Nicaraguan cotton growers ...... 8 THE Life of Joan Newbigging 11 Australian SWP leaves 4th International 13

A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE VOL. 49/NQ. 38 OCTOBER 4, 1985 75 CENTS

N.Y. Black unionists: Earthquake and debt 'Free South devastate Mexico Africa!' Nicaraguans Cuba calls for BY RASI:JAAD ALI NEW YORK - Black trade unionists are taking the lead in bringing the power of mobilize in cancelling the labor movement to bear in the fight to break all U.S. ties with South African apartheid. This was evident at the Free Af­ solidarity debt rica Conference sponsored by the New BY HECTOR MARROQUIN York City chapter of the Coalition of Black BY CINDY JAQUITH Saying that the recent earthquakes that Trade Unionists (CBTU) and the New MANAGUA, Nicaragua - The Nicara­ devastated Mexico should be treated not as York Labor Committee Against Apartheid guan people are giving their blood daily in a national disaster, but an international (LCAA). the struggle to defend their country from one, Cyban President Fidel Castro called Support for the October I I National U.S .-organized aggression. Yet in re­ on the imperialist nations to cancel collec­ Anti-apartheid Protest Day, which will be sponse to an appeal from Nicaraguan Pres­ tion of.Mexico's foreign debt. marked by protests on campuses and in ident Daniel Ortega, the offices of-the Red The Cuban president made his remarks cities across the country, was a prominent Cross here have been filled to overflowing in Havana at the closing session of the part of the conference. by Nicaraguans volunteering to donate Latin American Press Forum on the re­ And the unionists were encouraged to blood to the victims of the recent earth­ gion's economic crisis. join the newly formed New York Anti­ quakes in Mexico. In light of the September 19 earthquake, apartheid Coordinating Council , This um­ [On September 24, the United Nations the demand to cancel collection of brella organization was formed after the General Assembly, on Nicaragua's initia­ Mexico's debt will be the focus of the con­ successful August 13 protest here of tive, passed a resolution calling for "a dem­ tinentwide actions set for October 23 . 30,000 against apartheid led by the unions. onstration o( international solidarity and These actions against Latin America's for­ The ali-day Free Africa Conference was ,humanitarian concern" for Mexico, and urg- eign debt were called by the Latin Ameri­ held on September 21 at the headquarters ing all countries to contribute to relief and can and Caribbean Trade Union Confer­ of District 65 of the United Auto Workers reconstruction efforts.] ence. This conference, held in Havana, (UA W) in Manhattan. Despite the critical need for doctors and Cuba, July 15 to 18, discussed the econom­ Half of the 276 unionists present were medical supplies here, Nicaragua has ic ci-isis in the region. women. The overwhelming majority of rushed a brigade of 12 doctors, two nurses, Mexico has the second largest debt in the participants were Black. They included and four health-care workers to Mexico world- it is currently nearly $100 billion. union officials and rank-and-file members. City. It is headed by Nicaraguan Vice-For­ Although Mexico has paid $52.5 billion to Most were from various locals of the eign Minister Victor Hugo Tinoco. the imperialist banks in the last five years, American Federation of State, County and The brigade is named after Aracely its debt continues to grow. Under its latest Continued on Page 7 Perez Darias, a Mexican woman who fell agreement with the International Monetary in combat fighting with the Sandinistas in Fund (IMF), the organization of imperialist their struggle to overthrow the dictatorship bankers, Mexico will pay at least another of Anastasio Somoza. $50 billion in interest on the debt in the The campaign to pledge blood began next five years. here September 21. Nicaragua's minister Cancelling collection of Mexico's debt of health, Dora Maria Tellez, and the gen­ even for one year would add some $12 bil­ eral secretary of the Sandinista Defense lion to its budget. It would provide funds Committees, Leticia Herrera, led off the that can be used to begin the reconstruction donations. Mexican garment factory destroyed in Continued on Page 7 earthquake. Continued on Page 7 S. Africa wages war on Angola,· Mozantbique

BY FRED FELDMAN South African military attacks on Angola On September 20 General Malan admit­ DISTRICT65 The racist South African regime has might be escalated. He demanded that An­ ted that the South African government has . UAW-AFL-C/0 stepped up its aggression against the neigh­ golan forces stop closing in on rightist long provided aid "of a material, humanita­ ;, boring Black-ruled states of Angola and strongholds in southern Angola. rian and moral nature" to UNITA. For Mozambique. These armed bands are backed by both yea:s South Africa has denied aiding However, in the context of the deepen­ the apartheid regime and Washington. UNIT A. ing revolt of South Africa's Black major­ A week earlier the South African gov­ "As far as Angola is concerned, we have ity, the Angolan and Mozambican govern­ ernment announced it had sent troops into reached a watershed," he warned. He ments are making some headway against Angola. It claimed to have withdrawn them called on the U.S. and other imperialist South Africa's military moves. September 22, but there has been no re­ governments to stand with the South Afri­ General Magnus Malan, South Africa's ported confirmation of this from the Ango­ can rulers and UNIT A against Angola. war minister, warned September 23 that lan side. Top South African diplomats went to At the time the troops went in , South Af­ Washington September 23 for talks on An­ rican officials claimed the targets were gola. Clerical workers gain in Bath strike Namibian liberation fighters . Washington has mildly criticized the Namibia, which is occupied and ruled as latest South African attack on Angola. a colony by Pretoria, has a common border But South African President Pieter BY JOHN STUDER eluding a 10 percent cut in wages and ben­ with Angola. The South West Africa Botha and General Malan have reason to BATH, Me. -Clerical workers at the efits and a two-tier wage system. People's Organization (SWAPO) has been hope for a favorable response to appeals for Bath Iron Works (BIW) voted to accept a The company used the phony argument fighting to free Namibia from South Afri­ stepped-up covert support from Washing­ new contract and returned to work Sep­ that it needed these major givebacks from can rule . ton . tember 23. More than 4,500 production both the clerical and production workers in The evidence indicates, however, that Washington has long relied on the apart­ workers at the shipyard remain on strike. order to remain competitive in bidding for the invaders were actually coming to the heid regime as a cop for the interests of big After 22 hard weeks on the picket line­ military contracts, the yard's principal aid of the National Union for the Total In­ business in southern Afric-a. Malan re­ the longest strike in the 151-year history of work. dependence of Angola (UNITA). a ter­ minded Washington of this role: "Through the company- the clerks voted 4-.1 to sign The two-tier system is not included in our connections with UNITA we maintain rorist gang which has been se~king to top­ the contract. Numbering more than 300, the clerks' new contract, and other com­ ple the Angolan government since the the interests of the free world on our sub­ the clerks are members ofLoca17 of the In­ pany demands were dropped as well. country won independence from Portugal continent." dustrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Local 7 members did vote to accept a in 1975 . When the peoples of Angola and Workers of America, AFL-CIO. wage and benefit freeze, but most strikers Between them, South African forces and Mozambique were fighting for indepen­ The production workers, who have been considered the settlement a victory . UNIT A bands have been responsible for dence from Portugal, Washington helped out since May 15 , are members of Local 6 They had forced the company to back off the deaths of more than 10,000 Angolans. bankroll the brutal colonial war waged by of the same union. While settling with the on its main concession demands. In addi­ the Portuguese imperialists. clerks, the company refused to schedule tion the new agreement leaves open the The Angolan government revealed that Portugal was forced to withdraw in further negotiations with the production possibility of wage and benefits gains South African planes carried out air strikes November 1975, leaving the central gov­ workers. based on what Local 6 may win in a settle­ against Angolan troops closing in on ernment in the hands of the People's Move- The company had forced the clerks on ment. UNIT A's headquarters in southern An­ strike by demanding deep concessions, in- Continued on Page 10 gola. Continued on Page 9 Miami socialists win right to sell papers at airport

BY HARVEY McARTHUR city. ers at Eastern. if they found them anywhere on Eastern Airlines employee parking MIAMI - Supporters of the Interest in the paper was Since they work staggered the airport grounds for any reason lot and the employee entrance at Militant newspaper here won an boosted by the contract fights at shifts, 24 hours a day, there were again. Eastern's part of the passenger ter- important victory when officials of Eastern and the strike at Pan never more than 25-40 workers minal. · the Dade County Aviation Depart- American. The Militant's We contacted the American All these locations are well coming out at any one shift Civil Liberties Union and obtained change. However, we regularly within the airport grounds. The an attorney to pursue this fight. At permit is good 24 hours a day. It sold from three to five papers to first, airport officials insisted that these workers. specifically authorizes free distri­ SELLING OUR PRESS we had no right to distribute litera­ bution of literature, but we are Since they work so many differ­ ture at all. But after several also allowed to accept contrib­ ent shifts we could always find a months of pressuring them, they utions for the paper. AT THE PLANT GATE shift to sell to regardless of our backed down and granted the per­ We have now established regu­ own work schedules. mit. lar sales teams. South Africa and ment, which runs Miami Interna­ firsthand coverage of these fights These sales were cut off when The permit authorizes teams of the strikes at Wheeling-Pittsburgh tional Airport, granted us a permit won the respect of many workers. Dade County Police stopped and two people to distribute literature and Massey Coal are the most to distribute literature at the air­ We sold dozens of copies of issues harassed a sales team. They re­ at seven sites that we selected. popular topics of discussion with port. with this coverage. fused to recognize our First Four of these are entrances to the airport workers. We are also pub­ Militant and Perspectiva Mun­ We had focused our sales on Amendment right to free speech or passenger terminal where employ­ licizing my campaign for mayor of dial teams sold regularly 11-t the air­ reaching members of the Interna­ the right of workers to buy the Mil­ ee shuttle buses stop, two are Miami on the Socialist Workers port from January until mid­ tional Association of Machinists itant. They issued a "warning cita­ sidewalk entrances to the Pan Am Party ticket, as well as an upcom­ March. They have been among (lAM) who work as mechanics, tion for trespass," and said that maintenance facility, and one is a ing anti-apartheid demonstration our best sales at worksites in this cleaners, and ramp service work- they would arrest the salespeople short strip of sidewalk between an here. Fla. socialist campaign fights gov't harassment

BY HAROLD MANNING vites a few friends over to meet the candi­ However, Miami and Florida officials of bank records of the 1983 campaign. MIAMI - Harvey McArthur, Socialist date. ignored the facts and demanded the names. These records identify some campaign sup­ Workers candidate for mayor of Miami, The law also gives the government unre­ Miami City Clerk Ralph Ongie filed a porters. and the American Civil Liberties Union complaint with the Florida Elections Com­ stricted access to all records kept by the It then found Jackie Floyd guilty of not (ACLU) filed a suit in federal court on Sep­ campaign treasurer and all bank records of mission in October 11)83 . The commission tember 13. Their aim is to prevent City of launched an investigation into the Socialist handing over the names of her supporters. the campaign account. In April 1985 it ordered her to pay a Miami and Florida state officials from re­ Workers campaign. Documents made $600 quiring the Socialist Workers campaign to The suit, filed by ACLU attorney available to the SWP show that the com­ fine. The SWP is appealing this ruling. disclose names and addresses of contrib­ Stephen Maher, seeks to exempt the mission did not investigate the cases of "The suit and the political campaign we utors and recipients of campaign funds. Socialist Workers campaign from all re­ harassment and victimization. It did not in­ launched today will help us beat back this "This suit aims to protect our supporters cord-keeping and disclosure requirements vestigate the police or city government or attack and protect the political and demo­ from harassment by the police, the FBI, and to deny the government access to any their right-wing friends. cratic rights of our campaign supporters and the Ku Klux Klan and other right-wing records kept by the campaign and the bank. Instead, the commission went behind the and other antiwar, anti-apartheid, and trade terrorists," said McArthur in a press state­ In a press statement on filing the suit, backs of the SWP to secretly obtain copies union activists," said McArthur. ment. Steve Forester, legal director of the Greater McArthur filed an affidavit documenting Miami ACLU, said, "Because of its radical attacks on SWP members, These included views in opposition to the existing econom­ 'Kanaks are with S. African people' being fired from jobs for political reasons, ic and social system, the SWP and its members, supporters, and persons as­ . police spying on and disruption of meet­ BY MARLA PUZISS sociated with or identified with it, have body is overwhelmingly Black. These in­ ings, police harassment of socialists dis­ BALTIMORE - "As Kanak people we been subjected to sweeping and systematic cluded several South African students, as tributing literature on public streets, the are with the South African people. We be­ government harassment and surveillance well as other students and activists in the June 1983 firebombing of Socialist Work­ long to the same blood - the blood of the for a period of nearly 30 years, up to and local anti-apartheid movement. ers offices here, and death threats from the exploited and oppressed peoples of the including the present. . . . Enforcement [of At the evening meeting, representatives Ku Klux Klan and right-wing Cubans. world,'" stated Susanna Ounei, a leader of the disclosure requirements] will therefore of the Baltimore NAACP; National Black the independence movement which seeks McArthur pointed out that other victims have a chilling effect on the exercise of Independent Political Party (NBIPP); Bal­ of political harassment also have a stake in Plaintiffs' constitutional rights and will to free the South Pacific island nation of timore Peace, Jobs and Justice Coalition; New Caledonia from French colonial rule. this fight. "The police and Community Re­ seriously infringe on Plaintiffs' rights to and Morgan State Uni versity International lations Board spy on and disrupt antiwar freedom of speech and association, to pri­ Ounei blasted the hypocrisy of the Students Association spoke briefly. They groups," he told the press. "Haitians are at­ vacy, to privacy of association and be­ French government which proclaims its expressed their support for the indepen­ tacked by agents of the Duvalier dictator­ lief. .. . " opposition to South African apartheid dence movement led by the Kanak ship that operate in Miami. Abortion while continuing to steal the land and min­ Socialist National Liberation Front clinics are harassed and bombed. And dur­ This fight began in 1983, when the eral riches of the nati ve Kanak people and (FLNKS), wh ich Ounei is a leader of. ing the trial of killer cop Luis Alvarez, the Socialist Workers Party ran Jackie Floyd to deny them basic human rights. Ken Morgan, local co-chair of the Black community here suffered South Af­ for mayor of Miami. Floyd, a Black gar­ NBIPP, urged participants to use the Oc­ ment worker from Overtown, spoke out for The island's richest farmland is owned rica-style police occupation and roundups. by the white settlers, and in the capital city tober II national anti-apartheid actions as a the oppressed and exploited in sol!th vehicle for defe nding the Kanak .struggle "A victory for the Socialist Workers Florida. She denounced killer cop Luis Al­ of Noumea, armed gangs of settlers ter­ rorize Kanaks who dare to venture outside against French colonialism. Party will be a victory for all these victims varez and the U.S. government's invasion "A victory for the Kanak people is a vic­ after dark. of political repression," he said. of Grenada in October 1983. She was her­ tory for the freedom struggle in South Af­ Florida laws require all candidates to file self a victim of a political firing by the City The links between the anti-apartheid rica," he said. periodic reports disclosing the name and of Miami for visiting revolutionary Gre­ struggle and the Kanak liberation struggle A representative of Pathfinder Press, address of every contributor, no matter nada in March 1983. were drawn repeatedl y during Ounei's which distributes Ounei's pamphlet For how small the contribution. Likewise, any­ Floyd refused to hand over names of her September 9 visit to Baltimore as part of a Kanak Independence, the Fight against one who receives campaign funds , who campaign supporters . She cited the record national speaking tour. As she explained. French Rule in New Caledonia , also loans money to the campaign, or who or­ of victimization in South Florida, as well "New Caledonia is the apartheid of the spoke. ganizes a campaign fundraiser must report as the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision Pacific ." Ounei was interviewed hy UP! as we ll as their name and address. This would in­ exempting the Socialist Workers cam­ Two meetings were held for Ounei at by WEAA, the popular Morgan State Uni­ clude, for example, any worker who in- paigns from disclosure requirements. Morgan State Univers ity, whose student versity radio station. The Militant tells the truth - Subscribe today! The Militant That's the w ay you'll get facts about W ashingto n's w ar against working people at ho me and abroad : from Closing news date: September 25, 1985 So uth Africa, El Salvador and Nica ragua, to embattled Editor: MALIK MIAH workers and farmers in the United States . Read our pro­ Managing editor: MARGARET JA YKO posals o n how to stop the U.S. government's support Business Manager: for the apartheid regime in South Africa, its interven­ LEE MARTINDALE tion in Central America and the Caribbean , and the em -· Editorial Staff: Rashaad Ali , Susan Apstein, Fred ployers' offensive here . Read o ur ideas on what it will Feldman, Andrea Gonzalez, Pat Grogan, Arthur take to replace this system of exploitatio n , racism , and Hughes, Tom Leonard, Harry Ring. sexism with a system that's in the interest of working Published weekly except one week in August and the people . last week of December by the Militant (ISSN 0026- At the plant gates , picket lines, and unemployment 3885), 14 Charles Lane, New York, N.Y. 10014. Tele­ lines, the Militant is there, reporting the new s, par­ phone: Editorial Office, (212) 243-6392; Business Of­ ticipating in the struggle. To subscribe today, fill o ut the fice, (212) 929-3486. attached coupo n . Correspondence concerning subscriptions or changes of address should be addressed to The Mili­ Enclosed is: o $3 fo r 12 w eeks o $15 for6 mo nths tant Business Office, 14 Charles Lane, New York, STOP o $24 fo r 1 year o A contributio n N.Y. 10014. Name ______Second-class postage paid at New York, N.Y. POST­ A~T1U1 MASTER: Send address changes to The Militant, 14 Address ______Charles Lane, New York, N. Y. 10014. Subscriptions: U.S. $24 .00 a year, outside U.S. $30.00. By first-class ~ City/State/Zip ------­ mail: U.S., Canada, and Mexico: $60.00. Write for air­ Telepho ne ------­ mail rates to all other countries. Signed articles by contributors do not necessarily rep­ Union/Organization ------""--­ resent the Militant's views. These are expressed in edito­ Send to Militant, 14 Charles Lane , New York, N .Y. 10014 rials.

2 The Militant October 4, 1985 Minn. Hormel strikers seek solidarity

BY BILL ARTH In addition to the Militant Forum, P-9 ST. PAUL, Minn.- Three members of representatives spoke to the Marketplace United Food and Commercial Workers Forum, a weekly program in St. Paul's Local P-9 traveled from Austin, Min­ Black community. They have also spoken nesota, to address a Militant. Forum here on before churches and other community September 15. Larry Gullickson, Lynn meetings. Houston, and Pete Kennedy described the P-9 has also been sending representa­ issues in their strike against Hormel, as tives to meetings of other union locals. Oil, well as UFCW Local P-9's strategy to win Chemical and Atomic Workers Local 6- support for their struggle. 662, which organizes workers at the Koch The key issues in the strike include refinery, recently passed a resolution of wages, seniority rights, working condi­ support and donated money to the strike tions, speed-up, restoration of paid holi­ fund after hearing a P-9 speaker. Interna­ days, and no two-tier wage system. tional Association of Machinists. The company is proposing to start newly Horrnel has attempted to stem the grow­ hired workers at $7 .50 an hour with no ing support for P-9 by obtaining a ruling benefits and is demanding the right to fire from the National Labor Relations Board them at will. (NLRB) against the union's "corporate Hormel is offering $10 per hour base pay campaign." The local's efforts to expose - 69 cents less than the rate that existed in First Bank- one of Hormel's chief stock­ October 1984 when Horrnel unilateraly holders and creditors - constitutes an il­ Striking Hormel meatpackers and supporters demonstrate outside First Bank in St. slashed wages from $10.69 to $8.25. legal "secondary boycott," according to the Paul, Minnesota. Gullickson reviewed the final contract company. The labor relations board and offer from Hormel . Horrnel just won a court injunction against "There has been a lot of misconceptions P-9 holding demonstrations outside the outside First Bank in St. Paul. for the company!" on why we turned down $10 an hour. It banks. After picketing First Bank for about In addition to the strike by 1 ,500 UFCW wasn't $10 we were turning down, it was P-9 President Jim Guyette said that Hor­ three hours, the strikers split into two members against Horrnel, 2,500 workers where they gutted and raped our contract. mel would not succeed in stopping P-9 groups. One group went to express solidar­ struck the John Morrell plant in Sioux They took everything they could possibly from doing things "that every American ity with striking members of International Falls, South Dakota, on September 1. take that has been built up over the last 50 citizen can do." Association of Machinists Local 459 by Workers and bosses throughout the years in the labor movement," he said. P-9 continued its campaign against the joining their picket line at Union Brass; the meatpacking industry are looking to the re­ Lynn Houston, vice-president of Loc;;tl bank with a picket line of 50 workers out­ other group picketed the NLRB offices in sults of the struggle at Horrnel to set a pat­ P-9, described the efforts of P-9 to reach side the Valley National Bank in Des the Federal Courts Building in Min­ tern for the industry. This has strengthened out to other unionists. Moines and with a demonstration of 500 neapolis. They chanted "N-L-R-B works the determination of P-9 members to win. The local recently organized a caravan that traveled to Beloit, Wisconsin, where Hormel has a plant. From Beloit, the caravan went on to visit S. Africa supplement in Spanish spurs sales workers at the FDL Foods plant in Dubuque, Iowa. They then proceeded to BY ANDREA GONZALEZ ers in the Ironbound section of Newark to were arrested by the apartheid regime Ottumwa, Iowa, where 400 P-9 members Perspectiva Mundial, the Spanish-lan­ the Militant and PM. there, people wanted to talk about it as well held an open-air meeting at the city park guage sister publication of the Militant, re­ Although this was the first time sales as read about it." with several hundred workers from Hor­ cently published a special supplement on teams went to Ironbound, II PMs were mel's Ottumwa plant. the struggle against apartheid in South Af­ Greensboro socialists are taking time to sold there. talk to people. This time has paid off. The caravan visited Fremont, Nebraska, rica. Four Portuguese workers who find it where Hormel has another plant, as well as Orders for the new supplement were easier to read in Spanish than English were In the first week of the drive they sold·84 Duluth and the Iron Range in Minnesota. among those who bought the paper. The issues of the Militant and eight subscrip­ They then returned to Ottumwa for a meet­ close to II ,000 before it even got off the press. Socialists around the country report team of two also sold 17 Militants The tions. "Selling subscriptions has been real ing with officials from the UFCW Interna­ Ironbound team helped New Jersey natural," Gordon said. "The struggle in tional and rank and file union members. that the PM supplement, like the Militant supplement published the previous week, socialists sell 444 papers- 391 Militants South Africa is ongoing and many people In order to win support, P-9 has formed and 53 PMs -this week. want to follow it on a weekly ,basis." a "Communications Committee" made up is a good way to introduce people to the socialist press. Socialists in San Jose, California, have The first week of the Militant and PM of 20 rank and file union members to ex­ begun to sell PM at soccer games in that Socialists in New Jersey used the PM 10-week sales drive has gone very well. plain their strike to anyone willing to lis­ city. The majority of people who go to ten. supplement as the way to introduce work- Socialists in Cleveland, Chicago, and Port­ these games are from Mexico and other . land have decided, based on their initial ex­ Latin American countries, so interest in the periences, to raise their weekly sales goal. debt crisis in Latin America is high . At the end of the first week, 4,147 single SALES SCOREBOARD Socialists bring a banner that reads issues of the Militant and 435 copies of PM "Cancel the debt of all Latin America" and were sold toward a national goal of 40,000 (Week #I : Totals as of Militant issue #37, PM issue # 18) placards such as "Raza Si, Contra No" and single issues. And 139 Militant subscrip­ SINGLE ISSUES SUBSCRIPTIONS "Embargo South Africa, not Nicaragua." tions, along with 12 PM subscriptions, %of goal %of goal Lynda Joyce reports that at this week's have been sold toward a goal of 2,000. Sold this week reached Sold so far reached game between Mexico and Peru, two sales­ Socialists have also been distributing the Area Militant/PM Militant/PM Militant/PM Militant/PM people sold 25 PMs in as many minutes. Young Socialist, the monthly newspaper of To tell people about the socialist cam­ the Young Socialist Alliance . Atlanta 106/2 11/4 12/0 27/0 paign of Phil Duzinski for mayor of Baltimore 84/0 11/0 510 91- Greensboro, North Carolina, socialists in YS business manager Laura Garza re­ Birmingham 170/0 17/- 310 12/- that city have been organizing door-to-door ports that sales of the September YS have Boston 11817 13/6 3/3 8/30 sales every Saturday. been great. "Nine areas sold all their copies Capital District 68/0 10/0 310 6/0 "People want to talk about what's going and had to reorder more," she reported. Al­ Charleston, W.Va. 34/0 4/- 2/0 7/- Chicago 129/21 817 710 12/0 · on, not just buy a paper," said Rich Gor­ bany socialists, Garza said, "sold 165 YSs Cincinnati 54/3 10/300 2/0 71- don. South Africa is the biggest topic of this month, including 40 copies at a dem­ Cleveland 89/6 10112 310 1010 discussion. "For example," Gordon said, onstration against apartheid of 500 Dallas 111/47 10/12 l/0 2/0 "after hundreds of Black school children people." Denver 48/8 7111 6/0 12/0 Detroit 153/12 9/ 12 11 /2 18/40 Greensboro, N.C. 84/0 13/- 8/0 27/- Houston 169/ 16 10/5 510 8/0 $125,000 fund helps 'Perspectiva' Kansas City 106/5 13/20 510 19/0 Los Angeles 361 /46 24/9 4/3 7/8 Louisville 65/0 13/- 2/0 51- BY FRED FELDMAN working people in the United States, Per­ Miami 35/2 514 1/0 2/0 The special supplement that Perspectiva spectiva Mundial is read in Puerto Rico, as Milwaukee 112111 14/ 11 310 9/0 Mundial, the Spanish-language socialist well as many other Latin American coun- Morgantown, W.Va. 4510 II/- 0/0 01- biweekly, published on the struggle against tries. , New Orleans j9/6 9/8 2/0 510 apartheid is the first supplement PM has is­ Putting out a publication like Perspec­ New York 198/57 7/6 3/0 2/0 sued in its eight-year history. tiva Mundial takes money - and that Newark 391/53 16110 2/0 2/0 The supplement is proving to be a valu­ money comes from working people like the Oakland 102/14 12/9 010 010 able way of reaching Spanish-speaking op­ readers of the Militant. Philadelphia 116/ 15 14/ 10 710 18/0 ponents of South African racism and in­ Phoenix 70/24 10/ 11 3/0 1010 The Socialist Publication Fund will help volving them further in this struggle. Pittsburgh 68/2 8/4 1/0 3/0 Perspectiva Mundial - along with the It highlights the kind of advances that Portland 82/0 1010 010 010 Militant, Intercontinental Press, New In­ achieving the $125,000 Socialist Publica­ Price, Utah 32/0 11 /0 0/0 0/- ternational, Nouvelle Internationale, and Salt Lake City 39/2 8/4 011 0/20 tion Fund will make possible. Pathfinder Press books - score further ad­ San Diego 56/ 12 11 / 12 311 91100 Currently the fund stands at $73,516.25 vances. San Francisco 140114 14/4 2/0 510 pledged and $5,166.25 paid. San Jose 85110 11 /5 3/0 8/0 During the fall, Socialist Publication Contributions to the fund will help Per· Fund rallies will be held in more than 40 Seattle 105/3 11 /6 2/0 4/0 spectiva Mundial continue to respond cities. They will seek to involve Militant St.Louis 137/0 71- 6/0 12/- quickly to political events. Tidewater, Va. 49/0 14/- 0/0 01- readers, and others, in efforts to meet the There are more than 15 million Latinos Toledo 81/3 10/ 12 15/0 31 /0 goal of collecting $125,000 by November in the United States. Many of them speak Twin Cities 9710 6/- 0/0 0/0 15 . Washington, D.C. 99/34 14/52 4/2 13/20 Spanish as their first language. They are playing an important and growing role in Join in the efforts of the Socialist Publi­ all the struggles of working people- from cation Fund. Clip the accompanying Total sold 4,147/435 1118 139/12 8/4 battles to defend the unions to antiwar ac­ coupon and send it in with your contrib­ tions to the struggles of farmers. ution . Or make a pledge to be paid during In addition to getting out the truth to the next several weeks .

October 4, 1985 The Militant 3 -BUILDING ANTI-APARTHEID AND ANTIWA.R ACTIONS---- accomplices to murder." South African, Houston Free South Africa Movement ·Chairperson Ada Ed­ Nicaraguan wards chaired the meeting, which youth to tour U.S. was attended by many unions and Black, religious, peace, political, There's a connection between and anti-apartheid groups. The the U.S.-organized war against meeting decided to challenge the Nicaragua and the democratic initial refusal of Mayor Kathy struggle in South Africa against Whitmire's administration to issue apartheid. a permit for the march. This link will be the theme of a Blasting "the deliberate use of "Boycott South Africa not Nicara­ an antiquated ordinance" barring gua" tour that will begin in Oc­ more than one city parade per day, tober. Williams and Edwards urged Youth leaders from South Af­ people to go before the city coun­ More than 2,000 people marched in Bermuda's annual Labor Day celebration. This year it centered on rica, Namibia, and Nicaragua will cil to protest. solidarity with Blacks in South Africa . . Leading the march are (left to right) Barbara Ball, Mollie be touring the United States this Black state legislators and Burgess, and Betty Simmons, of the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU); Rev. Joseph Lowery, U.S. fall. They are: Claire Mohapi of others are adding their voices to Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); Ottiwell Simmons, BIU president; Evelyn Lowery, this demand, already forcing the Youth Section of the African SCLC/Women; Morris Boswell, U.S. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; National Congress, Monica Whitmire's cops to reopen di scus­ Ida Brangman and Gerald Brangman, founders of BIU in New Jersey. Moshanda of the South West Af­ sions on a permit. rica People's Organization Youth For more information, call the League, and Roger Urirte, the Africa's racial apartheid policy" Clines. Harrison , Clines noted, dorsed by a broad range of groups Free South Africa Movement in head of the international section of and to "impose available political turned up at a hearing on a new ex­ including: Arizona State AFL­ Houston at (713) 521-2694; in Au­ the National Union of Nicaraguan and economic sanctions against tradition agreement between the CIO; American Federation of stin, (512) 471 - 1201 ; in San An­ Students. South Africa." United States and Britain with two State, County, and Municipal Em­ tonio, (512) 648-5060; and in Dal­ · The tour will start October 10 in The Firefighters' Pension S ys­ buttons on hi s lapel. They read: ployees, Council 97 ; Western las, (214) 363-8698. New York City and end at the Na­ tem and the Employees' Retire­ "England out of Ireland" and Conference of Teamsters; Arizona tional Student Conference on ment System have total assets of "Free Nelson Mandela." Catholic Conference; Arizona South Africa and Namibia $175 million, of which $51 mil­ Ecumenical Council; Jewish Fed­ Atlanta vigil November 1-3 at Hunter College lion is invested in South Africa­ eration of Phoenix ; Maricopa in Manhattan. linked companies. Arizona: regents County NAACP; Operation calls for sanctions The youth leaders will be in In a letter to the finance com­ PUSH; Rainbow Coalition of BY WILLIAM O'SHEA Amherst, Massachusetts, October mittee , Ernest Clark , president of vote to divest Arizona; Labor Council for Latin ATLANTA - Calling for the American Federation of State , ·American Advancement; Central 14-16; Boston October 17- 18 ; BY ANDY ENGLISH U.S. Senate to vote for economic Yale University , New Haven, County and Municipal Employees Arizona Labor Council; Socialist PHOENIX - The Free South sanctions against South Africa, 60 Connecticut, October 21 ; Local 500 wrote, "the [union] ex­ Workers Party ; People Before Africa Movement in Arizona won people rallied outside the Richard Philadelphia October 22 ; Wash­ ecutive board, as well as the world Profits; and several Black minis­ a major victory when the board of Russell Federal Building on Sep­ community, are acknowledging ters . ington, D.C. , October 2J-25; At­ regents for the three state univer­ tember 10 . the horrors of apartheid as prac­ lanta October 26-27; University of sities voted to divest South Af­ The downtown rally was the ticed in South Africa, and we are Iowa, Iowa City, October 28 ; and rica-related stocks "as soon as kickoff to what was planned as a responding by increasing isolation the University of Colorado at possible." In a 4-to-3 vote on Sep­ Texas state four-day vigil for sanctions called Boulder on October 29- 30. of that country." tember 6 they decided to divest by the Southern Christian Leader­ The American Committee on Others testifying at the hearing $3 .3 million worth of investments coalition plans ship Conference (SCLC). AfriCa, Nicaragua Network, were John Tredton of the Interna­ held by the university system. SCLC President Joseph Lowery Madre, Committee in Solidarity march and rally tional Association of Firefighters Before the regents' action, rep­ told the rally that President with the People of El Salvador, Local 42 and many religious and Reagan's executive order calling resentatives of several anti-apart­ BY PETE SEIDMAN United States Students Associa­ community groups. for mild sanctions was "sending a heid, Black, and African groups HOUSTON - A broad coali­ tion , and Clergy and Laity Con­ Mickey Dean, coordinator of little boy to do a man's job. appeared before the board to de­ iion of anti-apartheid groups from cerned are organizing the tour. the Kansas City Anti-apartheid "We want the Senate to pass mand immediate divestment. across Texas met September 7 to A second tour will follow in Network , said "the process sanctions," he continued. "We The previous week the regents' set plans for a march and rally here February with the theme "From showed that a very diverse seg­ want an end to apartheid. An end financial committee had recom­ on October 12 . Soweto to El Salvador" and will ment of the population supported mended that no action be taken to children being arrested and involve students from South Af­ Rev . Michael Patrick Williams the resolution, and it showed the until general social guidelines for thrown like cattle into trucks to be rica and El Salvador. from Antioch Baptist Church broad support in Kansas City for all university investments had taken to jail." For more information call the (downtown) appeared at a news the struggle against apartheid." been developed. Dwayne Redding, representa­ American Committee on Africa at conference held before the meet­ As Rev. Mac Charles Jones , This stalling tactic was unac­ tive of the Georgia State Univer­ (212) 962-1210. ing. He is vice-chairman of the pastor of St. Stephen's Baptist ceptable to the anti-apartheid sity Committee on Apartheid Edu­ Civil Rights Committee of the 8.5- Church, said, "This means there's groups. Several large protest cation, said that whether the sanc­ million-member National Baptist a whole city willing to go on re­ meetings were held during the first tions bill was passed or not, stu­ Convention. He had recently re­ Kansas City two weeks of classes at both the dents should still work for divest­ cord . . . that it is unjustifiable for turned from this organization's na­ us to participate in any way, University of Arizona and Arizona ment . tional convention in Atlanta, anti-apartheid State University . Carrying signs saying "Boycott shape, or form with a government which took "a very hard stand" that practices legalized slavery." This victory lays the basis for a South Africa, not Nicaragua," resolution against apartheid, he said. campaign to force divestment of Central America solidarity groups approved the over $500 million held by the Willi11ms announced that his staffed the vigil for two hours. state pension fund in South Af­ church "pledges to make all our They were followed by a spirited BY IZABELLA LISTOPAD Irish fighter: rica-related stocks. physical and financial resources" group of students from the Atlanta KANSAS CITY, Mo. - City 'Free Mandela' On September 3 the Tucson available for the action . This in­ University Center Young Demo­ council here voted 13-0 to recom­ City Council voted to request that cludes plans to feed and house crats. mend that city-financed retirement George Harrison is a long-time its share of the state pension fund demonstrators from out of town . The vigil was called off late the boards divest their pension funds fighter against British domination be made apartheid-free. "We haven't pursued the divest­ next day following the Senate's from companies that do business of Ireland. He sees the connection The Arizona Coalition Against ment issue in Houston as hard as decision not to shut off the filibus­ with South Africa. between London's support for ra­ Apartheid is planning a demon­ we could have," Williams in­ ter against the sanctions bill. The resolution, passed in Au­ cist South African and British oc­ stration at the state capitol here on sisted. "We need to make it a Many of the groups which took gust, also urged the U.S. Congress cupation of Ireland. October II , national anti-apart­ front-burner issue in this mayoral part in the vigil are also working to to "take immediate action con­ This seemed to surprise New heid protest day . campaign. A good many taxpayers build the September 28 NAACP demning the Republic of South York Times reporter Francis X. This demonstration has been en- 10 Houston don't wish to be march against apartheid here. St. Louis labor greets South African unionist

BY kiM KLEINMAN gion's headquarters. tiona! Ladies' Garment Workers' Union Renald~ Panetta, administrative assis­ ST. LOUIS- "I don't think there's any "I am pleased to see a leaflet that an­ (lLGWU) headquarters. tant of the Central States Region of the question that we support the anti-apartheid nounces that people here will be joining Sharing the platform with Botha were . ILGWU, pledged his union's support and movement here and abhor the conditions our struggle by marching October 12 Winnie Lippman, a retired regional repre­ participation in the demonstration. under which Black Africans are forced to against apartheid," Botha said. sentative for the ILGWU; Ora Lee Malone, Tom Fagen of the St. Louis Central live." This is the way Leonard Robinson , The UA W Region 5 staff had organized a business representative for the Amalga­ Labor Council also endorsed the march and political director of United Auto Workers the combination press conference and edu­ mated Clothing and Textile Workers invited the coalition to the council's next (UA W) Region 5, put it in introducing cational meeting on three days ' notice . Union; and Betty Graham, a leader of the meeting. The following week this council South African trade unionist Tozamile The unionists applauded when Botha at­ United Food and Commercial Workers. voted to send a mailing about the march to Botha. tacked Reagan's half-hearted sanctions Malone and Graham are also active in member locals. Botha, a leader of the South African against South Africa. "Reagan is always the St. Louis chapter of the Coalition of Botha was also able to speak at a number Congress of Trade Unions, is touring the looking for an excuse to support the apart­ Black Trade Unionists . of other union gatherings. United States to educate workers about the heid regime ," Botha said . More than 60 workers and their families More than 30 members of United Mine struggle to end apartheid in his country. The press conference was covered by the jammed into the room for a serious discus­ Workers Local 2295 in Albers, Illinois, The Black union ist was greeted with a three major television stations. They men­ sion about apartheid and what U.S. work­ heard Botha and voted to endorse the St. standing ovation by the I 00 trade unionists tioned local plans for the October 12 ers can do to fight it. Louis march and to organize a contingent present , most of whom were UA W mem­ march, which will go through downtown After the presentations, many workers to participate. bers from six area locals. St. Louis. signed up to build the October 12 action, Members of UA W Locals 282 and 325 Members of the UA W Community Ac­ Botha received a similarly warm re­ including members of the Communications welcomed Botha to their meetings and tion Program handed out leaflets for an up­ sponse the following day at a meeting and Workers of America, Teamsters, postal some 300 members of Local 325 voted to coming anti-apartheid protest as unionists reception sponsored by the Coalition of workers, and American Federation of endorse the march, print leaflets, and con­ filed into the meeting room of the UA W re- Labor Union Women held at the lnterna- State, County and Municipal Employees. tribute funds .

4 The Militant October 4, 1985 U.S. miners union aids S. Africa sister union

BY FRED FELDMAN talitarianism, and that's not in the best in­ "For nearly a hundred years, our union terests of myself as a worker or as an has fought against conditions of near slav­ American citizen." ery in our nation's coalfields. UMWNCOMPAC, the network of po­ "We understand the position that South litical action committees supported by the African workers are in and we raise our union, is demanding that federal and state voices in protest." legislatures approve sanctions against United Mine Workers of America South Africa. (UMW A) President Richard Trumka is­ The UMW A has also joined the cam­ sued this statement July 25 just before he paign to demand that U.S. corporations and two other top UMW A officials were end all investments in South Africa. arrested in a protest at the South African "To help end U.S. corporate support for embassy in Washington, D.C. apartheid," the Journal reported, "the On September 4, Trumka was arrested UMW A is joining with a broad range of again at the apartheid embassy. Before his labor, community and religious groups, in­ arrest, he announced the establishment of cluding the World Council of Churches, the South African Miners Aid Fund. which is putting pressure on targeted com­ The decision to set up the fund was panies to get them to stop doing business in based on discussions with Cyril Ramaph­ South Africa. osa, the general secretary of the National "Planned activities include informing Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the union the public about the policies of these corpo­ formed by Black miners in South Africa. rations, and the possibility of supporting The previous day the NUM had sus­ consumer boycotts of the goods and ser­ pended a strike at seven mines because of vices produced by targeted companies." repression carried out by the racist govern­ Two companies the UMW A is helping ment and mineowners. to expose are Royal Dutch Shell and Fluor "All the proceeds," Trumka said, "will Corp. Both have extensive holdings in South Africa. They are co-owners of A.T. South African gold miners be channeled directly to the NUM to help the miners and families who have been in­ Massey Corp., which forced 2,000 jured by police and company guards while UMW A members out on strike last Oc­ participating in the strike, and those who tober. face the prospect of dismissal ·and deporta­ The Journal described how union mem­ Apartheid hurts U.S. workers tion." bers from Districts 17 and 30 recently went Other anti-apartheid activities of the to Ohio. There they joined District 6 mem­ union were described in the September bers in leafletting at Shell gasoline stations. The following interview appeared in their investments in the rest of the world. issue of the United Mine Workers Journal, "We want to let people know that Shell the September 1985 issue of the United Profits are so high because of the slave the union paper. is backing slave labor in South Africa and Mine Workers Journal, the monthly labor system that apartheid provides to It included an interview with Nomonde they're wanting to treat us the same way," publication of the United Mine Workers those corporations. Ngubo, a South African-born Black striking miner Franklin Ford, one of the of America (UMW A). Apartheid is kept alive and maintained woman who has been brought on to the leafleters, told the Journal. by the investments of these companies. union staff to work on anti-apartheid activ­ "Shell doesn't want people to make a Nomonde Ngubo was recently hired by Without this massive influx of capital, the ities and other projects. good honest wage . But there are more the UMWA to work on the union's cam­ South African system could not exist. The union opposes the Reagan adminis­ people out there who know what's going paign against apartheid and other special What these corporations are doing, in ef­ on than you would believe, and none of projects. fect , is investing in slavery. tration 's policy of "constructive engage­ ment," which means support to the South them support slave labor," he continued. Born in Pretoria, South Africa, Ms . Journal articles also exposed the claim Ngubo has worked to build the trade union African .government. Journal: How does this affect UMWA The Journal quoted Sidney Hill of Local that U.s·. investments and trade with South movement in her country and brings to the members and other American workers? Africa help end apartheid . UMWA first-hand knowledge of South Af­ Union 2397 in Alabama: "Right now , the rica's apartheid system. She recently Ngubo: Apartheid has a tremendous United States is standing up for to- Continued on Page 6 earned a master's degree in labor studies negative impact on American workers. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. To illustrate this point, it is necessary to look no further than the current UMW A ANC answers right-winger Viguerie Journal: What is apartheid? strike against the A.T. Massey Coal Co. Massey is co-owned by the Royal Dutch Ngubo: Apartheid is the system of ra­ · Shell Corp. and the Fluor Corp., which Richard Viguerie, a right-wing politi­ The issue in South Africa is fascism not cial separation and exploitation of non­ both have large investments in South Af­ cian, has joined Rev. Jerry Falwell in Communism. The issue is racism not a whites set up by the government of South rica, including coal mines and processing defending the apartheid regime in South Soviet takeover. Our people do not need Africa. and gasification plants. Africa. The New York Times printed a anyone to tell them who the enemy is, who Its purpose is to enable the 4.5 million They take advantage of the repressive column by Viguerie on its Op-Ed page., is killing their children, who has robbed whites to deny the 22 million blacks and 3 conditions there to maximize their profits, Viguerie's arguments were answered them of their land and cattle, and now con­ million "coloureds" - people of mixed while piously proclaiming to anyone who in an August 27 letter to the editor demns them to 13 percent of the most bar­ race - political and economic rights and will listen that they are actually helping the (printed in the Times September 11 edi­ ren land in the country of their birth. Yes, benefits. black workers. tion) by Dumi Matabane, a representa­ Communists, black and white, are in the In my country, although blacks are the Then they . come to UMW A members tive of the African National Congress in ranks of the African National Congress and original inhabitants, we cannot vote, own here demanding concessions and seeking Washington, D.C. have been there for over 50 years. If land, live or work where we choose or to break the union in order to compete with capitalists, black or white, wish to join us move freely about the country. The African National Congress is the and sacrifice their lives as Communists South African coal . most popular of the anti-apartheid or­ By law, all blacks are considered non­ The reality is that such corporations like have done, they are welcome. The A.N.C. citizens in South Africa. ganizations among South African is not a Communist movement. It is a na­ the system in South Africa because it ben­ Blacks. efits them economically. And they are tional liberation movement that includes all Journal: What effect does this system showing by their actions at A.T. Massey sectors ofthe nation. Capitalists, unfortu­ have on the workers of South Africa, spe­ that they would like to impose similar con­ To the editor: nately, have chosen to support apartheid cifically miners? ditions on coal miners here. Richard A. Viguerie, publisher of the because of the obscene profits it guarantees Conservative Digest, uses age-old Com­ them. Ngubo: It means that the miners there munist hysteria to hide his racist support On "hating whites," apparently Mr. Vig­ lack even the most basic rights. Journal: What is the outlook for change for apartheid. In his Aug. 25 Op-Ed article uerie believes the old plantation myths Since many of the miners are in "whites in South Africa, and what role can the ("Who Will Rule Next in South Africa?"), about happy slaves loving kindly old mas­ only" areas, miners are brought in from the UMWA play to bring it about? Mr. Viguerie predicts that if apartheid is ters. The urban rebellions that racked U.S. so-called "black homelands" to work under Ngubo: There will be change in South washed away by the African people, "The cities in the 1960's, 70's and 80's passed one-year contracts. Africa. One way or another, apartheid will real rulers of South Africa would be white Mr. Viguerie without notice. But yes, I They are forced to live in cramped bar­ be abolished. and Soviet:" To Mr. Viguerie, Africans are hate racism as surely as Mr. Viguerie racks, 40 or 50 miners in one room. They The UMW A is already playing a signif­ not intelligent enough to understand the claims to hate Communism. I did not grow are allowed to see their families for only icant role by stepping up its anti-apartheid meaning of freedom . up reading about racism in books, but two weeks a year. Safety precautions are campaign. To "prove" his point, Mr. Viguerie goes rather lived and suffered under that brutal virtually nonexistent. And the pay is very We can show our solidarity with South to great pains to misquote me as the repre­ state terrorism called apartheid that con­ low- perhaps $160 a month. African workers by supporting the trade sentative of the African National Congress, tinues to repress and suppress millions of If a miner complains, or is injured, or union movement there. which is the leading liberation movement African people. becomes sick, his contract is simply notre­ The National Union of Mineworkers in South Africa. In reply to Mr. Viguerie's The horror of life under apartheid need newed and he is banished to one of the (NUM) is a leader of that movement just as question if the A. N.C.'s goal was democ­ not be recounted here. The daily massacr­ homelands, which are segregated reserva­ the UMW A is a leader here. racy, I said, yes, democracy is our goal, ing of our people is enough to expose its tions located on barren wastelands the The NUM has been very successful in but that did not necessarily mean the de­ brutality. But those who continue to advo­ whites don't want. organizing miners and pressuring the com­ mocracy that is practiced in the United cate maintaining apartheid until the "demo­ panies and the government for change. States. cratic" solution can be imposed on the Journal: Are these kinds of conditions Their general secretary, Cyril Ramaphosa, That is , we are not interested in a de­ South African people expose their owri the reason why many U.S. and multina­ has met with [UMW A] President [Richard] mocracy that protects the Ku Klux Klan, selfish, antidemocratic, unchristian greed. tional corporations invest so heavily in the Trumka and formed the basis for a working Nazi parties, white citizens' councils, etc. The cry of Communism is the last des­ South African economy? relationship. Certainly, in our future free South Africa, perate defense of the apartheid Dracula. Its Ngubo: Well, apartheid has proven to Both organizations understand that none the laws protecting freedom of speech and supporters and collaborators no longer fear be very profitable for such corporations. of us can be truly free unless all of us are association will not include pro-apartheid daylight or the smell of garlic. The only In a 40-year period, direct U.S. invest­ free. propaganda or the Broederbond [a pro­ solution is to drive a stake through the heart ment in South Africa increased 6,000 per­ Here, that means beating A.T. Massey . apartheid Afrikaner political-cultural as­ of the apartheid scourge. The African Na­ cent because those corporations realize a In South Africa, that means abolishing sociation]. For this, our people need make tional Congress and the people of South rate of return that is 35 percent higher than apartheid and instituting democracy. no apologies. Africa will not be deterred from this goal.

October 4, 1985 The Militant · 5 Louisiana chemic.al workers fight lockout Nat'l convention of OCAW calls for U.S., German trade unions to fight company

BY NELSON BLACKSTOCK ees prior to the expiration of the contract DENVER - Locked out of their jobs [June 15, 1984] and replaced them with for more than a year, 370 members of Oil, cheap, inexperienced non-union contractor Chemical and Atomic Workers Union employees." The resolution said the "com­ (OCAW) Local 4-620 in Geismar, pany has spent in excess of $7 million dol­ Louisiana, are on the front lines of the fight lars in its 14-month effort to destroy" the by OCAW members to defend against the local. assault on their past gains. Rouselle told the convention that BASF "wants to get rid of II 0 maintenance em­ The OCAW national convention, which ployees - anybody hired after 1965. They met here August 19-23, passed a resolution say they can contract it out cheaper." backing the Louisiana workers in their fight against BASF Wyandotte, a sub­ According to the resolution, BASF has a sidiary of the giant BASF A .G. conglomer­ strong antiunion record at its holdings in ate based in West Germany. BASF bought this country. "On many occasions BASF Wyandotte Chemical Corporation in 1971 . has been found guilty of having violated the law. Nonetheless, due to delays in the In an interview with the Militant, Ernest court system, inconsequential penalties, Rouselle, an international representative and large expenditures of money, BASF and leader of the committee negotiating has been largely successful in its efforts." with BASF, said, "The company makes no bones about it. They say they' ve got It has launched attacks on steel, auto, money on their side, they've got the poli­ rubber, textile, and another chemical cies of the Reagan administration, they've union, in addition to OCAW. "Some have got a high-unemployment area, and it's just been 'busted' out of existence," the resolu­ a matter of time until our people begin tion states. starving to death and are willing to take anything they've got on the table." " I stress that this is a lockout," Rouselle told the Militant. "Our people were willing The wife of a locked-out worker wrote to continue to work. At no time did we the OCAW Reporter, "Now our unemploy­ threaten any strike action against this com­ ment benefits have run out. People who pany." tantJNelson have not experienced the lockout firsthand In a letter to the OCA W Reporter, one August 1985 convention of Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers in Denver. may think that placing this fi nancial burden union member wrote that the plant manager on our families would weaken our family had suggested "that the members of He believes it's partly a matter of their labor." units as well as our commitments. On the OCAW Local 4-620 are no more than ter­ doing in this country what they can' t do in Rouse lie said West German contrary, these union families have a rorists, capable of acts of sabotage." their own. businessmen "are more and more investing stronger commitment than ever." Rouse lie said it was·not a matter of the Rouselle told the Militant that one Ger­ here because of the attitude of the federal As the resolution passed here stated: company "hurting financially. This com­ man businessman has been quoted as say­ government toward organized labor. " "Unable to intimidate nor coerce the mem­ pany has some of the highest profits in cor­ ing, "Do as the Americans are doing, and Rouselle flew to West Germany in Feb­ bership . .. BASF locked out 370 emplqy- porate history." the American are kicking the hell out of ruary to meet with union officials represen­ ting the 43,000 BASF workers at Ludwig­ • shafen. He was accompanied by OCA W Vice-president Robert Wages and Local 4- U.S. tests missile, snubs Soviet offers 620 President John Daigle . The resolution passed here called for the "enlistment of the AFL-CIO and German BY FRED FELDMAN crude antisatellite weapon." " If all that we are doing is indeed viewed Trade Union Movement in the struggle for The U .S . buildup in space weaponry The U .S . government - not Moscow ­ as mere propaganda, why not respond to it survival" of the local. was escalated by an air force test of an anti­ has initiated every leap forward in the arms according to the principle of 'an eye for an satellite missile September 13. The missile buildup since World War II, beginning eye, and a tooth for a tooth'? We have The resolution noted that " following reportedly destroyed a target 290 miles with the development of atomic weapons. stopped nuclear explosions. Then you World War II various [BASF] corporate of­ above the Pacific Ocean. The Soviet Union has responded in self-de­ Americans could take revenge by doing ficials were sentenced to extended prison The missile was launched after a federal fense. likewise. You could deal us yet another terms for convictions of slavery and mass judge rejected a suit by four members of propaganda blow, say, by suspending the In recent months the Soviet government murder. C learly, the antiunion program of the House of Representatives and the proclaimed a moratorium on nuclear tests. development of one of your new strategic the American subsidiary of BASF draws Union of Concerned Scientists, who asked It offered to freeze the number of nuclear missiles. And we would respond with the upon a firmly established heritage, a herit­ that ·the test be stopped. They and others ar­ missiles in Europe. It proposed reducing same kind of 'propaganda.' And so on and age born and nurtured under German Fas­ gued that it undermined the international the number of intercontinental ballistic so forth. Would anyone be harmed by com­ cism." 1972 treaty banning the development of missile launchers by 25 percent. It pro­ petition in such 'propaganda'?" Rouselle told the Militant that the anti-ballistic missile systems. posed barring chemical weapons from "The U .S. administration," he con­ OCAW has "charges pending before the tinued, "has regrettably taken a different State Department" against BASF under The Soviet government has observed a Central Europe after an earlier proposal to road. In response to our moratorium, it de­ rules of the Organization of Economic self-imposed moratorium on testing and bar them from all of Europe was rejected. fiantly hastened to set off yet another nu­ Cooperation and Development. deploying space weapons since August · The Reagan admini'stration dismissed clear explosion, as if to spite everyone . He explained that the union charged 1983. It has stated that it would no longer each of these moves as propaganda. And to our proposals concerning a peaceful BASF with violating U .S. labor laws and be bound by the moratorium if Washington Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev re­ space, it responded with a decision to con­ imposing more stringent rules on American went ahead with the test. sponded in an interview in the September duct a first operational test of an antisatel­ workers than on employees in the com­ The U.S. government justified the test 9 issue of Time: lite weapon." pany's home country. by claiming that it is merely closing a gap caused by Soviet advances in this field. The lie is so transparent that much of the big-business media has not gone along. A September 9 editorial in Business Weekes­ 'IP' on Namibian freedom struggle timated that the new U.S. weapon is "10 At the same time that the apart- in the region. The invo lvement of times more effective than the Soviets' heid regime is facing a popular up- C uban troops in helping Angola d e - heaval by South Africa's oppressed feat the South African invasion of Black majority, it is a lso confronte d 1975- 76 was a b ig inspiration to the United Mine Workers by a growing struggle for indepen - Namibian people. INTERCONTINENTAL d e nce in Namibia. This IP a lso carries the text of a fights apartheid With a n o ve rwhe lming ly Blac k C uba n government d e claration in PRESS population of 1 .5 million, Namibia s upport of the South African free- Continued from Page 5 has been a direct colo ny of South dom struggle. "South Africa depends a lot on its for­ Africa for 70 years . eign trade to be able to afford the military The Octobe r 7 I ntercontinental Intercontinental Press is a b iweekly and police forces it needs to support apart­ Press features a d eclaration by the that carries more a rticles, d ocu­ heid," said Sidney Hill of Local Union South W est Africa Pe ople 's Organi ~ ments, and specia l features o n world 2397. zation (SW APO), the group le ading politics - from Europe to O ceania In an interview with Cyril Ramaphosa in the independe nce struggle. a nd from the Middle East to Central the January Journal, he said U .S . corpora­ SW APO's call urges stepped-up Am erica - than w e have room for tions "come here because the system al­ public protests, strikes, and othe r in th e Militant. Subsc ribe now. lows them to make more money. So they m ass action s in Namibia. · are certainly not going to help us change The same issue includes a back- Enclosed is 0 $7.50 for 3 months . that system." ground article by Ernest Ha rsch d e - 0 $1 5 for 6 months. 0 $30 for 1 The September issue quoted an NUM of­ scribing South Africa's brutal rule year. ficial: in Na mibia and the d e velopment of · "It might cause some suffering, at first, the inde p e nde n ce struggle . In re - Na m e ______if American companies are forced to leave, cent years, SWAPO h as s ignific- Address NAMIBIA FIDEL CASTRO but nothing compared to the suffering we antly increased its armed actions. It ------SWAPO Advances Despite 'Collecting Debt could bring to an end if we could get rid of has won growing s upport within C ity _ _ _ State ___ Z ip _ _ _ South African Terror Is Impossible' the system we have right now. the co untry and internationa lly. "Even people who have jobs with the An important factor a iding the C lip a nd mail to Inte rcontine nta l American companies are will ing to sac­ Namibian struggle , Ha rsch e x­ Press, 410 W est St., Ne w York, NY rifice a little to be able to live as free plains, is C uba's re volutionary role 10014. . people."

6 The Militant OCtober 4, 1985 Black unionists say: 'Free South Africa!'

Continued from front page ruled Angola." Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and The conference was both a teach-in to U A W District 65. Other participants came help everyone deepen their understanding from the International Ladies' Garment of the oppression and struggle of Blacks in· Workers' Union, Amalgamated Clothing southern Africa and an organizing meeting and Textile Workers Union. Communica­ to increase union participation in anti­ tions Workers of America. and Local apartheid protests. 1199. which organizes hospital workers. Three workshops were held: one on Cleveland Robinson . secretary-treasurer apartheid; one on political action and legis­ of District 65, and first vice-president of lation , which centered on the fight to get the national CBTU, gave the opening re­ the New York State government to with­ HYCATiOAlstMi, ~.:?,. . marks . Robinson is a leader of the anti­ draw state· funds from companies that do apartheid movement in thi s city. business in South Africa; and one on the "We as Black trade unionists have to famine in Africa. take on added responsibility. We must be The discussion during the workshops re­ ·~~a Wtl\\UUO• .. in the vanguard of the struggle. We have to vealed that most participants followed the be the trailblazers" in the fight against events in southern Africa and the U.S. role apartheid, he said. there closely. The widespread solidarity among Black A lot of time was allowed for discussion workers for the African National Congress and everyone was encouraged to use one of (ANC), the organization that is leading the the three mikes set up for those who struggle to overthrow apartheid, was re­ wanted to speak. flected throughout the conference. Speak­ James Bell , president of the New York ers also backed the South West Africa CBTU, told participants they should be People's Organization (SWAPO), which is ready to go to the state capital when the leading the struggle in Namibia against state divestment bill is discussed in Oc­ South African domination. tober. "We as trade unionists have to say to An enthusiastic greeting was given to the governor of New York- divest now!" Neo Mnumzana. the ANC's chief repre­ he declared. sentative to the United Nations. Bell reported that "the students have Mnumzana told the crowd, "The defeat called for actions on October II all over of the racists in South Africa will be a blow the country and we will have a march and to racism and oppression around the world, rally right here" in New York on that day . not only in South Africa, and Reagan Jim Harding, from Mayor Edward knows this. Koch's office, brought greetings to the "That is why he is trying to destroy the conference. He announced that Koch and revolutionary gains of the Nicaraguan the NAACP were sponsoring a procession people and that is why he brings weak on October 5 as part of a day of mourning sanctions against the apartheid regime . for those who have fallen victim to the gov­ "It is not surprising that Reagan's weak ernment's repression in South Africa. Militant/Holbrook Mahn sanctions take effect on October I I . the Several other elected officials also sup­ Anti-apartheid signs and banners were big part of New York Labor Day parade, re­ day of international protest against apart­ ported the conference and sent greetings. flecting unions' role in fight against apartheid. heid, and freedom for political prisoners in South Africa and Namibia." The South African people, said Mnum­ zana, "must win their freedom and take Cuba: cancel Mexico's foreign debt! back their country." Sechaba, the ANC' s magazine , was distributed at the confer­ ence. Continued from front page In contrast, the U.S. government re­ State Department is that Mexico's prob­ Cleveland Robinson explained that the of the country. sponded to the disaster by dispatching lems with its foreign debt would be "held "ANC are freedom fighters expelled from Mexico was hit two days in a row - Nancy Reagan to Mexico City with a check in abeyance" by the IMF pending an as­ their country." September 19 and 20 - by massive earth­ for $1 million and a crew of photographers. sessment of the economic implications of "Our union," he declared, "will never quakes. Harsh austerity measures designed The only other aid sent was 30 demolition the earthquakes. stop working with the ANC: helping them to pay the country's foreign debt were al­ experts and five helicopters. The aid the Andrea Gonzalez, the Socialist Workers and supporting them." ready in place before the earthquakes hit. U.S. government has offered to Mexico is Party candidate for mayor of New York, is Robinson noted that the U.S. United These measures included cancelling a pittance in comparison both to Mexico's calling on U.S. working people to demand Mine Workers union had pledged to collect construction projects in a country with a needs and to U.S . imperialism's wealth. that the U.S. ge)Vemment give massive re­ funds for South African miners. UA W Dis­ pre-earthquake housing shortage estimated The largest obstacle to Mexico's recon­ construction aid to Mexico with no strings trict 65 also pledged $5,000, and intends to at some 800,000 units. Health care had struction is its massive foreign debt, most attached. "We should also join with the collect more money from its members. been cut even though 20 million people re­ of which is owed to U.S. banks. people of Latin America," Gonzalez said, "The aim of our movement," Robinson ceive no health services at all , and some State Department spokesperson Bernard "in demanding that the foreign debt be can­ said, "is to be able to walk the streets of 100,000 children die each year from pre­ Kalb told reporters that "the feeling" of the celled." Cape Town with Winnie and President ventable diseases. Mandela and our brothers and sisters in a The earthquakes affected five states in free South Africa." Nelson Mandela and the country - Jalisco, Michoacan, Col­ Nicaragua mobilizes to aid Mexico Winnie Mandela are ANC leaders. Nelson ima, Guerrero, and Mexico. However, Mandela has been imprisoned in South Af­ Mexico City, with 18 million residents­ the largest metropolitan area in the world Continued from front page approved the Simpson-Rodino anti-immi­ rica since 1962. grant bill, which would put severe restric­ Charles Matthews, conference chairper­ - was the hardest hit. -Tellez pointed out that the Nicaraguan Some 400 buildings collapsed and at people have few medical resources to give tions on the rights of undocumented Mexi­ son, repeated this theme of solidarity: "As cans and many other workers in the United trade unionists [we] have joined forces least 700 were left crumbling. Water was Mexico. but they can give their blood. Nic­ cut off for the entire city. Half the city was aragua's resources are so few, in fact, that States. "This law is unjust," Bueno said. with the ANC and also SW APO to do what "It is not only an attack on Mexican people we can in this country to bring about without electric power. Telephone com­ the Red Cross has been unable to accept all munication was cut off. ·those volunteering to give blood because of but on the people of the world." change and liberation in South Africa." The discussion turned to Mexico's huge Maida Kemp Springer. a retired member A large section of Mexico's industry, lack of facilities and blood processing half of which is concentrated around the equipment. foreign debt and the proposal of Cuban of both the International Ladies' Garment President Fidel Castro to cancel collection Workers' Union and the Amalgamated capital, was affected by the earthquakes. The outpouring of Nicaraguan solidarity The toll in human life is still unknown . has inspired Mexican activists living here of it in light of the earthquake. Clothing and Textile Workers Union , con­ "Right," said Cecilia Bonilla, a Mexican demned South Africa's occupation of Current official figures set the number of in Managua. "When the world learns what teacher working on adult education here in Namibia and its recent attack on Black- dead at 4,000 and rising. Anne Neaf of the the Nicaraguan people have done to help League of Red Cross Societies told the us , it will have a big impact ," Jose Bueno Nicaragua. "How can a people with noth­ press that "the damage is so extensive that told the Militant. ing - not even homes - pay that debt?" our officials can 't even hazard a guess on Bueno is a doctor working in Nicaragua She pointed out that the majority of Mexi­ the number of dead ." and is active in an emergency committee of cans who lost their homes in the earthquake An earthquake of such force always Mexican residents here who are organizing are workers. causes destruction. But the magnitude of solidarity with the earthquake victims. He Nicaragua's donation of blood to the destruction which hit Mexico would not was interviewed at the headquarters of the Mexico is seen as a token of solidarity for have happened in an imperialist country Nicaraguan Committee in Solidarity with the aid Mexico sent to Nicaragua in 1972, like the United States. Decades of im­ the Peoples, which has turned over office when the capital city of Managua was de­ perialist exploitation has left Mexico im­ space to the Mexican committee. vastated by an earthquake. The 1972 earth­ poverished and underdeveloped, with in­ Bueno pointed out that the U.S.-spon­ quake occurred when dictator Somoza was adequate housing. Inadequate health-care sored war here "prevents Nicaragua from still in, power here . The massive aid sent its facilities have limited its ability to respond sending a lot of food , doctors, or supplies, victims was stolen by Somoza's National with medical supplies, housing , food , or but it hasn't prevented Nicaragua from Guard and sold for a profit. water. sending solidarity to our people. Even the There is another symbolic meaning to In the face of this disaster, Cuba has of­ Nicaraguan soldiers are coming forward to the Nicaraguan donation of blood, as well. fered Mexico whatever help it needs. On give blood when they need that blood In 1972, when there was a crying need for September 23 an official delegation headed themselves." blood for those injured in the earthquake, by Cuban Minister of Public Health Sergio The response of the Nicaraguan govern­ Somoza was exporting blood on the world Del Valle, arrived in Mexico City to ment and its people, he said, "is in the market through one of the many companies evaluate the aid Cuba can send. The plane spirit of internationalism, the spirit of Au­ he owned, Plasma Ferices. carried blood, plasma, and medicine. gusto Cesar Sandino, and the spirit of Plasma Ferices was one of the first Militant/Rashaad Ali Cuban medical brigades are also being or­ Simon Bolivar." buildings burned down by Nicaragua's Jim Bell, president of the New York ganized to go to Mexico. He contrasted this to the attitude of the working people in the late 1970s when they chapter of Coalition of Black Trade Cuba has issued a cali for international U.S. government. At the same time that launched their insurrectionary battles to Unionists. collaboration in aiding Mexico. the earthquake struck Mexico, the Senate overthrow Somoza.

October 4, 1985 The Militant 7 Nicaragua cotton growers join farmers' union

BY BILL GRETTER CHINANDEGA, Nicaragua- Fifteen hundred farmers joined forces here Sep­ tember 8 when the Chinandega Cotton Growers Association united with the Na­ tional Union of Farmers and Ranchers (UNAG) in the hot, cotton-growing region of Nicaragua's Pacific northwest. Among the guests at t~e meeting were several farmers from the United States. UNAG is a broad-based group represen­ ting farmers who produce a wide range of agricultural and livestock products. Most of its members are working farmers with very small plots of land who belong to farm cooperatives; some also work part-time as laborers on bigger farms. Other UNAG members are owners of medium or even very large farms employing wage labor, who have chosen to cooperate with the rev­ olutionary government. The Cotton Growers Association was formerly affiliated to COSEP, the big-busi­ ness federation of right-wing and capitalist groups. Francisco Aguilar, former presi­ Militant dent of the association, condemned Nat'I Union of Farmers and Ranchers meet in '84. Sign reads: "producers are economic and social force that defends revolution." COSEP for trying to provoke a confronta­ tion with the revolutionary government but high as $30. Even shirts made in Nicara­ supplies, including seed, fertilizer, pes­ nize one thing," he said. "We're the gov­ doing nothing to represent cotton growers. gua, when they finally reach the consumer, ticides, fuel, trucks, tractors, tires, and ernment here, and we will have to organize 'Let's hope the honeymoon lasts' . sell for almost I 0 times the cost of produc­ spare parts. things to find a way to get these supplies di­ tion. The proposal won enthusiastic support rectly into the hands of the people." Daniel Nunez, president of UNAG, Nunez described the merchants as being from the audience. Nicaraguan farmers In a question-and-answer session pre­ hailed the unification of the two groups as a "in the majority, counterrevolutionary." At struggling to increase productivity have ceding Nunez's speech, dozens of farmers political as well as organizational achieve­ the same time, he vehemently criticized ment. ·"We were engaged," he said, "now been hard hit by the difficulty of obtaining lined up at the microphones to air their sug­ government inefficiency and red tape. To these imported necessities. gestions and complaints. Most of the prob­ we're married. Let's hope the honeymoon lasts." prevent bureaucratic delays while also Responding to a comment from the lems concerned the distribution of supplies combatting speculation, he suggested that crowd, Nunez said that he considers this that Nunez then addressed. Nunez warned his audience to have no UNAG should take over from government proposal completely compatible with the Speaking for the Sandinista National confidence in the politicians of the '¥eal­ agencies the distribution of all farm revolutionary process. "We have to recog- Continued on next page thy, even those who claim to have fought against the Somoza dictatorship. The weal­ thy, he said, have cqmpeted against each other for generations to gain a monopoly to exploit the poor. UNAG, Nunez said, Nicaraguan trade unionists meet, should have nothing to do with COSEP. He rejected unity with the "wealthy Nicara­ guan globetrotters who know Europe better outline tasks to defend revolution than they know Nicaragua." BY CINDY JAQUITH The context of these discussions was the management, government ineffic iency, Leaders of UNAG hope that the unifica­ MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Winning the war against the country being carried out lack of materials and spare parts both in in­ tion with the cotton growers will be the war against the U .S.-financed mer­ by mercenaries armed, financed, and or­ dustrial production and in agriculture, model for other such mergers. The goal is cenaries, producing with greater effi­ gani zed by Washington. problems faced by the families of the to build a single organization uniting all ciency, and defending the political power Today, more than 50 percent of the na­ young men who have been drafted, and the farmers and ranchers. UNAG wilT establish of Nicaragua's workers and peasants were tional budget is going to the defense effort. need for more schools, housing, and roads. separate divisions representing producers the three central tasks adopted by a national Thousands of workers and peasants are Under the dictatorship of U.S. puppet of each product, to increase their participa­ assembly of trade unionists here September serving in the armed forces rather than pro­ Anastasio Somoza, who was in power here tion in discussing and setting government 6-8. ducing goods in factories or tilling land . until 1979, workers attempting to hold policy. The assembly was sponsored by the San­ This has had a big impact on the economy such discussions were arrested or worse. Most workers were not allowed to belong Merchants and speculators dinista Workers Federation (CST), the and the standard of li ving of working largest of the several union federations that people in particular. to unions at all. Nunez condemned merchants and organize industrial workers in Nicaragua. Among the issues raised in the shop­ On July 19, 1979, the Nicaraguan work­ speculators, who produce nothing, but in­ In addition to CST delegates, there were floor meetings were inflation and shrinking ing people overthrew Somoza in a popular crease prices drastically. Citing an exam­ delegates from the Sandinista-led union of real wages, shortages of basic consumer revolution led by the Sandinista National ple very close to the lives of farmers, he de­ farmworkers, the Association of Rural goods, difficulties in relations with factory Continued on next page scribed the case of a number 23 machete, Workers. the Nicaraguan farm workers' basic tool . For each machete, the government pro­ Shop-floor discussions vides the importers with $4 from Nicara­ Prior to the assembly, shop-floor meet­ What they're saying about gua's precious foreign exchange funds, ings were held in workplaces across the which is enough to cover the wholesale country to encourage workers to air their cost. point of view on the problems Nicarargua Nicaragua:· But the retail price of the same machete faces and what the union movement .can do is equivalent to $18 or $20, and many go as about them. The Sandinista People's Revolution Speeches by Sandinista leaders

Honduran attack: planned provocation My personal congratula tions to Pathfinder Press and the people BY BILL GRETTER 2,500 men of the I 0 I st and II Oth brigades who have worked on collecting MANAGUA, Nicaragua - The Nicara­ of the Honduran army together with 40 all these excellent speeches of the guan army has released new information U.S. military personnel had been Nicaraguan leadership today on about a confrontation with Honduran mobilized to back the attackers. the reality of that country . The forces on September 13. (See last week's The action was an attempt to draw the translators have not only done a Militant.) It shows that the border incident Nicaraguan army into a trap, he explained. wonderful, professional job in was not an accident but rather a carefully "They created a series of conditions," he translating, but have put them­ planned provocation by the Honduran gov­ said , "so they could first use their air force selves into the heart of the ernment. and then have the troops ready to counter- speeches, and have expressed In the incident several hundred mer­ attack if we responded." · most vividly the feelings of not cenaries, armed and organized by Wash­ Another incident occurred September only the leadership , but the Nica­ ington, attempted to invade Nicaraguan 18. One Sandinista soldier was wounded raguan people as a w hole, and territory from camps along the Honduran repelling an attempt by a group of mer­ their hopes and dreams for the border. The first attempt, on September cenaries to infiltrate Nicaraguan territory in future. 12, was beaten back. The next day they at­ the northwestern province of Chinandega. I trust that the public who tacked again. This time they had the sup-, In a note to his Honduran counterpart, reads it will find inspiration, chal­ port of two Honduran A-37 airplanes that Nicaraguan acting Foreign Minister VIctor lenge, and hope in this document fired on Nicaraguan troops, hitting one of Tinoco pointed out that the incident could that is so sig nificant today . the Sandinista' s helicoptors . have been avoided . Nicaragua had previ­ Norman Bent Speaking to reporters September 18, ously warned Honduras of the presence of Reverend of the Iglesia Commander Manuel Salvatierra of the a group of 70 counterrevolutionaries on the Moravia Sandinista People's Army showed the re­ Honduran side of the border. Managua, Nicaragua mains of rockets used by the Honduran "Once again," Tinoco's note said, "Nic­ forces in the attack. He explained that the aragua encourages the government of Hon­ use of Honduran aircraft in combat in sup­ duras not to fall into the trap laid by the This new collection contains more than 40 speeches by leaders of the Nicaraguan port of the mercenaries is new. In the past U.S. government, which wants to set up a revolution. 400 pages, $7.95 (include $.75 for postage and handling). Available from Pathfinder Press, 410 West Street, Ne~ York, NY 10014. only artillery has been used. ·confrontation between two peoples who Salvatierra also reported that nearly are brothers."

8 The Militant October 4, 1985 Continued from previous page people here," he said, referring to the con­ Liberation Front, guerrilla commander tinent's impossibly large foreign debt. Alonso Porras said that Nicaragua could "U.S. farm debt is $250 billion. It's getting not solve some of these problems im­ to the point where it will have to be written mediately. The tremendous human and fi­ off. " nancial cost of defending the country The Nicaraguan government has offered against the U.S. -financed counterrevolu­ land to U.S. farmers who want to produce tionary war makes it impossible to meet all here . Layman is one of those who is seri­ of the farmers· needs , he said. ously interested in the proposal. In his view Porras noted the irony of the situation. the project could function like an exchange Farm~r present their demands to the gov­ program. U.S. farmers would work for a ernm t not because they oppose it but be­ time in Nicaragua, training local farmers in cau · they support it. They are requesting advanced techniques . more land , more tractors, more technical aid , because now they have a government At the same time, he said, North Amer­ that is committed to providing these things. ican farmers would have a lot to gain from the experience. "Maybe the Nicaraguans Nicaraguan, U.S. farmers: a contrast can teach us how to get control of our gov­ Daniel Nunez, president of UNAG. The U.S . farmers attending the meeting ernment," he said. were greeted with a standing ovation and the most enthusiastic applause of the day. In a brief statement, Bobbi Polzine , a leader of the Minnesota farm organization Nicaraguan trade unionists set tasks Groundswell, sharply contrasted the situa­ tion of Nicaraguan and North American farmers. Continued.from previous page This was the thrust of the final resolution discussion beginning here over what kind "In the U.S .," she said, "we lose 2,000 Liberation Front (FSLN). Power was taken adopted by the assembly, which decided to of constitution Nicaragua should have. The family farms each week . Here, the govern­ out of the hands of the Nicaraguan continue making big sacrifices in living delegates endorsed the constitutional pro­ ment gives the land to the farmers . What capitalists and landlords and a workers' standards and social services in order to posal that has been presented to the Na­ we've seen here convinces us that Nicara­ and peasants' government established. supply the needed resources for military tional Assembly by the FSLN. gua must survive." One of the first acts of the new govern­ defense. At the assembly's final session, which She continued, "We need an UNAG in ment was to guarantee,, the right to form The reason the unionists were willing to was opened to the media, VIctor Tirado, a the United States. We need farm leaders unions and to encourage workers~ involve­ make these sacrifices was explained in the member of the FSLN National Directorate, like Daniel Nunez. We need a president ment in all aspects of national policy . first paragraph of their resolution: spoke. He told the delegates that the future like [Nicaraguan] President Daniel The opening session of the CST assem­ of the revolution depended in large part on "As working people we are clear: the Ortega." bly was addressedby Nicaraguan President the working people of the cities and coun­ principal conquest the people made on July Pol zine spent nine days touring Nicara­ Daniel Ortega, who is also the coordinator tryside. It is they who have kept the revolu­ 19 was the seizure of political power. This gua in a delegation organized by the North of the executive committee of the FSLN tion in power for six years, he said. power, led by the FSLN; represents the American Farm Alliance . National Directorate. Agrarian reform Emphasizing the enormous effort the fundamental interests of the workers and Another member of the tour, Virginia minister Jaime Wheelock, another member Nicraguan people are making to defend the peasants. It is an example for all people farmer Ben Layman, was impressed with of the FSLN executive committee, aiso revolution, he pointed out that 53 ,000 fighting for their liberation." the progress Nicaraguan farmers had been spoke. working people, out of a population of able to make because they have "a govern­ Ortega told the I ,300 delegates that the 'Iron discipline' needed three million, are currently serving the ment that serves farmers." key task before the workers was increasing country in some military capacity. Each Noting the recent victories won by the Layman visited Nicaragua previously production. He said that economic expan­ hour of work they miss from their factory Sandinista People's Army over Washing­ with a Witness for Peace tour. He find s the sion-is not on the agenda today in Nicara­ or fi eld amounts to 53,000 hours of pro­ ton's mercenaries, the resolution called for situation in Latin America easy to under­ gua, but rather "a policy of survival in ductive labor that must be shouldered by maximum participation in military and stand and explain. "We're just like the order to win the war." those not at the front . civil defense to defeat the counterrevolu­ Taking up the economic hardships work­ tionaries, called contras. ers face. Tirado explained that today in War against Angola, Mozambique In the factories it urged "iron discipline" Nicaragua "the material benefits revolu­ to increase production and surpass produc­ tions bring are not being enjoyed. Rather, tivity goals. sacrifices are being made so that the bene­ Continued from front page its aggression against Mozambique, an It called for putting a brake on social fits will be for the future generations." ment for the Liberation of Angola East African country of more than 13 mil­ spending in order to maximize the re­ Nicaraguan workers want to build a new (MPLA). Washington and South Africa lion people that has a common border with sources that can be allocated to beating society free of exploitation, he said, but then attempted to undermine and, if possi­ South Africa. back the contras, and for "strict rationaliza­ socialism is not established by decree. ble, topple the new government. In Mozambique, the South Africa rulers tion of human and material resources, the Today, the primary task is winning the The aim was to set up a government bankrolled and armed a gang of terrorists raising of patriotic consciousness, and an war. Some economic problems can be re­ which would accept U.S. and South Afri­ called the Mozambique National Resis­ extra effort by all the working people." solved at the same time, but others will not can domination . tance, or Renamo. The union delegates also emphasized the be. The United States and South Africa According to the September 1985 New importance of the alliance of workers and He urged the workers to exert greater ef­ backed UNIT A and other dissidents in a African, Renamo carries out "constant at­ peasants in Nicaragua and made proposals forts in production, which, he said, was civil war. UNITA's forces were not only tacks on civilians," and "raids on relief, de­ to strengthen it. part of the defense against aggression, and heavily aided by racist South Africa, but velopment, and social service institutions." "We consider the worker-peasant al­ to play a bigger role in improving distribu­ were honeycombed with racist white mer­ As a result of Renamo's devastation of liance the fundamental pillar on which the tion of products. cenaries recruited with the help of the CIA. the countryside, child malnutrition rates revolution rests," the resolution stated. The Finally, he emphasized that it is the When it appeared that the MPLA would rose as high as 50 percent. Renamo was a delegates came out in support of the de­ workers and peasants who will solve the win the civil war, thousands of South Afri­ major cause of a rural famine that killed mands for land being raised by those peas­ problems the nation faces: "Who can the can troops poured into Angola. 100,000 Mozambicans in 1983 and 1984. ant families who have not yet benefitted [FSLN] call upon to defend the revolution, According to John Stockwell, the head In March 1984 the Mozambican govern­ from the nation's land reform program. if not the working people, the masters of of the Central Intelligence Agency's An­ ment signed a pact known as the "Nkomati The delegates also backed the allocation of that revolution?" gola Task Force during the war, Washing­ accord" with the apartheid regime. Each a disproportionately high amount of gov­ ton worked closely with the apartheid re­ side agreed to bar the use of their territory ernment aid to the countryside. gime every inch of the way. for armed attacks on each other. At the same time, they pledged that as Wheeling-Pitt strike The target of this assault is a nation ot The Mozambican government went to factory workers they would do their best to 7.5 million people with a per capita annual great lengths to keep its side of the bargain. provide the industrial products needed by Continued from back page income of $470. In the face of this full­ It forced more than I 00 members of the Af­ urban and rural producers alike. tions amounted to a lockout. scale invasion by the imperialist South Af­ rican National Congress, which today is Wheeling-Pittsburgh won approval from rican army, the Angolan government asked looked to by most South African Blacks as Tasks of trade unions a bankruptcy court to tear up the contract in for and received thousands of inter­ the leader of the anti-apartheid struggle, to Listing the tasks before the trade union July. nationalist troops from Cuba. leave Mozambique. But instead of the movement, the resolution placed military Company officials have since gone to The South African troops were forced to apartheid regime dropping support for Re­ defense of the country first. Second, it court to try to block unemployment com­ pull back, but they have continued to _ namo, the armed bandits massively ex­ called for the formation of a National pensation. They have refused to make reg­ launch raids deep into Angola, killing hun­ panded their operations. Wages Commission that would seek tore­ ularly scheduled payments to the pension dreds of Angolans and Namibian refugees. Mozambique won a victory recently verse the erosion of wages by lowering fund and have cut off all medical benefits And they continued to arm, train, and when a joint operation by Mozambican and prices, establishing price controls, and or­ for workers and retirees. otherwise support the UNIT A terrorists. Zimbabwean troops captured Renamo ganizing better distribution of products. It Replacements for Carney and the other Cuban troops in Angola provide a "de­ headquarters, known as Casa Banana. The also called for a wage incentive system to officials have already been made. Allen E. fense line to deter South Africa from victors found documents proving that since increase productivity and for improved oc­ Paulson, the millionaire majority stockhol­ launching an all-out invasion deep into An­ the Nkomati accord, the apartheid regime cupational health and safety. der at Wheeling-Pittsburgh, becomes gola," reported the September 20 Washing­ had built an airstrip for Renamo, and ship­ On this latter point, the resolution ap­ chairman of the board. Paulson is also ton Post. ped arms and other supplies. pealed "to the international labor move­ chairman of an aerospace company owned In January 1984 the South African rulers Confronted with the evidence, South Af­ ment and non-governmental organizations by Chrysler. agreed to "disengage" their troops from rican Foreign Minister Roelof Botha ad­ to donate safety equipment." An appeal by Paulson to the USW A to southern Angola. The Angolan govern­ mitted "technical violations" of the accord. The resolution also called for workers to return to work while the negotiations go on ment agreed to limit the activities of Nami­ He gave no indication that the violations be more involved in the administration of wa:s rejected. bian rebels in Angola, which it did by would end. factories and the drawing up and monitor­ The new management has yet to make an agreement with the South West Africa On September 19 Mozambican Presi­ ing of economic plans. It called for more offer to the union . People's Organization. In turn, South Af­ dent Samora Machel met with President supervision of how bank credit is extended, Solidarity with the strikers from other rica was expected to end its aid to UNIT A. Reagan in Washington. Reagan said he and a plan to increase the harvest of export unions has been one of the decisive factors In fact, however, UNIT A stepped up its was "distressed" at the evidence of South crops, including the mobilization of union in the battle so far. Financial contributions, terrorist activities, and South Africa con­ African violations of the Nkomati accord. members on a volunteer basis. statements -of support, and other expres­ tinued to raid southern Angola. But Machel got no promise of U.S. In the same vein, it called for participa­ sions of solidarity will continue to be im­ The apartheid regime is also continuing measures to put a stop to these violations. tion by working people in the nationwide portant as negotiations reopen. October 4, 1985 The Militant 9 Clerical workers settle strike in Bath, Me. Continued from front page Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and One provision of the settlement was building trades locals. especially important- a common contract The Teamsters donated a semi-trailer to expiration date with the production work­ store the donated food outside the union ers in the next contract. hal L Forcing BIW to back off concession de­ Other organizations have also pledged mands was the product of a long, militant, support. The Brunswick. Maine, chapter and united strike by the clerical workers, of the National Organization for Women is backed wholeheartedly by the production planning a benefit for the strikers in early workers. October.The . Boston Militant Labor The spirit of the strikers was exemplified Forum , after hearing a presentation by a by regular evening pickets. At the onset of striking Local 6 member, collected $120 the strike, a company spokesman had for the strikers. threatened Local 7 members with seeing Local 6 is asking supporters to send fi ­ Thanksgiving on the picket line. Workers nancial contributions to: Local 6 Strike immediately· organized a big "Thanksgiv­ Fund, 722 Washington Street, Bath, Maine ing dinner" cookout on the line- includ­ 04530. ing the "roast" of an appropriate turkey, the At issue, Ladd explained, is whether company spokesman. Then they held a BIW is really hurting or just "so intent on "Christmas" dinner. Plans were in the making vast profits that it is prepared to works for "Easter" when the strike was set­ sacrifice the morale of its work force to fat­ tled. ten its own pocketbook." Local 7 is a new union, having only won Because BIW is a "private'' company­ the right to represent the clerical workers that is, it issues no stock for public sale, it three years ago. Their contract ratification is not required by federal law to publish meeting was a long one. There was both any profit or other financial information. good and bad in the new contract. But Ladd released to the press copies of the much of the discussion went beyond the new contracts the company had negotiated terms of the contract to consider the effect with the navy. These contracts assured of a settlement on the members of their sis­ BIW's owners of a minimum profit of $79 .ter local who would remain out on the pick­ million on the fi rst three shifts alone . et line. William Haggett , president of BIW, has admitted that since then, "we hear the Solidarity between two locals question every day: 'if BIW needs conces­ Union President Paul Brillant (right) leads clerical workers back to work after win­ The depth of the continuing solidarity sions why doesn't the Company open its ning new contract in 22-week strike at Bath Iron Works. Company has not yet between the two locals was clear Monday books and prove it?'" reached agreement with members of the Shipbuilders union who remain on strike. morning when the clerks proudly marched The company has done everything in its en masse to the shipyard gates, led by power to divert attention from the union's union President Paul Brillant. They were with the navy- prior to its demands on the But the strike remains solid and morale demand that they open their books. Com­ greeted by an ovation from the picketing union - were predicated on reduced on the picket line high despite hardships. pany lawyers took the union and its officers members of Local 6. wages and benefits. This was crucial, the Many of the strikers have found other to court, arguing that they must have stolen Many clerks took their lunch hour to join company claimed, to underbid other ship­ work over the summer to help meet ex­ the documents containing the damning the production workers on the line and yards. penses. However, a significant number of profit figures. marched with them again after work. The But in July, Ray Ladd, president of these jobs are seasonal. Milt Dudley, strike coordinator for local is pledged to do everything it can to local 6, held a press conference and re­ Some strikers have worked so long at Local 6, told the Militant that this company aid their fellow shipbuilders who remain on leased documents which blasted BIW's seasonal jobs that as they are laid off, they lawsuit is nothing but an attempted diver­ strike. claims. become eligible for unemployment bene­ sion. " It has been winding down ever since BIW has made it clear that they aim to fits. And BIW has to pick up the bill. we showed the court that we got the con­ bear down on Local 6, the decisive union Sacrificing work force for profits tracts, which were in the public domain in the yard. The production workers· have Bypassing the union, Haggett says that, Cops threaten strikers anyhow, from a senator." Nonetheless, been on strike since July I . For the first from now on, "the Company will com­ Bath police have begun to respond more Dudley explained, "they keep it up because time since the beginning of the strike, the municate directly with its employees." aggressively to repeated company com­ being ifi court drains our time and re­ company has asserted that if Local 6 Si~e then, the company has sent weekly plaints of picketing workers' "harassment" sources more than it does theirs." doesn't agree to concessions in the next letters to all the strikers, hoping to generate of truckers and others crossing the picket The fact that BIW is demanding conces­ couple weeks, they will open their gates a "back-to-work movement" and force the line. For the first time a number of arrest sions from its workers while enjoying sub­ and urge workers to cross the picket line. union to settle for concessions or be bro­ warrants have been issued for strikers. stantial profits has deepened the resolve of BIW claimed that contracts it negotiated ken. A crucial factor in the strike has been the the strikers and aided in winning support continuing solidarity and aid from other from other workers. unionists and strike supporters. The company's chief hope is that they Do you know someone who reads Spanish? The Maine AFL-CIO has aided Local 6 can bleed Local 6 's members dry. It hoped in organizing a state-wide Food Caravan. to isolate Local 6 by settling with Local 7 In a flyer distributed to every union local and earlier with the smaller, unaffiliated 'PM' hits FBI raid in Puerto Rico in the state, the state federation explains, Bath Marine Draftsmen's Association, "our goal is to haul a tractor trailer of food which never joined the two shipbuilders into Bath each week as long as the strike locals on strike. The FBI's recent arrest of continues." Puerto Rican independence activ­ The breadth of support was indicated by BIW's union-busting tactics ists in Puerto Rico and the United John Portela, one of the coordinators of the Coupled with its refusal to negotiate, States represents a dangerous food drive for Local 6. He explained that BIW is stepping up its direct union-busting threat to the democratic rights of donations had come from Paperworkers in tactics. On September 6, the company sent all working people. Jay and Rumford, the Maine Upstate Em­ a "Dear Employee" letter to the strikers ad­ In the attack, the U.S. govern­ ployees Association, textile workers in vising them the walkout has gone on "too ment's · political police seized 11 Brunswick and Portland, the International long." people in Puerto Rico, held them incommunicado for several days, stole files and documents, and closed down a magazine, even tak­ Utah protest hits 'contra' war ing the printing presses. This intimidating show of force ...... BY SCOTT BREEN The picket line was organi zed in less has aroused the indignation of SALT LAKE CITY - Two hundred than a week by an ad hoc coalition of indi­ Puerto Ricans and defenders of E-" MuncW '"'"· ······-'=-·"'· .;-;;=.,...... ~ ~ ...... people protested here against the U.S.­ viduals and organizati ons called Utahns backed war on Nicaragua. They picketed a Against Contra Funding. democratic rights both on the is­ Sindicatos en N.Y. apoyan jornada land and in the United States. del11 de octubre contra el apartheid public meeting addressed by Adolfo Cal­ Kathleen Densmore, who had just re­ Several _ protests have already ero, president of the Nicaraguan Demo­ turned from a month in Esteli, Nicaragua, cratic Force (FDN), the largest of the U.S.­ been held. reported that the war is directed against the organi zed armed terrorists trying to over­ civi lian population. It is a war of rape. tor­ The new issue of Perspectiva throw the Nicaraguan government. M undial tells the facts on this act iSuscribete ahora! ture, kidnapping, and murder. "The con­ Chanting "Hey, hey, ho, ho; the bloody tras do not have a future in Nicaragua," she of U.S. government terrorism, and contra war has got to go," and "FDN, CIA: ·calls for defending the rights of declared , "the people don't trust them." Subscriptions: $16 for one how many children did you ki ll today?" the victimized Puerto Rican inde­ picketers demanded an end to funding for Also speaking was Mike Saperstein , co­ pendence fighters. year; $8 for six months; Intro­ chairperson of the Central American Sol­ ductory offer, $3.00 for three the CIA-backed mercenaries known as contras - Spanish fo r counterrevolution­ idarity Coali tion. A student who spent two Perspectiva is a valuable source months. of the truth published in Spanish. aries. years li ving in Nicaragua Help get it into the hands of your Calero was here September 6 promoting Bob Hoyle, Sociali st Workers candidate D Begin my sub with current the war agai nst Nicaragua. Billed as "the for mayor of Salt Lake City. addressed the Spanish-speaking coworkers and issue. friends. commander-in-chief of the freedom fi ght­ press reports that "high state officials" met Name ers in Nicaragua" by his sponsors, he spoke with Calero: "This is outrageous. These Perspectiva Mundial is the at a public meeting titled "The Communist mercenaries are not real freedom fighters . Spanish-language socialist maga­ Address ______Attack on the Americas." The freedom they are fi ghting for is the zine that every two weeks brings City/State/Zip ______The meeting was sponsored by the "Na­ freedom of big corporations to run Nicara­ you the truth about the struggles of tional Center for Constitutional Studies," gua for their own profit. They oppose the working people and t he oppressed Clip and mail to PM, 408 West St., an organization affiliated with the anti­ Nicaraguan government for the same in the U.S. and around the world. New York, NY 10014. communist Freeman Institute , associated reason the U.S . government does: it's a with the Church of Latter Day Saints - the government of. by, and for the workers and Mormons. farmers of Nicaragua, not the rich ."

10 The Militant October 4, 1985 Joan Newbigging: 20 years in socialist movement Meetings celebrate life and work of Canadian revolutionary fighter

The following article is taken from the Newbigging had shown "when our party over the years from the comrades in Eng­ September 16 issue of Socialist Voice, a decided to organize to have a majority of lish Canada and Quebec in this process has socialist biweekly published in its members get jobs in industry and par­ been indispensable in helping to keep us Montreal, Canada. ticipate as revolutionary workers in the in­ from drowning in the imperialist arrogance dustrial unions. She worked on the rail­ of the United States, in helping us learn BY LYNDA LITTLE road, in meatpacking, and in a sawmill." other cultures and other languages, both lit­ TORONTO - Eighty friends and com­ One of the younger comrades she in­ erally and figuratively . And it's in that rades gathered here on August 25 to cele­ spired was Carole Caron, a leader of the sense that Joan contributed enormously brate the life and work of Joan Newbig­ Revolutionary Youth Committee in over the years. ging. Newbigging was a central leader of Montreal. Caron described her experience "Joan had tremendous capacities. But the Revolutionay Workers League (RWL) working with Newbigging on the initial there was something unique about her. and before it of the League for Socialist steps toward launching a pan-Canadian What she did as a leader was not something Action (LSA) . She was also the former youth organization in solidarity with the that she was born with . She learned it, just editor of SoCialist Voice. After a four-year RWL. like everyone else learns it. And that's battle with cancer, Newbigging, 43, died "My collaboration with Joan helped me exactly what she tried to do, to encourage in Montreal on July 31. to better understand that the real divisions everyone to do and learn as she had. " Arthur Young, an RWL Central Com­ within capitalism are not between young mittee member who worked with Newbig­ people and old, between Quebec and Eng­ International collaboration ging for 20 years, chaired the evening. He lish Canada, or between women and men, Pat Williams, a leader of the Socialist quoted Oliver Tambo, president of the Af­ but between the class of workers and their Action League (SAL) of New Zealand de­ rican National Congress: "Our people want allies on the one side. and the class of the scribed how, although they had never met freedom now . They've lost all patience bosses on the other. her personally, Joan became very familiar with the idea that their freedom can be put "Joan helped me to see more clearly to the New Zealand comrades. This was off, even for one instant. They consider what unites us, reinforcing what we have in especially true because of a 1983 report that the purpose of life is to devote it to the common through the struggle against Newbigging gave on the struggle for abor­ struggle for the liberation of our country capitalism, rather than focusing on what di­ tion clinics in Canada. The report was care­ and they have therefore abandoned all fear vides us . She taught me to be more objec­ fully studied by comrades in New Zealand of death. For them today the words 'to live' tive and to respect our revolutionary con­ imd other countries. mean exactly the same thing as the words tinuity." This was just one example of the collab­ 'to be free .'" oration between the SAL and the RWL, Joan Newbigging "That is the spirit of the South African International messages Williams explained. She stressed the im­ struggle today," Young said. "And that is Representing the British section of the portance of these links . "For us it means also the spirit in which Joan lived her very Fourth International at the meeting was being part of and building the international Marxiste Revolutionnaire in Quebec. rich and full life and why tonight is a cele­ Connie Harris, a 44-year veteran of the communist organization, the Fourth Inter­ "Joan played an essential role in the fu­ bration of her life." British workers' movement and a leader of national, being able to collaborate con­ sion of these groups into the RWL in The evening before, 40 people held a the International. She described how im­ cretely to the best we can, given the dis­ 1977," Prairie said. "She was delegated by similar celebration of Newbigging's life in pressed she was by the "enthusiasm, confi­ tances involved." the LSA leadership to sit on the joint LSA­ Montreal. dence, and ability" of Joan and the other Deb Shnookal, representing a group of RMG steering cqmmittee that led the. fu­ Young described the "turning point" in young leaders she met while living in communists who support the Fourth Inter­ sion process in English Canada." Newbigging's life when she joined the To­ Canada for a time in the 1960s. national in Australia, remarked on the ap­ When the central office of the RWL ronto Young Socialist Alliance and the This was the period when the LSA made propriateness of the memorial fund being moved from Toronto to Montreal in 1980, LSA in 1965. "She brought with her a a transition in leadership from the veterans launched in Newbigging' s memory. The a move to help deepen the party's pan­ unique combination of energy and determi­ who had held the party together during the fund will be used to set up a new French­ Canadian character, Newbigging "en­ nation, maturity and objectivity." difficult days of the 1950s to a new gener­ language Marxist bookstore in Montreal. thusiastically" accepted an assignment to "Joan did not believe in half-measures. ation of fighters including Newbigging. Shnookal outlined Newbigging's under­ come to Montreal. She made an unreserved commitment," Harris was also impressed with Newbig­ standing of the importance of the revolu­ "Comrades who were then living in Van­ said Ernie Tate, a former longtime RWL ging's deep commitment to the interna­ tionary literature distributed by Pathfinder couver still remember how she would take leader. When she got involved, he tional workers' movement. "Despite the Press. Explaining how the Australian com­ advantage of the long traffic lineups lead­ explained, "we were actively building sup­ stage of Joan's illness, she took on the task rades are now circulating this literature in · ing into the sawmill where she worked to port for the Cuban revolution. Joan threw of convening the Canadian tour of a strik­ the entire South Pacific, she concluded study French at the wheel of her car. herself into this work and in May 1965 vis­ ing British coal miner last year, responding "The most appropriate commemoration of "Joan's interest in learning French was ited Cuba under the sponsorship of the Fair enthusiastically to this big upheaval in the Joan's life is to advance these common in­ political. She was convinced that it was es­ Play for Cuba Committee. class struggle in Britain." ternational projects." sential for her and all English-speaking comrades to be able to communicate with In the Montreal meeting, Ronald Came­ "It was her ability to be inspired by Mary-Alice Waters, a leader of the Quebecois revolutionaries and workers in Socialist Workers Party in the United ron of the Gauche Socialiste (Socialist events in the class struggle that showed the their own language. Left), a sympathizing organization of the way forward for humanity that I remember States and of the Fourth International , Prairie explained Newbigging's "great Fourth International in Quebec, paid tri- most about Joan . There was a joy about her spoke about Joan's role as a leader of the satisfaction with the theme chosen for the , bute to "the depth of Joan's personal com­ that was totally infectious. " Fourth International. first issue of Nouvelle lnternationale. This mitment. In reconfirming this commitment "She also brought something very par­ issue contains a series of articles on the in the 1980s, maintaining her activity in A feminist leader ticular to the process of building our party need for workers to forge an alliance with spite of illness, comrade Joan Newbigging Joan Campana, the current editor of in the United States." Describing tasks the the other class of exploited producers in stands out very clearly as an example to po­ Socialist Voice, recalled Newbigging as a RWL and SWP carry out in common­ our society, the small farmers . litical activists both in Quebec and. leader of the Canadian women's liberation from educational gatherings to common "Despite the illness that weakened her Canada." movement. "Joan participated in the very trade union fractions in North American­ and forced her to retire from the Political Both the Toronto and Montreal meetings first feminist groups and activities. She be­ wide unions- Waters stressed "the impor­ Committee, Joan played an essential role in also heard messages from people who came a leader of the abortion rights strug­ tance of this work in the internationalist this discussion which the RWL Political knew or had worked with Newbigging in. gle and a pioneer in women's fight to work education of the Socialist Workers Party. Committee had opened up inside the Canada or around the world. These in­ non-traditional jobs. We live inside the United States, inside the party." cluded a telegram from Ernest Mandel, a belly of the beast. In concluding, Prairie quoted Fidel Cas­ "Through her experiences and through central leader of the Fourth International. study, she concluded that our liberation "Breaking our isolation, cutting through tro who said that "there is no more noble could only be fully realized in a revolution­ the isolation that our movement and the A life of revolutionary commitment task than being a revolutionary and devot­ working class in the United States face be­ ing one's life to the struggle for the eman­ ary struggle to overturn the very roots of The final speaker was Michel Prairie, cause of the strength of U.S. imperialism, cipation of humanity." Prairie encouraged oppression and exploitation the coeditor of New International and Nouvelle is absolutely crucial to the capacity to build all present who agreed with that to join capitalist system itself. That's why she de­ lnternationale, two journals of Marxist a proletarian, internationalist party in the with the socialist youth committees and the dicated herself to building the Revolution­ theory and politics published jointly by United States. RWL in building the revolutionary move­ ary Workers League." leaders of the RWL and SWP. Prairie is ment . Campana also described the leadership "The collaboration we have received also editor of Lutte Ouvriere, the French­ "That is exactly what Joan did with her language equivalent of Socialist Voice. life. And she did it totally, with no after­ "Joan Newbigging devoted almost her thoughts . She was thoroughly convinced of entire life to building a communist party in what she was doing. She knew that else­ Canada. By far that is her principal contrib­ where in the world, in the factories of ution, the main heritage that she left us. Cuba, in the shantytowns of South Africa, "Her life reads like a veritable history of in the fields of Nicaragua, millions upon the principal struggles of our class over 20 millions of men and women were doing the years. Through all these struggles, Joan be­ same thing as she was. They were making came convinced that the only way to put a history ." definitive end to capitalist oppression and exploitation was for those who truly pro­ duce the wealth in our society to take Subscribe ·to . . . power from the hands of the big corpora­ tions and the banks." Joan knew that called for building a rev­ ~1· x; ro tPI il!li111!4 olutionary party. "To her, such a party had to truly reflect our class as it is. It had to be Socialist biweekly from a pan-Canadian, multinational party, Canada where young workers, women, and Quebecois played a central role." 0 $5 for 12 issues 2nd class Lutte Ouvriere/Bonita Murdock Socialist Voice/Monica Jones In the mid-1970s, Prairie explained, 0 $8 for 12 issues 1st class there were three organizations that iden­ Send check or money order to Socialist Arthur Young (left) of Revolutionary Workers League and Mary-Alice Waters of Voice, C.P. 280. Succ. de Lorimier, U.S. Socialist Workers Party spoke at celebrations of the life of Joan Newbigging. tified with the Fourth International in Montreal, Quebec H2H 2N7 Newbigging, Waters explained, played important role in internationalist education of Canada - the LSA, the Revolutionary SWP through joint work carried out by RWL and SWP. Marxist Group (RMG), and the Groupe

October 4, 1985 The Militant 11 -CALENDAR------~--~------CALIFORNIA tant Labor Forum. For more information call $2 . Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For more in­ Socialist Workers Party, visited Cuba in 1981. (313) 862-7755 . formation call (919) 272-5996. Translation to Spanish. Sat., Sept. 28, 7:30 Los Angeles p.m. 767 S State Street, 3rd tloor. Donation: March and Rally Against Apartheid. Sat., OHIO $2. Ausp: Militant Forum. For more informa­ Oct. 12. Assemble 11 a.m. at Jackie Robinson MINNESOTA tion call (801) 355-1124. Stadium; ·march to Leimert Park, 43rd and · St. Paul Cincinnati For Kanak Independence: The Fight Against Crenshaw Blvd. Rally I p.m. Ausp: Free South The Great Spirit Within 'the Hole.' A film on The Fight for Freedom: South Africa to Cen­ French Rule in New Caledonia. Speaker: Africa Movement. For more information call Indians in prison with discussion by Chris Spot­ tral America. Speaker: Mark Curtis, National Susanna Ounei, leader of Kanak Socialist Na­ (213) 747-1367. ted Eagle, the film maker. Sun., Sept. 29, 4 Executive Committee, Young Socialist Al­ tional Liberation Front. Wed., Oct. 2, 7 p.m. Spesr of the Nation. A film about South Af­ p.m. 508 N Snelling. Donation: $3. Ausp: Mil­ liance. Sun., Sept. 29, 7:30p.m. 4945 Paddock First Unitarian Church, 569 S 1300 E. Ausp: rica. Translaticm to Spanish. Sat., Oct. 12. itant Labor Forum. For more information call Rd . Donation: $2.50.. Ausp: Militant Labor Susanna Ounei Tour Committee. For more in­ Open house, 6:30p.m.; film, 7:30p.m. 25·4·6 W (612) 644-6325. Forum. For more information call (513) 242- formation call (80 I) 595-0396. Pico Blvd. Donation: $3. Ausp: M1htant 7161. Forum. For more information call (213) 380- Defend Abortion: A Woman's Right to WASHINGTON 9460. MISSISSIPPI Choose. Speakers: Peggy Mow , Socialist Malcolm X and Che Guevara: Their Mean­ Workers Party; Shirley Rossir, Women's Seattle Biloxi Equity Action League. Sun., Oct. 6, 7:30p.m. Support the Seattle Teachers' Strike. Speak­ ing for Today. Speakers to be announced. A Southern Regional Coalition for Reproduc­ 4945 Paddock Rd . Donation: $2 .50. Ausp: Mil­ ers: Mike Prisor, representative of executive bilingual program in English and Spanish. Sat., tive Freedom. Workshops on prochoice issues. itant Labor Forum. For more information call board, Seattle Teachers Association; Elizabeth Oct. 19, 7:30p.m. 2546 W Pico. Donation: $2. Sat., Sept. 28, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Holiday Inn, (513) 242-7161. Jackson, member Black Professional Educators Ausp: Young Socialist Alliance. For more in­ Route 90. Donation requested. For more infor­ formation call (213) 380-9460. Association and Coalition for the Education of mation call (601) 388-3986. Black Children; Val Bloehm, member Operat­ San Francisco OREGON ing Engineers Local 609; Dan Fein , member In­ Behind the Scare Campaign Against AIDS NEW JERSEY Portland ternational Union of Electronic Workers Local South Africa: Generations of Resistance. 1002 and Socialist Workers Party . Translation Victims. Translation to Spanish. Fri., Oct. 4, Newark 7:30p.m. 3284 23 St. Donation: $2. Ausp: Mil­ Film documentary on major Black resistance to Spanish. Sat., Sept. 28, 7:30 p.m. 5517 How to Fight the Ku Klux Klan. Speakers: campaigns. Sat., Oct. 5, 7:30 p.m. 2732 NE Rainier Ave. S. Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant itant Forum. For more information call (415) Larry Hamm , Progressive Rainbow Coalition; 282-6255. Union. Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor Labor Forum. For more information call (206) Mark Satinoff, Socialist Workers Party candi­ Forum . For more information call (513) 287- 723-5330. date for governor of New Jersey. Translation to 7416. COLORADO Spanish. Sat., Sept. 28, 7:30p.m. 141 Halsey WASHINGTON, D.C. Denver St. Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For more in­ PENNSYLVANIA Support the Freedom Struggle in South Af­ AIDS Hysteria: Victims as Criminal. Fri ., formation call (20 I) 643-3341. Philadelphia rica! A panel discussion. Speakers: representa­ Oct. 4, 7:30p.m. 25 W 3 Ave. Donation: $2. FBI Terrorism in Puerto Rico. Speakers: tive of African National Congress of South Af­ Upsurge in Africa. Speaker: Ernest Harsch, Ausp: Militant Forum. For more information Abelita Medina, cOQrdinator of the Movement rica; James Winfield, member Young Socialist author of South Africa: White Rule, Black Re­ call (303) 698-2550. Support Network and member of Puerto Rican Alliance National Committee; representative of Militant Bookstore Open House. Sat., Oct. Committee Against Repression; Andrea Gon­ volt. Managing editor of Intercontinental Press, Northern Virgiqians Against Apartheid; repre­ recently returned from West Africa. Translation 12, 1 p.m. 25 W 3 Ave. Ausp: Militant zalez, Socialist Workers. Party candidate for sentative of S~Ctdent Coalition Against Apart­ to Spanish. Sat., Sept. 28, 7:30p.m. 2744Ger­ Bookstore. For more information call (303) mayor of New York City. Translation to heid. Translation to Spanish. Sun ., Sept. 29, 7 698-2550. Spanish. Fri., Oct. 4. Preforum dinner, 6:30 mantown Ave . Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant p.m. 3106 Mt. Pleasant St. NW . Donation: $2. p.m.; forum, 7:30p.m. 141 Halsey St. Dona­ Labor Forum. For more information call (215) Ausp: Militant Labor Forum. For more infor­ 225-0213 . LOUISIANA tion: forum $2, dinner $3. Ausp: Militant Labor mation call (202) 797-7699. New Orleans . Forum . For more information call (20 I) 643- TEXAS Reagan's War on Women's Rights. Speakers: Apartheid in South Africa. A panel discus­ 3341. Loretta Ross, International Council of African sion. Speakers: Rev . Jerome Owens, cochair of Houston Women and National Black United Front; De­ New Orleans Anti-apartheid Coalition for Oc­ NEW YORK Democratic Rights in Houston Under Attack. borah Lazar, member Coalition of Labor Union tober II & 12; Selby St!mela, leader of 1976 What We Can Do to Defend Them. Panel dis­ Women and International Brotherhood of Elec­ student uprising in South Africa and president Albany cussion . Speakers: Bruce Griffith, American trical Workers Local 362. Translation to of New Orleans Committee Against Apartheid; South Africa: Turning Point in the Freedom Civil Liberties Union; Tom Coleman, vice­ Spanish. Sun ., Oct. 6, 7 p.m. 3106 Mt. Pleas­ Oupa, South African student; Michael Howells, Struggle. Speakers: Merton Simpson, Coali­ president Gay Political Caucus; Ada Edwards, ant NW. Donation: $2 . Ausp: Militant Labor leader of PEACE; Ntiesi Shishebe, Young tion Against Apartheid and Racism; Paco Free South Africa Movement; Cathy Courtney, Forum . For more information call (202) 797- Socialist Alliance . Fri., Sept. 27, 8 p.m. 3207 Duarte, minority-affairs coordinator, Student Texas Abortion Rights Action League; Willie 7699. Dublin. Donation: $1.50. Ausp: Militant Association of SUNY-Albany; David Wall , Mae Reid, Socialist Workers Party candidate Forum. For more information call (504) 486- member of Brotherhood of Railway and Airline for mayor. Translation to Spanish. Sat. , Sept. WISCONSIN 8048. Clerks Lodge 861 and Young Socialist Al­ 28, 7:30 p.m. 4806 Almeda. Donation: $2. Milwaukee liance . Translation to Spanish. Fri ., Oct. 4, 8 Ausp: Militant Forum. For more information Art and the Cuban Revolution. Slideshow p.m. 352 Central Ave . Donation: $2. Ausp: call (713) 522-8054. MASSACHUSETTS and presentation by Frank Boehm, choreog­ Militant Labor Forum. For more information Boston call (518) 434-3247 . UTAH rapher currently making film titled Alicia's Defend Abortion Rights! A panel of abortion­ Cuba. Sat. , Sept. 28, 7 p.m. 4707 W Lisbon rights activists. Sun., Oct. 6, 7:30 p.m. 510 Manhattan Salt Lake City Ave. Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor Commonwealth Ave., 4th tloor. Donation: $2. Defend the Puerto Rican Independentistas The Truth About the Cuban Revolution. Forum. For more information call (414) 445- Speaker: Scott Breen, representative of Ausp: Militant Forum. For more information Against the FBI. Speakers: ArtemioCamacho, 2076. call (617) 262-4621. member of Socialist Workers Party; Pedro Al­ Socialist Campaign Rally. Hear Kip Hedges, bizu Meneses, son of Pedro Albizu Campos, Socialist Workers Party candidate for Boston founder of modem independence movement; City Council at-large. Sat., Oct. 12 . Reception: representative of Committee Against Repres­ NEW 7 p.m.;rally, 8 p.m.;party to follow. 510Com­ sion. Translation to Spanish. Fri, Sept. 27, 7:30 monwealth Ave., 4th tloor. Ausp: SWP Cam­ p.m. 79 Leonard St. Donation: $2. Ausp: Mili­ 13 recent speeches and paign Committee. For more information call tant Labor Forum . For more information call interviews by Fidel Castro FIDEL (617) 262-4621. (212) 226-8445. covering the U.S.-backed war Vietnam and Kampuchea. A forum and dis­ CASTRO MICHIGAN cussion. Speakers: Chan Bun Han, Kampu­ against Nicaragua; prospects SPEECHES 1984·85 chean national, member ofCommittee in Sol­ for defeating a U.S. invasion; Detroit idarity with Vietnam, Kampuchea, and Laos. General Dynamics, Wheeling-Pittsburgh Visited Kampuchea in 1981 and '84; Karen the international debt crisis; Strikers Stand Up to Company Attacks. Gellen, Guardian newspaper foreign editor, re­ the political situation in Latin Spealcers: Shelton McCrainey, member of cently returned from Vietnam; Clarence Fitch, United Auto Workers Local 1200 at General coordinator, NY-NJ Vietnam Veterans Against America; and Cuba's recent Dynamics; Holly Harkness, member United the War; Don Luce, director Asia Resource "revolutions" in the economy Steelworkers Local 758, Chicago. Translation Center. Sun., Oct. 6, 3 p.m. Washington to Spanish. Sat., Sept. 28, 8 p.m. 7146 W Square Methodist Church, 135 W 4 St. Dona­ and in defense. Includes McNichols. Donation: $2. Ausp: Militant Labor tion: $4. Ausp: CSVNKL, Guardian . For more interview with Excelsior on the Forum. For more information call (313) 862- information call (718) 624-8173. 7755. need to cancel Latin America's Corporate Blackmail: GM Tax Breaks $360 billion debt. 280 pp., $6.95 WAR&CRISIS Threaten Our Communities. Speaker: An­ NORTH CAROLINA IN THE drew Pulley, Socialist Workers Party; others. Greensboro To order, send $6.95 plus .75 postage and handling AMERICAS Translation to Spanish. Sat., Oct. 5, 8 p.m. Pornography and Women's Rights. Sun., to: Pathfinder Press, 410 West St., NY, NY 10014. 7146 W McNichols. Donation: $2. Ausp: Mili- Sept. 29, 5 p.m. 2219 E Market St. Donation: -IF YOU LIKE THIS PAPER, LOOK US UP------Where to find the Socialist Workers Party, GEORGIA: Atlanta: SWP, YSA, 504 Flat NEW JERSEY: Newark: SWP, YSA, 141 Dallas: SWP, YSA , 132 N. Beckley Ave., Zip: Young Socialist Alliance, and socialist Shoals Ave. SE . Zip: 30316. Tel: (404) 577- Halsey. Zip: 07102. Tel: (201) 643-3341. 75203 . Tel : (214) 943-5195. Houston: SWP, bookstores. 4065 . NEW YORK: . Capital District (Albany): YSA , 4806 Almeda. Zip: 77004 . Tel: (713) ILLINOIS: Chicago: SWP, YSA, 3455 S SWP, YSA, 352 Central Ave. 2nd tloor. Zip: 522-8054. ALABAMA: Birmingham: SWP, YSA, Michigan Ave. Zip: 60616. Tel: (312) 326-5853 12206. Tel: (518) 434~3247. New York: SWP, UTAH: Price: SWP, YSA, 23 S. Carbon 205 18th St. S. Zip: 35233. Tel: (205) 323- or 326-5453. YSA, 79 Leonard St. Zip: 10013 . Tel: (212) Ave ., Suite 19, P.O. Box 758 . Zip: 84501. Tel: 3079. KENTUCKY: Louisville: SWP, YSA, 809 219-3679 or 925-1668. (801) 637-6294. Salt Lake City: SWP, YSA , ARIZONA: Phoenix: SWP, YSA, 37.50 E. Broadway. Zip: 40204. Tel : (502) 587-8418. NORTH CAROLINA: Greensboro: SWP, 767 S. State, 3rd tloor. Zip: 84111. Tel : (801) West McDowell Road #3. Zip: 85009. Tel: LOUISIANA: New Orleans: SWP, YSA , YSA, 2219 E Market. Zip: 27401. Tel: (919) 355-1124. (602) 272-4026. 3207 Dublin St. Zip: 70118 . Tel: (504) 486- 272-5996. VIRGINIA: Tidewater Area (Newport CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles: SWP, YSA, 8048. OHIO: Cincinnati: SWP, YSA, 4945 Pad­ News): SWP, YSA, 5412 Jefferson Ave., Zip 2546 W. Pico Blvd . Zip: 90006. Tel: (213) 380- MARYLAND: Baltimore: SWP, YSA, 2913 dock Rd . Zip: 45237 . Tel: (513) 242-7161. 23605 . Tel: (804) 380-0133. 9460. Oakland: SWP, YSA, 3808 E 14th St. Greenmount Ave . Zip: 21218 . Tel : (301) 235- Cleveland: SWP, YSA, 15105 St. Clair Ave. WASHINGTON, D.C.: SWP, YSA, 3106 Zip: 94601. Tel: (415) 261-3014. San Diego: 0013 . Zip: 44110. Tel: (216) 451-6150. Columbus: Mt. Pleasant St. NW. Zip: 20010. Tel: (202) SWP, YSA, 1053 15th St. Zip: 92101. Tel: MASSACHUSETTS: Boston: SWP, YSA, YSA, P.O. Box 02097. Zip: 43202. Toledo: 797-7699. (619) 234-4630. San Francisco: SWP, YSA, 510 Commonwealth Ave., 4th Floor. Zip: SWP, YSA, 1701 W Bancroft St. Zip: 43606. WASHINGTON: Seattle: SWP, YSA , 3284 23rd St. Zip: 94110. Tel: (415) 282-6255 . 02215 . Tel: (617)-262-4621. Tel: (419) 536-0383. 5517 Rainier Ave . South. Zip: 98118. Tel: San Jose: SWP, YSA, 46 112 Race St. Zip: MICHIGAN: Detroit: SWP, YSA, 7146 W. OREGON: Portland: SWP, YSA, 2732 NE (206) 723-5330. 95126. Tel: (408) 998-4007. McNichols. Zip: 48221. Tel : (313) 862-7755. Union . Zip: 97212. Tel: (503) 287-7416. WEST VIRGINIA: Charleston: SWP, COLORADO: Denver: SWP, YSA, 25 W MINNESOTA: Twin Cities: SWP, YSA, PENNSYLVANIA: Philadelphia: SWP, YSA, 611A Tennessee. Zip: 25302 . Tel : (304) 3rd Ave . Zip: 80223. Tel: (303) 698-2550. 508 N. Snelling Ave ., St. Paul. Zip: 55104. Tel: YSA, 2744 Germantown Ave . Zip: 19133. Tel: 345-3040. Morgantown: SWP, YSA, 221 FLORIDA: Miami: SWP, YSA , 137 NE (612) 644-6325 . (215) 225-0213. Pittsburgh: SWP, YSA, 402 Pleasant St. Zip: 26505 . Tel : (304) 296- 54th St. Mailing address: P.O. Box 370486. MISSOURI: Kansas City: SWP, YSA, · N. Highland Ave . Zip: 15206. Tel: (412) 362- 0055. Zip: 33137. Tel: (305) 756-1020. Tallahassee: 4715A Troost. Zip: 64110. Tel : (816) 753- 6767 . WISCONSIN: Milwaukee: SWP, YSA, YSA, P.O. Box 20715. Zip: 32316. Tel: (904) 0404. St. Louis: SWP, YSA, 3109 S. Grand, TEXAS: Austin: YSA, c/o Mike Rose, 7409 4707 W. Lisbon Ave. Zip: 53208. Tel: (414) 222-4434. #22. Zip: 63118 . Tel: (314) 772-44i0. Berkman Dr. Zip: 78752. Tel. (512) 452-3923 . 445-2076.

12 The Militant October 4, 1985 Why Australian SWP split from Fourth International

BY MALIK MIAH have no justification, and that the Vietnamese Com­ The September 23 issue of the international news munist Party itself has never subsequently sought to de­ biweekly, Intercontinental Press, is an especially educa­ fend ." tional one that deserves careful reading. Clark explains that the victory in 1975 by the Vietnam­ The expanded 40-page edition contains articles and ese national liberation struggle over U.S. imperialism documents on the split of the National Committee of the was a result of the Vietnamese Communists' break a Australian Socialist Workers Party from the Fourth Inter­ quarter century earlier from the Stalinist course of subor­ national, an international revolutionary communist or­ dinating the independence struggle to the class-col­ ganization. laborationist diplomacy of the Soviet government - the The Australian SWP leadership says the Fourth Inter­ main reason for the defeat in 1945-47. national is an obstacle to building a mass revolutionary international movement and should ·never have been Why the Fourth International formed. The Australian SWP leadership asserts that the Fourth According to a report in the August 28 Direct Action, International is an obstacle that must be removed because the Australian SWP's weekly newspaper, the SWP Na- it has been incapable of recognizing, understanding, and relating to revolutionary leaderships that emerge outside of the framework of the Fourth International. They are IN REVIEW particularly critical of the Fourth International's orienta­ tion to the Cuban revolution and its leadership. tiona) Committee formalized its split at a meeting in mid­ SWP National Secretary Jim Percy, according to Di­ August. The report adopted by the leadership body rect Action,contends, "The Trotskyist view of Stalinism summed up the decision as follows: "Our political posi­ stands in the way of understanding the importance of tion is a total negation of the whole reason for the exis­ what is happening in Cuba." tence of the Fourth International." (This article is re­ The Australian SWP National Committee asserts that it · printed in IP.) Reflecting its increasingly sectarian policy toward is time to "break with the idea that having an alternative Australian SWP National Secretary Jim Percy is Labor Party, Australian Socialist Workers Party in view of Stalinism justifies being in a separate 'historic quoted in the article as stating, "I think it was wrong to December 1984 elections campaigned for petty­ current.'" form the Fourth International in the first place ." He bourgeois Nuclear Disarmament Party against candi­ Jenness explains that it was the Fourth International's dates of the Labor Party. added, "the organizational form [of the Fourth Interna­ recognition of the revolutionary capacities of the Cuban tional] cut off [Leon] Trotsky [a leader of the 1917 Rus­ leadership that confirmed the most fundamental perspec­ sian revolution] and the Trotskyists from any other possi­ class-struggle orientation in the unions. tive of the Fourth International - "that revolutionary bility of the development of the Communist movement." Losing their class bearings also led the Australian currents would arise independent of Stalinist and Social SWP to begin collaborating with right-wing Croatian Democratic organizations." Why Australian SWP degenerated nationalists in Australia. These reactionaries call for the The Cuban revolution in 1959 led to a political reorien­ An article by Doug Jenness, editor.of IP and a leader dismantlement of the Yugoslav workers' state estab­ tation by the Fourth International, which continues of the U.S. Socialist Workers Party, describes the politi­ lished by the massive workers' and peasants' revolution today. It politically prepared the International to under­ cal degeneration of the Australian SWP leadership that in Yugoslavia during and immediately after World War stand the Nicaraguan and Grenada revolutions of 1979 led to its desertion from the Fourth International. He also II. and the significance of their leaderships. The Fourth In­ explains the origins and place of the Fourth International Jenness notes: "The SWP's approach to electoral ac­ ternational has made solidarity with the Nicaraguan rev­ in developing a mass revolutionary international move­ . tion , allies, unity discussions with other groups, the olution its central activity for the past six years, ment. peace movement, and all other political activities is class­ Jenness describes the origins of the Fourth Interna­ "The walkout of the SWP's National Committee," Jen­ less. It fetishizes mass action regardless of its class con­ tional and its place in defending the continuity of Lenin­ ness writes, "consummates and formalizes a split that tent." ism and the development of a mass revolutionary interna­ began two years ago, when a majority of the party's tional movement. leadership took the unprecedented action of breaking off Adaptation to Stalinism From the mid-1920s until the early 1930s, "the Bol­ all relations with selected parties of the International." What can happen to a party that junks a revolutionary shevik-Leninists fought to prevent the Comintern [Com­ This included severing relations with the U.S. international working-class outlook is seen in the Austra­ munist International] from becoming an instrument of Socialist Workers Party, a fraternal party of the Fourth lian SWP's adaptation to the class-collaborationist poli­ Moscow's class-collaborati~mist foreign policy, which International, as well as the New Zealand and Canadian cies and bureaucratic organizational methods of was destroying it as a formation to advance the world rev­ sections. Stalinism. Jenness points to several examples. olution," Jenness explains. Jenness explains that the political basis for the walkout First, is the SWP' s. political collaboration and unity "When the Bolshevik-Leninists were purged from the is the Australian SWP leadership's abandonment of "any maneuvers with the Socialist Party of Australia (SPA). Soviet party and then from the sections of the Comintem, working-class foundation for its political perspective." The SPA is more loyal to the political line of Moscow they simply continued the fight, in their countries and in­ The proletarian orientation and communist continuity of than is the larger "Eurocommunist" Communist Party of ternationally. For those who refused to give up the com­ the Fourth International is now an intolerable straitjacket Australia (CPA) from which it split in 1971. These ma­ munist perspective, there was no choice." for the organization. neuvers are not based on a convergence with a revolu­ This communist perspective, Jenness adds, is what proletarian internationalism is all about. Leon Trotsky "At the heart of this degeneration is the overall depro­ tionary working-class outlook but an adaptation to the and other leaders did not start with the idea or the tactic of letarianization of the Australian SWP - in its composi­ SPA's Stalinist politics. forming a new International. "They had not chosen to tion, functioning, and political outlook," Jenness adds . . Second, is the SWP's glowing appraisal of the early place themselves outside the Stalinized Comintern and its This process of deproletarianization of the Australian history of the CPA. A rave review of the Australian film national sections," Jenness said. They were driven out; SWP was described in 1983 in an information report pre­ Red Matildas, in Direct Action, for example, covered u~ Trotsky was assassinated by Stalin's agents in 1940. sented by U.S. SWP leader Larry Seigle to the National ~he CPA's class-collaborationist "popular front" policies They did not start with an "alternative view of Committee of the U.S. SWP (the report is also reprinted m the 1930s. (Review is reprinted in /P.) Stalinism." They simply kept on defending the com­ in IP) . Many of the negative consequences of moving Direct Action also carried an elated report by an SWP munist program and perspective - as they had been away from building a working-class party were cited by youth leader of the recent World Youth Festival held in doing. Seigle. Moscow. The article accepts the political framework of One of the principal documents adopted by the found­ These included the Australian SWP leadership adopt­ the Soviet Communist Party and its policies. ing conference of the Fourth International, "The Death ing an increasingly ultraleft, sectarian policy toward the The clearest accommodation to the Stalinist world out­ Agony of Capitalism and the Tasks of the Fourth Interna­ Australian Labor Party, a mass workers' party based on look is seen in the Australian SWP' s rewriting of the his­ tional," said ·the International "has no need of being the trade unions. tory of the Vietnamese independence struggle. 'proclaimed.' It exists and it fights ." A group of Fourth Internationalists who were purged The Australian SWP leaders endorse the betrayal of from the Australian SWP in 1983 (the appeal of their ex­ the Vietnamese independence struggle in the 1940s. The structuring of the Fourth International, Jenness ex­ pulsion to the 1985 National Conference of the SWP is They explain that those Vietnamese Fourth Inter­ plains, reflected the reality in which it was formed: dur­ reprinted in IP) pointed to the SWP leadership's position nationalists and other independence fighters who refused ing some of the most crushing defeats of the working in the December 1984 elections as a further deepening of to subordinate the independence struggle in 1945 to re­ class. The context of its formation was different than that its sectarian stance toward the Labor Party. In those elec­ liance on the goodwill of the Soviet Union's imperialist of the first three internationals, which arose out of major tions the SWP counterposed campaigning for the petty­ allies in World War II were obstacles to the struggle. advances in the class struggle. bourgeois Nuclear Disarmament Party to support of Consequently, the Vietnamese CP was justified in mur­ "Its [the Fourth lntemational'sj greatest source of Labor Party candidates. dering them. strength," Jenness writes, "was that it continued to be Focusing its main fire on the trade union bureaucracy U.S. SWP leader Steve Clark explains in his article, true to the line of march of the working-class vanguard, -not the bosses- is the Australian SWP leadership's "Accommodation to Stalinist positions," that the leaders at least in its most conscious and generalized expression, policy in the trade unions. Thus, the purged Fourth Inter­ of the Australian SWP "thus try to justify the murder of since l847." nationalists explain, the SWP leaders do not advance a revolutionists - a crime against the revolution that can .That's what the Australian SWP leadership turned its back on when it walked out of the Fourth International. It's a rejection of a revolutionary proletarian inter­ nationalistorientation. It's why the Australian SWP-or any other party seeking to become a "national" com­ Lenin's Struggle munist current - will cease to be revolutionary Marxist. . When the Australian SWP National Committee began Its break from the Fourth International, a big part of the for a Revolutionary International core of its long-time political leaders refused to go along. They were purged in 1983. They said in their appeal at the ~ime, "We will not accept the leadership majority Documents: 1907-1916 The Preparatory Years movmg to take the party out of the Fourth International." These Fourth Internationalists are continuing the course of constructing a revolutionary party in Australia This is the first book in Included are articles by socialistn. today. · V.I. Lenin, Karl Liebknecht, a series that will publish 624 pp., $10.95 In addition to the articles by Doug Jenness and Steve the documents of the Rosa Luxemburg, Leon Clark, IP reprints several documents that show the polit­ Communist International in Trotsky, Karl Kautsky, and Order from Pathfinder ical degeneration of the Australian SWP leadership. Lenin's time. Most material Karl Radek on the fight Press, 410 West St., New Thes.e articles and documents, plus others, are now avail­ in this book has never been against imperialist war and York, N.Y. 10014. Please able i_n an Education for Socialists Bulletin published by Pathfmder Press. It can be ordered by writing to: Path­ published in English or has its link to the fight for . enclose 75 cents for postage national liberation and and handling. finder Press. 410 West Street, Ne" York, N.Y. 10014. been long out of print. T<; order the September 23 issue t'S! .25 per copy) or a subscription to IP, see the ad on page 6.

October 4, 1985 The Militant 13 -EDITORIALS------Early socialists debate defense of Racist attack on Farrakhan immigrant workers A racist campaign is being whipped up across the He has even been denounced as anti-Semitic for ex­ Since the rise of imperialism, the ruling classes in the country against the Rev. Louis Farrakhan. Farrakhan pressing the religious belief that Blacks, rather then advanced capitalist countries have fostered anti-immi­ heads the Nation of Islam, a Black organization. Jews, are "the chosen people of God." grant sentiment. The campaign takes the form of charging that Far­ Farrakhan has been accused of anti-Semitism because In the early 1900s, this ruling-class campaign found an rakhan is a racist and an anti-Semite. The charges are a the government of Muammar el-Qaddafi in Libya do­ echo in the Socialist Party of the United States. fraine-up, not only of Farrakhan but of many thousands nated money to help Farrakhan launch POWER (People The subject came up at the 1907 Congress of the Sec­ of Blacks. Organized and Working for Economic Rebirth). POWER ond International, an organization consisting of socialist In Los Angeles, some 15,000 Blacks turned out to hear seeks to foster Black-owned businesses. parties primarily from Europe and North America. Mor­ Farrakhan despite a capitalist media campign demanding But there is nothing wrong with POWER, or any other ris Hillquit, a leader of the U.S . Socialist Party, intro­ that Blacks take a stand against him. Blacks, accepting help from Libya. duced a resolution supporting immigration restrictions. In Washington, D.C., more than 10,000 heard him The issue is not anti-Semitism but racism. The resolution that was finally adoped rejected Hill­ speak under similar circumstances. The attack on Farrakhan is part of the rulers' attempts quit's position. It proposed support for measures to pro­ In New York City, the campaign against Farrakhan es­ to reinforce racist discrimination, including rolling back tect immigrants from exploitation and abuse, grant them calated when it was announced that he will speak at affirmative action and busing, and increasing use of.the Madison Square Garden October 7. Thousands are sure racist death penalty. to tum out. The leaders of Jewish organizations like the Anti-De­ OUR The attacks ranged from a September 22 diatribe by famation League and the American Jewish Committee Mayor Edward Koch to threats of reactionary counter­ support the campaign against Farrakhan because they REVOLUTIONARY demonstrations. support rolling back affirmative action, attacks on the Koch accused the Black minister of "the vilest of anti­ unions, Washington's arms buildup, and other reaction­ Semitism" and called him "a Nazi in a clerical collar." ary policies that the ruling class is pursuing. HERITAGE Koch said he did not favor counterdemonstrations but These organizations often blast opposition to these pol­ "there will be people, not recognizing that they are help­ icies as anti-Semitic. full political rights, and assure them full membership ing him [Farrakhan], who in justifiable anger- indeed, The ruling class, the big-business media, and the rights in the unions. fury - will do that." This statement was backhanded en­ capitalist politicians target Farrakhan because they want Following are excerpts from Hillquit's remarks at the couragement to those who are threatening to disrupt the to silence Blacks who refute the lie that this is no longer congress, as well as those of delegates from Hungary and meeting. a racist society. the United States who opposed his position. Koch used the attack on Farrakhan to try to divert and They want to silence Blacks who stand up for affirma­ This debate, as well as other debates and documents divide the struggle against the racist apartheid system in tive action or busing to achieve equal education. from the Second International, are available in the book South Africa. He suggested that ecumenical services They want to silence the growing number of Blacks Lenin's Struggle for a Revolutionary International. Pub­ scheduled for October 5, which Koch has proclaimed a who oppose U.S. imperialism's support to the racist Is­ lished by Monad Press, its price is $10.95. day of mourning for the victims of apartheid, be turned raeli regime, just as they oppose Washington's backing It can be ordered by writing to Pathfinder Press, 410 into a forum for denouncing Farrakhan. of the South African rulers. West St., New York, N.Y. 10014 (include 75 cents for · Capitalist politicians, the big-business media, and They want to silence Blacks who protest the U.S.­ postage and handling). leaders of Jewish organizations like the Anti-Defamation backed war against Nicaragua. Material below is © Copyright 1984, Anchor Founda­ League of B'nai Brith portray Farrakhan as a fanatical More than Farrakhan's rights are at stake. If the frame­ tion, reprinted by permission. anti-Semite and a Hitler-like threat to the survival of up methods used against him created an atmosphere in * * * Jews. In painting Farrakhan this way, they seek to smear which he could be silenced, the rights of all would be en­ Morris Hillquit: Immigration and emigration pose a the Black community as anti-Semitic. dangered. very difficult, serious problem. Our resolution in no way To keep the pot boiling, quotations from Farrakhan are The proposals that Farrakhan's meeting should be ban­ infringes on the principle of internationalism, which has distorted or tom out of context. He has been blasted as an ned or disrupted are a threat to the basic right of the Black always been our guide in the United States. There are anti-Semite for denouncing the Israeli regime's oppres­ community, the labor movement, and others to assemble several kinds of immigration; the first is natural immigra­ sion of Palestinians. and organize. tion, which arises from the very nature of the capitalist economy. For these immigrants we demand full freedom, and we consider it the workers' duty to assist the poor among them. Another kind of immigration must be sharply distin­ guished from the first. Basically it amounts to New anti-immigrant bill capitalism's importation of foreign labor cheaper than that of native-born workers. This threatens the native­ born with dangerous competition and usually provides a The government drive against undocumented workers their wages would be withheld, payable only after they pool of unconscious strikebreakers. Chinese and was given a new push with Senate approval of a reaction­ returned home. Japanese workers play that role today, as does the yellow ary anti-immigrant bill. Sponsored by Sen. Alan Richard Fajardo of the Mexican American Legal De­ race in general. While we have absolutely no racial pre­ Simpson (R-Wyo.), the bill was approved September 19 fense and Education Fund (MALDEF) described this as judices against the Chinese we must frankly tell you that by a vote of 69-30. welcoming immigrant workers "as our field hands, but they can not be organized. Only a people well advanced A similar measure is pending in the House, sponsored not our neighbors." in its historical development, such as the Belgians and by Rep. Peter Rodino (D-N .1 .), chairman of the influen­ To soften the impact of the reactionary measure, the Italians in France, can be organized for the class struggle. tial House Judiciary Committee. bill holds out the promise of amnesty for undocumented Socialism is by no means sentimentalism. A fierce The Simpson-Rodino bill is a reworked version of the immigrants who have lived here a period of time. struggle rages between capital and labor, and those who But, again, the Senate version is even worse on am­ notorious Simpson-Mazzoli bill. That piece of legislation ~tand against organized labor are our enemy ..Do we want died in Congress last year after the Senate and House nesty than was the Simpson-Mazzoli bill. to grant privileges to foreign strikebreakers, when they passed separate versions and failed to reconcile them. The present Senate version provides that legal status in are locked in struggle with native-born workers? The present legislation has all the worst features of the the country could be granted to those undocumented per­ J6zsef Diner-Denes (Hungary): . .. Those countries old one, withseveral new reactionary features added. sons who can prove to the satisfaction of the government that cannot be organized today will be organized tomor­ The most widely touted provision of Simpson-Rodino that they hav6 lived here continuously since before Janu­ row. Moreover in backward countries this evolution pro­ establishes sanctions against employers who "know­ ary I, 1980. And it would take 1,1p to three years for this ceeds more rapidly than it did in countries that developed ingly" hire undocumented workers. The penalties range to go into effect, for a total of eight. earlier, such as England and Germany. Only 10 years ago from token to modest fines, with maximum jail terms of According to one Congressional estimate, some our Hungarian workers emigrating to America were con­ six months for those deemed to be habitual offenders. 500,000 people might eventually qualify for amnesty sidered unorganizable. Today, only a few years later, And, as the word "knowingly" signals, there will be under the measure. they are being organized, and are inspired with the spirit enough loopholes to ensure minimal action against em­ Meanwhile, if the bill becomes law, undocumented of socialism. ployers. immigrants, a major source of low-paid labor, would find You want to erect protective barriers around the work­ But establishment of such penalties does have a pur­ themselves in even greater jeopardy and therefore subject ers. This will land you in the same fiasco as have the pose. Employers would be able to point to them as a jus­ to greater victimization by employers, landlords, and tariff-building efforts [anti-import campaigns] of the tification for hiring discrimination against anyone with a other bloodsuckers. capitalists. Spanish surname, or who happens to look "foreign." Even more than now, the undocumented would be We must permit completely free immigration and And employers would be able to use the supposed scapegoated as responsible for unemployment among emigration. A great many American workers are wage threat of penalties against them ("I'm really taking a big "American" workers. conscious but not yet imbued with a proletarian class chance in hiring you") to pay even lower wages to those Such scapegoating is designed not only to divert na­ consciousness. Of course we must fight against the undocumented workers they chose to hire. tive-born workers from the real source of their problems abuses that stem from the mass importation of workers To put undocumented immigrants under even greater U.S. capitalism - but to deepen the division for the capitalists' benefit, but through explanation and threat, the Senate bill provides added funds to beef up the between "illegal" and "legal" workers. organization. A good method would be to press for the racist Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and Such divisions are promoted because they weaken the establishment of a minimum wage - where possible its brutal and corrupt Border Patrol . workers' movement and make their unions more vulner­ through political means, otherwise through trade union This would mean more harassment and victimization able to employer attack. struggle. (Enthusiastic Applause) ... at the border, and stepped-up factory and community And the pariah status of the ·undocumented makes Dr. Julius Hammer (United States): There is no mid­ raids by INS cops. them a ready target for INS cops in union organizing dle course in this question of immigration and emigra­ The Senate version of the bill does include a provision drives and strike situations. tion. Either you support restriction of immigration, or (opposed by Rodino in the House) to permit up to In the face of today's unrelenting employer offensive, energetically combat it. I especially oppose . , . possible 350,000 immigrant farm workers to enter the country for what's needed is greater solidarity among all workers, restrictions on the immigration of Chinese and Japanese maximum periods of nine months. These workers would not less. One important way of building such solidarity workers. This is completely antisocialist. Legal restric­ have one right while they are here - the right to pick the would be for the unions to take a stand against the tion of immigration must be rejected. (The speaker cites crops of the wealthy growers. Simpson-Rodino bill in unity with all oppressed several examples of how racial hatred in America blinds nationalities. the workers and drives them to acts of violence) Their entry visas would restrict them to a specific They should wage a united fight against all deporta­ The Japanese and Chinese could be very effectively or­ given region of the country and - to help ensure that tions and for an open border, so that any worker can ganized. They are becoming quite well acquainted with they get out after the crops are harvested - 20 percent of come here to work- without fear and with equal rights. capitalism and are learning how to fight it. I ask that you not approve any legal restrictions on immigration and emigration. We must create a great nation of the exploit­ ed.

14 The Militant October 4, 1985 · -THE GREAT SOCIETY------~------~

Handwriting on the wall - federal government has agreed to over Sotheby's, the venerable art heart," we used to say. But that persevere. I don't think I feel pain The World Bank is planning to spend $600,000 to rehabilitate auction house. Taubman philoso­ may have been prejudice. Take as much as other people, other­ offer political risk insurance to three rundown barracks at Ft. phizes: "Selling art has much in Harold Brown, Boston's biggest wise I could not have done what companies investing in developing Meade to house up to 60 homeless common with selling root beer. landlord, who was indicted for I've done." countries. Direct foreign invest- men, women, and children. The People don't need root beer and bribing an inspector and lying to a· barracks will become the nation's they don't need to buy a painting grand jury about it. Brown is The march of science- No third and largest shelter at a mili­ either. We provide them with a "worth" maybe a billion. He's an more remembering to write birth­ tary base. -News item. sense that it will give them a hap­ MIT grad, and one news account days and doctors' appointments on pier experience." confides he's given the school the kitchen calendar. Two psy­ money for lighting its outdoor ten­ chologists and an electrician have Travel tip - A nuke plant in They're only numbers - A nis courts. been awarded a patent for an elec­ Harry western France offers a package reader complains that the San tronic calendar to help you or­ Ring tour of the site, plus a visit to a Francisco Examiner carried two Flick your Bic - Cartier's in ganize your time better. On the de­ nearby thousand-year-old abbey. items about Gov. Edward New York is clearing out gold and luxe model, birthdays, etc., can be We trust the abbey visit includes a Herschler of Wyoming filing for silver boutique items, including typed on a keyboard and will later stop at the cemetery for a bit of bankruptcy. The first said he listed fountain pens reduced from $190 pop up on the calendar. ment in such countries plummeted meditation. $9 million in debts and $25,733 in to $115 . · from $17 billion in 1981 to $8 bil­ assets. A condensed version of the Thought for the week lion in 1983. Mr. American Culture - A. same article followed listing his Try aspirin- H. Ross Perot, "Don't panic. But if you do, be the Alfred Taubman, who piled it up assets as $7.52 million. the billionaire Texas tycoon, ad­ first." - An old banking adage How caring can they get? - with shopping malls, football vises hopeful fast-buck artists: currently popular among investors ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - The teams, and A&W root beer, took Gee - "Cold as a landlord's "Persevere, no matter the pain, in South Africa. Women miners fight for right to parental leave

BY CLARE FRAENZL cided to propose that the UMW A fight to get this clause Thus far, Totten reported, one committee meeting has One of the central activities organized by women coal included in its contracts with coal operators because been held. The UMWA presented extensive research miners during the last five years has been a campaign to many women miners are single parents. documenting why such a clause would be beneficial to its win a parental-leave clause in their United Mine Workers A strict absentee program allows coal operators to fire members. BCOA representatives have failed to respond of America (UMWA) contract. A workshop at the miners who are absent from work for two consecutive to the union's proposals and no further meetings have Seventh National Conference of Women Miners. which days without a written doctor's excuse. Many working been scheduled. was held in Price, Utah, in June. discussed progress on parents run the risk of being fired if they take time off to However, the idea of a parental leave clause in union this campaign. care for their children. contracts has spread. In April of this year the Parental and Cosby Totten, an underground miner from Virginia, When women began raising the idea of such a clause Disability Leave Act of 1985 was introduced into Con­ they found many of their male coworkers experienced gress. It is supported by th~ National Organization for similar difficulties. Totten cited the example of a West Women, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Virginia miner who was denied time off to drive his child AFL-CIO. UNION TALK to chemotherapy treatments once every three weeks. Participants at both the women miners conference's Meetings with UMW A international and district offi­ workshop on parental leave and its plenary session voted cers, as well as a discussion organized by women dele­ to endorse the bill. explained at the conference how women miners had gates to the December 1983 UMW A constitutional con­ Although many women expressed their doubts that it worked to popularize this idea among members of the vention. resulted in the UMW A voting to include the pa­ would ever make it through Congress, they saw it as an UMWA. rental-leave clause as one of the demands for the 1984 educational tool to explain the issue to large numbers of The clause, which the 1983 UMW A convention voted contract negot-iations. people. to include as one of its demands in 1984 contract negoti­ The workshop also voted to continue the campaign ations, reads: 'There shall be. at the request of t~e miner The UMWA negotiating committee did not succeed in within the UMW A to educate coworkers about the clause affected, the right to an unpaid maternity/paternity leave getting the clause inserted in the contract itself. But a and to organize to be sure it is included in the next of up to six months in any given calendar year for the par­ "letter of intent," establishing a joint committee betwee11 UMWA contract. They also voted to extend the clause to ents or guardians of newborn, newly adopted or seriously the UMW A and the Bituminous Coal Operators Associa­ provide for leaves to care for seriously ill spouses. They ill children. Such unpaid leave may be taken consecu­ tion (BCOA) to study the feasibility of including the see winning such coverage in the UMW A contract as an tively or intermittently at the discretion of the affected clause in the 1988 contract was attached to the 1984 important step in winning similar coverage for all work­ miner. There shall be continued health and other fringe agreement: ers. benefits during that leave , with no loss of seniority, job Both Totten and Carol Davis, an underground miner classification or other fringe benefits." and vice-president of the Marianna, Pennsylvania, Clare Fraenzl is a member of UMWA Local 1197 at Totten explained that women miners had originally de- UMWA local were appointed to this joint committee. Bethlehem Mines, Ellsworth, Pennsylvania. -LETTERS------Paperworkers' strike to suggest cutting the cost-of-liv­ to dig the tunnel with no respira­ Last week I sent in a story on ing adjustment out of Social Secu­ tory protection. the Georgia-Pacific paperworkers' rity benefits as a solution. Miners and other workers who strike (see "Company thugs harass This "thrift" measure would have to work· around silica dust Ark. strikers" in the September 27 save $6 billion - leaving the de­ will not be surprised to learn that Militant). ficit at only $200 billion and ig­ over the next few years nearly 500 In the article. I wrote that sev­ noring the root causes of the de­ workers died and I ,500 contracted eral hundred people. largely strik­ ficit: tax benefits for the wealthy, the degenerative lung disease ing members of United Paperwor­ military spending, and interest known as silicosis. kers International Union (UPIU). payments. Carbide attempted to cover up and their families took part in a Ronald Pollack and Thomas the deaths by burying at least 169 march September 7. Blanton, spokespeople for Villers of the dead in unmarked graves in However. almost all parties in Advocacy Associates, an organi­ nearby cornfields. the area are agreed that I .500 is zation concerned with low income Congressional hearings in 1936 the most accurate estimate of the and aging, laid out in a recent col­ established that industry geol­ number of workers at the march. I umn in the New York Times some ogists and engineers that were had originally estimated the of the ways Reagan's tax laws making the test bores that found number at several hundred just to give money to the rich while con­ the mountain to be pure silica, al­ be on the safe side. tinuing to snip away at the income ways entered the tunnel wearing In this town of 6. 706 people. of workers, the unemployed, and masks. 1.500 is quite a sizable crowd - the elderly. The workers of course were almost certainly the largest it has For example, "a household with never told about the hazards, and ever seen. So you can see that $10,000 or less in annual income when they complained of the Georgia-Pacific and the Sheriff's gained $20 from tax cuts, lost symptoms of silicosis, company Department have quite a bit to $250 from cuts in cash benefits doctors told them they were suf­ worry about. and lost $160 from cuts in noncash fering from a temporary condition benefits- for a net loss of $390," called "tunnelitis." Jerry Fanning cial Security recipients. stocking its cluttered playpen with Vice-president, UPIU Local 796 according to Pollack and Blanton. J.w.· Meanwhile a household with Some have savings or retire­ more hardware." Crossett, Arkansas Indianapolis, Indiana more than $80,000 in income had ment income or are wealthy Janice Prescott Source of information a net gain of $8,270. (they're not allowed to hold a full­ New York, New York Correction I've been receiving the Militant In addition, corporate income time job and still receive full ben­ Last week's · article on the for nearly five years. I'm very tax is a decreasing portion of in­ efits). But Pollack and Blanton ex­ Young Socialist tours gave the glad to be able to get the paper be­ come tax revenues, down from 21 plain that for more than two-thirds Union Carbide wrong dates for the Youth Delega­ cause it is a source of information percent of receipts in 1963 to 12.4 of those over 65, the $450 average The recent Union Carbide disas­ tion to Nicaragua. The correct · such as no other paper printed in percent in 1980 to 8.6 percent in benefit is over half their income. ters in Bhopal and here in the dates are November 23-30, 1985. the United States. 1985. They point out that "One The median income for elderly in­ United States, bring to mind a In the fullest of solidarity please subsidy that makes this possible dividuals living alone on Social piece of Union Carbide's notori­ The letters column is an open .keep the truth printed. - the 1981 accelerated deprecia­ Security is $6,500. ous history. forum for all viewpoints on sub­ A prisoner tion provisions, which allow You have to agree with Pollack It seems that in the early 1930s a jects of general interest to our Pontiac, Illinois write-offs of plant and equipment and Blanton that government sup­ Carbide subsidiary built a tunnel readers. Please keep your letters much faster than they wear out - porters of cutting Social Security, through a mountain in Gauley brief. Where necessary they will Budget deficit will hand out $22 billion in fiscal "would sell out almost everyone Bridge, West Virginia. be abridged. Please indicate if With the U.S. government 1986." so that corporations and wealthy The mountain was composed of you prefer that your initials budget deficit at $206 billion, the The authors go on to cite some individuals can keep their sub­ pure silica. The company sent be used rather than your f)lll Reagan administration has the gall figures on the income levels of So~ sidies and the military can keep about 2,000 mostly Black workers name.

October 4, 1985 The Militant 15 . THE MILITANT Auto workers strike General Dynamics UAW leadership council rejects company's concession demands

BY HELEN MEYERS army despite the strike . DETROIT - Five thousand hourly Salaried UA W members at the struck workers of the General Dynamics (GD) plants are working. Their locals narrowly Land Systems Division walked out of voted to accept the June offer. In contrast plants in Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsyl­ to past practice, the International im­ vania September 18 at 2:30p.m. plemented the contract for them only. "We Moments before, the United Auto have a contract and we intend to honor it," Workers (UA W) Defense Council voted to Stepp said. reject a tentative agreement, reversing the Meanwhile, the Chrysler contract ex­ 4-to-1 vote in favor by the negotiating pires October 15 and many of the issues in team. This reversal was a victory for UA W their negotiations are the same ones the GD members at GD. workers are standing firm on. The contract expired at midnight Sep­ When Coakley was asked whether he tember 14. Pickets were thrown up, but at thought the GD negotiations and strike 2:45a.m. September 15 a tentative agree­ would affect Chrysler, he said, "I hope so. ment was reached. The one dissenting vote In fact, we believe if we are out October 15 was UA W Local 1200 President James when the Chrysler contract expires, Coakley, from the Warren , Michigan , Chrysler locals in this area will be out with plant. us . The agreement was basically the same as On the picket line the first afternoon of the one voted down by 81 percent last the strike, a Local 1200 committeeman June. None of the union 's 13 demands ­ summed up the situation: "We took on GD including right to strike, ending two-tier in 1982 and got ripped off. GD is a union­ wage progression, Martin Luther King's busting company . They tried to shove it Militant birthday off, returning three floating holi­ down our throats and we're just not going Workers at Warren, Michigan, plant are among 5,000 who struck General Dynamics days, no lump sums. and wage and cost-of­ to take it," he said. plants in Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania September 18. living adjustment (COLA) parity with Chrysler - were met. The September 15 agreement includes 3 percent base-rate increases in each year of Puerto Rican patriotS denied bail the agreement, as opposed to just the first year in the June offer. The catch is that this 3 percent must be paid back in the second BY ANDREA GONZALEZ Rico of first-degree murder and attempted A broad committee in Puerto Rico has and third year in the form of about.74 cents U.S. Federal Judge F. Owen Eagan has murder. He has not gone to trial on these called for an action to protest these attacks. of COLA money. Presently, all COLA is denied bail to Hilton Fernandez and Luis charges because he has been in FBI cus­ The committee includes CUCRE; Unified folded into the base rate at the end of the Colon, two of the 13 Puerto Rican indepen­ tody since October 1984. Committee for Independence; Nationalist contract. Under this agreement, an amount dence activists arrested in recent FBI raids Upon agreeing to testify against these Party; PSP; Socialist League; General of COLA equal to the 3 percent raise in Puerto Rico, the United States, and activists, the charges against him in Puerto Council of Workers, a federation of seven (about 74 cents) is not folded in . Mexico. Rico were reduced. Both his and his wife's unions; Pensamiento Crftico (the proin­ Reaction from the ranks was rapid. The The judge cited the 1984 Bail Reform sentences in federal prison were cut to the dependence magazine closed down by the FBI during the raids); Family and Friends 2,400 UA W members at the Lima, Ohio, Act, which restricts the right to bail for minimum. According to the September 26 plant went out on strike immediately and those the U.S. · government considers issue of Claridad, the newspaper of the of the 4 Arrested; National Liberation Movement; National Ecumenical Move­ demanded the contract be turned down. "dangerous." He announced his decision at Puerto Rican Socialist Party (PSP), Rod­ At Local 1200 in Warren, 300 turned out a hearing in Hartford, Connecticut, Sep­ riguez's agreement with the FBI includes ment; Peace and Justice Caribbean Project; for a hastily called meeting September 15 . tember 19. counting all time served in federal prison Ecumenical Committee for Social Action; It included Local 1248 members from the Eleven of these activists were arrested in toward any prison terms that might arise ·Juan Mari Bras (a long-time leader of the Sterling Heights, Michigan, plant. Their a paramilitary FBI attack in Puerto Rico on from the charges in Puerto Rico. independence movement); and individual August 30. leaders of the Puerto Rican Independence negotiator, after consistently opposing the Since the August 30 raids, the FBI has Some 200 FBI agents entered Puerto Party. company's offer during the summer, been continuing its attacks on the Puerto Rico from the United States, raiding 38 changed her vote in the last hours before Rican independence movement. On Sep­ The Puerto Rican Commission for Civil homes and offices of Puerto Rican inde­ the deadline. tember 18, Rita Zengotita of the Unified Rights also opened public hearings on Sep­ pendence activists. At the meeting, Local 1200 President Committee Against Repression (CUCRE) tember 17 about the FBI raids. The com­ Three others were arrested in the United Coakley explained that the proposed agree­ accused the FBI of breaking into the homes mission has subpoenaed the U.S. federal States and Mexico. ment would go to the UA W Defense Coun­ and offices of advocates of Puerto Rican prosecutor in Puerto Rico and a number of All were charged with participating in cil September 18. If passed, he said, it independence. FBI agents. The hearings began with the would be presented to the membership for the $7 million robbery of a Wells Fargo ar­ commission warning these U.S. agents that mored truck in Connecticut in I 983. The Zengotita told the press that only papers they will be held in contempt if they do not a vote. He expressed confidence that the and documents had been taken in these membership would vote it down. U.S. government claims that these activists appear before the commission. {;' are members of the Macheteros, a pro-in­ break-ins, while valuable property was left Anger among the ranks rose as UA W In the United States, picket lines are dependence organization. untouched. Among the places where the Vice-president Marc Stepp, in charge of continuing outside the federal courthouse One of those arrested in the United break-ins took place were both the home the GD negotiations, appeared on televis­ in Hartford. States, Anne L. Gassin, has now become a and office of Jorge Farinacci, one of those ion praising the new agreement and stating arrested in the raids. Internationally, actions in solidarity with his confidence that the membership would witness for the state. Protests against these attacks on the in­ Puerto Rican independence took place approve it. In denying bail to Fernandez and Colon, Eagan said he was convinced that they dependence movement are also continuing. across Cuba September 12 and 13. Warren workers reported for work Mon­ were members of the Macheteros and day, September 16, but nothing moved in therefore "dangerous." Eagan also cited a the plant while unionists awaited the Wed­ post -1983 visit by Fernandez to Cuba as nesday vote. reason to believe that he had Latin Ameri­ Wheeling-Pitt chairman forced Meanwhile, the strike continued at the can connections that would enable him to Lima plant. GD went to court for an in­ fl~e the country. junction against the strikers. International to step down as strike continues union representatives were only able to get The court; however, was forced to set workers to end the strike when the local bail for Jorge Farinacci Garcia, one of BY MARY NELL BOCKMAN chief stockholder at Wheeling-Pittsburgh. leadership agreed to vote against the offer those arrested in Puerto Rico. But in an at­ PITTSBURGH - As the strike by The shakeup of top management is a tempt to continue to hold Farinacci, bail at the upcoming Defense Council meeting. 8,200 steelworkers at Wheeling-Pittsburgh symbolic victory for the striking steelwork~ After getting this agreement, the second was set at an outrageous $1 million. Sup­ Steel enters its ninth week, United Steel­ ers. It follows a successful fight by the shift returned to work. · porters of the activists are raising money to workers of America (USW A) members re­ union to win unemployment compensation In a reversal , Stepp recommended rejec­ win Farinacci's freedom. In an earlier vic­ main determined to carry on their fight for for steelworkers in three states. tion of the tentative agreement at the De­ tory , another defendant, Luz Berrios Ber­ a decent contract. The resignations were submitted barely fense Council meeting. The council , which rios, also won bail. Despite an "open gate" policy by the two weeks after-solidarity rallies involving is made up of local presidents, vice-presi­ The government's case against these ac­ company, not a single union member has nearly 15,000 strikers and supporters were dents, and committeemen, voted unani­ tivists rests on the testimony of Carlos crossed the picket lines. The mills remain held at Wheeling-Pittsburgh plants. mously to reject and the strike was called. Rodriguez Rodriguez. Until he developed silent. Thousands of workers chanted, "Carney's At the Warren plant, workers rushed out ties to professional criminals, Rodriguez Attempts by management to remove got to go," at the gates. into the pouring rain. More than 500 Local had been active in the independence and machine parts and to use scabs have been Carney, and the other top executives, 1200 members lined up outside their local labor movements in Puerto Rico. beaten back by mobilizations of hundreds have continued to demand· acceptance of hall Thursday morning to sign up for picket In June 1984, he was convicted in U.S. of strikers and their supporters. severe takebacks in wages, insurance, pen­ duty. federal court of bank fraud and possession The effects of the strike on Wheeling­ sions, and work rules. They have refused A strike kitchen is being set up and com­ of heroin with intent to distribute. Pittsburgh became evident this week when to conduct serious negotiations since they mittees formed to reach out for support. He was sentenced to 54 years in federal Chairman Dennis J. Carney and six other tore up the union contract and forced work­ In a provocative move, GD management prison. His wife was also convicted at that top executives resigned. Carney agreed to ers at the nine mills to walk out. USW A announced that they are going to meet the.ir . time on similar charges. step down after he was guaranteed a $1 members explain that the company's ac- September contractual obligations with the Rodriguez still faces charges in Puerto million dollar severance payment by the Continued on Page 9

16 The Militant October 4, 1985