGUA, Nicaragua - A virtual Tens of thousands of men and women "Compaftera, today is the day, you've about half men and half women. We sea of clenched fists greeted nineteen­ volunteered for a new round of militia got to sign up for the militias. formed three rows and began marching year-old Orlando Tardencilla here at training, many in the hours following "It's our duty as revolutionary youth and running. It was a total distance of Augusto Cesar Sandino Airport March the bombing of the bridges. to defend the country and the revolu­ about two miles. For not one yard of 15. Tardencilla was brought to Wash­ Five thousand people from forty tion. those two miles did we stop chanting or ington last week to testify that Nicara­ neighborhoods and twenty-five work "The imperialists are getting pre­ slow down. And when we began to get a guans and Cubans were intervening in places turned out for training at just one pared; we have to also, so please sign up little tired, we chanted even louder; El Salvador, as a pretext for U.S. inter­ militia post, Centro ROger Nunez. right away." things like "People, army, unity- Gua­ vention. He stupified the State Depart­ Thousands more came together the When I told him I had already signed rantee of our victory," "On our feet or ment when, at the risk of death, he ex­ same night at other centers, including up, he seemed a bit disappointed, but he dead, but never on our knees," and "If posed Reagan's lies before network ca­ 3,000 at the July 19 Plaza. Commander moved on to the person standing next to the yankees intervene, the militias will meras. Omar Cabezas told the crowd there, me. stop them." The modest hero told thousands of "They [the U.S. government] seem to The recruitment rally at the universi­ The chanting kept the spirit up. We Sandinista youth who rallied to wel­ think that we have the patience of St. ty was very spirited. When Commander didn't realize how tired we were and come him home, "I wasn't doing any­ Francis, but patience has a limit. From Dora Maria Tellez, a national leader of how much we were sweating until the thing special, just my revolutionary du­ now on the Sandinista people's revolu­ the Sandinista Front, asked the crowd of end of the two-mile run. ty." tion is going to reply in the concrete to students if they were willing to defend As we went through the neighbor­ these counterrevolutionary criminals." the country even with their lives, there hoods, people came out of their homes to Evidently, the United States hasn't "Let's get those murderers!" chanted was only one unanimous, "Si!" see us; this group of young people, some yet learned, after decades of trying, that the crowd in response. Commander Tellez said to the crowd, still carrying their school books and out there is a whole country here full of good Commander Dora Mari Tellez was "We are capable of multiplying up to in­ of breath, but still with very enthusias­ Sandinistas like Tardencilla, and no­ warmly received "at a mass meeting at finity; if they put one foot in Central tic chants. body - but nobody - can stop them.

Special offer to new readers: The Militant Closingnewsdate:March 17,1982 Editors: CINDY JAQUITH Free p~mphlet with _an introductory DOUG JENNESS Business Manager: NANCY ROSENSTOCK subscription to the 'Militant' Editorial Staff: Connie Allen, Steve Bride, Nelson Gonzalez, William Got­ you want us to send you. Mail to: The Mil­ tlieb, Suzanne Haig, Margaret Jayko, itant, 14 Charles Lane, New York, N.Y. George Johnson, Harry Ring, Larry Sei­ 10014. gle, Stu Singer. Published weekly except two weeks in August, the last week of December, and Enclosed is: the first week of January by the Militant 0 $3 for 12 weeks (new readers only). (ISSN 0026-3885), 14 Charles Lane, Send me 0 Nicaragua: An intro­ New York, N.Y. 10014. Telephone: Edi­ duction to the Sandinista revolution torial Office, (212) 2'43-6392; Business 0 The Struggle for Freedom in Office, (212) 929-3486. Guatemala 0 El Salvador: Why Correspondence concerning sub­ the U.S. government hides the truth. scriptions or changes of address 0 $15 for six months should be addressed to The Militant 0 $24 for one year Business Office, 14 Charles Lane, $ contribution to the Militant New York, N.Y. 10014. Second-class postage paid at New Tlie Militant has featured ongoing trace the history of the freedom struggle Name ______York, N.Y. Subscriptions: U.S. $24.00 a year, outside U.S. $30.00. By first-class coverage of the Reagan administration's in three countries that are threatened by mail: U.S., Canada, and Mexico: $60.00. threat to wage war in Central America intervention from Washington, and pro­ Address------City ______Write for airmail rates to all other coun­ and the Caribbean. vide useful background to the current tries. Now, in addition to this coverage, an danger. · Signed articles by contributors do not State/Zip------­ introductory subscription to the Militant Simply enclose $3 for twelve weeks of necessarily represent the Militant's will get you one of these pamphlets. They the Militant and check off the pamphlet Union/Org. ------views. These are expressed in editorials.

2 The Militant March 26, 1982 Massive opposition to Washington's nuclear buildup How can atomic war threat be ended? BY DAVID FRANKEL further deployment" of nuclear wea­ Millions of people around the world pons. sense that the U.S. rulers are hurtling The problem is that one of the govern­ toward war. They see the Pentagon set­ ments that is supposed to determine ting up new bases in the Caribbean and "when and how to achieve" a freeze on the Middle East; they see the CIA or­ nuclear weapons is the one responsible ganizing counterrevolutionary armies for the nuclear threat. That is the U.S. in Central America and against the government. Iranian revolution; and they see the Washington seeks to justify its nucle­ Reagan administration raising military ar arsenal by claiming it is necessary for · spending to unheard-of heights. the defense of the United States against In this context, concern about the Soviet aggression. But the fact is that threat of nuclear war is growing. Mil­ never in its entire history has the lions have taken to the streets in West­ United States faced any military threat ern Europe to protest plans of the NATO from the USSR. alliance to expand its nuclear arsenal. Similar sentiment is now being ex­ War against Russian revolution U.S. cruise missiles. Reagan's decision to drastically increase arms spending pressed in the United States. When the workers and peasants took has sparked widespread protest, including attempts to put "nuclear freeze" in­ More than half a million people in governmental power in Russia in No­ itiatives on the ballot in several states. California signed a petition to put the vember 1917, the new revolutionary re­ nuclear arms issue on the state ballot in gime did not pose the slightest military the November 1982 election. The refer­ all this. But they had to prepare the U.S. ers. The capitalist rulers will never vo­ threat to the United States or to any endum advocates a mutual U.S.-Soviet working people for wars against the co­ luntarily disarm themselves. other country. freeze on the production, testing, and lonial revolution that had begun to In the process of mobilizing the work­ deployment of nuclear weapons. But by December 1917, one month af­ sweep across Africa and Asia. ing class and its allies in the struggle for Similar referendum initiatives have ter the revolution, President Woodrow U.S. troops were sent in to fight full­ a workers and farmers government that been launched in Michig~n, New Jer­ Wilson had already begun to secretly fi­ scale colonial wars in Korea and Viet­ would finally disarm the capitalists, the sey, and Delaware. nance the formation of counterrevolu­ nam, and to carry out dozens of smaller workers movement has to take part in Resolutions along the same lines were tionary armies. Seven thousand U.S. interventions against countries from every immediate struggle against war approved by 159 town meetings in Ver­ troops arrived in Siberia in August the Dominican Republic to Lebanon. and militarism. mont and 26 in New.Hampshire early 1918. They were part of a much larger The imperialist rulers are driven by The working class has its own pro­ this month. foreign intervention, involving more thefr endless search for profits to seek gram for arms control - not a cent for The U.S. rulers are not happy about than 300,000 troops from France and out new markets, new areas of invest- the imperialist war machine! these developments. "What was once a Britain alone. . ment, new sources of cheap labor and We should demand not only a freeze raw materials. And the need to defend on the building of new weapons, but the well-defined dispute among specialists It is not surprising that the imperial­ these sources of profit against social rev­ is increasingly becoming the subject of ist powers reacted to the Russian revo­ scrapping of the existing nuclear wea­ olution leads the imperialist. govern­ popular conflict," Joseph Kraft com­ lution with fury. They were in the midst pons in the U.S. arsenal, which canal­ ment to intervene around the world, as plained in the March 11 Washington of a bloody war over markets, sources of ready destroy all life on earth many it is now doing in Central America. times over. Post. raw materials, and colonial possessions. A similar view was taken by New Such demands must be tied to opposi­ Then, at one stroke, the victorious revo­ The nuclear arms issue York Times columnist James Reston, lution ripped a large sector of the world tion to imperialist intervention around who argued March 7 that "control of nu­ market out of their grip. Militarism and war are the necessary the world. There can be no peace as long as the U.S. rulers violate the right of clear weapons is too complicated and Furthermore, the establishment of a ·result of monopoly capitalism. And its dangerous to be decided in New Eng­ workers and farmers government in nuclear buildup is one more expression self-determination of countries from· Iran to El Salvador. Defense of the con­ land town meetings or in popular peti­ Russia was an inspiration to the masses of the imperialist war drive. It was tions to the California Legislature." throughout the world. Washington that produced: quests of the workers and farmers in other countries is part of the fight for Even after their direct military inter­ • The first atomic bomb in 1945; Both Reston and Kraft, recognizing peace. In this context, it is also neces­ vention failed, the imperialist powers • The first intercontinentai bomber the massive popular sentiment against sary to oppose the imperialist draft and the nuclear arms race urged Reagan to continued an economic blockade of the in 1948; Soviet Union. Washington did not grant • The first hydrogen bomb in 1954; the presence of U.S. military bases walk softly. As Kraft put it, "The admin­ throughout the world. istration would be well advised to co­ diplomatic recognition to the Soviet gov­ • The first nuclear submarine in ernment until 1933. 1954; It could be argued that such a sweep­ opt, rather than oppose, the anti-nucle­ ing program is not realistic. But if the ar weapons movement now shaping up." Meanwhile, the USSR was confronted • The first submarine-launched bal­ with the rising menace of fascism. In listic missile in 1960; . perspective of the workers and farmers This advice is already being followed establishing their own government to by many Democratic and Republican June 1941, German imperialism in­ • The first multiple independently vaded the Soviet Union. targeted warhead (MIRV) in 1970. reconstruct society on new foundations Party politicians. is unrealistic, so is the survival of hu­ And the Pentagon is now in the pro­ Military necessity forced the U.S. and manity. Leopards changing their spots? British rulers into a wartime alliance cess of producing and deploying the first cruise missiles. On March 10, a resolution on the nu­ with the Soviet government. But it was only seven months after the end of Since it is the U.S. rulers who are re­ clear arms issue was introduced in both sponsible for the nuclear threat, the de­ N.Y. rally March 23 houses of Congress. The resolution, World War II that British ex-Prime Minister Winston Churchill ushered in mand to end it must be directed against along the same lines as the California them. That is why it is necessary to call to hit Reagan visit referendum, has gained the support of the cold war with his famous "iron cur­ tain" speech. for unilateral nuclear disarmament. apout 150 legislators. Furthermore, abstract talk about NEW YORK - President Ronald It was claimed that the Soviet Union peace and arms control while ignoring Reagan will be met by a protest demon­ Al~hough the resolution was quickly was an expansionist power that was the threat of a real shooting war does stration when he comes to town on attacked by the Reagan administration seeking to conquer the world. This not advance the cause of peace. March 23 to receive a gold medal for his and hailed by many on the left, includ­ charge was used to foster a witch-hunt Arms control negotiations between "contribution to humanity." ing the U.S. Communist Party, it raised inside the United States and as justifi­ Washington and Moscow have been go­ The demonstration is being organized some obvious questions. cation for launching a huge arms pro­ Just three months ago, the Senate ing on for decades now. The U.S. rulers by a broad coalition which includes over gram. It became the stated goal of tJ.S. use such negotiations as cover for con­ 100 student, labor, social, religious, and passed Reagan's military budget by a foreign policy to "roll back commu­ vote of 93 to 4, and the House of Repre­ tinuing to escalate their nuclear build­ community organi~ations. nism." up. Protesters will demand an end to U.S. sentatives voted for it by 334 to 84. That The United States came out of World budget included all the nuclear weapons Resolutions and referenda calling for intervention in El Salvador. They will War II with its productive apparatus negotiations for a "nuclear freeze" don't also call for a halt to the racist, sexist, programs Reagan had requested. more than doubled, with a monopoly on Are the sponsors of the resolution for change this situation. Arms control and antiunion policies of the Reagan ad­ the atomic bomb, and with its cities un­ agreements have never helped to avert ministration. a freeze on nuclear weapons now touched. against these programs that many of war. Among the supporters of the action Compare this with the situation in Right now, any serious fight against are: Committee in Solidarity with the them voted for? Have the leopards the Soviet Union. To begin with, the changed their spots? the nuclear danger must include opposi­ People of El Salvador; National Black country had lost at least 20 million dead tion to Reagan's moves toward war in United Front; Workers World Party; So­ A quick look at what the proposed leg­ - 10 percent of its entire population! islation actually says reveals why it has Central America. It is precisely during cialist Workers Party; University Stu­ Furthermore, the most heavily indus­ gained such broad endorsement. wartime that there is the greatest dent Senate of the City U11iversity of trialized areas of the country had been danger of nuclear weapons actually be­ New York;· Young Socialist Alliance; devastated. What the resolution says ing used. and the American Federation of State, The Soviet Union was not in a posi­ County, and Municipal Employees Dis­ The resolution calls on the U.S. and tion to launch any war of conquest. It trict Council 1707. A working-class solution Soviet governments to "pursue a com­ desperately wanted peace. Between The rally will be on March 23, at 6 plete halt to the nuclear arms race." It 1945 and 1948, the Soviet armed forces Ultimately, the only way that human­ p.m., at 54th Street and Avenue of the demands that they "decide when and were reduced from 11.5 million to less ity can eliminate the danger of nuclear Americas, in front of the Hilton Hotel. how to achieve a mutual and verifiable than 3 million. war is·for the working class and its al­ For more information, call (212) 741- freeze on the testing, production and U.S. policymakers were well aware of lies to disarm the imperialist warmak- 0633.

March 26, 1982 The Militant 3 -U.S. OUT OF CENTRAL AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN!---- another NBIPP tour to Grenada cal and Atomic Workers; Frank commented on the success of the Hundreds in in June. El Salvador Martino, president of Interna­ conference. "Our committee Detroit turn out committee gains tional Chemical Workers really has grown in the process Lopez blasted the Reagan ad­ Union; Charles Perlik, presi­ of organizing the last three for rally to ·ministration's economic attacks new support dent of The Newspaper Guild; months for the conference." on working people. He linked Williard McGuire, president of Following the conference, rep­ build March 27 these attacks to the war being The National Labor Commit­ National Education Associa­ resentatives from eight Oregon _waged on working people in tee in Support of Democracy and tion; and John Sweeney, presi­ Sue Apstein reports from De­ cities and Seattle gathered for a Central America. He charged Human Rights in El Salvador dent of Service Employees In­ troit that 500 people turned out regional meeting of the Com­ that "Reagan lies when he has added eight new names to ternational Union. for a two-day educational con­ mittee in Solidarity with the blames the crisis in El Salvador its list of supporters. The com­ People ofEl Salvador (CISPES). ference March 10-11, organized on Cuba and Nicaragua . . . he mittee was formed to educate by Central America solidarity They discussed plans for organ­ is the one who is training sol­ American trade unionists and izing an action in Seattle on and antiwar activists. diers and officers of the junta other working people about the Speaking at a rally to public­ Oregon, Arizona March 27. ... he is the real terrorist." struggle in El Salvador. It op­ In Phoenix on March 10, 125 ize the March 27 antiwar dem­ Lopez urged everyone to partici­ poses U.S. military intervention draw activists onstration in Washington, D.C., people attended a meeting pate in the March 27 actions. as well as U.S. aid to the Salvad­ called by the Committee were Robert Lopez, internation­ oran junta. for antiwar work al representative of the United The nilly was preceded by a Against U.S. Aggression in The committee's initial en­ Twice as many people as ex­ Central America (CAUSA). It Auto Workers; Kikora Ras Taba news conference. At.this gather­ dorsers include Douglas Fraser, from the National Black Inde­ ing, Detroit City Council pected, over 200, turned out for was held at Arizona State Uni­ president of United Auto a conference on violence in Cen­ versity. Speakers included Joe pendent Political ·Party member Mary Anne Mahaffey Workers; Jack Sheinkman, se­ (NBIPP); Arnaldo Ramos of the presented Arnaldo Ramos with tral America at the Law School McCawley from CISPES, Josef­ cretary-treasurer of Amalgam­ of Willamette University in Sa­ ina Otero of the Young Socialist Re.volutionary Democratic a resolution passed by the De­ ated Clothing and Textile Front of El Salvador; and oth­ troit City Council. The resolu­ lem, Oregon. The conference Alliance, Mary Anne Berling Workers Union (ACTWU); and was sponsored by the Salem from CAUSA, and representa­ ers. tion endorsed the March 27 ac­ William Winpisinger, president tion and opposed military and Committee on Latin America tives from Amnesty Interna­ Taba reminded the audience of International Association of (SCOLA). tional and Feminists United for economic aid to the Salvadoran Machinists. about the 17. percent death rate junta. Among the speakers at the Action. Several speakers urged and 22 percent casualty rate for New endorsers include Ed February 26-27 gathering were those in the audience to partici­ Blacks during the Vietnam In addition, Local 23 of the Asner, president of Screen Ac­ Arnaldo Ramos from the Revo­ pate in the March 27 action to War. She warned, "we would be American Federation of State, tors Guild; Kenneth Brown; lutionary Democratic Front, be held at Temple Beach Park in the first to go," in another war. County and Municipal Employ­ president of Graphic Arts Inter­ and Bill Wapapa from the Phoenix in coordination with Raba described recent tours or­ ees voted to endorse March 27 national Union; Murray Finley, American Indian Movement. the national march on Washing­ ganized by the NBIPP to Grena­ and send two of its members as president of ACTWU; Robert Trade unionist and SCOLA ton, D.C., on that same day. da and Cuba. She announced representatives. Gross, president of Oil, Chemi- organizer Dave Worthington -NELSON GONZALEZ March 27 actions build to protest U.S. war moves

Continued from Page 1 March 27 demonstration in Washington University have called a March 24 cam­ In addition, in recent weeks both the and a March 24 rally is being planned as part of the deepening struggle pus rally, the first since the 1970 inva­ League of United La5-in American Citi­ for Minnesota. against the Reagan administration. sion of Cambodia. zens and the Mexican American Demo­ The New York March 27 coalition re­ After being swamped by requests In a recent San Antonio meeting or­ crats, a group of Texas Democratic Par­ ports very large turnouts at film show­ from students for seats on buses going to ganized to publicize the action, 150 peo­ ty elected officials, have adopted resolu­ ings of El Salvador: Another Vietnam, Washington on March 27, the student ple, mostly Chicanos, saw a film on El tions in opposition to U.S. intervention and at membership meetings of CISPES · government at Lehman College in Man­ Salvador. The March 27 action in Dallas in El Salvador. The United Steel­ chapters. hattan decided to provide as many buses has been endorsed by IUE Local 780 in workers local at Hughes Tool in Hous­ as necessary to meet all requests. Nu­ San Antonio. ton has also passed a similar resolution. At Bennington College, one-third of merous other buses are being organized the student body of600 came out recent­ from all parts of New York City, inde­ ly to see a film on El Salvador. Mid-Hud­ pendently of the March 27 Coalition. son Valley CISPES reports a turnout of 300 for their film showing. Three In what is shaping up to be a very sig­ hundred viewed the film at Rutgers, and nificant demonstration in Dallas, acti­ 200 at Seton Hall and Long Island Uni­ vists report a growing number of en­ versity. dorsers for the rally called by Dallas, At Princeton, several days after 600 Houston, and Austin antiwar and soli­ students came out to see a film on El darity groups. Salvador, two hundred students at­ Among the scheduled speakers at the tended a meeting to set up a CISPES af­ Dallas activity are Philip Wheaton from filiate on campus. EPICA; Jaime Martinez, international At a recent meeting of the March 23 representative of the International Coalition, initiated by the People's Anti­ Union of Electrical Workers (IUE); Raul War Mobilization (PAM), 200 people Salinas from the American Indian discussed plans for a demonstration on Movement; a representative of Houston March 23, when President Reagan is ex­ Casa Farabundo Marti and a represen­ pected to be in New York. Larry tative speaking for Houston Congress­ Holmes, speaking on behalf of the Coali­ man Leland. tion, pointed out that on March 23 every In order to publicize the Dallas speaker should say something about the march, activists at Southern Methodist

Militant/Lou Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) is helping to build demonstrations in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle, Dallas, Denver, Tucson, and Phoenix on March 27 to pro­ test U.S. war moves.

'Perspectiva Mundial' is the Spanish-language sister publication of the 'Militant.' Like the El Salvador actions in Canada, Britain 'Militant,' it carries regular coverage of the labor Major actions will be held in Canada In Britain a national demonstration movement and the struggles for social justice in on March 27 demanding that the Cana­ against U.S. intervention in El Salvador the United States and abroad, plus news and dian government end its support for the will take place in London on March 28. analysis with a special emphasis on the workers Salvadoran elections and U.S. aggres­ It will include a march tO Trafalgar movement in Latin America. sion in Central America and the Carib­ Square. The demonstration will coincide bean. with the fraudulent elections scheduled 0 $8 fer 6 months Local protests will be held in many by the Salvadoran junta for the same 0 $16 for 1 year cities and a national demonstration will day. 0 $35 for 1 year (air mail, Latin America) be held in Ottawa, the country's capital. 0 $40 for 1 year (air mail, rest of the world) 0 US$8 por 6 meses The actions were called by a confer­ Send check or money order to: Perspective 0 US$16 por un afio ence in Ottawa in January, which ·Sell the 'Militant,' Mundial, 408 West Street, New York, N.Y. 10014 0 US$35 por un. afio brought together activists from forty­ 'Perspectiva Mundial' USA (correo aereo a America Lati­ two solidarity groups and representa­ na) tives of trade unions, humanitarian, There will be a dispatch center for all church, and community organizations. 'Perspectiva Mundial' es una revista socialists 0 US$40 por un afio those who want to sell the Militant, destinada a defender los intereses del pueblo (correo al resto del mundo) A petition has been launched by the Perspectiva Mundial, and the Young So­ trabajador. lncluye reportajes sabre el movi­ three major labor federations in Quebec, cialist at the March 27 demonstration miento obrero y las luchas por Ia justicia social Envia cheque o giro postal a together with Central America solidar­ in Washington. en Estados Unidos y el mundo, ademas de nombre de Perspectiva ity organizations and student groups, It will be located at the corner of 15th noticias y analisis con un enfasis especial en las Mundial, 408 West Street, demanding that the Canadian govern­ Street and Euclid A venue on Euclid. luchas de los obreros y campesinos en America Nueva York, N.Y. 10014, ment end its support for the Salvadoran This is at the northeast corner of Mal­ Latina. EUA. elections and advocate a negotiated so­ colm X Park, which is the assembly lution. point for the march.

4 The Militant March 26, 1982 .",I Ambassador gets out truth on Grenada · '))~~:? BY JERRY HUNNICUTr In addition to speaking at the Univer- members of Miami's Haitian communi- . t',,.,, MIAMI - For three years, the big- sity of Miami and at Florida Interna- ty. Several Haitians explained that they business media have bombarded Mia- _tional University, Jacobs spoke at a had come to hear Jacobs to learn the les- mi's working people with lies about the Grenada solidarity rally held in Miami's sons of the Grenada revolution for their Grenada revolution. Black community, co-sponsored by the own struggle against the hated dictator- A February 18-20 visit by Ian Jacobs, Miami Southern Christian Leadership ship of Jean-Claude Duvalier. Grenada's deputy ambassador to the Or- Conference. At this meeting, Jacobs gave a brief ganization of American States and the As Jacobs described to the rally the sketch of Grenada's exploitation under United Nations, served as an important gains made by the people of revolution- British colonialism and then under the li_::~lt opportunity to get out the truth about ary Grenada, he was repeatedly inter- Eric Gairy regime. revolutionary Grenada. Jacobs was able rupted by enthusiastic applause. The Jacobs described the role ofGairy's se- lf&i to speak to over 400 people in meetings, film Grenada, Nobody's Back Yard was <;ret police, the hated "Mongoose Gang," Intercontinental Press/Pat Kane and reached thousands more through shown following his presentation. and Haitians in the audience easily Health care and education for every­ radio talk shows and newspaper inter- The high point of the tour took place drew the connection between this and one are priorities in new Grenada. views. when Jacobs spoke in front of 150 Duvalier's tontons macoutes, the police goons who brutally suppress any opposi­ tion to the dictatorship in Haiti. Jacobs explained the process of build­ Guatemalans defy gov't, shun election ing the New Jewel Movement, rooting it in the struggles of the people and plac­ ing it in the front line of battle against BY JANE HARRIS were decapitated with machetes on elec­ Despite incessant patrols of Guatema­ the dictatorship. AND ANTIGONA MARTiNEZ tion day, a fact that was covered up by la City and nearby villages by helicop­ As he went on to explain the gains of MANAGUA, Nicaragua- Sixty per­ ters and armored cars, insurgent forces the Guatemalan army for four days. the Grenada revolution in education cent of Guatemala's voters responded to stopped traffic, barricading roads with and health care, he was interrupted by the call by the Guatemalan National Eight delegates from the Christian stones, old tires, and power and tele­ cheers and applause. And as the meet­ Revolutionary Union (URNG) to boy­ Democratic Party were "disappeared" phone poles. In addition, buses that ing ended,· shouts of "Free Haiti" and cott the March 7 elections, even though after leaving the polls where they had were to have transported voters to the "Down with Duvalier" were heard not voting is illegal. (Guatemalans can been working. polls were burned. lose their jobs for failure to vote.) The Right-wing opponents of Guevara throughout the room. Organized by a regime that has been URNG arose out of the unification of were livid about election fraud. They During the tour, Jacobs was also able systematically murdering even its most to appear on a three-hour talk-show on Guatemala's four main revolutionary told their poll watchers to leave at mid­ ~oderate political opponents, the elec­ WMBM radio, a major station listened guerrilla organizations in February. tions were merely a cynical public rela­ day, when the evidence became obvious to them. Demonstrations organized by to by the Black community. The show Furthermore, 30,000 Guatemalans tions gimmick designed to put a better the losing rightist parties occurred in was hosted by a prominent Black profes­ cast blank ballots as a means of face on the savage repression carried sor, Marvin Dunn. Guatemala City March 9. Police threw avoiding victimization while register­ out by the government. The only partici­ tear gas at groups of protesters and fired When Dunn asked Jacobs to answer ing their protest. pants in the presidential race were the charge that there were human shots into rightists. the crowd. The number of News of Gen. Anfbal Guevara's elec­ dead and injured has yet to be revealed. rights violations and attacks on freedom of the press in Grenada, Jacobs took the tion as president of Guatemala came as Prior to election day, a special Mobile Because in some areas there were a surprise to no one. question head on. He explained that Emergency Force was formed. Consist­ more votes than persons registered to since the March 1979 revolution there Mass murder, intimidation, and fraud ing of security troops, national police, vote, and because election officials were had been no violations of human rights. were but a few of the means used by the and counterinsurgency forces, and so slow in counting the ballots, the government to ensure that Guevara's armed with air force hel­ rightist National Liberation Movement He explained, "The people now have a victory would come off without a hitch. icopters, the force was supposed to (MLN) has officially asked for an annul­ regular voice in their affairs with Par­ Some 200 men, women, and children guard any installations that the revolu­ ment of the election. They have taken ish Councils. These councils are elected in the town of Santa Cruz del Quiche tionary guerrillas might attack. their evidence to the U.S. embassy, hop­ by the people of their parish and meet ing to put more pressure on Guevara's regularly with government officials to regime. map out solutions to their problems. No For protesting the election, three such governmental structures existed Argentine socialist nturdered right-wing presidential candidates were under the Gairy dictatorship." detained in a clandestine detention cen­ When the commentator interrupted BY JOAQUIN RIVERY A series of kidnappings recently has ter for an hour and a half and then re­ Jacobs to ask about detainees, Jacobs [The following article appeared in the led human rights groups and observers leased. Three reporters for the Amer­ explained, "We have only detained March 7 issue of the English-language to wonder if a new wave of disappearan­ ican Broadcasting Company were also those who have used violence or plotted weekly Granma, published in Havana, ces is growing, such as that which took beaten up and detained by the police. to overthrow our revolution through vi­ Cuba.] · place in 1976 following the military Since election day, a dozen murders olent means, like those responsible for coup, when thousands of people disap­ by the police have been reported. Renan the June 1980 bombing deaths of three * * * peared, never to be heard of again. Ever Quinonez, a spokesperson for the Chris­ young girls and the wounding of twenty­ since 1976, groups of mothers and other tian Democratic Party, told the press eight others." The kidnapping and murder in Bu­ relatives of the victims have been dem­ that he had information concerning a enos Aires of Ana Maria Martinez, a With regard to the press, Jacobs ex­ onstrating regularly in the Plaza de death list containing the names of 100 plained that there are a number of inde­ member of the Argentine Socialist Mayo, in central Buenos Aires, demand­ persons. Included on the list were the Workers' Party, has aroused a wave of pendent newspapers in Grenada, the on­ ing to know the whereabouts of their three right-wing candidates who lost. ly restriction being that the papers can­ condemnation and led many to wonder loved ones. From Intercontinental Press if Argentina is returning to the era of not be owned by one person or by non­ unsolved killings. Grenadians. In response to the commentator's Ana Maria Martinez, who was preg­ questions regarding Grenada's relation­ nant, disappeared on February 4. She ship with Cuba, Jacobs explained that was arrested near her home by a group "Cuba has aided Grenada tremendously of armed men and taken off in an olive Nicaragua: -in technical assistance with the con­ green car. The car had a radio and noli­ An introduction struction of our international airport, in cense plate and resembles those used by to the Sandinista our fishing industry, and in 9ur health the Argentine repressive forces. Revolution care.". Ten days later her body was found in a After the revolution, Jacobs noted, By Arnold Weissberg. Managua correspondent for the U.S. ambassador to the Eastern Ca­ garbage dump 25 kilometers from Bu­ 'Intercontinental Press,' enos Aires. According to police evidence, ribbean attempted to offer the Grenadi­ it was absoiutely unrecognizable. Iden­ 48 pp., $.95. ans money if they would have nothing to tification was made from her finger­ do with Cuba. ''We told them to keep prints. The Struggle their money," he said. "Since then,· our relations have gone The military regime blamed ultraleft for Freedom downhill. The State Department has groups for the crime, but this version is in Guatemala tried to isolate us among our Caribbean widely disbelieved. neighbors. They will not certify our am­ Human rights organizations, politi­ By Anlbal Yanez, 32 pp., $.75. bassador, and they have refuaed to ac­ cians and political parties, and people cept our application for formal diplo­ active in the arts promptly joined in the matic relations. wave of protest, and even organs of the "The State Department has gone on a mass media chimed in. Many blamed Also Available: campaign of lies about our revolution." the crime on the state security services. Jacobs added that the current war When it was announced that the par­ El Salvador: The Grenada · preparations in the Caribbean . were ents of the victim were to request that Why the U.S. Revolution aimed at Grenada as well as Cuba and the body be exhumed and a new autopsy government at Work Nicaragua. performed, the police claimed the body When the commentator attempted to was still in the morgue. Nobody knows hides the truth By W. Richard Jacobs, Grenada's hint that Grenada might receive better Ambassador to Cuba, 15 pp., $.50. why Martinez's body was not given to By Fred Murphy, 32 pp.. $.95. treatment from the United States if the parents. At the time of writing, the they gave up their relationship with body has still not appeared. Order from Pathfinder Press. 410 Fidel Castro, Jacobs answered, "We de­ Recently a mother told how her son Grenada: Revolution West Street. New York. N.Y. 10014. termine who our friends are." had been kidnapped. The kidnappers in the Caribbean Add $. 75 for postage. Send for a free Jacobs made it known that he is avail­ forced her to sell her apartment and give By Sam Manuel and Andrew Pulley catalog of socialist books and able for speaking engagements and film them the money; then they disappeared. showings throughout the country. He 36 pp.. $.95. pamphlets. . She has not heard from them or from her can be reached at the Grenada Mission son. to the United Nations in New York.

March 26, 1982 The Militant 5 Socialists set drive to up sales of press

BY NANCY ROSENSTOCK drive and the employers' austerity pro­ we expect to win new readers through This spring members of the Socialist gram. our petitioning effort. Workers Party and Young Socialist Al­ Sales of the Militant and PM, along We'll be taking the Militant and PM liance will be carrying out a twelve­ with election campaigns and public fo­ to garment workers, auto workers, week drive to increase sales of the Mil­ rums, is the key way that socialists par­ steelworkers and others, including itant and Perspectiva Mundial, a Span­ ticipate in these discussions. It is by in­ those who are laid off from the mines, ish-language, biweekly socialist maga­ troducing new people to the Militant mills, and yards. Militant and PM sales­ zine. The goal is to reach 4,500 readers and PM that we are able to pose work­ people will be outside of plant gates, at each week in addition to subscribers. ing-class solutions to the current eco­ unemployment offices, check-cashing nomic crisis and the militarization centers, or wherever concentrations of The drive will begin with the April 2 drive. industrial workers can be found. Militant and the April 5 PM. It will con­ clude with the June 18 Militant and the Through sales of the Militant and PM, Socialists who work in these indus­ June 14PM. campaign activists will be winning sup­ tries will be introducing more and more The campaign will be kicked off with port for socialist candidates who are people to the proposals of the Militant a giant sale at the March 27 demonstra­ running in local and state-wide races in and PM for how tlie union movement tions against U.S. intervention in Cen­ twenty-eight states and Washington, can organize to fight back. tral America. It will end with sales at D.C. We'll be following the example of St. the June 12 United Nations demonstra­ In California, Mel Mason, a socialist Louis socialists. Every week a team of tion against disarmament. city council member from Seaside, is running an independent campaign for Militant salespeople are at the gates of There's sure to be a lot of receptivity governor of California. His supporters McDonnell Douglas. This giant aircraft to socialist ideas this spring. Opposition are gearing up for an aggressive cam­ -company, which has many Pentagon to war in Central America and theCa­ paign. They will be introducing contracts, has singled out four union ribbean is deep and continues to grow. hundreds of new people to Mason's cam­ militants for victimization and firing' Unemployment is at the highest level paign through the Militant and PM. because of their political beliefs. Jody since the Great Depression. Curran, who is under investigation by Alongside the sales campaign, peti­ the company for her views, heads up the Many protests are taking place and tioning to put socialist candidates on the sales team. Her co-workers have come to more are planned for this spring. Two ballot will be taking place in over a do­ respect her for fighting back. They buy MilitanUElizabeth Kilanowski national antiwar demonstrations have zen states. Through this effort, thou­ the Militant to find out about the ideas February 2 anti-Reagan demonstra­ already been called. sands more will become familar with McDonnell Douglas is trying to sup­ tion in Minneapolis. Antiwar actions A growing layer of workers, who suf­ the working class alternative in 1982. press. like this and upcoming March 27 pro­ fer from the bipartisan offensive against While this big effort to win ballot sta­ test will be one focus of spring cam­ the labor movement, are looking for tus will mean that there will be many In most areas, Saturday will be the paign to increase sales of socialist answers. They are discussing how to ef­ weeks that not all areas will be able to big day of the week. On that day, sales press. fectively fight back against the war fully participate in the sales campaign, teams will fan out across the cities sell­ ing Militants andPMs and winning sup­ port for the socialist candidates. Sales on campuses and at high schools Workers won'tfoot Wash. nuke bill will be brisk as we meet the draft-age youth who refuse to fight Reagan's war SEATTLE -A major confrontation is been won. A few districts have refused the profits of investors." in El Salvador. growing in Washington state over who to lend WPPSS any money even to sell Pointing out that Washington's work­ Our initial experience at garment is going to pay runaway costs in the the cancelled plants and assets. This ing people have no means of discussing shops tells us that PM sales can be very building of five nuclear power plants by means the entire project could go in de­ or deciding how energy resources should successful. Recently, in Brooklyn, more the Washington Public Power Supply fault. Some of the citizens' groups have be used, Remple calls for nationalizing than fifty copies of PM were sold in the System (WPPSS). forced their utility commissioners, who the energy industry and running it with garment district in a little over one The confrontation is between the are elected, to vote against rate in­ an elected public board. week... state's working people on the one hand, creases. Lawsuits have also been filed. Remple said all nuclear plants should Our success in reaching thousands of and the banks, contractors, bond­ A statement being distributed by sup­ be shut down, and he called for an exam­ holders, and corporations on the other. porters of Chris Remple, Socialist ination of WPPSS's books so working working people with the ideas of revolu­ In the early 1970s the banks, contrac­ Workers Party candidate for U.S. Se­ people can see what resources exist and tionary socialism through the circula­ tors, and big corporations launched a nate, declares that WPPSS is a public then determine if and how much hy­ tion and ballot drives this spring, will WPPSS program to build five nuclear utility in name only. It was set up by droelectric and coal power may be neces­ lay a strong foundation for taking even power plants in the state, supposedly to banks, big investors, and power com­ sary. bigger steps forward in bringing our meet the state's need for electricity in panies. It was sold to Washington voters "We say to the banks," he declared, ideas to working people during the final the coming years. At the time construc­ by Democratic and Republican politi­ "you made the bad investment. You lap of the 1982 election campaign. tion broke ground, the total cost was to cians. take the loss. It's your problem. Not one We urge Militant readers to join us in have been $6 billion. Its purpose, he said, was "to convince penny more. No more bond sales to bail this effort. Just fill out the coupon on Today, WPPSS directors say the bill us there would be no power without nu­ out the banks and the investors. Let the this page and we'll rush a bundle off to will be $24 billion, and that is with two clear power and that we had to finance banks pay." you. of the five plants cancelled, though par­ tially built. For shutdown costs alone of the cancelled plants, WPPSS directors want $7 billion, most of which is for · Philly candidates hail Grenada anniversary work that will never be done. All those responsible admit misman­ PHILADELPHIA - On March 13, of United Auto Workers Local 92. people were with putting socialism out," agement. They agree that the outrage of the third anniversary of the Grenadian "The capitalists have been backed in­ said John Dougherty, a·Philadelphia ac­ utility customers in the state is justi­ revolution, the Socialist Workers Party to a corner. Their very survival de­ tivist from the Committee in Solidarity fied. But just as unanimously they say campaign in eastern Pennsylvania mands that they strike out against the with the People of El Salvador who was the bills must be paid. kicked off its 1982 campaign with a mil­ workers at home with austerity and drawn to the rally after meeting an But what does "the bills must be paid" itant rally at Antioch College here. union busting, and against workers SWP candidate at a demonstration for mean to the working people ofWashing­ The revolutionary-example of Grena­ abroad with the unleashing of the their El Salvador. ton? It means that rates, which have al­ da "has special significance to Black military might," said Emminizer. "But A fifteen-year-old high school stu­ ready doubled in the last two years, will people in America," said Chris Davis, their attempt to implement their pro­ dent, Greg Rosenberg, said he wished double and triple again in many areas of SWP candidate for the Pennsylvania gram is running smack up against a more revolutionary young people would the state by 1984. State Senate in District 3. "Since new generation of fighters." have come to the rally. "If they could These figures need to be translated in­ their revolution, the new government in A "permanently laid-off' Conrail just hear this, they wouldn't believe all to bimonthly bills to grasp the real im­ Grenada has put an end to racist attacks worker, Mike Finley, who is the SWP the lies they are always being told," he pact. Dorothy and Ted Lindsay organ­ and to the oppression and exploitation of candidate for U.S. Congress from Dis­ said. ized a local chapter ofiRATE ratepayers Blacks. It has replaced these evils with trict 4, pinned the blame for rampant in Grays Harbor when their electric bill free educati0n, free health care, and a unemployment on the U.S. ruling class. became larger than their mortgage pay­ fight for full employment." "Unemployment is consciously created Sell the Militant ment. Sandy Daniels, also from Grays Davis, a twenty-three-year-old hospi­ by the corporations and their govern­ Harbor, said her two-month bill, which tal worker from north Philadelphia, ment because it is profitable. The Order a bundle to sell at your had been between $120 and $150, has said his campaign would talk to the peo­ number of unemployed is now the larg­ workplace, at your school, in your gone to $377. ple of Philadelphia about the need for an est since 1939. Putting these people neighborhood, or to your friends. Washington's working people have independent party that will fight for hu­ back to work will take revolutionary We'll bill you once a month. The had enough. Citizens in county after man needs and fight for a workers and measures," said Finley. charge to you is $.55 per copy. county have held rallies and marches farmers government in the United He called for a massive public jobs Send me a weekly bundle of ___ against the rate increases. Four thou­ States. program to create employment, for a Militants. Send me a· biweekly sand turned out in Hoaquim, 1,400 in Davis told the sixty people at the rally shorter workweek to spread the .availa­ bundle of __ PMs. - Port Angeles, and 1,200 in Shelton. that the Philadelphia Black community ble work, and for putting the 17 percent Enclosed is my contribution of Four actions of between 200 and 1,000 has been a special target of police re­ of the country's unused industrial ca­ $ to help finance the have taken place in Everett, and one of pressio:ri designed to instill fear and in­ pacity back into service. spring sales campaign. 1,200 was held in Mason City. timidation in the community. Two young workers at the rally were Name ______Meetings have been held in Tacoma "The international economic crisis impressed. The candidates "had a very and Seattle. Clallam and Pacific coun­ and the decline of American industry militant tone, but weren't removed from Address ties have scheduled a second round of demand that the American ruling class the practical framework of making a City __ State __ Zip __ meetings later this month. A state-wide break the power of the trade union change," said George Shockey, a visitor conference of the local groups was held movement, ultimately eliminating it al­ to Philadelphia while laid-off from work The Militant, 14 Charles Lane, March 14 in Olympia. together," said Cathy Emminizer, SWP at a lamp manufacturing plant in Flori­ New York, New York 10014. Some small victories have already candidate for U.S. Senate and a member da. "I was impressed with how up front

6 The Militant March 26, 1982 Burlington Vt. citizens give socialist mayor vote of confidence Workers, students, poor elect aldermen Bernard Sanders, socialist mayor of Burlington, has . helped organize support to air traffic controllers, wom­ en's rights, and against the draft since his election last year.

BY JON FLANDERS which had a stranglehold on city polit­ "prevents him from working with peo­ the above-mentioned candidates so that AND PETER THIERJUNG ics, has responded to the election of the ple." this city can move forward vigorously to BURLINGTON, Vt. - Supporters of mayor with a campaign of foot-drag­ Sanders and his allies responded that protect the interests of working people, Bernard Sanders, Burlington's socialist ging, obstruction, and red-baiting. the real problem was the consistent ref­ the elderly, the young, and all people of mayor, inflicted a stunning defeat to the They used their majority on the Board usal of Democrats and Republicans to independent mind and spirit." Democratic Party here in the March 2 of Aldermen to stop the appointment of carry out genuine social change that Interest in the election was intense. aldermanic elections. Sanders's supporters to city administra­ would benefit working people. More than 100 young people cam­ Of six candidates for Board of Alder­ tive posts. Democrats holding those One Democrat said of Sanders during paigned for coalition candidates. Sand- · men endorsed by Sanders's Coalition for posts sabotaged and delayed initiatives the campaign, "Socialism should not be ers estimated that he alone knocked on Responsive Government, three won taken by the mayor. And in a move that allowed to hibernate here and grow like more than 1,500 d<:Jors. Three hundred against Democrats and Republicans; backfired, the Democrat-controlled Vo­ a fungus." people turned out for a campaign fund­ and two came close enough to force run­ ter Registration Board passed restric­ As the election neared, Sanders and raiser at City Hall that included the off elections. If Sanders's supporters win tive registration requirements that they his supporters formed a slate of candi­ showing of a film on the Industrial the run-off, they will have a majority of claimed would prevent "transients," dates, the Coalition for Responsive Gov­ Workers of the World, a prominent radi­ the seven-seat Board. such as students, from voting. ernment. The slate included independ­ cal group in the early 1900s. Sanders was elected a year ago on a Not only would these measures have ents, Citizens Party activists, and platform of opposition to increased prop­ denied students their voting rights, but former Democrats disillusioned with the Left with two sure board seats, Demo­ erty taxes and the construction of a wa­ many poor working-class voters would antics of Democratic Party bosses. crats blamed "clever propaganda" for terfront housing development for the also have been excluded from elections. The thrust of the coalition was out­ their defeat. The fact is that the working rich. His support came mostly from The courts declared this maneuver ille­ lined in an endorsement statement by people of Burlington, radicalizing under workers, students, and other low-in­ gal and unconstitutional, after an angry Sanders that was distributed during the the impact of the current economic cri­ come people. response from citizens. campaign: "We have begun the process sis, gave their socialist mayor a vote of Last year's election drew national at­ Both Democrats and Republicans of making the Burlington city govern­ confidence. Mayor Sanders greeted the tention when Sanders, who supported claim that city problems over the last ment open to all people, rather than the victory as a mandate to "fight against Socialist Workers Party presidential year were due to the mayor's "radical small clique and special interests who injustices against working people wher­ candidate Andrew Pulley in 1980, beat and confrontational approach" which ran it in the past. I urge your support for ever they exist." a Democratic Party incumbent who had not lost an election in twenty-three years. The election this March was marked Socialist campaign slams war drive by what the Associated Press described as "the most heated aldermanic cam­ BY OSBORNE HART the struggle in El Salvador and the rev­ istration, Bouricius emphasized. paigns the city had seen in years." More BOSTON - The Socialist Workers olutions in Nicaragua, Grenada, and Declaring that he also spoke for May­ than 10,000 people voted in the off-year Party kicked off its 1982 Massachusetts Cuba. or Sanders on the issue, Bouricius said election, a record number for Burling­ election campaign here March 13 with a "The comparisons between El Salva­ he strongly favored formation of a labor ton. rally urging all-out opposition to U.S. dor and Vietnam are obvious," con­ party in this country. The election capped a year of intense government intervention in El Salva­ tiimed Roland, "but there's one big dif­ Bouricius said he "very much en­ political activity and controversy since dor. ference. Americans remember Vietnam! dorsed" the plank in the SWP platform Sanders's election. Since that time, City "We're issuing a challenge to the "Do you think the younger brother of calling for formation of a labor party, Hall has been a center of political dis­ Kennedys," said SWP gubernatorial a Vietnam vet dying of Agent Orange is and hoped "that we will see a labor par­ cussion, debate, and organizing. candidate Don Gurewitz, who chaired going to line up for murder in El Salva­ ty based on the unions in the United Meetings in support of striking air the event. "We're putting forth an alter­ dor?" States." traffic controllers, the struggle in El native for working people on the major Roland, a shipfitter at the General He told the meeting he also agreed Salvador, Irish hunger strikers, wom­ issues. And the ~ost important issue i~ Dynamics Quincy shipyard, challenged that capitalism could no longer meet the en's rights, and against the draft have war." Kennedy, .who poses as an "antiwar" needs of working people and that it was been held at City Hall with the support Emphasizing the threat of U.S. mil­ candidate, to demand that the United necessary to work for fundamental and participation of the mayor. Senior itary intervention in Central America States immediately stop all aid to the change. citizens, neighborhood groups, and oth­ and the Caribbean, Jane Roland, SWP bloody junta in El Salvador. Other speakers were Art LeClair, er local organizations have also met at candidate for U.S. Senate opposing De­ A highlight of the evening was a SWP candidate for lieutenant governor; City Hall to discuss and organize mocratic incumbent Edward Kennedy, speech by Terry Bouricius, a member of Valerie Eckart, congressional candi­ around their concerns. explained, "The U.S. government is on a the board of aldermen in Burlington, date; and Militant staff writer Harry In the last year the Democratic Party, war drive: a bipartisan effort to destroy Vermont. He represented Burlington's Ring. socialist mayor, Bernard Sanders, at the LeClair, who is vice-president of his rally. rail union local, is a native of South Bos­ Socialist press harassed in Iran Bouricius, a socialist, was elected to ton. Eckart, a factory worker, is former the board of aldermen with the Vermont chair of Central Vermont National Or­ Citizens Party ballot designation last ganization for Women. An extensive pe­ On March 16 representatives of the executions had been carried out at the year when Sanders was elected mayor. tition drive will be conducted to win her Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office in prison. He said torture was practiced, Bouricius spoke of the significance of a place on the ballot. Iran began confiscating copies of Kar­ including hanging people from the ceil­ the victory last month of a board of al­ The buffet and meeting, which fea­ gar, newspaper of the Revolutionary ing with only their toes touching the dermen slate that Sanders vigorously tured a jazz combo, drew more than 100 Workers Party (HKE), from newsstands floor. Atai and other prisoners were campaigned for. Supporters and oppo­ people. More than $2,770 was contribut­ in Tehran. The confiscations occurred whipped on the feet, he said. nents of the slate alike saw the election ed or pledged at the meeting for the despite the fact that the government has This issue of Kargar sold out on the as a referendum on the Sanders admin- campaign. issued no statement revoking Kargar's newsstands. The French daily Le Monde legal status. reported on the Atai interview on March The HKE supports the Iranian revo­ 13. lution and has been active in opposing The HKE has filed a lawsuit calling imperialist attacks on Iran. for a halt to torture, illegal detentions, Armed men came to the shop where and executions. The confiscated Kargar Kargar is printed on March 15 and ar­ issue reported on this lawsuit and on ha­ rested the printer, Mohammed Bagher rassment of the HKE by the authorities. Falsafi. His whereabouts are unknown. Those who support the Iranian revo­ Falsafi has been a member of the Iran­ lution and defend it against the attacks ian Trotskyist movement for ten years. of imperialism should send telegrams The previous issue of Kargar had con­ calling for Falsafi's release to Hojatolis­ tained an extensive interview with lam Mousavi Tabrizi, Prosecutor Gener­ HKE leader Bahram Ali Atai, who had al, Revolutionary Courts, Tehran, Iran. MilitanUJohn Rees just been released from Evin Prison. In Copies should be sent to Jomhuri-ye Es­ March 13 campaign rally in Boston issued challenge to the Kennedys by put­ the interview, Atai reported that secret lami, Tehran, Iran. ting forth an alternative for working people on the major issues.

March 26, 1982 The Militant 7 Going home: a Vietnamese visits his native country

BY PHAM QUOC THAI posed to meet and fly on to Ho Chi Minh membered, and the traffic signs were no the place now." They are indeed its mas­ I left Vietnam in 1971, when I was se­ City (formerly Saigon) together. At the longer in English. There were no beer ters. venteen years old. I had won a four-year last moment, Pan American Airlines cans piled in the gutters, or arrogant During the U.S. war, I felt like a for­ scholarship to the State University of told me that the Thai govemment, an · American soldiers swaggering through eigner in my own country. I saw my peo­ New York at Plattsburg, in upstate New American client state, would not allow the markets and loitering on the ple suffer, without recourse, from the ar­ York. me even to change planes in Bangkok. I comers. rogant behavior of American soldiers Even had I known then that Platts­ had to fly via Air France, which has a During our stay in Ho Chi Minh City, and officials. I was ashamed to see Viet­ burg is a lot closer to the North Pole weekly direct flight from Paris to Ho we visited the No.2 Children's Hospital. namese hustling to gratify every whim than to my hometown of Nha Trang, I Chi Minh City. It has a stopover in It is a very special hospital that receives and desire of loutish Gis with money to would have considered myself fortunate Bangkok, but I wouldn't have to leave patients under fifteen years of age from spend. -four years of study abroad would keep the plane. the city and from outlying districts as Yet, during our stay in Ho Chi Minh me out of the South Vietnamese Army, Anna would arrive in Vietnam a week far away as Vung Tau (twenty-eight City, our joumey to Nha Trang, Da out of a war I could not really under­ before I could join her, a situation that miles away).lt also conducts research to Nang, Hue, and our final week in Hanoi, stand except to think that it might go on only increased my nervousness and help improve the nutrition of children, I felt no hostility toward my fiancee. forever. anticipation. given the scarcities still facing Viet­ When people found out that Anna was At that time, I had only a vague feel­ My flight to Paris and then on to Viet­ nam. We visited twenty-eight severely American, they were pleased - and ing that the excuses that the Saigon re­ nam took four days. It was an exhaust­ malnourished children there, mostly in­ a little surprised - that an American gime and its American patrons gave for ing trip. I couldn't sleep because of my fants whose mothers could not nurse could, or would, come to Vietnam, now prolonging this terrible conflict were excitement and anxieties, the change in them. that it's a socialist country. "fishy." People in my hometOwn could time zones, and the noise of aircraft en­ One aspect of the U.S. trade ban I pressed a neighbor of my family in not speak freely about their feelings for gines. But as the plane lifted off from against Vietnam is the "milk embargo." Nha Trang about the reason for this fear of Thieu's secret police. The South Bangkok, my anxiety subsided and the Washington has also pressured the Eu­ rather remarkable attitude. "Well, she Vietnamese press and radio were gov­ excitement grew. ropean Common Market countries to is your fiancee, after all," he replied, emment-censored, of course, and our on­ I could soon see a familiar landscape halt shipments of surplus milk to Viet­ teasing me. But he was serious when he ly television station was the Americans' through the window. As the plane made nam. As a result, substitutes for moth­ said, "We know that the American peo­ Armed Forces Network. its final descent toward Ho Chi Minh ers' milk are very hard to get in Viet­ ple and the American government are All that I knew for certain was that City, the tropical vegetation, the Saigon nam. Nutritionists at the hospital are different things. We know there are pro­ the hordes of American soldiers and ma­ River, the rice paddies- images buried researching ways to replace milk pro­ gressive Americans, so don't worry rines who cluttered the lovely beaches of inside me for ten long years - appeared tein with soy protein in infant formula, about her!" my hometown, along with their hired and disappeared through the cloud even as they care for these withered lit­ DJ.Iring my two months in Vietnam, I Vietnamese "girlfriends" and their lim­ cover of the early rainy season, giving tle victims of "superpower" politics. didn't see many foreigners. Previously, itless stockpiles of beer, did not treat me me back my full energy. It was like wak­ While in Ho Chi Minh City, we also the Americans' olive-drab uniforms and my fellow Vietnamese as friends, ing up to a summer day after a long hi­ visited the Sinco Sewing Machine crowded cafes, beaches, bars, cinemas, allies or even equals. They despised us bemation. Works, the War Museum, the Fine Arts stores ... Now, here and there, one openly, and we despised them covertly. I couldn't believe I had actually Museum, and many friends and rela­ sees a knot of Russians, Cubans, or East landed in the Socialist Republic of Viet­ tives of friends. We could go wherever Europeans; but almost all of them look Easier to see the truth nam, my beloved country. Standing in we wished, and no one accompanied us. like civilians, and maybe a third of them America was full of surprises. the aisle, waiting for the plane to roll to I felt very self-conscious, wandering are women. First of all, there was the awful home­ a complete stop, I bubbled over with joy. through the streets with Anna, who was I was surprised that the largest group obviously not Vietnamese. Her reddish sickness, made worse because only the As the door of the plane swung open, Vi­ of foreigners we saw was Kampuchean. hair and blue eyes drew crowds of cur­ African students at Plattsburg could un­ etnamese voices from the runway as­ Aside from the Khmer students staying sured me that I was home. When I ious children, certain that she must be a derstand what I meant by "warm." over in Hanoi before being flown out to walked out the door, that familiar heat Russian woman. I'd tell them that she There were no other Vietnamese there. study in the Soviet Union or Eastem was an American, but they couldn't be­ Then there was the relentless barrage wrapped itself around me as if to wel­ Europe, there were Kampuchean truck lieve it. of stories in the American media about come me. convoys on Highway One, full of provi­ the war in my country, what it was do­ Finally, Anna would try saying, "Hel­ sions or passengers. The little Vietnam­ ing to my land and to my people. It was In Ho Chi Minh City lo, how are you?" in English. Those who ese kids playing by the roadside would easier to see the truth about the war After checking through Vietnamese had studied English in school would be spot the Khmer writing on the trucks from the United States than from Nha customs, I was greeted by three friendly convinced. None of these kids knew any and yell "Kam-pu-che-a! Kam-pu-che­ Trang. I was appalled and bitter and Vietnamese officials from the Viet Kieu of the pidgin English, or the vividly pro­ a!" clapping their hands and cheering as helpless to change anything, but I at (Overseas Vietnamese) Committee of fane "American" vocabulary of the Sai­ the Kampucheans applauded in re­ least knew which side I was on. Ho Chi Minh City; they would help me gon street kids that I remembered; this sponse. In 1975, the society I had been trained throughout my stay. Anna joined me af­ was a whole new generation of children. I was amazed, remembering how bit­ to serve collapsed like a house of cards. I ter a big "Hi!" with a burst of joy in her In Hanoi, the children were just as in­ ter my fellow South Vietnamese had was stranded in a country that I could voice. terested in Anna, but much more polite; been following the massacres of Viet­ less than ever consider as a possible The Viet Kieu drove us to the Ben only one or two dared to come up and namese citizens of Cambodia in 1970 by "home." Among Vietnamese "refugees," Thanh Hotel, formerly the "Rex" and a touch her long bright hair. the rightist, U.S.-backed Lon Nol re­ "emigres," and "immigrants," I felt like hangout for American Gis. We were in The way the Vietnamese people inter­ gime. I was able to talk to the Khmer an involuntary exile. the heart of Saigon, only a couple of acted with foreigners filled me with students in Saigon and Hanoi in my in­ At first, I had hoped that the U.S. gov­ blocks from the Ben Thanh Market, the pride. They dealt with Anna on a friend­ adequate French, but when some Kam­ emment would come to terms with real­ docks, the Catholic Cathedral. The ly, curious, and equal .basis. They be­ puchean truck drivers came into my fa­ ity and establish normal diplomatic and streets were much cleaner than I re- haved as if they were saying, "We own ther's shop in Nha Trang to buy soccer trade relations with the Socialist Re­ public of Vietnam. But official U.S. gov­ emment policy remained - and re­ mains- hostile toward my country. Nevertheless, the Vietnamese gov­ ernment gave me permission in 1981 to retum to my country for a two-month visit, along with my American fiancee, Anna Bradley. From the start, the Viet­ namese govemment officials were sym­ pathetic to my desire to retum home; the problems and obstacles came from the other side. This surprised me a little. In the past, Vietnam defeated both France and Ja­ pan, but these countries very quickly es­ tablished diplomatic and trade relations with my country. The U.S. govemment has found excuse after excuse not to do so. A poll of the American people taken just after the war showed that most of them favored not only recognition of Vietnam, but American aid for postwar reconstruction. The U.S. govemment has ignored the sentiments of its own people so consistently that I wonder how Ford, Carter, and Reagan can claim to "represent" them.

Returning home

Anna was supposed to leave New Photos on this and facing page by Anna Bradley and Pham Thai York ahead of me and pick up our visas Left: assistant director at Sinco Sewing Machine factory shows the author a chair that workers made from scrap at the Vietnamese embassy in Bangkok, wood. Furniture like this is sold and the proceeds are divided among workers. Right: with children at War Muse­ Thailand. From there, we were sup- um, which chronicles Vietnamese liberation struggle, from French colonialism to war with United States.

8 The Militant March 26, 1982 Left: one of thatched huts in which workers at Le Minh Xuan state farm lived before new hous­ ing was built. New housing is seen at right. balls, we had to communicate with ges­ people say, "I am poor." They said, bly intact. A neighborhood flattened in years 1978 and 1979 were particularly tures and smiles. I was told that when "Vietnam is poor." 1971 is, to all appearances, whole and hard ones for Vietnam, the years when Kampucheans want to travel north and thriving. The only outward signs of the the cut-off of Chinese aid and trade had Gasoline was in critically short sup­ south in Kampuchea, they find it easier devastation are the construction dates its most destructive impact. And the un­ ply, three dollars a liter for state agen­ to go east into Vietnam, then use our proudly molded in concrete over the necessary privation and suffering cies, nine dollars for private purchases. front doors; none predate 1973. caused by the aid and trade embargo en­ paved highways to go north or south; People used bicycles, the "cyclos" (pedi­ and finally back west. This is a rounda­ I had been prepared for much worse, gineered by Washington were evident cabs) or got around on foot. bout way, but their own roads are still from the American media and from the everywhere. hopeless quagmires during the rainy On the other hand, we didn't see out­ accounts of the "refugees" I had talked Somehow, however, the Vietnamese season. right misery. Beggars were no more nu­ to. It is true that Vietnam's visions of have adapted to their straitened circum­ merous than in New York City, and a postwar peace and prosperity were stances, and, virtually alone, have beg­ Soviet bases? phenomenon such as the South Bronx, cruelly dimmed by the attitude of the un to overcome the obstacles facing with its acres of rubble, would be un­ U.S. government since 1975, by the con­ them. My visit to my native land, de­ As long as I'm on the subject of for­ thinkable in Vietnam - even in flict with Pol Pot's Kampuchea, and, spite everything, was a heartening ex­ eigners in Vietnam, I should say that bombed Vietnam. Hanoi looks remarka- most of all, by the policies of China. The perience. the stories about "Soviet bases" in Viet­ nam are lies. We passed through the coastal town of Cam Ranh, and my home town is only about six miles away. W.e saw no Russians in either place, no Rus­ U.S. workers tour Cuba rail system sian ships in Cam Ranh Bay, or from the shore, and no special precautions were The Militant and Perspectiva ment is quite dated, they have short­ brakemen that we talked with felt that taken to keep us from seeing Russians. Mundial sponsor regular tours to ened the travel time and made rail they had a say in how the railroaq was When Cam Ranh was a big American Cuba, Nicaragua, and Grenada. Feb­ passenger travel more comfortable. For run. Everyone felt responsible for all naval base, it would have been impossi­ ruary 14-21 a group of ran workers example they've cut travel time from aspects of the operations whether it ble to conceal the Americans, even ifthe visited Cuba with a special emphasis Havana to Santiago from seventeen was safety or efficiency. effort had been made. on the rail industry in Cuba. At the hours to twelve hours. Air conditioned One example illustrated this well. We same time a miners' tour took place. trains now travel on long routes. met a group of workers in Cienfuegos. We also used the airfield at Da Nang The following is a report of the rail The number of passengers has stead­ There was a conductor and several to fly to Hanoi. We watched MIGS take tour. ily increased, and 1980-81 marked a 2 brakemen - called auxiliary conduc­ off on training flights for a couple of million jump in passengers. Some tors. We explained how in the United hours, but the ground crews, pilots, and BY JIM LITTLE areas showed greater progress. The States seniority determined who on the everybody on base were Vietnamese. AND DICK ROBERTS station master at Matanzas explained crew was conductor. They all said with Anna told me that when she flew from What struck us most on our recent that in that province there had been a pride that in Cuba the most qualified is Bangkok to Hong Kong during her re­ trip to Cuba was that the Cuban rail­ 50 percent increase in overall rail the conductor. This would be impossi­ turn flight, the Pan Am pilot advised way system is being improved and service since 1959. Meanwhile the price ble in the States, but in Cuba, since the the passengers to look to their left for a making big progress in safety and of passenger service has remained workers obviously decide the criteria great view ofDa Nang and the Da Nang working conditions. This is done as a basically the same as it was before the for who is best qualified, they are Air Base. So where are these "Soviet unified social process in which the revolution. happy with and proud of their system. bases" supposed to be? Why hasn't any­ unions, the government, and the gov· The workers' standards and safety one come with photographs of them? ernment-owned enterprises all work are not sacrificed for progress. Every­ Other information that we learned together. one we talked to agreed that conditions was that the U.S. blockade of Cuba in­ 'Prosperity' and poverty In our week-long tour of Cuba we for railroaders had improved tremend­ hibits the development of the railroad. Of course, Ho Chi Minh City did not met with railroad officials, station ously since the revolution. The workers All rails, for example, have to be look as "prosperous" as I remembered chiefs, brakemen, switchmen, motor­ recounted that on-the-road conditions imported. Since they can't buy them Saigon, despite its hustle and bustle. men, ticket clerks, tower operators, and were deplorable before the revolution. from U.S. manufacturers, they pay Before, there were more cars and motor­ coach cleaners. And they all told the When housing was available for work­ much more. They get equipment from cycles. Gasoline used to be cheap, and same story about the progress on the ers away from home, it was made of all over the world ~ locomotives from consumer goods were easily imported Cuban line, which is in sharp contrast rotting rail ties. Workers had to buy the Soviet Union, freight cars from from abroad. The fashions were the to what's happening on railroads in their own food. One Cuban rail worker Rumania, and passenger cars from same as in New York, the car models the the United States. said, "Before it was almost inhuman, Argentina. They do make railroad ties same as Detroit. But it was an artificial workers were like nomads. Nowadays and even export them. There is an A meeting with top-level officials in "prosperity," underwritten by the we're human beings." impressive locomotive repair and re­ Havana informed us of the achieve­ Americans and their money. There has been a 50 percent increase conditioning plant in the center of ments and plans to upgrade the rail­ in railroad employment since the revo­ Havana. People have had a hard time adjust­ road. We met with Jose Rodriquez lution. Every brigade of on-the-road In a discussion among the railroad­ ing to Vietnam's present "real" poverty. Camilo, Chief of the Department of workers has their own dining room, ers from the United States who went Supervision and Audit; Francisco Pos­ Vietnam never had to produce what it the housing is equipped with on the tour we couldn't help comparing consumed before. Now it must, and the ada Medio, Chief of Stations; and refrigerators and TVs. Wages are the present crisis in U.S. railroading progress is slow. Sebastian Rodriquez Benemaliz, Chief enough to live on, and there is sick with the progress in Cuba. To be sure of the Department of Travel, Occiden­ Before, many Saigonese, many Viet­ pay, injury-on-duty pay, paid vaca­ the equipment in Cuba is very old and tal Railroad Division. namese, could immerse themselves in tions, and higher pay rates for night the system reflects the limitations of that consumer-oriented, not producer­ We met in what was obviously once work. an underdeveloped and poor country. oriented, society and forget that others a board room of the railroad, when it All this has been achieved with the We felt though that they do miracu­ of their countrymen were being killed was privately owned. The rail officials utmost cooperation between the work­ lously well with what they have. and maimed every day, while still oth­ told us of the progress that had been ers and the government. All the people ers were being herded into "strategic made since the revolution. They ex­ who work for the railroad, even the Jim Little is a brakeman furloughed hamlets" or Saigon's reeking slums. plained that railroads provide cheaper officials, are in the same union. The off the Southern Pacific and a member Now the Saigonese complain that they transportation which helps the whole bus and air1ine workers are in the of United Transportation Union Local must share poverty. economy. The main goal has been to same union also. Work conditions, 240. Dick Roberts is furloughed off the But Vietnam"s hardships are, indeed, upgrade existing routes. Greater safety safety, and railroad expansion and im­ Union Pacific and is a member of the shared. The poorest are not so far from and speed is emphasized. provement are all discussed collec­ Brotherhood of Railway and Airline the richest. In Vietnam, I didn't hear While most of the passenger equip- tively. Individual conductors and Clerks.

March 26, 1982 The Militant 9 'Rational security' drive against the unions Where it comes from, what it is today

BY JOHN STUDER ting management to report all militants people. It keeps a set of fingerprints on Unionists from Atlanta to St. Louis, on the shop floor ~o their security office everyone who has ever applied for a se­ from Newport News, Virginia, to San for further investigation. . curity clearance. Jose, California, are being harassed and The "Notes" state, "All managerial Anyone whose "loyalty" is questioned fired because of their activity in the la­ personnel are reminded of their continu­ by their company or an anonymous in­ bor movement and their political affilia­ ing responsibility to advise the Security former is a target for investigation. The tions. Office of information coming to their at­ company can just send a letter to DIS These victimizations have begun in tention concerning any employee hold­ questioning the loyalty of any worker. plants with military contracts. Penta­ ing a security clearance (or who is in the This triggers a nationwide investiga­ gon connections subject workers to a process of being cleared) which indicates tion. federal antilabor spy agency - the De­ that access to classified material may be These inquisitions are carried out to fense Investigative Service (DIS). DIS questionable or not be in the interest of see if it is "clearly consistent with the collaborates with Pentagon contractors national security." national interest" for you to hold your to identify union militants and find In 1981 McDonnell Douglas, the giant job. The entire program is written to put ways to fire them. It is aided by plant se­ aircraft company, published a booklet the burden on workers to justify why curity forces, the FBI, private labor-spy they should have the right to have a job. Taft-Hartley Act was among antilabor entitled "Counterintelligence Aware­ 1947 strike of East Coast shipyard wo firms, and other government "red ness Briefing." Its aim is to intimidate, A December 20, 1976, Department of squads." to breed an atmosphere of suspicion of Defense directive, "Industrial Personnel your fellow unionists. It demands that Security Clearance Program," lists four­ If they claim it would in any way en­ Government's scare campaign workers pledge unquestioning alle­ teen "criteria for determining eligibility danger the "national interest," they for a clearance." Workers are out of a job The govern~ent and the employers giance to U.S. foreign policy. don't have to tell you who is making the if they "seek to alter the form of Govern­ have centered their antilabor drive in · In Dallas, the Vought Corporation charges against you, exactly what they ment of the United States by force or vi­ these plants in order to tie it into their distributes a "security handbook." It are, or what weight they give to them. olence or by other unconstitutional preparations for new wars abroad. Es­ tells workers, "Don't fail to report any "Informer privilege," the argument means." calating threats of military intervention knowledge of espionage, sabotage, sub­ they use to keep from revealing the On the eve of World War II. eighteen in Central America are combined with versive activity, trespassers or suspi­ names of finks who spy on you - be­ increasingly shrill warnings about spies cious persons" in the plant or among leaders of Minneapolis Teamsters Local cause then they would not be able to spy 544 and the Socialist Workers Party and foreign "hit squads." your co-workers. on others - is written into the DIS were found guilty of"conspiring to advo­ Their aim is to launch a national "red Is it "subversive" if a union local votes guidelines. cate the overthrow of the U.S. govern­ scare." First they clamor about the to protest U.S. intervention in El Salva­ After all this, if the government and ment." These were the first convictions threat of foreign "ten·orists." Then they dor? Is someone "trespassing" if they the employer are still not confident they under the notorious Smith Act, which can revoke your clearance and fire you sought to proscribe political thought explicitly because of your political and speech. The real basis for the views, or are hindered because your con­ charges was their opposition to World tract protects your union activities, they War II and their militant leadership of can go after you on a phony pretext. the Teamsters union. During the late 1940s and '50s, dozens The use of phony pretexts of Communist Party leaders and union ASSAULT ON officials were victimized under the same They have written books on how to do thought-control law to fuel the postwar this. In 1952, the National Industrial LABOR'S witch-hunt. Conference Board, an employers' organ­ Speaking out about one's political ization, wrote a lengthy booklet telling views, and advocating militant union companies how to deal with "security" POLITICAL defense. of workers rights, have since cases. been ruled legal by the courts time and "Where the union is cooperative or RIGHTS-II time again. where there is no union, companies re­ Nevertheless, "criteria" such as this port that the best thing to do is to fire plan to go after anyone who raises their distribute organizing material in a non­ continue to be used by the government men of questionable loyalty. Commu­ voice against the government or the union shop? Is it "suspicious" if workers to attack unionists, socialists, and other nist affiliation is rarely used ~s the company here at home. talk about their union campaigning to political activists. premise since this may be difficult, if not At the same time, Secretary of State convert plants that build military air­ The Pentagon's interpretation of impossible, to prove legally. Instead, an Alexander Haig tells the Senate For­ craft into plants that build buses for these criteria, and what factors they use infraction of company rules, submission mass transit? eign Relations Committee that Wash­ . to determine if someone is covered by of a false employment application, or ington will use "whatever is necessary" The aim of these publications, and the them, are their private domain. failure to perform work satisfactorily -even troops- in El Salvador. The ad­ entire propaganda drive, is to justify are generally bases of dismissal." ministration is eliminating formal re­ spying on the unions and victimizing 'Informer privilege' The book goes on to complain that strictions on the CIA and FBI. New con­ militant workers. It has nothing to do "some companies report, however, that gressional committees are being set up with so-called "national security." Other criteria used to deny clearance 'Commies can be awfully good and con­ in Washington to investigate "terror­ and employment include: "deliberate scientious workers when the heat is on.' ism." Unions must be free to discuss misrepresentations, falsifications or "Security personnel maintain, how­ This government campaign aims to omissions of material facts from a per­ The union movement must be free to ever, that in the long run, with vigilance tie in the drive for war abroad with the sonnel security questionnaire"; any discuss the scope of the rulers' offensive. and careful 'bookkeeping' of the actions, need to intimidate and muzzle workers "dishonest conduct"; any "sexual per­ It must be able to chart a bold, new comings and goings, absences, vacation at home. version"; any "conduct of a reckless na­ course to defend our standard of living leaves and any violations of these or oth­ It strikes at the right and ability of ture"; any "mental condition"; "the pres­ and to prevent new wars. er company rules, management will be the labor movement to participate in the ence of a close relative, friend or asso­ This will be impossible if the labor able to get rid of some of its security growing opposition to Reagan's war ciate in a nation whose interests may be movement is smothered by the employ­ risks." drive. inimical to the interests of the United ers' cops - spying on meetings and fin­ This advice is being scrupulously fol­ This government propaganda is being States"; "financial difficulties"; "refusal gering activists for victimization. lowed by employers today. In the last complemented by a corporate offensive by the applicant, without satisfactory year, they have diligently found pre­ to strengthen "national security" meas­ What Reagan and his corporate cro­ explanation, to answer questions before texts to fire unionists in plants all across . ures in major plants holding contracts nies want is the "security" to be able to a congressional committee"; "use of in­ the country. Every firing they get away with the Pentagon. increase profits at the expense of the toxicants" or "drug addiction." vast majority. And they want to do it It is a pretty sweeping list if they with emboldens them to go after more. The November 23, 1981, Newsweek without fear of union response. They want to get you. They are starting with socialists. reports that the administration has want "security" to send thousands of After DIS "investigates" you, they They aim to get every unionist that moved to mount "an updated version of troops into El Salvador without fear of make a recommendation to a Pentagon questions their policies or their cut­ the old 'loose lips sink ships' campaign public protest. screening board as to whether you are backs. among the high-technology companies If you oppose this drive, you are a "se­ acceptable. As soon as this board decides Postwar witch-hunt of California's Silicon Valley." The gov­ curity risk." that you are not, your company can im­ ernment is striving to setup model cam­ · Labeling union militants as "subver­ mediately suspend or fire you. You have Immediately following World War II, paigns of intimidation and victimization sives," to isolate them from their fellow the right to appeal, but only to a kanga­ America's rulers confronted deep anti­ in this area first, because the workers in workers and drive them out of the roo court. capitalist ferment in Europe, spreading almost all of these plants do not have plants, is the oldest antilabor trick in The Pentagon appoints the hearing colonial revolution, and a growing labor union representation and protection. the employers' book~ examiner, the Pentagon presents the upsurge here at home. The remaining On January 7, 1982, General Electric "Security" investigations are carried case against you, and if you don't like U.S. troops in Europe and the Pacific in Lynn, Massachusetts, distribt}.ted a out by the Defense Investigative Ser­ the decision, you go before a Pentagon mobilized massive demonstrations de­ "Notes for Supervisors" aimed at get- vice. DIS maintains files on millions of appeals board for final review. manding to be brought home.

10 The Militant March 26, 1982 :easures passed by government during post--World War II witch-hunt. Drive was meant, among other things, to quell massive strike wave thpt followed war. Right: .ers.

The rulers mapped out drastic steps to World War II veteran who had lost both met with a wave of protest from within ties and threaten their right to be effec­ meet this threat to their profits and his legs. He was fired from his job as a the labor movement. But as the mis­ tively represented in the processing of world domination. clerk for the Veterans Administration. leaders of labor parroted the govern­ grievances and in collective bargaining The cold war was launched. The war­ He was considered a "security risk" be­ ment's cold war foreign policy, they by shop stewards and union officers of t;ime alliance with the Soviet Union was cause he acknowledged membership in adopted the "national security" purge. their own choosing." .Jroken. Efforts were made to send the Socialist Workers Party. They saw the red scare as an opportu­ After the merger of the AFL and the American Gls into the raging civil war Kutcher was reinstated at his job in nity to eliminate their radical oppo­ CIO in 1955, the newly created AFL­ in China. The U.S. collaborated with 1956, but only after an eight-year civil nents inside the unions, and to curry fa­ CIO Industrial Union Department put Britain and France to use all necessary liberties fight that won .he backing of vor with the Democratic Party. out a "Handbook on the Industrial Se­ military force to halt workers and farm­ unions representing several million So the whole process was pushed curity Program." This publication point­ ers rebellions from Vietnam to Greece. members. through by agreement with the labor of­ ed out, "In the hands of an anti-labor· At the same time, a ferocious propa­ Within a few short rponths of Tru­ ficialdom. Unions were raided and split. employer, the power to carry on pro­ Janda drive was launched at home to man's institution of the "loyalty" review Local unions that fought the introduc­ grams of 'confidential' screening could ::.mash any resistance to new wars and to program, the government set up the In­ tion of the "loyalty" purge were pres­ easily be used to deny to workers their halt the postwar strike wave. The cen­ dustrial Personnel Security Program. sured by their international officers. An rights of self-organization and for other terpiece of this drive was anticommu­ This extended the purge from govern­ article in the January 9, 1950, Militant, denial of fundamental civil liberties." .1ist hysteria. They opened the witch­ ment employees to private industry. reported that Walter Reuther, president These belated protests against so­ mot. Army brass began to move into pri­ of the Auto Workers union, urged UAW called abuses of the Industrial Person­ Most workers today have only a vague vate plants and secure summary dismis­ Local 669 at the Wright Aeronautical nel Security Program were far from ade­ nemory of the witch-hunt and sals of workers they designated "bad se­ Corporation plant in Paterson, New Jer­ quate to halt the government witch­ JcCarthyism. Perhaps they've heard of curity risks." In many instances, those sey, to sign a contract granting the com­ hunt. Thousands of union militants :he blacklisting of Hollywood writers fingered as risks were active union shop pany power to fire alleged "subversives" were fired. The best of the generation .md actors, or of the cold-blooded execu­ stewards and grievance committeemen and "poor security risks." Previously, that built the CIO in the struggles of the jon of the Rosen bergs. whom the corporations had previously this local - like many others - had 1930s and the postwar strike wave were These were horrible crimes. They spotted as "troublemakers." fought against all such attempts of the driven out of the plants. helped whip up an atmosphere of fear. employer to interfere with the union But the number one target of the witch­ Program extended to 21,000 plants and its members. Program continues today hunt was always the labor movement. Millions of machinists, steelworkers, The Militant reported that then, as now, "as the purge has operated in a The constitutionality of the entire "se~ In 1947, President Truman an­ electricians, and other workers were curity clearance" program for victimiz­ rrounced Executive Order 9835, which handed questionnaires to fill out and number of cases already, the main vic­ tims have been militant unionists and ing unionists was never seriously test­ ~stablished the federal "Loyalty Pro­ were fingerprinted. Investigations were strike leaders." ed. Because they agreed with its under­ gram" and the notorious "Attorney Gen­ launched. The program was extended to lying political premise, the internation­ ~ral's List." Federal employees were re­ more than 21,000 plants. In the first The article pointed to Reuther's ac­ al unions with the funds and clout .to quired to fill out "loyalty" question­ decade of the Industrial Personnel Se· tions as "an open invitation to corpora­ fight it out never did so. naires and to undergo investigation to curity Program, more than 5,000 tions throughout the auto, aircraft and Other legal challenges, brought by in­ screen their political views and organi­ workers had their clearances yanked. other major industries to demand sim­ dividual victims of the program, were zational affiliations. Throughout the late 1940s and the ilar contracts. It places the seal of the unable to get at the heart of the pro­ 1950s, this program grew. The purge leader of the largest union in the CIO gram. The legality of using membership Attorney General!s List grew. upon the extension of Truman's 'loyalty' in or association with alleged "subver­ The Attorney General's List grew to In his book on the witch-hunt, The purge into private industry." sive" groups as the criterion for a worker's right to a job was never tested. contain 283 organizations that the rul­ Great Fear, David Caute gives a number Locals that wouldn't buckle to the The deliberate violations of your right ers deemed "subversive." It included of examples of how the program pressure got short shrift. If they were to confront your accuser, to see and an­ political parties, defense committees for worked. One example is: "In October forced on strike they got no help from swer all the evidence brought against framed-up labor leaders, civil rights or­ 1954 the Director of Security of Repub­ the international. The staff members you, were never ruled upon by the ganizations, and others. Employee ques­ lic Aviation, Farmingdale, Long Island, wouldn't handle their grievances. Inter­ courts. tionnaires and the results of subsequent wrote in Factory Management and national officers would red-bait the locaJ It was not until 1974, in the wake of investigations were then checked Maintenance that his company had fired leaders. Mouthpieces for the witch-hunt Watergate, and under the pressure of a against the list. Purges were then 250 workers as security risks. would be put forward against the local historic lawsuit filed by the SWP and launched in every government depart­ officers in the next election. Loyalty programs similar to those the the Young Socialist Alliance against the ment. The CIO's internal cold war reached Pentagon ran - but without even the FBI, CIA, and other spy agencies, that its climax at the Eleventh Constitution­ Organizations named on the list were slightest pretense oflegality- were set the Attorney General's List was al Convention in 1949. Witch-hunt given no opportunity to dispute their up in hundreds of plants with no mil­ dropped. measures were adopted which led to the listing. There were no hearings. If the itary contracts. The employers strove to Because the list no longer exists, the government didn't like your ideas, they expulsion often national unions, includ­ establish their right to dig into the per­ criteria for investigating unionists, de­ YQU ing the United Electrical Workers and put on the list. And there was no sonal and political history of their nying their clearances, and firing them, the International Longshoremen's and way you could get off. workers. are even more vague and illegal today. Warehousemen's Union. The Socialist Workers Party vigorous­ But the Industrial Personnel Security This witch-hunt of unionists was ac­ ly protested its inclusion on the list, and Program remains in place. companied by additional unconstitu­ Belated protests the list itself. The SWP demanded its And the employers and the Pentagon tionallegislation. Th_e Taft-Hartley Act, right to a hearing. It demanded to see But even the labor officialdom had to are beginning to use it once again. They Internal Security Act, Public Law 733, what evidence the government based speak out against the worst anti-union are going after a new generation of McCarren-Walter Immigration Act, and the listing on. It demanded a chance to uses of the "loyalty" program by the unionists. As workers are compelled to the Communist Control Law - along · challenge this evidence. The govern­ bosses. At the same convention of the grapple with the Democrats' and Repub­ with the House Un-American Activities ment refused. CIO where the purge was carried licans' bipartisan drive toward war Committee inquisitions - spread the If an investigation linked a worker through, a resolution was passed that abroad and takebacks at home, they run purge far and wide. They deepened gov­ with any group on the list, this was · said, "Loyalty and security investiga­ smack into the spying, blacklisting, and ernment intervention in the union ~nough to take away their job. tions and dismissals . . . impair the mo­ victimization apparatus of the Defense movement. One of the first victims of Truman's rale of all workers in the plants, inter­ Investigative Service and the employ­ 'loyalty" purge was James Kutcher, a When it was introduced the purge was fere with their union organizing activi- ers.

March 26, 1982 The Militant 11 Recession spreads unemployment and austerity across the globe

Japan is also feeling the effects of the Conditions are worsening as the global recession. The rate of increase of world recession lowers prices of raw ma­ industrial production has slowed consid­ terials that the underdeveloped coun­ erably. And while unemployment is still tries export, while the price of the man­ relatively low, compared to its imperial­ ufactured goods they buy from the impe­ ist competitors, it has begun to rise. The rialist countries continues to increase. Japanese government has adopted the Even the oil-producing countries, which m.ost austere budget in twenty-six have done better than other semicolon­ years. ial countries, are suffering from de- However, Ja{lan has been able to cu­ . creasing oil prices and sales. Through­ shion the effects of the worldwide reces­ out the semicolonial world the terrible sion primarily through its ability to in­ weight of debts owed to the imperialist crease exports. banks and governments is getting heav­ Japan is in many ways in a situation ier. opposite to that of Britain. It was the Even the more industrialized semico­ last imperialist country to become in­ lonial countries like .Argentina, Brazil, dustrialized. In addition, much of Japac and Chile are in deep trouble. nese industry was destroyed during For example, Argentina entered a se­ World War II forcing Japanese corpora­ vere financial crisis in 1981. The peso tions to rebuild plants. fell rapidly against the dollar. This sent Wages of Japanese workers remain inflation soaring at a rate of 130 percent well below the level of Western Euro­ a year. Some sources put unemployment pean or American workers. There are as high as 12 percent. The military dic­ few governmental social programs. tatorship has frozen the level of pay­ Workers are force

12 The Militant March 26, 1982 IRA: gov't pushes self-help pension plans

BY HARRY RING Theoretically, you go merrily along, Certainly, the IRAs are a bonanza that if elected, he would "preserve and . "Your $2,000 can grow to more than accumulating your high-interest bun­ for those who are peddling them. It is strengthen" the Social Security sys­ $1,500,000." dle until age fifty-nine-and-a-half. Be­ estimated that the financial operators tem, "this fundamental contract be­ Full-page ads featuring such beck­ tween then and age seventy-and-a-half, can expect as much as $50 billion in tween the American people and their oning offers have been blossoming all you withdraw the money for your re­ IRA funds to sink into their various en­ government." over the country. tirement. deavors. And they don't have to wait In office, he quickly began the job of Sign up for an Individual Retire­ At that point, you begin paying forty years for a return on their invest­ dismantling Social Security. For those ment Account (IRA), salt away as income tax on the money withdrawn, ment of your money. retiring after January 1, 1982, the much as $2,000 a year, and retire on including the accumulated interest. Meanwhile, a lot of people will be pitiful $122 monthly minimum has easy street. This is ·assumed to constitute a tax laboring under the illusion that they're been scrapped. A federal commission is But the real message is: Start saving savings, since presumably you will be building up a real nest egg for their re­ studying how to make the system now for your old age. There may not be retired by then and in a lower tax tirement. financially "stable." That is intended a Social Security system around when bracket. Whi<;h is exactly the government's to mean further cuts. More immediate you retire. There are numerous other "ifs" in point. are Congressional plans to pare cost­ We have seen how the deepening of-living increases. However, not to worry. -A generous the plan. crisis of the capitalist system has government has now made it possible For instance, if you're forced to with­ People recognize the extent of the sparked an unrelenting cutback drive. for you to solve the old-age problem on draw early, you pay income tax on the challenge. In February, the Washing­ There are the slashes in social services, your own. money withdrawn, plus a 10 percent ton Post reported that, in conjunction penalty. And there are "substantial" the virtual scrapping of the public with ABC News, it had conducted a If you skip the fine print, IRA penalties on the accrued interest. housing program, the demagogy about poll on popular expectation in relation sounds enticing - assuming you're "voluntarism" - that is, the utterly to Social Security. working fairly steadily and are mak­ Projections of the amount you will reactionary, and utopian notion that ing enough to put away up· to $40 a have at fifty-nine-and-a-half are based private charity can provide for those in Sixty-one percent of those surveyed had no confidence that the Social week and not touch it until you pass on an assumed 12 percent interest rate need. Security system would still be function­ age fifty-nine. over the years. Another target for "reprivatization" There is, of course, no guarantee that is the Social Security system. ing when they reached retirement. For Previously, a more restricted version interest rates will remain at that level. A while back, Norman Ture, a Treas­ obvious reasons, the figure was much of the IRA existed for business people Nor is there any real guarantee that ury Department official, philosophized, higher among the young than among and others not covered by either a your entire savings could not be wiped "For most of our history, we didn't those near retirement age. Among government or private pension plan. out in a 1929-like crash. If the stock have Social Security. People did not those eighteen to thirty-four years old, The current, more liberalized IRA market goes through the floor, mutual simply reach the age of sixty-five and 74 percent didn't expect to see Social approved by Congress last year, is funds and money funds would go right die. They had provision made, by Security checks. available to all who think they can along. And there's no guarantee that themselves, by their family, by char­ The lack of confidence is greater afford it. "insured" bank IRAs would really be ity." among women than men, and greatest covered in a total financial crisis. among Black people. Just bet your money What a foul lie that is. People did die: The Post explained: "Most older Get a suitcase of hunger, of medical neglect, and of Americans . . . still see the program as Just choose your retirement account. the nightmarish conditions of "poor­ a legal and moral commitment, but the It can be with a bank, an insurance Finally, if you assume that capital­ houses" and other "charitable" institu­ younger generation that matured on fund, a savings and loan company, a ism will still be here in forty years, it's tions. Vietnam and Watergate and saw other mutual fund, or a money market fund. quite difficult to imagine what that solemn promises abandoned is much (They make short-term, high-interest theoretical $1,500,000 might really be Even today, the shamefully inade­ quate standards of Social Security more skeptical." loans to business, banks and govern­ worth. It conjures up the stories of the mean misery for millions of the elderly. The paper described a young woman ment.) survivors of Germany's runaway infla­ in a Manhattan bank filled with IRA The money you put into an IRA is tion of the 1920s. People say that when During his campaign for the presid­ promotion posters. not included in your taxable mcome. they went shopping they took their ency, Reagan spoke to a Florida meet­ The Post reported: "When she cyni­ Nor is the interest it earns. money in a suitcase. ing of senior citizens. He assured them cally commented to a middle-aged teller that the exhortation to set up IRAs was really a ploy for preparing the public for the day Social Security Nebr. rail unions protest nuclear danger collapses, the teller promptly agreed with her." that pointed out the threat to livestock The cynicism is certainly justified. and farmlands. Hansen toured farms in But something more is needed. Retire­ the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, area fol­ ment on a decent level cannot be lowing the accident at Three Mile Island achieved by the great majority of three years ago and saw firsthand the workers on an individual basis. A effects of nuclear plants. government plan is essential. And if He said, "The people of this country the weekly contribution of workers have the right to know the truth about really isn't enough to stabilize the the industrial processes that contami­ fund, that's all the more reason to end nate the air and water and endanger the the payroll tax and simply tax the environment. Now is the time to hold wealthy corporations. After all, their open public hearings on the nuclear superprofits do come from our lifetime issue. At these public hearings we of labor. · should call for the opening of all books Social Security must be maintained and records of the utility and railroad and expanded. And, it must be. said, a corporations." government that cannot assure work­ ing people a decent retirement should The other organizations represented be retired from power. at the news conference also decried the A workers and farmers government secrecy surrounding General Electric's would consider Social Security one of plans and stressed the public's right to Militant/Jeff Hamill its most elementary obligations. "Nuclear industry officials have shown little concern for discussing the pos­ know why and when the shipments are sible health and safety hazards," Mike Carper, chairman of the Lincoln Coa­ being made. They expressed their sup­ lition of Rail Crafts, said at a recent news conference to protest the proposed port for the rail workers' campaign to . North Korea protests transportation of nuclear wastes by rail. stop the shipment of nuclear waste. State Senator Steve Fowler said that U.S. war exercise he would be introducing legislation that BY CHERYL PORCH "Nuclear industry officials have would ask for an interim study to an­ The Foreign Ministry of the Demo­ LINCOLN, Neb. -General Electric shown little concern for discussing the swer the questions about the necessity cratic People's Republic of Korea issued is proposing to ship spent fuel rods from possible health and safety hazards of and safety of the nuclear shipments. a statement on February 14 denouncing the Cooper nuclear plant near Nebraska any nuclear accident," Carper said. The day after the news conference, Lin­ Washington for staging a large-scale City to its Morris plant near Devine, Il­ "They have made no exception for the coln City Councilman Eric Youngberg joint military exercise with S9Uth Ko­ linois beginning in September. Thera­ many questions that have been raised announced that he would introduce a rea. They protested that this was a prov­ dioactive cargo would travel on the Bur­ concerning transportation of nuclear resolution banning the shipment ot nu­ ocation against North Korea. lington Northern railroad through wastes by rail. We are therefore calling clear waste material through Lincoln. The joint military maneuver, code­ many Nebraska communities. upon state and local governments to im­ The news conference was widely re­ named "Team Spirit 82," mobilized At a news conference held here Febru­ mediately prohibit the shipment of nu­ ported by the media. The daily papers in 157,500 forces. These included the U.S. ary 18, opposition to this proposal was clear waste material until all the ques­ Omaha, Lincoln, and Kearney all ran troops occupying South Korea; the expressed. The news conference was tions that these shipments raise can be stories. Three television stations, sever­ South Korean army; and U.S. marines called by the Lincoln Coalition of Rail answered and solved." al radio stations, and the Associated and ground, naval, and air forces sta­ Crafts (LCRC), a group of seventeen rail The coalition expressed the greatest Press and United Press International tioned on the U.S. mainland and at mil­ unions in the Lincoln area. Representa­ concern over ·the inadequacies of the wire services also attended. itary bases in Okinawa and other Pacif­ tives of the Sierra Club, Nebraskans for shipping casks used by General Electric The coalition plans to pursue the ic islands. A number of warships from Peace, the Near-South Neighborhood to transport nuclear waste by rail. Evi­ issue by holding a public hearing to get the U.S. Seventh Fleet are being con­ Association, the United States Farmers dence was presented at the news confer­ information to the people affected by the centrated in the area around the Korean Association, and State Senator Steve ence that pointed to serious flaws in the shipments. Mike Carper ended his peninsula. Fowler also gave statements. tests performed on the casks. According statement by saying, "As rail workers The U.S. imperialists must "stop their Mike Carper, chairperson of the to the coalition, many of the shipping we are concerned about the health and reckless war exercise at once, take off LCRC, talked about the dangers posed casks currently in use have not been safety of our co-workers. As concerned the 'U.N. forces' helmets and withdraw by the shipment of any hazardous mate­ tested at all. citizens, parents, and property owners it all the aggressive forces from South Ko­ rial by rail due to the possibility of de­ Merle Hansen sent a statement on be­ is our responsibility to bring our con­ rea at the earliest possible date," the railments. half of the U.S. Farmers Association cerns and information to the public." statement said.

March 26, 1982 The Militant 13 Jackson: 'It's not the bus, it's us'

The following article by Rev. Jesse trative jobs by blacks through dismis­ black students suspended, expelled, These are entirely different reasons Jackson appeared on the Op-Ed sals and demotions. and pushed out of school. than the ones whites give. The Senate, page of the March 8 New York Times 2. The loss of millions of dollars in 7. Exposure of black children to the President, and the American peo­ under the headline, "It's not the Bus. projected earned income. hostile attitudes and behavior by white ple should not misinterpret any black It's us." Jackson is national presi­ 3. Tlie loss of racial role models, teachers and parents. opposition to busing. It is not opposi­ dent of Operation PUSH (People heroes, and authority figures for black 8. Forced one-way busing policies tion to desegregated education. It does United to Save Humanity). children. and the uprooting of black children for not mean blacks are willing to bargain We are printing the article be­ 4. The loss by black children of cher­ placement in hostile school environ­ away their constitutional rights just cause it presents cogent arguments ished school symbols, colors, emblems, ments without any support systems. because busing is not popular. Justice in defense of school desegration by and names of schools when their 9. Misclassification of blacks into and equal opportunity for blacks in busing. schools are closed and they are shifted special education classes and tracking America never have been popular. to white schools. CHICAGO - Political opportunists systems. That is why we need the protection of 5. In the new setting, subjection to in the Senate want to turn the Supreme 10. Unfair disciplinary practices and the law. So the Senate and the Presi­ resegregated classes and buses, and Court's school-desegregation decision arbitrary school rules and regulations. dent, rather than trying to figure out exclusion from extracurricular activi­ in Brown v. Board of Education into 11. Ignorance of black learning ways to cir~umvent morally sound and ties. an Indian treaty - a law on the books, styles, culture, and social, educational, just laws, should instead concentrate 6. A disproportionate number of but unenforceable. and psychological needs. on upholding and enforcing them. The Senate has voted, 57 to 37, to bar Federal courts from ordering, for racial reasons, the ·busing of children more Wo111en's rights actions hit U.S. war drive than five miles from home or ordering children to travel by bus longer than BY MARGARET JAYKO 15 minutes. The bill, on which the NEW YORK CITY - "Today, the House must also vote, would allow the center of the fight for women's rights on Justice Department to ask the courts to an international scale is in Central overturn existing desegregation plans America and the Caribbean." that require busing in violation of That's how Elizabeth Stone, editor of these two new guidelines. the new book, Women and the Cuban It was not just Republicans who Revolution, began her talk on what voted for the bill. There is emerging a women's rights fighters in this country conspiracy between Democrats and can learn from the Cuban revolution. Republicans and between the executive Stone explained that the victory of the and legislative branches to take away revolutionary struggles being fought in Federal legal protections for which Guatemala and El Salvador would lead thousands of people, black and white, to big and long-lasting gains for women. have struggled and died. First, the The proof can be found in the great executive branch granted tax-exempt strides forward women have taken in status to private schools that practice Nicaragua, Grenada, and Cuba, since racial discrimination - a snafu from those countries overthrew their dicta­ which it is still trying to extricate tors and installed governments that rep­ itself. Next, the legislative branch at­ resent the workers and peasants. tempts to pass laws ensuring that Many of the 275 people in attendance segregation in publicly supported knew very little about Cuba, and were schools will continue. eager to find out about the progress of The Senate did not propose ending women there, and why women in a rich all busing, only busing for desegrega­ country like the United States are being Militant photos by Lou Howort tion. If it had outlawed all busing, pushed back while women are advanc­ Left, Elizabeth Stone speaking about women and the Cuban revolution. education would have halted. Handi­ ing in underdeveloped Cuba. Right, New York City International Women's Day March. capped, rural, and private-school child­ This meeting, sponsored by the So­ ren ride buses to school. In fad, 55 cialist Workers Party and the Young So­ percent of all schoolchildren ride buses cialist Alliance, was one of many activi­ mocrats and Republicans. the People of El Salvador, the Women's daily. ties that occurred in New York around It's these attacks, combined with the International League for Peace and But this is not the kind of busing March 8, International Women's Day U.S. rulers' intensified war moves, that Freedom, and the Socialist Workers that upsets white people. It is the 3.6 (IWD). prompted protest actions in many cities Party. percent of public school students who The roots ofiWD are in New York Cit­ and countries to commemorate March 8. About 150 people attended the Brook­ are bused because schools are illegally y's Lower East Side. There, on March 8, The largest activity in New York was lyn Grenada Women's Organization's segregated. Riding the bus to school is 1875, women garment and textile a march of 1,000 around Union Square. IWD celebration. Dessima Williams, all right as long as it is not to desegre­ workers marched to protest their long The most popular chant was "No draft! Grenadian Ambassador to the Organi­ gate the schools. I can only conclude hours, low wages, and miserable work­ No war! U.S. out of El Salvador!" The zation of American States, and Caldwell that it's not the bus that upsets these ing conditions. marchers paused at various symbols of Taylor from -Grenada's Mission to the 57 white Senators - it's us (black The U.S. Congress has designated women's oppression, like the welfare of­ United Nations both addressed the people). Desegregation, I remind these March 7 as the beginning of the first na­ fice and the armory and unfurled pro­ meeting. lawmakers, is the law of the land. tional Women's History Week. And test banners. On March 2, the women's section of These attacks on busing are diver­ Mayor Koch's Commision on the Status Participating organizations included the New York Black United Front held sionary. The central issue is not trans­ of Women declared March "Women's the National Organization for Women, a forum on "Support for African Women portation; it is equal protection under History Month." the Coalition for Abortion Rights and at Home and Abroad." the law. "Antibusing" is a code word But despite such fine proclamations, Against Sterilization Abuse, the Na­ A program focusing on Black women for racism and rejection. Where busing the rights and living standards of wom­ tional Black Independent Political Par­ in the United States was organized on has failed - it has mostly succeeded - en, and all working people, are being ty, the Coalition of Labor Union Wom­ March 8 by the women's commission of the failure has been organized by dem­ drastically cut back by those same De- en, the Committee in Solidarity with the National Black Independent Politi­ agogues using schoolchildren as politi­ cal Party and the Coalition of Con­ cal stepping stones. Where there has cerned Black Women. been moral, civilized white leadership, Women on front lines in Nicaragua In Newark, New Jersey, 850 people desegregation - inCluding busing - gathered to commemorate IWD at Cen­ has worked. BY JANE HARRIS Glenda Monterrey, general Secretary tral High School - an event which was A new twist has been added. Some MANAGUA, NICARAGUA- Thou­ of the Association of Nicaraguan Wom­ endorsed by over 100 organizations. The say that not only are whites against· sands of women and men gathered here en (AMNLAE), which sponsored the in­ rally was preceded by a march of 450. busing, but that blacks are, too. True, .in the Omar Torrijos Plaza of the Non­ ternational women's day rally, pointed Although billed as a"festival," the or­ some blacks oppose busing, but not for aligned Nations on March 8 to say one out that women have already been play­ ganizers of the event built it as a re­ racial reasons. Blacks sometimes are thing loud and clear: Women will be on ing a big role in all aspects of Nicara­ sponse to the attacks on women's rights. against busing because all decisions the front lines against any attack on the guan society. A central theme of the rally speakers about desegregation are being made Nicaraguan revolution. was the need for peace. for them, not with and by them. Stu­ Women's militias assembled in front "Nicaraguan women made up 60 per­ The threat of U.S. intervention in dents, teachers, and administrators, of the podium carrying a large banner cent of the literacy campaign teachers, Central America was a major theme at a have been desegregated, but power has that read, "Women are here to defend 80 percent of health workers, and have Chicago rally of 450 people celebrating not been. Now, 100 white Senators are the Sandinista People's Revolution formed seven reserve militia battalions. IWD. A speaker from the National Asso­ making decisions that affect blacks' against imperialist threats." They constitute the majority of the vig­ ciation of El Salvadoran Educators educational opportunity. When power The crowd went wild when a special ilance committees and besides that have pointed to the March 27 antiwar demon­ is not desegregated, black children, contingent of mothers of heroes and been in the vanguard of the struggle for stration in Washington, D.C., as the parents, and educators have no way of martyrs of the revolution entered the social emancipation," Monterrey said. kind of solidarity the Salvadoran people protecting themselves or redressing plaza. A popular theme of the speeches need. grievances. In the AMNLAE leader's concluding and banners was solidarity with the remarks, she explained, "After July 19, The rally was held in Chicago's Puer­ What grievances? As documented by women of El Salvador and Guatemala, 1979, every day in Nicaragua has been a to Rican community and was sponsored Nancy L. Arnez, chairman of the de­ struggling to be free of U.S. domination. women's day, because every day we are by a coalition of women's groups. partment of educational leadership Minister of Culture Ernesto Cardenal constructing a new country, incorporat­ The largest action in the United and community services, at Howard and Commander of the Revolution ing women in the work of national re­ States was in San Francisco, where sev­ University, desegregation in a power Humberto Ortega spoke at length on the construction." eral thousand people marched a:nd ral­ vacuum has had the following disas­ necessity for both women and men to lied. There were also actions in several trous consequences for the black com­ strengthen the Sandinista Defense The crowd sounded their agreement other cities and countries, many of munity: Committees and the Sandinista People's with an enormous round of applause. which protested Washington's war 1. The loss of teaching and adminis- Militias. From Intercontinental Press drive.

14 The Militant March 26, 1982 Angela Davis has no answers for women 'Women, Race and Class' counterposes women's struggle to Black struggle

for women's rights to the struggle for and Davis's book leaves us nowhere to Black rights and the struggles of work­ go to liberate ourselves from this triple ing women, Davis implies that Blacks, stranglehold. women, and working people have some There have been significant develop­ conflicting interests. ments affecting the Black movement in For example, in the chapter titled the last few years that begin to deal se­ ."Rape, Racism and the Myth of the riously with this question. It would have Black Rapist," she talks about author been good if Davis's book had discussed Susan Brownmiller's reactionary and them. racist views. Then Davis suggests that Brownmiller is really "defending the Black party particular cause of white women, re­ gardless of its implications." The program of the newly formed Na­ This is a typical quote. tional Black Independent Political Par­ And it's politically fatal and dead ty (NBIPP) goes further than any pre­ wrong. The interests of women, includ­ vious Black organization in defining the ing the overwhelming majority of white oppression and liberation of Black wom­ women, are inseparable from the inter­ en, and placing women's oppression ests of Blacks and Latinos, and from the squarely in the center of the Black struggle of the entire working class to be struggle. The founding charter of the free of capitalist exploitation and op­ NBIPP states: pression. Racists like Brownmiller who "We believe in the total social, politi­ masquerade as feminists hinder the cal and economic equality of Black wom­ cause of women's equality. en .... We believe that Black women are held down by triple oppression: as To say that there are some special Blacks, as women and as workers. We "white women's interests" is to imply believe that women have the right to the that the struggle for women's equality final choice of human reproduction, i.e. can be advanced at the expense of Blacks freedom over their own bodies ..... We Militant/Mike Skinner and working people. believe that sexism (including the idea 1977 abortion rights protest in St. Louis. Black and Latino women suffer most Davis ends up with the same danger­ when abortion is illegal, and from forced sterilization. of women as sex objects) and the male ous idea that she criticizes leaders of the supremacist concept of female subser­ women's rights movement for holding­ vience is an unnatural, reactionary Women, Race and Class, by Ange­ At a tim£~ when the women's move­ that the fight for women's rights can view indicative of the ideological back­ la Davis. Random House 1981, 271 ment is faced with some tremendous somehow move forward in opposition to wardness which we must overcome." pp., $13.50. challenges - as well as tremendous op­ the general struggle to get rid of capital­ The NBIPP program demands affir­ portunities - Davis's book is silent on ism. mative action programs to end sex dis­ BY LAURA MOORHEAD the burning questions facing the strug­ crimination; passage of the Equal I saw this book in a local bookstore gle for women's rights today, and the The fight for abortion rights Rights Amendment; equal pay for equal and I immediately bought it. I bought it key role that Black women must and This error reinforces another theme of work; free child care; no forced steriliza­ because it is written by Angela Davis. will play in that fight. Davis's book - the fight for women's tion; free health care; continued funding In the early 1970s, Angela Davis, for In the January 26 review of the book equality is not important to the broad for sex education in the schools; pro­ many, personified the hopes and aspira­ that appeared in the Daily World, news­ masses of women, especially Black grams for pregnant teenagers; and tions of the Black struggle. paper of the Communist Party, Judith women. "preventive programs to discourage un­ wanted pregnancies and encourage In 1969 and 1970, as a professor at the Eisenscher writes, "I would use the old A case in point is her handling of the development of a positive self-concept." University of California in Los Angeles, cliche of calling it a 'timely' book, but I abortion issue. The chapter "Racism, The party pledges to conduct "a mas­ Davis was twice fired for her member­ am only sorry that it was not written 10 Birth Control and Reproductive Rights" sive educational campaign within the ship in the Communist Party. years ago." But a big problem with puts a question mark over the fight for In 1970, she was put on the FBI's "Ten Women, Race and Class is that it reads abortion rights by placing the discus­ party and the Black community" around Most Wanted" list, accused of murder as though it were written ten years ago. sion in a false framework of abortion these issues. And that's just what they are begin­ and kidnapping in connection with an Many of the issues that it discusses - versus forced sterilization. attack on a courtroom by a man she had like Black family life under slavery, the Davis implies that Black women are ning to do. worked with in defense of political pri­ issue of racism in the abolitionist and not so much interested in the right to Davis's approach is to write off the women's movement. But the kind of pol­ soners. When Davis was finally caught, suffrage movements, or the racism in abortion as they are concerned with the itical perspective that the NBIPP ad­ she was thrown in prison for sixteen Susan Brownmiller's Against Our Will: issue of ending forced sterilization - months. Men, Women and Rape have been dis­ that somehow abortion is really a white vances- one based on an anti-imperial­ Millions of people around the world, cussed by other writers. women's issue. ist, anticapitalist world view - is pre­ particularly young Blacks, identified When Davis does discuss issues like It is certainly true that the record of cisely what's needed to construct a new, rape and abortion, it is only in the most the birth control movement in this coun­ militant leadership of the women's general terms. And these are the only try was seriously compromised by the movement as part of the fight against contemporary issues that are men­ racism of the advocates of eugenics (a war, austerity and racism. BOOK REVIEW While both Davis's book and the char­ tioned. Davis doesn't talk about the pseudoscience that urges measures to Equal Rights Amendment, child care, limit the reproduction of those consi­ ter of the NBIPP were published in the with her plight and her defense of Black affirmative action, cutbacks in social dered "unfit" through forced steriliza­ same year, the NBIPP's charter deals squarely with a meaningful synthesis of prisoners. They participated in the in­ services, paid maternity leave, or equal tion and other racist laws and practi­ ternational protest campaign that se­ pay for equal work. ces), and by its latter-day supporters in sex, race, and class. Women, Race and Class is only a hollow echo of this impor­ cured her acquittal. the form of groups like Zero Population It is both her own personal struggle No road forward Growth. These individuals are more con­ tant task. and the impact of her defense campaign The main weakness of Women, Race cerned with population control of op­ on the Black movement that bring au­ and Class is a political one. Nowhere pressed minorities than with the right thority to the name of Angela Davis, does Davis lay out a road forward for of women to control their own bodies. and require a look at her political writ­ women today. She simply concentrates But Davis doesn't mention the fact ings. on excoriating segments of the leader­ that, with the rise of the feminist move­ ship of the past and present American ment in the late 1960s, the fight for le­ Seriously flawed feminist movement for their racist galized abortion was finally taken off According to the notes on the flyleaf, ideas. this reactionary axis, and posed as a · Women, Race and Class attempts to look She never explains that the key to question of the right of women to control at the history of the feminist movement this racism is these misleaders' reliance their own bodies. That's why a majority through the perspective of sex, race, and on the ruling class to give women some of people in this country today support class. equality, instead of allying with the legalized abortion - including Blacks. As history, much of Women, Race and working class and the Black and Latino Today, this right is under serious at­ Class is rewarding reading, particularly communities to fight against the gov­ tack. The Hyde Amendment, cutting off the chapters "Black Women and the ernment, which is the main enemy of all federal funds for abortion, most directly Club Movement," and "Woman Suffrage the oppressed and exploited. affects the rights and lives of Black at the Turn of the Century: The Rising It's this fundamental political error women and the poor. Influence of Racism." Both of these are that leads to ignoring or downplaying Davis herself cites the fact that in solid contributions to the history of the struggle for the interests of the most New York state "some 80 percent of the Black. women as activists in the anti­ oppressed women, because these present deaths caused by illegal abortions in­ lynching movement, and shed light on the biggest challenge to the capitalists volved Black and Puerto Rican women," the impact of the development of the who own the government. and that after the 1973 Supreme Court United States as an imperialist power Perhaps the reason Davis doesn't decision legalizing abortion, almost half on the campaign to win the vote for polemicize against the leadership of the of all abortions were obtained by women wo·men. National Organization for Women and of color. Clearly, women must have the But Women, Race and Class is se­ others about their subordination of the right to abortion as well as the safe­ riously flawed. It never delivers on the fight for women's rights to their alliance guard against forced sterilization. promise of the title. with the Democrats and Republicans is Triple signposts of oppression It is a collection of essays on aspects of that her own party, the Communist Par­ the history of the women's movement. ty, is a staunch supporter of so-called Sex, race, and class are three separate The book contains no introduction and liberal Democrats. questions, but for Black women they are no conclusion. By constantly counterposing the fight the triple signposts of our oppression - Angela Davis in 1971.

March 26, 1982 The Militant 15 ~THEGREATSOCIHY------~ Foolproof - A group of without the potential to defend month, in advance. Those who First Washington Group, Inc. To lighten your wallet - atomic scientists at Lawrence yourself." The potential will use cream and sugar will pro­ in a $100 million deal. First "Recreations" of lamps from Livennore Laboratory in Cali­ have to be renewed. Persons vide their own. Washington operates twenty­ Gennany's Bauhaus period of fornia own a communal under- unknown entered the shelter one· hospitals and psychiatric design in the '20s are being and removed the guns. Perish the thought - As­ care units. National Medical offered at contemporary prices. sistant Attorney General Wil­ owns or operates sixty-three An Art Deco table lamp, $250. Deliver them evil - Ac­ liam Bradford Reynold assures acute care hospitals, plus five A mod looking floor lamp, cording to a recent biography, that the fact that the adminis­ medical equipment finns. $1,250. Bulbs, we presume, ex­ Lyndon Johnson believed he tration has only recently filed tra. Harry was visited by God at the its first fair housing suit does White House during the Viet­ not mean that it will go easy in Staying in style - What Ring nam War. this area of civil rights. with leaks from the apartment above, plus falling plaster, our Getting along - Taxpay­ Just like the bus service Tender, loving care - The shower curtain tends to look a ers will be pleased to note that ground bomb shelter. Survival - The Denver area Transpor­ unalienated nature of our medi­ bit streaky. But now a· New the cost of pensions, office supplies include a cache of tation District has advised em­ cal system was suggested by a York shop is offering hand space, and travel expenses for guns because, as one member ployees at its headquarters New York Times financial re­ painted shower curtains, with fonner presidents Ford, Nixon, explained, "it would be foolish that those using the coffee port that National Medical En­ splashes and spattering of and Carter will run a tad over to go into this kind of project machine will pay by the terprises, Inc. plans to acquire paint, $200 per curtain. $1 million this fiscal year. --CALENDAR------GEoRGIA didate for U.S. Congress. Sun., March 21, Marathon for Unity of the Puerto Rican 7:30 p.m. 809 E. Broadway. Donation: $2. Independence Movement. Speakers: Ra­ Atlanta Ausp: Militant Forum. For more information fael Cancel Miranda, Puerto Rican national­ NEW YORK Socialist Workers Party Campaign Rally call (502) 587-8418. ist hero; Gilberta Gerena Valentin, council­ Manhattan -Cutbacks and War: How We Can Fight man from the Bronx; Wilma Rever6n, Office Film: The 10,000-Day War. Docu­ Back. Speakers: Maceo Dixon, SWP candi­ of International Information for the Inde­ mentary about the Vietnam War. date for governor; Alison Beckley, SWP can­ MISSOURI pendence of Puerto Rico; Jose Alberto Alvar­ March 22-24 and March 30-April 1, didate for 5th Congressional District; Tom ez, Puerto Rican Socialist Party; Victor Nie­ Loeb Student Center, New York Uni­ Fiske, SWP candidate for secretary of state; Kansas City versity; March 28-30, World Room, Co­ Closing the Gate: Plant Closings and to, Socialist Workers Party; others. Cultural Greg Worthy, Young Socialist Alliance; Rob presentations by Pepe Castillo and Estampa lumbia University Journalism Build­ Lutton, Atlanta Committee for Latin Ameri­ Takeback Contracts. Speakers: John Mont­ ing. All showings at 7:30p.m. Dona­ gomery, president, United Food and Com­ Criolla; Pleneritos de Ponce; The Family; ca. Sat., March 20, 7:30p.m. reception, 8 p.m. Epoca Brass Quintet; Teatro Cuatro; many tion: $1.50. Ausp: Southest Asia Re­ program. 509 Peachtree St. NE. Ausp: SWP mercial Workers Local 782; Carl Harris, source Genter. For more information president, Oil, Chemical, and Atomic others. Ausp: Comite Unitario 21 de Marzo. Campaign. For more information call (404) Sun. March 21, all day. Casa de las Americas, call (212) 964-4124. 872-7229. Workers Local 5-672; Martha Pettit, United Auto Workers Local 93 and Socialist Workers 104 West 14th Street. For more information Party. Sun., March 21, 8 p.m. 4715-A Troost. call (212) 893-3802, (212) 538-6512, or (212) Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. 675-2584. WASHINGTON INDIANA For more information call (816) 753-0404. Seattle Gary The Grenada Revolution: Three Years of Socialist Campaign Rally: First-Hand Ac­ NORTH CAROLINA Freedom. An eyewitness report with slide NEW JERSEY show. Speaker: Nancy Walker, coordinator of count of Revolutionary Cuba. Speaker: Winston-Salem Jesse Smith, Socialist Workers Party candi­ Newark Socialist Youth Organizing Committee in U.S. Foreign Policy vs. People of El Sal­ Socialist Workers Party Campaign Rally: Canada, recently returned from tour of Gren­ date for 1st Congressional District. Sat., Why the Democrats Won't Stop Reagan­ March 20, 7:30p.m. 3883 Broadway. Dona­ vador. Documentary film: El Salvador: ada. Sun., March 21, 7:30 p.m. 4868 Rainier Another Vietnam. Speaker: Fred Murphy, ism. Speaker: Meryl Lynn Farber, SWP can­ Ave. Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant Forum. tion: $2. Ausp: SWP Campaign Committee. didate for 5th Congressional District. Sat., For more information call (219) 884-9509. staff writer for Intercontinental Press. Sat., For more information call (206) 723-5330. March 20, 7:30p.m. 11-A Central Ave. Dona­ March 20, 6 p.m. banquet, 7:30p.m. rally. tion: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For 216 E. 6th St. Donation: $5 banquet and ral­ more information call (201) 643-3341. ly, $1 rally only. Ausp: SWP Campaign Com­ Film: The New School. A film about educa­ Indianapolis mittee. For more information call (919) 723- tion in Cuba. Meet Chris Remple, Socialist Classes on Women's Liberation. Sat., ·3419. Workers Party candidate for U.S. Senate. March 20. Roots of Women's Oppression, NEW YORK Sun., March 28, 7:30 p.m. Donation: $2. speaker: Jenny Austin, Young Socialist Al­ Ausp: Militant Forum. For more information liance, 1 p.m.; History of the Women's Move­ Albany and Schenectady call (206) 723-5330. ment, speaker: Eileen Weiss, Socialist Mayberry for Congress: Campaign Sat­ Workers Party, 3 p.m. 4850 N. College Ave. urday. Join Pat Mayberry, rail worker and OHIO Donation: $.50 per class. Ausp: Young Social­ Socialist Workers Party candidate for Con­ Cleveland ist Alliance. For more information call (317) gress, and her supporters canvassing neigh­ U.S. Intervention in Central America: a 283-6149. borhoods and talking with voters. Sat., Marxist Analysis of Reagan's War Drive. WASHINGTON, D.C. March 20, 11 a.m. In Albany, 479 State St. In Speaker: Susan Vernon, chairwoman, Cleve­ Black Revolutionaries Yesterday and To­ Schenectady, 323 State St. (campaign head­ land Young Socialist Alliance. Sun., March day. The Fight Against Slavery: Abolition­ Who Are the Real Terrorists? Speakers: quarters). For more information call (518) 21, 7 p.m. 2230 Superior. Donation: $2. Ausp: ists and Reconstruction, Sat., March 20, 1:45 Abd Algader Khalid, Arab student; Dhalia 463-8873 or (518) 374-1494. Militant Forum. For more information call p.m.; From the Black Renaissance to WWII, Almuhairi, Arab student; Steve Lich, Irish (216) 579-9369. Sat., March 20, 4 p.m.; The Revolutionary rights activist; representative from Socialist Manhattan Leadership of Malcolm X, Sun., March 21, 1 Workers Party. Sat., March 20, 7 p.m. IUPUI Forum in Solidarity with the Liberation p.m. Slide show on Grenada, Sun., March 21, Lecture Hall, Room 104. Donation: $1.50. Movements of Southern Africa. Speakers: 3:45 p.m. Antioch School of Law, 2633 16th Ausp: Militant Forum Series. For more infor­ Himyangerwa Asheeke, UN deputy repre­ OREGON St. NW (near Columbia Rd.) Donation: $5 for mation call (317) 283-6149. sentative of SWAPO; Barbara Masekela, Af­ all classes. Ausp: Young Socialist Alliance. rican National Congress of South Africa; Portland For more information call (202) 797-7021. Rev. Herbert Daughtry, chairman, National Crisis in the Labor Movement: What Black United Front; Dennis Brutus, South Strategy to Fight Back Against Reagan­ KENTUCKY African poet and activist; Dumisani Kumalo, ism. Speakers: Paul Freeman, Socialist Louisville American Committee on Africa. Sat., March Workers Party candidate for city council. El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Cuba: The 20, 6 p.m. John Jay College 1st Floor Lecture Sun., March 21, 7:30p.m. 711 NW Everett. WEST VIRGINIA Truth B-ehind Reagan's Lies. Film: The Hall, 445 W 59th St. Ausp: NYC Student Donation: ·$1. Ausp: Militant Bookstore Fo­ Charleston Seeds of Liberty. Tape of Clyde Bellecourt Coalition for the Liberation of Southern Afri­ rum. For more information call (503) 222- Attacks Against Black Rights: What from the American Indian Movement. Speak­ ca, John Jay Black Studies Society. For more 7225. Strategy Is Needed to Fight Back? Speak­ er: Craig Honts, Soci.alist Workers Party can- information call (212) 962-1210. er: Melvin Chappell, Militant staff reporter, Reds: the Movie and the Revolution. national leader of Young Socialist Alliance; Speaker: Ron Richards, Young Socialist Al­ others to be announced. Sat., March 20, 7 liance. Sun., March 28, 7:30p.m. 711 NW p.m. 1584-A Washington St. E. Ausp: Mil­ Militant/Perspectiva Muildiai/Young Socialist Tours Everett. Donation: $1. Ausp: Militant Book­ itant Forum. For more information call (304) invites you to visit store Forum. For more information call (503) 345-3040. CUBA 222-7225. NICARAGUA WISCONSIN UTAH Milwaukee GRENADA Price The Indian Peoples and the Nicaraguan Cuba Film: El Salvador: Revolution or Death. Revolution. Speaker: Vernon Bellecourt, Film on U.S. involvement in the civil war. American Indian Movement leader recently Workers Democracy/May Day Tour- April18-May 2, 1982 - fifteen days, $960 Sat., March 27, 7 p.m. Gomer Peacock returned from Nicaragua. Also: Little Big May Day Tour - April25-May 2, 1982 - eight days, $640 Lounge, College of Eastern Utah. Donation: Band (Native American rock group) after Youth Economy Tour - August 8-15, 1982 - eight days, $425 $2. Ausp: Young Socialist Alliance. For more program. Sat., March 20, 8 p.m. Fireside Solidarity Tour - November 21-28, 1982 - eight days, $650 information call (801) 637-5582. Lounge, University of Wisconsin at Milwau­ kee Union (Kenwood and Maryland). Dona­ Nicaragua Salt Lake City tion: $1.50. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum, Money for Jobs, Not for War! Socialist American Indian Movement, UW Native Nicaragua and Cuba Tour - July 17-31, 1982 - fifteen days, $1150 Workers Campaign Rally. Speakers: Sara American Student Movement, Mobilization Fall Economy Tour - December 4-11, 1982 - eight days, $650 Smith, United Steelworkers Local 7889, SWP for Survival; Central American Solidarity candidate for 2nd Congressional District; Coalition, Wisconsin Coalition Against Re­ Grenada Cecelia Moriarty; United Mine Workers Lo­ pression, Workers Center. For more informa­ cal 2176, Wilberg mine. Featuring Jon Shu­ tion call (414) 445-2076. Fall Economy Tour - October 29-November 5, 1982 - eight days, $725 man, jazz pianist. Free buffet and refresh­ (from New York) ments. Sat., March 20, 7:30 p.m. Northwest A Gospel Tribute in Honor of Ernest Prices include round-trtp airfare from Miami,. hotels Mllitant/Perspectlva Mundlal Tours Multi-purpose Center, 1300W 300N. Refresh­ Lacy. Speaker: Howard Fuller. Gospel (double occupancy), three meals (except for August 410 West Street, New York, NY 10014 ments at 7 p.m. Donation: $2.50. Ausp: So­ choirs, poetry, and drama. Sat., April 3, 7 8-15 tour), transfers, and guide service. (212) 242-5530 cialist Workers Campaign Committee. For p.m. St. Matthew Church, 2944 N 9th St. more information call (801) 355-1124. Ausp: Coalition for Justice for Ernest Lacy.

16 The Militant March 26, 1982 'Nicaragua is a country of poets and volcanoes'

BY DIANE JACOBS In Nicaragua, Shange witnesses the unleashing of "Diario" contains the poem she presented at the Ntozake Shange, the young Black poet who wrote human creative potential that is possible when festival in Managua. It tells of Blacks in Nicaragua, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide workers take control of their lives. She visits a facto-· Black poets killed by Somoza, Black poets who write . When the Rainbow is Enuf, traveled to Nicaragua re­ ry where dramatic productions are organized - of Black miners "choking on dust/racism/having no cently to ·attend a poetry festival. The gains of the "Theater in the factory at 2 a.m. Work first. Make future," and poets whose poems were burned by revolution there moved her so deeply that she kept a theater where you work . . ." - and celebrates the friends when Somoza's security police came around. journal of her trip in the form of a prose poem, which fact that the distinctions between workers and artists she called "Diario Nicaragiiense: Palabras y Balas." I Shange understands also the threat of U.S. impe­ disappear - "A painter in the Sandinista Popular rialism to victorious revolutions in Latin America; was lucky enough to hear her read from this work in Army designs weapons now. He loves landscapes, La Manhattan shortly after her return. She expresses this threat obliquely in "Diario" Costa, Grenada, the volcano, Momotombo. He smiles: through several references ·to "eight American white "Diario" is an eloquent, at times wrenching, revo­ 'A drawing is a drawing."' men" she first encounters in the New Orleans airport lutionary statement, and the best expression I've She explores what it means to feel safe in a country bar on her way to Nicaragua. The white men are heard so far of the flowering of culture and the arts in that has abolished the death squads, national guard, "hunters" who "talked only of guns." They are going Nicaragua after the overthrow of Somoza. and police: to Nicaragua, too. What are they planning to shoot, Shange read from a notebook with a Cuban flag de­ "In Nicaragua the EPS, Ejercito Popular Sandinis­ she wonders, the Nicaragiiense, herself, or "some cal. She clearly understands the legacy of the Cuban ta, is us, formerly expendable people taking care of animals"? And "Who do they think animals are?" revolution. On arriving in Managua she recalls the ourselves, not killing each other. All of us, poets, example of "the first free country in America": workers, campesinos, doctors, the EPS is all of us, for What Ntozake Shange manages to convey best in "The sea rushing toward Cuba as the rest of us us. So who should be afraid?" "Diario Nicaragiiense" is the soaring of the spirit She deplores the campaign oflies (alleging massa­ when it is freed from the yoke of brutal dictatorship, cres of Miskitu Indians) that the United States is us­ of colonial oppression, of capitalism. Her metaphor is POETRY REVIEW ing to try to discredit the Sandinista leadership: the flight of a mythic bird, a symbol of freedom ~­ "El Commandante Tomas, tousled gray hair, cause it does not survive long in captivity: heavyset, erect, talks of the insanity, the gall of the should, to feel the we,ight fall off our backs, nuestras U.S.A. to accuse the Nicaragiiense of killing Indians, "Quetzal was a bird. He brought the stars out in the corazones [our hearts]. To breathe in 'el primero terri­ of racism." night that we might know light in the darkness. torio libre en America [the first free territory in "Anywhere at any time," she writes, "a Nicara­ Quetzal was fed with our blood. Our liberty still de­ America].'" mands nuestro sangre [ol.lr blood]. Our blood is our ul­ giiense may shout out/ There is a difference between the value of a human 'Si Nicaragua Venci6 [If Nicaragua won] timate offering. In El Salvador we are still bleeding. In Nueva York a two-month-old baby freezes to death life in Nicaragua or Cuba, and the United States. El Salvador Vencera' [El Salvador will win] Throughout "Diario" Shange contrasts conditions From all quarters the Sandinista is answered in mass in her crib. Her 'blood' never flowed. here and there. response. "Her spirit could not touch us. She never learned to "I am now in Managua," she writes. "Here we are 'THE SOVEREIGNTY OF A PEOPLE IS NOT fly. She never saw 'El Brigadista.' She does not know too precious to be left alone, longing for heat, salami, DISCUSSED. that children in Managua, Santiago, Soweto, Luanda bread, or poetry.... At the airport, my old friend, a IT IS DEFENDED WITH ARMS IN HAND.' · are saving themselves from hungers for freedom. She poet, Roberto Vargas, is a Sandinista. We hugged, SANDINO· does not know that some children with pistols took on free of decadence, full ofhope/la dignidad [dignity]." in Spanish, of course." the world & won." What workers are up against as GM talks reopen

Continued from Page 1 and of job security are virtually mean­ for'rivariety of reasons. Some thought it some of them are scared. They think it grouping led by UAW local officials long ingless. could save jobs: will save their jobs." opposed to the leadership of Solidarity Despite the terrible pressures and the "I've only been here four years, and • Many, probably most, feel there House, the UA W's offices in Detroit. size of the votes for ratification and this might save me." was little they could do but vote for it. LOC, at the time of the January GM reopening GM negotiations, it would be Some thought they could regain their "This thing was set in stone by Fraser Council meeting, had the support or a mistake to conclude that auto workers losses later: and Ford regardless of what way we vot­ sympathy of a number of council dele­ ed." are eager to accept concessions, or that "I think it opens the door for more be­ gates. This was significantly reduced af­ they have lost their will to fight the cor­ • No one believes the UAW leader­ ter the Ford ratification. nefits for us if the company does pick up ship is able or willing to fight and there porations. in profits." LOC has published a detailed analy­ Militant correspondents, many of is a great deal of anger at the officials Some thought it could have been because of this. sis of what Ford workers have given up, them UA W members, have talked about worse, and that a strike would lose: and is distributing this to GM locals. the contract with hundreds of Ford "Should we hit the bricks and wind up "The people who vote no on this will (Copies are available for 50 cents, or 25 workers over the past few weeks in without anything?" feel like our union is just a whore be­ cents for four or more, from LOC, 6127 Michigan, New Jersey, Minne'Sota, Illi­ cause Fraser is sitting on the board of Highland, Dearborn Heights, Michigan nois, Kentucky, California, and else­ A few said they were for a strike Chrysler, he's both a company and a 48127). where. against any concessions. Some of these union man, and that's a shame." The LOC analysis concludes that each didn't accept Fraser's contention· that This · was not a scientific survey they would be weaker in September be­ • There is disbelief that sacrifices are Ford worker will lose $9,000 over the (though it may be as much of one as equal. thirty-month life of the contract, cause of high dealer and company in­ we'll ever see), but some conclusions are ventory. "This is the general foreman, and I'm through deferments and loss of cost-of­ possible based on these discussions: looking at his wingtip shoes and expen­ living and productivity increases. • No one sees the contract as a step · • Many felt their fellow workers were sive shirt, and I've got patches on ~y LOC also points out that 3,000 jobs forward in any way, despite the UAW afraid for their jobs and were for the con­ clothes. I want to get out of my neigh­ will be lost immediately by giving up , leaders' description of it as a "historic tract. borhood and move into a nicer house, ten holidays per year, and that the sup­ breakthrough.'' "You hear talk in the locker room. and I can't. I'm asked to freeze my posed guarantees against plant closings • The workers who voted for it did so They don't come right out and say it, but wages, and that's bullshit." -0/RECTORY------Where to find the Socialist Workers Desk, Indiana Memorial Union. Zip: 47405. NEW JERSEY: Newark: SWP, YSA, 11- lege: YSA, P.O. Box 464, Bellefonte. Zip: Party, Young Socialist Alliance, and so­ Gary: SWP, YSA, 3883 Broadway. Zip: 46409. A Central Ave. Zip: 07102. Tel: (201) 643- 16823. Tel: (814) 238-3296. cialist books and pamphlets Tel: (219) 884-9509. Indianapolis: SWP, YSA, 3341. RHODE ISLAND: Providence: YSA, 4850 N. College. Zip: 46205. Tel: (317) 283- NEW MEXICO: Albuquerque: SWP, P.O. Box 261, Annex Station. Zip: 02901. ALABAMA: Birmingham: SWP, YSA, 6149. YSA, 1417 Central Ave. NE. Zip: 87106. Tel: TEXAS: Austin: YSA, c/o Mike Rose, 7 409 205 18th St. S. Zip: 35233. Tel: (205) 323- lOWA: Cedar Falls: YSA, c/o Jim Sprall, (505)) 842-0954. Berkman Dr. Zip: 78752. Tel. (512) 452-3923. 3079. 803 W. 11th St. Zip: 50613. NEW YORK: Capital District (Schenec­ Dallas: SWP, YSA, 2817 Live Oak. Zip: ARIZONA: Phoenix: SWP, YSA, 611 E. tady): SWP, YSA, 323 State St. Zip: 12305. 75204. Tel: (214) 826-4711. Houston: SWP, Indian School. Zip: 85012. Tel: (602) 274- KENTUCKY: Louisville: SWP, YSA, 131 Tel: (518) 374-1494. New York, Brooklyn: YSA, 6333 Gulf Freeway, Room 222. Zip: 7399. Tucson: SWP, P.O. Box 2585. Zip: W. Main #102. Zip: 40202. Tel: (502) 587-8418. SWP, YSA, 335 Atlantic Ave. Zip: 11201. Tel: 77023. Tel: (713) 924-4056. San Antonio: 85702. Tel: (602) 622-3880 or 882-4304. LOUISIANA: New Orleans: SWP, YSA, 3207 Dublin St. Zip: 70118. Tel: (504) 486- (212) 852-7922. New York, Manhattan: SWP; YSA, 337 W .. Josephine. Zip: 78212. CALIFORNIA: Oakland: SWP, YSA, SWP, YSA, 108 E. 16th St. 2nd Floor. Zip: Tel: (512) 736-9218. 8048. 2864 Telegraph Ave. Zip: 94609. Tel: (415) 10003. Tel: (212) 260-6400. New York: City­ UTAH: Salt Lake City: SWP, YSA, 677 S. 763-3792. Los Angeles: SWP., YSA, 2546 W. MARYLAND: Baltimore: SWP, YSA, 2913 Greenmount Ave. Zip: 21218. Tel: (301) 235- wide SWP, YSA, 108 E. 16th St. 2nd Floor. 7th East, 2nd Floor. Zip: 84102. Tel: (801) Pico Blvd. Zip: 90006. Tel: (213) 380-9460. Zip: 10003. Tel: (212) 533-2902. 355-1124. San Diego: SWP, YSA, 1053 15th St. Zip: 0013. MASSACHUSETIS: Boston: SWP, YSA, NORTH CAROLINA: Piedmont: SWP, VIRGINIA: Tidewater Area (Newport 92101. Tel: (714) 234-4630.San Francisco: News): SWP, YSA, 111 28th St. Zip: 23607. 510 Commonwealth Ave., 4th Floor. Zip: YSA, 216 E. 6th St., Winston-Salem. Zip: SWP, YSA, 3284 23rd St. Zip: 94110. Tel: Tel: (804) 380-0133. 02215. Tel: (617) 262-4621. 27101. Tel: (919) 723-3419. (415) 824-1992. San Jose: SWP, YSA, 46¥2 OHIO: Cincinnati: SWP, YSA, 2531 Gil­ WASHINGTON, D.C.: SWP, YSA, 3106 Race St. Zip: 95126. Tel: (408) 998-4007. MICHIGAN: Detroit: SWP, YSA, 6404 bert Ave. Zip: 45206. Tel: (513) 751-2636. Mt. Pleasant St. NW. Zip: 20010. Tel: (202) COLORADO: Denver: SWP, YSA, 126 W. Woodward Ave. Zip: 48202. Tel: (313) 875- Cleveland: SWP, YSA, 2230 Superior. Zip: ' 797-7699. Baltimore-Washington District: 12th Ave. Zip: 80204. Tel: (303) 534-8954. 5322. 44114. Tel: (216) 579-9369. Toledo: SWP, 3106 Mt. Pleasant St., NW., Washington, FLORIDA: Gainesville: YSA, c/o Bill Pe­ MINNESOTA: Mesabi Iron Range: SWP, YSA, 2120 Dorr St. Zip: 43607. Tel: (419) 536- D.C. Zip: 20010. Tel: (202) 797-7021. tersen, 612 SW 2nd St. Zip: 32601. Tel: (904) YSA, 1012 2nd Ave. South, Virginia, Minn. 0383. WASHINGTON: Seattle: SWP, YSA, 376-0210. Miami: SWP, YSA, 1237 NW 119th Send mail to P.O. Box 1287. Zip: 55792. Tel: OREGON: Portland: SWP, YSA, 711 NW 4868 Rainier Ave. South. Zip: 98118. Tel: St., North Miami. Zip: 33167. Tel: (305) 769- (218) 749~6327. Twin Cities: SWP, YSA, 508 Everett. Zip: 97209. Tel: (503) 222-7225. (206) 723-5330. 3478. N. Snelling Ave., St. Paul. Zip: 55104. Tel: PENNSYLVANIA: Edinboro: YSA, WEST VIRGINIA: Charleston: SWP, GEORGIA: Atlanta: SWP, YSA, 509 (612) 644-6325. Edinboro State College. Zip: 16444. Tel: (814) YSA, 1584 A Washington St. East. Zip: Peachtree St. NE Zip: 30308. Tel: (404) 872- MISSOURI: Kansas City: SWP, YSA, 734-4415. Harrisburg: SWP, YSA, 803 N. 25311. Tel: (304) 345-3040. Morgantown: 7229. 4715A Troost. Zip: 64110. Tel: (816) 753-0404. 2nd St. Zip: 17105. Tel. (717) 234-5052. Phi­ SWP, YSA, 957 S. University Ave. Zip: ILLINOIS: Chicago: SWP, YSA, 434 S. Wa­ St. Louis: SWP, YSA, 6223 Delmar Blvd. Zip: ladelphia: SWP, YSA, 5811 N. Broad St. Zip: 26505. Tel: (304) 296-0055. bash, Room 700. Zip: 60605. Tel: (312) 939- 63130. Tel: (314) 725-1570. 19141. Tel: (215) 927-4747 or 927-4748. WISCONSIN: Milwaukee: SWP, YSA, 0737. NEBRASKA: Lincoln: YSA, P.O. Box Pittsburgh: SWP, YSA, 1102 E. Carson St. 4707 W. Lisbon Ave. Zip: 53208. Tel: (414) INDIANA: Bloomington: YSA, Activities 30209. Zip: 68503. Tel: (402) 475-2255. Zip: 15203. Tel: (412) 488-7000. State Col- 445-2076.

March 26, 1982 The Militant 17 -EDITORIALS...._------U.S. land reform: Marxism vs U.S. rebuffs Mexico on negotiations 'true socialism' In 1846 the Brussels Communist Correspon­ Many Americans concerned about the administra­ the activities of counterrevolutionary Nicaraguan ex­ dence Committee, founded by Marx a:t;td Engels · tion's drive toward deeper intervention in Central iles openly training in this country. The government for international collaboration, published a America undoubtedly breathed a bit easier when has permitted exile training camps to operate, in fla­ "Circular Against Kriege" for members of the Mexico's foreign mini&ter announced that Washing­ grant violation of the U.S. Neutrality Act. Communist League. The circular, written by ton had indicated a willingness to negotiate with Ni­ In addition, Congress would, perhaps, restore cut Marx and Engels, was a short polemic against caragua and Cuba. off economic aid to NicaragUa. the theory of "true socialism" put forward by Hermann Kriege. Kriege had emigrated to the But the hard fact is that the danger of U.S. aggres­ In return, Nicaragua would be expected to cut back sion in the area has not diminished. United States from Germany in 1845. The second its military defense and "get out of El Salvador." section of the circular deals with the land reform Secretary of State Alexander Haig's response to the This, Haig emphasized, is the precondition for any Mexican announcement revealed that as far as movement in the United States. agreement. "The Sandinistas have to get out of El Young America, an organization of U.S. crafts­ Washington was concerned it had agreed to nothing. Salvador." And, the very day Haig responded to Mexico, U.S.­ men and workers, initiated the mass National sponsored counterrevolutionaries dynamited two And that, of course, is where the Catch-22 comes in. Reform Association, which was founded in 1845. bridges in Nicaragua. White House Counselor Edwin Nicaragua is not in El Salvador and therefore can't The NRA agitated for land reform in the second Meese III refused to "confirm or deny" Washington's agree to "get out." complicity in the criminal attack. In sum, Washington has simply tried to maneuver with Mexico in the hope of moderating its bellicose The Mexican proposal for negotiations was initial­ image. LEARNING ABOUT ly advanced by President Jose LOpez Portillo in a speech to a rally in Managua February 21. Immediately after Castaneda's statement, the SOCIALISM LOpez Portillo reiterated his proposal in a special State Department alerted its embassies to the an­ interview with the New York Times, published noucement, assuring them that no diplomatic break­ March 12. The significance of this was indicated by through was imminent. Washington's goal, it was ex­ half of the 1940s, demanding 160 acres of land to the fact that Times Executive Editor A.M. Rosenthal plained, remains that of full support to the military every worker. It opposed slave-owning planters participated in the Mexico City interview along with dictatorship in El Salvador. and profiteers, and supported the .ten-hour day and abolition of the standing army and slavery. correspondent Alan Riding. Washington's shameless cynicism in its dealings Kriege believed that providing 160 acres to with Mexico was apparent in a March 17 New York L6pez Portillo urged that the United States enter every worker was the ultimate solution for the Times news analysis, which reported: into negotiations with both Cuba and Nicar~gua, and working class. Marx and Engels agreed that that there be negotiations between the Salvadoran "A broader reason for encouraging Mexican media­ communists should participate in the land re­ junta and the liberation forces in that country. tion efforts, senior officials said, was a hope that if the form movement. They viewed it as a democratic . Cuba and Nicaragua, which both face substantial effort fails, as the Administration expects it will, the reform which was a necessary step in the emer­ threats ofU .S. aggression, declared their readiness to Mexican Government will be braced by the rejection gence of a working class and the development of participate in negotiations. The guerrilla forces in El and will better appreciate the threat to its security a proletarian communist movement. Salvador also welcomed the LOpez Portillo initiative. presented by Soviet and Cuban interference in Cen­ In 1862, the Homestead Act was adopted. It al­ tral America. To slow down Washington's rapidly escalating lowed anyone who was twenty-one or older or threats against Nicaragua, the Mexican president " 'We want them to learn a lesson,' a senior official the head of a family, to receive up to 160 acres of .. said." proposed that Nicaragua enter into nonaggression land free by living on and working the land for pacts with its Central American neighbors and with But the basic reason for the Reagan administra­ five years. the United States. tion's duplicity in its relations with Mexico stems The following are excerpts from the second from an attempt to put a fig leaf over its escalating section of the "Circular Against Kriege." The en­ Responding to alleged Washington concerns over a aggression in Central America and the Caribbean. tire second section can be found in Marx and En­ Nicaraguan arms buildup, L6pez Portillo pointed out It feels the need of that fig leaf because of the in­ gels on the United States, along with other inter­ that Nicaragua was readying its defense "because it esting material. is afraid of its neighbors and is afraid of the United creasing opposition to its policies from the American States." people. This opposition has become so strong that it even finds a faint echo in Congress. We fully recognise that the American National Re­ Rejecting the claim that U.S. security is threatened form Movement is historically justified. We know by Nicaragua, Cuba, or the Salvadoran rebels, LOpez Discussing the administration's continuing inabili­ that this movement has set its sights on a goal which, Portillo told the Times: ty to con the American people into accepting the ab­ although for the movement it would further the in­ "I would turn it around. The risk is for Nicaragua, surdity of a Nicaraguan "threat," one "senior official" dustrialism of modern bourgeois society, neverthe­ El Salvador and Cuba. The people of the United confided to reporters, "We failed to make our case less, as the product of a proletarian movement, as an States have a right to security, but the peoples of convincingly even in Congress." attack on landed property in general and more partic­ small poor countries also have their rights. Why not The March 13 New York Times reported: "In recent ularly in the circumstances obtaining in America, recognize them?" weeks, many lawmakers have said they detected a will by its own inner logic inevitably press on to com­ Two days later in New York, Mexico's foreign min­ growing alarm around the country over the Adminis­ munism. Kriege, who has joined the anti-rent move­ ister, Jorge Castaneda, told reporters that Secretary tration's policy toward the region, particularly its ment along with the German Communists in New of State Haig had made proposals that could lead to vows to protect El Salvador from Communist incur­ York, pastes over this plain fact with his customary negotiations. sions." communist and extravagant phrases, without ever "We feel hopeful," Castaneda said, "that a process "No question about it, on this issue the American going into the positive substance of the movement, of negotiations may be starting in the Caribbean." people are ahead of Congress," observed Senator Paul thereby proving that he is quite unclear in his own Subsequent events indicate Castaneda's optimism Tsongas of Massachusetts. · mind about the connection between Young America was undue. Confronted with a major threat from Washington, and circumstances prevailing in America. Haig did respond to the LOpez Portillo initiative by the people of Cuba, Nicaragua, and El Salvador have In order communally to "preserve for all mankind" saying that a "framework for future discussions" had every reason and every right to respond positively to this "communal heritage," this "inalienable commu­ been agreed to and "a dialogue" would continue in the any negotiating process that might impede the ag­ nal property," he adopts the plan of the National Re­ weeks ahead. gression against them. formers: "to place 160 acres of American soil at the command of every farmer, from whatever country he The following day, Haig disclosed the proposals he But, coupled with their continuing unbending re­ had made to Mexico as a basis for negotiations. may hail, so that he may feed himself." sistance, the decisive contribution to peace in the Ca­ So in order that the soil shall remain "inalienable This turned out to be a repeat of a Catch-22 offer ribbean and Central America rests with the people of communal property,'' for "all mankind" to boot, a made to Nicaragua last August, and not accepted this country. We must intensify the demand for an start must be made without delay on dividing it up; thel). Haig commented he didn't really expect it to be end to U.S. intervention in El Salvador, an end to the Kriege here imagines he can use the law to forbid the accepted now, either.· blows against Nicaragua and the threats to Cuba and necessary consequences of this division, that is, con­ That "offer" provided that Washington would-curb Grenada. centration, industrial progress, etc. He considers 160 acres of land as an ever-constant measure, as if the value of such an area did not vary according to its quality. The "farmers" will have to exchange, if not their land itself, then at least the produce of their land, with each other and with third parties, and INS hands off Fernando Valenzuela! when this juncture has been reached, it will soon be­ come apparent that one "farmer," even though he has The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) The Dodgers had filed a petition with the INS that no capital, will simply by his work and the greater in­ wants to deport Fernando Valenzuela. had permitted Valenzuela to enter the country to Valenzuela is a twenty-one-year-old Mexican work for the Dodgers. The INS now contends that Va­ itial productivity of his 160 acres, reduce his neigh­ bour to the status of his farm labourer. youth who has been fortunate enough to have made it lenzuela's refusal to accept the contract violates the in baseball as a major league pitcher. terms of the petition, in other words, if he works for If Kriege had seen the free-land movement as a In his first year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he less he can stay. first, in certain circumstances necessary, form of the led the team to the National League championship proletarian movement, as a movement which because and to victory in the World Series. . Ganging up with the INS and Dodger management of the social position of the class from which it eman­ For his hard work he was awarded two of baseball's are a good number of sportswriters. Some have ates. must necessarily develop into a communist most coveted prizes, Rookie of the Year and the Cy chimed in with racist articles describing Valenzuela movement, if he had shown how communist tenden­ Young Award. as the "Mexican meatball," and "portly peso grab­ cies in America could, to begin with, only emerge in As a result, he has become an idol of thousands, es­ ber." this agrarian form which appears to be a contradic­ pecially Latino youth, in this country. tion of all communism, then no objection could have But, the INS wants to get him out of the country. This racist treatment of Valenzuela is part of the been raised. As things are, however, he declares what Valenzuela's crime is that he has refused to accept INS drive against tens of thousands of Mexican and is after all a still subordinate form of movement of the latest offer made to him by the Dodger manage­ other undocumented workers to force them into ac­ real specific people to be a matter for mankind in gen­ ment. He believes he has a right to a tiny share of the cepting abysmal wages and working conditions. It eral, presents it, against his better knowledge, as the astronomical profits raked in by the owners every represents an attack against all working people and ultimate, supreme goal of all movement in general, year from lucrative media contracts and home atten­ should be opposed. and thereby transforms the specific aims of the move­ dance. INS hands off Fernando Valenzuela.! ment into sheer, extravagant nonsense.

18 The Militant March 26, 1982 'Big government' presses forced motherhood

In the last couple of months, the bipartisan assault The results would be catastrophic: more unwanted And. last but not least is Reagan's "new federal­ on reproductive rights has stepped up. At the heart of pregnancies and babies for teenage women; more ism." One of the many ways it will hurt the lives of the government's attacks on abortion and contracep­ teenage suicides; more young women dead due to pre­ working people is by curtailing the right to abortion. tion is a fundamental question- should women have mature pregnancies; more shattered hopes and lives. Supporters of abortion rights fear that the proposed the right to control our own bodies. Like many of the government's reactionary propos­ federal takeover of Medicaid would put a stop to gov­ There are three recent developments that readers als, this one would hit Black, Latino, and poor women ernment funding of abortions in the fourteen states should be aware of. the hardest, since they don't have the option of by­ and the District of Columbia where abortions for Me­ First is Reagan's new proposal that parents must passing the government-funded clinics and going to dicaid patients are still subsidized. The federal gov­ be notified within ten days after teenagers, seven- private doctors. ernment's position of only funding abortions when Another blow was struck on March 10. the woman's life is in danger could become the law in The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the every state. Hatch amendment - a proposed constitutional WOMEN amendment that would enable Congress and individ­ This would drive thousands of poor women into ual st;:ttes to outlaw abortion. This amendment would forced motherhood or dangerous back-alley or self-in­ overturn the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legal­ duced abortions. IN REVOLT ized abortion. Many big-business commentators claim that these Margaret Jayko This is the first time that a full Congressional com­ three moves contradict the conservative ideology of mittee has supported an anti-abortion amendment. Reagan and company because they involve more fed­ This paves the way for the measure to go before the eral government intervention into people's lives. teen-years-old or younger, receive prescription con­ House and Senate. It was a bipartisan effort, with the But for women, Blacks, Latinos, and all working traception from federally funded clinics. two Democrats who voted "yes" giving it the decisive people, who bear the brunt of these blows, there's a This has sparked a big debate. A recent study of ten-to-seven edge. deadly consistency. Use the power of the federal gov­ young patients at these clinics showed that 25 per­ This is "states' rights" legislation with a twist: ernment to the max to help big business, and con­ cent would stop applying for birth control pills, IUDs state abortion laws would take precedence over feder­ demn "big government" when it puts any restrictions and diaphragms if Reagan's guidelines went into ef­ al laws only when the state laws are more restrictive on profit-hungry banks and corporations, or when it's fect. Only 2 percent said they would stop having sex. than the federal! used to advance civil rights. --LETTERS------Reagan nightmare SDS [Students for a Demo­ Headlines The American dream has be­ cratic Society] members to try I am writing about the front come a nightmare with Reagan. to win them over to Trotsky­ page headline on the Militant He has declared war against the ism. That group provided the of February 19 - "Reagan working poor. nucleus for the Young Socialist plunges deeper into El Salva­ He has taken entitlement pro­ Alliance chapter at Arizona dor war." I think it is clear that grams from the elderly. One State University. El Salvador and the entire hundred and fifty thousand While she was in Phoenix, Central American revolution is have been terminated from So­ we went to see a film that had more and more the center of cial Security Disability rolls in just been released. It was The world politics in the sense that 1981, and he is expected to cut Producers, a comedy that in­ Vietnam was ten to fifteen an additional 200 thousand in cluded a parody of a musical years ago. 1982. These people go without show called "Springtime for lt is more in the news. More food for their table. He has hurt Hitler." Of course, we didn't and more protest from diverse labor with his union busting; know that was in the movie groups against U.S. aggression this is called forced labor. when we decided to go see it. in El Salvador and Guatemala. Mr. Reagan has given the CIA None of it upset Gisela. She The demonstrations this spring power to wiretap your private laughed so hard she could will be large and they will take telephone, to stop and search hardly breathe because of her place in many cities. you, and no-knock power to en­ cold. When selling the February 19 ter your home without a search Morris Starsky Militant in working class areas warrant. This is McCarthyism Cincinnati, Ohio I found two people who weren't all over again. sure from the headline if we Mr. President we have 9 mil­ were for or against U.S. foreign lion unemployed. Where are the Snowstorm policy. I would suggest more 13 million jobs that you prom­ Hard times and trouble seem direct or agitational slogans ised to the working poor Amer­ to bring out the best in people, such as "End U.S. military aid icans? and the worst in capitalism. On to El Salvador" or "U.S. out of Lest we forget, this exploita­ Sunday, January 31 St. Louis, El Salvador" or "Stop Rea­ tion of the working poor as it is Missouri, was hit by a snow­ gan's aggression in Central in England under Prime Minis­ storm, one of the biggest in its America." In other words, I ter Margaret Thatcher when history. think the political climate to­ people have nothing to look for­ Upon hearing that my mine day is such that we can sell ward to, they burn everything wasn't working, I decided to do more Militants with direct, slo­ "Oh, oh . . " down. I believe the reason for my laundry. I went out to my gan-like headlines with regard their action is that they believe car and, of course, it wouldn't to Reagan's Caribbean and gentiles and Jews. Anti-Semi­ the Democratic and Republican they have to frighten the Estab­ budge. Immediately, people Central American policies. tism is neither more nor less parties. lishment away from Fascism. came over to help. Three young Dan Fein important than any other type Jim Kendrick If you believe that these injus­ fellows of about ten years ar­ Tucson, Arizona of racism. Dallas, Texas tices are justified, just re­ rived with shovels. An older P.B. Kraeger member that only one fourth of man stopped by with some ad­ Madison, Wisconsin the people voted for Reagan. vice. In a short time we man­ America has lost its heart, com­ aged to loosen the car. They all Anti-Semitism Soup line passion and its way. How do you went on to help others. In . your editorial on the rise First of all let me say that we feel about being duped and While doing my laundry, I of anti-Semitism in the U.S., Real justice await the Militant every week. fooled by the rich man's brain was able to return the favor and [Militant, February 5] you Rex Cauble, former chair­ It helps to keep our sanity after washing? This coming fall elec­ help extricate two other cars claimed that anti-Semitism is man of the Texas Aeronautics reading the daily Boston tion is for Congressmen and from deep drifts. In all, my day's "like racism" but evidently did Commission, was convicted of Globe. Truly, with all that is Senators. Get out and vote! tally included getting my car not wish to blacken the good ten counts of drug smuggling, happening throughout the Robert Baca pushed out three times and name of American Jews by conspiracy, racketeering, and world, the Militant keeps us in­ Alburquerque, New Mexico pushing out six other cars. Not acknowledging the fact that misapplication of bank funds formed from our class stand­ only was all this cooperation vo­ anti-Semitism is merely in late January. The self­ point. luntary, people were happy to do another type of racism. styled, antidrug crusader could Some days I feel like Alice in it. Many people went in groups Hundreds of years before the be required to forfeit his entire Wonderland, especially when I Gisela Scholtz from car to car all day. Holocaust and the infamous business fortune, worth ap­ read the following in the Globe. I just read about the death of Lest this account of the snow­ Nuremberg Laws, anti-Semi­ proximately $75 million. "As the number of unem­ comrade Gisela Scholtz in the storm sound like a lark, let me tism was expressed by such Cauble, who called on Ruth ployed workers reaches its Intercontinental Press/ lnpre­ add that a storm of this size is terms as "Jewish blood," "Jew­ Carter Stapleton, the evange­ highest total in 41 years, the cor that came in today's mail. clearly a dangerous problem. ish features," "the Jewish list sister of former President Salvation Army is preparing to The sadness I felt lifted when Motorists were stranded in race," etc., even when the Jews Carter, and Peyton McNight, a revive the 'soup kitchen' pro­ I thought about the one time I freezing weather. Hospitals attacked were converts or non­ state senator, to vouch for his gram it rart during the Depres­ met her. It was in Arizona, were critically understaffed. religious. Marriages between character, was shocked at the sion, the Philadelphia Bulletin sometime in the 1960s. She had Emergency medical care was Jews and non-Jews of the same conviction. reported yesterday. 'The Salva­ come to Phoenix to meet with virtually non-existent. At least caucasian phenotype have This story really warms my tion Army nationally should be young campus radicals while ten people died of heart attacks been referred to as "interracial heart. In these times of blatant prepared, perhaps as early as she was in the country at that digging themselves out. In light marriages" and their children capitalist robbery of working spring '82, for either a national time. of this crisis, the politicians' in­ as "mixed races." Such beliefs people I would like to believe or a territorial campaign pro­ As I recall, she had a misera­ action was criminal. Only the continue to this day. If that that the jury spoke for all of us gram for the poor . . . on the ble cold that gave her a bad selfless cooperation of St. isn't racism, no such thing ex­ in nailing this law-and-order, basis of a national emergency,' cough, a sore throat, and other Louis's citizens prevented a ca­ ists. two-faced crook. the organization's national miserable symptoms. She could tastrophe. Anti-Semitism should not be What is especially delightful task force said." have stayed in bed. Yet, she Marty Anderson mystified, a la Zionism, as a about the conviction is that Mary Lipman went to meet with a group of St. Louis, Missouri unique, eternal hatred between this guy was a big supporter of Ly, Maine

March 26, 1982 The Militant 19 'TH£MILITANT Mason confronts Bradley in Seaside Independent ·candidate for California governor urges debate

BY LYNDA JOYCE confronted by the Mason campaign. At Although Mason and Bradley, both of laws in the garment industry there: SEASIDE,Calif. - Los Angeles May­ his first stop, the Seasider restaurant, whom are Black, did not confront each "That's not my jurisdiction." When she or Tom Bradley, a Democrat running for Bradley met with local civic and busi­ other at Spreckels as they had at the tried to go on, he cut short the meeting, governor of California, came here ness leaders after Seaside Mayor Glen Seasider, their campaigns did. Bradley for a luncheon with Democratic Party March 8 to campaign in this largely Olea gave him the key to the city. was shown around by management. Ma­ leaders. Black city. son talked with workers at the plant, At the Spreckels plant, Mason talked He didn't do very well. Bradley cut that meeting short after comparing his proposals with Bradley's with workers as his supporters passed The headline on a page-one story in Mason, who was there despite the ef­ for dealing with plant closings and other out campaign literature. In one discus­ the Seaside Tribune put it well: "Brad­ forts of Bradley's entourage of body­ disasters brought on by capitalism. sion, Jack Davis, a worker at the plant, ley cuts visit short following local con­ guards to keep him out, challenged him Those he talked to liked Mason's prop­ told Mason: . to debate the issues facing Californians. frontation." osals better. "These people are going to be Bradley had run into the campaign of Later, both candidates visited the Bradley used the Seasider meeting to slammed out the gate in June with a lit­ tle severance pay and that's it. They're Mel Mason, the· socialist city council Amstar Sugar Corporation's Spreckels announce his "plan" to deal with plant not compensated for pensions or any­ member here, who is an independent plant, where 600 workers are to lose closings, which have thrown 45,000 Cal­ candidate for governor. their jobs in June when the plant is per­ ifornians out of work in the last two thing else." Everywhere he went, Bradley was manently closed. years. Bradley would counsel, assist, When Mason explained his independ­ and retrain laid-off workers, and attract ent campaign, Davis responded: "It's business to California - with "tempo­ time someone in politics got into office rary" concessions. who represents the people who work." He added, "Tom Bradley's a parasite Bradley avoided or skirted major on the people, and if Reagan keeps play­ questions, including affirmative action ing around with us, he's going to get a and school desegregation. Mason asked movement in this country. When people Bradley why he opposes busing to get hungry and out of work, then they're achieve desegregation. all going to get together." Bradley tried to· cut him off. Mason About the Democrats and Republi­ then challenged him to a public debate. cans he asked: "Why should people have Bradley: 'Tm going to promote my cam­ to choose between two e'{ils?" paign- you promote yours." Mason replied: "That's why working people really do have to form their own Bradley, a cop for twenty-one years, party- a labor party. And when the called for prosecuting the 100,000 young bosses and owners of plants like this one Californians who did not register for the say the plants can't make any more prof­ draft: "We must enforce the law." its, then those plants should be nation­ A Los Angeles garment worker asked MilitantJCharles Ostrofsky alized and run by the workers." Mel Mason, independent candidate for governor of California him if he would enforce minimum-wage After Bradley fled the Seasider meet­ ing, Mason told reporters: "Bradley re­ fused to deal with affirmative action and other important questions. He re­ Miners speak against safety cuts fused to deal with my challenge for a public debate. BY MARIAN BUSTIN One proposed change is to institute a the "good faith" of the operators. "As for plant closings, working people PITTSBURGH - Approximately $20 minimum penalty for company Many miners noted their disgust at the don't need advice - they need jobs. 200 angry coal miners voiced bitter violations which are, "not likely to obvious compliance between MSHA With plants closing down and unem­ opposition to any cutbacks in mine result in a reasonably serious injury or and the coal industry in trying to save ployment going up, what is Bradley go­ safety enforcement at a hearing held illness." In addition, federal l!lafety the operators a buck at the expense of ing to retrain people to do? Industry is here February 23. inspectors will be required to perform working miners. moving out - he says he's going to It was one of three public hearings additional burdensome administrative The facts speak for themselves~ In somehow bring industry in by lowering called throughout the country by the tasks. It's estimated that this adminis­ 1981, 153 miners were killed. Twenty­ our wages to increase business profits. Mine Safety and Health Administra­ trative work will result in their inspec­ nine have already died this year in "Bradley wants to prosecute young tion (MSHA). The purpose of the hear­ tion time in the mines being reduced mine accidents and, at this rate, 240 people who refuse to register for the ings was to receive testimony from by at least 50 percent. deaths will occur by the end of 1982. draft. I will join these youths and tens of coal industry representatives and un­ UMW President Sam Church noted The coal operators, in turn, will have thousands of antiwar demonstrators on ion miners on proposals to weaken the that it's ironic that MSHA is proposing more time to violate the law. As one March 27 to demand 'U.S. Out ofEl Sal­ Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of these changes at a time when mine United Mine Workers (UMW). local vador!' Will Bradley? 1969. These attacks on mine safety accidents and fatalities are increasing president put it, these changes will "Instead of spending billions on war, were first drafted under the Carter at an astronomical rate, and added "bring us back to the days when min­ we should use that money for human administration in 1980 and will be that, "these proposals will only result ers were forced to work under the needs. coming up for congressional review in loss of lives.'' motto, 'Your coal - Our blood.' " "Industries cross the border freely in­ and passage this month. The changes The rank-and-file miners verified to Mexico; workers who seek jobs in the in the act are being fully backed by the Marty Conners, UMW International this by presenting their own experien­ United States should have full rights, Reagan administration. Executive Board member from District ces. Around thirty local union presi­ including the right to work at union­ MSHA's proposals focus mainly on 5, put it this way, "The $20 minimum dents, mine safety-committeemen, and scale wages. I call for an end to the re­ the amendments to the act that were pression and deportation of undocu~ assessment is an outrage. Every fine union members testified that, rather added in 1977 which improved real over $20 will be contested by the com­ than cut back on the effectiveness of mented workers." safety in the mines by levying fines on panies. Last year we had 155 deaths in safety inspectors and penalties, they Bradley had avoided this issue. companies who refused to comply with the mines because the operators don't need more enforcement and more in­ Mason, a leader of the National Black the law. Independent Political Party, said Brad­ give a damn. The operators run the spectors. One safety-committeeman In 1968 seventy-eight miners were equipment - not the miners." said, "the federal inspectors are our ley "is being used by the rulers of this killed in an explosion at the Consolida­ country to suck Black people back into He received a standing ovation when only assurance that the companies tion Coal Number 9 mine in Farming­ won't get away with safety violations. the Democratic Party. ton, West Virginia. Outrage by miners he concluded, "It's the same old story "Bradley is addressing the business­ - miners have to fight for everything If you make them spend half their time over this, which included a strike by doing paperwork, or in conference with men, the so-called community leaders miners in West Virginia, forced the we get. The administration has put a and Democratic Party officials. He's not price tag on miners' lives . . . but the mine management, then safety viola­ federal government to adopt the act. addressing the masses of working peo­ miners have just begun to fight." tions will increase by half . . . and Enforcement of the act was -spurred ple who can't be here during the day be­ more deaths will result." by the strength of union miners The testimony of UMW officials and cause they're working, but these are the through their mine safety committees rank and file was in stark contrast -to The miners in attendance, many of people who put me in office here in Sea­ and the greater democratic control those offered by the coal operators. whom wore their work clothes and side and who support my campaign." · they won in their union. An unprece­ Representatives of the Bituminous came straight off the midnight shift, Earlier, Mason gave an example in dented reduction in the number of Coal Operators. Association (BCOA), made it clear to MSHA and the coal action of how his campaign is based on mine fatalities was the result. U.S. Steel, Westmoreland Coal Com­ companies that they won't take this workers and all the oppressed, rather The proposed changes· in the act pany, and others showed their com­ lying down. The 1969 Coal Mine than on the business interests who sup­ represent a serious setback to the plete contempt for the health and Health and Safety Act came about port Bradley. safety enforcement gains miners won safety of the nation's miners. One after because of their struggles and will not Mason led the opposition on the Sea­ in 1969 and 1977. The amount of fines the other they presented "proof' that be changed without a fight. side City Council in defeating a pro­ companies have to pay for safety viola­ federal enforcement of the law has posed ordinance that could have jailed tions will be lowered, and the amount been too strict on the companies and Marian Bustin, a coal miner working youths eighteen-years-old or younger of time for mine inspections by MSHA that MSHA's proposals were an im­ in northern West Virginia, is a member for a year for being in video game cen­ personnel reduced. provement since they relied more on of UMW Local 2095. ters during school hours.

20 The Militant March 26, 1982