New York, November 17 — Over 200 workers and students attended a conference to make plans to fight racism with multiracial, international unity. The goal of the day was to unite seemingly unconnected struggles into an antiracist army. Attendees were drawn from movements fighting back against the racist police murders of Ramarley Graham and Shantel Davis; fighting the layoffs and closing of Downstate Hospital; Hurricane Sandy victims and volunteers; immigrant workers’ rights organizers; workers organizing on their jobs; organizers of the anti-Cholera campaign struggle in Haiti and U.S.; as well as high school and college students and teachers.

The conference began with messages from representatives of these movements. The keynote speaker set the tone for the day when he called for workers and students to walk out if kkkop Richard Haste, Ramarley Graham’s murderer, was acquitted. Organizing a walkout isn’t easy, he said, but if we start building now in all our organizations then “if Haste walks, we walk,” could become a reality.

Particularly moving were reports from the teachers’ strike in Haiti, the campaign to end Cholera there and the emotional history of people’s fight to survive Hurricane Sandy. All this is occurring amid the racist treatment they faced from both governmental and Red Cross/Salvation Army-type organizations. Eleven hundred dollars was raised on the spot to help these displaced workers and their families.

Over lunch and later in numerous workshops, we shared experiences in organizing fights against racism. We discussed how racism is the bosses’ main tool to divide the working class from fighting back while super-exploiting brown and black workers around the world.  Therefore the main class to benefit from racism is the ruling class. 

We discussed the need of a multi-racial group to fight racism wherever it rears its ugly head.  

Out of these rich discussions, we agreed to participate in some specific anti-racist actions:

Plan and participate in a mass march against police violence from 1 Police Plaza to City Hall during the Martin Luther King weekend. 

Support the retired Downstate Hospital worker on December 4, 2012 at Brooklyn Criminal Court. He was arrested while supporting an anti-layoff struggle. 

Attend the December 11, 2012 trial of kkkop Richard Haste in the Bronx Criminal Court to show support for Ramarly Graham’s family while demanding that Haste be convicted.

Use petitions and a power point presentation to build the fight against the Cholera epidemic in Haiti. 

Most importantly, we agreed to bring these plans to our churches schools, jobs and the various organizations we belong to in order to build a mass response to racism.

WASHINGTON, DC — MARYLAND

Washington, DC, November 23 — Over 400 workers took to the streets here to protest slave-labor conditions at Walmart, the world’s largest retailer and third largest corporation. Walmart has branches around the world and over two million wage-slaves working for them. Fiercely anti-union, Walmart systematically keeps workers as low-wage part-timers to avoid paying any benefits, forcing workers onto food stamps and Medicaid to survive. If black and white workers fought a civil war to end racist chattel slavery over 150 years ago, it is high time to fight a revolutionary war for communism to end racist wage-slavery!

Such a revolutionary line was not, however, the order of the day except for the message brought to various rallies in the U.S by the Progressive Labor Party and its friends, distributing CHALLENGE to participants in the various actions around town and making several new contacts interested in revolution.

Marchers Confront Bosses, Cops

In the largest action in the DC area, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 organized a fleet of six buses at 7:30 a.m. to take unionists, community residents, and students to the Landover Hills Walmart in Maryland. This Walmart serves largely black and Latino residents and has fewer products and a lower quality than other Walmarts, typically how capitalist chain retailers treat their customers in a structurally racist manner. Marchers circled the store, chanting boldly against the mistreatment of its workers. They were quickly met by Walmart managers, backed by over 10 squad cars of police. 

The bosses declared that everyone would be charged with trespassing if they didn’t leave right away. Marchers responded with a brief prayer circle and then a march back to the buses in too quick a retreat, given their numbers. 

One bus travelled to another Walmart in Severna, Maryland where over 30 activists infiltrated the store and, at a given time, came together inside the store for an Occupy-style mic check. They loudly denounced Walmart. The workers were all smiles and the customers were very supportive — and then management and the cops aggressively intervened to throw out the activists. 

Workers Refuse to Back Off

In a separate action at the Walmart in Germantown, Maryland, over 25 unionists (machinists, teamsters, transit, and food workers) arrived to pass out leaflets and secure signatures on petitions. The UFCW again insisted on no confrontation, even instructing UFCW staff to take pictures of anyone “creating a disturbance” (i.e., getting militant against the boss) and report them to the police! The managers streamed out of the store demanding that the protesters leave, but the workers refused and continued their protest. The police said, in this case, that, since workers were not doing anything illegal, they would not move against the small group. Again, CHALLENGEs were distributed and new contacts made.

Finally, at the Clinton, Maryland Walmart, a team of three including friends of the PLP arrived to see if there was any action there. The cops were ready and primed at this site, aggressively confronting the team with hard stares. We were obviously guilty of SWB — Standing While Black. When one of our team approached the door, the manager came out with his walkie talkie blaring, so fearful was he of any possible labor action and fully determined to aggressively push back against any opposition, however slight.

Only a handful of Walmart workers participated in any of these actions. If the UFCW and its OUR Walmart organizing group expect to make progress in unionizing Walmart more broadly, a strong base must be built on a grassroots basis, store by store.  

Unionized or not, workers need to fight the entire system of capitalism and its racist structure. Unionized workers are being savagely attacked by a gang-up of the bosses and the union misleaders throughout the country, so bolder revolutionary organizing is a must in the face of severe economic crisis.  From the contacts made today and the reinforcement of the relationship of PL’ers with their friends in the grassroots of the unions and Occupy DC, a growing revolutionary struggle will be possible in the coming period.

CHICAGO

CHICAGO, November 23 — A coalition of unions with the acronym OUR Walmart, (Organization United for Respect at Walmart) organized several hundred workers to picket at various Walmarts on Black Friday. Over the years, Walmart workers in the U.S. have tried to unionize but have met with fierce resistance. The bosses have consistently responded with reduced hours, firings and other hostile retaliation. In the face of this abuse, workers valiantly organized a strike action on the biggest shopping day of the year, without an official union.

Many corporations operate in the red (losing money) all year until Black Friday, when companies start to get into the black (turning a profit) because millions of workers begin their holiday shopping.

Lower Prices = Super-Exploitation

Each member of the Walton family (owners of Walmart) has amassed billions in wealth by paying retail workers poverty wages and international factory workers even less. The average Walmart worker only makes $8.81 an hour, and as many as 80% need food stamps. In many states, Walmart workers are the top recipients of Medicaid. Meanwhile, Walmart receives more than $1.2 billion in tax breaks, free land and other government “handouts.” If that wasn’t bad enough, Walmart factory workers in China and other countries face deadly working conditions for unlivable wages and no benefits (NY Times). Walmart is also notorious for using child labor abroad.

Turn Black Friday Into Red Friday

The Progressive Labor Party supports Walmart workers in their struggle for livable wages and acceptable working conditions. Unfortunately, calling for the unionization of one corporation is not enough to end the racist, sexist exploitation that is the foundation of capitalism. Workers must see this and other strikes as opportunities to train ourselves to fight our class enemy, the capitalists. Other workers should honor the Walmart picket lines, discuss the fight back with others and call for other workers to strike in solidarity. Ultimately, a revolution must occur where workers seize state power from the murderous, profit-driven bosses. When we establish communism, each worker’s labor and input will be invaluable in the advancement of society. Join PLP.

LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles, November 23 — When the Walmart workers arrived, the anticipation turned to excitement. Weeks prior, PL comrades met insurgent Walmart workers who had organized a walkout at their Southern California store (see CHALLENGE, 10/31). After several visits, PL organized a BBQ for them as they prepared for the “Black Friday” strike actions that took place last week. These Walmart workers striking against the world’s largest retailer and private employer create the opportunity for PL to build class consciousness, an important step towards developing a communist outlook. 

A comrade welcomed the workers and began the discussion by linking their struggle to that of teachers, students, airport workers, bakers, miners and all workers under attack by capitalism in crisis. When the workers spoke, our group of about 25, who participated in the BBQ despite the rain, learned first-hand about the retaliation Walmart unleashes on their “associates” who are told they are a part of the Walmart “family.” 

Workers have been written up, fired, harassed and had their hours cut, all publicly for customers and coworkers to witness. “It all happened out on the floor of the store, not even in the manager’s office,” said one of the workers. 

Building up to the Black Friday strike, part of a strike wave against the giant retailer, Walmart took an aggressive stance. In addition to their policy of humiliation and intimidation, the company also filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, calling the workers’ actions illegal and sent out a memo to managers that advised them to threaten protesters who “trespass” with arrest. 

A Latina worker central to the organizing asserted: “We make Walmart work! Without us there would be nothing! And to be treated like this?” Another shared that many coworkers, including her, are unable to afford healthcare costs due to part-time hours, low wages and expensive co-pays. Workers with chronic illnesses, women, and black and Latino workers bear this disproportionately.

The week following the PL BBQ, several hundred workers (including warehouse workers from the Inland Empire where this fight was initiated), students and community members attended actions, including pickets, marches and civil disobedience, that were organized by various labor unions in front of three different Walmarts in Southern California. PL participated in these actions, providing water and offering healthcare support for the picket, in addition to a communist analysis of the fight against capitalist exploitation. 

These recent actions against the giant Walmart can serve as an inspiration to workers everywhere. Through militant strikes and walkouts, working-class people become aware of their collective power and learn that fighting back against exploitation, racism and sexism in the workplace works. Organizing together and fighting together works. Communists agree, but we extend that analysis to all of society. One worker stated, “I can defend myself and speak for myself. But I am not heard. It is only when we stand up together that we are heard and make a difference.” More than anyone, communists agree.    

BOSTON

Boston, November 23 — Six members and friends of the PLP, including two students, leafleted and distributed CHALLENGE in the Walmart parking lot, mostly to customers. The response was generally supportive. The team renewed relations with an old friend who was shopping there and who had marched on May Day with PLP a few years ago. He was eager to get back in touch. Other responses from the people the team met included “Yes, it would be better if workers ran everything” and “Yes, we need to kill all those bosses”. Many customers, knowing how abused the workers were, nevertheless felt trapped by having to shop there.

TEL-AVIV, November 17 — Hundreds of Jewish and Arab demonstrators marched in central Tel-Aviv protesting the murderous war waged by Israeli rulers against the Gaza Strip. They demanded an end to the bloodshed and to the suffering caused by the ruling classes (both Israeli and Hamas bosses) to the workers of all nationalities and religions in and surrounding Gaza.

A small gang of Zionist fascists gathered near this rally, dancing with Israeli flags and shouting support for the war. But the fascist thugs didn’t dare approach the leftist demonstrators.

Israeli Rulers’ Phony Excuses

While Israeli rulers claim they’re acting “in defense of Israeli citizens in the south” facing rocket fire from Gaza, that’s as phony excuse as the one used to launch the war four years ago — in which 1,300 Palestinians were killed — “to liberate an Israeli POW from Hamas captivity.” The fact is they made no real effort to free him (he was released in an exchange deal with Hamas).

Yet for four years the Israeli government ignored the distress of the Jewish workers of southern Israel, mostly working poor. Suddenly, right after the U.S. elections and two months before the Israeli elections, it is “protecting” these citizens.

Netanyahu and his tycoon backers don’t really care about workers suffering from low pay, rising living costs, and broad cuts in education, healthcare and welfare. The real reason the Netanyahu government launched this latest carnage — which early on has killed 132 Palestinians, including 18 children — is the changed situation in the Middle East.

With the emergence of the Arab Spring, instead of pro-U.S. dictators such as Egypt’s Mubarak who silently agreed to any action by Israel, the Zionists now face an unstable Arab world fought over by imperialist blocs. In Arab countries such as Egypt and Tunisia, the Muslim Brotherhood is now in power, presumably winning elections “democratically” but still serving the imperialists, not their people.

In these conditions, especially given the power struggle between Netanyahu and his wealthy U.S. patrons (such as billionaire Sheldon Adelson and Mitt Romney) versus Obama and his finance capitalist bosses, the Israeli regime must prove its power as a U.S. “cop” in the Middle East. Mass bombings in Gaza and mustering 75,000 troops on the Gaza border serve as a warning to all regimes in the region, and particularly to Iran, that despite the Arab Spring, Israel and the U.S. patrons are a forced to be reckoned with.

Diverting Mass Protests

Additionally, the war comes after the mass social protest in Israel in the summer of 2011 (similar to Occupy Wall Street) in which hundreds of thousands of workers took to the streets protesting the destruction of their lives by capitalism. Netanyahu and his wealthy friends know very well that a “successful” war (that is, with few Israeli casualties and many Palestinian dead) can momentarily push aside masses’ protests over the cost of living, the burden of taxes, the starvation wages and the fact of class exploitation, and win their support for the regime, the tycoons and the massive military establishment.

Israeli fascists of all kinds drool over this war. For example, at Haifa University, in response to a quiet vigil organized by students from Palestine memorializing those killed in Gaza, the “Im Tirzu” activists danced in great celebration flying Israeli flags. The previous war — named “Operation Cast Lead” — increased popular support for the regime, and so does the present one, “Operation Pillar Cloud.”

Of course, all this helps Netyanyahu in the coming January 2013 elections (although his opponent Yehimovich, a socialist, has begun to speak in militarist and even fascist tones). This plays right into the hands of open fascist parliament member Michael Ben-Ari, who speaks aloud those things Netanyahu dreams about: “Let’s turn Gaza into a graveyard.”

Hamas — Another Capitalist Exploiter

Meanwhile, Hamas, a reactionary religious organization, operates a corrupt capitalist regime in the Gaza Strip, where the rich enjoy posh shopping malls and expensive restaurants while the working class starves and suffers from at least 50 percent unemployment. Despite the mutual hateful speeches by both Hamas and Israel, in reality both ruling classes wish the current Gaza situation to continue — that is, Hamas as a sub-contractor of Israel in the Gaza Strip, keeping the workers down and repressing more radical factions.

Ahmed Jaabari, the Palestinian militarist who was assassinated at the beginning of the current round of violence, was, in fact, an indirect servant of the Israeli (and U.S.) ruling class. He even reached a comfortable compromise with Israel for POW exchanges last year. But he was sacrificed for the needs of the imperialists. 

Israel has no interest in bringing down Hamas and again taking over the Gaza Strip. It will cost a huge amount of money and put Israel in a prolonged ground war against Gaza’s masses. When “Operation Pillar Cloud” ends, Hamas very likely will continue to rule Gaza and rockets will continue to fall on workers in southern Israel. This enables Hamas to stay relevant in the eyes of Gaza’s population which cries out for retribution for the Israeli bombing raids on the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu, of course, does not care that workers in southern Israel get hit by rockets from time to time, as long as the long-term indirect rule over Gaza continues.

The rulers’ current war runs against the interests of the Jewish workers in Israel. The mass killings in Gaza will not make their lives safer. On the contrary, Finance Minister Yuval Shteinitz has already announced mass budget cuts (except for the military, of course) to fund this costly war, cuts which will make the lives of the Jewish workers even more hellish.

The hatred preached by the ruling classes of all nations and creeds serves only the Hamas barons and the 19 ruling families of Israel, who laugh all the way to the bank while we tighten our belts and get drafted en-masse for a pointless war serving only the rulers’ profits.

PLP Backs Class War

We in Progressive Labor Party oppose both Netanyahu and his backers — the Israeli capitalists — and the capitalist Hamas bosses in Gaza. We’re not pacifists, however. We support only one kind of war: class war waged by the working class against the capitalist exploiters. The real terrorists here are both Hamas and the Netanyahu government and its patrons, the big tycoons, who turn us into slaves for their profits.

The only real answer to poverty and war is to take to the streets and battle our own enemy — the capitalists. We must fight to smash
racism and capitalist borders between workers erected by the bosses to separate us! Only communist revolution for a society run by and for the working class can free us from the capitalist exploitation that oppresses the workers being slaughtered in this war. Workers of the world, unite!

DHAKA, BANGLADESH, November 27 — Thousands of garment workers poured into the streets of Ashulia, the industrial belt north of here, protesting the deaths of at least 112 mostly women workers, burnt alive in the Tarzeen Factory, trapped by poor escape routes.

The protesting workers paralyzed much of Ashulia, blocked roads and forced the closing of many of the country’s 4,500 garment factories. They produce $18 billion in profits per year, second in textile exports only to China.

The workers were burned beyond recognition because the capitalists who run these factories won’t spend money on fire escapes or follow safety rules. Most of the workers who died were on the first and second floors and were killed, fire officials said, because there were not enough exits for them to get out.

“The factory had three staircases, and all of them were down through the ground floor,” said Maj. Mohammad Mahbub, the operations director for the fire department, according to The Associated Press. “So the workers could not come out when the fire engulfed the building.”

Garment Workers in Bangladesh Unite with Walmart Workers in the U.S.Since 2006 over 500 workers have died in garment factory fires.  Experts say the fires could easily have been avoided if the factory owners had taken the right precautions. Many factories are in cramped neighborhoods, have too few fire escapes and widely flout safety measures. The industry employs more than three million workers in Bangladesh, mostly women. 

Garment workers’ minimum wage here is about $37 a month while the bosses’ sales total over $35 million a year. Yet these workers had NO fire exits! Another element of the tragedy is that they provided childcare in the factory. It has yet to be known how many children were lost in the fire.

Some of the buyers from this plant are the Gap, Tommy Hilfiger and Walmart who is attacking its striking workforce in the U.S. while it literarily murders them oversees. So U.S. bosses are part of the murder of these workers.

PLP is organizing with the striking Walmart workers in the U.S. and backs the workers in Bangladesh who’ve been fighting the terrible conditions that capitalism has forced upon them. We will continue to support the brave women and men workers who are struggling in Bangladesh and all over the world.