AUSTRALIA $1.50 · canada $1.00 · france 1.00 euro · new zealand $1.50 · uk £.50 · u.s. $1.00 INSIDE Cuba’s internationalist mission in Angola discussed at Havana book fair — PAGE 7 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE vol. 77/no. 8 march 4 , 2013 New readers Crisis grinds on workers as ‘State of Union’: help win more Europe production declines Obama offers no subscribers to Gov’t ‘austerity’ hits hardest in Greece, Spain plan to alleviate ‘Militant’ unemployment by Louis Martin by john studer “I love that paper. It’s for people President Barack Obama’s Feb. 12 without a voice,” said subscriber State of the Union speech, a follow Chaba Doye when visited by Militant up to his Jan. 21 second Inaugural supporters Tamar Rosenfeld and Address, proposed nothing to address Bernie Senter Feb. 17 in the Harlem workers’ concerns about jobless- neighborhood of New York City. ness and other grinding effects of the worldwide crisis of capitalism. Expanding readership door to door ComMentarY Doye said a friend of hers comes by Among the most striking things in each week to borrow the paper when face of persistently high unemploy- it arrives, asking “Did you get the pa- ment is the lack of any consideration per yet?” on the part of the Obama adminis- “I’ll have to get her to subscribe tration, or any other politician, of a too, so I can get my papers back,” Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty government-funded public works pro- said Doye, who bought three books Seamen at Greece’s Piraeus port Feb. 6, day that riot police forced end to strike. Workers in gram to put millions back to work, or on special for subscribers. (See ad on Greece are among hardest hit as propertied rulers in Europe make workers pay for their crisis. any other measures to alleviate the page 3 for the eight books on special by brian williams currency and trade bloc. burdens workers face. with a Militant subscription.) Manufacturing output is declin- World trade slowed last year with In sharp contrast, presidents In the first 10 days of a five-week ing throughout Europe, making any major export-driven economies like Franklin D. Roosevelt in the second international campaign to sell at least economic recovery or improvement Japan and Germany shipping less half of the 1930s and Harry Truman Continued on page 3 in the conditions of working people than in 2011. Imports to many coun- after the end of World War II pro- there very unlikely in the near term. tries of Europe from the U.S. also fell jected significant jobs programs as Winter ‘Militant’ In the last quarter of 2012, gross Continued on page 7 Continued on page 6 domestic product, a measure of goods subscription campaign and services, declined throughout the Feb. 9 - March 18 (week 1) eurozone at its fastest pace in four years, affecting all 17 nations in the Omaha: Socialist Workers Party files Country quota sold % 1,950 UNITED STATES for ballot in mayor, city council races Miami 60 21 35% NYC school bus San Francisco 120 37 31% Houston 100 25 25% union officials Washington 65 15 23% suspend strike Chicago 130 29 22% by seth galinsky Des Moines 100 22 22% NEW YORK—One month after Omaha 50 11 22% it began, officials of Amalgamated New York 300 63 21% Transit Union Local 1181 on Feb. 15 Lincoln 15 3 20% called off the strike here by 8,800 Los Angeles 120 24 20% school bus drivers, attendants and mechanics. Twin Cities 100 20 20% Union members voted to strike Atlanta 115 21 18% after city officials announced that Seattle 115 16 14% Employee Protection Provisions that Philadelphia 85 11 13% Militant/Candace Wagner Boston 65 8 12% Solidarity with Fox 42’s Curtis Casper interviews Maura DeLuca, SWP candidate for Omaha mayor, Feb. 19. Total U.S. 1540 326 21% School bus workers! BY SARA LOBMAN Prisoners 15 4 27% —editorial, p. 9 OMAHA, Neb.—“It’s about build- ing a movement of working people. Also Inside: UNITED KINGDOM were won in a hard-fought strike 34 We need to organize independently London 100 19 19% Should years ago were now “illegal.” The of the Democrats and Republicans,” Asia: Working class grows with Manchester 50 17 34% be strike ended with Mayor Michael Maura DeLuca, Socialist Workers spread of capitalist production 2 UK Total 150 36 24% Bloomberg, whose term expires in the Party candidate for mayor here, told fall, refusing to budge an inch. Curtis Casper, who interviewed her ‘LA Times’ interviews NEW ZEALAND 60 13 22% 408 Under the provisions, private com- for Fox 42-TV Feb. 19 as she filed SWP candidate for mayor 4 panies the city hires to run all the more than 2,200 signatures to be CANADA 70 15 21% school bus routes have to hire laid- placed on the ballot. Thousands of coal miners strike in Colombia 5 AUSTRALIA 55 14 25% off workers with seniority and wages “It’s the only way workers have intact before hiring off the street, re- won anything in the past—from the Total 1890 408 21% gardless of which company workers Civil Rights movement to the fight for US rulers debate drone assassination program 6 Should be 1950 507 26% were laid off from. Without the provi- the 40-hour week,” she said. Continued on page 9 Continued on page 4 Asia: Working class grows with spread of capitalist production by emma johnson Four Seasons Fashions Ltd. is look- In recent decades, the development of ing to move elsewhere after 20 years capitalism in Asia has drawn hundreds in China. “In Bangladesh the average of millions into the industrial working monthly salary for garment workers is class, bringing with it new social contra- only around $70 to $100. If I produce dictions, sharpening class antagonisms here, price is much more competitive,” and a growth of the potential gravedig- owner Rosa Dada told the BBC Aug. 29. gers of capitalism. She said wages in her factory in China This accelerated process began have now reached $400 to $500. more than three decades ago with gar- In 1977 there were eight garment fac- ment and other light industry in China, tories in Bangladesh. Today there are spurred by the expanded use of market 4,500, employing 3.6 million workers, methods and foreign capital investment. most of whom are women. The growth More recently some of these indus- of the industry is at the center of capi- tries have been shifting to a number of talist development in Bangladesh, today other Asian countries, where capital is comprising 80 percent of its exports, being drawn to cheaper sources of labor. second only to China. Reuters/Chor Sokunthea The trends have been given some impe- After large protests in 2010, the mini- Workers on strike at Pine Great Garment plant in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sept. 15, 2010. tus by rising wages in China as a result mum wage was raised from $20 to $37. of workers’ struggles there. At the same In June 2012 workers demonstrated for villages, uprooted from life in the coun- Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s biggest time, the class struggle has followed a further increase of 50 percent. For tryside and thrown into large produc- economy and has grown rapidly over wherever capital creates new industrial five days they clashed with police who tion centers primarily around the capital the last decade. During 2012 there were centers. used tear gas, rubber bullets and water Phnom Penh and along the Thai border. dozens of major strikes, centered mainly U.S. menswear retailer Jos. A Banks cannons. All 300 factories in the indus- Remittances to their families sustain an on demands for higher wages and a ban Clothiers Inc. has moved some manu- trial zone of Ashulia, on the outskirts of estimated 20 percent of the country’s 14 on hiring temporary workers. Hundreds facturing from China to cheaper loca- Dhaka, the capital, were shut down. million people. of thousands of workers participated tions in Asia, such as Indonesia. “The Over the past three years a number in a national strike Oct. 3, the first garment business always moves around Cambodia: Garment workers strike of strikes have taken place. The govern- such action in nearly half a century. In the developing world,” CEO Neal Black Cambodia had no garment industry ment raised the minimum wage from November thousands of workers rallied told the Wall Street Journal March 13. until the mid-1990s. In 2010 it made up $50 to $61 a month in July 2010. Two outside parliament protesting a new so- “It brings jobs, those people become 70 to 80 percent of the country’s manu- months later 200,000 workers went on cial security law that will require them skilled and then move on to products facturing exports and employs 50 per- strike demanding $93. to pay for health services. like electronics.” cent of the manufacturing workforce, In May last year 5,000 workers Factory workers earn an average ba- “So many foreign companies are com- with 327,000 workers. at Singapore-owned SL Garment sic salary of $120 a month. Following peting for workers we wish the popula- Social changes developing in the Processing Ltd. walked out of its Phnom protests, the new governor of Jakarta, tion would double,” Larry Kao, general wake of capitalist expansion include an Penh factory demanding a raise of the capital, agreed in November to raise manager of MedTecs, a Taiwanese com- uprooting of the material basis for tradi- monthly wages to $91, an increase of the minimum wage from $158 to $228. pany, which produces surgical suits at its tional dependent and home-bound roles $30. They have a nominal eight-hour On Feb. 6, hundreds of workers ral- 4,000-employee factory in the central of women. day six days a week, but are often re- lied outside Jakarta City Hall, pressing lowlands of Cambodia near Vietnam, About 90 percent of Cambodian gar- quired to work their day off, do 16-hour the governor to force companies to pay said to the Financial Times Jan. 13. ment workers are women from rural days and get no sick pay. the new wage, which many bosses have Today wages in the industry have refused to do. risen to $110-$130 a month compared to Malaysia’s first-ever minimum wage $85-$100 three years ago. Food and rent was just implemented. The government in Phnom Penh can be up to $80. of Thailand raised the minimum wage One feature of the recent and rapid in seven provinces last year by as much expansion of capitalist industry in parts as 40 percent. of Asia—and historically other less de- Meanwhile, electronics giant veloped nations where this occurs—is Foxconn, with 1.2 million employed in The fight for safety on the job worldwide its concentration, the size of the enter- China, announced Feb. 2 that unions prises themselves. will be allowed at its factories and elec- No worker has to die The average size of garment factories tions will take place at all of them during or be maimed due to un- is 1,000 workers in Cambodia and 800 this year. The company has faced ongo- safe work conditions! The in Bangladesh, with many having thou- ing battles and skirmishes with workers ‘Militant’ covers the fight sands working side by side. since 2009. for job safety, from coal Latin America, Caribbean: For one year mines in the U.S. to con- send $85 drawn on a U.S. bank to above The Militant address. struction workers in Uru- Vol. 77/No. 8 Africa, Asia, and the Middle East: For guay who recently won the Closing news date: February 20, 2013 one year send $85 drawn on a U.S. bank to Sunca Editor: Doug Nelson above address. right to shut down unsafe Construction workers in Uruguay march for Associate editor: John Studer Canada: For one year send Canadian $45 sites. job safety after Jan. 29 death of coworker. Circulation director: Louis Martin to the Militant, 7107 St. Denis #204, Mon- treal, Quebec H2S 2S5. Editorial volunteers: Tom Baumann, United Kingdom: Send £26 for one year Róger Calero, Naomi Craine, Seth by check or international money order SUBSCRIBE TODAY! 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2 The Militant March 4, 2013 Subscription campaign Continued from front page chine all of the time,” she said. 1,950 subscriptions along with hun- After signing up, Perryman-el called dreds of books, supporters of the her neighbor to tell her about the paper. socialist newsweekly have signed up Getting no answer, she bought a sub- 408 readers, the great majority by scription for her anyway, sure that she going door to door in working-class would like it. neighborhoods. “When Terani Puangi renewed her During this same period, four work- subscription, she said two patients ers behind bars subscribed to the work- at the Maori health clinic where she ers’ paper, prompting us once again to works regularly read copies of the adopt a goal for prisoners as part of the paper she brings,” wrote Janet Roth effort. (See chart on front page.) from Auckland, New Zealand. Puangi Doye is not the only Militant reader subscribed when Militant supporters taking initiatives on her own to help cir- knocked on her door last fall. culate the paper. Some 3,350 subscriptions and hun- “At first, I was going to brush you dreds of books were sold during the fall ladies off,” said Hester Perryman-el, effort and now many of these subscrip- 39, when Betsy Farley and Alyson tions are expiring. Militant supporters Kennedy knocked on her door in a high- visit these readers to see if they would Militant/Michael Fitzsimmons rise apartment building in Chicago. like to renew, to show them the books Militant subscriber Abel Gonzales (second from right) talks with Amanda Ulman, Katina Matthews and Jacquie Henderson, SWP candidate for Texas Senate, 6th District. The three “But then I saw ‘The Militant’ on the on special offer and to talk about how visited Gonzales while selling Militant and books to workers door to door in Houston. paper and said, ‘Wait a minute now.’ For they can help win new readers among me this means sometimes you have to friends, neighbors, relatives and co- benefits and pay flat wages—take it or her neighborhood with Amanda Ulman bend the system and not be part of a ma- workers. leave it,” said James, a custodian at a and Jacquie Henderson, Socialist When Joanne Lachance public elementary school in Miami, af- Workers Party candidate for Texas checked out an article writ- ter seeing the Militant’s coverage on the Senate. Gonzales and Matthews both ten by a Militant supporter school bus workers’ fight in New York. subscribed to the paper during the fall who came to her door in He asked that his last name not be used drive. a working-class neigh- for fear of reprisal at work. He bought “We can’t let them intimidate us. I borhood of Montreal, she a subscription when supporters of the learned that from my experience or- asked if Militant writers paper came to his door. ganizing unions when I was a little are professional journal- “What other jobs are you going to get younger,” said Gonzales, who also ists. right now?” asked James, adding that talked about having to deal with rac- After learning that the his workload has been increasing be- ist violence against anyone considered articles are written by or- cause the schools haven’t been replac- Mexican when he was growing up in dinary workers, she said, ing workers who retire. Texas. “That means I could send During the course of their recently Continue sending your reports, com- an article on the day care concluded strike against United Natural ments and photos by 9 a.m. EST every workers strike or the ac- Foods Inc., 14 members of Teamsters Monday. tions on unemployment? I Local 117 subscribed to the paper, and And if you want to join the effort to like that.” strikers bought seven books on spe- expand the readership of the socialist “The Miami-Dade cial offer, John Naubert reported from newsweekly, you can contact a distribu- schools want to contract Seattle. tor in your area listed on page 8, or con- Militant/Dan Fein “I’m revolutionary. That’s right up my alley,” Glenny Taveras out our positions to a pri- Katina Matthews met fellow Militant tact the Militant to order a bundle at (right) said when she got a subscription after Deborah Liatos vate company, which reader Abel Gonzales for the first time [email protected] or (212) 244- knocked on her door in Far Rockaway, Queens, Feb. 16. wants to take away our as she was campaigning door to door in 4899. Special offers with ‘Militant’ subscription militant labor The Working Class and the Cuba and Angola Transformation of Learning Fighting for Africa’s Freedom forums The Fraud of Education Reform and Our Own Under Capitalism california by Nelson Mandela, Fidel San Francisco by Jack Barnes Castro, Raúl Castro; Cuban Cuba and Angola: Cuba’s Fight for $2 with a subscription to the Militant generals and combatants; Africa’s Freedom and Their Own. Speaker: Betsey Stone, Socialist Workers (usually $3) Gabriel García Márquez Party. Fri., March 1, 7:30 p.m. 5482 Publication offer: $9 till March 31 Mission St. Tel.: (415) 584-2135. Malcolm X, Black $6 with subscription (usually $12) Liberation, and the Road canada Women in Cuba: Montreal to Workers Power The Making of a Revolution Fight for a Massive Jobs Creation by Jack Barnes Program. Speaker: Beverly Bernardo, Within the Revolution Communist League. Fri., March 1, 7:30 $10 with subscription (usually $20) by Vilma Espín, Asela de los p.m. 7107 St-Denis, room 204. Tel.: (514) 272-5840. Santos, Yolanda Ferrer $10 with subscription australia (usually $20) Sydney We Are Heirs Why the Working Class is Both Target of the World’s Revolutions The Cuban Five of—and Solution to—Capitalism’s Crisis. Speaker: Ron Poulsen, Communist Speeches from the Burkina Who They Are, Why They League candidate for Senate in Sept. 14 Faso Revolution 1983-87 Were Framed, Why They federal elections. Sat., March 2, 6:30 p.m. Reception followed by program. Donation: by Thomas Sankara Should Be Free $5 waged, $3 unwaged. Upstairs, 218-287 $5 with subscription (usually $10) from pages of the Militant Beamish St., Campsie. Tel.: (612) 9718- $3 with subscription 9698. Thomas Sankara Speaks (usually $5) The Burkina Faso Revolution calendar 1983-1987 Women and Revolution by Thomas Sankara The Living Example connecticut New London $10 with subscription (usually $24) of the Cuban Revolution Humor From My Pen. An exhibit of po- by Asela de los Santos, litical cartoons by Gerardo Hernández, one of the Cuban 5. March 2-9. Opening Mary-Alice Waters and others reception: Sat., March 2, 6-9 p.m. Film and See distributors Publication offer: $5 till March 31 discussion to follow at 8 p.m. Provenance on page 8 $3 with subscription (usually $7) Center, 165 State St. Tel.: (860) 405-5887. The Militant March 4, 2013 3 ‘His goal is not to tally votes, but plant seeds of revolution’ ‘LA Times’ interviews SWP candidate for mayor by john studer whom he ordered assassinated. But “L.A. mayoral candidate’s old- the party also has a long history of school revolutionary platform.” factionalism,” Holland opines. That’s the headline of a Feb. 5 arti- “While a student at UC Berkeley, cle by Gale Holland on the Socialist I witnessed the divisions firsthand. Workers Party campaign of Norton Party members directed much of their Sandler that appeared on page two in vitriol at other leftists who pushed a the Los Angeles Times. different political line,” she wrote. The article opens: “The Los Holland refers to a 2011 article in Angeles headquarters of the Socialist the Militant, it seems in an attempt to Workers Party is a storefront next to make Sandler and his party look fool- a taqueria on Western Avenue. The ish. concrete path behind it is ringed by “He came in for a political spank- concertina wire. On Saturday after- ing himself,” she wrote, “by the party Militant/Arlene Rubinstein Norton Sandler, SWP candidate for Los Angeles mayor, campaigns Nov. 23 at protest in noon, a man unloaded Air Jordans newspaper—the Militant. Sandler Paramount, Calif., demanding higher wages and health care coverage for workers at Walmart. onto the hood of his Buick Regal had drafted an article about an L.A. around the corner and hawked them teachers rally protesting layoffs and helped get across the working-class body,’” Sandler continued. “I was re- to passersby.” cuts in school funding. Editor Steve course the SWP fights for in its cam- sponding to negative comments she “I think she was trepidatious about Clark not only refused to run the sto- paigns, despite the fact that, accord- made about the economic situation in being in a typical L.A. working-class ry, but also printed a stinging rebut- ing to Sandler, the author ignored Cuba. ‘You won’t see that in Cuba,’ I neighborhood,” Sandler said in a Feb. tal of Sandler’s positions, suggesting much of what he said. pointed out.” 19 phone interview. “Workers read- they perpetuated a ‘bourgeois fable.’ She omitted, for example, “the fact “By the way,” Sandler told the ing the article will immediately pick “Sandler said he found the critique that we sell books door to door,” said Militant, “we got an immediate un- up on the author’s anti-working-class ‘very useful,’” she writes. Sandler. “I think she couldn’t grasp solicited contribution in the mail of a bias. We got a good laugh out of the Clark’s article, “Higher Taxes or that working people are anxious significant amount from a reader of the article with vendors in the area. The Layoffs of Teachers? A Fake Trade- and willing to read serious political Los Angeles Times from Northridge. man who sells shoes was among the Off” is available on the paper’s web- books.” When I called him up to talk, he told first who signed our petition for bal- site, themilitant.com, in the June 6, “She also omitted the context of me it was the first time he had given to lot status. I joked with him that he got 2011, issue. the quote attributed to me that ‘every a political campaign and signed up for free publicity. ‘Yeah, but they didn’t The Los Angeles Times article bus bench is home in L.A. to some- a subscription to the Militant.” include my picture,’ he protested in jest.” “Sandler’s campaign has barely registered with the body politic,” SWP candidates in Omaha file for ballot status Holland wrote. “But that’s OK: His Continued from front page class neighborhoods across the city, and many coworkers are working short goal is not to tally up votes, but to “Working people need to fight for campaigning for the Socialist Workers hours,” Perasso said. “They were inter- plant the seeds of revolution.” a massive, government-funded jobs Party ticket and introducing working ested in our explanation that the eco- “It’s important to have labor and program to put millions to work people to the Militant newspaper and nomic crisis was the result of the normal the working-class point of view in the building roads, schools, hospitals and socialist books and pamphlets.” workings of capitalism and that working election, because we’re in the midst other things workers need,” DeLuca’s On Saturday evening, campaign sup- people, who have the opposite interests of a crisis,” Sandler tells her. “We running mate, Jacob Perasso, told Fox porters and friends—including several from the bosses, need to break with present a road forward ultimately for TV. Perasso is the SWP candidate for who had recently been introduced to the the Democratic and Republican parties working people.” City Council District 4. campaign—gathered over a dinner pre- in order to effectively fight in our own “Sandler, 67, is graying, bespecta- The candidates filed 2,205 signatures pared by volunteers to celebrate the suc- interests and for working-class political cled and affable, bearing some resem- for DeLuca and 260 for Perasso with the cessful completion of the petition drive. power.” blance to the Wizard of Oz,” Holland Douglas County Election Commission. Candidates said a few words about the Nebraska has one of the lowest offi- wrote. “After a middle-class upbring- The requirements are 1,000 signatures effort. cial unemployment rates in the country, ing in Denver, Sandler spent 40 years of registered voters for mayor and 100 “I enjoyed listening to the candidates second only to North Dakota. But even as a steelworker, punch press opera- for city council. The two top vote getters explain the reaction they got campaign- according to government statistics, there tor and boilermaker. Most recently, in the April 2 primary election for each ing,” said Lelanie Long, who works with are still nearly 40,000 workers who can- he has been assembling power boards office will face off in the general elec- Perasso at a electronic assembly plant not find work here. for a small Los Angeles company. tion on May 14. and subscribed to the Militant at the din- “I was laid off from my job at an “His campaign is largely built “We wrapped up the petitioning effort ner. insurance company last October and around door-to-door canvassing in Friday, with more than double the num- “The petition effort puts us in a good haven’t been able to get another one,” South Los Angeles, Boyle Heights and ber of signatures needed for DeLuca position to meet and talk with thousands Yajaira Valles told Maggie Trowe and other working-class neighborhoods. and myself,” Perasso told the Militant. more workers over the coming weeks Joe Swanson when they came to her Sandler and his supporters are call- Most of the petitions were collected on and months,” DeLuca told the Militant. door. “I watch kids at my home, now.” ing for a massive, government-funded the street outside shopping centers and “This weekend 19 people bought sub- She signed up for a subscription. jobs program to build hospitals, day other busy areas. scriptions to the paper. Several com- “Chuck Guerra, from Des Moines, care centers and clinics in the city.” “The next morning a dozen campaign mented proudly that they had signed to and I stopped by to visit Michelle Hollie, “Man, do they want to talk about supporters—from Omaha and Lincoln, put Perasso or me on the ballot in the as we were taking the Militant door to the capitalist crisis,” Sandler told the Neb., as well as Des Moines, Iowa, preceding weeks.” door in her neighborhood,” DeLuca reporter. “As the struggle heats up, and New York City—were out on the “On one block the team I was on said. Hollie, a catering worker, has been you’ll find more and more people streets again,” Perasso said. “This time met three meatpackers from two differ- reading the paper since December. talking in class terms.” we were going door to door in working- ent factories. All of them said that they “I like the Militant because it lets you Holland notes that Sandler joined know what’s going on all over the world, the SWP when he was an activist in not just here in America,” Hollie said. the Black rights and anti-Vietnam “Now and then the workers are victorious, “It’s encouraging.” War movements. He watched how “I already can think of two people I the party participated and helped lead but only for a time. The real fruit of their know who will want this paper,” Hollie these struggles and decided to join be- battles lies, not in the immediate result, but in added, taking a couple of subscription cause he decided it was the best hope the ever expanding union of the workers.” cards. “I was talking to my cousin in of getting the U.S. out of Vietnam. —Karl Marx and Frederick Engels Minnesota last week and he said he just Sandler tells Holland he enjoys subscribed to it up there.” living in Los Angeles. “It’s a gigan- Written in 1848, the Communist Manifesto explains “These books all look good,” Hollie tic, working-class city with all the why communism is the line of march of the said, looking over the Pathfinder Press contradictions this stage of history books offered on special with a sub- working class toward power, “springing from an brought us,” he said. scription. (See ad on p. 3.) “The Socialist Workers Party grew existing class struggle, a historical movement going She invited us to come back Saturday out of a schism in the worldwide com- on under our very eyes.” when she’s having a cookout, DeLuca munist movement over Stalin’s break $5 said. “She told us to bring the books and with Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky, www.pathfinderpress.com more papers.”

4 The Militant March 4, 2013 on the picket line Goodyear workers in France ants BHP Billiton, Anglo American, rally against plant closing and Xstrata, is the largest open pit RUEIL-MALMAISON, France— mine in the world. It is located in a About 1,000 workers, most from the rural area in the northeastern part of North Amiens Goodyear plant, dem- the country. onstrated in front of Goodyear France There are 3,700 permanent work- headquarters in this Paris suburb Feb. ers who are represented by the union 12, protesting the projected closing of and “also some 8,000 temporary the factory. workers,” National Union of Coal The CGT union in the plant, which Industry Workers (Sintracarbón) represents 86 percent of the 1,173 Press Secretary Alvaro Enrique Frías workers there, has been fighting told the Militant in a Feb. 16 phone threats to close the plant since 2007. interview from Guajira province. The At that time Goodyear proposed union wants the temporary work- making new investments in both its ers to be given the chance to become plants in Amiens, which lies 90 miles permanent workers. “They should at north of Paris, on the condition that least get double the minimum wage,” workers there accept rolling shifts, ef- he said. fectively eliminating most weekends. “Our biggest problem is health Unions at the South Amiens plant, care,” Frías said. “The health services offered look beautiful on paper, but Militant/Claude Bleton where 1,000 workers are employed, Some 1,000 workers, most from North Amiens Goodyear plant, demonstrated Feb. 12 in accepted the deal, and in return the reality is different. The necessary Rueil-Malmaison, a suburb of Paris, against company plans to close down factory there. management guaranteed them jobs infrastructure does not exist here to through 2014. The CGT at the North meet the needs of the workers.” BlueLinx is a building materials order to eliminate the workers’ union Amiens plant refused. “There are 700 workers with sili- wholesaler with facilities across the in the middle of a contract term,” ac- “It’s not us who are the criminals, cosis, lead poisoning and carpal tun- country. During the strike, workers cording to a Jan. 20 Teamster Nation that’s the bosses of Goodyear and of nel syndrome among the permanent explained that they saw the compa- union flyer. Arcelor Mittal,” Mickaël Wamen, workers,” he said. Mine management ny’s action as an attack on the exis- —Tom Baumann a CGT official at Goodyear, told the refuses to recognize these are work- tence of the union. and Naomi Craine rally in response to statements by related injuries. “The temps are benefiting from company officials. Arcelor Mittal is El Cerrejón broke off negotiations what we fought for,” Dan Harrell, a Wash. Teamsters ratify contract threatening to close its steel mill in Feb. 17, demanding that the union warehouse worker at BlueLinx told with organic food warehouse Florange in the east of France. agree to binding arbitration if an the Militant in front of the plant. SEATTLE—Drivers and ware- Unionists from the mill were agreement isn’t reached in a few days. Many of those the company hired to house workers of Teamsters Local among dozens of others from some 20 “We believe in our company … try to break the strike are still on the 117 ratified a five-year contract Feb. factories and other workplaces fight- and we offer a responsible course,” job, but under the agreement the strik- 7 after a nine-week strike at United ing layoffs who joined the rally. Sintracarbón said in a Feb. 17 state- ers maintain their full seniority. Natural Foods Inc. distribution center These included 60 striking work- ment rejecting the company’s de- Teamster members also approved in Auburn, Wash. ers from the Peugeot plant in Aulnay; mands. “That’s a more than sufficient a new contract. It includes switching The agreement, which passed by a 20 workers from the South Amiens framework for resolving our differ- to an inferior insurance plan—some- vote of 122 to 11, “provides for the re- plant; workers from the Goodyear ences and getting a collective agree- thing the company had pushed for and instatement of all workers, including plant in Montluçon; a Total refinery ment.” workers had opposed. “The strike was the 72 who had been permanently re- in Normandy; the Ford plant near —Seth Galinsky over unfair labor practices, not the placed, health and welfare protections Bordeaux; and a group of women laid economic issues,” Harrell said. for workers, and meaningful wage in- off by the mail-order firm 3 Suisses. After 2-month strike, BlueLinx The strikers received solidar- creases,” according to a Feb. 8 state- French labor law requires meetings workers in Miami return to work ity from other unionists during their ment from the local. between unions and management be- MIAMI—“I’m glad to be back at fight. UPS workers joined the picket “Workers at UNFI stood together fore layoffs can begin. The CGT at work,” Dwayne Beal, a member of line Dec. 20, and railroad workers re- courageously in difficult conditions to Goodyear is planning another dem- Teamsters Local 769, told the Militant. fused to cross the picket line to deliv- fight for dignity and respect,” Tracey onstration to coincide with the next He and eight other Teamsters at er materials. Members of Teamsters Thompson, secretary-treasurer of meeting scheduled March 7. BlueLinx went on strike Nov. 30, af- Local 853, who work for BlueLinx in Local 117, was quoted as saying in the —Claude Bleton ter the company threw their business Newark, Calif., held a one-day work statement. and Derek Jeffers agent out of the plant during the con- stoppage in late December in solidar- “It was a compromise, we’re glad to tract negotiation period. After more ity with the Miami workers. be back,” driver Jeremy Ray, 39, told Thousands of coal miners than two months, they returned Feb. “In California, BlueLinx is trying the Militant. strike in Colombia 5. to relocate a distribution facility in —John Naubert For the first time in 22 years, work- ers at the Cerrejón open pit coal mine in Colombia went on strike Feb. 7. Among their central demands are bet- 25, 50, and 75 years ago ter health care for miners and higher wages and protection for temporary workers. El Cerrejón, owned by mining gi- March 4, 1988 March 4, 1963 March 5, 1938 SHERIDAN, Wyo.—After five The prosecutor in Bloomington, The Roosevelt Administration plans months on the picket line in strikes Ind., has stepped up his witch-hunt of to use relief agencies as a channel for re- against Decker Coal and Big Horn Coal, the Young Socialist Alliance at Indiana cruiting for the next war. This came out miners are still refusing to buckle. University. Monroe County Prosecutor into the open February 25 when the New Negotiations between the United Thomas Hoadley said on Feb. 22 that York Times reported that the U.S. army Mine Workers union and the two coal he will request a Grand Jury hearing recruiting service had asked the up-state companies owned by Peter Kiewit & on the local YSA. He said that he will W.P.A. for lists of unmarried men on Sons remain stalemated. The Decker seek indictments under the Indiana home or work relief, in order to get them mine is north of here across the Montana Communism Act. to enlist for military service. border. Big Horn is in Wyoming. The Bloomington witch-hunt stems According to the report, the W.P.A. Mine workers union representa- from a demonstration last October op- [Works Progress Administration] there- tives presented four separate propos- posing the U.S. blockade of Cuba. At fore sent out letters “to all local public als to Kiewit. Modeled after the re- that time twenty-two student demon- welfare commissioners outside of New cently approved national contract the strators were met by a hostile mob of York City” asking them to cooperate union signed with the Bituminous Coal 2,000, who assaulted the demonstrators, with the army in its recruiting as “a Operators Association, the proposals kicked and punched them, and tore up means of reducing your relief rolls and call for miners laid off at Decker or Big their signs. Police arrested two of the costs.” Horn to get three out of five new jobs right-wing hooligans. The fact that the recruiting notices $24 at Kiewit’s four mining operations or at On Jan. 15 Hoadley dropped charges sent out by the army and navy proved any operations the company may open against the two to “clear the way” for a completely ineffective, since not one in the future. Both negotiating sessions Grand Jury investigation into the “part person on relief joined the military ser- lasted 15 minutes, with the company re- played by the YSA” in “inciting to riot” vice, shows that the army will have to pathfinderpress.com jecting the union’s proposals. during the October demonstration. compel them to join. The Militant March 4, 2013 5 US rulers debate drone assassination program by brian williams The program, which began under Hearings before Congress on the George W. Bush administration, President Barack Obama’s nomination focused on the Federally Administered of White House counterintelligence Tribal Areas of Pakistan near its border chief John Brennan to become CIA with Afghanistan. It was stepped up director has focused on the administra- during the last year of Bush’s presidency tion’s use of drone assassination pro- and greatly accelerated in the first two grams, and its move to legitimize them years of Obama’s presidency. In Pakistan through legal precedents and “rules.” there have been 334 drone strikes since It has led to a debate in bourgeois 2004—289 of them under Obama, ac- politics on the effectiveness of the gov- cording to the Long War Journal web- ernment’s drone program in advancing site. After peaking at 117 strikes in 2010, U.S. capitalists’ interests abroad, as well they’ve declined over the past two years, as the use of the president’s executive but still remain higher than under Bush. Reuters/Stringer authority to decide who, including U.S. In Yemen, 63 of the 64 airstrikes have Destruction caused by U.S. drone in Yemen’s eastern province of Hadramout, Sept. 4, 2012. citizens, should be killed. occurred under Obama’s presidency, 42 U.S. citizens for drone assassination. At Several days before the Senate hear- The drone program conducted by the of which were carried out last year, ac- least four have been killed, including ing, the Justice Department leaked to CIA and the Pentagon’s Joint Special cording to the Long War Journal. New Mexico-born Islamic cleric Anwar NBC News an undated “white paper,” Operations Command has killed more One of the issues under debate at al-Awlaki in September 2011. While liv- based on a memo that remains classi- than 3,000 people over the past de- Brennan’s Feb. 6 Senate confirmation ing in Yemen, the White House targeted fied, summarizing the administration’s cade, according to a Council on Foreign hearing was the Obama administra- him as an alleged central leader of al- rationale for placing U.S. citizens on a Relations report. tion’s legal rationalizations for targeting Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula. “kill” list. The memorandum asserts that the government may lawfully kill a U.S. State of Union: no plan to alleviate joblessness citizen if “an informed high-level offi- Congress to raise the federal minimum cial” decides the target “poses an immi- Continued from front page fighting perspective on the part of the nent threat of violent attack against the part of their New Deal and Fair Deal union leaderships. wage from $7.25 to $9 an hour. This government-set minimum for most United States.” platforms. Under these conditions, the proper- The memorandum and Brennan’s The difference is not one of ideology tied rulers and their politicians don’t workers is raised every so often, under both Democrats and Republicans, re- confirmation hearing have spurred or political perspectives. The difference feel political pressure to direct part of much comment from liberals and con- lies in the level of class struggle and the their profits to fund a real government flecting increased class struggle, infla- tion and other factors. servatives, who despite differences over rulers’ response to it. jobs program, or any other step to miti- whether or how to “reform” the pro- After an uptick in hiring in the mid- gate the effects of the crisis on workers’ While such a change would be welcome, the likely failure to pass gram, express concern over the consti- 1930s, workers’ battles to organize lives. All the evidence is that, despite tutional issues at stake. unions and fight for measures to al- their economic problems, the rulers are it anytime soon can be blamed on a Republican-majority Congress. These “sweeping claims of ex- leviate depression conditions put pres- confidently in attack-mode. ecutive power are audacious,” writes sure on Roosevelt to make concessions, Coated with a liberal gloss and re- Budget deficits and Medicare cuts Notre Dame law professor Mary Ellen from jobs to the right to organize. peated references to speaking up for Obama said the biggest challenge is O’Connell in a New York Times opinion Millions of workers returning home the “middle class,” Obama focused on piece. “For a threat to be deemed ‘im- after the Second World War, demand- domestic issues, outlining a series of reducing the U.S. government budget deficit, which the bosses and bankers minent’ it is not necessary for a specific ing jobs, higher wages and access to tweaks and nostrums, many strikingly attack to be under way.” education, forced Truman to add 10 limited in scope. fear will weaken the bonds, currency and trading power of U.S. capital. He “Although the Obama administra- million workers to Social Security and He bragged that “after shedding jobs tion’s brief is directed at the assassina- increase benefits, raise the minimum for more than 10 years, our manufac- pointed to the necessity for bipartisan agreement on “reforms” to Medicare, tion of Americans abroad,” comments wage 100 percent and pass the GI Bill. turers have added about 500,000 jobs Jeffrey Rosen in a New Republic article, The fact is there are no fiscal, mon- over the past three.” He pointed to some aimed at cutting money out of it and lessening coverage. “the arguments it offers could apply etary or other government policy mea- companies that have relocated produc- with equal force to the assassination of sures that could reverse the slowdown tion to the U.S. from abroad, including “Our medical bills shouldn’t be based on the number of tests ordered or days Americans at home.” in production, trade and employment Intel, Apple and Ford. “American citizens should nonethe- that is at the heart of the economic and But the reason these bosses decided spent in the hospital,” he said. “They should be based on the quality of care less be wary of granting the president financial crises. The propertied rulers to move back is successes their class the power to single out citizens for kill- have no solutions, plans or ideas. They has had in making workers in the U.S. that our seniors receive.” “Quality of care” is a euphemism ing based simply on his own judgment. react pragmatically by going after the work longer, harder and faster for less Aside from being plainly unconstitution- working class and hope their economic pay. meaning the government won’t pay for doctor visits or stays in the hospital if al, it’s simply too much trust to place in a problems will somehow go away. Obama laid out empty “initiatives,” single individual,” writes James Joyner, There have been few labor battles from mapping the human brain to mak- you “go too often” or keep getting sick. Obama addressed the foreign policy managing editor of the Atlantic Council. or other working-class social struggles ing batteries more powerful. He called “The notion that the government can that could unsettle the owners of capital for additional steps for climate control of U.S. imperialism. He touted contin- ued withdrawal from Afghanistan, re- compile a list of citizens for killing, not today. Factors that place limits on such and more emphasis on education in tell anyone who’s on it or how they got fights at this moment include high job- STEM courses—science, technology, ducing the size of the military and keep- ing U.S. troops out of new wars. there, is simply un-American.” lessness, which exacerbates competi- engineering and math. Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, tion among workers, and the lack of a He also proposed an effort to get But he also pointed to flash points of challenge to U.S. control of mar- who led the Joint Special Operations kets and resources worldwide, from Command and U.S. forces in Africa to Asia and what is called the Afghanistan, told the media that drones Arab Spring in the Middle East, where have led to resentment among those liv- he said things are getting “messy.” He ing in areas where they strike. Drones pushed the building of the Trans-Pacific are “hated on a visceral level,” he told Partnership, a regional trade alliance Reuters, and contribute to a “perception aimed at isolating China, a complement of American arrogance.” to the growing “pivot” of U.S. military Following the Senate hearing, Senate might to the region, where tensions and Intelligence Committee chairwoman conflicts are growing. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Senate But the unfolding political develop- Judiciary chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) ments around the world, like capital- and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) ism itself, are increasingly unpredict- called for setting up a special court to re- able and out of the rulers’ control. view administration kill list proposals. It They remain fraught with potential for would be modeled after the secret courts the U.S. to be drawn, however unwill- set up under the Foreign Intelligence ing, into unending colonial-like wars, and Surveillance Act that have rubber which always bring “unintended con- stamped wiretaps and search warrants sequences.” requested by spy agencies. Decline of strikes lowers pressure on rulers to concede government jobs program.

6 The Militant March 4, 2013 Europe crisis grinds on workers Cuba: Internationalist Angola mission discussed at book fair Continued from front page For youth 15 to 24 years old, 61.7 per- in 2012, a sign of shrinking markets cent are without a job, according to on the continent. Greece’s Statistics Agency. In the less developed and less pro- “In a country of 11 million, only 3.7 ductive countries of Europe, capital- million people have jobs,” reports the ists’ profits are under enormous pres- Wall Street Journal, and “economic sure and their governments mired in activity has shrunk by over 20%” debt. This is spurring a multifront as- from four years ago. sault on the living standards of work- “We now see homeless people ing people, as the propertied rulers sleeping everywhere in the streets struggle to compete with capitalists of Athens. This is new,” said Maria of other nations while imposing fiscal Plessa, an airline worker. “You can austerity to stave off a collapse of gov- tell they are recently homeless from ernment credit. their clothes, blankets and so on. They Workers in Greece are among the were working jobs like mine not long hardest hit. ago.” “I earn less than 500 euros [$667] a The Greek government’s latest month as a result of the government’s round of tax hikes and spending cuts, cut in the minimum wage last year,” including slashing of wages and pen- Dimitris Georgiou, 28, a worker in the sions, is expected to lead to a further cargo section of Athens International 4.5 percent decline in gross domes- Airport, told the Militant. “I am still tic product in 2013, the Journal said. living with my retired parents and Throughout 2012 it has dropped more help out with the expenses, since they than 6 percent. One round after the can’t make a living with their low pen- other of cuts and tax raises have been sions.” levied against working people as con- “We used to be able to go out to a ditions for loans from the International Militant photos by Tom Baumann (book panel) and Martín Koppel (photo exhibit) restaurant, to do things, to have some Monetary Fund, European Central HAVANA—The Havana International Book Fair, which opened here Feb. entertainment once in a while,” said Bank and European Commission. The 14, is dedicated to Angola, and a number of book presentations and other Nikos Gkiolias, a steelworker and for- continual loans are being used to stave events during the 10-day fair are related to that theme. Above, high school mer striker at the Elliniki Halivourgia off default on payments to holders of students from the Camilo Cienfuegos Military School (known as Camilitos) plant in Aspropyrgos outside Athens. government bonds. visit the Feb. 15 opening of a photo exhibit titled “Cuba and Angola: United “All that is over. You work to eat. I’m Like Greece, Spain is among the in History.” The images, from the archives of Verde Olivo, publishing house not even discussing the situation of the heavily indebted countries of Europe of Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces, depict Cuba’s 1975-91 internationalist unemployed here.” where a contraction in employment is mission in Angola, in which Cuban volunteers and Angolan soldiers defeated Basic necessities such as heating being exacerbated by government aus- invasions by the South African apartheid regime and its allies. and health care have become out of terity measures. Top photo, Feb. 18 presentation of Cuba and Angola: Fighting for Africa’s reach for many. In the fourth quarter of 2012, of- Freedom and Our Own, published by Pathfinder Press. At the microphone “With most of us getting a 500 to ficial joblessness stood at 26 percent. (far left) is Brig. Gen. Gustavo Chui, an interview with whom appears in the 800 euro pension a month, we can’t For youth aged 16 to 24 it was 55 per- book. Others on the panel are (left to right): Brig. Gen. Harry Villegas, Martín afford heating this winter and many cent. Under these circumstances, “be- Koppel (chair), Mary-Alice Waters and Jorge Sutil. Villegas and Chui were front- don’t have the money to buy medi- ing paid for the work you do is no lon- line officers in the battles fought in Angola. Sutil is a member of the National cines they need,” Giorgos Demiris, 71, ger something that can be counted on Bureau of the Union of Young Communists (UJC), responsible for the work told the Militant. in Spain,” according to a Dec. 16 New with young workers, farmers and combatants. Waters is president of Pathfinder “One of the biggest impacts has York Times article. and the book’s editor. Koppel, a Pathfinder editor, was responsible for the book been on the national heath care sys- Most often workers stay in these in Spanish. tem,” said Sofia Roditi, a leader of the jobs because they don’t see other pros- —Róger Calero and Ellie García union spouses’ committee for workers pects. The Times article reports on a at Elliniki Halivourgia. “To get a se- 36-year-old ceramics factory worker rious disease is a death sentence, un- near Valencia owed $13,000 in back bus drivers and health care attendants, ernment figures. Official unemploy- less you can afford private hospitals, wages, construction workers doing sometimes working without pay. ment, now at a 13-year high, is 10.7 which of course most workers and re- 12- to 16-hour days on false compa- “While Spain and Italy are enact- percent. tirees can’t.” ny promises that getting the job done ing growth-squelching spending cuts The bosses’ drive in France is be- Official unemployment rose to 27 early would guarantee payment, and and tax hikes to rein in their budget ing promoted by the Socialist-Party- percent in November, more than 6 even workers whose wages depend on deficits,” theJournal wrote, “they still led government of François Hollande. percent higher than the previous year. local government financing, such as stand to see their government debt French union officials agreed to con- burdens increase as their economies cessions with the employers’ group continue to shrink.” Medef in January that “include giving employers more flexibility to reduce New International no. 12 Production slows in Germany working hours … without incurring Germany, the continent’s domi- union strikes,” reported the Times. ‘Capitalism’s Long Hot Winter Has Begun’ nant economy and leading manufac- “High levels of compensation that by Jack Barnes turer, has seen its production output courts can award to laid-off workers Today’s accelerating capitalist crisis accompanies a slow, with its gross domestic product would be trimmed. The five-year pe- continuation of the most far-reaching shift in Washington’s declining 2.3 percent last quarter. At riod that former employees now have military policy and organization since the U.S. buildup the same time, unemployment figures to contest layoffs would be reduced.” toward World War II. Class-struggle-minded working remain much lower than in other euro- Meanwhile, U.S. world exports rose people must face this historic turning point for imperialism, zone countries—officially 6.9 percent. 4.5 percent, a small increase com- and chart a revolutionary course to confront it. $16 The German economy is heavily de- pared to the 15.8 percent rise in 2011. pendent on export of goods and capital At the same time, the U.S. economy to the rest of Europe, and the adoption has similarly shown no sign of recov- Capitalism’s World Disorder of the euro currency and trade bloc in ery, with persistently high joblessness Working-Class Politics at the Millennium 2002 was pressed by Berlin to give and a 0.1 percent decline in gross do- German capitalists further advantage mestic product in the fourth quarter by Jack Barnes in this regard. But the more recent of 2012. Rather, the modest export The social devastation and financial panic, contraction of economies in Europe increase is evidence that U.S. bosses coarsening of politics, cop brutality and imperialist and consequences of mounting indebt- have recently made greater progress aggression—all are products not of something gone edness has led to a decline of German in driving against workers’ wages and wrong with capitalism but of its lawful workings. exports on the continent, which Berlin working conditions, giving them an Yet the future can be changed by the united struggle has been trying to compensate for by edge for now in the cutthroat competi- of workers and farmers increasingly conscious of boosting its exports to Asia. tion for world market share. their capacity to wage revolutionary struggles for In France, among the economically state power and to transform the world. $25 stronger nations of Europe, manufac- Bobbis Misailides and Natasha turing output dropped 2.3 percent in Terlexis in Athens, Greece, contrib- pathfinderpress.com the fourth quarter, according to gov- uted to this article.

The Militant March 4, 2013 7 Engels on 1877: US labor movement ‘spread like prairie fire’ Below is an excerpt from “The Labour American bourgeoisie only of the pay- Movement in America” by Frederick ment of coupons of U.S. bonds; hence- Engels. It was the preface to the 1887 forth May and November will remind American edition of his Condition of them, too, of the dates on which the the Working Class in England in 1844. American working class presented their The preface is included as an appendix coupons for payment. in Revolutionary Continuity: The Early In European countries, it took the Years, 1848-1917, one of Pathfinder’s working class years and years before books of the month for February. The they fully realized the fact that they book is by Farrell Dobbs, who was a formed a distinct and, under the exist- central leader of the Teamsters battles ing social conditions, a permanent class in the Midwest in the mid-1930s, and a of modern society; and it took years central leader of the Socialist Workers again until this class-consciousness led Party. Copyright © 1980 by Pathfinder them to form themselves into a distinct Press. Reprinted by permission. political party, independent of, and op- posed to, all the old political parties formed by the various sections of the ruling classes. Books of On the more favored soil of America, where no mediaeval ruins bar the way, the month where history begins with the ele- Harper’s Weekly illustration ments of modern bourgeois society as by frederick engels Cops attack Chicago meeting of socialist cabinetmakers who were discussing fight for eight- evolved in the seventeenth century, the hour workday, July 26, 1877. Widespread strikes starting three days earlier shut down city. Ten months have elapsed since, at the working class passed through these translator’s wish, I wrote the appendix to could never take root on American soil. rapid development of manufactures, had two stages of its development within this book; and during these ten months, And yet, at that moment, the coming become the lowest stratum of American ten months. a revolution has been accomplished in class struggle was casting its gigantic society. Before the year closed, these be- Still, all this is but a beginning. That American society such as, in any other shadow before it in the strikes of the wildering social convulsions began to the laboring masses should feel the com- country, would have taken at least ten Pennsylvania coal-miners, and of many take a definite direction. munity of grievances and of interests, years. other trades, and especially in the prepa- The spontaneous, instinctive move- their solidarity as a class in opposition In February 1885, American public rations, all over the country, for the great ments of these vast masses of working to all other classes; that in order to give opinion was almost unanimous on this Eight Hours’ movement which was to people, over a vast extent of country, the expression and effect to this feeling, one point; that there was no working come off, and did come off, in the May simultaneous outburst of their common they should set in motion the political class, in the European sense of the word, following. discontent with a miserable social con- machinery provided for that purpose in in America; that consequently no class That I then duly appreciated these dition, the same everywhere and due to every free country—that is the first step struggle between workmen and capital- symptoms, that I anticipated a working- the same causes, made them conscious only. The next step is to find the com- ists, such as tore European society to class movement on a national scale, my of the fact that they formed a new and mon remedy for these common griev- pieces, was possible in the American Appendix shows; but no one could then distinct class of American society; a ances, and to embody it in the platform republic; and that, therefore, socialism foresee that in such a short time the class of—practically speaking—more of the new Labor Party. And this—the was a thing of foreign importation which movement would burst out with such or less hereditary wage-workers, prole- most important and the most difficult irresistible force, would spread with the tarians. step in the movement—has yet to be rapidity of a prairie fire, would shake And with true American instinct this taken in America. … Books American society to its very founda- consciousness led them at once to take Consequently, the platform of the February tions. the next step towards their deliverance: American proletariat will in the long of the Month The fact is there, stubborn and in- the formation of a political working- run coincide, as to the ultimate end to be disputable. To what an extent it had men’s party, with a platform of its own, attained, with the one which, after sixty PATHFINDER struck with terror the American rul- and with the conquest of the Capitol and years of dissensions and discussions, READERS CLUB 25% discount ing classes, was revealed to me, in an the White House for its goal. has become the adopted platform of the SPECIALS amusing way, by American journalists In May the struggle for the Eight great mass of the European militant pro- Revolutionary Continuity: who did me the honor of calling on me Hours’ working-day, the troubles in letariat. The Early Years, 1848-1917 last summer; the “new departure” had Chicago, Milwaukee, etc., the attempts It will proclaim, as the ultimate end, by Farrell Dobbs put them into a state of helpless fright of the ruling class to crush the nascent the conquest of political supremacy How successive generations of fighters and perplexity. uprising of Labor by brute force and by the working class, in order to effect joined the struggles that shaped the But at that time the movement was brutal class-justice; in November the the direct appropriation of all means U.S. labor movement, seeking to build a class-conscious revolutionary leadership. only just on the start; there was but a se- new Labor Party organized in all great of production—land, railways, mines, $20. Special price: $15 ries of confused and apparently discon- centers, and the New York, Chicago machinery, etc.—by society at large, to nected upheavals of that class which, by and Milwaukee elections. 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Offer good until February 28 ton. Zip: 02128. Tel: (617) 569-9169. 323-1755. E-mail: seattleswp@qwestoffice. Tel: (016) 1478-2496. E-mail: clmanchr@ E-mail: [email protected] net gmail.com 8 The Militant March 4, 2013 Editorial Bus strike ends Continued from front page Solidarity with school bus workers! sions bus companies competing for the contracts face more pressure and new opportunities to drive After a bitter monthlong strike, New York two challenges: the discouraging effects of persis- down wages and benefits. City school bus workers suffered a blow when tently high unemployment and the weakness of our In December, the Department of Education began Amalgamated Transit Union officials suddenly basic combat organizations, the unions. The for- soliciting contract bids without the provisions for 1,100 ended the strike without any agreement on impor- mer is why workers need to fight for a government- of the 7,700 school routes. School officials said they tant job protections won in struggle in 1979. funded jobs program to put millions back to work. could save $99 million a year on the new bids. Union officials told members they were suspend- The latter is the result of decades of misleader- ATU International President Larry Hanley had ing their strike indefinitely, based on the premise ship and a “strategy” hinged on seeking “common been in talks with the five leading Democratic Party that one of the Democratic Party candidates for ground” with the bosses and support for their polit- contenders for the upcoming mayoral race to figure mayor this November would get elected and then ical parties, most often the Democrats, in exchange out a way to end the strike. fulfill vague promises to “revisit” the question of for promises of reciprocity. In a Feb. 15 phone conference with the Local 1181 job security and wages. In addition to relying on our own collective membership, Local 1181 President Michael Cordiello As they return to work, the school bus workers power to advance our interests against those of cited a Feb. 14 letter signed by the five candidates— will need to look out for each other and use their the bosses, working people need our own political Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Comptroller John unions to defend themselves against bosses’ at- voice, our own political party independent of the Liu, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, former tempts to fire union stalwarts and go after job se- two capitalist parties. Comptroller William Thompson and former City curity, wages and working conditions. It’s through the working-class struggles and Council member Sal Albanese—as the main reason From the outset, the workers and their union union battles to come that workers will gain expe- the local executive board had decided to end the strike. faced a determined offensive by the city adminis- rience, learn who our real friends and enemies are, Union members did not vote on the decision. tration, transportation bosses, courts and big-busi- become confident in our own capacities. This is The five prospective mayors called on the bus work- ness dailies. how we will forge a class-struggle leadership and ers to “return to their jobs and continue the battle in A battle is lost but the bosses’ war on workers transform our unions into fighting instruments that other ways.” They promised if elected “to revisit” the continues. The propertied rulers have no solution champion the interests of all working people—or- contracts “to insure that the important job security, to the worldwide crisis of capitalism. Protection of ganized and unorganized—in the economic, social wages and benefits of your members are protected their economic interests amid the stiffening com- and political arena, and transform ourselves in the within the bidding process, while at the same time are petition among them drive the capitalists’ attacks process. And it’s along this fighting road that our fiscally responsible for taxpayers.” against our living standards, unions and very dig- unions can become schools for revolution that ad- “Bloomberg’s like a dictator, he thinks every- nity. vance the struggle for a workers and farmers gov- thing should be his way,” Maria Filgueira, a driver at The episodic resistance by workers today faces ernment. Grandpa’s bus company, said in a Feb. 19 phone in- terview. “They say we’ll have a better chance with the next administration. How do they know that? There’s not much difference between a Democrat and Anti-labor outfit targets bus workers’ union a Republican. No matter who you vote for, you lose.” by Louis Martin leaderships, and they paint the union and the bosses Lost the battle, but war continues During their monthlong strike, the New York as part of a conspiracy allied against the workers. “What can we do? We lost the battle, but the war is school bus workers not only faced the New York “The real scabs are the unions themselves,” said still on,” Rainbow bus driver Wirman David Lopez City government, the bus company owners, the a flyer posted on their website Feb. 14 that they told the Militant by phone Feb. 17. “Bloomberg has no big-business press, the cops and the courts. handed out to workers. heart. But we are not defeated. We have to show him They also had to deal with a campaign by an They suggested workers should just cross the we’re still standing.” anti-labor outfit called the Socialist Equality Party, picket line. “Privately, some workers stated that “I have mixed emotions about ending the strike,” also known as the World Socialist Web Site. Their they think they should go back to work and save Noemia Topete, a bus attendant in the Bronx, said. “I intervention against the strike had nothing to do what they can of their jobs, paychecks and bene- think if you call out a strike you should stay firm.” with building solidarity with the workers’ struggle. fits,” they claimed. “Such sentiments are entirely While 8,800 workers belong to ATU Local 1181, It was aimed at demoralizing workers resisting the understandable.” more than 3,000 belonging to Teamsters Local 854, bosses’ assaults. They showed up when the work- The Socialist Equality Party and the World United Craft and Industrial Workers Union Local 91 ers were locked in combat with the city and the Socialist Web Site have a long history of anti-labor or United Service Workers Union Local 355 crossed bosses, seeking to turn them against their union, disruption aimed at workers engaged in often bitter the picket lines pretty much from the start. Some bus the Amalgamated Transit Union. struggles and at revolutionary working-class orga- companies are not organized by any union. The Socialist Equality Party aims to get a hear- nizations like the Socialist Workers Party. During the first week of the strike, at least 5,380 out ing for its anti-union propaganda by painting itself Their efforts pick up whenever workers are on of 7,700 routes were not running. But city officials and as a socialist group on the side of the rank-and-file the move. They don’t build any solidarity or par- bus company owners succeeded in getting hundreds workers. Their main message to the bus workers ticipate in struggles. Instead, particularly as some more buses on the road as the strike continued. was a call for them to quit their union. Bus workers fights wear on and workers face more difficulties, Even before the strike was over three bus compa- “must organize independently of the union,” their the outfit seeks out and feeds off frustrations, dis- nies sued to have the protection provisions immedi- flyers urged. couragement and demoralization. ately removed from their contracts. The first day at “The way the strike was shut down epitomiz- Over the course of the last two years, they have work after the strike, Joseph Fazzia, owner of three es how hostile the union apparatus is toward the intervened against the unions in a number of bat- bus companies, fired more than 100 bus attendants, workers trapped inside these organizations,” said tles of workers on strike or locked out, including reported the New York Post. one of their flyers dated Feb. 18. at Cooper Tire in Findlay, Ohio; Caterpillar in Despite an onslaught of malicious press, especially In their circulars, the outfit makes no distinction Joliet, Ill.; Con Edison in New York; and American in the Post and Daily News, painting strikers as selfish between the unions and the policies of the current Crystal Sugar in North Dakota and Minnesota. and indifferent to the needs of school children and their families, the Journal had to admit that many working people in the city sympathized with the strike. letters “Before the strike, the union reps came by and asked us of all the issues on the table in the negotia- Passes the paper around ducing power generators used for $2.66 an hour with no overtime pay tions, which one can you live without,” Topete said. I am sending a check your way data servers and other applica- for up to 55 hours a week for a two- “But we need our Employee Protection Provisions, we for a subscription renewal and for tions. year period. need our pensions, we need our benefits. One is not another prisoner’s subscription. The company was fined by The federal government forced more important than the other.” I do pass the paper around here the U.S. Department of Labor Bloom to pay $31,922 in back wag- “I’m not happy about ending the strike,” said Irma so people can get a news source that for bringing 14 welding equip- es to each of the 14 workers. News Burgos, a driver at Atlantic Express. “It doesn’t re- hasn’t been diluted by moneyed and ment operators and weld- reports do not say what happened solve anything. What we did in the strike helped us imperialistic interests. Even people ers to Sunnyvale, Calif., from to them. Most likely they went to understand that it’s not only our union at risk, it’s all that don’t quite lean so socialist like Chihuahua, Mexico, and paying another fight somewhere else. the other unions too,” she said. the working-class perspective of the them in pesos the equivalent of Raul Gonzalez paper. And a lot of former union Redwood City, Calif. Lea Sherman contributed to this article. workers like to read the articles on ‘Militant’ Prisoners’ Fund picket lines and labor struggles. The letters column is an open The Prisoners’ Fund makes it pos- Correction A prisoner sible to send prisoners reduced rate forum for all viewpoints on sub- Arizona The article “Rally Supports Peugeot Strikers subscriptions. To donate, send a jects of interest to working peo- Near Paris,” in the On The Picket Line column in ple. Please keep your letters brief. issue no. 7 incorrectly said the strike was called ‘Green’ capitalists check or money order payable to the Militant and earmarked “Prisoners’ Where necessary they will be by the three unions in the Aulnay plant: the CGT, Bloom Energy Corporation is Fund” to 306 W. 37th St., 10th Floor, abridged. Please indicate if you CFDT and SUD. These unions did call the strike considered on the cutting edge of New York, NY 10018. prefer that your initials be used but there are other unions in the plant. “green” generator technology, pro- rather than your full name.

The Militant March 4, 2013 9