¡Deja de bombardear Siria! 11 Congelación de Texas 12

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 63, No. 9 March 4, 2021 $1 Support grows for Amazon union By Martha Grevatt Some three dozen organizations loaned Signers included UNITE HERE and Flight to the union effort. their names to a letter urging President Attendants (AFA-CWA) unions, Maine “It’s about justice,” Glover said. “The A people’s movement against an to come out on the side of the AFL-CIO, the National Employment Law union is about looking out for the wel- anti-people corporation has intensified, Amazon workers fighting for a union. Project and the . fare of workers and is willing to stand up backing the union drive at Amazon’s Biden had angered unionists and pro- Feeling the pressure, on Feb. 28 Biden and fight for justice ... It’s just one step, Bessemer, Ala., warehouse. The courageous gressives for publicly taking a “neutral” came out against Amazon’s union bust- among the many steps, that are being Southern union warriors are finally starting stance on the representation election ing, affirming the right of every worker to taken around the country, in the service to get the support they need and deserve. taking place now through March 29. choose union representation. of justice.” (tinyurl.com/yd3xdv7h) Solidarity has been growing since Glover, along with Representative Ilhan the Feb. 20 National Day of Solidarity. Omar, Senator and Georgia Renowned actor and activist Danny Glover voting rights leader , is fea- stood outside the Bessemer facility Feb. 22, tured in a support video created by More holding a sign that read “Remember Mail Perfect Union. A letter to Amazon criticizing Your Yes Ballot.” Glover waved, gave its union-busting campaign was signed by “thumbs up” and said, “Stay strong!” to the 13 U.S. senators. Birmingham, Ala., Mayor workers coming into and leaving work. His , Congressional presence drew widespread media attention Continued on page 7 Tell Biden Stop bombing Syria! It has taken only 36 days in office for the You might think the Biden administra- Biden administration to show the world, tion had enough problems at home to keep through a bombing attack on Syria, that it is it busy. The COVID‑19 pandemic still rages belligerent, aggressive and hell-bent on war. despite the vaccines—​whose distribution There was only a short respite from Trump’s has been a disgrace. The Democratic-led vile words and actions. Now we have to face Congress, which has still not passed the Biden’s vile deeds and pandemic relief bill, resist them. has already abandoned Even the excuse the $15 per hour mini- U.S. imperialism gave mum wage. for bombing Syria was editorial On top of this, the feeble. A rocket attack superfreeze of Texas—​ some weeks ago killed a mercenary in Iraq. and of its millions of workers and poor Excuses like that open the door to new people—has​ exposed once again the des- U.S. wars and interventions all over coun- perate need to rebuild the U.S. infrastruc- tries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, ture. Not to mention the immediate need where Washington has replaced official for emergency aid. U.S. troops with soldiers of fortune. Even those who recognize the rotten Continued on page 10

Mumia’s latest health crisis 3 Nadezhda Krupskaya: Decision: No fracking 3 Bolshevik revolutionary Rubin Kanowitz, 1931-2021 6 Cuban ‘Red Rose’ Anti-war actions 10 8

Angola Prison hunger strike Black rage, new Reconstruction Editorial COVID lockdown trauma Raise the minimum wage! 10 Palestine solidarity 4-5

Ecuador elections 9 B-1s to Norway 9 Vaccine imperialism 11 Page 2 March 4, 2021 workers.org Buffalo demands mental health help, not death-by-cop this week ◆ In the U.S. By Nigel Bouvart during mental health crisis calls. Speakers called for soli- Support grows for Alabama Amazon union . . . 1 Buffalo, N.Y. darity with political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal, in view Buffalo demands mental health help, not cops . .2 of his recent COVID‑19 illness, and with prisoners at the Activists demonstrated here Feb. 28 in solidarity with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detention Fracking banned in Delaware River Basin . . . .3 the family of Daniel Prude and the people of Rochester, center in nearby Batavia. Protest for Mumia, suffering COVID symptoms . 3 N.Y, where police killed Prude while answering a mental Speakers raised demands for the statewide passage of Solitary confinement abuse sparks hunger strike .4 health crisis call in March 2020. Daniel’s Law—​named for Prude—​which would form Black rage: a new ‘reconstruction’ in the U.S. . . 4 The police response was to put a “spit bag” over Prude’s mental health units to respond to mental health cri- head and press his body and face into the pavement for ses instead of cops. The legislation would mandate that Mental health effects of COVID lockdown . . . .5 several minutes. He stopped breathing and was sent by police stop the use of “bola wraps,” a restraint launched Rubin Kanowitz, 1931-2021 ...... 6 ambulance to a hospital. A week later he was declared from a firearm which hooks into a person’s skin and las- Vilsack no friend of farmworkers or farmers . . .6 brain dead and taken off life support. Coroners have ruled sos them. The Buffalo Police Department acquired this The Bessemer front ...... 7 his death a homicide. weapon in 2020, despite public outcry, and first used the The Rochester Police Department attempted to cover bola wrap against a person during a mental health call Bessemer Amazon workers showing the way . . 7 up its crime, preventing the release of body cam foot- this January. ☐ ◆ Around the world age of the incident until September 2020. The Nadezhda Krupskaya: revolutionary, educator . 8 release generated weeks of Cuban ‘Red Rose’ wins journalism honor . . . 8 protest, and Prude’s family Ecuador elections ...... 9 vowed to sue the city over their loved one’s death. Biden sends B-1 bombers to Norway ...... 9 A grand jury declined to ‘No war drills on Korean Peninsula!’ . . . . . 10 indict the cops who were Colorado protest: ‘No war on Iran!’ ...... 10 responsible, prompting COVID vaccines = big business, political clout . 11 another round of protests. At the Feb. 28 Buffalo ◆ Editorial demonstration, repre- sentatives of Queen City Tell Biden: Stop bombing Syria! ...... 1 Worker’s Center, Justice Raise the minimum wage to $15—at least! . . .10 for Migrant Families and ◆ Noticias en Español spoke, drawing parallels ¡Deja de bombardear Siria! ...... 12 with the cases of Troy Congelación de Texas ...... 12 Hodge in Niagara Falls and India Cummings in Buffalo. Both died in jail following their arrests Buffalo, N.Y., City Hall, Feb. 28. WW PHOTO: ARJAE RED

Workers World 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl. Join us in the fight New York, NY 10011 Phone: 212.627.2994 for socialism! E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.workers.org Workers World Party is a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist and trans people are gunned down by cops and bigots on Vol. 63, No. 9 • March 4, 2021 party inside the belly of the imperialist beast. We are a mul- a regular basis. Closing date: March 3, 2021 tinational, multigenerational and multigendered organiza- The ruthless ruling class today seeks to wipe out tion that not only aims to abolish capitalism, but to build a decades of gains and benefits won by hard-fought strug- Editors: John Catalinotto, Martha Grevatt, Deirdre socialist society because it’s the only way forward! gles by people’s movements. The super-rich and their Griswold, Monica Moorehead, Betsey Piette, Minnie Capitalism and imperialism threaten the peoples of the political representatives have intensified their attacks on Bruce Pratt world and the planet itself in the neverending quest for the multinational, multigender and multigenerational Web Editors: ABear, Harvey Markowitz, Janet Mayes ever-greater profits. working class. It is time to point the blame at—​and chal- Prisoners Page Editors: Mirinda Crissman, Ted Kelly Capitalism means war and austerity, racism and repres- lenge—the​ capitalist system. sion, attacks on im/migrants, misogyny, LGBTQ2S+ WWP fights for socialism because the working class Production & Design Editors: Gery Armsby, Mirinda oppression and mistreatment of people with disabili- produces all wealth in society, and this wealth should Crissman, Sasha Mazumder, Scott Williams ties. It means joblessness, increasing homelessness and remain in their hands, not be stolen in the form of capi- Copyediting and Proofreading: Paddy Colligan, impoverishment and lack of hope for the future. No social talist profits. The wealth workers create should be socially S. Hedgecoke problems can be solved under capitalism. owned and its distribution planned to satisfy and guaran- Contributing Editors: LeiLani Dowell, G. Dunkel, The U.S. is the richest country in the world, yet no one tee basic human needs. K. Durkin, Sara Flounders, Teresa Gutierrez, Joshua has a guaranteed right to shelter, food, water, health care, Since 1959, Workers World Party has been out in the Hanks, Makasi Motema, Gloria Rubac education or anything else—​unless they can pay for it. streets defending the workers and oppressed here and Wages are lower than ever, and youth are saddled with worldwide. If you’re interested in Marxism, socialism Mundo Obero: Teresa Gutierrez, Carlos Vargas seemingly insurmountable student debt, if they even and fighting for a socialist future, please contact a WWP Copyright © 2021 Workers World. Verbatim copying make it to college. Black, Brown and Indigenous youth branch near you. ☐ and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved. Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published If you are interested in joining Workers World Party contact: 212.627.2994 monthly by WW Publishers, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10011. Phone: 212.627.2994. Subscrip- National Office Bay Area Central Gulf Coast Philadelphia 147 W. 24th St., 2nd floor P.O. Box 22947 (Alabama, Florida, Mississippi) P.O. Box 34249 tions: One year: $36; institutions: $50. Letters to the New York, NY 10011 Oakland, CA 94609 [email protected] Philadelphia, PA 19101 editor may be condensed and edited. 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Box 3454 Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y. 716.883.2534 West Virginia Houston, TX 77253-3454 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to [email protected] [email protected] 713.503.2633 Workers World, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl. [email protected] New York, N.Y. 10011. workers.org March 4, 2021 Page 3 Fracking banned in Delaware River Basin By Betsey Piette To offset overproduction, industry pro- ponents pushed for converting natural In a historic ruling, the Delaware River gas into the production of plastics, but Basin Commission voted Feb. 25 to per- most of these efforts have been canceled manently ban fracking (hydraulic fractur- or delayed. Yet in 2020, the Pennsylvania ing) for natural gas in the Delaware River legislature passed another $667 million Watershed. This ruling formally affirms a tax credit to entice more petrochemical drilling moratorium the DRBC imposed facilities. (DeSmogBlog, Feb. 11) in 2010. The promise of jobs and other financial Representatives of the four states with benefits for local communities has long waterways the Delaware River drains—​ been used to promote fracking and for Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey the construction of pipelines to bring fos- and Delaware—​voted in favor of the sil fuels to distribution centers. Yet a new ban. But the federal government repre- report released by the Ohio River Valley sentative from the U.S. Army Corps of Institute (ORVI) just two weeks before Engineers abstained, claiming more time the DRBC ruling exposed the job-creation was needed to coordinate with the Biden Protesters call for ban on fracking at Delaware River Basin Commission hearing Feb. 15, 2017. hype. administration. The ORVI studied 22 counties in West Executive Director Wenonah Hauter Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio that of Food & Water Watch, one of several wrote letters, demonstrated and spoke commission voted to create future rules comprised 90% of the Marcellus Shale groups who fought for the ban, criticized out at public hearings. This campaign on these issues. natural gas production. The study found the federal abstention: “Grassroots activ- expanded the broader struggle across the Representatives of the energy indus- that counties with the most gas fracking ists stopped a plan to frack the Delaware U.S. to ban fracking and to stop building try and politicians claiming to represent production ended up with weaker job and River and never stopped fighting until dangerous pipelines to transport petro- landowners who seek to lease land for economic growth than other parts of the today’s victory was assured. . . . Fracking is leum and natural gas extracted through drilling are challenging the commission’s region and the U.S. as a whole. a threat to the Delaware River and every- fracking. decision. Some claim the action amounts Jobs across the U.S. expanded by 10% where else. Communities living with the Fracking involves the high-pressure to an illegal confiscation of owners’ min- between 2008 and 2019; yet in Ohio, harms of fracking have known for years injection of water laden with salt and eral rights. The American Pennsylvania and that there is no way to make fracking safe. chemicals into multiple wells to fracture Petroleum Institute Counties with the West Virginia, jobs “The White House chose political expe- the bedrock and release natural gas from Pennsylvania asserts only grew by 4%, even diency today over protecting the drinking deep underground shale formations. that the DRBC’s decision most gas fracking though the natural water of 15 million people. Biden should Millions of gallons of water, drawn from “ignores a robust regu- production ended up gas industry ran at full listen to communities and science and nearby rivers, are used each time a well latory system and strict capacity. “More glar- support a ban on fracking everywhere.” is fracked. The chemical compounds used industry standards that with weaker job and ingly, the 22 gas-pro- (foodandwaterwatch.org) contain heavy metals and toxins, includ- ensure the environment, ducing counties in The DRBC ban prohibits fracking activ- ing benzene and toluene. And the drilling public health and local economic growth those three states—​ ity in areas of northeastern Pennsylvania process releases underground radioactive communities are pro- than other parts of ground zero for the and southern New York that sit atop natu- material and methane gas. (tinyurl.com/ tected.” (Philadelphia drilling boom—​only ral gas deposits in the Marcellus Shale for- ydbtewm7) Inquirer, Feb. 25) the region and the experienced 1.7% job mation. Because New York State banned People worry that fracking in the water- Historically the energy growth.” fracking in 2014, the ban only impacts shed area releases toxic and carcinogenic industry frequently U.S. as a whole. The ORVI report Pennsylvania drilling. The Marcellus substances into the drinking water the river ignored property own- found that air, Shale does not extend into Delaware or provides. Another major problem of frack- ers’ mineral rights when fracking was water and noise pollution has negatively New Jersey ing is disposal of contaminated wastewater involved. Often energy companies have impacted the health and environment of and frequent wastewater spills. claimed “mineral rights” to drill for residents. People had higher rates of asth- Water source for 15 million people In Pennsylvania’s fracking-prevalent gas and oil, even when property own- mas, skin rashes, heart failures, prema- More than 15 million people, a popula- areas, residents report contaminated ers object. The companies have ignored ture births and birth defects. In terms of tion including New York City; Philadelphia water wells, flammable tap water and well-documented pollution in water- job and population growth and share of and Trenton, N.J.; and Wilmington, Del., severe health issues including cancers. ways, including the Susquehanna River national income, these regions fell behind rely on the 13,539-square-mile Delaware Since the rapid expansion of fracking in in Pennsylvania. the rest of the country. River Basin for their drinking water. The 2007-08, people have filed hundreds of Their “robust regulatory system and While it costs a lot of money to frack protected area includes the Delaware lawsuits against the energy industry. Yet strict industry standards” are an illusion one natural gas well, most of the income Water Gap and the Upper Delaware state regulations prohibit localities from in Pennsylvania. Four years under the goes to the shareholders who invested Scenic and Recreational River areas—​ restricting fracking and medical profes- Trump administration have decimated in the process. Contrary to the claims of parks that attracted three million visitors sionals from reporting illnesses that they federal environmental regulations. those who promote gas and oil fracking and generated $130 million in economic suspect resulted from exposure to frack- and pipeline construction, this is not a activity in 2019, according to the National ing chemicals. Job creation hype job-intensive industry. Parks Conservation Association. The ban did not determine if the com- The commission’s ruling occurred just The DRBC has set an example that Environmental and community activ- mission will allow treatment of wastewa- as the energy industry is experiencing a must be extended throughout all regions ists have pressured the DRBC for over ter from fracking outside the basin—​or glut in natural gas production. This glut impacted by fracking. Ban fracking a decade to ban fracking in the area. if water from the area could be used began in 2012 and worsened during the now! ☐ Thousands of people signed petitions, for fracking outside the basin. The COVID‑19 pandemic.

Protest demands freedom for Mumia, suffering COVID symptoms

By Betsey Piette Corrections denied Abu-Jamal vital hep- Supporters are urging Abu-Jamal isolate them in solitary confinement. atitis C treatment for years, he developed receive treatment at a hospital or medical Due to mismanagement of the virus Political prisoner and Black journalist cirrhosis of the liver, which puts him at facility, noting that PA DOC’s response to crisis, prisoners in Pennsylvania are expe- Mumia Abu-Jamal began experiencing risk for liver cancer. incarcerated individuals with COVID is to riencing high rates of COVID. Exempt COVID‑19 symptoms, including diffi- from mandatory testing, guards and culty breathing on Feb. 26. Hearing this other prison staff are suspected of being news, his family and supporters called a the source. protest. Less than 24 hours later, about Abu-Jamal’s supporters emphasize 70 people turned up outside the office that he is innocent and should be released of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry for that reason as well. A current call-in Krasner to call for Abu-Jamal’s immedi- campaign targets DA Krasner at (267) ate release. 456-1000, PA DOC Secretary John Wetzel MOVE organizer Pam Africa said prison at (717) 728-2573 and SCI Mahanoy officials deny Abu-Jamal has COVID, but Superintendent Bernadette Mason that he believes the virus is the obvious at (570) 773-2158 with the demands: explanation for his symptoms. Immediate hospitalization, not solitary Speakers at the rally called for the confinement—release​ Mumia now! release of Abu-Jamal and all incarcerated On March 6 a virtual street meeting will people older than 50, as well as those like focus on Mumia’s case. For more infor- Mumia who are “medically vulnerable.” mation, visit Mobilization4Mumia.com. Because the Pennsylvania Department of Pam Africa speaking at Feb. 27 protest. WW PHOTO: JOE PIETTE (tinyurl.com/mxcsuu2v). ☐ Page 4 March 4, 2021 workers.org Angola Prison, La. Solitary confinement abuse sparks hunger strike By Gloria Rubac Miguel told Workers World that he joined the hun- stretches through convict leasing and Jim Crow to the ger strike because “I was sentenced to 90 days of isola- modern era of mass incarceration.” Incarcerated workers in Louisiana’s notorious Angola tion confinement which resulted in me staying over four Prisoner rights advocates with the Louisiana Stop Prison began a hunger strike early Feb. 17. The reason: months. This was over 30 days more. I do not know if the Solitary Coalition are slamming the department for fail- Prison officials refused to release them back into the inmates are currently on hunger strike but during this ing to treat inmates humanely. “Having served 44 plus prison population after they served their sentence in time, I was also on hunger strike for about three days.” years in solitary confinement, I am fully aware of the solitary for a rule infraction. A prisoner who needed to remain anonymous told brutality of solitary. Hunger strikes are brutal; so I know Angola State Prison was the 18,000-acre Angola Workers World that in 2020, he was in the same solitary from personal experience how desperate these men must plantation before the Civil War, named after the African tier where the hunger strike began. “After doing time in be to resort to this,” said Albert Woodfox, a part of the country from which many of the enslaved people in solitary, men are totally stressed out. There’s no TV, no Stop Solitary Coalition. Louisiana were kidnapped. The plantation was worked radios; showers are seldom, and maybe we get a phone Woodfox was one of the Angola 3, three men wrong- then by enslaved Africans and now by imprisoned work- call once a month. Mail is haphazard, with a letter from fully accused of murder held for decades in solitary at ers of African descent. Baton Rouge sometimes taking a month to be delivered. the prison. He was released from Angola in 2016 and has “The guards are lazy and hateful, so sometimes fires are written a book, appropriately named “Solitary.” set to get their attention. Prisoners get into fights. One guy Contact Warden Nettles to demand the strikers be stomped another’s head, and he died on the tier. The stress immediately released—​phone (225) 655-4411. The is everywhere, but officials try to cover up the killings.” strikers want guarantees in writing that they will be A 2019 report by the Vera Institute of Justice found released from solitary and moved to appropriate and that between January 2015 and November 2016, “on safe conditions. average, 17.4% of people incarcerated in Louisiana’s While the issue that precipitated the hunger strike was state-operated prisons were housed in some form of seg- not releasing men when their time was completed for rule regated housing, which is approximately 3.9 times the violations, there are so many, many other crimes being estimated national average of 4.5%.” committed against the incarcerated workers at Angola. On June 11, 2010, the New York Times reported that Each of these crimes by the Louisiana Department of “Angola is the largest maximum-security prison in the Corrections would more than justify a strike. United States with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff, No one should have to go on a hunger strike to be including corrections officers, janitors, maintenance and treated justly. We demand: Immediately End Solitary wardens.” Confinement! Tear Down the Prison Walls! Free Them

PHOTO: SAN FRANCISCO BAY VIEW According to the ACLU of Louisiana, Louisiana has All! ☐ This scene of Black incarcerated workers being marched to the highest rate of prison deaths per capita in the coun- work in the fields on the Louisiana plantation-now-prison try. The state has more people serving life sen- at Angola by an armed white guard on horseback has been tences without parole than Alabama, Arkansas, enacted daily for more than 100 years. Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas combined.

According to The Lens, an independent nonprofit Solitary Watch news outlet for New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, the hun- Solitary Watch investigates, documents and ger strikers reported that in segregation, they are kept in disseminates information on the widespread their cells for over 23 hours a day and are only let out to use of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons and shower. But even that hour, some said, has no guarantee. jails. In 2019, this nonprofit national watchdog “We gotta fight for a shower,” striker Percy Hawthorne group published a report on solitary confine- told The Lens. Hawthorne had been held in disciplinary ment in Louisiana, based on the largest survey segregation since early November for “defiance” and ever taken by people held in solitary confine- “aggravated disobedience,” although his punishment ment. The report told “chilling stories of abuse, was only supposed to be 10 days. deprivation and soul-crushing loneliness.” Another striker, Frederick Ross, told The Lens that for According to solitarywatch.org, solitary most of the time he was in disciplinary segregation, he confinement in Louisiana is “deeply rooted in PHOTO: ALAN LOMAX was not allowed to purchase items from the canteen. “I the history of racial subjugation and captivity Prison compound no. 1, Angola, La. Leadbelly (Huddie Ledbetter) in have no property, no books, no television, no nothing.” in the South, which begins with slavery and the foreground, July 1934.

Black rage: a new ‘reconstruction’ in the U.S. By Wesley Massey PEACEFULLY protest, while our enemies was change the process! U.S. failed by not providing support and promote and use violence in the streets to Police in this country have weapon- protection from the Ku Klux Klan for the The following letter from an incar- further their agenda—​most of the time ized skin color; the very color of our skin voters in the South. Yet here we are in cerated worker at SCI Pine Grove was behind a badge! (Black and Brown) is the institution of 2021, and we are still facing voter intim- received by Workers World Feb. 24. White superiority and racial oppres- fear that drives drastic measures to pro- idation problems. Black and Brown peo- sion have taken new forms. No longer do tect the white institution they’ve created. ple are tired of the double standard that How do we make a paradigm shift to they don white hoods and robes—​they exists in this country on every accord! change how Blacks are viewed with pes- wear uniforms with badges; they wear The new reconstruction When we peacefully protest or rebel for simism, and on a good day cautious opti- black robes, and they wear business suits; The new reconstruction in the U.S. that matter, we are met with a police force mism? How do we change the culture in and then they create systems and laws to needs to change the dynamic of push- that is unparalleled! People are shot and law enforcement that every Black man shield themselves from ing for equality to a driv- killed; people have black bags put over or woman is a perp ready to do harm? scrutiny. ing force for minorities to their heads and [are] whisked away as if Ultimately how do we destroy this caste They don’t hire us in have an equity stake in this this were Nazi Germany! system of white superiority and white key positions; they cre- country. Blacks spend one- Yet a predominately white mob can privilege? ate laws that target our and-a-half trillion dollars storm an institution of democracy, with How do we break free of a political Black communities, use on goods, yet we have the the intent to do harm to its occupants, party that since the time of Ulysses S. their badges to overpo- smallest market share! Part and destroy property with little-to-no Grant has tried to undermine the equity lice our neighborhoods, of this is our lack of finan- opposition—​and in all reality when his- Blacks sought in this country? And lastly, deny us loans and bury cial literacy, but a big part is tory is written, it may be hailed as a patri- how do we come to understand that us in debt through being systematically pushed otic act! equality and equity are not synonymous? high-interest loans and out from institutions such Are Black and Brown people mad? You The blood of slain Black men and predatory lending prac- as big business and Wall are damn right we are! We are tired of women at the hands of modern-day tices. The most racist Street, where we lack a seri- waiting around for bureaucratic change Wesley Massey lynchings call from the streets for jus- thing a Black person ous presence to affect finan- that is never going to come, empty prom- tice! The voice of the oppressed, both can hear is NO!—​No, cial change in this country. ises of justice! Lies about equality, smoke Black and white, scream for equity and you can’t have this loan. No, you can’t Ulysses S. Grant’s Reconstruction and mirrors about institutions of change! equality! Black and Brown men and have this job. No, your application to Act—​that was an attempt to provide The blood of OUR people calls from the women are the only people, [who] after live in this apartment wasn’t approved. Blacks in the South, who were newly ground [upon] which they have been being lynched, shot and killed, tortured We assumed with legislation, things like freed, a form of equity starting with vot- slain. Rage cries out from these prison and systematically oppressed, are told to “redlining” went away, but all they did ing and running for political office. The walls for change! ☐ workers.org March 4, 2021 Page 5 Mental health effects of COVID lockdown in prison: Interview from inside SCI Albion By Joe Piette cells and only coming out for 45 minutes they know about the drugs too. They “Prolonged isolation exacerbates every other day. I’ve only been out to the know the numbers, but it’s not in their the symptoms of mental illness. As a Part 1 of a telephone interview with yard once since November. I was only just plans. result, often prisoners with mental ill- Demitrius Grant, imprisoned at SCI able to go to the law library for the first I have an article about when they put ness refuse to leave their cells for the Albion near Erie, Pa., was conducted by time since last year. together their plans in 2018. It’s about limited recreation time or for medical Joe Piette for Workers World newspaper People feel an utter sense of hopeless- the guards being exposed to these drugs, treatment. on Feb. 16. ness for being locked down in this unbear- resulting in the switching of the mail, so “Others experience sleeplessness, hal- able situation, in these small cells with now it comes through Florida. All the lucinations and paranoia. Still others Demetrius Grant: We’re going to be another human being they don’t even people who claimed they were exposed engage in head banging, injure them- covering the issue of COVID‑19 today, as get along with. And their movements are to this, when the DOC refused to say selves by cutting or attempted hanging to how it impacts prison- limited. They can’t contact what the hospital reports revealed, didn’t and sometimes are successful in suicide ers’ mental health. About their families. They can’t match what the guards were saying. So attempts. Frequently, these symptoms a week ago, a sergeant told fight their legal cases. once again they keep using these fake are regarded as prison rule infractions, me a prisoner killed him- They can’t keep up with incidents to justify what they’re doing, which prison officials punish with still self, and another one tried themselves physically. It which is having a profound effect on the more time in the Restricted Housing to kill himself. He said that has a profound influence health, welfare and safety of the prison Units (RHU).” (tinyurl.com/aw7zw5v6) was the thirteenth episode on your psyche. I wake population. The result is a Dickensian nightmare in in the last month. How up during the night hav- WW: It’s not just Pennsylvania. It’s which prisoners with mental illness are many more of these inci- ing panic attacks, which I going on in Texas, California and other trapped in an endless cycle of isolation dents are going on—​not also have during the day, states. The suicide rates are increasing. and punishment, which further worsens only in this institution, because I feel like I’ll never I can’t find any state that has released their mental health and deprives them but in other institutions—​ get out of this cell. these statistics from 2020 during the of adequate treatment and the ability to because they’re not giving Demetrius Grant It comes to the point pandemic. qualify for parole. prisoners proper mental when a person loses hope This is the information contained health care and treatment? and feels their situation is Lawsuit protests horrific conditions in the settlement agreement compiled Workers World: I was doing never going to get better. They feel they DJ: No doubt. If you’re like any human by Angus Love, the ACLU, the Prison research earlier this morning, and the lat- can’t cope with it for long periods of time being and put in a cage constantly, and if Project, the Disability Rights Network, est statistics I could find are from 2019. without DOC intervention to correct it. you don’t have any family or friends to David Rudovsky and many other attor- There were 23 suicides in Pennsylvania But it seems to the DOC that the institu- lean on, and you’re confined in isolation, neys. The agreement with the DOC that year, and that was the most ever. tion is fine and dandy with the way things you’re in a dire situation. You can’t get settled the lawsuit on Jan. 5, 2015. That’s a number that had been increas- are going. They have absolute control more isolated than that. I found a case (tinyurl.com/2v96dh3m) ing in Pennsylvania, before COVID. over people. started by the Disability Rights Network But they’re not holding to this agree- (Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 20) of Pennsylvania against the state’s DOC ment anymore. Mental health is consid- Cruelty of ban on in-person visits Secretary John Wetzel about prisoners ered a disability. So this is even more Prison officials hide suicides WW: And there are no in-person visits being held in horrific conditions due to compelling, because mental health DJ: I did research too and found the from their loved ones? an unconstitutional process that takes problems are being created that should same thing about suicides rising dramat- DJ: Captain Skinner told us about no account of mental illness, but in fact be qualified as a disability under the ically across the country. The Department a month ago, in-person visits are never exacerbates it. Americans with Disabilities Act. That’s of Corrections (DOC) is refusing to give coming back. He claimed the introduc- When prisoners are locked in extremely the reason this lawsuit was filed, and it’s the numbers of who committed suicide. tion of drugs coming into the institution small cells for at least 23 hours-a-day even more compelling today. I found a case called Bowling vs. Office dropped by 20%, so that’s their justifica- including holidays, the lights are on in WW: So what they’re doing with the of Open Records out of Pennsylvania tion for not allowing people to physically their cells all the time. They are denied severe restrictions violates the ADA? Commonwealth Court, Appellate touch their kids, their mothers, their kin. adequate mental health care and are pro- DJ: Yes. And they violate the Eighth Jurisdiction. (findlaw.com, Feb. 5) Those decisions have a dramatic hibited from working, participating in and Fourteenth Amendments, because It says under the right-to-know law effect on people. DOC experts know this, any rehabilitative programs or attending the restrictions are exacerbating prob- that it is remedial legislation designed to but they are turning a blind eye to this, religious services. lems—​not only with dudes who have promote access to governmental infor- because it’s part of their long-term pro- The DOC’s mistreatment of every mental illnesses, but also creating prob- mation, in order to prohibit secrets about gram. They’re not looking at the danger prisoner violates their rights under the lems for people who haven’t had them public officials’ actions and to make them they’re causing to the prisoners, whom Americans with Disabilities Act and the until now. Being locked up in those cells accountable for them. Exceptions from they have a duty to care for and protect. U.S. Constitution. Prisoners have phys- long-term is having a profound long-term their actions must be narrowly construed. WW: The thing is that the end of ical contact with only one other human effect on people, not only while in prison, What it’s basically saying is that under in-person visits only dropped drugs by being—​their assigned cell mate—​who but it will affect them making parole. this act’s terms, the DOC can’t refuse to 20%. That means 80% of the drugs are may be psychotic or violent, which may Prisoners can be put in the RHU for rule disclose this information if it’s requested. still coming in, and they must come from be injurious to their mental health in sol- infractions, when officials know they are (tinyurl.com/y7xb5uej) the guards. itary confinement. suffering from mental health problems WW: The article I read said prison DJ: They know this, but just as they The Pennsylvania American Civil which will be long-term. ☐ administrators hide the suicides, call- hide the numbers about the suicide rate, Liberties Union said on March 11, 2013: ing them accidents, or they give excuses other than suicide because they don’t want to open up criticism of the way they run their prisons. (shadowproof.com, Nov. 16, 2020) DJ: I found out that as a private citi- zen, you can go to the Attorney General’s office. It oversees administrative agen- cies like the state DOC, and there you can request an investigation under these terms. The DOC needs to be scrutinized more closely about their falsified infor- mation, when it should reveal to the public what’s really going on. The state Inspector General has an obligation under the Pennsylvania Constitution to conduct an investigation. WW: Can you describe what is going on during the pandemic lockdown that is pushing people to kill themselves?

Pandemic lockdowns DJ: You have no sense of when this is going to end. We’ve been under this situa- tion since March 2020, so every time you make inquiries about when it is going to end, the answer is that it looks like this is going to happen for the foreseeable future. Guys who have preexisting mental health problems are being locked in their Page 6 March 4, 2021 workers.org ‘Rubin never lost a case’ Rubin Kanowitz, 1931-2021 By John Catalinotto workers. The “reform” forced Rubin’s connection to WWP began in these workers to go to hear- January 1965, when the women of that Some younger Workers ings before an administrative Brooklyn neighborhood, including his World Party members met judge. The hearing aimed to spouse Joyce, made sandwiches to sup- Rubin Kanowitz for the first find an excuse to discontinue port a struggle for Black community time when he was a commu- their benefit payments. Rubin control of the schools. Then President nist elder, still confronting would accompany the work- Lyndon Johnson escalated the Vietnam cops on recent demonstra- ers, acting as their lawyer. War, which accelerated everyone’s polit- tions chanting, “Black Lives “Rubin never lost a case.” ical development. Before long, they and Matter.” Older ones knew Some of Rubin’s day jobs others of their Brooklyn neighbors had him from when he first joined were on Wall Street. As you joined the Party. the party in 1965. All grieved might imagine, it was an Perhaps the real influence setting as they learned he died this unpleasant environment for Rubin’s lifetime course was his childhood Jan. 26 at the age of 89. a professional revolutionary. in Brooklyn’s East New York neighbor- We knew this bad news He was in the midst of the hood in the 1930s and 1940s, which he WW PHOTO: BRENDA RYAN was likely once we heard that Rubin, with Joyce Kanowitz. very people whose class rule often talked about. He may have worked Rubin and his spouse Joyce he yearned to overthrow. some years on Wall Street, but his roots Kanowitz, also a party member for 56 treasured the morale of individual com- Like all of human history, our lives too in that community’s immigrant proletar- years, were hospitalized after testing pos- rades as much as he hated the crimes of are filled with contradictions, including iat nourished him. And he never strayed. itive for COVID‑19. Joyce survived. Rubin the ruling class. our jobs. Contradictory benefits of a Wall One might say he came full circle. returned to his home and died with loved That he managed to stay active in the Street job are that: (1) you learn what the As comrade Shelley Ettinger wrote, ones present, within restrictions the pan- streets until he was nearly 90 is further class enemy is like up close; (2) you see Rubin “had the Party’s back, was all in for demic has imposed. proof that revolutionaries never retire their weak points; and (3) you are able to the Party and for the struggle, at all times. Most stays for hospitalized COVID‑19 from their real profession. If they’re help fund the organization to fight them, in He was an anti-racist, anti-Zionist, work- patients are horribly lonely. Rubin’s lucky, they can leave the “day job.” Rubin this case WWP. Rubin did all three, and he ing-class, old, communist, Jewish com- ever-present optimism and open soli- had been an economist. and Joyce were generous to their party as rade. He gave it his all. darity with all the essential caregivers well as their family, friends and comrades. “Rubin Kanowitz, presente!” ☐ and housekeeping staff won friends and Work Fairness in the 1990s They were especially led to one wonderful moment: A Filipina In the mid-1990s, Rubin took on a new supportive of the Black nurse, who is a leader in the BAYAN USA political task. WWP First Secretary Larry Liberation struggle. Even movement, recognized him as a WWP Holmes said this about Rubin’s activities before we in WWP met him, militant and made his day by singing “The in that period: Rubin was active in the Civil Internationale” for him. Working-class “President pushed through Rights Movement. Later, in internationalism lives. a reactionary welfare reform bill in 1996. the mid-to-late 1960s, Rubin Like almost any WWP comrade with The reform bill placed limits on how long and Joyce hosted fundrais- 50-plus years of party work, Rubin wrote workers could receive welfare and forced ing socials at their apartment articles, made political talks and took part millions of poor workers, mostly women, near Grand Army Plaza in in thousands of street demonstrations, to work for their small welfare payments, Brooklyn. One such social rallies, political meetings, fundraising which was tantamount to being forced to was for the Deacons for socials, headquarters cleanups and child- work for subminimum wages. These were Defense and Justice, which care sessions—​to some of the children, workfare workers. organized armed self-de- he was a favorite uncle. And birthday “Rubin helped to organize Work fense of Black communities parties! Rubin was at all of them, as he Fairness, an organization of workfare in the Deep South. New York, March 24, 2012. WW PHOTO: BRENDA RYAN

Biden pick for Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack no friend of farmworkers or farmers By Ted Kelly firing of Shirley Sherrod, the first Black farmers died waiting for justice. Of the “pink slime.” In 2012, Vilsack said there Director of Rural Development in Georgia 18,000 claims approved, 4,000 to 5,000 was “no question” of the product’s safety, President Joe Biden nominated for- for the USDA, in July 2010. Sherrod had are estate claims.” (tinyurl.com/33y8ua35) despite Canada and the European Union mer Secretary of Agriculture Thomas been the target of right-wing attacks. The consolidation of farmland into banning the use of ammonia gas to sterilize Vilsack to head the U.S. Department of (tinyurl.com/yahmt8o6) fewer private holdings has cost thousands food. (Mother Jones, April 2, 2012) Agriculture, a job he held for the entire Rod Bradshaw, a 67-year-old Black of agricultural workers their jobs. The Rather than bolster worker protections Obama administration from 2009 to farm owner in Kansas, told the Associated decline of agricultural commodity prices and stabilize the volatile agricultural sec- 2017. Vilsack testified before the Senate Press: “We have already seen what Vilsack has become so dire that farmworkers tor through central planning, the capitalist on Feb. 2—​Groundhog Day—​and was is going to do. We don’t have a prayer if (along with fishing and forestry workers) state’s only response to falling commodity confirmed a few weeks later. he gets in there.” Bill McGill, 76 years commit suicide at the highest rate of any prices is international economic aggres- Vilsack’s eight-year old, lost the small sec- sector of the working class—​6.5 times sion. This was one of the primary pur- tenure was disas- Rather than bolster ond-generation farm that that of the average population. And small poses of Trump’s “U.S.-Mexico-Canada trous for Black farm- he inherited from his par- farmers are heavily impacted and at risk. Agreement,” a rebranding of NAFTA, ers. Workers World worker protections ents in Bakersfield, Calif., In 2018, the dairy company Agri-Mark which was praised by big agribusiness. reported Feb. 12: “Since and stabilize the when the same USDA included a list of suicide hotlines when it During the Feb. 2 Senate hearing, 1920, over a million volatile agricultural agent he approached for mailed farmers checks for their products. Vilsack announced he would prioritize Black families have lost a loan put the land up for “foreign market access” in Southeast Asia their farms (Guardian sector through central sale. “I don’t get attached Food safety threatened and Africa. “Certainly our competitors are Aug. 15, 2019), and planning, the capitalist to hardly nothing any Vilsack eliminated multiple food safety doing that,” he added, a clear reference they now constitute more,” he told the Feb. 24 regulations, including the Microbiological to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which less than 2% of all state’s only response Guardian. Data Program, which monitored foodborne has been empowering nations to construct farm owners. A 2019 to falling commodity In 1997, Timothy pathogens. As a result, incidents of salmo- their own agricultural infrastructure. Center for American prices is international Pigford became a plain- nella infections have steadily increased During the four years of the Trump Progress study found tiff in a federal class since 2012, when he eliminated the MDP. administration, Vilsack collected a $1 the USDA ‘has a long economic aggression. action lawsuit filed by He removed genetically modified million annual salary as CEO of the U.S. and well-documented Black farmers against the organism labeling standards and expe- Dairy Export Council, a role that is now history of discrimination against Black Clinton administration’s USDA Secretary dited the process for approving GMO filled by former DuPont executive Krysta farmers. The unequal administration of Dan Glickman. In Pigford v. Glickman, products developed by chemical corpora- Harden, Vilsack’s former deputy secre- government farm support programs, cru- federal courts concurred with claims of sys- tions like Monsanto. In 2019, Monsanto tary at the USDA between 2013 and 2016. cial to protecting farmers from an inher- temic racial discrimination, but it was not was ordered to pay $80 million in dam- In January 2020, Vilsack won the lot- ently risky enterprise, has had a profound until 2007 that the Pigford Claims Remedy ages to California residents who had tery in Iowa, where he had served two impact on rural communities of color.’” Act allowed Black farmers to apply for rep- developed cancer from exposure to gly- terms as governor from 1999-2007, and The NAACP and other civil rights orga- arations. The first paltry settlement pay- phosate-based herbicides in the compa- pocketed the $150,000 winnings. Clearly, nizations strongly opposed the nomination ments were not disbursed until 2013. ny’s Roundup weed spray. his sympathies are not with superexploited of Vilsack over his treatment of Black farm- WW reported in 2016: “Because the Vilsack defended the beef industry’s use agricultural workers or struggling small ers, as well as his quick and unceremonious settlement took decades to resolve, many of the ammonia-treated additive known as farmers, especially Black farmers. ☐ workers.org March 4, 2021 Page 7 The Bessemer front in the international class struggle By Christian Noakes vulnerability to orga- The company has sent emails to nized labor action BAmazon workers offering to pay $2,000 Bessemer, Ala., is now the site of a his- during the COVID or more if they will resign their jobs—​a toric labor struggle between the Amazon pandemic. Unlike tactic that may be an illegal bribe under warehouse workers there and the $1.7 manufacturing, which federal law. (paydayreport.com, Feb. 21) trillion international capitalist monopoly can be moved out And there have even been reports that corporation. About 80% of the warehouse of Alabama or even Amazon had traffic lights “mistimed” to workers are African American, and almost overseas, Amazon keep organizers from talking to workers half are women. needs its merchan- driving in and out during shift changes. In March 2020, Amazon opened up dise warehoused (tinyurl.com/y9zogdem) the BHM1 fulfillment center in this pre- near customers for Amazon has relied on the notoriously dominantly Black working-class city that “last mile delivery.” anti-union law firm Morgan Lewis to sits on the west edge of Birmingham, Ala. Amazon can’t stock- attack worker organizing. Morgan Lewis Within two months, the workers began pile packages and has fought other Amazon unionization to push for union representation by the wait out a strike or PHOTO: PEOPLE'S ORGANIZATION FOR PROGRESS attempts and defended the company Retail, Wholesale and Department Store protest—​that would People's Organization for Progress rally outside Whole Foods, against worker lawsuits over inadequate Union (RWDSU). The workers dubbed upend its “instant Newark, N.J., Feb. 27. pandemic precautions and racist discrim- themselves “BAmazon Union.” shipping” promise. ination. The law firm writes that it aims to If successful, the Alabama workers will Increased pandemic online shopping of industries. The historic Flint Sit-down “identify risks and develop strategies and have established the first union in the U.S. makes warehouse workers more essential Strike by workers—a​ 44-day occupation solutions to help employers avoid litiga- within behemoth Amazon. than ever—and​ gives these workers more of Michigan plants—​won the first union tion and other employee disputes, includ- The workers were spurred by brutally weight and incentive to organize. contract from GM in 1937. (Workers ing those that involve unions or organizing harsh working conditions, the threat of World, “GM 1937, Amazon 2021: Which campaigns.” (tinyurl.com/j24bz85b) demotion or termination for not meeting Battle for freedom in Alabama side are you on?” Feb. 2) ever-increasing quotas and management’s Alabama—particularly​ the Birmingham- Solidarity campaign refusal to take measures to adequately Bessemer area—​has a centuries-old tra- Amazon attacks worker organizing Amazon has spared no expense in fight- protect workers from COVID‑19. dition of Black-led organizing against Today the BAmazon workers in Bessemer ing unionization at one warehouse. That According to Michael “Big Mike” enslavement, racist land seizures, Jim are going up against the second-largest reflects the capitalist need to hold abso- Foster, a key union organizer and poultry Crow racism, prison-convict labor, seg- company in the U.S. and the ninth-largest lute power to exploit workers. Amazon’s plant worker, “We didn’t just show up at regation laws and Ku Klux Klan violence. in the world. Including Amazon-owned union-busting campaign shows the com- Amazon. The workers from Amazon called Within living memory of the Amazon Whole Foods, the company currently pany knows the potential impact beyond us. Because they have been crying out workers and their families is their starkly employs 1.37 million workers in the U.S., Bessemer. with their voices, and Amazon has ignored dedicated struggle against white-suprema- not counting delivery drivers. Workers in European countries have them the whole time. So we got together cist assassinations and bombings of Black Amazon has the highest market cap- been organizing—​and striking—​at with the group, and we put a plan together churches and homes during the Civil Rights italization—​based on stock value and Amazon units for several years. In 2018, to come out here and help these people.” Movement of the 1960s. number of outstanding shares—​of any workers—​represented in Germany by the (facebook.com/SupportAmazonWorkers) And despite the Jim Crow, Taft Hartley corporation anywhere. To keep its stock Ver.di service workers’ union, in Spain Act, and right-to-work laws in Alabama, prices and profits astronomical, Amazon by UNI Global Union and in Britain by Union drive accelerates the state has a militant tradition of must keep its workers from unionizing, GMB—​walked out or struck on Amazon By last November, over 2,000 workers worker organizing, especially Black work- wherever and however it can. Prime Days in July 16-17, 2020, and “Black had signed cards and a petition to call for ers. From 1928 to 1951, the Communist In Bessemer, Amazon is running an Friday” in November. union recognition. Then RWDSU suc- Party successfully organized through- aggressive campaign of lies and intimida- What happens at Bessemer has global cessfully petitioned the National Labor out Alabama from the Sharecroppers tion. Management posts anti-union mate- implications. The stakes in the current Relations Board to schedule a vote. For an Union to the Mine, Mill and Smelter rial throughout the warehouse and sends battle could not be higher—​for Amazon NLRB election to be set, at least 30% of Workers union, which was majority texts threatening to close if unionized. workers everywhere and ultimately for workers at a location have to sign a non- Black. (Workers World, “Lessons of ‘The A company website is rife with misin- the worldwide working class. This fight is binding union card—​a goal which was Hammer and the Hoe,’” Dec. 21, 2017) formation, stating: “An authorization card a fight of the international proletariat. well surpassed. There are parallels between the or online form is legally binding and may What is most needed now is mass The NLRB agreed to a mail-in vote in Bessemer struggle and the fierce class obligate you to pay monthly dues imme- global solidarity with the Bessemer work- accordance with social distancing safety. battle of the 1930s against the world’s diately from your paycheck. There are no ers of Amazon BHM1. On Feb. 20, a U.S. Amazon then appealed that decision and then-largest corporation: General Motors. free trials.” campaign generated over 50 simultane- pressed for an in-person vote—​a ploy to GM’s assembly lines were not that different That statement is a lie. Neither the ous solidarity actions. More actions are suppress voter turn-out. The NLRB denied from Amazon’s; GM’s notorious speedup—​ cards nor the online forms are legally underway throughout March. Amazon’s appeal. The workers began vot- when management ran auto assembly lines binding. The Taft-Hartley Act was origi- ing on Feb. 8 and have until March 29 to faster to increase production—​became a nally passed to break up union organizing For solidarity actions, see return their ballots. Vote counting is sched- standard corporate management tactic to in the South, and workers in “right-to- supportamazonworkers.org. Other uled to start the following day. more heavily exploit workers. work” states like Alabama are therefore contributors to this article were John The possibility of a Bessemer union The victory at GM inspired more neither obligated to join a union nor pay Catalinotto, Martha Grevatt and Minnie victory is heightened by Amazon’s union struggles and victories in a range dues if they work in a unionized shop. Bruce Pratt.

Bessemer Amazon workers: Support grows for ‘They are showing the way’ Alabama Amazon union Continued from page 1 The following remarks were given by Joan Hwang to win it. And candidate and actor and activist Susan Sarandon (she/they), an organizer with the Workers Assembly when they do, tweeted their support. Turner plans to attend a solidarity rally Against Racism, at a Feb. 20 rally in New York City, it will be a tri- Joan Hwang. WW PHOTO: G. DUNKEL in solidarity with Amazon workers organizing a umphant day outside a Cleveland Whole Foods March 13. union drive in Bessemer, Ala. Hwang is also an urban for workers Labor solidarity expands farmer. everywhere. But it’s bigger than just winning the vote. The fact that they have undertaken this struggle, have The 1.6 million-strong AFSCME issued a solidarity state- We are out here today in the capital of capitalism, the come this far along, and continue every day to battle ment Feb. 23 declaring, “It’s time for Amazon workers to have belly of the beast, New York City, in spite of the many against this behemoth—​arguably the most powerful a voice on the job.” serious challenges we are faced with. Or maybe because transnational corporation in the world and the face of On Feb. 26, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Tina Fey, Shaka King and of them. These are intensely difficult times we are living modern capitalism — is a feat in and of itself. over 1,760 members of the Writers Guild of America East and in. The end days of capitalism are not pretty or easy. This month is Black History Month, and Black WGA West signed a public statement urging Amazon workers Right now millions of people across this country are workers in Alabama are making history right NOW, to “Vote Union Yes.” Over 30 of the signers have produced suffering—​left without power, heat, shelter, water—​ taking on the world’s biggest corporate monster. In films and programs for Amazon Prime. in the richest nation in the history of the world. Of keeping with history, the overlooked and undervalued Southern Workers Assembly, Workers Assembly Against course, this is disproportionately affecting vulnera- but indispensable leadership of Black women is the Racism, Democratic Socialists of America, ble communities who have always borne the brunt of force driving this critical struggle forward. and People’s Organization for Progress, along with the the crises wrought by capitalism: our Black, Brown, All workers have so much to learn from Black history newly formed Support Alabama Amazon Union campaign, Indigenous, homeless and incarcerated family. It’s about hundreds of years of resistance. We can sup- are among the groups that continue to organize demonstra- clearer now than ever before that we’re living under port resistance TODAY by supporting the Bessemer tions outside sites for Amazon, Whole Foods and Amazon’s a state incapable of providing its people anything but Amazon workers! They are showing the way, and we union-busting law firm Morgan Lewis. violence and war. must follow their lead. If these most oppressed work- Support Alabama Amazon Union has called for a “virtual And yet, in the midst of the pain and trauma, we find ers, against all odds in the deepest anti-union atmo- week of action” March 1-5, culminating in a zoom organizing reason for hope in this historic union organizing drive. sphere, can organize, because it is what must be done, meeting March 6 to build for an International Day of Action Now, I believe that the workers in Bessemer are in it we have no excuse not to do the same. ☐ March 20. For more info visit supportamazonworkers.org. ☐ Page 8 March 4, 2021 workers.org Nadezhda Krupskaya: Bolshevik revolutionary, educator

By Devin Cole In 1924, as a member of the CPSU Then it involved obtaining books relevant Central Committee, Krupskaya used to what was wanted or needed for either Feb. 14 is the birth date of Nadezhda her platform to advocate greater gains studying or reading for pleasure. Krupskaya—​Bolshevik revolutionary, for women workers and to promote the Krupskaya revolutionized the practice educator and library advocate. Although Soviet educational system. From 1927 to of training librarians. She opened the first born to a formerly aristocratic family, her 1939, she served as the country’s Deputy “library seminaries” in the Soviet Union, family had descended into poverty, which Minister of Education, and she was the where practicing librarians taught and led her to study Marxism. She joined the Deputy Education Commissar from 1929 trained new librarians in the skills of their Russian Social Democratic Labour Party to 1939. profession. This allowed many more peo- in 1903. Later in life, Krupskaya turned her ple to not only become librarians, but to In 1905, Krupskaya became Secretary attention to the libraries of the Soviet develop into revolutionary librarians. of the Central Committee of the RSDLP’s Union. Prior to the revolution, they had To Krupskaya, librarians and educators Bolshevik wing, which later became the been exclusive club-like settings where were the facilitators of the revolution and Communist Party of the Soviet Union, only the educated and literate were per- would be the experts in explaining litera- after the split in 1917 with the nonrevolu- mitted entry. After the revolution, this ture, literacy and writing skills to the peo- tionary Mensheviks. inequity did not disappear right away. ple, so they could better understand and Nadezhda Krupskaya In the early days of the Soviet Union, Krupskaya began a complete overhaul preserve the Soviet Union’s socialist values. Krupskaya took charge of the Adult of all libraries in the country, through Krupskaya met Vladimir Lenin at a Education Division of the new educa- literacy campaigns and collaboration Marxist reading group in 1894. They mar- Nadezhda Krupskaya died in 1939 tional system, which revolutionized between libraries to serve the public. ried in 1898, while exiled in Siberia, and at the age of 70. She was a dedicated education in the world’s first socialist This included assessing people’s needs remained together until Lenin’s death in Communist, revolutionary and educator republic. and learning what they wanted to read. 1924. until the end of her life. ☐

Cuban ‘Red Rose’ wins journalism honor

By Rubén G. Abelenda She is also the one who inspired From African lands, I am another journalist of Spanish origin to compelled to write these lines This slightly edited article was pub- dedicate part of his time to writing articles to congratulate the Cuban “Red lished in Resumen-english.org. in favor of Cuba and the Great Homeland. Rose” for having been awarded Admired for her professionalism, her the José Martí 2021 National Feb. 27—​It was José Martí who said modesty and her kindness, the “Cuban Journalism Prize for Life’s “Honor for those who deserve honor”—​ Red Rose” is one of the pioneers, if not Work. Undoubtedly it is worth but he could never have imagined that the the first, to encourage and make many saying the phrase of Martí: highest distinction awarded to journalists people understand the need to use social “Honor for those who deserve in Cuba would bear his name—[an​ award networks in defense of our Caribbean honor.” established] after the triumph of the rev- nation and the just causes of Our America olution on the Caribbean island on Jan. 1, and the world. Rubén G. Abelenda is a 1959. In that battle she has given her all, and journalist and the Cuban In 2021, this prestigious prize of rec- in fact became one of the most knowl- Ambassador to Gambia. Rosa Miriam Elizalde PHOTO: ISMAEL FRANCISCO ognition has been awarded to our col- edgeable in our country about the inter- league Rosa Miriam Elizalde, whom I net and social networks, had the good fortune to meet in 2003 in a kind of think tank from Madrid, and with whom it was a privilege which we should all to share work in various capitals, includ- drink her knowledge, in ing Havana, in the years that followed. order to face the worst Women’s History Month! I will never forget when, in December of the unconventional of that year, on the Spanish island of wars waged against our Build Workers World! Lanzarote, she interviewed the famous country—​for which the Portuguese writer, novelist, poet, journal- island is now very well As Marxists, we strive not just to honor his- March as Women’s History Month in 1987. ist and playwright Jose Saramago. With prepared. tory, but to make it—​to promote change that People of all genders mark IWWD worldwide. her pen, Elizalde put an end to one of We must not fail to puts workers and oppressed peoples first and Socialists have long recognized struggle as the many media campaigns against Cuba mention Elizalde’s loyalty to recognize their leadership. the only way to improve women’s lives. Like the that have been repeated to denigrate the and affection for Fidel Today, Black women Black Lives Matter movement, Revolution. Castro, her familiarity, her and their male co-workers, started by women and LGBTQ+ Nor can I forget that the “Cuban Red constant concern for her 80% of the workforce, are activists, which boldly fights rac- Rose”—​as a dear friend from Madrid, daughter and her nearest fighting for unionization ism and police violence. Like the a member of the same social commu- and dearest, and her culi- at Amazon’s warehouse McDonald’s workers who led a nications profession, christened her—​ nary specialty, a pumpkin in Bessemer, Ala. If they 10-city walkout to protest sexual worked tirelessly, did not sleep, ate little, cream that I also had the win, it would be the first abuse, boosted by the #MeToo and wrote non-stop, rocking in front of opportunity to try on sev- union drive to score a vic- Movement. her computer, as she continues to do to eral occasions when we tory against this corporate Workers World expresses this day. visited her. behemoth. Their strug- solidarity with women who are gle is inspiring workers exploited on the job, those sub- everywhere. jected to racism, misogyny, big- Women make up two- otry, xenophobia, homophobia thirds of the 20 million Jan. 20, 2018, Women’s March. and transphobia. We demand workers who are paid the release of im/mmigrant $10.10 per hour or less; half are women of women and children from ICE detention and color. The gender pay gap exists, with African family reunification. We support gender-non- American, Latinx, Indigenous and immigrant conforming and trans people, who constantly women earning the lowest salaries. It’s no won- risk physical attack. der that they are leading the “Fight for $15” If you appreciate WW’s extensive coverage hourly wage and a union movement! of women’s struggles, join the WW Supporter During the pandemic, nurses and other Program. For donations of $75, $100, $300—​ health care workers, especially women, have or more if you can, members receive a year’s organized—​even gone on strike—​to demand subscription to WW, a regular letter about adequate staffing, safe working conditions timely issues and one, two or three free sub- and protective equipment. Teachers and other scriptions (respectively), for friends. Supporters essential workers have pressed their demands, can receive the “What Road to Socialism?” book too. upon request. (Or read it at workers.org/books) To honor women workers, the 1910 Write checks to Workers World and mail International Socialist Women’s Conference them (monthly or annually), with your name in Copenhagen declared March 8 to be and address, to 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Floor, International Working Women’s Day. On that New York, NY 10011. Or sign up at workers.org/ date in 1908, 15,000 women immigrant gar- donate/ to make monthly deductions. ment workers and socialists marched for bet- We appreciate your help in building Workers ter working conditions. Congress proclaimed World! ☐ workers.org March 4, 2021 Page 9

Ecuador elections Calm before the storm: World watches drama unfold By Michael Otto in Ecuador. Moreno himself got only 1.5% Pérez’s supporters see him as a mil- party, the UNES-CD, won 46 seats for Ibarra, Ecuador of the vote, an electoral disaster. itant water defender, a champion of the Progressives; Yaku Pérez and his The heavy hammer that nailed neolib- Indigenous territorial and cultural rights. Plurinational Unit (PK) have 26 seats; Feb. 19—​Almost 10 million voters, a eral right-wing governance was the anger, Others have a dif- Social Democracy record 81% of those eligible, went to the pain and frustration of millions of people ferent opinion. The (ID) has 17 seats. polls Feb. 7, despite the pandemic, to who had participated in or supported the victorious Bolivian Washington was Banker Guillermo choose among 16 candidates in Ecuador’s Indigenous-led Great Uprising of October President Luis Arce, behind the Moreno Lasso and his allies presidential elections. The two top 2019. That social explosion against the for example, whose have only 12 seats, vote-getters will compete in the April 11 International Monetary Fund austerity landslide victory government and while the party of runoff elections. No candidate received package shut the country down for 11 days. reversed Bolivia’s Moreno got none. enough votes to win in the first round. Washington was behind the Moreno coup, refused to backed its vicious and The right wing took Three center-left parties got 70% of the government and backed its vicious and invite Pérez to the brutal repression of the a big hit. votes. brutal repression of the October 2019 inauguration in The new presi- Andrés Arauz, representing a contin- uprising. Bolivia. The truth October 2019 uprising. dent and the new uation of the movement led by former During the last 12 months of the pan- is that Pérez and Assembly will need President Rafael Correa, came in first demic, Moreno used the crisis as both Patchakutik had col- to cooperate to deal place with 32.7% of the vote. Arauz is a an opportunity and a political shield. laborated with the Moreno government with the failed state, an economy in former minister in the government of Knowing that the people would not until just before the October uprising. recession, unemployment and the crisis Correa running for the progressive Union go into the streets as they did during Arce did invite Arauz and Indigenous surrounding the provision of COVID‑19 for Hope-Central Democratic Party October, he satisfied the IMF demands leader Jaime Vargas Vargas, President vaccines. Taxing the rich and halting the (UNES-CD). for billions in loan repayments and of the Confederation of Indigenous drain of resources into tax havens are Lawyer Dr. Yaku Pérez came in third enacted neoliberal laws, which only mag- Nations of Ecuador (CONAIE), to come progressive issues. The decriminalization with an unprecedented 19.4% of the vote nified the harm caused by the crisis. The to his inaugural ceremony, and they both of protest, extractivism, the rights of the for his Patchakutik party (PK), which rep- traitor goes down in history as Ecuador’s attended Nov. 8, 2020. LGBTIQ+ population, the right to abor- resents the Indigenous Movement and worst president. Unemployment, hunger Arauz promises to restore Ecuadorian tion, restoration of labor protections and demonstrates mass support for the goals and death stalk the land. sovereignty and rebuild the regional the right of unions to bargain collectively, of the uprising. A million workers lost their jobs during integration that the U.S. and the Latin the expansion of human rights, free trade Entrepreneur Xavier Hervas, the Tik- the pandemic, and more than 35,000 American pro-imperialist oligarchy agreements and mining concessions will Tok candidate, was the biggest election people died above the annual average due opposes. He has friendly relations with all be debated. surprise, capturing many of the youth. He to COVID‑19. Education and health care leaders in Cuba, Venezuela and sev- International interference: The came in fourth with 15.7% of the vote for cuts and unemployment mean untold eral progressive governments in the Colombian regime of Iván Duque, a cat’s- the Izquierda Democrática (ID), which misery for the poorest Ecuadorians. hemisphere. paw of U.S. imperialism, is working with identifies as a social-democratic party. The youth of Ecuador, and especially It may be said that Arauz needs to regional media and the Moreno forces to More than 1.2 million null and blank Indigenous and Black youth, are facing a begin the process of unification now in produce fake news that discredits Arauz votes reflect massive uncertainty and very bleak future indeed. order to win the second round, facing a and his UNES-CD party in the weeks frustration of people who can’t find a can- formidable right-wing power structure, leading up to the April 11 final elections. didate they trust. Role of U.S., Venezuela assuming Lasso remains his opponent. There are unresolved differences Ex-banker Guillermo Lasso, consid- Moreno met recently in Washington, Lasso’s second-place finish, however, between the CONAIE Indigenous move- ered “co-governor” of the country with D.C., with Luis Almagro, general sec- is still being protested by Pérez and a ment and the Indigenous candidate Yaku incumbent and extremely unpopular retary of the Organization of American large part of the Indigenous movement. Pérez. However, those differences have President Lenín Moreno, got only 19.7%, States (OAS). Almagro was a key player Washington prefers Lasso, but will use all not resulted in a pact between CONAIE a distant second place and a virtual tie in the 2019 coup against Bolivia and the its weapons against Arauz. and Arauz’s UNES-CD. with Pérez to participate in the runoff. unconventional U.S. war on Venezuela. If Andrés Arauz as president wants Lasso’s identification with Moreno Moreno invited U.S. police and military to The National Assembly to build an alliance with the Indigenous resulted in an avalanche against his party advise the forces of state repression, and The Indigenous-based Patchakutik movement in the interest of the well-be- CREO (Creating Opportunities) and the he upgraded the airport in the Galápagos Party will be a force in the next gov- ing of most Ecuadorians, he will have to Social Christian Party (PSC). These two Islands for the imperialists to use at their ernment, and debate will return to the confront powerful forces within his own normally competing right-wing parties discretion against Venezuela. Now Lasso National Assembly. Two-thirds of the party. Those are the forces that depend on united to back Lasso in an attempt to has dirtied the election process by baiting future parliament will be formed by the extraction of wealth from Indigenous maintain their grip as the power brokers Venezuela. the three center-left parties. Arauz’s areas. ☐

Biden sends B-1 bombers to Norway, threatens Russia By Ted Kelly deployment is meant as a threat to Russia, which is well of the prior administration, but more effectively. Donald within range of U.S. airstrikes. Trump maneuvered to control the Arctic’s riches by offer- The U.S. Air Force announced during February that According to a Feb. 2 article in Forbes, “Missile-armed ing to purchase Greenland from its former colonial over- it is sending four B-1 bombers and at least 200 person- B-1s could pose a serious threat to Russia’s Northern Fleet. lord, Denmark. Though also a NATO member, Denmark’s nel to Orland Air Base on the central coast of Norway. In staging the bombers from Norway, the United States government rejected Trump’s farcical offer. The Norwegian Pentagon officials made no secret of the fact that the obviously intends to make that threat perfectly clear.” The government, however, accepted Biden’s deployment. B-1 can carry 24 missiles to strike ships at sea. Apart from uranium, rare earth metals, and gold, the This escalation of tensions sends a message both to northern polar region is also estimated to contain 25 Russia and to Washington’s NATO allies that control percent of the world’s entire untapped fossil fuel supply. over the Arctic Circle will be of paramount importance Due to climate change, Arctic sea ice is receding rapidly, to U.S. imperialism under President Joe Biden. making these previously unreachable resources ripe for Washington and its NATO allies are revealing their exploitation and creating new waterways in previously goal: to prevent Russia from developing from a regional unnavigable parts of the Arctic Sea. capitalist power into a full-blown imperialist rival. U.S. While Norway’s capitalist government—Norway is naval vessels routinely patrol the edges of Russian terri- part of the NATO military alliance—accepted the U.S. torial waters to provoke confrontations. imposition of the bombers, the Red Party, a revolution- In one such encounter earlier this year in the Black ary socialist organization founded in Norway in 2007, Sea, when a Russian fighter jet flew close to a U.S. naval objected in a televised debate between its spokesperson, destroyer, the U.S. Navy tweeted that it has the U.S. Sixth Member of Parliament Bjoernar Moxnes, and Norway’s Fleet there to provide “freedom of movement within inter- defense minister. national waters for all nations in the Black Sea.” “Our main argument,” the Red Party wrote in an email In reality, U.S. projection of its military power aims to Workers World, “is that placing B-1 bombers here to establish U.S. imperialism’s domination of the seas, endangers the security of Norway, instead of strength- restricting freedom of movement for U.S. opponents and ening it. It also violates this country’s policy not to allow hegemony over its imperialist rivals. foreign offensive weapons and troops to be placed in Norway for an extended period when not in wartime. Domination of the Arctic “The placement of B-1 bombers accelerates the pro- The deployment to Norway of B-1 bombers also cess of making Norway a U.S. aircraft carrier in the prevents Russia from competing for the rich natural Arctic region and destabilizes peace in our area. We resources beneath the Arctic and from freely using the have also criticized the former decisions to place arma- Arctic Sea for trade. ments and U.S. soldiers for longer periods on the soil Military bases on or near the now navigable Arctic Sea. The Biden administration thereby continues the policies of Norway.” ☐ Page 10 March 4, 2021 workers.org editorials ‘No war drills on Raise the minimum Korean Peninsula!’ wage to $15—at least! A $15-per-hour minimum wage cannot from economic ruin, and face a cri- be included in the $1.9 trillion COVID‑19 sis every month when bills come due. relief bill proposed by Congressional Millions of workers must toil at two or Democrats. So ruled the Senate parlia- more jobs to make ends meet, and have to mentarian, Elizabeth McDonough, on turn to government programs or commu- Feb. 25. This unelected official called it nity food pantries to feed their families. “irrelevant to budget legislation.” The woefully inadequate federal mini- This edict is a brutal blow to millions of mum hourly wage of $7.25 has not risen struggling workers. since 2009, while the cost of living has Nevertheless, the House of skyrocketed. If the minimum wage had Representatives passed the bill 219 to kept pace with inflation, it would now be 212 on Feb. 27 with the minimum wage $12 per hour. A full-time worker earning increase intact. It will now move to the the current minimum wage cannot pay Senate—​but most likely without the rent in most areas of the country. hourly pay raise, because of the parlia- The original relief bill would have mentarian’s ruling. raised that minimum wage to $15, but in All Republicans in the House and increments, not reaching $15 until 2025. Senate, plus two conservative Democratic Meanwhile, so many workers are living senators, oppose this wage hike. So, in crisis. They need these funds now! And despite the Democratic Party wielding a more! An hourly pay rate of $20 or $25 majority in the Senate, it might not have would really make a dent in families' bills. passed there, even if it were included in However, even the proposed increase the relief bill. Behind the scenes are pow- would benefit many workers. The Philadelphia Korea Peace Now Grassroots Network activists hold signs, Feb. 21. erful corporate moguls and Wall Street Economic Policy Institute says that it would aid 32 million workers; 60 per- financiers who are vehemently opposed Annual U.S.-ROK (Republic of individuals holding signs such as “No cent of essential and front-line workers to this minimum wage increase. Korea) combined military exercises are More War Drills,” sharing the resulting would be helped. One-third of African There are procedural means to cir- costly and a major obstacle to achiev- graphics widely on social media. Americans and one-fourth of Latinx cumvent or override the parliamentar- ing peace on the Korean Peninsula. Supporters are also being urged to workers would get a raise. About 25 per- ian’s ruling, which have been used in And it’s a provocative threat against the sign a petition to urge the Biden admin- cent of those who would gain are women the past by Democratic and Republican Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. istration to suspend these war drills. See workers of color. administrations, but the Biden White Korea solidarity groups in the U.S. have tiny.cc/koreapeace. Due to systemic racism and sexism, House has apparently decided to abide by begun a “Global Relay Rally,” in which oppressed workers are severely under- McDonough’s decision and not challenge activists from city to city photograph — Story and photo by Joe Piette it. “He respects the parliamentarian's paid. Women comprise two-thirds of the decision and the Senate's process,” said 20 million workers who are paid $10.10 White House press secretary Jen Psaki. per hour or less, reports the National (CNN, Feb. 25) Women’s Law Center. Half are women of Sen. Bernie Sanders and other Congress color. The gender pay gap is widest for Colorado protest members proposed a Plan B: to tax cor- African American, Latinx, Indigenous porations that don't pay their workers at and im/migrant women, who are paid least $15 per hour. But top Democrats the lowest salaries. put the kibosh on this idea, reported the Most people who are paid the minimum ‘No war on Iran!’ Feb. 28 Washington Post. This failure to wage are adults, and many of them remain By Viviana Weinstein and suffering among Iranian people. act extends an emergency for low-wage in low-wage jobs throughout their work- Denver U.S. sanctions prevent Iran’s govern- workers! ing lives. (New York Times, Feb. 26) That ment from trading oil for food and medi- makes a higher federal wage a necessity—​ Students for a Democratic Society, cine that its people need. After the Trump Disaster for millions or millions of workers simply cannot meet Jewish Voice for Peace and the Denver administration pulled the U.S. out of the Two-thirds of workers report they the burgeoning costs of life’s necessities. Peace Council held a demonstration accord that dropped sanctions in return have been living paycheck to paycheck The demand for the federal minimum Feb. 20 at the state Capitol, in cooper- for allowing inspections, Tehran has no since COVID‑19 hit U.S. shores. Nearly wage hike is supported by two-thirds of ation with the national call to prevent confidence in agreements with the U.S. half were in that predicament even prior the U.S. population, especially Black, Washington from instigating a war They ask that sanctions be lifted as a to the pandemic. This is due to extremely Latinx, Indigenous, women and young against Iran. Threats the U.S. warships show of good faith. low wages, combined with the exorbitant workers. That’s why the slogan “Fight for would move into the Gulf near Iran have The antiwar movement must continue costs of housing and other necessities. $15” resonates so loudly from coast to increased fears of a new war. pressure on the Biden administration to Many families are one paycheck away coast. The struggle continues! ☐ Last year, U.S. operatives assassinated end the sanctions. It should expose and Iranian scientists, and a U.S. rocket loudly oppose U.S. military threats. ☐ killed Iranian General Qassim Soleimani, Tell Biden: Stop bombing Syria! a leader respected for heading the fight Continued from page 1 out in his own fashion. against ISIS. The new Now the Biden-Blinken gang has fol- U.S. administration role of the Republican Party, with and lowed through on Blinken’s words. First has ordered more without Trump—​in carrying out an Biden ordered U.S. B-1 bombers to troops to Iraq and aggressive assault on the working class Norwegian air bases, threatening Russia. Syria, which threatens in the United States—​surely must see And on Feb. 25, Secretary of “Defense” Iran. that the Biden administration is also their Lloyd Austin announced that the U.S. Washington’s his- enemy. had bombed targets in Syria near the bor- tory of intervening in Biden has employed less hateful rhet- der with Iraq. Iran includes over- oric. His is a more inclusive administra- Antiwar forces inside the U.S. must turning Iran’s elected tion. But he serves the same superrich step up to meet this new threat from government in 1953 ruling class that presidents of both the Biden administration. It’s time to and placing Shah Reza parties have served throughout their measure the new president by his own Pahlavi in power. After history. actions, not by contrasting him with his the 1979 Iranian revo- This has been especially true regarding predecessor (who set a pretty low bar!). lution, the Tehran gov- foreign policy. After hearing Secretary It’s time to see him as a representative ernment retook control of State Anthony Blinken’s speeches, it of the billionaire ruling class, in all its of its oil. In the hope of was apparent that the new Democratic variations, and as such an enemy of the returning Iran to colo- administration planned a continuation working class. nial domination, the of the same aggressive policies that char- Emergency relief for the people of U.S. government has acterized the Bill Clinton, George W. Texas! No money for bombing Syria! instituted harsh sanc- Bush and Barack Obama administra- Pass the $15 minimum wage! ☐ tions during the pan- tions. And that Donald Trump carried demic, causing death Solidarity with Iran. Feb. 20, Denver. PHOTO: VIVIANA WEINSTEIN workers.org March 4, 2021 Page 11 COVID vaccines = big business, political clout By Manuel Raposo This is what leads, for example, the U.S., to a verita- accentuated. In poor countries an average of 16 weeks of ble hoarding of vaccines to the detriment of the rest of school was lost, while in rich countries 6 weeks were lost. Manuel Raposo is editor of jornalmudardevida.net the world—ultimately penaliz- Discrimination in vaccine in Portugal, where this article was published Feb. 14. ing poorer countries in particu- distribution is another aspect Translation by John Catalinotto. lar. Britain has done the same If anyone thought that of this war. So far, 94% of the with vaccines produced on its vaccines have been delivered to It has often been said that so-called “natural” disas- territory, undermining the vac- public funding would the wealthiest countries (with ters, including unforeseeable catastrophes, lay bare cination plans of the European about 20% of the world’s popu- the weaknesses of the societies they strike. The health, Union. defend the public lation), and 10 of those countries social and economic crisis the coronavirus triggered is The EU’s disregard for received 55%. an example of this. An aggravating factor is that it has Russian and Chinese vaccines is interest, they were The nearly 100 poorest coun- long been predicted that the spread of a virus similar in a clear result of a policy aimed tries, with 80% of the world’s character was likely to occur. at benefiting the pharmaceu- quickly disillusioned. population, should (according But this crisis has exposed another aspect of today’s tical companies of “Western to the COVAX plan for 2021) societies—​the cutthroat competition among the world’s allies.” But even this has not receive two billion doses of vac- major capitalist powers in the race for vaccines, both for prevented the EU—after hav- cines, via $5 billion in fund- the colossal profits flowing to pharmaceutical companies ing advanced millions of euros ing—​but only $2 billion has and for geostrategic advantages. to the pharmaceutical compa- been raised for this purpose. Under present circumstances, all the abuses of impe- nies—from being put on the Even if the plan were followed, rialist capitalism take on dimensions of inhumanity back burner, trailing the moves at most only 20% of the popu- and violence that normally are only found during open of Boris Johnson, Donald lation in these countries could warfare. Trump and now Joe Biden. expect to be vaccinated; while Since the outbreak of the health crisis, even in the The proven inability of the in self-funded countries, 50% of Capitalism weaponizes the COVID‑19 vaccines. countries considered to be the most developed, what major pharmaceutical compa- the population can be vaccinated has become clear is the inadequacy of public health sys- nies to produce the necessary in the near future. At the current tems (due to undervaluing and underfunding), as well as quantity of vaccine should logically lead them to decen- rate, in the best case it won’t be until 2024 that the pop- the inability of private health services to respond to the tralize production to different countries. But working ulations of the poorest countries can all expect to be vac- emergency. The political power’s neglect of public health against this good sense solution is the narrow interest cinated. (Diário de Notícias, Feb. 11) was evident in its disregard for the predictions that an of these companies to make as much profit as possi- epidemic outbreak was likely to occur. ble—which happens when they sell finished products ‘Vaccine diplomacy’ The last few months have added another novelty: and when the products are in short supply. The Economist magazine, for its part, confirms these unbridled competition over vaccines. Earlier, a con- The health emergency ought to justify the abolition of facts and adds some interesting statements. “Vaccine siderable number of countries agreed on a partnership patents and to encourage large-scale production, free of diplomacy” will determine which countries will have called COVAX, under the aegis of the World Health all fees, by all qualified laboratories in the world. But this access to vaccines in the coming months. Organization. Brimming with good intentions, COVAX does not happen because it clashes, once again, with the Production represents the biggest obstacle, “as many was supposed to support research and production of private interests of the pharmaceutical giants, centered developed countries have pre-ordered more doses than vaccines and then their distribution on an equal footing so far in two countries: the United States and Britain. they need.” The orders under the COVAX agreement will around the world. Despite these plans, competition took take time to reach poor countries, “especially if delays in over as soon as the first vaccines were discovered. Monstrous global inequities the production for and delivery to richer countries push The monstrous nature of all this gains even more rel- back delivery dates for poorer nations.” (Economist, Early cooperation aided Big Pharma evance in the face of data released by the Organization Jan. 27) The COVAX agreement was useful to the big capi- for Economic Cooperation and Development. It is impossible to hide these facts: The private inter- talist pharmaceutical companies, as it provided for the In 2020 in the poorest countries, an additional 100 ests of the pharmaceutical companies, chasing maximum exchange of scientific data that in turn accelerated the million people were relegated to a situation of extreme profit, converges with the interests of the major capi- design of vaccines. Gigantic government funding, made poverty. During 2021, the same will happen to another talist powers in managing the course of the pandemic with people’s tax money, helped the pharmaceuticals. 150 million. Some 270 million people have been pushed in the interest of achieving hegemony. The imperialist But any agreement or promise of equal treatment to the brink of starvation. (OECD, “Global Crisis, countries are using the vaccine shortage as a weapon became a dead letter once the vaccines became a reality: Unequal Problems”) to obtain advantages for themselves and in disputes The usual criterion—business as usual—prevailed. If While in the higher-income countries, social protec- between them. Under no circumstances would world anyone thought that public funding would defend the tion measures to cope with the pandemic amounted to capitalism soften its stance and grant poor countries public interest, they were quickly disillusioned. $695 per person, in the poorest countries only $4 per what it has so far never granted them: debt forgiveness, At the same time, the most powerful states are vying capita were allocated. bailout money or equal treatment—​because that is the for vaccines for a different reason: to ensure economic The rich countries have raised $14 trillion to support condition for keeping them dependent. supremacy over their competitors. Whichever national their economies, but have refused to forgive the debts All the capital that the imperialist world decides to state is quickest to shake off the pandemic and return of African countries, which amount to $100 billion, or apply in the fight against the pandemic goes through a to economic “normalcy” can hope to gain decisive 1/140th of the former amount. rigorous profit-and-loss calculation, like any business advantages. Inequalities with long-term effects are also investment. Whoever dies, dies. ☐

Digamosle a Biden: editorial ¡Deja de bombardear Siria!

La administración de Biden solo tardó 36 días en el Además de esto, el super congelamiento de Texas, caracterizaron a las administraciones de Bill Clinton, cargo para mostrar al mundo, a través de un bombardeo y de sus millones de trabajadores y personas pobres, George W. Bush y Barack Obama. Y que Donald Trump en Siria, que es beligerante, agresivo y empeñado en la ha puesto de manifiesto una vez más la desesperada llevó a cabo a su manera. guerra. Solo hubo un breve respiro de las viles palabras necesidad de reconstruir la infraestructura de Estados Ahora, la pandilla Biden-Blinken ha cumplido las y acciones de Trump. Ahora tenemos que enfrentar los Unidos. Sin mencionar la necesidad inmediata de ayuda palabras de Blinken. Primero Biden ordenó bom- viles actos de Biden y resistirlos. de emergencia. barderos B-1 estadounidenses a bases aéreas noruegas, Incluso la excusa que dio el imperialismo estadoun- Incluso aquellos que reconocen el papel podrido del amenazando a Rusia. Y el 25 de febrero, el secretario idense para bombardear a Siria fue débil. Un ataque con Partido Republicano, con y sin Trump, al llevar a cabo un de “Defensa” Lloyd Austin anunció que Estados Unidos cohetes hace algunas semanas mató a un mercenario en agresivo asalto a la clase trabajadora en Estados Unidos, había bombardeado objetivos en Siria cerca de la fron- Irak. Excusas como esa abren la puerta a nuevas guer- seguramente deben ver que la administración Biden tera con Irak. ras e intervenciones estadounidenses en todos los países también es su enemigo. Las fuerzas anti guerras dentro de los EE.UU. deben de Asia, África y América Latina, donde Washington ha Biden ha empleado una retórica menos odiosa. La dar un paso al frente para enfrentar esta nueva amenaza reemplazado a las tropas oficiales estadounidenses con suya es una administración más inclusiva. Pero sirve a de la administración Biden. Es hora de medir al nuevo soldados de fortuna. la misma clase gobernante super rica a la que han ser- presidente por sus propias acciones, no por contrastarlo Podría pensar que la administración de Biden tuvo vido los presidentes de ambos partidos a lo largo de su con su predecesor (¡quien puso un listón bastante bajo!). suficientes problemas en casa para mantenerla ocu- historia. Es hora de verlo como un representante de la clase dom- pada. La pandemia de COVID‑19 aún continúa a pesar Esto ha sido especialmente cierto con respecto a la inante multimillonaria, en todas sus variantes, y como de las vacunas, cuya distribución ha sido una vergüenza. política exterior. Después de escuchar los discursos del un enemigo de la clase trabajadora. El Congreso liderado por los demócratas, que aún no secretario de Estado Anthony Blinken, fue evidente ¡Ayuda de emergencia para la gente de Texas! ha aprobado el proyecto de ley de ayuda pandémica, ya que la nueva administración demócrata planeaba una ¡No más dinero para bombardear a Siria! abandonó el salario mínimo de $15 por hora. continuación de las mismas políticas agresivas que ¡Que pasen el salario mínimo de $15! ☐ Correspondencia sobre artículos en Workers World/Mundo Obrero pueden ser enviadas a: [email protected]

El horizonte de Houston brilla, mientras millones ¡Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los paises unios! workers.org Vol. 63 Núm. 9 4 de marzo 2021 $1 sufren sin calefacción ni agua en medio de cortes de energía prevenibles. 15 de febrero. Congelación de Texas Los ricos, más ricos mientras obreros sufren Por Mirinda Crissman es administrada por una agencia del mismo nombre: el primera vez las Islas Vírgenes de EE. UU.) en la Florida. Houston Consejo de Confiabilidad Eléctrica de Texas. La diferencia en la respuesta fue palpable. Aunque los Según informó el Texas Tribune, el 8 de febrero de puertorriqueños tenían muchas más probabilidades de Una tormenta invernal sin precedentes azotó a Texas 2011: “En 1935, el presidente Franklin D. Roosevelt firmó morir por los daños causados por la tormenta, vieron el 15 de febrero y trajo temperaturas bajo cero. Una la Ley Federal de Energía, que encargaba a la Comisión menos personal federal, notablemente menos cober- semana después, grandes sectores de la población siguen Federal de Energía la supervisión de las ventas de electri- tura de los medios y solo una fracción de las donaciones sin electricidad, calefacción y/o agua. cidad entre estados. Al no cruzar las fronteras estatales, caritativas”. (Immerwahr, “Cómo ocultar un imperio”, En las principales ciudades, como Houston, Austin y los servicios públicos de Texas evitaron estar sujetos a Macmillan, 2019) San Antonio, los rascacielos corporativos vacíos perma- las reglas federales. La libertad de la regulación federal El huracán Katrina mostró que el estado capita- necieron iluminados, mientras que millones estaban en era un objetivo preciado, más aún porque Texas no tuvo lista desprecia a las personas de nacionalidades opri- la oscuridad sin electricidad ni agua. regulación hasta la década de 1970”. midas, especialmente a las personas de raza negra y Fue necesaria la protesta pública para hacer que los El gobernador de Texas, Gregg Abbott, difundió afir- morena. Muchos evacuados de Katrina terminaron en funcionarios apagaran los edificios que no estaban en uso maciones falsas en Fox News de que las fuentes de ener- el Astrodome de Houston, enfrentando enfermedades y desviaran energía a hospitales y bomberos. gía renovable como el viento eran las culpables; más infecciosas por estar muy apiñados. Vimos que el aban- Las personas en Texas no solo están luchando por tarde tuvo que cambiar esas afirmaciones falsas. (Yahoo dono organizado iba de la mano con la violencia organi- recuperarse de esta congelación, sino también de hura- News, 17 de febrero) Las mentiras de Abbott aún viven zada de la policía y los supremacistas blancos, mientras canes e inundaciones anteriores causadas por el calen- en la mente de millones, a pesar de la evidencia de que que los medios de comunicación lo justificaron al denun- tamiento global que produce precipitaciones extremas a fueron las fuentes de energía no renovables y la desregu- ciar en exceso el “saqueo”. todas las temperaturas. Esto se ve agravado por la crisis lación las culpables del apagón. Las personas encarceladas no fueron evacuadas; se de COVID en uno de los mayores sistemas interconecta- El director general de ERCOT, Dan Woodfin, citó “ins- vieron obligados a lidiar con células inundadas y materia dos de prisiones, cárceles y centros de detención; Texas trumentos congelados en instalaciones de gas natural, fecal flotante sin alivio. Existe una práctica recurrente en ocupa el segundo lugar después de California. carbón e incluso nucleares, así como suministros limi- todo el sur de EE.UU. de dejar a las personas en prisión Muchas personas se han congelado hasta morir, y es tados de gas natural. La presión del gas natural en par- durante los desastres. Las prisiones de Texas alrededor probable que las muertes no se cuenten exactamente ya ticular es una de las razones por las que la energía está del río Brazos se inundan con frecuencia; los de adentro que se encontrarán más cuerpos después del deshielo. regresando más lento de lo esperado.” (Bloomberg, 15 deben lidiar con las condiciones. El Texas Tribune informó el 18 de febrero que casi la de febrero) Chris Tomlinson informó para el Houston mitad del estado estaba experimentando interrupciones Chronicle el 18 de febrero: “Los generadores de electrici- El capitalismo crea catástrofes antinaturales en el agua. Y a esto se le agrega avisos de hervir el agua, dad de Texas no querían perder el tiempo para construir Las redes de ayuda mutua en Texas estaban en movi- cuando muchas familias no pudieron acceder a la cale- equipos resistentes porque recortan sus ganancias”. miento mucho antes de que esta crisis congelara el facción, y comprenderás lo difícil que ha sido sobrevivir. Las crisis agravantes del capital en Texas ilustran que estado. Estas redes pueden redistribuir fondos y sumi- Después de meses de alto desempleo, desalojos récord organizar las economías en torno a las ganancias para nistros más rápido que los gobiernos locales y estatales, y 500.000 muertes por virus, tenemos un sector ener- unos pocos, en lugar de lo que es necesario para susten- aunque muchos grupos están operando a su capacidad o gético desregulado que obtiene beneficios récord de tar la vida humana, se produce a costa violenta de los por encima de ella. Mantienen a la gente viva, mientras nuestra miseria. El multimillonario propietario de los pueblos oprimidos. que el estado capitalista ha dejado que la gente muera. Dallas Cowboys y destacado benefactor de la policía, Todo lo que le falta al gobierno es la voluntad de actuar Jerry Jones vio a su compañía de gas natural, Comstock Clima, sanciones y colonización rápidamente, porque su función real es la de obtener Resources, Inc., obtener ganancias récord. Los estantes de comestibles vacíos durante la conge- ganancias. El director financiero de Comstock, Roland Burns, lación se compararon con la situación en Venezuela. No En Cuba, donde la clase trabajadora se apoderó con dijo: “Esta semana es como ganar el premio gordo con se menciona que hasta 40.000 venezolanos han muerto éxito de los medios de producción en 1959, la respuesta a algunos de estos precios increíbles. Francamente, pudi- porque es uno de los 39 países sancionados por Estados eventos climáticos como los huracanes está marcada por mos vender a precios súper premium por una cantidad Unidos, lo que hace que sea casi imposible para muchos la preparación y la prevención del sufrimiento. importante de producción”. (Dallas Morning News, acceder a alimentos y medicinas. (SanctionsKill.org) Las Según Gail Reed, editora ejecutiva de MEDICC Review, 17 de febrero) Mientras tanto, algunos tejanos están mismas entidades que matan de hambre a personas en el una revista sobre salud y medicina en América Latina, el reportando facturas de electricidad mensuales de hasta extranjero están dispuestas a dejarnos morir de hambre Caribe y otros países en desarrollo, y periodista que ha $17.000. (NY Post, 19 de febrero) en casa. pasado más de tres décadas en Cuba, el gobierno cubano Mientras la gente sufría, el senador de Texas Ted Cruz Los factores combinados de opresión nacional y crisis brinda a las comunidades locales siete días para prepa- huyó a Cancún, México, para brindarle a su familia mejo- climática produjeron los catastróficos desastres de los rarse para lo peor a medida que se acerca un huracán. res condiciones de vida. Esto, dadas sus fuertes posicio- huracanes María en Puerto Rico y Katrina en Luisiana. Los cubanos practican ejercicios de preparación a nes anti-inmigrantes y acciones legislativas, es irónico El académico Daniel Immerwahr explica: “[A fines de menudo, en cada provincia, ciudad, pueblo y aldea. por decir lo menos. También es irónico que la demócrata 2017] el huracán María azotó a Puerto Rico, destruyendo “Estos simulacros constantes se combinan con una res- Nancy Pelosi dijera en septiembre sobre el partido de la red eléctrica, el sistema de agua y las comunicaciones puesta integrada de los departamentos de bomberos Cruz: “El país necesita un Partido Republicano fuerte. de la isla. También expuso el lamentable estado de cosas locales, salud, transporte y otros servicios públicos vita- Ha hecho mucho por nuestro país”. (MSNBC, 30 de sep- en la colonia restante más grande de los Estados Unidos. les. Sobre todo, Cuba pone un gran énfasis en educar a tiembre de 2020) Aunque la estrategia de Luis Muñoz Marín de utilizar las la población para mantener seguras a las comunidades y lagunas fiscales para atraer a las corporaciones continen- familias, especialmente a las más vulnerables”. (Telesur, Por qué falló la red eléctrica de Texas tales a la isla había mejorado drásticamente la economía 28 de agosto de 2017) En un estado que durante mucho tiempo ha sido de Puerto Rico en la década de 1950 y durante décadas Cuba, a pesar de estar bajo el bloqueo económico de rehén del petróleo y el gas, las redes eléctricas fallaron después, el Congreso eliminó esas lagunas en la década Estados Unidos durante décadas, se ofreció a enviar a debido a la falta de regulación. Las inclinaciones sece- de 1990, lo que provocó la fuga corporativa, el colapso 1.500 profesionales médicos para ayudar a la gente de sionistas de Texas tienen al menos una salida moderna: económico y un éxodo de Puertorriqueños empleable Nueva Orleans tras el paso del huracán Katrina. El ex la red eléctrica. Hay tres redes en los 48 estados infe- hacia al continente. presidente George W. Bush rápidamente rechazó la riores: la Interconexión Oriental, la Interconexión “Cuando María golpeó, más del 60% de los habitantes oferta, dejando que la gente sufriera. Occidental y Texas. La red de Texas se llama ERCOT y restantes de la isla tenían Medicare o Medicaid. Debido Continuaremos viendo el abandono organizado de tra- a que el gobierno federal financia esos programas de bajadores y pueblos oprimidos en futuras crisis. Dado El capitalismo en un callejón sin salida manera menos generosa en Puerto Rico que en el conti- que el año pasado produjo la mayor cantidad de tormen- nente, el ELA se encontró acumulando una deuda insos- tas tropicales registradas en una sola temporada, en la Fred Goldstein utiliza las leyes tenible para pagar sus facturas. Costa del Golfo sabemos que no se trata de si, sino de de la acumulación capitalista “El huracán convirtió la crisis en catástrofe. Los puer- cuándo ocurre el próximo desastre climático catastrófico. de Marx, y la tasa decreciente torriqueños se vieron obligados a retroceder un siglo Tanto el partido demócrata como el republicano en de ganancia, para demostrar porque se las arreglaron sin teléfonos ni electricidad. Estados Unidos son servidores del capital. Una y otra por qué el capitalismo global ha Los médicos se vieron obligados a realizar cirugías con vez han demostrado que nos dejarán a nosotros y al Sur llegado finalmente a un punto linternas, los habitantes de la ciudad buscaban desespe- Global por muertos, para que los capitalistas puedan per- de inflexión. radamente agua limpia. seguir otro dólar. Por eso estamos llamados a enfrentar “El huracán María golpeó casi al mismo tiempo que su violencia organizada de arriba hacia abajo con una Para mas informacion: otras dos tormentas azotaron el continente, el hura- organización de abajo hacia arriba que prioriza a las per- LowWageCapitalism.com cán Harvey en Texas y el huracán Irma (que azotó por sonas sobre las ganancias. ☐