Sublevamiento en Honduras 12 Mujeres en huelga en Suiza 12

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 61 No. 26 June 27, 2019 $1 Kick cops and corporations out of Pride!

Pressure is building to Afro-Latinx transgender woman, died kick cops and corpora- June 7 in solitary confinement in New tions out of Pride marches York City’s notoriously abusive Rikers and events in LGBTQ2S+ Island jail. She was locked up because she communities across the U.S. couldn’t afford bail for a misdemeanor Activist resistance to the state and to charge. (Workers World, June 13) capitalism is intensifying this year, the A few facts from this June alone 50th anniversary of the historic Stonewall show the current reality of state anti- Rebellion in New York City, which was LGBTQ2S+ violence. sparked by a violent police raid. On June 1, a trans woman from El For five decades the New York Police Salvador died after seven weeks in ICE Department has refused to apologize for detention without medical care. On June the harassment, the raid, the beatings 2, a Tennessee cop called for “the gov- At Bronx Pride, June 23. WW PHOTO: HENRY LUNA and arrests at the Stonewall Bar in 1969. ernment” to execute “gay people.” (think. Finally, on June 6, current commissioner progress) On June 8, armed neo-Nazis On June 9, in Sacramento, Calif., gender-nonconforming homeless youth, James O’Neill issued a vague “sorry.” threatened Detroit Pride while police hundreds of demonstrators blocked the queer draft resisters to the Vietnam War, His apology was promptly rejected by provided an escort for the white suprem- entrance to that city’s festival, carrying Black gay fighters against racism and mil- organizers of NYC’s alternate Reclaim acists. On June 22, at St. Pete Pride “No Cops at Pride” and “Black Trans itant sex workers using their high heels as Pride as a symbolic public relations stunt in Florida, a cop contingent marched Lives Matter” signs. Malkia Devich Cyril, weapons. to frame cop brutality and state punish- close behind the Sex Workers Outreach a queer activist and leader in Movement The Stonewall Uprising challenged ment of LGBTQ2S+ people as happening Project, sparking fears about safety and for Black Lives, has denounced the police both big business with Mafia ties and the only in the past. surveillance. as “a force of terror for queer and trans paid-off police department serving the The very real, current impact of cops communities.” (Guardian, June 13) state. and the state on the lives of LGBTQ2S+ Returning to radical roots The new Pride is linked to the rev- Now the movement to reclaim Pride is people was tragically confirmed the day But alternate Pride organizers are chal- olutionary acts of resistance in the again challenging the cops—​part of the after that perfunctory apology. lenging the state and returning to the rad- three-day Stonewall street battles “armed bodies” of the state—​and also ical roots of the Stonewall Rebellion. of 1969 led by trans people of color, Layleen Polanco Xtravaganza, an Continued on page 7

Pride Means Fight Back! Many histories converged at Stonewall Rebellion, 1969

By Leslie Feinberg Rebellion as a quali- tative development Gay and lesbian historians who view history from that is a social prod- WW PHOTO: DEIRDRE GRISWOLD a materialist vantage point have emphasized that uct of capitalism. Leslie Feinberg speaking for while same-sex affection and sexuality appear to have They point out freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal, Town Hall, New York City, 1999. existed in all epochs of human society, the conditions that the ascendancy of capitalism were required for the development of of capitalist produc- a distinct political and social minority identity: gay tion in the United States created a vast class of “wage and lesbian. slaves”—workers​ who owned nothing but their abil- But Stonewall was not just a product of capitalism, ity to labor. The organizing of a large-scale work- but of national oppression as well. force also centralized laborers, creating large-scale The historians accurately describe the Stonewall WW PHOTO: MONICA MOOREHEAD Continued on page 6 A poster image of the banner of the Gay Caucus of YAWF (Youth Against War & Fascism of Workers World Party), at a NYC Christopher Street Liberation Day march in the early 1970s, photographed at today's Stonewall Inn. End anti-migrant terror! 8-9 Subscribe to Workers World No war on Iran! 10-11 4 weeks trial $4 1 year subscription $30 ☐ ☐ 6-7 ☐ Sign me up for the WWP Supporter Program: workers.org/donate RECLAIMING PRIDE Name ______RED SUMMER 1919 3 Email ______Phone ______

Street ______Domestic & laundry workers 4-5

City / State / Zip ______U.S. role in Hong Kong 11 Workers World Weekly Newspaper workers.org 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10011 212.627.2994 Page 2 June 27, 2019 workers.org

ACT NOW Save Mumia’s eyesight and this week ◆ In the U.S. demand his release! Kick cops and corporations out of Pride! . . . . . 1 Many histories converged at Stonewall Rebellion . 1 Sign the following petition at tinyurl.com/mumiaeyes. the “fake compassionate release” of transfers from prison Save Mumia’s eyesight and demand his release! . .2 to care facilities that Pennsylvania will only grant when a Mumia’s vision has rapidly deteriorated. It has been prisoner is within a year of dying. Mumia’s family, friends Eddie Africa released after 40 years ...... 3 confirmed that Mumia currently suffers from conditions and supporters are ready now to provide the health care Centennial of Red Summer ...... 3 that seriously threaten his eyesight. These include glau- Mumia requires if he were home. Domestic Workers drive on Philadelphia horizon . 4 coma, vitreous detachment and cataracts in both eyes. Mumia is not alone in enduring these cruel and unusual Refinery explosion threatens Philly communities . 4 This threat seriously jeopardizes his life and wellbeing, as assaults on the health of those aging and ill behind prison well as his journalistic profession. walls. According to Bureau of Justice statistics, over Disability Pride rocks Philadelphia ...... 5 An outside eye doctor is recommending surgical pro- 130,000 of U.S. prisoners are elderly, a 400% increase Laundry Workers Center picket in NYC . . . . . 5 cedures to remove the cataracts on both eyes, but SCI- between 1993 and 2013. Mumia himself has noted the 30 years of Pastors for Peace Cuba Caravan . . . .5 Mahanoy Dr. Courtney Rodgers is delaying scheduling significant number of those confined at his own prison Reclaiming Pride: A desire to redirect a movement 7 the needed examinations and surgeries with Mumia's who suffer similar life-threatening illnesses that require outside ophthalmologist. Rodgers works for Correct Care immediate attention. 25 years of Pride @ Work ...... 7 Solutions, a notorious for-profit prison and immigration Across the nation elderly prisoners experience a tor- Three historic wins for N.Y. farmworkers . . . . .8 detention medical company that, according to the Project turous journey toward the end of their lives without any Domestic gag rule: fight the patriarchal state . . . 8 on Government Oversight, has been sued at least 1,395 “compassionate release.” Once again, as we fight for Seattle protest hits ‘Homeland Security’ . . . . . 9 times with complaints alleging a range of charges, includ- Mumia’s right to treatment and for his release, we fight ing wrongful death, malpractice and inadequate health care. for the freedom of all the imprisoned from mass incarcer- Buffalo demands Green Light implementation . . 9 Meanwhile Mumia faces increasing nerve damage to his ation’s cruel and unusual conditions. Trump is terrorizing migrant workers ...... 9 eyes. He is unable to read or do other things requiring nor- Mumia Abu-Jamal should receive cataract surgery Boston activists protest U.S. threats to Iran . . . 10 mal vision. This delay echoes the years of delays Mumia immediately! experienced getting treatment for hepatitis C. By the time Mumia should be released now not only because he ◆ Around the world the DOC was finally forced by federal court to treat Mumia can receive better health care outside of prison, but also Hondurans rebel at 10th anniversary of coup . . 10 with the Hep C cure, it was too late to prevent cirrhosis of because he is an innocent man! the liver. TAKE ACTION Iran and the big lie behind U.S. power ...... 11 African Americans are 1.5 times more likely to develop 1. Sign the petition at tinyurl.com/mumiaeyes. U.S role in Hong Kong protests ...... 11 cataracts than the general population and five times more 2. Call: Dr. Courtney P. Rodgers—(570)773-7851 likely to develop related blindness. and SCI Mahanoy Superintendent Theresa A. ◆ Editorial Not only is his overall health deteriorating as he is Delbalso—(570)773-2158. Tell them to approve Iran crisis: Which side are you on? ...... 10 threatened by permanent blindness, his failure now to Mumia’s cataract surgery immediately. receive the immediate attention he requires is cruel and 3. Call: PA Gov. Tom Wolf—(717)787-2500; PA DOC ◆ Noticias en Español unusual punishment, especially as an innocent man who Secretary John Wetzel—(717)728-2573; Philadelphia Honduras: El pueblo contra la dictadura . . . . 12 has been unjustly incarcerated for almost four decades. DA Larry Krasner—(215)686-8000. Tell them to Furthermore, considering his multiple ailments and the release Mumia Abu-Jamal NOW because he Mujeres en huelga en Suiza ...... 12 threat of blindness, we demand that Pennsylvania officials can receive better health care outside of prison allow a real and humane “compassionate release” now, not and also because he is an innocent man! Workers World 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl. New York, NY 10011 Join us in the fight Phone: 212.627.2994 E-mail: [email protected] for socialism! Web: www.workers.org

Workers World Party is a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist people are gunned down by cops and bigots on a regular Vol. 61, No. 26 • June 27, 2019 party inside the belly of the imperialist beast. We are a basis. Closing date: June 26, 2019 multinational, multigenerational and multigendered orga- The ruthless ruling class today seeks to wipe out Editor: Deirdre Griswold nization that not only aims to abolish capitalism, but to decades of gains and benefits won by hard-fought strug- Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, build a socialist society because it’s the only way forward! gles by people’s movements. The super-rich and their Martha Grevatt, Monica Moorehead, Minnie Bruce Capitalism and imperialism threaten the peoples of the political representatives have intensified their attacks on Pratt world and the planet itself in the neverending quest for the multinational, multigender and multigenerational Web Editors: Ben Carroll, John Steffin ever-greater profits. working class. It is time to point the blame at—and chal- Capitalism means war and austerity, racism and repres- lenge—the capitalist system. Production & Design Editors: Gery Armsby, Sasha sion, attacks on im/migrants, misogyny, LGBTQ oppres- WWP fights for socialism because the working class Mazumder, Scott Williams sion and mistreatment of people with disabilities. It means produces all wealth in society, and this wealth should Copyediting and Proofreading: Paddy Colligan, joblessness, increasing homelessness and impoverishment remain in their hands, not be stolen in the form of capi- Sue Davis, S. Hedgecoke and lack of hope for the future. No social problems can be talist profits. The wealth workers create should be socially solved under capitalism. owned and its distribution planned to satisfy and guaran- Contributing Editors: G. Dunkel, K. Durkin, Teresa The U.S. is the richest country in the world, yet no one tee basic human needs. Gutierrez, Betsey Piette, Gloria Rubac has a guaranteed right to shelter, food, water, health care, Since 1959, Workers World Party has been out in the Mundo Obero: Alberto García, Teresa Gutierrez, education or anything else—unless they can pay for it. streets defending the workers and oppressed here and Carlos Vargas Wages are lower than ever, and youth are saddled with worldwide. If you’re interested in Marxism, socialism Supporter Program: Coordinator Sue Davis seemingly insurmountable student debt, if they even make and fighting for a socialist future, please contact a WWP it to college. Black, Brown and Indigenous youth and trans branch near you. ☐ Copyright © 2019 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. Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly National Office Bay Area Durham, N.C. Philadelphia 147 W. 24th St., 2nd floor P.O. Box 22947 804 Old Fayetteville St. P.O. Box 34249 except the last week of December by WW Publishers, New York, NY 10011 Oakland, CA 94609 Durham, NC 27701 Philadelphia, PA 19101 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10011. Phone: 212.627.2994 510.394.2207 919.322.9970 610.931.2615 212.627.2994. Subscriptions: One year: $30; institu­ [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] tions: $35. Letters to the editor may be condensed and Atlanta Buffalo, N.Y. Houston Salt Lake City edited. 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Washington, D.C. 617.522.6626 216.738.0320 Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y. [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Portland, Ore. West Virginia Workers World, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl. [email protected] [email protected] New York, N.Y. 10011. workers.org June 27, 2019 Page 3 Eddie Africa released after 40 years By Betsey Piette one of the MOVE 9. We were each wrongly con- Philadelphia victed of murder, assault and conspiracy by the late Judge Edwin S. Malmed and each sentenced MOVE 9 member Edward (Goodman) Africa to 30 to 100 years in prison.” (onamove.com) was released on parole June 21, following prior Africa has four grown children and several releases of Debbie, Michael, Janet and Janine grandchildren whom he has never been with Africa. MOVE 9 members Merle and Phil died except for brief prison visits. He will be living in prison. with family members upon his release. Edward Africa was born and raised in He states on the Mobilization4Mumia Philadelphia. Prior to joining MOVE, he expe- Facebook page, “I want to say that I had no inten- rienced the street oppression faced by many tions of becoming a revolutionary; this system Black youth in the city. Initially resisting because encouraged me, pushed me to become a revolu- MOVE had white members, Eddie eventually tionary; JOHN AFRICA provided the direction.” PHOTO: COURTESY OF MOVE began to work with MOVE “because what they Despite serving over 40 of their 30-to-100- From far left: Fred Riley; Carlos Africa; Eddie Africa; his son, Little Eddie; were giving me was more complete than anything daughter‑in‑law Sukona; and Raymond Africa Jr. year sentences, two remaining MOVE 9 mem- I had ever known.” In and out of jail from the age bers, Charles and Delbert Africa, remain of 16 in 1963 until he joined MOVE in 1973, Eddie was then result, he was charged with assault and resisting arrest. unjustly imprisoned. When recently paroled in May, frequently stopped by Philadelphia cops. When he refused He was arrested Aug. 8, 1978, during the Philadelphia Janet and Janine Africa stated that they have no cause to be searched, he was beaten when he resisted. As a police assault on MOVE. Eddie wrote about himself: “I’m for celebration until all their brothers are released. ☐

CENTENNIAL OF RED SUMMER: A pivotal moment against racist terror By Terrea Mitchell at Carswell Baptist Church and arrested Edmund Scott. They hit him in the face During the Red Summer of 1919, a wave and shot Joe Ruffin in the head, as he was of white-supremacist terrorist attacks was trying to negotiate with them for Scott's unleashed on Black Americans. From release after agreeing to pay his bond. February to November, white mobs and The ensuing white mob shot and burned gangs carried out anti-Black riots and Joe’s two youngest sons—a 24-year-old lynchings to uphold the status quo—as veteran, and 13-year-old Henry. they saw it—and keep Black Americans in The most intense fighting took place their place. in Washington, D.C., and Chicago. The

While mainstream sources referred to greatest number of African Americans COLLAGE DESIGNED BY TARYN FIVEK these attacks as “race riots,” they were really were murdered in Elaine, Ark., where acts of “anti-Black collective violence,” Black sharecroppers were organizing to slowed down gangs of white attackers. In kangaroo courts. However, wrongly con- according to historian David Krugler in his stop exploitation of their labor and debt many cases, they prevented them from victed Black folks did get some justice in book, “1919, The Year of Racial Violence: peonage. attacking Black neighborhoods. Armed state and federal courts. How African Americans Fought Back.” White mobs frequently lynched African resistance by African-American commu- Nevertheless, no whites in Southern African Americans were not rioting. They Americans. Lynching has enabled whites- nities was not an anomaly. states were ever prosecuted or jailed for were fighting back, counterattacking and only rule to prevail. Dispensing rough African Americans fought a three- harming or murdering African-American repelling violence. They were resisting. justice by collective lynching was the pri- pronged war against white mob vio- residents. In Charleston, white sailors From 1917 to 1923, white mobs mary motive of racist mobs. It was viewed lence, a point Krugler crystallizes in his had started the riot, but Black sailors and destroyed dozens of Black towns and com- as a legitimate punishment of African book. On the first front, they mobilized civilians were jailed. In Chicago, Black munities, murdering thousands of African Americans who defied white supremacy. to defend against armed white mobs that and white residents were convicted and Americans, injuring thousands more, and Collective acts of anti-Black violence in formed to drive African Americans from imprisoned. In Elaine, Ark., 21 Black displacing tens of thousands. The year 1919 Charleston, S.C., Longview, Texas, and else- industrial jobs or white neighborhoods, Americans pleaded guilty to second-de- marked the zenith of these terrorist attacks. where aimed to punish Black Americans to punish them for their wartime prosper- gree murder, but their convictions were Many catalysts led up to Red Summer: who defied Jim Crow and asserted their ity, to protect white women from alleged later overturned. Convictions of 12 Black Veterans were returning home from World equality with whites. Now the state uses crimes committed by Black men and as men charged with murder and then War I, causing a glut of workers in the job the police and the criminal justice system revenge for perceived or imagined slights imprisoned on death row were overturned market. Black Americans were migrating to oppress and punish African Americans. against white folks. in 1925 due to the vigorous defense by en masse from the South to Northern cit- When African Americans were attacked, On the second front, African Americans attorney Scipio Africanus Jones. ies. Black sharecroppers in the South were white officials usually handed the victims battled for the truth about the so-called organizing for better pay and to end debt over to mobs. City and town officials did “riots.” White corporate newspapers and ‘Red Summer led to Black peonage. The “new Negro movement” of nothing to quell white violence until it local officials erroneously blamed African Lives Matter movement’ the early 1900s was becoming a force to be was too late, especially in Washington Americans for the riots, characterizing What was the ultimate impact of Red reckoned with, thanks to African-American and Chicago. After days of racist attacks self-defense and armed resistance as Summer? It was the start of a long process veterans and civilians. This was a self-help in Chicago, violent encounters later that unprovoked violence against whites. which eventually ended Jim Crow and movement started by Black elites who used summer were stopped within hours. Police The media openly and routinely undid institutional bigotry, if not struc- respectability politics as a pillar. monitored Black communities and dis- described Black Americans in a racist tone, tural racism. It laid the groundwork for armed Black citizens. using bigoted language. The “blame-the- the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s Black veterans on ‘front victim” narrative, still used today when and 1960s and the current Black Lives lines’ against racists Resistance and armed self-defense police execute a Black, Brown, Indigenous Matter movement. But the overwhelming factor was that When white mobs marched on Black or trans person, was fed by rumors and lies. It was the dawn of Black militancy and returning Black veterans were determined communities, their members—men and a precursor to the Black Power movement. not to go back to dehumanizing, oppressive women, veterans and civilians—set up The fight for justice Significantly, the events of Red Summer Jim Crow rule, second-class citizenship armed posts, checkpoints and blockades Finally, on the third front, African illuminated clearly that Black peoples and subservience to whites. They brought to defend their families and property. Americans fought for justice. Black across the planet must work in solidarity this spirit back to their communities. Many Black folks in Knoxville, Tenn., Americans faced hostile law enforcement toward freeing all peoples in the African Another popular narrative pushed by Elaine, Ark., Washington and Charleston officers and biased court systems in 1919, Diaspora from Jim Crow rule, colonialism politicians and the white media—and died doing so. just as we do today. Black self-defenders and imperialism. reinforced by military intelligence and the In Charleston, after an evening of against mob attacks were wrongly arrested Black political resolve was strengthened Justice Department—was that agitators, mob attacks against Black individu- and prosecuted in city-after-city when they in 1919 in response to the white mobs which namely Bolsheviks and anarchists, were als on May 10, Krugler explains: “Black had lawfully protected themselves. To get organized to put Black people down. “The stirring up Black Americans. The 1917 Charlestonians got wind of the trouble justice in court, they had to successfully red summer sparked a long effort that led Russian Revolution set off the Red Scare and dispersed a rock-throwing mob. correct the narrative and set the record to the integration and participation of Black in the West. The uncertainty and trauma of However white violence increased and straight about the origins of the “riots.” Americans into every aspect of society and World War I only exacerbated these fears. Blacks continued to defend themselves Publicizing the facts was imperative. Here, government,” wrote Cameron McWhirter There were 39 reported instances of col- and also began to retaliate.” Resistance the Black press played an important role. in “Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and lective acts of anti-Black violence instigated tactics included banding together, carry- The NAACP, National Urban League the Awakening of Black America.” by whites in U.S. cities and rural counties in ing weapons, issuing advance warning of and many other organizations undertook Today, African Americans’ rights to dig- 1919. They included an attack in Syracuse, approaching mobs and engaging them. this task. They laid the groundwork so that nity and equality are under attack. We must N.Y., and several in Harlem, N.Y. Across the country, Black residents Black defendants could get some sort of remember the most important lesson of The first large-scale so-called riot under attack by marauding white mobs justice. This proved especially important Red Summer: Resist and fight back against occurred in Jenkins County, Ga. Police responded with individual and collec- in Elaine, Ark., and Jenkins County, Ga. the oppression and repression by those who had gone to an outdoor family gathering tive acts of self-defense. They repelled or Local juries convicted Black defendants in would destroy us—even if we die trying. ☐ Page 4 June 27, 2019 workers.org Philadelphia on horizon in Domestic Workers drive

By Joe Piette standards-raising law on the books across the industry. Philadelphia Participants in the rally included Philadelphia Jobs with Justice, Domestic Employers Network Community, Domestic caretakers, nannies and house cleaners are, Legal Services of Philadelphia, Pathways Pa, Pennsylvania like farmworkers and people with disabilities, excluded Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Professionals, from many local, state and federal workplace protec- Pennsylvania Immigration & Citizenship Coalition, United tions, including minimum wage, overtime and health, Home Care Workers of PA and other allies. safety and sick benefits. The bill would mandate: As mostly women of color, domestic workers are • Workers are entitled to up to five days of paid time subjected to all the abusive sexist and racist horrors so off (PTO). The PTO will likely be a tiered system common within the U.S. patriarchal, white-supremacist, based on time worked; capitalist system. Mostly immigrants and often undocu- • Employers must use a contract to specify hours, pay mented, they work in highly responsible yet difficult jobs rates, schedules, holidays and other employment for low pay and are often under threat of deportation at WW PHOTO: JOE PIETTE terms; a moment’s notice. June 20 domestic workers rally, Philadelphia. • Workers are guaranteed paid rest and meal breaks Like many gig workers, domestic workers are isolated (a 10-minute rest break for every four hours worked from thousands of other workers doing the same work, “We don’t get workplace safety protections. We don’t consecutively and a 30-minute meal break after and they are forced to deal with ever-more-demanding have the ability to unionize. And we’re not protected more than five hours). Live-in workers such as nan- bosses as individuals. from retaliation if we do speak up about the ways we’re nies and caregivers are guaranteed one unpaid day Despite such harsh working conditions, courageous abused and taken advantage of. It’s no mistake we’re off after working six consecutive days; domestic workers across the U.S. are making significant denied these basic protections—​it’s part of the endur- • The city will create a “portable benefits” system for strides to get Domestic Worker Bill of Rights (DWBR) leg- ing legacy of slavery. Domestic workers and agricultural workers’ hours to follow them, not the employer, islation passed. Those protections they hope will ensure workers were left out of 1930s’ labor law because the vast meaning those with multiple employers can still respect, professionalism and safety on the job for mil- majority were Black descendants of slaves. accrue enough hours to qualify for paid time off; lions of workers. Nine states (New York, Massachusetts, “This means that, in the poorest major city, we are • Freedom from discrimination and sexual harass- California, Connecticut, Illinois, Nevada, Oregon, Hawaii among the lowest paid and most exploited of the working ment, protection against retaliation; and and New Mexico) and the city of Seattle have already poor. The vast majority of us are women of color—Black​ • Employers must provide two weeks’ notice before extended DWBR protections to domestic workers. and immigrant women, many of whom are undocu- terminating an employment contract (four weeks if According to the National Domestic Workers Alliance, mented. Domestic workers frequently experience wage the worker is live-in), except in cases of “significant over 2 million people in the U.S. do domestic work. There theft, verbal abuse, sexual harassment, threats to call misconduct.” are 67 million domestic workers worldwide, according to [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] if we speak up A Domestic Work Working Group will meet this the U.N.’s International Labor Organization. about our working conditions, daily instances of racism summer to develop a proposal for a Domestic Worker and prejudice and employers who refuse to pay and who Standards and Implementation Board to monitor ‘Enduring legacy of slavery’ barge into living quarters after work hours are done for enforcement and regulation. Philadelphia is home to an estimated 16,000 domes- live-in nannies and caregivers.” Nicole Kligerman, executive director of the tic workers who make an average of $10,000 annually, Pennsylvania Domestic Workers Alliance, told the according to analysis by University of Pennsylvania pro- Philadelphia: Pass the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights! Philadelphia Inquirer she expects the board to create fessor Pilar Goñalons-Pons. On International Domestic Workers Day, June 20, “template contracts” for workers. If an individual doesn’t A nanny and member leader of the Pennsylvania about 50 Philadelphia-area domestic workers and their have a contract, it will be presumed they’re working Domestic Workers Alliance (DWA), Annie Johnson wrote allies rallied outside City Hall. After hearing speeches under the city’s template of minimum terms. (June 20) in a March 4 guest editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer: from domestic workers and several City Council support- The rally ended with a chant the DWA use at their “We don’t get the basic labor protections other workers do. ers of the bill, they entered City Hall where DWBR legis- events; everyone starts in low voices chanting “Unity! We don’t qualify for minimum-wage and overtime protec- lation was officially introduced. The bill will go up for a Dignity! Power!” over and over, increasing in volume tions. We aren’t protected by the federal Civil Rights Act, vote this fall. Once passed, Philadelphia would not only be each time, and finally ending in one loud voice: “Unity! which governs gender and racial discrimination. the largest city to do so, it will also be the most ambitious Dignity! Power!” ☐ Refinery explosion threatens Philly communities

By Betsey Piette organization of residents living near the refinery, Philadelphia responded with a press conference at City Hall. Thrive has protested PES’s deadly pollution since 2015. Their A massive explosion at the Philadelphia Energy press release noted: “Philadelphians living near the Solutions oil refinery in the predawn hours of June 21 refinery are dealing with a health epidemic of asthma, lit up the sky with a fireball so large it was captured by a cancer, heart disease and other complications related to weather satellite. Some eyewitnesses thought they were heavy air pollution.” seeing a nuclear bomb. It marked the second fire at the plant in 11 days. Refinery a ‘silent killer’ Residents in the city, and as far away as Deptford, “Enough is enough—​we have to act before half the N.J., reported waking up to explosions that shook their people in South and Southwest Philly are dead,” said homes. Aerial footage of the massive refinery, the larg- Sonya Sanders, Philly Thrive member and Grays Ferry est in the U.S. northeast, showed the complex nearly PHOTO: RACHAEL WARRINER resident. “Do you know how scared I was this morning to engulfed in flames. Five workers were injured. Philly Thrive press conference, June 21. be shaken out of my sleep by the explosion? I do every- Residential areas in South and Southwest Philadelphia thing I can to close my windows and keep this pollution surround the 1,400-acre refinery. Officials are now reveal- and layoffs of workers. The refinery’s 150-year-old infra- out of my house. But when these fires happen, it shows ing just how close the city and surrounding region came structure leaves it prone to dangerous accidents. there really is nothing we can do to protect ourselves.” to experiencing a major catastrophic accident— ​the explo- Required to file a risk-management plan every 5 Another Philly Thrive member, Sylvia Bennett, said, sion was that close to a hydrofluoric acid storage tank. years, PES reported an incident in 2017 that involved the “The pollution from the refinery is a silent killer, and we’re Exposure to HF can cause severe health problems and release of 8,000 pounds of propane after equipment fail- breathing that in. It’s taken the lives of babies, elders and even death. At room temperature, the chemical can form ure. The risk-management plan lists chemicals that the everyone in between! We have the right to breathe clean a toxic cloud that can travel 7 miles in 10 minutes. HF Environmental Protection Agency says would cause sig- air, and we need to hold the refinery accountable for what burns may be initially painless since it destroys nerve nificant off-site problems in the event of a major release. they’re putting out into the community.” tissue. In higher concentrations, HF also causes cardiac Over the last five years, PES has been fined $649,417 To draw attention to the crises they face, Philly Thrive arrest. (Reuters.com, June 21) in penalties for violations of air and water protections. has staged weekly protests outside the refinery and recently Around 300,000 people live within 3 miles of the PES (Philly.com, June 22) According to a 2017 study by the blocked truck access at the refinery’s entrance. They facility, and more than 1.1 million people live within a NAACP, the National Medical Association and the Clean demand that the City Council fund and mandate a study for 7-mile radius. The multinational, working-class commu- Air Task Force, the refinery is responsible for 72 percent of decommissioning and repurposing the facility. They want nity surrounding the refinery is being encroached upon toxic air emissions in Philadelphia. (Philly.com, June 23) the city to transition the refinery area until it’s restored by gentrification, but concerns over the danger and tox- While refinery officials claim the fire is no longer a threat public land with community-owned energy projects. icity of the facility leave many unable to sell their homes and air management services claim the air is “fine,” resi- For the greatest accessibility, residents want a public or move away. Several residents reported that the explo- dents and environmental activists groups disagree. The meeting with all agencies involved, coordinated through sion rained large chunks of debris on their property. environmental group EDGE Philly says that black smoke Philly Thrive, to report on toxic releases and enforce- PES, the largest stationary polluter in Philadelphia, and a continuing fire, at a site full of toxic and explosive ment actions. has been in violation of the Clean Air Act in 9 of the last substances, constitute an ongoing health threat to resi- 12 quarters. The company declared bankruptcy in 2017, dents. (EDGE stands for Ending Dirty Gas Exploitation Unions cite HF risks to residents, workers which raises worries that PES’s continued financial strug- by Encouraging Development of a Green Economy.) The facility was a problem for surrounding gles have resulted in neglect of necessary maintenance Hours after the explosion, Philly Thrive, a community Philadelphia communities long before PES took over. In workers.org June 27, 2019 Page 5 Brooklyn, N.Y. ’Rehire the workers’

By Siddika Degia However, the community and the New York workers are not silent about the laun- dromat firing the workers unjustly. As The Laundry Workers Center, along- a spokesperson in the People’s Power side groups like the People’s Power Assemblies said at the rally: “Rehire Assemblies, held a picket line June 22 the workers, rehire them now or else in front of the Sunshine Shirt Laundry the community will haunt you. We will Center in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, N.Y. This come to your home, we will come to emergency demonstration was called any new laundromat you open in the after the laundromat decided to fire the neighborhood, and we will continue workers after telling them they were pressuring you until you rehire the June 15. WW PHOTO: JOE PIETTE closing up shop. But the laundry was workers and give them what you owe in fact not closing and is still receiving them.” ☐ clients. Disability Pride rocks Philadelphia The two workers, Ricarda and Maria, are By Worker World New York in the community rather than being forced owed $200,000 in back City Disabilities bureau to live in institutions or nursing homes—​if pay from chemical burns, Philadelphia there is appropriate support in the commu- physical abuse and wage nity; if the disabled person chooses to live theft. The firings are an Many hundreds of people with disabilities in the community; and if such accommoda- obvious form of retaliation and their allies commemorated Disability tion is deemed “reasonable” when consider- against the workers who Pride Week by attending Philadelphia’s 8th ing the overall needs of the entire disability spoke up and demanded annual Disability Pride Parade June 15. community. fair wages and safe work- In a highlight of the rally before the The Olmstead decision was based in ing conditions, and parade, Chief Executive Officer of Liberty part on a successful disability civil rights because the workers and Resources Independence for Everyone precedent in Philadelphia argued by the the community have been Thomas H. Earle led the crowd in a song. Disabilities Law Project in 1995. pressuring the laundry Like the Raging Grannies, who rewrite The parade featured many colorful cos- every week with demands lyrics of popular songs in protest against tumes and puppets, and a festival followed for the back pay. war, racism and injustice, Earle changed the parade. Several New Yorkers travelled Management has defi- Harry Belafonte's Banana Boat lyrics to to Philadelphia and told everyone about nitely been feeling the “Olmstead, Olmstead, daylight come, and I the Disability Pride Parade coming up next pressure. That is what want to go home!” month in New York City for the fifth con- led to one of the workers, Olmstead v. L.C. was the most significant secutive year. Ricarda, being physically civil rights decision for people with disabil- New York's disability community will assaulted by the landlord ities. Based on the 1990 Americans with gather in Madison Square Park July 14 at 10 of the laundromat while Disabilities Act, the U.S. Supreme Court in a.m. Then we will roll, ride, scooter and walk passing out flyers in the 1999 upheld Omstead’s provisions of the from Madison Square Park down Broadway community. WW PHOTO: TONI ARENSTEIN qualified right of people with disabilities to for a Disability Rights Festival from noon to receive state-funded supports and services 3 p.m. at Union Square Park. ☐ 30th anniversary of Pastors for Peace Cuba Caravan celebrated in Bay Area

Judy Greenspan sponsored by a coalition of groups, Francisco-based filmmaker who pro- Berkeley, Calif. including Task Force on the Americas duced the well-known film “Maestra” and the International Committee for about the 1961 Cuban literacy campaign, Friends of revolutionary Cuba gath- Peace, Justice and Dignity. Along with represented Pastors for Peace. A Cuban ered at the Berkeley Fellowship Hall the Venceremos Brigade, which just cele- educator, who was the youngest partici- in the Bay Area on June 18 to celebrate brated its 50th anniversary, the Caravan pant in the literacy brigade, also spoke. the 30th anniversary of the Pastors for provides humanitarian aid and support to The educator has worked for nearly 60 Peace Cuba Caravan, which has consis- the Cuban government. years since the brigade, as an activist and tently broken the U.S.-imposed block- The event featured two special guest then as a teacher, supporting the revolu- ade on that country. The evening was speakers. Catherine Murphy, a San tionary process in Cuba. The Cuban educator recalled the cam- paign with great fondness. “I was the Refinery explosion youngest child in the campaign, and it was all made possible because of the work Continued from page 4 came dangerously close to releasing HF of the entire Cuban people,” she noted. and prompted the evacuation of tens of “Everyone had a role to play and this was 2011 and again in 2014, unions represent- thousands. the foundation of our entire education ing plant workers confronted then-owner The nonprofit Clean Air Council called system.” Sunoco over the risks posed to residents on the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Both featured guests emphasized that and workers from hydrofluoric acid used Investigation Board “to immediately education at every level, as well as health WW PHOTO: JUDY GREENSPAN at the plant. The Sunoco complex was begin an independent investigation of the care, are completely free in Cuba. Alicia Jrapko, U.S. coordinator of the among 50 of 150 U.S. refineries that still conditions” that led to the June 21 fire. There was much discussion about the International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity; Jane Franklin, author of ‘The use HF to make high-octane gasoline. The council said the board has agreed to U.S.-enforced blockade of Cuba and how Calls by the United Steelworkers and send four investigators. Cuban Revolution and the United States: harmful it has been to the Cuban people. a Chronological History’; and Catherine other unions for the oil industry to invest Clean Air Council senior attorney Alex Recent actions by the current U.S. admin- Murphy, filmmaker and activist. in safer alternatives have been largely Bomstein called the refinery a concern “for istration will make it harder for people to ignored. USW Local 10-1 now represents many, many years.” Bomstein was skepti- travel to Cuba and almost impossible for 600 unionized workers at PES, which is cal of claims that residents faced no health people to visit the U.S. from Cuba. With “With what little we have, we have always down from more than 1,000 when PES concerns and noted that initial air testing recent activation of Title III of the Helms- shown others our solidarity,” she said. took over. could miss problems. “When you see a Burton Act, counterrevolutionary Cubans From Haiti to Venezuela, from Angola In 2010, the USW launched a cam- plume of black smoke, you’re seeing pol- and U.S. businesses can now lay claim to Palestine, the people of the world have paign to end the industry’s use of HF. lution,” said Bomstein, who lives in South to property that they “owned” (or stole) reached out and embraced this revolu- “In 2013, the USW found 26 million peo- Philadelphia and saw the plume rise over prior to the revolution. tionary solidarity. ple in the United States were at risk of the neighborhood. (Philly.com, June 22) Allies of Cuba were urged by Murphy HF exposure from a refinery accident.” This writer lives 5 miles from the refin- and other speakers to visit Cuba soon Editorial note: Recent threats against (Reuters.com, June 21) ery and knows of no evacuation plan in and show their support. The evening’s Cuba by the Trump regime made it nec- Refinery accidents in Torrance, Calif., the event of HF release. This narrowly special Cuban guest was optimistic about essary to withhold the name of the Cuban in 2015 and in Superior, Wis., in 2018, averted catastrophe is a wake-up call for her country’s continued support of other educator who spoke at this West Coast similar to the Philadelphia explosion, action. ☐ struggles and peoples around the world. fundraiser. Page 6 June 27, 2019 workers.org Many histories converged at Stonewall Rebellion, 1969 Continued from page 1 Gay American Indians (GAI) made by-product of industrialization—​was For example, the Harlem a dynamic contribution to this under- popularized and disseminated through Renaissance—​which included such a industry and dense urban living, with standing in its groundbreaking 1988 the new ladies’ magazines and romantic powerful and lyrical articulation of defi- same-sex living situations and relative book entitled “Living the Spirit.” In this novels, white women came to be seen as ant same-sex and gender-nonconforming anonymity. compilation, Indigenous peoples narrate inhabitants of a sphere totally severed expressions—is​ also a defining period in They trace the devastating eco- their own histories of the diverse forms from the realm of productive work. The the histories that converged in Greenwich nomic dislocation of the 1929 capitalist of organization on this continent—​many cleavage between the home Village decades later. Depression that shook the working class of them still pre-class, based on cooper- and the public economy, The Stonewall Uprising, there- and oppressed, creating a widespread ative labor and matrilineal bloodlines—​ brought on by industrial cap- fore, was not an articulation—as​ exodus from rural areas and small towns before the colonial military assault which italism, established female though from one throat—​of one to these cities in search of wage work. seized the land later used for white settler inferiority more firmly than sexual minority that has existed World War II drew massive segments farming, as well as railroads and other ever before.” in all places, in all historical of the population into same-sex working industry. However, she explained: epochs, without previous voice. and living situations, and left large same- In an essay in the book titled “Sex/ “The economic arrangement Nor did it represent the emer- sex-loving populations in cities where Gender Systems in Native North of slavery contradicted the Part 71 gence of a central identity that soldiers were discharged and dumped America,” Midnight Sun (Anishnabe) hierarchical sexual roles represents sexual liberation in a from the ranks of the military. And 1950s emphasized that the 400-year history incorporated in the new ide- form so universal that its visibil- Cold War repression inevitably generated of colonial ethnographic research on ology. Male-female relations within the ity can be used as a global marker for who resistance. Indigenous peoples on this continent slave community could not, therefore, is, or is not, “out of the closet” and proud. These overall conditions under cap- omitted and distorted reports about the conform to the dominant ideological The role of Latinx leadership in the italism, heated to critical mass by sex and gender relations they observed, pattern.” Stonewall insurrection demonstrates that oppression, led to the development of “especially where these deviated from the By mid-19th century, she noted, seven global roads of history led to the rebel- LGBTQ communities and to a fightback bipolar European norm of the heterosex- out of eight enslaved Black people—​ lion. Their parents and grandparents consciousness. ual ‘man’ and ‘woman’ and contradicted female and male—were​ field workers. were forced by the super-exploitation of But national oppression was a key the European patriarchal world view.” Davis stressed: “Because husbands U.S. capital, and the dictatorships that factor in the fightback at Stonewall as GAI’s History Project lists 135 and wives, fathers and daughters were enforced it, to leave their own countries—​ well. It is no accident that the rebellion, Indigenous peoples on this continent equally subjected to the slave masters’ with their own systems of sex, gender and which drew its leadership from the most who made room for many more sex/gen- absolute authority, the promotion of male sexuality—​to travel to this country to oppressed, ignited in an era of national der roles than the European nations did. supremacy among the slaves might have work and live. liberation struggles in the United States, Midnight Sun argued for a historical prompted a dangerous rupture in the Stonewall combatant Sylvia Rivera was Asia and Africa. materialist view of sex/gender systems chain of command. Moreover, since Black a transgender teenager who had lived The Vietnamese people inspired youth in these diverse Native societies, explain- women as workers could not be treated as homeless on the streets of New York of all nationalities, in the U.S. and all ing: “Social, and specifically sexual, life is the ‘weaker sex’ or the ‘housewife,’ Black City since she was 10 years old. She was over the world, by demonstrating that embedded in the economic organization men could not be candidates for the fig- Venezuelan and Puerto Rican—​and was the determination of a people to fight for of society—​an organization that gives ure of ‘family head’ and certainly not for one of many Latinx who fought in hand- their sovereignty and right to self-deter- rise to a variety of cultural forms. The ‘family provider.’ After all, men, women to-hand battles with police at Stonewall. mination was an unconquerable force, cultural construction of gender and sex- and children alike were all ‘providers’ for For some of the Stonewall combat- even in the face of Pentagon might. uality must be seen in terms of the sexual the slaveholding class.” ants, numerous oppressions overlapped The rising strength of national lib- division of labor, subsistence patterns, In terms of the division of labor within in their own lives—​racism, misogyny, eration struggles in the U.S.—​Black social relations, and male-female rela- the home life of enslaved families, she transphobia—like​ multiple burdens that Power, the American Indian Movement, tions. Within this context, ideology is not added: “Moreover, from all indications, create great strength. the Young Lords, the Chicanx/Mexicanx an arbitrary, discrete force—​rather, it the division of labor between the sexes I asked Sylvia Rivera in an interview movement, and organizations of militant serves to reproduce and perpetuate social was not always so rigorous, for men before her death, “What do you say when Asian youth—​stirred great pride in the forms, behaviors, and individuals suitable would sometimes work in the cabin and people ask you if you fought the police at oppressed here and around the planet. to a particular mode of production.” women might tend the garden and per- Stonewall because you were gay or trans? The waves of these movements created Colonization, Midnight Sun concluded, haps even join the hunt.” Because of police brutality or racism? more room in their wake for women attempted to systematically destroy the Davis concluded, “This bears repeat- Because of being oppressed as a youth or and LGBTQ people of all nationalities to diverse economic, ideological—and​ sex/ ing: Black women were equal to their men because you were homeless?” struggle to fight oppression based on sex, gender systems—​of Indigenous societies in the oppression they suffered; they were She answered with succinct eloquence: sexuality and gender expression. on this continent. their men’s social equals within the slave “We were fighting for our lives!” The youth of color in leadership in community; and they resisted slavery The Stonewall Rebellion was living the sustained battles against the police The cataclysmic impact of slavery with a passion equal to their men’s.” proof that when many histories converged in Greenwich Village on three hot sum- The history of African-American youth And centuries later, the descendants of in the streets of an imperialist metropo- mer nights in June 1969—many​ of them who fought hand-to-hand combat with those who resisted slavery were battling lis—​the capital of capital—​people who homeless youth who struggled to survive police at Stonewall is rooted in the his- the police in the streets at Stonewall for did not share a common oppression wrote on the streets—​fought for their right to toric struggle in this hemisphere against the right to define their own sexuality, a new chapter of history, together, when define and defend their own bodies, sex- enslavement and for national liberation. gender and sex. they rose up to fight back against a com- ualities and gender expressions. Their To overlook the earth-shattering impact mon enemy. struggle was rooted in a long history of of slavery on social relations in this coun- Many histories; many identities battles against capitalist colonization and try—​then or now—​would be tanta- While colonialism and imperialism Originally published Aug. 24, 2006, imperialism for the right of self-determi- mount to ignoring the cataclysmic impact have used bullets and bibles to reshape this column was part of Leslie Feinberg’s nation and national liberation. of a meteor strike in shaping the history social relations—​including organization series of articles on the connections In that sense, the Stonewall insurrec- of the planet. of the sexes and genders and expression between LGBTQ2S+ and socialist his- tion was not the culmination of one his- The tens of millions of African peoples of sexuality—and​ destroy the economies tory. The 120-part series “Lavender tory, but of many. who were taken prisoner, endured the of oppressed peoples, the struggles of the & Red,” which appeared in Workers horrors of the Middle Passage and were nationally oppressed have also had a deep World from 2004 to 2008, is available Roots of same-sex oppression enslaved as laborers on this continent, overall cultural impact on the oppressor for free download at workers.org/book/ Historically, the development of came from diverse cultures with their nation. lavender-red/. class divisions is at the root of same-sex own systems of economic organization, oppression. And specifically, as lesbian kinship, sex/gender and sexual and affec- and gay historians have explained, the tional expression. Rainbow Solidarity in ascendancy of capitalism over agricul- The landed aristocracy of slave-own- DEFENSE of CUBA tural production in the U.S. was the over- ers was hell-bent on reforging these By Leslie Feinberg, all class trajectory that laid the basis for social relations, like shackles, to meet its author of Stone Butch Blues the formation of distinct modern identi- own inhuman economic greed. Historian This book is an edited compilation of chapters 86 to 110 from ties of gay and lesbian, vocalized as “Gay Angela Davis reveals the contradictions the Lavender & Red series in Workers World newspaper that Power!” at Stonewall. in relations between the sexes/genders in began June 3, 2004. But agricultural production in the the family lives of those battling the hor- United States, and its defeat by indus- rific conditions of slavery in her germinal trial capitalism, was a class war with 1983 book, “Women, Race & Class.” It is available online at: many battlefields between oppressor and Davis pointed out that in the pre-Civil workers.org/book/rainbow-solidarity-in-defense-of-cuba/ oppressed peoples. War era, “As the ideology of femininity—a​ workers.org June 27, 2019 Page 7 Reclaiming Pride 25 years of Pride @ Work

By Martha Grevatt Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender A desire to redirect Labor Organization. Passing unani- This month marks the 50th anniver- mously, this resolution was tremendously sary of the heroic Stonewall Rebellion, an important at a time when the mainstream a movement event being commemorated throughout gay and lesbian civil rights movement was the world. On June 20, the LGBTQ2S+ slow to embrace trans liberation. By Colin P. Ashley names of Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. movement and the labor movement joined The name Pride at Work was adopted New York Johnson. This is not enough. We must in celebrating another major milestone: at the first national board meeting. protect the living. We must redirect our the 25th anniversary of the founding of 25 years of solidarity On May 24 activists gathered in movement. Pride at Work (P@W)—​the LGBTQ2S+ Washington Square Park to mourn the As New York prepares for World Pride/ Constituency Group of the AFL-CIO. One of P@W’s first campaigns as a loss of three Black trans women who had Stonewall 50, the entire city has become The celebration was held at the AFL- fledgling organization was to pressure been killed within weeks of each other. a candyland spectacle dedicated to rain- CIO national headquarters in Washington, Chrysler to end anti-LGBT discrimination Tamika Washington, Muhlaysia Booker bow capitalism. The spirit of fightback D.C. Representatives from more than a and add “sexual orientation” to the non- and Claire Legato are only three names and the language of struggle are erased dozen labor organizations and LGBTQ2S+ discrimination clause in its contract with of numerous trans women of color taken by the cooptation of capitalism. Police civil rights groups came, including Flight the United Auto Workers. The language from us too soon. Their deaths point to a will be out in full force surrounding the Attendants President Sara Nelson, Trans was added in 1999 at Ford and General crisis of violence and hate impacting this Pride Parade, and they are still allowed to Equality Executive Director Mara Keisling, Motors as well as Chrysler, with domes- community. participate despite their continual threat AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler tic partner benefits granted a year later. Sadly, many of the same activists were to the oppressed. That parade will be sat- and several board members of Asian Current contracts also cover “gender out only a few weeks later on June 11 to urated with politicians, corporations and Pacific American Labor Alliance. identity” and “gender expression.” mourn the death of Layleen Cubilette- police, all of whom continue to use and/ Solidarity Awards were given to Lee In 1997 the AFL-CIO voted for P@W Polanco/Xtravaganza, an Afro-Latinx or abuse the LGBTQ2S+ community. Saunders, president of the American to become an official Constituency Group, trans woman who died in her cell at The Reclaim Pride Coalition has instead Federation of State, County and Municipal joining the A. Philip Randolph Institute, Rikers Island. That the criminal-legal sys- called the Queer Liberation March, a his- Employees; Shane Larson, former co-pres- Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, tem refused to take Layleen’s life-threat- toric people’s march that will be political ident of P@W; and Lambda Legal Staff Coalition of Labor Union Women, ening medical condition seriously and put and celebratory. Its goal is to recenter the Union-Communication Workers. Lambda Labor Committee for Latin American Layleen’s bail at $500, which was beyond marginalized and to create a space in which Legal Staff organized in 2017. Advancement and APALA. her means, point to the ways in which the larger community can begin work to Over the years P@W has supported Part of the Stonewall tradition state institutions specifically destroy redirect our movement toward complete many LGBTQ2S+ workers in and out of Black and Brown trans women and and total liberation for all of the oppressed. P@W was founded in 1994 in New unions. Examples include supporting remain institutions of terror for all Black, This march was built through coali- York City; its first convention took place a worker at a Speedway gas station in Brown and working-class communities. tion in the spirit of the original uprising during the Stonewall 25 commemoration. Indiana who was fired for being gay, and at Stonewall and in the spirit of inter- By that time there were groups in a challenging the state of Michigan over Black Trans Lives Matter! sectionality. We will be marching from number of cities advocating inside the domestic partner benefits. These losses also point to a deeper issue Sheridan Square to Central Park, retrac- labor movement for LGBT rights, as well The group has educated the labor in the wider LGBTQ2S+ community. It is ing the route of the first 1970 Christopher as LGBT caucuses in several major unions. movement on LGBTQ2S+ issues and edu- because of the failure to protect the most Street Liberation Day March. Lesbian and Gay Labor Alliance (Bay Area), cated the LGBTQ2S+ community on the marginalized in our community—​our In honor of our dead, in honor of our Lesbian and Gay Labor Network (New need for unions. Since P@W’s founding, trans sisters of color—​that many of us freedom fighters, in honor of the Black York), Gay And Lesbian Labor Activists many out LGBTQ2S+ workers have been are seeking to “Reclaim Pride.” and Latinx trans women whom we’ve lost, Network (New England) and others laid elected to union office, including Josette With this the 50th anniversary of the we will be Reclaiming Pride! the foundation for Pride at Work. Jaramillo, president of the Colorado AFL- Stonewall Uprising, many of us have There was a great deal of misunder- CIO; and Cal Noyce, former president of learned to speak of the roots of our move- More information about the Queer standing in the labor movement around the Central Utah Federation of Labor. ment in the language of opposing police Liberation March can be found at LGBT rights, from the top levels of lead- P@W has taken many progressive violence. We have learned to uplift the reclaimpridenyc.org. ership down to the rank and file. A his- stands, from demanding freedom for toric step forward was the 1987 reception Mumia Abu-Jamal to endorsing the 2018 held at AFL-CIO headquarters during the International Tribunal on U.S. Colonial weekend of the Second National March on Crimes in Puerto Rico. Come out for Pride at 50! Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Most unions have advanced to a pro- The late United Farm Workers President gressive position supporting LGBTQ2S+ César Chávez addressed the march. rights and equality. On May 22 the United Come out for Workers World! Unions also marched and held Federation of Teachers passed a resolu- June is Pride month. Rallies receptions during the 1993 March on tion commemorating the 50th anniver- and marches worldwide are Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal sary of Stonewall, pledging to “recommit commemorating the 50th anni- Rights and Liberation. In 1994 the time ourselves to the timeless values of univer- versary of the historic Stonewall was ripe to form a national organization to sal equality which uphold our movement Rebellion! From the beginning, build mutual solidarity between the LGBT toward LGBTQ liberation.” Workers World Party has a proud community and the labor movement. When P@W Chapters march in Labor history of reporting on and par- The convention established the orga- Day and Pride parades, their banners are ticipating in the living struggle nization, with a basic structure and a emblazoned with the timeless union slo- for LGBTQ2S justice and equal- national executive board with regional gan: “An injury to one is an injury to all.” ity. Foremost these days is fight- representation. As the convention was nearing adjournment, a resolution was Martha Grevatt is a founding mem- ing transgender oppression, to WW PHOTO: BRENDA RYAN stop right-wing legislative attacks Workers World Party's Pride contingent in New introduced to modify the name, Lesbian ber of Pride at Work and served on its on both trans and gender-non- York City, June 24, 2018. and Gay Labor Organization, to make it national board from 1994 to 2001. conforming youth and adults and to stop brutal physical attacks and view that the LGBTQ2S struggle is murders, which especially target trans an integral component of the overall women of color. struggle to end patriarchy and capital- Kick cops and corporations out of Pride! Do you know that Workers World has ist oppression. So if you want to both made major theoretical contributions to fight for the liberation of LGBTQ2S Continued from page 1 proclaimed on the banner of Workers the LGBTQ2S struggle? One was publi- people and struggle against capitalist World Party’s Gay Caucus of Youth cation of “The Roots of Lesbian and Gay exploitation, help build Workers World the U.S. state itself, founded on capitalist Against War & Fascism in the 1970s. Oppression: A Marxist View” (World newspaper. white supremacy and patriarchy. That’s a call to all those marching View Forum, third ed., 1993), which We invite you to join the WW LGBTQ2S+ people are marching Pride workers to take up their banners drew on Frederick Engels and Dorothy Supporter Program, which was set up against U.S. imperialism and persecution and turn out into the streets for “Pride in Ballan for a dialectical materialist expla- 43 years ago to help us publish anti-rac- of im/migrant peoples. Their banners Worker Solidarity!” That means fighting nation of LGBTQ2S oppression. Another ist, anti-sexist, pro-LGBTQ2S, work- say: “No Pride in Genocide.” LGBTQ2S+ consciously for queer LGBTQ2S+ work- was the body of work of Leslie Feinberg, ing-class truth and build campaigns people are marching for Pride, but only if ing-class and oppressed lives, not adver- a proud WWP leader, who created the needed to crush capitalism and usher it includes everyone: “No Pride for some tising profit-hungry bosses. first Marxist analysis of transgender in socialism. Write checks to Workers of us without liberation for all of us." LGBTQ2S+ members of WWP and history and struggle in such books as World and mail them, with your name For some decades, Pride celebrations other socialist organizations were hand- “Transgender Warriors: Making History,” and address, to 147 W. 24th St., 2nd have been flooded with corporate money. in-hand with the Stonewall Rebellion that “Transgender Liberation: Beyond Pink Floor, New York, NY 10011. Or click on Huge contingents of LGBTQ2S+ work- opened a new front in the struggle against and Blue” and “Rainbow Solidarity in Donate on workers.org. Know that we ers and allies march at Pride under their oppression. Defense of Cuba.” are grateful for your help in building the bosses’ banners—​Honda, T-Mobile, Now, reclaiming Pride means we must That analysis drives Workers World’s revolutionary press in the U.S. ☐ U-Haul and more. intensify that struggle until there are “No But “Stonewall Means Fight Back!” was cops and no corporations in Pride!” ☐ Page 8 June 27, 2019 workers.org New York state Three historic wins for farmworkers

By Minnie Bruce Pratt management called local and workers make complaints Syracuse, N.Y. state police on them. But with about health and safety issues the encouragement of WCCNY at their jobs. Farmworkers in New York state have organizers, Hernandez persisted The WCCNY goal for the bill won three historic victories in the last and filed suit in 2016. was codification of farmwork- month through valiant worker-centered Of the victory, Hernandez ers’ rights on an equal basis with leadership and steady support from allies. said: “All workers deserve to other state hourly workers, espe- In Syracuse, the driving force came from have a voice and be heard at cially regarding issues like over- the Workers Center of Central New York their place of work, and farm- time pay and a day of rest. (WCCNY), a membership-based organi- workers deserve to be treated However, the powerful New zation of low-wage workers advocating with respect and dignity.” York Farm Bureau, which for and organizing workers to improve (tinyurl.com/y2y4e4lb) mounted a furious campaign working and living conditions in Central against the worker-initiated Greenlighting the second win and Upstate New York. PHOTO: UNLOCAL court suit, continued to fight a On May 23, a New York appellate court Thousands of farmworkers Fifteen members of the “Green Light NY Driving Together” bitter rear-guard action to limit finally invalidated a 1930s, Jim-Crow- live in Central and Upstate New campaign celebrate their successful civil disobedience action in protections given to farmwork- based state law that denied farmworkers York in isolation, with limited Albany on May 21. ers in the FFLPA. the right to organize, even though that access to transportation. They The result is a flawed bill that right was included in the state constitu- have no way to get to a doctor, no way to undocumented community: "We see you. Rebecca Fuentes, a lead organizer with tion. The American Civil Liberties Union get groceries, unless by paying exorbitant We welcome you with open arms. You WCCNY, recognizes as “a great step for- argued the suit against the state. (For fees to informal local “taxi” drivers. are here, and today we give you the right ward in having the ability to organize and more on the racist origins of the bill, see If they drive without a license, workers to move freely around this state without advocate for the rights and well-being of tinyurl.com/yynp866k/.) are vulnerable to racist profiling stops by fear." (dream.info) farmworkers,” with “new legal protec- The WCCNY and member Crispin local police, followed by arrest and subse- Despite these welcoming words, tions that have been so long in coming.” Hernandez filed the suit, together with quent deportation for this “crime.” anti-immigrant hostility and persecu- (WCCNY press release, June 20) the Workers Justice Center of New York. For years WCCNY and other immigrant tion are still alive in New York state gov- But, in a June 20 Facebook post, Hernandez was fired from his job at rights groups have leafleted, demon- ernment, as they are at the federal level. Fuentes noted there are inequities in Marks Dairy in Lowville, N.Y., in 2015, strated and even committed civil disobe- County clerks in Erie and Oswego coun- the bill: “Several issues in that bill are when he began organizing with other dience to get access for undocumented ties have declared they will refuse to pro- not good for workers, starting with mak- workers after work hours. workers to drivers’ licenses. The cam- cess the new licenses. (See related story ing a strike, stoppage or a slow down At 16 he began a job at the dairy, work- paign was called “Green Light NY Driving from Buffalo, N.Y., in this issue.) an ‘unfair labor practice.’ Also, over- ing 12-hour days, seven days a week, with Together: Luz Verde NY Manejando The struggle continues! time is set at [over] 60 [hours], not at no medical assistance—even​ when a cow Juntos.” 40. Unemployment insurance was taken stepped on his hand, mangling it. Worker On June 17, a second historic farm- Fair labor victory away from guest workers with this bill.” housing was bug-infested with broken worker win was passage of the Driver’s The May 23 court victory in Crispin In a June 20 press release Fuentes windows. Inferior management-provided License Access and Privacy Act—​the Hernandez’s suit provided impetus for expressed hope that a wage board created boots and gloves exposed workers to dan- “Green Light Act”—​by the state Senate; a third farmworker win. On June 19, the by the law would act quickly in lowering gerous chemicals. it was signed into law the next day by Gov. Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act the threshold from 60 hours for farm- Agricultural work in New York state is Andrew Cuomo. The act restores the right was passed by the state Senate. Passage workers to get overtime. “This is a mat- big business. Many workers are undocu- to obtain a license, regardless of immigra- of FFLPA was historic; the bill had been ter of equity and fairness,” said Fuentes. mented immigrants, particularly vulner- tion status, that existed in the state prior tied up in the Senate for 15 years! “Those who labor in the fields, orchards able to exploitation, making organizing to 2001. WCCNY played a crucial role in pas- and dairy barns work hard and deserve even more difficult. When Hernandez and Senator Luis Sepúlveda, who spon- sage of the bill, organizing on the ground, the same rights as others. It’s time New other workers began to meet with WCCNY, sored the bill, said to New York’s holding rallies and protests, and helping York State does the right thing.” ☐ Domestic gag rule: Time to fight the patriarchal state

By Sue Davis endangered by pregnancy to get abortions and civil rights organizations, led by the referring patients for or counseling them paid with federal Medicaid funds. American Civil Liberties Union, the rule about abortion, she denounced that the On June 18, Donald Trump announced A later decision allowed states to pay has been denounced by mayors, state law- rule blocks access to abortion care with his candidacy in 2020 for a new term. for abortions with their Medicaid funds; makers, governors and more than 200 “cost-prohibitive and unnecessary physi- Only four days later, on June 21, anti- 17 do so now. While dollar amounts for members of Congress, including the Pro- cal separation requirements” designed to health care rules issued by his admin- federally paid abortions are not available, Choice Caucus and caucuses representing isolate abortion care from other services. istration took effect—​one of the most they must be exceedingly small—​con- Black, Latinx and Asian Pacific American The effects of the rule will be a human far-reaching attacks yet on poor women sidering that filling out the bureaucratic congresspeople. rights violation for millions of people of and LGBTQ2S+ people. forms required to prove incest and rape California, Oregon and Washington color, youth, im/migrants, rural residents, Its openly class-based, viciously rac- can be a daunting burden. won temporary injunctions to stop the survivors of domestic violence and women ist-sexist intent is to deny access to abor- “Hyde’s effects are real and signifi- rule. But the Trump administration with disabilities. In addition, as Dr. Wen tion and other reproductive health care, cant,” confirms a study published June appealed, and judges in the Court of noted, “Providers of care of nearly 50 per- as well as information and referrals about 19 by researchers at Advancing New Appeals for the Ninth Circuit allowed the cent of Title X patients [say] the rule would abortion, to 4 million gender-oppressed Standards in Reproductive Health, rule to take effect. Maryland is the only force them out of the program. The admin- poor people who receive their primary based at the University of California, San state where the rule did not take effect. istration is putting health care at risk for health care via Medicaid under Title X. Francisco. About 29 percent of poor preg- Planned Parenthood is the rule’s pri- patients across the country.” The timing of the two events is no coin- nant women interviewed in Louisiana in mary target. The national organization cidence. People are predicting that Trump 2015-17 said they would have considered provides birth control, cancer screenings, Gag rule is ‘hateful, criminal, reactionary, will rely heavily on appeals to his faith- an abortion, but didn’t because of the lack testing and treatment for sexually trans- misogynist, inhuman and fascistic’ based, anti-women and anti-gender-op- of Medicaid coverage. mitted diseases, as well as medical and There are so many ways to condemn pressed constituency to help reelect him. A June 20 Vox article about the study surgical abortions and other reproductive the gag rule—​hateful, criminal, reac- (For more about Trump’s reliance on stated: “Near-total abortion bans at the care. The campaign to defund the coun- tionary, misogynist, inhuman and fascis- anti-abortion forces and prior gag rule state level have brought the possibil- try’s major nonprofit source of health care tic. But the most obvious aspect is that attempts, see WW, March 15.) ity of a challenge to Roe v. Wade to the for gender-oppressed people was started it insinuates the capitalist state directly That means anyone who cares about the forefront.” It concluded that “for many by Vice President Mike Pence, a fervent into the most intimate and ultimately basic human rights of all gender-oppressed Americans, especially those in poverty, evangelist and Trump worshipper, when personal aspect of human life. people and their families needs to march the end of Roe is already here.” he was in Congress in 2007. This rule personifies the definition of and rally against the so-called “domestic Dr. Leana Wen, the first president of the patriarchal state—​men in power who gag rule,” which ruthlessly stomps on the Progressive organizations fight back Planned Parenthood in 50 years who is a exercise control over those deemed infe- positive, gender-equality aspects of Title X Immediately after the Trump adminis- physician, specialized in emergency room rior as their private property. Shouldn’t of the Public Health Services Act. Passed tration released the final rule in March, it medicine and was Baltimore’s health com- that make every person angry who values in 1970 during the Nixon administration, it was challenged by Planned Parenthood, missioner before assuming leadership human and civil rights? provided free reproductive health care for which could lose its status as the primary last fall. Calling abortion bans “misog- Articles recently have addressed men’s low-income women on Medicaid as part of source of reproductive health care in the yny and oppression,” Dr. Wen noted in role in abortion. The most important role the “federal war on poverty.” U.S. Also opposed were the American a June 20 statement that the House of now is for men to join gender-oppressed After the Supreme Court made abortion Medical Association and 19 major medical Representatives passed a spending bill the people in the streets to struggle against legal in 1973 with Roe v. Wade, Congress associations, like the American College of previous day “that would block the gag rule this vicious assault on our personhood. passed the Hyde Amendment in 1976. It Obstetricians and Gynecologists, as well from being implemented because it’s dan- We demand our right to life! We will allowed only women who had suffered as 110 public health organizations. gerous, it’s unethical, and it’s illegal.” never go back!. ☐ from incest or rape or whose lives were In addition to opposition by 20 states Noting the rule prohibits providers from workers.org June 27, 2019 Page 9 Seattle protest hits ‘Homeland Security’

By Jim McMahan inside and held it up in front of the Seattle stage when Johnson was speaking. It denounced immigrant detention and An angry demonstration denounced "kids in cages." former Homeland Security Secretary The rally was chaired by WAISN Jeh Johnson's appearance in Seattle Coordinator Monserrat Padilla, and

June 18 and voiced outrage at President representatives from a number of orga- WW PHOTO: ELLIE DORRITIE Donald Trump’s all-around human nizations spoke. "Homeland Security" rights abuse and plans for mass depor- was exposed as a fraud whose real pur- tations of immigrants. pose is war against immigrant workers. Im/migrant rights now! Organizers of the Washington WAISN is a statewide coalition of 150 Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN) (and growing) immigrant rights and Buffalo activists demand Green Light implementation and Red de Solidaridad de Inmigrantes solidarity organizations. As explained also outlined plans for self-defense at the rally and in their literature, Members of the Buffalo branch of local activist who has been campaigning to against Homeland Security's invasion they "have organized teams of rapid Workers World Party and local activists get the Green Light law passed, pointed out of their homes and communities. response volunteers across the state to demonstrated outside the Erie County Hall that Kearns is backing up his noncompliance The protesters exposed Johnson, support our neighbors and friends in June 21 to protest County Clerk Michael with bogus claims of unconstitutionality. who was speaking at the Seattle City the event of an ICE (Immigration and “Mickey” Kearns’ announcement that he The demonstration’s overarching mes- Club's annual luncheon at the state Customs Enforcement) raid or related would not comply with the recently passed sage was that the treatment of undocu- convention center, as the person who community emergency." In addi- New York State “Green Light” law. Green mented people in the U.S. amounts to reinstated harsh border policies and tion WAISN has a statewide hotline Light, effective Dec. 14, grants undocu- genocide and that Kearns’ position makes family detention. They circled the con- (1-844-RAID-REP, 1-844-724-3737) mented immigrants the right to obtain a him an agent of genocide. Calls were made vention center complex chanting: "Hey for immigrant and refugee families to New York state identification card, shield- for his dismissal or resignation. hey, ho ho, deportation has got to go!" report ICE/Border Patrol activity in the ing them from Immigration and Customs The demonstrators slipped a banner community. ☐ Enforcement detainment. Josh Bunting, a — Nigel Bouvart Time to terrorize back WW Commentary Trump is terrorizing migrant workers

By Teresa Gutierrez didn’t approve immigration asylum law source of labor power that can be A Human Rights Watch researcher in that time, he would direct ICE agents super-exploited at their whim. said: “The kids had colds and were sick Two weeks. to resume the raids. Anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy and said they didn't have access to soap Two weeks that undocumented work- But what happens after those two are being used to divide and conquer the to wash their hands. Some kids who were ers and all im/migrants in this country weeks? Does anyone actually expect any- working class. It is also used to derail detained for 2-3 weeks had only one or will be living under increased tension and thing different on immigration policy? attention on other critical issues. two opportunities to shower. One said terror. Absolutely not. Pelosi refers to “our communities.” they hadn't showered in three weeks. On June 17, Donald Trump, one of Under the Trump administration, Yet the Democrats have done nothing to Hygiene and living conditions like this the most reviled U.S. presidents ever, deportations, detainments and harass- defend Dreamers brought to the U.S. as creates a risk of spreading infectious dis- announced that he would begin mas- ment of immigrant workers in the U.S. children, win asylum for those who des- ease. It makes me very concerned about sive roundups and deportations of im/ have been relentless. Advocates report perately need it or stop the deportations. the public health emergency." migrants. that for the countless migrants who go The Democrats have continued to sup- It can be assumed that all detention On the eve of a June 18 campaign to court for their deportation hearing, or port imperialist policies that destabilize centers have similar conditions. stop in Orlando, Fla., Trump tweeted: any kind of appointment, their appear- nations, such as when Secretary of State “Next week [Immigration and Customs ance can mean deportation—​right then Hillary Clinton backed the right-wing Stop the war of terror against migrants Enforcement] will begin the process of and there. coup in Honduras in 2009. Both Pelosi and Trump must hear from removing the millions of illegal aliens Soft raids have been taking place, Migrants are nothing more than the workers in this country that all this who have illicitly found their way into the Pelosi. Where was Democratic outrage pawns for Washington players, both the policy is terror. United States. They will be removed as then? Democrats and the Republicans. Some Democratic mayor or state offi- fast as they come in." (Politico, June 18) Migrants, documented or not, are liv- Nonetheless, it is the Trumpites cials have announced that they would not His get-them-all-out attitude instilled ing under a cloud of intense terror as they who have veered into fascist. white-su- cooperate with ICE agents. This is nice a cold chill in im/migrant workers. His never know whether on their job, in court premacist territory. But it won’t be the optics, and an important gain. campaign stop in Florida was a massive or at a stop light, they will be picked up. Democrats who can stop that. But it is only the U.S. working class—​ rally that harkened back to KKK events Teachers report that the stress level for those who have some legal protections of not long ago. Pandering to his reaction- children of migrants has skyrocketed as Terror 2019 style because they are documented—​who ary, nativist, white-supremacist base, he children worry if they will come home Where is Pelosi’s compassion for the can truly and genuinely stop this terror continued to whip up his racist anti-im- after school to an empty house. children in inhumane conditions held in against migrant workers. migrant rhetoric in preparation for the And the crisis at the Southern border detention? Child detentions, child deaths The war of terror on migrants is a 2020 presidential campaign. goes on, where forced migration means have skyrocketed. Migrants—​many of humanitarian crisis of epic proportions. It’s important to point out that Orlando record numbers of migrants traveling in them trans people—​have died in deten- A six-year-old child from India died in the has become home to thousands of cli- unprecedented caravans. They have been tion due to callous neglect. U.S. Rep. desert near Arizona recently. Remarkably mate refugees from Puerto Rico, forced met with cruelty, even though migrants Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez received flak for more and more migrants at the Mexican out of their homeland in record numbers are eligible for asylum. calling them concentration camps. U.S. border are not just from Central after Hurricane Maria (also known as After two weeks, all these conditions But the left has been correct in call- America. They are from Cameroon, India, Hurricane Colonialism). will only continue. ing them such for some time now. How Bangladesh, Syria and so on. else can one explain the conditions? Or In unprecedented numbers, more and Where have the Democrats been? Who is to blame? re-opening the same military base that more workers are leaving their home- The Democratic Party establishment Since 2006, both capitalist parties have held Japanese citizens interned during lands and going further than ever to find responded on June 22 to Trump’s tweet, attempted to solve the economic crisis on World War ll—to​ hold im/migrants now? some relief from the global attacks of opposing his announcement. Party the backs of migrants, using a campaign to Just like prisons in the U.S, these capitalism. leader Nancy Pelosi stated that Trump’s criminalize and deport workers. Pelosi’s detention centers have become concen- The migrant crisis is global. Let’s make “planned raids were heartless” and would party under Barack Obama became the tration camps for the poor. our response global. “inject terror into our communities.” party whose president deported more On June 21, CNN, based on an In September, young people from (CNN, June 22) workers than any other U.S. president—​ Associated Press exposé, ran a news story, around the world have called for a gen- Where has Pelosi been? Under a rock? ever. Who’s heartless now, Pelosi? “Lack of soap, filthy onesies and too few eral strike to demand an end to climate Yes, the raids are heartless, but terror has This terror, of course, has been greatly beds have created a 'health crisis' at bor- change. This movement must be inextri- been injected into immigrant communi- aggravated—​in fact, is on steroids—​ der detention facilities, monitors warn.” cably, genuinely connected to the migrant ties for some time now. under Donald Trump. But both parties After visiting the Ursula Processing crisis. Next Trump tweeted that he was delay- have criminalized migrant workers and Center in McAllen, Texas, attorney Toby A global strike is desperately needed to ing the deportations for two weeks "at the militarized the Southern border. Both Gialluca said, “There was just a pervasive push back the terrorist war on our class. request of Democrats." Trump threat- parties have been complicit with the health crisis. Virtually everyone we saw That is the way to stop this global war. ☐ ened that, if Washington lawmakers capitalist class in providing a controlled was ill.” Page 10 June 27, 2019 workers.org

editorial Iran crisis: Which side are you on? The war crisis that the gang in Trump’s establishing socialism, for anti-imperial- police force, we don’t ask who struck the and has tried to act in Iran’s interest. This White House has unleashed in the Strait ists, this decision is clear. first blow—​it’s almost always the cops—​ independence has brought it continually of Hormuz has many facets and complica- Iran was in effect a colony of the U.S. we side with the community. into conflict with imperialism, especially tions worth analyzing. and its oil companies from 1953 until If a former colony is defending its inde- with Washington. It is a conflict within the U.S. ruling class, 1979, when it won its real independence pendence against an imperialist power, Last year the Trump gang broke its even within the administration. It involves through a revolution. It is attempting to we side with the country fighting for inde- nuclear agreement with Iran and is now disagreements among the usual imperialist defend that independence. pendence. Defeat the oppressor. Defend trying to squeeze the Iranian people with U.S. allies who fear the consequences if war The United States is the most power- the oppressed. sanctions to make their government sub- breaks out. There are disagreements within ful imperialist state and oppressor of the In the modern imperialist era, Iran was mit. The U.S. has sent its warships to the Pentagon about where the U.S. drone world’s peoples. a semicolony first of the British Empire the waters off Iran and flown spy planes was located when Iranian anti-aircraft fire Revolutionaries must be on the side of and then of the United States. U.S. agents and drones around and over it. So far shot it down. An internal conflict between an independent Iran against the United overthrew an elected Iranian government Washington’s attempt at intimidation has the U.S. president who wants to rule the States. in 1953 and installed an emperor, the failed—​and that’s good for the workers world and the president who wants to win If workers strike against the boss, we are Shah, who ruled through jailings and tor- and people worldwide. the 2020 election. on the side of the workers. If the strikers ture for 26 years. The task for anti-imperialists, indeed Besides examining these points, how- have to fight with scabs, we don’t ask who The 1979 revolution put in place a for anyone in the U.S. who wants peace, ever, the most important thing to decide started the fight. We side with the workers. nationalist government with theocratic is clear: Mobilize to stop U.S. aggression is which side you are on. If an African-American oppressed com- content. Since then, this regime has been and end the sanctions against Iran. For revolutionaries who aim toward munity is in conflict with the occupation independent of imperialist domination Down with U.S. imperialism! ☐ Boston activists protest U.S. threats to Iran By Workers World Boston Bureau Coalition Director Kevin Peterson, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and Approximately 75 peace activists gath- several progressive journalists. ered in downtown Boston, outside the Park Haji and others highlighted the long his- Street Massachusetts Bay Transportation tory of U.S. interference in Iran, focusing Authority station, on June 22 to denounce particularly on the 1953 coup that installed U.S. war threats against Iran. The action the repressive pro-U.S. Shah. They empha- came just two days after the news that U.S. sized the solidarity between the Iranian President Donald Trump had called off a people and the U.S. people, despite policies military strike against Iran just minutes pursued by the U.S. government. before it would have hit. Speakers also repeatedly denounced the Speakers included Mojgan Haji of the U.S. use of economic sanctions, citing the National Iranian American Council, rep- shortages of medicine and other essential resentatives from Massachussets Peace products that such policies cause, as well as Action and the Coalition to Stop the the hundreds of thousands dead as a result Genocide in Yemen, New Democracy of earlier sanctions on Iraq. ☐ June 22. WW PHOTO: MAUREEN SKEHAN Hondurans rebel at 10th anniversary of coup By Sam Ordóñez over the last decade. The uprising is devel- accused Zelaya of seeking a second term of hundreds of cases of social leaders mur- oping just days before the 10th anniversary in order to justify removing him, but JOH dered while fighting against mining proj- June 24—Since​ last week, the Honduran of the coup against Manuel Zelaya in 2009. was able to amend the Constitution and ects and hydroelectric dams since 2009. people have been in rebellion against the Zelaya was president from 2006 to run for reelection without issue. In the urban areas, the government dictatorship of President Juan Orlando 2009, when he was kidnapped by the mil- The 2017 election was characterized by has tried to destroy all social services Hernandez (JOH). The general strike and itary and sent to Costa Rica. The military blatant fraud of JOH’s National Party. The on instructions from the International accompanying demonstrations that began high command claimed that Zelaya was vote count was suspended several times, Monetary Fund. The current struggle to last month, organized by the Platform for seeking a second presidential term, which in one instance for three days, and when it defend health care and education is the the Defense of Health and Education in would have violated the constitution. resumed, the almost 5 percent advantage culmination of many years of funding cuts Honduras, have evolved into a demand for In truth, the coup was the result of held by the opposition had disappeared. aimed at eventually forcing privatization. the resignation of the president in response Zelaya’s attempt to join the Bolivarian While JOH’s dictatorship slashes funds to the intensity of state repression. Alliance for the Peoples of Our America Ten years of repression, neoliberalism for public services, the police have gotten Doctors and teachers were joined by (ALBA), a regional organization pro- The anniversary of the coup is an oppor- more and more militarized, with technol- delivery drivers, who refused to make moted by the governments of Cuba and tunity to reflect on the objectives and con- ogy and training from the U.S. While the deliveries and used their trucks to block Venezuela to resist imperialist coercion. sequences of the neoliberal agenda for country burns and the people demand key highways throughout the country. This was unacceptable to U.S. imperi- Latin America. It must be noted that this justice, last week 300 U.S. Marines This quickly caused a fuel shortage in var- alism and the Honduran oligarchy, which is a set of policies imposed by U.S. imperi- arrived in Honduras to add to the U.S. ious areas, particularly the big cities. had already been attacking the progres- alism; therefore the policies are completely troops already there. At one point, a section of the National sive government through its control of the subjugated to its interests. Honduras has the largest U.S. mili- Police also went on strike and rebelled media. When presented with the opportu- The history of Honduras, like all of tary base in the region, and the country against their officers, causing the people nity, they fabricated a constitutional crisis Latin America, has been defined by colo- has historically been used to crush social to once again take the streets and occupy and carried out a military coup. nialism and its successor, imperialism. movements in neighboring countries. In buildings and public spaces throughout Publicly, the U.S. government under The dispossession of Indigenous peoples 1954, it was the staging ground for sol- the cities. The police have since returned President Barack Obama condemned the and the destruction of their lands through diers financed by the U.S. to overthrow to their work of suppressing protests, coup, but did nothing to help restore the extractivist projects and monoculture is the the Guatemalan government, and the since what they truly wanted was more democratically elected president. In fact, basis by which the oligarchy enriched itself country was also used as a base of support money, but not before JOH mobilized the then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s and built the current Honduran state. for the Contras in Nicaragua in the 1980s. army to “restore order.” leaked emails reveal that the U.S. was Under the neoliberal governments of Ten years after the coup d’etat, the Despite state repression, the Platform negotiating with the coup leaders, many JOH’s National Party, this process has Honduran people will no longer stand and opposition party Freedom and of whom were connected to the Pentagon. only intensified. The case of Indigenous for neoliberal austerity and the state Refoundation (Libre) continue to call The U.S. did not hesitate to recognize the (Lenca) land-defender Berta Cáceres, repression that comes with it. The two for popular mobilization and have stated poll results in November of that year, despite who fought against transnational capital’s options they have left are to join the cara- their intent to continue struggling until the fact that the elections were run by the attempt to build a dam in Lenca territory, vans heading north or fight in the streets the dictator resigns. military junta. The new conservative pres- is known throughout the world. against the government. ident, Porfirio Lobo Sosa, was celebrated Cáceres was murdered in 2016 by a group For those living in the imperialist center, 2009 U.S.-backed coup for his “reconciliation” efforts. Meanwhile, of men linked not only to the company solidarity with the people of Honduras has Images of people facing off against tear journalists who supported Zelaya or simply building the project and to the Honduran to be twofold. First, it means struggling gas and military police, of human rights opposed the coup began to disappear. state, but also to the infamous School of against the fascist border policies of the U.S. defenders assassinated by security forces The current president came to power the Americas, the U.S. military college that government. Second, it means denouncing and of streets blockaded by burning tires in 2014 and has been criticized for cor- for decades trained soldiers and security the JOH dictatorship and demanding that show the intensity of the struggle against the ruption and increasing state repres- forces for the worst dictatorships the con- the U.S. cease all training and military aid neoliberal policies imposed by imperialism sion against opponents. The right wing tinent has known. And Cáceres is only one to its imperial puppet in Honduras. ☐ workers.org June 27, 2019 Page 11

WW Commentary Iran and the big lie behind U.S. power

By Deirdre Griswold about the president’s judgment and the wealth of the bottom 50 percent fell by banks behind them were raking in the power wielded by the United States.” $900 billion.” (New York Times, June 24) dough. Within minutes on June 20, President The figure $21 trillion is so mind-bog- So the idea that “the power wielded by Donald Trump first authorized and then ‘Freedom’ to exploit the world gling it is almost incomprehensible. Let’s the United States” benefits the working canceled a U.S. military strike on Iran. It is true that, especially since the drop- break it down. First, the U.S. population class here, the vast majority of the popu- The reasons he gave for stopping the ping of two atomic bombs on Japan at the over the last three decades averages out lation, is totally false. Instead, the workers planned attack were “humanitarian.” end of World War II—​which in a flash to 300 million people. Of that, 1 percent who don’t get killed or maimed in these However, consideration for human killed hundreds of thousands of people—​ equals 3 million people. Divide $21 tril- wars are stuck with huge tax bills for ever lives has not stopped this U.S. president the U.S. ruling class has relied on its pre- lion by these richest 3 million and the more deadly and costly high-tech warfare. before, whether it was his approval of ponderance of terror weapons to be able to net worth of each one of them grew by $7 The rich, meanwhile, have a zillion so many other deadly Pentagon strikes proclaim itself “leader of the free world.” million. ways to minimize their taxes—​a scandal all over the Middle East, or his brutal Yes, it has enjoyed the freedom to However, most of that increase in that goes far beyond Trump’s refusal to policy that has caused so many people, exploit and super-exploit working people wealth went to the top one-tenth or even release his tax returns. including children, to die in the scorch- and natural resources on every continent. one-hundredth of a percent, some of The global capitalist economy, over ing deserts of the U.S. Southwest and in It is the ability to threaten—​and whom have become trillionaires—a​ term which the U.S. claims leadership, is in a the concentration camps called migrant destroy—​so many countries that has that didn’t even used to exist. precarious position. This immense polar- detention centers. made the U.S. ruling class the richest ization of wealth cannot go on forever The reasons for Trump’s reversal are in human history. But just because the Rich get richer, workers get poorer without reaching a tipping point. the subject of great capitalist media spec- super-rich have grown ever richer doesn’t At the same time, the rest of us have In the crises yet to come, what will ulation. Much of it, including from that mean workers in the U.S. benefit from been getting poorer. Some 80 percent of be decisive is the ability of the work- part of the media that presents itself as that. On the contrary. the U.S. population now lives on credit. ing class—​multinational, multigender, liberal, is actually critical of his decision This was made stunningly clear by All this has happened even as the U.S. young and old—​to build the solidarity not to attack, claiming it shows weakness data provided in a recent Federal Reserve was bringing havoc to Afghanistan, Iraq, needed for the struggle to take over the and undermines confidence in the U.S. report. An analysis of the data found that Libya, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen productive forces it has created and run For example, an article in the New “over the last three decades, the wealth- and Yugoslavia—​and now is threatening them, not for profit, but for the good of York Times about Trump’s reversal com- iest 1 percent of Americans saw their Iran with the same fate. humanity and the planet on which we plained that it “intensified global doubts net worth grow by $21 trillion, while the Meanwhile, the oil companies and the live. ☐ U.S role in Hong Kong protests

The corporate media have used recent for 30 years, from 1949 to 1979 China well-meaning progressive people, often children) compared to less than 1 percent protests in Hong Kong to attack and vil- was completely walled off, blockaded with legitimate grievances whose interests in mainland China. In the past 20 years ify the People’s Republic of China and and sanctioned by the U.S. and Western are not those of the movement's leadership. poverty in Hong Kong has remained high the ruling role of the Chinese Communist imperialist countries. while mainland China has lifted countless Party, under the pretext of defending In 1979, from the “reform and opening Facts about the Hong Kong protests millions of people out of poverty. Recent human rights. Without knowing the up” initiated under Deng Xiaoping, China Multiple member organizations of protests, much like the “Occupy Central” history, as well as all the ways the U.S. made the concession to capitalist market the Civil Human Rights Front, the coa- protests in Hong Kong in 2014, have super-rich and their government in reforms. This finally gave China access lition behind the recent protests, receive not raised this issue. The protests have Washington carry out U.S. foreign pol- to some technology and capital from the or have received funding from the NED, been directed at leadership connected to icy, it is impossible to understand the industrialized world, but it was a deal a U.S.-funded soft power organization mainland China, while ignoring the U.S.- forces behind these protests in Hong with the devil, strengthening the capital- that doles out money in the interests connected banks and ultra-wealthy capital- Kong, a city that the British Empire ist class in China. of U.S. imperialism. These include the ists based in Hong Kong who clearly show seized in 1842 and only returned in 1997. The British colony of Hong Kong was Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource no interest in addressing poverty or other This statement from the International returned to China in 1997 under the “one Management, Hong Kong Confederation desperate needs. Action Center takes on these issues. country, two systems” principle that pre- of Trade Unions, Hong Kong Journalists The U.S. claims to be concerned with served much of the British colonial legal/ Association, Civic Party, Labor Party and free speech and politically motivated U.S. imperialism is the greatest enemy judicial system in the former colony. Democratic Party. extraditions, while it aggressively pur- of the world’s peoples, who are struggling Hong Kong is a center of world finance Over 37,000 NGOs, with staff in the sues the extradition of Julian Assange for for a future with dignity, sovereignty and capital. It is deeply hostile to the social tens of thousands, are registered in Hong exposing the crimes of U.S. imperialism. full human rights. Wall Street and finance measures that have lifted hundreds of Kong, many of which receive funding The corporate media in the U.S. and capital maintain their dominance through millions of people in mainland China out from the U.S. and Europe. Europe have enthusiastically reported on the threat of over 800 foreign military of extreme poverty and provided high Martin Lee, founder of the Democratic the Hong Kong protests, in stark contrast bases, aircraft carriers, constant coups, standards of health care, education and Party in the Civil Human Rights Front, to the meager, often critical coverage of targeted assassinations, drone attacks modern infrastructure. met with U.S. Secretary of State Mike mass protests in Gaza, Honduras, Sudan, and starvation sanctions imposed on over Finance capital has made strong inroads Pompeo during the protests. Pompeo Yemen, France or the recent general 30 countries around the world. into China. Hong Kong is the West’s base expressed support for the protests at the strike in Brazil. The difference in coverage Wall Street also uses the soft power of operations, encouraging the growth of a meeting. If the protests are in fact serv- exposes a difference in the forces behind National Endowment for Democracy capitalist class in China that threatens the ing a progressive end, they would not the protests, a difference in who stands to (NED) to fund many thousands of non- foundations of socialism. Today China is a be supported by the reactionary lead- benefit from them. governmental organizations, reactionary deeply contradictory society, characterized ership of U.S. imperialism—​the very U.S. imperialism has a long history of political parties and alliances with cor- by the struggle between a reborn capitalist force attempting to carry out a coup in “color revolutions” in which protests with rupt dictators all over the world. class and the aspirations of Chinese work- Venezuela, threatening People’s Korea a progressive, even revolutionary patina U.S. aid and interventions have never ers and peasants to maintain and expand and trying to start a war with Iran. are used as cover for a reactionary, pro- protected human rights or democracy. the planned economy. Hong Kong's independent judicial/legal U.S. agenda. Recent mass protests against a pro- It is in the context of this struggle, as system is a relic of British colonialism. World finance capital forces in Hong posed modification of extradition laws well as the escalating U.S. military encir- Nowhere else in the world does a city have Kong are allied with U.S. imperialism have rattled Hong Kong. It is the natural clement and trade war against China, that independent extradition laws, with author- and opposed to socialist ownership and response of all progressive forces to rally the current protests in Hong Kong must be ity above that of a sovereign country. the leadership of China by the Chinese to the side of mass demonstrations. But understood. The forces of finance capital in Despite decades of multimillion-dollar Communist Party. it is the duty of revolutionaries to look Hong Kong and their allies in the U.S. and Western funding, Hong Kong has a pov- U.S. Hands Off China! deeper, to ask what forces are behind a Europe want to pull Hong Kong away from erty rate of 20 percent (23.1 percent for Hong Kong is part of China! ☐ movement and who stands to benefit. China so it can function as an economic and political outpost in the region. Background This means limiting legal and political Britain stole Hong Kong from China at integration with China as much as pos- WAR WITHOUT VICTORY the conclusion of the first Opium War in sible. To this end the U.S. has provided by Sara Flounders 1842. Through the Opium Wars, Britain extensive political, financial and media “By revealing the underbelly of the empire, Flounders sheds insight and the U.S. military imposed the opium support for the protests. on how to stand up to the imperialist war machine and, in so doing, trade, unequal treaties and occupation. The vocabulary of protest is available save ourselves and humanity.” One hundred years of imperialist looting to both the left and right. Through the – Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, NED the U.S. has financed coup attempts, completely impoverished and underde- President, U.N. General Assembly, 2008-2009; veloped China. often involving a component of mass pro- Foreign Minister of Nicaragua’s Sandinista government. The victory of the Chinese Revolution test, in Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela, in 1949 radically changed China and Haiti, Ukraine and Syria. Any movement Available at www.warwithoutvictory.com and workers.org/books began the efforts to build socialism. But has the potential to sweep into it many 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. 61 Núm. 26 27 de junio 2019 $1

FRAUENSTREIKENZH FACEBOOK ‘Huelga de Mujeres’ el 14 de junio en Zurich, Suiza. Honduras El pueblo se subleva contra la dictadura

Por Sam Ordóñez diez años. contra sus rivales. La derecha había acu- del continente. Este es solo un caso de Manuel Zelaya fue presidente de 2006 sado a Zelaya de querer extender su man- cientos de asesinatos de líderes socia- 24 junio - El pueblo hondureño se a 2009, cuando el ejército lo secuestró y dato como pretexto para el golpe de 2009, les que luchaban contra las minerías y encuentra desde la semana pasada en lo mandó a Costa Rica, argumentando pero JOH se presentó a la reelección sin las hidroeléctricas que se han visto en sublevamiento contra la dictadura de que Zelaya buscaba un segundo término problemas judiciales. Honduras desde 2009. Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH). El paro presidencial, que en ese momento violaba La elección de 2017 fue caracterizado En las zonas urbanas, el gobierno busca nacional y las manifestaciones iniciadas la constitución. por un fraude descarado por parte del la destrucción de los servicios sociales, el mes pasado por la Plataforma por la En realidad el golpe fue motivado por- partido de JOH. La cuenta de los votos a instrucciones del Fondo Monetario Defensa de la Salud y la Educación en que Zelaya había intentado unirse a la se suspendió varias veces, en una instan- Internacional (FMI). La lucha actual para Honduras han evolucionado a exigir la Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos cia durante tres días, y al reanudar había defender la salud y la educación pública renuncia del presidente en respuesta a la de Nuestra América (ALBA), una orga- desaparecido misteriosamente la ventaja es la culminación de muchos años de pér- fuerte represión que han sufrido. nización regional promovida por los de casi 5 por ciento de los votos que tenía dida de fondos, con el fin de poder priva- A los médicos y los docentes se suma- gobiernos de Venezuela y Cuba para el candidato opositor. tizar los pocos servicios que quedan. ron los transportistas, que se negaron combatir la influencia del imperialismo Mientras la dictadura de JOH reduce a conducir y usaron sus camiones para norteamericano. Diez años de neoliberalismo y represión los presupuestos de los servicios públicos, bloquear ciertas carreteras. Esto provocó Esto representaba un paso inacepta- El aniversario del golpe de estado es la policía se encuentra cada día más mili- rápidamente una escasez de combustible ble para el imperialismo norteameri- un momento oportuno para reflexionar tarizado, con más tecnología y entrena- en varias zonas del país incluyendo las cano y la oligarquía hondureña, que ya sobre los objetivos y las consecuencias de miento estadounidense. Mientras el país grandes ciudades. había estado usando su control sobre los la política neoliberal. Más que nada hay arde y el pueblo exige justicia, la semana En un momento un sector de la Policía medios de comunicación para atacar al que recordar que es una política impuesta pasada llegaron 300 marines estadou- Nacional se puso también de huelga y gobierno progresista. Cuando encontra- por el imperialismo norteamericano, y nidenses para complementar las tropas en rebeldía contra sus oficiales, cosa ron la oportunidad, fabricaron una crisis por lo tanto es una política completa- norteamericanas que ya están en el país. que provocó que el pueblo tomara las constitucional y llevaron a cabo el golpe. mente servil a sus intereses. Honduras tiene la base militar estadou- calles y empezara a ocupar las ciudades. Públicamente, el gobierno estadou- La historia de Honduras ha sido, como nidense más grande de toda la región, y se Estos policías ya volvieron a su trabajo nidense de Barack Obama condenó el la de toda la América Latina, definida por ha usado históricamente para aplastar los de represión, ya que solo buscaban más golpe, pero no hizo nada para restaurar el colonialismo y el imperialismo que lo movimientos sociales de los países veci- dinero para hacerlo, pero no antes de que al presidente democráticamente elegido. siguió. El despojo de los pueblos origi- nos. En 1954, parte de las tropas finan- JOH movilizara el ejército para “restaurar De hecho, los correos electrónicos de narios y la destrucción de sus tierras con ciadas por Estados Unidos para derrocar el orden”. Hillary Clinton, que en aquel momento proyectos extractivistas y el monocultivo al gobierno guatemalteco se movilizaron Pese a la represión, la Plataforma y el era Secretaria de Estado, revelan que el es la base sobre la cual la oligarquía se ha desde Honduras, y también apoyo a la partido opositor Libertad y Refundación gobierno norteamericano negociaba con enriquecido y ha construido su estado. Contra nicaragüense en los años 80. (LIBRE) siguen llamando a la moviliza- los líderes del golpe, muchos de los cuales Bajo los gobiernos neoliberales del A diez años del golpe, el pueblo hon- ción popular, y han dicho que seguirán en tenían relaciones con el alto mando mili- Partido Nacional de JOH, este proceso se dureño ya no aguanta la austeridad neo- la lucha hasta que salga el dictador. tar estadounidense. ha intensificado. El mundo entero conoce liberal y la represión estatal que conlleva. No tardaron en reconocer los resulta- el caso de Berta Cáceres, defensora de Las dos opciones que le queda son unirse El golpe de estado de 2009 dos de las elecciones presidenciales en la tierra del pueblo Lenca que luchaba a las caravanas que viajan hasta el norte, Este sublevamiento se está desarro- Noviembre de ese año, aunque se celebra- contra el capital transnacional que o luchar para derrocar al gobierno. llando a días del décimo aniversario del ron bajo una junta militar. El nuevo pre- quería construir una hidroeléctrica en el La solidaridad con el pueblo hondu- golpe de Estado contra Manuel Zelaya en sidente conservador, Porfirio Lobo Sosa, territorio Lenca. reño por parte de las personas que viven 2009. Los imágenes del pueblo enfren- recibió grandes alabanzas del gobierno de Berta Cáceres fue asesinado en 2014 en el metrópolis imperial tiene dos par- tándose a gases lacrimógenos y policías Obama por sus esfuerzos hacia la “recon- por un grupo de hombres vinculados tes. Primero, luchar contra las políticas militares enfrentándose, de defensores ciliación” pese a que durante su mandato no solamente con la empresa que cons- fronterizas fascistas del gobierno esta- del pueblo asesinados por las fuerzas de empezaron a desaparecer periodistas que truía el proyecto y el estado hondureño, dounidense. Segundo, denunciar la dic- seguridad, de bloqueos formados neumá- apoyaban a Zelaya o se oponían al golpe. sino también con la famosa Escuela de tadura y luchar para terminar el apoyo y ticos ardientes afirman la intensidad de El actual presidente llegó al poder en las Américas, el colegio militar estadou- entrenamiento militar que ofrece el impe- la lucha contra las políticas neoliberales 2014 y ha sido criticado por su corrup- nidense que ha entrenado a las fuerzas rialismo a su títere en Honduras. ☐ impuestas por el imperialismo en estos ción y el aumento de la represión estatal de seguridad de las peores dictaduras Mujeres en huelga en Suiza por igual salario y más

Por Kathy Durkin En Berna, la capital, se manifesta- pidieron a las personas que no podían trabajo. ron 100.000 personas, mientras que los hacer eso que abandonaran sus lugares de En 2018, el Parlamento suizo pro- Salario. Tiempo. Respeto. Ese fue el trabajadores atacaron en fábricas. Allí, trabajo a las 3:24 p.m., porque las muje- mulgó una ley que pedía a las empresas lema de la "Huelga de las Mujeres" de 24 Rachel Luthy enfatizó: “Debemos luchar res trabajan gratis después de ese tiempo que "estudiaran" las disparidades de pago horas por la igualdad salarial de género, por la igualdad salarial ... derechos de debido a la desigualdad salarial. Las por género, pero eso solo se aplicaba a las la igualdad de derechos, el respeto y el fin aborto, tolerancia cero para la violencia mujeres ganan 20 por ciento menos que empresas con más de 100 empleados. No de la violencia de género, que barrió Suiza doméstica y más. ¡Lo más importante es los trabajadores masculinos, una indigna- incluía sanciones para las empresas que el 14 de junio. que debemos aplastar el patriarcado!” ción en uno de los países más ricos del violaban la ley. Cientos de miles de mujeres y personas (New York Times, 14 de junio) mundo. Es aún peor para los inmigrantes. Las mujeres líderes sindicales califica- de todos los géneros desde sindicatos a En la manifestación más grande del El Foro Económico Mundial clasifica a ron la ley de "sin sentido". Las mujeres grupos pro derechos de las mujeres y los país, 160.000 personas marcharon en Suiza en el puesto 44 en equidad salarial se enfurecieron tanto que comenzaron a grupos aliados, las instituciones educati- Zurich, un centro global de capital finan- por trabajo similar, en comparación con planear una protesta nacional. Los sindi- vas y religiosas, e incluso las granjas mar- ciero. Los organizadores allí recibieron todos los demás países. (npr.org, 14 de catos se involucraron, y USS, un grupo de charon, se unieron y atacaron. a mujeres, personas trans, intersex y junio) ¡Qué enormes ganancias obtienen 16 sindicatos suizos, contribuyó a organi- Coloridas pancartas volaban desde queers, inmigrantes y personas de dife- los capitalistas al engañar a las mujeres zar la huelga del 14 de junio. puentes y edificios en las principales ciu- rentes edades, comunidades, capacidades de sus salarios completos! A medida que aumenta el costo de la dades. El color púrpura era visible en e ingresos. En Basilea, 40.000 personas Hace exactamente 28 años, 500.000 vida en la peor economía "amigable para todas partes, incluso en la ropa, debido participaron en 50 actividades, mientras mujeres suizas realizaron una huelga la familia" de Europa, y la desigualdad a su simbolismo con los movimientos que las acciones se llevaron a cabo en las histórica por la igualdad de derechos. salarial de género crece, esta lucha con- del sufragio de las mujeres europeas. Las principales ciudades y pueblos. Eso dio lugar a la aprobación de la Ley de tinuará. ☐ mujeres en Suiza no pudieron votar hasta Muchas mujeres hicieron huelga igualdad de género en 1996, que prohibía 1971. durante todo el día, pero los organizadores la discriminación de género en el lugar de