BROOKLYN, March 29—“What do we want? JOB RETENTION! When do we want it? NOW!” Chants echoed through Kingsborough Community College’s (KCC) cafeteria as a multiracial group of almost two dozen women and men students, faculty, and campus workers, paraded to the cash registers.
The rally was held in defense of about 50 mostly Black, Latin and women cafeteria workers facing mass terminations at the end of the day. Their privately contracted employer, Metropolitan Food Services (MFS), had announced earlier in the week that their contract was terminated by KCC.
Hundreds of international and multiracial students listened as a speaker greeted them in Russian, Haitian Creole, Spanish, Arabic, and English. We are here “standing alongside students and custodial workers, united against Metropolitan’s racist and sexist treatment of our working class sisters and brothers in the Kingsborough cafeteria.” Three demands were announced: guaranteed employment for all cafeteria workers with the next food vendor; recognition of the cafeteria workers’ union; and hiring double the custodial staff.
KCC’s pattern of racist behavior also extends to the mostly Black custodial workers. They are overworked with half the necessary staffing, and endure racist treatment by their white supervisors. One Black worker, who had a heart attack on campus last month, attributes it to the toxic racism at KCC.
But it’s the same capitalist system that attacks workers all over the world. All over the City University of New York (CUNY) students pay high tuition while course sections are cut and the KCC campus falls apart. There are a half-dozen military recruiters standing just outside of the cafeteria. The U.S. bosses want every one of these students fighting their next imperialist war with Russia or China. And if you aren’t shipped off to fight a bosses’ war, this system offers you unemployment, deportation, or murder by racist cops, just like Stephon Clark!
Dare to struggle
Quickly, a large number of CUNY Public Safety and NYPD cops arrived. Defying this attempt to intimidate then, the protesters marched to the president’s office, militantly chanting “Shut this racist system down! Shut this sexist system down!” A Black student delivered our demands to the president’s chief of staff. Guarded by police, she stated the president was out and “would issue a formal response.”
Under heavy police watch, a small group returned to the cafeteria. The workers began clapping and cheering. As some tearful hugs were exchanged, workers excitedly related how mad their supervisors were, how hard they tried to get their coworkers to walk off the job, and how to organize better next time! One Black worker, a young mother, said: “When we came in today we were all depressed and sad. But after that demonstration, our heads are held high.”
Progressive Labor Party fights for her to become a mass leader for our class because it’s capitalism that destroys workers’ lives, far beyond just KCC. Racist and sexist exploitation will only be ended when capitalism is burned to the ground by millions of workers, led by workers just like her in PLP. We invite this young woman, her coworkers, and the students and faculty of KCC to join this year’s May Day march in Brooklyn and help lead our movement. Join us, and dare to struggle with heads held high.
Workers need a revolutionary communist party
This demonstration was a step in breaking down the barriers of segregation by skin color and job title. And this multiracial unity of campus workers, students and faculty shows the potential for the growth of a revolutionary communist movement. Communists in the Progressive Labor Party have been supporting the struggles of the cafeteria workers (see CHALLENGE, 10/10/17). Our study groups show potential for new membership, while our regular CHALLENGE distributions at the college entrance have helped communist ideas spread into the KCC community. Hundreds of leaflets entitled “Fight for KCC Cafeteria Workers’ Rights; Unite to Smash Wage Slavery!” were distributed by members, friends and CHALLENGE readers. In this struggle, the need for our class to have a revolutionary Party has become clear.
The struggle continues
Many cafeteria workers received termination letters as they clocked out at the end of the day. But very quickly some have been transferred to other locations and others rehired by the new vendor. We will continue the struggle until all the workers have their jobs back. And a few days later a group of staff and students joined a multiracial march, 2,000 strong, to protest the racist killing of a Black man in Brooklyn. We took the struggle from the job to the streets in anti racist solidarity.
Many workers are developing confidence in our class and in the Party’s ideas. The fight goes on – for jobs and for communist revolution! Join us!