AUSTRALIA $1.50 · canada $1.00 · france 1.00 euro · new zealand $1.50 · uk £.50 · u.s. $1.00 Havana book fair: ‘History of class struggle in US vital for revolutionaries worldwide’ — PAGE 9 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE vol. 78/no. 12 March 31, 2014 Paper brings Truck drivers Working people at center of working-class in Canada fight for Ukraine sovereignty politics to shut down Militant’s on-the-scene report from Kiev new readers major port by emma johnson by dan grant Supporters of the Militant are sell- and steve penner ing subscriptions to the socialist press VANCOUVER, British Columbia along with books on revolutionary — A strike here by some 1,600 union politics as they talk with working peo- and nonunion truckers has brought ple about developments in the class “Canada’s largest port” to “its knees,” struggle worldwide and the road for- said British Columbia Transportation ward in face of a deepening crisis of Minister Todd Stone, who called on capitalism. At the center of these ef- the federal government to intervene. forts, socialist workers are encourag- Truckers at Port Metro Vancouver, ing others to join the campaign to free which ships more than $170 billion the Cuban Five and support toilers of worth of goods each year, are fight- Ukraine demanding Russian troops ing for higher wages and against long out of their country. hours and unpaid time waiting to pick Militant photos: Above, John Studer; Inset, Dag Tirsén Socialist workers Dave Ferguson up or unload containers. Above, Trade union headquarters at Maidan and Susan LaMont from Atlanta vis- On Feb. 26 about 1,200 nonunion burned out by police during February actions. ited workers on the picket line at Kel- truckers, part of the United Truckers Unions opened it for organization of self-defense logg Company’s cereal plant in Mem- Association, a nonprofit organiza- forces, hospital services and food distribution. phis, Tenn., March 14-15. The 220 tion, went on strike. They were joined Circles of red paint on building each symbol- ize someone killed in fight to oust government members of Bakery, Confectionery, March 10 by 400 unionized truckers, of President Viktor Yanukovych. At right is tent Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers organized by Unifor-Vancouver Con- for protesters from Donetsk region. Inset, In- International Union Local 252G have tainer Truckers’ Association. side Donetsk tent. From left, Demitri Antolia- been locked out since Oct. 22. Fer- Angry at waiting times that can run vych, miner Sasha Antoliavych and Oksana De- guson and LaMont also attended the up to four hours or longer to offload mynovych, part of Militant reporting team. March 15 “Unity in the Community” containers at Port Metro Vancou- BY John Studer the pro-Moscow government of Presi- support meeting for the workers. ver docks, the 400 unionized drivers KIEV, Ukraine — “We are among dent Victor Yanukovych. Continued on page 3 Continued on page 7 the workers who have come to Maid- “While we watch Russia,” Antolia- an recently,” said Sasha Antoliavych, vych said, “we also watch the politi- a former miner from the Donetsk London event brings together region bordering Russia in eastern Moscow seizes Crimea Ukraine March 17, the day after Mos- cow stepped up its moves to annex the after sham referendum forces fighting to free Cuban 5 Crimea following a sham referendum. —See article on page 10 “We plan to stay here to help organize to defend our country from Russia.” cians of the new government. Most Antoliavych is one of thousands of them are not much different from from across Ukraine who remain en- those who fled.” camped in the Maidan — Indepen- A team of Militant correspondents dence Square — after overthrowing Continued on page 10 Turkey: Death of 15-year-old sparks new round of protests by emma johnson tion of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Anti-government demonstrations Erdogan. have erupted again in Turkey. They The most recent protests were

Militant/Jonathan Silberman are the largest since a week of rallies sparked March 11 by the death of International Commission of Inquiry into the Case of the Cuban Five in London presented com- and other actions swept the country 15-year-old Berkin Elvan, who had prehensive summary of frame-up of Five and international fight for their freedom. From left, last summer demanding the resigna- Continued on page 5 Irma González, daughter of René González, one of Five; author Alice Walker; Diana Holland, assistant general secretary of UNITE union; Mirta Rodríguez, mother of Antonio Guerrero, one of Five; and Kenia Serrano, president of Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples. Capitalist neglect By Caroline Bellamy Cuba was former National Assembly Also Inside LONDON — An International President Ricardo Alarcón. Commission of Inquiry into the Case Arrested in 1998, Gerardo Hernán- in NYC kills 8, Melba Hernández: Leader of the Cuban Five drew more than 250 dez, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guer- of Cuban Revolution 2 Cuba solidarity activists, trade union- rero, Fernando González and René injures dozens ists and others from 27 countries to González, known as the Cuban Five, by emma johnson Russian Revolution fought London’s Law Society March 7-8. Or- are Cuban revolutionaries who were NEW YORK — Capitalism in de- old attitudes toward women 6 ganized by the international coalition jailed in the U.S. on trumped-up cline breeds apathy toward public in- Voices for the Five and hosted by the charges that ranged from failure to frastructure and magnifies the rulers’ Quebec gov’t probe targets Cuba Solidarity Campaign, the com- register as foreign agents to conspir- disregard for the lives of working peo- construction workers union 7 mission brought together legal profes- acy to gather and transmit national ple. This was brought home March 12 sionals, family members and others defense information and, in the case in the working-class neighborhood GM bosses’ refusal to fix at the forefront of the 15-year defense of Gerardo Hernández, conspiracy of East Harlem when a leak in a gas known defects kills 100s 8 effort. Among the participants from Continued on page 4 Continued on page 8 Melba Hernández: Combatant and leader of Cuban Revolution by seth galinsky leader Eduardo Chibás committed sui- From the very beginning the Cuban cide to protest government corruption. CubaDebate/Constantino Arias Revolution has had more leaders who After Batista seized power in a coup are women than any other socialist revo- in 1952, Hernández went to a demon- lution. Melba Hernández, one of those stration at the grave of Carlos Rodrí- women, died March 9 at the age of 92. guez, a worker killed by Batista’s thugs, She was among the initial leaders of where she first met Abel Santamaría. He the movement led by Fidel Castro that introduced her to Fidel Castro in May brought workers and farmers to power that year. in Cuba and one of two women who Before long Hernández and Haydée Above, Melba Hernández, left, and took part in the July 26, 1953, assault on Santamaría, Abel’s sister, were taking Haydée Santamaría leaving prison, Feb. 20, 1954. Both served time after July 26, the Moncada army garrison in Santiago. on major responsibilities in the revolu- 1953, assault on Moncada barracks. Inset, That action, while failing in its imme- tionary movement headed by Castro. Hernández, left, with Nguyen Thi Dinh, diate objective, was a decisive turning “We were the people of confidence deputy commander during Vietnam War point and clarion call to revolutionary for the most sensitive, most dangerous of Southern Liberation Armed Forces, and struggle against the U.S.-backed dicta- tasks,” Hernández said in a 2003 inter- Vilma Espín, in Havana, 1974. Hernández headed Cuban Committee in Solidarity torship of Fulgencio Batista. view by Susana Lee published in Cuba’s Federation of Cuban Women with Vietnam during Vietnam War. Hernández was a founding member Granma newspaper. of the July 26 Movement led by Castro The two women pressed to be among were released, Castro assigned them to a few were clamoring to fight arms in and a combatant in the 1956-58 revo- the 160 combatants in the July 26, 1953, organize the provisional leadership of hand. In October 1957 he appointed Ce- lutionary war, which culminated in a assaults on the Moncada barracks in the movement. They edited and orga- lia Sánchez, the first woman combatant popular insurrection that overthrew the Santiago and garrison in Bayamo. Cas- nized distribution of tens of thousands in the Rebel Army, to its general com- Batista tyranny on Jan. 1, 1959. She was tro approved and backed their request. of copies of Castro’s speech to the court, mand. In September 1958, Castro con- a founding member of the Communist “I protested to Fidel that we were as “History Will Absolve Me,” which be- vinced the Rebel Army command to set Party of Cuba in 1965 and a member of revolutionary as anyone there and that it came the program of the revolutionary up the all-woman Mariana Grajales pla- its Central Committee from 1986 until was unjust to discriminate against us for movement and organizing tool in the toon, trained under his direction. her death. She took on various diplo- being women,” she recalled in an inter- campaign to free the revolutionaries. “How can we give rifles to women matic and other responsibilities in the view published in Granma in 1998. In face of growing support for their when there are so many men who are workers and farmers government that The bold assault failed to take the release, Castro and others were freed unarmed?” asked some of the men. “Be- replaced capitalist rule. garrisons or spark a mass rebellion on May 15, 1955. When Castro founded cause they are better soldiers that you Hernández was born July 28, 1921. against the tyranny. Five revolutionaries the July 26 Movement in June that year, are,” replied Castro. “They’re more dis- Her parents had been underground died in the attack; 56 were tortured and Hernández became a member of its Na- ciplined.” fighters against Spanish rule during the murdered after capture, including Abel tional Directorate. Hernández headed the Cuban Com- war of 1895. In 1943 she graduated with Santamaría. Haydée Santamaría and After Castro’s release, Hernández mittee in Solidarity with Vietnam dur- a law degree from the University of Ha- Hernández were among those who were was among those who joined him in ing the U.S. war against Vietnam in the vana. “It wasn’t a ‘profitable’ career for tortured but not killed. Mexico to prepare for a revolutionary 1960s and ’70s. In the 1980s she was me,” she said in an interview reprinted Castro and 27 other combatants were war against the Batista dictatorship. Cuba’s ambassador to Vietnam and in Juventud Rebelde. “My ‘clients’ were tried and sentenced to up to 15 years in Castro and 81 men sailed for Cuba on Cambodia. She also served as secretary exploited peasants, a girl who went from prison. Santamaría and Hernández were the Granma yacht in November 1956. general of the Organization in Solidar- the brothel to jail, fired workers.” In 1951 sentenced to 17 months. After the Granma landed and Castro ity with the Peoples of Asia, Africa and she joined the Orthodox Party, after its After Santamaría and Hernández began putting together the Rebel Army Latin America; vice president of the An- in the Sierra Maestra mountains of east- ti-Imperialist Tribunal of Our America; ern Cuba, Hernández returned to Cuba and director of the Communist Party’s where she rejoined the urban under- Center for Asian Studies. She was a dep- ground of the July 26 Movement, which uty in Cuba’s National Assembly from organized to support the guerrillas and 1976 to 1986 and elected again in 1993. other activities. When it was no longer “In spite of the apparent failure [of possible for her to remain in the cities, the Moncada] assault because of the she became a Rebel Army combatant in fallen comrades, going to prison, we Stewardship of nature also falls to working class the Third Eastern Front, under the com- never saw it like that, but as a victory mand of Juan Almeida. that showed the road forward,” Hernán- Backward ‘environmental’ Castro led the battle for women’s dez told Granma in 2003. “Without policies in the U.K. blocked equal participation in all aspects of the Moncada we wouldn’t have what we farmers from dredging riv- revolutionary struggle, and more than have today. … I don’t regret it.” ers, leading to floods that

devastated farmers, land and send $85 drawn on a U.S. bank to above infrastructure, as well as The Militant address. Vol. 78/No. 12 Africa, Asia, and the Middle East: For wildlife habitats. The ‘Mili- one year send $85 drawn on a U.S. bank to tant’ points to the insepara- Closing news date: March 19, 2014 above address. Reuters/Kieran Doherty Editor: Doug Nelson Canada: For one year send Canadian $45 ble working-class battles to Man ferries local resident in Datchet village to the Militant, 7107 St. Denis #204, Mon- defend land and labor. during flood in southern England, Feb. 12. Editorial volunteers: Róger Calero, Naomi treal, Quebec H2S 2S5. Craine, Frank Forrestal, Seth Galinsky, United Kingdom: Send £26 for one year Emma Johnson, Paul Pederson, Gerardo Sánchez, John Studer, Brian Williams, by check or international money order Rebecca Williamson. made out to CL London, First Floor, 120 SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Bethnal Green Road (Entrance in Brick Published weekly except for one week in Lane), London, E2 6DG, England. January, one week in July, one week in Republic of Ireland and Continental August and two weeks in September. Europe: Send £85 for one year by check or NEW READERS NAME international money order made out to CL Business manager: Lea Sherman London at above address. The Militant (ISSN 0026-3885), 306 W. France: Send 76 euros for one year to q.$5 for 12 issues ADDRESS 37th Street, 13th floor, New York, NY Diffusion du Militant, P.O. Box 175, 23 rue 10018. Telephone: (212) 244-4899 Lecourbe, 75015 Paris. Fax: (212) 244-4947 RENEWAL CITY STATE ZIP New Zealand: Send NZ$50 for one year E-mail: [email protected] to P.O. Box 3025, Auckland 1140, New Website: www.themilitant.com Zealand. q.$10 for 12 weeks PHONE e-mail Correspondence concerning subscriptions Australia: Send A$50 for one year to P.O. or changes of address should be addressed Box 164 Campsie, NSW 2194, Australia. Pacific Islands: Send NZ$50 for one year UNION/SCHOOL/ORGANIZATION to the Militant, 306 W. 37th Street, 13th q.$20 for 6 months floor, New York, NY 10018. to P.O. Box 3025, Auckland 1140, New Zealand. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY. q $35 for 1 year Clip and mail to the militant, Submissions to the Militant may be pub- . 306 W. 37th st., 13th Floor new york, ny 10018. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to lished in the newspaper in print and digital the Militant, 306 W. 37th Street, 13th floor, format. By submitting, authors represent New York, NY 10018. that their submissions are original and 12 weeks of the Militant outside the U.S.: Australia and the Pacific, A$8 • United consent to publication in this manner. Kingdom, £3 • Canada, Can$7 • Caribbean and Latin America, US$10 • Continental SUBSCRIPTIONS: United States: For Signed articles by contributors do not Europe, £10 • France, 12 euros • New Zealand, NZ$7 • All other areas, US$16 (Send one year send $35 to above address. necessarily represent the Militant’s views. payment to addresses listed in business information box) Latin America, Caribbean: For one year These are expressed in editorials.

2 The Militant March 31, 2014 Sales of ‘Militant,’ books Continued from front page detention center with farmworkers from Local 252G member Marvin Rush Skagit Valley, north of Seattle. bought Teamster Rebellion by Farrell From Auckland, New Zealand, Pat- Dobbs. He first saw the book when rick Brown reported that cabinetmaker Ferguson and LaMont met him on the Steve Hayman renewed his subscription picket line in December and was struck when Baskaran Appu and Felicity Cog- by how the Minneapolis Teamsters in gan called at his workshop March 11. the 1930s won unemployed workers to “The Militant provides something the union cause. I don’t get through other media,” he “It’s important to know your history,” said. “I particularly appreciate finding he said. “What the Teamsters did is a out about the conditions of the working powerful example for today, because the class in the United States, people there employers use the same old dirty tricks, standing up and aware of what’s going trying to pit the unemployed against the on.” unions. Instead, it was brothers and sis- Hayman also bought a copy of Voices ters standing together.” From Prison: The Cuban Five. In addition to Teamster Rebellion, “We visited subscriber Ian Dobson, a Militant/John Naubert Rush got a Militant subscription and retired electrical worker, on March 15,” “Looks like a paper covering issues others don’t,” says Thomas Kaplan, right, signing up for sub- The Cuban Five: Who They Are, Why Brown wrote. “He told us he likes ‘read- scription from Dennis Richter at March 15 protest outside detention center in Tacoma, Wash. They Were Framed, Why They Should ing views in the paper — for example, Be Free, one of 11 books on special offer Ukraine, although I’m on the other side ing denied,” Olesia Reichowskys told with a subscription (see ad below). on that one.’ When we asked him for them as she signed up for an introduc- Two other Local 252G members his views, he asked what right Ukraine tory subscription. “Stalin came in and signed up to get the paper and two work- had to break with Russia, when it had did the same thing the czars had done ers who subscribed last fall decided to historically always been part of it. We for centuries. I learned Ukrainian from renew. Nine others bought single copies. explained that Ukraine has a long inde- my grandparents, my parents spoke Militant supporters from Seattle at- pendent history. He listened with inter- Russian, the language of work as Stalin tended a March 15 rally outside the de- est, but finished up with, ‘I’m with Putin forced them into the collectivized land tention center in Tacoma, Wash., where on this one.’” projects.” some 250 people demonstrated to back Dobson decided to renew his sub- “We have a saying,” Reichowskys immigrant detainees on hunger strike scription for a year. said. “‘The Ukraine is easy to conquer, against being deported. Jacquie Henderson in Omaha, Neb., but impossible to rule.’ I am happy your “It looks like that paper is covering reported that along with Ruth Robinett paper is printing the facts of our struggle issues that others don’t,” said Thomas she visited a local Ukrainian church so that people in this country can read Kaplan, 20, a student at Western Wash- March 16 to talk with people about the them. I haven’t seen a socialist news- Militant’s call for defense of Ukraine weekly before but I’m interested to ington State University in Bellingham, Now available who signed up for an introductory sub- sovereignty, Russian troops out, and to take a look at it.” Reprint of ‘Militant’ articles on invite people to a Militant Labor Forum To renew your subscription, to get scription. “I don’t want to just interpret Antonio Guerrero’s watercolors things, I’m interested in being in the on this topic March 22. a new one or to join the campaign to middle of activism.” Kaplan came to the “Our whole history, from the time of sell the paper, contact a distributor Full color flyer, English and Spanish the czars, is a history of our land being listed on page 6 or the Militant at (212) Contact distributors on page 6 taken, our culture and our language be- 244-4899. 25¢ or ‘Militant’ at (212) 244-4899 militant labor Special offers with ‘Militant’ subscription forums Malcolm X, Black The Cuban Five nebraska Liberation, and the Road Who They Are, Why They Were Omaha Russian Troops Out Now! Defend to Workers Power Framed, Why They Should Be Free Ukraine Sovereignty! Speaker: David from pages of the ‘Militant’ Rosenfeld, Socialist Workers Party. Sat., by Jack Barnes March 22, 7:30 p.m. $10 with subscription(regular $20) $3 with subscription (regular $5) In Defense of Land and Labor: The Keystone XL Pipeline and ‘Fracking’ The Working Class and the Cuba and Angola Debate. Speaker: Rebecca Williamson, Socialist Workers Party. Sat., March Transformation of Learning Fighting for Africa’s Freedom 29, 7:30 p.m. Both events at 3302 Q St., and Our Own Upstairs. Tel.: (402) 871-0735. The Fraud of Education Reform Under Capitalism by Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, texas by Jack Barnes Raúl Castro; Cuban generals; Houston $2 with subscription (regular $3) Gabriel García Márquez What’s Behind Downsizing of U.S. $6 with subscription(regular $12) Military? Speaker: Mike Fitzsimmons, Women in Cuba Socialist Workers Party. Fri., March 28, 7:30 p.m. 4800 W. 34th St., Suite C50L. The Making of a Revolution The Changing Face of U.S. Politics Donation: $5. Tel.: (713) 476-7033. Within the Revolution Working-Class Politics by Vilma Espín, Asela de los and the Trade Unions washington Santos, Yolanda Ferrer Seattle by Jack Barnes The Fight to End Women’s Oppression $10 with subscription (regular $20) $10 with subscription (regular $24) Is Key to Workers’ Struggle for Power. Speaker: Cecelia Moriarity, Socialist Women and Revolution Workers Party. Fri., March 28, 7:30 p.m. The Living Example Is Socialist Revolution in 5418 Rainier Ave. S. Tel.: (206) 323-1755. of the Cuban Revolution the U.S. Possible? A Necessary Debate by Asela de los Santos, by Mary-Alice Waters canada Mary-Alice Waters and others Montreal $5 with subscription (regular $7) The Capitalist Crisis in West Africa and $3 with subscription (regular $7) the Revolutionary Legacy of Thomas Sankara. Speaker: Michel Prairie, par- Los cosméticos, las modas, We Are Heirs ticipant in Pathfinder team in West Africa. y la explotación de la mujer of the World’s Revolutions Fri., March 28, 7:30 p.m. 7107 St. Denis, Room 204. Tel.: (514) 272-3076. (Cosmetics, Fashions, and by Thomas Sankara the Exploitation of Women) Speeches from the Burkina new zealand by Joseph Hansen, Evelyn Reed, Faso Revolution 1983-87 Auckland Mary-Alice Waters $5 with subscription (regular $10) Where Should Workers Stand in Debate $10 with subscription (regular $15) on TPPA Trade Agreement? Speaker: Thomas Sankara Speaks Annalucia Vermunt, Communist League. Fri., March 28, 7 p.m. Donation: $5 waged, The Burkina Faso Revolution $2 unwaged. 188a Onehunga Mall. Tel.: See distributors 1983-1987 (09) 369-1223. on page 6 $10 with subscription (regular $24) The Militant March 31, 2014 3 Commission on Cuban 5 Continued from front page tegrity of the men and their families, to commit murder. The Five were in who remain unbroken despite the best fact carrying out a mission from the efforts of the U.S. rulers, shone through Cuban government to monitor rightist the entire event. Despite the trappings paramilitary groups based in Florida. of a quasi-legal proceeding, the sessions The commission was presided over were marked above all by a spirit of soli- by Yogesh Sabharwal, former chief darity. justice of India; Zac Yacoob, former Four days before the commission justice of the constitutional court of opened, the British government denied South Africa; and Philippe Texier, René González a visa to enter the coun- former judge of the Supreme Court of try, citing his status as a convicted felon Appeals in France. who had been imprisoned for more than The first day concentrated on hearing four years. Due to speak publicly outside details and accounts about the scale of Cuba for the first time since his release bombings, assaults and deadly provoca- from U.S. custody last May, González tions directed against the Cuban Revo- appeared before the commission via lution over decades by armed groups Skype instead. based in the U.S. and the Cuban Five’s Lorenzo Gonzalo, deputy director of efforts to prevent further attacks. Radio Miami, who had himself been Day two focused on the treatment of deeply involved in counterrevolutionary Militant/Jonathan Silberman the Five by the U.S. government, focus- activity in Cuba and Miami for many Some 250 people attended London International ing on their arrest, the conduct of the tri- years, detailed the U.S. government’s Commission of Inquiry into the Case of the Cuban als, conditions of detention and visiting training of mercenaries for the failed in- Five (above). Inset, Adriana Pérez, wife of Gerardo rights. The conclusions of the commis- Hernández, one of the Five. Pérez has been repeat- vasion at the Bay of Pigs and subsequent edly denied visa to visit him in U.S. jail as “an instru- sion will be issued shortly. backing of rightist paramilitary groups. ment they try to use against him,” she said. The format provided an opportunity Since the triumph of the Cuban Revolu- for the Five and their defenders to pres- tion in 1959, attacks by these forces have end of the trial. But the judge refused. to journalists who were writing about ent a comprehensive summary of the killed 3,478 and left 2,099 permanently U.S. lawyer Peter Schey cited evi- the case during the trial. case and the international fight for their disabled. Relatives of three of those dence given at the trial that, based on Some 2,000 attending a concert fea- freedom. The strength, dignity and in- killed described the circumstances. high-level information from the Cuban turing Eliades Ochoa and Omara Portu- Lt. Col. Roberto Hernández of Cuba’s government, Brothers to the Rescue was ondo of the Buena Vista Social Club also Ministry of the Interior helped investi- warned many times by U.S. agencies of heard from author Alice Walker and 10 Showings of paintings gate a surge of bombings in Cuban tour- the possible consequences of its actions. leading British stage and screen actors ist areas in the 1990s, the period the Five Hernández had only the knowledge that who read letters, poems and other writ- by Antonio Guerrero, were in Miami. He summarized 12 ac- if the flights continued a confrontation ings by the Five and their families from one of the Cuban Five tual and planned attacks, showing pho- was likely. “Who was in a position to the books Letters of Love and Hope and tos of defused bombs and the destruc- stop them?” Schey asked, “not Gerar- Voices from Prison: The Cuban Five. tion caused by explosions. “This is why do Hernández. They had already been Elizabeth Palmeiro, married to Ramón I Will Die the we still need men like the Cuban Five to warned by the U.S. government. That Labañino, told Radio Rebelde that many defend our people,” he said. government could have arrested them who came for the music “were finding Way I’ve Lived Gerardo Hernández is serving one for filing false flight plans, which is a out for the first time about the case of the life term for conspiracy to commit es- felony. That would have stopped them.” Five. We were surprised to see how they pionage and another concurrent life The fighting spirit of those defending identified with the cause.” sentence for conspiracy to commit the Five was reflected in the statements Antonio Guerrero’s 15 watercolor murder. Life terms for Labañino and of their relatives. “I know I’m the instru- paintings depicting the Five’s first 17 Guerrero for espionage conspiracy were ment they try to use against him,” said months in “the hole” were on display at later reduced to 30 years and 21 years 10 Adriana Pérez, who is married to Gerar- a closing dinner for commission partici- months respectively. do Hernández and has repeatedly been pants held at the Trades Union Congress In the U.S. legal code, there is no such denied a U.S. visa to visit him. “I can’t headquarters. Guerrero had spoken ear- crime as “spying,” Philip Horowitz, the hide moments of sadness, but every day lier to the commission by phone from Miami attorney who represented René I wake up and say to myself “there is no prison. The Cuba Solidarity Campaign Exhibits González throughout his 15 years in time for nostalgia or sadness, only to gives priority to its work with union Los Angeles U.S. custody, told the commission. Es- fight for his return.” leaderships; 23 national unions are af- pionage involves gathering and trans- René’s daughter Irmita González filiated to the group. March 2-30 mitting military secrets. That’s what compared the lack of human solidar- I Will Die the Way I’ve Lived, Path- Coffee and Crepes, 4545 Cesar the U.S. government wanted to convict ity she noticed among the counterrevo- finder’s “catalog” of the paintings, was Chavez Ave. Tel.: (323) 263-4544; them of, but couldn’t. lutionaries in Miami to what she had well received, as was the newly pub- (323) 661-1980. Exhibition sched- “They were not accused of espio- known in Cuba. “I met the people my lished Voices From Prison — more ule: Tues.-Thurs., 10AM-4PM; nage, but of conspiracy,” said Ricardo dad was working with in Miami when than 150 copies of the books were sold Fri.-Sat., 12PM-8PM. Alarcón, “because there is no evidence I was 12,” she said. “There was no love, during the weekend event. “We’re look- Chicago they did anything. Nothing they did en- kindness, honor. It was all about hate ing at showing the paintings at a central dangered U.S. security. Yet the highest and money.” Manchester venue; to tell people about March 21-April 13 possible sentences for the actual crime After her father’s arrest, González it,” Unison North West regional officer Opening reception: Sat., March 22, of espionage were imposed.” went a year without seeing him. When Paul Foley told the Militant. 7-9PM. Beverly Arts Center, 2407 The fight to free Gerardo Hernández her baby sister Ivette was first allowed The International Commission was W. 111th St. Tel.: (773) 445-3838. remains the center of the international to visit him in jail, she related, her father one of three international events planned Exhibition schedule: Mon.-Fri., 9AM- defense campaign. was chained to his chair. “Is he a dog?” this year by fighters for the freedom of 9PM (closes at 5 p.m. if no evening “My husband has served his time the child asked her mother, Olga Salan- the Five. From June 4-11 the third “5 event); Sat., 12PM-5PM.; Sun., 1-4PM. and done his duty to his country,” said ueva. “Your father is not the dog in this days for the Cuban 5” will be held in Olga Salanueva, who is married to René room,” she replied. Washington, D.C., and from October 27- Atlanta González. “But his mission is not fin- The class “justice” the Five have re- 29 the Third World Meeting of Solidar- March 17-April 5 ished. All of our missions. They will ceived at the hands of the U.S. authori- ity with Cuba will take place in Havana. Opening program: Thurs., March only be complete when Gerardo is free.” ties strikes a chord with many working “The Five were defending the Cu- 20, 5-8PM. Spelman College, Cosby Tacked on eight months after Hernán- people. Lawyers and family alike de- ban Revolution,” said Kenia Serrano, Building, 3rd Floor, in the Cloister. 350 dez’s arrest, the indictment on conspira- scribed the 17 months the Five spent in president of the Cuban Institute for Spelman Lane SW cy to murder rests on claims he had ad- punishment cells, denial of family visits Friendship with the Peoples. “The vance knowledge of Cuban government and barriers put in their way to prepar- struggle for the freedom of the Five is plans to shoot down planes flown by the ing their defense. a struggle for the freedom and libera- Auckland, counterrevolutionary outfit Brothers to Motions requesting movement of the tion of women and men everywhere. New Zealand the Rescue. The planes — shot down by trial outside Miami, on the grounds that There is a slogan from the anti-apart- April 5-24 the Cuban Air Force in February 1996 the Five would not get an impartial trial heid struggle, that there is no easy Opening program: Sat., April 5, 5-7PM. — had engaged in repeated provoca- there, were denied. Martin Garbus, lead road to freedom. We will need to fight Artstation, 1 Ponsonby Road. Tel.: (09) tions entering Cuban airspace, going so lawyer for the Five, described prejudi- hard. Let us unite to free the Cuban 376-3221; (09) 303-1755. Exhibition far as to drop leaflets over Havana. Fear- cial and untruthful press coverage dur- Five.” schedule: Mon.-Fri., 9AM-5PM; Sat., ing lack of evidence was an obstacle ing the trial, threats to the jury, and re- For more information on upcoming 9AM-4PM. to convicting Hernández, prosecutors cently established evidence that the U.S. events see http://5daysforthecuban5. asked the charge be withdrawn at the government made substantial payments com and www.icap.cu. 4 The Militant March 31, 2014 Demonstrations in Turkey Continued from front page owned Halkbank, who was accused of been in coma since June 16 last year setting up deals with Iran in violation of when he was hit by a gas canister dur- U.S.-led international sanctions. An or- ing a police crackdown on protest ac- der was put out to arrest Erdogan’s son tions as he was running a family er- Bilal on suspicion of paying out bribes, rand to buy bread. but police refused to do so. The protests, in which many partici- As premier since 2003, Erdogan has pants have been waving loaves of bread, led the privatization of large govern- take place against the background of a ment-owned companies, including in government corruption scandal and eco- the oil and gas industry, seaports and nomic downturn. airports. During his years as prime min- “The biggest demonstrations were on ister the Turkish economy has grown the day of Berkin’s funeral,” said Samil by up to 9 percent annually. But this Altan, of the People’s Democratic Party, “success” rode on a wave of rising debt. on the phone from Istanbul March 17. Turkey’s trade deficit grew from $16 bil- “We were thousands. The police used lion in 2003 to $84 billion in 2012. In the tear gas and water cannons. The prime first three weeks of unrest last summer, minister attacked us and cursed us.” speculators sold off Turkish stocks and According to Hürriyet Daily News, bonds worth more than $1.6 billion. some 2 million people in 53 provinces “There is polarization in the coun- across the country took to the streets af- try and a political crisis going into the Reuters/Umit Bektas ter Elvan’s death. Cops intervened in 13 March 30 elections,” Altan said. “The Demonstrators in Ankara, Turkey, March 12 wave loaves of bread after death of 15-year-old provinces, leading to clashes in which at demonstrations have stopped for now, Berkin Elvan, who had been in a coma since June after being hit by gas canister in police least 52 civilians were injured and more but the situation is tense.” crackdown on protesters. At that time he was going to store to buy bread for his family. than 400 arrested. Cops attacked a vigil for Elvan out- side the hospital, employing tear gas, Workers in Egypt fight for national minimum wage despite being very close to the hospital BY BETSY FARLEY recently gone on strike — transport and Trade Union in Mahalla has grown entrance. “It is not Allah who has taken Since December 2013, more than postal workers, cotton and textile work- through these strikes.” my son away. It is Tayyip Erdogan,” 100,000 workers, including in steel, tex- ers, and those in the food industry. In a Since the popular mobilizations that Berkin’s mother Gülsüm Elvan said at tile, transport and postal sectors, have televised address March 2, newly ap- overthrew the government of President the vigil, Hürriyet reported. gone on strike. Most of these actions pointed Prime Minister Ibrahim Meh- Hosni Mubarak in 2011, the capital- During the March 12 funeral, some have been around unpaid wages and de- leb appealed to the “patriotism” of all ist rulers in Egypt have been unable markets stopped selling bread. Members mands that the minimum monthly wage Egyptians, saying this is a moment for to pacify workers demanding higher of DISK, a union that organizes metal, of 1,200 Egyptian pounds ($170) prom- work, not strikes. wages and political rights. Neither textile and service workers, walked off ised for some public workers be imple- Cairo transport workers suspended the short-lived Muslim Brotherhood the job to join the procession. mented for all. their strike through April to give the government of President Mohammed “These are fakers, fakers,” Erdogan “We are given promises, so we return new government a chance to respond Morsi, nor the current military-led in- said about the protesters at an opening to work,” striking bus driver Shokri Seif to their demands. Since then transport terim government have done anything ceremony for a subway line in Ankara Mohamed from Cairo said in a Feb. 27 workers in Alexandria, Egypt’s second to mitigate the effects of rising prices March 13. He neither commented on El- news video from Ahram online, the largest city, went on strike demanding and high unemployment on work- van’s death nor sent condolences to the state news service. “The promises aren’t the minimum wage, unpaid bonuses, ing people. Official joblessness is 13 family. “First they tried with Gezi; they held so we strike again. We get more and a 200-pound increase. percent and more than 25 percent for could not succeed,” he said in a tele- promises, we stop the strike, then the The recent strike wave began in Feb- young Egyptians. The annual rate of vised speech while campaigning prior promises are broken again.” ruary with the Mahalla Spinning and inflation is nearly 12 percent. to the March 30 local elections. “Then “Since the revolution we’ve had six Weaving workers, who are demanding “The government changed as a re- they started the Dec. 17 coup attempt different governments, from all colors of unpaid bonuses, the minimum wage sponse to the strikes,” Fayoumy said, and could not succeed. Now they try to the spectrum,” said Mahmoud, another and removal of company Chairman referring to the resignation of the prime reach results by provoking, terrorizing striker. “But the policies are the same. Foad Abdel Aleem. minister and cabinet in February. “But the streets.” The powerful loot and the poor get bur- “We have no concrete results yet,” the government change has not resulted The protest wave last summer started ied!” independent textile union leader Kamal in any real change on the ground. Our in Istanbul May 31 when police attacked Government officials announced Feb. Fayoumy told the Militant in a phone in- demands have yet to be met.” young people occupying Taksim Gezi 26 that most public sector workers will terview from Mahalla al Kubra March Park who opposed a government plan not get the minimum monthly wage. 9. “But the union movement has gained Georges Mehrabian in Athens, Greece, to replace it with a shopping mall. The Excluded are most of those who have strength and confidence and the Free contributed to this article. protests soon became mass demonstra- tions against the Erdogan government, involving more than 2 million people 25, 50, and 75 years ago demanding greater democratic and po- litical rights, including for religious and national minorities, women and unions. Government forces responded with water cannons, tear gas, plastic bullets and assaults, killing nine. More than March 31, 1989 March 30, 1964 March 31, 1939 8,000 were injured, 104 sustained se- The Machinists’ strike against East- Behind the newspaper headlines On July 28, 1938 District Court Judge rious head injuries and 11 lost an eye, ern Airlines is having an impact on about “Rioting Negroes in Jacksonville, Frank E. Reed of Minneapolis handed mostly from plastic bullets. Erdogan working people throughout the country. Florida” facts are already discernible down an order requiring that General defended the crackdown, slandering the They are inspired by the strikers’ deci- which show that the main perpetrators Drivers Union Local 544 immediately protests as the work of domestic provo- sion to fight for their rights and dignity, of the violence are the mayor and the po- surrender for inspection all its books, re- cateurs and their foreign collaborators. and by the unflinching support of the lice department. cords and correspondence to attorneys Erdogan’s condemnation of “the Dec. Eastern pilots and flight attendants for When Negro groups in Jacksonville for five finks who had asked for such an 17 coup” refers to arrests of more than the Machinists’ action. began a campaign of protest against inspection, in order the better to prepare 50 charged with corruption, apparently This is giving added momentum to segregation in hotels and restaurants, a case against the union. driven by bourgeois opposition to the the national march for abortion rights, the racist mayor went on television to It is a sad fact that, in the case of most Erdogan government. Among them which will take place in Washington, announce his “get tough” campaign. He unions, such a union-busting order of a were politicians with Erdogan’s ruling D.C., April 9. swore in 500 firemen as special cops to judge would have been obeyed, and the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Part and parcel of the rulers’ offensive deal with Negro demonstrators. finks, obviously agents of the Associ- pro-AKP capitalists and sons of three has been an attack on democratic rights Clubbings of Negroes and mass ar- ated Industries, would have had their cabinet ministers. — from expanding use of the death rests began. The students and people way. Ministers of the economy, interior penalty and mandatory drug testing on of the neighborhood fought back with But this was the famous Minneapo- and urban development resigned Dec. the job, to wholesale violations of immi- stones, bottles, etc. forcing police finally lis Truckdrivers Union, veteran of the 25 after the arrest of their sons, who grant workers’ rights and the campaign to withdraw. great strikes of 1934 which unionized allegedly accepted bribes for awarding to overturn women’s right to abortion. The mayor and the white-suprema- the whole city. Instead of surrender- government building permits and pub- A big turnout for the April 9 march cists got more than they bargained for. ing its books, the union issued a public lic contracts. The next day Erdogan re- will not only strengthen the struggle to The Negro people today will not take denunciation of the judge, meaning the placed seven other ministers. keep abortion legal — it will also aid the such treatment lying down. They fight union would not turn its books over to Also arrested was head of the state- Eastern strikers in their fight. back. the finks.

The Militant March 31, 2014 5 Russian Revolution fought old attitudes towards women Below is an excerpt from Women and industry, a new society, but in the field the Family by Leon Trotsky, one of Path- of personal relations much still remains finder’s Books of the Month for March. from the Middle Ages. And therefore In this collection of writings and speech- one of the criteria for the evaluation es between 1923 and 1936, Trotsky ex- of our culture, and a standard for in- amines the role of women in society and dividual proletarian working men and the role of the family, including both women and progressive peasants, is the the gains of the 1917 Russian Revolu- attitude toward woman and the attitude tion and the problems that continued to toward the child. plague women after the revolution. This Vladimir Ilyich [Lenin] taught us piece is from his speech “The Protec- to value the working-class parties ac- tion of Motherhood and the Struggle for cording to their attitude, in particular Culture” given at the Third All-Union and in general, toward the oppressed Conference on Protection of Mothers nations, toward the colonies. Why? Be- and Children on Dec. 7, 1925. Copyright cause if you take, say, the English work- © 1970 by Pathfinder Press. Reprinted er, it is much easier to arouse in him by permission. the feeling of solidarity with his whole class — he will take part in strikes and will even arrive at revolution — but to Books of make him raise himself to solidarity with a yellow-skinned Chinese coolie, the month to treat him as a brother in exploitation, will prove much more difficult, since March by women during revolutionary struggle in Russia 1917. In 1925 speech Trotsky here it is necessary to break through a by leon trotsky explains need to combat prejudices against women and family laid down over millenia. What is our old culture in the area shell of national arrogance which has of the family and everyday life? On much as you like of genuine present-day to us, as the material presupposition of a been built up over centuries. top was the nobility, who put the stamp serfdom. You should not set yourself the higher human personality, not shut up in And just so, comrades, has the shell of vulgarity, on a basis of darkness and utopian task of overturning the old fam- itself, but cooperative, associative. of family prejudices, in the attitudes lack of culture, on all social life. And ily by some kind of instant juridical leap From this point of view it may be of the head of the family toward wom- if our proletariat, which emerged from — you’ll fall on your face and compro- said that probably for many decades an and child — and woman is the coo- the peasantry, caught up in a single leap mise yourself in front of the peasantry to come it will be possible to evaluate lie of the family — this shell has been with the European proletariat in some — but within the material possibilities, a human society by the attitude it has laid down over millenia, and not cen- thirty to fifty years and then overtook it within the already assured conditions toward woman, toward the mother and turies. And thus you are — you must in the fields of class struggle and revolu- of social development, act, along the toward the child — and this is true be — the moral battering ram which tionary politics, there is still, in the pro- legal line too, so as to direct the family not only for evaluating society, but will break through this shell of conser- letariat too, more than a little of the foul toward the future. … also the individual person. The human vatism, women and the family rooted old leftovers of serfdom in the field of We Marxists say that the value of a psyche does not develop evenly in all its in our old Asiatic nature, in slavery, in personal morals, the family, and every- social structure is determined by the de- parts. We are living in a political age, serfdom, in bourgeois prejudices, and day life. And in the intellectual or petty- velopment of productive forces. This is a revolutionary age, when working men in the prejudices of the workers them- bourgeois family, you can still find as indisputable. But it is also possible to ap- and women are developing themselves selves, which have arisen from the worst proach the problem from the other end. in a struggle, forming themselves above aspects of peasant traditions. Inasmuch The development of the productive forc- all in a revolutionary political way. And as you will be destroying this shell, like a March Books es is not needed for its own sake. In the those cells of consciousness where fam- a battering ram in the hands of the so- of the Month last analysis the development of the pro- ily views and traditions reside, and the cialist society that is being built, every ductive forces is needed because it pro- attitude of one man to another, to wom- conscious revolutionary, every Com- PATHFINDER vides the basis for a new human person- an, to child, and so on — these cells of- munist, every progressive worker and

READERS CLUB 25% ality, conscious, without a lord over him ten remain in the old form. The revolu- peasant is obliged to support you with discount SPECIALS on earth, not fearing imaginary lords, tion has not yet worked upon them. The all his might. I wish you great success, born of fear, in the sky — a human per- cells in the brain in which political and comrades, and above all I wish you Women and the Family sonality which absorbs into itself all the social views reside are being worked more attention from our public opinion. by Leon Trotsky best of what was created by the thought upon in our time much more quickly Your work, which is really purifying, How the October 1917 Russian Revolution, first victorious social- and creativity of past ages, which in soli- and sharply, thanks to the whole struc- really salutary, must be placed in the ist revolution, transformed the darity with all others goes forward, cre- ture of society and thanks to the epoch center of attention of our press, so that fight for women’s emancipation. ates new cultural values, constructs new in which we are living. (Of course, this it can be supported on the shoulders of $13 Special price: $9.75 personal and family attitudes, higher is only an analogy — in the brain the all progressive elements in the country, and nobler than those which were born process works differently.) And there- and you can be helped to reach success- Democracy and Revolution on the basis of class slavery. The devel- fore we shall go on for a long time ob- es in the reconstruction of our way of by George Novack life and culture. [Loud applause.] $22. Special price: $16.50 opment of the productive forces is dear serving that we are constructing a new Women in Cuba: The Making of a Revolution if you like this paper, look us up Within the Revolution by Vilma Espín, Asela de los Where to find distributors of the MINNESOTA: Minneapolis: 416 E. AUSTRALIA Santos, Yolanda Ferrer Militant, New International, and a full Hennepin Ave., Suite 214. Zip: 55414. 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E-mail: seattleswp@qwestoffice. Tel: (016) 1478-2496. E-mail: clmanchr@ E-mail: [email protected] net gmail.com 6 The Militant March 31, 2014 Quebec gov’t probe targets construction workers’ unions BY MICHEL DUGRÉ extended mandate to submit its final re- AND JOHN STEELE port by April 2015. So far the commis- MONTREAL — Over the past six sion’s findings — based on three years months, a three-year-running govern- of testimony from politicians, govern- ment corruption probe has targeted the ment functionaries and construction Quebec Federation of Labor (FTQ) and bosses — have resulted in the resigna- the affiliated FTQ-Construction union tion of Montreal mayors Gerald Trem- with slanders of links to organized blay and Michael Applebaum and Laval crime, thug violence and the illegal drug Mayor Gilles Vaillancourt. Applebaum trade. was arrested last June and charged with The Commission of Inquiry on the fraud, conspiracy and corruption over Awarding and Management of Public real estate transactions. Contracts in the Construction Industry Since the fall of 2013, six former and Jeannot Lévesque was set up by the Quebec provincial current union officials have been sub- Striking construction workers march in Jonquière, Quebec, June 20. Government corrup- tion probe of construction industry is being used to slander and go after rights of unions. government in October 2011 with the poenaed to face televised interrogations. stated aim of investigating corruption During the testimony of former FTQ Quebec. Last July, the provincial gov- main issues, including Saturday double- in the awarding of government con- President Michel Arsenault in February, ernment used anti-union legislation to time pay, work hours, wages and the struction contracts. Chaired by Superior the commission played police wiretap force the 77,000 strikers back to work hiring of local workers, the industrial Court Justice France Charbonneau, the tapes of personal phone calls from 2009 after a week-and-a-half-long strike that sector workers can legally strike after commission is commonly referred to as in which he commented favorably on a paralyzed major construction projects June 30. the Charbonneau Commission. vacation he had taken on the yacht of a across the province. At the outset, the In the context of a snap April 7 elec- The Quebec Federation of Labor is construction magnate whom the police strike involved 175,000 workers and tion called by the provincial govern- the largest union federation in Quebec, allege may be connected with the mafia. included workers in the residential and ment, the FTQ leadership is calling on with 600,000 members. FTQ-Construc- Arsenault resigned as FTQ president last civil engineering sectors. But workers its members to support any candidate tion represents 70,000 workers, includ- November after witnesses testified that in those sectors reached contract agree- that backs the union’s platform, which ing thousands of construction workers he knew of links between some union ments before the government’s back-to- includes repeal of the 2013 legislation in the industrial, commercial and insti- leaders and illicit business ventures, but work decree, which banned the indus- that eliminated union placement and tutional sector. did nothing about it. trial sector from striking for a year. put hiring in the hands of a government The probe by the commission into the On Feb. 25, Bernard Gauthier, rep- If no agreement is reached on the agency. internal affairs of the FTQ follows years resentative of Heavy Machine Opera- of police wiretapping labor officials’ tors Local 791, an affiliate of the FTQ phone calls — none of which have led that represents some 600 workers in Protesters in London demand to criminal charges — and attacks by northern Quebec, was hauled before the successive governments to weaken the commission. He explained his efforts to union. ensure bosses hired union members and Russian troops out of Crimea Quebec had been the last jurisdiction adhered to contract terms. Charbon- By Ögmundur Jónsson “The Russian people are not our in North America where bosses on all neau and commission lawyers sought LONDON — Chanting “Russian enemies,” protest organizer Bohdan major construction sites were required to paint Gauthier as a thug, responsible troops, leave Crimea!” several thou- Ciapryna, a leader of the Association to hire only union labor. But in Septem- for assaults on other workers and bosses. sand protesters, most of Ukrainian ori- of Ukrainians in Great Britain, told the ber 2013, anti-union legislation went Charbonneau condemned Gauthier’s re- gin, marched from Marble Arch in the crowd, pointing to the protests against into effect eliminating “union place- fusal to accept the government’s aboli- city center here to the Russian Embassy the Russian invasion of Crimea across ment” of workers on construction sites, tion of union placement and campaign March 16. Some came on buses from Russia the previous day. a gain won in labor battles of earlier de- against “aggressive unionism.” Nottingham, Birmingham, Manchester The protests in Ukraine and London cades. This protection gave the union Gauthier was greeted by 60 construc- and other cities. began in November as pro-EU demon- more power to enforce contract terms tion workers at the airport upon his re- Among the scores of Ukrainian flags strations, Ciapryna said. “But as they on working conditions, wages and job turn to northern Quebec following the were those of other nations historically went on, we started protesting against safety. The bosses now hire through the two-day televised testimony. dominated by Russia, including Poland, government corruption. When the gov- Quebec Construction Commission, a In mid-February contract negotia- Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Czech Re- ernment started killing demonstrators, government agency. tions began between union officials and public, Moldova, Georgia and Chech- it turned into a struggle for democracy The Parti Quebecois government the Quebec Construction Association, nya. A substantial number of Russians and freedom. We’ve gotten rid of a dic- gave the Charbonneau Commission an which represents construction bosses in also participated. tator who shot his own people and then fled to Russia, but now we face an even bigger enemy — the Russian regime.” Melek Maksudoglu described the Truck drivers’ strike shut down Vancouver port long history of repression of her people, Continued from front page involved in this fight,” a driver who dercutting the rate of $100 to $185 won the Crimean Tatars. “Ukrainians and unanimously voted to strike. They has worked at the port for seven years, by truckers in 2005 after they refused to Tatars have lived together peacefully reinforced pickets set up by the non- who didn’t want his name used, told the move containers for 47 days. for hundreds of years. We are united union truckers at a number of loca- Militant. “We’d like to see them in the Truckers say they are caught between against the Russian occupation,” she tions in and around Vancouver, in- union.” rising fuel, insurance and maintenance said. cluding four separate port terminals Owner-operator Jaspal Kang, a non- costs on the one hand and pay rate cuts One speaker was part of a group of and nearly a dozen trucking compa- union trucker, said some trucking com- on the other. about 50 young Venezuelans back- nies. panies are paying as little as $50 per In the opening days of the strike more ing the pro-imperialist demonstrations “We want to keep the nonunion guys container to new drivers. They are un- than 40 nonunion workers had their port against the government of Nicolas Mad- trucking licenses suspended for alleged uro in that country. Among their slogans picket line violence. was the reactionary call for “Cuba out of “We are standing with those guys,” Venezuela,” which they equate with the said Kang, stressing that truckers are Ukrainians’ fight against the Russian in- determined not to return to work with- vasion of their country. out their reinstatement. He insisted the “We want freedom from Russia to truckers had done nothing wrong. choose our own president,” Roman Pop- A return to work agreement was ovych, who has lived in London for 14 drafted by a federal Transportation years and works as a window cleaner, Ministry-appointed mediator. Lead- told the Militant. “Not a president for the ers of the two truckers’ organizations rich, but for the poor. The rich will al- recommended strikers approve the ways look after themselves.” agreement. But it was soundly re- Roman Kryvko, a construction work- jected in separate votes March 8, by er who has lived for one year in London, 100 percent of the nonunion truckers pointed out that Ukrainians can’t come in the UTA and 98 percent of those to work and study in the United King- unionized. dom as can those from EU member On March 17, Port Metro Vancou- countries. “We want to have a better life ver issued an ultimatum to the striking like everyone else,” he said. Members of United Truckers Association rally Feb. 26 along Highway 99 in Delta, British truckers, threatening to revoke their port Participants bought three subscrip- Columbia, on opening day of strike for higher wages, against unpaid wait times and long hours. permits. tions and 57 single copies of the Militant.

The Militant March 31, 2014 7 GM bosses’ refusal to fix March in Toronto backs Ukrainian sovereignty known defects kills 100s by brian williams Research Corp., which reviews vehicle How much is the protection of human design and safety, 303 passengers were life worth to the U.S. auto barons? killed when air bags failed to open in According to a recent report, hun- two of the GM models just recalled — dreds of people died in crashes of 2005-07 Chevrolet Cobalts and 2003-07 General Motors-made cars as a result of Saturn Ions. defective ignition switches and likely re- The judge who approved GM’s bank- lated air-bag failures. The company was ruptcy filing in June 2009 absolved the aware of the ignition problem for a de- “new” GM of legal responsibility for in- cade, but only issued a recall last month cidents that occurred before then. in face of mounting pressure. Fixing the “It is true that new GM did not as- problem costs as little as $1 per car, ac- sume liability for claims arising from cording to NBC News. incidents or accidents occurring prior to Militant/John Steele Ignition switches in these vehicles if July 2009,” said a GM statement. “Our TORONTO, March 16 — About 1,000 people marched to the Russian bumped or weighed down by a heavy principle through this process has been Consulate here to support the struggle of the Ukrainian people against key chain would shut off the engine and to put the customer first, and that will Russian domination and demand withdrawal of Russian troops from Crimea. power system while the car was in mo- continue to guide us.” Chants included, “Russians rise up against Putin” and ”Referendum fake.” tion. GM in February recalled 1.6 mil- In another development, GM recalled “I have friends in Kiev who are Russian speakers, and there is no animos- lion cars worldwide from six models 1.5 million other vehicles over faulty air- ity between Russians and Ukrainians,” Waterloo university student Yuriy produced in 2003-2007. bag system wiring March 17. The recall Palamarchuk told the Militant. “If you stay quiet nothing will happen,” said The company disclosed in papers affects sport utilities that go as far back Slavko Stefanisin, a Ukrainian born in Bosnia who worked for 17 years as filed with the National Highway Traffic as 2008. Cadillac XTS, 2013 and 2014, a long-haul truck driver. Safety Administration that it knew of were also recalled for shorts in brake — Joanne Holowchak and John Steele the ignition defect as far back as 2001. booster-pumps that can cause fires. The NHTSA, however, never opened an investigation nor took steps to force GM to recall the cars. GM officials have con- Capitalist neglect results in explosion, killing 8 ceded that a dozen people were killed as a result of the faulty ignition. Continued from front page was no way for people to know or to pre- the cracks in buildings, you see there Among those not included in GM’s main caused a massive explosion that pare, like a burst out of the blue.” is no maintenance to public housing. count is Brooke Melton, 29, who was killed eight people, injured more than Four days after the blast the surround- So why would it be any different with killed four years ago when her 2005 50 and left 100 homeless. ing blocks were sealed off by cops. They the gas and the electric?” Chevy Cobalt careened out of control At 9:13 a.m. on March 12, East Har- allow shoppers to go to the grocery store “I worry, it’s like living on top of a after the ignition shut off, colliding lem resident Corey Louire called energy on condition they don’t go farther up the bomb,” said Emelie Ortíz, who works in with another vehicle. The family’s at- company Consolidated Edison and re- street and come back out the same way. home care. “But we don’t have enough torney Lance Cooper “asked witness ported that he could smell a heavy odor “Look at that rail line, it’s just next money to move anywhere better.” Gary Altman, who was GM’s program of gas. Less than 20 minutes later an ex- to the buildings,” said Adrian Harris, a The main pipe running into the East engineering manager for the Cobalt in plosion took down two five-story build- transit worker, pointing to the elevated Harlem buildings dates back to 1887 and 2004 and 2005, if it was true that the car ings and blew out windows in the sur- track half a block up. “What if a train is partly made of cast iron. According to company ‘made a business decision not rounding area, sending debris into the had passed when the explosion took data from the federal Pipeline and Haz- to fix this problem and five months later streets and on the tracks of an elevated place? It could have derailed and fallen ardous Materials Safety Administration, sold [Brooke Melton] a vehicle with the Metro-North rail line nearby. Residents down. It must be one of the busiest rail serious leaks are four times more fre- problem,’” reported NBC News. “That in 91 apartments in surrounding build- lines in the state.” quent in cast iron pipes than pipes made is what happened, yes,” Altman an- ings were evacuated. The New York Times reported that a of other material. swered. Residents told the New York Daily southbound Metro-North train had just Cast iron pipes are especially com- “In 2005, company engineers pro- News March 13 that they had complained passed the explosion site and according mon in old, large cities like New York, posed that GM keys be altered to make about strong gas odor in the buildings to passengers “shook violently.” Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington, the opening for the key ring smaller and and made calls to a city hotline to report This area in Manhattan is also called D.C. In New York two companies, Na- reduce jostling of the key,” reported it, but couldn’t get through. One tenant Spanish Harlem and traditionally home tional Grid and Con Ed, oversee the gas NBC News. “Instead of changing the said she called the night before the blast to many of Latin American descent. mains across the five boroughs. Fifty keys, however, GM designed an insert when the smell was particularly strong Emelie and Reinaldo Ortíz came from percent of National Grid’s gas lines and that could be added to the keys. It then and again on the morning of the blast. Mexico more than 20 years ago and 60 percent of Con Ed’s are made of cast sent a bulletin to dealership service The media has sought to foist the blame have lived here for 13 years. They talked iron and unprotected steel, another leak- managers that said the insert could be on residents for not taking proper steps about the blast while doing their laundry prone material. provided to car owners who came in to inform the authorities. just up the street from the Associated Con Ed plans to phase out cast-iron and complained about ignition shutoffs.” “It’s like they think we should be liv- grocery store. pipes in New York over the next 35 Fewer than 500 drivers did, according to ing our lives walking around smelling “We weren’t home when it hap- years. A report from federal safety rep- GM warranty records. for gas all the time,” Lenore Garbine, a pened,” said Reinaldo, a sanitation resentatives estimates work to phase out According to a recent report on air-bag nurse, told the Militant March 16 outside worker. “We didn’t smell any gas, so I cast-iron pipes will be done in Connecti- failures from 2003 to 2012 by Friedman an Associated grocery store half a block can’t say I walked around waiting for cut around 2080, in New York state by from the collapsed buildings. “I’m really it to happen. But the more you think 2090 and in Pennsylvania by 2111. angry. It’s a scandal. People dead and about it, the less surprising it is. You The deadly blast is the latest major hurt and it’s totally unnecessary. There see the potholes in the streets, you see consequences of decades of neglect of infrastructure in housing, communica- tions, schools, health and recreation. According to “Caution Ahead,” a March report from Center for an Urban Future, infrastructure across New York needs to be replaced or repaired at an es- timated cost of $47.3 billion in the com- ing four to five years. According to the report, 11 percent of the city’s bridges are structurally defi- cient; city roads outlive their useful life by 20 percent before they are resurfaced or reconstructed; more than 25 percent of the subway mainline signals have ex- ceeded their 50-year life span; and 1,500 of New York City Housing Authority’s 2,600 buildings do not comply with Lo- $25 Reuters/Brendan McDermid cal Law 11 standard for exterior and fa- East Harlem neighborhood of New York where leak in 127-year-old gas main caused massive çade conditions. explosion March 12, taking down two buildings, killing eight people and injuring more than 50.

8 The Militant March 31, 2014 Havana book fair: ‘History of class struggle in US is vital for revolutionaries worldwide’

BY martín koppel “They are tools that help us to under- and gerardo sánchez stand what is happening today and pre- HAVANA — “Everyone in Cuba has pare us for battles ahead.” had some experience in confrontations In fact, Waters said, together with with U.S. imperialism — whether we’re Voices From Prison: The Cuban Five, in our 60s, 40s, or 20s,” said Gen. Luis they are part of a trilogy of books that “Lucio” Martínez Menocal, speaking Pathfinder presented at the book fair. here during a Feb. 17 book launch at the “Why a trilogy?” Because all three Havana International Book Fair. “are about the same truth”—that nei- “The two books we’re presenting ther “the capitalist ‘justice’ meted out to today are tools to learn about the con- the Cuban Five over three U.S. admin- tinuity of these confrontations, which istrations … nor the exemplary way the are the product of the class struggle.” five revolutionaries have acted in face Knowledge of the history of the class of it, are something new for the work- struggle in the United States, he said, ers movement in the U.S. and around “is vital for revolutionaries” in Cuba. the world.” The books show that “the Martínez, a retired general of the Militant photos by Jonathan Silberman courtroom is not where innocence and Ministry of the Interior, was part of Washington brands Cubans and other revo- guilt are decided. It is not where justice a panel discussing new Spanish-lan- lutionaries as “terrorists to rationalize using will be found.” guage editions of Fifty Years of Covert anti-terrorist laws to enforce the interests of At the same time, Waters said, the the minority ruling class,” said Cuban Gen. Operations in the US: Washington’s Luis Martínez at Havana book fair panel Feb. books “are about the way revolutionary Political Police and the American 17. Above, from left, Mary-Alice Waters, fighters and communists go to prison. Working Class by Larry Seigle, Farrell Pathfinder Press president; Martínez; modera- How we prepare ourselves for some- Dobbs and Steve Clark, and Socialism tor Rodolfo Zamora; and Elier Ramírez, Cuban thing that is not unusual in the life of on Trial by James P. Cannon. New edi- Council of State historian. Inset, audience. any working-class fighter — of anyone tions of the books in both Spanish and Ciencias Sociales, which helped orga- frame-up by the U.S. government with who believes there is something impor- English will be released by Pathfinder nize the event. a leading role by the FBI,” he said. tant enough to go to jail for.” Press in May. The 1986 victory in the SWP lawsuit Everything the Five have done since The audience of 60 spanned sev- Learned about U.S. class struggle against government spying and disrup- their arrests and frame-up in 1998, Wa- eral generations. Some, like Martínez, Ramírez said he had learned a lot tion, outlined in Fifty Years of Covert ters said, “is in the finest tradition of were revolutionary combatants from from the books. He said he had discov- Operations in the U.S., “was only pos- revolutionary working-class fighters the struggle in the 1950s led by Fidel ered that the intensified “war waged by sible through a major political mobili- over more than a century and a half of Castro that overthrew the U.S.-backed the FBI and other government agencies zation. The Five are political prisoners, struggle — the pride and dignity with Batista dictatorship. But Martínez was against the democratic rights of U.S. and while the legal battle is indispens- which they defended their revolution- especially addressing two dozen young citizens goes back to the eve of World able, what will get our heroes out of ary principles and rebutted the charges cadets from the Interior Ministry’s na- War II, not to the rise of McCarthyism prison will be the political campaign fabricated by U.S. authorities, their re- tional academy. The director of the in the 1950s, as some authors maintain.” that is waged.” fusal to cop a plea, their insistence be- school had heard about the event from Fifty Years of Covert Operations fore the court that they would take the Martínez and jumped at the chance for in the US, he said, explains “how the Lessons fighting gov’t frame-ups same course again if it would save even students to participate and learn. Franklin D. Roosevelt administration Luis Martínez pointed out that Wash- a single life in Cuba.” The other speakers were Elier took advantage of World War II and ington today falsely brands Cubans and That kind of proletarian integrity and Ramírez, a historian who works at the fight against fascism to unleash the other revolutionaries as “terrorists.” It conduct over decades in face of U.S. Cuba’s Council of State, and Mary- FBI” against unions, Black rights orga- does so, he said, to rationalize using imperialism’s “national security” appa- Alice Waters, Pathfinder’s president nizations, Japanese-Americans, Puerto “their anti-terrorist laws to enforce the ratus and political police, Waters said, is and member of the National Commit- Rican independence fighters, and oth- interests of the minority ruling class.” also what Socialism on Trial and Fifty tee of the Socialist Workers Party in the ers. In that regard, he said, he found it Years of Covert Operations in the US U.S. Chairing was Rodolfo Zamora, as- Among those targeted, Ramírez said, useful to learn in Socialism on Trial are all about. sistant director of the Cuban publisher were 18 leaders of the Minneapolis and how communists in the U.S. have de- The victory in the SWP lawsuit near- Midwest Teamsters union battles of the fended themselves in court against such ly 30 years ago, Waters said, remains 1930s and of the Socialist Workers Par- false charges. He pointed to Cannon’s a tool “that helps keep open political ty, who were tried and imprisoned on answer to federal prosecutors’ claim space for working people to speak, or- Socialism on Trial trumped-up conspiracy charges under that the SWP “advocated violence.” ganize and act outside the electoral and By James P. Can- the Smith Act, “the ‘Gag Law’ enacted To the contrary, Cannon replied, vio- judicial arenas — to fight on our own non, lead defen- by President Roosevelt in 1940 with the lence has always been initiated, not by terrain, in the factories, on the picket dant in the Minne- aim of silencing the labor vanguard in working people seeking to establish a lines and in the streets.” apolis sedition trial the workers movement that opposed new social and economic order, but by At the book fair and other presenta- of 18 leaders of the U.S. entry into World War II.” Social- “the outlived class that doesn’t want to tions, many Cubans who bought the Socialist Workers ism on Trial is the testimony by SWP leave the stage” and wants “to hang on two books commented that they knew Party and the la- National Secretary James P. Cannon, to their privileges” during revolutionary relatively little about the history of the bor movement in one of those 18. working-class upsurges. class struggle and communist workers 1941. In his court During that time, Ramírez said, These two new books “are not about movement in the U.S. And they were testimony, Cannon “the U.S. Communist Party echoed the the past,” said Mary-Alice Waters. eager to learn more. presents the com- government’s argument that ‘national munist program of the fighting van- unity’ was essential to confront the guard of the working class. $16 advance of fascism.” It backed Wash- ington’s assaults on working-class re- 50 Years of Covert sistance, including the frame-up of Operations in the US the Minneapolis defendants under the Explains the ori- Smith Act — the same law that was lat- gin of the “nation- er used to convicted leaders of the CP al security” state in 1949. The CP was following the line in the US, the ex- dictated by Moscow, “an illness that pansion of presi- also afflicted other Communist parties dential powers in Latin America after the death of Len- and the fight by in and the rise of Stalin to power in the socialist workers Soviet Union,” said Ramírez. against govern- Today these books are useful for those ment spying and fighting to free the Cuban revolutionar- harassment. $10 ies imprisoned in the U.S., Ramírez em- “War waged by FBI against democratic rights goes back to eve of World War II, not to rise phasized. “The case of the Cuban Five, of McCarthyism,” said Elier Ramírez, historian at Cuba’s Council of State. Above, Meeting pathfinderpress.com like the 1941 Minneapolis trial, was a in New York 1943 against frame-up of Teamsters and Socialist Workers Party leaders.

The Militant March 31, 2014 9 Moscow moves to seize Moscow rally protests Russian occupation of Crimea Ukraine after sham vote By Seth Galinsky signs that said, “Crimea is Ukraine.” Moscow moved rapidly to annex Tatars also organized neighborhood de- the Crimean Peninsula after push- fense groups to prevent provocations by ing through a rigged referendum there pro-Moscow thugs. March 16. Russian soldiers and local Supporters of Russian domination thugs seized the headquarters of the hung posters around Sevastopol saying Ukrainian Navy in Sevastopol and ar- that joining Russia would bring higher rested its commander March 19. wages and pensions, cheaper gas and Two days after the referendum Rus- more jobs. At the same time, armored sian soldiers in ski masks took over a car personnel carriers and military convoys dealership that belongs to a Ukrainian rumbled down streets across the region. businessman who backs the government There were only two choices on the in Kiev. ballot: for immediate separation from Crimea has officially been part of Ukraine and integration into Russia; or Reuters/Maxim Shemetov Ukraine for six decades. Its geography, for greater autonomy from Ukraine and Tens of thousands marched through Moscow March 15 to protest the economy, and everyday life remains in- possible integration into Russia at a later Russian military occupation of Crimea and threats against Ukraine. Protest- ers held up banners that said, “For your freedom and ours.” tertwined with Ukraine. The only way time. The ballot boxes were made of “This is to show Ukrainian citizens our solidarity, so they will see there to reach Crimea from Russia is by ferry clear plastic, making it easy to see how is another Russia,” Maria Lobanova told the Washington Post. each person voted. boat or plane — the only roads are from Demonstrators waved Ukrainian and Russian flags and chanted, “Putin Moscow’s show of military force Ukraine. The Crimean Peninsula gets is afraid of the Maidan” and “Putin, go away.” 85 percent of its water and 82 percent of shored up its support among a layer of “Don’t believe it when they say that we are few, that we are weak,” Na- its electricity from the mainland. ethnic Russians who long for a return to dezhda Tolokonnikova, a member of Pussy Riot, told the crowd. “Together Russian troops invaded Crimea a open Russian domination. we will change this country.” little more than two weeks ago, occupy- “I am Russian and my husband is Ta- A smaller demonstration backing the Russian invasion took place the ing its airports, surrounding Ukrainian tar. We never had a single problem with same day, by men wearing identical red jackets, marching military style. military bases and imposing a new pro- anyone,” Tatiana Zhritov, whose hus- “It’s not just that Crimea should join Russia — we should restore the whole Moscow prime minister on the prov- band is a car mechanic, told the Wash- Soviet Union, and I think this is what Putin wants,” Sergei Prokopenko told ince. The Russian government falsely ington Post. “Now Russia is trying to the New York Times. claimed ethnic Russians there were in divide us, and it is a terrible crime.” — Seth Galinsky danger after the overthrow of Ukrainian Crimean officials announced that President Viktor Yanukovych by hun- 96.77 percent of ballots backed join- dreds of thousands, who it slandered as ing the Russian Federation and claimed sian officials, mostly visa restrictions economic crisis. Washington chimed in “nationalists, fascists, anti-Semites and there was a 79 percent voter turnout. and asset freezes. with $1 billion in loan guarantees. Ac- Russophobes.” Washington and its imperialist allies Earlier in the month the EU an- cording to Reuters, the so-called aid About 12 percent of the population of in the European Union responded by nounced it would provide $15 billion package is contingent on Ukraine agree- Crimea are Tatars, 25 percent Ukraini- imposing sanctions on a few dozen Rus- in loans to Ukraine, which is in a deep ing to “some harsh economic medicine.” ans and 58 percent ethnic Russians. First the czars, then Joseph Stalin — after he reversed the policy of the Bolsheviks under the leadership of V.I. Lenin to ad- Working people at center of struggle in Ukraine vance the national rights of Ukrainians Continued from front page strations grew and spread as more than decided to go to the barricades.” and other oppressed people — encour- talked with dozens of workers and 1 million workers, farmers and others “The new politicians keep trying to aged Russians to move there to maintain others at various tents set up in the joined mobilizations in Kiev and across get us to shut down the Maidan,” Bon- Russian domination of the region. Maidan, many of which are organized the country. dar said. During World War II, Stalin exiled by region. The protests reached a climax Feb. “We have to keep this going,” added the entire Tatar population of Crimea. Alexei, who is staying in the tent of 18-20, when Yanukovych ordered the Konstantyn Samoylenko. “There are Nearly half of them died during the protesters from Sevastopol, Crimea, Berkut riot police to drive protesters out very few politicians who are not touched journey. After Stalin’s death they be- said that some opponents of the Russian of the Madian, killing more than 100. by the oligarchs, the millionaires. Those gan returning to Crimea and in even occupation there have fled the region. The attack failed, the riot police melted who own the banks think the economic greater numbers after the collapse of the Alexei, who didn’t give his last name away and Yanukovych fled to Russia crisis in Ukraine has to be covered by Soviet Union in 1991. Today many live for fear of reprisals against others in Feb. 22. A veteran of the Soviet military the workers and the poor people.” in neighborhoods without cooking gas, Crimea, showed a copy of an affidavit campaign during the 1979-89 war in Af- Ukraine has been hard hit by the running water or paved roads. from a Crimean resident named Igor ghanistan, Bondar helped train the self- worldwide capitalist economic crisis. Successive governments in Kiev have who said he was interrogated, threat- defense units. “We had problems with Acting President Oleksandr Tyrchynov turned a deaf ear to Tatar demands for ened and forced to leave his home by provocations from some groups,” said says that the country is “heading into recognition of their rights, sufficient self-described members of the “Rus- Bondar. “Svoboda, for example, tore the abyss,” with more than $13 billion aid to compensate them for their forced sian Bloc” because of his support for the down the Lenin statue in the square to in loan payments, mostly to European deportation and a greater voice in the Maidan protests. get publicity for their party.” banks, due this year. Crimean parliament. “The fight against Yanukovych united Svoboda, a rightist party with a mili- Antoliavych said Black Lung disease Russian President Vladimir Putin people from different regions — it was tary wing and a reputation for strong- is prevalent among miners in the Do- sought to take advantage of anti-Tatar a real national battle for our country,” arm tactics, attempted other provoca- netz region, whose working and living discrimination by offering to give their said Mykola Bondar, who has been at tions, Bondar said, including driving conditions have gotten worse in recent language official status in a Russian the Maidan since November, when they cars at police lines. Smashing statues of decades. While the independent miners’ Crimea and guarantee them 20 percent began organizing self-defense units to Lenin has given a handle to Moscow’s union was part of the fight for Ukrainian of posts in government bodies, accord- protect the few hundred mostly students media campaign to smear demonstra- independence in the 1980s and ’90s, be- ing to the Ukrainian Week. who were protesting moves by the Ya- tors as “fascists” and created obstacles fore the fall of the Soviet Union, he said, But Tatar organizations held road- nukovych government to keep Ukraine to uniting workers from west to east union officials today do little to protect side demonstrations urging Crimeans under Russian domination. against Russian domination. miners. to boycott the fraudulent vote, holding Over the next three months demon- “The Trade Unions House was the The only source of news in the east- military headquarters, the location of ern mining areas is Russian television, our food stocks and the hospital on the which is full of lies about Maidan, square,” Bondar said. “We would put the Antoliavych said. Coal bosses tried to word out about what supplies we needed prevent miners from joining the Kiev As Moscow moves with troops to rip Crimea from Ukraine and maintain and people from everywhere brought protests by offering overtime bonuses to Russian domination of the country, a team of worker-correspondents from them.” The Berkut set fire to the build- stay and work. the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom are on the scene to report on ing in the midst of the February battles. “I hope that these events and the the conditions of life and range of views among workers, farmers, youth Maidan will help change the conscious- and others — and to talk with them about workers’ struggles and efforts Union members join Maidan protests ness of the workers, get them more in- to build proletarian parties in the countries they are from. They will be Vasyl Andreyev, chair of the Ukraine volved,” said Anya Tchaikovska, who traveling to different parts of the Ukraine, speaking to people of various Building Workers’ Union, said in a used to work in a bus and construction national backgrounds and solidarizing with the fight to defend Ukrainian Feb. 25 interview published on the equipment depot and has been volun- sovereignty. Their first eyewitness report appears in this issue. Building and Wood Worker’s Interna- teering for the last four months to help Help defray the substantial costs of this unique coverage. Send a check or tional website that although his union coordinate food supplies. “If workers’ money order to: The Militant, 306 W. 37th St., 13th floor, New York, NY 10018. did not officially back the movement demands are not met, there will have to to oust Yanukovych, “many members be another Maidan,” she said.

10 The Militant March 31, 2014