Tupelo March Confronts KKK

Standing Up For Freedom In Mississippi

Tupelo March Confronts KKK

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I

Ei^ hundred strong, the UniteddemoQStrators filled the street

in front on the Spring Hill MissiraaryBaptist Chorch. The Labor Day marchwas just about to start w!«n a messagecrackled over one erf tbe security teamwalkie talkies. "Klanheaded ibis way."

Down at the bottom erf tiie hill, 40raggedy, white-sheeted r acists wereheading slowly toward !he ma ssive showerf northern Mississippi Black unity.They were followed by a few cars anda couple dozen Klanszneu vho didn'thave robes on. Every one of the first40 had a gun drawn under his robe.And they made sure everybody knewit. The cops were nowhere in sight.

But like Skip Robinson, UnitedLeague leader, had said the night before, "Ifs hard to kill a man who'snot afraid to die for justice." As theKlan came face to face with the frontranks of the march, not a body mo^' sd.Tiie Klansmeu had to ^vaTk around themsingle file. As they passed 300 dster-mined men, women and chUdreo, thejcaught the jeers, hateful stares, andinsults they so richly deserved.

Earlier teat day, toe United Leaguehad pot up picket lines at do-wntowii

. continued on page 14

ABOVE; Determined marchers, ledby United League, demand justice.

f

BELOW: KKK fails to intimidatedemonstrators.

msmEmmIran,Nicaragua, Zimbabwe

P.10&11

USWA Convention p. 5

:Stop Rizzo p. 30/0

X

PC. PACTSELLOUT

Tlte new postal contract is a ram job.It took tee U.S. Postal Service, federalmediators, and the top unicm officialsover two months to engineer a forcedsettlement. The country's hajf millionmail handlers, letter carriers, anaclerks were threatening to pull offan illegal nation-wide strike. Theyhad voted down the lousy crffer theirofficers tried to peddle to them. Conventions and leadership councils hadmandated direct action«£^ective walkouts at major facilities in New Jerseyand San Francisco had given a tasteerf the mail tie up that was coming.

One hundred and seventy-five brothersand sisters were fireifor standing upto a sellout.

But a group of misleaders namedAndrews, Vacca, LaPenta, andJcdmsontook a dive. They betrayed the mandateof the membership. They agreed tobinding arbitration.

The arbitrator promptly took awaykey no-lay-off jarotections in exchangefor a little more money. To covertheir sellout, the hacks set up Erfioneyratification elections, even though themediator's decree is final and theyhave nointentionofstriking to changeit.

Andrews and Vacca hope to get a*yes* vote for the new pact to bolstertheir slim chances for reflectionin early October.

The turning point came when the officials ignored union mandatesto strikeif gains were not made in a 20 daynegotiation period. The "No* voteand stril® threat had forced the postalservice to re-open negotiations. Butthe scope <rf the talks was restricted

clause. And arbitration automaticallyfollowed the failure of the talks.

The mediator, James Healy fromHarvard, took away what all the judges,stand-by federal troops, and union sellouts combined could not touch. Withthe power ofthe U.S. government behindhim, Healy had attacked the very thingthe uiuc»is had mandated as a non-negotiable strike issue. From now on,

continued on page 8

i-.

HRttEMSflCK LOCBLN0RTH"JERSEY '

HRER LocfiL fl.Pw,(^SoPiRcRT? Felhu

Workers/

I ^ 4Amnesty for fired strikers is a majordemand.

2/September 20, 1978/THE WORKER

EditorialBlackStruggleontheRise!

A Black liberation movement is again beginning to develop mcmientuhin this country# Black people frwn every walk of life are in mptipn, students who were promised the great society but got the Bakke decision#Teenagers who know their chance of finding any work at all before they're21 is less than 90%. Workers who are still last hired, first fired. Blacksin the "New South* facing the same old Klan and the same old discrim-inaticxu Community residents outraged at police terror.

It is a new movement - reflecting the condition, the crisis, of today -but it has deep roots in the might movements d the ISOCs. From thatmovement, its activists learned that power concedes nothing without astruggle and that progress never comes without sacrifice.

The potential force of tiiis movement is a source of dread for this country's rulers. They controlled the flames of struggle of the 1960's onlyat great cost - granting concessions and buying off leaders. Those whocould not be bought, like Malcolm X and Fred Hampton,xwere killed.

Black people were brought to the U.S. in chains and the rich who didit have recreated their crin^ time after time under new conditions. Whenslavery ended, repression cmtinued as Blacks were welding Into a naticmin the South, First teld m the land, many were later forced out of theirhistoric homeland into the slums of the North, into the worst jobs, theworst schools. They fought as individuals and as a people for freedom,but always they ran 14) against the wealthy few - white - who rule thiscountry. Never have they been free to develc^ as a people.

The capitalists have wrested billions in superprofits from Black labor - paying Blacks less for more work. The oppression of Blacks is acornerstcme of their system and their dcHnination o£ all American workingpeoide. To maintain it, they have developed and promoted the idea thatBlacks and other minorities are naturally inferior because of their race.

Now Black people are on the move again - thousands in the streets c£Philadelphia and New York against police repression and thousands inthe county seats of Mississippi demanding justice. The battle againstdiscrimination Is heating up. Anti-Bakke actions fou^t to defend affirmative action from attack. Tupelo shows people can also take the otiensiveand fight to win a^irmative action. ^

The new. movement has reaftirmed many of the hard won lessons of the1960's and at the same time shown that there are a lot of questions to beanswered as it develc^s: what is the way forward? which tactics aremost useful - mass mobilizations, non-violence, elections, court cases,self-defense, education programs? how can ties be developed betweenNorth and South? what is the relationship between the struggle here andthe liberation fight in Africa? what kind of uniiy can be built with the developing movement oi working people of all nationalities? how will a unified leadership develop?

The struggles erf the coming period are the anvil on which a deeper understanding of the questions and their answers will be hammered out,

Steak Prices And Hamburger Wages

mmm

San Francisco — "I have watched the

price of your club sandwich jumpfrom $2.45 to $4.25 in just two years.But you still pay me the same $2.85an hour you paid me two years ago."Roz Wells' and her fellow employeesat 11 Zim's restuarants in San Francisco have made Strike the only thingOQ the menu since August 4th. On thefirst day of the walkout, the strikersserved coffee and hot chocolate tocus-

tcHners, who have supported themstrongly. The strike is to get ownerArthurZimmerman to deliver the an

nual 6-7% wage increases in the workers' ccmtract, signed August, 1977,Teamsters have refused to make deliveries, garbage workers have stopped coming, and even taxi drivers re-fust to pick up fares in front of therestaurants.

"We could have continued operat

Bs winbei!Meals,..

ing units, but we felt...U would be toour advantage to close and do somerenovation work," executive vice-president Steve Ziqimerman said, notmanticming tiiat Zlm's had lost nesirly90% (rf its business since the strike began. The Zlmmermans tried to breakthe strike by making citizens' arrestserf plcketers, and when stopped by acourt order August 9th, they resortedto straight-out harassment and physical intimidation of the strikers.

But faced with the prospect of goingback to work at starvation wages,with plaster falling and roaches scurrying, where the best shifts are assigned to the managers' favorites, andwhere workers are called at 1 a.m.

to report for work the next morning,the strikers, buoyed by support frtsnbofc customers and other workers, aredetermined to stay out until they win.

LettersThe Worker:

Last month Eagle Electric Co. triedto fire a worker by messing aroundwith its own rules on lateness. Butthey were forced to back down whenthe workers showed them another ruleat work: united, we can win.

ThiSu sister had. been given a suspension for lateness. She had to comein on time for a month or lose herjob. Then the company changed thedates of the suspension, dug up an oldlateness, and fired her •retroactively.*

It is no accident that this sister hasbeen up front against the company foryears, and is known for not taking anycrap. When people in her departmentheard about the phony firing, they gotangry and were ready to fight it.

The company said it had a goodcase, but were willing to comprcnnlse.K the sister would agree to threemonths with no lateness or absence

for any reason, and sign a paper saying she would not file any grievance,they would take her back. "Hell no*,she replied. "I'm right, Til fight."And she was not alone. Back in herdepartment, her fellow workers filedtheir own grievance and wrote up apetitiw which many signed.

It took one day for the companyto call her back and say that she hadher job back with the original terms.So much for the company's good case.Bat it was a good case for the workers. It feels good to win one, tostand up for what is right and makethe company do the crawling.

Some Eagle Electric Workers

Long Island City. N^ ^Dear Worker,

I'm a white woman who grew up inthe south and moved to the north

about a year ago. I'm a member ofa group called the Chain-Breakers.We're a multi-national group, Black,Latino and white. , We went down toTupelo, Miss, last weekend with variousother groups, to help the Blacks inMississippi fight their just struggle.I was impressed when we got therebecause the whole time I lived in the

south I never seen so many people(organized and disciplined the way people in Tupelo were. One of the firstthings we did was picket the stores,and in two hours the stores closed

down, so we had won a victory. Thenext thing we did was march downtownin the square. The Klan showed upand we were all shouting "We're firedup, We're not taking any more." Acouple of us froni the Chain-Breakersspit cm them, just to let them knowwe don't want teeir bullshit. I don'treally know how to explain how Ifeel on paper, but I do know that otherwhites down there saw the whites from

here standing up against the Klan withthe Blacks, and I'm sure that they aredoing some thinking about it. It wasthe first time I ever saw the Klan withtheir ^te sheets cm, andthefirsttimefor some oftheChain-Breaterstoo,butinstead of scaring us, it was the oppo-

^site. We were ready to fi^t them,because we were all organized and the

people erf Tupelo had inspired us to fightback, so we tept marching, singing"We are walking and talking with freedom ai our'minds.*DAMN THE KLAN

Debbte BaileyChain-BreakersChica^^ ^

Dear Worker;A few days ago, a friend of mine who

works graveyard at Betii Steel atSpar-rows Point Maryland called me at 12midnight to tell me people were lining up at the unemployment office outthere. This was the 4th time in thelast few months Beth was giving outjob applications. Each time thoustindsshow up, but only a few hundred applications get handed out. In fact Iwent out the last time at 6 AM andstills missed getting one erf the fivehundred applications by a couple ofhundred at least.

So this time, me and a friend gotoQ the case right away and made itthere by 2 AM- About 200 people werealready there. Some erf them came

as early as 8 PM. People came prepared too—lounge chairs, picnic tab-coolers, radios, and other stuff to takeyou through the ought.

By 6 AM, there were well over 500people—the number thatwastobegivenout. All these people, on a few hoursnotice, and all by word of mouth.And when you get to the place, there'sno sign up sheet, not even a roped offarea. And by now everyone knowsthere are just so many applicationsto be handed out. So around 6, all ofa sudden, there's this mad rush towards the door—which doesn't opentms.

Pretty soon the ccmipany cops cams-telling people to' get in single file-but nobody moved, nobody wanted tolose their place. Then ihey announcethe thing is off—because we're toounruly. People got pretty angry, especially those there all night, and re--fused to leave. People started shouting demands for jobs, and "we won't

leave.* At one point I thous^it we weregoing to have a job riot out there.

The company tried to blame itonus,the people out there. The way I seeit, that's turning things on their head.For all their talk about the economyimproving, and unemployment goingdo'Arai, how come so many people arewilling to spend an entire night toget a "decent paying job"?

They call us all animals, but it'sBeth Steel that forces us to fight eachother for a space in line to get oneof their damned applications. And evenif you get one, there's only a few whoeven get an interview off of it, letalone a job.

A lot of times you hear in the pressthere are plenty of jobs, and that anybody who doesn't haire a job reallydoesn't want one. Let them come dow/ito Sparrows Point next time word getsout and try to tell that to the peopleoa the line. «

A READER

Baltimore

THE WORKER25C

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THE WORKER/September 20, 197S/3

Philly's Rino Seeks Te BeDietater For Life

Philadelphia, Pa« — A battle is ragingover how this city wiQ be ruled. MayorFrank Rizzo, &med for his defense ofpolice brirtality umnatched in this country and self-appointed hero of a racist"white power'* movement. Is seekinga new post: dictator for life.

Rizzo can't run for third term because the City Charter limits a mayorto two and his will be up nextyear. Buton September 11, to no one's surprise,he announced his candidacy. He arrogantly declared he would "campaignday and night" to change the charter ina refereiKlum vote November 7.

Rizzo's demagoguery, raging out ofccaitrol, has made the November ballota crucial fight for the people of Philadelphia. He is polarizing the city, whiteagainst Black, while both whites andBlacks suffer from the loss of 145,000jobs since he took office, while bothwhites and Blacks pay more taxes ascorporations pay less, while whitesand Blacks alike live in crumblingnei^borhoods in a city with 40,000abandonned homes.

Those who see the November vote as a

watershed have mobilized demonstra

tions and voter registration to opposethe charter change in order to stc^Rizzo. But many people are either confused by his claim to stand with "thosewho work hard at their jobs" or feelthat he is too powerful tobe overthrown.

Rizzo made his reputatiCHi as a toughguy when he was police commissionerand put together a police force withcomplete licei^e to terrorize and evenmurder cltizet^, especially inimnoritycommunities. On August 17, a demonstration of over 4000 Blacks ctmvergedon City Hall to protest the mayor'spersecution of the primarily Blackradical commune MOVE (see articlep. 17). It was met by thousands(rf riot-geared cops whose overwhelming presence shocked cmlookers in thedowntown area.

In the current battle, he is applyinghis police department methods to thewhole city apparatus. His lackeys limited the number of voter registrationforms available and then discardedany from Blacks, Latins, Republicans,or members of the local, independentConsvoner Party, So much for 'he rightto vote.

An open City Council meeting wasconvened in July about putting thecharter change on the ballot. But anyone who spoke against it or againstRizzo was ruled out of order or bodilyejected. His backers say the charterchange means the "ri^t to choose,"but it means the "right to choose Rizzoor else."

"This country is moving to the rightfest," Rizzo said hopefully in a recentPHILADELPHIA JOURNAL interview,"Take Italy. You know whatscaneoftheold folks over there said tomer? *Neverwas like this when B;emto was inpower." CBenlto MussoUni was thefascist dictator <£. Italyallied with Germany's Hitler in WWn.)

RIZZO: FASCIST APPROACH GETSCAPITALIST BACKING

Fascism — the i^n terrorist dictatorship of the capitalist class ~ isnot right arobnd the ccffiter in thiscountry, as Rizzo wouldlike to believe.But Rizzo*s fascist methods have solidsupport from influential banters andbusinessmen in Philadelf^iia,Rizzo is the only mayor of a major

American city (the country's fourth-largest), who is so openly racist, sobrutal about cutting social services, soup-front in advocating police terror,so contemptous ofdemocracy. Valuablethough be is to the capitalists, how canth^ afrord to publicly support such adog? 'Me reason is that lite fascistsbefore him, he cloaks his attacks witha pose of being a man of the people,a pose belied by the $400,000 home farfrom his South Philly birthplace hesomehow bought on his mayor's salary.

Rizzo is not in a position to delivermuch more than talk to the "working-men in the rowhouses" he claims to

represent. Because he got into office,at a time whenthe capitalist system wasalready in a deep, unrelenting ec<monucand political crisis, his machine couldnever appear to function as smoothlyas did the well-greased precinct networks of Richard Daley's Chicago. Noone who's seen Philadelphia's ravagedcommunities could call it "a city thatworks," No one, of course, but FrankRizzo, who said exactly that onSeptember 11,

At best, he can com2 up with a fewpatronage jobs or stop some controversial project a nei^borhood is protesting. Even here many of his " Rizzodelivers" triumphs are staged. Aftera rumor circulated in the mainly \^iteNorthwest Philly that a public housingproject would be built there, Rizzo addressed a rally of 1000people, blustering that he would never let it go up.Now iPs been revealed that no suchplans were ever made and that Rizzo^sadvance men started and spread therumor/

Here is the heart of his method. Hewill speaktothe problems pe(^le face —like plummeting living standards, hewill "say change is needed, and he willlash out at "the enemy." One time IPsliberals, anothertimeiPsthepress,andalways it's Blacks.

This was the stuff his September 11speech was made of, "I speak the language of the people, straight talk thatrequires yes or noanswers. The peoplesay yes when I say they have_the rightto choose if they have public housing intheir neighborhood. The people sayyeswhen I say they should be able to sendtheir children to nei^borhood schoolsand not have them busedacross the city.The people say yes when I say everybody should be treated equally withoutbeing subject to quotas..;."

Here, Rizzo loftilygrants the "righP'to keep Blacks — 40^ of the ci^spoiHilatlai — out of certain neighborhoods, the "righP' to keep Blacksout of decent schools, the "rlghP' tokeep minorities out professicmalcareers.

Rizzo talks ai:^ standing withthose"who work hard at their jobs," but hedoesn't mean Blacks "who work hardat their jobs," or PuertoRicans who"who work hard at their jobs." Andhis racist tripe is no more in the interests of white workers that it is ofBlack ones. In fact, he has dene nothingbut shaft workers generally since hewas first elected.

.RIZZO AGAINST THE WORKERS

Rizzo's no-increase offers forced

long strikes for sanitaticn workers(1976) and transit workers 0977). Therewas public support for the workers,especially during the transit strike be-cai^e the drivers " and mechanics

continued on page 16

t

BfackTriUMM a^UMt Kiizo at PhtiadeiiWe's City HUl, despite to presenceof so many cops that Center City shoppers and store owners were shocked. Therally took place ri^t after Rizzo's assault on MOVE.

4/September 20.1978/THE WQRKEp

WHY UNION BIGSHOTS ARETALKING ''CLASS WAR"EVEN THOUGH THErKSTILLON THE WRONG S/OE

West Coast pulp and paper strikers stop scabs. Their current strike is so strong because their union isn't controlled bythe kind of sellouts who ialk class war and practice treachery. : • ; •

the commcm site picketing law, whichwould have made it easier to organizeand to defeat union busting in the construction trades, bit the dust lastyear.Worried, Meany and company decidedto drop their second target, the repealof section 14B of the Taft-Hartley law,which permits statestoenactanti-union"right to work" laws.

Instead, they put all their efforts behind the Labor Law Reform Bill, TheBill was designed to stop some cf the^ctlcs companies were using to keepunions out. It would have given theNational Labor Relations Board (NLRB)the ability to O-insure quicker electionsfor union recognition, 2) levy heavierpenalties againstemployers whoviolateworkers' rights or refuse to negotiate,and 3) give union organizers equal access to answer company propaganda on

ompany time or properly.Eliminating roadblocks to unionizing

unorganized shops could be of greatvalue to the rank and file. This is especially true in the South, where thebattle for union organizing is constant,bitter and still basically unwon,evenin

basic industry. Workers at the J.P.Stevens textile company, centered InNorth Carolina, have been fighting fora union for 14 years. Backed by OtherSouthern companies, the corporationhas fired hundreds of activists, beenheld in violation by the NLRB 15 timesand paid $1,300,000 in fines for itsanti-union activities.

THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST LABOR

.LAW REFORM

The bill passed the House of Representatives last October by a 257-163pargin. Meany was confident he hadspent enou^ of the rank and file'sCOPE money on senatorial contributions that it would sail through thereas weU. He was also banking on support from some large unionized corporations, especmlly those facing nonunion competitors.

But the capitalists are facing severeeccmomic problems these days. Theyare out to ti^ten up on the workers,not give ccmcessions. Ccxitracts aregetting worse and worse—wage increases have fallen behind inflation

by 3.4% since 1974, fewer workersturn out more production, companynegotiators <lemand more tal^ways.

It's the same on the political front.Ti^tening up takes such forms ascutbacks in social services and at

tacks oa affirmative action. Big corporations have been Impelled to stopmore publicly into the poLitical arenato defend and advance toeir interests,for example pushing to cut the taxon capital gains, enabling them to holdonto more o£ their profits.

The Labor Law Reform BUI was hitwith the largest lobbying effort thesevultures have put together so far. Thebiggest corporations in the country byand large took no public stand on theissue to avoid open conflict with theirumons. Instead, most worked throughthe Business Roundtable, establisheda few years ago to coordinato- suchefforts. They set the ^eels in motion,2ind provided money and resources behind the scenes.

Robert Thompson, a former J.P,Stevens attorney who is a bigshot inthe U.S. Chamber of Commerce and athe U.S. Chamber of Commerce, anda pair erf labor-relations vice presidents from Goodyear and BethlehemSteel were the main strategists. But"the real soldiers in the campaign,"reported FORTUNE magazine, "were• . . state and local chapters of suchgroups as the AmericanRetaUFedera-timi, the American Bankers Association, the National Restaurant Association," and so on. The smaller scaleban(Uts who are the majority iri thesegroups, waged a well-coordinated lobbying campaign. Each target senator.was hit with telegrams and compu-

continued on page 8

**Class war" says Doug Fraser,head of the United Auto Workers.

'•Class war " says Lane Kirkland,George Meany's ri^t-hand man,

"Class war" growls Meany bimseU."Class war* echo half a dozen

other tcv union bureaucrats.These are strange words from the

lips of men who have spent the last30 years preaching the virtues of C(xn-promise and "labor-management cooperation."

Can the top union leaders have decided to switch sides and fight withthe rank and file against the ownersand their government? Hardly! Buttheir militant talk does show signi-'ficant changes taking place.

AccusatiCHis that "the business com-

munityi with few exceptions, lave chosen to wage a erne sided class war,'.Eraser's words, reflect the union big-shots' real cwicem about their slipping power and their outrage at thefailure of the country's capitalists tohelp them out.

The whole outburst was triggered bythe defeat this summer of the LaborLaw Reform Act of 1978 in the Senate. The hacks had a lot at stake inthe bill, which was daie in by a massive big business lobbying effort.

In the last few years the top tradeunion leaders have had their hands fullkeeping down the militancy of dissatisfied workers. They have had troubleselling lousy contracts as "the bestwe can get.' * They have had troubleselling this or that pcditician as thecure to a society thaf s falling apart.

Now they fell they've been stabbedin the back by the capitalists on whosebehalf they've been keeping the workers in line.

This situation is greatly to the advantage c£ working men and women in thiscountry. For one thing, it provides bigopenings for workers to build theirstruggles. When the hacks are talkingtough anditheir position is beingeroded,they are less able to focus their effortson crushing rank and file demands andmilitancy.

Meany, for instance, didn't just denounce big business "class warfare."He underlined bis irritation by -criti

cizing the just negotiated postal contract. He said its increases—close tothe 5.5% a year linut Carter wants anpay hikes—were inade(iuate. This provided a little more fuel for the "no"vote P.O. workers cast on the selloutand gave P.O. militants more evidenceof the treachery of the misleaders oftheir unions.

Secondly, the situation is an educa-tibn in just how worthless the unionbigshots and their policies of coHabco'-atdng with the capitalist class are. For30 years, the Erasers and Meanyshave told die workers, "Vote as wetell you and we'll see that the systempasses laws that will gradually improve the lot of the workingman."

This is just a large-scale versionof their approach to individual corporations and industries: "The bosses andyou have common Interests and if youwork hard and help them get richer,we'll see that your contracts continueto get better,"

But now the capitalist system iswracked by a persisting crisis. Thehacks can't deliver even the little theyhave promised—either cm the Senatefloor or the shop floor.

LABOR LAW REFORM

Something had to give. The LaborLaw Reform Bill was where it startedto happen. This was part of the legislation the heads of the AFL-CIO andthe UAW expected in return for gettingworkers to vote for Carter, As usualthe package included mild social reforms—a federal health insurance program, for instance. This time, the heartof it was a series of measures to strengthen the unions' ability to organize theunorganized.

Union membership has declined. Thepercentage of workers in unions is thelowest ids been since the Great Depression. This is a big problem'for thelabor traitors. They gettheir fat salaries, their prestige, their influence onthe gbvemmentinexchange for delivering the workers up to the ruling class.The less they have to sell, the less theycan get from the capitalists.

The first of their bills to come up.

J.P. Stevens workers have waged a big battle for unionization.Reform Act could have helped them.

The Labor Law

Right To Ratify A Key Demand

STEEL HSURG&fTS FK3HT

STACKEDOMVENTTON

THE WORKER/September 20, 1978/5and the majority of elected delegates.The farcical nature of the proceedingsis shown in Monday's schedule: con-

' vene at 10:00, break at 12:30 for lunch,return at 2:00 and go all the way to5:30, then adjourn for the day!. (Noforced overtime here.)

Meetings of right to ratify delegateson Sunday and Monday nights debatedhow best to carry on the fight Delegates and other steelworkers stood up tothe goons to leaflet inside and outsidetee hall.

McBride knew that right to ratifyhad too much support am(Hig the rankand file to ignore or brutaly stamp outInstead, he put forward resolution 24,which was full of fine talk about fighting the bosses. One small clause declared the right to ratify inappropriatebusiness for tee constitutional conven-

continued on page 8

The following article is a report FrcHn the start, there has beenmorefrwn the first two days of the 19th combat at tiie conventionthan previous-Coostihiticnal CoaventioD of the United ly, reflecting growing ferment in theSteelworkers of America. The next mines, mills and plants under USWAissue of The Worker will sum up the ccmtract. At a pre-ccHivention pressconvention and its effects on tiie strug- conference onSunday, "McBrideboast-gle in steel. ed that steelworkers have become a

highly paid industrial elite, as he de-Atlantic City, N.J. — On '^esday, nounced insugent reform proposals,"September 19th, Lloyd CLlow Llife) in the words of theChicagoSun-Times,McBride wcm his convention battle As he was claiming that this con-to keep steel worters in basic steel tented *teUte" didn't want to vote onfrom getting the right to ratify their their contracts, angry rank and fileown contracts. But the current con- delegates going by stopped to denounce.venti(» is ooe more sign that McBride the press conference. They exposedis slowly but surely losing the war McBride's company-loving record, de-and the rank a^d Hie is winning it. railing his train ofthought(H-Oguage).

McBride Massacred hHomestead DelegateM^teHomestead, Pa. — It is August 14th,delegate elecUoa day, at the UnitedSi^elworkers of America Local 1397,for the upcoming 19th constitutioQalccmvention (rf the InternatioDal union.

In the early morning shadows of teeancient mill, steelworkers line up inthe street, waiting to vote before theirturn on the day shift. The line is slowto move. It is a record turn-out, butnobody leaves. Instead they talk — notabo^it me.king steel —. butaboutthel397Bank and File, the local oppositioncaucus, and about the right to ratify,contracts, and kicking out the McBridebacked local officials in the local elec

tions next April.The voting goes all daylong — steel

workers spealdng with their ballots.The act of striking'a blow against thesell-outs feels good, but more is atstake in the struggle than rolling someMcBride heads.

The votes are counted. IPs a landslide. There were 41 people vying for11 ConventloQ seats. The 1397 Rank andFile won all 11by me.rgins of 3 to 1 and

tended with each new contract. And totop it off, the rank and Hie has no sayon what they mustacceptinthe contractwhatsoever.

The rank and file wants the right toratify. They want to be able to say "no"like the miners said.-"No" like thepostal workers said.

The Homestead Massacre (for once itwas McBride and his sidekicks thatgotit) was based on just these sentimentsand more. Homestead is one of very fewlocals where MoBrideforces in powerwere knocked out of the bnx in the con

vention struggle. AtHomestead the rankand drew the lines between their interests on the one sideandtheinterests

of the steel companies onthe other. The1397 Rank and File ran on its record oforganizing struggle in the departmentsand in turn they made the McBride forces rim on their record of selling outpractices, and their dictatorial meth-o-ds,

A Right to Ratify petition was circu

lated—5000 out of a total of 6000 workers signed it. Because ofallthismove-

LOCAL 1397

EXECUTIUE BOARD

U.S. STEEL

HGfJlESTEAD UJORKS

<3><^

Reprinted from 1397 Rank & File Newsletter, April, 1978

up. The local officers' pro-McBrideslate was crushed.

At the heart of this rank and filevictory was the demand for tee lightto ratify national contracts, AtHomestead and everywhere else in basicsteel workers are stiU plenty madabout the last couple of contracts.No money (3% per year), attacks onjob security, continued contracting outof work, reduction in crew sizes, andno advancement in pensions and otherretirement benefits,

, Furthermore, the hated Experimental Negotiating Agreement OENA) nostril® deal, which is a part of the basicsteel c<Mxtract, gets entrenched and ex-

ment, the usual McBride power base inpatronage was not enough to carry theday« Nor could the vote be stolen "intee count"

Over the last three years, the 1397Rank ^nd File took up the job of organizing tee fi^t oa the shop floor as wellas participating in more national typestruggles. They worked in the SadlowsMcampaign, fou^t tooppose the last contract, and randelegatesforboth the 18thTheir stated policy is: "We will notsend rubber stamp stooges to the convention such as we have In our oniontoday. If a person doe snot have the gutsto speak up in his ownuoicmhall, he certainly won't speak at tee convention."

Monday morning a small battalionof McBride delegates' wives handedout the first of daily leaflets fromphony "rank and file committees"and nagged delegates to "defend yourunion," by defending McBride. As theydid, a small picketline by an oppositiongroup was broken upbyMcBride goons.

Inside, things were tamer, McBrideheld up to 1500votes from staffmen, ap-poihted and paid by tee internationalg

Shipyard R£F CroupLeads ToOainsinlPact

Slom Gestapo ForemanSparrows Point, Md,—4500 shipbuilders won a $2.20 an hour wage increaseafter a two week running battle againstboth Beth Steel and their own unionofficials. Rank and file militancy and'the leadership of a GJood ContractCommittee turned back company terrorism, union sabotage and built solidarity with other yards.

The company ran a two prongedattack for the August 14 contract. Fortwo weeks before the expiration date,teey glutted the m^dia with povertystories, saying the yards were •unprofitable* and might have to close.

Inside the yard they tried to fire amilitant shop steward. Severalhundredworkers held a cHie day job actionto protest his firing. The (lood ContractCommittee grew out of this action andout of the workers' understanding thatthe company was determined to stopthem from fitting for a decent settie-ment as management threatened otherworkers with discipline for the action.

Then Beth unleashed rabid dog foreman Joe Kreis who distinguished himself by calling in workers one by oneand subjecting them to C3estapo-typeinterrogatiCHi. •Where did you go(on the day of the job action)?* "Whodid you go with?* "Did so-and-sotell you anything?* "What did you doafter you went home?"

But the Good Contract Committeecountered their offensive. The Comm

ittee printed sticters and T-shirtswith slogans Uke, "We don't want JoeKries* and •Fightfor a GoodContract.'Popular among the workers, theseitems drove the company up the wall.Beth commanded that the stickers beremoved and threatened to fire a manfor wearing a shirt with a slogan.

The union leadership did its bestto help the company's bid to keep theworkers down awl divided. They cancelled the only scheduled union meeting before the vote on the contract—and with it the strike authorizationvote.

THE COMMITTEE IN ACTtONAgain the Committee went into, act

ion, holding a meeting of several hundred workers without the officials andcirculating petitions demandingthe official meeting be held. In two days

over 500 workers signed at the yardand several hundred more put theirnames down at the company's KeyHighway shop. A coi^)le of Baltimorearea shipbuilders traveled,to the Bethyard in Hoboken, N.J. and got people inMassachusetts to distribute an OpenLetter describing the Sparrows Pointbattle.

Telegrams and the petitions weredelivered right to tbe motel rooms inHarrington, Pa., where the companyand union big wigs were meeting.

As the unity of the workers continued to build and not cmly the threatof a strike but the ability of the workers to pull one grew, the companybacked off. They made some coaces-sions and got tiieir lap dogs intiie union

Beyond the money there wasn'tmuchin fRe new pact-one more holiday,alittle more pension and some increasein medical. There was nothing aboutmore vacation (a big demand becauseworkers say*you need to getawayfromthis hell hole*),none ofthe much neededprotection against the company's increased harassment and •productivitydrive* (speedup),'

The vote came down UOO for and 350

against the contract.The contract fight is over, but of

course the battle between capital andlabor goes on. The ink was barelydry on the pact when, two days later,150 welders were suspended for fivedays each for a "work stoppage* thatthe. company claimed happened threeweeks earlier, but held off pushinguntil the contract vote was over. New

rules and regulations and more threatsof firing are being held over workers'heads.

But as the contract fi^t showed,the anger of the workers and theiraspirations not to be crushed into thedirt by Beth Steel became a positiveorganized force. The Sparrows Pointworkers' experience of basting throughBeth's shackles,theunionleaders'sabotage and linking up with other yardswill stand them in good stead in thebattles to come.

As one shipbuilder put it, "They canonly push us back so far. When we hitthat wall, they better look out.*

- r

6/September 20,1978/THE WORKER

Scab's Car Kills Picket

Warehouse Walkout Cripples Food ChainstioQ center.

Workers there are handed computercards specifying the amount of timeeach job should take, based chi motion-study and comouter estimates. Theymust punch the card before and aftertiiey complete the task, thereby registering the time spent. If a man doesn't"keep up" he is given one reprimand andthen suspended or dismissed. This"modem"system has doubled the hum-bar of crates each worker must lift

from 800 to about 1,600 per day.To date, as a direct result of this

outrageous'new standard, 86 workershave gone home on disability, others^ave been injured, 40 have teen suspended and 10 fired. The strain comesdown particularly hard on older workers.

Safeway, according to stock marketan^st Dennis Ross (in the Sah Fra-sisco Examiner, Aulust 29), "has teenriding food price inflation and a tetteroverall performance to robust earn-igs this year,"

"Riding inflation" means they've passed hi^er prices onto the customersand "performance" moans workers arehurt or driven off the job for Safeway'sprofits.

While the 8 locals have stood firm

against Safeway, which is the largestgrocery chain in the country, theirInternational officers have wa^ed onseveral occassions. At first the Inter-naticmal repsintheWestemConferenceof Teamsters refused to support theRichmond walkout. But when the companies retaliated against the strite bylocking out all of their non-strikingemployees, the Western Conferencechanged their tune and authorized theaction. But tensions remainbetweenthe

International and the locals.

The warehousemen's strongest support has come from the other groceryworkers in Butchers,BakersandRetallunions and from Longshoremen whoservice the chains. Refusing to crossthe picketUnes built a solidarity thatwas returned in kind during a recent10 day strite of 70,000 clerks InSouth-ern California, Teamsters refused to

cross their lines and the clerks won

parity with northern California wages.As we go to press the warehouse

strike continues, strong and militant.Non-struck supermartets are ^mmedwith shoppers but the 4 chains arelosing a small fortune every day.Especially since Hill's death, support for the just struggle of the warehousemen has grown and the workersare determined to win their fight.

•

t •. • '6

A ptchetfs murder and wavering by interiKkttonal union officials haveiPt stopped strikers from standing strong againstfour food chains in Nortbem California's "store wars."

Shelves are only half stocked at 546food stores in Northern California.A warehousemen's strike against brutaispeedup has crippled 4 major,grocerychains and gathered support trom workers throughout the state.

The strike began when 1,100 men inTeamster Local 315 wUdcatted on July18 at Safeway's Richmond distributioncenter. It expanded 3 days later to include 8 locals representing 3,500 people, The struck chains inclwie Safe-way. Lucky*s, and Alpha Beta.

During the sixth week of the walkout,25 year old Randy Hill was killedduring a nighttime picket at Vacaville,CaL Lucky's scab Glen Sobolick ranhis car into Hill while HUl's wife, whowas picketing with him, screamed forhelp.

"It (the car) must have been crank

ing 60 plus," said TfoyAdams, anotherstriker who witnessed the incident,"No headlights. No nothing,"

Another picketer, Robert Lovingier,was injured by a second scab car asha ran to Hill's assistance. Lovingiersaid there had been "other incidents

in which cars going 60,to 70 miles anhour would swerve at the pickets toscare toem."

Sobcdick, a moonlighting Air Forceman, was charged with felony hit-and-run and manslaughter,but the criminalsbehind Hill's m irder are still at large—the chainstore owners who hiredarmed off-duty cops and servicemento intimidate the strikers,

OTHER CRIMES

Safeway also advertized $9 an hourscab jobs in newspapers serving primarily Black areas. Trying to attract

Pittsburg Wildcat SetsStage For Contract

people who would be so desperate foxwork that they'd be willing to scab, thecompanies hoped to incite racial violence when the scabs appeared.

This new "equal opportunity" act isa dodge. Safeway's workforce is primarily white because the chain didn'thire minorities until 1961. It was re

cently cited by the Federal Governmentfor feilure to institute affirmative hiring and upgrading of minorities.

If murder and racism weren'tenougnthe companies seized on people's^horror at Randy Hill's death to try for aquick settlement which would put workers back on the job without a contractand subject to binding arbitration.

Leaders of all 8 locals rejected thepact They knew the rank and file wouldnot work without q contract, 1200angrystrikers and supporters attended amemorial meeting for Hill and severaldemonstrations were held the same

week against the company's brutality.Workers' anger has been focused

against Safeway's aie-year-old speedup program at the Richmwid distribu-

WUmeixiing, Pa,—On August 17, workers at the Westinghouse Air BrakeCompany CW.A3C0), part of the American Standard cooglcHnerate, went outno strike for the first time in years?^With their 4-day walkout they joined4 other American Standard plants a-cross the country, out since July 1st,as the WA3C0 workers get set tobattle for their upcoming Novembercontract.

All 2800 Wilmerding plantemployeesleft their jobs after two workers wereunfairly fired in the same week. Onthe16th a maintenace worker was firedfor refusing to do a job that was notwithin standard procedure, and thewhole department walked out in protest

The next day a foreman was as signedto spend ail day just watching onepiece-work operator, a machine shopsteward, to "check his productivity".When the curator spoke out againstthis harassment, he, too, was fired.Workers shut down that secticn, andother departments began joining the two

already out, until by 11:00 that morningthe whole plant was on strike.

The company refused totalktoworkers until they went back in—which ledunion hacks to urge the 2nd shift toreturn to work. But the stewards votedthis down and the strikers stayed out—tteiether.

The workers returned oily after thecompany got a court injunction againstthe strike, and once In, they forcedWABCO to reduce the two firings to10-day suspensions^

Four other AmericanStandard plantsin Dearborn, Mich., Louisville, Ky.,Paintsville, II, and Buf£alo» K Y. havebeen striking since July over contract-related issues: increased CO-LAs, better pensions andhigher wages.The unity built during these strikes,and the weak position they have putthe company in makes for a tetterchance WABCO workers will comeout with a contract they can livewith. As the strike got going, the big food Stores found their shelves empty and their

customers elsewhere.

&

ftf iaaiwswRPJWIJW wss*«»

THE WORKER/September 20,1978/7

Jjork ^imt$

00 NOT CROSS

newspaper strlters saythatno news is fit to print until the publishers droptheir strikebreaking attacks. Theirand determinaticai has the bosses worried.

New York Dailies Hurtingin Newspaper Strike

a 6fcab newspaper! This\scab schoolwas a key factor when the WashigtonPost defeated their pressmen's strikein 1975.

Because of strike-breaking by theNewspaper Guild (representingreporters and secretaries)" and the lack

of support from other unions, theWashington Post was able to hirenon-union scabs and permanently firethe militant pressmen.

"I know deep in my heart that thereare newspaper managers out there whosay that if the Washington Post cando it, 1 can do it," chortled the paper'slabor relations vice-president, Lawrence A. Wallace.

POST STRIKE, A BITTER TEACHER

But the workers were alsoarmed withthe bitter lessons of that strike, Wlienthe Guild of the nation's largest daily.New Yorlds Daily News, struck for 5days in July, they were supported byelglit of the paper's ten unions. ThteThe ctfflcials ci the Drivers Uniontriedto mn'ce drivers cross the picket lines,but Instead many of the rank-and-fUe_went out and forcibly stopped delivery"tracks from leaving the News building.

The pressmen were a key force ingetting the drivers to support thestrike (according to many Guild members, "The pressmen won that strikefor us*), so when the pressmen struck,the Guild. and other unions stood bythem.

Many strikers in New York areworking under unioa conditions at toethree temporary newspapers—the NewYork Eteiily Press, New York DailyMetro and City News—which sprangup to fill the news vacum in the ci^.Since there are links between thesepapens and the ow;iers of the struckdailies, the workers are wateiiing carefully for any attempt to pull a fast one.

On Labor Day the worl-oars of theMetro staged a one-day walkout whenthey discovered that Australian newspaper mogul Rupert Murdoch, owner ofthe New York Post, was behind theMetro. Murdoch was forced to sign anagreement stating that he would notdoss the Post permsnentlyand replaceit W3.th the Metro. It was a trying dayfor Ml;:'joc'i as he founi himself beingstruck by two of his papers at once!

The determination, solidarity andmilitance the strlters have displayedis turning the situation in New Yorkaro«ind. Now it is the newspaper bosseswho are more and more lookingaroimdto find a way out of the pit they havedjg themselves into.

New York City—The Big Apple is wellinto its second month without its three

major dailies. The New York Times,Tte Daily News and New York Post,as workers in almost ten different

unions stayed out on strite againstthe publishers. It is the largest and

most significant battle to date againstnewspaper publishers' natioawide unionbusting drive.

The strike against job eluninationsand dangerous wbrkiigconditionsbeganas a virtual lockout ol the union pressmen. The publishers set it up August9 by leaving negotiatioas "to caucus*and announcing to the media that talksl^d failed, while union negotiators satwaiting at the bargaining table! Theyforced the strike in August becauseit is a month when advertising andcirculation are traditionally down.

But that tactic has backfired onthem. In the first place, as toe strikehas gone into September the newspapers have lost revenue from the all-important Labor Day and back-to-school sales. Secondly, toe unions locked out of work each went on strike

with toeir own demands. This hasconsiderably weakened the publishers'position as they now have to come toterms with almost ten different striking unions.

The 1550 pressmen are the key.They had already threatened a walk- Kenosha, Wise. — When Americjin(Hit if management instituted new work Motors second shift spilled out ontorules that would eventually lay off 52nd Avenue here a half hour early.half the pressmen and increase theworkload for the other half. Threeweeks into the strike the publishersoffered to limit layirffs to 200. Theuni(xi firmly rejected this proposal.

hell-hole CONDmONS

Management is claiming "feather-bcd'.Ung*-an excessive oumfccr (rfworkers—who must be laii off in theinterests of more flexibility and lowerlabor costs. They say this in a period

when nationwide newspaper revenuesrose more than 11% in 1977 and Bus-siness Week magazine assures its

corporate leaders that newspaper profits are ''healthy".

The so-called featherbedding is actually the only safety margin workershave which gives them breaks fromthe long hours they must spend inthe noisy, dirty, dangerous hell apressroom is. ^or 8-12 hours dallypressmen work with noise levelswhich, according to OSHA, are "safe*for just 1/2 hour per' day. At theDaily News, where equipment has notbeen substantially updated since its

fo'unding, the pressmen must take.

OnThe Line inAUTO

12:01-

TIME TO WALKl

ATAMC

scalding showers bocaase they becomeencrusted with oil, grease and toxicinks. In all pressrcwms workers mustwear protective face masks or, according to HEW, "risk permanent damage to their liver, kidneys, blood-forming organs, nerves, eyes andbrain." For this they make. $500 aweek scale.

To push through speedups and theautoination of t^esetting and otherparts of newspaper production, publishers have been on the offensive

against newspaper unions. They evenfund a special school in Lexington,Kentucky where management and non-uiion employees are trained to run

September 15, the spirit of rebellionwas in the air. The contract was up.There had been no word from the

United A'Jto Workers International onwhat to do. But thqre were at least8500 reasons to shut the Motors downand let some solidarity rip in thestreet in front of Modory's Bar,

On the trim line somebody had setoff M-80 firecrackers just before midnight. Other guys wereblowingvtoistleson toe welding lines. In other departments workers had crowded near load-

%

Midnight rolled'around and a new contract didn't, so AMC workers jn Kenostia,Wisconsin hit the streets.

ing aocks to watch firsc shift workers wno had come out to tne gate for astrike kick-off rally. Cries of "12:01—Shut It Down" bounced off the wallsand windows of the plant.

When midnight came, hundreds lefttheir air guns hanging and walked off

the job. The strike was'on. N.^hu'Jyimew what ffie company and unionnegotiators were up to, but it surefelt good to see those killing linesgrind to a halt, better than punchingout Friday night, dog tired, with your

continued on pr. e 17

S/.September 20,1978/THE WORKER

'resideniX-PporE

The new contract is an insult to^fired strikers and all P.O. woiiers.

Fbst Office...continued from page 1

new employees will not be protectedagainst layers until they reach-sixyears seniority.

This new category of workers willbe more insecure in Iheir jobs. Thepostal service will try to use themas a wedge against the rest of thework force. Part-timers and short-

term employees, who have few rightsand different conditioi^, are alreadypitted against the rest of the workforce.

Flexibility, cost-cutting and automation are the P.O.'s terms for it.

CbssWar...continuedfrom page 4

ter printed letters, as many as 10,000in a single weel^ delegations, andprofessional lobbyists.

Meany's response was to start watering down the Bill to show how harmless it was. By the time it was killedit was a hollow shell ctf the originaLElectl(xi periods were doubled, eciualaccess narrowed and penalties foremployer violations greatly reduced.

To t(») it <rff, the hacks threw in asection "to protect employers" fromwildcats and roving pickets!

But even after it was sweetened up»the rich saw no advantage in makingunion organizing faster or unionsstronger. The bill died ot June 22after 19 days of filibuster. Attemptsto resurrect it later in the summerfailed miserably.

WHY "CLASS WAR"?

With the defeat ofLabor Law Reform,the silk suit crowd in the unicm executive offices saw that the old way ofdoing business with the capitalistswas being shunted aside. Their wordsemphasized how grave they feel thesituaticA has become. Lane Kirkland,Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO,talked of how the good old "system ofsometimes cooperative, sometimes adversary, encounters between partieswith a shared set of values," has beenendangered by big business.

The UAW's Fraser put it even morebluntly: "The leaders ofindustry, commerce and finance in the United Stateshave broken and discarded the fragile,unwritten compact previously existingduring a past period of growth andprogress." Like Kirkland, Fraser wasaddressing his remarks to an audienceof big businessmen.

The talk ctf "class war" istoremindthe capitalists that there are dangers indiscarding their "fragile, unwrittencompacf' with the trade union bureaucracy. Remember, the corporate king-inns are being warned by their labor

dHmtHSKK LflCfiLiNORTH'̂ JERSEr

SoPfifRTs FelkWorkers-

But the reality is attack.The rank and fUe, who are split

between 4 different unions and numer~ous special classifications, will become even more divided. More jobswill be lost and workers will be in a

weaker position to fi^t the job elimi-natlc«s and speed up.agreement will be worse than thepackage the ranks had rejected a monthearlier. And it was far worse than theprevious agreement. Even with the capnow lifted from the cost o£ living adjustments, the pay raise will stay under

lieutenants, there ,are alot-<^ workersout there and itfs us vdio keep them inline for you. Fraser even made it adirect threat: "We in the UAW intendto reforge the links with those whobelieve in struggle: the kind of peoplewho sat down in the factories in the1930s and who marched in Selma in

the 1960s."

NO REAL CHANGE

Meany and his ilk may be talking"class war" to the capitalists, buttheir deeds show how little they'vechanged. Meany's criticisms of theP.O cOTtract telped postal workers

carry their struggle forward. Unsurprisingly, he promptly turned aroundand hailed the sellout negotiations/arbitraticMi plan which has since stuckP.O. workers witii an even worse deal.(See article on page .)

The Illinois AFL-CIO has endorsedsame Republican candidates to "pirn-ish" the administration, and someMachinists and UAW bigwigs are pushing for Teddy Kennedy in 1980 as thecure to their problems.

Even the talk (rf class struggle is notintended for consumption by the rankand file, or by lower level unixm (rf-ficialsj The Labor Day issues of uniwinewspapers this year, fat with greetingads from locals, carried editorialswhich might lament the defeat of laborlaw reform or management's hard lineapproach. But they carefully steeredaway fron references to "class warfare" or call to militant action.

Hie top union offlciafs are playingthings low key because they sense thatthey are playing with dynamite. Theyhave been bedded down with the capitalists for so long that they stand toget blown away pretty quickinthe event

a big explosion of class struggle.And whether or not they talk about

it, the class war is heating up andnothing they do can keep it fromblowing.

22% over three years.This is well below the 39% and 37%

increases won by coal miners andrailroad workers earlier this year.As such it answers Jimmy Carter'scall for workers to give ground onthe cost of living.

The unchanged points in the originalsellout also include attacks on thegrievance procedure, allowing management even greater power to harassand fire. It did not dea.1 with demands

against forced overtime, the sickleavepolicy, or unsafe coDdlti<»is. Amnestyfor the over 175 workers who werefired because of the Jersey City andRichmond, Cal., walkouts, was nevereven brought to the table.

From the huge bulk centers to theneighborhood sorting roans, the postalrank and file Is fck;using its rejectionand bitterness on the top leaders whothrew away the power that the men £uidwomen on the bottom had built.

At the Denver Convention d the American Postal Workers Union in themidst of the contract battle, angry opposition to president Emmett Andrewscame to tiie surts^ce in a prolongedoutburst against the contract. Andrewswas unable to speak for almost anhour as delegates hooted him down.

Ttey also gave a standing ovationto a delegation of fired strikers andset up a relief fund of $50,000 tosupport these out of work brothersand sisters.

Had he been able, Andrews no doubtwCHild have doie the same as the gangster leadership of the MaHhandlers,who have not allocated oie red centfor their 60-plus /ired members.

As it is, all the top leaders haveallowed the rehiring fight to stay bottled up in court and in the grievance

procedure without any real backing.The phoiy ratificatioi vote will be

P.O. workers' last formal chance tocondemn the contract. But they willget a shot at the sellouts who nego-ciated it a couple weeks later.

APWU head Andrews faces a challenge from J(^ Napurano, a candidatefrom Clifton, N.J. Joseph Vacca, president oi the National Association (^Letter Carriers is being challenged byVin-cente Sombrotto, the head of the NewYork local.

Although neither challenger distinguished himself as a leader in the contract fi^t, both incumbents are likelyto be Knocked out for liieir betrayalof the membership.

The other key fight at present isover the re-hiring. The 175 fighterswho took the mandate "No Contract,No Work* seriously are the kind ofpeople the postal unions need. They,along with thousands d other rankand filers, were the ones responsiblefor the cap being taken off the cost<rf living. They were the ones whogave inspiration to the contract fightand -to struggling pec«)le throughoutthe country.

The fighting spirit they representwas betrayed. But they should not bebetrayed, they should be brought backnot just for their own sake and thelivelihood of their ^milies. No unioncan allow its members to be punishedwhen they are fighting for what isright. That's why fired workers ledby the New Jersey Good ContractCommittee are jamming their own courthearings and leading, the continuingstruggle against the P.O., the firings,and the sellout leaders. Andrews, Vacca, and the rest are oi their way out.These 175 represent the future.

After their successful strike last year, Mesabi miners are in the thick of thefight for a decent union.

Steel Convention...continuedfrom page 5

tioD because many sections of the union,non-ferrous, fabricating, etc, have thatri^t already. Instead, it should be takenup at the next basic steel coiference —to be held around New Years, 1980!

This position suited many delegateswho weren't decided on the issue andeven, caused confusion among the hardcore right to ratify forces. Should itbe fou^t all out or accepted as a compromise? Does the basic steel conference even have the power to decide onsuch a question, or doesn't it?

To further mess things up, the keyvote came not on the resolution itself,which was passed by voice vote. Rightto ratify forces called for a roll callvote on resolution 24, to at least getall the delegates on record. 316 delegates out of several thousand on thefloor stood up in favor of the roll call.

McBrido instantly claimed that thisvote showed that the insurgents are justan insignificant minority. To the con

trary, the vote, taken one year to theday after the Lykes Corporation closeddown the Youngstown Sheet and TubeMill, shows just how far the conventionis from the sentiments of the USWArank and fUe, For them, right to ratifywas the onlything that aroused any interest in the convention at aU.

The convention had many signs ofwhat's to come, McBride was forced,despite having the convention in hispocket, to pretend to be democraticfor fear of sparking more unrest. Theright to ratify forces increased theircooperation. They were concentratedjji the largest basic steel districts, lil®8,19, 26, and 31, as well as the Mesabiiron range District 33, and West CoastDistrict 38. The insurgents at the con-ventioi are already laying plans to takethe sickening story of Atlantic Cityback to the rank and file, and expandtheir forces in the local elections nextspring.

THE WC)RKER/September 20.1978/9

Texas-Mexico BorderH ofbed Of Struggle

(rf thousands of Mexican peasants havecome to the border cities like Juarez.They live in barrios and look for workat the over 450 U.S. -owned factoriesknown as "maquiladoras" which dotthe tKjrder. These companies get taxand import breaks from both governments, along with the huge supply oflow wage labor. Huge shanty townshave sprung up. The people of Tierra y Libertad have been fitting thespecial known as Boinas Negras

•a

Sm

(Black Caps), utility companies andthe former government offielal whoowns the land they occupy.

During the past year Mexican andChicano farmworkers have united inseveral important strikes. Theystruck 8 Arizona onion growers fromlate 1977 till March when they wonpay increases. This was followed bystrikes at two of the largest ranchesin the area. The workers wondemandsagainst the Goldmar and Bcdine

ranches* Goldmar is owned by BobGoldwater, Senator Barry Goldwater'sbrother. Goldwater reportedly paidprofiteers known as "coyotes" as muchas $80 for every scab they could bringinto the country. The strikers facedthe police brutality and the threat ofdeportations. All these efforts failedto break the strike unity.

In early July, 150 Mexican farmworkers struck the BUI Bishop molonranch near Presidio, Texas. Theyhad been promised $2,97 an hour butreceived a bare $2.65, no cold drinking water or toUet facUities. Fiveorganizers were arrested trying tocommunicate with,the strikers. Afteri one day strike, the demands wereWOIL

Hie stru^le o£ Chicano and Mexi-cano people along the U.S.-Mexicoborder has been heating up in recentincxithSo Towns on both sides of theborder are swollen with people whohave left the poverty erf Mexico'scountryside and jobless cities* Theycome north seeldng a better life, onlyto find more unemployment or sweatshop and field labor conditiems underbosses who take advantage erf discrimination, low wages and non-unim status. With increasing militancy, Chi-canos and Mexicans have fought thedesperate condiHons in diis area ofcardboard shanty towns, broken hopesand police repression.

On May 16th, Maria Caitreras, amother of 11 and 6 months pregnant,died of a heart attack i^iile being interrogated by oncers erf the Inunigra-tion and Naturalization Service (INS)at the border between Nuevo Pro

gress©, Mexico and Progress©, Texas. In spite of repeated pleas by herrelatives , the officers refused to lether get medical care until it was toolate. Her death and that of her unbornbaby sparked a series of prote^ intowns on both sides of the border

demanding justice and an end to INSharassment . At a demonstration in

Laredo, 50 members of the TexasFarmworkers Union joined the Con-treras temily, a group of strikersfrom a Coca Cola plant and othersjoined the Contreras family to hit Lionel Castillo, tlic director of the INS.

In July, 6000 Mexican youth took tothe streets in Matamoros, Mexico to

protest the police murder (rf a 15--year-old student, Salvador BarriosBaba. They took over the downtownarea of the city of 300,000 acrossfrom Brownsville, Texas* The policefired into the crowd, killing 3 andwounding 15. Mass pressure forced4 toQ police officials to resign andresulted in 3 cops being chargedwith the beating death*

Across the bwder in Texas, police,

murder and brutality are also targetsOn May 7th during Cinco de Maycfestivities in Houstcm, the police useda fight as an excuse to invade the Chicano community* Hiey met with a rebellion that saw squad cars burnedand fighting lasted throu^outthe night.The stru^le was fueled by the memoryerf Joe Campos Torres, wtio was beatenand drowned in a drainage ditch twoyears earlier. The killer cops responsible received wily a aie-year sentence. Protests against other policemurders have taken place in Plain-view, Dallas and San Antonio.

The commm struggle on both sidesof die border is further emphasizedby the demand for housing. In ElSegundo, a barrio in soute El Paso,Texas, real estate investors are trying to drive out community residentsto put up a commercial district.

This strip is heavily traveled bytourists and is surrounded by (me ofthe poorest commimities in the Unixted States. 30% of El Segundo residents are unemployed. Already halfof the people have been driven outand their homes have been torn down*But the remaining 13,000 are puttingup a stubborn fight. They have occupied some buildings and delayedan $8 million dollar federal grantthat would finance the commercialbcxianza*

A few ipiles away in Juarez, Mexico the people erf Tierra y Libertad(Land and Liberty) have resisted thegovernment's efforts to drive them atlthe land they are squatting on. With60% of Mexico^s agricultural workersunemployed and the land more and morecontrolled by large landowners andagribusiness like Del Monte, hundreds

Farmivorkers and C(rf(B strikers joined in a protest against La Migra's murder ot Maria Ccmtreras*

Latin Holidays ofPride and Struggle

From Spanish Harlem to East LosAngeles and from San JUan to Mexico City, Puerto Rlcan and Mexicanpe(>ple will be commemorating struggles against colonialism and oppres-si(m.

El Grito de Lares September 23is a (iay when Puerto Ricans set theirsights on eniing U.S. rule. Thisanniversary of a 19th century PuertoRican peasant revolt comes just oneweek after El Grito de Delores, theMexican day of independence fromSpain. Celebrating these Septemberholidays, Chicanos and Puerto Ricansin this country see their commonground against a system that jamsthem together in the big city "barrios* and a system that keeps under-devel<:^)ed countries from being free.

El Grito de Lares (the Cry ofLares) began on September 23, 1868when a mass rebellicm broke out.

They were victorious and set up arevolutionary committee to run thecity. Their takeover was followedby a march to the next town, SanSebastlcm. With machetes and a fewmuskets they took on the well-trainedtroops of the Spanish empire. Spanish troops jaUed i killed most ofthe rebels, but s(* e escaped to the

mountains and later spread the in-splraticHi of the revolt throughout theisland.

This holiday has come to symbolizethe hatred of Puerto Ricans againstU.S. domination (rf their island and inPuerto Rican communities. The Cry(rf Lares is now the cry of "FreePuerto Rico, Right Now!*

El Grito de Delores is the holiday(rf M^cans and Chicanos* On September 16, 1810 Father Hidalgo rang^the bells of the church in the town

of Delores. It cried out to the massesof peasants and workers, Indians andMeztizos, to shake off nearly 300years of Spanish tyranny.

In the early morning Hidalgo andothers freed prisoners in the city jail,replacing them with the Spanish landlords and government crfficials. Hidalgo's speech to the peasants demanded the expulsion of the Spanish.It ended with "Long Live Mexico!*

Over the next three years the ranksof a peasant's army swelled from 300to 100,000. They marched from cityto city with machetes and knives. Theyfought courageous battles backed bythousands of armed troops and cavalry.Mass resistance continued througji1815. independence from Spain was

finally won in 1821 as the red, whiteand green flag of victorious Mexico :flew from every window.

The pride of Latino people in theseSeptember holidays builds unity andprovides inspiration for further struggle. It means recounting the heroismof the early "independentistas*, celebrating and socializing, or makingplans for renewed resistance to LaMigra, police brutality, or cuts inbilingual education. On the island,many Puerto Rican people will makethe annual pilgrimage to Lares. TheGritos will once again be heard byfreedom loving peoples—North Amer-ics and South.

I'l'

j

ABOVE: Chicano and Puerto Rlcan

H.S. students hold joint celebrationin Milwaukee.

BELOW: Mural reflects PuertoRico^s long freedom strugg^.

- -

10/September 20; 19.78/THE WORKER

Revolutionary Struggle Shu

Lightly armed Nicaraguan youth spearhe^ed the Matagalpa revolt and have beenin the front lines of the nation-wide uprising.

REVOUinON INNICAIU6UA

Most have never been in a battle before,these high school students, these workersand peasants, these old menandyoung women, these Nicaragaans, They are armedwith pistols,oldhantingrifles,home-niadebombs and Molotov cocktails, unless theyare lucKy enough to have a captured carbine. They have joined the lean, hardenedguerillas of the Sandino National Libera-Uon Frcaxt in the all-out assault of the-centers rfpower in Nicaragua, .wtilch beganSeptember 9.

The country'slS,000manNationalGuardan army and police force in one, is beingsent to city after city to try and crush therevolution. Despite their fdanes and copters, tiielr heavy arms and their militarytraining, all prc/ided by thellnltedStates,they were not able, after a week offighting, to break the back ofthe insurrection. The hatred of the Nicaraguan peoplefor the 45 year old Somoza dictatorshiphas become a mi^ty force for changing

Nicaraguan people mnurn slain fighter.

the world.The revolt caps a year of deep political

unrest in the country. A raid on the National Palace by a Sandlnist guerrilla unit:trl^red a week of spontaneous mass rebellions, spearheaded by the young peopleof Matagalpa, Nicaragua's third largestcity. For five days they held the ci^sNational Guard unit pini^d in a six-blockarea around their barracl^.

Matagalpa was migrated territory untilstrafing planes and relnforceme;Tts forcedthe youths to hide their weapons or retreatto the mountains to join the Sandino National Liberatioa Front (named after a rebel

leader who fought U.S. invasion in the1920s and 30s).

This open display <£ the revolutionarysentiments of the people decided the SNLFto begin the nation-wide uprising. And, indeed, those whohaven'ttakenuparmshaveopened their homes and provided suppliesto the rebels.

The uprising dates from August 22,the Sandlnist commandos, dressed in

phony National Guard uniformSj, stormedinto the National Palace, in Managua,seizing it. They held many of the 1500people In the building hostage, among themseveral hundred of Nicaragua's top politicians, demanding freedom for Nicaragua's political prisoners.

After twodays of ranting and raving aboutterrorism, Somoza gave in and the SNLFheaded for Managua airport, with 59freed political prisoners. From the cityto the plane, the roads were jammed withthoasaruis of cheering Nicaraguans chanting •Somoza to the Gallows."

The SNLF didn't choose August 22as the day to seize the National Palaceon a whim. The raid was planned afterJinmy Carter sent a letter of congratulations to Somoza for making advancements in human rights. This was a slapin the face to the Nicaraguan people, whodaily face the "advancements" of Somoza*s" dictatorship. But more than anythingelse, the letter showed where the U.S.stands, not with freedom and democracy,

k loxfeiA ol xevoXvftaonats strugg\e is svieeplng a number of theunderdeveloped countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, the ThirdWorld. Three of the most hated tyrants on the face of the earth, Somozaof Nicaragua, Smith of Rhodesia and the Shah of Iran wake up each morningwith dread in their bowels, praying that sunset will still see them in power

Their doom is spelled out hi the millions of people who have stood upagainst their crimes...the heroic high school students of Malagalpe whotook on the National Guard with old pistols and handmade bombs... the tensand hundreds of thousands who fill the streets of Iran's cities day after daybraving the bullets of the Army and the secret police...the men and womenwho flock to take up arms to liberate their villages and all oS Zimbabawe,making the guerilla struggle there a true people's war. Revolutionary groupsare providing leadership and organization, but it is the people in their mill-ioas who are the decisive factor.

The dictators are not the only ones filled with dread. The rulers of thiscountry, vaults of their banks stuffed with millions squeezed from peasants on Nicaragua's plantations, drilling crews in Iran's oilfields andRhodesian miners, are f&clng their. biggest defeat since Indochina. Theyhave backed and armed Smith, Somoza and the Shah. Now the people chantslogans against the U.S. imperialists as well as their lackeys.

In Iran, in Nicaragua, in Rhodesia the U.S. State Department is tryingto help these dogs weather the storm. Even as it does, diplomats andspies are also looking in the ranks of the opposition forces for more acceptable substitutes who will uphold U.S. interests if they get mtopower.The U.S. capitalists face competition from their main rival, the Sovietruling class. The U.S.S.R. is trying to replace the U.S., elbowing its wayinto these countries in the name of "aiding liberatioa struggles and revol-irtions" -the same approach they used in Angola.

But as people fight, they learn. As.they fight and learn, they grow stronger. People willing to lay down their livesfor freedom and liberation willnot stand by idly and watch the fruits oftheir struggle sratched away. A1-.ready the courageous fi^t waged by the peoples of Nicaragua, Iran andZimbabwe stands as an inspiration and an aid to people everywhere fighting to be free.

Victory to the Nicaraguan PeoplelVictory to Zimbabwe!Victory to the Iranian People!

not with justice and the people, but witedictatorship and rule by terror.

- The U.S. is trying to cover its bets,however, and promote some of the moreconservative anti-Somoza forces as the

leaders of the opposition. In particular,they are hopeful aboiA business leaderswho have organized a general strike ofstore owners against the government,which has lasted almost a month and is

89% effective.Up until recently, it has been the peas

ants , workers and students wagi^ thebattle to get rid of Somoza. But with theregime intensifying its repression in orderto hold on to power, and the anti-Somozastruggle also intensifying, the battle hasbroadened out.

The Broad Opposition Front (BOF)is a coalition uniting many different forces,from the SNLF to the businessmen'sassociation. All in the BOF are unitedaround getting rid of Somoza, but formany different reasons.

The businessmen entered because moreand more, their freedoms have been takenaway. The press has been carefully censored so that only Somoza*s position is putout. Somoza's family, Nicaragua's topcapitalists, run the economy not allowingother capitalists to function fully.

Furthermore, public opinion is so highto get rid of Somoza that if they supportedhim, other bankers and businessmen wouldlose any chance of maintaining the ruleat their kind. The businessmen are hopingfor Somoza to resign, lookiiig for a newpresident who will not only give themmore freedom to operate but put an endto the rebellions.

Tiie SNLF and other revolutionary forces are fighting to end not only Somoza'sreign of terror, but also everything he,Jimmy Carter and the Nicaraguan rulingclass stand for: the continuation of theexploitation and oppression thatnowexist.

Cutting rid of Somoza is for them thefirst giant step in the Icmg fight for a freeNicaragua. And it is to their banner thatthe Nicaragua people are rallying.

Iranians1

Roaring defiance of heavily armed troo]s<didari1y the world over.

THE WORKER/September 20,1978/11

ies Third World Countries

3

SAtAOzA, tAe sHaA Am smH —

rum fATE 15'the T-EOPlE's HANDS//-

Hit Streets

Rhodesia Dying -ZIMBABWE

Spokesmen for the Patriotic Frwit, thegroup leading the guerrilla war againstthe racist Rhodesian governmenti' arepredicting the rapid liberation of theircountry, Zimbabwe, Ian Smith, head oftiie government and leader of fte rulingwhite settler minority, failed in a desperate late August attempt to split thePatriotic Front through secret negotiations.

Panicky diplomats from the U.S. andBritain are still trying to work out somearrangement by which they can salvagesome influence once Smith falls. Theyknow the Rhodesian government faces,in the words of England's influentialManchester Guardian, *a narrow and simple choice: they can negotiate now with thePatriotic Front or they can sign their unconditional surrender later on—and not

much later.*

These developments underline the greatchanges that are taking place now. Rhodesia is dying. From its ashes, Zimbabweis being bprn.

RHODESIA IS DYING

Smith's desperation is so obvious thatrumors circulate among the white settlershe leads that his bags are packed to travel.Whether or not he flees, 1500 of his fellowwhites do every month, unwilling to face

0 Topple Shah's Tyranny Women as well as men are joiningthe Patriotic Front armed forces.

the prospect of a society where they donotdominate the 96% ofthep<«)ulatlonwhichisblack.

Smith's big effort to retain control Ofthe country, a so-called "transitionalgovernment* which was set up in Marchand includes three black leaders, has beena disaster. The three black traitors, whoonce led marches of hundreds of thousands,are now lucky to draw 500 followers to arally and need bodyguards when they appear in public.

The "transitional government" and theblack traitors in it are hated for good reason. They passed exactly one law againstdiscrimination, covering hotels but nothousing, dieaters but not schools, andrestaurants but not hospitals. Along withthis window dressing, the government hasstepped up its attacks wi the people. Manyblack areas have dawn-to-dusk curfewsand violators are shot. In one region thegovernment has tried to keep the peopleunder control by herding them into con-

-centration camp-like "protected villages"like the strategic hamlets the U.S. set upin Vietnam.

m

driving by, residents of Teheran raise their fists in a gesture of revolutiouary

One day after Iranian troops fired submachine guns point blank into anti-Shahdemonstrations, killing hundreds, JimmirCarter rushed to telephone his personalsupport to the butcher who had orderedthe massacre. Speaking in the namethe American people, Carter said theShah was key to Iran's "continued alliance with the West." In his desperatedrive to stay in power, the Shah has g(meall out to suppress mass rebellion againsthis regime, imposing martial law inTehran and 11 other cities, tighteningpress censorship, and arresting hundredsof journalists and other anti-Shah forcesThousands lay dead and wounded after aweek straight of massive nationwide demonstrations were attacked by policeand troops.

Carter's hurried call was intended tobolster the Shah's government, under seigefrom every section of the Iranian people,who are rising up against 25 years ofimpoverishment and political repressionat the hands of the Shah, The recentupsurge, the most powerful to date, is thecrest of atideofrebellionagainsttheShah.

Since last fall, tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets again andagain in dozens of cities across the country. They fought the police and destroyedgovernment, offices, banks and the nightclubs of the rich. Protests would runfor 2 or 3 days, disperse and erupt againon a 40 day schedule—corresponding tothe Moslem period of mourning. The Shahknew the schedule but the hatred of hisdictatorial regime runs so deep that histroops and secret police could not prevent

continued on page j2

ZIMBABWE IS BEING BORN

As the transitional government hasproved itself to be a fraud, black facesand all, the people are rallying to thebanner of the Patriotic Front in increasing numbers. Outlying sections of the country have been effectively liberated —government troops enter them only inlarge numbers and don't stay long. Thevillagers govern themselves and take par!in Patriotic Front-run educational programs in literacy, health care, scientific

continued on page 12.

12/September 20.1978/THE WORKER

Rhodesiacontihuedfrom pu^r n

agriculture and politics.The guerrillas' area of (^ratiais

has spread from the border regions ofa few years ago to the ^ole country,even the outskirts of Salisbury, thecapital city. One Patriotic Frcmt leadersays, "We will be transforming ourstruggle into a people's war. . .nolonger fighting for the people of Zimbabwe, but with them."

For the ruling classes of the U.S.ANP Britain, Rhodesia is a di^sterin the making. Not only are dielr interests there in grave danger, but thefall <£. Rhodesia will mean a new base

of struggle against the increasinglyisolated white settler governmentSouth Africa itself.

To top it ctff, their rivals who rule theSoviet Union are looking to replace theU.S. as the dominant power in the area,ofi^ering the liberation forces guns andCuban troops to buy their way in.

Therefore, British and American

Guerrillas prepare for final push to liberate Zimbabwe.

diplomats pushedSmithtotryandstrikesome deal with the Patriotic Frcmtthatwould leave themselves the maximumleverage in the new Zimbabwe, whichcan no longer be staved ctff. In lateAugust, Smith met secretly with JoshuaNkomo, leader ofthe Zimbabwe AfricanPeople's Union (ZAPU), rie offeredNkomo the number cme position in the

W

country if he would <n:der ZAPU forcesto st(9 ^hting and split with the othergroup in the Patriotic Front, the Zimbabwe African Naticmal Union (ZANU).ZANU, headed by Robert Mugabe, hasdcme the greater part of the fightingand is considered by white Rhode siansto be more^ dangerous than ZAPU,

Rather than go the route of the three

The Shah Did HBy the third week of August, the cur

rent wave of struggle against the Shahwas higher than any previous one andit showed no sign of receding or evencresting. Suddenly i^wspapers, radioand T.V, stations of Iran and the worldwere full of horrified stories aboutthe burning of a movie theatre inAbadan. Over 400 people died whenthe doors were locted from the out

side, gasoline poured under them andthe place put to the torch.

How convenient for the beleagered

Shah! This atrocity, he rushed toannounce, showed what kind of peoplehis oppcnents were—murderous religious fanatics. The media in this country was quick to report his claims.

The Abadan theatre was the seventh

theatre burned in August! Each onethe first six was in a wealthy neigh

borhood. Not one perscm was killedor injured. In each case undergroundanti-Shah organizations claimed responsibility. The theatres were burned to

continiiedfrom page Uchem from erupting anew.

The Shah, echoed byAmerican newsmen, has tried to cloakhis vicious fightagainst the Iranian pe(^le in the mantleof democracy and progress. He claimshis opposition is reactionary Moslemreligious leaders who viant to keeppeasants tied to the land in serf-like

oppressicm and women in veiled sub-mis sicm.

Much c£ the public leadership of the

attack the Shah's program ofwiping outIranian culture with "modern""culture

'from the West, complete with pom-ograjrfiy and Hollywood jive.

The Abadan fire was the first in a

working class area. The film thatnight was not pornograj;^, nota Hollywood production, but a progressivepolitical film made in Iran in the early'50s, before the Shah came to powerin a CIA-planned coup.

Abadan is a highly industrialized city,with a modern fire department, buUtto handle fires in the city's numerousoil refineries. But that night, eventhough diere was a firehouse cxily slX;blocks away, no fire trucks showed upuntil 13 hours after the fire began!

The next day, 2000 people marched inAbadan, calling for the punishment ofthose ^ty,~ The U.S. press impliedthat those people, including families ofthe fire's victims, were pointing the

-finger 'along with the Shah* at theMoslem fanatics" and callingfor more

mii

police protection. But according toIranians THE WORKER has interviewedwho just came from Abadan, the demonstrators blamed the Shah, his regimeand his secret police. The demonstration turned into yet another demandingthe overthrow of the.government.

Who struck the match in the Abadan

resistance to the Shah has ccmie fromIslamic leaders who have utilized theirrelative immunity from arrest andtheir respect ammg their followersto mobilize the masses—against theSbah« Devout Moslems mareh side byside with ncm-Moslems in these demonstrations. Protestors from all walksot Iranian life take advantage of theactlcxis to ti^t the regime.

The most influential of the Moslem

groups is led by several famous Iranianpatriots, and has consistently called forthe overthrow of the Shah andthe insti

tution of democratic government inIran. They have worked closely withworker, student, and intellectual activists, and have gone out of theirway to publlcally state thattheir fi^tis not with communists or other revo

lutionaries fighting the Shah, but withthe Shah and his dictatorial government.

Even other sections ofMoslemlead-ers, who call for the replacement ofthe Shah with a government based onIslamic religious law and so are notas reliable a force in the fi^t forfreedom and democracy, have workedhand in hand with the rest of the move

ment in the anti-Shah struggle.Opposition to the Shah runs through

out Iranian society. In this oil-richcountry, the moneylran's workers produce in the form of "black gold" is notused to better the lives ofthe desperately poor workers and peasants. Much ofit goes to weapons, ,

In scane recent years, over one-halfof ail U.S. arms exports have gone tothe Shah in an effort to build up an allyloyal to U.S. interests in the PersianGulf area.

The Shah's party has been thepolitical party, permitted to operate.The Iranian pec^le have no right tovote nor any control over the government of their own country. The Shahspits on Iran's historic culture andencourages the importation o£ pornographic films from Europe and the U.S.

The secret police (SAVAK) operateseveryvrfiere, even abroad—jailing, torturing, and often killing anyone whodares raise opposition.

The U.S. government has stood firmly andactiyelybehindti^ reactionary

traitors who joined the transitional government, Nkomo told Smith it was nodeal without guarantees of genuinemajority rule and without ZANU'spar-tlcipati<^. Patriotic Front spokesmenvow, "Ws are not fighting for half-measues—but for total power. Weshall seize total power before the end ofthe year."

theatre remains unknown, but subsequent events in Iran (see accompanying*article) leave no doubt it is the Shahwho is the perpetratoi;, of mass murderand the Shah who stands between the

Iranian people and the realization oftheir aspirations for freedom fromviolence and repression.

regime. American corporations openlyrun many sections of Iran's economy,and American banks line the streetsof Iran's big cities. Tens of thousandsof U. S. military advisors operatethroughout the country.

As the struggle in Iran has developedinto a more united and concentratedeffort to overthrow the Shah, particularabuses and acts of oppression havetriggered immediate, and organizedresiXKise from the people.

In August, a butcher was arrestedin the city of Kazeroon. Four hundredother butchers and townsmen armed

with meat cleavers inarched to thepolice station and forced the releaseof the arrested man.

In city after city, mayors and otherofficials have been forced to hold public meetings to hear people's grievances, In many of these meetings,people have come in with but one thingto say, "We demand an end to the regime of the Shah,"

And above all, there have been massive street demonstrations.

With many diverse forces in motiona^inst the iShah's creaky'regime, theexact course of the Iranian revolutionis impossible to predict. The U.S.and the Soviet Union will both be looking to interfere in the process, to support forces they hope to control andrely on.

But the Iranian people are takingtheir destiny into their own hands inthe streets of Teheran, Qum, Isfahan,Tabriz and hundreds of other citiesand villages and they will have'plentyto say about how their country will berun.

THE 'V^ORKER/September 20,1978/13

Soweto Trials Can'tStop Azania Struggle

With tiieir families clustered upagainst a heavy steel fence shoutingto them, U black Soweto studentsthrust their arms through the bars ofttie padiy wagcn taking them toanotherprison. Their clenched fists wereproudly raised in the Black Powersalute.

It was the first time their femilieshad seen or heard from their children,all hi^ school age, in over a year.Their raised fists expressed theirburning desire to fight the apartheidsystem and white settler role thatenslaves themselves and their femiliesand their nation. Their spirits couldnot be vdnauisbed—even though theybad been held and tortured in prison,and now face tiie possibUity of a deathsentence if they were convicted ofeither sedition or terrorism in theirSeptember 18th trials.

The v^iite minority government isdetermined to punish them as harshlyas possible—to try an! stop the wavesof rebellion that have been sweepingthrou^ South Africa and threaten totopple the oppressive regime.

The Soweto 11 were singled out bythe government because as membersof the Soweto Student RepresentativeCouncil, they helped lead the massive1976 uprisings of milliais of Azanianswhich began in the Soweto township.Their spirit of resistance, at all costs,represents the mood that has beensweeping black masses in South Africa, a mood that was pat into actionby the all-out charge against the apartheid government,, with the studentsboldly leading the way.

that makes them constantly carryidentifying passbooks. They burned theschools where tiiey are taught that itis the irreversible way of the worldthat blacks be ruled by whites, andlive in such poverty and degradatioa;They fought against everything thatimprls<xis South Africa's black majority as their millions at voicescried out "Viva Azania!"—Long Livethe Black M-an's Land!

Always it was the students leadingthe charge in that fight. Teenagersarmed with rocks, bottles and sticjksbattled non-stop with the well-armedforces of the govaribnenf., They foughtwith a weapon lo mod-jca technologycan match: a gut-wrenching hatred pflife under the slavery of apartheidand an unruencliable desire for freedom.

200 were killed and thousands hurt

by tear ^ssing and bullets. Evenas they ran, gasping for breath and

blinded by gas and bleeding from bulletwounds, they yelled the slogans of theuprising: "For Freedom We Shall LayDown Our Lives—The Strug^e Con-tinaes,,"

The Soweto Rebellion was largelyinspired by the Black ConsciousnessMovement, one afwhose leaders, StevenBiko, was murdered by the apartheidrulers. On September 12, 1977, he wasbeaten in his jail cell till he died of afractured skill. The wliite govornmeathad to get rid of him, because he wasa leader at the struggle for AzanjUi-"a nation where the real majority, the80% of South Africa that is b^ck--would role.

They hated him because he knew andspread the message that die only wayfor SouthAfrkanblackstoattainAzaniawas to fight for It. "The system concedes nothing without demand., ..Thisis why womustrejectthebcggartactlcsthat are bolog forced on isbytboso who

WlUT ViSS THE SOWETORSBELUOM?

Spring 1976. 10,000 students stormedinto the streets when they were told theyhaTO to be taiiizht in Atrilnans-^

up in rebellions like the one in Soweto.The apartheid rulers have gone

through every cliannel to try and putan end to the black liberatioii moyemeiit

sweeping them out of power: openlyshooting demou.stratorsj, slow prisond3aths by tortiu'e, and now ma:/bedeathsentences foe teenagers. But that stillleaves them up against the millions oCother blacks like Biko and the Soweto

11 ready to take up arms against theapartheid regime at the risk of layingdown their lives.

September 1978. One year afterSteven Biko's murder, 11 students whoalso stood up to the apartheid government are on trial, facingpossible deatiisentences. Their cases are already being rigged against them; their lawyerwas not netified of their cases until 24

hoars before their indictments came

dow?i, and he has been harrassed andnot allowed to see his clients.

At the same time, people around theworld are holdingStevenBiko memorialprograms ontheflrstannlversaryofhisdeath. ThejustliberatioastruggleofthsSouth African blacks has inspired abroad internatioaal support mo^/emeat.

In the U.S. this has taken the forme?a sharp batUe betweenlhose supportingSouth Africans' freedom fight and U.S.banks and corporatloas which have mil-lloas invested in the slave labor mines

and factories of apartheid.. TheKrugsr-and--the gold coin from South Africa'shellholes of mines —has been withdrawn

STEPHEN BIKO

Murdered, 1977

from s.ile in many places due to nationwide demonstrations demanding "Banthe Krugerand!" On college campusesfrom California to Massachusetts, thelargest student protests since the antiwar movement are calling for theirusiiversitles to "Divest Now!"--to cut

their ties with banks and corporationsdoing business with South Africa.

The solidarity o? the world's peoplewith the blackSouth Africans ha s pushedthe vrfiite minority regime even closerto the brink, and made the possibilityo? a state of freedom for the blackmajority—Azania—come closer everyday.

New Gov't Takes FewerIn Demlnican Republic

On August 16, twelve years of rule bythe hated dictator Jcaquin Balaguercame to an end in the Dominican Re

public. Antonio Guzman, a wealthyleader of the Dominican Revolution-

He instituted fierce political repres-sicai, forcing may fighters into prisonor exile, outlawing political parties,and requiring the Dominican i)eople tocarry ID cards like in Soutii Africa,

ary PartyCPRD), took o^iceas presi- Ageneral reign ofterror was imposed,dent,' capping a three-mopth electoral Balaguer and the biglaixiowners andstruggle that threatened to spill over factory chiefs sirred the wealth of theinto civil war. • Dominican people with corporations

This inauguration was the result of IRffi Alcoa and Gulf & Western. Theythe heated election campaign in May, met ccMitinual hatred and resistancethe first In 12 years. As the elections from the Dominican people,were under way and it was clear Guzman won the election with prom-Guzman was winning by a landslide, ises of nationalizing foreign business

The 1976 uprising by thousands of Azanian students in Soweto took the liberationstruggle to a new leveL ..

the army desperately impounded theballots in Balaguer's behalf.

Broad resistance sprang upfromtheheart of the country—workers andpeasants—as well as from die urbanintellectuals and even some patrioticlandowners and businessmen opposedto his rule,

Balaguer looked to the U.S. tosave his neck, but unlite 1965, aid

and promoting political freedom. WithBhlaguer's defeat significant advancesare being made. The legal bars againstdemonstrations and public protests arelifted , new revoluti(Hiary newspapersare appearing, and there is a generalexplosimi of poUtlcal discussion andactivity.

But new tasks confrtHit the anti-Balaguer front. Abandcming his talk

was not to be found. With Carter still naticMalizingforeign-ownedbusinesStrying to peddle himself as a defender Guzman and the PRD now talk ofof "human rights," manyantl-Balaguer attracting more U.S. investments to

lai^uage of their colonizers. Theirprotest was joined by tens ofthousands0? workers who went on strike againstthe U.S. and British owaad mines andfactories where they toil 10-12 hoursa day, 6 days a week, for abo-ut $3D amonth. Many of them hopped off trainstaking them from their hellish workplaces to the run-down shantytowuswhich the white government forcesthem into. Families at the students^many wlthino Income, jobs, or politicalvcdce, wholeheartedly joined the protest, crying "Down with WhiteMinorityRulel*

of people filled the streetsthroughout ^e next few months. Theyburned the buildings of die government

wish toappeaseourcruelmasters.Thisis where the cry, 'Black man, you areon your own!' becomes relevant."

The rulers tried to denounce theBlack Consciousness Movement as"separatist" b«at one Biko's comrades answered by telling them to lookat reality. "Separatists are in fact notseparatists but liberatdonlsts.. .. Theequal distribution o! decision-makingpower is far more important thanjrfiysical proximity to white people."

The rulers feared .-urn because whathe said struck a responsive chord Inthe 19 mUlion South Africanblacks suffering under apartheid and looLdng foranother way--and those millions carried oat his message when they rose

forces ready for armed resistance,and Guzman and the PRDalready working out deals with bigU.S, corporationsthe U.S. said "Who needs you?"

Abandoned from the outside and inside, Balaguer was forced tobackdown,finish counting the votes and retirewith the millions he stole during hisdictatorship.

Ever since 1965 when Balaguer rodeinto power behind an invasionby 22,000U.S. Marines which overthrewthe just-elected Dominican government, he has

boost the eccmomy. Instead of aimingthe anger of the people at the biglandowners and,foreign corporations,Guzman now pojnts his finger at cor-rqpticn as public enemy ifL

The Balaguarist forces are stillaround also, with a solid base in thearmy and control of the DominicanSenate.

Just as the Dominican masses havestood up in the past to expose theBalaguer forces dominatingtheir country, they are sure to take advantage

ruled with an iron fist. Unemployment in. ctf their new and better situation to con-some parts of the country has soared front the problems and tasks they faceto 50% and the average income is today and on the road ahead.$900 a war.

:

14/Septeinber 20, 1978/THE WORKER

MISSISSIPPI...continuedfrom page /

Ti^ielo storss. M-jQ;' of picketswere whites and Blacks who had coQ'

verged on Tupelo from a half a dazennorthern cities to join the Labor Day

march. After closing a handful of tar- ,get stores, in the League's boycott forjobs, the pickets spotted a Confederateflag at a Klan- staging area a few blocksaway. As the picket lines joined upto confront the Klan, three uniformedTupelo coQS scurried away. The Kluxers grabbed their bedsheets and pointyhoods from car trunks in a ridiculous

attempt to scare somebody.The Labor Day confrontatiaQS were

part of a series of events that showIhe sharpening struggle in aorfchernMississippL The mo/emeiit, \^iich began in response to a nambe? of casesof police brutality and murder, hasgained mementum as a boycott for affirmative hiring in business, government and industry. The boycott andweekiy marches in several neighboring counties have generated a defiantBlack s&ru^le, cliallenglng the wholeracist Mississippi power structure.The movement threatens to tear upthe whole way Ihe South is kept as alow-wage back water for profit hungrycorpor.atiais. Hundreds of people in thisarea of the Soothare "walking and talking with their minds on freedom."

Founded in 1936 in the predominantlyBlack Marshall County, the UnitedLeague has foughtdiscriminatoryelec-tlon laws, harassment Black studentsand teachers in the desegregated schoolsystem, and police brutality.

Their first boycott came in 1974 in.

Skip Robinson attacked die idea of bargaining from a position of weakness.He predictei^ "We'regoingtotaks saneBlacks out of office." In Tupelo, thiskind of hard line stance forced a number of Black :ninlsters and other vocalcivic leaders to back off from theirInitial vocal oooosition.

During the Labor Day activities,Robinson said, "We'll never be ableto.unify all Blacks. So wo don't wantto climb the moiintain wth alot of extra weight on our backs. When we getto the top, we'll throw down a ropefor those v^io were afraid to ms.ke tiieclimb." N

The present struggle Is based solidly on rejection (£ any fear or compromise. In one speech, Lewis Myers, aco-leader of the League, declared,"Mj knees won't bend. If 1 have to diein this country, I want to die on myfeet, not o«i my knees. We liavj wo.uthe,digiiity oi our people back," OhSjjnday,Augustl3^ League Coordinator HowardConn's station wagon was riddled with16 bulletholes. Passengers returned thefire, wounding one assailant. The gunbattle took place in Okolooa, a hotbedof League activity. Town officials putthe area under curfew. H,D. Ross, aslocal Justice of the Peace, invented arule that all future marched inOkoloruwould be subject to Lidiscrimirate police frisk of all participants. This ruling was later overtuned by League lawyers in a Federal Appeals Court.

In response, the Klan has been stepping up its activi^. The week beforeLabor Day, five Klan memlxcrs unmasked M) show Ihey are not afraidto reveal their identities. Four of ttefive turned out to be police officers!One of these "cop-by-day/Klan-by-

types was suspended t'roui hisjob — for one day. The fifth "proud"Klansman, .who had Iceen calliog himself "Gary Wilson, the Grand Titanof the Tupelo Klavern," turned out tobe BUI Howard, owner of a local furniture plant. Howard's group of cross-burning thiigs are hooted up with BillWilksnson's Louisiana^sed Klanfac-tlon, the Invisible Empire K.nights ofthe Ku Klmc Klan. The turf of die In-visibls Empire extends into Alabama,where 2000 people caine to a K-Unrally and cross burning on August 12.

Three days before, a white woman,Annie M cDougal, who had actively sap-ported the Black struggle, was foundshot to death in her Decatur, Alabamahome. Less than a mouth before, theinitials KKK had been burned in her

frmit yard.Tue gro^vth of ,toe United League

and die resurgence of the Klan are responses to sweeping changes comingtothe S'out'i. JimmyCar{er's"newS;)uth"featijTiiS the mass've relocation ofnoiiiiefu Lidustry into thisdlscrimiM-tory, low wage, non-union area.

In the post years, Tupelcand the sur-

FOR ALV

MINNESOTA POWERLINE FIGHT

An amazing war is being waged inPope and Steams counties of centralMinnesota. Farmers v^ose land and

livelihood is being threatened by an800 kilovolt electric power line arefighting a guerrilla-style battle againstthe constrqction project.

The super-high tensicmtransmissionlines pose a very serious hazzardto farmers, their fields, and livestock.For example, ozone and microwavelevels will be high enou^ to causeskin cancer. Fences along the rightof way will carry enough voltage toelectrocute animals or people.

The struggle has seen confrontationsbetween farmers and police, sabotageof the transmission towers, sit-ins atstate regulatory agencies, and a crowsnest occupation atop a power tower.

The most vicious tactic the powercompany has used was a forged newsletter put out by Darrel Mullroy. Thislabor sfy from the Centurion Secur-i\' Agency planted a phoney edition

rotmdlng I^ee County barely offered3000 industrial jobs. Blacks couldworkin the cotton seed oil mill, WMtescould work in the tiiread factory. Today there are over 15,000 factory jobsin Lee County. Multi-national monopolies such as FMC, Rockwell, BlueBird Packing, Emerson Electric, andPoiinsylvania Tire and Rubber havoflocked to TipLJlo. They have como inas fast as they can throw up tiie singlastory factory complexes, PennsylvaniaTire recently announced plans to completely close its Mansfield, Ohio plantand ship the last 500 jobs to Tupelo,

League dema-uds In Corinth expressthe frustrations of Blacks at the cen

tury old, rugged racism The electricpower of the Tennessee Valley Authority and the dirt cheap wages have

JUSTU

of "Hold the Line," the farmers' newsletter in mailboxes. The forgery boastfully implied that farmers had beenresponsible for the death of a construction worker, Jerry Jones.

In fact, the fatal tower, #1180, hadnot been tampered with and Jones'sdeath had been an accident. Furious

power line workers were cwt to takevengeance on the farmers until thetruth was revealed at a press conference by the farmers' organization.A number of construction workers quitworking on the line in disgust.

Skip Robinscm is the nmin leader ofthe United League.

Byhalia, 10 miles from Holly Springs,the Marshall County seat. Like thepresent boycott, it began in responseto the police klUing of a Black youth.A.nd .llks Tupelo, that boycott built onthe momeiTtum to make demands inother areas as wall.

Two diys before the Labor DaymarchUnited League members travelled toLexington, Mississippi for a protestin the rural cominiiity in the Deltaregion in the south part of the state.Hi's common for the League to sponsormarches in two places on one weetend.So tiuickly is the influence cf the movement growing that new issues and newp7ans constantly arise. In Lexington, aboycott of white-oiVTied business sprangup following the police beating of a mentally retarded young Black woman.When 12people wece arrested for picketing stares, the people called for theSeptember 2nd rally.

As the influence the League has expanded, it has been the target of criticism cf some established Black leaders. In Lexington, which is a majorityBlack county, a Black state senatorand a pfooiinent Black minister calledfor conciliation and negotiations. Theyobjected to the presence of the League,

a speech before somi 300marchers,The League has particular demands, but its overall fight is for justice and freedom

brought in such outfit's as IT-'stT. inCorinth, 1000 pepple work on the IT&TtelepJiona production tines. The hugeemployer comes In, gets the benefitof the Ts^A water power and a 5-yearproperty tax exemption from localgovernment. And yet Blacks cannotget enough. TVA water to satisfy theirneeds in neighboringBiggersiriile com-muiiity. In addition, Corinth Blacks aredemanding a 5-day waiting period before power shutoffs by the AlcornPo'wsr Compa.Ty.

When a white supervisor in a Corinth factory slapped a Black workernamed Tom Porter, the Black swungback. Porter demanded to be treatedas a man. For defending himself,Porter was charged 'wifii assault andconvicted by an all-wliite jury. Hissejitence was five years in ParclimanFarm, a notorious Southern prison.As a result of the struggle, Porter'sterm has been shortened totiiree years,and he is free on appeal bond, "FreeTom Porter" is a United League rallying cry, especially in the Corintharea.

The movament for freedom in northern Mississippi is pickiog up steam.The immediate demands around jobs,pay, education, police brutality, andgovernment are rallying points in anoverall struggle. The people are proudof the struggle and gains of the 19o0*s.But tiiey see many.of the gains beingig-nored, or just "equality onpaper." Nowpeople say, "I'm glad 1' can go into a:vrestaurant. But what good does Itdome.if I can't afford to eat?"

This time Black people have totaleqiiality and liberation on their minds.And with the spirit of Tupelo, they're

' making 'a mighty battle out of it.

THE WORKER/September 20, 1978/13

Welfare Moms DemandSchool Clothes For Kids

members of the Unemployed WortersOrganizing Committee. The WAC,based primarily in Ae South Bronx,was the major group which built thepowerful actiwi at City Hall. Throughout tiie siimmdr 20-40 motiiers mot

:

G.vf t-;

nitb -•<LF H

:Y Al f<CL,

ut "is

to develop campaigns that would hitback at the sharpest attacks—andwhen September rolled around, thatmeant the lack of adequate clothingfor the children for school.

Though this demand was not met atthe demonstration, ihe women felt theyhad won a victory because diey saw asense of unity among welfare recipientsdiat had not been there in years, andthey saw the power it produced whenthey forced City Hall to close. Theyspoke optimistically offuture actions—sit-ins, jamming theCommissioners—as they found in their solidarity a newsource of strength in their fi^t fordecent lives.

Surviving (» wel&re has always been•a battle in this countiy, and on September 7th 300 welfare motiiersinNewYork City took their fight to the stepsof City Hall. They were demandingclothing for their children, who arereturning to school. For 6 hoursthey stood and chanted 'slogans like

D(m't Starve!". Black, PuertoRican and white wcnnen delivered theirmessage in a bold, militant way in thelargest demcmstratioa welfare recipients New York City has seen in several years.

They went up against crooked politicians like Human Resources Com-

missionar Blanche Bernstein, the cutback queen, and Welfare CommissionerRosensweig, who loves to rant aboutwelfare cheats but refused to come

out and meet with angry welfare motii-ers.

When Rosensweig sent a flunkey outto say oily cme representative wouldbe allowed in, the women yelled at himand surged forward until he agreed toa delegatlffli of 12, After the woman--3 Puerto Ricans, 8 Blacks and onewhite--went in, the building was cordoned off, the doors locked and ID'Schecked upon entering—in the middleof a busy work day!

The ^monstrators outside ccntinuedto chant, despite having been there forhours. Then, one after another, theycame up to a microphone and spoke oftheir lives on welfere. Their speechestestified against wtet the newspaperstry to portray as "free and easy living

(rf welfare." They described what'ifs like to try and survive, let alaieraise a family, on $47 every two weeksplus meagre allowances of food stampsand rent for roach-and-rat infestedhousing.

Now that the capitalists are facir^severe eccnomic difficulties and citieslike New York are going bankrupt,welfare recipients are rften the firstto suffer as the budget ax fallk onsocial services. In California, the taxcutdng revolt which eats at public revenues has been used as another excuse to cut welfare benefits.

For the mothers in New York thishas meant titter regulations on moneyfor items lil« apartment security andfurniture, besides entirely cutting outsuch essentials as clothingallowances.It .has meant throwing people at£ wel-f^re—the number of recipients is thelowest in years in New York at thesame time the unemployment rate isat a peak.

While the system cannot provide jobsfor minims unemployed and then degrades them for having to accept welfare, at the same time it is trying topush welfare recipients into below-minimum wage jobs. This unim-bust-ing "workfare" plan o£ Carter's isused in New York under the guise ofa Public Works Program which forcespeople on welfare to work for theirpaltry checks in government jobs.

lona Williams, for instance, is a60 year old Black woman who workedall her life, most recently for the NYTransit Authority. Laid (^duringthebudget cut^, she was unable to findanother job and applied for welfare..

She was given the job of a city clerical worker. Her pay? Her meagerwelfbre check. And she is even forbidden to join"the union. _

lona. Williams is a member of theWelfare Actiwi Coalition, formed lastFebruary by the Public Wwks ProjectOrganizing Conmittee, activists fromold welfare rights organizations and

Sickofbeing treated like d^ N.Y. weMhre mothers launciti<m in years against the cidbadc crazed chumps in City Hall.

PRISONS FLARE UPto other prisons and had them thrownin solitary confinement. But their hi^level of organization and the unity a-mong the nationalities enabled thestrikers to stand strong. They chosenew leaders and added another demand-

they would v^stay out until all 30 arebrou^t bacl^

A few miles away in Walpole State,a maximum-security prison, a 10 d4ystrike recently ended against thebloody treatment of inmates who weredragged from their cells and beatenwith guns butts by the guards.

Brutality and inhuman conditionsunleashed an uprising July 22 in-oneof ^e country's most antiquatedprisons, at Pontdac, Illinois, in which3 prison guards were killed. Since then

r

The longest strike in the history ofUS prisons is in its third month atNorfolk State Prisoi inMassachusetts.On July 31 Black, white and Latin inmates stopped work and refused toparticipate in classes or counsellingin a fight to be treated like humanbeings. Family and friends maintained24-hour vigils outside the prison forttiree weeks and they have picketed theState House and Governor MichaelDukakis' home.

The Norfolk strike Is one of manyrebellions that broke open in penalinstitutiwis across the country thissummer, as prisoners openly defieda barbaric system that treats themlike animals and refuses to give thema fkir chance to make it on the outside.

The strike kicked ofi when prisonairihoritiss continued to hold 3 Blackprisoners in maximum security despite their being found not guilty ofweapons charges. A few days earliertiie prisoners had requested a meetingwith the Governor and the head of theprison system about the conditionsat Norfolk.

They want the^ 1974 classificationsystem reworked. Established as aprocess to move priswiers towardsfreedom through steps like work programs and parole, the system is nowused as punishment for inmates whorebel against the injustices of thesystem. Only 23 of 730 inmates areon the furlough program and the workrelease program is overcrpwded and

backed up.The prisoners also dema >5 that fam

ily and Mends be included inprogramslike drug counseling and sports, andan end to harassment visitors^Visitors are restricted to one roomand are often kept waiting. Gifts theysand irij frequently not delivered byguards.

Governor Dukakis refused to meetand discuss these demands with theprisoners. His answer was to send in80 state police and 100 extra prisonguards a few days after the strikebegan. He transferred 30 strike leaders

us

Relatives and freinds maintain a 24 hour vigil to prevent attacks onNorfolkprison strikers.

all 2000 inmates have been in deadlock—confined to their cells 24 hours a

day with no visitation except, in somecases, visits with their lawyers.

One deadlocked prisoner said theguards took him from Ms cell sayingthey were taking him to his attorneyand then locked him in segregratlon.

No running water. No light fixture.Gas sheet and nothing else. He remained there for two weeks ^

Aji'Tther inmate wrote about the conditions that brought on the" uprising:

"They (the cells) are designed to holdone man. You put three men in onecell (6' by 8') stacked on top of eachother day and niglrt, summer heatsmells. No jobs. Allowed to go outonce or twice a week. No privacy forcleaning the body, no showers, havinga toilet out in the open...the constantharassment of guards and no propermedical tireatment,..no hopes for thefuture,..The Racist (guard) is the icingon the cake. He wants you to elimin-toate each other..."

This is the picture of the entire USprison system. Newspaper reports andletters to The Worker spoke of rebellions and iLirest in numerous prisons,among them Ft.. Madison, lo^^, Savannah, Georgia,'and Waapun, Wisconsin.

80% of prison funds are spent onsecurity while pcisonecs are jammidinto rotten, crumbling cells and subject to sadistic guards. But the inhuman treatment they receive onlymakes the prisoners more determinedto fight back. Like the men at Norfolk, prisoners across the country aretaking a bold stand for their right totreated with dignity.

9 •»

16/September 20.1978/THE WORKER

linked their contract demands withthe riders* demands for restored services, improved vehicles, and no farehike.

During his two terms, over 3000city jobs (mcluding firemen in a citywhere a burning home is the main newsstoiy every night) were lostto attritionor layoffs. About one third these werelaid off when he closed the city's cnlypublic hospital, Philadelphia General.During the same period, the number

c<^s increased by 500.. This year he proposed to pay for the

cops* pay raises by laying crffanother3000 or so workers. This sparked amilitant strike of city employees, supported broadly throu^outPhilly.Rizzohad to back down and say he'd lay off afew cops too. But the 66 who got theirwalking papers (as opposed to the 1300non-uniformed workers) have sincebeen re-hired as transit cc^s.

Unemployment is a big ccncem toPhilly's workers, and Rizzo's racistcontention is that the reason there is

unemployment among whites is thatBlacks take their jobs. But when ExideBattery shut their doors, one of manycompames that closedown or ranawayduring Rizzo's reign, 70% white, it wasdie Exide bosses, not the Blacks whowere laidofftoo,whotookthe jobs away.Statistics tell the true story. Black unemployment in Philly is 18.1%. Forwhites it is 7%.

RIZZO against BLACKS

Rizzo^s racism is in no way ccm-ffned to words. His deeds would filla book. He gained international notoriety fm: his 1970 raid on membersof the Black Panther Parly when heforced them to strip naked in thestreets. In 1976-he closed Philadelphia General Hospital whose hundredsOt thousands of patients were over-

-vrtielmingly Black. The city, he declared, was '*not in the business ofhealth care."

This year he t^geted MOVE as awarning to all Blacks they they'd bewiped out if they dared oPPOse him.

It was Frank Rizzo who catapultedMOVE, an 18-member, mainly Blackradical commune, to national news.When they refused to be evicted forhousing code violations, he laid seigeto their neighborhood with a containment and starve-out campaign that ledother residents in MOVE'Sarea to postsigns reading, "Welcome to SouthAfrica."

RIZZO AND THE RICH

Rizzo's success in his bid for dic-torShip is not simply attributable to hispolice terror or his cleverly divisivepolitics. He also gets bacMngfrom menlike John Bunting of the FirstPennsylvania Bank, a leading figure in thePhiladelidiia "bloc" of capitalists, andWalter Annenberg, one of the richestmen (xi the East Coast.

Rizzo promised no new taxes beforehis last electiai, but practicallyas sochi ,as the vote was counted he raised property taxes for small homeowners by30%. Simultaneously, he eradicated thecorporate net income tax (which drew$14 million to the city in 1972), andremoved the mercantile tax for downtown businesses,

Rizzo's corporation-owning crcmiesliked it just fine when he routed cityfunds away from upgrading disadvan-taged nei^orhoods and into a fhncyCenter City shopping complex calledThe Gallery which houses multi-milliondollar c4)eraticns like Gimbels andStrawbridge and Clothiers,

Kicking the people in the teeth, heput city transitmoneyintoacommuntertunnel to serve the downtown area,

while bus and trolley service was cut tothe bone,* despite protests from almostevery ccxnmunity and nei^borhoodgroup in the city. Rizzo claimed such

- policies would attract business to thecityi but over 10 plants have left inthe last 5 years, and over 10,000 jobs

-iost.

philadelfhia city workers vote to strike after bearing Rizzo's plan to can 3000 ofthem so he can give cops a 9% pay hike.

STOP RIZZDNGW

The only limitations on Rizzoaretheanger and hatred ofthe people. Workersin all communities — vftiite, Latin,Black — have felt the misery Rizzo'smethods create.Lackcf services, lousyschools, joblessneiss, crumbling housing — these abuses cause sparks ofresistance that can be ignited.

Rizzo has his oppcments among thevery rich, like the Bankers Coalitionv^ch fears the social chaos his fascistmethods create. Rizzo has opponents inthe Democratic Partywhowere step^Ml, sometimes literally, in party infighting.

But the most massive oppositicm toRizzo's policies has been led by activists in the Black commumties. Fromthe protest against wretched housing,.the cuts in transit service, the outcryagainst police brutality, Blacks havetaken a stand against Rizzo's policies

for years. Increasingly the same protests have occurred in nei^borhoodsof other nationalities., Through all 8 years, weaknesses inthe opposition has been in not takingRizzo on in the politicalarena where heis most effective. His "Blacks are theproblem" lies have left many whiteswith the impressicHi that since he defines the problems correctly: unemployment, lousy bousing, crime, etc.,his solution, his "white power" nonsense, is also credible.

Just as Rizzo jumps into hot ccntro-versies spouting racism and reaction,his opponents must boldly rip atvay his"row home" facade, expose his attacks,and show why they serve no one buttherich.

The STOPRIZZGCoalition, which includes political and cOTimunity organizations of all nationalities, was formedto take on Rizzo on every front. Itsmembers have fanned out across the

city with buttons, literature, and voterregistraticm forms.

Voter registration isthemainactivi-'ty of every anti-Rizzoforceatthistimebecause Rizzo has madethe November -for good,7th ballot the immediate field ofbattle, Rizzo,* too,The issue is posed squarely: Rizzc^yes .Rizzo Now. *

or no.

RizZo knows there are limits to hissupport —hehasneverwonaDemocra-tlc primary by a majority — he hadmore than one opponent each time andthe vote was split. Soheisonthe offensive, trying to stir up ccmditicms favorable to him. This is what the attack onMOVE, the irficmey housing project inthe Northwest, the city worker layoffsare all about.

This <tffensive mustbemetbyacoun-tercrffensive among the forces againsthim. Rizzo is no more forthe guy in therowhouse than his hero Mussolini wasfor the Italian workers.

It is not in the interests ofworking-people to fight each other while Rizzogains strength, but to build a unitedmovement to get rid of 'Rizzo and hislike.

Rizzo probably did meet some die-Mussolini supporters" in Italy,

But the masses of Italianpeople dancedm' the streets when Mussolini was defeated, executed, and fiung.by his toes^ public where they could be assuredIhe old ffiscistwas reallyofftheirbacks

must be defeated. Stop

Philly's storm troopers inblue mobilize tomarch a^inst a Black demonstration.

THE WORKER/September 20„1978/17

Philly-Savage Attack on Black Group; 4000 ProtestPhiladelphia-August 8th. 3;30 A.M.

A caravan of police vehicles movessteadily through the dark streets. Converted army half-tracks, police vansand boses-a giant crane with two wrecking balls, a bulldozer and over 3^0heavily armed cops. They head forthe house where a pred'jminately Blackcomnune called MOVE lives-men,women and children-twelve people inaU.

6;0tK A.M. - Police ComraissioierJoseph O'Neill gives a bullhorn orderfor MOVE to comply with a city evic-tioa order and leave their home soit can be destroyed. The bulldozerImocks down a wooden fence aroundthe house. The crane starts smashing all the windows. Cops crouchdown and flit from tree tobushadvancing on the house. MOVE membersgo to the basement for protectioa.

7:50 A.M. MOVE refuses to come outI of their house. O'Neill orders the

place surrounded-30firemenaimlargewater cannons at the house-flooding it.

Then shots ring oat. Radio reporters later say it came from behindpolice lines. There is an exchangeof fire. The smoke clears. One coplies dead, eleven cops, one firemanand several MOVE members arewounded,

O'Neill orders tear gas fired intothe house and the MOVE memberscome out. When they hit the street,before the eyes of the American peoplethe Piiilly cops put cue more markin their infamous record for brutality.MOVE member Delbert Africa leavesthe house-wounded in the chest, hisempty hands held over his head. Heis knocked down-kicked and beaten bya gang of cops from one end of the

street to the other.

As the MOVE is loaded into policevehicles, O'Neill orders the bulldozerto push the house to the ground. Theevidence is eradicated.

High Noon-At a press conferenceRizzo joins O'Neill in mourning thedead cop and complimenting themselves for "restraint*. O'Neill claimsDelbert Africa was armed-he lies,Rizzo leans his flabby body on thepodium. He blames the press-they areresponsible for the MO'VE situationbecause they tried to use it to destroyRizzo, his cops and his city. Thereis no need for more evidence gloats .Rizzo-he has eye witnesses, othercops involved in the shootout, no doubt.

O'Neill is informed there is acrowd gathering to protest the policeraid. "Anyone who dares to take onthis city's police department will be

Millioos watched thejr T.V.'s in h<MTor as Delbert Africa, maimed andforce after he surrendered.

AUTO.Continued from page 7

paycheck already spent.At the midnight rally, a Black wor

ker said, "I was treated bad in Korea.I was treated bad In Vietnam. But no

body s treated me as bad as AMC."Another spoke, *Tm proud we walked,erf myself and everycme. I rememberhow a 53 year old manwenttothe company nurse, with chest pains. He wasgiven medication and returned to theline. He had a heart attack."

When the cops showed up to telleverybody they should go hmne, onewcanan told them point blank, "Youtry working at AMC,"

Meanwhile, the negotiators from theInternational and the nation's smallest

automaker -were scrambling to workout anagreement before the strike couldreally get started. The rank and filedetermination, combined with AMC'sneed to keep the fall Concords andSpirits cmning out resulted in a significant victory for tiie workers.

The cOTCipany had threatened to holddown economic gains. But the workerssucceeded in coming close to the Big 3in wages and benefits. AMC had spreadrumors (rf take-aways in the workingagreement to satisfy Renault, theirfu6ire corporate partner. But toe10,000 Milwaukee, Kenosha, and Ontario workers kept the perenniallythreatened contract clauses. AMC AL-threatened contract clauses. AMC always moans about three points thatare superior to Big 3 coitracts: the1 to 35 steward ratio, the ri^t to

strike over grievances, and voluntaryovertime.

When the clock struck twelve, therewas no agreement. The local leadershipwas afraid to-buck the International'sopposition to a strike. But they didn'twant to tell the membership. So theworkers tdok things into their ownhands. At six a.m., Saturday, workerstried to get picket signs from the Local72 union hall. But the orders froin Re

gion 10 Director Ray Majerus were toteep things disorganized. The picketsmanned the gates with homemade signsreading "NoContract.NoWork."Stew-ards and chief stewards helped organizethe picketing as they had aided the 12;01walkout.

On Smday, the International began topush for an end to the walkout, sayingthey wouldn't sanctiwi it. AMCforemenhad told the workers they would be firedif they walked off Friday night. LateSunday morning the union leaders calleda halt to the picketing. They said theyhad settled and that details would beannounced.

The rank and file was furious at thehigh-handed methods of the International, The rank and file had won the victory. They had shown AMC that theycould shut the plant up tight. Yet theunicm officials were acting as if their"skillful" negotiations were the keyto any gains. Many workers thought itwas undemocratic and weak-kneed tocall off the pickets without a unionmeeting to consider the ctffer.

The walk-out had followed weeks (rfstruggle and organizing by the rankand file. It was the third straight^ear the contract had been renegotiated. This time AMC was showing a

prcrfit, and the workers were out tomake up for lost ground. Five straightdays before the contract expired, thesecond shift V-8 line was sent home

early because the piston departmentsomehow wasn't producing enough.Hundreds of workers wore or put upstickers saying "Good Ccmtract orNo Contract," Many- of last year^'s"No CcHitract, No Work-September 16"T-shirts could be seen cxithe assemblylines. The United Workers' Organization, an in-plant group, held rallies atlunch breaks and shift change. Theyhanded out stacks of newsletters andleaflets about the demands and the strategy to win them.

As the contractapprcached, ti\e unionwent throu^ an election upheaval withlong-time strong man Ralph Daum'smachine getting completely routed. Although the new board never reliedenough oh the rank and file, and evendisorganized the fight, they respondedto heavy pressure to bargain hard inthe talks and live up to campaign promises.

The company had tried to run outrumors that their new partner, Renault,would not complete anj deals unless theworkers took a shellacking in this roundof talks. But the workers could see thatRenault was anxiously eyeing the multl-miUion dollar U.S. market. They werei^dy to supply the $150 million to retool for the aluminum and plastic wonders government fuel regulations willrequire In the 1980 model year. In exchange they gain access to AMC'sdealership network and their U.S. factories.

As the worlffirs punched backinafterthe brief weekend walk-out, AMC Dir- '

crushed",^storms O'Neill, "we will nottolerate anarchy in the streets."

As he speaks, 200 cops are on therampage against the people of thecommunity around the MOVE housewho objected to the year-lwig blockadeof their neighborhood. The cops chasepeople on the street They followright into their living rooms, theysmash down doors, they drag peopleout and continue to beat them on thefront steps of their homes,

MOVE was the target and Rizzowanted them to be an example of whathappens when people cross him. Threedays after the confrontation 3 to 4000pec^le surrounded Rizzo and City Hallprotesting the attack on MOVE andsaying clearly that they would notallow Rizzo to promote his careeron the bacMs of the people, and thatBlacks won't be treated this way.

wounded, was knocked to the ground and beaten by the Pfailadeliiiia police

ector Gerald Myers was probablytalk-ing long distance to his counterpartat Renault, trying to devise a betterplan to beat the AMC workers. As fothe workers, they passedaroundaleaflet entitled "Good^Fri'^®" Blue Mo:day." M(mday was a "biimmer" because it meant returning to the assembly lines. In additlc»i they were upsetbecause they didn't have a good idea(rf what was in the contract and werenot pleased with the way the walkoutwas handled. But it had been a goodFriday because of the tremendous show(rf unity and strength.

r

J

Nothing feels better than giving thec(xnpany the shaft once in a while.

20 DE SEPTIEMBRE, 1978 VOL. I N0.6

Luthmtdo Por UbertadI En Mississippi

Mardia En Tupelo ConfrontaA! KKK

Este "Dia de Labcn*" ocho-cientas

personas inachara<ui por las callesde Tupelo, Mississippi, exigiendo alto'a la descrimitiaci^Q centra el puebloD^gro en el empleo para trabajos deIndustria o de gobiemo. La manifes-tacion fue organizada por la LigaUnida del norte de Mississippi, unaorgani^cibh negra que ha tcanado unap^icieiD resoluta en la lucha porjusdcia.

Cuando la marcha comenzo, 40 mi-embros del Klan tuvieron que marcharalrededor de ellos en linea de uno.A la vez que pasaban, el Klan reclbiolas mofas, miradas de odio, e insultosque Ian bien mercen* ^

M^s temprano en el dia, la Liga(Jnidad habia puesto lineas de piquetesen frente de tiendas en el centrode Tu

pelo. Muchos de los piqueteros eranblancos, negros, y Latinos que habianvenido de media docena de cludadesdel norte para particpar en la mani-festaci^ del Dia de Labor.

La marcha del Dia de Labor y laslir^s de piquetes fueron parte deuna serie de acrootecimientos que

muestran el agudizamiento de la luchaen el norte de Mississippi, El movi-miento comenzo la primavera pasadaen reaccKn a un luunero de casos

de br\rtalidad policiaca y asesinatosde Negros, Un boicot dirigido contranegocios blancos ha sido 90% efectivoentre los Negros de Tupelo. Elimpetude marchas semanales en varios con-dados vecindarios ha generado unalucha negra desafiada, retando al en-tero establecimiento racistadominante

de Mississippi.La lucha presente esta basada en

el rechazo de cualquier miedo o com-promiso . En la pequelia poblaci^ deOkolona, Mississippi el auto del co-ordinador de la Liga, Howard Gun,fue acribillado por una fusilada de16 balas. Los pasajeros devolvieronel fuego, hiriendo a uno de los agre-sores. Uno de los lideres de la Ligale dijo a la m^jltitud animada el 10 deJunio. "Mis rodiUas no doblaran. Si

muero en este pais, quiero morXr comi espalda derecha, y no sobre misrodillas. Nosotros hemos retomado ladigmdad de nuestra gente.

Manifestantes determinados, encabezados por la Liga Unida, exigenMississippi.

justicia en

Revoiucioh En NlcaragiiaPUEBLO ARMADO BATALIA GUARDIA NACIONAL

Ccai armas ligeras jovei^s Nicaraguenses encabezaron la insurreccionen Matagalpa y han estado al frente de. lainsurreccion nacionalmente. •

La majoria nimca han estado en unabatalla anteriormente, estos estudian-tes de escuelas secundarias, estos o-^breros, estos campesinos, estos hom-bres viejos y jovenes mujeres, estosnicaraguenses. Estan armados conpistolas, rifles de cazar, bombas de&bricaci<m casera, y coctels molotov,si no han tenido la suerte de capturaruna carafoina. Se han unidos alosgi^r-

rilleros cencenos y ^endurecidos delFrente de Liberacion Nacional San-dinista en un asalto desemfrendadocontra los centros de poder en Nicaragua que comenzo el 9 deSeptiembre,

La Chiardia Nacional de 15,000 horn--bres, una combinaciim de ejercito ypolicia, se esta envlando de ciudad aciudad a tratar de aplastar la revolu-ciwu Apesar de sus aviones y heli-

copteros, sus armas pesadas, y suentrenamiento militar, todos proveidospor los EEUU^ ellos no han podido,despues de mas de dos seman^s debatallar, quebrar la insurreccion. Elodio del pueblo nicaraguense a la dic-tadura por 45 anos de Scanoza se hatransformado en una fuerza formidablepara cambiar el mundo. La revolta corona un alJo de desorden politico en el

pais. Un ataque al Palacio Nacionalpor una unidad de los guerrillasSandinistas estreno una semana detebeliones populares espontaneas, en-cabezadas por la juventudde Matagalpa,la tercer mas grande ciudad en Nicaragua .Por cinco d^s mantubieron a launidad de la Guardia Nacional en laciudad encorraladas en un area, de seiscuadras alrededor de suje&tura. Matagalpa fue territorio libre ha^ta queataques aereos y refuerzos forzarona los jovenes a esconder sus armas yretirarse a las montanas para unirseal Frente de Liberacion Nacicmal San-

dinista (nombrado por un patriota quebatallo a la invasion por los EEUU enlos 1920s y 30s),^

Esta e^diibicion de los sentimientos

revolucionarios del pueblo decidio alFLNS comenzar la insurreccion na

cional. Y de veras los que no han tornado armas contra el gobierno hanabiertos sus casas y proveido viveresa los rebeldes. ^

la insurreccion tiene sus comienzosen el 22 de Agosto cuando comandosSandinistas, vestidos en uniformes fal-sos de la Gi^rdia Nacional, invadieronal Palacio Nacional, en Managua, cap-turandolo. Ellos sujetaron a muchasdela gente en el edtGio como rehenes, en-tres ellos cientos de los poUticastrosmayores de Nicaragua, exigiendo liber-tad para los prisioneros politicos deNicaragua.

Despues de dos dias derabiar contrael terrorrismo Somoza cedioyelFLNSse dirigio al areopuerto de Managua,con 59 liberados prisioneros politicos.De la ciudad al areopuerto la via estabaapimda conmiles deanimadosNicaraguenses salmodiando'SamozaalPare-dwu' n

veapagix^'A

1^. J

j/jO^e Septiembre, 1978/EL. OBRERO

EL GRITO DE LARESfiesta Da Oraullo Y Lucha

El mes pasado el caso de PuertoRico fue discutido en las Naci(Mies

Unidas. Deauevo el gobiemo de losEstados Unidos dijo que Puerto noes ima colonia. Este embuste fuedesa-

fiado por muchas de las diferentes fuer-zas presente que luchan por la Inde-pendencia de Puerto Rico.

Este ano el debate cojio una formadiferente a los anbs pasados. El go-bemador colonial Carlos RomeroBar-

celo es el dirigente de las fuerzas re-clamaodo que hagan un estadode Puerto Rico. El esta atentando ganar apoyopara su posici<xi aqui y enPuertoRico.Romero Barcelo esta llamando una

TOtaci(& dentro de dos o tres anbs paraganar un mandato que Puerto Rico sea.un estado. A1 mismo tiempo, esta lan-zando ataques viciosos contra elmovi-

miento pro-independencia de PuertoRico, de llamar a los presosNacional-istas encarceladbs en los EEUU pcffmas de 20 anos'terroristasyasesinos*hasta unirse con el FBI para romperhuelgas y asesinar lideres de unionesy otras fuerzas independistas.

Este articulo fue enviado especial-mente a EL OBRERO desde Puerto

Rico. Fue escrito por una Iqchadoradedicada a la causa de la indepen-dencia de Puerto Rico. El articulo se

trata de los origines del movimientod e liberacion puertorriqueno en elseptiembre de 1968 . En los mese§siglenfces, habran artlculos en EL 0-BRERO sobre el debate sobre siPuer-to Rico sera un estado y sobre la luchapor la independencia de Puerto Rico.

Que Viva Puerto Rico Libre!

EstndiantBs, de escuela secundaria, Mexicanos y Puertoziquenos, celebran unacelebracioa unida en Milwaukee.

EL OBBEm2SC

Subscribase $4.00 un afio

Nombre

Direcckjn

Manda su cheque a:El Obraroc/o Cditro de;Obreros Revoludonanos

P.O. Box 6819Main Post OfHcc

Chicago, in. 60607

"Viva la Revolucion ella sola esla que forma hombres y vigorizalos pueblos y si h(^ por no habersabido triunfar nos acusan de afe-minados; que sera maikna al vernospegados torpemonte a la Republicsdel Norte por incapaces y por despre-ciables!"

Con este pensamiento podemos tenerla imagen perfects del maximo dirigente material e intelectual del primerintento revolucicmario organizado anivel nacional en Puerto Rico , delDr. RamcMi Emeterio Betances. Lares,23 de septiembre de 1868 exactamentehace 110 anos se conviexte en la cuna

de la patria puertorriquena. En unaaccKxi revolucionaria precipitada porla traicion, un grupo de hombres ymujeres toman por las armas el pueblo de Lares y proclaman la Republics3e Puerto Rico.

Los revolucionarios c(xitinuan suavanzada hacia otros pueblos de lsisla y otros grupos o cedulas se a-prestan a hacer lo misino cuando elejercito espanol tlende una emboscadaa los revolucionarios llegando alpueblo de San Sebastian y alii con elgrito de "Parilla (Manolo el Lenero)no se rinde" cae el ultimo de nuestroshombres que mantuvo a raya el solo

un batallon del ejercito espanol. M.isadelante Pedro Anglero obrero cam-pesino que se batia, pues decia queno habia ido alii a juyil o huir sinoa pejear, es puesto fuera de com-bate. Igualmente Mariana Bracette "lamujer que bordo la primera banderspuertorriquena* y otros hmnbres ymujeres de la patria fueronencarce-lados, muertos y perseguidps por losinvasores espandles.

Mietras, Betances que desde SantoDomingo hacia los ultimos arreglospara embarcar con hombres y armasen apoyo a los revolucionarios i^ecibela noticia de la destraccion del movimiento.

Be^ces era hombre consistenteen sus ideas y acci(xies y ccmtinuosiempre organizandolarevoluciondesde Francis y atacando de todas lasformas posibles el imperialismo espanol no solo en Puerto Rico, sinotambien Cuba de cuya independenciafue su maximo defensor y colabora-dor. 1898 al producirse la invasionde Puerto Rico por las tropas norte-americanas Betances enfermo pero

visionario y luchadbr en un grito ex-tertor exclama "Que hacen los puer-torriquenbs que no se revelanl" Noquiero colonia con EspsSa ni conEstados Unidos. Ahora o nunca!

Murio Betances legandonos una her-encia revolucionaria inconclusa que nosera terminada por las Naci(MiesUnidasni por ningun grupo que continue losjuegos del sistema.Laind^ndenciadePuerto Rico sera hecha por el pueblorevolucicmarlo de Puerto Rico que notiene titulos que probablemente no estareconocido internacionalmente y cuyasunicas potencias las esta realizando ylas realizaran en su propiopaisya suspropias gentes en el unico lenguajepropio de los pueblos del tercer mun-do. La Revolucion.

Nicaragua...nene de pagina I

El FLNS no escogio el 22 de Agostocomo dia para atacar al Palacio Nacional de antojo. El at^uefueplaneadodespues que Jimmy Carter envio unaletra de felicitacionaSamoza por haceravances en derechos humanos.Estofi^un bofetaso al pueblo Nicaraguenseiquediariamente se enfrenta con los "avan

ces" de la dlctadura de Somoza. Pero

mas que qualquier otra cosa, la letramostro la posicion de los EEUU, no porlibertad o democracia, no por justicia0 el pueblo, sino por dictaduraygobier-no a terror.

Los EEUU se esta tratsindo de pre-parar para cualquier eventauli^d, sinembargo, promoviendo las mas con-servativas fuerzas contra Samozacomo

lideres de la oposicion. En particular ellos estan esperanzados acercadelos lideres negociantes que han organizado una huelga general de duenos detiendas contraelgoblernoquehaduradocasi un mes y es 80% efectivo. Hastarecientemente hansidoloscampesinos,obreros, y estudianteslibrando la luchacontra Somoza. Mas con la intensifi-cacic^ de la represi^n por el regimenpara mantenerse en poder, y la luchacontra Somoza tambien intensifican-dose, la batalla se ha ampliado.

El Frente de0^osicidnAmplio(FOA)es una coalicion uniendo a muchas

fuerzas (Uferentes, de el FLNS a laasociasionde negociantes. Toiios estanunidos acerca de tumbar aS<anozamaspor diferentes razones., Los negociantes estan participandoporque cada dia mas, lehanquitadosuslibertades. Laprensahasidocensuradaasi quesolamente la poslcic^ deSomozaes expresada. La familiade Somoza loscapitalistag dominantes de Nicaragua,controlan la economia, no dejandoalosotros capitalistas funcionar completa-mente •

Adicionalmente, id opini(5h publicapor tumbar a Somoza es tan poderosaque si lo soportaran, estos negociantes y banqueros, perderian cualquieroportunidad de mantener el mandode su clase. Los negociantes tienenex-peranza queSomoza renuncie,buscandoun nuevo presidente que no solo le dariamas libertad a ellos para operar mastambien. terminaria la insurreccion.

el FLNS y otras fuerzas revolucion-arias estan luchando para terminar nosolamente el regime de terror de Somoza, si no tambien todo lo que el,Jimmy Carter, y la clase gobernanteNicaraguensa representam la continua-clon de la exploitacion y opresion queexiste ahora!

Deshaciendose de Somoza ahora espara ellos un primer paso ^ganteenlalucha larga por lina Nicaragua libre.Es a su bandera quel pueblo Nicara-guei^ se esta uniendo.

EJj OBRERO/ZO'de SeptielnV-'re, 1978/3

Frontera Tejana-Mexicana FOco Da LuchaLa lucha del pueblo Chicane y Mexi-

cano a lo largo de la frontera entrelos EEUU y Mexico se ha calentadodurante los ultlmos meses. Los pueblos en ambos lados de la fronteraestan Uenos de gente que salierondel campo mexicano con su pobreza dde las ciudades con su alto nivel dedesempleo. Viajan al norte buscandouna vida mejor y encuentran masdesempleo y condici<xies pesimas enlos talleres y campos de vpatr(uiesquienes se aprovechan de la discrim-

inacion, sueldos bajos, y la falta deuniones. Con unidad y militancia cre-creciente los chicanos y mexicanosluchando en contra de estas condiciooes

desesperadas en esta area de pobla-citxies de carton, esperanzas r(xnpidas ^y de represion poUciaca.

El 16 de mayo» Maria Contreras,madre de 11 hijos y embarassada jjor8 m^ses, muxio de un ataque-de coi^-

zon durante una interrogaci(m por oQ-ciales del Servicio de Imlgraclcxi yNaturaUzaci(& QNS) en la fronteraentre Nuevo Progreso, Mexico y Pro-greso Tejas. A pesar deJas reclamasde sus parientes los oficiales no leper-mitieron atencicm medica hasta que fuedecnasiado tarde • Su muerte y la desu nene resulto en una serie de pro-testas en pueblos en ambos lados dela frcxitera exigiendo justicia y un

alto al hostigamiento de la migra.En una manifestacion en Laredo, ^0miembros de la union de campesinosde Tejas, un grupo de huelgistas deuna &brica de Coca Cola, y otros sereunieron con la familia Conteras,para pegar al Lionel Castillo , el director de la migra«

En julio, 6000 jovenes mexicanosmarcharmi en las calles de Matamoros,Mexico para protestar en contra delasesianto de Salvador Barrios, un es-tudiante de 15 afibs. Tomaronelcentrode la ciudad de 300,000 personas alotro lado de Bronsville, Texas, Lapolicia dispeiraron en ccxitra de laaaemblea, matando 3 y heriendo a15, La ira de las masas forzo la re-uncia de 4 oficialcs altos de la policia, y resulto en 3 cargos legale*£en contra de oficiales envueltos enel asesinato a golpes del joven,

Al otro lado de la frontera en Texas, labrutalidadyasesinatospoUciacostambien fuercm un bianco. El 7de mayodurante la celebraciwi del cinco de'mayo en Houston, la policia invadierona la comiinidad chicana usai^o, comopretexto, una pelea. El pueblo resistioy resulto un motin d(xide quemarouvaries autos de la policia y que durola noche entera. La lucha fue inspiradapor la memoria de Jcfee Campos Torres, quien fue gdpeado y abogado enun foso hace dos anbs,

Los poUciasresponsablesreclbieroniina sentancia de un a!3b. Protesias

en contra de otros asesinatos policiacos.ban ocurridos en Plainview, Dallas ySan Antonio,

La lucha com'm en los dos lados de-la frontera esta marcada per la de-manda por viviendas. En El Segundc,un barrio en el surde El Paso, losinvestores de bienesraices estan tra-tando de empujar afuera los que vlvenen la ctanunidad para establecer undistrlto comercial,

Muchos turistas pasan porestesitio.Tambien esta ubicado en el medio deuna de las cconunidades mas pobres enlos EEUU. Un 30 porciento de los queviven en el segundc sondese^pleados,Ya ban forzado a salir a mas que unamitad de la gente y han destruidos.sus casas, Pero los 13 mil que quedanestan combatiendo diertemente. Ocu-paron algunos edificlos y demoraron

i

QU'DaQam

Campesinos y huelgistas de "Coke" se unieron a una mantfestacioD contra la muerte de Maria Contreras.

una ccHicesi(& federal de 8 millones deQoJares que financiera el area comer-'cial.

En Juarez, Mexico el pueblo de Ti-erra y Libertad esta resistiendo losesfuerzQS del gobierno para botarlosde la tLerra, Con una taza de desem-

pieo de 60 para los campesinos deMexico y con la tlerra cada vez mascontrolada por losterratenientesgran-des y las compass agricolas comoDelMonte, clentos de miles de campesinoshan venidos a las ciudades de fronteras.

como Juarez.

Ellos bus can trabajo en mifs de 450fabricas amcricanas que llaman *ma-quiladoras' que cubren la frontera.Estas compamas reciben cortes en elimpuesto y tarifas de los dos gobier-hos ademas de un gran numero de tra-

bajadores malpagados. Grandespobla-cicHies han saltado. La gente de Ti-erra y Libertad han peliado los poli-cias especiales conocidos comoBoinasNegras, compai^s de utilidad y unoficial del gobierno que es du^o dela tierra que ellos ocupan.

Durante el ultimoanblos campesinoschicanos y mexicanos se han unidoen algunas huelgas de importancia.Al fines del ano pasado ellos comba-tier(Ni 8 cultivadores de ceboUa en

lArizcK^'hasta marzo cuando ganaron.su aumento en sueldo, Esto fue se-guido por huelgas en dos. de los ranches m^s grandes alii.

Los trabajadores ganaron demandascontra los ranches de Goldwater yBodine, Goldwater es propiedad deBob Goldwater, hermano de senador

Barry Goldwater. Goldwater se ha re-portado haberpagadolosextorsionistasc(xiocidos como "coyotes" hasta $80per cada obrero que acepta un jornalinferior que traigan al pais, Los huelgistas se enfrentaron con la brutali-dad de la policia y amenaza de depor-taci(^ Pero ^os estos esfuerzos &-UarMi de romper la unidad de la huelga.

En el principio de Julio 150 campesinos mexicanos combatleron a BillBishop dueno de un ranchp de meloncerca de Presidio, Texas. Ellos le

habian prometido $2.97 por hora, perorecibiercm $2.65, no tiene agua fria detomar o ^cilidades de banb. Cinco or-ganizadores fueron arrestados portratar de comunicar con los huelgistas,Despues de un paro de undia las demandas fueron ganadas.

Insurgentes De AceroObservan Convencion U.S.W.A

DERECHO A RATIFICAR DEMANDA CUVEEl 18 de Septtembre la 19 ccmvencibn

Constituclonal de la Uniai de Obrerosde Acero Unidos se reui^a enAtlahticCity, N.J. La convencicwi sera el sitiode una lucha entre la camarilla delpresidente de los USWA Lloyd Mc-Bride *'no derechoaratificar/nodere-cho ahacerhue]ga"yeIcrecientemovi-miento de los obreros de acerodebase.Las demandas de este movlmiento son:el derecho a ratificar los contratos yganar denuevo el derecho a salir enhuelga scbre los contratos.

El 14 de Agosto fue el dia de elegirdelegados en la plarrta de U.S. Steeleh Homestead .Pennsylvania, Aun antesde amanecer los miembros del local1397 estaban votando, El,vofto ege diaelegio a todos de los 11 delegados dela Usta de candidates de los "los obreros de base 1397.* Los delegados.deMcBride lueron rechasados completa-mente, Ademas de elegir la llsta decandidates los obreros de base hancolectado 5,000 firmas a una petlcionde derecho a ratificar que serallevadoa la convencibh,

Los delegados de H(»nestead, de las

Cordilleras ae hierro y otros locales dealrededor del pals que van a la convencion por parte del movimiento paraderotar la provision de no derecho aratificar en la constituci<^ de la uniOTse estan enfrentando ccxitra los 2,500burocratas de la camarilla de McBride, I^s fuerzas de derecho a ratificar tienenalrededorde 1000delegadosen su campo. Esto 1000 delegados re-presentan los intereses de^miles demiembros de base de la union de obre-,ros de acero que estan harto de losvendidos "sweetheart* contratos quela Intemacional a negociado en elpasado.

El 17 de Septiembre un conferenciade prensa sera celebrada por los delegados de Homestead y sus partidarlosiEl Director del Dlstrlcto 31, Balanoffy obreros de acero de base explicaransus demandas y la lucha que desaroUaraen el salon de la convencii^i. Otro suce-so planeado para la convencion seraponer latones de basura Uenos de for-mas de quejas mandadas por obrerosen Filadelfia,Baltimore, y Mil^ukeeen frente del salon de convencion para

prcrtestar la poUticas traicloiwras delpresents liderato de la union, Estoocurira a la vez que la lucha por elderecho a ratificar venga a la atenclonde la convencion Lunes septiembre 18,

La lucha en el local 1397 sigue enlbs pasos de la campaTlh por Sadlowskipor reformas en la uni<^i y la huelgamilitante de la cordillera Mesabi elanb pasado, que desafio el contratode no hacer huelga en la industriabasica de acero.

El acuerdo ENA de no hacer heulgafue una provision vendidaenel contratode l973negociadoporelentoncespresidents de la UASW, LW Abel.

La lucha de los obreros de acerode base puede crecer a la vez que sebaten con McBride en esta convencion.Puede crecer durante la eleccioneslocales que ocuriran este Abril ymientras los obreros de acero luchencontra las compamas alrededor delcontrato de 1979 el proximonoviembre.Los exitos enHomosteadsonnomasunavista de antemanos de la accion quese acerca a la vez que los obreros deacero qultan todos los obstaculos en