Contract pushers out themselves as anti-worker
When all the union chapters under one high school campus united to discuss the new proposed contract (see page 3), my naive self didn’t expect the union leaders to attack rank-and-file workers for merely raising concerns. I also didn’t expect so much dissent, which goes to show how we should never underestimate the working class.

Every rank-and-file member who spoke raised a reasonable concern: no livable wages for paraprofessionals, inflation, cuts to healthcare, privatization, and more.

One of the union heads who is also part of  the NYC Central Labor Council showed up to defend the contract and later apologized “if I sound defensive.” The district leader kept interrupting and began shaming workers who are vocal for “not being active.” I told him to stop blaming the victim. The contract pushers and their bed-partner politicans are not our friends!

When given room, people reveal themselves. The union leadership’s contract was correctly critcized for, in the words of many education workers, “throwing us crumbs,” being “threatened, pressured, and rushed” to sign “without knowing our healthcare details’ “and being a “business union” instead of a “social justice union.” The misleadership had to listen when I finally got the chance to speak uninterrupted:

Many of us have said the union should be representing us workers but they sound more like another managerial boss who just wants to keep us in line…I agree with my co-worker here who said, ‘we don’t need another boss.’ If the richest city in the richest country can’t meet the needs of the U.S.’s largest education system, this just further exposes how absolutely hollow the union leadership is and how none of these capitalist institutions can meet our basic basic needs.

Listen, we are not dumb…when a pay cut is being sold as a wage increase, that’s an insult to our labor. But more importantly, what about students and parents? That’s who we are here for. Where are the ‘social justice’ and ‘common good’ demands? The remote option [that you are lauding] is an assembly line model to funnel kids out of the system as fast as possible.

What we really need is more support for the influx of refugee students, resources to meet special needs of all students, fighting the push-out of Black and Latin students, the de facto segregation of schools, smaller class sizes and bigger mental support services, and a living wage for paraprofessionals. Otherwise, this is a racist contract. I’m not even saying anything radical yet. This is the bare minimum.

You keep saying ‘that’s the way it is,’ and expect us to just take it. What we are all saying is ‘the way it is isn’t working for us.”In the heat of the moment, I didn’t think to end with, “a racist system that can’t meet students’ and workers’ needs does not deserve to exist.

Many education workers—some from the other schools—approached me later to thank me for “speaking up.” When we are isolated, it’s easy to think “maybe it’s just me.”

But when we unite, the truth is undeniable. And that’s why the union misleaders kept interrupting and getting defensive—they are threatened by just the potential of a united working class that realizes their power.

If the UFT misleaders are threatened by just a few questions, imagine their shock when we organize for real. Imagine the might of family-worker-student unity.

The next day, I distributed the Progressive Labor Party flyer against the contract and invited some to a communist fundraiser. The brouhaha of the meeting became a conversation starter with many other co-workers.

When we speak up, it invites the passive antiracists to also speak up and build working-class unity. There is usually more support for pro-communist ideas than we give our class credit for. Having confidence in our people—parents, students, workers—to act in the interest of our class is key.Whether or not the contract passes, this fledgling  group of education workers are learning what it means to serve the working class. It means to unite our class, fight back, expose the phonies and enemies,  and build a better world.
*****
For Oscar, prove power of our class
This latest Juneteenth, workers are still fighting the fascist bosses over the racist capture and deportation of our class brothers and sisters across state borders. Monday June 19th, I went to a rally hosted by the Cosecha Movement encouraging workers and youth to challenge the deportation of Oscar. He was snatched by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after he was accidentally driven across the Canadian border while on the road for work. As I stood in the crowd, one of the organizers struggled with me to speak. I empathize with the pain of Oscar’s family and shared the following:

For those of us who have attained a legal status, many can understand, though it is difficult to fight for, that papers will not protect us from the growing wars and fascism of the bosses. Deportations are symptoms of it…Organizing for a longtime, many have developed a cynicism of why call on the liberal politicians to tell them…, “If you are good Democrats show us.” That prevents some of us from building the type of fightback that Oscar and his family need…though we understand that the only thing that will stop the bosses’ growing war and fascism is to take the bosses’ power over their states. But that is something that takes millions of workers.

Every time we launch fightbacks [such as those] against deportation it reveals tools to build that…By getting our loved ones together to challenge the politicians we can also struggle to win them to see that what is primarily protecting Oscar is not the power of the Democratic liberal politicians [or prayer]. It’s not that they’re doing us a favor, it’s not that if they stop the deportation it means we can support them, that we can have confidence in them, that they are not as bad as other Democrats or Republicans. Instead what we can prove is the power of our class. So that in the future we can better respond to [broader attacks needed in preparation for their wars]…On that basis we will rip state power from the hands of the bosses. That will take…time. We can begin today by leaving this demonstration…and mobilizing those around us. Much gratitude to Oscar’s family who dared to fight back and opened the struggle to the rest of us.

Workers are being won to recognize our power as a multiracial class. Seeing this as the only force able to stop both liberal and openly fascist bosses’ from using their state to enact the material racist differential treatment embodied in such attacks as the increasing quotas of deportation. So too, can workers be won to see that it is that same class conscious power and level of organization that will make common workers’ seizure of state power through communist revolution inevitable.

We must fight our cynicism and depression through this historical period of dark night to join these fights that will accelerate workers’ confidence over these communist ideas more sharply.
*****
Racist ideas are deadly
The inspiring report on fighting biologic racism reported in the last issue of CHALLENGE was an excellent example of how serious collective work over years can win an important reform while developing the understanding of the need for revolution among our co-workers. The article makes a point about how structural racism in the U.S., built over centuries from the time of slavery, also hurts white workers.

Come to think of it, it’s no coincidence that the one rich capitalist country without universal health care today is the U.S. Obviously this hurts white workers and Black workers alike. The economic foundation laid in England’s North American colonies in the 1600s and 1700s was wealth extracted from the unpaid labor of kidnapped Africans brought to these shores. In 1776 those colonies, with their extensive set of racist ideas, customs and laws, became the United States of America. Racial divisions seen in the U.S. today date from that special history. No wonder despite a desperate need for a system of universal medical care, the population in the U.S. can’t develop sufficient unity across “race” lines to demand it. Racism truly hurts all workers, even though the worst abuse is reserved for Black workers.
*****
Murder by imperialism: refugee boat sinks
Migrants fleeing wars, starvation and climate change disasters attempt life threatening journeys from crossing the Mediterranean Sea to walking thousands of miles to reach the Mexico/U.S. border. On Wednesday, June 14 up to 750 migrants (Reuters), including many women and as many as 100 children, were locked in a hold below deck, when the overloaded boat sank in deep waters 50 miles from the Greek shore. The boat had left Libya bound for Italy. On Tuesday and Wednesday they reported distress but no rescue operation was launched. 104 men were finally rescued, including from Egypt, Syria, Pakistan and Palestine. 78 men were reported dead and ALL the others missing, one of the worst drownings in the Mediterranean in recent years! Protests erupted across Greece on Wednesday and Thursday as thousands took to the streets against the horrific deaths and the failure of the Greek government to respond to the distress signals (Al Jazeera). We in the Progressive Labor Party are outraged. Workers of the world must unite to fight back. Protesters in Greece lead the way! Join the long term struggle for communist revolution to free our class from racist genocide.

Last issue, a Washington DC Metro transit worker, a member of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689 representing over 10,000 workers, shared her thoughts about building a revolutionary movement in her workplace as a communist, shop steward, and union executive board member for many years. This section concludes her story about the battle against the bosses and the union misleaders.

Communist organizing at Metro
Since the 1970s, Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members have been militant organizers in Local 689. We led a week-long wildcat strike in 1978 that closed down the entire city. The issue that motivated the strike was the bosses’ refusal to pay cost-of-living raises required by the collective bargaining agreement. But the anger of the mainly Black working-class transit workers was deeper because of the abuse dealt out by management. The strike was partially successful – we got the raise! – and the Party gained respect among the other workers. Still, the effort to build a revolutionary party did not take hold among the workers.

Since then, we have won many reform battles and helped push the conversation within our union towards the left. We led fights against the criminal background check that blocked the hiring of formerly incarcerated workers. We led teach-ins and anti-war contingents in protests in DC. We organized many rallies outside of Metro headquarters around proposed cuts to our benefits, contracting out, and proposed fare increases on our riders. While these struggles have improved lives and raised class consciousness to some degree, we are still facing the same attacks we have confronted for the past 50 years.

Even when these reform efforts are successful, the bosses are always primed to take back any concessions they have made. Right now they are trying to go after our pension--after already  taking back retiree health insurance for workers hired after 2010. The deepening economic crisis of capitalism means that the struggle will intensify in the coming years.

But who will lead and move our fellow workers to arevolutionary solution? Not the ATU 689 union leadership!

Failures of the union leadership and their reformism
In Loudoun County, Virginia, we struck for a better contract for commuter bus operators. We picketed for two months in the middle of winter. The union leadership relied on the County Executive to “find” funding for the transit contractor to meet our demands and end the strike. Such wishful thinking! When this “friend of labor” abandoned us, the union maneuvered to end the strike instead of “upping the ante.” We communists pushed to spread the strike to other transit workers, public-school teachers, and others. But the union leadership said no. The workers on the picket line wanted to keep striking, but the union leadership insisted that a “suspension” of the strike was the best strategy. PLP Metro members were unable to counter that losing strategy and workers went back to work without a contract, losing the strike.

Similarly, our union led a strike in Prince George’s County, Maryland  against a contractor operating the paratransit service. The workers struck for two weeks, at the end of which they got a subpar contract. Many workers wanted to continue the strike, but at the union leadership’s urging, voted to accept the contract. The contract was somewhat better than it would have been without a strike but was still not a real improvement to the quality of life for those workers. As communists on the picket line, we tried but were not able to win the majority of workers to continue the strike in the face of the union leadership’s opposition. This, despite the agreement of most workers that much more was needed in the contract to keep up with inflation and secure enough benefits to be able to retire.

Gaslit by the KKK-Metro management team-up
Workers often look beyond basic bread and butter contract issues. Seven years ago, the KKK planned to hold a demonstration in downtown DC. The Klan members planned to take a special Metro train from Virginia into the city for their rally. We held an emergency meeting at the union hall to decide how to stop these racists. In an electric atmosphere, train operators declared that we should shut down the train in the middle of the tunnel. Others said to have a sick out to prevent any operator from being forced to drive the train. The General Manager (GM) of Metro – the top boss -- said that the Metro system would not provide a train for the racists and the union leadership believed him! Since when do we believe the lying bosses? The KKK boarded a boss-provided Metro train and were safely taken downtown for their rally that was opposed by thousands.

These three examples show how union leaders can undermine the militancy of the working class by channeling them towards limited change and then blunting that if the struggle gets sharper. We need unions to fight collectively against the bosses, but the union is ultimately a reform organization that props up capitalism. Our union leaders spend thousands of dollars of union dues supporting politicians and nothing on building a fighting organization that can beat the bosses.

PLP grows
Based on my 12 years of organizing at Metro, I know that workers can be won to the analysis that a disciplined communist party is necessary to abolish capitalism. As a result of our Party’s engagement in hundreds of struggles large and small, we have been able to swell the ranks of our Party group at Metro. The bosses have much to fear over the long run from our organizing work in the industrial working class!

While the fight for revolution seems improbable in day-to-day struggle, history shows that revolutions can be propelled forward by major crises of the capitalist system and win. Communist revolutions can change the world, abolish capitalism, and create a world of creativity, equality and collectivity that meets the needs of all workers.

Global warming causes intense wildfires and widespread Code Purple health alerts for smoke-based air pollution. The warming of the planet is the result of two centuries of capitalist production. It is caused by a rapid increase in greenhouse gasses (GHGs) in the atmosphere. These gases (mainly carbon dioxide and methane) have increased steadily since the rise of capitalism and the industrial revolution. Global capitalist development has been fueled by burning coal, oil, and natural gas to power production, consumption, and transportation. GHGs allow the sun’s radiation to reach the earth, but trap the heat in the atmosphere that radiates from the ground, creating a hotter planet and disrupting previous weather patterns. It is similar to how cars get hot in the summer when the windows are rolled up.

Wildfires flourish under capitalism
Forest fires have historically been a natural process and often helpful to ecologies. Lightning strikes in forested areas often start beneficial fires. Today, however, global warming has created droughts in many places in the world, leading to some forests becoming tinder boxes rather than resilient stands of trees and brush. You’ve probably heard the phrase, “a single spark can start a prairie fire.” That now applies forcefully to much of the planet. Now even historically wet areas, such as the Amazon rainforests, permafrost areas, and marshy peat bogs have experienced huge fires. More are expected even in the Arctic by the end of the century. MacArthur Fellow Stephen Pyne has labeled the new era of massive fires the “Pyrocene” in his 2022 book, The Pyrocene: How We Created an Age of Fire, and What Happens Next.

The United Nations Environment Program projected the risk of these extreme wildfires would rise 14 percent by 2030 and 30 percent by 2050. By the end of the century, that risk would increase by 50 percent.

Australia’s “Black Summer” of 2020 is a harbinger of things to come. Extreme fires raged for many months, fueled by record-shattering temperatures, severe drought and fierce winds. The fires directly killed 33 and another 500 deaths were caused by inhaling smoke. That same year, the world’s largest tropical wetland, the Pantanal in South America (located in Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia) burned following severe drought and scorching weather. Nearly a third of this forest was destroyed. The wildfires in wetlands were intensified by capitalists, hungry for profit, plundering rainforests and wetlands through logging, road construction, agriculture and mining activity. Such extractive activities led to the loss of tree canopy, leading in turn to accelerated vegetative undergrowth that was then exposed to the extreme drying of global warming, and hence even more massive wildfires.

Burning forests emit vast amounts of carbon dioxide previously locked in their trunks and branches, creating a vicious feedback loop intensifying global warming. For example, about 55 million tons of carbon dioxide was emitted from Canadian wildfires in May 2023, approximately equal to 10 percent of the country’s total carbon emissions for an average year.

Workers suffer, bosses profit
The direct health impacts on the working class are severe. In the United States alone, between 2006 and 2010, fewer than 500,000 people every year were exposed to a single day of extreme levels of fine-particle pollution, also known as PM2.5. Between 2016 and 2020, that number rose to over 8 million. Such small particulates lodge in the lungs much like the deadly Black Lung disease faced by coal miners, leading to difficulties breathing, lung disease, and early death. These increasingly unnatural emissions also tie in to environmental racism. Asthma ER visits in New York City during the recent Canadian wildfire smoke were the highest in low-income, majority Black and Latin neighborhoods (Gothamist, 6/12).

The multitude of problems caused by global warming including intense wildfires will deepen over time as the world’s capitalists refuse to significantly reduce reliance on coal, gas, and oil to augment their fortunes. They pretend that solar panels and wind turbines can replace fossil fuels in the world economy while knowing full well that substantial fossil fuels are required even with these limited alternative fuel sources. Why such inhumane treatment of the global working class? Why burn us up and make us sick and die from deadly smoke? Because they have sunk trillions of dollars into infrastructure to extract fossil fuels, and they refuse to ever take a hit to their profits!

The whole damn capitalist system has to go!
That’s why nothing short of the destruction of the capitalist system can seriously address the environmental disaster that is more evident by the day. Between war, racism, repression, and devastating climate change, the need for building a revolutionary party is ever more urgent.

CHICAGO, June 14 – Today dozens of workers and youth flooded the monthly Chicago Park District (CPD) board meeting in anticipation of the board’s decision on whether for-profit “megafests” would continue to be allowed in city parks. Unsurprisingly, the city bosses voted unanimously to permit the rock carnival Riot Fest to take over Douglass Park in the majority Black and Latin neighborhood of Lawndale yet again this September.

The crowd inside the board meeting included both those in favor and opposed to Riot Fest. Threatened with likely the sharpest resistance in the eight years since they moved to Douglass Park, the Riot Fest bosses and their paid cronies pulled out all the stops. They mobilized workers through racist and predatory lies about how the festival will benefit them materially, when in fact under capitalism it’s only the bosses who profit.

The communist Progressive Labor Party (PLP) has been active in the grassroots efforts to expel for-profit megafests, connecting with a multiracial core of community members in struggle. Throughout this bold fight, many important lessons are being learned – the message PLP fights for is that it will ultimately require a worker-run communist society to guarantee that public spaces truly belong to the working class!

Workers fight megafests head on
Since first coming to Douglass Park in 2015, the annual presence of Riot Fest has been a major point of contention for many workers in the neighborhood. Over the course of a three-day weekend, typical crowds average some 50,000 concert goers a day in what is mainly a residential area that also borders two safety-net hospitals.

Including set-up and take down, Riot Fest essentially blocks off access to one of the largest public parks in Chicago to countless workers and youth for weeks at a time. Youth lose access to recreational spaces, wildlife and plants are trampled, and transport and parking become a nightmare for those living and working in the area. With all this considered, it’s no surprise that workers organized to kick Riot Fest out of nearby Humboldt Park before the concert bosses switched gears to invade Douglass!

Thankfully, workers in Lawndale haven’t been willing to lay down for profit-hungry megafests without a fight either. They have gone door-knocking to reach other workers to gather over two thousand signatures opposing megafests, in addition to organizing social events, press conferences, park clean-up days, and public art. Many testimonies have been given at CPD board meetings and other public forums expressing in personal ways how the megafests are a detriment to working-class health.

On account of these efforts, two other megafests decided not to return for this summer. But Riot Fest stubbornly holds on, with its eye on the millions of dollars in profit to be made at our expense. In the lead-up to today’s vote, they have tried to rehabilitate their image to the role of “community builder” and “job creator,” but workers have seen through the lies. One contractor infamously insulted workers during a “community” meeting by suggesting they should learn English (Chicago Reader, 8/4/22). Another public forum in April fell apart after concert organizers again belittled workers present (Block Club, 4/7).

Liberal city bosses will always fail workers
All this considered, the atmosphere inside the board meeting was charged. Most couldn’t even get into the room where the permit vote was being decided and remained outside in the lobby where there were open confrontations. Most disgusting was the division sowed by Lawndale alderwoman Monique Scott who implied that all those organizing against Riot Fest were white and that it was “anti-Black” to oppose the concert.
A slideshow presentation of lofty promises was rolled out by Riot Fest of supposed benefits and agreements to the neighborhoodz. These promises have little to zero accountability attached to them and will likely never come to pass. But it provided enough cover of a “process” for CPD to give the approval.

It was apparent that the Board had no real intention of denying the permit, and just wanted to give the illusion of a “democratic” process when in fact it was already a done deal. There shouldn’t be anything more expected when it comes to pro-capitalist institutions–they exist to uphold and facilitate profit-making for the bosses. This will continue to be the case until there is a mass working-class movement and communist party such as PLP to finally seizes power from these bosses.

Keep marching forward
Another year of Riot Fest is a setback, but this struggle is far from over. Many valuable lessons have been learned that we will carry with us to fight smarter and recruit more workers to the cause. The course of history is never linear; there are always advances and retreats. Like the communists in China once said: Dare to struggle, dare to win!