Will court rulings on affirmative THE action provoke fightback? Page3

A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE VOL. 53/NO. 24 JUNE 30, 1989 $1.00 Eastern Coal miners' strike strikers step up expands to 11 states activity 30,000 walk out, jailed leaders freed on with it! No surrender! We're in this for the BY SUSAN LaMONT long term. They're after our soul," the June Striking Eastern workers in many cities 22 New York Times reported. are moving ahead with plans for stepped-up picket lines and rallies at airports in re­ Miners strike from Virginia to Kansas sponse to Eastern Airlines' announcement The walkouts, which began June 12 in that it intends to have 226 flights in the air support of fellow miners on strike against by July 2. Pittston and New Beckley Mining, now in­ In Chicago International Association of volve more than 30,000 miners in 11 states Machinists Local 1487 is organizing a rally out of a total unionized work force of 80,000: from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.i:n., July 2, at Chi­ • On April 5, some 1,700 miners struck cago-0' Hare International Airport, in front of Pittston Coal Group in Virginia and West Eastern and Continental airlines' ticket Virginia. With the walkout at Pittston's counters. Both carriers are owned by Texas Eastern Coal Corp. in Stone, Kentucky, on Air Corp., headed by Frank Lorenzo. June 19, every unionized Pittston mine has now been struck. "Come and join us on the Eastern picket The company is operating several of the line," says Eastern strike coordinator Robert mines with scab labor, though at greatly re­ Stine in a leaflet issued by lAM Local1781 duced production rates. in San Francisco. "Eastern Airlines has an­ nounced plans to resume flying between • An estimated two-thirds of West San Francisco and Atlanta, beginning July Virginia's 24,000 miners had walked off the 2, with nonunion crews. We want to make job by June 17. sure that all passengers on the initial flights at 9:00a.m. and 12:45 p.m. know that the • Most of UMW District 28 in south­ lAM is alive and well- and mad as hell!" western Virginia is out. More than 2,500 Militant/Kathleen Mickells strikers and supporters have been arrested in Machinists Local 1445 Secretary Trea­ Miners rally in Charleston June 11 Virginia since the Pittston strike began. surer Frank DeMaria reports there will be a • Some 3,000 union miners in Pennsyl­ rally at 5:00 p.m., on June 30, at Newark vania have walked off the job. International Airport. The event is also BY RONI McCANN Strike coordinator Marty Hudson, UMWA being sponsored by the Transport Workers AND MAGGIE McCRAW District 28 President Jackie Stump, and Inter­ • So have all1 ,750 UMW miners in Dis­ Union (TWU), which represents striking CHARLESTON, W.Va.- In a victory for national Representative C.A. Phillips were trict 11 in Indiana - the largest strike there flight attendants, and the Air Line Pilots the strike which is spreading throughout the arrested in VIrginia on June 5 and held in since 1981. Indiana miners have contributed Association (ALPA). It will be held at Ter­ nation's coalfields, Federal District Court contempt of court for allegedly violating an more than $84,000 to the Pittston miners' minal C, where Continental flights are Judge Glen Williams released United Mine order restricting strike activity against strike fund. based. Other New Jersey unions will also be Workers of America leaders Marty Hudson, Pittston Coal Group. • More than 200 miners shut down the Continued on Page 7 C.A. Phillips, and Jackie Stump on June 20. After being freed, Hudson said, "Let's get Sunglow mine in eastern Kentucky. There are now more than 1,000 miners out on strike in that state. • Some 200 have walked out in Tennes­ Gov't crackdown continues in China, see, more than 1,000 in Ohio, and the strike has spread to Kansas as well. • All of District 20, which includes most dozens executed for role in protests of Alabama, is now on strike. • On June 19 some 350 miners struck the Associated Electrical Cooperative in Ran­ BY FRED FELDMAN to the June 3 and 4 assault by government The death sentences and public humilia­ The Chinese government is sentencing a troops in Beijing that left hundreds of civil­ tion to which some of the arrested workers dolph County, Missouri. These mines ac­ count for nearly 80 percent of all coal mined large number of people to death for alleged ians dead. "After troops began firing on civil­ have been subjected reflect the regime's de­ roles in resisting the crackdown on student­ ians," reported the New York Times' Nicholas termination to block any further involvement in the state. led protests that demanded democratic rights, Kristof, an eyewitness to some of the June 4 by workers in struggles for democratic rights • At midnight, June 20, all the 8,500 min­ or for participation in earlier protests. At least killings, "demonstrations spontaneously Continued on Page 13 Continued on Page 10 27 have been executed since the June 4 mas­ turned violent all over the capital as ordinary sacre by troops in Beijing. citizens tried to resist tanks and armed troops Beijing radio announced June 21 that 45 with sticks and rocks and firebombs." people in Jinan in Shandong Province had A Beijing television announcer said the Two Cuban women on U.S. tour been sentenced to death or prison terms for eight included peasants, workers, and unem­ "seriously endangering public order." Seven­ ployed. teen were said to have received death senten­ "In order to crack down strictly on the get warm welcome in New York ces. counterrevolutionary rebellion and crush Three Shanghai workers were publicly ex­ criminal behavior," a television announcer BY JON HILLSON :Breaking this blockade with the FMC tour, ecuted June 21. They had been convicted for declared, "the Beijing intermediate court NEW YORK - Two leaders of the Feder­ said Cathy Sedwick, Venceremos Brigade re­ participation in actions that began June 6 after agreed to sentence them to death." ation of Cuban Women (FMC) got a rousing gional committee member, "should inspire us a railroad train reportedly rammed into and Two other Chinese workers were dis­ welcome during the New York leg of their to reach out to mount more efforts to fight killed six people - four of them workers - played on television carrying placards de­ national speaking tour, cosponsored by the restrictions on information and travel to and who were staging a sit-in on the tracks. scribing their alleged crimes. The writing on U.S.-Cuba Women's Exchange and the from Cuba. That's the battle the brigade is A large crowd, reportedly including many the placards accused them of rumor-monger­ Venceremos Brigade. committed to, and we invite you to join us." workers, set nine railcars on fire and large ing and agitation, and announced that they Carolina Aguilar, a founding FMC activist Sedwick cochaired the meeting with Pizarro. crowds blocked the tracks for many hours had been sentenced to "reform" through and current member of its national director­ Among those introduced from the platform thereafter. Three were convicted June 14 after labor. ate, and Catherine Ribas, director of the were Margarita Delgado, first secretary of the a one-day trial. In China, executions - usually by firing a group's North American department, spoke Cuban mission to the United Nations, and Those executed were an employee in a bullet into the back of the prisoner's head - here June 16 to 130 people. The meeting was Ken Jones, a national executive committee Shanghai brewery, a worker in a radio factory, are normally carried out a few days after trial. held at Casa de las Americas. member of the Venceremos Brigade. Olga and an unemployed worker. Those executed are among some l ,000 Winning U.S. visas for Aguilar and Ribas Sanabria, a central committee member of the people who have been arrested in a continu­ was a "tremendous victory," Rafael Pizarro, Puerto Rican Socialist Party, translated for Sentencing in Beijing ing roundup of participants and leaders in the a national comm ittee member of the the two speakers. On June 17 eight people were sentenced to protests. Venceremos Brigade, explained to the meet­ "There is much being said about the role of death in Beijing. They were charged with They include student leaders and activists. ing. The U.S. government routinely denies women in society," Aguilar said. "Some cur­ allegedly taking part in "riots" in which six Some have been captured. Others have turned visas to Cubans invited to speak in this coun­ rents blame women for certain problems," buses or military vehicles were burned and themselves in or been turned in by neighbors try, as part of a 30-year campaign to stifle claiming that women " leaving home for some soldiers injured. or family members as the atmosphere of in­ public access to the truth about the Cuban work" are the source of increasing social These incidents stemmed from resistance timidation has heightened. revolution. Continued on Page 13 Toronto workers welcome Eastern strike coverage

BY ROSEMARY RAY working for Canada's two biggest The union movement is opposing cent buyout by Canadian Airlines ments in the Eastern strike. TORONTO - During a two­ airlines, Air Canada and Canadian the privatization, which is part of the had already resulted in 200 layoffs at One ramp worker said he had week period in early June, Militant Airlines. bosses' stepped-up attacks on airline the repair shops of Canadian Air­ bought two issues of the Militant. supporters in Toronto sold 120 sin­ Canadian Airlines recently workers. lines. The article in the June 9 issue by gle copies of the Militant and two bought a smaller carrier, Wardair, One flight attendant who bought .A ramp worker for Air Canada Susan LaMont explaining the subscriptions to airline workers at and announced after the buyout that the Militant said, "Supporting the bought the Militant and explained Trump buyout of the New York­ Eastern strikers and fighting how the two-tier wage system wor­ Boston-Washington, D.C., shuttle Lorenzo is the only way I see of ried him. "I don't think it's right that was "okay," he said. But he thought SELLING OUR PRESS saving my own job." while I earn $14.50 an hour, Air "LaMont's article in the May 26 As workers drove past the Mili­ Canada is getting away with hiring issue was better because it explained tant sales teams at the Air Canada new workers doing exactly the same the last 10 years of contract conces­ job for $7.50 an hour." He said, "The AT THE PLANT GATES and Canadian Airlines hangars and sions by all kinds of unions and how unity of the different unions at East­ noticed the coverage on the Eastern the Eastern strike fits in." Pearson International Airport. The it would lay off hundreds of workers strike, some parked their cars and em has shown that when you stick Militant's coverage of the Eastern in coming months. The government walked back to buy copies of the together, you can win together." Militant supporters have obtained Airlines strike helped generate con­ of Conservative Prime Minister paper and to discuss their concerns Militant salespeople report that a permit from the Ministry of Trans­ siderable interest in the paper. Brian Mulroney instituted a budget about their own deteriorating work­ some workers who l:x,ught the so­ portation allowing its distribution The majority of papers were sold last month that included completing ing conditions. One International cialist paper the first week were inside the terminal buildings. This to members of the Machinists', the sale to private owners of the gov­ Association of Machinists member eager to buy the next week's issue so has made it possible to meet a broad flight attendants' and pilots' unions ernment-owned airline, Air Canada. who works for Wardair said the re- they could keep up with develop- spectrum of airline workers. Uruguayan artist paints portrait of Tlipac Amaro

BY SAM MANUEL pleted his first mural while in Costa Rica last artist Amoldo Guillen painting on the Path­ against them from Cuzco. Following their NEW YORK - A portrait of Tupac fall on a program of the Friends World Col­ fmder mural. When I got back here, I had to victory the rebel forces laid siege to Cuzco Amaro, mounted upon his horse, is the latest lege. The 4-by-24-foot movable work is ded­ come by and see it," he added. but lacked sufficient arms to occupy the addition to the Pathfinder mural. The six­ icated to Salvadoran refugees in Costa Rica. ''The mural in Costa Rica served the need ancient Inca capital and had to retreat. of the Salvadoran refugees to express them­ story mural is being painted on the south It is now on display at Heredia University. The viceroys of Lima and Buenos Aires selves. They have no voice. The Pathfmder wall of the Pathfinder Building at Charles dispatched fresh troops led by field marshal "I first found out about the Pathfmder mural speaks not just for one small commu­ and West streets in Manhattan. It will be Jose del Valle, who defeated Tupac Amaro's mural while I was painting in Costa Rica," nity but for the global struggles of working completed in late October. forces and captured the rebel leader. He was explained Perero. "My sister sent me a copy people that are not talked about in the mass The portrait of Tupac Amaro was done by interrogated and tortured but refused to give a 22-year-old Uruguayan artist, Luis Eduardo of the Nicaraguan newspaper Barricada, media," said Perero. his captors any information. On May 18, Perero. A self-trained painter, Perero com- which had a story about the . Nicaraguan ''Tupac Amaro fitS with what is repre­ 1781, Tupac Amaro was executed in the sented in this mural. He is part of the history Wacaypata Plaza, along with his wife, son, of the Indian people, the working people, of relatives, and loyal followers. the Americas," Perero explained. More than a dozen prominent artists from Jose Gabriel Tupac Amaro is a symbol of 10 countries have painted portraits on the the resistance by the indigenous peoples of Pathfinder mural, along with many more Latin America to colonial conquest. An In­ from across the United States. New Zealand dian chief and direct descendant of the artist Sally Griffin and Samoan artist Fatu Incas, he led an uprising in 1780 against Feu'u will arrive in New York this week. Spanish colonial rule, in the Peruvian prov­ They will paint portraits of leaders of the ince of Tinta. His forces tried and executed labor and national liberation struggles from the colonial ruler in the province and issued the South Pacific. a proclamation freeing the enslaved Blacks. The purpose of the mural is to promote On Nov. 18, 1780, at Sagarara, Tupac Pathfinder and the books and pamphlets of Amaro's Indian rebel forces defeated a pow­ prominent revolutionary and working-class erful colonial army that had been launched leaders it publishes. Socialist ballot drive starts July 15

NEW YORK- "On July 15supportersof for city council president; and Vivian Sahner the Socialist Workers Party election cam­ for city comptroller. paign in this city will begin a period of intense The SWP is also fielding four candidates campaigning," said James Harris, SWP can­ for Brooklyn and Manhattan borough offices. didate formayorofNew York. During the petitioning campaign support­ On that day the campaign will launch a ers will also be participating in a summer petitioning effort to get three citywide candi­ educational program, Harris said. This will dates on the ballot for the November 7 elec­ include a series of classes for those interested tion. The legal requirement is 7,500 signa­ in finding out more about what the SWP 11t,.,nt/"''"m Manuel tures, but the Socialist Workers Party in New stands for. Pathfinder mural portrait of Tupac Amaro, leader of Peru Indian rebellion against York projects collecting 15,000 to assure a For more information call (212) 675-6740 Spanish colonialism in 1780. At left is Uruguayan artist Luis Perero. place on the ballot for Harris; Jerry Freiwirth or (718) 398-6983. THE MIUTANT TRLS THE TRUTH The Militant Closing news date: June 21, 1989 Coeditors: MARGARET JAYKO and DOUG JENNESS Circulation Director: NORTON SANDLER Nicaragua Bureau Director: LARRY SEIGLE Introductory subscription oner Business Manager: JIM WHITE Editorial Staff: Susan Apstein, Fred Feldman, Seth Galinsky (Nicaragua), Arthur Hughes, Cindy Jaquith, Susan LaMont, 12 weeks for $4.00 for new readers - an $8.00 savings Sam Manuel, Roni McCann, Selva Nebbia, Harry Ring, Peter Thierjung, Judy White (Nicaragua). Published weekly except one week in August and the last The Militant carries firsthand coverage of • Reports on advances in Cuba week of December by the Militant (ISSN 0026-3885), 410 the Eastern Machinists' strike and other West St., New York, N.Y. 10014. Telephone: Editorial Of­ labor battles. It features news and analysis • On-the-scene coverage from our fice, (212) 243-6392; Fax 727-0150; Telex, 497-4278; Busi­ ness Office, (212) 929-3486. Nicaragua Bureau, Apartado of the developing capitalist economic cri­ bureau in Managua, Nicaragua 2222, Managua. Telephone 24845. sis, and resistance by workers and farmers Correspondence concerning subscriptions or changes to employer and government attacks - of address should be addressed to The Militant Business Enclosed is from the U.S. to the Philippines, Britain to Office, 410 West St., New York, N.Y.10014. D $4 for 12 weeks, ·new readers D $9 for 12 weeks, South Africa. renewals Second-class postage paid at New York, N.Y. and at addi­ tional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes D $17 for 6 months D $30 for 1 year D $55 for 2 to The Militant, 410 West St., New York, N.Y. 10014. Sub­ years scriptions: U.S., Canada, Latin America: for one-year sub­ D $1.00 for Adion Program to Confront the Coming scription send $30, drawn on a U.S. bank, to above address. Economic Crisis, a Pathfinder pamphlet. By first-class (airmail), send $65. Britain, Ireland, Continen­ Name ______tal Europe, Africa: £22 for one year, £12 for six months, or Address ______£6 for three-month renewal. Send check or international City State___ Zip ------money order made out to Pathfinder Press and send to Path­ Phone___ Union/School/Organization ______finder, 47 The Cut, London SEI 8LL, England. Australia, Asia, Pacific: send Australian $60 to Pathfinder Press, P.O. Send to THE MILITANT, 410 West St., New York, N.Y. 10014 Box 153, Glebe, Sydney, NSW 2037, Australia. Signed articles by contributors do not necessarily represent the Militant's views. These are expressed in editorials.

2 The Militant June 30, 1989 Will court rulings on .affirmative action provoke fightback?

BY MARGARET JAYKO On June 15, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt Some in ruling circles the fourth in a series of sharp, rapid blows to the fight against racist and antiwoman dis­ are worried Supreme crimination in hiring, promotion, and treat~ Court is going too far, too ment- both on and off the job. The 5-to-4 majority ruled that a 123-year­ fast in assault on rights. old law barring discrimination in hiring could not be invoked to challenge racist bigotry and Reagan in his own image and -like him­ abuse once a person is hired. The law bars out of touch with reality, ignored shocking discrimination only at the initial hiring stage, examples of racial discrimination in an according to the high court justices. Alaska cannery (separate dining and housing While the court refused to overrule a 1976 facilities, for instance) but managed to muster decision giving Blacks and other oppressed ultimate sympathy for white firefighters in minorities the right to use the 1866law to sue Birmingham, Alabama." for private acts of discrimination, they drew In a June 16 editorial tided, "Strike Four," the Washington Post editors wrote, ''This case is the fourth loss in a major case this year for NEWS ANALYSIS civil rights forces. The Supreme Court, with the addition of Justice [Anthony] Kennedy, now has a slim majority that appears to be its jurisdiction so narrowly as to weaken its intent on narrowing discrimination remedies, use as a weapon in the fight for equal rights. restricting affirmative action, and protecting Nervous about court moves the rights of white males. The decisions in each of these cases could be modified by Some editors and columnists in major carefully drawn legislation - federal, state, Chicago firefighters who won their jobs through affirmative action program. Some newspapers, which speak for the tiny handful and local - and that is the task elected rep­ spokespeople for employers fear that recent Supreme Court decisions undercutting of ruling families in the United States, have resentatives must now undertake." such programs will backfire. expressed nervousness and hesitation about the scope and pace of the court's efforts to In an editorial the previous week, referring undo legal precedents established in the to the June 5 court ruling that dramatically less than a major setback in the nation's effort Tactical cleavages such as these over how, 1960s and '70s. These laws and court rulings increased the burden of proof on those who to resolve racial conflicts with justice and and how rapidly, to push back the rights and were the result of massive, and often bloody, sue over discrimination, the Post wrote, "The fmality." living standards of working people help in­ battles led by working people who are Black. court has issued other discrimination deci­ These divisions within ruling circles are crease opportunities to mobilize opposition in While reiterating support for moves de­ sions in recent years basically requiring reflected in the Supreme Court itself by the the streets, factories, campuses, and else­ signed to chip away at aff'mnative action, as greater proof for narrower relief. Some of close votes in these decisions. These conflicts where to blows to affmnative action. well as reaff'mning opposition to numerical these efforts have seemed right to us." The are of importance for all working people and There are today no large-scale organized quotas, these prominent voices of ruling-class problem now, the editorial states, is the court their allies who support affirmative action protests in defense of affirmative action mea­ opinion have worriedly noted that the recent has gone "far beyond the previous adjusting." measures as the way to combat discrimina­ sures. But that can change as anger mm~nts, package of rulings may be too far-reaching And in a June 14 editorial on the case of tion and forge greater unity in the fight against especially if the court hands down a negative and that their impact has been to anger mil­ the Birmingham firefighters, the Post stated, the employers, their parties, and their govern­ ruling on women's access to abortion in the lions of supporters of aff'mnative action who "It is hard to read their decision as anything ment. case it is currently considering. see them as body blows. This is why congressional leaders, as well as editors and columnists for the big-business press, are calling on Congress to legislatively Puerto Rican independence activists remedy some of the cruder aspects of the Supreme Court rulings as a way to head off organized, popular dissent. The specter ofthe polarization and struggle get long sentences in Hartford trial that is taking place over the abortion rights issue, which led to one of the largest political BY TIM CRAINE The prosecution memorandum also re­ of more than 100,000 files kept by the Puerto demonstrations in U.S. history on April9 in HARTFORD, Conn. -Federal Judge T. pe;:tted government claims that the pro­ Rican police on the independence movement. Washington, D.C., in defense of legal abor­ Emmet Clarie handed down sentences this independence organization Los Macheteros, Dfaz was prepared to testify that in view of tion, is haunting many in ruling circles as month for four Puerto Rican independence which the 15 allegedly belong to, is "terror­ the widespread harassment of the indepen­ well. activists who are defendants in the Puerto ist." Furthermore, the memo argued, violence dence movement, the political process in Rico/Hartford 15 case. is unnecessary to achieve the independence Puerto Rico is not "democratic." The prose­ 'A treacherous road' On June 15 Clarie gave Juan Segarra of Puerto Rico since the people of that coun­ cutors, however, objected to his testimony, A survey of a broad spectrum of capitalist­ Palmer the maximum sentence of 65 years in try have a "democratic process" available to and they were upheld by the judge. prison for conspiracy to plan and carry out a change the status of the island. Puerto Rico owned periodicals reveals their concerns. Before sentencing, each defendant made a 1983 robbery of a Wells Fargo depot. has been a U.S. colony since 1898. statement to the court reaffirming his dedica­ The June 26 Business Week ran an editorial Clarie sentenced three other defendants On the day of the sentencing, Segarra's tion to the struggle for Puerto Rican indepen­ warning, "The court is moving down a June 8. Antonio Camacho Negron was sen­ attorney, Leonard Weinglass, called to the dence. Camacho Negr6n stated: "The only treacherous road. Most of the nation, except tenced to 15 years in prison. Roberto Jose witness stand Abrahan Dfaz Gonzalez, for­ crime that has been proved against me in this for die-hard Reaganites and a few members Maldonado Rivera and Norman Ramirez mer president of the Puerto Rican Bar Asso­ court, judge, is that I am one who struggles of the judiciary, has accepted the notion that Talavera each received five-year sentences. ciation. Dfaz is presently serving on a com­ for the independence of my country, and this employers must take extra steps to overcome They were convicted of charges involving mission investigating the extensive network I admit." the effects ofpast discrimination. The justices transportation of stolen money. should think long and hard before tampering These sentences mark the end of one phase further with a system that by now is part of of the U.S. government's campaign against our social fabric, is accepted- and is work­ 15 independence activists framed up for con­ 1,500 urge release of Irish pa~riot ing well." spiracy in the 1983 robbery of a Wells Fargo In a summary article in the June 18 New depot. BY MARC LICHTMAN Service Employees International Union. The York Times, Linda Greenhouse wrote, "With Another of the 15, Filiberto Ojeda Rios, is NEW YORK - On June 17, the day be­ protest started at Battery Park, in view of the a recent burst of discrimination rulings, the scheduled to go on trial in Puerto Rico on fore Joe Doherty began his seventh year in a Statue of Liberty. Accompanied by several Supreme Court did something more than pro­ June 28. He is to be tried on charges stemming New York City jail, around 1,500 people took bagpipe bands and numerous colorful ban­ vide newly confining definitions to widely from the wounding of an FBI agent who part in a demonstration to demand his release. ners, marchers proceeded to Thomas Paine used civil rights laws. The Court all but guar­ broke into his home on Aug. 30, 1985, at the Doherty carne to this country after escap­ Park, near where Doherty is imprisoned. anteed that civil rights would leap to the time of the first wave of arrests in this case. ing from prison in British-occupied Northern Speakers at the rally included several pol­ forefront of domestic politics," she predicted. Ojeda and eight other independence activ­ Ireland. He was a volunteer in the Irish Re­ iticians, Doherty's mother Maureen, and his The editors of the New York Times wrote ists are still awaiting trial on charges related publican Army, fighting to end British rule attorney Mary Pike. Steven McDonald, a cop on June 14 - the day before the latest deci­ to the Wells Fargo robbery. and to reunite Ireland. Accused of killing a paralyzed while shot on duty and a hero of the sion- that the package of rulings all "deliver Clarie based his sentencing of Segarra on captain in the elite Special Air Services, he big-business media, also spoke. the same message. Today's Supreme Court was sentenced to life imprisonment. a memorandum issued by federal prosecutors Congressman Thomas Manton from majority sides with the beneficiaries, not the After Doherty was arrested here, the Brit­ on May 23. Their document accused Segarra Queens spoke about the resolution he intro­ victims, of discrimination. ish tried to extradite him to Northern Ireland, of participation in two other bank robberies, duced in the House ofRepresentatives calling "Congress has set very different priorities but U.S. judges ruled in Doherty's favor. A an attack on U.S. Navy personnel in Puerto on the attorney general to release Doherty on over the past quarter-century. Now the Court year ago, the U.S. attorney general ordered Rico, and an attack on a U.S. Air Force base bail and approve his asylum request. The bill is giving the lawmakers a lengthening agenda him deported - thus turning Doherty over to in Puerto Rico in which $45 million worth of has gained 46 congressional sponsors. for reasserting previously established rights, planes were destroyed. the same British authorities the courts ruled and for rebuilding a workable system of jus­ Segarra's role in these actions, which took he couldn't be delivered to. His attorneys are In a message read at the event, Jesse Jack­ tice." place during the period 1977-81, was testi­ fighting deportation and trying to win son paid tribute to Doherty as "a soldier for fied to by a government informer. And the Doherty's release on bail and political asylum justice." The announcement that several Ignoring discrimination government has never brought these allega­ here. striking Eastern Airlines workers were at­ Washington Post columnist Richard tions before a grand jury, let alone a trial The demonstration was initiated by the tending the rally was warmly greeted. Cohen wrote on June 16, "In recent decisions, court. National Committee for Joseph Doherty and For more information on the case, contact the Supreme Court has greatly limited what Nevertheless, Clarie was allowed to use endorsed by more than a dozen Irish-Ameri­ the National Committee for Joseph Doherty, was once a broad affirmative action mandate. these allegations against Segarra in determin­ can organizations, as well as Local1199 Hos­ P.O. Box 20474, Midtown Station, New A new court majority, created by Ronald ing the sentence. pital and Health Care Employees and the York, N.Y. 10129.

June 30, 1989 The Militant 3 Fight can only be won 'in solidarity with others'

Mark Curtis is a unionist and among the difficulties of our strug­ Curtis supporters: political activist from Des gle in our own places, on our own • Won approval from the stu­ Moines, Iowa, who is serving a fronts, there is a common sense of dent government for a $350 25-year jail term on frame-up solidarity that unites us and makes speaker's fee and travel expenses charges of rape and burglary. our struggle stronger. We in Nica­ for Hazel Zimmerman, secretary of The Mark Curtis Defense Com- ragua have witnessed for more than the Mark Curtis Defense Commit­ tee, to address the meeting. • Spoke about the case to other DEFEND MARK CURTIS! student groups, leading to endorse­ ments for the meeting from a cam­ mittee is leading an international 10 years that solidarity works." pus feminist group called Shakti, political campaign to fight for Sandra Nelson, a member of the and from the University of Chicago justice for Curtis. To contact the steering committee of the Mark chapters of the Democratic Social­ committee, write Box 1048, Des Curtis Defense Committee in Des ists of America and the Divinity Moines, Iowa 50311. Telephone Moines, also spoke. She discussed Students for Responsible Action. (515) 246-1695. the international campaign • Wrote an extensive article for launched by the committee to pro­ the campus newspaper on the Bobby Gilmore of the Irish test the decision of prison authori­ frame-up of Curtis. Chaplaincy Scheme in Britain ties to prevent Curtis and other • Distributed hundreds of leaf­ works with many victims of social prisoners at the Iowa State Men's lets from Curtis defense tables set and political injustice. He dis­ Reformatory in Anamosa from re­ up on campus. cussed the fight to defend Mark ceiving materials in languages Arjun Guneratne of CAUSE other than English, and from shar­ Curtis at a rally of 100 people in chaired the meeting. Speaking ing written materials with each London May 27. were Bill Behrend, Curtis' uncle other. Referring to the cases of Irish and a divinity student in Chicago; Doreen Weppler, a rail worker and South African freedom fighters and Susan O'Neal, feminist and and the Communist League candi­ who have been unjustly imprisoned Curtis supporter; as well as Zim­ for their political activities, as well date in the June 15 European Par­ Militant/Dennis Chambers merman. as to Curtis', Gilmore explained liament elections, made the Curtis Bill Behrend, Mark Curtis' uncle, addresses Chicago support meet­ that it's only, "in solidarity with defense effort a central theme of ing. In response to an appeal by the others," that the struggles to defend her election campaign. defense committee leader, nearly everyone at the meeting signed a these fighters can be won. Recent raids by immigration communicate and to get involved in the extensive Curtis support activi­ protest statement to the warden at cops at the Waterloo and London active solidarity with each other. ties that have taken place in Swe­ Speaking on behalf of the Mid­ Anamosa against the denial of non­ Bridge rail depots, she said, "are "If you're effective at that any­ den, pointing out that Swedish lands District Council of the Na­ English language literature. tional Union of Railwaymen, aimed at trying to make workers where in the world, you're taken union magazines were among the Graham Till said that the attack on who come to this country insecure, seriously by those people in power materials denied to Curtis under the "The case of Mark Curtis in gen­ Curtis is "nothing more than prob­ trying to isolate them from other and authority. It's a central ques­ ban on non-English language liter­ eral and the new twist on his right ably one of the most abhorrent and workers, and thereby weaken the tion of world politics and it's a cen­ ature. to read dramatize the true outlook working class as a whole." fiercest expressions of the way in tral question of politics in the Greetings were sent to the meet­ ofthedominantsections of the U.S. which the capitalist class will use Curtis was arrested in March packinghouse industry in Iowa." ing from the El Salvador Solidarity ruling class," wrote Frank Rosen, any device, any means. 1988 just hours after he had partic­ The increased censorship Campaign Executive Committee president of United Electrical "It will use the judiciary, it will ipated in a meeting to protest the against Curtis is an attempt by the and the North Staffs Miners Wives. Workers District Council 11, in a use legislation, in order to under­ arrest of 17 Latino coworkers by prison authorities, said Gaige, "to statement to the meeting. immigration cops who raided the make each prisoner an island. The mine, in order to keep down the • "It is part of their campaign to world's working people as they Des Moines meat-packing plant goal is to keep the world out of the A campaign to introduce the where he worked. prison, to tum your eyes away from Mark Curtis defense fight to the strengthen the mechanisms they strive to do something to improve will need to throttle the inevitable their lot in life, and to improve and John Gaige, a leader of the So­ the political struggles and social University of Chicago campus cul­ battles taking place in the world minated in a meeting of 35 people protests that will take place as the gain what they should be receiving cialist Workers Party in the United full impact ofthe true instability of from their labors." outside." on May 25. States and of the Mark Curtis De­ the U.S. economy is visited upon Julio Ricardo of the Sandinista fense Committee, explained that Celia Pugh, an engineering The speak-out was initiated by more and more Americans." National Liberation Front of Nica­ the denial of Spanish-language ma­ worker in Britain, and Erik Dahlrot, the Committee Assembled in Unity ragua, said, "As a Nicaraguan and terials to Curtis puts the fight for a Curtis supporter from Sweden and Solidarity with El Salvador as a Sandinista, for me it is an honor Curtis' rights in the middle of a and a worker at a truck factory, (CAUSE), a campus organization. Rob Jones from London and Don to join this campaign, and I am central issue of world politics - chaired the meeting. In the weeks leading up to the meet­ Davis from Chicago contributed to delighted to see and confirm how "the ability of working people to Dahlrot told the meeting about ing, CAUSE activists and other this column. Fabrications spice U.S. media coverage of China False reports of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Vietnam governments backing massacre

BY SELVA NEBBIA What about the Cuban government's po­ without the predisposition to believe any­ university students can find no reason for an As newspapers here carried front-page sition on the massacre of Chinese students? thing bad about these three ranking members action of this nature against university stu­ photos of the June 4 massacre of hundreds In a phone interview on June 16, Clinton of the official U.S. hate list should have sus­ dents who were asking that their demands of Chinese students, a brief article appeared Adlum, from the Cuban Interests Section in pected." receive attention. The concerns of youth in the June 8 New York Times that stated, cannot be met with indiscriminate repres­ Washington, D.C., said, "The Cuban gov­ APstory "Cuba has aligned itself squarely with the ernment has not made any declarations on sion. . . . The military response that was Chinese leaders, attributing the bloodshed this matter nor have any Cuban leaders re­ Cockburn traced the story on Nicaragua to given to the demands of the Chinese stu­ in Beijing to 'counterrevolutionaries' seek­ ferred to it in their speeches. The Cuban a June 5 Associated Press dispatch from dents does not resolve doubts, does not re­ ing to topple the Government." The article media has carried the various press reports Tokyo by Eric Talmadge. Talmadge's article solve concerns, does not placate demands. was a Reuters dispatch from Havana. on the events from Associated Press, UPI, had reported, "Lonely voices of support for Just the contrary." A few days later, on June 12, a Wall Street and others, as well as statements made by China carne from Nicaragua and in an official The only official response to the massacre Journal editorial stated, "Nicaragua, with Chinese officials." Vietnamese radio broadcast, which said coming from the Nicaraguan government troops in Beijing were attacked by hooligans Cuba and Vietnam, constituted the only Explaining the possible source of the was a brief reference in a June 9 speech given and ruffians and were justified in fighting countries in the world to approve the Chi­ statements attributed to Cuba on the Chi­ by President Daniel Ortega to an international nese Communists' slaughter of the students back. Nicaragua's official Barricada news­ conference of ecologists held in Managua. He nese events, Adlum said, "It seems that there paper quoted Chinese leader's claims that the in Tiananmen Square." are some who are interested in tarnishing said, "We cannot applaud the violence in the order to attack avoided chaos and greater our image by linking us to a massacre of this countries of Asia, as in China." Other news media also repeated similar bloodshed." type." reports. Both CBS and NBC television sta­ When Cockburn's assistant reached Tal­ Cockburn reports that on June 13 "AP tions mentioned these stories in their nightly The Cuban news media also reported the madge in Tokyo to ask about his source, he issued a correction saying that its June 5 story about Barricada had been 'erroneous' and network news programs. statements made by the Soviet government as said that the sentence about Nicaragua had then quoted Ortega" in terms similar to But, what was reported as "news" turned well as those of U.S. President George Bush been added in New York. The AP New York Mr. out to be fabrications cut from whole cloth. on the massacre of Chinese students. office would not say who added the lines. the remarks quoted above. "Amid scrutiny of their reporting, one ed­ On June 7 Vietnam's United Nations mis­ A June II Havana report from the French At one point AP said that the material on Nicaragua was probably not filed by their itor at AP said grumpily that he was getting sion issued a press release quoting a spokes­ news service Agence France-Presse stated, so many calls that he was beginning to think man for the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry. bureau in Managua, but that "what may have "Up to now, the Cuban government has re­ there was some kind of 'conspiracy' to get "Answering questions of the Vietnam News frained from commenting on the demonstra­ happened" was that "an editor wrote a transi­ tion that wasn't accurate." AP," said Cockburn. "I'm against conspiracy Agency about reports by CBS television and tions in Beijing and other Chinese cities and theories myself, but figure for yourself who a number of other Western televisions and the repression carried out by the army." "Some transition," writes Cockburn. in this case has the most legitimate call on the radios that Vietnam supported the actions of When the reports on Vietnam, Cuba, and Barricada, the daily newspaper of the notion of conspiracy. the Chinese government against the demon­ Nicaragua first appeared, Alexander Cock­ Sandinista National Liberation Front, gave "President Bush," adds Cockburn, " read­ stration in Beijing, he said, 'These are sheer bum, a columnist for the Nation and L.A. prominent coverage to the Chinese student ies himself to urge Congress to give the CIA fabrications. Vietnam has never expressed Weekly, and a contributor to the Wall Street demonstrations from their outbreak in May. carte blanche to interfere covertly in its attitude in this matter.' Journal, attempted to track down their Following the June 4 massacre, the FSLN Nicaragua's internal affairs in the months "Asked about Vietnam's position, he source. paper carried a press release issued by the before its elections. U.S. government offi­ said, 'This is an internal question of China. In a column in the June 15 Journal titled National Union of Nicaraguan Students cials circulate any dirt about Nicaragua they The bloodshed is regrettable. It is hoped that "Nicaragua, Vietnam and Cuba Praise China? (UNEN) and signed by the organization's can dream up. Into this charged atmosphere the situation in China will soon return to Dead Wrong," Cockburn concluded: "The newly elected president, Marfa Ramirez. comes the AP, throwing Nicaragua into the normal."' stories were dead wrong, as any journalist The UNEN statement read, "Nicaraguan worst possible light."

4 The Militant June 30, 1989 Cuban gov't arrests general, officials on corruption charges

BY SELVA NEBBIA the success of our troops' military opera­ On June 14 the Ministry of the Cuban tions in Angola." Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) re­ Moreover, the Cuban army chief of staff ported that Division Gen. Arnaldo Ochoa "followed day by day, and hour by hour" the Sanchez had been arrested and placed under developments and every important military investigation "for serious crimes of corrup­ decision that had to be made in Angola, "in tion and dishonest handling of fmancial re­ close collaboration with the Angolan com­ sources." mand and with the leadership of the Cuban Ochoa, who was awarded the medal of troops" in Angola. · the Hero of the Republic of Cuba in 1984, "In fact," explained the editorial, "Ochoa led several military delegations to Ethio­ was mainly involved in other tasks of the pia over the past 10 years. He also served Cuban military operations in Angola." in Angola. Thus, his "obsessive preoccupation" with Speaking on the occasion of the 28th anni­ economic aspects "could in no way influ­ versary of Cuba's western regional army on ence military developments. June 14, Raw Castro, minister of the armed "As soon as a peace agreement was forces of Cuba, said that Ochoa's behavior reached, he was returned to Cuba, leaving was "incompatible with the principles of a the complex and difficult task of following communist and with the higher responsibili­ through with the Cuban implementation of ties due to the homeland, the people and the the accord and the gradual and progressive party - incompatible in other words, with withdrawal of our troops in the hands of the ethical conduct of a general of our Revo­ Division Gen. Leopoldo Cintras." lutionary Armed Forces." Six other high-ranking members of the Since his "known shortcomings" at that FAR and of the Ministry of the Interior were point didn't prevent him from taking on also arrested. So were Diocles Torralbas, important assignments in the Revolutionary Gianfranco Gorgoni, reprinted by permission of Pathfinder Press minister of transportation and vice-presi­ Armed Forces, Ochoa had been considered Raul Castro, left, Cuba's minister of armed forces, with head of state Fidel Castro. dent of the Council of Ministers, and for the position of head of the Western Acts of Gen. Arnaldo Ochoa were "incompatible with principles ofa communist," Raul Idalberto Galvez Richardson, a functionary Army. Cuba has three regional armies - Castro said. ofPublicitur, the Cuban agency in charge of eastern, central, and western. "But rumors and information, from vari­ tourism. squandering of hard currency, and a "dispro­ Rodriguez Estupinan, both assistants to ous sources, about serious moral irregulari­ A June 16 editorial in Granrna, the news­ portionate eagerness to accumulate and Ochoa and members of the MINFAR. The ties in Ochoa's conduct and the possible paper of the Communist Party of Cuba, ex­ manage funds." members of the MININT arrested were misuse of resources led to the postponement plained the arrests. The editorial singled out "Furthermore," adds the editorial, "there Brig. Gen. Patricio de Ia Guardia Font, Col. of his being put forward for the new position the arrest of Ochoa as being "much more is something that is much more serious and Antonio de Ia Guardia Font, Lt. Col. Alexis and to a thorough but discreet verification serious and complex" than the others. has no precedent in the history of the revo­ Lago Arocha, and Maj. Amado Padron Tru­ of this information," continued Granma. Ochoa was able to influence and corrupt lution: Ochoa and some functionaries of the jillo. a number of officers who worked closely The results of the initial investigation Ministry of the Interior connected with him "In spite of being extremely surprising with him in the armed forces, the editorial shed enough light on the facts "to make the made contacts with international drug trad­ and bitter news for our people, these facts states. He "involved them in his illicit activ­ forthright, although painful, decision to ar­ ers, reached agreements, attempted to - show that among people, in matters of mo­ ities, and instead of informing the top mili­ rest him and to inform the people as a whole and in fact possibly did - cooperate in rality as well as in physical matters, serious tary command, they became his accom­ of this fact, who understandably received some drug trafficking operations in the vi­ ills can arise. In our homeland absolutely the news with surprise and grief. . cinity of our national territory. nobody, no matter how great their merits plices." .,, '·. ''The investigations are now directed to might be, no matter how high their position. Due to his rank, influence, and the tasks ''The seriousness of the facts indicated this extremely serious aspect, which might can violate the principles and laws of the he was assigned to, Ochoa was also able to the need to carry out an exhaustive and have provided a basis for the insidious cam­ revolution with impunity. develop close relationships with a group of thorough investigation and to bring it to an paigns of imperialism against the Cuban "There are people who violate these prin­ officials from the Ministry of the Interior Honor Tribunal corresponding to his rank, revolution. The public, both nationally and ciples and these laws, but the inexorable (MININT), said Granma, "some of whom according to the norms of the Revolutionary internationally, will be broadly informed of weight of revolutionary justice will fall on carried out important assignments, and who, Armed Forces and all the legal procedures everything that confirms this." them. like Ochoa, had obviously fallen into a state in the case." of moral corruption." The others arrested were: Capt. Jorge "A true revolution will never permit im­ The editorial points out that "at no time Martinez Valdes and Col. Antonio punity," concludes the editorial. The Communist Party paper explains that had there been the slightest evidence that the Ministry of the Army (MINFAR) had Arnoldo Ochoa and the small group of peo­ repeatedly called to order and criticized ple of the MINFAR and the MININT had Ochoa for his tendency to concern himsdf been involved in any political activity or any Meetings on China in many cities with "matters that did not pertain to his acts of treason against the revolution. military duties. He always justified this," ''Their treason has been of another and More than 170 people heard Militant editor and Socialist Workers Party speaker Arnold. Granma states, "by saying it was necessary very serious type: against the morality, prin­ Doug Jenness speak June 17 in New York Weissberg, addressed an audience of 50 peo­ to promote commercial operations to con­ ciples, laws, and prestige of our revolution, City on the student-led protests and govern­ ple. On the following afternoon, McGuire, tribute resources that would help Cuba ful­ of our glorious and heroic Revolutionary ment crackdown in China. along with George Johnson of the SWP, fill its internationalist commitments." Armed Forces, and of the combatants of the The· gathering was one of many presenta­ spoke to a meeting of more than 40 in Oak­ And "while at no time were his [Ochoa's] Ministry of the Interior. This type of treason tions and discussions on the events in China land. military abilities questioned." the armed sooner or later always leads to political trea­ that have been held in cities across the coun­ In Los Angeles on June 10, Socialist Work­ forces assigned Division Gen. Leopoldo son." try, featuring speakers who supported the de­ ers Party National Committee member Bet­ Cintras Frias to the Southern Front com­ Among the concrete charges against mands of the Chinese protesters and de­ sey Stone spoke about China to well over 50 mand in Angola, to "guarantee 100 percent Ochoa are the misuse, embezzlement, and nounced the massacre in Beijing. people, including several activists from orga­ In each area, the meeting was sponsored by nizations in solidarity with El Salvador and the local Militant Labor Forum, established Nicaragua. r------New from Pathfinder in cities across the United States by distribu- A wide range of questions were raised by participants in the meetings. Some wanted more information about the history and eco­ The fourth and last article in nomic changes taking place in China. Fidel Castro the series, "Behind Crisis in Others asked why the U.S. capitalist media China," by Fred Feldman, will has voiced sympathy with the students' revolt appear in next week's issue. and about the claim that communism is in In Defense of crisis; whether events in China have anything in common with the shifts taking place in the Socialism tors and other readers of the M ilitant newspa­ Soviet Union, Poland, and other countries per. The forums sponsor public meetings at where capitalism has been overturned; Four Speeches on which working people, students, and others whether capitalism has been restored to can hear speakers on a broad range of current China; what can be done in the United States the 30th Anniversary topics and discuss freely their views. to solidarize with the Chinese students; about Those who heard Jenness included Ma­ the rectification campaign in revolutionary of the Cuban chinists union members on strike against Cuba; and many other questions. Eastern Airlines, flight attendants who have Other meetings about the events in China Revolution walked out in solidarity with them, workers held under Militant Labor Forum auspices Castro explains his views on the from the Trump Shuttle, and striking workers took place June 10 in Seattle; June 17 in lessons of 30 years of building from the Tavern on the Green, a local restau­ Charleston and Morgantown, West Virginia. rant. There were activists present from the Miami, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, and Aus­ socialism in Cuba; the prospects Antonio Maceo Brigade and Venceremos tin, Minnesota; and June 18 in Cleveland . for socialism in today's world; in­ Brigade, which organize trips and other forms In Montreal, Canada, Revolutionary ternationalism, and many other of solidarity with Cuba. Workers League leader John Steele spoke In San Francisco that night, Kevin Mc­ June 10 to a meeting sponsored by Forum topics. 142 pp., $7 .95. Available from Pathfinder bookstores listed on page 12 or by mail from Guire, a free-lance journalist who returned Lutte Ouvriere, organized by supporters of Pathfinder, 410 West St. New York, NY 10014. Please include $1 for postage and handling. from China on June 6 after witnessing the the French-language socialist monthly student-led protests and killings by the army, Lutte ouvriere.

June 30, 1989 The Militant 5 June 29 rally set in Baltimore to back strike

The International Association International Airport. The 45 East- rant sent over a pot of hot sloppy joes the International Union of Elec- here on a workday afternoon shows of Machinists struck Eastern Air- em lAM members on strike at BWI and buns on a cold night during the tronic Workers/Furniture Workers that our line is strong, and we are lines March 4 in an effort to block are in that local, which has opened midnight to 4:00 a.m. shift. One Division, including Lonnie going to win," Sandra Mickley of the company's drive to break the up its hall at the airport for union woman stopped her car at the air Eldridge, president of IUE/FWD the Transport Workers Union told unions and impose massive con- activists to build the event. freight facility and gave the pickets Local376 in Athens, Texas. The 400 the rally. TWU Local 553 represents cessions on workers. The event is endorsed by the flight there a plate full ofhomemade cook- members of Local 376 are on strike flight attendants at Eastern. lAM Backed by the 5,900 flight at- attendants' and pilots' unions; ies. She works for Pan Am, she told against wage cuts demanded by Har- leader Charlie Bryan and Air Line tendants and 3,400 pilots at East- ACIWU Joint Board; Metropolitan the strikers. On another occasion, a vey Industries, a television manu- Pilots Association President Hank ern, the strike by 8,500 Machin- Baltimore AFL-CIO Council; lAM motorist stopped and gave the strik- facturer. Duffy also spoke. ists has crippled the airline's District 12; and United Steelworkers ers a check for $300 for the strike The Eastern strikers "have good, At one point a small plane flew operations since then. It has also of America District 8. relief fund. strong, solid support," said Eldridge, over the crowd with a sign reading United Food and Commercial "which is what unionism is about- "Hold the line 'til '99." Later it was Workers Local27 is also backing the • brother and sister for brother and discovered this was a stunt paid for rally, and has recently decided to About 200 people attended an sister." by Eastern, aimed at demoralizing SUPPORT help the Eastern strikers bolster their Eastern strike solidarity rally held at "While Harvey Industries is not strikers by implying the company picket lines. Speakers at the rally San Francisco's Union Square June Frank Lorenzo," he added, "they are didn't care how long they stayed out. EASTERN will include lAM District 100 Pres- 8. There are 37 striking lAM mem- in the same league." The misguided effort at psycho- ident and General Chairman Charlie hers in that city. logical warfare backfired. The plane STRIKERS! Bryan and Thomas Russow, presi- Machinists' Local 1781 President • simply inspired enthusiastic chants dent of UFCW Local 27. Jerry Nelson and Central Labor The Pennsylvania Labor Depart- of "Hold that line! Hold that line!" Council head Walter Johnson both ment has ruled that Eastern workers won broad support from work- At 4:30 p.m. the same day, a After the rally, everyone joined a ing people in the United States union-sponsored picket line will urged everyone to attend a strike were locked out, and can therefore rally at San Francisco International spirited sidewalk march along 36th and Canada. Readers - espe- take place at Baltimore's unemploy- get unemployment benefits retroac- Street, a heavily traveled road on the Airport on July 2, the day Eastern is tive to March, the AFL-C/0 Fair- cially Eastern strikers - are en- ment office to protest Maryland's north side of Miami International scheduled to resume flights there. ness at Eastern Update reported couraged to send news of strike recent decision to deny Eastern Airport where Eastern's corporate Ron Johnson, a striker who May 12. The agency held that work- solidarity activities to this col- strikers unemployment benefits. headquarters and maintenance base worked in ramp service, told the ers were locked out when Texas Air umn. are located . • rally, "We're going to be there to Corp. Chairman Frank Lorenzo or- People show their support for the send them [the flights] off and to dered all lAM members removed Popular support for the strikers Baltimore's first major rally to strikers on the picket lines at Miami greet them." He also reported on from Eastern property on March 3, was demonstrated by the almost back the Eastern strikers will take International Airport in many ways, support the strike has received from the morning before the strike started. nonstop, ear-splitting honking of place June 29 at 6:00 p.m. at the reports striker Jeff Miller, a member noncontract workers at Eastern, horns by passing cars and trucks. Amalgamated Clothing and Textile of lAM Local 702 there. Many honk such as ticket agents. • Workers Joint Board building, 1505 their horns as they drive by. Re- Hotel and restaurant workers, More than 1,000 strikers and sup- Rashaad Ali from Baltimore, Kath- Eutaw Place. cently, one man stopped his car and longshoremen, bus drivers, and porters attended a rally in Miami leen Denny from San Francisco, and The rally is sponsored by lAM gave the. picketers a large bag filled other unionists participated. Also June 9. Pete Seidman from Miami contrib- Local 846 at Baltimore-Washington with hamburgers. A nearby restau- present were members of locals of "The fact that so many people are uted to this column. Atlanta strikers solid in face of Eastern's plans

BY PETER THIERJUNG Despite the losses, Eastern's announced minutes away from the airport, is where lAM ATLANTA- Hying into Hartsfield In­ goal for Atlanta is to increase the number of Southern hub members and flight attendants have organ­ ternational Airport here the first thing one flights to 82 by July 2. Scab pilots, mechanics, ized a food bank. An lAM official explained . sees is dozens of grounded jets on the tarmac and other employees -freed up from the is target to visitors that one reason Texas Air Corp. of the Eastern Airlines maintenance base. The sale of Eastern's northeast shuttle to Donald Chairman Frank Lorenzo took Eastern to huge employee parking lot nearby is almost Trump- were shipped into Atlanta under for airline's bankruptcy court was to starve out the strik­ empty. guard during the second week of June. strikebreaking. ers. But food bank activists and strike sup­ Inside the airport, whole sections of porters from across the country are making Eastern has slashed fares to entice travelers Eastern's terminal are shut down. There is sure Eastern doesn't Succeed. More than 800 and launched a big media campaign. Appli­ only a trickle of passengers. The strike by gate agents and cleridll employees, has met lAM strikers and nearly 200 flight attendants cations for new employees are being sought Machinists' union members, flight atten­ with resistance here. These workers have are signed up to receive food from the Atlanta by the airline. The carrier is trying to give the dants, and pilots in this southern hub is solid. begun to organize a letter-writing campaign food bank. appearance that the strike is over. Atlanta is a major target for Eastern's to protest their working conditions. The let­ This challenge has only stiffened the re­ Aside from local donations of food, con­ strikebreaking plans. From a high point of ters are aimed at the bankruptcy court in New solve of the strikers. tributions in enormous quantities have been about 300 daily flights before the strike, only York that is overseeing Eastern's bankruptcy On June 14 pilots- along with Machin­ received from as far away as Michigan, 21 now get off the ground every day. Picket­ proceedings. The three striking unions have ists and flight attendants - organized a Ohio, and Texas. Independent truckers ing pilots report that flights are at 60 percent given office space and telephones to non­ picket of almost 250 strikers and family have donated their time and rigs to get the of passenger capacity. They estimate Eastern contract workers so that they can organize. members at the Eastern terminal. Members food to Atlanta. Sometimes the Machinists' is losing almost $2,000 per flight. Down the street from tent city, flight atten­ and officials of the United Food and Com­ union rents a truck to pick up food contri­ in mercial Workers union and Amalgamated dants and pilots share a 'hospitality suite' butions. Surplus food is distributed to strik­ an office building. This is where their partic­ Clothing and Textile Workers Union also ers at smaller Eastern stations in Aorida, ipation in picket lines is organized. joined the picket line. Informational literature Tennessee, Alabama, and other parts of The Machinists' union hall, located several 'Militant' reporters on the strike was passed out to arriving and Georgia. to speak at forums departing passengers. "The strike is not on Eastern strike over," was the picket line's message. Pickets leaflet ticket counter Roni McCann and Peter Thierjung Inside the airport, pickets regularly leaf­ Omaha: scab hiring session picketed will be featured speakers at Militant let Eastern's ticket counter and are visible Labor Forums in Los Angeles and the in terminal concourses and at hiring points. San Francisco Bay Area June 24. They Pickets are also posted outside at the termi­ recently joined the Militant staff and nal entrances. have been currently reporting on East­ "If you really believe in something, you em strike activities in Miami, Philadel­ have to fight for it," said one flight atten­ phia, and Washington, D.C. dant. "You can't just give up." Others The forums are entitled, "The Stakes agreed. in the Strike at Eastern Airlines." In Los Angeles, the meeting featuring Mc­ "The cupboards are getting empty, but we Cann will be held at 2546 West Pico won't go back," said one International Asso­ Boulevard at 7:30p.m. ciation of Machinists member. "The support The Bay Area forum will be held at we're getting is helping us stay strong." Only 7:30p.m. at the Humanist Society, 411 nine of the 2,400 lAM members in Atlanta 28th Street (between Telegraph and have crossed the picket line to work for East­ Broadway), in Oakland. In addition to em. Thierjung, striking Machinists Local Several connected tents resembling a mil­ 1781 member Jeff Bettencourt will be itary field camp are located across the street speaking, along with Jerri Pourmand, a from the maintenance base. 'Tent City" is the flight attendant and member of Trans­ lAM command center where picketing is or­ port Workers Union Local 553, who is ganized. Phones, charts, bulletin boards, ra­ also on strike at Eastern. dios, meeting areas, a makeshift kitchen, and After the forums, there will be social an outdoor stage for rallies are set up there. A events to send off McCann and van shuttles pickets to and from this com­ Thierjung, who have been leading so­ mand center to locations at the terminal. cialist political activists in Los Angeles Visitors and strike supporters are wel­ and Oakland respectively, to their new comed here. Contributions for the strike of roles as Militant reporters based in any kind are logged. Thank-you letters are New York. The socials will raise funds sent to all who contribute, one striker said. OMAHA, Neb.-A dozen unionists picketed the Embassy Suites Hotel here June for the Militant. 9 to persuade people not to apply for strikebreaking jobs at Eastern. About half For more information, in Los Ange­ 'Welcome, noncontract workers' of the 40 or so applicants who came decided not to go in after talking with pickets. les, call (213) 380-9460; in Oakland, A banner reading "Welcome noncontract Three Eastern strikers - two flight attendants and a pilot - helped leaflet and (415) 420-1165; and in San Francisco, workers" is draped across the front of tent talk to prospective applicants. The action, which was covered by local TV and (415) 282-6255. city. Eastern's move to slash wages and in­ radio, was sponsored by the Omaha Central Labor Council. crease hours of noncontract workers, such as

6 The Militant June 30, 1989 Eastern strikers call protests Bigger picket lines, rallies to answer Lorenzo's plans

Continued from front page to sell $1 .8 billion in assets in order to raise examiner David Shapiro reiterated June 14 building the action, DeMaria added. needed cash. that "there is no viable bid" for the airline. In Philadelphia Machinists Local 1776 On June 14 the bankruptcy court oversee­ Ritchie's proposal to buy the airline in­ strike coordinator Phil Harris says the strik­ ing Eastern's Chapter 11 bankruptcy pro­ volves wage and benefit cuts from the unions ers there will be organizing expanded picket ceedings approved the sale of 15 aircraft and of more than $400 million. In addition to line activity on July 2. six engines for $277.5 million to UAS In­ $210 million in concessions agreed to in an The six Eastern lAM strikers in Seattle, vestment, Inc., a company that buys and earlier buyout attempt, Ritchie demanded up with the help of other unionists and the King resells airline equipment. Lorenzo took to $200 million more in wage and benefit cuts County Central Labor Council, are planning Eastern into bankruptcy five days after the and work rule "savings" during the first six to petition passengers on June 30 to get strike started. Earlier, the court had ap­ months of operations, if the carrier did not pledges of support for the unions' boycott of proved the sale of the shuttle. make sufficient profits. The Machinists' and Continental. On July 2- the day Eastern On June 16 Midway Airlines agreed to pilots' unions, and the AFL-CIO, had also plans to resume flights to Seattle to hook up pay $206.5 million for Eastern's Philadel­ agreed to put up $75 million to help Ritchie with Continental's new route to Tokyo­ phia gates, landing rights, and Canadian make the deal. strikers will be organizing stepped-up pick­ routes. Ifapproved by the bankruptcy court, Ritchie himself, over the telephone, told eting and leafleting. the deal will also include 16 aircraft, and a pilots' meeting in New York June 19 that In Milwaukee unionists are planning a landing rights at La Guardia Airport in New if he bought the airline and did not make a noontime rally at Mitchell International Air­ York and National Airport near Washington, profit - despite the massive concessions port on July 2, the day several Eastern flights D.C. _ demanded from union members - he are supposed to start up there. Representa­ Officials of the lAM, ALPA, and TWU would downsize the airline along the lines tives of some 10 unions met June 19 to get oppose the sale of these assets because, they currently being proposed by Lorenzo. the ball rolling on the event. There are no say, it will make it more difficult to find Meanwhile, Machinists District 100 offi­ Eastern strikers based in Milwaukee; pick­ someone to buy what remains of Eastern. cials report that a tentative agreement has eting of Continental gates is being done They are hoping to revive Chicago com­ been reached with Trump for lAM members mainly by unionists from Northwest, modities speculator Joseph Ritchie's bid for working at the shuttle. Copies of the con­ United, and other airlines. the airline. This is despite Lorenzo's state­ tract are being mailed to locals to discuss Strike supporters in Washington, D.C., ment that he has no intention to sell Eastern and vote on by June 29. The Machinists are organizing a "Women's Day on the and despite the bankruptcy court's decision there have been working without a contract One of 250 strikers and supporters at Picket Line" for Sunday, June 25, starting at not to accept Ritchie's offer. Bankruptcy since June 7. Atlanta airport picket line, June 14. 1:00 p.m., at National Airport. The National Organization for Women, Coalition of Labor Union Women, Communications Workers of America Local 2336, and Na­ A visit to Boston on Trump Shuttle tional Association of Letter Carriers are building the event, along with the strikers. BY SUSAN LaMONT Trump plans to spend $2 million per plane Portland, Maine, with 1 ,000 10-pound bags Eastern says it aims to have 390 flights in ABOARD THE AIR SHUTTLE BE­ redecorating the 21-plane fleet he got in the of potatoes for the strikers' food bank, do­ the air by August 1 by hiring and training TWEENBOSTON ANDNEWYORK,June shuttle deal. One flight attendant expressed nated by farmers in that state. new pilots, mechanics, and other personnel. 19 - At 10:00 a.m. this morning, I flew from concern that with all that money spent on Trump flight attendant Marilyn Ciardiello, With the walkout solid throughout the New York's La Guardia Airport to Logan leather seats and such, little will be left over who worked at Eastern for more than 14 country, however, strikers doubt that Airport in Boston on the Trump Shuttle. Now to guarantee decent wages for the shuttle years, was talking with some strikers near the Lorenzo can make these projections. Ex- I'm headed home. workers. food bank. She described what it was like to The shuttle is something of an institution Aight attendants and pilots at Trump are go back to work after three months on strike. in the heavily trafficked Northeast Corridor, currently working under six-month agree­ "The pickets were still up at the terminal, so Actions from Seattle especially for the businesspeople who make ments that are supposed to be the same as we were very upset," she recalled. She de­ to Milwaukee will greet up the bulk of the passengers. The hourly those at Eastern before the strike started. Pi­ scribed the return to work as "bittersweet," flights to and from both Boston and Washing­ lots, however, have agreed to a 90-day relax­ and stressed the need to continue fighting for resumed flights. ton, D.C., out of the shuttle terminal at La ation of work rules. all the strikers to get back to work. Mean­ Guardia require no reservations. For $99 Shortly after they started working, flight while, she hopes that Trump will be better to you're guaranteed a seat, even if they have to attendants at La Guardia were told that they work for than Texas Air Corp. Chairman panded strike activity is aimed at keeping roll out another plane -at least so they say. wouldn't be paid until July 15. The atten­ Frank Lorenzo. those flights that do take off as empty as New York financier Donald Trump re­ dants were outraged and fired off a fax to Upstairs in the strike headquarters is a possible. cently acquired the New York-Boston-Wash­ Trump himself, demanding to be paid. The kitchen and meeting room. This afternoon a On June 20, ALPA reports, there were 80 ington shuttle from strike-bound Eastern Air­ next day, Trump management told them it group of flight attendants was sitting around flights. Most of these have been able to start lines for $365 million. Operations were was all a misunderstanding - their first a table, filling out forms to indicate what they up because Eastern transferred personnel restarted June 8, and about 800 Machinists checks would be coming June 20. They did. are owed by Eastern in back pay for overtime, who had been working on the New York­ union members, flight attendants, and pilots Meanwhile, Machinists union members at vacations, expenses, and so on from before Boston-Washington, D.C., shuttle over to who had been on strike at Eastern are now the shuttle still haven't seen a contract pro­ the strike started. These were for the bank­ regular flights after the shuttle restarted working for Trump. posal, although union officials say one is on ruptcy proceedings Eastern is involved in. under Donald Trump's ownership June 8. When I got to the shuttle terminal this the way. Before the strike began, Eastern flew 1,G-J.O morning, I could see it had been largely done Downstairs, a steady stream of strikers flights daily to more than 100 cities. over, with "Trump" signs replacing the old ' Like your button' came in and out of the offices and meeting "Eastern" ones in most spots. The planes I rooms. When I was there, the busiest part of The carrier has cut fares sharply to try to I had barely sat down and fastened my the hall was the office the lAM has donated saw, however, remain hybrids - the silver seatbelt this morning when a flight attendant lure passengers onto the new flights. These and blue Eastern colors are still there, only to the TWU for use by the flight attendants. money-losing flights have drawn some walked by and smiled. "Like your button," There are about 1,300 lAM members in with big red letters spelling "Trump" painted she said quietly, referring to the "Stop more passengers, strikers report. over the old Eastern name. Trump had Local 1726, Vice-president Bob Turcotte ex­ Lorenzo" button pinned on my jacket. "I like plained. About 350 are Eastern strikers; the In April Lorenzo announced plans to re­ pressed Machinists and flight attendants to it a lot." start Eastern - which has been virtually "volunteer" for a few days, without pay, to rest work for Trans World Airlines, USAir, A few moments later, another flight atten­ Northwest, and other carriers. paralyzed since the strike began - as a help get the planes and terminals refurbished dant knelt beside my seat to say how good it smaller, nonunion carrier. Part of the plan is before the startup. was to see someone wearing that button on Still show solidarity board. The first flight attendant came over, Some of the 60 or so lAM members who and we started talking about what it was like went to work at Trump in Boston signed for them to be back at work. "Things seem to over their last week's strike benefits to the 500 at Los Angeles rally be okay," at the shuttle, one said, "at least for strike fund, Turcotte said, and many have now." The crew on that flight lives in Boston; been out on the picket line. BY GEOFF MIRELOWITZ officials are recommending rejection of a they make two round-trip flights a day, four Both Gallagher and Turcotte expressed LOS ANGELES - The largest solidarity contract offer from GTE telephone company. days a week. confidence in the strike's strength and ability rally held here to back the Eastern strikers "We may be calling on you," he said. When we landed in Boston, I walked to weather Lorenzo's threat to start up more since the walkout began March 4 took place International Association of Machinists through the terminal, which was dark and flights. June 17 at Los Angeles International Airport members from District 720 at McDonnell empty except for the gates used by the shuttle. There have been no regular Eastern flights Strikers in Boston were discussing the pos­ -LAX. Some 500 workers from more than Douglas aerospace plants organized a contin­ sibility of Chicago commodities speculator 20 unions rallied in an airport parking lot and gent for the LAX rally, as did a number of there since the strike started in March. The strikers are only allowed to have a few Joseph Ritchie buying Eastern, despite the marched to Terminal6, home of both Eastern other lAM districts. Garment workers, auto bankruptcy judge's June 5 decision not to and Continental airlines. workers, paperworkers, electronic workers, pickets in front of the terminal doors; the rest of the pickets have to stay by the edge of the accept his offer. Some of the strikers still have The action was organized by the Los An­ farm workers, Teamsters, and members of parking lot and departures ramp. When I got hopes that this offer may somehow come geles County Federation of Labor and the other unions also were there. A group of Oil, there, several of the pickets were pilots who through and be one that union members could L.A./Orange County Organizing Committee Chemical and Atomic Workers union mem­ had gotten off the previous shuttle flight. live with. of the AFL-CIO. bers brought a large donation of food for the Back at Logan, I had a chance to speak strikers. In Boston the strikerS' headquarters is lo­ briefly with Trump flight attendant Gertrude A sizable contingent of marchers were Greg Amodei, lAM chief steward at East­ cated in International Association of Machin­ United Teachers of Los Angeles members, Cowan before getting on the 3:00p.m. shuttle em, 'spoke at the rally. Since the strike began ists Local 1726's hall in East Boston, not far whose recent nine-day strike ended in a vic­ to New York. "It feels good to be back at in March, no Eastern planes have tried to fly from the airport. It was bustling. work," she said, "but of course I have mixed tory for the union. UTLA Vice-president out of LAX. But the carrier plans to try to Strike activists Ann Gallagher, a Transport Marv Katz told the crowd that the teachers feelings." change that on July 2, Amodei pointed out, Workers Union member from Eastern, and could not have won "without the support of when the "new Eastern Airlines" will begin Kip Hedges, an lAM Local 1726 member "The strike has given me a chance to all the unions." He urged the unionists present service. The labor movement should do from Northwest Airlines, showed me around. spread my wings," Cowan explained. She to "do the same" for the Eastern strike, to "whatever is necessary" to keep Eastern shut Out on the parking lot, a volunteer was attended the big April 9 prochoice demonstra­ "stay together, fight together." down, he said. working in the food bank, which is set up in tion in Washington, D.C., and has spoken Another union facing strike action is the A leaflet distributed at the demonstration the trailer of a semi. A crew had just left to go before various groups in the Boston area Communications Workers of America. CWA by the Eastern strikers urged unionists to shopping. Next week, Gallagher said, Team­ about the issues in the unions' fight at Eastern. leader "T' Santora told the rally that CWA come out to the airport again July 2. sters union members are driving down from She plans to stay active in the strike, she said.

June 30, 1989 The Militant 7 Cuban athletes compete in Oregon

BY JANET POST olution, there will be no admission charge to Riveri added, "As a matter of fact, all the this year for the women's 400 meter at 50.14 EUGENE, Ore. - Four members of the events for the Cuban people. installations and the hotels that are being built seconds. Cuba's track and field team competed with Jose Ramon Fernandez, president of the for the Pan American Games are going to be After her race, Quirot was asked if there athletes from 12 other countries here at the OrganizingCommitteeoftheHavana '91 Pan given to the Cuban people after the games are were any sports that Cuban women preferred. Prefontaine Classic on June 3. From Cuba American Games, stated in the Cuban news­ over." She started to list a few such as basketball and were Ana Fidelia Quirot, ranked the fastest in paper Granma, "Our country has established At the Classic, Roberto Hernandez placed volleyball. But as the list grew longer, she the world at the women's 800 meters; sprinter the principle that sports is a right of the people first in the men's 200 meter race. Luis Delis laughed and said, "No, we enjoy and partici­ Roberto Hernandez; and discus throwers and they are entitled to practice sports mas­ placed second in the discus, and Juan pate in every sport. Athletics are for all the Luis Delis and Juan Martinez. sively and do so free of charge, and I don't Martinez came in third. people of Cuba, men and women alike." The last time the Cuban track team com­ think we should change this." peted in the United States was at the 1987 Pan Tourists from other countries will be Ana Fidelia Quirot set a meet record, Quirot was named "best Cuban athlete" in American Games in Indianapolis. Cuba boy­ charged a small amount to attend the events, which was also the fastest time in the world 1987 and 1988. cotted the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul but the Ministry of Education is working to because of the International Olympic minimize visitors' expenses by providing Committee's refusal to let North Korea some housing at area schools. cohost the games. Fernandez also explained that preparations The current tour of the Cuban team in­ for the games will be modest. He told cludes the meet here and others in Mexico Granma, "We do not plan to compete with City; Los Angeles and San Jose, California; Munich, Montreal, or other big cities that and Spain. have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on While the athletes were competing in the vainglorious games. And this is so with us not Prefontaine Classic, coaches Hermes Riveri just because we lack the resources - even if and Leandro Civil discussed the approach to we had them we'd do the same." sports in Cuba. At the Eugene meet, Cuban discus coach Civil is a former Olympic finalist and Cen­ Hermes Riveri agreed that preparations for tral American 800-meter champion who cur­ the upcoming Pan American Games would be rently teaches high school in Havana. He "humble," and yet "organized to make the compared the attitude toward athletics in cap­ athletes feel at home." italist countries with that found in Cuba. "In Cuba, the main objective of participa­ Preparing 'best games we can otTer' tion in sports is the health of the people," Civil "We are constructing an Olympic stadium, stated. "The main objective of international a velodrome, and five tennis courts," he re­ competitions is solidarity with other coun­ ported. "We have completed a route for ca­ tries. In capitalist countries, the main objec­ noeing and accommodations for basketball. tive is to make money." We are going to be ready to have the best The coach explained that the Cuban gov­ games we can offer to the American continent ernment, the sports committees, and the uni­ to show the Cuban revolution and its socialist versities work together to politically and fi­ advancement. We can show that a country nancially support the athletes. "Athletic that does not have a lot of money can sponsor Militant photos by Janet Post practice is free; medical attention is free; the Pan American Games and fulfill its objec­ Roberto Hernandez, left, winning the 200-meter race at Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, food, books, and university attendance is tive." Oregon. free," Civil explained. Another issue discussed was the recent controversial proposal by the National Colle­ giate Athletic Association in the United States Nicaragua collective farm fights for land to deny athletic scholarships to students with low academic achievement test scores. Oppo­ BY JUDY WHITE with MIDINRA has changed" as a result of nents point out that the tests are culturally TIPITAPA, Nicaragua-"Before this, we this struggle. "They treat us with more respect biased and that the potential ruling would Agrarian reform agency thought that no one could touch the collective now. They have begun to respond to some of discriminate against minority athletes and farms and cooperatives," said Amulfo Pi­ our demands. For example, we now have a those from poor school districts. gave l~nd in Jipitapa chardo. Pichardo is a field organizer for the fulltime technician from the ministry as­ Not a problem in Cuba National Union of Farmers and Ranchers to capitalist farmer. signed to Tipitapa. (UNAG) in Tipitapa. "Now that they have "The cooperatives themselves also learned When asked about the proposal, Civil re­ touched the first one, we see things differ­ something," the UNAG field organizer con­ sponded, 'This is a difficult question for me ently." of their land. "We are in the process of getting tinued. "Before, they expected the profes­ to answer, because we don't have that prob­ He was speaking about a recent struggle the transfer formalized," Ramirez said. sional staff of UNAG to resolve all their lem in Cuba. Everyone should have the right here between the small peasants who belong "The land isn't ofthe same quality," added problems. Now, they know better. We told to study - the child of an engineer or the to the Juan Jose Urbina collective farm, on Teodoro Leon, the group's production secre­ them, 'You take the lead on this, and we'll child of a coal miner. In Cuba, everybody has one hand, and Mario Hannon, one of tary, "but we had no alternative." In his opin­ give you support.' That is, UNAG's style of the same right to study. This is a problem of Nicaragua's biggest capitalist farmers, and ion, "there was no arguing with the facts" work has changed somewhat through this the capitalist system. There is no chance of the Ministry of Agrarian Development and once the land had been turned over to experience, drawing the farmers themselves equality in a system that is unequal." Reform (MIDINRA) on the other. Hannon. Leon noted that the new owner has more into leading the struggle. Civil noted that athletes in Cuba, like all already planted sorghum on the acreage. "The peasants learned they have to exam­ students, take aptitude tests before entering The struggle in Tipitapa broke out in No­ ine things closely," he continued. "They the universities. "I'm going to give you an vember 1988, when MIDINRA announced it 'Fight not over' learned to fight, to speak up. Before, they example," he said. "You are a student, but not was going to take 200 of the 1,000 acres the The farmers don't consider the fight over, hardly said anything." an athlete. You score five points above me. 10 partners of the collective farm were using although they lost this round, Ramirez said . . "This collective farm can be an example to I'm an athlete, so I have to put a lot of time for their cattle ranch and tum it over to "We want to increase the size of our herd," he others that they shouldn't accept everything into practice. I can be given five points for Hannon. stated, and for that they will need more land the government institutions tell them," Pi­ being such a good athlete. So you and I will Permit to work land or to plant feed grains on part of what they chardo said, and that the fight for the land be on the same scale. We are each given five points for what we do well. The group had received a five-year autho­ had been using for pasture. does not end when it is distributed under the Pichardo said that "UNAG's relationship agrarian reform. "We have an education system that is inte­ rization to work the land from MIDINRA in .gral. In our system, we need different kinds 1986, but held no title to it. of expertise. We need people who are expert When MIDINRA granted the permit, the engineers, expert lawyers, and we need ath­ ranchers were told that if they did not work Northwest lumber workers end strike letes." the land efficiently, it would be taken back. In August of 1991, the Pan American "That was the pretext they used in Novem­ BY GENE LAWHORN If the IWA and Western Council votes Games are scheduled to be held in Cuba. In ber," explained Roberto Ramirez ROSEBURG, Ore.- The four-month­ had been counted together, the contract the tradition of Cuban athletics since the rev- Dominguez, president of the collective farm. long strike by lumber workers at 15 Rose­ would not have been ratified. This was the It was not true that the land was lying idle, burg Forest Products mills in southern Ore­ first split voting by the two unions since Ramirez stated. "We have 300 head of cattle gon and northern California ended in they began bargaining jointly in 1963. on our land, and we have made improvements mid-May. When some 1,400 workers from the there. Workers at the struck mills are organized Roseburg mills in Dillard, Oregon, met the "MIDINRA had taken 100 acres from by two unions: some 3,600 are in the West­ morning of May 15 to vote on the contract Hannon in another area, and they offered to em Council of Industrial Workers - Lum­ proposal, the mood was high-spirited and give him our land in return," he continued. ber & Sawmill Workers and around 900 are angry. After the vote was counted, Beverly But Hannon would not accept this, demand­ in the International Woodworkers of Amer­ Ross, chairperson of the food bank commit­ ing more land until, in April, the ministry ica (IWA). The strike began January 11 tee, said, "We're all very disappointed. A ended up giving him half of the ranchers' after the company refused to back away lot of us put our hearts into this strike." land. from concession demands that included The new four-year contract will run MIDINRA promised to pay the collective wage cuts averaging $1 an hour. through May 1992. Wage cuts average $.60 farm for the improvements they had made to On May 15, Western Council members an hour, plus a $.10 cut in shift differential. the land. "But two months have passed, and voted 1,399 to 1,199 to approve a new con­ Paid holidays were reduced from 12 to we haven't seen anything," noted Ramirez. tract offer. At the same time, IW A mem­ nine, and Sunday overtime pay has been Nor did MIDINRA offer the partners an­ bers voted by a 77 percent margin to reject eliminated. other plot of land to compensate for the 500 the proposal. A $1 ,400 signing bonus offered earlier acres they turned over to Hannon. "We were Two days later, the IW A took another was excluded. A minor gain was made in faced with having to kill off a good part of our vote. This time, 75 percent voted to ratify. -the two-tier wage scale in place since 1985: herd," the president of the collective farm "It's as if you were at war," said Wood­ new hires will work their way up to parity reported. workers business agent Verdo Ligon. "If with senior employees in one year instead However, due to the efforts of UNAG in six battalions are out fighting a battle and of two. the region and to the solidarity of small peas­ all of a sudden five leave and you're the ants in Tipitapa, another collective farm only one left, you have to reconsider your Gene Lawhorn is a member of WCIW­ 'Best Cuban athlete' Ana Fidelia Quirot. agreed to provide the ranchers with 500 acres position." L&SW Loca/2949.

8 The Militant June 30, 1989 Growing crisis of apartheid Interview with Peter Mahlangu, head of ANC in Canada

BY MARGARET MANWARING from the Canadian government's commit­ "We have gained quite a lot in our coun­ AND HEIDI ROSE ments." try, and the government is in crisis because TORONTO - The economic and politi­ So-called voluntary sanctions have no of our political activity coupled with the cal crisis of the apartheid system in South effect on trade relations with South Africa, armed struggle." Africa is growing, said Peter Mahlangu, Mahlangu said. "How do you say to a busi­ newly appointed African National Con­ nessman, 'You must stop exploiting the Solidarity activity gress representative to Canada, in a recent labor of somebody in South Africa'? The Speaking of the need for more effective interview here. But noting Canada's in­ main motivation of anybody who starts a solidarity activity, Mahlangu said, "We creasing trade with South Africa, he business, in my understanding, is profit - must organize a way of bringing pressure to pointed to the need for more effective inter­ so how do you say to a person you must bear on the government and those who still national solidarity to bring about manda­ voluntarily not get involved in where you have businesses in South Africa. The trade tory sanctions against the South African re­ can get as much profit as you want? The unions must be involved, the churches must gime. sanctions that have been imposed are ridic­ be involved, rank-and-flle organizations, Mahlangu once worked at Richard's Bay ulous because now we see an increase in women's organizations, all must be in­ Minerals in South Africa, owned by a Ca­ trade with South Africa. volved. We must look for ways and means nadian multinational corporation, Quebec "There is also backtracking by the Cana­ to coordinate to have the maximum effect. Iron and Titanium (QIT). There he gained dian government on recognition of the We must look for more nationally coordi­ firsthand experience of Canada's corporate ANC," Mahlangu pointed out. "We get told nated efforts toward the fight against apart­ exploitation of Black labor in South Africa. heid." every day that we must renounce what is Militant/Salm Kolis He said he was paid the equivalent of 38 to called violence, that is, the armed struggle. Mahlangu cited plans to have a large Peter Mahlangu 40 Canadian cents an hour. I think if we did that we would become a event in Toronto commemorating Nelson Mahlangu, who helped to organize a toothless organization. On the other hand," Mandela's birthday on July 16, including union at QIT, was driven from his job in make the ANC well represented in this he said, "we don't get much of a call by broad participation. 1981 after helping to lead major strikes in country. People from the grass roots should these same people demanding that the the area. He then began working full time as "We are prepared to work with every­ participate. We are here on Canadian soil, South African regime renounce racist vio­ a union organizer in Durban, South Africa. body across the political spectrum, differ­ and we think the Canadian people are going lence - rather what we get is increased Targeted for harassment and persecution ent beliefs, religious groups, everybody - to be responsible for our failure or suc­ trade. by South African authorities, he eventually let's all sit down and talk about how we can cess." had to flee to the neighboring Frontline States, where he continued to play an im­ portant role in working to unite South Africa's many newly formed independent W. Virginia campaign put socialists 'on map' Black trade unions into one central body, which was later formed as COSATU -the BY SELVA NEBBIA and that these ideas were well received. I and the city began to put pressure on the Congress of South African Trade Unions. "From the point of view of the socialist told them that all of us could look to my students to limit the scope of the week's _ In 1986 Mahlangu was selected to come campaign, the experience of the Socialist ~ampaign as being our campaign and we activities," explained McBride. to Canada as the South African Congress of Workers Party in West Virginia was great," would be fighting for and opening up more "They were worried that our campaign Trade Unions (SACTU) coordinator. said Dick McBride. "People took our cam­ political space in Morgantown for all," he was going to influence these students. In Today, under the continued "state of paign seriously. It helped put us on the added. spite of the pressure, the debate took place. emergency" imposed by the apartheid re­ map." People at that meeting and at others that In a last attempt to stop the debate, the night gime, Mahlangu said, "it is true that coming McBride recently concluded his cam­ McBride addressed welcomed the socialist before we were to go on the air, the city out and demonstrating on the streets has paign for City Council in Morgantown, jdeas and the boldness of the campaign in manager called the station and threatene" been stifled by the government. But the West Virginia. He was one of more than 30 getting them out, explained McBride. candidates nationally running in state and One of the tools the socialists in Morgan­ to sue them if I mentioned anything about [anti-apartheid] movement is still alive and local issues or the campaign on the air," kicking. The people have not stopped defy­ municipal elections this year on the SWP town used were timely statements put out McBride said. "So we concentrated on ing the government. In June of last year ticket. Some of these races are over, such as by the candidate on various issues that broader philosophical questions, such as more than 3 million people for three days the one in Morgantown. Many will be held came up in the course of the two months of what is communism. I took the opportunity stayed away from work." in October and November. campaigning. Many of these were picked "My campaign is a goOd example of how up by the local media. to speak on Cuba and used it as a way to Last year 18 organizations were banned, help people understand how they fit in the and COSATU, with a membership exceed­ socialists can use this arena to involve our­ During his campaign, McBride was able selves in the fights that working people are to speak to students at West Virginia Uni­ world perspective. I explained how in Cuba ing I million, was restricted. "But COSA TU through the voluntary work brigades work­ has had a number of summit meetings," a part of right now," explained McBride in versity. He was invited by several profes­ a telephone interview. "I focused on the sors to address their classes. A group of ers and farmers are participating in soci­ Mahlangu pointed out. Thousands of people ety," McBride went on. have turned up at those meetings, he said, economic crisis we are facing today, on students organized a "Socialist Awareness and adopted resolutions that apartheid solidarity with the Eastern Airlines strikers, Week" on campus that gave the candidate a "There was a call-in period, and people should go. and in posing the need for new politics, further opportunity to express his ideas be­ asked all sorts of very good questions. The working-class politics," he added. fore student audiences. debate was very successful. Namibian independence struggle McBride, a member of the United Food "One of the focuses of awareness week and Commercial Workers Local 34 7, is a was to be a debate on radio between me and "We also campaigned·at the plant gates Speaking about the developments in the stocker at the local Kroger supermarket. He the editor of the student newspaper," ex­ in the area, like at the Sterling Faucet plant fight for Namibian independence, ran in the 6th Ward against Mayor Kenneth plained McBride. The student newspaper's where we met with a very good response," Mahlangu pointed to the many common Randolph and obtained 20 percent of the racist editorial policy had sparked big cam­ said McBride. "My coworkers at the super­ experiences of the South African and vote. The City Council elects the mayor pus protests earlier. "Our campaign was to market were very supportive also. They Namibian people under apartheid rule, in­ from among its members. become the champion of the cause against thought that the vote was pretty good and cluding development of the trade union McBride's campaign was a big victory this racist editor," continued the candidate. were worried that I might get upset because movement, the churches, and the fraternal for democratic rights. This was the first I did not win the election and that I might ties between the ANC and the South West time in more than 50 years that a working­ Pressure from city officials give up. They kept encouraging me; they Africa People's Organisation. "They are class, socialist candidate for city office has "The students were very excited about think it's great that someone would stand our brothers and sisters, and if the Boers been on the ballot in Morgantown. this idea of a debate. But the administration up for working people," he concluded. [South Africans] are defeated in Namibia it Morgantown is a small city located in the means they are weakened inside our coun­ heart of one of the most productive try. coalfields in the world. It is the home of "If we look at the other side," Mahlangu West Virginia University, a large state­ said, "the ruling Nationalist Party in South funded college with a student population With preface Africa is in total chaos. More than five se­ nearly equivalent to the city's year-round nior ministers have resigned." resident population of 20,000. by 'Militant' Mahlangu explained that the apartheid "Many people listened," McBride said. regime faces increasing economic difficul­ editor ties. "They were receptive to what we were say­ "South African President Pieter Botha ing, and the campaign became the focus of Doug Jenness has been going around the world calling on a lot of attention. This is an area of very bankers and those who identify with apart­ high unemployment, where budget cuts by heid to help them. Yet they say sanctions the state have hit the schools and hospitals Engiish or Spanish pamphlet $1 each, don't hurt them - and these are very mini­ hard, and where people sense that things with a 50% discount on orders of 10 or mal sanctions. If mandatory sanctions can are going to get even worse in the future. I more. In French, in Nov. '88, Lutte be enforced against South Africa, it won't found many people trying to think out poli­ ouvriere, $2 each. (Free for prisoners. En­ take a long time before South Africa really tics, many for the first time in their lives. It glish-language edition only has new preface.) was encouraging and exciting." feels it." Pathfinder, 410 West St., New York, Role of Canadian government Cuba, Third World debt N.Y. 10014. Commenting on the role of the Canadian "The first place I got to speak at publicly Send_100_50_10 ____ government, Mahlangu said, "In 1985 during the campaign," explained McBride, How many in English?_Spanish? __ Prime Minister Brian Mulroney was out "was from the floor at a meeting in solidar­ French? ______there as an advocate of sanctions. He made ity with El Salvador sponsored by the Latin a very famous statement that if South Af­ America Solidarity Project, a local solidar­ Enclosed is$ ______rica doesn't do anything about its problems, ity group. I announced that I was certified, Name ______then Canada will impose mandatory eco­ that my campaign went out one Saturday Address ______nomic sanctions against South Africa and afternoon and got more than 200 signatures go further toward cutting all diplomatic to assure my place on the ballot. City State ____ ties. This has not happened. The situation "I described to those present that when Zip/Postal Code ______has deteriorated in our country. People are petitioning we explained that the socialist Country ______still being killed and detained. Organiza­ campaign was in solidarity with Cuba and tions get banned. But we see backtracking for the cancellation of the Third World debt

June 30, 1989 The Militant 9 Miners' strike expands to 11 states

Continued from front page miner's back is against the wall, that's when on Sundays; and cuts in health care and pen­ union charging that the strikes violated their ers in southern Illinois' District 12 went out. he's best." sion benefits. contracts with the UMWA. The companies Other districtS appear ready and waiting to On April 5, 1989, following preliminary are demanding that the union reimburse them add their support. John Burlce, UMW District Origins of Pittston, New Beckley strikes National Labor Relations Board rulings for money lost due to the strikes. 26 president in Nova Scotia. Canada. told the Pittston Coal Group is the hugest U.S. coal charging Pittston with unfair labor practices, Island Creek Coal, for example, says it is Charleston Daily Mail that the 2,300 worldng exporter. UMW miners have been trying to the UMWAcalled a "selective strike" against losing $136,000 a day and names several miners in his district "wouldn't have a prob­ win an acceptable contract at Pittston mines several mines owned by Pittston. UMW locals in its suit. U.S. District Judge lem" with·walking off the job in support of for more than two years. At the New Beckley mine in Glen Daniel, Dennis Knapp set a June 22 hearing for the the Pittston miners. The previous contract expired Feb. I, West Virginia, 130 UMW members have union to address these charges, The walkouts, which aren't officially 1988. At that time Pittston cut off health been on strike since January 23. At a June 19 hearing, Knapp ordered strik­ called by the UMW, began several hours after benefits to more than 1,500 pensioners, sur­ The current owner bought the bankrupt ing Island Creek miners back to work, warn­ mine union President Richard Trumka ad- viving spouses, and disabled miners. The Beckley Mining Co. last fall for $100, prom- ing them of possible fines and imprisonment if they stay out. "Despite what some redneck may say, the courts are not on the side of industry or the rich," Judge Knapp told some 30 miners in the Charleston courtroom as he rendered his decision. Pittston is asking that UMW District 17 officials and 40 union members be found in contempt of court for blocking traffic. The company also wants a limit on the number of pickets. New Beckley Mining has filed a petition in Raleigh County asking that pickets be lim­ ited to three at a gate with only one gate picketed, and that the union be found in con­ tempt of court for violating previous court­ imposed limitations. The company is also demanding that a cop car be present at the mine 24 hours a day. New Beckley striker Linda Freeman de­ scribed how more than 30 police officers are on hand to intimidate the Beckley pickets. Referring to the several-thousand-strong March for Justice solidarity march held here June 11, she said, 'That rally in Charleston was just the beginning. We're not about to give up." Emphasizing the importance of the fight for a union contract she added, "I'm not about to risk my life mining coal for $6 an hour." The United Mine Workers already faces fmes from Federal District Judge Ronald Mc­ Gothin of close to $3 million, with future violations costing $700,000 a day, to be dou­ bled each day of the violation. Speed-up, layoffs, attacks on health and safety, and the growth of nonunion operations Dlmny throughout the coalfields in the past several May 2, 1989: Russell County, Virginia, near Pittston's Moss No.3 coal preparation plant. Pickup truck driven by scab coal hauler years have fueled the anger and determina­ struck several miners standing on picket line. State trooper holding shotgun protects driver, who is sitting on ground. tion that has led to the largest miners' strike since 1981. Prior to provoking the strike, Pittston's dressed thousands at a labor rally here June company also refused to make payments into ising to hire off the UMWA seniority list owners tried to figure out what they could 11 in support of the striking Pittston and New the UMW Health and Retirement Fund. when it reopened. Eventually about 130 min­ expect from negotiations with the union. In Beckley miners and Eastern Airlines strikers. One week after the Pittston contract ex­ ers were recalled, but they walked off the job January 1989 Wall Street analysts predicted Other employers in this area. in addition to pired, other major coal operators in the Bitu­ after four months of fighting to get a contract that a UMW strike would do no longterm the coal operators, are feeling the pressure of minous Coal Operators Association (BCOA) with the new owner. harm to the company and that union miners the strikes and are saying they will be forced signed a new, five-year agreement with the About 350 active and retired miners lost would likely cross picket lines, given high to lay off workers as a result. UMW covering more than 60,000 miners. medical insurance when the old company unemployment rates in Appalachia. Vutually no coal trucks are moving along Pittston pulled out of the BCOA before the shut down. Most of the money set aside by As one retired miner in Whitesville who the roads that wind through the hollows. contract was signed. court order to pay accumulated medical bills remains active in the UMW commented, "In Barges ride high on West Vuginia's Kanawha Pittston miners worked 14 months without remains frozen. the army they told us to take care of our rifles River, unloaded. Empty coal cars are lined up an agreement in hopes that a settlement could Using the courts and the cops, the coal because they could get more men but they on railroad tracks, no engines in sight. Many be reached. Last November Pittston threw its bosses are pressing their offensive against the couldn't get more rifles. That's how these companies have not even attempted to have "best and final" offer on the table. The com­ UMW. coal companies are. They think they can re­ coal delivered from nonunion mines that are pany demanded elimination of certain jobs; To date at least 16 companies in West place a man when they want, but I don't think still worldng. Most coal-fired plants are run­ unlimited overtime, including running coal Vrrginia have filed suit against the miners' they'll get by with that for long." ning on reserves.

Nonunion strip mine shut down The biggest nonunion strip mine in this 4,000 at Pennsylvania support rally area announced it was shutting down during the strike. Some 200 strikers picketed the mine. BY BRUCE KIMBALL nounced to the crowd, "UMW District 31 is attendance. Striking Machinists union West Vuginia's railroad workers, most of WAYNESBURG, Pa.- "This is a rally not working." He continued, "This union members and pilots had recently finished a whom are unionized, have refused to cross for the UMWA and for all organized labor. will be here when every scab is gone." 10-day tour of the area, speaking at nearly picket lines at Pittston mines in Logan County Our future is at stake." With these words, Ed Miners in District 4 are also on strike in 25 engagements. These included many in the southeastern part of the state. The trains Yankovitch, president-elect of District 4 of solidarity with the Pittston and New Beckley union meetings, plant-gate collections, and go in and out of the mines staffed by supervi­ the United Mine Workers of America, public meetings. This tour culminated in a sors. opened a spirited rally of 4,000 union min­ caravan of nine buses from the area to the Roving pickets have turned up at barge­ ers and their supporters. 'This is a war. We June 11 March for Justice in Charleston, loading depots along the Kanawha and at The rally, held here June 18 at the Greene can win,' United Mine West Virginia. This action supported the plants that run on coal. At some, coal loading County Fairgrounds, was jointly sponsoryd Pittston and New Beckley miners' strikes. was halted by UMWA districts 4 and 5 in southwestern Workers leader The rally here also featured Bob Rogers, Some 17 members of the United Steel­ Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia. It a striking miner at New Beckley; Bo Willis, workers at Amherst Industries, a river trans­ was called in support of striking miners told crowd. a striker against Pittston in Virginia; and port firm, stayed home after pickets appeared. employed by Pittston Coal and the New Ray Watts, a Pittston striker from Logan Another half dozen workers stayed off the job Beckley Mining Co. miners. Since the rally, those in District 5 County, West Virginia. When Willis, a mem­ after miners picketed Hatfield Dock and The participants were overwhelmingly have also gone out. ber of UMWA Local 2274 in District 28, Transfer. coal miners and their families. Many wore Frank Planinac, president oflntemational concluded by saying, "An injury to one is an Throughout the hollows of this region, vis­ anti-Lorenzo buttons to show support for the Association of Machinists Local 1044 that injury to all," several unions in the crowd ible expressions of support for the strike are unions on strike against Eastern Airlines. is on strike against Eastern Airlines at Pitts­ shouted, "We're going to come down!" to frequent. The purpose of the rally was best symbol­ burgh International Airport, was well re­ help support the strike. In Whitesville south of here, where many ized by one action - when Yankovitch ceived. The rally responded most when Also addressing the rally were three miners walked out on Peabody Coal, several poured a cup of water from the stage onto Planinac shouted, "Eastern is grounded, Pennsylvania state legislators. Several Main Street store· windows proudly display the ground. Miners, recognizing that as a grounded!" Greene County commissioners who paid for signs declaring their support for the UMWA. traditional signal to strike, cheered loudly. Also speaking was Don Cartier, a striking the fairground rental fee were introduced. George and Betty Cantley are strong sup­ The Sunday action came in the midst of a Eastern pilot. He pointed to Eastern's plans The final speaker was Donny Redman, porters of the Pittston and New Beckley min­ rapidly spreading strike by miners, and it to begin a series of new flights on July 2. president of UMWA District 5. 'This is a ers. George is recording secretary for UMW was a serious effort to unite and further "This time labor's not going to blink," he war," he said. "We can win. We have been Local 2271 at the Sundial mine, which is organize the strike. concluded. through this before. We're not just striking owned by Peabody. "We've been pushed Eugene Claypole, president of District 31 The facts ·behind the Eastern strike for the sake of striking- we're striking for around long enough," he said. "When a coal in north-central West Virginia proudly an- weren't new to many of the unionists in the union."

10 The Militant June 30, 1989 Miners in Britain mark union's tOOth year International rally of thousands welcomes delegation of striking U.S. miners

BY DOREEN WEPPLER Vietnamese." He stressed the importance of BARNSLEY, England - Thousands of the International Miners Organisation, set up -- ,._, • ¥11 miners and their families marched in this in 1985, and which today has affiliates from Yorkshire town on June 17 to celebrate 100 44 countries. years of struggle by the National Union of "With 3 million unemployed- and that's Mineworkers. The procession carrying color­ after the government has fiddled the figures ful NUM lodge banners from every area of 23 times," Scargill said, "the pressure is on to Britain wound its way through Barnsley's agree to a six-day workweek. In these circum­ sunny streets. They were accompanied by stances, we should be fighting for a four-day working-class brass bands, jazz bands, and workweek." Scottish pipe bands. Scargill highlighted the achievements of The march was joined by contingents from the epic miners' strike of 1984-85 and in­ Women Against Pit Closures and from a sisted to spirited applause that the only an­ sprinkling of other unions that were indicated swer to the Coal Board's plans to further slim by their banners. There were several contin­ the industry down to "50 pits, 50,000 jobs, gents of striking seamen and dockers. and 50 million tons of coal" remained one of Arthur Scargill, president of the NUM, industrial action. After massive closures since delivered the keynote speech. He first intro­ the defeat of the miners' strike, 74 pits remain duced the platform, which was filled with open in Britain. delegations from miners' unions around the Scargill looked critically at the policy re­ world. Officials were present from Australia, view under way in the Labour Party. This Hungary, the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, exercise is shifting Labour's program to the Canada, Chile, Nicaragua, the United States, right "supposedly in preparation for taking and France. The International Miners Or­ office." ganisation was represented by Alain Simon, In Scargill's view several items should be its general secretary. at the top of the list of the policy review. "The Labour Party should reopen every pit that has When Scargill introduced the delegation been closed-unless it was done on grounds from the United Mine Workers of America, of safety or exhaustion - with the same he made special mention of the Pittston strike. conviction that the Coal Board has closed He said 2,000 arrests had occurred and three them. miners were in jail because they demanded "Secondly, on its first day in office, Labour the right to work five days, rather than being G.M. Cookson should reinstate every miner who remains compelled to work a seven-day week. Noting Contingent of women's support at 1984 march for striking miners. Women in Britain sacked," the mine union leader said. that the delegation was comprised of a union have won right to work in mines. Calling for a shutdown of the nuclear en­ official and nine women miners, four of ergy program on grounds of safety and cost, whom were on the platform, Scargill sug­ Scargill also attacked the importing of cheap gested they would doubtless have lessons for coal. "Margaret Thatcher preaches about women going down the pits in Britain. A moral values," he said, "But importing coal recent bill expected to pass the British Parlia­ from apartheid South Africa-that is immo­ -WORLD NEWS BRIEFS ment will remove restrictions on womens' rality." right to employment underground. The rally was also addressed by Tony Former colony, Nauru Omar ai-Qassem dies One seat on the platform was empty, re­ Christopher, the chairman of the Trades served for Cyril Ramaphosa, the general sec­ Union Congress, and Dennis Skinner, a La­ sues Australia in Israeli prison retary of the NUM of South Africa. bour Party member of Parliament who is The central Pacific island of Nauru has Omar al-Qassem died in an Israeli Ramaphosa 's passport was seized by the sponsored by the NUM. Peter Heathfield, the begun a suit at the International Court of prison hospital June 4. He was 48 years apartheid regime and his visa withdrawn. general secretary of the NUM, was the fmal Justice charging Australia with exploita­ old. A fighter for Palestinian liberation, Scargill called on the rally to approve sending speaker. tion and neglect in removal of Nauman Qassem had been jailed in 1968 and by a letter of protest. A number of literature 'tables were set up phosphates earlier in the century. the time of his death had served more time The international character of the platform by Women Against Pit Closures, Nicaragua The eight-square-mile island of 7,500 than any other political prisoner in Israel. was reflected in the presidential address. Solidarity Campaign, Mark Curtis Defense people was claimed by Germany in 1888. Suffering from kidney failure and re­ "Our struggle is international in concept - Committee, the energy union, fired members Nauru was ruled by Australia under a lated complications, he was admitted to we are internationalists," Scargill stated. "We of the National Union of Seamen, and others. League of Nations mandate and later as a the prison hospital only after a public stood shoulder to shoulder with the Russian At the Pathfinder Books table £78.30 worth United Nations trusteeship from 1920 protest. At his burial, police teargassed workers in 1917 and alongside those in Spain of literature and 171 copies of the Militant until the colony's independence was members of the funeral procession. fighting for democracy and freedom. We sup­ were sold during the day, as well as three granted in 1968. A native of the West Bank, he sought ported the Nicaraguans, the Cubans, and the subscriptions to the paper. The island's outcropping of phos­ to establish guerrilla bases there after the phates was discovered in the early 1900s Israeli takeover in 1967. In a clash, he was after a British chemist analyzed a rock captured by Israeli troops in October that had been taken from the island to be 1968. He was a member of the Demo­ Meeting discusses legacy of used as a doorstop. A British consortium cratic Front for the Liberation of Pales­ obtained rights to mine the phosphate. tine, an affiliate of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Under an agreement made formal His kidney difficulties began in 1980 African coiDIDunist Sankara when Germany was forced to yield its when he joined in a prison hunger strike. BY F.L. DERRY people in Burkina Faso during the revolution, colonies after World War I, the Nauman . After not eating for 28 days, he was hos­ LYON, France- Some 80 people met in particular the gains made by women. She phosphate was sold at cost in Australia, pitalized with ~->leeding kidneys. here to discuss the role and the historic legacy pointed to the increasing role of women in the New Zealand, and Britain, far below its of the African revolutionary Thomas government as a remarkable experience. world market value. Later a small royalty Sankara. Most of those present were Afri­ London explained the international impor­ was paid to individual Nauruans who Nuclear weapons cans, including from the Cameroons, tance Qf the Burkinabe revolution and of owned the phosphate land. According to Burundi, Comoro Islands, Ivory Coast, Mali, Sankara's ideas. They should not only be the Nauru suit, that royalty stood at only clutter ocean floor 5.1 percent of market value by 1939. and Burkina Faso. studied by African revolutionaries, he said, Accidents involving Soviet and U.S. Sankara led the revolutionary government but by those in countries such as France and In addition, the suit states that nothing naval ships, bombers, and rockets have in Burkina Faso from 1983 until he was as­ the United States who are fighting racism and was done to rehabilitate the mined-out left at least 50 warheads and nuclear re­ sassinated and the revolution overthrown by dealing with the effects of the growing capi­ land. The phosphate area is described as actors scattered on the ocean floors since a coup in 1987. talist crisis, and demanding the foreign debt a dust bowl punctuated by 30-foot pinna­ 1956, according to a study released June Many of those at the meeting, held here on of the semicolonial countries be canceled. cles of limestone. Nauru has asked com­ 6. The study was done by the environ­ April 22, were students. There were also Af­ The presentations were followed by a de­ pensation for the ruined land, for ·the mental group Greenpeace, and the Insti­ rican immigrant workers present who had bate. Some in the audience were very critical artificially low price imposed by the con­ tute for Policy Studies. helped organize for the meeting in the numer­ of Sankara. One person who had been a sortium, and an award for "aggravated or Information on the U.S. naval acci­ ous dormitories for immigrant workers in the teacher in Burkina Faso, for example, sharply moral damages." Nauru estimates its loss dents was obtained through the Freedom Lyon area. criticized Sankara for having blocked raises in royalties alone at $250 million. of Information Act, which also included The meeting was called by the African in teachers' salaries. After a teachers' strike, U.S. intelligence assessments of Soviet revolutionary journal Coumbite, published in he said, Sankara had hired "unqualified per­ naval accidents. The majority of the acci­ Paris. David Gakunzi, the editor of Coumbite, sonnel" to take part in a campaign against dents detailed in the report involved U.S. was one of the three speakers. Germaine illiteracy. ships. A spokesperson for the navy Pitroipa, a high official in the Sankara gov­ strongly ·disputed the study and a navy ernment, and Nat London, representing Path­ Only highly qualified, well-paid, college­ statement said, "We are extremely proud finder Press, also spoke. Pathfinder has pub­ educated teachers should have been engaged of our track record in this area." lished Thomas Sankara Speaks, a book in in such an effort, he maintained. English with speeches and interviews by the Others in the audience did not agree. Some Last month the U.S. confirmed infor­ Burkinabe leader. used the examples of the literacy campaigns mation disclosed by Greenpeace that a An interview with Sankara done by Phillip in Cuba and Nicaragua to show what Sankara U.S. nuclear bomb lost at sea near Japan Rapp for Swiss television was shown at the was trying to accomplish. It would not be 24 years ago probably leaked plutonium meeting. possible to solve the problem of illiteracy in on the ocean floor. The report says that Gakunzi pointed to Sankara's uncompro­ Burkina Faso, it was argued, if the country the worst accident occurred on Oct. 6, mising struggle against the Third World debt, had to wait until it had a well-trained teacher 1986, when a Soviet submarine sank 600 as well as against the South African apartheid corps. Only mass mobilizations could begin miles northeast of Bermuda, leaving 32 regime, as an example of what should be done solving that problem. nuclear warheads and two reactors on the elsewhere in Africa. A large Pathfmder literature table drew a ocean floor. Pitroipa spoke of the advances for working great deal of attention.

June 30, 1989 The Militant 11 -CALENDAR------New York---. ALABAMA IOWA June 26. Video on Irish women leaders, recep­ The Struggle for Des Moines tion, 6:30p.m.; Talk 8 p.m. Washington Square Birmingham Methodist Church, 135 W 4 St. Sponsor: Irish Rally Against Racism. A gathering to condemn U.S. Immigration Policy: A Political Weapon. Women's Studies Group. For more information the April20 defacement of the Rev. Martin Lu­ Speakers: Daniel Abang-Ntuen, South African Puerto Rican call (718) 253-6640. ther King, Jr., monument in Kelly Ingram Park. living in Des Moines fighting for political asy­ Sat., June 24, 12 noon. Kelly Ingram Park. lum; Hector Marroquin, Mexican-born member Independence: Sponsors: Birmingham chapter Southern Chris­ of Socialist Workers Party who won 11-year NORTH CAROLINA tian Leadership Conference; Mayor's Commis­ fight for right to live in United States. Transla­ Greensboro A New Stage sion on the Status of Women; Alabama chapter, tion to Spanish. Sat., June 24, 7:30 p.m. 2105 U.S. Hands Off Panama! Speakout against Speakers: National Organization for Women; National Al­ Forest Ave. Donation: $2. Sponsor: Militant U.S. intervention. Speakers: Rev. Jim Barnet, liance Against Racist and Political Repression; Labor Forum. For more information call (515) Veterans Peace Convoy; Sharon Mujica, Insti­ Olga Sanabria, Young Socialist Alliance; students from Parker, 246-1695. tute of Latin American Studies at University of Central Committee, Puerto Rican Ramsay, Vestavia Hills, Berry, and Huffman North Carolina. Sun., June 25, 7 p.m. 2219 E Socialist Party. high schools. MASSACHUSETTS Market. Donation: $3. Sponsor: Militant Labor Pathfinder Bookstore Open House. Speaker: Forum. For more information call (919) 272- Luis Miranda, John Hawkins, Socialist Workers Party candi­ Boston Big Mountain: Native American Fight for 5996. date for city council. Sat., June 24, 3 p.m. fol­ representative, Casa de las Human Rights. A slideshow presentation by lowing the antiracist rally. 1306 1st Ave. N. Americas. Others. Bob Livesey, Veterans for Peace coordinator. OREGON Donation: $2.50. Sponsor: Militant Labor Translation to Spanish. Sat., July 8, 7:30 p.m. Fri., June 30, 7:30p.m. Forum. For more information call (205) 323- Portland 605 Massachusetts Ave. Donation: $3. Sponsor: 3079. Timber Monopolies vs. Working People­ 191 7th Ave. (at 21st St.) Militant Labor Forum. For more information The Fight to Protect Jobs and the Environ­ Manhattan call (617) 247-6772. ment. A panel discussion on the log-export ref­ CALIFORNIA erendum, fight to protect old forests, and how to Sponsor: Militant Labor Forum. Oakland defend jobs. Sat., June 24, 7:30 p.m. 2730 NE Donation: $3. For more information call MICHIGAN (212) 675-6740 or (718) 398-6983. Eastern Airlines Strike: What's At Stake for Martin Luther King, Jr. (formerly Union). Dona­ Working People. Speakers: Jeff Bettencourt, Detroit tion: $2. Sponsor: Militant Forum. For more in­ El Salvador: An Eyewitness Report and member International Association of Machinists formation call (503) 287-7416. Slideshow. Speaker: Matt Ostrander, staff orga­ Local 1781 on strike at Eastern; Jerri Pourmand, WEST VIRGINIA nizer, Detroit Central America Solidarity Com­ member Transport Workers Union and Eastern mittee. Sat., June 24, 7:30p.m. 5019V2Wood­ PENNSYLVANIA Charleston flight attendant; Peter Thierjung, Militant corre­ ward Ave. Donation: $3. Sponsor: Militant Philadelphia · Freedom Struggle in Southern Africa. Sat., spondent. Sat., June 24, 7:30p.m. Humanist So­ Labor Forum. For more information call (313) Panama: Eyewitness Report. Speaker: Cindy June 24,7 p.m. 116 McFarland St. Donation: $2. ciety, 411 28th St. Donation: $5. Sponsor: Mili­ 831-1177. Jaquith, Militant reporter on Panamanian elec­ Sponsor: Militant Labor Forum. For more infor­ tant Labor Forum. For more information call tions. Translation to Spanish. Sat., June 24, 7:30 mation call (304) 345-3040. (415) 420-1165. p.m. 9 E Chelten Ave. Donation: $2. Sponsor: NEBRASKA Militant Forum/Foro Perspectiva Mundial. For GEORGIA Omaha more information call (215) 848-5044. WISCONSIN Atlanta Miners' Strike in Appalachia Coalfields. Crisis in China. Speaker: Fred Feldman, Mili­ Milwaukee Speaker: Steve Marshall, Militant correspon­ tant reporter on China. Translation to Spanish. Cuban Women Today. Speakers: Carolina China: Behind the Demonstrations and Mas­ dent, member United Transportation Union sacre in Tiananmen Square. Speaker: repre­ Sat., July 8, 7:30p.m. 9 E Chelten Ave. Dona­ Aguilar and Catherine Ribas, representatives of Local 1435. Translation to Spanish. Sat., June tion: $2. Sponsor: Militant Forum/Foro Per­ the Federation of Cuban Women. Mon., June sentative of Socialist Workers Party. Sat., June 24, 7:30p.m. 140 S 40th St. Donation: $2. Spon­ 24, 7:30p.m. 132 Cone St. NW, 2nd floor. Do­ spectiva Mundial. For more information call 26. Reception 6:30p.m.; program 7 p.m. Friends sor: Militant Labor Forum. For more informa­ (215) 848-5044. Meeting House, 3224 N Gordon Pl. For more nation: $2.50. Sponsor: Militant Labor Forum. tion call (402) 553-0245. For more information call (404) 577-4065. Pittsburgh information call (414) 933-2458. Behind the Demonstrations and Massacre in NEW YORK China. Sat., June 24,7:30 p.m. 4905 Penn Ave., • ILLINOIS Brooklyn Donation: $3. Sponsor: Militant Labor Forum. Chicago Coal Miners Fight Back in Appalachia. For more information call (412) 362-6767. Cuban Women Today. A presentation by Ca­ Speakers: unionists who participated in March AUSTRALIA rolina Aguilar and Catherine Ribas, representa­ for Justice solidarity action in West Virginia. TEXAS Sydney tives of the Federation of Cuban Women. Tue., Translation to Spanish. Fri., June 23, 7:30 p.m. The Second Frame-Up of Tim Andersen. June 27, 7 p.m. DuSable Museum of African 464 Bergen. Donation: $3. Sponsor: Militant Houston Speaker: Tim Andersen, political activist framed American History, 740 E 56th Pl. Donation: $2 Labor Forum. For more information call (718) Behind the Demonstrations and Massacre in by cops over Hilton bombing murder charges to $5. Sponsors: U.S.-Cuba Women's Ex­ 398-6983. China. Speaker: Randy Warren, Socialist after previous release and pardoning. Public change, Venceremos Brigade, Women's Com­ Workers Party, member United Steelworkers of meeting, Sun., July 2, 5 p.m. Pathfinder Book­ mission of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party, Haiti Is Not for Sale. Expose on sale of Haiti's America. Sat., June 24, 7:30p.m. 4806 Almeda. Tortuga Island to American investors and threat room, 2nd fl., 181 Glebe Point Rd., Glebe, Women of Color for Caribbean Interchange. For Donation: $2. Sponsor: Militant Labor Sponsor: Supporters of Mark Curtis Defence more information call (312) 243-2777 or 947- of a U.S. base being built at MOle St. Nicolas. Forum/Foro Perspectiva Mundial. For more in­ Speakers: Jean-Baptiste Chavannes, leader of Committee. For more information call (02) 660 0600. formation call (713) 522-8054. 1673. The Third World Debt Crisis and the Latin Papaye Peasant Movement; Robert Duval, pres­ American Economic Crisis. Speaker: Don ident, League of Former Haitian Political Pris­ Rojas, secretary for propaganda and informa­ oners; Fran~ois Pierre-Louis, coordinator Na­ WASHINGTON tion, Anti-imperialist Organizations of the Ca­ tional Popular Assembly; Yves Antoine Seattle BRITAIN ribbean and Central America, former press sec­ Richard, general secretary, Independent Federa­ Report Back from 20th Anniversary London retary to Grenada's assassinated prime minister tion of Haitian Workers. Music by Sakad: Sun., Venceremos Brigade to Cuba. Slideshow pre­ Politics in Ireland Today. Eyewitness report Maurice Bishop. Translation to Spanish. Wed., June 25, 6 p.m. Wingate High School, 600 sentation on Cuba today. Sun., June 25, 5 p.m. from Wolfe Tone commemoration at Bodens­ June 28, 6:30p.m. Casa Aztlan, 1831 S Racine Kingston Ave. Sponsor: Committee to Defend 923 27th Ave. Sponsor: Venceremos Brigade. town, Ireland. Speaker: Bob Buchan. Fri., July Ave. Sponsors: CISPES, Nicaragua Solidarity La Tortue and Mole St. Nicolas. For more infor­ For more information call (206) 325-9548. 3, 7:30p.m. 47 The Cut, SE I. Donation: £1. Committee, Chicago Religious Task Force on mation call (718) 434-3940. Petition to Put Socialist Workers Party Can­ Sponsor: New International Forum. For more Central America. For more information call Manhattan didate Robbie Scherr on Ballot. Sun., June 25, information call 01-928-7947. (312) 666-5508 or 243-9380. Victory to SWAPO. Farewell salute to South 10 a.m.-3 p.m. 17th and E Pike. Petition and Sheffield One People, One Destiny: The Caribbean West Africa People's Organisation of Namibia participate in 1989 Lesbian-Gay Pride Parade, The Right to Strike. Speaker: member of Na­ and Central America Today. Speaker: Don delegation to the United Nations, departing for March, and Freedom Rally. For more informa­ tional Union of Railwaymen. Wed., June 28, Rojas, secretary for propaganda and informa­ Namibia after exile. Sat., June 24. Reception tion call (206) 723-5330. 7:30p.m. Sheffield and District Afro-Caribbean tion, Anti-Imperialist Organizations of the Ca­ 8-10 p.m., addressed by Helmut Angula, The Crackdown in China. Speaker: Dan Fein, Community Association, 48 The Wicker. Dona­ ribbean and Central America; former press sec­ SWAPO's chief representative to the UN; 10 Socialist Workers Party. Sat., July I, 7:30p.m. tion: £ l. Sponsor: New International Forum. For retary to Grenada's assassinated prime minister p.m.-2 a.m., party, music provided by D.J. Ber­ 5517 Rainier Ave. S. Donation: $3. Sponsor: more information call 0742-583641. Maurice Bishop. Translation to Spanish. Thurs., nard White. District 65, United Auto Workers, Militant Labor Forum. For more information June 29, 7 p.m. Center for Inner City Studies, 13 Astor Pl. Sponsors: African National Con­ call (206) 723-5330. Northeastern University, 700 E Oakwood. gress; Friends of ANC, SW APO, and Frontline SWEDEN Sponsors: National Black United Front, All Af­ States; American Committee on Africa; others. WASHINGTON, D.C. Stockholm rican Peoples Revolutionary Party, Pan African For tickets or information call (212) 690-7180. Solidarity with the Eastern Strikers. Panel of Behind the Demonstrations and Massacre in Revolutionary Socialist Party, Free South Africa The Irish Liberation Struggle Today. speakers. Sat., June 24, 7:30 p.m. 3165 Mt. Tiananmen Square. Speaker: Catharina Tirsen. Movement, Socialist Workers Party, 21st Cen­ Speaker: Mairead Keane, head of Sinn Fein's Pleasant NW. Donation: $3. Sponsor: Militant Sat., July l, 3 p.m. Folkets Hus, Rm. 204 (en­ tury Books, Third World Press. For more infor­ Women's Department, member Sinn Fein Na­ Labor Forum. For more information call (202) trance Wallingatan 21 ). Sponsor: Militant Labor mation call (312) 268-7500 or 363-7322. tional Executive. Translation to Spanish. Mon., 797-7699. Forum. For more information call 08-722-9342. -. IF YOU LIKE THIS PAPER, LOOK US UP Where to find Pathfinder books and distrib­ LOUISIANA: New Orleans: P.O. Box OREGON: Portland: 2730 NE Martin Lu­ BRITAIN utors of the MiliUm~, PersJnctivoMundilll, New 53224. Zip: 70153. Tel: (504) 484-6418. . ther King, Jr. Zip: 97212. Tel: (503) 287-7416. London: 47 The Cut, SEl 8LL. Tel: 01-401 lntenuJiioMI, Nouvelle Interllllliorwle, and MARYLAND: Baltimore: 2913 Greenmount PENNSYLVANIA: Philadelphia: 9 E. 2293. Lutte ouvriere. Ave. Zip: 21218. Tel: (301) 235-0013. Chelten Ave. Zip: 19144. Tel: (215) 848-5044. MASSACHUSETTS: Boston: 605 Massa­ Pittsburgh: 4905 Penn Ave. Zip 15224. Tel: CANADA UNITED STATES chusetts Ave. Zip: 02118. Tel: (617) 247-6772. 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Zip: 43202. ney NSW 2037. Tel: 02-660 1673. Tel: (08) 722-9342.

12 The Militant June 30, 1989 -THE GREAT SOCIETY------~------It figures -To tout his "clean legally dumped toxic chemicals the restaurant called the cops. Un- patient. The prosecutor proposed a their time there," not enjoy it. Also, air" scheme, Bush traveled to the into a creek that ran into its reser- able to post bail and denied a phone six-monthjail term. Rejecting this, he shrewdly notes, pumping iron richly scenic Grand Tetons area of voir, the town of Broomfield began call, he was jailed and beaten. the judge gave the man two-and~a- only toughens inmates up for their the Rocky Mountains. Meanwhile, digging a ditch to divert the pol- Martinez is suing. half years on each count - and return to the street. his administration plans to open up luted stream. Federal officials then suspended all but 30 days. promptly blew the whistle. They Justice, USA- Jay Turoff, said the town first had to get a New York's former taxicab com- See, it's not so bad- We never How to run a railroad - New permit. missioner, was caught with his heard anyone say a good word York's Metro-North Railroad will hand in the till and convicted of tax about New York's Rykers Island have to replace about 8,000 "state Safety patrols - In Britain, po- fraud and mail fraud. A federal jail until multimillionnaire may- of the art" concrete railroad ties. Harry lice car chases have resulted in 12 judge gave him seven months, oral candidate Ronald Lauder vis- Recently installed, the ties are sup- accidents since March 1, killing 15 house arrest. He can go to his of- ited there. He says they have TVs posed to last 50 years, as opposed Ring people. flee, but nights and weekends he's at regular intervals in cell block to 30 for wooden ones. But a check confined to his two-story home. He areas so everyone can watch and showed some 14 percent were al- Justice, Puerto Rico- For 16 can use the backyard pool and sun- the "nicest gym" he's ever seen, ready crumbling. 95 percent of the neighboring days the family of Edgardo deck, but his housekeeper has to do including a well-equipped weight- Bridge-Tetons National Park to oil Martinez Torrado of Santurce the shopping. lifting room. and gas exploitation. looked desperately for him. He was Thought for the week - In finally found, in prison. He had Stern justice - A Cohasset, P.S.- We should add that Lau- 1960 the average chief corporate Can't ignore the law - After eaten a $15.45 meal at a restaurant, Massachusetts, chiropractor was der was p.o. 'd, not pleased, by what executive received 41 times the av- learning that the Rocky flats nuke realized he had no money with him, convicted on two counts of inde- he saw. He would knock offthe TV erage wage of a factory worker. By weapons plant in Colorado had il- and asked to call his family. Instead cent assault and battery on a female because prisoners "should hate 1988 the ratio was 93 to I. Dozens are executed for role in China protests

Continued from front page them soldiers, in putting down a "counterrev­ Support for the student-led demonstrations have a long tradition of struggle. or other demands. And it aims to traumatize olutionary rebellion." Shrines and other me­ in Beijing among workers included wide­ As an outgrowth of the student-led demon­ an entire generation of students, writers, and morials have been set up in Beijing to honor spread expressions of sympathy from the strations, some individuals initiated attempts journalists. soldiers said to have been killed. sidelines as youth marched and rallied begin­ in Shanghai and Beijing to form unions inde­ At least one Chinese citizen who described ning April 27. In addition, groups of worlcers pendent of the government-controlled bod­ 700 killed the killing of civilians by troops has been joined the marches and the gathering in ies. These have now been ordered to dissolve Eyewitnesses have said that 700 people arrested for doing so. Tiananmen Square. and leaders have been arrested. were killed in the military operation. Some People's Daily, the Communist Party Former leading members of the party are estimates run much higher. The regime of newspaper, has called on the population to Largest workers' action also targets of repression. Deng Xiaoping has denied the m~sacre, study a speech by top government leader The biggest single action by workers took Zhao Ziyang, the general secretary of the claiming that 300 people were killed, most of Deng Xiaoping justifying the crackdown. place in Shanghai after the massacre, when Communist Party, has not appeared in public about half the work force stayed home and since shortly before the proclamation of mar­ ·thousands joined demonstrations for several tial law in parts of Beijing on May 20. In days. response to a question about him by a U.S. Two Cuban \\Omen on U.S. tour Shanghai is the biggest city in China with reporter, regime spokesman Yuan Mu stated: 12 million people. The Shanghai region is "It is true that certain individuals in the top where a Chinese worlcing class began to be Chinese leadership are guilty of supporting get warm welcome in New York forged in sizable numbers in the early 20th the counterrevolutionaries, of supporting tur­ century, as imperialist domination eroded moil. Their questions will be dealt with soon Continued from front page mini brigade movement, which mobilizes Cu­ feudal traditions and relations. Worlcers there and will be made public." difficulties. They want women to "return to bans to donate worlc for socially beneficial the home." projects. Ribas said that this meant the con­ Cuban women, the Cuban Communist struction of Ill day-care centers in Havana Party, and the FMC reject this perspective, in 1987-88. -10AND25 YEARS AGO-- she said. • Regular armed forces detachments tiations with the dictator, it could send OAS "Society has the responsibility to assume composed solely of women have assumed troops to pacify Nicaragua. domestic tasks and childhood education," antiaircraft defense duties in Havana and in THE MILITANT "We do not accept, nor will we ever ac­ Aguilar said, to ensure the full participation Cuban territory bordering the U.S. military June 29, 1979 cept, a commission of this type," the broad­ of women in social life. base at Guantanamo. cast declared. She and Ribas explained how the Cuban • The right of Cuban women to choose Forty-six years after U.S. Marines first Meanwhile, in a June 17 announcement, revolution has implemented this perspective. whether to have children, which includes free fastened the dictatorship of the Somoza the Sandinistas named a five-member com­ Among the accomplishments they stressed and legal abortion, easy access to inexpensive family onto a bleeding country, the Nicara­ mittee that is to be responsible for forming were the following: birth control, child care, and health care. a provisional government. The two FMC leaders spoke about Cuba's guan workers and peasants are moving for­ ward to throw off that hated tyranny. Although the committee includes pro­ • The big increase of women in the labor rectification process, in which worlcing peo­ As of June 20, rebel forces were firmly in capitalist political figures, the U.S. ruling force. Nearly 39 percent of the Cuban worlc ple are being mobilized to advance the con­ force is female. class has not been reassured. struction of socialism and root out corruption, control of Leon and Matagalpa, Nic­ • A campaign that has ended all "official bureaucratic mismanagement, and ineffi­ aragua's second- and third-largest cities, barriers" to "nontraditional" work for ciency. They also took up Cuba's need to and were fighting their way toward the city women. This includes the recent involvement deepen the integration of peasant women into of Rivas in the south. Large sections of THE of 25,000 women in construction jobs, in­ the work force, break down the concentration Managua, the capital, were also in rebel cluding worlc as masons, plumbers, and car­ of women in the lowest-paid jobs, and over­ hands. penters. MILITANT come woman's "double worlcday," in which Using artillery and aircraft, Somoza's Published In the Interests of the Working People • The return to voluntary labor and the National Guard tried to dislodge the rebel she holds an outside job and also has the main June 29, 1964 responsibility for tasks in the home. forces in Managua. They reported that the FMC has called its In a June 19 dispatch, the New York NEW YORK- "We need an organiza­ fifth national congress for March 6-8, 1990, Times reported that "in the poor sectors tion that no one downtown can dictate from Pathfinder where many of these questions will be dis­ held by the guerrillas but being bombed by to . . . that no one downtown loves," de­ United States-made planes, anti-American cussed. clared Malcolm X at his Sunday night Har­ Fidel Castro Aguilar and Ribas are scheduled to be in sentiments are probably stronger today than lem rally June 21. Such an organization Madison, Wisconsin, June 21-25; Milwau­ at any other time since the marines ended will announce its formation at the next rally Nothing kee, June 26; Chicago, June 27; and St. Louis, their intervention here in 1933. at the Audubon Ballroom, June 28, he said. June 30. '"What happened to Carter's human "We'lllet you know what its aims are­ rights policy?' a woman shouted at a group and we think they're your aims," he told the Can Stop the of foreigners. 'It's all the fault of the enthusiastic audience. He explained that Americans."' the organization would be broad enough for Course of History Export ban debate Recognizing the prohibitive political all Afro-Americans who wanted to fight for "Undoubtedly the longest and most price of trying to intervene militarily in freedom and human dignity "by any means wide-ranging interview ever con­ Continued from back page Somoza's behalf, U.S. President James necessary." Not only individuals but other ducted with Cuban President Fidel for 40 hours' pay. This would open up many Carter is seeking to halt the revolutionary organizations will be able to join as long as Castro. In it, Castro speaks directly to new jobs. upsurge in Nicaragua in other ways. they endorse the motto: "By any means the people of the United States on "A massive public works program can be Secretary of State Cyrus Vance called necessary." questions of vital importance to citi­ implemented on the land. Tens of thousands for "mediation" of the conflict by the Orga­ Malcolm X explained that no matter how zens of both our countries. of workers could be employed in a massive nization of American States June 13, warn­ much other people may claim to know what "It spans dozens of topics: U.S.­ reforestation program to plant new trees and ing that otherwise "the chances of a radical the black people need, "no one will go as Cuban relations, the Reagan repair damage done to the land by the giant solution are great." · far as we will in fighting for our freedom." administration's foreign policy, the timber monopolies. Such a program could Apparently hoping to organize some He pointed out that once the black people New International Economic Order, help forge unity among unions, worlcing type of OAS intervention in Nicaragua were active in the new organization at the unity and disunity in Latin America, farmers, environmental organizations, and under the cover of these regimes, Washing­ grass-roots level, no one from the outside Cuba's relations with Africa, the others. ton requested an urgent meeting of the would be able to dictate what it would do. events in Afghanistan. . .." "Working people should support de­ OAS the following day. One part of the organization will be a From the preface by Rep. Mervyn M. mands to restrict the harvesting of old­ But a broadcast from Radio Sandino re­ department of education. One of its pro­ Dymally, who with Jeffrey M. Elliot growth timber to biologically sustainable jected the U.S. proposal. jects, Malcolm X suggested, would be the conducted the interview. 276 pages, levels. Charging that Washington was attempt­ rewriting of school textbooks for black $8.95. "This perspective of fighting for the inter­ ing to set up a commission aimed at "frus­ children. Available from Pathfinder Bookstores listed on ests of our class as a whole," the SWP state-· trating our struggle, at snatching away our "We want our children to go to school page 12 or by mail from Pathfinder Press, 410 ment concluded, "is the only road forward victory," the Sandinistas warned, "The and read about Patrice Lumumba. We want West St., New York, N.Y. 10014. Please and the way to defend and unify ourselves United States and its accomplice countries them to read about how the State Depart­ include $1 for postage and handling. against future attacks the boss class has in in this antipopular maneuver have con­ ment was responsible for his death," he store for us." firmed that if the commission fails in nego~ said.

June 30, 1989 The Militant 13 -EDITORIALS-_____;______What happened in Hungary Imperialism and democracy in 1956? At a recent New York City meeting on the events in In South Africa, U.S. support helps prop up a regime BY DOUG JENNESS China sponsored by the Militant Labor Forum, a Puerto that denies all democratic rights to the Black majority and The recent reburial ceremony of Hungary's former prime Rican airport worker who is actively involved in support­ has gunned down thousands and jailed countless more for minister Imre Nagy has spurred some reminiscences of the ing the Eastern Airlines strike made an apt comment. the crime of demanding those rights. 1956 revolution in that country. Sifting through them one How, he asked, can people in the United States claim to More than 500 Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza might get the impression that what the freedom fighters shed defend democracy in China or anywhere else if they Strip, and East Jerusalem have been shot or beaten to their blood for 33 years ago is being carried out by the current aren't fighting U.S. imperialism? He stressed the impor­ death since December 1987 by Israeli soldiers and cops regime in Budapest. tance of opposing U.S. colonial rule over and attacks on carrying U.S. weapons. The New York Times, in a June 16 editorial, for example, democratic rights in Puerto Rico. The same U.S. government that refuses to halt aid to said that the honoring of Nagy, who was defamed and Israel or to impose effective sanctions on South Africa has hanged as a traitor in 1958, "coincides with changes in Washington and Wall Street rule a world empire that the arrogance to threaten China with sanctions and pres­ maintains its domination over much of the world through ent this as a defense of democracy. massive bloodshed. Massacres even larger than the one in U.S. imperialism, a foe of democratic rights all over the Beijing are a routine part of imperialism's "peacekeep­ world, has no interest in advancing the democratic goals LEARNING ABOUT ing" around the world. sought by the Chinese workers and students. In El Salvador, the U.S. government bankrolls a mili­ As in Palestine, South Africa, Venezuela, and Puerto SOCIALISM tary-dominated government and organizes a war against Rico, U.S. policy toward China aims at increasing the workers and peasants. At least 70,000 people are believed profits and expanding the power of U.S. big business. The to have died in this "counterinsurgency" campaign. primary target of any sanctions against China are not the Hungary's Communist system that are unfettering speech and opening the way to multiparty elections. These are an The government of Venezuela, without a word of criti­ murderers in Beijing, but the Chinese workers and peas­ cism from Washington, slaughtered hundreds of working ants who threw off imperialist domination four decades outgrowth of the 'New Course' program for liberalization people protesting price increases in February and March. ago. put forth by Mr. Nagy as Prime Minister in 1956. Moscow felt so threatened by the New Course that it sent in tanks." The killings were part of the cost that the government of To effectively defend democratic rights at home or There's a great deal more to why the Soviet government Carlos Andres Perez has had to pay for meeting the de­ abroad, U.S. working people and their allies must struggle invaded Hungary than this. And the true story isn't being mands of U.S. and other imperialist bankers for payments against the blood-drenched rulers of the U.S. world em­ told. on the country's suffocating debt. pire. Recounting some of the high points of the 1956 uprising will show this. On October 21 of that year, Wladyslaw Gomulka, a popular symbol of resistance to Moscow's domination, be­ came head of the Polish Communist Party. He replaced Soviet military commander Konstantin Rokossovsky as the Bush's 'clean air' bill chief political figure when the latter was removed from his President George Bush has declared that by early in the Reduction of other air pollution would center on im­ position as Polish minister of defense. next century, "every American in every city will breathe proving motor vehicle performance and encouraging the This move was a concession to a mounting struggle by clean air." use of cleaner fuels, such as alcohol and natural gas. At Polish workers that was growing into an uprising. Gomulka His current proposals for revising the Clean Air Act are least some of the cost would be passed on to working immediately demanded greater independence from Mos­ supposed to realize that grandiose promise. people through higher prices for gas and cars. cow. In response, the Kremlin began mobilizing troops on In the United States, and internationally, there is grow­ Increasingly, acid rain is destroying forests, lakes, and the Polish borders. ing recognition that the escalated fouling of the air, earth, streams. The U.S. northeast and neighboring areas of Inspired by the Polish workers, solidarity meetings were and water is a menace to human life and the well-being of Canada have been especially hard hit. Responsibility for organized in Budapest, Hungary's capital city, on October the planet itself. this rests mainly with power utilities in the Ohio valley 22. The protesters demanded restoration of Nagy, who had There also is a growing realization that toothless laws whose giant smokestacks pour out the sulphur that creates served as prime minister from 1953 to 1955 and had tried to and couldn't-care-less enforcement agencies have permit­ acid rain. carry out a liberalization program. They also demanded the ted capitalist polluters to poison the atmosphere un­ withdrawal of Soviet troops stationed in Hungary. The Environmental Protection Agency, no zealot in The protests inspired even larger marches the next day. checked. protecting the environment, has singled out 20 utilities in With his "clean air" proposal, Bush hopes to curb the As a delegation, followed by some 100,000 protesters, that area as the worst offenders and those that should be marched to the radio station to get their demands bro!!dcast, mounting public anger and, in the process, pick up some required to make the biggest cuts in sulphur emissions. political capital. a statue of the hated Soviet tyrant Joseph Stalin, who had The Bush bill would spread that reduction among 107 died three years before, was tom down in the City Park. At The bill his administration will introduce into Congress the radio station, police arrested the delegation and began has three principal focuses: reducing the present high power plants in 18 states. "We are pleased," responded an Ohio utility executive, machine-gunning the demonstrators. This sparked a massive levels of ozone pollution, lowering the emissions of can­ uprising throughout the country. cer-causing chemicals, and cutting the amount of acid "that the president has decided against putting the most rain created by power utilities. severe burden on the state of Ohio and the Midwest." To try to contain the protests, the CP officials co-opted Nagy into the government as prime minister. Then, in his Even at face value, the Bush plan is very modest. The Testimony to the nature of the Bush proposal is that it name they asked for help from Soviet military units stationed goals, many factory owners note, are "flexible." And, it won early endorsement from Rep. John Dingell. Chair­ in Hungary. can be safely assumed, in Congress they will be watered person of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Working people took up arms to defend themselves. Nagy down even more. the Michigan Democrat is notorious for his bitter opposi­ responded with appeals to lay down arms and surre~der on Ozone, created by chemicals belched into the air, is the tion to any environmental proposal that might increase the promise of amnesty. But these bleatings were swept aside main ingredient in the smog that now chokes every major costs for the Detroit auto magnates. as much of the Hungarian army came over to the side of the u.s. city. The Clean Air Act has been on the books since 1970, workers, and as many Soviet troops began expressing sym­ From now to the year 2000, the Bush bill would require and air quality has grown steadily and dangerously worse. pathy with the struggle. On October 25 the workers launched 20 cities with the most dangerous ozone levels to reduce It would be a serious mistake to assume that the Bush plan a general strike. them by a paltry 3 percent a year. will bring meaningful relief. Throughout the entire country, councils made up of dem­ ocratically elected delegates were formed. Peter Fryer, a correspondent for the British Communist Party paper, the Daily Worker, was in Hungary at the time and described these councils. His dispatches were suppressed by his edi­ tors, but he later published his account in a book, Hungarian Round-one victory over censorship Tragedy. Fryer wrote that these committees, "in their spontaneous Prisoners at the Iowa State Men's Reformatory in An­ as Curtis supporters carry out a worldwide protest cam­ origin, in their composition, in their sense of responsibility, amosa have won an important victory in defense of their paign that has already won broad support. in their efficient organisation of food supplies and of civil democratic rights. On June 13 authorities finally turned order, in the restraint they exercised over the wilder elements It's this public outcry that compelled Anamosa Warden over to incarcerated political activist Mark Curtis his among the youth, in the wisdom with which so many of them John Thalacker to issue a letter on June 2 addressed to Spanish-English dictionary and 501 Spanish Verbs. handled the problem of Soviet troops, and, not least, in their "fellow Iowans" justifying this censorship on security striking resemblance at so many points to the soviets or The decision to deny him the Spanish- and French-lan­ grounds. And it is this campaign that is responsible for the councils of workers', peasants', and soldiers' deputies which guage magazines Perspectiva Mundial and Lutte ou­ initial victory. vriere, as well as letters in languages other than English, sprang up in Russia in the 1905 revolution and again in Granting Curtis his verb book and dictionary is a polit­ February 1917, these committees, a network of which now has not yet been reversed, however. ical vindication of the protest campaign. At the same time, For example, the prison denied Curtis a card sent to e~tended over the whole of Hungary, were remarkably practically speaking, a dictionary and verb book don't do uniform. him from former coworkers at the Swift/Monfort meat­ much good if Spanish literature is barred. packing plant in Des Moines, Iowa, on the grounds that it ''They were at once," Fryer continued, "organs of insur­ was written in a "foreign language" and that it was "from The job now is to press ahead, based on the momentum rection - the corning together of delegates elected by several people." The message on the card was written in and impact of this partial success, with all supporters of factories and universities, mines and Army units - and Lao, Spanish, and English. democratic rights raising their voices louder than ever to organs of popular self-government, which the armed people lift the ban on non-English language magazines and cor­ trusted. As such they enjoyed tremendous authority, and it is The decision 'to prevent Curtis from receiving non-En­ no exaggeration to say that until the Soviet attack of Novem­ glish language literature was the biggest challenge to the respondence and on the right of prisoners to exchange written materials. ber 4 the real power in the country lay in their hands." international campaign to defend Curtis since he was An armed working class taking over Hungary and exer­ incarcerated in September 1988 after being falsely con­ We urge all our readers to write letters of protest and cising its sovereign will, and the inspiring example this set victed of rape and burglary. This ban affected .not just get others to do the same. for working people throughout Eastern Europe and the Curtis, but other prisoners at Anamosa and potentially at They should be addressed to: John A. Thalacker, War­ USSR, was a mortal threat to the l,leirs of Stalin in Moscow. other state prisons in Iowa as well. den, Iowa State Men's Reformatory, Anamosa, Iowa That is why they sent in troops. Under pressure from the The authorities' aim with these restrictions is to cut the 52205. Copies should be sent to: Attorney General popular revolt, Nagy opposed this invasion and called on the inmates off as much as possible from the world outside Thomas J. Miller, Hoover State Office Bldg., Des United Nations for help. the prison, so that their "world" increasingly becomes the Moines, Iowa 50319; Paul Grossheim, Director of the Working people of Hungary put up a fierce resistance and prison. Department of Corrections, Capitol Annex, 523 E. 12th some 20,000 lost their lives and tens of thousands more were This restriction was a weak move by Iowa prison au­ St., Des Moines, Iowa 50309; and the Mark Curtis De­ wounded. At least 3,500 Soviet troops were killed and large thorities and one they are paying a high political price for fense Committee, Box 1048, Des Moines, Iowa 50311. sections of Budapest were devastated in the conflict.

14 The Militant June 30, 1989 Some important lessons from China and Grenada BY DON ROJAS The Grenadian Stalinists, in an obscene abuse of the Caribbean and around the world and damaged the credi­ Almost six years ago the popular revolutionary govern­ mass media similar to the cover-up being perpetrated now bility of the international working-class movement. Their ment in Grenada led by Prime Minister Maurice Bishop on Chinese television, claimed that Maurice Bishop and actions have provided plenty of ammunition for the capi­ was overthrown by a Stalinist clique led by Bernard the other revolutionaries who died with him on October talist propaganda campaign that cites developments in Coard and Hudson Austin. Bishop and many others were 19 were killed in the cross fire of a shoot -out between the China, the Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe as proof of murdered. army and armed civilians. The brutal fact, however, was the "terminal crisis" of communism. While there are fundamental differences between the that Bishop and his comrades were summarily executed Indeed, there is a crisis, but not of communism. What is counterrevolutionary coup in Grenada in 1983 and the by a firing squad. in crisis is Stalinism, the rule of a bureaucratic caste in a crackdown this month on the Chinese students demand- The bureaucratic caste that governs China claims that country where capitalism has been overthrown. This phe­ the demonstrations for democratic rights were instigated nomenon emerged and took power in the Soviet Union and manipulated from abroad. The Coardites tried to shift under the leadership of Joseph Stalin in the late 1920s. the blame for their coup and killing of Bishop and their Major defeats of revolutionary struggles by working CARIB NOTES many other errors onto the CIA. people in Germany, China, and other countries in the Imperialism and its agents reaped a propaganda wind­ early 1920s isolated the new Soviet regime set up as a fall from the internal crises in both countries. In the case result of the October 1917 revolution. This reinforced the Don Rojas of Grenada, U.S. imperialism used the massacre at Fort pressures from imperialism bearing down on the young Rupert as one of the pretexts for the criminal invasion and revolu~ionary government, thus helping to create the con­ occupation of the island. But it is not true that some ditions for the rise of a privileged bureaucratic caste in the ing democratic rights, there are also noteworthy similari­ sinister foreign hand fomented the tragic events. Soviet Union following V.I. Lenin's death in 1924. ties. Examining these similarities can provide a lesson in The thousands of Grenadians who demonstrated in The abandonment of communist internationalism in the modus operandi of Stalinism around the world. support of Bishop that October were not demanding an practice- as well as the administrative, arbitrary, and The most striking parallel is the character of the orches­ overthrow but rather the restoration of the People's Revo­ brutal methods of Stalinism - influenced many political trated campaign of lies and falsifications emanating from lutionary Government, which had actually been ousted by parties and individuals around the world who called Beijing and those hatched by Coard and his gang in Sep­ Coard's coup. Neither did they call for the abdication of themselves communists. But these methods also served to tember and October of 1983. the ruling New Jewel Movement. They were calling in­ alienate workers and peasants and distort the popular The official line of the Chinese regime is that hundreds stead for justice for Bishop and his comrades and for conception of socialism. of thousands of protesting students and workers in Bei­ democratization of the party. This did not make them Stalinists are neither Marxists nor revolutionaries. jing, Shanghai, and other cities were a "small group of counterrevolutionaries. They are party and state bureaucrats who usurp the politi­ thugs and counterrevolutionaries." This is as false as The demonstrating Chinese students were not spear­ cal power of working people and who feel threatened by Coard' s allegations that the thousands of Grenadians who heading a counterrevolution to restore capitalism but any demand of workers, farmers, and students for demo­ demonstrated Oct. 19, 1983, in favor of Maurice Bishop's merely seeking democratic rights. From that standpoint, cratic rights and for democratic participation in running release from house arrest were counterrevolutionaries and any illusions some of them may harbor about bourgeois right-wing opportunists. their countries. parliamentary democracy are beside the point. The very The capitalist mouthpieces propagate the false notion Bishop had been arbitrarily arrested several days be~ source of such illusions is the blatant denial of basic rights that socialism and democratic rights are inherently con­ fore by the Coard clique after resisting a maneuver to oust by the Chinese government. him from the leadership of the New Jewel Movement. tradictory. But socialism must not be confused with The Chinese government's big lie was that no demon­ The official commendations to army commanders who Stalinism. Democratic rights do not threaten socialism. strators were killed when the army attacked the students carried out the Beijing massacre is a chilling reminder of On the contrary, democracy for the majority, for the pop­ in Tiananmen Square. This is akin to the lie promoted by the emulation ceremony organized by Coard's group for ular masses, for workers and farmers can only thrive Coard's supporters that no innocent people were killed the "heroic" soldiers who assassinated Bishop and under socialism. when a company of Grenadian soldiers loyal to him and gunned down many unarmed, patriotic Grenadians. Neither capitalists nor Stalinist bureaucrats can guaran­ Hudson Austin attacked Fort Rupert in St. George's, the The savage setbacks that the Grenadian and Chinese tee democracy of, for, and by the working people. Grenadian capital, where a mass of demonstrators had Stalinists have dealt to the masses in these countries in­ Now, more than ever, the principles and ideals of so­ gathered. flicted immeasurable harm to the cause of socialism in the cialism must be defended and promoted.

-LETTERS------Astud.9 says that after a noclear war, China Next the rich will find a way to Demonstrators were charged with peo~e over qo should handle the difficult. criminal trespass. Thank you for your coverage. alter weather patterns for their con­ tas~. Jv~t what would those tasKs be~ venience. Gary Cohen The focus on China by the main­ Boston, Massachusetts -R.M., (,rand Island stream media is drivi11g me nuts. Ann Wilcox Los Angeles, California They see the rebellion as a call for LOOKING AROUND FO~ TRVINf> TO 5TI\NO UP capitalism and believe, falsely, that Exxon spill on~tR SURVIVOR~ democracy is inherent to all capital­ West Virginia ballot Recently I arranged for Robbie ism. Your June 9 issue has a letter to Scherr to speak to people in Ven­ M.H. the editor asking whether the Lib­ tura, California, interested in hear­ San Francisco, California ertarian Party was on the ballot in ing about her experiences in the West Virginia. An editor's note fol­ Prince William Sound area observ­ j)r / lows that says, "The Libertarian ing the damage and cleanup effort 'Too little, too late' Party was on the ballot in 1988 in resulting from the Exxon oil spill of A Militant reader in Kodiak, every state except West Virginia." March 24. Alaska, sent the Seattle Pathfinder Actually, the Libertarian Party It so happened that coinciding Bookstore an article from the Ko­ was not on the ballot in three states with Scherr's visit to Ventura was a diak Daily Mirror. The article re­ in 1988: West Virginia, Indiana, visit by Lenny Kohm, an environ­ ports on a May 26 demonstration of and North Carolina. Also, in Mis­ mentalist and photographer who 1,200 to 1,500 held there to protest souri, although the party was on the was presenting a multiprojector Exxon's "too little, too late" LOOKING AROUND fO~ T"' GtTTING C~PITALISM ballot, its presidential candidate slideshow. His presentation was STARTED UP 1\GAlN cleanup efforts. was omitted from the ballot. about the Arctic National Wildlife RtST Of '.'OUR BODV The March 24 oil spill has threat­ Richard Winger Refuge on the coastal plain of ened this year's salmon season San Francisco, California Prudhoe Bay in the northeast comer there, which has already been post­ / // f of Alaska. poned past the June 9 scheduled Seabrook protest The event took place on May 11, opening. with a crowd of about 100. Kohm With the Seabrook nuclear According to the Alaskan daily, spoke about the threat to the Native power plant looming in the dis­ protesters wore black arm bands, American population, as well as the tance, 5,000 protesters gathered chanted anti-Exxon slogans, and wildlife and environment that make June 3 at Hampton Beach State tarred and feathered an effigy of the up one of the world's only remain­ Park to express their opposition to tanker Exxon Valdez. ing complete ecosystems. He ex­ Ann Barker, a fisherman and the opening of the facility. plained the threat that comes from The operators were expected to leader of the protest, explained, the current and planned exploration Toles start low-power testing, which was "Exxon seems to put the emphasis and drilling by oil companies. on the amount of money spent and approved by the Nuclear Regula­ Scherr spoke about the outrage of practice law. This novel condition not on the amount of beach cleaned tory Commission; within a few In the seven and a half months I the local working class in Alaska in which the U.S. government was up." She added that the "cleanup days following the Clamshell Alli­ was in detention, I spent all the ance demonstration. The owner's and shared what she saw as con- represented by an assistant attorney money my family and I owned to should be done by man, not by na­ scious neglect on the part of Exxon who was unlicensed lasted four ture." plan is to have Seabrook operating obtain lawyers for bail hearings. at full power before the end of the in the spill. She also pointed to the years _ from 1983 to 1987. Robbie Scherr, responsibility we all have to impose The Bail Reform Act not only Socialist Workers Party year. However, faulty valves have our will, the will of the people, over I was indicted by a grand jury on nullifies the U.S. Constitution, Bill candidate for mayor caused a delay in the startup. that of the profit-motivated capital- possession of cocaine with intent to of Rights, due process, right to bail, Seattle, Washington The June 3 rally was the largest is tic system that allows our environ- distribute and was not allowed to right to counsel, and the fact that since 1978, when 20,000 people ment to be plundered time and . appear before that body to defend you are innocent until proven Smooth trip for Quayle gathered in peaceful protest. again. myself. guilty, but articles 8 and 9 of the The town of Seabrook had de­ I read the news item about Vice­ Universal Declaration of Human clared the area across the road from Marcy Greenhut On July 1, 1985, my front door president Danforth Quayle and his Ventura, California was smashed to pieces. FBI, Drug Rights as well. the plant off-limits for the weekend A prisoner family taking a whitewater rafting unless a bond of $3,600 was posted Enforcement Agency, IRS, and trip down the New River in West Safford, Arizona and a fee of $300 paid. Right to bail other agents dragged me in chains Virginia. To insure the Quayles a Clamshell refused, citing the I was investigated by an assistant to jail. smooth trip, the Army Corps of En­ The letters column is an open constitutional right of free speech. U.S. attorney who arrived in Salt I was held without bail. Even gineers lowered the water level, de­ forum for all viewpoints on sub­ However, a judge upheld the city. Lake City from California as head creasing the flow from a dam up­ though it is mandated under the jects of general interest to our On June 4 some 1,000 protesters river. of the Drug Task Force in Utah. 1984 Bail Reform Act that you readers. Please keep your letters assembled near Seabrook Station, This same U.S. attorney let his must be a "flight risk" or a "threat brief. Where necessary they will I wondered how the people felt 627 of whom were arrested after law license run out in California to the community" in order for bail be abridged. Please indicate if who planned to have a real scaling the fences surrounding the and neglected to gain bar member­ to be denied, the courts are using you prefer that your initials be whitewater raft trip that day. plant in an act of civil disobedience. ship or get a license in Utah to pretrial detention arbitrarily. used rather than your full name.

June 30, 1989 The Militant 15 THE MILITANT Log-export ban debated in Oregon Socialists: voting on measure 'is trap for working people'

BY BRIAN WILLIAMS unions weaken their ability to effectively POR1LAND, Ore. -On June 27 voters unite with other workers in defense of their here will be deciding on a much-publicized own class interests for jobs and protection referendum that amends the state constitution of the environment. to ban the export of logs from state lands. "Taking sides on the log export ban cuts In 1988 one out of every four logs har­ across much needed working-class solidar­ vested were exported from Oregon and ity," the socialist statement says. Washington. Log exports primarily go to "While woodworker unions in the United Japan, China, South Korea, and Canada. States line up in support of the log export While the number of logs exported from ban, the International Longshoremen's and Oregon's state-owned lands is relatively Warehousemen's Union has joined up with small - only 7 percent of the 1988 export a coalition of timber exporting companies total - this issue has become a controver­ such as Weyerhaeuser to oppose the ban. sial one. "Members of the International Wood­ workers in the United States fmd them­ Spearheading the campaign for a ban is selves blocking with their bosses in oppos­ liberal Democratic Congressman Peter De­ ing log exports from the United States to Fazio from Oregon's 4th Congressional Canada instead of solidarizing with the just District "The issue is very simple," states struggles of IWA Canada union members DeFazio. "Will the Pacific Northwest de­ against the takeback drive of Canadian cap­ velop into an industrial economy exporting italists. its fmished products to Japan and other na­ "The ban is an obstacle to woodworkers tions, or will it remain a colony, selling its in the United States seeing workers in Japan natural resources and its heritage at bargain and South Korea as fellow workers who basement prices?" have a common interest in fighting against Other proponents of the export ban claim capitalist exploitation and oppression." it would save up to 16,000 mill jobs in Attempts to adjust capitalist trading poli­ Oregon. Militant/John Charbonnet Strike last summer by International Woodworkers of America resisted attacks on cies, the SWPstates, might temporarily give SWP statement union rights and living standards. Socialist Workers Party in Oregon challenges claim certain businesses a slight competitive edge A statement issued here by the Socialist that export ban is effective way to fight for workers' interests. over others, but it cannot solve the effects Workers Party argues that these views are on. workers of the deepening crisis the cap­ italists face today. false and politically disorienting. have been cutting down trees in federally report so as to exclude the spotted owl from "Voting for or against this export ban is a owned national forests at an ever-growing a list of endangered species. The Fish and Labor productivity trap for working people. It diverts workers Wildlife Service reversed its original deci­ pace. "The truth is that job loss in the timber and their allies from understanding and act­ Prior to World War II, virtually no timber sion in April, in response to public outrage industry results mainly from increased labor ing on the real issues involved- the deep­ over this report. was cut from these forests. In 1987 the productivity," the SWP explains. "From ening profits crisis facing capitalism, in­ amount of timber stripped from the 156 cluding the timber industry, and its effects Unions support ban 1979 to 1989, some 13,000 woodworkers in national forests reached an all-time high of Oregon lost their jobs because of new ma­ on working people," the statement says. 12.7 billion board feet. In the Pacific North­ Both major woodworker unions, the In­ chinery or organization of work that in­ The capitalist offensive over the past de­ west alone, which encompasses the vast ma­ ternational Woodworkers .of America and creased productivity. Today a work force cade, the SWP states, has led to increased jority of what remains of the ancient forests, the Western Council of Industrial Workers, that is 15 percent smaller than 10 years ago attacks on working people and the destruc­ 5.5 billion board feet were logged from 19 support the export ban. Also backing it are is producing more lumber and plywood. tion of the environment national forests in 1988. the environmental organizations Wilderness According to the Wilderness Society, at Society, Audubon Society, and Oregon Nat­ "The next recession will create even "Woodworkers, like many other workers the present rates of deforestation these vir­ greater unemployment, devastation, and throughout the country, have been forced to ural Resource Council. Union leaders argue that the ban would suffering for all working people," the SWP accept concession contracts that weaken gin forests with their unique plant and ani­ mal life will disappear in 15 years. mean more logs for domestic lumber pro­ states. their unions by imposing major wage cuts Thrust to the center of the controversy duction, thus saving jobs in Oregon. Envi­ "What's needed is a fighting program for and attacking health and safety rights," the jobs and maximum unity among working SWP points out. "Woodworkers throughout over logging in the national forests is the ronmental organizations contend the northern spotted owl, which lives only in amendment would simply mean less trees people and their allies worldwide. Workers the Northwest have begun fighting back old-growth forests of Washington, Oregon, are cut down. should benefit from increased productivity, through strikes, yet they are still suffering not be thrown out of work as a result of it. some heavy blows. and northern California. "By casting their interests on the side of Under political pressure from the timber the mill owners and joining up with one of What's needed is a fight for a shorter work­ "Thousands of mill workers have been monopolies, the U.S. government's Fish and the capitalist trade associations on this ques­ week with no cut in pay - 30 hours' work thrown out of work. Thirty-four mills in Wildlife Service doctored up a scientific tion," the SWP argues, "the woodworkers' Washington, Oregon, and northern Califor­ Continued on Page 13 nia closed in 1988. The pace of shutdowns has accelerated in the first five months of 1989. ''The bosses' drive for profits," the state­ Dominican workers hold two-day strike ment continues, "has not only taken its toll on working people but has also resulted in BY SELVA NEBBIA While the_minimum monthly salary in the eral strike," he concluded. wide-scale plundering of the land. Nation­ A 48-hour protest strike in the Dominican Dominican Republic is 500 pesos (6 :'5 pesos "The general strike took place on a na­ wide, most timber land is privately owned Republic June 19 and 20 expressed the = US$1 ), the Central Bank has estimated tional level," Jose Gonzalez Espinosa, pres­ by giant corporations and other capitalist mounting anger of working people to wors­ that 3,000 pesos is needed to feed a family ident of the Dominican Workers Party institutions that care nothing about protect­ ening conditions there. of six, explained the CGT leader. (PDT), said. "It was carried out in an organ­ ing natural resources. Many forest lands, for In a telephone interview the day after the Other demands of the strike are the cancel­ ized and peaceful manner. The only inci­ example, are being purchased by insurance strike, Sucre Reyes, the administrative sec­ lation of the foreign debt and that the govern­ dents of violence were those carried out by companies and pension fund groups as retary of the General Workers Federation ment hand over 154,000 acres of idle state­ the repressive government forces. 'secure' investments." (CGT) of the Dominican Republic ex­ owned land to peasants and offer them "The majority of the population, heeding plained, "Production was stopped at all the affordable credit and technical assistance. the call of the unions and political organiza­ Redwoods cut for junk bonds factories. For example, in the free-trade tions that directed the strike, remained in Michael Milken, the recently indicted zone of San Pedro de Macoris, the main "This strike is the expression of the terri­ their homes during the strike," said the PDT multibillion-dollar junk bond financier, industrial area in the eastern part of the ble popular discontent that exists in the Do­ leader. "The large presence of the army also "also got into the act," the SWP states. In country, all 35,000 workers took part in the minican Republic due to the economic pol­ served to scare people into staying at home. 1985 Milken bought out northern strike." icies of the government," explained Rafael Hundreds of people were arrested through­ California's Pacific Lumber Co. To cover ''Of the 13 state sugar mills," he said, "Fafa" Taveras, general secretary of the out the country. $82 million in yearly junk bond interest "only one was in operation with half the Bloque Socialista. "This economic policy "As a result of the strike," he continued, payments, massive clear-cutting of the in­ personnel, and none of the four private mills responds to the demands of adjustments di­ "the government of President Joaquin valuable redwood trees was begun. The old­ was in operation." rected by the International Monetary Fund Balaguer has promised that it will imple­ est, most valuable trees were the firSt to go. in all the countries of the region. ment some of the demands, but so far noth­ Internationally, the capitalist owners aim Demands "While the official unemployment rate is ing has been done. The 32,000 public school to privatize as much publicly owned land as The demands of the strike included: a 100 30 percent, and 50 percent of the capital city, teachers are still on strike." possible. In Brazil, for example, there has percent raise in the minimum wage; exemp­ Santo Domingo, lacks electric services," Workers', farmers', and student organiza­ been "massive destruction of the rain for­ tion from income taxes for workers receiv· Taveras added, "the government is paying tions will be· meeting in the following days ests," the socialists explain, "as interna­ ing salaries at the minimum wage level or $650 million a year to service the foreign to map out how to proceed on their de­ tional corporations gain access to land in below it; resolution of the 42-day teachers' debt. mands, he added. exchange for slightly lowering the crushing strike in favor of the teachers; government "If you add this to the terrible conditions On June 22 about 75 people demonstrated debt Brazil owes to bankers in New York, subsidies of 18 food products, including of the health services, education, and trans­ in the heart of New York City's Dominican Paris, Tokyo, and other financial centers." rice, beans, oil, yucca (cassava), and other portation, working people burdened by in­ community to support the general strike in the In the United States, timber companies staples in the Dominican diet. creasing hunger began to organize the gen- Dominican Republic.

16 The Militant June 30, 1989