EUA: terrorismo contra inmigrantes • ¡Pablo vive! 12

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 60, No. 22 May 31, 2018 $1 From Texas to Ireland defend Women’s lives & liberation! U.S. accelerates Ireland: Women win landslide war on migrants vote for reproductive justice

By Chris Fry By Kathleen Durkin

Claudia Patricia Gómez Gonzáles, an unarmed Joyous celebrations are taking place woman from Guatemala, was shot in the head and throughout Ireland as women cheer a killed on May 23 by Customs Border Police in Rio historic victory in the 35-year struggle Bravo, Texas. She was 20 years old. for their basic human rights and repro- Al Jazeera news noted: “González was an Indige- ductive choice. A long, hard fight by the nous Maya-Mam woman who had graduated from a women’s movement won a landslide vote forensic accounting program in 2016. Her family said on the May 25 referendum that repealed she was going to the U.S. to find work as they did not the anti-abortion Eighth Amendment to have enough money for her to continue her studies.” the Irish Constitution. (May 26) Orla O’Connor, co-director of Together Karina Alvarez, the founder of Laredo Immigrant for Yes, the umbrella group comprising Alliance, told Al Jazeera that Trump’s rhetoric on mi- Dr. Savita Halappanavar, a member of the over 70 organizations and communities Indian community in Ireland, died after grants had emboldened agents in border towns: “He that carried out this struggle, called it being denied an abortion in a medical was describing us the other day as animals and look “a monumental day for women in Ire- emergency in 2012. now, they shoot us like animals.” land.” She said the vote was “a rejection The U.S. has stepped up a campaign of terror of an Ireland that treats women as sec- She especially acknowledged the work against im/migrant workers and refugees fleeing the ond-class citizens,” reported the May 26 of “migrants who did not have a vote and U.S-spawned violence in their home countries. Guardian newspaper. who were disproportionately affected by The current campaign is spearheaded by President Linda Kavanaugh, organizer of the the Eighth [Amendment], as well as the Trump, his arch-racist Attorney General Jeff Ses- Claudia Patricia Gómez Abortion Rights Campaign, a co-lead- many trans and non-binary people af- González, a Maya-Mam sions, his Chief of Staff John Kelly and his bigoted presi- er of Together for Yes, said the votes for fected.” (abortionrightscampaign.ie) woman from Guatemala, dential coterie. The new policies are designed, by intimi- this “definitive mandate” outnumbered The migrant groups that joined this killed by the U.S. Customs dation and terror, to prevent those facing repression and the votes for inserting the amendment in movement included Migrants and Ethnic Border Police in Rio Bravo, murder in their homelands from traveling to the U.S. to 1983. Grassroots, community-led orga- Minorities for Reproductive Justice, the Texas, on May 23. Continued on page 6 nizing was key to the long-awaited victo- Immigrant Council of Ireland, the Irish ry, she stressed. Continued on page 7 Radical Black woman activist — for mayor 9 Thank you, comrade Karl 2 WW PHOTO: BRENDA RYAN Walt Disney’s SCOTUS rules evil kingdom 4 for bosses — again 5

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Introductory remarks given at the event “Marx@200: Class Struggle in the MARX@200 Age of Trump,” hosted by Workers World Party, on May 6 in . Karl Marx & the working-class

 In the U.S. struggle today U.S. accelerates war on migrants ...... 1 Ireland: Women win vote for reproductive justice . . . 1 By Greg Butterfield Karl Marx and the working-class struggle today . . . . 2 Minneapolis: Another city votes for Cuba ...... 3 Welcome to this very special celebration of the 200th birth- Poor People’s Campaign: ‘We shall not be moved’ . . . 3 day of Karl Marx, the founder of scientific socialism, who was From Buffalo, ‘Palestine will be free!’ ...... 3 not only a brilliant thinker, but a revolutionary communist. Twenty years ago, the ruling class cheered for the “end of New York City support for Palestine ...... 3 history.” They said Marxism was finally dead and buried. Their Workers challenge Walt Disney’s evil kingdom . . . . . 4 long nightmare was over. It would all be smooth sailing and big Supreme Court ‘justice’ is theft from workers ...... 5 profits from now on. Anti-war GIs at Midwest conference ...... 5 But here we are in 2018, on the 200th anniversary of Karl Marx’s birth. In the U.S. and much of the world, interest in Marx- Trump attacks low-income women and workers . . . . 6 ism is greater than it has been in decades! Capitalism’s tempo- The opioid crisis, Part 2 ...... 8 Greg Butterfield rary stabilization, based on the destruction of the Soviet Union Oakland, Calif.: Black woman activist runs for mayor . . 9 and the scientific-technological revolution, is coming to an end. WW PHOTO: BRENDA RYAN Today the world working class is bigger than ever be- In 1986 we published the groundbreaking book “High  Around the world fore. Imperialist globalization has destroyed the stable, Tech, Low Pay” by Workers World Party founder Sam WW Commentary: Revolt in education ...... 4 high-paying jobs that gave the Western powers a degree Marcy, and 10 years ago a further development of this Europe protests:: ‘Cancel orchestra tour to Israel!’ . . . . 10 of social peace. Capitalism offers no security, no future, analysis for the Internet age, “Low-Wage Capitalism” by France: Energy workers take ‘Robin Hood’ actions . . . 11 for youth in the Western countries or anywhere else. As Fred Goldstein. Both books have been read by Marxists a result, the revolutionary left (and the broader left) is around the world. Against the continued occupation of Iraq ...... 11 growing rapidly, giving new life to Marx’s ideas. In that spirit, today we want to open up a discussion Anti-imperialists in India support Palestine ...... 11 The working class is a dynamic class that is constantly among the new generation of young activists and veter-  Editorial changing. It’s different today than it was in Marx’s time, an fighters about who the working class is today, what its in Lenin’s time or during the great class battles of the biggest problems are, and what is the best way to reach it Why we defend Korea ...... 10 1930s. It’s different than it was 20 years ago or last year. with a Marxist-Leninist perspective.  Noticias en Español It’s becoming more international, more diverse, driven As communists in the U.S., where imperialism grew up by poverty and war across borders in search of work and on the labor of enslaved African people and the theft of Mujeres en peligro: Campaña de terror safety, driven by environmental catastrophe and mass Indigenous lands, we try to keep this statement by Marx, contra trabajadoras/es inmigrantes ...... 12 incarceration in the fight for its very survival. from the first volume of “Capital,” always in mind: “Labor ¡Pablo vive! ¡Muerte a la economía ‘gig’! ...... 12 Yet today’s working class faces the same fundamental in the white skin can never free itself as long as labor in problem of capitalism that Marx exposed long ago: the the Black skin is branded.” contradiction between social labor and private owner- In the era of ’s undisguised white su- ship for profit. premacy and the resurgence of neo-fascist movements in Workers World Party has been working for decades the U.S. and Western Europe, the struggle against racism to orient the movement to the changing character of the and for solidarity among all workers is key to advancing working class: more oppressed nationalities, more wom- the struggle for socialism. Workers World en, more LBGTQ people, migrants, prisoners. We put So we say thank you, Comrade Karl, for your contribu- 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl. forward the need for new tactics and new strategies for tions to human liberation, which have stood the test of New York, NY 10011 organizing and fighting back. time. The struggle is long, but victory is certain! Phone: 212.627.2994 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.workers.org Vol. 60, No. 22 • May 31, 2018 Join us in the fight Closing date: May 29, 2018 Editor: Deirdre Griswold for socialism! Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, Kris Balderas Hamel, Monica Moorehead, Workers World Party is a revolutionary Marxist-­ Wages are lower than ever, and youth are saddled with Minnie Bruce Pratt; Web Editor Gary Wilson Leninist party inside the belly of the imperialist beast. seemingly insurmountable student debt, if they even make Production & Design Editors: Coordinator Lal Roohk; We are a multinational, multigenerational and multigen- it to college. Black and Brown youth and trans people are Andy Katz, Cheryl LaBash dered organization that not only aims to abolish capital- gunned down by cops and bigots on a regular basis. Copyediting and Proofreading: Sue Davis, ism, but to build a socialist society because it’s the only WWP fights for socialism because the working class Bob McCubbin, Jeff Sorel way forward! produces all wealth in society, and this wealth should re- Contributing Editors: Abayomi Azikiwe, Capitalism and imperialism threaten the peoples of main in their hands, not be stolen in the form of capital- Greg Butterfield, G. Dunkel, K. Durkin, the world and the planet itself in the never-ending quest ist profits. The wealth workers create should be socially Fred Goldstein, Martha Grevatt, Teresa Gutierrez, for ever-greater profits. Capitalism means war and aus- owned and its distribution planned to satisfy and guar- Berta Joubert-Ceci, Terri Kay, Cheryl LaBash, terity, racism and repression, joblessness and lack of antee basic human needs. John Parker, Bryan G. Pfeifer, hope for the future. No social problems can be solved Since 1959, Workers World Party has been out in the Betsey Piette, Gloria Rubac under capitalism. streets defending the workers and oppressed here and Mundo Obero: Redactora Berta Joubert-Ceci; The U.S. is the richest country in the world, yet no one worldwide. If you’re interested in Marxism, socialism Andrea Bañuelos, Alberto García, Teresa Gutierrez, has a guaranteed right to shelter, food, water, health care, and fighting for a socialist future, please contact a WWP Carlos Vargas education or anything else — unless they can pay for it. branch near you. Supporter Program: Coordinator Sue Davis Contact a Workers World Party branch near you: workers.org/wwp Copyright © 2018 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium National Office Detroit Los Angeles Rockford, Ill. without royalty provided this notice is preserved. 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl. 284 Amory St. 5920 Second Ave. 5278 W Pico Blvd. [email protected] Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly New York, NY 10011 Boston, MA 02130 Detroit, MI 48202 Los Angeles, CA 90019 Salt Lake City except the first week of January by WW Publishers, 212.627.2994 617.286.6574 313.459.0777 [email protected] 801.750.0248 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10011. Phone: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 323.306.6240 [email protected] 212.627.2994. Subscriptions: One year: $30; institu- Atlanta Buffalo, N.Y. Durham, N.C. Milwaukee San Antonio, Texas tions: $35. Letters to the editor may be condensed and PO Box 18123 335 Richmond Ave. 804 Old Fayetteville St. [email protected] SanAntonioWWP@ edited. Articles can be freely reprinted, with credit to Atlanta, GA 30316 Buffalo, NY 14222 workers.org Workers World, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY 404.627.0185 716.883.2534 Durham, NC 27701 Philadelphia San Diego 10011. Back issues and individual articles are available [email protected] [email protected] 919.322.9970 P.O. Box 34249 [email protected] Philadelphia, PA 19101 P.O. Box 33447 on microfilm and/or photocopy from NA Publishing, Baltimore Chicago San Diego, CA 92163 610.931.2615 Inc, P.O. Box 998, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-0998. A c/o Solidarity Center 312.630.2305 Houston [email protected] 2011 N. Charles St. [email protected] P.O. Box 3454 [email protected] searchable archive is ­available on the Web at Baltimore, MD 21218 Tucson, Ariz. www.workers.org. Cleveland Houston, TX 77253-3454 Pittsburgh [email protected] 443.221.3775 P.O. Box 5963 713.503.2633 [email protected] A headline digest is available via e-mail subscription. 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Minneapolis Another city votes for Cuba

By Cheryl LaBash bassy in Havana” and restore sembly annually votes against the unilat- the diplomatic staff expelled eral U.S. economic strangulation, most Minneapolis is now the from the Cuban Embassy in recently by 191 to 2 with only the U.S. and eighth U.S. city to call for Washington, D.C. Israel defending the blockade. ending the U.S. blockade Although the U.S. formal- From May 8-20, Cuban artists partic- of Cuba. The City Coun- ly maintains an embassy in ipated in the two-week “Artes de Cuba: cil unanimously voted on Havana, which was rees- From the Island to the World” festival held May 25 to build “a new co- tablished in 2015, staff re- in Washington, D.C. This celebration of Andrea Jenkins operative relationship be- ductions made permanent Cuban music, film, visual art, culture and tween the U.S. and Cuba on March 2 have turned the dance has been extended through June 3. laboration with Cuban universities, in- and to immediately end building into a shell, unable How will other such artists now be able to cluding exchange programs. It recently all aspects of the U.S. eco- to process visas for Cubans wow U.S. audiences without visas? welcomed the Rev. Joel Ortega Dopico, nomic, commercial and wanting to visit or migrate In Cuba, art and sports are human executive director of the Cuban Council financial embargo against to the U.S. At the same time, rights along with health care and ed- of Churches, who also visited Detroit and Cuba including all restric- the U.S. ordered 17 Cuban ucation. The Trump administration is Washington, D.C. Dopico met with City tions on travel to Cuba.” diplomats to leave the U.S., trying to administratively choke off peo- Councilmember Andrea Jenkins during The Minnesota Cuba Committee or- targeting staff who work to develop the ple-to-people “points of contact” between his visit to Minneapolis. ganized support for this resolution. Its blockade-limited commercial relations Cuba and the U.S. Recently inaugurated The following cities have also passed primary author was City Councilmember between U.S. entities and Cuba. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said resolutions calling for ending the cruel Andrea Jenkins. According to her city An essential part of regime change that the two countries can still build U.S. blockade of Cuba, its much small- biography, Jenkins is “a writer, perfor- plots hatched in the U.S. State Depart- bridges. He told the artists: “I don’t be- er island neighbor: in California, Rich- mance artist, poet and transgender ac- ment is to block the truth about Cuba’s lieve that the current position will be mond, Berkeley, Oakland and Sacramen- tivist. She is the first African American socialist revolution from reaching the eternal, and things like what you have to; Brookline, Mass.; Hartford, Conn.; openly trans woman to be elected to of- general U.S. population. But polls show accomplished in Washington … can open and Helena, Mont. In 2016 the California fice in the United States.” that the Trump administration’s hostile the way.” (tinyurl.com/yckoqoz7) Federation of Labor passed a strong reso- Minneapolis also called on the Trump Cuba policy is out of step with popular The Minnesota Cuba Committee also lution against the blockade. administration to “reestablish the diplo- sentiment in the U.S. as well as across the sponsors an annual Cuban film festival Read the Minnesota resolution at matic staff withdrawn from the U.S. Em- globe. The United Nations General As- and has developed long-standing col- tinyurl.com/y8uptypd. Poor People’s Campaign: ‘We shall not be moved’ By Anne Pruden bis and Muslim leaders, along with an Albany, N.Y. organized group of unemployed Brook- lyn workers, students, retirees, anti-war The second week of the Poor Peo- vets, members of Jewish Voice for Peace, ple’s Campaign found several hundreds parents with kids and revolutionaries. gathered here on May 21 in the capital The contingent marched silently for of New York state for protest and civil a mile to the Capitol building. During ­disobedience. the march, Puerto Rican PPC volunteer Launched on May 14, the campaign Taina Asili gave a passionate speech on is holding themed protests on Mondays the struggles of her island and the U.S. throughout the U.S. against systemic government’s continuing oppression. She racism, poverty, the war economy and connected this to the campaign’s themes WW PHOTO: ANNE PRUDEN environmental devastation. These pro- of fighting systemic racism and poverty tests will end on June 23. The campaign and winning justice for immigrants. in volunteers. Later protesters learned testers toward home, including back to a is inspired by the original Poor People’s When the march reached the Capitol, of police brutality against the Rev. Peter Harlem church, PPC attorneys remained Campaign called by the Rev. Dr. Martin PPC volunteers proceeded with a sit-in Heltzel who was framed on charges of at the ready to defend arrestees. Luther King Jr. in December 1967, a few at the doors of the building to drama- resisting arrest and disorderly conduct The day spoke eloquently of the need for months before his assassination. tize their demand that legislators take while suffering a head injury after being a nationwide united movement and strug- This week’s theme was “Against sys- immediate steps to confront racism, attacked by a cop. As buses rolled pro- gle for justice on these crucial issues. temic racism and poverty: voting rights, poverty, war and ecological devastation. ending mass incarceration and justice Others in the contingent sang the Civil for immigrants.” Rights Movement song, “We Will Not Be ‘Palestine will be free!’ Organizing out of a bilingual work- Moved,” in solidarity. ing-class church here, this multinational The campaign’s call for a “moral reviv- PPC gathering included ministers, rab- al” intensified with the arrests of 27 sit- Buffalo Support for Palestine New York City

Chanting “From the river to the sea, solidarity with Palestinian protesters in PHOTO: JOE CATRON Palestine will be free!” and “Israel, Isra- Gaza. They brought the demand that the Hundreds of demonstrators rallied in of al-Nakba, the genocidal attack on Pal- el, you shall learn, by the millions we’ll U.S. end all money to the racist, terrorist New York City’s Times Square on May 18. estinians by Israel in 1948 and to support return!” a strong and determined march state of Israel and that all “border” walls They marched to the Consulate General the Great March of Return by Palestin- by Palestinian youth came to downtown must be torn down. of Israel to protest the 70th anniversary ians in the Gaza Strip. Buffalo on Friday evening, May 25, in — Report and photo by Ellie Dorritie Page 4 May 31, 2018 workers.org Workers challenge Walt Disney’s evil kingdom

By Mike Kuhlenbeck conditions on employment we had bar- gained for over the last 45 years. They’re May 27 — The Walt Disney Company basically wiping out 45 years of prog- is an entertainment conglomerate with ress.” (May 2) famous amusement parks and resorts, According to Cohen, both Disneyland including Disneyland (Anaheim, Calif.) and Disney World have “seen a similar and Disney World (Bay Lake and Lake coalition formed between most of the Buena Vista, Fla.). While these locations unions at the respective resorts, and are touted by the company as “the hap- we have been working closely together. piest place on earth,” this slogan is chal- Many of our issues are nearly the same. lenged by workers struggling to make The goal in both resorts is to stop the ends meet. poverty at Disneyland and Disney World. As reported in the “Corporate Rap Wages need to go up. Disney can afford to Sheet” compiled by the Corporate Re- pay all its workers a living wage.” search Project, Disney “has a history of Disney CEO and Chairman Robert Iger anti-union animus going back to its ear- has continued to apply the anti-worker ly years, has also faced criticism over convictions of company founder Walt its U.S. labor practices and has recently Disney. “Uncle Walt,” as he is known in emerged as one of the leading corporate company lore, had a history of anti-Sem- opponents of the campaign to enact paid itism, racism and labor abuse. He was sick days laws.” (www.corp-research. Anaheim, Calif. also an enemy of unions. According to org/disney) prised of 11 unions in various stages of been worse. Like so many places, workers Marc Eliot, author of “Walt Disney: Hol- A survey published in February titled negotiating contracts on behalf of Disne- are being squeezed by a rich company, lywood’s Dark Prince,” “Disney discov- “Working for the Mouse” (referring to the yland workers. One of the largest unions and the entire city of Anaheim reflects it.” ered how the passions and power of po- company’s iconic mascot Mickey Mouse) in this coalition is UNITE HERE Local A similar fight has been raging at litical activism could be used as weapons describes the daily struggles facing 11, which represents nearly 5,000 food Disney World, which has over 62,000 for personal gain.” roughly 30,000 Disneyland workers. Ac- service and hotel workers, with 2,700 employees. The company agreed to a In addition to continuing to orga- cording to the survey, 85 percent of Disn- currently in bargaining. minimum wage of $15 an hour for union nize and push for a fair contract, Disney eyland’s hourly employees do not make a Local 11 Press Secretary Andrew Co- workers by 2021 and to $1,000 bonuses unions also will be advocating for the living wage of $15 an hour. Many workers hen was a hotel worker during the last that had been withheld by the company Anaheim Living Wage initiative that may cannot afford such basic needs as food, labor dispute with Disney, which in- from Service Trades Council Union work- be on the ballot in November. As report- shelter and affordable health care. volved negotiations from 2008 to 2012. ers during contract negotiations. But Dis- ed by the Orange County Register, “The Another disturbing finding is that 11 He joined the union in 2009 and two ney’s proposal includes the dropping of measure proposes to raise the minimum percent of Disneyland workers are either years later helped organize union drives “key union protections” involving griev- wage for those businesses to $15 an hour homeless or have been homeless in the at restaurants and hotels in Hollywood. ance procedures, holiday pay, overtime next year, then rising in $1 increments last few years. In addition, 56 percent He joined the Disneyland campaign last and scheduling. annually, reaching $18 an hour by 2022.” of employees “are worried about being October. Food and Commercial Workers Local (May 1) evicted from their homes or apartments.” Cohen told Workers World: “The com- 1625 President Ed Chambers told the Or- “It’s ongoing,” Cohen said. “There is The survey was underwritten by the pany is making record profits, but condi- lando Weekly: “Almost every one of those hope and workers are still asking Disney Coalition of Resort Labor Unions, com- tions for Disneyland’s workers have never proposals was taking back benefits or to do the right thing.”

WW Commentary: Revolt in education

By Christian Noakes simply not true. Public education bud- gets remain constricted below 2008 lev- Labor organizing has been explosive in els. Teachers and other education work- the U.S. in 2018. Much of the militancy ers are some of the lowest paid workers and organized rank-and-file opposition to in the U.S. High tuition makes education ever-increasing austerity have come from an increasingly inaccessible realm for education workers — public school teach- working-class college students. At the ers in West Virginia, Kentucky, Okla- same time, military spending increases homa and #RedForEd Colorado; school and tax cuts are put in place to benefit bus drivers in California, New York and the wealthy. Georgia; striking workers throughout the The struggle of education workers aris- University of California system; graduate es from necessity — as it does for all work- students on strike at Columbia Universi- ing and oppressed people — in the face of Student protest in Mexico, 1968. ty; and worker-student solidarity at the stagnant wages and relentless attacks on occupied New School cafeteria. benefits and the right to organize. At the same time, teachers and stu- Meanwhile, students are not limiting ternational student revolt against impe- commitment necessary. dents in have been battling in themselves to their own immediate in- rialism and oppression. Today’s struggles are taking place at the streets against U.S. economic coloni- terests. In New York City, students at the On Feb. 8, 1968, at South Carolina some of the same crossroads as 50 years zation of public education on their island. New School occupied the university caf- State University, a group of 200 Black ago. The question remains whether edu- Such developments are particularly eteria in solidarity with workers threat- students and community members pro- cation will continue to reinforce the rela- significant because labor organizing has ened with job loss. Expressing unity and testing segregation were fired on by the tions of power or instead be transformed been so consistently attacked through mutual recognition for human dignity, state’s Highway Patrol. The state’s kill- into a means of liberation. legislation and widespread demonization the students marched on May 1, chant- ing of three people and injuring of 27 at The victory of the people, as was the of unions. Organized labor has also been ing, “All of us or none of us.” this historically Black college (HBCU) case in 1968, requires that we overcome internally undermined due to divisions The students embodied the power that became known as the Orangeburg Mas- the divisions that facilitate exploitation. that have historically enabled racism, stems from awareness that they cannot sacre. On Oct. 2 in Mexico City, the re- The recent battles to defend public sexism, gender-baiting, scapegoating fully liberate themselves while others pressive Díaz Ordaz regime carried out schools and universities are perhaps and pitting of groups against one another are held in bondage. This is what Marx a horrendous assault on student demon- most inspiring because they bridge divi- by the ruling class. and Engels had in mind when they pro- strations, the Tlatelolco Massacre, with sions between intellectual and physical The massive wave of unrest and revolt claimed that “the free development of conservative estimates of the death toll in labor, as well as between students and in education does not come out of no- each is the condition for the free devel- the hundreds. Two years later came state workers. The collective resolve of the ed- where. Workers are responding to neolib- opment of all.” murders of students at Jackson State ucation workers, students, parents and eral policies and practices that stuff the In 1968 a similar fervor gripped stu- University in Mississippi, also an HBCU, communities is a testament to the poten- pockets of the wealthy while attacking dents in universities around the world. and Kent State University in Ohio. tial power of the working class. both workers and students with cutbacks From the strike to demand an Ethnic These massacres highlight the ruling The question remains whether work- in wages and programs for the common Studies program at San Francisco State classes’ extreme fear of both organized ers in more industries and locations will good. This is misery for the masses and University to the upsurge of May-June in revolt and the uncompromising resolve follow their lead and help impel labor or- opulence for the ruling elite. France, students were central to a revolu- of students to participate in creating a ganizing to come back stronger and with Corporate media language implies cut- tionary shift in consciousness. These and better world. a better understanding and commitment backs are a shared burden of increased other student rebellions were grounded The violently repressive nature of cap- to solidarity forged through mutual austerity and privatization. But this is in both immediate conditions and the in- italism makes both unity and selfless struggle. workers.org May 31, 2018 Page 5

Supreme Court ‘justice’ is theft from workers

By G. Dunkel a year. they complained to the wage-and-hours extra time at the end of the day. But it Can you imagine the outcry in the bour- office in New Jersey, they were told that, does keep staff from being called in over A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision geois press if low-wage workers each reg- for such a small claim (around $100,000 the weekend without compensation and that allows companies to replace collec- ularly stole $2,500 from their employers? a year), they were better off getting their it is a positive step in protecting the staff. tive lawsuits with individual arbitration There is another way of looking at own lawyer. This reporter quit before a Even though union representation is going to make wage and time theft wage theft. You can compare it to crimes lawyer was found. may not fully solve worker grievances, from workers more likely. The May 21 generally lumped under the category But after the recent Supreme Court union struggle, especially with worker decision involved three cases, Epic Sys- of “theft” by the U.S. so-called “justice” ruling, workers like the ones in the print militancy, can and does win concessions tems Corp. v. Lewis, Ernst & Young LLP system. In 2012, according to statis- shop won’t be able to band together to from management that improve workers’ v. Morris and National Labor Relations tics maintained by the FBI, there were get a lawyer. Legally, they would have to lives. Board v. Murphy Oil USA. 292,074 robberies of have 100 individual arbi- Now unions, and especially those for Under the combined decision, non- all kinds, including trations of their claims. public employees, are under a sustained unionized workers will find it much hard- bank, ­residential, Practically, they would and powerful attack, both by the Su- er to recover the wages they have earned convenience store, probably never ask for preme Court and by the Trump admin- but have not been paid. gas station and arbitration because the istration. Wage and time thefts are big problems street robberies. The legal fees would be too The Supreme Court has a case, the so- costing workers billions of dollars. total value of the much for them to bear. called Janus case, that has the potential Wage theft occurs when time you have property taken was of being a major financial blow to public worked “on the clock” is not paid. Often $340,850,358 — an Unions helpful but no sector unions in 20 states. The Trump ad- this happens when a worker quits or gets amount vastly less panacea ministration published a series of three fired in the middle of a pay period, and than the yearly wage At the City University executive orders the Friday before the management just “forgets” to send you theft from workers! of New York, one of the Memorial Day weekend designed to se- your last paycheck. Or the bosses have a largest universities in verely limit the rights of federal workers. policy of not paying for time spent clean- Stealing time the country with near- “It’s basically an attempt to make fed- ing up your workstation, or not paying for There’s another ly 280,000 students, a eral employees at-will employees, so you your travel time when you start working way workers don’t large proportion of its can make them political employees, so at one store and then are asked to go to get what they’re due, technical staff is in the you can hire anyone who had a bumper another which is short-staffed. And so on called time theft. same union, the Profes- sticker for you in the last election,” said and so on. Here’s an example sional Staff Congress. J. David Cox, president of the American This kind of chiseling affects all work- based on this writer’s own work experi- The PSC also represents the faculty, both Federation of Government Employees, ers but is particularly hard on low-wage ence. full-time and adjunct. the largest union representing federal workers. A 2014 study by the Econom- In a print shop producing long-run For decades, even though the con- employees. ic Policy Institute established that “the jobs, once the presses started rolling tract between the PSC and CUNY called These attacks are a call to all workers to average [wage] loss per worker over the workers were expected to keep them run- for a work week of 35 hours, the techni- follow the militant example of the educa- course of a year was $2,634, out of to- ning, skipping lunch or dinner or break- cal staff, especially at registration time, tion workers in West Virginia, Kentucky, tal earnings of $17,616. The total annu- fast, depending what shift you were on. worked tens of hours of noncompensated Oklahoma, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan al wage theft from front-line workers in But the computer software used by overtime. and Puerto Rico. These public employees low-wage industries in the three cities management still assigned every worker Then in 2002-03, the union filed and marched, rallied, walked out and struck, approached $3 billion.” The survey cov- a half-an-hour meal break, even if they won a grievance about this practice. most of them in “right-to-work” (for less) ered workers in New York, Chicago and worked through it. CUNY management didn’t give in but states. They acted for themselves, their Los Angeles. So the 100 workers in this print shop came up with a compensation scheme so students and their communities. They Extrapolating from these results sup- involuntarily “contributed” 300 unpaid complicated that it is not adhered to. The have shown the way to unite to push back ports the estimate that wage theft costs hours to their boss every week. (They scheme doesn’t protect staff from being against the capitalists’ theft of our wages, low-wage workers in the U.S. $50 billion generally worked 6 days a week.) When obliged to work through lunch or put in time and lives. Anti-war GIs relive their resistance at Midwest conference

By John Catalinotto crew who stopped at least some of the killing when they turned A three-day conference celebrating the their guns around (workers. history of the movement of active-duty org/2016/12/20/war-hero-dies); U.S. Armed Forces members who opposed Academy Award winner Barba- U.S. wars against Vietnam, Iraq and Af- ra Kopple and her films,“Winter ghanistan ended May 24 at the University Soldier” and “Shelter”; and David of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. Zeiger and his film, “Sir! No Sir!” While the Kroc Institute for Peace Zeiger and Josh Gould, orga- Studies provided an academic setting, nizers at the Oleo Strut coffee the nearly 100 participants went beyond house near Fort Hood, Texas, told scholarly discussion. Many were them- their stories at the conference. selves veterans from the front lines of the (The “coffee-house movement” struggle, and plenty served time in stock- gave dissident or just unhappy ades, brigs and military prisons for their GIs a place to meet near mili- resistance to war, racism and officers’ tary bases.) Skip Delano, who bullying. Civilian supporters also took returned from a tour in Vietnam, WW PHOTO: JOHN CATALINOTTO their share of arrests. The racist cops in told of publishing the dissident From left: Dr. Tran Xuan Thao, Susan Schnall, Jon Hutto, Norman Smith, David Cortright at Voices of base towns of the rural South who served Conscience conference, University of Notre Dame, May 22. newspaper, Left Face. the interests of the Pentagon were able to American Servicemen’s Union arrest without regard for the law or the The liberation struggle’s presence per- held for five years; during that time he key organizer Johnnie Lewis, now trans- rights of the people involved. meated the mood of the conference. Talks helped form a “peace committee” among gender (male to female), told of publish- Along with civilian supporters, the by Dr. Tran Xuan Thao, director of the the prisoners of war who taped anti-war ing anti-war and anti-racist GI newspa- military veterans produced dozens of War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh statements. Chenoweth described how pers in and out of the Fort Dix and other memoirs, histories and novels and at City (formerly Saigon) and Madame Ton- the Vietnamese treated them with more stockades, where she organized mess- least three documentary films, including Nu-Thi Ninh, president of the Ho Chi than humanity. “Indoctrination? They hall actions and refusals of service, along one opera, chronicling these struggles. Minh City Peace and Development Foun- simply taught us thousands of years of with Black GI Henry Mills during much These focused on the period beginning dation and former vice chair of Vietnam’s Vietnamese history as a nation.” of 1969. in 1965, when the U.S. began to send as National Assembly Foreign Affairs Com- Then, barely able to speak through his “Within the concertina wire of the Fort many as 543,000 troops to occupy Viet- mittee, reminded the participants of the tears, he said, “What they gave us to eat Dix Stockade,” Lewis told one workshop, nam, to 1975, when the last U.S. officials patient diplomacy of the Vietnamese as was more than twice as much as what “the ASU, in alliance with GI members were driven out by the victorious Viet- they worked with all political currents to the Vietnamese guards ate.” At that point of the , the Young namese liberation fighters. help win their independence. Chenoweth wasn’t the only one in the Lords, and others, organized among the That so many veteran political activ- room crying. more than 2,000 prisoners, distributing ists are still committed to preserving the Learning from the Vietnamese Film presentations featured Con- copies of The Bond [ASU newpaper] and history of their struggles and battling fu- Robert Chenoweth, a helicopter me- nie Field and her new film, “The Whis- other anti-war/anti-racism literature, or- ture wars can be credited to the historic chanic and sergeant captured during the tleblower of My Lai,” the story of Sgt. ganizing mess hall strikes, speaking out struggle of the Vietnamese people. 1968 Tet Offensive, talked about being Hugh Thompson and his helicopter Continued on page 8 Page 6 May 31, 2018 workers.org In defense of women’s lives and liberation Trump administration attacks low-income women and workers

By Sue Davis tive power to destroy it and restrict poor on Planned Parenthood for basic women’s rights in the process. medical care could be served by Between May 18 and 21, two arms of This blatantly ideological attack on the other federal health care clinics. the Trump administration delivered a Title X network would affect about 4,000 However, a Guttmacher study one-two punch. One knocked down poor health centers that nationally serve about shows that other current Title X women’s access to comprehensive repro- 4 million clients. According to the latest sites would need to increase client ductive health care and the other assault- Guttmacher Institute statistics, two-thirds caseloads by about 70 percent to ed justice on the job. of patients have incomes at or below the accommodate Planned Parent- Trump’s overwhelmingly anti-abor- federal poverty level, nearly half are unin- hood patients — forcing many to tion-stacked Department of Health and sured and another 35 percent are covered go without care, with predictably Human Services announced May 18 that by Medicaid. The federal poverty level was negative consequences. it intended to institute a so-called “do- $20,090 for a family of three in 2015. Guttmacher calls the Trump an- mestic gag rule” prohibiting health care The effectiveness of Title X is undis- ti-abortion agenda “coercive,” not- providers offering abortions from receiv- puted: In 2015 Title X-funded providers ing that coercion, either through ing federal Title X funding. That prohibi- helped women avoid 822,000 unintend- laws or policies, is often used by tion includes abortion-related counseling ed pregnancies, which could have led to conservatives to withhold, ban or or referrals to patients who are seeking 387,000 unplanned births and 278,000 outlaw information women need an abortion. abortions. Without such care, U.S. rates for informed consent. While re- The Supreme Court issued a viciously of unintended pregnancies would have WW PHOTO: ANNE PRUDEN actionary bigots claim to defend New York City demonstration in support of Planned Parenthood on May 24. anti-worker 5-4 decision on May 21, writ- been 31 percent higher, with the teen rate fetal life by limiting Title X’s effec- ten by Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch, 44 percent higher. tiveness, they totally restrict poor members of Congress signed letters to the giving the conservative stamp of approval Rewire.News points out that the new women’s right to informed consent about DHHS on May 15: “We strongly oppose to corporate arbitration agreements that rule would force “an unnatural split be- health care — which is a direct attack on efforts to undermine the integrity of the deny individual workers the right to join tween contraception and abortion ser- their human rights. Meanwhile, the rule Title X program and harm the millions together in class action suits. This ruling, vices,” while forcing already vulnerable has long been opposed by two national of people who rely on it for care. Federal while bad for all workers, will have a par- women, including im/migrants, youth, medical groups that denounce its interfer- health policy should be evidence-based ticularly vicious effect on people of color rural residents, disabled women and ence with medical ethics and practice. and produced with the best interests of and women who need to band together to survivors of domestic violence “to take At the same time that DHHS has patients in mind.” demand an end to such practices as pay unnecessary risks to end unwanted preg- launched this attack on women’s consti- Women’s health advocates, legal groups discrimination, racism at work and sexu- nancies.” (May 22) tutional right to abortion, it has beefed up like the National Women’s Law Center al harassment on the job. The restrictive rule was first intro- funding for harmful abstinence-only-un- and women’s rights activists are plan- duced during the reactionary Reagan ad- til-marriage programs for teens. ning to fight this bluntly hostile attack on Negating poor women’s human rights ministration, and though upheld by a Su- As co-chairs of the Congressional Pro- women’s right to life. The Trump administration is targeting preme Court ruling in 1991, it was never Choice Caucus, Diana DeGette (D-CO) ‘Epic’ blow to workers Title X, which since 1970 has successfully implemented. Clinton dumped it in 1993. and Barbara Lee (D-CA), stated in a May provided free, comprehensive, scientif- But anti-abortion zealots have resur- 22 release: “The White House has no In the May 21 opinion in the case of Epic ically effective reproductive health care rected it and plan to use it aggressively business censoring doctors or limiting the Systems Corporation v. Lewis, Justice for low-income women, predominantly to defund Planned Parenthood, a long- health information available to patients. Gorsuch malevolently misinterpreted or women of color. It is the only such federal time goal. They claim that the 40 per- This rule is unconstitutional, danger- ignored two New Deal rulings that estab- program, so Trump is exerting his execu- cent of Title X patients who current rely ous and insulting to women.” Some 212 lished workers’ rights. Those landmark

U.S. accelerates war on im/migrants ing work or asylum in the U.S. and through breaking up families in “property to place the children in military sales” of enslaved Black parents and chil- Continued from page 1 bases in Texas and Arkansas. (ti- dren and through the “legal” kidnapping nyurl.com/ycynjtye) of Indigenous children from parents and find jobs or seek shelter. The vi- An April 20 New York Times placing them in “boarding schools” struc- olent policies are rooted in white article reported: “On Feb. 20, a tured to sever them from their culture and supremacy and clearly violate young woman named Mirian ar- people. U.S. and international law. rived at the Texas border carry- At the end of March, the Trump regime The administration’s racism ing her 18-month-old son. They announced that they would not release was rampant in Sessions’ May 7 had fled their home in Honduras pregnant migrant women from detention speech at the U.S. border in San through a cloud of tear gas, she centers, notorious for their poor medical Diego: “Today, we’re here to send a told border agents, and needed care. “This new policy further exposes message to the world that we’re not protection from the political vi- the cruelty of Trump’s detention and de- going to let our country be over- olence there. She had hoped she portation force by endangering the lives whelmed.” Sessions announced and her son would find refuge of pregnant immigrant women,” said Vic- that every person stopped cross- together. Instead, the agents or- toria Lopez, senior staff counsel at the ing into the U.S. “illegally” will be dered her to place her son in the American Civil Liberties Union. (ACLU arrested and reviewed by the De- back seat of a government vehicle, release, March 29) partment of Justice for prosecu- Family members and neighbors in the Indigenous community she said later in a sworn declara- On May 25, Trump nominated Ronald tion. As for families, children will of Claudia Patricia Gómez Gonzáles, dead in Texas, grieve in tion to a federal court.” The boy Mortensen, founder of the Utah Coalition be taken from parents and turned her home in Los Alonzo, near San Juan Ostuncalco, depart- was driven away. on Illegal Immigration, which the South- over to govenment agencies. (San ment of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. In just a 13-day span after ern Poverty Law Center has called a hate Diego Tribune) Sessions’ speech, 658 children group, to be the new secretary of state for The San Diego Tribune commented: henchmen are openly defying those laws. were separated from their parents and the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and “The decision to prosecute asylum seek- placed in detention centers. This rep- Migration. “He has accused undocument- ers who cross illegally into the U.S. goes Settler-colonial borders resents a huge increase, as 700 chil- ed immigrants of ‘dest