AVERNE, NEW YORK, August 13 — Over 350 Peninsula General Hospital workers and community residents of this predominantly black and Latino area rallied today to fight the closing of their hospital. Workers had enthusiastically organized door-to-door to bring their fight-back message to the Rockaway and Broad Channel neighborhoods. Their hospital had been slated to close due to Medicaid/Medicare cuts and through theft by the MEDSYS management. MEDSYS, which also runs Brooklyn’s Brookdale Hospital (and others), uses hospital revenues like its own piggy bank (see CHALLENGE, 8/3).

A Brooklyn PL hospital worker spoke at this rally, exposing the fact that this is not an isolated event. Hospital bosses, along with city, state and federal politicians, are planning to close many more healthcare facilities. This is part of the strategic plan to cut workers’ livings standards in order to maintain profits as well as pay for imperialist oil conflicts worldwide. He called for uniting all our brothers and sisters in a citywide strike of all the hospitals to stop all the layoffs and closings. He also urged an occupation of Governor Cuomo’s NYC offices to publicize this struggle.

Union Misleaders Play the Bosses’ Game

In sharp contrast to the rank-and-file’s actions, the leadership of SEIU-1199 tried to mute the workers’ anger with their worn-out message of “call your local politicians,” the very same politicians who have voted for these cuts. The union misleaders did nothing to mobilize 1199’s 300,000 members, many of whom face similar layoff threats.

Several Peninsula workers gave their contact information to keep them in touch with other hospital workers who are fighting back. The protests against these racist closings continues. At present,  Peninsula remains open, and the friends we have met in this battle have been introduced to PL’s revolutionary ideas. They can become future leaders of our Party and the struggle for communism, a society without bosses and profits in which the health of all workers will be guaranteed.

NEW YORK, August 17 — Thousands of striking Verizon workers, wearing red shirts and full of working-class rage, descended on Murray Bergtraum High School to protest a new $120 million contract for phone and Internet services between Verizon and New York City’s Department of Education. The deal was up for approval by the Panel for Education Policy (PEP), the rubber stamp for Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s anti-student policies.

A little earlier and a few blocks away, the leadership of the strikers’ unions, the Communication Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, had tried to make this protest as symbolic as possible. They began their rally with the Pledge of Allegiance and a big “thank you” to the New York Police Department for allowing the protest. But the servile union leadership could not contain the workers, who marched to the PEP meeting and filled the chairs. After schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott directed his cronies to pass the massive budget cuts coming to the city’s schools, they approved the Verizon contract by an 8-4 vote. Since Bloomberg appoints a majority of the PEP’s members, this was hardly a surprise.

Still, the striking workers dominated that meeting. They showed no fear for the thugs in blue and in suits that were protecting the stage. The workers’ chanting and shouting down the PEP shook the room with a palpable energy. They were pissed off because the DOE was helping to strengthen Verizon and therefore attacking the striking workers.

The state (the police and the courts) is the organized force by which the ruling class dominates the working class. When fear fully gives way to rage, the working class will rise up and destroy the state. The uprising by youth in England, after the cops killed a young black man, clearly illustrates this. But only communist leadership can lead the workers’ rage into an egalitarian society that will provide for their needs.

The militant speeches and loud chanting drowned out at least two votes that the PEP tried to take. Over a dozen unions were represented by their rank and file, as none of the union misleaders were present. The workers present — teachers, janitors, college professors, electricians — all expressed solidarity with the striking workers. This display of anti-racist, anti-sexist unity amongst workers shows us that the bosses’ racist and sexist ideology can be broken when workers realize their enemy is not each other, but the rulers and union sellouts who oppress us all.

A worker who discussed the meeting with a PL’er was correct when he said that what they witnessed was not a democracy. The PEP had already made up their minds to pass the contract and nothing that was said or done there would have made a difference. The U.S. ruling class has to abandon the veneer of democracy as the economic crisis sharpens and they continue to lose political power as the top imperialist. To keep itself disciplined and the workers fearful, it builds fascism at home. The worker went on to point out that the cops were threatening the workers who rushed the stage to get back. The state rules through direct and indirect force. If warnings don’t work, then they have no problem arresting or shooting workers. Because of the racist nature of this system, that is twice as true for black and Latino workers.

It is no surprise that one day after this militant action, Verizon agreed to get back to negotiating with the union and preserve some façade of democracy. For the company’s workers, this is a losing tactic. (Since then, they have gone back to work under the old contract.) Even so, their militancy represented an important step forward. The PEP meeting got significant media coverage, and many thousands of viewers saw that the workers were unafraid to challenge the bosses.

In another stage of history, communists led by PLP, will lead thousands of striking workers to occupy the factories and the schools. With a bigger force, we could have easily overwhelmed the few cops protecting their social order and routed the PEP. Instead, the workers watched the bosses pass a vote to attack them. One day, workers worldwide will lead a communist revolution where we will make all the decisions based only on our needs.

MEXICO CITY, August 23 — In Mexico City the majority of workers live in miserable neighborhoods that surround the city. The PLP’s Summer Project was based in two of these neighborhoods, and included the participation of teachers and comrades from several countries. We distributed flyers, but mostly focused on visiting CHALLENGE readers and their families. Building a base in the working class is essential for a communist revolution.

During the first week we concentrated our efforts in a neighborhood close to the most important industrial zone in the center of the country. We visited some twenty people at work and at home. We had meetings with about half of them.

These conversations made it clear that industrial workers are the key to the revolution. They have the power to stop all production and the knowledge to run the factories for the working class. In time of crisis, fascism crushes their lives and that of their families. But with PLP there to lead them, frustration and anger will become a revolutionary force. We were told that a worker has to try to make it on 600 pesos (about $48) a week, has to put up with abusive bosses, insults and often even physical abuse. Work-related injuries are common and the bosses leave workers unprotected.

One of our friends described the injury of a worker who had his ankle crushed at a bridge construction site. It was difficult for the injured worker to make ends meet on 400 pesos ($32) a week, which is the amount the boss registered for him at the social security office. His co-workers, our PLP friend included, offered their solidarity. A comrade also explained the limits of not fighting back: “what are we going to do when there is another accident? This doesn’t solve anything; we have to get organized.”

Another worker, with a simple question, underscored the challenge we face: “Do you believe the Party is ready now to lead a new society?” We are confident our political line is right and our Party is strong, and as our ties to workers strengthen and we gain more organizing experience, we will lead a communist revolution.

During the second week we visited a community to the west of the city. PLP has been organizing the neighbors to fight against government negligence related to the imminent danger of flooding of the whole community, and against the high cost of utilities, such as electric services to the homes. We visited 10 people, distributed 1,200 CHALLENGE pamphlets, and 2,000 flyers calling for a neighborhood meeting.

Close to 100 people came, including a group of the Mexican Electricians Union (SME) who advised the neighbors on the best ways to deal with the unreasonably high electric bills. We also discussed the ways governments at all levels ignore workers’ problems.

In one of our meetings, a comrade criticized us for the lack of articles about Mexico in CHALLENGE and offered to help increase their production. This Project helped us to increase the struggle against our own weaknesses, such as the low distribution of our newspaper and to understand its importance in the lives of the workers.

In addition to the work in those two neighborhoods, we held a meeting for a couple of CHALLENGE readers, and on another occasion visited two comrades who live to the east of the city, where we support a reforestation campaign.

Every person we visited received a copy of  the PLP document “Road to Revolution IV,” an invitation to join a communist school, and was asked to support or join PLP The majority indicated interest in attending meetings and distributing the paper.

We organized two communist schools for around 60 people; 10 of them were participating for the first time. We discussed political economy, fascism, and the need for a communist party.

Comrades’ skills and participants’ generosity allowed us to meet our goals. We thank our comrades for their criticisms and patience.

All the participants in the Project developed a strong sense of comradeship, and at the closing we were moved by the singing of the Internationale. The international unity that our Party promotes is key to the success of communism. Death to capitalism! Long Live Communism!

NEW YORK CITY, September 3 — Outside a popular tourist boathouse restaurant at Manhattan’s Central Park, 150 workers have been picketing and beating their drums for three weeks against their racist and sexist working conditions. They are urging all passer-bys to boycott the restaurant.

Dean Poll, the restaurant owner, won a lucrative city contract to operate the restaurant in 2000. He is under federal, state and local investigations for fraud and illegal practices. Fifteen workers were fired for trying to organize a union, while others were spied on, threatened and harassed. Thirty-two workers sued the management in 2008 for stealing their tips. Seven women workers filed sexual harassment complaints in June. For most restaurant workers, these abuses are “part of the job.” Last January, the workers filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB), but all union supporters were then fired.

Restaurant workers are among the most exploited, as they are neglected under the already-deficient labor regulations. Mostly immigrants and female, young workers are coerced into these low-wage, long-hours jobs without benefits. These conditions are inherently racist and sexist, for they disproportionally attack immigrant and female workers. In an economic crisis, bosses further harass these workers into passivity in order to squeeze out more profits. This is not an isolated situation, but the standard under capitalism.

   Three weeks ago, the workers had had enough and walked out. All of them were fired. About 30 were afraid to join the struggle and have remained inside, but others have remained strong. The workers are supported by Local 6, the Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union. They are leafleting around the park and passing out pro-strike tee shirts. The workers are steadily beating drums and keeping up loud chants to promote their successful boycott.

While the union’s victory lies in bringing racist sexist Dean Poll to negotiate the workers’ scraps, PLP aims to destroy the capitalist system that exploits these workers in the first place. Two PL’ers brought CHALLENGE and some reprinted articles about the Stella D’oro strike.

Some workers knew about Stella D’oro and all were eager to learn about it. Many of the strikers are young workers from Mexico who were glad to see CHALLENGE articles about Mexico and the Verizon strike. We talked about the need to transform the whole system. Workers deserve more than just a compromise with their exploiters. The unions cannot be counted on to carry the struggle to the finish, let alone challenge capitalism.

This was demonstrated by the Verizon strike, where the union bade the militant workers to return to work before any concessions had been won. The government investigations — which steer workers’ fight-backs into compliance with the bosses’ laws — will not bring justice for workers. This is the same state that bails out banks and cuts education and healthcare. Capitalism, which breeds division among workers, cannot meet the needs of the working class.

We have made contacts, and must return to this militant picket line and discuss PLP’s anti-racist, anti-sexist, and international politics with these workers.