Trump bajo fuego 12

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 60, No. 37 Sept. 13, 2018 $1 Jailers lock down striking prisoners

By Ted Kelly Philadelphia Chicago hotel workers strike for health Thousands of prisoners across Pennsylvania have been confined to their cells since Aug. 29. That’s when the state’s Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel declared an indefinite lockdown of all facilities under his jurisdiction. The lockdown, which began just days into the National Prison Strike (Aug. 21 to Sept. 9) is the most blatant in a series of repressive tactics that the state has resorted to in response to the strike. It was timed to preempt some major strike actions planned by prisoners.

Attacks on right to legal counsel One week into the lockdown, Wetzel appeared alongside Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, who announced a sweeping series of new policies that constitute an unprecedented crackdown on the rights of prisoners. Among the many petty and punitive policies, like banning prisoners from taking photos with their visitors, there are also new mea- sures that will systematically deny prisoners their right to privacy with legal counsel. All correspondence sent to prisoners is now to be trans- ported to a third-party facility in Florida, where it will be opened and photocopied before copies are sent to the re- spective prisons to be delivered to the intended recipients. Since prison officials are at least in theory not allowed to open any mail containing legal correspondence, except in the presence of its recipient, a farcical new method has ‘They work us like dogs when it’s busy been introduced to get around this protection. and then kick us to the curb A prisoner in one state facility described how this is in the winter.’ Page 4. done: The mail is put into a laboratory glovebox meant for WW PHOTO: JEFF SOREL handling hazardous material where it is opened. The enve- lope and contents are then passed to another corrections officer wearing neoprene gloves, who photocopies them. The copies are then given to the prisoner, while the origi- nals are kept in possession of the prison authorities for 15 Decolonize Puerto Rico! 2 days. After that, the authorities say they will be destroyed. In both theory and practice, this arrangement shatters any remaining rights that prisoners have to private com- Learning about Cuba 3 munications with counsel. Prison officials and corrections officers will now know ahead of time whenever a prisoner is planning to meet or correspond with lawyers, as well as Marcy on reform and revolution 3 the legal strategies they plan to use to win their case. “And since the prisons are a wing of the District Attorney’s of- fice, this constitutes an egregious violation of our rights,” 5 says Bryant Arroyo, a jailhouse lawyer and environmen- Red for Ed strikes again Continued on page 8 VOTING WHILE BLACK 6 Subscribe to Workers World 7 4 weeks trial $4 1 year subscription $30 Serena fights sexism Sign me up for the WWP Supporter Program: workers.org/donate Mass. jail solidarity 8 Name ______

Email ______Phone ______Editorial: U.S. threat to Venezuela 10

Street ______City / State / Zip ______Workers World Weekly Newspaper workers.org 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl, NY, NY 10011 212.627.2994 SYRIA 9 PALESTINE 9 DPRK 10 BRAZIL 11 INDIA 11 Page 2 Sept. 13, 2018 workers.org

 In the U.S. Jailers lock down striking prisoners ...... 1 In Washington and New York: Show solidarity with Cuba! .3 Reform and revolution ...... 3 Anti-union bosses hold Michigan motorists hostage . . 4 NYC Labor Day: IBEW Local 3 on strike 18 months . . . 4 On the picket line ...... 4 Red for Ed energizes West Coast struggle ...... 5 Arizona educators resist state treachery ...... 5 African-American voting rights and suppression . . . . 6 Disability groups reject racist Georgia voter suppression 6 Serena Williams fights back against sexist attacks . . . 7 FIRE: Stop the war on migrants! ...... 7 Chicago killer cop heads to trial ...... 7 FIRE targets notorious Bristol County, Mass., sheriff . . . 8  Around the world Syria’s war: more obstacles remain ...... 9 Palestinians punished for support of U.S. prison strike . . .9 Solidarity with the DPRK ...... 10 Brazil’s presidential elections jolted by events ...... 11 India throws out British colonial anti-sodomy law . . . . 11  Editorial New U.S. threat to Venezuela ...... 10

 Noticias en Español Trump bajo fuego: el dilema de la clase dominante . . 12

Workers World 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl. New York, NY 10011 Phone: 212.627.2994 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.workers.org Vol. 60, No. 37 • Sept. 13, 2018 Closing date: Sept 11, 2018 Join us in the fight Editor: Deirdre Griswold Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, for socialism! Monica Moorehead, Minnie Bruce Pratt; Web Editor Gary Wilson Workers World Party is a revolutionary Marxist-­ Wages are lower than ever, and youth are saddled with Leninist party inside the belly of the imperialist beast. seemingly insurmountable student debt, if they even make Production & Design Editors: Coordinator Lal Roohk; We are a multinational, multigenerational and multigen- it to college. Black and Brown youth and trans people are Andy Katz, Cheryl LaBash dered organization that not only aims to abolish capital- gunned down by cops and bigots on a regular basis. Copyediting and Proofreading: Paddy Colligan, ism, but to build a socialist society because it’s the only WWP fights for socialism because the working class Sue Davis, Bob McCubbin, Jeff Sorel way forward! produces all wealth in society, and this wealth should re- Contributing Editors: Greg Butterfield, G. Dunkel, Capitalism and imperialism threaten the peoples of main in their hands, not be stolen in the form of capital- K. Durkin, Fred Goldstein, Martha Grevatt, the world and the planet itself in the never-ending quest ist profits. The wealth workers create should be socially Teresa Gutierrez, Berta Joubert-Ceci, Terri Kay, for ever-greater profits. Capitalism means war and aus- owned and its distribution planned to satisfy and guar- Cheryl LaBash, John Parker, Betsey Piette, terity, racism and repression, joblessness and lack of antee basic human needs. Gloria Rubac hope for the future. No social problems can be solved Since 1959, Workers World Party has been out in the under capitalism. streets defending the workers and oppressed here and Mundo Obero: Redactora Berta Joubert-Ceci; The U.S. is the richest country in the world, yet no one worldwide. If you’re interested in Marxism, socialism Alberto García, Teresa Gutierrez, Carlos Vargas has a guaranteed right to shelter, food, water, health care, and fighting for a socialist future, please contact a WWP Supporter Program: Coordinator Sue Davis education or anything else — unless they can pay for it. branch near you. Copyright © 2018 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium Contact a Workers World Party branch near you: workers.org/wwp without royalty provided this notice is preserved. National Office Boston Denver Los Angeles Salt Lake City Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly [email protected] 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl. 284 Amory St. 5278 W Pico Blvd. 801.750.0248 except the first week of January by WW Publishers, New York, NY 10011 Boston, MA 02130 Los Angeles, CA 90019 Detroit [email protected] 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10011. Phone: 212.627.2994 617.286.6574 [email protected] [email protected] San Antonio, Texas [email protected] [email protected] 323.306.6240 212.627.2994. Subscriptions: One year: $30; institu- Durham, N.C. SanAntonioWWP@ tions: $35. Letters to the editor may be condensed and Atlanta Buffalo, N.Y. Milwaukee 804 Old Fayetteville St. workers.org edited. Articles can be freely reprinted, with credit to PO Box 18123 335 Richmond Ave. [email protected] Atlanta, GA 30316 Durham, NC 27701 San Diego Workers World, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY Buffalo, NY 14222 Philadelphia 404.627.0185 919.322.9970 P.O. Box 33447 10011. Back issues and individual articles are available 716.883.2534 P.O. Box 34249 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] San Diego, CA 92163 on microfilm and/or photocopy from NA Publishing, Baltimore Philadelphia, PA 19101 Chicago Houston [email protected] Inc, P.O. Box 998, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-0998. A c/o Solidarity Center 610.931.2615 1105 N. Ashland Ave., P.O. Box 3454 Tucson, Ariz. searchable archive is ­available on the Web at 2011 N. Charles St. [email protected] Houston, TX 77253-3454 Baltimore, MD 21218 Chicago, IL 60622 Pittsburgh [email protected] www.workers.org. 443.221.3775 312.630.2305 713.503.2633 [email protected] Virginia A headline digest is available via e-mail subscription. [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Portland, Ore. [email protected] Subscription information is at workers.org/email.php. Cleveland Bay Area Indiana [email protected] Washington, D.C. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y. 1305 Franklin St. #411 P.O. Box 5963 [email protected] Rochester, N.Y. P.O. Box 57300 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Oakland, CA 94612 Cleveland, OH 44101 Madison Washington, DC 20037 510.600.5800 216.738.0320 585.436.6458 Workers World, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl. [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] New York, N.Y. 10011. workers.org Sept. 13, 2018 Page 3

In Washington and New York

Cuban youth pictured below: today in class (left), involved in society Show solidarity with Cuba! (right) and during the 1961 Literacy Campaign (center) bearing huge symbolic pencils on May Day (center).

By Cheryl LaBash women. A Cuban of African descent, Washington, D.C. Guillard, now a retired psychologist, has played a role in issues of gender, educa- Education is under attack in both the tion against homophobia and prevention United States and its colony of Puerto of HIV/AIDS. She is a poet as well as a Rico. In socialist Cuba, however, educa- theater and documentary producer. tion is a national priority. Space at the Landmark E Street Cine- The International Committee for ma, where these films will be shown, is Peace, Justice and Dignity will examine limited. Tickets are available online at this contrast in its Days of Action against tinyurl.com/ydbtzgc8/. the U.S. blockade of Cuba Sept. 24-28 in Other activities during the week in- Washington, D.C. clude public meetings at the University They went to Harlem after the delegation bean. This makes an event like the one On Wednesday, Sept. 26, a double-fea- of Maryland’s Nyumburu Cultural Cen- was disrespected by the racist Hotel Shel- planned for Sept. 26 in New York more ture film screening will premiere “Lucha ter and Howard University; a screening burne in midtown Manhattan, and it was than just a meeting. It will be an import- Sí!” about the fight for public education for high school students promoted by a there that Fidel Castro met Malcolm X. ant demonstration of solidarity. in Puerto Rico, along with “Maestra” parent-teacher organization; and visits to Cuba’s revolution has been and still is a Advance tickets are required; a $5 do- (teacher), the story of Cuba’s 1961 Na- congressional offices showing the strong beacon for the world’s oppressed people, nation is requested. Ticket distribution tional Literacy Campaign. The women popular support for ending the unilateral particularly Black and Latinx commu- centers are: filmmakers of the productions will en- U.S. economic, financial and commer- nities in the U.S. It is not forgotten that • IFCO, 418 W. 145th St., Harlem, gage in a postviewing discussion, along cial blockade of Cuba. See the schedule Cuba allied with Angola at Cuito Cuana- N.Y. Tickets can be picked up Monday with actual participants in the struggles of activities and trailers for the films at vale to decisively defeat invading troops through Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. depicted on screen. tinyurl.com/y7cendu8/. from the white supremacist and U.S.- Call 212-926-5757 ext. 6 before coming. Direct from Puerto Rico, “Lucha Sí!” backed South African apartheid regime. Contact person: Gail Walker. co-director Jinnette Morales will bring Cuban delegation to visit New York Cuba exports literacy with its “Yo, sí • International Action Center, 147 W. the frontline struggle of Puerto Rican A high-level Cuban delegation will be in puedo” teachers and brings health care, 24th St., Midtown Manhattan. Tickets teachers, students and parents to Wash- New York for the opening of the 73rd Unit- training of doctors and new medicines to can be picked up Monday through Friday ington. More than Hurricane María, the ed Nations General Assembly. Organiza- the people of the world. from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Call 212-633-6646 Fiscal Control Board and Puerto Rico’s tions in solidarity with the Cuban Revo- It was Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Bolivarian before coming. Contact person: Sharon E. colonial U.S. handcuffs are endangering lution are planning a public event on Sept. Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez who developed • Holyrood Church, 715 W. 179th St., all levels of education, particularly for 26 at the historic Riverside Church, near a model of solidarity trade for countries Washington Heights, N.Y. Tickets can be children with disabilities. Harlem, to welcome and hear from the Cu- stunted and diminished by centuries of co- picked up Monday through Friday from From Cuba, Norma Guillard joins the ban delegation. In September 2000, Fidel lonialism, slavery and economic exploita- 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Contact person: discussion. She is one of the nine women Castro spoke at Riverside Church while at tion. That model promotes mutual devel- Radhames Morales. whose interviews in “Maestra” are com- the U.N. for the Millenium Summit. opment through cooperation and barter to • Sistas’ Place, 456 Nostrand Ave., bined with archival footage and still pic- Harlem has held a special place in avoid the imperialist financial system. Brooklyn, N.Y. Tickets can be picked up tures to bring alive Cuba’s revolutionary U.S.-Cuba relations since the Hotel The- U.S. imperialism is sharpening its Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to 9 transformation and what it has meant resa opened its doors and welcomed Fidel knives to undo the advances made by the p.m. Call 718-398-1766 before coming. for the lives and futures of these young Castro and the Cuban delegation in 1960. people of Latin America and the Carib- Contact person: Roger Wareham.

Reform and revolution

This article about the Cuban Revolu- In Cuba, the Committees in Defense acter of their exploitation. They have between the U.S. and Cuba over the lat- tion by Workers World Party founder of the Revolution became the eyes and cynically described their relations with ter’s alliance with the USSR. Sam Marcy first appeared in the WW ears of the new class power and its most Mexico in its revolutionary period as Many liberal and socialist elements in issue of Feb. 17, 1994. important line of defense against U.S. im- “continuing to do business during alter- the U.S. closely studied the Cuban Revo- What has made the Cuban Revolution perialist sabotage and invasion. The bour- ations.” Even when Mexico nationalized lution. Probably the best account was by unique? Why is it such a beacon to the geoisie especially scorned and maligned the lands of the foreign oil companies in Leo Huberman and Paul Sweezy in the workers and oppressed masses, not only the CDRs because they were the living the 1930s, its relationship with the U.S. book “Cuba: Anatomy of a Revolution” of Latin America and the Caribbean but proof that a new type of state, based on the continued more or less as before. (Monthly Review Press, 1960). While the around the world? workers, had taken over in Cuba in 1959. The Cuban Revolution came more than Cuban leaders at that time spoke of the There have been many uprisings, guer- 40 years after the Mexican Revolution. revolution only in terms of specific re- rilla wars, progressive electoral victories Political revolution in Mexico It came after the great October socialist forms, Huberman and Sweezy had “no and military coups in Latin America in the It is instructive to compare this to the revolution in Russia and the revolutions hesitation” in concluding that “the new course of this century. But the triumph of Mexican Revolution of 1910-1917 which, in China, Vietnam and Korea. The indus- Cuba is a socialist Cuba.” Fidel Castro’s guerrilla army over the Ba- for all its great achievements, did not go trial development of Cuba was greatly In the United States, the discussion of tista dictatorship did something that no beyond progressive, bourgeois democrat- advanced compared to some other areas the class character of the Cuban Revo- previous struggle had accomplished. ic reforms. It did, of course, expropriate of Latin America, despite the constraints lution came to a rather abrupt end when It broke up the old state apparatus. The the big land owners and distribute much imposed by imperialist control and own- Comrade Fidel Castro, in a speech made revolution did not merely change govern- of the land. This is a great revolutionary ership — and the poverty and underde- just as CIA planes were bombing Cuba ing groups, as had happened so many measure in the struggle against the big velopment of much of the countryside. during the April 1961 Bay of Pigs inva- times before. It unseated the bourgeoisie land holders, both feudal and capitalist. sion, for the first time put it quite explicit- itself from its role as the ruling class by But it is not a socialist measure. Why Cuban Revolution went further ly: “What the Yankee imperialists will not demolishing its instrument of rule, the The history of peasant rebellions in While Cuba had not reached the lev- forgive is that we have made a socialist bourgeois state. both Europe and Latin America demon- el of the European capitalist states, the revolution right under their very noses.” It once again proved the monumental strates that they ultimately deteriorate. objective basis for socialist revolution words of Karl Marx on the Paris Com- The landlords eventually lay their hands had matured there. It must always be re- Strong unions and Communist Party mune: that one of the fundamental char- again on the best and most fertile areas, membered that Cuba lives in the shadow It’s important to note that before the acteristics of a change of class structures and the struggle continues until another of U.S. finance capital, which until the rise of the 26th of July Movement that is the crushing of the old state apparatus round of revolutionary peasant uprisings. revolution controlled its most important launched the revolutionary struggle for and its replacement by a new state based Peasant uprisings alone, even if they economic arteries. power, Cuba had for many years had on the popular consent of the masses. have some working-class support, do not Liberal writers in the U.S., some of them a strong Communist Party and trade This is what happened in Paris in 1871, abolish the basis of landlord and capital- very well-meaning, spread confusion about unions that survived years of repression. when popular revolutionary committees ist exploitation. the socialist revolution in Cuba. Some of it The early liberal and progressive litera- took over the functions of government. The Mexican Revolution was a political was actuated by friendly desires not to cast ture in the United States about the Cuban Such committees of the urban masses had revolution that reformed the state. This Cuba in communist revolutionary colors, Revolution often overlooked this. But ob- first appeared in the French Revolution explains why Mexico today, despite all its for fear of giving aid to imperialism. jective and subjective conditions in Cuba of 1789, when the bourgeoisie had to call historically important great reforms, is a Projecting a moderate image of Cuba had matured to the point where a strong out the workers and artisans to be able to bourgeois country. Different groupings seemed necessary in order to withstand Communist Party was possible. completely uproot the old feudal order. may hold the governing positions, even at the utterly unprecedented vileness of the Mexico in 1910 did not have the condi- In 1871, the popular committees or com- the summits of power, but this does not imperialist press and the increasingly tions for the existence of a revolutionary munes appeared again, but this time they change the class structure of society. shrill calls by the most extreme elements working-class party. There were no com- represented the revolutionary struggle of The imperialists themselves recognize for intervention. It continued even in the munist parties yet in existence anywhere. the proletariat against the bourgeoisie. that such reforms do not alter the char- face of a possible nuclear confrontation Continued on page 10 Page 4 Sept. 13, 2018 workers.org Anti-union bosses hold Michigan motorists hostage

By Martha Grevatt dia have emphasized that the MITA contract Detroit raises pay and benefits by $8 an hour over five years. By Alex Bolchi and Sue Davis Polls of Michigan residents repeatedly in- But the contract the union signed with dicate that fixing the state’s dilapidated road several dozen companies actually has a infrastructure is a top concern. Yet most smaller pay increase than what MITA is of- Marriott workers march coast-to-coast on Labor Day construction work has been at a standstill fering. Why then did the union decide not to On Labor Day, Sept. 3, thousands of Marriott workers in at least nine cities, since Sept. 4, when members of Operat- deal with MITA? including Boston, Detroit, San Francisco, Seattle and more, flooded the streets ing Engineers Local 324, which represents The major contract improvements OE se- carrying signs reading, “One job should be enough!” while banging home- equipment operators in the whole state of cured from other companies had stronger made drums and demanding a fair contract. UNITE HERE! represents these Michigan, were told not to report for work language on subcontracting and new ap- hotel and food service workers, many of them immigrants, workers of color by the anti-union contractors’ consortium, prenticeship opportunities. This assures job and women. Other unions, like Service Employees 32BJ, and union members Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation security for current employees and oppor- representing nurses and higher education workers marched alongside. Associates. tunities for the next generation. These im- UNITE HERE! members are fighting for a new contract after theirs ex- In metropolitan Detroit alone, dozens of provements are exactly what MITA is stead- pired in the spring. Where automation is cutting workers or hours, they want road repair projects are shut down. If work fastly resisting. job replacement as well as regular schedules. Workers in Seattle said they is not resumed soon, the driving public can As OE spokesperson Dan McKernan ex- never know if they’ll have enough hours to support their families. (Seattle expect to spend another winter navigating a plained to WW, even if the union signs with a Times, Sept. 4) maze of inconvenient detours that lengthen MITA contractor, if that contractor secures a Workers faced intimidation and arrest at the demonstrations: The Sept. their daily commute. bid with the state, they will turn around and 4 San Francisco Chronicle reported that cops arrested 75 people for sitting Let’s be clear: The union members, who subcontract the work to a nonunion outfit, on trolley tracks. In Seattle, 21 people blocking Fifth Avenue were arrested. operate heavy equipment, are not on strike. throwing OE members out of work. In Boston, a cop attempted to divert the crowd down Belvedere Street, but MITA is calling the work stoppage that it ini- MITA counts about 600 companies as marchers surged past, shouting, “¡Si se puede!” and “What kind of power? tiated “a defensive lockout.” members, over two-thirds of them nonunion. Union power!” (Boston Globe, Sept. 4) It’s important to note, however, that OE’s Only 40 of those companies have contracts Detroit union activist Martha Grevatt reported: “Over 100 UNITE HERE master contract with MITA and other Mich- with OE 324. Thus, nonunion and anti-union Local 24 members rallied outside Marriott-owned hotels in downtown De- igan contractors expired June 1, at which contractors are using the weapon of income troit. As in other cities, they are fighting for a better contract that pays enough time their bargaining relationship with the deprivation to weaken the union. money so that workers only need to work one job.” contractor group ceased. The union contends In the process they are holding Michigan’s In Boston, the union stopped in front of the Sheraton and announced a that “the lack of a contract means the em- driving public and taxpayers hostage. Will national strike authorization vote on Wed., Sept. 12, in which 12,000 union ployees are effectively ‘at-will.’ As such, the the Michigan Department of Transportation, members could be voting. Locals in four cities ― Boston, Maui, San Francis- contractors have no authority to lock workers which does not employ OE members directly, co and Honolulu ― have already scheduled votes. Locals in five other cities out. Therefore, this is an involuntary layoff.” fine the companies — as state law allows — ― Detroit, Oakland, San Jose, San Diego and Seattle ― may follow them. (oe324.org) for creating unnecessary delays? Or will the D. Taylor, UH’s international president, said members were willing to go on So far, Local 324 has ratified a new master state pass additional costs onto the public? strike to raise working standards across the industry. contract with roughly half of all union road MITA has encouraged its member com- building companies in Michigan; only a few panies to allow untrained workers to oper- Workers at 25 Chicago hotels go on strike of them are affiliated with MITA. ate equipment. However, this is skilled work The other half, as MITA members, have requiring years of training. Ultimately, this Thousands of down- laid off all of their OE member employees reckless position endangers communities. town Chicago hotel indefinitely. According to OE, some MITA When MITA threatened to stop work, the housekeepers, servers, contractors would be willing to adhere to union held eight meetings across the state, cooks and doormen hit the terms of the master contract, but the an- seeking membership approval for its de- the bricks on Sept. 7. ti-union companies that control MITA have cision not to negotiate with union-busting Represented by UNITE threatened to use their clout to deprive such MITA. Worker support for this course was HERE Local 1, which contractors from getting jobs. MITA has overwhelming; at one meeting of over 1,200, has over 15,000 hospi- threatened out-of-state companies that they only seven members stood in opposition. tality and food service will not get work in Michigan if they negoti- Local 324 is asking supporters to call workers in the great- ate directly with Local 324. MDOT (517-373-2090) and demand that er Chicago area, the MITA says it will bring OE members back the state pressure the contractors to resume workers are demanding to work if the operators ratify a contract that project work and get the roads reopened. year-round health care. the association drafted unilaterally. The me- “Hotels may slow down WW PHOTO: JEFF SOREL in the wintertime, but Chicago hotel workers strike for health care. I still need my diabetes medication when I’m NYC Labor Day laid off. … Full-time jobs should have year-round benefits,” said Q. Rivers, a house attendant at the Palmer House Hilton. “They work us like dogs when it’s busy and then kick us to the curb in the winter.” (unitehere1.org, Sept. 7) Union support for tribunal on U.S. crimes against Puerto Rico The Delegate Assembly of the National Writers Union, United Auto Work- ers Local 1981, passed a resolution unanimously on Aug. 12 in New York City supporting the International People’s Tribunal on U.S. Crimes against Puerto Rico scheduled to take place there on Oct. 27. The tribunal is of particular IBEW Local 3 concern to the NWU because Puerto Rico is part of UAW Region 9A, of which Local 1981 is a member. The resolution noted that while the two devastating 2017 hurricanes neg- atively affected all aspects of life on the island, “this crisis is not new or even on strike 18 months due primarily to the hurricanes, but is the culmination of the colonialist domination and capitalist exploitation that the United States has imposed Unionized workers turned out by the Local 3 and other marchers to buy and wear ever since its 1898 military invasion of Puerto Rico.” In conclusion, the NWU thousands for New York City’s Central Labor a T-shirt in support of the 18-month strike. agreed to “endorse and support [the tribunal] in the spirit of solidarity … and Council annual parade on Sept. 8. Because Shirts were neon green, appropriate for safe- will help publicize it in Region 9A and in the rest of the UAW.” many city workers of Caribbean origin at- ty on all construction sites. Pride at Work, the LGBTQ Constituency Group of the AFL-CIO, which in- tend the annual Carnival parade in Brooklyn The workers’ fight against the greedy cludes unions in Puerto Rico, passed a similarly worded resolution at its tri- on the official U.S. Labor Day, NYC’s Labor bosses now includes legal cases filed by state ennial convention in Phoenix on Aug. 25. The resolution pointed out that “the Day is usually scheduled for the following agencies detailing the company’s failure to LGBTQ community of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican diaspora is suffering Saturday. deliver on internet access for all. Read more the consequences of colonial domination and capitalist austerity.” In vowing The CLC march advanced down Fifth Av- about the struggle of IBEW Local 3 in the to endorse and show solidarity with the tribunal, the Pride@Work resolution enue past a tenacious stand of cable tech- members’ own voices at UnplugSpectrum. agreed to help publicize it in its local chapters and in the rest of the AFL-CIO. nicians who have been on strike against com. To read about community support, visit Tribunal organizers are requesting that other unions pass similar resolutions. Spectrum/Charter since March 2017. The ­tinyurl.com/y965s8g3. For more information, email [email protected] (type “Puerto stalwart workers appealed to fellow mem- — Report and photo by Workers World Rico Tribunal” in the subject line); on Facebook like Puerto Rico Tribunal. bers of the International Electrical Workers New York City bureau workers.org Sept. 13, 2018 Page 5

Red for Ed energizes West Coast struggle

By Jim McMahan available, the implementa- expose that the state has giv- Seattle tion is such that school dis- en more to some districts and tricts are being given differ- less to others. For instance, in Education workers’ strikes in this state ent funding allocations. The the Seattle area, many subur- continue. Some 2,600 teachers in Taco- intent by the state seems to ban districts have gained 20 ma, Wash., walked out on Sept. 6. Thou- be to pit teachers in different percent wage increases without sands of teachers in the Washington Edu- districts against each other, striking. cation Association are on the picket lines in order to prevent educators The state legislature has used across the state to impact the allocation of from going out on a state- complicated formulas to increase $2 billion in state funding won by teach- wide strike. funding for schools, while cap- ers after a protracted court struggle. WEA locals have demand- ping the amount that teachers The Washington state strikes are also ed that their labor contracts can receive from local proper- a show of strength after the U.S. Supreme be reopened to provide ty tax levies. Because of this, Court’s Janus decision, which declared increased wages for over- schools in working-class Tacoma that government workers can’t be re- worked teachers. Due to lost $30 million due to a recent quired to pay union dues. Educators here strikes and strike threats, $70 million property tax levy have been energized by the Red for Ed many WEA locals have won that voters approved in February. workers’ movement in many states. wage increases of 18 percent. The legislature’s sleight-of- In 2012, the state Supreme Court ruled But in Seattle the teach- hand allocation formulations in favor of the WEA in the McCleary deci- ers and staff received only a are pitting teachers in different sion, which was supposed to make $2 bil- 10.5 percent pay increase in a districts against each other as lion in funds available for education. The one-year contract. The district WW PHOTO workers in an attempt to under- took a hard position against Members of the Portland, Ore., branch of Workers World Party join money was to cover salaries, staffing for striking teachers on the picket line in Vancouver, Wash. mine worker solidarity. special programs, classroom sizes and any further increases. This is While the state’s underhand- other needs. The court found that public in a city where rents went up ed methods of funding are bla- schools in Washington state were greatly by 13.5 percent in 2017, according to Ado- they voted not to strike. tantly discriminatory and another grave underfunded. Reactionary state legisla- bo, an apartment rental site. However, Meanwhile, after difficult negotiations, injustice to public education, the strug- tors dragged their feet on implementing members of the Seattle Education Associ- educators in Tacoma are being offered gle of education workers across so many the ruling for years. ation gained a full contract, with progress only a 3.1 percent wage increase. communities may ultimately lead to Now, though the funds are being made made in several areas besides wages, so The Tacoma and Seattle experiences greater unity for a statewide struggle. Arizona educators resist state treachery

By Otis Grotewohl in Arizona, Joe Arpaio, endorsed Ducey. authorize a strike for the first time in 30 promises to fund public schools, educa- Ducey and his legislative cronies did years. While labor leaders are focusing on tors are not giving up their struggle. In Arizona education workers are once everything they could to defeat funding the November elections, promoting the fact, the AEA and AEU are now using the again in motion, following a stunning, for public schools before, during and after pro-capitalist Democratic Party, rank- phrase #StillInvestedInEducation. Ar- reactionary decision on Aug. 29 by the the strike. Arizona is a haven of for-profit and-file education union members are izona’s education workers are using the state’s corporate-backed Supreme Court charter schools. The state’s leaders would weighing all options. betrayal as a teachable moment to build to remove Proposition 207, the Invest in like to keep it that way. Despite the state of Arizona’s broken the fightback. Education Act, from the November bal- More school employee actions ... lot. The initiative would have increased PHOTO: @STRIKESPECTRUM school funding by $690 million. The rul- Comments and posts flooded the Ari- ing cannot be appealed. zona Educators United (AEU) Facebook Following the Arizona #RedForEd page on the evening of Aug. 29, calling school workers’ strike in April and May, for immediate action. Arizona Education education employees initiated a petition Association (AEA) President Joe Thomas campaign to collect the signatures re- invoked words attributed to labor activist quired to get the proposal on the ballot Joe Hill: “Don’t mourn. Organize!” (An for the upcoming general election. They immigrant from Sweden and later orga- worked hard all summer and got 270,000 nizer for the Industrial Workers of the signatures, many more than the 151,000 World, Hill was executed by the state of ‘Labor Day’ unmasked — legally required. The signatures were Utah in 1915.) certified, and the measure was officially In the days after the state Supreme on the Nov. 6 ballot. Court ruling, education workers rallied Build Workers World! State officials had promised education at the state capital in Phoenix. workers a pay raise, as well as money for Thomas encouraged AEA members to Did you know that the federal are deeply embedded in the most vile school supplies, materials and support wear red to school to show strength in holiday “Labor Day,” held the first kind of capitalist lies, police terror and staff. The funding would specifically be numbers and express solidarity. In the Monday in September, was found- fear of working people’s rights — includ- used to reduce the overcrowded class spring, education strikers had donned ed in 1894? The reason Labor Day is not ing our righteous demands for a socialist sizes in a state where a majority of the red in West Virginia and Oklahoma, May 1, celebrated today in more than 100 revolution. student population is Latinx, Indigenous while Arizona school employees created countries as International Workers’ Day, That’s the kind of information you’ve and African-American. Smaller class siz- the #RedforEd movement. has nothing to do with honoring the role come to expect from Workers World — es have been proven to create a more pro- The National Education Association of labor in building this country. Rather, hard-hitting, anti-racist, anti-sexist, pro- ductive learning environment, especially called on all its members to wear red at it has everything to do with denying the LGBTQ and pro-working class truth. But important for oppressed youth. least one day a week, and declared Tues- role of socialists, anarchists and other Workers World can’t do it without your The Invest in Education Act would day, Sept. 4, national #RedforEd day. On radical organizers in the labor move- help. We established the Workers World have imposed a progressive tax increase that day, thousands of education workers ment. Supporter Program 41 years ago so read- on wealthy Arizonans. However, the across the country wore red in solidarity The American Federation of Labor, ers could invest in the paper and promote ballot measure was nixed as a result with their Arizona colleagues. ever fearful of alienating the ruling working-class truth that heralds revolu- of intense pressure from a union-bust- The next day, education workers and class, suggested in 1887 that Labor Day tionary change. ing front group for the state’s Chamber their supporters picketed the Chamber be “celebrated” in September to take at- For a donation of at least $75 or $100 of Commerce called Arizona for Great of Commerce in Phoenix for funding the tention away from May Day and the fight a year — and much more if you’re able Schools and a Strong Economy. legal challenge that got the #InvestinEd of working people for the 8-hour day in — members receive a year’s subscription Both the state Supreme Court and the Act removed from the ballot. An action Chicago. A police riot against organiz- to WW, a monthly letter about timely is- pro-business, anti-worker Chamber of also took place in Tucson. ers there on May 4, 1886, known as the sues and five free subscriptions to give Commerce have the blessings of the far- Haymarket Massacre, resulted in cops to friends. Write checks (either month- right Republican-led Legislature, as well … and more on the horizon killing four workers (and seven of their ly or once a year) to Workers World and as Gov. Doug Ducey. Ducey once served The wave of education worker walkouts own), and rounding up leading labor or- mail them, with your name and address, as the CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, no- has spread into the 2018-2019 school year. ganizers. Most of these were well-known to 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Floor, New York, torious for paying its workers low wages. Thousands of education workers walked socialists or anarchists who had not even NY 10011. Or sign up to donate online at He also served as state treasurer under out on the first day of school in Wash- been on the scene. Four were executed by workers.org/donate/; it’s easy to set up his openly racist predecessor, former ington state. Some 98 percent of teach- the state in 1887. monthly deductions. Know that we’re Gov. Jan Brewer. Most notably, the fas- ers in Los Angeles, the majority of them There is nothing honorable, worthy or grateful for your help in building Workers cistic former sheriff of Maricopa County African-American and Latinx, voted to celebratory behind “Labor Day.” Its roots World — for today and for the future. Marriott workers march coast-to-coast on Labor Day On Labor Day, Sept. 3, thousands of Marriott workers in at least nine cities, including Boston, Detroit, San Francisco, Seattle and more, flooded the streets carrying signs reading, “One job should be enough!” while banging home- made drums and demanding a fair contract. UNITE HERE! represents these hotel and food service workers, many of them immigrants, workers of color and women. Other unions, like Service Employees 32BJ, and union members representing nurses and higher education workers marched alongside. UNITE HERE! members are fighting for a new contract after theirs ex- pired in the spring. Where automation is cutting workers or hours, they want job replacement as well as regular schedules. Workers in Seattle said they never know if they’ll have enough hours to support their families. (Seattle Times, Sept. 4) Workers faced intimidation and arrest at the demonstrations: The Sept. 4 San Francisco Chronicle reported that cops arrested 75 people for sitting on trolley tracks. In Seattle, 21 people blocking Fifth Avenue were arrested. In Boston, a cop attempted to divert the crowd down Belvedere Street, but marchers surged past, shouting, “¡Si se puede!” and “What kind of power? Union power!” (Boston Globe, Sept. 4) Detroit union activist Martha Grevatt reported: “Over 100 UNITE HERE Local 24 members rallied outside Marriott-owned hotels in downtown De- troit. As in other cities, they are fighting for a better contract that pays enough money so that workers only need to work one job.” In Boston, the union stopped in front of the Sheraton and announced a national strike authorization vote on Wed., Sept. 12, in which 12,000 union members could be voting. Locals in four cities ― Boston, Maui, San Francis- co and Honolulu ― have already scheduled votes. Locals in five other cities ― Detroit, Oakland, San Jose, San Diego and Seattle ― may follow them. D. Taylor, UH’s international president, said members were willing to go on strike to raise working standards across the industry. Workers at 25 Chicago hotels go on strike Thousands of downtown Chicago hotel housekeepers, servers, cooks and doormen hit the bricks on Sept. 7. Represented by UNITE HERE Local 1, which has over 15,000 hospitality and food service workers in the greater Chicago area, the workers are demanding year-round health care. “Hotels may slow down in the wintertime, but I still need my diabetes medication when I’m laid off. … Full-time jobs should have year-round benefits,” said Q. Rivers, a house attendant at the Palmer House Hilton. “They work us like dogs when it’s busy and then kick us to the curb in the winter.” (unitehere1. org, Sept. 7) Union support for tribunal on U.S. crimes against Puerto Rico The Delegate Assembly of the National Writers Union, United Auto Work- ers Local 1981, passed a resolution unanimously on Aug. 12 in New York City supporting the International People’s Tribunal on U.S. Crimes against Puerto Rico scheduled to take place there on Oct. 27. The tribunal is of particular concern to the NWU because Puerto Rico is part of UAW Region 9A, of which Local 1981 is a member. The resolution noted that while the two devastating 2017 hurricanes neg- atively affected all aspects of life on the island, “this crisis is not new or even due primarily to the hurricanes, but is the culmination of the colonialist domination and capitalist exploitation that the United States has imposed ever since its 1898 military invasion of Puerto Rico.” In conclusion, the NWU agreed to “endorse and support [the tribunal] in the spirit of solidarity … and will help publicize it in Region 9A and in the rest of the UAW.” Pride at Work, the LGBTQ Constituency Group of the AFL-CIO, which in- cludes unions in Puerto Rico, passed a similarly worded resolution at its tri- ennial convention in Phoenix on Aug. 25. The resolution pointed out that “the LGBTQ community of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican diaspora is suffering the consequences of colonial domination and capitalist austerity.” In vowing to endorse and show solidarity with the tribunal, the Pride@Work resolution agreed to help publicize it in its local chapters and in the rest of the AFL-CIO. Tribunal organizers are requesting that other unions pass similar resolutions. For more information, email [email protected] (type “Puerto Rico Tribunal” in the subject line); on Facebook like Puerto Rico Tribunal.

Page 6 Sept. 13, 2018 workers.org

African-American suffrage: Voting rights and suppression

By Dolores Cox in Middlesex County and Perth Amboy’s tection for anyone against discrimination it illegal to prevent African ­Americans first “colored” person to serve on a jury. imposed on the voting process at the fed- from exercising the right to vote. In 1966, At the end of the U.S. Civil War, the 13th, On Memorial Day (then called Decora- eral or state level. After the amendment, the Supreme Court ruled that poll tax- 14th and 15th Reconstruction Amend­ments tion Day) in 1884, Perth Amboy awarded Congress could enforce voting rights by es were in violation of the 14th Amend- to the U.S. Constitution were ratified. Peterson a gold medallion for being “the “appropriate legislation.” ment’s equal protection clause. In 1865, the 13th Amendment abol- first Negro voter.” He later had to pawn the But courts interpreted the protections By 1976, 63 percent of Blacks in the ished “slavery and involuntary servitude” medal because of financial circumstances. of the 15th Amendment quite narrowly. South were registered to vote. The Voting — except for people convicted of a crime. In 1989, the school where he worked Limitations and exclusions were imposed Rights Act gave Congress the power and In 1868, the 14th Amendment granted as a custodian and handyman was re- on eligible Black voters, such as property courage to establish additional legal cov- citizenship to African Americans, al- named the Thomas Peterson Elementary ownership, poll taxes, literacy tests and erage which determined that states and beit second-class citizenship. The 15th School. A plaque honoring Peterson was repressive Black Codes throughout the localities with a history of disenfranchis- Amendment, passed in February 1870, recently unveiled in Perth Amboy’s St. South. Whites were exempted from these ing minorities, mainly in the South, must prohibited the denial of the right to vote Peter’s Episcopal Church, where he was requirements by a “grandfather clause” if get federal approval before changing their based on a citizen’s race, color or previous a member and is buried. Peterson’s gold their grandfathers had been registered to voting procedures. This coverage was to condition. This included Black men, but voting medallion is currently held by New vote. “White men only” primary elections be reauthorized seven times. not women. Orleans’s Xavier University, a historically reduced the influence of Black men in the In 2013, however, the U.S. Supreme On March 31, 1870, in Perth Amboy, Black college. political system. Court threw out the preclearance provi- N.J., Thomas Mundy Peterson became White supremacists prevented Blacks sion of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in its Criminalizing Black voters the first African American to vote, one from voting by threats, terroristic vigi- ruling in the Shelby County, Alabama v. month after the passage of the 15th Following the post-Reconstruction era, lante attacks, beatings and murders of Holder case. That decision stated that it Amendment. Some whites were appalled whites sought to deny Black citizens the Blacks who attempted to register them- was no longer necessary for Congress to at a Black man voting. In the 1700s, Perth right to vote and to serve on juries. Blacks selves or others. Federal civil rights pro- enforce protections of the right to vote Amboy had served as a slave port. have had to consistently struggle to secure tections were not enforced, allowing im- since discrimination is not as pervasive, Peterson’s father was enslaved by the and retain those rights unimpeded. plementation of racist, discriminatory, flagrant, widespread and rampant as it Mundy family. His mother was enslaved When the 13th Amendment abolished “Jim Crow” apartheid laws. was in 1965. No new coverage formula by Hugh Newell in the Freehold Town- slavery and involuntary servitude “except now exists for these protections. Ongoing struggle for right to vote ship of New Jersey. She was freed in New- as punishment for a crime,” that clause People are left asking: Did the South ell’s will in 1822, two years before Peter- was deliberately added. Thus, Blackness Organizing struggles and some broad- really lose the Civil War? son was born. Peterson died Feb. 4, 1904, was criminalized. er interpretations of the 15th Amendment As the 2018 midterm elections ap- in Metuchen, N.J. The amendment didn’t really abolish meant that African-American voter regis- proach, Blacks face more subtle voter While working in a horse stable, slavery but allowed it to live on legally in tration in the South gradually increased suppression methods, gerrymandering Peter­son had been approached and en- prisons and now in the current prison-in- between 1940 and 1960. Registration had of state and local districts, and restrictive couraged to exercise his voting right by dustrial complex. The system of free or previously been as low as 7 percent of the voter ID laws. Gloria J. Brown-Marshall, attorneys who had worked hard but un- “for-pennies” prison labor is just another eligible Black population. constitutional lawyer and professor at successfully to acquit abolitionist John form of slavery. By the 1960s, a massive voting rights John Jay College in New York City, refers Brown, leader of the 1859 anti-slavery Now, inmates and formerly incarcerat- campaign was underway in the South, to the current situation as part of a cen- Harper’s Ferry raid. ed people who have been convicted of cer- spearheaded by local leaders like Fannie turies-long “Voting Rights War” of white Peterson, who cast his vote in a cam- tain charges also lose their voting rights. Lou Hamer in Mississippi and national resistance, power, dominance and rage paign to revise Perth Amboy’s town The 15th Amendment, ostensibly, pre- leaders like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther stemming from a white supremacist ide- charter, was subsequently appointed to a vents states or the federal government King Jr. Under pressure after the sacrifice, ology and fear that a growing number of committee to work on the final version of from giving preference to one citizen over torture and martyrdom of many in this people of color in the U.S. will eventually the charter, approved by the state Legisla- another in the exercise of voting rights. movement, Congress passed the Voting surpass the number of whites. ture in 1871. A delegate to the Republican Before the amendment was adopted, Af- Rights Act in 1965, under President Lyn- Voting while Black in the U.S. is still an Convention, Peterson was also the first rican Americans were excluded from vot- don Johnson, to further racial equality in issue as the racist system of oppression African American to hold elected office ing, and there was no constitutional pro- voting in Southern states. This act made lives on. Disability groups reject racist Georgia voter suppression

By New York Disabilities Bureau accessible to people with disabilities for invoke the ADA in order to suppress the before,” commented one veteran of the of Workers World Party federal elections. Where no accessible vote of the predominantly black commu- Civil Rights and voting rights movement location is available to serve as a polling nity is racist, ablest and deplorable.” of the 1950s and 1960s. A proposal by the Randolph Coun- place, a political subdivision must pro- The REV UP Campaign (Register! Edu- The proposal was soundly defeated. ty, Georgia, Board of Elections to close vide an alternate means of casting a ballot cate! Vote! Use your Power!) also opposed Randolph County is not the first to in- seven out of nine polling places in one on the day of the election.” This law also the ruling, calling it “a total misuse of the voke the ADA as a pretext to disenfranchise stroke before the November election has requires states to provide registration ADA and all that it stands for. REV UP minority voters. Jim Tucker, an attorney been defeated. The board’s rationale for and voting aids for disabled and elderly Georgia rejects this justification on every and member of the Native American Vot- its vote-suppressing plan was that the voters, including information by TTYs level.” ing Rights Coalition, said he learned earli- polling places are not compliant with the (text telephones, also known as TDDs) or The Arc Georgia, an organization of er this year that the Department of Justice Americans with Disabilities Act. similar devices. people with intellectual and developmen- is targeting at least three majority Native Randolph is a rural county with a 61 Nse Ufot, executive director of the New tal disabilities, found it “shocking to learn counties where polling places lack paved percent Black population. One of the sev- Georgia Project, a nonpartisan civic en- that instead of working to fix inaccessible parking lots, designated disabled parking en precincts designated for closure is 95 gagement group, said county election polling places and bringing them into spots, entrance ramps, wide doorways and percent African American. Had the U.S. officials could have moved polls to local compliance with the ADA, officials are other ADA-required features. Supreme Court not gutted the Voting churches and other sites that are ADA willing to close them.” The online news source ThinkProg- Rights Act in 2013, the closures would compliant. “This is a blatant attempt at A spokeswoman for the National Coun- ress revealed this was a new focus un- likely have been blocked by the U.S. De- voter suppression,” she said. cil on Independent Living pointed out der the Obama administration, but the partment of Justice. It is highly significant that the election that one of the polling places selected to pace has accelerated under the Trump Randolph County has no public trans- board voted to close the sites ahead of the be closed was a middle school. “If it’s in- ­administration. portation. If seven out of nine polling upcoming midterm elections. African- accessible, how are disabled kids going to Four of the five locations targeted by places were closed, voters without vehi- American gubernatorial candidate Stacey get an education?” the Justice Department — Chicago, Ches- cles would have had to walk long distanc- Abrams is favored to become the first Black apeake, Va., Coconino County, Ariz., and es, in one case 15 miles, to vote. female governor, not just in Georgia but in Successful fightback Richland County, S.C. — have significant The election board’s move contradicts the history of the United States. Community reaction was swift and minority populations. the intent of the Voter Accessibility for The Georgia chapter of ADAPT, the sure. The American Civil Liberties Union Andrea Young, executive director of the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984, national grassroots community that or- began mobilizing immediately. Activ- the ACLU of Georgia, described using the a law that disability groups fought hard to ganizes disability rights activists, did not ists scrambled and collected enough sig- ADA to close polling places in minority pass before the ADA existed. This statute mince words: “[We] strongly condemn natures to stop the plan before the next areas as “putting sheep’s clothing on a focuses on federal presidential, not mid- suppressing voting access under the meeting of the election board. Voting wolf. ... We support bringing public build- term, elections. It requires “polling places semblance of protecting people with dis- rights groups and disability rights advo- ing into compliance with the ADA. Clos- across the United States to be physically abilities. … [C]ounty officials’ decision to cates joined the fight. “We’ve been here ing these places will not do that.” Marriott workers march coast-to-coast on Labor Day On Labor Day, Sept. 3, thousands of Marriott workers in at least nine cities, including Boston, Detroit, San Francisco, Seattle and more, flooded the streets carrying signs reading, “One job should be enough!” while banging home- made drums and demanding a fair contract. UNITE HERE! represents these hotel and food service workers, many of them immigrants, workers of color and women. Other unions, like Service Employees 32BJ, and union members representing nurses and higher education workers marched alongside. UNITE HERE! members are fighting for a new contract after theirs ex- pired in the spring. Where automation is cutting workers or hours, they want job replacement as well as regular schedules. Workers in Seattle said they never know if they’ll have enough hours to support their families. (Seattle Times, Sept. 4) Workers faced intimidation and arrest at the demonstrations: The Sept. 4 San Francisco Chronicle reported that cops arrested 75 people for sitting on trolley tracks. In Seattle, 21 people blocking Fifth Avenue were arrested. In Boston, a cop attempted to divert the crowd down Belvedere Street, but marchers surged past, shouting, “¡Si se puede!” and “What kind of power? Union power!” (Boston Globe, Sept. 4) Detroit union activist Martha Grevatt reported: “Over 100 UNITE HERE Local 24 members rallied outside Marriott-owned hotels in downtown De- troit. As in other cities, they are fighting for a better contract that pays enough money so that workers only need to work one job.” In Boston, the union stopped in front of the Sheraton and announced a national strike authorization vote on Wed., Sept. 12, in which 12,000 union members could be voting. Locals in four cities ― Boston, Maui, San Francis- co and Honolulu ― have already scheduled votes. Locals in five other cities ― Detroit, Oakland, San Jose, San Diego and Seattle ― may follow them. D. Taylor, UH’s international president, said members were willing to go on strike to raise working standards across the industry. Workers at 25 Chicago hotels go on strike Thousands of downtown Chicago hotel housekeepers, servers, cooks and doormen hit the bricks on Sept. 7. Represented by UNITE HERE Local 1, which has over 15,000 hospitality and food service workers in the greater Chicago area, the workers are demanding year-round health care. “Hotels may slow down in the wintertime, but I still need my diabetes medication when I’m laid off. … Full-time jobs should have year-round benefits,” said Q. Rivers, a house attendant at the Palmer House Hilton. “They work us like dogs when it’s busy and then kick us to the curb in the winter.” (unitehere1. org, Sept. 7) Union support for tribunal on U.S. crimes against Puerto Rico The Delegate Assembly of the National Writers Union, United Auto Work- ers Local 1981, passed a resolution unanimously on Aug. 12 in New York City supporting the International People’s Tribunal on U.S. Crimes against Puerto Rico scheduled to take place there on Oct. 27. The tribunal is of particular concern to the NWU because Puerto Rico is part of UAW Region 9A, of which Local 1981 is a member. The resolution noted that while the two devastating 2017 hurricanes neg- atively affected all aspects of life on the island, “this crisis is not new or even due primarily to the hurricanes, but is the culmination of the colonialist domination and capitalist exploitation that the United States has imposed ever since its 1898 military invasion of Puerto Rico.” In conclusion, the NWU agreed to “endorse and support [the tribunal] in the spirit of solidarity … and will help publicize it in Region 9A and in the rest of the UAW.” Pride at Work, the LGBTQ Constituency Group of the AFL-CIO, which in- cludes unions in Puerto Rico, passed a similarly worded resolution at its tri- ennial convention in Phoenix on Aug. 25. The resolution pointed out that “the LGBTQ community of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican diaspora is suffering the consequences of colonial domination and capitalist austerity.” In vowing to endorse and show solidarity with the tribunal, the Pride@Work resolution agreed to help publicize it in its local chapters and in the rest of the AFL-CIO. Tribunal organizers are requesting that other unions pass similar resolutions. For more information, email [email protected] (type “Puerto Rico Tribunal” in the subject line); on Facebook like Puerto Rico Tribunal.

workers.org Sept. 13, 2018 Page 7 Serena Williams fights back against sexist attacks

By Monica Moorehead ist remark. He’s never took a game from time that authoritative a man because they said thief. For me, it male sports figures have The 2018 U.S. Open will be most re- blows my mind. But I’m going to continue policed Serena’s powerful, membered for how the 23-time Grand to fight for women.” (thecut.com, Sept. 9) muscular body. Slam tennis champion Serena Williams Williams’ actions and words on and off Legendary tennis play- challenged the sexist behavior of chair the court must be viewed within a histor- er Billie Jean King, who is referee Carlos Ramos — rather than for ical context. Serena Williams and her sis- a lesbian, wrote a Sept. 9 how her opponent, the young, talented ter, Venus, have endured at least 20 years op-ed piece in the Wash- Naomi Osaka, won the championship on of both sexist and racist abuse as tennis ington Post in defense of Sept. 8 in Flushing Meadows, New York. champions who happen to be African Serena Williams. It reads Ramos accused Williams of cheating American. Despite these obstacles, they in part, “Did Ramos treat when her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, are currently the collective winners of an Williams differently than admittedly made a coaching gesture to unprecedented 30 Grand Slam titles. Ser- male players have been her from the stands. Williams stated re- ena is considered by many to be tennis’s treated? I think he did. peatedly that she deserved an apology for GOAT — greatest of all time. Women are treated dif- being accused of cheating, since many A year ago Serena was punished by ten- ferently in most arenas coaches have made similar gestures for nis officials by having her No. 1 ranking of life. This is especially decades without retribution. stolen after giving birth to her daughter, true for women of color. Ramos called a second violation after Olympia, on Sept. 1, 2017. The GOAT was And what played out on Serena Williams demands a public apology, Sept. 8. Williams smashed her racket on the court given an outrageously low 421 ranking. the court yesterday hap- out of frustration. The third violation, The form-fitting cat suit, black from neck pens far too often.” are no repercussions.” after Williams called him a “thief” for to toe, that she wore in the French Open to After the match, King tweeted, “When Kudos to Serena Williams for not being taking a point away from her, resulted in help control her chronic blood clots exacer- a woman is emotional, she’s ‘hysterical’ afraid to defend herself, inspiring other having a full game taken away from her. bated after child birth, was later banned by and she’s penalized for it. When a man women, especially women of color, to do On Sept. 9, the tournament referee French Open officials. This is not the first does the same, he’s ‘outspoken’ & there the same. fined Williams $17,000 for three code violations: $4,000 for the coaching vi- olation, $3,000 for racket abuse and A statement from FIRE – Fight for Im/migrants and Refugees Everywhere $10,000 for verbal abuse. In her postgame interview, Williams stated, “I’ve seen other men call oth- Stop the war on migrants! er umpires several things, and I’m here fighting for women’s rights and for wom- en’s equality. … For me to say ‘thief’ and Jobs, services and permanent then, inequality has only gotten worse. for him to take a game? … It was a sex- residency for all migrant workers! Whether it’s billions in subsidies for the Hands off public assistance mega-rich oil companies, or Trump’s $1.5 and benefits! Abolish ICE! trillion tax giveaway for billionaires, every day the super-rich loot our budgets at the Chicago mayor gives up on third term as It’s the 1% who are a drain on expense of public needs. resources — NOT MIGRANTS. They’re quiet about it now because midterm elections are coming up. But in We can now add child starvation Killer cop heads to trial June Congress members released a 10- to family separation, deportation, year plan that would reduce Medicaid by By Sav Ray state’s attorney for Cook County, were the detention, raids, passport denials $1.5 trillion, Medicare by $537 billion and Chicago main targets of a campaign to oust offi- and ICE/police cooperation to the Social Security by $4 billion. This is all to cials who placed protecting murderous growing list of attacks on migrant cover the plundering from the December Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel an- cops over obtaining justice. Led primarily workers and their families. tax cut. nounced on Sept. 4 that he would not run by Black organizations, including Assata’s The first week in September, news Meanwhile, teachers have to strike for a third term, bringing joy and relief to Daughters, Black Lives Matter Chicago and broke of a nationwide pattern of mi- just to get decent wages and money for the many organizers who have fought to BYP100, a massive grassroots campaign grant families de-enrolling from Women, textbooks. Yet the rich and the politicians get him out of office. This news came the moved to get Alvarez voted out of office Infants and Children (WIC) — the govern- allow the Pentagon to rob from public day before jury selection began in the March 2016 elections. Ac- ment program that provides nutrition to funds — $717 billion in the latest annual in the trial of Jason Van Dyke. tivists organized train takeovers about half of all babies born in the U.S. budget. Van Dyke is the Chicago police and rallies and used the hashtag That’s because word is out that the The architects of the attacks on officer who fatally shot unarmed #ByeAnita on social media to Trump administration plans to deny work ­migrants want people to think there 17-year-old Laquan McDonald successfully garner support for status or green cards to migrants if they is only so much of the public pie to go 16 times in 2014. He is now on voting her out, without expressly or their dependents — including children around and that it must be protected trial for first-degree murder — endorsing any of her competitors. born in the U.S. — use public benefits. from migrants. But it is billionaires like one of the first cops in the U.S. They then turned their focus to The archaic, racist law being used to Trump who are gobbling up that pie and to face this charge for killing a Laquan McDonald Rahm Emanuel. deny citizenship based on public-assis- leaving crumbs for everyone else. Black person while on duty. Hun- During Emanuel’s seven years tance usage is called the “public charge” How dare anyone paint migrants as dreds of people gathered outside the Cook in office, he has closed 50 public schools, rule. It is derived from the Immigration a drain on resources — when it’s their County Criminal Courthouse for a rally shut down half of the city’s public mental Act of 1882, passed the same year as the labor, along with the labor of every the morning Van Dyke’s trial opened. health clinics and initiated the building Chinese Exclusion Act. low-wage worker in this country, that Immediately following the shooting of a $95 million police academy. Had he The idea is that migrants who apply for subsidizes programs like Social Security, of McDonald, protests demanded the re- released the damning dashcam footage of citizenship must prove they won’t end up Medicare and private health insurance. lease of police dashcam footage. Mayor Laquan McDonald’s execution before the being a “burden on the state.” This threat It’s outrageous that undocumented Emanuel was in the midst of a reelection 2015 election, he likely would have lost to against status is already having the effect workers can’t even use the programs they campaign. It was only after he had se- his main challenger, Mexican community intended by Stephen Miller, Trump’s help fund because of their precarious cured his reelection in April 2015 that his activist Jesús “Chuy” García. far-right policy “advisor.” Because it’s citizenship status. office released the incriminating footage. When the dashcam footage of Jason been leaked without being formally an- Migrant workers, just like U.S.-born In fact, the city paid a $5 million settle- Van Dyke’s crime was released to the pub- nounced, it is now spreading fear through workers, have more than earned every ment to the McDonald family the week lic, it was already clear to many that the the immigrant community. right to health care, Social Security and after the election, yet did not release the mayor had anything but Chicago’s best To counter this sick strategy and the every other program that was won footage until November 2015. Only then interests at heart. Today, the struggle insidious propaganda behind it, the first through the people’s struggle. All the was Van Dyke arrested and charged with is far from over. Emanuel still holds $7 step is to say loud and clear: Nobody is a attacks on migrants require a vigorous murder. Shortly thereafter, community million in campaign funds in a massive bigger drain on the “state” — or society fightback to push back the racists and pressure forced Emanuel to fire Police war chest, so he will likely continue to in general — than the exploiting U.S. defeat them. A win for migrants is a win Superintendent Garry McCarthy, a prime influence Chicago politics. But now that corporate class! for all workers. participant in this racist coverup and so he’s been forced to step down and join This month is the 10th anniversary of FIRE has been in the streets, protest- many others. coverup co-conspirators McCarthy and the $700 billion bailout — paid from the ed ICE/police collaboration, organized a The role that city officials played in cov- Alvarez on the political sidelines, justice public treasury to Wall Street gamblers solidarity delegation to the border and ering up McDonald’s murder has shaped demands that the actual triggerman get who crashed the economy and took participated in the occupation of ICE the political scene in Chicago ever since. convicted and sentenced. Jail Jason Van people’s homes away. That amount soon offices. We will continue to fight to push Emanuel and Anita Alvarez, at that time Dyke! Jail all killer cops! ballooned to at least $12 trillion. Since back this vile attack. Page 8 Sept. 13, 2018 workers.org

Solidarity with national prison strike FIRE targets notorious Bristol County, Mass., sheriff

By Sam Ordóñez Mass., who has a long history of work in Dartmouth, Mass. Bristol County Jail and other facilities. He drew parallels between the treatment A crowd of 30 people gathered at the of prisoners and migrants today and the entrance to the Bristol County Jail here crimes of the Nazi regime in Germany. on Sept. 8 for a noise demonstration. It Two of the speakers led the demon- was called by the Boston chapter of FIRE strators in singing “Which Side Are You (Fight for Im/migrants and Refugees Ev- On?” and “Solidarity Forever.” Recogniz- erywhere) in solidarity with the national ing that prisoners are also members of prison strike scheduled to end the next the working class, both these songs come day, as well as with earlier acts of resis- from the early 20th century union move- tance inside Bristol County Jail itself. ment, with the former updated during Most of the demonstrators travelled from the 1960s’ Civil Rights Movement. Boston or Providence, R.I., to show soli- darity with prisoners in the jail. Conditions in Bristol County The rally began with a land acknowl- Bristol County Jail has a long history of WW PHOTO: STEPHANIE HOUTEN edgment by Nat Heathman of the United abuse and terrible conditions, particular- Bishop Teixeira, left, with FIRE at entrance to Bristol County Jail. American Indians of New England, who ly around medical neglect and the use of emphasized that the prisons in this coun- chain gangs. something you would give an animal, nev- entry onto the property. try are illegitimate and against the beliefs At the end of July, U.S. Immigration er mind people. We did not see the shadow Thomas Hodgson, the notorious, fas- of the rightful owners of the land they are and Customs Enforcement detainees in of a fruit or vegetable unless you have a cistic sheriff of Bristol County, recently built on. Bristol County Jail went on hunger strike special order from a doctor, and even then traveled to Washington, D.C., to give an The demonstrators took turns giving to protest inhumane living conditions you get a rotten apple once a day. People award to President Trump. He arrived speeches aimed at reaching the prison- such as inedible food, medical neglect have their basic rights stripped away from at the jail shortly after the rally began, ers. A number of different organizations and exploitative phone and commissary them. I certainly didn’t feel like a human wearing an ICE shirt. were represented, including Steelworkers rates. They were joined by prisoners in being when I was kept in there.” Several speakers confronted Hodg- Local 8751, Boston School Bus Drivers; the general population in a powerful son directly, calling attention to the fact the Providence chapter of the Incarcer- show of solidarity. Sheriff’s response that he was visibly laughing and making ated Workers Organizing Committee; Siham Byah, a Moroccan activist who Despite the presence of guards with mocking faces as speakers exposed the the Party for Socialism and Liberation; spent two months in the ICE detention flak jackets, three cars of state troopers crimes committed in his facilities. Justice4Siham; the Stonewall Warriors; center in Bristol County before being de- patrolling the area and a K9 unit with The sheriff also made headlines earlier Workers World Party; and more. ported, phoned in to the rally: “It is a fa- barking dogs, the demonstrators refused this year when he offered to send his pris- A notable speaker was Bishop Filipe cility that takes pride in mistreating and to be intimidated and held a two-hour oners to the Mexican border to be used as Teixeira of the heavily im/migrant St. dehumanizing its inmates. ... Health care rally outside the entrance, using a power- slave labor in the construction of Trump’s Martin De Porres parish in Brockton, is nonexistent. The food is inedible. It’s not ful sound system. They had been barred racist border wall. Pennsylvania jailers lock down striking prisoners

Continued from page 1 that prisoners have reported in recent moved to a new $400 million facility called Repression continues under Democrats talist at SCI Frackville with a history of months. Workers World newspaper itself SCI Phoenix, only to be met by guards who Governor Wolf is one of several Demo- successfully challenging DOC abuses. has been notified that three recent issues had destroyed their property, smearing crats who assumed office with a suppos- have been banned from distribution in their clothes with food and dirt and shred- edly “progressive” agenda — and have Health crisis: phony and real Pennsylvania facilities, where over 300 ding their mail and legal paperwork while since entered into high-profile partner- The DOC claims that a number of pris- inmates are subscribers and perhaps it was in transport. Multiple prisoners re- ships with reactionary white suprema- on staff have fallen ill in recent weeks, thousands are readers. The reason given ported their property had been vandalized cists. Wolf came into power alongside mostly in the western region of the state. for this censorship — the third such inci- with scrawled racial slurs and drawings of Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, who was The first such accounts began as early as dent of Workers World being banned in swastikas. At least one inmate was hospi- so eager to remove protest encampments Aug. 6, but skepticism has met the few Pennsylvania prisons this year — was its talized because of inconsistent access to springing up around the city that he em- details that have been disclosed. No clear reporting on the National Prison Strike. his needed medication. powered the police to beat demonstra- pattern of illness has emerged. In one inci- For weeks running up to the first day Among those moved to SCI Phoenix tors and destroy their property. He even dent, an officer was administered Narcan, of the strike, the ion scanner that suppos- was Michael Africa Sr., one of nine mem- brought out bulldozers to dig up the earth used to treat emergency overdoses, but it edly tests for toxic or illegal substances bers of the MOVE Organization who was all around City Hall the same morning is not clear under what circumstances. began issuing dozens of false positives at arrested in 1978 and falsely convicted of that the encampments were removed. Another case that allegedly contrib- SCI Frackville. Guards turned away up- shooting a Philly cop. He is one of several The new prison policy regarding legal uted to the lockdown involved a guard wards of 20 visitors per day, which only remaining MOVE 9 members who are fi- mail is a huge boon for chief prosecutor escorting a prisoner who, he claimed, inflamed tensions between inmates and nally up for parole in the coming months. Larry Krasner, whose district attorney “appeared” to be under the influence officers. Since the lockdown, inmates at The lockdown not only coincides with Mi- office has entered into an obvious pact of a drug. Later, that guard developed Frackville report they’re being served in- chael Africa’s next parole hearing, which with the Fraternal Order of Police to keep “bumps around his forehead” and went to edible food (rotten bananas, for instance, is just weeks away, but also preempted Mumia Abu-Jamal in prison until the the hospital for a few short hours before and cold, watery rice with broccoli and a major strike action. Prisoners had in- conditions there kill him. Lawyers for being discharged. The DOC is using these cauliflower mashed into it) and experi- tended to launch a boycott of telephone Mumia, who is held at SCI Mahanoy, are minor incidents to suggest that a wide- ence delays in the delivery of commissary and commissary purchases on Sept. 2. in an ongoing struggle with the DA’s office spread and sudden health crisis among food — which they have to pay for. Since the Aug. 29 lockdown, prison- over the release of files that would prove staff is the reason for the unprecedented This summer also brought the long- ers have been protesting by chanting prosecutorial and judicial misconduct in statewide lockdown. awaited closure of the notorious SCI Gra- and banging on their doors in unison for Mumia’s case. Krasner’s office has either Actually, there is a widespread health terford, site of one of the worst toxic wa- hours on end. Some cell blocks have now destroyed the documents or is withhold- crisis in prisons across the country, ter conditions in the state. Inmates were also started refusing food. That same ing them from the court. That should which is one of the factors that incited tactic was deployed by prisoners held in demonstrate just how dangerous it is that the national strike. Toxic water, unsafe the Pennsylvania Industrial Correctional all legal mail for prisoners across the state temperature levels and denial of medical Center, who launched a hunger strike ear- will now basically be up for inspection by care are all extremely dangerous condi- lier this summer to protest a lockdown. prosecutors and prison officials. tions that are caused by DOC policies, not WHY COLIN When Wetzel and Wolf announced Workers World will continue to protest ameliorated by them. KAEPERNICK their sweeping new policy changes, no on behalf of the prisoners whose right to IS RIGHT announcement was made in Spanish or WW newspaper banned, prisoners read this publication is being unlawfully Articles from Workers World/ any other language, despite the state’s denied. Additionally, the Abolitionist Law harassed Mundo Obrero Newspaper sizable non-English speaking prison pop- Center asks that any reports of abuse or This lockdown is just the latest in a ulation, according to Bryant Arroyo, who violations of rights related to the lock- series of new instances of repression Available online at: workers.org/books is bilingual. down be reported to ­[email protected]. workers.org Sept. 13, 2018 Page 9

Syria’s war With an end in sight, more obstacles remain

By G. Dunkel — ISIS and al-Qaida — to gain the upper term Al-Jazeera uses to refer to Washing- and are still producing horrible birth de- hand, much as happened in Libya in 2011. ton and its European allies. fects and genetic damage after 50 years. As the war in Syria enters its apparent The Syrian army managed to survive The opposition fighters still remaining According to Karin Leukefeld, a jour- end phase, it’s obvious that this country and keep control of the country through are concentrated in Idlib. Most observers nalist for the progressive German daily has paid a grim price for U.S. imperial- the most difficult days of the war. When believe that the Syrian government, with newspaper Junge Welt, the day after the ism’s attempt at regime change. By some Russia, Iran and Hezbollah fighters from aid from Russia and Iran, can regain con- U.N. meeting, the presidents of Russia, estimates, over 500,000 Syrians, out of a Lebanon began to assist the Syrians in trol of Idlib. Once Damascus reconquers Turkey and Iran met in Tehran in the total population of 17 million, have been 2015, the Bashar al-Assad government Idlib, most Syrians will be under the pro- framework of the Astana accords. She killed in fighting since 2011, when armed began recovering the territory it had lost tection of the Syrian government. says the presidents felt “a decision should conflict broke out. Hundreds of thou- to the reactionary groups. A large area of eastern Syria, main- be taken on the extent of a military op- sands more were wounded, many gravely. As the Syrian army began to win back ly desert but containing most of Syria’s eration in Idlib and how civilians can be Some 3 million Syrians have fled to areas that had been under reactionary known oil reserves, is under the control protected.” Europe or live mainly in Turkey and control in the cities of Aleppo and Homs, of Kurdish groups. Some 2,000 U.S. She adds: “According to reports in the Jordan in foreign exile. Other hundreds as well as the suburb of Damascus called troops are also in that region. Arab media, a sophisticated military op- of thousands are “internally displaced,” East Ghouta and the southern border In a special U.N. Security Council meet- eration plan for Idlib has been drawn up. forced to flee their homes because of vio- with Jordan, it would make agreements ing on Syria held Sept. 7, U.S. Ambassador The aim is to separate troops ready to ac- lence and threats but remaining in Syria. to limit casualties suffered by civilians Nikki Haley fulminated about the “hu- cept an agreement from al-Qaida-related Syria’s economy has been devastat- and to both sides. A typical deal allowed manitarian crisis” that is threatening to forces. A humanitarian corridor for civil- ed. Social relations between various the fighters who refused to surrender to engulf Idlib and “the atrocities committed ians wishing to leave the area has already communities have been disrupted and Syrian control to leave and take their by Assad.” The representative of the Rus- been established. In the province, up to ­envenomed. families on a one-way bus trip to Idlib, a sian federation said, “Western countries 100,000 armed troops face the decision The major powers trying to replace province in northwestern Syria. are preparing aggressive plans to prevent of whether to accept an agreement with Bashar al-Assad and his government — the last terrorist-held area from falling.” the government or to face military ac- U.S. imperialism and its major Europe- Astana agreement and military pressure (U.N. news report for Sept. 7) tion.” (Junge Welt, Sept. 8) an partners, Britain and France — have on Idlib The U.S., Britain and France also Even the New York Times, in a major intervened mainly through proxies, A series of meetings among belliger- threatened to intervene should Syria use editorial on Sept. 9, recognized that Tur- while avoiding sending large numbers of ents was first held in Astana, the capital chemical weapons against opposition key, Russia and Iran have been trying to troops. Sometimes, they even funneled of Kazakhstan, in 2017. The Astana goal forces in Idlib. Russian speakers warned help Syria come to a political settlement money and arms through Qatar, the was to de-escalate the struggle in Syria of a possible “false-flag” operation to cre- for some time, to achieve a resolution Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The Turkish through exchanging prisoners and bod- ate a pretext for intervention. to this conflict. However, the resolution regime from the start intervened to try ies, providing services like water and This U.S. threat to Syria is the height proposed by these countries has been to overthrow the Syrian government and electricity, and reducing violence. These of hypocrisy, especially given the chemi- rejected, since it doesn’t conform to the always against Kurdish forces. Israel has meetings were held between the Syrian cal weapons the U.S. dropped in Vietnam interests of U.S. imperialism. bombed Syrian targets. opposition and the Syrian government and Laos during the Vietnam war, euphe- The 2011 imperialist provocation of Washington made its largest troop in the presence of observers from Turkey, mistically known as “defoliants.” They Syria’s war has led to horrible suffering intervention with Special Forces in the Russia and Iran — the countries which were designed to destroy the croplands that remains, even as the end of shooting mainly Kurdish region of northeastern guaranteed the process. There has been and starve the people, as well as destroy is in sight. Peace and reconstruction re- Syria. The U.S. has collaborated with no participation of “Western Powers,” the the jungles covering troop movements, main complicated and difficult tasks. Kurdish fighters, who have, on the one hand, been fighting Turkish repression and, on the other hand, fighting reac- tionary religious fighters of the ISIS type. The Turkish regime considers all Kurdish Israel punishes jailed Palestinians groups that are pro-independence as ter- rorists and linked to the Kurdish libera- tion movement inside the Turkish state. for support of U.S. prison strike Some of these proxy groups that retreat- ed to Idlib have allegiance to the Islamic By Kathy Durkin confinement after protesting the horren- recognize the prisoners’ strike “within State (ISIS) and others to al-Qaida. These dous conditions in the facility and denial the heart of U.S. imperialism, the great- are groups that Washington calls “terror- Palestinians confined in Israel’s brutal of their human and legal rights. est danger faced by our Palestinian peo- ists,” although the U.S. provided arms to prisons issued a statement of solidar- The blog of Samidoun: Political Pris- ple and the peoples of the world. them before 2014 and still does to some. ity on Aug. 20 with the National Prison oners Solidarity Network reported this “[Y]our victory will be a victory for Some of these forces have grown out of Strike in the U.S. Members of the Popular story. It explains Israel’s fury after the Palestine,” they stress, just as Palestin- local groups that opposed the Damascus Front for the Liberation of Palestine ex- PFLP prisoners “recently released a ians’ victories “will be a victory for all government. These forces not only fought pressed the utmost support for their sis- widely distributed statement in solidar- struggles against imperialism, racism the Syrian government, but they also, ters and brothers jailed in this country’s ity with U.S. prisoners engaged in work and oppression within the United States from time to time, fought each other. horrific system of mass incarceration stoppages, boycotts and hunger strikes and globally.” Turkey is the only country that has had who courageously launched a nationally against forced prison labor, racism and Workers World newspaper published significant land troops in the mix, mainly coordinated protest against their impris- exploitation inside U.S. jails.” the entire PFLP statement in its Aug. 30 just across its southern border. However, onment and the oppressive conditions The strike began on the 47th anniver- issue; read “Palestinians extend solidar- the U.S., France and Britain, as well as they face. The prison protest against sary of the murder of George Jackson, “an ity to U.S. prison strike” posted at work- Israel, often conducted airstrikes in sup- “modern-day slavery” began on Aug. 21 event that was recognized in Palestine and ers.org. The introduction expresses soli- port of the proxy force they were backing and ran through Sept. 9. around the world as an assassination of darity with the heroic 6,000 Palestinians at the time and against the Damascus For bravely carrying out this act of in- a true voice of struggle by the U.S. ruling currently incarcerated by the repressive government. ternational solidarity and other acts of class.” The prison strike is “a struggle of Israeli regime for the “crime” of fighting China and Russia gave Syria essential defiance, Israeli prison officials retaliated oppressed and exploited workers” who are for the liberation of their people. There political support in 2011 and 2012 by ve- against imprisoned PFLP leaders on Aug. “confronting the unmasked brutality of is also extensive coverage of the prison toing United Nations Security Council 29. They transferred Ahed Abu Ghoul- capitalism behind bars” and demanding strike and support actions across the U.S. resolutions that would have provided a meh from Hadarim prison to Ramon “an end to the new form of slavery” — cor- at the website. cover for a strong military intervention by prison, moved Wael Jaghoub to Gilboa porate exploitation of the incarcerated. the U.S. and European imperialist pow- prison and sent Mohammed Musa Kh- The statement expresses solidarity with ers. Imperialist intervention could have deir to Ramon. All PFLP members held in Black, Latinx and Arab people who face allowed the jihadis opposed to Damascus Megiddo prison were put into solidarity mass incarceration. The same ruling class that “profits from confiscating Palestinian land and resources and bombing children in Yemen also profits from the forced labor of prisoners.” And it adds: “Your struggle WAR is a workers’ struggle that is part of the Without Victory global conflict against the vicious exploita- by Sara Flounders tion that our peoples face today.” “By revealing the underbelly of the empire, From the pages of The Palestinians behind bars extend a Flounders sheds insight on how to stand up to Workers World newspaper “revolutionary salute to the imprisoned the imperialist war machine and, in so doing, Available online at: strugglers of the Black Liberation move- save ourselves and humanity.” ment and other liberation movements, – Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, workers.org/books President, U.N. General Assembly, 2008-2009; including Mumia Abu-Jamal,” and call Foreign Minister of Nicaragua’s Sandinista government. for the release of freedom fighters, from Available at all major online booksellers. Leonard Peltier to Mutulu Shakur. They PentagonAchillesHeel.com Page 10 Sept. 13, 2018 workers.org

Solidarity with New U.S. threat to the DPRK

The following message of solidari- U.S. imperialism had to admit the defeat Venezuela ty was sent on Sept. 9 to Kim Jong Un, of its plans for conquest. Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Ko- However, the U.S. rulers still have not A lot of words in the corporate media ments from Venezuela-owned but U.S.- rea, by Workers World Party. agreed to sign a peace treaty to end that this week have been devoted to remem- based Citgo Petroleum.” (The Nation, Dear Comrade Kim Jong Un, infamous war, even though the DPRK bering Sept. 11, 2001. That attack has Sept. 7, 2017) We join you and the Korean people in has since achieved great scientific and served as a pretext for U.S. aggression The Venezuelan oligarchs hate that celebrating the 70th anniversary of the technological development, based upon ever since. Maduro is a former bus driver. They hat- founding of the Democratic People’s Re- socialist planning, and become a nucle- But there was another Sept. 11 — sel- ed Venezuela’s late revolutionary Pres- public of Korea. For 70 years, the Work- ar power that must be respected, even by dom mentioned. On Sept. 11, 1973, gen- ident Hugo Chávez for siding with the ers’ Party of Korea has led the DPRK the most aggressive forces in the imperi- erals in Chile working with the CIA car- poor and oppressed. They prefer the peo- in fierce resistance to the imperialists’ alist camp. ried out a military coup to overthrow ple they exploit and oppress to remain attempts to thwart your socialist devel- Your steadfastness is a great victo- the democratically elected government subservient. So do their U.S. imperialist opment. During the 1950-53 war of ag- ry not only for the DPRK but for people of Salvador Allende. What followed was masters. gression, begun only two years after the struggling everywhere against capitalist the brutal torture and assassination of Since the right-wing parties in Venezu- founding of the DPRK, the imperialist exploitation and national oppression. We thousands of progressives in the country, ela that represent the rich are complete- blood suckers, led by the U.S., thought in the United States will continue to de- including the president. ly discredited and disgraced among the the horrendous destruction they wreaked mand an end to Washington’s hostility to Now Washington is threatening a di- people, U.S. imperialism has to consider would crush your aspirations and force the DPRK and express our deepest soli- rect invasion of Venezuela. a more direct intervention. your surrender. darity with the Workers’ Party of Korea. In May, Venezuelan President Nicolás The Times article said that for the last But the people of the DPRK, led by the Signed: Larry Holmes, First Secretary, Maduro said that top U.S. diplomats were two years high-ranking U.S. diplomats legendary Kim Il Sung and the Workers’ and Deirdre Griswold for the Secretariat engaged in a military conspiracy against have been meeting with Venezuelan mil- Party, heroically stood up to this genocid- of Workers World Party his country. Maduro’s charges were itary officers to discuss a military rebel- al assault. For the first time in its history, roundly dismissed by both the U.S. ad- lion and the extent of U.S. military sup- ministration and the billionaire media. port. Is this an admission — or a threat? Until Sept. 9. Whatever the details, the record of Then the New York Times finally ad- U.S. interventions south of the border mitted the U.S. plan for regime change makes the overall message believable: Reform and revolution in an article headlined: “Trump admin- The U.S. has intervened in Haiti start- istration discussed coup plans with rebel ing in 1804, in Cuba, Nicaragua, Puerto Continued from page 3 Venezuelan officers.” Rico, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Nor were conditions ripe for such a party. Attempts to isolate Cuba fail The Times ran this story, not to warn Guatemala and Mexico — not to mention The party that came out of the Mexican The fact that the U.S. attempt to isolate the people of Venezuela, but to criticize most of South America. This includes Revolution was the Institutional Revolu- Cuba has failed was confirmed once again the Maduro administration, which it con- training Latin American officers in the tionary Party, a bourgeois party that has in November [1994] when the UN Gener- siders dangerous to strategic U.S. imperi- U.S. in torture techniques, along with di- ruled until the present day. al Assembly voted 88 to four for an end to alist interests. rect U.S. invasions. the embargo. The three countries that vot- Isolation of socialist states The Times spreads its own vicious pro- Despite the country’s crisis, howev- ed with the U.S. were Paraguay, Israel and paganda against President Maduro and er, the Venezuelan military — both the After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Albania. The U.S. imperialists could not his country’s attempts to be free of U.S. ­officers and now the politicized rank- first workers’ state faced imperialist inter- even get one of their own imperialist allies domination. It continually blames the and-file troops — have in their great ma- vention, civil war and isolation. One basic on board, nor one country of any size. Bolivarian government for economic dif- jority remained loyal to the democrati- reason it was able to overcome all this, even Despite the attempts at isolation, ficulties in Venezuela without mention- cally elected president. after the failure of revolutions in Europe, Cuba is a most cosmopolitan place. It is ing the full-press sabotage by U.S. and And the working people of Venezuela was the enormous size of the country. constantly hosting international confer- Western European imperialism. continue to affirm their belief that the de- The Chinese revolution was less isolat- ences and exhibits on science, technology Max Weisbrot of the Center for Eco- velopment of the Bolivarian Revolution ed because of the existence of the USSR. and the arts. It has contacts with all the nomic and Policy Research has filled in is the path to a better future. In the May Nevertheless, no sooner had the Chinese progressive movements in Latin Amer- what the Times omits — stressing that presidential election, Maduro won a new Communists marched into Beijing in ica and the Caribbean, ranging across the U.S. economic war on Venezuela is six-year term in a landslide, with three 1949 than the U.S. imperialists opened a broad political spectrum. All over the behind the country’s current depression. times the votes of the next candidate. an attack right next door in Korea. world, Cuba retains its diplomatic and In early 2017 Washington began impos- What lessons are we workers in the The French, meanwhile, opened an political standing. ing sanctions against Venezuela, includ- U.S. to take from this struggle? offensive in their former colony of Viet- When President Fidel Castro travels ing freezing the country’s billions of dol- That capitalism will do anything — lie, nam. And the British were fighting an in- anywhere in Latin America, the populace lars in U.S. accounts. cheat, rape, conspire, invade, plunder surgent movement in Malaya. For many turns out to greet him. Weisbrot notes that “with Trump’s [re- and murder — to keep its profits and its years, it seemed as though China would Cuba is being hurt economically because cent] executive order, even if Venezuela system in the ascendancy. be the target of an open imperialist war of the vast array of U.S. forces against it. were to stabilize the exchange rate and Our solidarity and our hope remain with in Asia led by the U.S. But it cannot be isolated politically. return to growth, it would be cut off from the international struggle of the workers — Until 1971, the U.S. and its imperial- borrowing, investment, and proprietary a struggle that has no borders. ist allies on the United Nations Security Breaking the ice here sources of income such as dividend pay- Council prevented People’s China from Finally, resistance to imperialism’s taking its rightful seat in the UN, and war against Cuba is rising inside the U.S. blocked diplomatic recognition of China as never before. The old hate campaigns by other capitalist countries. against Cuba are disintegrating, from MARXISM, REPARATIONS So when the Cuban Revolution began Miami to New York to San Francisco. & the Black Freedom Struggle to break the bonds of imperialism, the The ice was first broken in January 1992, U.S. quickly moved to isolate this island when a rally for Cuba in New York’s spa- An anthology of writings from Workers World newspaper. of 10 million people. Washington thought Edited by Monica Moorehead. Includes: cious Jacob Javits Convention Center was the revolutionary government would not Racism, National Oppression & Self-Determination ▪ Black Labor filled to overflowing. The splendid turnout from Chattel Slavery to Wage Slavery ▪ Black Youth: Repression & long survive an economic blockade cou- made a mockery of ­counter-revolutionary Resistance ▪ The Struggle for Socialism Is Key ▪ Domestic Workers pled with military intervention. Cubans’ threats to disrupt the rally. Demand a Bill of Rights ▪ Black & Brown Unity ▪ Harriet Tubman, It is an incontestable fact that without Another Peace for Cuba rally, set to take Woman Warrior ▪ Alabama’s Black Belt: ▪ The 1965 Watts Rebellion the very significant material, political place in New York Feb. 12, is already sold

Available at major online booksellers. BARRON SAHU GRAPHIC: COVER and diplomatic support extended to Cuba out. Plans are being made for a second by the Soviet Union, Cuba’s position at rally for the overflow crowd. What does that time would have been almost impos- that show but that the ice is cracking? In Defense of CUBA sible. It took a nuclear confrontation to As we said on an earlier occasion, the bring the U.S. military colossus to a ra- need of the hour is not only to challenge By Leslie Feinberg, Feinberg’s book documents revolutionary Cuba’s inspiring trajectory tional temporary standoff in its struggle the U.S. blockade but to change the polit- author of ‘Stone Butch Blues’ of progress towards liberation of sexualities, genders and sexes. to overthrow the Cuban socialist govern- ical climate in this country toward Cuba. This ground-breaking book reveals how the Cuban Revolution has ment. The hearts and minds of the bulk Now we are beginning to see the results grappled with the pre-revolutionary legacy of 450 years of persecution of humanity during the entire course of and exploitation of homosexuality. Rainbow Solidarity answers the of just such a campaign. demonization of the 1959 Cuban Revolution by Washington, Wall Street the missile crisis were almost wholly on Despite the 30-year U.S. effort to iso- and Hollywood by demonstrating that the process of solving these the side of Cuba and the USSR. late Cuba diplomatically, economically problems is the forward motion of the revolution. Regardless of the further exigencies of and politically, the Cuban Revolution A compilation of articles from the Workers World series the relationship, that historic experience stands tall as an unconquerable fortress entitled Lavender & Red, online at workers.org. is not likely to be forgotten, either in the of the world revolution. And no force on The book is available at major online booksellers camp of Cuba’s friends or of its foes. the face of the earth will overturn it. workers.org Sept. 13, 2018 Page 11 Brazil’s presidential elections jolted by events

By John Catalinotto natural resources to corporations and is running on the Socialism and Liberty state power. opened the country further to foreign Party (PSOL) ticket. This was brought home earlier this year Sept. 10 — As Brazil heads for the first corporations and investment. Temer also Three center and rightist candidates when Brazilian political activist Marielle round of its presidential and national as- unleashed the police and army against each poll 8 to 10 percent. The most right- Franco, 38, died in downtown Rio de Ja- sembly election on Oct. 7, three dramatic the impoverished shanty towns of Rio de wing candidate, Jair Bolsonaro, was sec- neiro on March 14 in what officials have events are shaking this massive country. Janeiro to bring “law and order” by mas- ond to Lula in polls, with about 22 per- deemed a political assassination. Franco Encompassing nearly half the land area sacring youths. cent. With Lula absent, Bolsonaro led the was a bisexual woman of African descent of South America and more than half its This government also aligned its for- polls for the first-round vote. born in a favela and a member of PSOL people, Brazil has the biggest economic, eign policy closer to Washington and elected to the city government. diplomatic and military weight of any was openly hostile to progressive govern- Candidate stabbed single country on the continent. ments in Venezuela and Bolivia. Temer A second dramatic political event oc- National Museum destroyed The first event was the Aug. 31 decision quickly lost support of all but about 5 per- curred on Sept. 6. While campaigning A third dramatic event was the Sept. 2 to forbid Luis Inácio “Lula” da Silva, an cent of the population in opinion polls. in the city of Juiz de Fora in the state of fire that burned the National Museum in historic leader of the Workers Party (PT), Fearing that Lula would win the com- Minas Gerais, Bolsonaro was stabbed in Rio de Janeiro to the ground, destroying from running in the election. Lula is in ing election and bring the PT back into the abdomen and needed an operation to valuable and irreplaceable collections. prison for alleged corruption — a pretext office, Brazil’s wealthy turned to the ju- repair severed intestines. He is expected This event was especially tragic since it used to keep him from running. The real diciary, which charged him with corrup- to survive the attack, but may not be able involved the loss of history and languag- reason Brazil’s ruling class wants to keep tion and jailed him in the southern city to campaign. es relating to the many different Indige- him out of the election is that he has been of Curitiba. Bolsonaro is a former captain in the nous nations and peoples who inhabited getting about twice the support of any After months of struggle in the courts Brazilian army, who praises the military Brazil when it was first seized by Portu- other single candidate in opinion polls, and with demonstrations of tens of thou- dictatorship that ran the country from guese colonialists 500 years ago. and could again be elected president. sands supporting Lula in the streets, he 1964 to 1985. He is openly and viciously The first grievous loss was the exter- Lula led Brazil’s government for eight was ruled off the ballot on Aug. 31. A misogynist, anti-Black, anti-Indigenous mination of these peoples and the elimi- years, winning two terms in 2002 and subsequent legal decision has even pre- and anti-LGBTQ and calls for even more nation of their language and culture. The 2006, followed by PT’s Dilma Rousseff in vented the PT from using Lula’s name or police murders of Brazil’s poor and Black second is the loss of even the history of 2010 and 2014. During the governments image on the electoral material for their population. Brazil has the second-largest their existence. of Rousseff, and even more so with Lula, substitute candidate. number of people of African descent, af- Though this event may seem distant government programs improved the liv- The substitute, Fernando Haddad, ter the West African country of Nigeria. from the election struggle, a Sept. 5 arti- ing conditions and standards of tens of a former mayor of Sao Paulo, has been One example gives an idea of how vi- cle in vermelho.org.br by writer and for- millions of the poorest of Brazil’s 210 campaigning for the electoral coalition cious Bolsonaro can be. When he voted in mer minister of Science and Technology, million people. Partly for this reason, PT called “The People Happy Again.” The the National Assembly to depose Rous- Roberto Amaral, explains: “The destruc- candidates were elected and Lula became coalition is made up of the PT, the Com- seff in 2016, he dedicated his vote to the tion of the National Museum was no ac- the most popular political figure. munist Party of Brazil and the small Par- military officer who ran the prison where cident, but an intentional crime: thought Despite the PT’s compromises with ty of Social Order. Haddad will now head Rousseff was tortured for three years. out, calculated, planned, executed with right-wing parties and Brazil’s capitalist the ballot. She had been imprisoned for combating precision. It is a holocaust ordered by bosses, the ruling class maneuvered to Compared to Lula, who is known the military dictatorship that ruled Bra- neoliberalism” — that is, by the privat- rid themselves of this social democratic by everyone in Brazil, Haddad is little zil for more than two decades. ization of state property and opening the party and make a frontal attack on Bra- known nationally. In polls Lula led with While Bolsonaro now leads polls that, country to foreign investment. zil’s working class. They targeted any 39 percent support. Haddad gets 8 per- since the attack, show he has gained Amaral blames the fire on the coup gains made by Black people, women and cent, which climbs to 14 percent if the some “sympathy” votes, there are ques- regime’s so-called “austerity policy” that Indigenous peoples during the PT peri- people polled know that Lula supports tions whether he will hold on to them. If froze public funds and attacked educa- od. This led to the illegal impeachment of him — which is why there is a ruling to no candidate gets more than 50 percent, tion, science, research and culture. “Ac- Rousseff on phony charges regarding the prevent educating voters about that. a second round between the two leaders cording to the Budget Consultancy of the federal budget, which finally removed her Some other leftist parties have not of the first round will be held on Oct. 28. Chamber of Deputies, the amounts re- from the presidency in August 2016 in joined the coalition and are running With the class struggle as sharp as it ceived by the National Museum fell from what many call a “parliamentary coup.” their own candidates, although most seems to be now in Brazil, formal elec- 979 million reais in 2013 to 98 million The “coup” government, led by former support Lula’s right to run for office. One tion results do not necessarily determine reais in 2018.” That is from approximate- Vice President Michel Temer, immediate- candidate is Guilherme Boulos, a leader which ruling-class grouping takes over ly $450 million to $20 million, given the ly attacked workers’ rights, turned over of the Homeless Workers’ Movement who the government, let alone which controls different exchange rates in those years.

India throws out British colonial anti-sodomy law

On Sept. 6, India’s Supreme Court struck down the country’s The following analysis of British colonial anti-LGBTQ law criminalizing consensual sex between same-sex partners. Th­ e law is excerpted from part 112 of Leslie Feinberg’s series law, known as 377, was imposed during British colonial rule and on LGBTQ history and socialism, “Lavender & Red.” A carried a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Out of an es- free download of the complete “Lavender & Red” series is timated 48 former British colonies that outlawed homosexuality, available at workers.org/book/lavender-red/. 30 still have such laws, according to a 2017 International ­LGBTI Association’s “State-Sponsored Homophobia” report. (CNN)

By Leslie Feinberg named the “Indian Penal Code.” Hindu Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and the The British “Queensland Penal Code” of law had not punished consensual sexual Philippines are antique colonial laws and 1899 was “adopted in Northern Nigeria in Western rulers imposed anti-gay laws relations. homophobic non-Asian religions that the nineteenth century, later becoming the throughout the world, including British Historian Douglas Sanders explains: bully citizens with skewed views of the basis for a uniform federal code in Nigeria colonialists and imperialists. The sun “Article 377 of the Indian Penal Code of natural world.” in 1916. The Indian Penal Code had been never set on British anti-sodomy laws. 1860 made ‘carnal intercourse against Sanders notes, “This provision, or used in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, but The British imposed on the people of the order of nature’ an offence.” something very close to it, is presently in those laws were later replaced by drafts Ireland a 1634 law that made same-sex The British also imposed this legisla- force in all former British colonies in Asia based on the Nigerian criminal code. Su- relations between males punishable by tion in the Straits Settlements of Singa- with the exception of Hong Kong.” He dan used the Indian Penal Code. In 1960, death. Later, the 1885 British Labouchère pore, Penang and Malaca in 1872. By the adds: “Sri Lanka, Seychelles and Papua Northern Nigeria enacted a separate crim- Amendment was the law under which late 19th century, Britain also enforced New Guinea have the key wording from inal code, based on the Sudan code.” feminine homosexual writer Oscar Wilde the law in Hong Kong, Fiji, the Malay 377, but different article numbers. Paral- Similar laws were forced on “British” was sentenced to hard labor. Peninsula and Burma. lel wording appears in the criminal laws Honduras (today Belize), Jamaica, An- Laws criminalizing same-sex relations Korea Herald journalist Benjamin of many of the former colonies in Africa.” guilla, the “British” Virgin Islands, the in India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangla- Jhoty quotes Utopia-asia.com, which Historians Kevin Botha and Edwin Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Bahamas, desh, Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia and offers information about the same-sex- Cameron write, “The systems of law the Tobago, Turks and Caicos, and St. Lucia. Brunei all have the same name — “Ar- uality scene in Asia: “Asia has rich and colonial powers (both Dutch and later The British also imposed anti-“sod- ticle 377” — because the same colonial unique homosexual traditions almost English) introduced significantly influ- omy” legislation on Canada in 1892, New power wrote the law: Britain. The colo- everywhere you look. The true enemy enced the customary law of the African Zealand a year later, and Australia in nial-drafted legislation is misleadingly of homosexuality in places like Korea, communities they subjugated.” 1788 and again in 1899. Correspondencia sobre artículos en Workers World/Mundo Obrero pueden ser enviadas a: [email protected]

¡Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los paises unios! workers.org Vol. 60 Núm. 37 13 de septiembre 2018 $1 Trump bajo fuego: el dilema de la clase dominante

Por Fred Goldstein Este esfuerzo para anular cualquier con- derechos de las tierras nativas, exigiendo Mientras su victoria primaria ha inspi- versación sobre el juicio político proviene el derecho de las mujeres a la justicia re- rado un gran entusiasmo entre los progre- Donald Trump ha sufrido una serie de tanto del liderazgo del Partido Demócrata productiva y los derechos LGBTQ, man- sistas, también ha creado ilusiones entre golpes por las fuerzas anti Trump en la como de los republicanos por igual. Una ifestaciones en contra de la guerra, etc. muchos jóvenes, especialmente de izquier- clase dominante y el establecimiento legal. larga historia en el New York Times cuenta Todas estas son luchas justas que pueden da, que están en el camino hacia hacerse Esto sin duda ha alentado a las fuerzas pro- cómo la jerarquía del Partido Demócrata estar directamente relacionadas con la cargo del Partido Demócrata y presentar gresistas y revolucionarias que legítima- está tratando de apagar los incendios de lucha contra Trump. Pueden y deben em- un programa para erradicar la desigual- mente quieren ver a este Trump reacciona- destitución entre los demócratas de base. prenderse. dad, ganar atención médica universal, rio, autoritario, racista y misógino caer. La línea del partido es proteger la inves- La propaganda y la agitación contra la viviendas asequibles, incluso la propiedad Los eventos recientes han golpeado tigación de Mueller y dejar que se desar- reacción de Trump son otras vías impor- estatal de industrias, etc. Estas ilusiones a Trump. Su gerente de campaña, Paul rolle. (25 de agosto) tantes para ser usadas, especialmente deben ser tratadas con argumentos marx- Manafort, fue condenado en el juicio En este momento, la clase dominante a medida que las elecciones burguesas istas, y no deben desdeñarse despectiva- por ocho cargos criminales de fraude y es cautelosa de avivar un movimiento de se acercan. Este es un momento en que mente. Por ejemplo, el presidente más pro- evasión fiscal. Su abogado de muchos años destitución. Hay al menos dos razones. En las masas están abiertas a escuchar a la gresista del siglo 20, Franklin Roosevelt, y “reparador”, Michael Cohen, se declaró primer lugar, están sacando toneladas de política. La izquierda real, la izquierda sofocó el movimiento independentista en culpable y apuntó con el dedo a Trump por dinero por los beneficios de los recortes anticapitalista revolucionaria, puede no Puerto Rico en la masacre de Ponce de violaciones de la ley de campaña. Estos tributarios y la desregulación por Trump. ser decisiva en la arena electoral, dada la 1934. Roosevelt llevó al imperialismo es- acontecimientos llegaron el mismo día. El recorte total de un billón de dólares re- actual relación de fuerzas. Algunos so- tadounidense a la Segunda Guerra Mun- Al día siguiente se reveló que el presi- duce directamente los gastos corporativos cialdemócratas, sin embargo, se postulan dial, no inicialmente contra los nazis sino dente ejecutivo del National Enquirer, y va directamente al resultado final de la como candidatos del Partido Demócrata. contra el imperialismo japonés, y justificó David Pecker, que operaba una hoja de empresa. Las ganancias se dispararon du- Es posible que el papel de la izquierda el internamiento de japoneses en los Esta- escándalo pro Trump, había recibido in- rante dos trimestres. Ningún jefe o ban- se lleve a cabo mejor mediante una cam- dos Unidos. munidad para hablar sobre cómo trabajó quero quiere sacudir ese bote. paña de manifestaciones y propaganda. Mientras que Roosevelt es bien recor- con Michael Cohen para suprimir histo- Segundo, tienen miedo de provocar En algunos estados, o concursos locales dado ahora por el New Deal, que concedió rias críticas sobre Trump comprandolas y una rebelión de derecha desde la base de más probables, las fuerzas revoluciona- algunos derechos a la clase trabajadora luego no publicarlos. Trump. Escuchan los mítines de Trump, rias pueden participar en las elecciones empobrecida en ese momento, en prepa- Veinticuatro horas después se reveló que continúan tal como fueron durante la sobre una base revolucionaria con fines de ración para la guerra, Roosevelt rompió que el CFO de la Organización Trump, Al- campaña, a pesar de todas las revelaciones propaganda, así como para obtener repre- una huelga por los trabajadores la naves len Weisselberg, también recibió inmuni- sobre lo que es un racista de mala vida, sentación. aéreas en la costa oeste, hizo alianzas con dad para testificar. Weisselberg ha estado misógino y fanático, Trump. La burguesía La propaganda y la agitación durante Dixiecrats del sur, permitió que la seg- a cargo de las finanzas de la Organización es siempre colaboradora, conciliadora o la campaña actual deben elaborarse con regación permaneciera en su lugar, incluso Trump desde los días del padre racista y cobarde frente a la derecha, y esta es una sensibilidad. Deben tener en cuenta los en el ejército, etc. ¡Y este fue el presidente pro nazi de Trump, Fred Trump. lección que la clase trabajadora siempre sentimientos anti Trump de los indocu- más progresista del Partido Demócra- debe recordar. mentados que han sufrido medidas fascis- ta! Se enfureció contra los “realistas Wall Street y Pentágono trazan línea Todas las acusaciones, negociación tas en las fronteras, incluida la separación económicos” pero cumplió sus órdenes en sobre Rusia y RPDC de culpabilidad, inmunidades, exposi- de las familias de sus hijos. Estas medidas el Pacífico y más tarde en Europa. Antes Poco después, el Secretario de Estado ciones, etc., ascienden a esto: las fuerzas fascistas no se limitan a las fronteras, sino de entrar en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, Mike Pompeo fue obligado a suspender su anti-Trump en la clase dominante están que las lleva a cabo ICE en comunidades dijo: “Sus muchachos no serán enviados viaje a la República Popular Democráti- bailando con Trump. En este momento, de inmigrantes y en lugares de trabajo en a guerras en el extranjero”, hasta que los ca de Corea con una semana de aviso. la clase dominante está tratando de debil- todo el país. intereses imperialistas de Estados Unidos Pompeo ya había elegido al jefe de Ford itarlo principalmente con ataques legales Esta propaganda debe tener en cuenta sean desafiados. Motors para dirigir la delegación. La sema- y publicitarios. Esto puede cambiar en la ira en las ciudades y comunidades ne- na pasada notamos que el desfile militar de circunstancias futuras como por ejemplo, gras de todo el país contra la policía y el Solo la lucha ganará Trump fue cancelado y que el Pentágono y si la guerra comercial con China se sale apoyo abierto de Trump para la brutalidad ¿Cómo ganó la clase trabajadora las la clase dominante se resistían a su intento de control o algún otro acontecimiento policial y el racismo confederado. concesiones de la administración Roos- de realinear la política exterior imperialis- catastrófico amenaza sus intereses capi- Debe reconocer que hay cerca de un evelt? El New Deal no fue un regalo otor- ta de Estados Unidos hacia Rusia, que la talistas. Pero, en última instancia, esper- millón de destinatarios de DACA (acción gado desde arriba. Se ganó a partir de clase dominante ha bloqueado. (“Revuelta an eliminarlo a través del proceso elector- diferida para las llegadas de niños) que manifestaciones de los desempleados en de los espías”, WW, 23 de agosto) al de 2020. tienen la amenaza de la deportación col- las principales ciudades; marchas de ham- El último movimiento para cancelar el El mejor escenario político para las gando sobre sus cabezas. Además, cientos bre; huelgas generales municipales en San viaje de Pompeo a la RPDC es la respuesta fuerzas anti-Trump en la clase dominante de miles, incluyendo a haitianos, hon- Francisco, Minneapolis y Toledo en 1936; de la clase dominante al intento de Trump es para que los demócratas ganen la may- dureños, salvadoreños, nicaragüenses y las huelgas de brazos caídos en Akron y de realinear la política exterior de EUA oría en la Cámara de Representantes. Esto otros cuyo Estatus de Protección Tempo- Cleveland, que culminaron en la huelga en la península de Corea. Finalmente, fir- les dará el poder de convocar audiencias, ral ha sido levantado, están esperando la de brazos caídos de Flint ese mismo año, mando un tratado de paz con la RPDC - traer testigos, citar testimonios y docu- deportación. lo que condujo a la organización de Unit- para una guerra que terminó en un punto mentos, y librar una guerra de relaciones Teniendo esto en cuenta, se puede ed Auto Workers, el Congreso de Orga- muerto hace 65 años - es una condición públicas contra Trump, mientras deja abi- diseñar una propaganda anticapitalis- nizaciones Industriales y la organización para seguir adelante. Todo el establish- erta la cuestión de la destitución. ta y pro-socialista que no solo conde- masiva de la clase obrera industrial. ment militar y político se opone a esto y En la actualidad, las masas enfrentan na a Trump, sino que también muestra Esta fue la fuerza que condujo a la Ad- finalmente gana, incluso cuando Trump tres alternativas prácticas para eliminar que la salvación no radica en el Partido ministración de Progreso del Trabajo, la estaba siendo debilitado en los tribunales. a Trump: acusación, juicio político o elec- Demócrata, un partido cuyo liderazgo está Seguridad Social, el seguro de desempleo, La clase dominante ha establecido la ciones. Las tres son soluciones de la clase inextricablemente ligado a intereses cor- el derecho de huelga y de organizar sindi- línea en lo esencial. Pueden vivir con dominante en arenas dominadas por el porativos y militares. catos, y muchas otras ganancias asociadas las atrocidades fascistas de Trump en capital. La izquierda radical y revolucio- con el New Deal. las fronteras, separando familias inmi- naria definitivamente crecían, incluso El socialismo gana popularidad Lo mismo es cierto para la Ley de Dere- grantes. Pueden hacer caso omiso de su antes de que Trump entrara. Pero dada la Hay mucha discusión y publicidad so- chos Civiles, el Acta de Derechos de Voto y apoyo a la brutalidad policial y el asesin- relación actual de las fuerzas políticas, y bre la creciente popularidad del término otras ventajas legislativas, incluida la de- ato en las comunidades afroamericana y dada la relativa debilidad numérica de los “socialismo”. Desde la campaña de Bernie cisión Roe v. Wade del Tribunal Supremo latina. Pueden vivir con sus insultos rac- revolucionarios y radicales izquierdistas, Sanders en el 2016, el término se ha vuelto y las que confirman los derechos de les- istas contra África y Haití. estas soluciones de la clase dominante son respetable, particularmente a medida que bianas y homosexuales. Fueron ganados Pero cuando se trata de lo básico, la las únicas vías para eliminar realmente a el capitalismo decae y trae sufrimiento y primero en las calles del sangriento Sur y agresión hacia Rusia y la apertura de rela- Trump en este momento. gran desigualdad a las masas. El térmi- luego por rebeliones masivas y marchas en ciones pacíficas en Corea, Wall Street y el no “socialista” recibió un impulso adicio- las ciudades del norte. Pentágono trazan una línea cerrada. Formas de luchar contra Trump nal cuando Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Los socialistas que tratan de obtener y el Trumpismo una activista puertorriqueña, una aliada ganancias al afianzarse en el sistema elec- Los jefes rechazan la destitución Sin embargo, hay muchas formas de de Sanders y miembro de los Socialistas toral y el Partido Demócrata necesitan sa- por ahora luchar contra Trump y Trumpismo so- Democráticos de América, ganó una pri- ber que los grandes pasos hacia adelante Debe notarse que estos acontecimientos bre el terreno, como derrocar símbolos maria contra un entrometido miembro del han venido de la lucha de clases: la organi- han sido acompañados por un esfuerzo racistas, luchar para abolir el Servicio de Partido Demócrata, Joe Crowley, que esta- zación militante de los trabajadores y las concertado para enterrar cualquier mov- Inmigración y Aduanas, sitiar los centros ba en línea a ser nombrado presidente de rebeliones de las comunidades oprimidas. imiento incipiente para la destitución, que de detención de inmigrantes, apoyar la la Cámara después de Nancy Pelosi. Oca- A la larga, solo la lucha de masas puede ha sido acelerado por los reveses legales de actual huelga de prisioneros, luchar con- sio-Cortez representará un distrito que se traer progreso social, y solo la revolución Trump. tra la brutalidad policial, defensa de los extiende por el Bronx y Queens. puede traer el socialismo.