AUSTRALIA $1.50 · canada $1.50 · france 1.00 euro · new zealand $1.50 · uk £.50 · u.s. $1.00 INSIDE Pathfinder’s new website — easier to search, browse, buy — PAGE 7 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE vol. 85/no. 10 March 15, 2021 Myanmar SWP campaign Support union battles protests defy says struggles at Marathon, Amazon! new military can help build crackdown stronger unions by seth galinsky By seth galinsky Despite escalating daily assaults by Bernie Senter, Socialist Workers police and soldiers on peaceful mass Party candidate for California State demonstrations that have left more Senate, and his supporters cam- than 30 dead, hundreds wounded, and paigned at the Marathon Petroleum over 1,500 jailed, opponents of the refinery shift change in Carson, Cali- Feb. 1 military coup in Myanmar are fornia, Feb. 23, and urged workers to continuing to protest across the coun- join in building support for locked- try, in small towns and big cities. out Marathon refinery workers in Their heroic struggle has won the Minnesota. admiration and support of workers Some workers who pulled over and farmers worldwide. Demonstra- commented that their Steelworkers tions in support of their actions have local had contributed funds to the taken place in New York, Los Ange- locked-out Teamsters. Fifteen work- les, New Zealand, a number of South- ers bought copies of the paper with east Asian countries and elsewhere the headline “Solidarity with Mara- Union Advocate over the last few days. thon Oil Workers in Minnesota” to Feb. 4 rally in support of Teamster union members locked out for over six weeks by Marathon Petroleum bosses in St. Paul Park, Minnesota. Fight is over safety and union protections. The military junta Feb. 26-28 un- learn more about this important fight. leashed its biggest assaults since the Socialist Workers Party candi- Amazon workers organize Marathon workers battle coup. Cops and soldiers used rubber dates across the country are joining in fight to win a union largest US refinery owner bullets, slingshots, tear gas, water in struggles going on today — build- cannons, truncheons and live ammu- ing solidarity with the locked-out By susan LaMont by Helen Meyers nition to break up actions, arresting Marathon workers and with Amazon ATLANTA — In the midst of their ST. PAUL PARK, Minn. — Two and beating protesters, striking work- workers fighting for union representa- seven-week-long mail-in vote on hundred oil refinery workers have ers and journalists. The junta’s Myan- tion in Alabama, and joining protests whether or not Amazon bosses have been locked in battle here since Jan. Continued on page 4 Continued on page 3 to allow workers to be represented by 21 against Marathon Petroleum, the the Retail, Wholesale and Department largest oil refining company in the Store Union, workers at the compa- country. They deserve and need soli- ny’s Bessemer, Alabama, fulfillment Continued on page 4 Protests in seven cities demand: center are getting support from fellow workers and union members. Some Stop US economic war on Cuba! 5,800 workers are eligible to vote in Democrats push the election, which ends March 29. The Militant calls on workers to join in sending messages of solidarity attacks on free and building support for the organiz- ing effort among co-workers, in your speech, rights union, church and anywhere else you Continued on page 5 workers need by terry evans Democrats are pressing forward In first attack of with new attacks on free speech and rights working people need. Their Biden presidency, bludgeon is an all-points campaign claiming the Jan. 6 disruption of Con- gress was nothing less than an “insur- US airstrikes hit rection,” carried out by some right- wing militia forces, conspiracy theo- targets in Syria rists and a tiny minority of the thou- by brian williams Continued on page 2 U.S. airstrikes hit several loca- tions in eastern Syria Feb. 25, the first Militant/Mary Martin military assaults of President Joseph Feb. 28 rally in Seattle, one of actions in seven cities in U.S. and Canada, protest U.S. embar- Inside go of Cuba. For more than 60 years Washington has tried to overthrow Cuban Revolution. Biden’s administration. The attacks targeted weapons storage sites used Books by revolutionary leaders Opponents of Washington’s eco- the overthrow of the U.S.-backed dic- sell well at Iran book fair 3 nomic war against Cuba took to the tatorship of Fulgencio Batista. US troops out of streets in seven cities in the U.S. and With all attempts to destroy the rev- Special ‘stimulus’ fund for Canada Feb. 28 — Miami, Seattle, olution through military intervention the Middle east! ‘Militant’ over $80,000! 4 — SWP statement page 9 New York, Los Angeles, Minneapo- or armed counterrevolutionary bands Iran: Hundreds protest ending in dismal failure, every presi- lis, Montreal, and Ottawa, Ontario. gov’t killings in Saravan 9 Car caravans and rallies demanded dent, Democrat and Republican alike, by militias organized by the Iranian an end to punishing U.S. economic, has waged a relentless economic war government, killing at least 17. – On the picket line – commercial and financial sanctions. against the Cuban people. They make The Pentagon said its actions were For more than 60 years Washington it as difficult as possible for Cuba to retaliation for a Feb. 15 rocket attack Striking UK bus drivers, gas has sought to overthrow the workers import food, fertilizer, oil and medi- by Tehran-backed militias on the U.S. workers exchange solidarity 3 and farmers government that came to cal supplies, and to access interna- military base at Erbil airport in Iraqi Manchester bus drivers strike power after the July 26 Movement led Continued on page 6 Continued on page 9 against attack on hours, pay 5 Democrats attack rights workers need Continued from front page gerous for the working class, opening sands of supporters of Donald Trump the door to government attacks on po- rallying in Washington that day. litical space working people need. The liberals’ offensive includes ef- Secretary of Homeland Security forts to further unleash the capitalist Alejandro Markoyas chimed in, say- rulers’ political police, the FBI. It is ing the agency would widen its hunt dangerous for working people who for “domestic extremists,” including need free speech to defend ourselves “white supremacist, anti-government from assaults on our jobs, wages and or anti-authority extremists.” Such Covers of Militant from Aug. 2, 1941, above, as well as of Minneapolis working conditions by the bosses and people, he added, must be prevented Star Journal, above left, and their government. from using “the banner of the First Minneapolis Morning Tribune, Jan. 6 was “the most heinous attack Amendment to disguise their at- left, both from June 28, 1941. U.S. on democratic processes that I’ve tempts to incite.” rulers use FBI, their political po- ever seen,” Merrick Garland, Joseph lice, to target and try to frame up ‘New York Times’ invents attack vanguard workers. Special targets Biden’s nominee for attorney gen- were leaders of Socialist Workers eral, said during Senate confirmation Conspiracy laws are crucial to ef- Party, Minneapolis Teamsters hearings Feb. 22. forts like this, because there was a union leading labor opposition to Garland said his number one prior- paucity of real violent attacks Jan. 6. Washington’s entry into second ity as attorney general would be the The liberal media has done its best to imperialist war. fight against “domestic terrorism.” remedy this, even if it had to promote a FBI Director Christopher Wray said “narrative” that just wasn’t true. free speech, while they push their own he would vow to do the same. The New York Times ran an article pepper-sprayed, he was in good spirits.” course to defend capitalist rule. “It was a planned insurrection, we Jan. 8 titled, “Capitol Police Officer To this day no one knows why Sick- The liberals drive to censor and know that now,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar Dies from Injuries in Pro-Trump Ram- nick collapsed and died. attack the political rights of Repub- insisted Feb. 23. page.” It claimed that Capitol Police The Times never printed a retrac- licans and Trump for partisan advan- The Justice Department has ar- Officer Brian Sicknick was murdered tion. They quietly went back to the tage is rooted in a deeper fact. They rested and charged some 300 people when “he was struck with a fire extin- early articles online and posted what hold working people in contempt, and in the Jan. 6 intrusion, including with guisher.” In another article, the paper the editors called an “update.” fear struggles to come against the thought-control conspiracy charges. said, “With a bloody gash in his head, In fact, every one of the five peo- bosses’ attacks on us. Sedition and conspiracy laws make Mr. Sicknick was rushed to the hos- ple who died Jan. 6 — Ashli Babbitt, Millions of workers and farmers advocating ideas a crime, and have pital and placed on life support” and who was shot by cops, three who had have been subjected to years of wors- long been used by the government died. They attributed these “facts” to medical emergencies, and Sicknick ening conditions and increasingly rec- and the FBI to try to frame up van- unnamed “law enforcement officials.” — were supporters of Donald Trump. ognize that changing administrations guard workers, including leaders of The Times continued to repeat this in Washington has done nothing to the Socialist Workers Party. for weeks, as did other media. In fact, Liberals push press censorship halt this. Until workers break with the Garland dismissed comparison of the charge was incorporated into Homeland Security chief Markoyas Democrats and Republicans and build the Jan. 6 action with the provoca- the Democrats’ bill of impeachment also says steps are urgently needed to our own party, a labor party, millions tive attacks on federal buildings and against President Trump. suppress “media disinformation and will be attracted to capitalist politi- stores carried out by antifa and some But none of it was true, a fact they false narratives.” cians like Trump who claim they will Black Lives Matter leaders over many knew long before they admitted it. The foundation for more censorship take steps to create jobs and drain the months in Portland, Oregon, and else- While the Times said Sicknick was on was advanced by Democrats at con- political “swamp” in Washington. where. Only Jan. 6 was “a core attack life support, his brother told ProPubli- gressional hearings Feb. 24, under the Neither of the bosses’ parties of- on our democratic institutions,” Gar- ca, he “had texted Wednesday night guise of eradicating “misinformation fer any way to address what working land said. In fact both actions are dan- [Jan. 6] to say that while he had been that causes public harm,” code words people confront. for anything they don’t agree with. “Socialist Workers Party candi- In his Times column March 2, Ross dates in 2021 champion struggles that Douthat quotes “experts” who have workers and our unions are organiz- called for Biden to appoint a “reality ing today for jobs, better wages and czar” tasked with enforcing the ad- conditions, and to defend the rights ministration’s version of reality. we need to decide and act on a course Bosses at Facebook, Twitter and forward,” Joanne Kuniansky, SWP other “social media” are on the band- candidate for governor of New Jersey, Capitalism caused social catastrophe in Texas wagon, canceling accounts of those told the Militant. “We use our cam- they deem questionable — on both the paigns to explain that only through Only the ‘Militant’ explains right and in the workers’ movement. our own struggles can workers fight the capitalist profit system The right wing of capitalist politics for what we need, not what the bosses is responsible for the social seizes on moves like this to claim for and their Democratic and Republican disaster from winter storm themselves the mantle of defenders of parties tell us is ‘possible.’” in Texas, while Democrats and Republicans blame each Latin America, Caribbean: For one year send other for the failure of the The Militant $85 drawn on a U.S. bank to above address. Vol. 85/No. 10 Africa, Asia, and the Middle East: For power grid. Crisis shows why one year send $85 drawn on a U.S. bank to Boombox Taco Closing news date: March 3, 2021 above address. we need to fight for workers During blackout, Boombox Taco gave out Editor: John Studer Canada: For one year send Canadian $45 control of production. free meals in act of working-class solidarity. to the Militant, 7107 St. Denis #204, Mon- Managing Editor: Terry Evans treal, Quebec H2S 2S5. Editorial volunteers: Róger Calero, Seth Ga- United Kingdom: Send £30 for one year SUBSCRIBE TODAY! linsky, Emma Johnson, Martín Koppel, Roy by check or international money order Landersen, Jacob Perasso, Brian Williams. made out to CL London, 5 Norman Road (first floor), Seven Sisters, London, N15 Published weekly except for one week in 4ND, England. January. 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2 The Militant March 15, 2021 SWP: struggles build unions Continued from front page er small proprietors are all being against the military coup in Myanmar squeezed out by giant capitalist cor- and car caravans protesting the U.S porations and their government. My rulers’ economic war against the Cu- campaign says the labor movement ban people. has to fight in their defense.” As they do so, they explain that “Many workers don’t make enough workers need to learn to rely on them- money,” Fabre said. “My wife has selves, to break with the bosses and worked at the airport for years and she their political parties — the Democrats only gets $12 an hour.” and Republicans — and build their own “My campaign supports workers party, a labor party based on a fighting fighting for higher wages, I’m part of union movement. that fight at Walmart where I work,” Maggie Trowe, Socialist Workers Trowe said. Party candidate for Louisville may- “The ‘socialist’ wing of the Demo- or, joined Dave Perry, a member of cratic Party has contempt for workers Teamsters Local 100 in Cincinnati, and thinks we have to be nudged and to campaign in Florence, Kentucky, regulated into doing what they think where he used to live. Perry has been is good for us. We have the opposite Militant/Jacquie Henderson part of a fight against layoffs, pay cuts view,” she added. “We have confidence Maggie Trowe, SWP candidate for Louisville mayor, and Dave Perry, right, discuss need for and unsafe working conditions at the in the capacity of working people to workers to organize themselves, with Gary Fabre at his home in Florence, Kentucky, Feb. 27. factory run by the Cincinnati Asso- unite and fight for what we need and to you describe, these are people going support,” Fruit said. ciation for the Blind and Visually Im- build an alliance with working farmers through the same kinds of things as “I’ll try to get some of my neighbors paired where he works. and small proprietors. Only the work- we are here.” to come to my house to meet you and “Hi, I remember you. I’m glad to see ing class can lead humanity forward.” “Our campaign encourages work- talk more about these ideas,” Joiner you are as active as ever,” Gary Fabre, “I don’t agree with everything, but I ers to join in solidarity with workers’ said. She added that when one of her 59, an information technology worker, think there is a lot to what you say,” said struggles all over the world,” Fruit said. neighbors saw an overdue rent warning told Perry when he and Trowe knocked Fabre. He gave $10 to the campaign, “We raise demands to unite the work- on her door, they organized a fundraiser on his door Feb. 27. subscribed to the Militant and bought a ing class so we can defend ourselves.” to help her pay the rent. “These are the “I agree with you that the Democrats copy of Are They Rich Because They’re Joiner, who lost her motel clerk kinds of people who would be inter- and Republicans are the parties of the Smart? Class, Privilege, and Learning job when the pandemic hit, is trying ested in your campaign. Give me some rich,” Fabre told the two SWP cam- Under Capitalism by SWP National to start a cleaning business. “People flyers so I can get them out.” Joiner sub- paigners. “Millions are out of work and Secretary Jack Barnes. want to work, not depend on govern- scribed to the Militant. so many here in Kentucky aren’t able to ment resources.” get unemployment benefits. ‘Back struggles in Myanmar, India’ “My campaign supports Amazon Back Steelworkers on strike “It does seem that working people “I had no idea about all this,” workers in Alabama organizing to get Tony Lane and Ruth Robinett, sup- could do with their own party, but I’m 24-year-old Jalisa Joiner said when At- a union at their workplace,” Fruit said. porters of Malcolm Jarrett, SWP candi- not sure about this socialist thing,” he lanta SWP mayoral candidate Rachele “That would put workers there in a bet- date for mayor in Pittsburgh, met with said. “I’m not for big government order- Fruit knocked on her door Feb. 27 and ter position to win higher wages and Melinda Swartz in Sharon, Pennsylva- ing us around. And it seems like raising explained how the party supports farm- better job conditions, and inspire work- nia, Feb. 17. SWP campaigners have the minimum wage would cause even ers in India fighting the government’s ers elsewhere. Through struggles like been visiting the area to win solidarity more small businesses to close.” attempt to drive them off their land, and these, workers will see the need to forge for the six-month strike by United Steel- “Small-business owners are facing workers, farmers and youth protesting our own party, a labor party. workers members in nearby Farrell. hard times,” replied Trowe. “‘Mom the military coup in Myanmar. “We’re inviting workers we meet to Swartz, who recently renewed her and pop’ businesses, working farm- “They don’t talk much about these go with us to Bessemer and meet some Militant subscription, described her ers, truck owner-operators and oth- things in the news,” Joiner said. “As of these Amazon workers and bring our experiences when workers at the plant where she works won a union almost 20 years ago. “Every day the bosses Books by revolutionary leaders sell well at Tehran fair had us in the office watching an anti- By Shohreh Izadi ber of other titles by SWP leaders. Forty Rafsanjan, Shiraz, Mashhad, Sanandaj, union video,” she said, “but we voted TEHRAN, Iran — More than a mil- Pathfinder books in English were sold. Qazvin, Mianeh and Jajarom. the union in.” lion books were sold by mail order The geographic spread of those who After the book fair one professor Swartz said she would come to Pitts- during the Tehran International Book got Pathfinder titles in Farsi or English at an Iranian university informed the burgh to help with the SWP campaign. Fair, held online Jan. 20-29. The Iran was notable. Orders came from large publisher that he has placed the Talaye To join the SWP candidates building Book News Agency reported that 1,732 cities and rural villages across Iran, in- Porsoo translation of Pathfinder’s book solidarity with workers’ struggles and Iranian publishers took part. Some 180 cluding in predominantly Kurdish and Women’s Liberation and the African discussing their working-class pro- foreign publishers also participated, Azerbaijani areas. Books were shipped Freedom Struggle, by Thomas Sankara, gram, contact the nearest party branch selling more than 20,000 books. Initially to buyers in Tehran, Ahwaz, Yazd, on the reading list for his students. listed on page 8. scheduled for six days, the unexpectedly high demand led organizers to extend it twice, for a total of 10 days in all. Sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Striking UK bus drivers, gas workers exchange solidarity Islamic Guidance, and other agencies, BY jonathan silberman the pickets to sign it. among a larger number of strikers to take the online event was the first nationwide LONDON — Striking bus drivers Getting out the truth and building Communist League campaign material. book fair here since the 33rd annual fair, mounted a lively picket at London’s Park solidarity with struggles of working He asked Mendoza about the “yellow set for May 2020 at the huge Mosalla Royal depot here Feb. 22-24. They are people is one of the centerpieces of vest” protests that swept France in 2018 mosque complex, was canceled due fighting wage cuts of up to 2,500 pounds the Communist League’s campaign, against the impact of the capitalist crisis to COVID-19. Iranian publishers sold ($3,500) a year and longer shifts. Some Mendoza said. on working people and the disdain of books at a 20% discount, and foreign 2,000 drivers took strike action. They’re the government of President Emmanuel publishers at 50%. Publishers prepared members of Unite union at three com- Gas workers fight wage cuts Macron. “That seemed strong,” he said. shipments, which were delivered by the panies, London United, Sovereign and “That’s brilliant,” responded Darren “It was important because ‘yellow post office at no cost. Quality Line. Chambers, GMB gas engineers union vests’ were workers and small propri- Pathfinder Books London, which “They’re taking advantage of the rep, when Mendoza delivered the mes- etors in the countryside,” Mendoza said. distributes books by revolutionary pandemic,” picket supervisor Rupert sage two days later. “Working people of town and country leaders, and Iranian publisher Talaye Buchanan told Andrés Mendoza, “We’ll get it around. We’ve had tre- are all exploited. We have to unite in Porsoo, which translates Pathfinder ti- Communist League candidate for mendous support to our strike fund struggle along the road to establishing a tles into Farsi, Iran’s official language, London mayor, who visited the picket from GMB ambulance service branch- workers and farmers government.” both participated. Feb. 24. es and from the RMT rail union.” Alawia Ahmed, who had been a vet- Talaye Porsoo sold 218 books. Among “This is happening in different work- Chambers and George McDonald, eran of union organizing and fights in its top sellers was Are They Rich Because places across the country,” Mendoza another union rep, organized a mes- Sudan, joined Mendoza visiting the gas They’re Smart? Class, Privilege, and replied. “On Friday, I shall be taking sage for Mendoza to take back to the workers’ picket line. Learning Under Capitalism by Jack solidarity to striking gas engineers in drivers when they next take strike ac- “Your solidarity is a big boost to our Barnes, national secretary of the Socialist Sidcup, Kent. They face cuts to wages tion. Signed by 20 pickets it reads: “We morale,” George McDonald told her. Workers Party in the U.S. Talaye Porsoo and conditions, as well as being sacked have to stand united, stand strong and The government and “many em- sold 23 books on the Cuban Revolution, if they don’t sign up to worse contracts.” stand proud together. We will win.” ployers are looking at our fight to see 27 on women’s emancipation, 55 cop - On hearing this, Buchanan wrote out a McDonald was one of five pickets to who comes out on top, the company or ies of The Communist Manifesto by Karl solidarity message for Mendoza to take sign up for a Militant subscription on the union,” picket Natalie Foster told Marx and Frederick Engels, and a num- to the gas workers, and organized for all the two picket lines this week, and was Ahmed and Mendoza.

The Militant March 15, 2021 3 Myanmar protests defy gov’t Continued from front page ernment headed by Aung San Suu Kyi mar Radio and Television agency re- before the new parliament could meet. ported that 479 were arrested on Feb. The generals claim that Suu Kyi’s vic- 28 alone. tory was the result of fraud. In the first days of the coup the Suu Kyi — the daughter of Aung junta arrested scores of leaders of the San, a leader of the fight for indepen- National League for Democracy, the dence from Britain — became the bourgeois party that won last Novem- symbol of the fight against military ber’s elections in a landslide. On Feb. rule when she returned to the coun- 26 the military announced it had de- try in 1988 after years in exile, and clared 16 labor unions and farmers as- began speaking out against then-rul- sociations “unlawful.” There are war- er Gen. Ne Win. A popular rebellion rants out for the arrest of trade union broke out that year but was crushed leaders. Some bosses have been turn- in blood. ing the names and addresses of union Her popularity grew during the activists over to the junta. nearly 15 years she spent in detention In Monywa, in the Sagaing region between 1989 and 2010. Starting in in the north — just across the river 2010 the military regime began lifting from copper mines where thousands some restrictions on democratic rights of workers went on strike to protest leading to parliamentary elections. Mandalay Indepth News Protest in Mandalay, in Myanmar, March 1, day after police and soldiers killed at least 20 the coup — police and soldiers deto- Still, the military imposed a constitu- people during actions across country. Government violence hasn’t stopped protests, strikes. nated stun grenades, fired guns and tion in 2008 that guaranteed them 25% beat protesters Feb. 28. They raided a of the seats, giving them veto power, that law anyone who stayed some- rations, not only in garment, but also Buddhist monastery where protesters and permanent control over three of where besides their own home over- in large copper mines, jade produc- had taken refuge. the key government ministries. night had to register with the govern- tion and oil. Suu Kyi became head of the gov- ment under penalty of fines and arrest. At the same time, some 70% of Determination to bring junta down ernment in 2016 after her party swept After the coup the junta reinstated Myanmar’s population live in the On March 1, the day after the most the elections. Despite often tense re- the law, seeking to make it difficult countryside, most with no electric- killings since the coup began, tens lations with the top military officials, for union and protest leaders to find ity, no running water, no cooking gas. of thousands once again took to the she became the main public defender a safe haven. One-third of those living in rural ar- streets across the country, from My- of the military’s repression of the Ro- Myanmar, known as Burma until eas are landless peasants. itthar, a small town in the middle of hingya minority in Rakine province, 1989, is a country of some 54 million As the working class in Myanmar rice paddies and farmland, to Manda- including the forced expulsion of people. Over 60% percent of its peo- grew, so did fights to form unions and lay, the country’s second largest city, 700,000 in 2017. ple are from the Bamar ethnic group. struggles for better wages and working where several people have been killed. The National League for Democ- Over the last 10 years, as the Myan- conditions. Small farmers have fought Garment and other workers in Yan- racy government removed additional mar economy opened more to the moves to take away their farms. gon, the largest city, are continuing restrictions on democratic rights, but world capitalist market, the country Workers, farmers, and members of their strikes and protests. it also used colonial-era laws to jail became a center for world garment all ethnic minorities have joined to- In Dawei, a town in southeast- journalists who were critical of the production. U.S. corporations, like gether in the fight against the military ern Myanmar where five were killed government, especially its treatment Gap, as well as companies based in regime. In a March 2 statement, the Feb. 28, groups of protesters marched of ethnic minorities. China, Japan and Singapore, set up newly formed General Strike Com- through the city March 1 to the ap- shop to take advantage of wages that mittee of Nationalities — made up of plause of bystanders, who gave them Hated overnight guest law are even lower than in Vietnam and youth from 27 ethnic groups — de- the three finger salute of defiance to In her first year as head of the gov- Cambodia. Many of these foreign clared “its full support” for the Civil military rule. ernment, the hated “overnight guest capitalists formed profitable joint Disobedience Movement fighting to Similar scenes are taking place registration” law was repealed. Under ventures with military-owned corpo- oust the junta. daily across the country with protest- ers demanding freedom for political prisoners, reinstating the winners of the November elections and equal Marathon workers battle largest US refinery owner treatment for ethnic minorities. Continued from front page Visit their picket line and send messages not to buy gas supplied by Marathon, Discrimination and oppression of eth- darity from working people. of support and contributions to the lock- telling them it was being produced dur- nic minorities has marked the country’s At issue is the bosses’ attempts to out fund at Teamsters Local 120, 9422 ing the lockout. The union has contin- history since the early days of British replace dozens of union maintenance Ulysses St. NE, Blaine, MN 55434. ued its food bank for the workers and lo- colonial rule, conquered in a series of and production jobs with subcontrac- Teamster Local 120 business agent cal community and will have two more bloody wars beginning in 1824. tors, along with increasing the work- Scott Kroona told the Militant the union food distributions in March. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head load for other workers. The union says is organizing roving picket teams to The company has refused further of the military junta, overthrew the the company’s demands threaten the Speedway gas stations urging drivers talks with the union until March 23. National League for Democracy gov- safety of workers both in the refinery and people who live nearby. Jim Swanson, an electrician, told the Special ‘stimulus’ fund for ‘Militant’ over $80,000! Militant that during summer months militant barges deliver oil that is “loaded and The Militant’s special “stimulus” appeal has gone over $80,000! So far 187 unloaded by the union maintenance readers have contributed $80,351. labor workers. The company wants these The contributions have made a tremendous difference! jobs to be contracted out and some of Donations are winding down as the government reports all “stimulus” forums these jobs to be on call.” checks, for this round, have been sent out. Next week we will publish a round- up article on the special appeal. georgia Highly toxic hydrofluoric acid is used at the refinery. The union points out that The paper is financed and gets around solely though the efforts of our read- Atlanta ers, to ensure it speaks in the interests of the working class. This week a prisoner Solidarity with Struggle Against the chemical is considered so volatile Myanmar Junta! Speaker: Janice Lynn, that authorities in Superior, Wisconsin, at the Lawrence Correctional Center in Illinois wrote, “Once we get off of this Socialist Workers Party. Fri., March 12, evacuated much of the town in 2018 pandemic lockdown, I’ll be sharing the Militant with my friends throughout this 7:30 p.m. Donation: $5. 777 Cleveland gulag.” The note came with his $3 contribution. Ave. SW, Suite 103. Tel.: (678) 528-7828. after an explosion took place near the tanks where the acid was stored. No other paper tells the truth about politics — that every question pits the class interests of working people against the profit-driven interests of the ruling Drivers for Kwik Trip, a gas station Illinois capitalist families. That’s why all efforts of workers to come together to fight chain, and Barton Sand and Gravel Co. Chicago boss attacks on our jobs, wages, health, working conditions and our rights Capitalist Catastrophe in Texas Freeze refuse to cross the picket line, workers are crucial. And that’s why the Militant prioritizes getting out their stories and Shows Need for Workers Control. told this Militant correspondent during Speaker: John Hawkins, Socialist Workers building solidarity with labor and social actions. Party. Fri., March 12, 7:30 p.m. Donation: a solidarity visit to their picket line Feb. The Militant’s coverage of these struggles, of the Socialist Workers Party 2021 $5. 1858 W. Cermak Rd., 2nd floor. Tel.: 27. Management personnel at Canadian election campaign, its in-depth features on the history and hard-earned lessons (312) 792-6160. Pacific Railway are taking trains into the of earlier class-struggle battles, are so important. The paper helps advance a refinery, they said, after CP rail workers course forward toward political organization of the working class, in our own Pennsylvania refused to do so. party, a labor party, on the road toward taking power and ending the dictator- Pittsburgh Support for the refinery workers’ fight Stop the Government’s and Liberals’ ship of capital and its brutal consequences. Attacks on Free Speech. Speaker: Dave has been won from area workers and Please send your contribution to the Militant, 306 W. 37th St., 13th Floor, Ferguson, Socialist Workers Party. Sat., unionists, who have provided food, fire- New York, NY 10018, or donate online at themilitant.com. March 13, 7:30 p.m. Donation: $5. 5907 wood and more. Teamsters picket 24/7 — John Studer Penn Ave., Suite 313. Tel.: (412) 610-2042. and welcome all who want to help out.

4 The Militant March 15, 2021 on the picket line Manchester bus drivers strike in an attempt to break the strike. against attack on hours, pay “Their class stands together and so MANCHESTER, England — Bus must working people and our unions,” drivers at Go North West here went on Peter Clifford told bus drivers when he strike Feb. 28 after bosses tried to im- visited the picket line Feb. 28 to support pose a new contract with longer work- their fight. Clifford is the Communist ing hours for the same pay. League candidate for Greater Manches- The company insisted workers indi- ter mayor and a member of the Rail, vidually sign the contract, bypassing Maritime and Transport union. “We their union, Unite, and threatened to fire need the broadest solidarity to beat back workers who refused. Bosses claim that their attacks.” 393 out of the 474 drivers “volunteered” Train driver Aled Lloyd-Morris to accept the new terms. The company joined Clifford on the picket line. also plans to reduce sick pay and cut the “Workers in other industries need to number of drivers by 10%. be vigilant too,” he told the Militant. “This is the first day. Everyone is “This ‘fire and rehire’ is the thin end of signing up for picketing times. Spirits the wedge,” he said, referring to bosses are high!” Unite’s Regional Coordinat- who fire workers when they refuse to ing Officer Lawrence Chapple-Gill told sign up to worse conditions and are the Militant. “We’re organizing a food then offered their old job back on the Militant/Ögmundur Jónsson kitchen and others have come to donate. bosses’ terms. Striking Go North West bus drivers picket in Manchester, England, March 1. Company is try- We’re also setting up a sound system.” — Hugo Wils ing to bypass workers’ Unite union to implement longer work hours, layoffs and benefit cuts. The company is subcontracting its routes to other bus and coach companies Amazon workers organize in fight for a union Continued from front page even put anti-union posters in the warehouse facilities are at 10% or can! Send this support to midsouth@ bathroom stalls. higher, with the industry average rwdsu.org. Richardson, who is 51 years old, being four serious injuries per 100 RWDSU members from other used to work in an auto parts plant in workers. workplaces, including a number of the area, which was organized by the So Richardson jumped in when the poultry processing plants, have come United Auto Workers union. The Bir- RWDSU began looking for people to to Bessemer to stand at entrances to mingham-Bessemer area has a long help lead the organizing drive. They the warehouse and talk to workers history of union-organized coal mines, quickly got over 30% of the ware- about why they should vote “yes” and steel mills and other industries. house workers to sign up. answer any questions they have. The auto parts plant closed and he “We’re working for Amazon and Actor Danny Glover joined these decided to get a job at the warehouse. one of the richest men in the world,” workers at the plant Feb. 22 to show “I thought the opportunities for mov- he said, referring to owner Jeff Bezos, support for the union-organizing ing up would be better. I thought who is worth around $190 billion. drive. Actress Tina Fey and over 1,760 safety at the plant would be better,” he The company propaganda says pay television and film writers, members told the Guardian Feb. 23. “And when and benefits are great and the union The 1934 strikes that built the of the Writers Guild of America, have it comes to letting people go for no would just take money from workers industrial union movement signed a petition supporting the orga- reason — job security — I thought it in dues. But, Richardson explains, in Minneapolis and helped nizing drive. would be different.” “Amazon says they’re giving you pave the way for the CIO, as At the same time, the company is But, he said, he quickly learned that recounted by Farrell Dobbs, a great stuff that nobody else gives you, stepping up efforts to pressure work- workers are fired regularly at Amazon yet Amazon has big turnover.” central leader of that battle. ers not to back the union. They’re for not meeting production quotas. Other books in four-part series: texting workers multiple times a day That’s 315 items an hour for his job Amazon bosses attack the union Teamster Power with anti-union messages, says Dar- as a “picker.” Nearby video monitors Warehouse bosses have put up a Teamster Politics ryl Richardson, one of the Amazon tell him what to do minute by min- mailbox right in front of the fulfill- Teamster Bureaucracy workers who helped get the union ute. “You’re running at a consistent, ment center for workers to cast their drive off the ground. They’ve forced fast pace,” Richardson said. “You get votes, and texted “instructions” to all $16 each or all four for $50 workers to attend mandatory “infor- treated like a number. You don’t get workers, urging them to vote “no” and mation” meetings where managers try treated like a person. They work you to do it by March 1. pathfinderpress.com to convince workers the union will be like a robot.” Placement of the mailbox “creates bad for them and their families. They Injury rates at a fifth of Amazon all sorts of possibilities for intimida- tion,” RWDSU President Stuart Ap- pelbaum told the news website Al.com 25, 50, and 75 years ago Feb. 24. People “understand Amazon’s ability to survey everything they do. Also they may feel compelled to show supervisors that they’re mailing at the facility. People are not sure whether or March 18, 1996 March 19, 1971 March 16, 1946 not Amazon will know how they voted Marching in picket lines, holding CLEVELAND — On March 6, 300 Nationwide protest by labor, Negro because they know every other thing press conferences, appearing on ra- women came from all over northeastern and civil rights organizations against the that goes on at their facility.” dio and TV shows in dozens of cities Ohio to celebrate International Women’s savage Jim-Crow atrocities and bloody The RWDSU also reports that Am- throughout the United States and in Day at a conference at Case Western warfare unleashed by state troops on azon workers in Bessemer got notice other countries — opponents of U.S. Reserve University. February 25 upon the entire segregated in late February that the company is government attacks on Cuba made their Fourteen different workshops were Negro section of Columbia, Tennessee making a $1,000 bonus offer for any voices heard as Washington stepped up held, the largest being on abortion have borne fruit. The last 13 of 101 Ne- worker who isn’t happy and wants to its campaign of lies and aggression. and on women and the Vietnam war. groes arrested were released March 8. quit. This is aimed at getting workers The downing of two aircraft flown by The abortion project group scheduled The lynch hysteria and armed inva- who are angry over pay and condi- members of the right-wing group Broth- a demonstration for the end of this sion followed an altercation between a tions to leave, as opposed to fighting ers to the Rescue after repeated viola- month, when the Ohio legislature will Negro woman, Gladys Stephenson, and for the union. Amazon responded by tions of Cuban airspace has been used be having hearings on abortion bills. a white radio repairman, William Flem- claiming the program isn’t new, but by Washington to impose harsher sanc- The women and war workshop outlined ing. Immediately white lynch gangs be- they admit the idea is to give work- tions against the Cuban people. several projects for involving women in gan to gather. ers who don’t like working at Amazon A Militant Labor Forum titled “U.S. the fight to end the war, including the When it was reported that the Ne- an incentive to resign. The union has Hands Off Cuba! End the Embargo” women’s contingent at the march on gro citizens were preparing to defend also accused the company of pressur- was held in Miami drawing more than Washington April 24. themselves from the murderous mobs, ing Jefferson County officials to alter 40 people. Miami police tried to con- The conference was the first major 500 state troops, police and hundreds the traffic lights near the fulfillment vince organizers to cancel the event, women’s liberation action in Cleve- of armed vigilantes invaded the Ne- center to keep union members from claiming they would not provide secu- land since last Aug. 26. It ended with gro community. Like Nazi storm talking to workers. rity after threats by right-wing Cubans a feeling of confidence and enthusi- troopers they blasted away at Negro The union-organizing fight is im- to disrupt it. Forum organizers refused asm to continue working together on dwellings and stores with machine portant, and the workers deserve all to back down. future actions. guns and carbines. the support they can get. The Militant March 15, 2021 5 End US embargo of Cuba! Continued from front page “I have never heard of this embar- tional banking services and more. go,” said Gurdeep Singh, a warehouse In the latest move, on Feb. 24 President worker who took a flyer. “It’s very cool Joseph Biden renewed Washington’s to tell people about this.” Originally declaration of a “national emergency from India, he supports the Indian with respect to Cuba.” First imposed by farmers’ mass protests. then President William Clinton in 1996, — Katy LeRougetel this gives the Department of Homeland Security the authority to take possession of any ship in U.S. waters that Washing- MIAMI ton says might travel to or from Cuba “It doesn’t matter if you’re a com- without U.S. permission. munist, socialist or capitalist. It doesn’t Below are reports from several of matter if you’re a Republican or a Dem- the Feb. 28 actions. ocrat,” Robert Diaz told the media dur- ing the caravan of 30 bicycles and over v 100 cars, made up mostly of Cuban Americans protesting here. “The only MONTREAL one who is suffering this big problem is Over 50 people in nearly 25 cars drove the Cuban family. We want to lift the through the streets here, sporting Cuban embargo for the Cuban family.” flags and signs denouncing Washing- The protest in Miami was the larg- ton’s embargo against Cuba. The cara- est here so far in the series of end-of- van also expressed support for Cuba’s the-month actions that began last Sep- internationalist medical brigades, which tember calling for an end to the em- provide health care in some of the most bargo, the repeal of the Helms-Burton underdeveloped regions in the world. Act and the return of the Guantánamo The protest was organized by the military base to Cuba. Cuban Community in Canada group The caravan got a friendly response here and by the Table de concertation as it drove through Cuban neighbor- de solidarite Quebec-Cuba. hoods, with some residents coming “We will always be Cubans, wherever out of local businesses to wave as it we are,” participant Yennar Warner, a drove by. Caravan participants were Cuban who lives here, told the Militant. urged to meet again at the same loca- Militant photos: top, Chuck Guerra; bottom, Katy LeRougetel “The embargo prevents Cuban children tion March 28. Feb. 28 rallies in Miami, top, and Montreal, bottom, protest Washington’s economic embar- from getting proper nutrition.” — Steve Warshell go against Cuba, demand Washington return Guantánamo military base to Cuban people. Mohammed Abdul, a Walmart Rebecca Williamson, Socialist Avenue and Obama Boulevard partici- worker, was at his first protest. “I came SEATTLE Workers Party candidate for Seattle pants got out of their cars to hold signs to see the unity among people who are City Council, pointed to the more and distribute leaflets demanding an end Twenty-five people participated in a against the embargo,” he said. than 200 new U.S. measures over the to Washington’s economic war. picket line and rally followed by a car Jennie-Laure Sully, from Solidar- last four years that have tightened the — Laura Garza ity Quebec-Haiti, joined the caravan. caravan here to protest the U.S. em- economic squeeze against the Cuban She noted that hundreds of volunteer bargo. The participants included a half people. She said it was important to Cuban doctors and nurses have pro- dozen Cuban Americans. demand that the U.S. get out of Guan- MINNEAPOLIS vided health care in Haiti, one of the “I am glad to see people here of dif- tánamo, which it occupies against the Passersby responded with honks, poorest countries in the world. “With- ferent generations and different ide- will of the Cuban people. John Waller waves, raised fists, smiles and thumbs out Cuban doctors I think the health ologies,” Carlos Lazo of the Bridges from the Seattle Cuba Committee and up to the 20 protesters gathered here situation in Haiti would be very seri- of Love, an anti-embargo group he Jane Cutter of the Party for Socialism in solidarity with Cuba. When we told ous. They’ve been there ever since the initiated, told the rally. “We are all and Liberation also spoke. one young man who rolled down his [2010] earthquake,” she said. of one mind to end the U.S. embargo. As the caravan wound its way through window that we are for ending the Supporters of the caravan greeted it as We need to expand our numbers and South Seattle it was met with thumbs up U.S. economic embargo against Cuba it arrived at the U.S. Consulate, handing keep up these monthly actions.” He of support from many drivers and work- he responded, “Hands off Cuba!” out informational leaflets to passersby. led everyone in chanting, “Cuba sí! ing people out shopping. “We are part of an international ef- Bloqueo no!” — Mary Martin fort to denounce the criminal block- Books workers ade against Cuba that’s been imposed …ABOUT BUILDING THE ONLY KIND need today… by the U.S. government for more than OF PARTY WORTHY OF THE NAME LOS ANGELES “REVOLUTIONARY” half a century,” August Nimtz said for Some 35 people in 20 cars caravanned the Minnesota Cuba Committee. “This The Turn to Industry: to protest Washington’s economic em- new administration doesn’t mean any- Forging a Proletarian Party bargo against Cuba and demand the thing will change. We need to continue by Jack Barnes $8 with a subscription opening up of the right to travel and to put pressure on.” trade with the island. — Nick Neeser and Gabby Prosser Tribunes of the People This was the third monthly caravan and the Trade Unions by Karl Marx, V.I. Lenin, Leon Trotsky sponsored by the LA-US Hands Off Farrell Dobbs, and Jack Barnes Cuba Committee. Speaking at a brief NEW YORK CITY $7 with a subscription rally at the start, 27-year-old Cuban Horns honking, a car caravan Malcolm X, Black Liberation, American Nia Mitchell said she had just against the U.S. economic war on and the Road to Workers Power returned from Cuba and the situation is Cuba rounded Columbus Circle three by Jack Barnes $10 with a subscription difficult for people there with shortages times and ended with a brief rally at of many items as a result of U.S. sanc- the statue of Cuban revolutionary hero SPECIAL OFFER tions. “We have to let people know what José Martí at the south end of Cen- $25 is happening,” she said. This was the tral Park. This was the third monthly FOR ALL THREE BOOKS first time she and her mother had joined caravan here sponsored by the New With a Militant subscription a protest against the embargo. York-New Jersey Cuba Sí Coalition. Mitchell noted that Cuba’s response Ten cars and 30 people took part. The Jewish Question to COVID-19 and steps to protect its Andy Arango, a New York native of PLUS A Marxist Interpretation by Abram Leon population stands in stark contrast to the Cuban and Puerto Rican descent and a $12 with a subscription lack of adequate care in the U.S. Among pedicab driver, was one of the speak-

20% Red Zone: Cuba and the Battle others speaking at the kickoff of the ers at the rally. Arango said as a teen- off Against Ebola in West Africa caravan were Rachel Brunke, a long- ager in Harlem he was attracted to the All OTHER by Enrique Ubieta time Cuba solidarity activist from the fight for Black rights. Through that Pathfinder $12 with a subscription: San Pedro area; Laura Garza, Socialist fight, he learned about Cuba’s role in books Are They Rich Because They’re Smart? Workers Party; Mark Friedman, co- helping to liberate Africa from colo- Class, Privilege, and Learning under Capitalism chair of the sponsoring group; and Scott nial rule and became a defender of the by Jack Barnes $5 with a subscription Scheffer, Socialist Unity Party. Cuban Revolution. At the busy intersection at La Brea — Sara Lobman See distributors page 8 or visit pathfindeRpress.com

6 The Militant March 15, 2021 Pathfinder’s new website — easier to search, browse, buy Books help us see today’s fights as part of working-class line of march to end exploitation

BY HOLLY HARKNESS whether you’re on a computer, mobile Against Ebola in West Africa. AND MARY ELLEN MARUS phone or tablet. Today almost 60% Readers interested in building their EXPLORE SUBJECTS of web searches are done on phones, Pathfinder Press unveiled a new revolutionary libraries can join the The Pathfinder Press website website this month at www.pathfin- making such flexibility important. Pathfinder Readers Club for $10 a derpress.com. The attractive colorful Customers who are blind or oth- year to receive 25%-30% discounts catalog is organized into 21 design, enhanced search and greater erwise visually impaired will find and special offers. subjects of interest to working security make for easy-to-use shop- the Pathfinder site easier to navigate, The new Pathfinder site offers people around the world. ping and checkout. Built with im- due to rigorous tagging of images and easier access to a world of books that Visitors to the site can now content that can be read by screen- proved technology, it helps readers contain the words of revolutionary search and browse these topics searching the internet for various au- reading software. leaders, letting them speak for them- thors, titles and subjects to find Path- As part of the new site, designers selves. In addition to those already and — for the first time — cross- finder books more quickly on search added photos of Pathfinder authors. named, these include Karl Marx and reference subjects with authors engines like Google. There is also a News section featuring Frederick Engels, Leon Trotsky, Rosa and languages using faceted As Mary-Alice Waters, president of Pathfinder-related events — photos of Luxemburg, James P. Cannon, Mal- filters, shown below. Pathfinder, explains in the pamphlet book fairs and conferences in which colm X, Fidel Castro, Evelyn Reed, Pathfinder Was Born With the Octo- Pathfinder participates, noteworthy Thomas Sankara, Vilma Espín, Mau- ber Revolution, the publishing house book reviews, and videos like the one rice Bishop and many more. and its forerunners for more than a of Mary-Alice Waters speaking at the We encourage readers of the Mili- century “have had one and only one New York book launch in March 2020 tant to visit the new site and explore objective: to publish and distribute as of Red Zone: Cuba and the Battle what it has to offer. widely as possible the books, pam- phlets, and magazines that are neces- sary to advance the construction of a communist party in the United States — an objective that is inseparable from the building of a communist movement internationally.” That’s why it’s true to say, as Wa- ters’ pamphlet describes, that Path- finder traces its continuity to the Oc- tober 1917 revolution in Russia, led by V.I. Lenin, and the founding of the Communist International. Readers of the Militant newspaper will find Pathfinder Press books valu- able companions to the newspaper’s weekly coverage. In Tribunes of the People and the Trade Unions, Jack Barnes, national secretary of the So- cialist Workers Party, explains that reading these books help class-strug- gle-minded workers and youth “gain a historical perspective and see our actions as part of a long line of march of the working class and its allies to- ward emancipation from all forms of exploitation and oppression.” New website is optimized — for computer and phone — to help locate titles, authors, and subjects of interest in 11 different languages, and with Google and other search engines, also. subjects: Pathfinder authors recount experi- ences and lessons from the heat of Art and Culture political battle, like Farrell Dobbs’ four-volume Teamster series about Black Liberation the 1930s truck drivers strikes and China, Asia, and the Pacific organizing drives that built the in- Education for Socialists Bulletins dustrial union movement across the Midwest; struggles against racist dis- Farmers & the Workers Movement crimination in the U.S.; and speeches Fascism and How to Fight It and accounts by leaders of Cuba’s so- Latin America and the Caribbean cialist revolution. Lenin and the “Picking up a Pathfinder book and Communist International reading Marx, or Lenin, or Malcolm ety Malcolm X, in His Own Words X, or Che Guevara for yourself not oci S only increases your knowledge, it Palestine, Israel, and the also deepens your self-confidence and orical Middle East ist stretches your political horizons,” Wa- H Revolutionary Politics ters explains. That’s why throughout of the Working Class the pages of the Militant, Pathfinder innesota

M Russia, Eastern Europe C

books are featured for further reading ouncil of and the Balkans or offered at special prices. Pathfinder distributes more than Africa S 800 books in 11 different languages. tat Cuban Revolution in the World e

Customers from around the world — O ffic Jewish Question & Anti-Semitism individuals, as well as bookstores and e of Materialist World View libraries — visit the website. Titles H ist address pressing social questions, orical Trade Unions: Past, Present, such as building a fighting union and Future A movement; women’s emancipation; ffa US Politics and History irs ilitant

the fight against police brutality; the M roots of Jew-hatred and a working- Top: Workers successfully fend off cop attack during 1934 Teamsters strike that made Women’s Emancipation Struggle class road to end it; and much more. Minneapolis a union town and began Midwest industrial union drive. From Teamster Writings of Leon Trotsky The revamped pathfinderpress. Rebellion by Farrell Dobbs. Above left: Socialist Workers campaign to win new Militant readers and introduce books with lessons of over 200 years of class struggle. Above right: Writings of Marx and Engels com is now “mobile responsive,” too. meeting of Cuban revolutionaries, 1957. Central leader Fidel Castro (middle), flanked by That means that users’ browsers auto- Haydée Santamaría and Celia Sánchez (right), Ciro Redondo and Vilma Espín (left). From pathfinderpress.com/SUBJECTS matically adjust in size and structure, Women in Cuba: The Making of a Revolution Within the Revolution by Espín and others.

The Militant March 15, 2021 7 ‘The fashion world became a capitalist gold mine’ Cosmetics, Fashions, and the Exploi- members of the same group or labor tation of Women by Joseph Hansen, collective. Since primitive society was Evelyn Reed and Mary-Alice Waters is socialist, these marks also expressed one of Pathfinder’s Books of the Month social equality. … for March. This Marxist classic on Then came class society. The marks women’s emancipation began as a 1954 that signified, among other things, so- debate in the Militant over the relation cial equality under primitive social- of big-business marketing of cosmet- ism, became transformed into their ics and fashions to the oppression of opposite. They became fashions and women. The excerpt is from the chapter decorations that signified social in- “The Woman Question and the Marxist equality: the division of society into Method” by Evelyn Reed, a leader of the rich and poor, into rulers and subjugat- Socialist Workers Party. She joined the ed. Cosmetics and fashions became the second wave of the fight for women’s lib- marks of social distinction between the eration in the 1960s and ’70s, authoring classes and the apex of this social dis- several books on the origins of women’s Painting by Avtandil Makharoblidze; inset, Militant/John Cobey tinction is found in the French Court Above, portrait of high society bourgeois soi- oppression. Copyright © 1986 by Path- ree. Inset, members of United Steelworkers of before the French Revolution. … finder Press. Reprinted by permission. America Local 8888 picket in February 1979 in But as capitalism developed, there successful battle for union recognition against arose an enormous expansion of the pro- Newport News, Virginia, shipyard bosses. “The ductive machine and with it the need for Books of woman question cannot be divorced from the a mass market. Since women represent class question,” Evelyn Reed writes in Cosmetics, half the population, profiteers in “beau- Fashions, and the Exploitation of Women. ty” eyed this mass and lusted to exploit the month of the capitalist system, and not seeking whole class struggle. it for their own purposes. … to overthrow it. But it was a progressive The attempt to identify the interests of The fashion world became a capital- by Evelyn Reed struggle in that women revolted against all classes of women as a sex takes one ist gold mine with virtually unlimited The class distinctions between almost total male domination on the of its most insidious forms in the field of possibilities. All a big businessman had women transcend their sex identity as economic, social, and domestic fronts. female beauty. The bourgeois myth has to do was to change the fashions often women. This is above all true in modern Through the feminist movement, a arisen that since all women want to be enough and invent enough new aids to capitalist society, the epoch of the sharp- number of important reforms were won beautiful, they all have the same inter- beauty and he could become richer and est polarization of class forces. for women. But the bourgeois feminist est in cosmetics and fashions which are richer. That is how, under capitalism, The woman question cannot be di- movement has run its course, achieved currently identified with beauty. To but- the sale of women as commodities was vorced from the class question. Any its limited aims, and the problems of to- tress this myth, it is claimed that fashion displaced by the sale of commodities to confusion on this score can only lead to day can only be resolved in the struggle beauty has prevailed throughout all ages women. Correspondingly, natural beau- erroneous conclusions and setbacks. It of class against class. of history and for all classes of women. ty became more and more displaced by will divert the class struggle into a sex The woman question can only be As evidence, they point to the fact that artificial beauty; namely, fashion beau- struggle of all women against all men. resolved through the lineup of work- even in primitive society, women paint- ty. And that is how the myth arose that Historically, the sex struggle was part ing men and women against the rul- ed and decorated their bodies. To ex- beauty is identical with fashion. … of the bourgeois feminist movement of ing men and women. This means that plode this myth, let us briefly examine Beauty has no identity with fash- the last century. It was a reform move- the interests of the workers as a class the history of cosmetics and fashions. ions. But it has an identity with labor. ment, conducted within the framework are identical; and not the interests of In primitive society, where there were Apart from the realm of nature, all that all women as a sex. no classes, no economic and social com- is beautiful has been produced in labor Ruling-class women have exactly petition, and no sexual competition, the and by the laborers. Outside the realm TheMarch Books the same interest in upholding and per- bodies of both women and men were of nature, beauty does not exist apart of the Month petuating capitalist society as their men painted and “decorated,” and it was not from labor and never will. For the have. The bourgeois feminists fought, for the sake of beauty. It was a necessity beauty of all the products of labor, and PATHFINDER among other things, for the right of that arose out of certain primeval and of all the arts produced in and through READERS CLUB 30% women as well as men to hold property primitive conditions of labor, which I labor, are incorporated within these discount SPECIALS in their own name. They won this right. shall explain in detail in future articles. products and these arts. Today, plutocratic women hold fabu- It was necessary at that time for each Humanity itself, together with the Cosmetics, Fashions, and the lous wealth in their own names. They individual who belonged to the kinship beauty of humanity, was produced Exploitation of Women are completely in alliance with the plu- group to be “marked” as such. These in and through the labor process. As by Evelyn Reed, Joseph Hansen, Mary-Alice Waters tocratic men to perpetuate the capitalist “marks” were not merely ornaments, [Frederick] Engels pointed out, when A debate from the Militant on system. They are not in alliance with rings, bracelets, short skirts, etc., but ac- the humans produced, they produced how capitalist cosmetics and fash- the working women, whose needs can tual gashes, incisions, tattoo marks, etc. themselves as humans. They cast off ion industries play on insecurities of only be served through the abolition of as well as different kinds of painting. their apelike appearance and became women to rake in profits. capitalism. Thus, the emancipation of These marks indicated not only the sex more and more beautiful. When the $12. Special price: $8.50 working women will not be achieved of each individual but the changing age capitalist social disfigurement of ex- Teamster Power in alliance with women of the enemy and labor status of each individual as he ploited labor is removed, the true by Farrell Dobbs class, but just the opposite; in a struggle matured from a child to an elder. beauty of labor and of the laborers will $16. Special price: $11 against them as part and parcel of the These marks identified the kindred stand forth in their true dimensions. Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State by Frederick Engels if you like this paper, look us up $15. Special price: $10.50 Where to find distributors of the NEBRASKA: Lincoln: P.O. Box 6811. AUSTRALIA Aldabonazo Militant, New International, and a full Zip: 68506. Tel: (402) 217-4906. Email: Sydney: Suite 103, 124-128 Beamish Inside the Cuban Revolutionary Under- display of Pathfinder books. [email protected] St. Campsie. Postal Address: P.O. 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8 The Militant March 15, 2021 Socialist Workers Party statement Iran: Hundreds protest US troops out of the Middle East! gov’t killings in Saravan Statement by Willie Cotton, Socialist Workers Party ing-class solidarity and organization there. The by BRIAN WILLIAMS candidate for New York City public advocate, March 3. SWP demands not only Washington, but all out- Hundreds of protesters took to the streets and oc- side capitalist powers — both Washington’s allies cupied government offices in Saravan, a city in south- Working people and our unions should demand the and rivals, from London to Moscow, Tehran and eastern Iran, Feb. 23 in response to the Islamic Revo- immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all U.S. Ankara — withdraw their forces now. lutionary Guard Corps killing of at least 10 sukhtbars troops, warships and bombers from the Middle East. The only force capable of resolving the crisis con- (fuel carriers) and injuring six more the day before. The Socialist Workers Party campaign condemns the fronting workers and farmers in Iraq, Syria, Iran and The sukhtbars eke out a living taking diesel fuel Feb. 25 airstrikes Washington unleashed in Syria that elsewhere in the region is working people. Only they from the Baluchistan region of Iran, one of the most killed at least 17 people. can win their own emancipation. impoverished parts of the country, across the border At home and abroad, the U.S. rulers, like every Working people in the U.S. can help by acting to into Pakistan. The price of fuel in Iran is government other capitalist government, uphold the interests of force the U.S. rulers to get their bloody hands off subsidized at a price substantially lower than it sells for the ruling capitalist families. From their military in- Iran now and end their punishing sanctions that hit in Pakistan. The trade is large, estimated to be almost terventions to their trade conflicts and the punishing workers and farmers hardest. 20% of the diesel fuel supply there. sanctions they inflict, everything they do abroad is an Successive U.S. administrations have used Sistan and Baluchistan is the second-largest of extension of their drive to defend their profits at home. Washington’s vast military might to brutally Iran’s 31 provinces. Its population mainly consists of They attack our jobs, wages and working conditions enforce their will. Both the Democratic and the Baluchi people, an oppressed nationality in Iran here. And it’s our class they use as cannon fodder in Republican parties are the parties of imperialist and a Sunni Muslim minority in that country. There their wars and military operations. war. Workers need to build a party of our own, a are some 5 million in Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The working class needs our own program on every labor party, that will say: Not one penny, not one At least three-quarters of the Baluch in Iran live under question, including our own foreign policy. person for the capitalist rulers’ wars! the government’s official poverty line. The starting point is the fact that workers and The way to stop imperialist wars once and for all is “The sukhtbars were stuck in the border area for two farmers around the world share the same class in- to lead the working class — the one great progressive days,” the London-based Baloch Campaign reported, terests. Solidarity with the struggles of working class today — to overturn the rule of the capitalist “and when they protested at the IRGC base, the guards people everywhere has to be our watchword, from warmakers here in the belly of the beast and replace it responded with bullets.” According to a BBC Farsi re- the protests and strikes by the toilers in Myanmar with a workers and farmers government. Such a gov- port, security forces opened fire on those who began to those in Iran and Iraq. ernment would join battles by fellow working people to open up the blocked highway at the border to carry All the imperialist and capitalist governments around the world to end capitalist rule — the source the fuel through to Pakistan. intervening in the Mideast are an obstacle to work- of all exploitation, oppression and war. Transporting fuel to Pakistan by sukhtbars is not considered smuggling by the Iranian government. Some crossings were designated for this purpose “to improve the livelihood of people living along the bor- der,” Mohammad Hadi Marashi told the Islamic Re- In new military attack, US hits targets in Syria public News Agency in an interview on Feb. 23. How- Continued from front page ever, recently the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Kurdistan, which killed a civilian contractor began to take over and instituted a family system of and injured several others. U.S. officials say operation. A group of five families would receive one the airstrikes were conducted in collaboration fuel ration card if they live within a strip of 20 kilo- with the Iraqi regime. Iraq’s Ministry of De- meters (12.4 miles) along the border, and at least one fense denies this. member from any of the families joins the “Tribal To defend their interests in the strategic, Mobilization” corps and agrees to do guard duty at a oil-rich region the U.S. rulers deploy at least border crossing near their village. 60,000 troops at bases across the Mideast along with a massive arsenal of warplanes, Iranian rulers fear spread of protests missiles and other armaments. The protests in Saravan continued for a number Both Washington and Tehran are jockey- of days, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Ira- ing for control in Iraq. Their conflict is part of nian government, fearing the spread of these actions broader struggles between contending capital- throughout the province and nationwide, shut down ist powers intervening in the region, including the internet in the region. the rulers in Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Iranian border guards also opened fire on the pro- All seek to defend their economic and strategic testers at a police station in Taftan in northeastern Bal- interests at the expense of their rivals. uchistan, resulting in one death and several injured, The Iranian rulers have entrenched their Reuters/Saba Kareem reported Iranian state TV. armed forces and allied militias in Iraq and in Protesters in Baghdad, Iraq, Oct. 28, 2020, carry photos of some of For the last few years there have been popular pro- Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Their drive to ex- 600 people killed by security forces during anti-government actions. tests across Iran by workers, farmers and youth, de- tend their power has come at a deadly cost to work- Daily protests in Iraq’s southern city of Nasiri- manding action against widespread unemployment, ing people in Iran and throughout the region. Fed yah, which began Feb. 22, highlight the political harsh living conditions and the effects of the Iranian up with plummeting living standards and the toll of challenges confronting the regime in Baghdad. rulers’ military assaults abroad. the regime’s wars, working people joined demon- Demonstrators are demanding the resignation of The tightening of Washington’s economic sanctions strations across Iran in November 2019. Dhi Qar Provincial Gov. Nazem al-Waeli and the over the past few years has deepened the crisis facing The most recent U.S. airstrikes took place as arrest and prosecution of those responsible for ab- working people. The official annual inflation rate is Biden looks for a way to return to the 2015 deal ducting or killing participants in rounds of anti- now 46.2%, compared with less than 10% three years imposed on the Iranian government that’s aimed government protests that began in 2019. ago. The cost of chicken, rice and eggs has almost at preventing it from acquiring nuclear weapons. During these actions tens of thousands of work- doubled over the past year, while the prices for beans Former President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. ing people and youth took to the streets demanding and vegetable oil have increased by about three times. from the pact in 2018. Iranian officials say they will jobs, an end to rule by sectarian political parties The Iranian regime has also tried to intimidate only rejoin the accord after Washington lifts its and a halt to military interventions and plunder of working people through stepped-up use of the death sanctions — something the Biden administration the country’s resources by Tehran and Washing- penalty in recent months. At least 21 Baluchi prison- refuses to do. The sanctions severely restrict the ton. At least 600 people have since been killed by ers were executed in Zahedan, Mashhad and Isfahan Iranian rulers’ trade while their impact falls hard- security forces. prisons since mid-December, the U.N. reported. est on workers and farmers. During the recent protests in Nasiriyah, security Molana Abdolhamid, leader of Sunni Friday prayers Tehran has begun producing uranium enriched forces fired live ammunition into crowds of dem- in Zahedan, the main Baluch city, issued a statement to 20% purity. On Feb. 23 it began restricting ac- onstrators, killing 10 and wounding dozens. Feb. 23 pointing to high unemployment in Baluchistan cess of international inspectors to some of its nu- But the deadly attacks did not deter protesters. and saying that thousands of families earn their living clear facilities. “The demonstrations will not stop until our de- through sukhtbari. He called the shootings “a crime The White House targeted Tehran-back militias mands are fulfilled and the governor is dismissed,” against religion and law” and called on the authorities on Syrian territory instead of those in Iraq to avoid Salam al Ghazi told Rudaw Feb. 25. for the “rapid trial and persecution of its perpetrators.” destabilizing the weak Iraqi government. On Feb. 26 governor al-Waeli resigned. Prime The Baluch member of parliament from the city of Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi appointed a succes- Chahbahar, in the south of Baluchistan, told the Iran sor and set up a committee he said would investi- Labor News Agency, “Put yourself in place of those Correction The article “Volunteers Expand Pathfinder gate the killings of demonstrators. people whose sons went out to earn an honest living, Bookstore Placements” in issue no. 9 incorrectly Actions in support of the demonstrations in Na- but in return they got their corpses.” He said that those said that during the fall sales efforts volunteers siriyah were held in other cities, including Baghdad guilty have to be dealt with according to law, “no won the most bookstore and library orders ever. It and the port city of Basra. Demonstrators in Na- matter what position they occupy.” Abdolhamid told was the most bookstore orders ever. siriyah halted their actions Feb. 28, giving the new ILNA that a delegation from the parliament is going governor three days to respond to their demands. to the Saravan region to investigate the events there. The Militant March 15, 2021 9